• 37 Posts
  • 227 Comments
Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: August 9th, 2023

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  • That’s a hard situation, but breaking it down into incremental pieces might make it simpler. In order to answer your question completely, I’d have to do quite a bit more personal development and many probing questions.

    Specific and beneficial internet advice about relationships and friendships is rare for a reason. I wouldn’t ask anyone here anything more than their broad social philosophy, and even that might be poisonous. Hit up the most socially cognizant person you know, as they will have infinitely more context than I do.



  • As with all things interpersonal, there is a vast grey area. You can offer your continued friendship and they can offer subtle hints as to their romantic desire as long as they like. Things can also come to a head at any time either party desires. No one is hostage to the situation.

    It depends on not just what one defines as friendship, but also on one’s capacity to be a friend to others, whether this is cruel or kind on either end. I understand what result I’d like out of our continued association, and producing that result is usually mutually beneficial. If they intend more than that, is on them to bring about.

    Inertia is natural. Leading someone on is active and offensive. Not reciprocating or acknowledging unwanted advances is usually not.


  • Reject their advances but state that you’d like to remain friends. I cannot offer specifics beyond that, as people are complex and relationships are hard. Results oriented phrasing. State it in the way that you believe they’d like to hear it, and will allow you to remain their friend.

    Or just ignore their advances and stay friends. Acting on something is also voluntary.


  • Most every person has that moment where they realize that someone was flirting with them, but they were unaware. It’s your obligation as a sexual being to recognize it, not to accept their advances. The implication that they didn’t understand the woman’s meaning is the joke. They’re free to reject it, but they didn’t. They just didn’t notice. So we poke fun.