My personal policy is to state what I want at the beginning. If you don't want what I want, then the woman gets cut off immediately, and we no longer know each other. The problem is that the ones that are attracted to me are usually the opposite of what I want mentally, even though they may be physically great. When I do find someone who I feel is mentally on the same wavelength, and I pursue it, they don't want that, in which case, they also get eliminated. There's no need to waste any time on anyone.

I don't even know how you make long lasting relationships with this "policy" because half the time I fall for my friends who I didn't view romantically from the start.

The idea is to convey to the other person that I am interested at the get-go so that there is no confusion. If she doesn't want what I want, it's just going to go downhill from there, because I'm still gonna be attracted to her, and she will not. Therefore, to save myself time and energy, I cut it off at the root. For the record, I do have friends that I love and value very much, but it is usually established from the beginning, and I don't have or develop feelings for those people.

Well, relationships are never a "one size fits all" thing, and there certainly are couples who are both best friends and lovers, but ... you're definitely toeing a line if you've established the best friend dynamic and haven't even remotely discussed relationship topics. I think people blow it out of proportion, however: it's as simple as two people liking each other. If one person doesn't agree, the other person needs to STFU and move on to something else, or if he/she can't deal with it, cut the other person off completely. Easy.

Caring for a living thing is a big responsibility.

Yeah 18, pets are a huge responsibility. It's not like you give them some food, pet them and then leave it in a room by itself for the rest of the day. They require exercise (depending) and attention and training. Their habitat needs cleaned(depending) and they have to be groomed. From the sounds of it, you shouldn't be a pet owner.

Even the feeding and giving water is a responsibility. Is it rewarding and worth it? I definitely think so, but that doesn't change the fact you have to care for a whole other being.

I have friends that are great as friends, but in relationships they are whiney, high maintenance, passive aggressive, attention seeking, ballbusting psychos. So we never take it to that level.

Personally, if someone compared me to a puppy and said they didn't want the responsibility of dealing with me, I'd be a little offended, romantic relationship or not. Maybe that's just me.