People say friendship and romantic relationships can be similar in terms of quality, but I’m starting to believe that’s bullshit.

I have romantic partners and platonic friends, and it’s always been like apples and oranges for me. I have romantic partners that I love deeply but aren’t that emotionally supportive, platonic friends that have been my main support system, platonic friends that were[have been] toxic, platonic friends that started as platonic but eventually became toxic in a way that could[should?] have been predicted if I had thought more deeply about their values and behavior[and reflected on what I expect in a friend], and a few that were platonic but eventually became toxic in a way that was hard to predict. Love and compatibility and emotions and fulfillment and everything is tied up in romantic partners in a way that isn’t for me with platonic friends[not to say that platonic friendships aren’t emotionally significant - platonic friendships can make me feel fulfilled and I feel deep emotional connections with platonic friends - but they just aren’t romantic].<br><br>My point is: there’s a[not necessarily unjustified] stereotype that platonic relationships have to be shallow because if someone is being too[not to be confused with ‘too close’] emotionally supportive[or fulfilling] they[or you] might expect them to try to be a romantic partner. I don’t know if this is true, but maybe this assumption has messed up my platonic friendships. I’ve had a few try to become romantic, but I was clear with them that I’m just not into them romantically, and so they try to move on to find someone[else] they[can] love romantically. But I also don’t expect to find that[deep romantic] love for myself, and I don’t want to be alone, so I am lonely.