unknownseas | WEEK 6

Good morning, passengers. Happy Sunday. Happy New Year.

Three more of your number gone - or four, depending on your point of view. But regardless, you're down three bodies. The boat is getting less crowded, week by week. A loneliness only exacerbated by yet another new floor, and yet another section of topdeck. There are almost too many facilities for you to use by now, aren't there? And yet the amenities keep on coming. One of them is even personalized, this time, and perhaps not in a way you're fully comfortable with.

Who knows, maybe if your number falls enough, you'll be able to just exist permanently on the different floors. Might keep you out of the trial room for more than a week.

Are you at the point where you'd settle for that yet?

And if you look to the horizon, out in the distance... there are clouds starting to gather on the horizon this week.

SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to week 6, everyone! Remember to turn in AC here and coins for regains over here! If you wish to get in contact with the npcs, Davy Jones is over here, and The Captain is over here! And as requested, profiles are accessible here. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Hm! Well, the fact that cards are involved makes him assume that this probably isn't real magic, but he's still curious. ]

Yeah, sure. What have you got?

[Ah. It's time for Decus to be subjected to Constantine's...particular brand of magic. Constantine grins widely.]

So, I'm sure you've seen any typical parlor magician doing magic--having unwitting victims pick cards and guessin' them, pretending that it's mind-reading or whatever they're tryin' to convince you of. The audience is always impressed, because they have to be, but you'd be kidding yourself if you said any of it was real.

[As he speaks, he continues shuffling the cards.]

So! I'll tell you straight up that anything I say or do beyond this point is complete and utter bullshit. You'd do well not to trust the word of a magician, and today's demonstration'll prove it.

[He places the deck of cards on the table, then pushes them over towards Decus.]

Go ahead--take a gander at those cards. Shuffle them around if you'd like, inspect them as closely as you want. Just confirm that this is a completely ordinary deck.

[ Blinks........ okay, so definitely not real magic. ]

Oh.

[ It's kind of jarring being told all of this right off the bat, but... maybe also a little refreshing after sinking so much money into magic stuff that turned out to be scams? ]

Uh... okay.

[ He flips through the cards and looks them over, though he's not entirely sure what he's looking for, so his evaluation may not actually mean much! ]

They look normal to me, yeah.

[ And he hands them back! ]

[decus. honey. did you fall for fucking magic pyramid schemes????

Anyways, the point in giving Decus the deck (hah) is because Decus doesn't know what he's looking for. Audience members don't want to take up a magician's time--by sitting down to watch a magic show, they've essentially agreed to be tricked, after all.

Constantine takes back the cards, thumbing through them casually.]

Now, I could stand here and tell you to pick a card and I'd just pull it out, but that's boring. You'll pick a card, put it back, and I'll reverse it just like that.

[He snaps his fingers, then fans out the cards face down for Decus.]

Go ahead, pick one and look at it. Remember it. Don't tell me what it is, I don't wanna know.

[ You have no idea how many phony charms and things he's ordered from catalogs... Exhibit A, the iron maiden. ]

Okay. Let's see...

[ Mmmmmm... that one!

All right, 6 of hearts. He turns it back over and covers it up with his hand. ]

So I'm putting it back in the deck now, you said?

[While Decus occupies himself with his card, Constantine flips the deck over and over with his hand. A casual gesture, perhaps. When Decus is ready, Constantine nods and holds out the deck face-down.]

Just stick it in there--anywhere is good. Then, just sit back and allow yourself to be fooled.

[A broad grin stretches across his face.]

[ Slips it in somewhere...! ]

All right.

[ Blow his mind!! ]

[Great! Constantine seems to shuffle the deck as he speaks. At no point do his hands ever leave Decus' view.]

Now, the big secret about magic is that any old bastard can do it--but not everyone's good at it. It takes a certain stage presence, unparalleled overconfidence, and a willingness to lie to people's faces.

[He winks. His hands come to a stop, and he allows one hand to hover over the deck. An expression of intense concentration appears on his face.]

Of course, by the time I do this--

[He snaps his fingers, as if to invoke some sort of magic.]

--you don't realize you've already been tricked.

[Constantine flips over the deck so the cards are facing up. With one hand, he places them on the table and spreads out the cards. All of the cards face up--except one in the middle of the deck. Constantine gestures for Decus to take it.]

Go on. Tell me if that's your card.

[Take a wild guess.]

Edited 2021-03-04 05:15 (UTC)

[ ...Man, if it's not his card, he's going to be so disappointed, but here goes— ]

Ah! Yeah, that's it, the 6 of hearts!

[Constantine smirks, doing a mock bow.]

Thank you, thank you. Of course, you and I both know I didn't reverse shit when I snapped my fingers. So--the real question to ask yourself is when you blinked.

[But, in Decus' defense, one can't exactly observe a magic trick through action text.]

You ever wanna learn a trick like that, just ask me.

[ When did he blink...? ]

Really? Yeah, I'd like to learn that!

[ He's still kind of sad that it's not actual magic, but it's still cool, and he's always looking for good ways to occupy his time lately. ]

[Constantine nods, picking up the deck and flipping Decus' card around so it's facing the right way again.]

It's pretty simple, actually, it's just about prepping the deck before the trick. I take the card on the bottom and flip it upside down--but of course, I make sure you don't see that while I'm fannin' out the cards. Then, after you pick and look at your card, I flip the deck over when you're not looking so the whole deck is reversed. Of course, with the bottom card upside-down, you don't know that when you're slidin' your card back in....

[As he speaks, he slowly goes through the motions of the trick. Constantine pauses, glancing over at Decus.]

How much experience with magic do you have, anyways? Not the actual kind. The fake kind.

[ He is trying his best to follow this, nodding along... ]

Uh. Well, I mean, a lot of things I bought that were supposed to be magic turned out to be fake, but... with actual tricks like this, not really any?

WEEK 6

casino

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actually card icon is specifically a drawing a card icon so NEXT TAG PROBABLY

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