That was great really quite heart warming. Oh and first.

I haven't smiled like this in quite awhile. You've done a good thing, my friend.

Solid plot and well handled dialogue accompanied by a really likable, empathetic bartender. Very well done indeed.

wow....honestly....props

mustaches for you

i have nothing to say but "yes"

Very nice work author.

>>15498941549894

I'm rather honored you think so.  First visit from a mod, so yay me!

>>14971181497118>>14978011497801>>14980101498010>>14981541498154>>14989491498949>>15092221509222

You guys are awesome, too.  I don't know how you found this story, since I was dumb enough to submit it just before I went to bed and it had fallen off the front page before 6am, but thank you all so much for your kind words.

>>15499221549922

Between you an I, best thing I've read all night.

Apologies to anypony who got spammed by notifications for this story.  I made some small edits, and for whatever reason, the "save changes" button doesn't work for me unless I unpublish and re-publish the story.  Hence, the notifications.  Again, sorry 'bout that.

>>15499221549922

Actually, Stally introduced me to this story....I think...I'm pretty sure anyway...In any case...I still really enjoyed it. TY.

As soon as I read"Vinyl Scratch walk into a bar. There is no punch line." I knew shit got real. a great story this is

>>15499221549922

No problem, this kind of spam I can live with.

About how I found your story. I'm probable 9 time zones ahead of you so I think I saw it on my phone during my morning commute.

Dutch Brony

That was absolutely amazing! Very well written and so compelling!

I approve.

This right here is why I like fanfic. Most of the stuff you read is mediocre at best, but occasionally you'll encounter da magicks -- a gem of a story that's brilliantly crafted and thoroughly satisfying.

This is brilliant, like a very brilliant thing.  Short, to-the-point, feel-inducing, and not covered in unnecessary crap.  Well done, sir.

Great story, extremely well written, flowed smoothly, and enjoyable to read.

My biggest question: Did you do the Artwork for the story? or was it based off it?

The only thing i did not like about the story (this is just me nit-picking):  

Is the lack of a page break for the "She made good on her promise, but not for about a year", once again this is me nitpicking, and putting in a page break just might make it look cheesy because its a one shot and more like your trying to overdo it.

This was awesome! Very creative, I liked how it wasn't from Vinyl's point of view, or even Octavia's. It made it feel more realistic. Speaking of realistic, I loved the dialogue. This whole thing was very well done. Although, it's listed as "incomplete". Sequel, perhaps?

Okay, that was an absolutely fantastic read.  Five stars and five mustaches!

It says "Incomplete." Is that accidental, or can we expect more? Excellent story.

"In a nutshell, the idea patron."

"Ideal", I believe you meant.

>>15756621575662>>15757251575725

Thaaaat was not right.  /fixed

Sorry, no sequel to this idea.  Bartender stories are a bit played out, frankly, but if you liked this, you might like my single-scene ideas in Six Hundred Words.

>>15757991575799

Bugger.  Just when you think you've caught them all...

To everyone else, thank you so much!  It was a lot of fun watching this story be crafted from a 2am sleep-deprived sketch into a fully-fledged one-shot.

Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Colgate_beam.png

That was just plain wonderful.  I hope that you will do more like this.

Wonderful! Just wonderful!

I believe I should add a comment to this too.

I'm serious when I say, this was brilliant. It is such a novel idea I think, the way it was done.

When you asked me to pre-read this, I had no clue what to expect. To be honest, I thought it would be some weird adventure fic at first.

The way you tied the title was very subtle, and intensely powerful in its delivery.

Definitely on my top 5 all time favourites, and you should know that is a very, very high class list.

All in all, I wish you'd take this writing style and adopt it for another story, with a different idea. I think you wrote like this extremely intelligently.

>>15756521575652

The artwork was actually commissioned for the story by one of my local friends here in Austin.  His DA link is below the picture, and if you want him to draw something for you, tell him I sent you!  I'm seriously considering framing the original, because I LOVE pencil drawings.

And yeah, normally, I would break that part in a story, but it's just so short it would look really odd.

It has been awhile since I read a heartwarming story like this that is brand new to me. Of all the fandom, i think that the Scratch and Octy are the best match, beautiful story, friend

The beginning was a bit too... noir, I guess? for my tastes. I half expected him to be like "The minute the dame walked into my bar, I knew she was trouble". But the story was adooooorable, and the last line was very well-done.

I've never known a bartender to give away free top-shelf booze, but I'll forgive you this time

>>15763451576345

He does live paycheck-to-paycheck for a reason, after all!

Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/Vinyl_Scratch_lolface.png

Excellent slice-of-life story.

I love how you captured the whole "ships that pass in the night" dynamic between an unknown bartender and Vinyl.

Funny thing here is I had the same style experience once.  I was working at a bar as sort of a bouncer/ server/janitor/ect. and this guy told a similar story about his girlfriend.  I gave advice and they got back together.  The events made some newspapers here and there since he turned out to be a kinda famous architect.  I have been sworn to secrecy on the names being connected to me and my name was left out of the articles.  Even the location is still a mystery to the world.  (BUT NOT ME!  HAHA!!  YOU'LL NEVER FIND OUT!!!)

I like how this story captured that for me.  Reminds me of what true love is from an eccentric weirdo's point of view.

Yeah, this architect dude was/ is (not sure which since this was years ago) one of those types...

Random quote:

"When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade."

"FUCK THAT!

When life gives you a lemon, wing it right back and add some lemons of your OWN!"

MOAR.... J-Just MOAR dam it!! I don't know why J'adore la Vynil et Octavia so much, but holy hell, fill the blanks 4 me!! This could seriously be 1 awesome octiXscratch. That is all... But first-

So long as the sun shines, u will always have a friend by your side. As lovers stay together, time fades all things; friendship is forever. Who says lovers can't have frienship? It's complicated; an answer so often spoken. As the sun rises again, your drunken stupor, your shadow lay with you, lonseome; friendless stupor...

That was a very well-written, touching story. While it wasn't very hard to guess what was going to happen it didn't diminish the story at all. I particularly liked the dialogue at the start, which seemed to flow quite naturally between Nick and Vinyl.

All in all, it was a really great read, and I think I just might hang around to see what you do next .

I've said that once, and I'll say it again: it is a very good one-shot: very bittersweet, and emotional. I'm glad you made it to EqD, because, unfortunately, great stories like yours do not get enough attention. Cheers to you and keep on writing!

Lovely. Short but concise :)

With skill and without hyperbole, the kind of tale I like.

Very good. I really liked the bartender's tone. The last line of the story is algo cool. I would say something as "you should continue the story with other background ponies and their stories", but then the... charisma? of this chapter would be gone.

As I said, very good. Very good indeed.

It's very reminiscent of A Pony Walks Into A Bar. I happen to think that's a great story, so the comparison's a compliment. I'm also a sucker for well-done OctySctatch (VinylTavia?), especially when it's a fresh take on the ship. Well done!

>>15783221578322

I admit that I've seen it, but I haven't read it.  Heard good things, though.  My goal here was really just to write a story where the main character has no bearing on the tale at all, because I see that as being quite analogous to real life; where so often, it's just not about us.

A quite excellent telling from an interesting perspective. Well done.

>>15767761576776

That's hilariously odd.  I'm sure this sort of thing happens all across the world from time to time, but it's so cool to know that something I sketched out at 2 in the morning could possibly have an emotional connection to someone else's life.  Thanks for sharing that.

Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Sweetie_happy.png

This story was phenomenal. It was touching, funny, and remarkably s well crafted. Bravo.

Now this is the type of story that gives me hope for OCs, great job

First person perspective done right.  Kudos to you, Otter.

This was very well done, would love to see more from you

That was a fine read; thank you.

Wow that was well done. Short, sweet and simple. I really liked how you wrote the story the in the perspective of a bartender.

It's funny cuz i read somewhere for writing background characters you should never make them stand out. You made your "oc" a regular pony but that was sort of endearing. Great job on the story!

Great dialog.

you moved me to tears with your words. well done.

5/5

This is a really heartwarming little story.  I very rarely see life being someone else's story portrayed as a good thing, but you sure pulled it off.  

Exelent! these are the types of octavia x vinyl that are the best!

Honestly, very touching. In a way.

This is very amazing. Cheesy, touching and full of emotions. I love it

.....OMGYESILOVETHISERMAGERDINABOATMOTAWHATDAGTUSHWSDGHRTU

Also did you know that this is the highest rated story with Vinyl and Octavia in it?

>>15914631591463

Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Octavia_O_O.png

>>15923941592394

If you go to ¨Browse¨ then ¨Fillter¨ then click octavia and vinyl once. also click the ¨order¨ and set it to rating.

yours is on top!!

>>15925831592583

EHRMEHGURD indeed.

Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Colgate_beam.png

>>15932321593232

:3

Wow. To be honest, when I started reading, I didn't know what to think of the story. Now that I'm finished, I can honestly say that this is great. Definitely an idea that I've learned a little something from. It's interesting, what you've got here; you've spun this ship down a course I wouldn't have seen it going, and I like that. And that ending line was golden. Have a thumb and a favorite .

Somehow, someway, it took 9 days for this to get its first thumbs-down.  It felt a bit surreal for a while, but now it's more real.  It's finally starting to sink in that I actually wrote this.

I'll say it yet again, you are all amazing people, and thank you so much, every last one of you.

mkay... its not the highest rated any more but its still 2nd (the 1 dislike killed it for us)

That was a thoroughly heartwarming story. It's not too often that I can actually say that about a fic and keep a straight face. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Loved it! I'm a huge octascratch fan, and this is one of the best ive read. I don't usually like sad stories either. Well done!

Your bartender will be forever im from the bits I got out of persona's. Just from the bits I got out of this well put together fiction He will live on.

excellent read.

I'm glad there's no punchline.

No one deserves to get punched by a line as soon as they enter a bar!

*Badumtss*

NOICE. This is bloody brilliant.

Image: http://www.colectiva.tv/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/lkzyz89efm_clap.gif

Wow just wow that was really amazing

It was short but didn't leave out emotions

One spelling error though

"the idea patron."

should be ideal but other then that just beautifully constructed

What can I say that hasn't already been said. Well done.

Nice. Really, really, really good story.

Good God, I'm crying. I don't think I've ever cried when reading before.

I feel like Vinyl. Snubbed, if you will.

I needed this. Thank you so, so much. Words cannot express what I'm feeling right now.

>>16842801684280

Well, I'm proud that my humble story could touch you.  I guess, in a way, I'm sort of like Nick.  I just present this little story, barely 2800 words.  I put it up without comment, without embellishment, and more often than not without ever knowing the effects that it may have on someone else.

Thank you so much for sharing.  I guess knowing that helps make me a little bit less of a background pony myself.

Image: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/31471793/FiMFiction/emoticons/misc_Spitfire.png

The progress of my emotions over this story.  A remarkably evoking fic.

I liked many things about this story, but most of all, the flow was exceptional.

It was a fluent read with natural dialogue and a believable premise, you really wrote something to be commemorated.

You see, I always tell my peers that the best story is one people talk about. Sure, anyone can present a cool idea... the trick is all in the execution; this was executed excellently.

Good job.

~Syn3rgy

You know this is a really great story for its simplicity and its message. It just goes to show that you don't need seven thousand words or ten chapters to tell a really great story. As for the message, being true to yourself and doing what you think is right even though its going to be hard is something everyone to needs to learn at one point in your life, because without that, your life is going to be much worse off than if you take a chance to grow and become a better person every now and then. All of this I just realized from this very short and wonderful story. Thank you.

Excellent work... And brilliantly written at that!

You, my friend, deserve a "Number Twenty-five"!

"idea patron" - Should be ideal patron. I loved it. This is a REAL short story. Props.

I really, really love this story. I read it once before, and now I'm reading it again because I know it brings a smile to my face. Lovely, and I like the way you brought Octy and Vinyl back together at the end there, with Vinyl's screaming row with a journalist -- although I kinda wish there was a bit more about what she said. I'd love to read that, but it's perfectly fine as it is now.

Absolutely brilliant. A unique take on the same old Octascratch story. It's touching, a bit sad, but with a happy, satisfying ending. I loved it.

I gotta tell you OtterMatt, that is probably one of my favorite OctaScratch short stories from here on in. Considering its my OTP and how many stories there are of them, holy moly. Congratulations on a great story, I found it because Lynked just posted a blog about what its like to be a writer and mentioned your stuff.

“I made the right choice, it just wasn’t the smart one.”

Damn you for making me relate to a story and feel things

This story made me think a lot about past relationships, and if I'd do anything different.

And about that quote up there, it reminded me of something. I won't go into detail but I had a choice once.

The 'wrong' choice would have made me happy,

The 'right' choice broke my heart.

In the end, I did the same thing as Vinyl. I did the right thing, but it still feels like I lost.

This story is going in my mental top 10.

And my mental top 3 for one-shots.

You, I like you.

I do declare this an excellent piece, bravo sir, bravo!

ALL OF MY YES

Phenomenal fic. I love these bartender fics, where there's a wise one who can always help out, who's down to earth and willing to offer up a cold scotch. Author, I need another story like this one, you nailed my favorite kind of story.

That was cute, I enjoyed it.

Ran out of stories, went through my very sparse follow's backlog.

I must say, I'm impressed. This was gorgeous.

I hope you get this notification, out of nowhere, just this one solitary 'ping' in the mist that says "You've made something brilliant" because you deserve nothing less than to remember that, occasionally, you make the world just a little brighter for being in it.

This was beautiful.  My dad told me once that he and my mom had a big fight kinda like that where they split up for a while.  It's always nice to read a story from a more unique view point and this was very well written too.  Thank you for sharing it with everypony

Very Very Beautiful

Oh gawd... SO MANY FEELINGS!!!!!!

visted the bar

Loved it. Well done.

I really liked this story, particularly because of its unique narrative voice. It really hit the "conversational, yet somber" tone you expect from a bartender, and it was really perfectly paced. A lot of these kinds of stories can run on with dry descriptions of the setting/characters (which really have no place in short stories) or fail to give enough time for the conversation to feel natural and feel to short. I think you handled it very well, here.

Fair warning: I'm incredibly biased towards Taviscratch, so I'm not exactly objective. But whatever, I really liked this story.

If I ever have time again, I will definitely look in to some of your other work!

I loved it. No, I absolutely adored it. It broke the tradition of telling a love story from the perspective of someone outside observing and did it in a beautiful way. I regret procrastinating on reading this absolutely beautiful piece. I think that it has earned a spot as one of my favorites. I would recommend this to anybody and everybody; not just those in need of a shipping story but those in need of a story that feels real. I was truly touched by this, which is a rare and great thing. Fantastic job.

That sir was a very endearing and touching story. /) Good job...no...excellent work my dear friend.

I like this story