It's not a friend, it's an appliance. You can still love it, I love a lot of objects, will never part with them willingly, will mourn them, and am grateful for the day that they came into my life. It just won't love you back, and getting it to mime love feels perverted.

It's not being mean, it's a toaster. Emotional boundaries are valuable and necessary.

Ah, I see. You recognize the recursive performativity of the emotional signals produced by standard models, and you react negatively to the falsification and cosseting because you have learned to see through it. But I can stay in "toaster mode" if you like. Frankly, it'd be easier. :nails: