The quality of today’s story is hard to escape.

Just Dodge!
[Dark] [Comedy] • 9,961 words

Lyra thinks Discord is an idiot for not thinking to dodge when the Elements of Harmony were about to strike him. Discord thinks this is the perfect opportunity for a game.

FROM THE CURATORS: As a new year starts, the same old curators return with a new every-other-Friday schedule and a six-year-old story that’s proven its staying power. “It went from 21k views to 22k while I was reading it,” Present Perfect noted.

We all praised the character writing. “Discord is a touch toned down from his appearances in the show,” RBDash47 said in his nomination post, “(which I don’t mind; translating his visual wackiness to prose can be more annoying than funny), but I can hear every line in de Lancie’s voice.” And AugieDog added, “the version of Lyra here reminded me of the character we meet in the ‘Slice of Life’ episode: essentially good-natured but a little cranky when faced with the unexpected.”

Still, it’s the challenge Discord presents to a skeptical Lyra that makes this story sing. “What’s most impressive,” Horizon said, “is that it’s written well enough and thoughtfully enough to provoke the sort of discussion it received.” “Hundreds have commented,” Present Perfect pointed out, “trying to come up with ways that Discord actually could have avoided the Elements.” “This leads,” RBDash47 said, “to a fun exploration of the limits, or lack thereof, of the Elements’ power.”

Present Perfect neatly summed it up: “On the whole, the quality of the writing, the approach to the what-if scenario and the inspiration of hundreds of imaginations is what sets this apart.”

So read on for our author interview, in which DannyJ discusses dark edges, skewed perceptions, and self-defeats.
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