How would you react if someone told you they liked you?

Yeah, I'm with you here flora. Sometimes you get so caught up with maintaining your persona and polishing your mask that you don't notice when others get too close. Then it's all backtracking and damage control. God, people have so many feelings! And they're so fragile sometimes.
I think I've had the same thing as you with friendships. The fake ones last. The real ones, in which I don't wear a mask, are fulfilling and intense and they always, ALWAYS end in fiery disaster. Every person I have ever genuinely liked or loved, I now despise. And they despise me back, I'm sure. That's why fake friends are easier. No real feelings, no real connection, no risk. It's boring as hell, but necessary for image maintenance. Real friendships are high risk, an the more you get attached to someone, the more you let them in, the more they have to hurt you with. Do you have any genuine friends at the moment? I haven't had one in a few years (well, I do have one, but she lives at the other end of the country, and I havent seen her in a year and a half, which is probably a good thing. things are rocky with her)
Sorry I'm so chatty and inquisitive, but until I came across the word "schizoid" a month or so ago, I thought I was the only person in the world who was like this. Or at least I thought that I would never get to talk to another person like me because, well... low chances of encounter, low chances of recognition (if both our masks are well-kept), and then obviously mutual distrust.

No i don't, unless you call one online friend you more or less only have a 'work' type relationship with and one friend i've had for 20 years i only see once or twice a year, friend, like in the true meaning of the word, no. Never had any friendships that last very long, at least not of the deep philosophical kind. I'm realy good at the superficial bullcarp but i don't count that as friendship at all. I also don't hate men, i love men, i love talking to men, i love being arou/nd them because they're straightforward and honest and say what they mean and seem to have a far deeper understanding of interpersonal relations than women do. I never realy cared being around women if they were the last people on earth. I don't like their inconsistency between what they say and mean and i won't get involved, its inconsistent and often based on twisted and distorted reasoning and facts. In fact i have much more trouble being around women wanting to be friends then men. I've only recently made friends with a realy amazing Texas woman i realy do love dearly. She seems to be a bit more like me, takes care of her own biz and blaah. But still hard to be around because i don't realy understand all the things she talks about, who's friends with who, who's breaking up with who, who doesn't like who and in effect turns other people against them, no comprendo... I'm a weird one to her but she doesn't shun me for it, and the same for me, i just like being around her. We just iz, its great.

That sounds really nice. I really appreciate it when "normal" people accept and don't judge people who are different in a social way. I'm not talking about myself, but more about the aspergerians and the more obviously different types. My brother has asperger's so I hate it when people act superior to him and laugh at him. I guess it's a sensitivity of mine. I judge people by how well they interact with people who are very different from them. I automatically approve of anybody accepting and instantly despise those who try to act superior.
I know what you mean about men. I have a love/hate thing with them. well, not that strong. more like/dislike. Often they're easier to talk to than girls. They seem less judgmental, less like they're picking apart your every word. And frankly, I tend to have more in common with them compared to most of the girls i meet. But at the same time, I don't trust them. I want to trust them, and I know that the vast majority of guys are perfectly alright. But the memories of all the times when things have gone bad stick in my subconscious. It's totally unfair that 95% of the guys I meet are fine, but i still keep them at an arm's distance because of that pesky 5%. I really want to change this, but I don't know how. I guess it's the same with girls. It's unfair for me to distrust them just because some of them are really nasty.

Hah, but also, you mentioned the inconsistency between what women say and what they mean. I know that and i hate it, but I have come to realize that I am actually worse than them in that department. I mean, I'm the one who's pretending to be one of them, pretending to care enough about others to hide how I feel about them by using their fancy lady-talk. Whenever I say what I mean, someone's feelings get hurt. I see why they communicate the way they do. But I just don't think it's worth the trouble.

Awkwardly ask them why to delay and think of what the hell to do. Then probably proceed to either:

A: Decline and politely tell them I don't like them that way.

B: If my mask actually had some kind of crush on them I would probably say yes after explaining I literally have no idea what they expect me to do in a relationship. If for some reason they still agree I would proceed to "date" them. Whatever that means, because to be honest I have no clue. In the end it wouldn't work out most likely, but still it would be worth trying out if not to just satisfy my curiosity on how dating works.

as a self-diagnosed schizoid, i don't have any close friends.. since the past 100 years i guess. so there's never been any question of getting into a relationship from that side.
and with other non-friend people who try to approach me, i somehow manage to deflect any feelings they have toward me. i just give a blind ear to them even when they say stuff in the open.
and it's so awkward when girls look at me and i'm not sure if i've to ignore them or smile at them, how long i've to wait for to smile at them, who should smile first, etc. so i just ######6 ignore the stupid world and go about my own business (insert neat smiling smiley here)

Internally, I wonder why. My outward response is typically to pretend they never said anything. The last time someone outright told me they were into me, I said exactly what I was thinking: "Why?" She didn't have an answer.

I would probably respond in a similar way to your friend -- firm but politely. I would also be very skeptical of their feelings and a bit suspicious of their intention-- I don't typically allow guys to get too close to me so for a guy to confess that he likes me would lead me to think he is either really lonely, out of options, only interested in sex, or too easily confesses. After that I would probably try to minimize contact with him but would still be polite if I see him.

If I was a woman and I thought you were a nice guy I'd probably give the relationship a chance. I'd let you know from the onset not to expect much from me, that I wouldn't be having your children, and I'd also have one foot out the door waiting for the first sign of trouble. I think it's not good for women to go through life alone and it's beneficial to have a man in their lives in some capacity.

If I didn't think you were a nice guy, and I have high standards, I wouldn't give you a chance. People who you probably think are nice, I wouldn't classify as nice because my standards are different than yours. A person basically has to go through his or her entire life without displaying any streak of malicious behavior like myself for me to consider them nice, whereas you probably think that anyone who smiles or who talks to you is nice. There's a big difference. I differentiate between the "unkind" and the "even more unkind", but I don't consider 99.9% of the people that I meet to qualify as "nice". I'm not looking to start relationships with abusive people, plain and simple.

If I was a man and you were a woman, I probably wouldn't give you a chance though. Women are too much trouble for me personally for me to really consider being in a romantic relationship with them. She'd be compromised by the universal behavioral tendencies toward selfishness, irrationality, and enmity that characterize her gender. I'd have to believe she's really special person for me to even consider it for longer than a few seconds. Getting involved with women to me seems like inviting unhappiness into your life.

berndschizoid wrote:i would be astonished
and i would ask her if she is nuts.

This.