#plus everything else

yeah I’m aware of this argument and how they’re just friends with benefits they don’t actually LOVE each other and all of that

i wholeheartedly disagree though

A big part of Manon and Dorian’s relationship IS physical but it plays out differently for each one of them. Manon and Dorian are total opposites when it comes to certain things and this is one example. Let’s start with Dorian; this man in charming af and he definitely doesn’t need to do anything physical to get anyone to fall for him. He has huge charisma and the way he uses words? It’s like hypnosis.

Manon is different, she’s a woman of very few words and all action. Words and emotions confuse her, she doesn’t understand them and cannot process them. She will grow frustrated and leave, at best. At worst, she will lash out and lives might be lost as a result (think of Asterin in queen of shadows, she really pushed Manon towards that point and Manon just reacted so aggressively because she doesn’t know any other way of reacting to this sort of thing.

So when it comes to finding a middle ground between Dorian and Manon, things had to be physical.

Dorian knew exactly what he was doing. Sure, he has a smooth tongue but he’s also wicked and can put his touches to good use. And he did just that with Manon. He didn’t give her what she wanted though. He kept her hanging and frustrated for a whole twenty four hours before he saw her again. In that state, (horny af) Manon was more malleable and this is how their relationship started.

During sex, Manon exposed her vulnerabilities. What seems like a normal act revealed so much about Manon and it’s all related to how she feels about Dorian. She obviously has had sexual experiences before. However, due to her sexual assault she never allowed any man to be on top of her, that was a hard rule. But she allowed Dorian to be in the position that she never allowed anyone to be in. She trusted him, and this is much deeper than an occasional fling because with Dorian, she went fully in with her emotions.

This is my second point; Manon trying to navigate her feelings. If this was a casual hook up she wouldn’t have cared much because it’s just sex and nothing more. But this wasn’t the case, as she couldn’t keep away from Dorian. She was feeling this overwhelming things and she had no idea how to deal with it because this was the first time in her life that she felt things so strongly. Which is why she kept crashing out, one moments she’s all lovey and cuddly and the nest she’s about to rip Dorian’s throat.

She was having a hard time dealing with those emotions so she did what she does best: avoid them and pretend they’re not there. Remember how Dorian is the opposite? Yeah, he didn’t let her do that and he wanted them to talk about this. He KNOWS what they have is more than just sex. He can tell which is why they needed to sort things out. But Manon didn’t want to talk and she literally kept getting away from him because nope she isn’t going to talk.

When things go dangerous and Dorian was adamant about going to Morath, yes Manon offering to marry him and Dorian refused. Because at this point they still haven’t talked properly about their feelings and where they stand, and Dorian knew that marrying Manon at this point is the wrong thing to do because again, she springing into action without addressing the matter yet. He wants to marry her, but not like this. He will do it when she is more calm and rational (and after they talk about it) like he isn’t going to entertain her and agree just because she wants him to stay. Because if you remember, right after that when he was in Morath Dorian DID say ‘there is only one witch who will be my queen’ so he was 100% going to marry her.

Also remember, Dorian had earlier declared that he will never marry because his marriage is going to be a political one and he doesn’t want to do it unless he’s in love. So him declaring that he will marry Manon is him saying that he’s in love (with her).

Going back to Manon, when it comes to Dorian, she kept remembering what Asterin told her about her hunter. She was describing soul deep love and the only reason she kept thinking about every time Dorian was in her mind is a reminder to us that she does love him at that level (remember that she doesn’t deal with emotions so she’s showing her her feelings through these thoughts and her actions).