That’s like saying “you can’t fire me, I quit!”. Better to either accept it and be happy to have a good friend, or limit contact with that person if you find it hard to be around them knowing that they’re not romantically/sexually interested.

just take the L and move on, don't embarrass yourself. people can see through that bullshit.

"hey I like you" "i'm really sorry but i don't see you that way, I just want to be friends" "Im glad you said it first. I didn't want to hurt your feelings"

???

Cut losses. If you find yourself hung up on her, go no contact until you've gotten over it. Too many other partners out there to be hung up on one that is having different feelings.

Stay frosty out there, kings and queens.

Lol imagine talking to other people. Pathetic.

Honestly, I've used "hey, can we keep it to friends" a lot over the years. Partners I've more earnestly turned down have sat there and quizzed me nonstop as to why, some have turned violent, and then there are the quiet ones that just slander you continually. Emotional blackmail is the bare minimum I've expected over the years.

The amount of absolutely insane women out there is beyond frightening.

idk man that's just petty

I did this after my first girlfriend broke up with me... in middle school. This is insecure adolescent boy behavior, anyone doing this kind of thing as an adult is maladjusted.

Middle school dating strategy

A girl I had started dating friend zoned me. I played it off cool saying “wanna just be casual?” (I didn’t wanna just be casual). Almost 4 years later and we’re still together :)

I think the moral of the story is you just have to trust the universe sometimes

Sorry, only choice is to become a goblin.

"just be friends" can often be a way to euphemistically say "fuck off and leave me alone" because a girl who actually says "fuck off and leave me alone" out loud for real runs the risk of a fragile, shallow, unhinged, emotionally unstable man going berserk and MURDERING her.

Obviously nobody likes to hear this but it DOES happen--not every time but it does not need to be every time in order to factor as a risk; like how "every gun is ALWAYS loaded--ESPECIALLY a gun that is 'Not Loaded'!"

The list of people who are murdered for refusing a romantic advance gets longer every day, and the unfortunate truth is that the majority of the victims on that list are women, and that the majority of the perpetrators on that list are men. Statistically speaking, it is simply a matter of common sense precaution to hedge the possibility of a violent reaction by offering "friendship" in the hopes that the other party will be de-escalated enough to not flip out.

That said, I have managed to maintain friendships with some of the people I've previously had romantic feelings for, but it took me bridging the honesty gap FOR them: actually offering them the chance to clarify; that they face no danger in being direct with me and that I both CAN and WILL in fact peacefully go fuck off forever if that's what they actually meant. Thinking back, there's only two ex partners who didn't want to talk to me at all anymore after the romantic stage crashed. The fact that it's non-zero though, that there was even ONE person who was initially lying when they offered "consolation prize friendship" (although forgivably because they were just protecting themselves), tells me all I ever needed to know.

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