How do you cut ties peacefully with someone you've known since you were 9?
I'm still friends with my childhood bestfriend, but we have little in common now and I find them progressively annoying (very paranoid, depressed, ultra nerdy hobbies, beta orbiting their ex, demanding); however, they're friends with all my other friends and my family likes them.
I don't think anyone else finds them quite as annoying (although people are constantly asking me if they're okay, or always that weird), and everyone knows our history. I feel like if I cut them out of my life, even applicably, all our friends will think I'm an asshole for not talking to someone I've known for 12 years, especially when they haven't "done" anything and are clearly not okay.
I'm expected to invite them to all group activities (such as a short road trip this summer, all parties, games we play together, and even family events) because of our history, but it's getting to the point where I can't stand them due to their opinions, paranoia and whining.
Is there any easy way out of this, or am I trapped between a fight and constantly wanting to argue with them?
>>16956921
bump
>>16956921
Have you talked to him about your issues? Some people need to be confronted and are oblivious to the way their action affect other people. You have to knock some sense into these kind of people and your friend might be one of them.
>>16957200
I have talked to them before, but it doesn't get us anywhere.
They have a habit of playing Devil's Advocate to the extreme. The best example of this, is that they don't even like talking badly about political candidates or online lolcows; they asked that we use Chris Chan's preferred pronouns and not call him a retard, and that we not troll Zoey Quinn (noting that none of us were going to do this, but simply said we thought she was batshit).
They also defend people the rest of the group isn't fond of. I, for example, have an ex that has kind of become a joke among our friend circle. Very typical tumblr, huge bitch, accused me of raping her, etc. This happened during a three-year phase where my friend and I didn't talk a lot, so they never met this girl.
I was talking about the lengths I went through to leave the relationship, and my friend told me what I had done was abusive and began defending my ex, saying that while they didn't know her, they couldn't hate her because they didn't know her side.
After that, I talked to them about it. They apologized, but nothing has changed - they still play this extreme devil's advocate over it.
I'm also currently self-employed (although I make about 1400 a month). Said friend keeps saying I should go back to school and get a career "helping" society, which is especially annoying because they went to a very expensive school on their parents' dime, continue to live off their parents, have no job, and do not want a career in the field they went to school for, yet act like I'm a leech for not going to school.
Talking to them hasn't helped that either.
