I also read a ton of young-adult fantasy as a kid, and the one author who I remember being very good at dispelling all of that gender stereotyping is Tamora Pierce. There's a particular group of women who attend to one of the queens who are expected to not only go to balls, attend court, and general...

I've had the implant for over two years now, and I'm definitely getting a new one inserted when the time comes around. I've found it very good in nearly every way. I had pretty regular periods before, and although my cycle has changed slightly, I'm still pretty regular, and a bit lighter flow too, w...

Sorry for the delay CraftyKid, I didn't have access to my computer for a couple of days! I still get very regular bleeding, which is lighter than what I was getting prior to getting the implant. I've never really had bad PMS or anything, but now that's pretty much non-existent except for the occasio...

I'm currently using the implant (Implanon), and I would definitely recommend that to anyone looking for an alternative to pills. I chose it because I wasn't happy with the idea of needing to remember to take something or remove/replace something frequently, as I am forgetful at the best of times! I ...

Thanks for the reminder Heather, I try really hard not to get trapped by that line of thought but I didn't realise it was rearing its head. Quick update from today: - I let him know we needed to have a serious discussion - he proceeded to try and sweet-talk his way out of it - he kept checking to ma...

I think as far as taking it slow, the communication thing is my major goal-- I don't really have a timeline in mind as such, but it would certainly be easier to judge if he'd announce his intentions at the time. I definitely want to make that a major focus talking to him, and make sure he understand...

I'm definitely on board with slowing things right down. I told him right from the start I really wanted to take it very slow and just see how we go and how I feel about stuff. It seems like his definition of slow and my definition of slow might be at opposite ends of the universe though :/ I think i...

Thanks Heather, that checklist is really helpful. I like that it breaks everything down into tiny individual situations so you can see exactly where your boundaries lie rather than just having big categories of general acts. Kaizen, it's nice to hear someone else has been in the same boat. For me, I...

Hi Avocado, thanks for the reply :) It's good to get an outside opinion on things. Now that I look back on what I wrote and see your responses things are fitting together a bit more than before. I hadn't really made the connection between him pushing boundaries (which wasn't anything major-- he want...

So I've been seeing this guy for about a month and a half now, and he's wonderful. We get along really well, he's super patient and understanding, and we have real conversations about stuff like reproductive rights, politics, sexual orientation, and sex itself without any awkwardness or embarrassmen...