shellphones | text; follow up survey

Type: Text
Sender ID: vulturvolans (Alhaitham)
To: Public
Subject: Follow Up Survey
Warnings: Subtle unsubtle bragging, and Gay

This is Alhaitham.

I have a survey for people to respond to. Those who have filled up my previous survey from last year may consider this as a follow up of sorts to it—those who have not are free to respond to this one all the same. Regardless, there are similarly no restrictions or stipulations to the nature of the responder; the only thing that I request is for honesty when filling this in.

1) Are you currently in any sort of romantic relationship? (Arrangements made purely for physical reasons do not count.)
2) Does an institution of marriage exist in the world that you come from? Does it play any sort of significant cultural role? Feel free to describe as much or as little as you want.
3) Do you consider the idea of marriage important? What is the primary endgoal in any romantic relationship that you pursue?
4) What do you envision as your ideal future with a partner?
5) What does the concept of 'home' mean to you?

You are free to leave your answers in this post or direct them to my inbox. I will follow up on whatever answers that I feel are necessary.

Thank you for your time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Oh, that's... actually kind of sweet.]

I see. There's a subtle tonal shift of sorts between these two surveys, so I could not help but wonder.

[Listen Azul has his own #Complicated feelings on this subject and probably shouldn't judge, not that he will admit that right away here just yet...]

The objectives of the two surveys are also different, so its only logical to conclude that their tone would also differ.

[Also well he wasn't married OR in a relationship back then, so. A fair amount of things have very much changed since then.]

Perhaps, though I must admit that your objective this time just seems more like an opportunity to brag about what you have more so than anything like scientific curiosity.

I wouldn't be asking if I wasn't interested.

[Both things can be true, octopus man.]

[At that, Azul sits here for a long moment, debating on whether its actually worth answering this stupid survey himself. Then again... it's actually not as bad as he is making it out to be--at least in comparison to the last one Alhaitham made as he glances back at that one again briefly.

At least he's not being asked about his feelings or if he has felt love or infatuation or a secret third thing when even Azul doesn't know the answer to that right now. So eventually...]

1) No. 2) Yes, and yes, my home has many specific customs unique to our culture in regard to marriage. One of them is an event called the Eternity Float that takes place during any weddings where someone from my home marries outside of our community: a couple is placed in a boat and are given The Test of Love while rowing from one end of the alcove to the other. Passing the test encourages a stronger relationship to form, and they will be considered by everyone in attendance as the couple's union being accepted and honored with the promise of being together for eternity, hence the name.

[... 3-5 on the survey have been left blank for now.]

Edited 2025-06-10 03:03 (UTC)

You didn't finish answering the survey.

[The most helpful observation right here, folks.]

I'm still considering how best to answer the rest of these questions.

[Don't rush him, be glad he even answered the first two so far...!]

It's not like there's a time limit for these things. I am perfectly fine with waiting.

[Well, as long as the response is satisfactory. But considering the purpose of this survey, said standards aren't particularly high.]

[It takes a little while, but another answer eventually comes in, however this time there's a private filter for Alhaitham (and Kaveh who is probably reading over your shoulder) from this point forward.]

3) I'm not sure how I feel about the concept of marriage, to be perfectly honest. My people have a lot of customs and enthusiasm for weddings and the like, but marriage is a complicated topic in my household. My parents divorced when I was very young, after all... ah, but my mother did find a new love and marry again with my stepfather, who has been good to both her and me. I'm happy with what our family has become now, but there was a time when my mother was heavily burdened because her first marriage to my father did not work out. Still, I have to admit that I have not given that much thought to marriage in my own future, and whether or not an "end goal" like that even exists for me. That said, I don't think it's necessarily a requirement for a happy, romantic relationship. It simply depends on what both you and your partner want the most, and whether you feel that marriage is the part of the path you'll take together.

[Kaveh is indeed reading over his shoulder so you're not wrong there at all Azul.

But with that being said the story Azul is telling now is almost all too familiar in some ways, and Alhaitham is definitely giving Kaveh a look when everything is being relayed out to them through Mehrak.]

It's fine to not have an answer right now. Just as you said, it depends on you and your partner, and if that is something the both (or more) of you share the same thoughts on. I didn't put much thought into the idea of a marriage myself until Kaveh explained why he wanted it for us.

[Let's just say a man's brain was rewired that day.]

I had a feeling that was the case where the two of you were concerned... no offense, of course.

[Kaveh is the sort that Azul would suspect having more of an interest in the idea of marriage than Alhaitham did, at least in the beginning when it comes to the "romantic" or emotional aspect of marriage.]

None taken. [No use being annoyed about something that is unilaterally true.] If anything, this personal anecdote only serves to prove my point.

[Alhaitham might not have understood why it was something Kaveh wanted to much at first after a year of this he thinks he might have some better understanding of the matter. A future where they willingly chose each other... he couldn't have asked for anything better.]

Does it? In what way?

That people's feelings can obviously change. I may not have had an opinion about marriage in the past, but now I am glad to be married to him, and that people know of it.

[Because it means they have chosen each other. That Kaveh picked him above all others, and it is an honor he will always cherish.]

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