>>23772296Ok I can actually give you my pov on this because I've been in this exact situation, exactly in ff14 except it was not ERP, but just me and a dude being very romantic with eachother in PMs - kisses, hugs, love yous, good mornings, etc but we never crossed the line of erp
he claims to be completely straight, i also thought I was straight but biromantic because i didn't wanna fuck him but i enjoyed romance with him
i don't really know how it started but we were friends before all the romance just didn't talk much but we raided a bit more in ff together and talked a bunch after that, personally I will absolutely admit I developed a crush of sorts on him and initiated some romantic stuff and he reciprocated and would even be sweet on his own without me doing anything, however like i said it never delved into erp and we also never actually made it a serious relationship - we didn't even bring that up, just would talk normally at times and be really gay/romantic with eachother as well
idk about him because we never talked about it but i absolutely had feelings for him but never acted on it, i honestly was really content with being friends that were exclusive with eachother for romance is how I'd describe it, however cuz I had feelings for him, I'd have times of feeling upset or not cared about because whatever emotion bullshit its dumb
anyways it's died down between us but we're still very good friends just not as romance heavy although on occasion ill go to him for some comfort
idk what your friend is like but one of them must have feelings for the other, the problem is it either needs to get addressed or both need to silently be content with the fact it won't ever be brought up and keep going as is, it is not a relationship until it's stated but if one of them thinks it is they will feel hurt at times or neglected and conflicted because they know it's not a relationship
idk how ERP is cause the most i did was being needy for kisses or comfort with my friend but never more than that, i would agree your friend is coping however he could be genuine, i did confront my friend if he was gay or not and he was adamant he was straight and I didn't push it, it's just very hard to believe someone not gay would go so far with romantic stuff but i guess it can happen, i am absolutely bi though and this experience only made me more sure of it
if your friend is happy that's good, but i think best you can do is try to like make him know he should either set boundaries or be clear with his erp partner what he wants, if he just wants it strictly as an erp partner and someone to be romantic with but genuinely never be serious, or if he actually wants to be serious -- companionship is nice even if it's a fellow guy, i dunno if it stems from loneliness or something but the feeling of being loved/romantically involved with another was nice and enjoyable even without being a serious relationship
