Gift Focus of the Month: Inner-Vision

​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.
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An old drawing of Helen, my lovely villain with vision.

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...

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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.
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Inner-vision is closely connected to outer-vision and model making. It is often symbolized by a mirror or an eye.
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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.

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