Patreon Insights: Gifts of the Lover

Hello everyone! Slight update before I begin. I found out yesterday that I should be getting an update on my injury claim by the end of next week. At this stage of the claim, this hopefully means our offer will be accepted or I'll be given a counteroffer and we'll finally be able to move forwards, which is excellent news for Ardent Tears. I'll be giving a proper update when the time comes, so keep your eyes peeled. Until then, we'll be looking into the three Gifts of the Lover and the abilities they grant.

To start, I'll list out the three and then we'll go into a property that is shared by each of them. The first Gift of the Lover is the Gift of the Romantic. After that we have the Paramour, and finally the Passionate. As I've indicated before, Rowan has the Gift of the Passionate, but she won't be the only character of note with a Gift of the Lover. Alas, teasing you all with what Gifts different characters might have is not the purpose of this insight, so let's get back on track.

Anyway, for this next paragraph or so, we'll be looking at some shared properties of these three Gifts which will be touching on an aspect of the Lunar Gifts that I haven't discussed yet. Previously I mentioned that the Gifts are grouped together around a shared theme. In the case of the Gifts of the Lover, this is Love and Relationships. What I didn't mention is that they also grant some shared traits and abilities that tie into the theme.

The first of these shared abilities is that someone with a Gift of the Lover has, on average, an improved understanding and insight of relationships in general. This also gives them a greater level of empathy for their loved ones (of all kinds, not just the romantic ones). Of course, this is still limited by the mindset and personality of the giftbearer in question, as seen with Rowan. The intensity of her emotions and the presence of intrusive thoughts often muddy the waters.

The second shared ability of those with a Gift of the Lover, is that they have a innate understanding of how to make themselves come across as being generally more attractive. In some cases, this may instead manifest in them being more conventionally attractive or they may develop more attractive personalities. More often than not, however, they help the giftbearer capitalise on what they already have. Of course, this doesn't stop people making wildly inaccurate claims about people with these gifts.

The last of these shared abilities, is that those with a Gift of the Lover is better equipped to see the beauty in things, especially those that many would consider flawed. This includes helping them see themselves as beautiful when society might tell them otherwise as unfortunately, Illyria is not a world without body shaming. A byproduct of this is that these giftbearers tend to be more confident, especially as the second shared ability helps them enhance their supposed flaws in a way that helps other people see them as beautiful.

There are still limitations to this last ability as it is largely restricted to aesthetic appearances and the mindset and personality of the individual giftbearer is also a massive factor. Granted, this limitation can be found on all the shared abilities as they build on what the giftbearer already has instead of changing who they are. This is going to be true for all the Gifts and their shared abilities as they are meant to help the giftbearer and augment their understanding of a certain aspect of the world. When I designed this system, I didn't want Gifts to define people. A giftbearer isn't locked into a certain path because they are hyper-optimised for whatever their Gift represents. It is just an inclination to make what the Gift represents a part of their life.

With that said, there are some observations that can be made by those with a Gift of the Lover. First off, is that they are less likely to be asexual or aromantic and even less likely to be both. It's not unheard of, but even in these cases, the giftbearers will often find love in other ways. Secondly, they are more likely to be attracted to more than one gender. Thirdly, they tend to be less introverted, though this doesn't necessarily mean that they tend towards being more extroverted. What I mean by this, is that they usually do recharge through social interaction but not necessarily in the same way a true extrovert does. Lastly they tend to be more intense in their relationships.

Now that I've gone through those observations, I realise this was a wee bit more than a "chapter or so", but we're not done yet. I still need to go into the specific Gifts. Starting with the Gift of the Romantic, we see a very simple ability at the core of the Gift in that they can grant others a small boost by way of a romantic gesture. Likewise, they a similarly bolstered when they are on the receiving end of a romantic gesture. These boosts are often called Hearts, Charms, or Boons.

The way this boost works is primarily by making the person's body more efficient and by making them better able to utilise their non-magical skills and talents. When someone is bolstered by this Gift, it is accompanied by a warm and fuzzy feeling. The power of the boost received is determined by two primary factors; how much the Gift has been cultivated and the feelings that are evoked by the gesture. The gesture also has to be genuine for a boost to received. 

For those that cultivate the Gift, they may tweak the boons granted by it to be more appropriate and personalised to the recipient. They can also make gifts seem more vibrant. Eventually, the gifts they give others will legitimately become more vibrant and also more functional. The supposed end game of this Gift, is that the boons will eventually be capable of boosting magical/supernatural skills and abilities.

Next we have the Gift of the Paramour. At the core of this Gift is the trope of stopping a man dead in his tracks with a smile or a wink. With this Gift a Paramour can smile at some or offer them some other form of attractive expression and stun them for a few seconds. This ability can be resisted, but it almost guaranteed to work on those that are attracted to the giftbearer as long as it isn't overused.

On the surface, this Gift might seem weaker than the previous one and I would be inclined to agree with you if it weren't for the fact that there is another aspect to this Gift. Paramours revel in people finding them attractive. So much so that they become better able to utilise their non-magical skills on talents when they are the centre of attention. This is further enhanced when they are being witnessed by people that are notably attracted to them.

When cultivating this Gift, Paramours are able to stun multiple people at once or even keep a person stunned for as long as they maintain the gesture that stunned them. In the most extreme cases, this Gift can be used to paralyse or even kill a person.

Finally, we have Rowan's Gift, the Gift of the Passionate. As seen in the story, this Gift invigorates the giftbearer and their partners whenever they engage in passionate and potentially sensual acts. The invigorating potential of this Gift can even be enough to heal minor wounds. In extreme examples it may even bring someone back from the brink of death. Another aspect of this Gift that Rowan hasn't realised yet is that it also helps the giftbearer and their partners feel what the other is feeling as a result of the act.

Someone who has been invigorated by this Gift will also find themselves stronger, faster and more resilient. Alas, as with the other Gifts, there are some factors at play when determining the strength of the abilities it grants. The first of these is obviously how much the Gift has been cultivated. The other factor lies in the feelings of those involved. This factor is so important that when the Gift has been cultivated enough, the recipients don't even need to do any specific act as long as the feelings are strong enough. What I mean by this is that it can reach a point where the Gift can be triggered by the recipients looking at each other intently.

In addition to the previously mentioned enhancements to this Gift from cultivating it, with enough time and effort, a giftbearer can bring it to the point where it is able to mitigate the need for food or sleep.

And with that, we are done with this Insight. It ended up being quite a bit longer that I originally planned, but I am okay with that. It was fun and I hope you all enjoyed it. With that said, I shall say goodbye for now. Have a good day!