Member Questionnaire (Empyreal)

I believe that beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, so what is beautiful to one person can be ugly to another. In such a sense I don't believe there is some universal notion of beauty, as even standards of beauty change over time.

While there are definitely degrees of love and that some ideas of love are more "shallow" than others e.g. infatuation, genuine love is the fire that burns even in the darkest voids. It is that a special bound which transcends time and space and connects one another like a moth drawn to a flame. True love is selfless and genuine, as it is the unison of two souls which together create a new lens to experience the world through -- a lens of compassion, care and undying trust and devotion.

Strength, honesty, authenticity, trust, loyalty, respect, taking responsibility for oneself.

I don't hold any specific beliefs. I'm by and large an atheist as I cannot rationalize the existence of supernatural entities. I have some inclinations towards taoism, but not to the point it's something I'd practice.

I do not believe in war and militaries, as I do not believe that wars are capable of meaningfully solving geopolitical conflict. I recognize their necessity, but ideally we would not need them.

To me, power is the ability to be independent and strong, to trust in yourself and the world, to act swiftly and without hesitation when so is required. You know who you are and where you stand, and you know how to get what you want. But power is also vulnerability, to dare expose yourself in the face of danger, to be able to give even when you yourself have very little, and to defend and protect those that need power more than you do.

I am very intellectual so I tend to have conversations about more abstract subjects that interest me. But I also enjoy things like video games or talking about stuff like sex, so it depends. It's mostly reliant on my current interests and the people I'm with.

I have been more interested in health and fitness the past years as I began to take decisive action in order to improve my own physique. I am not so concerned about health, but one of my current life goals is to lose weight so thus I have done extensive research on various fitness exercises and nutritional information until I found a solution that works for me, my preferences and current lifestyle.

Who likes daily chores? Not I. They are necessary but I am crap at doing them.

I'm planning to watch A Dangerous Game as I was suggested to watch it, and I agree that it seems very interesting and will likely appeal to my tastes. Other movies I've enjoyed were Mr. Nobody, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the Matrix, Fight Club, Vanilla Sky and Cell. A recent movie I watched and enjoyed was Under the Skin. I am not a huge movie buff, though.

I sometimes cry when I think about how I still miss my ex-girlfriend, and I can also smile when I think about the good times we had. But being in a new-ish relationship, I also smile when I'm with my new girlfriend.

I've never felt like I belonged anywhere or at home with my environment. This is not something I pay a lot of attention to.

I honestly can't say I think I overly dislike any specific trait with myself. I have come a very long way from where I used to be in life, but I do wish I could feel like I had a bit more energy in order to get annoying but important things done e.g. I am currently procrastinating by writing this questionnaire instead of taking my shower and doing the dishes for the day.

I think people tend to value my intellect, loyalty and integrity the most. I typically always know where I stand on something and I stand up for myself and my own beliefs and I protect those I believe need to be protected.

Definitely someone who can kick me into gears. I am very slow to start and sometimes I just really need that one person to just tell me to get off my ass and get my shit done, or I just keep pushing it ahead of me while thinking I can do it later.

I don't understand what it means to be stuck in a rut. Like, intellectually I can understand it, but I cannot experientially relate. To me, even if life seemingly stands still, things are always moving forward anyway. You may not notice or feel the changes, but change is always there.

I like people that are down-to-earth, value authentic forms of expression, not overly materialistic, honest, loyal, steadfast and fit my definition of being a strong person. In general I appreciate people that dare to be themselves and express themselves for who they truly are even in the face of opposition.

I dislike people that are the opposite to the above e.g. materialistic, selfish, weak-willed, disloyal and so on. I also dislike people that do not value emotional maturity and personal development, and I also dislike arrogance and self-absorption.

I tend to get along with people who has experienced some kind of trauma or personal struggle like I myself have had, probably because it makes it easier for us to bond over our commonly shared emotional experiences, but intelligence is also important, as well as personal values.

Romance and sex are both very important to me, and as a sort of a hopeless romantic, I want someone I can both romantically and sexually click with. I'm also monogamous, but due to recent personal changes, I've become more open to the possibility of various poly constellations in case we'd not be fully compatible in these two areas.

I want a dominant partner who is decisive and can make most decisions for the two of us. Being so introverted, I am more comfortable when I can take on the supporting role by planning how to practically carry out our common activities together, as opposed to being the one making all decisions myself. I'm the most attractive to emotionally effusive and confident women that know what they want and how to get what they want. I enjoy feeling like I am the "prey" of their sexual and romantic endeavors and that they have to "win" me over even if I am at first, unwilling or not interested.

I am not interested in having children so this is largely a non-issue to me. But in the event that I would, obviously safety which includes physical, emotional and financial, especially since a child is one day also going to grow up and you need to make it possible for them to start off their life without too many road bumps or hiccups. But I also think it is important to teach children good values such as how to be good people and that includes values such as empathy, respect, personal responsibility and so on.

Depends on the belief itself, but if I think it is extremely abhorrent, I'd lose faith in my friend and I'd express my overt disagreement with their claims. I would also sincerely consider cutting my ties with them, as I do not want to associate myself with people who support values I find so incompatible with my own way of viewing life. With that said, the latter is largely a non-issue, as I am very good at hashing out people's beliefs and associate myself with people whom I find to be agreeable.

If the disagreement is of a minor nature, I'd probably argue it or let it go, or not even bother.

I don't have any specific view of people as a whole. There are clusters of people that are good and bad, but this does not say whether the society itself is good and bad. With that said, some major issues I see with current society is the greed that underlies the capitalist structure, and I also believe that society has increasingly developed towards an attitude of "each man to their own", which I do not believe in. All it does is that it adds further economic gaps between social classes and kills social mobility, which ultimately only benefits a small elite of people.

I also think that the fact men are, by and large, not taught sufficient levels of emotional intelligence sincerely hampers them later in life and gives rise to movements such as the MRA or /r/incels, because instead of recognizing their emotional situation and admit taking emotional accountability, in an act of pathetic ego-defense, they simply place the blame on their source of desire rather than realizing the error lies in them, not the women which they scorn.

I choose my friends carefully by for example trying to hash out whether our personal values are compatible or not, whether we share common interests, view and experience life the same way etc. I don't connect or bond very easily with other people, so it makes me very careful with who I really end up bonding with.

I don't really behave in any specific way around my friends. I can be a bit goofy when I feel like it, but typically I'm fairly introverted and caustic as opposed to giddy.

I do not believe around strangers any differently than I do friends. The only difference is what I speak to them about and how I feel towards them.