Writing for Discord · 3:08pm Jun 13th, 2014
SO!
I have been asked on many different occasions now: My approach when it comes to writing for this particular character:
Instead of explaining it multiple times, i figured i'd just share it with everyone. So here's a small guide :)
Discord happens to be my favorite character to write for. Soarin and Rainbow Dash may be my favorite characters, but nothing gets me quite as giddy as writing in the voice of John De Lancie. I was a huge fan of Star Trek the Next Generation, you better believe i fangasmed EVERYWHERE when i heard Q's voice come out of Discord the first time.
The problem: Now don't get me wrong, i have seen Discord written perfectly by many authors, but i have also seen many walk down a certain path with him that just doesn't work: Writing him like you would write Pinkie Pie.
While i can see the reason behind approaching it this way, Discord has a very distinct difference from Pinkie:
Pinkie Pie is FULL RANDOM. Pinkie is a unique character because she can seemingly do anything at anytime without any explanation. There is generally no rhyme or reason behind her antics and more often than not, she appears out of nowhere to break the flow of a scene (in a comical way) She has no rules, which makes endless possibilities.
How is Discord different? There is one MAJOR thing that sets Discord apart:
While Discord is also capable of doing pretty much anything, everything Discord does is done for a reason. His randomness is meant to compliment a scene, not derail it. He is an ambitious character by nature and prefers to mess with reality for his amusement, but more often than not also to shift focus to something important or himself.
Here are some examples from my stories:
Flying Sky High Chapter 15:
“No shifting of reality! That is the number one rule of your freedom!” Luna made loud and clear for everypony. Discord appeared beside Luna and held his cheek against hers.
“Keep interrupting me and I’ll scramble your brain to make you believe you're a little school filly that loves frilly pink dresses and has mommy issues.” He said monotonously into her ear. Luna’s horn glowed to life. Discord nonchalantly reached up and put a clothespin on it, which somehow blocked her magic. He turned back to them as Luna eyed the clothespin on her horn with a mix of confusion and annoyance.
“ANYWAY,” he continued as he floated back over to Fleetfoot.
Just where the heck did he get a clothespin? Who knows, but he used it to butt Luna out of the scene. She spends the rest of the moment trying to pry the clothespin off her horn while Discord finishes his explanation.
Flying Sky High chapter 18:
“Do not deny it little Lulu, you would rush to save the life of a pony. In fact I’m hurt you don’t think higher of me for performing such a selfless deed.” He sneered at her. She glared right back.
“Deeds such as this are not without risk. My sister is paying dearly for changing a pony’s fate. How do you expect me to think any good can come from it? Have you seen her lately?!” She stomped and pouted at him. Discord stared at her pouty face, snickered, and flipped his fingers over her lips to make a Blblblblblb noise on them. She swiped his hand away in frustration and her magic came to life through her horn. He reached up with the clothespin again. She quickly covered her horn with her hooves, but he put in on her lips instead to hold her mouth shut.
“You really need to relax and stop worrying about such trivial things.” He wagged a claw back and forth as she desperately tried to pull the clothespin of her lips while making muffled yelling noises. “Celestia will be fine. After all, she has me! She doesn’t need to rely on you for solutions when I can make one up as I go along.” He bowed as Luna gave up and glared at him with her lips clamped shut.
A similar gag, yes, but slightly different and for a different purpose. He baited her with teasing and tricked her into thinking he'd try the same joke twice again. Instead of blocking her ability to retaliate, he blocked her ability to speak all together. allowing focus to shift entirely to him.
Piercing the Heavens Chapter 2
“YEEHAW! RIDE ‘EM COWBOY!” It was Discord. Luna quickly stood up with Discord still on her back. She frantically looked herself over. She now had a harness with reigns and a saddle on her back. She growled and glared up at Discord, who wore a leather vest and ten gallon hat. Soarin blinked and relaxed, but the five bat guards all charged at him. Discord snapped his fingers as they approached. Strings appeared around one hoof on each of them. They all spontaneously inflated like balloons and dangled above Discord by the strings. “Really Lulu, your guards need to relax. Celestia’s guard doesn’t even try with me,” he tugged on the strings in his paw, bouncing the bloated guards up and down as they flailed and squeaked in confusion.
Discord not only shows, but clarifies how pointless it is to try and stop his antics by violating the personal space of a princess and making her guards into balloons.
Later same chapter:
“Bravo Lulu! You’ve finally learned,” he draped his arm over her neck.
“DON’T. TOUCH. US.” She snapped. He pulled his arm back.
“Oh ye of little fun allowed,” he mocked her as stepped back and crossed his arms, “Well, go on, I believe you were about to tell him about… it,” Discord snickered. Luna held her breath, puffing her cheeks.
“Um…” Luna bit her bottom lip and shut her eyes tight.
“Time’s up!” Discord snapped his fingers. Luna disappeared and reappeared in the corner of the throne room, sitting on a stool with a dunce hat on her head, and a large, rainbow swirl lollipop wrapped to her hoof with duct tape. Discord put himself in between Soarin and Luna as she tried to shake the lollipop off her arm.
I pick on Luna a lot don't I? I have a common theme of Discord picking on Celestia's little sister. Again, Discord finds a creative way to both remove Luna from the scene and keep her occupied while he takes over.
AGAIN later same chapter:
“Well then!” Soarin blinked and he was suddenly strapped to a diagonal table. Discord stood beside him wearing a white doctor’s coat.
“Hey!” Soarin struggled, but could not move.
“Let’s see how the old ticker is doing, shall we?” he put on a stethoscope and placed the chestpiece over Soarin’s heart. A hoof extended out of the right eartip and punched Discord square across the jaw. “Oo! That’s a new one!” He said with his jaw stuck three inches out of place. Everything disappeared and Soarin fell back first onto the ground. Discord reclined in mid-air above him. Soarin looked over to see Luna standing up on her hooves, but now freaking out because the stool was stuck to her plot.
“Seriously, how the hell does Celestia put up with you?!” Soarin flattened his ears and brow, “I’m pissed enough as is!” He snarled. Discord sighed and rolled over as if laying on an invisible couch.
“I honestly don’t know how she puts up with all of you,” he waved his paw in the air, “Fine.”
Discord plays into the problems Soarin is having, putting a comical twist on it by having Soarin's heart literally punch him in the face through the stethoscope. His antics also always have multiple layers, as shown by Luna, she is free of one part, only to find the stool is stuck to her as well, effectively extending the time she is not part of the focus.
As seen in the examples above, it is also important to note that Discord speaks in an informally formal way. (or formally informal?) Whenever i write his dialogue I imagine the speech as having a polite and proper tone, yet he uses slang and isn't afraid to be crass.
So the way i like to use Discord: a character who can offer comedy without taking the scene's focus away from the main point. In fact he can literally shift the scene to his will in order to get to the point or offer a different way of viewing a situation. He has the ability to force the focus to him if need be, and can literally change the course of a scene towards a different outcome than what the reader may be expecting.
The other part i like about writing for him? I make up a lot of his gags on the fly. There's no way to "plan" Discord (unless he plays a particular important role in a scene or two) You just have to think how you can be ridiculous and make sense at the same time. ;)
So there you have it! A little breakdown of how i write for Discord.
This'll help me out. I'm trying to write an EqG fic where Luna needs to show Superintendent Discord around the school to show everything's running smoothly (it isn't.). I haven't started up cause idk what to do for D-man.
He's a little hard to get down, but once you figure out how to use him, i doubt you'll find a character that's more fun to write
2203657 well, other than Pinkie.
Hmm. That was interesting. I see where you make the difference between Pinkie and Discord. It makes me look back at them and now I realize that Pinkie has uncontrolled random but Discord keeps his controlled while still able to make things funny.
2203713
There's much more of a line between them than most first think
Even in the show. 
my favorite example is him messing with the animals in his season 3 reforming episode. He makes two different animals rage out, a gag wich leads to him doing the same to the beavers discreetly, which leads to sweet apple acres being flooded, which leads to the conclusion and moral of the episode.
One gag spans the entire episode behind the scenes in order to set the stage for the final scene. I thought it was brilliant
It is not hard to see why Discord enjoys messing with Luna. She is a good foil for his antics because she has a certain tendency to be self important. No wonder Discord wants to shift the focus from her to himself.
You also do a good job with Discord's props, mixing the verbal and the visual together.
2207451
the props are the best part
the thought process is: what is something ridiculous that i can use for a logical reason? The results never fail to amuse me
