Seriously, clicking ahead is entering into a contract to deal with me. Are you willing to accept those terms?
So, I was trying to write a recap for The Mansion's Twins. Like, trying really hard. And it was just impossibly difficult until... Well, I might have written a rap recap. So... Only because today is a special day for my twins, I'm gonna share this ridiculous thing. I mean, if you really want to read it. Ready to get weird?
Seriously, clicking ahead is entering into a contract to deal with me. Are you willing to accept those terms?
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We’re taking a close look at the twelve gifts, starting with the twins’ gifts, and then making our way through the poem: The Lady Illusion gave us a set of twelve Twelve children, twelve months, and twelve gifts as well Inner and outer vision, levitation Fire, water, transformation Glowing, healing, communication Singers, dancers, model maker The gift of the month for June is… Transformation. Let’s see what Rose wrote about this gift. One of the rarer gifts. It includes both transformation of objects and creating disguises. The high level of this gift is self-transformation that actually lasts, which is widely thought to be a myth. Even temporary self-transformation is difficult, as it requires you to constantly maintain the magic in order to keep the disguise. People with the transformation gift are often very smart and crafty. People think those with the gift join June’s army because they make good spies, but trying to do that is actually very dangerous and rarely succeeds because it’s so difficult to maintain the magic. People with the gift join June’s army because they have sharp minds, and can help make plans. They can also improve and duplicate weapons. Like inner-vision, there are some negative stereotypes about people with this gift. Many people don’t think the gifted are trustworthy, not only because of exaggerated ideas about the gift's high-level potential, but just because of the gifted can be perceived as flakey. I mean, if you were gifted, wouldn’t you change up your room every day? Change your hair? Your clothes? The experimental nature of the gifted, and their inconsistencies, can put people off. However, their far more likely to just be fun, outgoing, and adventurous than deceptive. But those who do abuse the gift can cause a lot of damage, so the negative stereotypes persist. ![]() I usually like to feature a character with my "gift of the month" with a picture of them, but yikes, I just don't have a single good picture of Jerome. Like, he's impossible to draw. I can't even draw women all that well, and men are way more difficult. SO, because clay is sometimes used to symbolize transformation, I thought I'd share this lovely picture of my faceless clay figures. Jerome and family. THIS is why those with transformation get a bad reputation. The high level of this gift is self-transformation that lasts, which is widely thought to be a myth. Sure, you can change your hair, but those types of alterations hardly ever last more than a day. Transforming yourself into a completely different person typically wouldn’t last more than a few minutes, at best. In order to truly trick someone, the gifted would need to be exceptional. As for a flipside, this is an odd one. It’s fixing things. Not “fix” as in repair, but as in make permanent. This could be used for things like finishing the work of inexperienced model makers—a strong model maker could make their work “stick” by themselves, but the finishing touch of someone with transformation could always make the end product stronger. Transformation is most closely connected to outer-vision and healing, and it’s often symbolized by a butterfly. Fun fact about the twelve giftsA wedding in the magical world is called a “Gifts of Gifts” ceremony. The couple will ask twelve of their friends and family to represent each gift. Each of the gifted (or stand-ins for the gifted) present the couple with a symbol of each gift, and recite a blessing to match. For example, “For dancing, I present these slippers. May these currents keep you moving.” And, “For transformation, I present this clay. May these currents help you grow with each other.” There are traditional presents for each gift, but many families choose to personalize. Marriage in the magical world isn’t very common—perhaps because a full Gifts of Gifts ceremony is a bit complicated to put together. It’s considered bad luck to do a Gifts of Gifts ceremony without all twelve gifts represented. They say it leads to unbalanced magic in your relationship, and we all know how dangerous that is.
We’re taking a close look at the twelve gifts, starting with the twins’ gifts, and then making our way through the poem: The Lady Illusion gave us a set of twelve Twelve children, twelve months, and twelve gifts as well Inner and outer vision, levitation Fire, water, transformation Glowing, healing, communication Singers, dancers, model makers This month's gift focus is water! Here's a page from Rose's journal on the gift: People with the water gift can conjure and control water, though simply controlling it is much easier. It’s helpful for June’s army because the Ambrosi’s fight with fire too, not to mention her own people who can control fire can get a bit reckless at times. It’s also helpful when they’re traveling, and need to cross a river (or find an underwater Palace). They can freeze water, or stay under it for long periods of time. There aren’t as many with the water gift in June’s army as there are with the fire gift, because people who control water tend to be much calmer, and much less likely to want to fight. They’re easygoing people, but they often don’t stand up for themselves as much as they should, and can be very shy. Both fire and water are unique because they are the only two gifts that are each other’s flipside. The high level of both gifts is controlling the weather. Water is closely connected to healing and levitation. It is often symbolized by a bottle, glass, or drop. Fun Fact About the Twelve GiftsChildren will usually discover their gifts before age ten. That’s when the word “ungifted” will start to be used, usually by parents and teachers trying to preach acceptance, or their peers, often with less wholesome intentions. However, late discovery is still possible, and kids aren’t “officially” ungifted until puberty. Click the covers to check out the series!We’re taking a close look at the twelve gifts, starting with the twins’ gifts, and then making our way through the poem: The Lady Illusion gave us a set of twelve Twelve children, twelve months, and twelve gifts as well Inner and outer vision, levitation Fire, water, transformation Glowing, healing, communication Singers, dancers, model makers This month’s gift focus is… FIRE! Let’s see what Rose wrote in her notebook about this gift. People who can conjure and control fire tend to be loud and wild. They would make good leaders if they weren’t also reckless and stubborn. They can make good warriors, and many of June’s army have the fire gift. They’re bold—some would say brave, and others would say crazy. I say both. Like Shane. He’s pretty much exactly what the fire gift is. Both fire and water are unique because they are the only two gifts that are each other’s flipside. The high level of both gifts is controlling the weather. Fire is most closely connected to both glowing and dancing. It is often symbolized by a flame or a candle. Fun Fact About the Twelve GiftsThe moment of gift discovery is an explosion of exceptionally strong magic. In that moment, young children can do things naturally that grown adults would struggle with. Once the newly discovered gift stabilizes, it won’t be quite so powerful. It will always be more natural than other types of magic, but will still require practice to master. Click the covers to check out the series!We’re taking a close look at the twelve gifts, starting with the twins’ gifts, and then making our way through the poem: The Lady Illusion gave us a set of twelve Twelve children, twelve months, and twelve gifts as well Inner and outer vision, levitation Fire, water, transformation Glowing, healing, communication Singers, dancers, model makers Well, it’s a new month, so onward we go to inner-vision. Here’s an intro to the gift from Rose’s notebook: When people say “the vision-gift,” this is usually what they mean. If they have outer vision, they’ll specify that, even though outer vision is more common. Inner vision is about looking into people, and seeing their thoughts and feelings. In order to read people, they need to look them in the eyes. While the gifted make useful spies, in polite company, you always ask before looking at someone with you gift. ![]() Inner-vision is pretty rare, and has some other unique features. Not only can the gifted discover people’s secrets, they can also see through disguises, and beyond curses, and other magic-induced physical changes. June was once in love with a man with vision, who saw her as the woman she would be if she had never been cursed. Personality wise, the gifted are quite insightful, and often very kind and empathetic. But the negative stereotypes are still very prevalent, because people don’t like their privacy invaded. I do feature a villain with inner-vision across the series, and all those negative stereotypes certainly apply to her... The “flipside” of this gift is magical guards. For both levitation and outer-vision, the other side of the gift feels somewhat unnatural, but accessible without a great deal of study. This is pretty common across the board for flipsides. Those with inner-vision are used to seeing more of people than those without the gift, so naturally, they themselves become more open and honest with others. Learning to use magical guards, and keep their own thoughts private, can feel unnatural at first, but most adults with vision grow accustomed to it. As for the high level, this is where things get a bit weird. My past self was vehemently opposed to anyone having any sort of “future vision” because she thought it was, to put it simply, the dumbest thing ever. Using future vision in fiction is often difficult for writers to get right, and frustrating for readers. Like, okay, he could tell the future HERE, but not before? What exactly are the conditions? Is it a possible and ever changing future, or is the future fixed? And if it’s REALLY fixed, why are you trying to change it? I didn’t want to go there, I just really, really did not. Anyway... The high level of inner-vision is future vision. I should remind you, most people can’t access their gift’s high level. Like, to the point where some people think “high levels” are a myth. With inner-vision, the gifted are still tapping into the same gift, just on a deeper level. So, they’re essentially using their collective knowledge of the people involved in a situation to predict the decisions they’ll make, thereby telling the “future.” It’s not like they get premonitions or crap like that. For example… Helen. Helen is my favorite villain of Crossworlds and she’s gifted with inner-vision. Um, minor spoilers ahead for The Mansion’s Family… Helen didn’t “know” Dece was pregnant by seeing a “vision” of the future. By looking into Dece’s eyes, she could read her previous intentions—her desire for a child, her relationship, etc. She simply put the pieces together. Julian did something like this too. When Aidan came to the Mansion, June wanted Hannah to take care of him, “inspiring” her to start using her gift. Julian was rather opposed to this whole idea. He knows June’s done some less-than-ethical things in the past. He also knows Hannah doesn’t see herself as a gifted healer, and simply taking care of a cured Northern man isn’t going to change that. Julian is suspicious of June because he thinks this is just the beginning of her plan. Enlisting Hannah’s help is innocent enough—she already enjoys being a caretaker (caregiver? Anyone else think it’s weird that those words mean the same thing?). But Julian knows that’s just the first step down this path, and it gets darker further on. He might not know exactly where it’s going, but he knows it doesn't feel right. Some think that’s all there is to the “high level” of this gift, it’s just using that deep insightfulness to predict what will happen next. Others believe the high level is more magical, like, you actually do get a flash of the future once you’ve obtained enough knowledge, and that’s how you know you’ve accessed it. Phew… That was a lot. Let’s wrap this up. Inner-vision is closely connected to outer-vision and model making. It is often symbolized by a mirror or an eye. Fun Fact About the Twelve Gifts:Being away from magic (for example, living in the non-magical world) can delay gift discovery. Living in the non-magical world will suppress all magical abilities, and it takes about ten years for them to develop again. Click the covers to check out the series!How the realm of Crossworlds REALLY formed, in REALITY. |
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