There's a lot of stigma that comes with building a friendship with a woman u have an attraction towards and getting stuck in that position but it seems like the best route tbh because through friendship is where u get to see the real them because they're not trying to impress u and don't fear losing u as a potential partner. And vice versa. Ur not putting on this front of who u r to keep her around n being the best version of urself that usually isn't u as a whole. When 2 people r friends they're open on a different level. Unless yal start the date like "Okay, u look fine, but fuck this whole being the best version of ourself shit. Let's be 100 on this date. Who r u for real? What traumas u dealt with? Will they pop up in some way later in our relationship if one between us does start? Do u handle disagreements and debating of ideas well or do u argue with aggression and toxicity?" I don't know how many people are willing to do that. Especially going into marriage and thoughts on prenupts. Basically discussing anything that could be a problem later in the relationship. Had these discussions happened sooner u would've had a better grasp of who they were and saved each other the time. When ur friends, u know how they truly think and what their real opinions r on things that they shield away from potential partners. Is friendship a good starting point or do mfs just need to start being honest so we don't get into 15 year long relationships and find out something we could've learned 15 years ago before we let this relationship progress into what it did?