'Date, Me.'

Sorry, I want something casual.

*Song: Leave Before You Love Me by Marshmello, Jonas Brothers

Do you want a Mr/Ms Right or Mr/Ms Right Now?

This is something you should talk about early on.

Perhaps not on the first date (the first date is for 'vibe-checking').

After the first date, if you like the person, it's better to make sure you two (or three or four or more) are on the same page about where the dating is heading.

It'd save you a lot of unnecessary chest pain later on.

When someone tells you they want something 'casual', make sure you know what level of casualness they're talking about.

I don't know if it's just me (maybe it is), when I casual-date people, it means that we can still talk to/date other people, but there is a potential for this to grow into something more solid.

Because if I want something short term, I'd just call it a hookup.

What's the meaning of dating someone without getting physical and the intention of developing it into something more?

Some might say, 'Just don't take yourself so seriously, go with the flow.'

That's what people say when they don't know what they want, or they're just lonely and want someone there to fill the void.

Are you this type of dater?

It's okay if you are, but even being this type of dater requires you to know 'this is where you're at'.

Don't promise something you can't fulfil (e.g. a next date) and give people false hope.

Or just find someone who has the same mindset as you.

So it all comes down to this:

You can 'go with the flow' after you've fact-checked what you want out of this relationship/friendship/situationship.

Oh boy, situationship.

I hate it so much, yet in the modern dating world, it is almost unavoidable.

I was once caught up in two situationships without realising it.

First, person A.

It was a sort of miscommunication at my end in the beginning.

On the second date, I told A I just wanted to take things slow and go with the flow.

(Yep, wrong choice of words here. I was never just 'going with the flow'. My 'going with the flow' meant 'there's still a destination called sea'. Bloody hell.)

Then, she said she was glad I said so because she was still figuring what she wanted out.

I knew she meant what she wanted in a person and her sexuality—yes, I was the first girl she dated.

However, all this information didn't strike me as a massive red flag only because I felt this strong vibe/connection.

I was totally oblivious to what was happening before me.

She basically said she was experimenting, and I was looking for a stable date.

Things kind of got out of hand and confusing when, after a few more dates, we had another conversation about turning this into something a bit more serious—not a relationship yet, but exclusive dating.

For those who aren't sure about dating stages, it usually can be divided into four:

1. Getting to know the person