What am I even doing?

Oh, I found the problem.

Greetings! I am Astral, a new student at Night Raven Magic College and the Diasomnia Dorm.

Based on my appearance at least, many seem to be intrigued by my presence. A friendly face named Cater suggested in response I should make an Ask Blog to answer everyone's questions. He was even nice enough to help me set up the Ask Blog on my new MagiCam along with making a set of rules and boundaries for the Blog, I'm still trying to understand the small intricacies of an Ask Blog but he suggested that these rules would be a good start.

Rules:

Be both Mature and Respectful (while Astral has chronologically been alive for a long time they are at least physically and emotionally around Yuma and Yuya's age. So any Ask with NSFW or hurtful content will not be answered and possibly blocked.)

Limit/No Shipping (this is based around friendship, not romance. The closest thing likely mentioned is Judai/Yubel's and Yuma/Astral's soulmate bonds. But those are purposely free for interpretation as platonic soulmates, queer platonic soulmates, romantic soulmates, or a secret fourth thing. Either way, no shipping Asks.)

Will have Spoilers up to the Chapter 7 Arc (due to a temporary hiatus from the two fan fic stories this Ask Blog is inspired from: And You Thought Things Were Over by @lazella and Things Are Never Over, And That's Whenever by @kai_aoi anything story related to the Diasomnia Arc will and past that will NOT be stated or will be very limited but there will still be spoilers.)

This is a Fan-Inspired Project (the Mod isn't @lazella or kai_aoi, they're just doing this just for fun and the love of these stories.)

There is No Exact Schedule (Astral has their adventures and so does the Mod. So there is no schedule and answers might be slow.)

Possible Dark Topics (this Blog isn't just for putting Astral into the ygo x twst story, but Astral expanding their own personal and social life along with dealing with the side effects of gaining emotions, self awareness, and free will after everything they have been through. So the topics of trauma and mental health might appear once in a while.)

Asking for Others (while Astral is the main focus, Asks for other characters are allowed. The Yutagonists (especially Yuma) and the Night Raven College students are occasionally open for Asks as well, just specify who you are asking. Example: Ask Yuma)

Magic Anons and Gifts are Allowed (sending Asks that give gifts or magic effects are allowed but will be limited/filtered by the Mod. Again specify by saying Gift Ask or Magic Anon Ask.)

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Let’s start with a simple question? What is “Chaos”?

From the show, Don Thousand says that it is disorder and the source of life, Ena says it’s the power to protect others and ones desires created by oneself, Black Mist says it contributes to hatred and malice, Eliphas says it’s poison, and Shark says this:

So Trash aliens.

However, this poses a problem.

Chaos is highly prominent to the story of Zexal, but it is difficult to define. The first signs of Chaos (excluding Haruto using it to toss trash in Episode 13) was when Astral’s airship unlocked “Chaos Number 39: King of Wishes, Hope Ray” as early as Episode 18. It constantly shows up with multiple definitions with some describing it as evil while others describing it as good. Both the protagonists and antagonists utilize it, and the meaning gets scrambled as the show progresses. So is this red, gooey stuff evil or good? 

In my opinion, Chaos is a nuanced type of “disorder”. With the word “disorder”, it isn’t clear what the show means by this since disorder (entropy?) is a super broad definition. Comparing it to the Astral’s “order” or Cosmos makes it slightly easier to grasp, but as a set definition that covers everything, I don’t have a good answer. The most accurate is Ena’s definition, where she says Chaos represents the desires set up by oneself. My problem with this is that all characters in this show have desires. Even Eliphas, who desires for Astral World to Rank-Up by ridding itself of Chaos. It’s a good definition and fits into the themes of Chaos, but there’s those glaring issues. However, I’m not here to define Chaos. Think of it as trying to define “species” or a word where a set definition isn’t concrete, but we sorta know what it looks like. With Chaos, I’m not going to be defining it as much as I am categorizing the types of Chaos in the Zexal. 

Going back to this list of Chaos characters. 

It is incredibly tough to define them on the basis of a single type of Chaos other than maybe “disorderly creatures” or people with desires.

But if you look at it as a spectrum that a character can shift back and forth along, then it starts to make sense. The characters in the show actually point that there are different forms of Chaos, with the clearest distinction being Nasch’s unique Chaos and Ena implying that Chaos has other, important forms.

Since Chaos manifests in different ways, it’s likely that all of the definitions stated above are correct. They get very close to stating what these different forms are, however, but it’s not explicit like “there is good Chaos and bad Chaos in the universe”. 

My proposal is that there are two definable categories of Chaos within the show: “Destructive Chaos” and “Constructive Chaos”. I think if you see it like this, it’s easier to see where Zexal was going with this concept. 

Okay, so what does this mean?

To begin, destructive Chaos can be described most simply as cannibalistic. It devours other Chaos creatures with the sole purpose of bettering its users. It is malice, hatred, selfishness, basically the qualities of the “bad Chaos” that the show speaks of. This could be seen in Vector and Don Thousand, who were literally eating other Barians to make themselves stronger. 

By nature, destructive Chaos benefits one person. It has to destroy everything else. With Vector, Number 96, and Don Thousand specifically, if they’re malicious plans succeeded, all three worlds would’ve been destroyed and they themselves would be standing alone as powerful gods. 

All the Emperors and any persons who inherited Don Thousand’s destructive Chaos were devoured in the end (this also ties in with how Nasch’s unique Chaos resulted in his survival). Also Mr. Heartland burned to death. Destructive Chaos destroys for the benefit of few. 

On the other hand, constructive Chaos can be described as altruistic. Unlike destructive Chaos, which draws its powers by consuming those around it, constructive Chaos gains its powers through combining their strengths. 

It is the power that allows you to protect your friends, or “strength in numbers”. This is the Chaos that Yuma and Nasch heavily relies on. By its nature, constructive Chaos shares for the benefit of many.

Something belongs in the middle too: maybe common Barians or some of the Emperors perhaps? Altruistic but also a little selfish? Giving to some but not to others. The ends could be on the more extreme sides that few probably get to.

As a general example, let’s look at Tron, a character who gravitates along the spectrum. There’s a clear distinction in the transformation of Tron and the Arclights from destructive Chaos to a more constructive Chaos. Not gonna get into it that deeply, but the first half of Zexal, Tron quite literally uses and destroys his sons to progress his own motivations. In the second half of Zexal, Tron shares his crest with his sons via the bracelets, and through this, they are able to create “Rank-Up Magic: Argent Chaos Force”, the symbol used to represent the bonds of humanity and a powerful one at that. 

Another really clear example is the Vector vs. Durbe/Merag. Merag, Durbe, and Vector uses Nasch’s strength throughout this battle. With Durbe and Merag, they send out their strongest monster using Nasch’s “Rank-Up Magic - The Seventh One”, something he shared with them in the prior episode. Vector, on the other hand, uses Nasch as a blood-bag; he sucks the life out of him to increase his own. Lending versus draining. Constructive versus destructive.

These two descriptions pose some interesting relationships. There are probably more than this but i’ll focus on a few.

First is Number 96 and Yuma, and how they relate to Astral.

Yuma and Number 96 are fragments of Don Thousand’s original self, who is a composite of all forms of Chaos. Although, the final Don Thousand clearly utilizes destructive Chaos. When Astral shattered him, I believe that his general from of Chaos split into Yuma, someone who uses constructive Chaos, and into Number 96, someone who uses destructive Chaos. Each individual views their Chaos appropriately. 

Number 96 has a very bleak view of Chaos, often describing it as something born from resentment, hatred, and the such. He also does not believe in the power of bonds, declaring it something used by weaklings. 

Aside from that, Number 96 has a god-complex, something he shares with the likes of Vector and Don Thousand, and is a person who is willing to destroy all of the worlds in order to create his own, ideal world. 

On the other hand, Yuma is the exact opposite. He sees Chaos as a force of goodness that allows different people to come together.

These two characters are supposed to be opposites of each other in regards to Chaos, and this is clearly shown in their relationship with Astral.

Back to Vector’s Royal Palace, this duel states a problem with the theory that there is only single type of Chaos. Number 96 said that Astral must use Chaos if he wanted to gather all the Numbers. 

The major issue with this is that Number 96 utilizes destructive Chaos. If Astral were to rely on his powers, it will destroy Astral in the process. And this occurs. When Number 96 enters Astral, the incompatibility and destructive nature of his Chaos causes both of them to explode. This is likely to be the Chaos that Eliphas fears would destroy Astral and Astral World.

And even Number 96 isn’t immune to this destructive power. When he accepted Vector/Don Thousand’s Chaos into his own, it nearly destroyed him. This just shows how deadly this type of Chaos is to others.

But if Astral has to use Chaos, he will likely rely on the constructive Chaos that derives from Yuma. And I think you guys know where this is going,

It’s those Zexal Morphs. 

The Zexal Morphs are the show’s flagship of “ultimate bonds”. Although probably unintentional, Astral does end up heavily relying on multiple forms of Chaos— the Chaos Hopes and Yuma specifically—which allows him to fulfill his mission (but doing so altered his objective). By using constructive Chaos, they were able to become stronger than they were as individuals.

However, there is one Zexal Morph that needs to be addressed.

The Dark Zexal Morph is a product of a “Vector-influenced” Yuma and a broken-hearted Astral. It’s difficult to say if Yuma is using destructive Chaos here, but due to Vector shenanigans, this Zexal Morph is an embodiment of Astral possibly mixing himself with destructive Chaos. Although it is incredibly powerful, Dark Zexal self-cannibalizes itself.

And then there’s Nasch and Vector. Not really the duel between them, but their entire characters reflect the two Chaos.

These two are on the opposite ends of the spectrum. When Vector said they are incompatible, it means that Nasch uses constructive Chaos while Vector uses destructive Chaos. One will tend to give and the other will always take. They are quite the antithesis of each other. 

Because of this, they simply cannot mix. In this system, Vector will take and Nasch will give (assuming he is unaware the entire time; he trusts Vector for thousands of years and after his return, which,,,,). One will die in this system, and it’s likely to be Nasch because altruism tends to lose to selfishness. This isn’t how Nasch died though; Vector kinda pushed him off a cliff, but it does explain why the two cannot get along. 

But there are a lot of examples in how these characters contrast each other. Their past lives, for example, were prominent in how Vector was willing to slaughter his own men to defeat Nasch, while Nasch eventually tried to keep his army out of his and Vector’s fight in the Labyrinth. 

Their Mythyrian Numbers also showcase Vector’s tendency to ignore bonds while Nasch’s tendency to build bonds. Vector doesn’t even touch the base-form to access his Chaos Number while Nasch summons the base-form first and heavily utilize it. 

Their signature Rank-Up cards too. 

Nasch represents the power of shared Chaos. One of his first moves after becoming an Emperor is giving the power of “Rank-Up Magic - The Seventh One” to the rest of the Emperors. This Rank-Up Magic allows the Emperors to defeat their human opponents during the Barian Onslaught Arc, who they were struggling to beat before Nasch granted it to them. But Vector, after destroying Don Thousand, uses the card “Rank-Up-Magic - Admire Death Thousand” and he is the only person who has access to this card.

Another really good example is how they represent the combined powers of the Emperors.

Starting with Vector, it’s safe to say that he does not cherish the bonds between them at all. He is vicious even to his own team, going as far as to mortally wound two of them for the fun of it, insults them on a regular basis, and then absorbs them to make himself stronger. 

After absorbing four of the six Emperors, Vector uses their powers to make himself god-like. He alters his entire figure and uses this strength to “kill” Don Thousand, absorbing his strength as well. 

Furthermore and like Nasch, Vector uses a monster that represents the combined strength of the Emperors he gathered thus far. “Chaos Number 5: Perishing-Gloom Dragon - Chaos Chimera Dragon” represents this, but it is almost, say, tragic in how this monster represents those bonds? Aside from Vector summoning it before telling Nasch that, “Yeah, i took your dumbass buddies’ powers and made this sick bad boy out of it. Eat my shit”

Now, this monster is different from Nasch’s monster but it shares one similar effect, which is “This card’s ATK becomes equal to the number of Xyz Materials attached to it x 1000.” This monster derives its powers from its overlay units (or from the other Emperors, if you look at the subtext) but a key difference from Nasch’s monster is that this monster has a special condition regarding its overlay units. For “Chimera Dragon” to attack, it must detach an overlay unit. This means it must always use and discard the strength of its “allies” in order to fight. Following this, “Chimera Dragon” can reattach its overlay units at the beginning of your opponent’s turn, allowing it to use and discard its overlay units forever (provided the user can pay the lifepoint cost). Vector detaches all of the overlay units, essentially ditching the cards that represent his allies in order to use the power of his dragon.

But, for Nasch, oh boy, his duel kinda spells it out in big flashing letters. His moves in this duel is the embodiment of constructive Chaos. 

Before we get to the main monster, the Chaos cards used by Nasch follow a heavy theme of the Barian’s bonds, and Nasch makes several references to his dead friends during this duel.

I mean, just look at them. He’s obsessed.

The main attraction is Nasch’s ace monster, “Chaos Xyz: King of Hope - Barian”, a monster summoned by using each of the Emperor’s Over-Hundred Numbers, giving it seven overlay units that represent each Emperor. This monster is the complete opposite of “Chimera Dragon”. Everything about it represents the ideals of constructive Chaos.

Let’s start with the design. Now I’m a little skeptical on some of these, but according to some, “Barian King” has parts that derive from the other Chaos Over-Hundreds. 

The spear it uses comes from Dark Knight and Noble Daemon (and I’d argue that the shield comes from Noble Daemon too, since Durbe is said to the Barian’s shield), the crest on its head comes from Ragna Infinity, the armored knuckles come from Caestus the Comet, the style of its hair/tail things resembles the neck of Tachyon Dragon, and the color palette comes from Umbral and Giant Red Hand. 

Some of these are easy to see, while some are obscure-ish (not too sure about the color things since red is a general Barian thing), but it’s highly likely that the artists who designed “Barian King” considered the other Over-Hundreds when designing this monster, especially when you consider what happens in this duel. 

Moving to the effects, this monster also derives its ATK-points from its overlay units too, gaining 1000 points for each material attached. The difference between “Barian King” and “Chimera Dragon”, whereas its effects are unrelated to the monsters attached to it, is that “Barian King” effects are the effects of its overlay units. Since its overlay units are the seven Over-Hundred Numbers, “Barian King” has the unique powers of each Barian Emperor.

Stated in the show, Nasch is fighting alongside the other Emperors (or Yuma is facing all seven Emperors as a single entity).

Not only that, but the Emperors’ spirits are depicted with their duel disks, so they are not simply bystanders in the duel, but active participants in the fight. They are just as involved in this battle as much as Nasch is.

The cherry on top is an additional effect. The user can “detach an overlay unit to use one of the Over-Hundred effects” or the user can “pay 400 lifepoints to use the effect without detaching a material”. This is the major difference from Vector’s monster. Aside from having its effects be directly influenced from its overlay units, this monster gives the user an option of keeping its overlay units (or keeping the other Emperors by Nasch’s side) in exchange for Nasch’s lifepoints. 

And Nasch always pays the lifepoints. Over the course of the duel, in addition to paying lifepoints to SUMMON “Barian King”, he consistently pays lifepoints to prevent the overlay units from being detached, to keep “Barian King” alive, and to stop its overlay units from being destroyed. (I think he paid up to 8600 lifepoints total, so thats yikes)

Unlike Vector, who sees the other Emperors as tools to use and discard, Nasch sees them as invaluable allies who should stand by his side. 

Yuma even points out that Nasch is paying a lot of lifepoints to keep his monster safe. And then he destroys “Barian King” because fuck it. Nasch’s reaction when “Barian King” explodes, however, isn’t seen as an attack on himself but on his companions and their dreams. Like, that’s the face of hurt right there.

Look at his face. He’s so upset :( aw

It’s clear that Nasch derives his power and passion from the other Emperors; without them, he breaks apart.  

(it’s also worth noting that when he loses “Barian King”, or his bonds with the Barian Emperors, he immediately sends out several monsters that are deeply connected to Ryouga (Big Jaws, Aeroshark, Black Ray Lancer…). I don’t know what to make of this. It may be that Nasch is so driven by bonds that once “the Seven Emperors” are defeated, he turns to the bonds he built with Yuma. Or maybe it’s just a nostalgic homage before the final battle concludes.)

Before he lost, Nasch’s final moves were to resummon “Barian King” and reattach each of Over-Hundreds on his monster. This final move may have been what killed him (due to some Double Up Chance shenanigans) but Nasch was set on letting all Seven Emperors win as one, or fall as one. 

That brings us to the final discussion of Yuma and Nasch. These characters have resonated with each other since the start of the show. I honestly believe this is due to their similar Chaos, which is why Yuma is able to always worm himself into Ryouga’s heart on multiple occasions, and vice-versa. The most interesting bit of information I found was this scene. 

Nasch understands Yuma because they both utilize the Chaos of bonds. Yuma heavily relies on his friends as much as Nasch does; it’s in their nature, so of course they understand each other.  

Furthermore, these characters seem to be able to fight most effectively in the presence of friends. For Yuma, he usually has Astral, Kotori, or the Numbers Club by his side, and during his duel with Michael, where he loses his father’s Kattobingu spirit and his friends, Yuma is unable to fight against his opponent. Yuma relies on constant support. Heck, his strongest form uses the bonds of Zexal Morph, and during the ceremonial duel, or the duel he fights without Astral or Zexal Morph, all of his (living) friends are there to support him. 

Nasch does this too. Like, a lot, to name a few:

And during his duel with Vector, where Nasch basically lost or assumes he lost all of his friends, he looks to be very distressed when he realizes he’s all alone.

And appropriately enough, when Yuma pops in at this exact moment, Nasch looks slightly less distressed? 

I don’t know what expression mr. no-mouth is doing here but he doesn’t look upset to see Yuma and Astral. He snaps out of his “loneliness” state when Yuma arrives for sure. By looks of it, Nasch fights better when he has certain people by his side, whether it be the soul of Barians or a familiar face. 

It’s this reasoning that both are strong constructive Chaos users, but they see it in slightly different ways. They both believe in strength in numbers, altruism, and friendship, but Nasch is limited to the in-group of his fellow Barians. He wants to protect them above everything else, and since the Astrals want to destroy them, Nasch reacts accordingly. On the other side, Yuma probably doesn’t have any in-groups (like maybe Don Thousand). He wants to protect the Barians, the Astrals, and the humans. 

And if you consider that Yuma is a fragment of Don Thousand’s original Chaos, someone who represents the strongest of all Chaos, it sorta makes sense that Yuma is potentially the strongest user of constructive Chaos (any by logic, Number 96 should be the strongest user of destructive Chaos, but he uh, he exploded.), making him stronger than Nasch despite their similar ideals. It’s this bond, I believe, is why Yuma persisted in the final battle and not Nasch. 

Here are my main three reasons why:

These are sentient candy rocks, aka, not beings with a sense of morality. Yes, they have consciousness, but their main priority is spreading their Virtue through a vessel. Even if their Emissary is struggling, that is simply none of their concerns. This applies to cleaving themselves and leaving the Beasts as well; they just see it as a means to an end in order to spread their purpose. It isn't anything personal or maliciously labeling them as "failures," they see it as part of a duty they must fulfill. This definitely does NOT mean I condone what the Soul Jams did. Just because they saw no other way, doesn’t mean what happened is justified. However, it’s like asking an orange to be a pickup truck. They simply weren’t made for empathy, they were made to spread their Virtue no matter what, specifically crafted to function with a vessel, so they are literally incapable of seeing any other way. It reminds me of real life ancient gods. Yes, within the myths some deities do a lot of terrible things. However, the point was never about the characters, the gods themselves, it was about the concepts they represented. The Soul Jams aren't actual characters like the Beasts or Ancients, they are concepts that are only focused on fulfilling their role.

The Soul Jams aren’t the only beings involved in this whole mess that fucked up. Acting like they were the ultimate evil is not true. The thing I love about the whole tragedy of the Beasts is that everyone is at fault in some way, but also cannot be fully blamed for everything that happened. The Witches SHOULD be blamed for making such an irresponsible decision regarding the Soul Jams and Divine Emissaries, but you can't blame them for every single thing the Beasts did wrong because, ultimately, the Beasts have their own autonomy and can make their own decisions. The Beasts SHOULD be held accountable for all the misery and suffering they have caused, but you should also recognize that their roles were driving them insane, leaving them backed into a corner. Silent Salt's decision to seal the other Beasts without understanding or foresight SHOULD be put under scrutiny, but you should also see that if he didn't do so, Cookiekind would have suffered so much more under Beasts that had no intention of stopping their rampage. Elder Faerie bending to what Silent Salt or the Soul Jams (or even White Lily) want without much resistance, despite seeing the flaws in their decisions, and then lying about the truth for years SHOULD be criticized, but you should also recognize that he did it for the ones he loved (Silent Salt and White Lily) and was ultimately doing it for the sake of Cookiekind. EVERYONE has a role to play in this shitshow, some more extreme than others, but the main point is that there is no one person you could point to for causing all of this to happen. That's what I love so much about the Beasts, that they were doomed from the start because of the follies of everyone involved, and yet, many of them couldn't have made any other choices. So for the Soul Jams, you SHOULD disapprove of them for standing idly by as their Emissaries fell, all while viewing them as no more than vessels, but you should also recognize that these are rocks that are incapable of seeing anything outside spreading their Virtue.

It was already confirmed that the Soul Jams had their own consciousness, even way back in Crispia it was extremely clear they were their own beings. And even back then, they displayed signs of being more morally gray than anything, simply focused on pushing their Virtue. So I don't know why people are treating this as a big reveal, because when I watched it, I wasn't that surprised at all.

I'm not trying to discredit anyone's feelings, like I said, I understand why many feel that way. However, I feel like the hatred is getting a bit overblown because many see the Soul Jams as purposefully being jerks when they are literally concept rocks 😭. If anything, the Witches deserve more of the blame because unlike the others I had listed, who were either backed into a corner or literally incapable of doing otherwise, they HAD the autonomy and power to choose differently. But ultimately, like I said, it's not one person's fault, and that's what makes tragedy so delicious in my eyes. Love me some good moral grayness.

No matter what yall say to try and sound it off, the beasts fucked themselves over. They did fail their jobs by turning to toxic coping mechanisms. The rocks probably didn't help them, but they genuinely are unable to effect their own fate or others. They can preserve what they can, but in the end, they are just sources of power with opinions on things.

The souljams aren't entirely wrong, but they also are apathetic pebbles I doubt anyone would like.

It just pisses me off how often people will say "if the the beasts were treated better, none of this would have happened". But that's missing the whole point why the beasts fell. It isn't because they were mistreated. It's because their jobs were under the assumption that corruption could be cured like a disease. So when they couldn't, they hit a wall and simply fell for the same corruption.

My biggest example of this, is how the light of deceit reacts to the idea of fusing with the light of truth vs. the way the light of truth reacts. Despite what both of them ultimately wanting the same thing, they have differing reasons for wanting it.

The Light of Truth desires for truth and deceit to coexist in harmony to complete each other and uphold all parts of knowledge again. In this, he expresses softer and more tender feelings towards the idea.

However, The light of deceit and its desire is presented through their desire for "beautiful chaos". It chooses to refer to it as deceit and truth becoming indistinguishable, therefore creating inevitable chaos.

This direct contradiction comes from them not only still embodying truth and deceit, which are naturally contradicting concepts, but also from them taking on personalities from their users, their reasons are different because their users are different and often contradicting.

Do not correct me it’s for the meme shush.

MY ALIEN GREMLIN. YAY. I WILL ALWAYS TAKE AN EXCUSE TO DRAW FUCKASS REDESIGNS THAT I CANNOT GUARANTEE WILL BE USED AGAIN BC I LOVE THESE SILLIES :DD

There are no thoughts behind those eyes, only war crimes.

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