#pendulum summoning I don’t understand at all but I’ve seen people use them and they look like fun too

[vergilboyfriend]

Ok why don’t we like arc v I think it’s cute also if performapals were good they’d be a lot of fun

[witchyintention]

Deities: What Are They, How to Work With Them & How to Find Them.

As a beginner witch deities are exciting and most want to jump into it right away. As someone who works with 7 let me tell you it is draining. Most people will simply tell you a big fat NO! At the mention of deities and not really tell you why it's a no for beginners. For one it takes a lot out of you. For two deities are a big step in your practice and you must work on the fundamentals before you even think of working with them. If you don't work on your grounding, shadow work, mediation and basic knowledge of witchcraft things can spiral out of control. This can get very dangerous very quickly. Deities are gods (or simply higher beings. I refer them to gods often so just keep this as a note) after all and someone weak trying to handle something powerful is disastrous. 

Think of tv, video games or movies. When someone who doesn't know what they are doing trying to summon something they have no business summoning it turns into a horror shit show. 

This is kinda how you should think of deities. However you are more than capable of worshipping them just like any other religion. Pray and leave offerings. You can even ask for guidance from them and that's perfectly fine. But do reframe from actually using them in your spell work.

Let me tell you about the difference. I have yet to go into spell work but you always cast a circle. So working with would be talking with a guide during any point of a spell. Your circle is a sacred space that's intended for your energy. By inventing other beings into the circle you are allowing them access to your energies.

When seeking help you pray and ask for a sign. Remember to keep this way from any sort of spellwork, you do not want just anyone to have access to your energies. 

Any time that you invite them into your circle, they are able to use your energy and feed off it. Now inviting them can be as simple as saying their name. From that point you are working with them. Because once they can work with your energy they can effect your spellwork. If it's an entity, that can then cause potential harm. By allowing them in your circle you're opening up the chance of that happening. Spells could go wrong or you could end up in the hospital. There are many stories of novice witches opening their circle to these entities because they don't know any better. Many ended up in the hospital and even dead.

I have said witchcraft, as fun and exciting as it is, can be very dangerous. I do not tell you the things I do to scare you but to educate you. You need to know exactly what you're going into. And that is the purpose of this series.

Though I have been saying deities this also includes spirit guides such as the Fae, Angels Ancestors and everything in between. When you do get to this point in your practice you can in fact have a mix of all of them. I primarily work with the greek pantheon however I have called upon others to aid me in the message they were trying to give. For example I do not work with Apollo however a friend of mine had been seeing signs of him along with the name being whispered in the back of their mind. 

(I'll take any chance to include anime. 😅)

This friend came to me to see if it was realy Apollo or something else that was pretending to be the god. This also frequently happens with beginner witches. They are more prone to believing something that isn't a god when told it is. This friend knew that and consulted me about it. As a result I found out it was Apollo and had him aid me in the message he wished to tell this friend through tarot. 

This was an example of me working with a god who I do not usually work with. However it is very much okay and actually encouraged to do some reading into Spirit  guides such as deities, Angel's and so on. Read about their lore and things associated with them. This will help you later or even now if you have been seeing signs from them. 

However if you anything like me you'll fall far down the rabbit hole of deities. I have been studying on greek and roman mythology since the 4th or 5th grade. Later when I moved halfway through 5th grade I was thrown into a group where we would choose a topic and do research on it. The theme we chose was greek mythology. The god I chose was Hades. I had always felt Hades had a bad reputation. With that I had this crazy goal to try and explain to everyone in my class he wasn't a bad guy. That he was just a guy who loves his wife and dog. 

Here I am nearly ten years later working with him. Did it take me a while? Yes. Will it take you this long? Maybe not. For me most of the years I have spent being a witch was studying rather than actual spellwork. You learn by doing, sure but when you already know the knowledge, putting it into action is much easier. Not to mention not all of us could do actually spell work due to this and that. Whatever reason you might be in the broom closet for.

Now once you have done your research keep an eye out for potential signs. It's best to look into all the gods. I had a witch who had thought she was dealing with Hades when it actually turned out to be Anubis. They both similar for what they rule over so getting them confused as a beginner is understandable. Especially when you only do research on one type of lore like greek. It's best to explore all the lore of all the different types. You have Egyptian, Greek/Roman, Norse, Celtic, Japanese, Angels, Fae and so many more. Do you have to read up about all of them? No but you probably should.

But let's be real here. Not everyone is going to. So pick maybe five that stand out to you then most and go fall down the rabbit hole of spirit guides. Also do keep in mind that if you see signs of one they could simply have a message for you rather than being a potential deity to work with. Like I had explained earlier with Apollo. He had a message for my friend and it was nothing more than that. Spirit guides of any sort can come and go as they please. Some might only come because you need them then in that moment.

What I have noticed is most don't have more than three spirit guides. I'm sure there are many who have more but from what I have seen in finding them for people they have had three or less. I find the hardest ones to figure who exactly they are, there the ancestors. I've had a few witches ask me to help find their guides and it was an ancestor who dated back 500 years ago. At that point I have absolutely no idea how to tell you exactly who this person was. Especially since not everyone in the world was written in a history book for doing something worthy of being written in books.

Also not many can actually trace their family tree that far back anyways. I sure as hell can't. 

Now you're probably asking when is the right time to actually start working with them? Well it differs from person to person. You can ask a more established witch like myself. Other times you just know. But I wouldn't trust that "I just know feeling" until you have strong intuition skills. I have many of my Protégés and regulars asking if they are ready all the time. How do I know? Easy divination. I have a strong bond with my deities so they always tell me the truth even when it might hurt me. Sometimes I have to tell them that when I notice a hesitation in their answering.

And truthful you will know when you know. Meeting mine just happened out of the blue. I was doing tarot readings during a live broadcast when I was suddenly hit with fatigue. I had the sudden urge to ask my pendulum if my spirit guides were present. I had a hunch of who they might have been and went through the list. If they said yes I then gave a true or false question about said deities lore. Let me tell you meeting all seven of them was exhausting. That night I did 8 readings with 8 different gods. One wasn't even my spirit guide or Patron God. Zeus just felt like hanging out.

And though I say you will just know when the time is right many will still just take that leap even when they are not ready. When it comes to deities you need to be cautious and actually ready for it. Don't just jump in because it sounds fun and you want them now. If you are uncertain about things in regards to them simply ask for help. I have built a community for exactly that.

Everyone needs help from time to time, even me. Do not be scared to ask for help because it's better you ask then things going wrong. I am always open for you to ask questions about the craft. I am always willing to help. If I do not know the answer I will however find it for you and the information will be trustworthy unlike the internet most of the time.

Witchcraft is exciting. I know. Yes it's a lot of fun. But please, you know yourself better than you think. Do your shadow work, meditate, learn your history and if you need help seek it out. 

That's all I have for today so until next time stay witchy! Blessed Be.

✩ Don't Steal Other Peoples Work ✩

Written:

June 28, 2020

By:

Reine Alicis

[naughtynutboy]

you know, i will never understand all the fearmongering around ouija boards, especially when it comes from spiritual people and witches. like... it's just another divination tool, just like tarot and pendulums and anything else

like i just don't get how some people can say to never EVER touch a ouija board, don't look at one, don't even BREATHE in the direction of one or else you will summon anything and everything from the deepest pits of hell and immediately curse your whole bloodline for centuries to come, but then turn around and ask their pendulum what they should have for lunch.

like you do realize that a pendulum and a ouija board are essentially the same thing, right? they work on the same principles, you have to touch something and interpret it's movement as an answer, it's just that one of them has 2 very shitty horror movies made about it

idk i just don't like how ouija boards are written off as evil and bad when i genuinely believe they can be just as valuable a divination tool as any other. like there's so much potential to use it as something other than just a tool to talk to the dead but a lot of people don't want to explore that potential because of all the fear surrounding it

i have a ouija board. i've kept it under my bed for years, and in recent times i've even kept it under my bed and out of the box. i've only used it once, in my own house mind you, and i've had absolutely zero negative experiences. no nightmares either.

obviously, you should still use it safely and with protection, as you should with any other divination tool. i'm not saying nothing bad can ever happen from using a ouija board or discrediting anyone if they have had negative experiences with a ouija board. if ouija boards creep you out but pendulums don't, i'm not saying that you should make yourself uncomfortable just to use a ouija board because that fear will only be amplified and make you feel worse.

i'm just saying that there seems to be a very clear double standard with ouija boards in the spiritual community, at least as far as i've seen, and in my own personal experience ouija boards are really nothing to be afraid of so long as you give it the proper respect, as with any other divination tool out there.

[the-yugioh-theorist]

Will the Summoning methods be Linked?

I had an epiphany recently about this still-in-progress season of VRAINS, and it has mostly to do with the hypothesis floating around about the re-introduction of all the different Summoning methods. So far we’ve seen a Ritual and a couple of Fusions, and now people seem to think that Synchro will be seen next episode, which is understandable given its title, “Tuning Bullets”. There’s also a rumour that Playmaker will perform a Synchro Summon within the next couple of weeks.

The only issue I have with this, though, is that VRAINS, as a series, introduced Link monsters as a new mechanic, and it changed the game like it had never changed before. Now every monster that gets Summoned from the Extra Deck requires either an open Extra Monster Zone (only one per Duelist, remember, unless you Extra Link) or a present Link monster. This on its own is a huge nerf to all of those other Extra Deck monsters. It’s no wonder everyone exclusively used Link Monsters during the first season.

And yet, now those older Summoning methods are creeping back in during the second season. Fusion is back, Synchro is (supposedly) back, and will we see Xyz later too? Ritual didn’t gain the same restrictions as those three, so it’s OK, but nonetheless, why do this now? From the moment the advent of Link Summoning came about, it’s already been well-established that Fusion, Synchro and Xyz are all dependent on Link Summons and don’t grant any more Summoning power than Link Monsters do; in fact, arguably they take it away. So besides having one powerful monster at a time, is there a point to this? Other than the marriage of Link Monsters with other mechanics via recently-unveiled card effects, the only motivation I can think of so far is fanservice, which seems quite foolish if there isn’t some more transcendent technique to which this can build up...or is there?

I’ve noticed a trend over each of the series, going back as far as GX. In DM, the game was still in its infancy, so at the time there was plenty to explore even with the limited set of cards and mechanics that existed at the time. GX took these mechanics a step further by introducing new ways to Fusion (e.g. Fusion Gate, Miracle Fusion, Dragon’s Mirror, Dark Fusion, Super Polymerization) and, to a lesser extent, Ritual Summon. Then came 5D’s, but here’s what’s important: it wasn’t enough that 5D’s introduced Synchro Summoning, it had to take it to its furthest extremes, including not just new Fusion Monsters that require Synchro Monsters as Fusion Material, but also Accel Synchro Summoning and its further evolutions. Then ZEXAL introduced Xyz Monsters, but not just Xyz Monsters; Chaos Xyz Evolution and Rank-Up-Magic too.

The point is, whenever a new Summoning mechanic is introduced, it’s far from being perfected. The start of a new series shows the birth of these new mechanics, and then they grow and evolve to unprecedented horizons as the series progresses. ARC-V had the grandest example to date with its Pendulum monsters; that wasn’t enough, oh no! It also gave us Pendulum monsters that were Xyz monsters, or Synchro monsters, or Fusion monsters! (Still no Ritual Pendulum monster, though...come on guys!) This ultimately culminated in the creation of Supreme King Z-ARC, which was a Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum monster all in one! Granted, the real card is merely a Fusion Pendulum monster, but still impressive.

So what does this mean for VRAINS and its Link Summoning mechanic? I think the writers have greater ambitions for it than anything we have yet seen. Link Summoning had a spectacular run in the first season, and now the time is ripe to witness its evolution. In fact, arguably, we’ve already seen this evolution begin in the form of Link Spells. Of course, the only one so far is Judgment Arrows, and it’s currently an anime-exclusive card, but still, there’s no reason why it couldn’t become a real card. So what’s in store for Link Summoning’s evolution? I’ll tell you what I think could be a possibility: Link Fusion, Link Synchro and Link Xyz.

I’d rather let people foster thoughtful discussion about these mechanics than explain them myself, so I’ll cut this off here. But I will say this: if this is indeed the direction taken by Link Summoning, it’ll surely be something awesome! Let me know your thoughts about this, and feel free to ask if you’re curious to hear more!

[skittymon]

So after some encouragement from twitter, I’ve decided to write down my feelings about the Yusaku/Revolver rivalry, since their second duel is coming up, and I don’t have the highest exceptions in it, except that were bound to learn more about the Lost Incident, and Ignis.

Also to keep it fair I’ll be analyzing the past rivals only up to their second duel, with the exception of GX. That being said let’s dive in.

I’ll be basing rivals and their rivalries based off three points:

1. Their motivation to win.

2. Their effect on the protagonist, or vise versa.

3. Their threat as a rival.

Off the bat Revolver does hold for point three: he’s the leader of a terrorist group, however as a rival Revolver lost most of his treat, at least to me, after losing to Yusaku. Of course other rivals have as well, but I respect them more as a rival and character than Revolver. Let’s go over previous rivals.

To get the easy ones out of the way: Reiji and Kaito. 

While both of their first duels against their protagonists ended inclusive, it’s very clear Reiji and Kaito would have both won their duel. Which is amazing considering protagonists is ygo are usually unbeatable. So their threat as a rival stands.

Not only that, their motivation which we learn well before their second duel against the protagonists is phenomenal: Reiji’s discover his father started an interdimensional war and wants to stop it, he’s a rival to Yuya to push him further to evolve him and his dueling so Yuya can become a powerful Lancer. Kaito wants to save his little brother who is suffering and gets off on pain now. He antagonizes Yuma and Astral because they hold the number cards that can save Haruto.

Finally, their effect on the protagonists. After Yuma and Astral’s duel the two are afraid, of losing and disappearing and I’m pretty sure after that Yuma goes to the Duel Temple, I may be mistaken. Yuya, learning other people can use Pendulum Summoning, shuts down once again and it takes a duel with Shuzo to pull out of it.

So both Kaito and Reiji are phenomenal rivals, the best if I might say. 

And while both did win their duel against Yuma and Yuya the second time, those duels happen at later points (ep 72 (i think) and ep 51 of Zxl and A5 respectively) which is later than the presumably ep 34-36 range that the second duel of Yusaku and Revolver will take place, so these points were ignored will giving Kaito and Reiji their checks.

Next, Jack, since his first (on screen) duel with Yusei ended inclusive as well. However, according to Jack, Yusei would have won their duel had it continued. 

So instead of effecting Yusei, the inclusive duel effects Jack and causes him to struggle and wonder if he is worthy of being King. So their rivalry passes the second check.

Now motivation, Jack’s motivation prior to their first is to find a better life than the shitty one he had in the satellite. He achieves this goal and vows to never look back. But when Yusei, his past, comes after him he strives to beat to prove that he’s better than Yusei, the satellite, that he’s better than garbage. So point one checks.

Point three for all the rivals from now one is gonna be iffy because they lose against the protagonist, and that to me, makes them not a threat. But for Jack, he didn’t technically lose, and as the final boss for the fortune cup and seeing his resolve to beat Yusei makes it hard to willingly want him to lose.

Next we have the interesting case of Manjoume, who sadly has never beaten Judai. Revolver has a good chance of being on this boat too considering than chances of Yusaku losing the duel with everything at stake is slim to none. But what makes Manjoume such a good rival in my book?

Let’s take a look at point two first: effect on protagonist or vise versa. Honestly, to me, Manjoume doesn’t make a difference on Judai, the only ones to do so are Ryou and Edo, but ho boy does Judai make an impact on him.

After losing his credibility from being defeated by a Osiris Red, Manjoume loses practically everything, favor from his teachers, his ‘friends’ and I’m pretty its at this point he loses respect from his brothers. So what does he do? He builds himself back up.

That episode where Manjoume is outside South Academy, looking for cards and climbing to the top has to be my favorite in season 1. Hell Judai was my favorite protag before Yuya came along and damn did I want him to lose so Manjoume’s efforts could pay off - point one checks out.

A well written ‘loser’ who may have never beaten his rival but damn do I want him to. 2/3 points to him, I understand why people would claim Ryou or Edo are Judai’s true rivals.

Finally we have Kaiba and Shark the two who lost their first duel against their rival, but won the rematch.

Now, only Shark actually won out of skill (granted season ones rules are bullshit), but I’m 80% sure Yuma was over confident in that match, I don’t remember. But lets look at the lead up to those duels since that’s where we are in Vr.

I’m gonna be honest and say I hated Kaiba for the longest time. He’s an asshole and at like six years old destroying someones property is the worst thing someone can do. But once Mokuba was introduced? I felt bad for the guy. HELL, he had to see Mokuba’s unmoving body - HIS ONLY FAMILY THAT LIKES AND HE GIVES A FLYING FUCK ABOUT. 

Sadly I have to leave out the AMAZING second duel of their and what Kaiba does to be fair but I will say that point two checks out with Yugi after that duel.

But what about point three? Kaiba lost to Yugi before. HOWEVER, that won was practically bs as Yugi had managed to summon the one monster that legally causes automatic win, which was now lost. That win had nothing to do with either of their skills, just luck and what cards they happen to have. Without Exodia, Kaiba has a solid chance to defeat Yugi and with the title of World Champion (at least in the dub) Kaiba is very much a real threat. 2/3 points.

Now Shark. Shark is interesting in the fact he doesn’t have a point one at this moment in zxl, thats his entire arc. He doesn’t know what to do with himself so he turns to the thug life. This downward spiral started because he lost to Yuma. And Yuma was able to his journey to becoming a better duelist because of his first duel with Shark. Both influence each other greatly - just in opposite ways. Point two stays.

Now point three is very meh because with Astral’s help, Yuma can win probably easily but at this time in zxl Yuma and Astral relationship is...rocky with Yuma blatantly refusing Astral’s help. But seeing how Shark is even worse off than Yuma his threat as a rival doesn’t stick that well. 

1/3 points however that’s intended in the story and Shark turns this around after their second duel.

Now how does Revolver stack up against the previous rivals? 

I already stated he doesn’t have a threat as a rival and I mean it. ‘He has a powerful new card!’ Yea okay but....look what happens if Yusaku loses:

-Ema stays dead forever

-A bunch of other people will die

-Yusaku would have failed to protect the LINK VRAINS thus breaking his promise to that little boy and god forbid if a protag can’t keep a promise

-No more speed duels which is the series gimmick

-The actual end of the digital age thus no more duel besides table duels and no will watch episode of that

so I hardly doubt Yusaku will lose with all that’s at stake. At most Yusaku wins and Revolver somehow manages to take Ignis from his somehow.

So...no threat. In verse yes, but people watching? lmao hell no.

Point two, effects on the protagonist or vise versa.

....

I got nothing.

Besides getting information from one another (Yusaku learning more about the Lost Incident and Revolver discovering his one of the six kids) from their first duel to know they haven’t effected each other.

Yusaku didn’t stop the KoH, in fact more hooligans apparently joined based on the Another Incidents. No one in the KoH questioned Revolver’s authority despite losing to the guy who causing them the most problems. 

The only thing that might pass is that Yusaku and Ignis’ relationship deepened but consider there’s a good chance Ignis is going to betray him I guess not. Oh and Firewall Dragon showed up, yea (not counting that as influencing since Yusaku could have potentially grab Firewall from any data storm).

So no point two.

Finally point one, what is Revolver’s reason for wanting to beat Yusaku?

Well that’s easy, he wants Ignis!

Why?

Because he’ll destroy the world as we know it!

How?

Uhhhh...

It is really worth putting society back to an era without technology?

Maybe...?

Yes, most likely we’ll learn the answers during the duel but that why I brought ulp the previous rivals. At this point, before any of the other rivals second duel against the protag we have learned:

Kaiba is dueling to save his little brother who’s soul was taken and has seen his lifeless body

Manjoume is dueling to get his respect back after we have seen him fall to the pits and valiantly brought himself back up

Jack is dueling to prove he is King, it’s his destiny, and that he’s more than satellite trash and he won’t go back there.

Shark doesn’t have purpose and Yuma has to throw himself out there to save Shark from ruining his own life.

Kaito is dueling to save his little brother who screams in terror and helps destroy an entire world.

Reiji is dueling to stop his father’s plan and to help bring peace back to the dimensions.

So while Revolver’s motives are noble, there’s not a lot of backbone to them. Does he feel guilty that his father’s project caused this? I know those professor people Faust and Ava did but does he? 

I feel like I don’t know Revolver at all. I know about him, but I don’t know any of his emotions and that just makes him feel like a level boss for Yusaku to defeat, not his rival for the show.

So dude, for me of course, gets a soft 1/3.

So year here you go. I hope after this hyped up duel I’ll learn to like Revolver more cause haha he’s kinda disappointing to me atm.

[mytwitterisdogtoast1]

Pendulums are the worst.

So I’ve been playing the game for a long long time. Long enough that I’ve been here since LOB and have seen the game progress through almost every series. (Haven’t found a decent place to watch Vrains yet so I sit here and wait.) Now firstly let me get a few things out of the way. I am super casual. I’m a fan of playing a card game and new stuff does not bother me. I rolled with the punches for a long time before I finally stopped playing but recently I got back into the game and I figured out what the main issue was and if you read the title you already know where this is going. Pendulums are effectively the worst mechanic of summoning in the game. Now I get it, games need to evolve to stay fresh and let people have something new to play with and I’m not mad at Konami for making new stuff to move the game along and sure, I understand that a ton of changes were made based on the series at hand and how they progressed and so on. I also understand that in order to really get people to buy new product you wanna get things to work in order for you to actually have people NEED/WANT that new product. However, in some respects, you can actually give both people who want to use older stuff and newer stuff a chance to thrive. Let’s look at the mechanics for extra deck summoning we have.       Fusions - You use 2 specific monsters (for the most part) and a magic card to bring them out. Sure fusions have slightly changed to fit the fast pace of the current meta game and also are much stronger than they used to be but it essentially has not changed to something different.      Synchros - Take 2 monsters. Specifically one that has the mechanic to “fuse” them together with any other monsters to equal the amount of stars the monster you want is and you get relatively the same thing as fusion without needing a specific magic card in your deck.      XYZ - Take a specific number of monsters with the same levels and over lay them to basically fuse together but you can only use its effect a limited amount of times based on the monsters “fused” together.      Link - Take a number of monsters or a link monster and some other monsters and summon a monster equal to its link number. It goes in a specific spot so that it can link other monsters and connect them together. It also stays in attack forever because fuck it why not. Now let’s look at the non extra deck summoning mechanics we have.      Pendulum - Grab 2 monsters. Throw them into their own little zones. Look at their special numbers. Summon a shit ton of monsters from your hand or side deck that are able to be specifically summoned through this summoning method. Now I’m not a genius but this looks vastly different to the flow of the game. Now look I could make some complaints here and there about extra decks and how the game has evolved to need more than 15 cards in it for using mechanics that keep using the extra deck except they made a draw card that allows you to banish cards from the extra deck and draw cards for it. But that’s not the argument I’m trying to make. The argument I’m putting forth is that Pendulum is by far the worst mechanic. So why is Pendulum the worst mechanic? Well to be honest it’s because it doesn’t work the same way as the others. Sure it’s a perfectly fine mechanic in and of itself if the game was moving away from the whole idea of using anything BUT Pendulums but they didn’t do that. Pendulums only really work with Pendulums and no I don’t mean you can’t use anything else I mean that 90% of Pendulum themes are specific towards their own types. Look at something from any other era of the game and you can probably find a couple of cards that really can go into any single deck. It’s possible but Pendulums mostly in general only want you to run that mechanic. Now if we took something such as let’s say a Synchro monster you can find a ton of them that can be slapped into any single deck even if you need tuners but there are tons of tuners that work with any single deck and even then krebons and plaguespreader zombie are just amazing cards that just work. There are a ton of cards that work with these mechanics more than anything else and they are just straight up good cards. Look at XYZ and Links the same exact way. Even if we don’t get the best generic cards that work in decks there are a ton of Links and XYZ in general that don’t need specific cards to be summoned that work really well. Pendulums? Well you kind of need them to work with themselves in general which is fine but most of the ones you get specifically only allow you to summon or use their theme. There are barely any non specific things that allow you to use their mechanic on anything and even then the ones that do really really really only benefit their theme. Let’s look at one of the most fair ones to use. Performapals. They benefit hardly anyone outside of their own theme and the ones who are decent don’t have a wide range of monsters who can be summoned with them. In fact the mechanic is so toxic when the rules change happened because Vrains ended they let every other mechanic that wasn’t Pendulum be summoned in the non link area. Then because no one is going to use Pendulums anymore because they lost all the power they had they threw the Pendulum area into the magic and trap area. I understand all the traps and magic cards you play wont stay so it’s not a “big deal” but it ruins an entire mechanic tons of people spent money on and now they can’t possibly use it as much as they want.  I get as a guy who stopped playing when they dropped the second set of Pendulums that my opinion doesn’t “amount to much” but to be fair I still actually like the game. I think the issue is that as much as it is indeed a fun game it changes so hard all the time. Like right now Sevens kind of just threw away the older game and made a new mechanic of older shit exists now, nothing else, and just play your whole damn hand. Also here is a new board. Now I’m not a negative Nancy and I can find myself willing to play it (if it was brought to America and translated or at least just translated so I could print them out and play for funsies) but now no cards from the new stuff work with the old stuff. Although they still pump out older style cards. The issue with that though is without a new summoning mechanic to even change the game Pendulums are still kind of pointless now.  In the end I think my biggest gripe is that this whole mechanic was just either pointless or was bad to begin with. The themes could have been their own extra deck theme. Hell, you could have made them specifically summon from the extra deck but only allow a set amount to be summoned at a time for faster paced summoning while also allowing the mechanic to flow freely on its own. Let’s look at it more like this. Pendulum monsters can summon specific monsters that are also Pendulums from the extra deck. You can play certain pendulum monsters in the deck which would make them spell cards. Then you can take the ones in the extra deck and treat them as specifically monsters and summon them. You would have a limit to the amount of monsters to summon but not the amount to summon. You could a total of 3 times summon 5 monsters. Lastly this would also allow them to not over flow the game with the ridiculous mechanic of resummoning a monster who is a Pendulum monster from the extra deck.  As a person who uses Pendulums for a dark magician deck I made for fun I get that they have a specific use for them. TBH I love the deck I made and wouldn’t want it to be changed. This is for how it works now. However, if that was the way they were meant to be used than in general I think it would have been a better mechanic over all. Either way you look at it, Pendulums are the worst summoning mechanic right now. Compared to others because it has been ruined by the new master rule or the fact that it is in general more unhealthy than other mechanics.

[em-exceeds-change-zearu]

I have a question, because I trust your expert opinion on these matters.... What do you think of yugioh sevens?

sorry it took so long for me to answer you, anon! i was puzzling over how to answer this for a long time, because i really wanted to give my honest opinion but i had a Lot to say and not all of it positive. also i’m in the middle of moving out of my apartment with the husband and that’s really busy lol.

so. hm. okay. given that I’ve only seen the first episode so far (I watched it when it first came out and haven’t gotten the chance to see the other two), I can’t say my opinion will be super informed! however, I can give my initial first impressions based on what I saw from the first time I watched it! the impressions will be under the cut, but let’s just say that my opinions are. Mixed. again, my opinions should be taken with a grain of salt, because i’ve only seen episode one and I really expect the show to show it’s true colors by mid-season, but this is just a really quick first impression after mulling over my initial impressions for a few days. 

I think overall, my impressions of the first episode is that I can see the potential, but the execution is somewhat shoddy. It honestly doesn’t feel like the producers used the extra six months or so from ending VRAINS early to their best advantage here, but there’s an...effort? I can at least see why people are charmed by the show so far. I’ll break it down piece by piece to show what initial problems I had with it that prevented me from enjoying it fully. It’s still a very charming show, and I plan on giving it a chance, but I feel like the show itself is still finding its footing. And that’s to be expected, most ygo spinoffs are just Like That when they start, but it’s definitely one of the weaker starts to a series i’ve seen. I’ll break it down by its aspects to show what I both like and dislike about it!

Setting - Okay, so I’m actually rather charmed by the setting itself. It feels like it’s a direct callout to how the ygo meta has gotten in real life - there are a few decks that stand out over the rest and sometimes tournaments can come down to being between one type of deck and its counter. Yuga wanting to make his own type of dueling because he feels like the world around him is getting stale is incredibly charming, and the rules he’s come up with absolutely feel like something an elementary schooler would come up with (I used to make fun of pendulum summoning being the same type of thing, but this is just straight up reminding me of the days when pokemon trading cards were super popular and none of us little brats knew the rules so we made up our own as we went along). Yuga’s a little kid who dreams about giant dueling robots and wants dueling to have the mystery and fun and pizzaz it used to, and who doesn’t? I support this baby boy and his dueling robot dreams. 

The world around him is established to be pretty restrictive and somewhat eerie as well - the school is largely managed by robots that regulate things down to the smallest level (I don’t think there’s even any adults around, which ???), and even the smallest innovations Yuga does to help make life more efficient, like adding a carrier to his bike to carry his bookbag, are rejected as out of line. There’s actually a nice level of show and don’t tell here and there, like showing how the robots scan each student while greeting them happily at the door, or how duel disks are automatically shut down and locked during school hours. One particularly chilling moment is watching robots clamp down on students trying to trade cards informally in the schoolyard, calmly and cheerily informing them that such trading is prohibited and must be done in a sanctioned G-Corp trading location. What seals the deal is that the student’s don’t express annoyance and anger at this, merely accepting such a restrictive rule as a mildly inconvenient part of life - which shows how such an indoctrinative lifestyle has already affected their manner of thinking. I feel like the first episode would have benefited more from being stretched out into two episodes instead of trying to cram a duel inside the end of the first episode, because the crammed nature of it all meant these moments are very few and far between, lost in how quickly the episode rushes through these plot points.

Characters - Okay, overall the dynamics of our main cast look like they can be really cute. We have our rebellious protagonist that wants to shake up everything and have fun, our uptight class president that wants to enforce the rules but gets swept up in the chaos protag-kun brings, the rival character that thinks protag-kun could change the world around him and looks at him with respect and also might possibly be a chuuni dumbass, and the token female character who’s Totally Not Interested In This Dueling Thing, No Way, Really. But honestly, in the first episode a lot of this characterization is lost in...screaming, actually. They’re very. Loud. Particularly our president, who honestly looks like he’s got multiple facets to his character (he briefly expresses admiration for yuga’s modified bike and its convenience before immediately reverting to screaming about rules, eventually does come around to helping yuga out because he doesn’t want to get Insta-Banned for being near him, etc), but we lose so much of it because, again, he spends 95% of the time screaming. we also get a lot of forced humor and gonk-y reactions that seem kind of exaggerated, partially because said reactions tend to be Spelled Out for us as opposed to just letting us see it happen, but this is lack of how the characters are themselves and more about how they’re being handled so far. which i’ll explain more when i get to talking about storyboarding.

music - it’s...okay? the OP is growing on me and is actually pretty cute, but I’m not getting anything that stands out. the BGM hasn’t really had any pieces that really get my attention so far, but maybe we’ll see something better in the future? i don’t know

storyboarding - okay. I’m not going to be talking about the animation because i’m not harping on the style (although it does admittedly look woefully generic and not very YGO at all) given that they’ve moved to a completely different (and cheaper?) movie studio. i’m not going to talk about the shoddy cgi or the stilted animation or anything like that. i’m specifically talking about the storyboarding itself, how scenes are being framed and arranged, and how the main story is being told. and this key part is where SEVENS entirely falls apart. 

the problem is that the story is going by entirely too fast and is craming all sorts of things into its timeslot. the characters react loudly and obnoxiously to every little thing, with exaggerated pratfalls and gonkfaces as opposed to...actual reactions. it’s understandable from yuga and possibly even the high strung class president, but when even characters that are established to be a little more mellow minded (see, rook and romin) end up acting like that, it kind of contradicts what little we know about them. Not that it’s bad for them to act like that, but it has more impact if we see this after we have established characters for them (although if rook is actually established to be a chuuni dumbass later, i would immediately forgive them for that instance specifically, because that’s adorable). it honestly comes off as the animereaction equivalent of Johnny Test - all the exaggerated sound effects and janky reactions to compensate for the lack of animation or storytelling. it’s kind of upsetting to look at.

speaking of establishing character. It’s honestly done rather poorly for a first episode, which is a problem. I need to have a reason to be invested in these characters, and when you rush through their introductions it leaves me wanting. for example, my previously mentioned example of our class president clearly showing interest in yuga’s inventions but having it completely smothered in his need to appeal to authority and his high strung anxiety is a good point! but we get so little of it that it’s very much lost in his constant screaming and yelling - so seeing him portrayed as part of yuga’s friend group from day one is a bit jarring. another more telling example is rook immediately showing interest in yuga because this kid really keeps trying to modify his duel disk. okay cool. why. why should we care about this. we haven’t seen any instance of him before this, and when he’s introduced he talks about this Secret Hidden Backdoor Legend That’s Totally Prominent!!!! except we don’t see any hints in the series leading up to it, it literally comes out of nowhere. there’s no mystery or mystique in this, we haven’t seen rook try challenging this on his own, he’s just immediately dropping the wham ball of OH YEAH I ALREADY BANNED MYSELF, OOPS. speaking of: why is it bad that they get banned?? what happens? obviously you get locked out of your duel disk but then what? clearly, it should affect these kids’ standing in society somehow because the extreme control over said disks and card management means something, but we see rook attending school like nothing is wrong. nobody notices him, he’s not established as a troublemaker or a wanted figure by the nearby robots, he’s just...there. so there’s no emotional impact to seeing that yuga is one strike away from being banned, or that rook was already Banned (you’d think him getting banned at such a young age would cause Problems, but See it’s Fine, So). also yuga reminiscing about how he’d forgotten what he wanted to do with his new style of rush dueling and how he wanted to bring fun back into it falls really flat because, again, we can’t really see why it’s important for him to do this. him spelling it out for us suddenly when he’s close to losing a duel lacks the emotional impact because we haven’t seen how it affects him specifically. we can see little things - he’s already tried so many times, he keeps printing out little robot designs, he’s somewhat annoyed with being locked out of his disk during school or harranged for every little thing he does, but we haven’t had enough time to see why this is so important to him or why he does what he does. 

again, a large majority of these problems would be solved if they handled this the way zexal and vrains handled it - having most of the worldbuilding be in episode 1 and introducing the main duel mechanic in episode 2 with a full on duel that was started at the end of episode 1. maybe show some standard dueling as a contrast and use those show-not-tell instances from the setting to show how restrictive or repetitive it is (maybe yuga and co hanging out at one of those G-Corp Mandated Trading Stations after school and watching/playing some duels? yuga trying to show off rush dueling in there and getting kicked out?), then introduce rush dueling as a thing in episode 2 when he’s introduced to the Secret Backdoor Trial by Rook after seeing hints/rumors/etc about Mystery Programmer Man Who Did This For Some Reason. but rushing it through like this, especially when introducing a Whole New Dueling Format AND a new type of card, isn’t ideal. but trying to cram things together like this makes the weakness in storyboarding really stand out, and it taints an otherwise good story. not that the story in itself is bad, but it’s not presented particularly well.

it could be like how vrains clearly improved in storyboarding after episode 14 or so, after the initial rush was over with, so i’m willing to give sevens another chance on this. but this isn’t a very strong way to introduce us to the characters or the world they want to show us. 

overall: charming ideas, shoddy execution, will be looking to see if they improve on this. i’m willing to give it a chance, though, because yuga is a darling boy that deserves it. also the class president. i may not remember his name but i also stan him.

[furederiko]

Time is of the essence here! That's why we shouldn't waste another day, and hurry ourselves for the recap-view of Kyuranger episode 25!!!

- Why is the Horologium Kyu Globe so important? According to Tsurugi, it governs TIME throughout the Kyuranger's universe. With said ability, it will enable the team to travel back in time and figure out what truly happened in the previous fight against Don Armage. Basically, it's the most powerful Kyu Globe of all, right? - As shown in the preview, this episode also serves as a Kotarou focus episode. And it doesn't waste time to get into that side as well, as the young boy immediately shares to his big bro Stinger about his desire to see a special person from the past: his mother Akemi Sakuma (played by Mizuho Hata, who previously portrayed Mugi Grafton... a.k.a. the third former yellow in this show!). He reveals that she had passed away not long after his little brother Jirou was born... Aaaaaaaw -_-. Dang it, do we really have to start an episode in such a melancholic way? Even Stinger is on the verge of breaking down... NOTE: For the record, Kotarou's mother is never addressed by her actual name throughout the episode. Her name Akemi is featured in the credit, thus I'll be using that for convenience purposes. - Remember the closing bit of episode 24, with Spada and Raptor alerting the ORION to follow them to Planet Tocky as soon as possible? Is it because Tecchu has already arrived and is attacking them? Not really. The 'distress call' was more about solving the planet's peculiar 'system'. Which is where this episode gets really NEAT. NOTE: Starting this episode, I'll be writing the name of the Rebellion spaceship in all capitals. Just to further separate it from Tsurugi's comrade Olion, the other survivor of the legendary battle in the past. Beside, I just found out that 'ORION' actually stands for 'Offensive Resistance Interstellar Orbiter of RebellioN'. Yes, took me 25 episodes to land on that information! LOL. - Apparently, the flat-shaped planet contains 12 keys placed in 12 different, clock-wise locations. Basically, it's a giant CLOCK when observed directly from above the ground. These levers need to be activated within 30 minutes from one another, in order to make it work and bring out the hidden Horologium Kyu Globe. Failing to set them up on time, means restarting from scratch. Yes, as if borrowing that pesky time-based puzzles from the "Tomb Raider" rule book! Clearly Spada and Raptor alone are TOO shorthanded to get this job done. No way they can each trigger 6 keys in time. Hence they have no choice but to call on the other members! Fun fact: Horologium is the Pendulum Constellation, which is usually depicted in form of a giant clock. The planet's name Tocky/Toki, is clearly derived from the Japanese word 'Toki', that literally means 'Time/Hour'. As a verb, the word 'Toku' also means 'To Solve/Untie', which itself plays out as a nice pun for this episode's clock-themed contraption. Over-Time might be using Tocky as their choice of translation, as a reference to 'Tick-Tock', the onomatopoeia or sound produced by a pendulum clock. - Each Kyuranger departs towards their respective hand number, which is a truly neat little touch. So Lucky goes to #1, Stinger to #2, Spada to #9, Kotarou to #11, and so on. Unfortunately, things might not be as easy as it seems. How so? Because specters from their past/memory begin materializing to confront/distract them from their goal. Sort of like mini-bosses, if you prefer to compare it to video games. - And they are? In order of appearances: Eridrone for Lucky, Scorpio for Stinger, Gonessy for Hammy, original Madako for Spada, Kuervo for Tsurugi, Supreme Commander Big Bear for Commander Xiao, Virgo-Garu for Garu, Naga for Balance, Professor Anton for Champ, Otome game-esque Suitors for Raptor (nope, NOT kidding XD), and last but not least... Akemi for Kotarou. The last one shouldn't be a surprise, considering the boy was indeed thinking about her just before they arrived on the planet. - Before we proceed, let's do a quick analysis. There are THREE type of 'Memories' that come into play in these scenes. Pure comic-reliefs, in the case of Garu and Raptor. Clear cut antagonists, like the case of Lucky and Stinger. And the third is important/precious people of the past, like what's happening with Xiao and Kotarou. Some intersect one another. Intriguingly, there are TWO specters that are acting... somewhat oddly out of character: Prof. Anton, and also Kuervo! We know that both should've been allies, yet they end up attacking Champ and Tsurugi as if... they are antagonists. I know this might not mean much, and it can very well be a plot inconsistency at best. On the other hand, I also can't help but wonder if it's actually... foreshadowing about future developments? Just think about it. Perhaps, one of them (particularly the latter) might have been the true face of Don Armage all along? Hmmmm.... - Leo Red, Scorpius Orange, and Chamaeleon Green are the first to eliminate their obstacles. The others begin to follow suit one by one, through various kind of difficulties. For example, while Balance pretty much gets to his key without ANY resistance, Dorado Yellow is having tough luck due to Madako's regenerating ability. Ouch!!! To make things worse, Tecchu sends out another actual clone of the Octopus assassin. Precisely, Otaku-Madako (the version that I think is everyone's instant favorite... LOL) to basically 'annoy' the team with her... devoted love for Moe-Hammy (and later the whole team). How on Earth Tecchu was able to obtain her body part, is beyond me. But that can't even be compared to Naga, when it is revealed that NOBODY showed up in front of him. It's a personal heart-breaking situation for him, who immediately wonders if his lack of heart is the cause to that. This one's clearly foreshadowing to what's going to happen to him... soon. Which once again... brings the case of Prof. Anton and Kuervo into question. - Kotarou is having a different kind of dilemma on his own. He can't turn on the key, because that means his mother is going to be gone again! Aaaaawww. I think anyone who has a heart, would have no trouble relating to this situation. I mean, what will you do if you're given another opportunity to spend a second chance with the loved ones you've lost, right? Tsurugi notices this, and his response is admirable. He's leaving the decision in Kotarou's hands. And boy oh boy, not only Kotarou steps it up by fully understanding what he must do, he also proves his strong resolution for it. Seriously, Kotarou might be the youngest member of the team, but he is certainly one of the stronger (if not THE strongest) character in this show. He might be small, but what a big heart indeed! And it helps that his actor truly sells it organically. As I've said over and over again, this boy is going to be HUGE moving forward! - Time for a 12-members transformation and roll call scene then! Yep... it might be a tad long (from 14:25 to 15:29), but also as grandiose and thrilling as one would expect. I personally love how it shows a close up shot from both side of Reds. Really stylish! Moreso, to think that it's already happening in episode 25 when previous seasons saved it for the last few episodes, only makes me wonder: what else will Kyuranger have in store for its second half?!! NOTE: For comparison sake, Kyoryuger waited until episode 39 to debut their glorious all 10-members transformation scene. While Zyuohger saved its 7-members transformation until episode 45. - The team is then separated into two. First half (Reds, Orange, Black, Green, and SkyBlue) deals with Tecchu. While the second (Commander, Blue, BN Thieves, Pink, and Yellow) sends Otaku-Madako back to where she truly belongs... the Comicket. Ahahahaha. And then everyone join hands to put down Tecchu for good, with their "Ultimate All Star Crash!". WHAT. A. COOL. FINISHER! All the while, Akemi watches as her son gallantly fights as savior for the universe. She might not be real, but I'm sure she's feeling really proud nonetheless. - Of course, why stop right there, eh? The great Kyutamajin is summoned, and this time around, EVERYONE gets to be brought onboard. Yes... just the way it's supposed to. And yes, it's undoubtedly a glorious and exciting sequence that would make any Super Sentai fans geek out and lose all sense of sanity. Just look at how those Kyu Globes light up, while their pilots can be seen behind them. STUNNING! The formation is 'effective' now, as different limbs can perform even stronger feat thanks to each cluster governing them. The Kyu Globes can also detach to their own Voyagers to give air support. Don't forget its over-powered "Ultimate Meteor Break! Super Galaxy!" finisher move. Suffice to say, this is one great mecha battle! Definitely the best one that the show has delivered so far. Farewell Tecchu, we barely knew ye... - We got our thrills, and a heavy share of amazing action... so it's time to end the episode, in a sentimental note. Yes, Kotarou needs to turn his key as the last piece of the contraption. Which means... it's goodbye time. His mom entrusts her eldest son to the team, asking them to watch over him. At this moment, I'm sure all the mellow-hearted audience (like yours truly) is beginning to lose their ability to hold back the tears. Rightfully so, because it's nothing short of a moving scene. Dang it, first Stinger and now Kotarou. Why does this season keep on giving us all these feels? - Horologium Kyu Globe is finally obtained, so what's next? Discovering the truth. It won't be easy though, because Don Armage has decided to send out... not one, but BOTH of his remaining Vice-Shoguns, Kukuruga and Akenba. Looks like dark times are about to loom over the Kyurangers fairly soon...

Overall: This was the kind of episode that made Kyuranger such a fun show to follow. It had great action, thrilling spectacle, the right amount of humor, but more importantly, it had heart. It boldly showed why a large set of characters just simply works. But at the same time, it still managed to include a powerful heart-tugging moment for the youngest member of the team. Whom, in case you forget, also serves as the surrogate for its intended audience. I came expecting this episode to be a total tearjerker fest, but I got a rollercoaster of emotion instead. That's wonderful! Also, this episode was all kind of smart. Debuting a Clock-themed Kyu Globe as some kind of celebration to having 12-members (who can represent each number)... was undeniably brilliant. Yes, it could've been more 'perfect' had it took place in episode 24 (get it? 24 hours?), but we know the circumstances that prevented one (remember those Golf delays that happened twice?). So it's an amazing feat nonetheless! Interestingly, and I've repeatedly said this before: we're only at the halfway point of the show (coincidentally, only around 48 out of 90-plus Kyu Globes -around half- have been used in the show/movie until now). Yet it feels like so many things have happened! Naturally, the major question would be: what more can we expect from this show? I guess we'll just have to continue tuning in and find out... Next week: Is having emotions truly a good thing? Go ask Naga about it...

Episode 25 Score: 8,3 out of 10

Visit THIS LINK to view a continuously updated listing of the Kyutama / Kyu Globes. Last Updated: August 15th, 2017 - Version 2.10. (WARNING: It might contain spoilers for future episodes)

All images are screencaptured from the series, provided by the FanSubber Over-Time. "Uchu Sentai Kyuranger" is produced by TOEI, and airs every Sunday on TV-Asahi. Credits and copyrights belong to their respective owners.

[whichwitchami]

do you have any tips for working with a spirit/ouija board? im making my own and havent worked with one before!

Hi! 

So the very first thing I want to do is tag @theouijagirl because 1. her blog did wonders for getting me over my fears using a spirit board, 2. you’ll find a lot more information there. I’m still super new to using spirit boards and don’t necessarily follow all the ‘conventional’ rules. So take what I say with a grain of salt and check out some other sources. 

What is a spirit board?

A spirit/ ouija board is another tool of divination. A board uses the alphabet and numbers laid out in a pattern and a planchette to spell out responses from whatever you’re contacting. This can be a super nice, carved wooden board, or a piece of paper and a shot glass. Hasboro games makes a glow in the dark one! As with all divination tools, it doesn’t have to be super fancy or expensive to work. 

Spirit board Vs. Ouija board?

I honestly prefer the term spirit board, but as far as I understand, there’s no real difference in the terms. Some people (aka google) say that Ouija comes from the French oui (yes) and the German ja (yes). I have no idea if that’s accurate tbh. I like using spirit board simply because ‘ouija’ has so many ‘negative’ connotations from popular media. It’s all about preference honestly. 

About those negative connotations

One of the things that @theouijagirl and several other blogs have pointed out, is that boards are sold at stores and marketed for like 8-10 year olds or something like that. If they were truly dangerous, they wouldn’t be sold as a board game along with Monopoly and Chutes and Ladders. Yes, the media paints a terrifying picture of Ouija boards (Paranormal Activity, the Exorcist...), but as long as you use them safely, you’re fine. 

There is the possibility as with all spirit communication, to gain the attention of something less than pleasant. Do the things you normally would, set up wards or protections, be polite yet cautious when speaking, don’t believe everything the spirit tells you, and cleanse your space when you’re done. The board isn’t any more or less dangerous than a pendulum or tarot cards. 

What you bring to the board is what you get back

What do I mean by that? This relates back to the Psychologist Carl Jung and his idea of the collective unconscious (Psychology, when talking about a spirit board really? I know but bear with me). This idea is that there’s this huge entity type thing that is the unconscious of all of us, all who have been, all who will be etc, and we have the potential to tap into that through divination. 

So using the idea of the collective unconscious: what you bring to the board is what you get back. AKA, what you feel when you go to the board is what you’re going to find in the collective unconscious. For example, if you’re afraid you’re going to go to the board and summon a demon to your house, you’re going to attract a negative entity to your space. Maybe not a demon, because if demons exist, I promise you they have much bigger things to worry about than the witch whose using a spirit board. 

If you approach the board with an open mind, you’ll get a much better experience. That’s all I’m saying in this confusing and psychology heavy section. 

How do I use a spirit board?

So you have your layout of yes/no, the alphabet and numbers, also a section that says ‘goodbye’ and your planchette (The thing that moves around on top of it) 

Some people do a little ritual before they get started, what this looks like and whether or not you do one is up to you. I like to take a few deep breaths and remind myself that I control the experience on my board, not the spirits that come to say hi. 

Place the planchette on the board and lightly place one or two fingers from each hand on it. You want to use a light touch to ensure you’re not pushing the planchette around the board. The general idea is that a spirit will use your energy  to push the planchette around to spell out its message. If you don’t want it to use your energy, light a candle or have some charged crystals nearby the spirits can draw from. 

From there, start asking your questions. I like to start off just by asking who is around and if they have a message for me. You can attempt to call a specific spirit, but keep in mind that the board is kinda like chat roulette. That guy dressed as batman can claim he is batman, but is he really? I’m not saying you won’t contact your grandmother, but use reasoning and critical thinking. Don’t believe everything you’re told. Go about asking your questions/ having your conversation. Remember to be polite, no one likes to be talked to in a rude way. When you’re done, say goodbye. You can keep contacting other spirits or put the board away. 

some people say that you have to say goodbye by moving the planchette to ‘goodbye’ then flipping the board over. I just say goodbye and take the planchette off. It’s generally  not advised to leave the planchette on the board while not in use. 

Who can I contact via spirit board?

part of this will depend on your belief system, but so far the only limitation I’ve come across with who I can contact is people who are still alive. It’s just not really gonna work out that way. 

I’ve contacted dead pets, living pets, dead relatives, spirit guides, spirit companions, deities, my higher self... I think that’s it. you can contact any spirit you can think of, but like I said, be careful. It’s easy for spirits to lie and say they are someone they’re not. Use your intuition along with the board to make sure you’re protecting yourself. 

Living pets seems to throw a lot of people off, but its super fun. We contacted a friends dog once, and now its a running joke amongst us to say ‘yes, yes’ really fast, because that’s how he would send positive messages via the board. When contacting an animal, just remember they’ll talk like an animal. If you try to contact a chicken, you might not get super coherent responses. 

My primary way to contact my deities is using the spirit board as of late. It’s a great way to get a full and clear message from them without having to fuss over the nuances of tarot messages. 

Zozo, Mama, and other tricksters and myths

I first heard about Zozo from theouijagirl. The myth is that Zozo is this big scary demon who sometimes takes over your spirit board and just spells that out over and over. Some versions of the myth say they spell out mama. 

If you look at a traditional spirit board, Z/O and M/A are the furthest letters from each other. Big, sweeping motions across the board are scary, and the easiest emotion to feed off of is fear when you’re a hungry spirit who wants power. I’m not saying that Zozo does or doesn’t exist, but 99% of the time, if your board is spelling out Zozo or Mama, its a trickster spirit trying to get quick energy from you. 

If that happens, tell the spirit that this is your board and that action is not allowed. Ask them politely to leave. If they ignore you, be firm, tell them to leave. Wait for the planchette to move to ‘goodbye’. If you’re inexperienced or shaken up by the event, maybe take a break. Otherwise you can continue by asking another spirit to come to the board. If this keeps happening, definitely take a break for a while. More often than not the spirit doesn’t mean harm, but its better safe than sorry. 

Spelling the alphabet backwards or going backwards through the numbers is another myth I’ve seen. Supposedly when this happens and the spirit gets all the way through the letters and numbers, they can leave the board and wreak havoc in the world. I’m not 100% sure I believe this, but I’ve never let a spirit complete the task just in case. It’s a nuisance and a waste of time at the very least since there’s no message in it. 

Same thing goes for going to all four corners of the board in a certain order I think? Be safe/ don’t let the spirit waste your time and just ask them to stop/ say goodbye if this is happening. 

The planchette leaving the board mid session: Another myth of spirit boarding. I personally don’t think it really means anything. Some say it’ll let the spirit out. I’ve let the planchette leave the board before and point to me or someone I’m with, I think it’s the spirit giving us a hug. 

“can you tell me when I die?” spirits lie guys. there’s a huge chance you’re talking to some random spirit named bob who has no idea when or how you’re going to die. Don’t let them scare you with such messages. 

Some things you should do 

as I’ve said, be polite, be critical, but don’t think that everyone is lying. Ask questions that will help you know whether or not it really is your grandma, and trust your intuition. If it feels weird, or you’re getting inconsistent answers, move on. Always move the planchette to goodbye before you leave. It’s just polite. 

It is a good idea to have some rules for the board. What and how many are up to you. Mine are pretty simple: if I ask you to leave, you leave. Spelling Zozo/mama is unacceptable, no going through the alphabet/ numbers backwards. You can have more, you can have less, just make sure you enforce them. 

You have the power, not the spirits

This is your board and your experience. You are in control. If a spirit is breaking your rules, its’ perfectly acceptable to say “Nu-uh. This is my board, and this isn’t allowed. Please leave.” If they refuse follow up with. “this is unacceptable on my board. I’ll ask you one more time to leave, if you don’t, I’m ending the session.” Don’t take their shit. Say goodbye. Either end the session fully or just move the planchette to goodbye and start over. I’ve gotten pretty good at getting spirits to go away, but the first few times they’d just come right back and I would have to end the session all together. 

The power is in your hands, not theirs. Don’t let them take control. 

Parting Thoughts

I still have a healthy uneasiness when it comes to spirit boards that I don’t really have with  my pendulum and tarot cards. I feel like that’s pretty obvious throughout this post. Just remember to have fun and not take it too seriously, while still protecting yourself. The spirit board is just another tool for divination, a tool that you control. When you learn how to set your fear aside and use it wisely, it can be the best tool for clear, straightforward answers and great conversation between the spirits that love you. 

Seriously go check out theouijagirl for more! As I said, her blog was the main reason I got over my fear of spirit boards and grew comfortable with them. Check out her stories, tips, etc. 

As always, if you have anything to add, feel free! If you have any questions or need clarification, message me! 

[skittymon]

Family

Based off my post/theory that the reason why Yuzu isn’t in standard is because Ray is alive in the new world. 

 Akaba family centric from Ray and then Reiji’s pov 

 "You know the Miami Championship is coming up soon….“ 

 The man lets out a tired laugh, “And why are you concerned about it?”

 Ray frowns in response, “C'mon dad, don’t you want to see Reiji in action? This is the first time that he gets to duel with his pro title!" 

 "Which we can watch in HD in our hotel room,” Leo replies to his daughter. “Do you really want to put a hold on our trip to go back to Miami so we can watch duels that we know Reiji is going to win?" 

 "Yes!” Ray exclaims. With Ray’s pro-dueling career going world-wide and Leo wanting to expand his company even further, the two decided to take a father-daughter trip around the world, leaving Reiji and Himika back in Japan. “My next match isn’t for weeks, and doesn’t Himika have a huge meeting coming up? You can help her prepare. Pleassssse daddy.”

Leo is silent for a moment before he lets out a sigh, “You think after all these years that trick would stop working on me….” He turns to meet his daughter’s eyes and smiles, “Fine, we can go back to Miami City.”

Ray’s face breaks into a smile and she runs over to hug her father. “Thank you, daddy! This means so much too me.” She grabs her duel disk from her pocket and begins to dial, “I’ll call Himika and Reiji right now so they know we’re coming home.”

The elder Akaba stands up and proceeds to walk to the door, “Then I’m going to take a shower, if Himika sees that I’ve been letting work get the better of me I’ll never hear the end of it.” Before the door shuts behind him Leo says, “Make sure Reiji isn’t over working himself! He has a problem of knowing when to stop!”

“Gee, I wonder where he gets it from?” Ray calls back. Ray waits while the phone rings and after a few moments she’s sent to one of Himika’s assistants. The assistant states the her step-mother is in a meeting at the moment but will be out in a few minutes. Ray agrees to wait.

The pro-duelist starts to kick her legs back and forth and hums a song she heard on the radio. After few moments Ray lets out a yawn making her realize how tired she actually is. For the past few weeks Ray has been having strange dreams and it’s gotten to the point to where Ray opts not to sleep at night. She rubs her eyes and she ponders the strange dreams.

She dreams of a school on an island and no matter how hard she tries, she can never escape it.

She dreams of living on very little money and with said little money she works on building a motorcycle, or something akin to one.

She dreams of a boy who acts like an older brother and he protects her - even when the city they live in gets attacked.

She dreams of another family. One that consists three young children, a father, a mother sometimes, for some reason a samurai, and a beautiful smile.

But none of that makes sense.

Since she was little, Ray has been a free spirit and does as she pleases. She’s never been trapped anywhere let alone on an island.

Despite being an Akaba, Ray did not inherit her father’s genius, at least his mechanical brains. There was even a time where she nearly burnt down her father’s laboratory, there’s no way she can build a motorcycle.

Having a big brother? Impossible, she’s the big sister who would go the ends of the earth if it meant keeping Reiji safe. Her city being destroyed? Also not true, Miami City is in an economic climb due to the Leo Corporation.

Then….having a different family? Sure after her own mother died Leo hit a rough patch, but then he met Himika and they fell in love and had Reiji. The four of them are a family, and Ray loves them to death and would do anything for them. 

Hopefully going home will get rid of these odd dreams.

Sometimes Ray also has nightmares about a terrible dragon that destroyed everything in its path. She does her best to forget those. 

“Hello, Ray?” Himika’s voice comes through Ray’s duel disk.

Ray shakes her head and grabs her disk and put in front of her so she can see Himika and she smiles, “Hey Himika. How are things back at home?”

“Well with the tournament coming up soon both Reiji and I have been swamped with work,” Himika replies. “But don’t worry I always have time for you sweetheart. I even managed to watch your last duel live, you did spectacular Ray.”

The eldest Akaba sibling laughs, “Thanks, Himika. And actually there was something I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh? What is it?”

“Dad and I have decided to come back to Maimi City for the tournament!” 

Himika immediately brightens up at that, “That’s wonderful! I can’t for you two to come back,, Reiji and I have a surprise for the both of you.”

Ray raises her brow, “Really, what is it?”

“You’ll have to wait until you get back. It’ll be better if you saw the surprise in person.”

“Fine,” Ray sighs. “Is Reiji around I want to tell him his beloved older sister is coming back.”

The pass few weeks haven’t been the best for Reiji. At first he thought it was because of his father and sister leaving and leaving him to help his mother keep the Leo Corporation together. However that’s not the case, in fact Reiji excels in running Leo Corporation. It’s as if he has ran it before, but that’s not possible because his father and mother have been running the company for as long as he can remember.

Then Reiji’s old friend, Yuya Sakaki, recently pioneered a new summoning method: Pendulum Summoning. Reiji’s happy for Yuya, especially since it’ll help the You-Show school bring in students. But….Reiji can’t help but feel like he’s seen Pendulum before. Which doesn’t make sense because Yuya just discovered it.  

Finally the oddest thing…..

“Reiji sir, your sister is on the phone for you.”

….Ray.

“I’ll be there in a minute, please tell her not to get antsy.” Reiji says to his attendant.  

“Yes, sir.” And then the man is off.

Reiji loves his sister. He knows that much, but lately something’s been off about their relationship and Ray herself.

He has memories of Ray picking him up from his private lessons. He has memories of Ray helping him build his deck and being at countless of his duels. He has memories of Ray giving him piggyback rides. He has memories of Ray coming to get him at his desk after he crashed and then putting him to bed.

Yet as of late, he doesn’t feel any emotions toward those memories. He remembers feeling happy when he used to reminisce those memories and swelling with pride at the fact that Ray is his sister, but now those feelings have nearly faded. He loves Ray because he knows that he’s suppose to and because Ray is an amazing person overall.

But he doesn’t love her as much he should. Like family should.

 When Reiji arrives to his office Ray is already on the big screen, smiling. “Hey little bro, how you’ve been?”

Reiji sits down and pushes his glasses up, “Everything has been running smoothly since you and father left.”

Ray frowns, “You don’t have to be so uptight you know. Is there something bugging you Reiji?”

“No sister,” Reiji replies, but then after a moment he remembers how the two promised to never keep secrets from each other. The memory feels obsolete but Reiji still holds onto it, “Actually…..these passed few weeks have been…odd.”

“You too, uh?” Reiji looks up at that and sees the crestfallen face of his sister. “I’ve been having these weird dreams for awhile now, but I hope coming home will help fix that.” 

“Coming home?”

Ray nods, “Yup, that’s why I’m calling in the first place! Dad and I are coming back to Miami City for the Championship. I can’t wait to see you in action! Maybe the two of us can squeeze in a duel. I’m sure having Akaba versus Akaba will bring in a lot of people.”

Reiji feels a smirk appear on his face, “That means I finally get to knock you down a peg or two.”

“Don’t get cocky Reiji,” Ray replies with a smirk of her own, “just because you’re a pro now too doesn’t mean you can beat me yet.”

The word ‘yet’ took Reiji by surprise. Does Ray expect for him to become a better duelist than her? Even now when she’s regarded as one of the top duelist in the world?

“It’s getting late here,” Ray’s voice brings Reiji out his train of thought. “I better get going.”

Reiji nods, “Understood. It was nice talking to you sister.”

“Alright, I’ll get going now….Reiji, I love you.”

A pause.

And then, “I love you too, Ray.”

Reiji retires from his work much later than he should have, but he needed something to distract him from his thoughts. Everything in his life feels wrong lately and he doesn’t understand why. He has a loving mother and father, has an amazing friend in Yuya Sakaki, he’s regard as one of the greatest duelists of his generation, and has the greatest sibling-

Then Reiji hears cries coming from down the hall.

He sprints to the room where the sound is coming from and sees a figure squirming around in the crib.

Reira.

Reiji’s new little brother.

It was only few day’s ago when the baby boy suddenly appeared at the doorstep of the Leo Corporation. At first Himika intended to send the baby to a foster home or an orphanage, but the moment Reiji saw the baby’s blue eyes and puff of purple hair the name slipped out his mouth:

“Reira.”

And since that moment Reira has become apart of the Akaba family.

Reiji grabs one of the little boy’s hands and just like that baby Reira has stopped crying. Reiji thinks nothing of it, Reira probably just wants attention, but he squeezes Reira’s hand a bit harder.

“I’ll keep you safe Reira. As your older brother I promise you that.”

Sorry if Reiji is ooc idk how to write him just pretend his different upbringing changed him a bit.

I’m curious to see for 141 if Standard will have other summoning methods and Yuya will still have Pendulum since the bracelets pressed the reset button on the dimensions. Also hoping to see Ray at last time….

Reiji and Yuya are friends because if Leo never left and went cra-cra then I assume him and Yusho would have stayed friends. Thus Reiji and Yuya are bros.