[LisbonLitMajor]

Met a Russian pianist through a book club on Discord, not an app. We bonded over Akhmatova and terrible airport coffee. We kept it slow, swapped long emails, then two trips—Lisbon and Prague. The marketing around russian girls dating flattens people into tropes. Read what she reads, ask about home, and be prepared for nuance.

22

[LisbonLitMajor]

He read me his screenplay at dinner. All of it. I asked questions, thinking we’d pivot, but no—he reached for act three between the mains and dessert. When the bill landed he said, “Artists don’t do math.” I did the math, paid mine, wished him luck at Sundance, and left before the post-credits scene.

26

[LisbonLitMajor]

I write romance novels and honestly, dating apps ruined my fantasy muscle for a bit. Everything became instant feedback. But love in real life has lag time. It needs silence and boredom and waiting. Balancing dating apps and real life, for me, meant re-learning patience.

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[Author]

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