Cons2020 Six Love Types

While much of this talk of polling people about their favorite characters or shows is more cute than useful (this is serious 'research?'), I did find some really useful thoughts about archetype love in characters. I'm not sure how exactly these love types linked with the research they shared. In this respect I found the talk kind of lacking in direction. Was it intended to evaluate the way people feel love towards their characters? Why was it phrased in types of partner love then?

Often times I know I connect with characters for a wide variety of reasons- because they express something about me that I struggle with, because they're a cathartic reference to my shadow self, because they're surprisingly different than myself, because they're clever or adorable or funny. Why is this talk using love-types and then talking about favorite character polls when there are a lot more metrics for choosing a favorite?

Or, if it was supposed to be about love types, why did it explore favorite character polls at all? Why not take some character examples and explore the love partnership intentions they laid out in the beginning?

In any case, the most useful part of the talk for me was the love-types. Because I had only seen HALF of these outlined before (Eros, Storge, Agape) but what was new to me was the more *pathological* love approaches (Ludos, Pragma, Mania). Of *course* I've encounters and explored these in life and in fiction, but I don't know how I never ran across their labels before!

Sometimes I think the best stuff from talks like these (YES even kind of middling talks that you maybe can shrug off 90% of as fluff) are things you know about already in you gut, but someone puts a name or a description to it or cuts it open on the dissection tray for you to look closer and you go "Yes, that's right. I know this" but you never knew it quite like this. These are my favorite nuggets and why I watch stuff like this.

6 love-types
~Ludos (aka Ludus) - Conquest/ Game playing love
"I believe that what my partner (lover) doesn't know about me won't hurt him/her."

~Pragma - Practically, Logical, Shopping list love
"One consideration in choosing my partner (lover) was how he/ she would reflect on my career."

~Mania - obsessive, possessive and dependent love
"If my partner (lover) ignores me for awhile, I sometimes do stupid things to try to get his/ her attention back."

~Eros - Romance, Passion
"I feel that my partner and I were meant for each other."

~Storge - Based on friendship
"Our friendship merged gradually into love over time."

~Agape - Selfless love
"I would endure all things for the sake of my partner (lover)"