Exploring a new love interest tends to come with a checklist of conventional questions. "What’s your favorite genre of movies?" is sure to be among them.
You should pay attention to this question, in particular, because it can reveal a lot.
Whether your partner is a self-proclaimed lover of romantic comedies, or in denial (but her collection of DVDs says otherwise), there are five must-knows about how rom-com lovers think about dating and relationships.
We are idealists.
We believe in soul mates and that love conquers all. If you get squeamish at the sound of such words, you might not jive well with us.
We don’t expect you to hold the same beliefs, but we do expect you’ll make us feel significant and not run away if we cry when love prevails and the characters (which we believe signify real relationships) live happily-ever-after.
Grand gestures are expected.
If the relationship is new, the biggest gestures are the smallest ones.
If we told you we like something such as hiking, consider it an opportunity to show us you listened.
Do some research and find a unique, romantic spot to take us to.
Casually bring it up in conversation to make sure we haven’t already experienced the place you’re considering, though. We like firsts.
As the relationship progresses, remember anniversaries, birthdays and gift-giving holidays are not situations where we expect a card and materialistic gift.
We expect thoughtful, nostalgic and sometimes handcrafted gifts that show you invested time and remember all the memories we’ve created.
We expect you to read our minds.
We know it’s not a realistic expectation, but we still hope when we’re feeling down or on the verge of giving up, we’ll get that unexpected knock on the door.
Even better, if it’s raining outside, and there’s no awning above the door to shield you from the rain, definitely drive over.
The two minutes you’ll spend getting drenched in rain will be well worth it when she opens the door to find you wet and heroic.
Just make sure you have some romantic declaration to say. Do this, and you’re sure to get rewarded for your efforts.
We can’t just let things go.
We understand relationships will come with challenges. When fights do happen, we often find ourselves acting just like they do in the movies.
We’ll discuss what happened repeatedly with our friends and spend time thinking of what you’re doing or thinking.
Even when we try and keep ourselves preoccupied, we will still be secretly thinking about you.
The thing to note here is you can’t let a rom-com lover dwell too long without resolution.
The eventual makeup is beautiful to us, as it signifies we have prevailed and are closer because of it.
We love with passion and intensity.
When we fall, we fall hard. We will refrain from shouting our devotion for all to hear, but we will be tempted to.
We don’t waste our time with the emotionally unavailable, but we do stick around for the wounded ones who show potential.
We know most people are more reserved than us; in fact, it’s one of the storylines we love the most.
We consider it a personal challenge to show you being vulnerable with us will not be a mistake.
We will carry enough passion for the both of us until you’re ready to let us in.
When you do, that’s when things get real and happily ever after happens.
These expectations and traits of a rom-com lover are not likely to change much, and we don't want to abandon our belief in the power of love.
If your eyes are wide in fear, we might not be the type for you.
