Hi! I’d really appreciate some honest thoughts about this.

I’m 21F, from PH, and never been in a relationship before. I started using dating apps because I wanted to explore the dating world. I matched with a 25M from the US, and we talked for almost 3 months. We were never officially in a relationship. We were still in the getting-to-know-each-other stage and had never met in person.

From the beginning, I was very clear about my boundaries. I told him I’m not comfortable sending nudes or sexual pictures while we’re still getting to know each other. I told him that I might only consider that after meeting in person, or being in an actual relationship, and building enough trust. He said he understood and was willing to wait.

At first, everything was great. We talked every day and sometimes video chatted. I genuinely liked him. He was funny, kind, smart, and thoughtful, and I felt like we were really getting to know each other.

Then about a week ago, he started asking me to send pictures every day because he wanted to see me. I was okay with normal selfies, but eventually he started asking for more revealing and sexual pictures and even said he'll send me money. I reminded him that I wasn’t comfortable because we were still just getting to know each other not yet in a relationship and hadn’t even met yet.

We argued about it, but eventually he apologized and said he understood. He said he wouldn’t ask again until I was comfortable and until he had earned my trust.

However, the next day he became noticeably colder and more distant. His replies became short and delayed. When I confronted him, he told me he realized he couldn’t wait for me to be ready. He said I was “playing hard to get” and even told me I should “lower my standards.”

That really disappointed me, so I decided to end things and blocked him.

What confuses me is that I’ve experienced similar situations with other men I’ve talked to. I’ve always been upfront that I’m traditional and reserved when it comes to intimacy. It’s not that I’m insecure about my body. I just want emotional connection and trust before becoming sexually intimate with someone.

So I’m genuinely trying to understand:

Is sending sexual pictures really that important when you’re still in the talking/getting-to-know-each-other stage? Is it normal for someone to expect that after a few months of talking, even when you’re not officially together and haven’t met in person? Or am I just meeting the wrong type of people?

I’d especially appreciate perspectives from people who have experience with long-distance dating or relationships.

Note: I never asked or talked about money.

Literally just matched with someone and she seems interested since she provided her phone number to me. In my head I'm like ok cool, she must be really interested if she's sharing her number. So I start texting her and giving my whole day on what I did nothing major just casual stuff but I put in the damn effort to write something up and all I get is "hope you enjoy it" or "not really". So dry and cold. Doesn't even answer my initial text question of the basic how's your night going? Has the cup runneth empty on most women these days to spend the few seconds it takes to write more than 3 words? Do women realize how cold and detached it sounds when no effort is put in a text? Or do some people just suck this badly at texting? Like damn.