Relationship Woes and Advice 25: Now with extra Valentine

[Knaight]

I would still find it weird if someone who I was friends with and became interested in threw me a counter proposal for a platonic dinner date, since I would see that as denying me the ability to save some face and exit the situation gracefully by accepting the rejection smoothly. I feel it would instead put me on the spot so that I had to choose between going on a platonic dinner date which I'd likely find annoying or frustrating because I wanted to be there with them under different circumstances or have to reject their offer and end up looking like some kind of dudebro or something.

I don't much like being left no avenue of retreat, personally, even if there are some ways to at least attempt to take a third option.

You still have the option to "exit the situation gracefully", and as far as saving face goes there's no loss of face to compensate for. There's a prior relationship with the person, so rejecting their offer (provided you aren't a jerk about it) isn't likely to affect their image of you at all. Meanwhile, the counter-offer creates an opportunity to go have dinner with a friend, which is generally something people find enjoyable.

I'm reacting rather specifically to the idea of turning a proposal for a romantic date around into a counter proposal for the same thing stripped of its romance and with platonic nature soldered on.

There is no "platonic nature soldered on". All "platonic nature" even is is the absence of romance within a friendship, and given that the friendship already exists, it's not like anything is being added. The friendship is remaining in its default state, and the part of the offer consistent with a friendship that isn't also a romance is being accepted.

Maybe I'm the weirdo here, but having a proposal for a romantic date get turned into a platonic friendspedition seems less a consolation prize, natural segue from turning a friend down, or any other positive or neutral spin that I can think of, and more undesirable and unnecessary, even trying to consider it as a way of driving the rejection home or reinforcing it on the part of the rejector or any other negative spin I can think of, though I admit, I can't think of any other negative interpretations offhand, which is most of why I find it weird rather than necessarily or probably actively rude or anything.

Wow. "Consolation prize", really? Here's an alternate interpretation: A friend offers to a) go to dinner with you and b) initiate romantic relations with you. Both of these are things you can reasonably assume they would enjoy, and the first one is fine with you. So, you turn down just the second one.