Friend is down and using me to vent and moan to a lot

[squeakandknock]

I can't tell her to stop because I love her so I thought I would vent and moan myself, here, where it's safe.

I'm now replying in an upbeat manner but in the same subject area as the original text, to try and lighten the mood slightly.

Any more advice? Please!

Let her vent for a bit. Just agree that it’s a crappy situation or whatever for her. Sometimes people just want to vent.
Deal with it differently when you need to.

Let her vent but go completely silent. Dont um and ahh or make a noise to break it up. Especially don't make soothing noises. Just say nothing.

It ends quicker.

I have this with a lovely friend atm. It’s just part of friendship.

Would she listen if the situation was reversed, or is this always a one way street?

I sympathise, OP. It's really easy for either party in a friendship to end up habitually venting to the other. I've been on both sides in this equation and, if it's really getting to you, it is absolutely worth saying something like "I really want to help you, but I'm finding it hard to talk about this topic so much". It may or may not work, but it's better than getting silently stressed out.