General Discussion

So, I was working on an outline of mine and I just realized... all the stories I write, whether overtly or not, take the side of change and chaos?

And, well, that makes sense, and I kinda already knew this habit. I often write about dragons, including this outline, and dragons are often the incarnations of chaos, whether the disorderly kind or the primordial soup from which gods spout out of.

Sometimes if I'm even feeling spicy I might go into that order and chaos are the same thing and aren't mutually exclusive.

But- tangent aside- what surprises me is that in my stories where there's no dragons, with not a single primordial wyrm in sight, they still align with the concept of chaos and change being important, with the villains (though not always the antagonists) always stagnating in some form or another, such as refusing to move on from a faulty idea, or trying to keep a broken wheel turning. Often, they view reality as mutually exclusive too.


Does anyone else notice weird little trends like this? Or do you prefer chaos over order or vice versa?

Both are necessary parts of existence, two sides of the same coin if you will, we need both to truly thrive. But at the same time, too much of either can cause irreparable damage.

I'm personally more interested in/on the side of chaos because chaos means change, it means evolution. Chaos is the universe's way of challenging life, of forcing us to change and adapt and thus become better, stronger. Without the chaos that was an integral part of the primordial world, there wouldn't BE any life to find order for.

That said, too much chaos and instead of change, you get destruction.

Order, on the other hand, is what keeps us safe, helps us to find a purpose in the world. And yet, the pursuit of order has caused far more damage to the world than chaos ever could. Look at how we used to farm, the way we forced nature to be tamed and conform to our rules. At least in some places we know now that it was the wrong way, that we need nature's chaos to replenishe souls (Edit: I meant soil but honestly the point still stands) and fertilise crops, but some places still don't. Look at the destruction of rainforests to creat perfectly neat and ordered palm oil plantations.

Order demands certain rules be followed, that we conform, that we be perfect. Perfection brings rigidity, with rigidity we lose the ability to change, and when we lose the ability to change, to grow....what is the point of existing?

Dang, that got philosophical.

Uh, tldr: Chaos is good, order is good in small doses but usually just causes more problems.

The whole universe is chaos. This is not a badthing, and in fact actually quite beautiful. Look at the night sky, a forest, a patch of grass, or even a life as a whole.

Because everythung is chaos, it can't be the opposite of orderer. That's disorder. Both are part of chaos due to its inherent randomness.

Interesting thought I wish I had more time but to put my thoughts short:

I don't have a preference for chaos but I feel like it's just something that is needed to progress:

Establish order > advance to a point where the old order is not efficient anymore > chaos > new order > repeat cycle

If there is a story about an incarnation of anything, I will most likely read it 100% of the time. It will pique my interest certainly if it’s dragon related (they are one of my favorite fantasy creatures), or mythological - anything. I have literally read most books about dragons that are published from a major obsession.

Personally, I prefer order because I like neatness and organization, however, there has to be some kind of balance between the two - in the way I think about it when I write anything. Though, given that there are a lot (and I mean so, so many various different forms of chaos, of which I have done thorough research), there are many different ways stories could be written about that. Also - I hope you keep writing, it’s good to practice it in any length.

in real life, the answer is probably order however, when writing, definitely chaos, because as someone above said [quote name="Tossalor" date="2023-12-28 04:13:14" ] I don't have a preference for chaos but I feel like it's just something that is needed to progress: Establish order > advance to a point where the old order is not efficient anymore > chaos > new order > repeat cycle [/quote] almost every story (mostly fanfics) I write has the main characters changing the status quo a LOT. usually by literally bringing about societal reform in some way and to some degree (this is why all of my wips are so insanely long lol) buuut actually also to some degree there's order to that too, like they're trying to bring order to a chaotic society? so idk haha

Push hard enough on one side and it starts to resemble the other. I have an oc that is the main entity of chaos however interestingly they are themed after the chaos effect. Since chaos effect is the theory of how tiny events cause an unprecedented result one could argue it is order because one could theoretically logically trace the cause and effect. One could argue the whole universe is order because it could be explained by cause and effect and one can argue it is all chaos because there are unexplainable elements. I personally align more with chaos because it is individualistic(not caring what the laws/masses say) and also relates to determinism(one of my favourite theory’s). I also believe that change is inevitable. Additionally it is important to note Chaos and order are manmade constructs the universe does not care with you think, go have fun and experiment with order and chaos in what ever way you want.