#Magic Tricks

[yellowbrickramble]

Oscar builds all his own props. Maybe that's where Ozma got her interest in building her own friends.

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[thatsbelievable]

[sweetcheeksschemmenti]

Abracadabra:

Link if you want it:

Or! You can read it here :)

Word count: 1,475

Inspired by a line from a Chappell Roan song that’s been stuck in my head for weeks.

It’s a little spicy, but not too spicy! I’m not super comfortable writing smut, but decided to try it out again since it’s been a few years. Enjoy, cuties!

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The birds were chirping and the sun was shining bright when you woke up that morning; you knew it was going to be a wonderful day. You rolled out of bed, pulled on your skirt and blouse, and waltzed out the door to make a stop at the coffee shop down the street. It had become your normal Friday routine to stop and grab a hot chocolate for yourself, and a coffee for your favorite coworker, Melissa Schemmenti. In turn, Melissa would bring a danish for you and a muffin for herself. You weren’t exactly sure when or how it happened, but you looked forward to it every week.

It had been a bit of a stressful week with state testing and the kids were over it just as much as the teachers were. Janine convinced Ava to allow her to set up a talent show as a ‘carrot’ for the end of testing week.

“Carrot? What the hell you mean, carrot? Ain’t nobody lookin’ for a vegetable, girl.”

Janine rubbed her temples, “You know, like when you put a carrot in front of a horse to keep them moving. It’s a little motivation to get people through the week.”

“Whatever. You can have a talent show, just make sure Melissa stays off the stage with her horrific impressions. I simply cannot listen to her butcher The Godfather again.”

You prepared all week to share your magic tricks with the school. Jacob caught wind and asked if you would like to join him in his magic act, claiming that your combined expertise would win you more applause. You reluctantly agreed and spent all of Thursday evening with him at Melissa’s house practicing. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the redhead had been there, but she spent the evening with Barbara instead.

You could smell Melissa’s perfume before you even stepped foot in the lounge and it made you smile. During your first year at Abbott you developed the tiniest crush on her, but at this point, you were flat out in love with the woman. You didn’t exactly hide the fact that you liked her that way, but you never said it out loud either. Melissa had told you she was bisexual but leaned more towards men fairly early on in your friendship when you told her you were a lesbian. After sharing a bottle of wine together you asked her what her type was.

“Big burly men with beards who can take care of me or pretty little ladies who with let me take care of them. What about you? So I know what to look out for for ya,” she responded with a chuckle.

You fought yourself not to reply with a simple ‘you’ and gave her a vague description of herself instead. She raised an eyebrow but didn’t push. The two of you shared some casual flirting over time, but you just chalked it up to her treating you like a close friend.

The lounge was already buzzing when you walked in, everyone talking about what their students were doing for their acts or which teachers signed up. You crossed the room to set your things down before walking over to Melissa to exchange goods. She beamed up at you when you placed your hand on her shoulder and her cup on the table in front of her.

“I’ve been looking forward to this all week, thanks doll face,” she sipped her coffee and handed you a raspberry danish.

“Likewise! Thanks, pumpkin.” You winked at her and took your seat across the room with Janine, Gregory and Jacob, completely missing Melissa’s coy smile in response to the nickname.

The bell rang and everyone gathered their belongings to start the day. You and Melissa were the last ones in the room as you moved things in the fridge to fit your lunch. She came up behind you, resting her hand on your hip for balance as she leaned into the fridge with you to move her containers. You froze at the contact and mentally begged yourself not to blush. As she leaned further down, her hand slid over to your ass. Your eyes were glued to her cleavage, beautifully illuminated by the refrigerator light. You quickly turned your head when she caught you staring.

She stood up, her hand still slightly splayed your ass. Your face was beet red. “No need to steal glances hon, all you gotta do is ask,” she clicked her tongue and made her way out the door, swaying her hips dramatically. She knew you were watching.

More than a little flustered, you splashed cold water on your face and left to tend to your students. The hours ticked by and you struggled to focus on anything other than the feeling of Melissa’s hand on your backside. You were looking forward to spending lunch with her and Barbara, but Jacob insisted you practice with him one more time before the talent show. Between bites of pasta you made coins disappear and reappear from behind Jacob’s ear and cheered him on as he mastered revealing the chosen card.

The entire school gathered to watch the staff and students perform at the end of the day. You took a seat next to Melissa, waiting for your turn.

“You got any hidden talents you’re gonna share with us, red?” You poked at her side.

“Nah, can’t share my talents here kid. I wouldn’t be allowed back on school grounds,” she smirked. “Just joshin’, Ava forbade me from doing impressions so I’m stuck in the crowd. I’m excited to see what youse cooked up for your act though, Jacob hasn’t shut up about it.”

“Ha, I’m sure he hasn’t.”

Janine introduced your act and you followed Jacob onto the stage. The two of you played off of each other’s tricks with the crowd ooh-ing and aww-ing. You had always enjoyed tricking people with sleight of hand, but you enjoyed it even more when you were able to fool an entire auditorium. When the four minutes of fame were over you returned to your seat next to Melissa. She nodded her approval and continued to watch the show.

A few minutes later you excused yourself to use to restroom. The bathroom was empty and you did your business quickly. As you opened your stall door you jumped at the sight of Melissa sitting on the counter. You hadn’t even heard her come in.

“Oh Jesus!”

“It’s actually Melissa, but I get that one a lot.” She slid off the counter to stand next to you as you washed your hands.

“Very funny,” you rolled your eyes.

She moved closer, her breasts brushing your arm. “Yeah, but you like it when I’m cheesy like that.”

Your breathing hitched. “I d-do,” you stuttered and melting at the close proximity.

“So, tell me what else you like, gorgeous.” She was nearly straddling your right leg. Her eyes filled with fire as she brought her hand up to your cheek and traced a finger along your jaw line.

You stifled a whimper and bit your lip, unable to speak without making a fool of yourself. She moved even closer, now actually straddling your leg, you could feel the warmth of her. You placed your hands on the counter to keep yourself upright.

“I know you like magic.” She nuzzled her face into your hair and lowered her voice to a whisper, “I’ve got a wand and a rabbit.” She punctuated her sentence with a light nibble to your earlobe. You gasped; a cold chill ran up your spine and you couldn’t hide the shiver. Her hand on your left hip pulled you in between her legs so that her core was pressed firmly against your thigh.

You squeezed your eyes shut, you wanted her to ruin you right then and there, but the school day wasn’t over and the talent show was about to let out.

“Mel, I want this,” you whined and guided her free hand down to your soaked panties, wanting her to feel exactly how bad you wanted, needed, her. “But we can’t do that here, not now at least. Like you said, we wouldn’t be allowed back on a school grounds.”

She lifted your skirt so you could feel her own wetness through her leggings against your bare skin. “My house, eight o’clock.” Melissa kissed you with such fervor that it made you want to go back on your words. “Bring whatever other magic tricks you have up your sleeve, or in your nightstand drawer,” she winked and playfully smacked your ass as she walked away.

You tried desperately to gather your thoughts and some semblance of composure, your mind racing with the image of Melissa playing with her toys- and you. The redhead was going to be the death of you yet.

[procrastiel]

All I’m saying is this:

Neil created s2 to set up everything that needs to happen in s3.

He literally orchestrated an event for us (much like the ball) to see in the next season. So yes, I do believe there are Clues hidden in s2.

[catandgirlcomic]

The Great Deskilling I

[secretlyafiveheadeddragon]

Supernatural entities that can do actual magic but learn close up illusions for fun are the best characters

[chiizestims]

Bill Cipher Stimboard

Proship dni

|| ⚠️ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ || ⚠️ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ || ⚠️ | ⚠️ | ⚠️ ||

[marvelmaniac715]

Hollywood, I’m begging you, let Jeff Goldblum perform rope magic tricks. He so desperately wants his magic skills to be seen in one of his movies, he performs a trick for every single director only to be turned down. Consider it your personal duty to give this poor man five minutes to do what he’s always wanted to do, then I’ll never ask for anything else. Then send him on a press tour with Jonathan Bailey, even if they aren’t in the same movie, just so we can hear more impromptu singing, it would he wonderful.

[perfectlyineffable]

The Matchbox Trick

When I watched through season 2 for the first time, I made notes as I went along, because I'd seen that Neil wanted this to be a mystery story, and he'd wanted the episodes to be released weekly to encourage discussion and theorising. Most of my notes were jumbled and half-formed thoughts that I scribbled down before eagerly hitting 'next episode', so there's very little considered writing in there. But one of my theories I was certain on from the beginning was that of the matchbox trick.

This is a long post, so the explanation is below the cut:

The Trick

For those that don't know, the matchbox trick is a very simple example of sleight of hand magic. You have an empty matchbox, the magician puts something into it (say, a coin), says the magic words, and the thing vanishes from the box! Then they say the magic words again, and it reappears! Magic.

If you don't know how it's done: very simply, the inner box of the matchbox is divided in half, and when saying the magic words, the sleight of hand is to spin the box round, so that the other half is shown instead, whether that's empty (it disappeared!) or full (it reappeared!).

The Hints

I first thought that this season might be a matchbox trick when Gabriel's matchbox first appeared on screen - after all, it's clearly important, there's a mystery to be solved, Muriel seems shocked by it, and we know Aziraphale's a magician. I thought it'd be a trick that plays out on screen, and he'd be the one to figure it out.

I was even more convinced of it when Michael examined the box for the first time. Because she doesn't just open it at one end to see if it's empty - she opens it at both, one after the other. And yet she doesn't take the whole inner box out (that would reveal the divider and give the trick away). So I was certain this was Neil/Douglas/the team giving us a clear but subtle set-up that there would be a matchbox trick this season.

Then there are other references/hints dotted throughout the season, too:

In episode 3, the Resurrectionist pub sign has two sides to it - Aziraphale only notices one on the way in, but we're shown both, and then he notices the other one on the way out. We're being shown how the trick is done, even if the characters in the show don't understand it yet.

In episode 4, Aziraphale performs another, slightly different sleight of hand magic trick by replacing the photograph in the envelope with a pamphlet instead. This is a slightly weaker link to the specific trick of the matchbox, and arguably the gun trick has just as much sleight of hand (mouth?) in it, but since it's close-up magic I thought it was relevant, like Neil saying to us: 'close-up sleight of hand tricks are important here'.

And of course, empty matchbox, empty cardboard box, empty archangel mind. There seemed to be a thread between the three, so I thought the 'important thing to prevent something terrible happening' would be in the cardboard box, and Gabriel's memories would still be in his head, you just needed to metaphorically turn him around to get them to reappear.

So I spent most of the season convinced that Gabriel's 'empty' cardboard box with a 'this way up' sign on it held an extra-dimensional space that could only be accessed by opening it upside down (the arrows pointing downwards, the direction he'd metaphorically gone from Heaven).

And I was... half right. You did in fact need to flip the box over to figure out the trick. But you didn't need to open it, the answer was just scrawled on the bottom. Huh. Okay, fair enough. Close enough.

The Theory

I was willing to accept that half-right was close enough on the cardboard box front. Maybe the attention to the matchbox was just telling us to flip it over, not open it upside down. Maybe Michael opening both sides of the matchbox didn't really mean what I thought it meant at all, it was just a coincidence or a red herring or the only thing important about it was its existence, not it being opened. Maybe the way the show highlighted the text on the matchbox was meant to hint that you should look for writing on the cardboard box, and that was all.

Then I read this meta by @ariaste. Now, I'm not sure I fully believe in it (I've been burned before by complex fan theories), but it's certainly thorough and convincing. And if it is correct... then maybe the matchbox trick was intended to be there, as yet another setup with no payoff. Maybe it's another clue that things aren't all what they seem.

Maybe the whole of Season 2 is a vanishing act - on Gabriel, on memory, on Aziraphale and Crowley's relationship - and the answer, all that's been lost, will be returned to us in Season 3. When the quote on the matchbox will make sense, when all of the dropped threads and setups-with-no-payoffs will be cascaded into action, when the box will be opened rather than only flipped over without anything being revealed.

Maybe this is nonsense rambling. Maybe I'm seeing details that aren't there. But either way, I trust Neil. Season 3 will be worth it, I believe that much. Everything will be okay in the end.

[diet-poison]

You're at a magic show. You pick a card from the deck, then put it back without showing me. I move on with the show. Years later your husband is having emergency surgery. I come out to say he didn't make it. But what's this behind my surgical mask? That's right your 9 of clubs

[trashyswitch]

Day 29: Magic

Jameson Jackson and Marvin have a little competition. Is magic real? Or is magic just tricks with the audience? Jameson learns the truth the hard way...

And now, some egos content! Hope you all enjoy!

Marvin was sitting on the couch, showing Jamie his magical powers. Now, Jamie knew Marvin had always had these powers. But he had rarely seen them in action. Marvin was moving a deck of cards around with his green magic, showing Jamie how well he could move them around in interesting patterns. 

Jamie smiled a bit, enjoying it. But he couldn’t help but make one little comment: ‘That’s not really magic…that’s just telekinesis.’ Jamie signed to him. 

“Telekinesis IS magic.” Marvin stated. “Your version of magic is called ‘Movie Magic’.” He mentioned. “Nothing like real magic.” 

Jamie smirked and crossed his arms. ‘Magic isn’t real. Magic is just brain tricks.’ Jamie signed. 

Marvin smirks and lifts up one of the cards. “Is that so?” He flips the card around, revealing it to be white with the text [Prove it] on it. 

Jamie smirked and took half the deck of cards before signing ‘Watch and learn’ with his left hand. Jamie shuffled the deck of cards and spread them out like a fan. ‘Pick a card.’ Jamie signed. 

Marvin raised an eyebrow and smirked, taking a card from the deck and looking at it. “Do I put it back?” Marvin asked. 

Jamie nodded and showed him the opened deck. After placing the card in, Jamie sandwiched the card and shuffled it in his hands. 

Marvin raised an eyebrow. “Damn, mate! You’re not even keeping an eye on where the card is!” Marvin reacted. 

Jamie smirked and looked up at him as he kept shuffling. He was determined to prove him wrong, and show him that real magic didn’t exist. Right as Marvin was about to say something else, Jamie put the deck together and hit the bottom of the deck. Suddenly, one single card flew out of the deck about 5 feet above them! 

Marvin widened his eyes and dropped his jaw as he watched the card spin down. “Holy shit!” He reacted. 

Jamie caught it with two fingers, and flipped it around, showing Marvin while mouthing the words ‘This your card?’. 

Marvin covered his mouth. “Holy-” He cleared his throat and pulled himself together. “Yup, it is.” He told him. “Not bad, JJ.” Marvin responded, appreciating the magic trick. “But how does that prove that magic isn’t real?” Marvin asked him next. 

Jamie smirked and opened the rest of the deck. There was an elastic around a few cards that crossed in the middle of the deck. He pulled on the elastic, emphasizing its stretchiness. With this, Marvin realized that elastic must’ve provided Jamie the ability to ‘slingshot’ the card out of the deck. 

“Okay, okay…fair enough. Magic tricks are just tricks.” Marvin admitted. “But what about this:” Marvin used his green magic to pick up the card that was in his hand. Jamie let go of it, and watched the card levitate. “Does this look like magic?” Marvin asked him. 

Jamie raised an eyebrow, and smirked a bit. He grabbed the card and tried to pull it down. But to his surprise, the card didn’t drop. Actually, his hand remained upwards. Jamie’s smirk wiped off his face as he tried to pull it down…but once again, it proved to be pointless. Jamie widened his eyes and pulled one more time…and again, it just wouldn’t budge. His face grew visibly annoyed. 

Marvin was just giggling as he watched. “Awww, can’t get the card, JJ?” Marvin teased. 

Jamie verbally growled as he started pulling on the card like a cartoon character. This alone made Marvin laugh harder. “Ohoho my god! You’re really heaving on the thing!” He reacted. “You need a little help with that?” Marvin asked him, moving his hand up. 

Suddenly, Jamie froze and started kicking the air as he was raised up by the magic of the card. Since Jamie’s hands were gripping the card, he didn’t have any hands to sign! So his visual comedy was the only thing showing Marvin how he was reacting. 

And his reactions made Marvin laugh again. “Poor JJ…” Marvin walked closer to Jamie, and watched as he started aiming his kicking feet towards him. “Oh come now, mate.” Marvin caught his foot. “Let’s leave this PG, okay?” Marvin encouraged. 

Jamie started pulling on his foot, and managed to pull it out of his grip. “Not bad, JJ. But can you handle THIS?” Marvin started tickling his exposed armpits. This made Jamie throw his head back with a big smile on his face. 

“Look at that! Mr. Jackson here appears to be ticklish~” Marvin teased. 

Jamie shook his head, kicking his feet almost wildly. 

“No?! But I’m tickling you right now, and you’re laughing!” Marvin reacted dramatically. “Either I’ve been living under a rock my whole life, or someone is lying about being ticklish~” Marvin teased. 

Jamie shook his head vigorously.

“Aww…What’s wrong, Jamie? Can’t handle the tickle-tickle-tickles?” Marvin asked him. 

Jamie attempted to shoot him a glare…but due to how ticklish he was, the glare looked more goofy than threatening. 

“Oh my! Was that…a glare? Are you really trying to give me the mom look?!” Marvin asked. 

Jamie audibly snorted and hung his head. 

“Awww, now you’re getting all shy on me! How cute!” Marvin kept teasing. “What would happen if I just…” Marvin moved his fingers down to his belly, earning another snort from Jamie. “Oooooh! I see someone’s got a ticklish tummy-wummy~” Marvin teased, skittering his fingers on his somewhat visible bare belly. 

Marvin could see Jamie trying to yell ‘NO!’, but couldn’t actually voice it. The poor man could only lip sync it. 

“Is someone trying to tell me something?” Marvin teased. “Is someone trying to tell me ‘No no no! No tickling! I’m so ticklish! I’m gonna die! Aaah!’? Is that what you’re trying to tell me?” Marvin asked him playfully. 

Jamie audibly snorted and nodded his head for the first time that afternoon. 

“Ooooh! Looks like someone’s admitting it! I’m so proud of you, Jamie! Admitting the truth like a big boy!” Marvin teased rather evilly. “I wonder what else you could admit if I just kept asking you ‘yes or no’ questions…” Marvin teased evilly as he moved his wiggling fingers down to his hips. 

Jamie snorted yet again, before slowing down his kicks a little bit. It looked like Jamie’s ‘giggles’ and wiggling were lessening due to the spot change. Marvin could safely guess that Jamie’s hips were a little less ticklish than his armpits, ribs or even his tummy. But of course, he had to ask. Marvin giggled. “Is someone less ticklish on their hips?” Marivn asked. 

Jamie nodded his head almost right away. 

“Oh wow! Looks like these hips DON’T lie!” Marvin teased. “But are they just as truthful if I dig into your hips?” Marvin asked as he started digging his fingers a little deeper into his hips. 

Right away, Jamie threw his head back with an audible wheeze. 

“Holy shit!” Marvin reacted. “Is this more ticklish?!” He asked. 

Jamie lowered his head down and nodded his head. 

“Looks like I was right! Such a ticklish little dapper boy.” Marvin teased, before bringing his hands back and poking his side. By this point, Jamie was contemplating letting go of the card so he could get away. Cause a little reminder: Jamie was STILL holding onto the card with both his hands! And by some god out there, Jamie had not let go of the card yet. He was still holding on for dear life, as if he still had a point to make. But evident by the tickles and his deep red blush, Jamie has most likely lost his point. So…is there really a point in still holding on?

“I’m impressed you’re still holding on! You’ve got some wicked arm stre-” Marvin started to say, before Jamie finally let go and dropped down to the ground. “Oh nevermind.” Marvin finished his sentence, before picking up the card and making the magic go away. “Down he goes.” He added. 

Jamie was holding his sides, trying to calm himself down from the tickle attack. He rested on the ground for a few more minutes, before slowly getting himself back up. ‘That was mean.’ 

Marvin giggled. “But I was right…Do you believe me now?” Marvin asked him with a smirk. Jamie tilted his head. ‘Believe you?’ He looked confused. 

Marvin nodded his head. “Yeah! That magic is real!” Marvin responded. 

Jamie widened his eyes and nodded his head. ‘Yeah. I believe you.’ He signed back. 

Marvin smiled. “Alright, good. Now that THAT’S done…Do you have any questions, Mr. Movie Magic?” Marvin asked him. 

Jamie thought for a moment. Gosh…Questions…He had a lot of them. So many questions to ask… He started with one single question: ‘How do you summon the magic?’ Jamie asked him. 

Marvin smiled brightly and pulled out his mask. “Good question, JJ.” Marvin put it onto his face and closed his eyes as he used the mask to summon more magic. Jamie watched in awe as a symbol showed up in Marvin’s hands, and lit up Marvin’s body in a greenish majestical glow. Marvin slowly separated his hands, and opened his eyes before removing the mask. “This mask helps me control my magic. But I’ve also been trained to control it without the mask.” Marvin explained. 

‘Wow…’ Jamie spelled out, making Marvin laugh in response. ‘Can…Can you lift me up?’ Jamie signed next. 

Marvin smiled brightly and shrugged his shoulders. “I think so? I can certainly try.” Marvin admitted as he put his mask back on. Summoning his magic with his hands, Marvin moved his fingers around and covered Jamie in the same greenish glow. With that done, Marvin moved his hands and began to make Jamie’s body levitate. To Jamie’s surprise, he actually started rising up! Holy shit! He was flying! He was actually flying!!!

Jamie’s excitement was super evident on his face. He was throwing his hands in the air, and signing sentences rapidfire. 

“Oh my god, you’re excited!” Marvin reacted, laughing. “I’ve never seen you so excited about stuff like this before!” Marvin admitted. 

Jamie gasped silently and signed the word ‘Up!’ over and over again. 

“Really? You wanna go higher?” Marvin asked. “Okay!” He raised Jamie up a little bit more, making Jamie spin and silently cheer. But Marvin REALLY busted a gut laughing when Jamie started doing backflips while surrounded by the magic. It was honestly super entertaining! He looked so happy! And to think Jamie was only recently trying to prove that magic wasn’t real! Crazy how quickly things change…

[thatsbelievable]

[incorrectjackboxquotes]

Jerri: *has trapped MM in a glass box filled with water to test that magic trick*

Master Mentalist: "I should have expected this. Well, this is the end for me."

Master Mentalist: *dramatically acts like he's drowning, despite clearly being fine.*

Jerri: *is done* "MM, can you just die?"

The others: *laughing*

Master Mentalist: "I'm kinda thirsty actually, hold on." *somehow WALKS OUT OF THE GLASS BOX*

Jerri: *stammers in confusion*

...

Jerri: "Have you seen how many hours this man has with magic?!"

Master Mentalist: *comes back with a glass of water, and just walks back into the box of water*

Schmitty: *laughing through tears* "He's got some water!"

Master Mentalist: "I had to take a break from drowning to drink a glass of water."

Jerri: "THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!!"

Master Mentalist: "Okay, have I drowned yet?"

[weheartstims]

may I request a bi lyney stimboard, from genshin? flowers, magic tricks, and sparklers would be appreciated! ✩°｡⋆⸜(˙꒳​˙ )

Lyney (Genshin Impact) with flowers, magic tricks, and sparklers!

🌷|🪄|🌷 🪄|🌷|🪄 🌷|🪄|🌷

Banner credit: 🎇

[obsidian-sphere]

Magic books by Dunninger the magician

Mostly self published, or published by Hugo Gernsback.

Popular Magic Vol. II (1929)

Popular Magic and Card Tricks (1929)

Here's Fun for Young and Old: Dunninger’s Magic Tricks (1940)