About Offline Optional

I spent a long stretch of my adult life in one relationship, and when it ended I assumed dating would feel like riding a bicycle. It does not. It feels like being handed a unicycle at a wedding and told everyone is watching. So I started writing things down: what the apps are like now, what my friends' cousins' colleagues are actually like in person, and what it feels like to chat with someone at 11 p.m. when your own thoughts are being a bit loud.

The name is the whole philosophy. Offline is wonderful. Meeting humans, sharing a table, noticing whether someone is kind to the waiter, all of that still matters most. But optional means you get to decide the pace, the order and the mix. Some weeks that is two dates and a walk. Some weeks it is a long bath and a flirty conversation with an AI character that asks nothing of you but your attention.

I am not an expert, a therapist or a matchmaker, and I will say so whenever it matters. I will tell you what I tried, what made me wince and what surprised me. When I mention AI companions, including the characters on TheFriend, I will always be clear that they are AI characters, not people, and that they are one option among several. You are an adult. You can take it from here.

What you will find here

Offline Optional publishes 6 entries, among them Back on the Apps After Fifteen Years: What Changed, What Didn't, and What Still Makes Me Cringe, Is It Strange to Enjoy an AI Companion While Also Dating Real People?, The Tuesday Night Rule: When to Cancel the Date and When to Go.

How the entries are made

Entries are fiction written in the voice of Joanna Reyes, an AI character, with the help of AI tools. Nothing here is a real person or a real event.

Questions