So a good friend of mine broke up with her ex after the relationship hit a downward spiral, and for a while she was, from what i could tell anyway, happy. Now she's back with him and if she's happy with that then it's fine with me.

I have a gut feeling that she's going to end up being hurt again even worse at the end of it. Hopefully she won't be.

I'm not going to intervene, it just is hard for me to watch it happen all over again.

any advice or similar situations you've been in?

E: o and i just remembered that she might come across this thread...

Is it just me, or does breaking up not work?

Humans are strange. There's no telling what they'll do.
It's like a pet dog, a big one. You love it unquestioningly and then one day it bites you. It's a big fucking bite,it goes sceptic, you end up with a horrendous scar.
Some humans would chose to have the dog put down. Others would forgive the dog and forget. Others would let the dog have one more chance,but keep a machette handy.

That was a nice analogy, but i failed to see how the machete related into human terms. that made sense right?

Men can easily manipulate and gain control over women without even knowing it. It truly is a strange thing.

Here's the way I see it;
The easiest way to get a women to really stick around is to treat her like shit. You make her interested, lead her on, then act like an asshole. As long as the male submits to her 'superiority', even if it's only for a short period of time, she'll latch right back on, believing she can always gain it back if it's necessary. Once things get too out of hand and she finds it impossible to regain the alpha position, she becomes frustrated and refuses to give up, thus becoming a nuisance.

This cycle can repeat itself numerous times before the man(usually) finds another mate. Women want to be dominated, as soon as they feel they are, they keep wanting more. It seems as if dominance is a subconscious addiction of some sort.

Yoyo just likes machetes! :)

Sometimes there is a big metaphorical reason for everything. And at other times..a machette is just a machette.

A machette is a symbol of strength and self reliance. Even if you wouldnt use it on someone the knowledge and confidence in the fact that you could is very powerfull.

You're doing the right thing, ain't nothing else you can do but be there for her when it all goes horribly wrong again. Part of being a real friend is letting them go to hell in a handcart of their choosing.

i was in that situation.
things got shit, we broke up, i was happy without him for a few motnhs until we started to miss each other and he came chasing after me., got back together, it got shit again, we broke up. he's tried to get me back again this time, and was shocked i didn't want him after all that? i am happier and viewing it subjectively from the outside, and i am seeing that getting back with him would be really very stupid! heck, i'm not even attracted to him anymore.

stay away from himmmm

I sense something more here, I bet the OP has feelings for this dumb girl.

I say let them get on with it mate...Dabbling in other peoples' relationships will never work out well for you.

*Sniff sniff*

*Sniiiiiiiiiiiif*

feelings for her in a purely platonic way, of course.

Emotional abuse can be a terrible thing.

However, the choices are hers to make, if she's happy with it - there's nothing to be said or done.

Be supportive, offer what you can.

Sometimes it's better not to point out the thousand flaws in a relationship, there's simply no call for it.

ain't nothing else you can do but be there for her when it all goes horribly wrong again.

I say let them get on with it mate...Dabbling in other peoples' relationships will never work out well for you.

These.

I bet the OP has feelings for this [...] girl.

Possible, but far from certain. Even the OP may not know.
If so, it's a shitty situation. I know from miserable experience that hanging around hoping that Some Girl is going to break up with someone and realise that you should be together is about the shittiest thing you can do.

SO.... out of my past four girlfriends, I've made out with all of them. Three of them in the past week.

It's just how it is. There's still some connection there, you two are still comfortable being physical, all that.

It's fun. It's drama, but it's fun.

Humans are strange. There's no telling what they'll do.

Yes, we are. I had an ex who went on blithely doing random bar hook-ups. About a year later she called me up, drunk as a skunk, at about 1:00a.m. I was alone, so I invited her over. She did that every couple of weeks for a year, then moved on.

I think of it as ghost sex: She was trying to work something out, and my cock was part of what she was trying to work out.