Octavia’s Story

Three unforgettable memories reveal the honest but gloomy truth about Octavia Melody and the struggle in her heart. Will her marefriend understand what she is trying to say?

A million thanks to Wireframe for prereading!

Chapters (4)

Chapter one: Torn · 5th Jul 2019 · 2,694 words
2,694
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Chapter two: Applause · 5th Jul 2019 · 2,621 words
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Chapter three: Lessons · 5th Jul 2019 · 1,635 words
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Chapter four: Octavia’s story · 5th Jul 2019 · 2,550 words
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Comments ( 9 )

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hawthornbunny

hawthornbunny #1 · Jul 14th, 2019 · 1 · · Chapter four: Octavia’s story ·

Geez, I kinda wanted to punch Vinyl. I know she can be dense, but surely she can realize when Octavia is pouring her heart out to her.

I felt really bad for Fortissimo. I actually thought the story would end with Octavia finding him again and healing her old wound, but I guess it's not the kind of story where everything works out happily in the end. This was a good read.

Elkia Deerling

Elkia Deerling #2 · Jul 15th, 2019 · 1 · · Chapter four: Octavia’s story ·

Hey there, Hawthorn! Nice to see a comment from you again! What you say means a lot to me! Thanks for your opinion and the fav. I'm also really glad to hear you felt for an OC I created, as I often get the impression that MLP fanfiction readers do not care about OC's or like them very much (not just my OC's but also OC's in general). The problem probably lies with the OC's being shallow or bad, or do you think the readers are to blame as well? People always judge, after all.

hawthornbunny

hawthornbunny #3 · Jul 16th, 2019 · 1 · · Chapter four: Octavia’s story ·

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There is, I am sure, a level of stigma associated with OCs - "OC" is commonly equated with "self-insert" or "author surrogate", and generally people who want to put themselves in a story don't have good writing as a high priority. So readers tend to be on alert the moment they see an OC.

On top of that, there's also the fact that OCs have a genuine challenge to overcome: they have to earn the reader's attention. That's difficult, and since author skill varies widely, it's common to see this done poorly: OCs with little to no character, OCs who are too obnoxious to like, OCs whom the fic simply asserts are interesting and likeable without demonstrating why.

So yeah, there is a reason why readers might prejudge an OC. But really, an OC is just a character in a story, and if you write good characters, nobody should reasonably care that it's an OC. They might not even notice. I didn't - as far as I was concerned, Fortissimo is simply a good, likeable character. Even though he doesn't appear in the story for long and we don't know much about him beyond being Octavia's cello tutor, it's clear what kind of person he is and what motivates him, and the effect he has on those around him, particularly Octy.

Elkia Deerling

Elkia Deerling #4 · Jul 17th, 2019 · 1 · · Chapter four: Octavia’s story ·

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I haven't heard the term "author surrogate" before. Sounds funny. Maybe people who write these kinds of stories are really enthusiastic and passionate about living in the world of Equestria themselves and want to write to make that happen, ignoring the fact they have little experience or language skills. That's all perfectly okay (that's actually the reason I started writing, believe it or not), but it might be best to keep such a story to oneself and share it only with friends and family, instead of posting it online where people will think it's a high-quality masterpiece written by a literary genius. You might make your reader very disappointed that way, don't you think?

Maybe writers who do self-inserts also make their OC jump on the central stage too much, instead of introducing him/her in the background and then slowly advance or earn a place on the central stage as a main character. Or writers explain too much backstory because one knows one's own life best. I (luckily) haven't come across that many bad self-insert or OC fics, but I'm planning to write an intentionally bad story just to show how NOT to do it. Might be funny.

I like what you said: "An OC is just a character in a story, and if you write good characters, nobody should reasonably care that it's an OC." That's exactly the way I think about it as well. If somepony approaches me and asks: "Hey, do you wanna read my story? It's about my OC." I will certainly take a look at it if I have time. I believe it is important to judge as little as you can, and if you HAVE to judge a story, better make sure you know what you're dealing with.

Oh, and always be nice, of course.

Thanks for the compliments on Fortissimo! I tried to make him a pitiful character but also sweet and I hope I didn't portray him as too much of a crybaby. Then again, artists are sensitive and emotional people, are they not? I also tried for him to be the living embodiment of 'show, don't tell.' I mean, I had just a few pages and one room to make him act the way he acts. There was no space on the page for long life-stories or whatever. Just actions, dialogue, and body language had to do the trick. Glad to see it did!

Bilberry

Bilberry #5 · Jul 23rd, 2019 · · · Chapter four: Octavia’s story ·

Great story Elkia! I really like Octascratch stories. And I will add it to my list of favorites.

Elkia Deerling

Elkia Deerling #6 · Jul 24th, 2019 · · · Chapter four: Octavia’s story ·

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Hey there, Bilberry! Nice to hear from you again! I hope you're doing well there in the land of the Vikings and keep enjoying the great things MLP has to offer. Thanks for your nice comment and the fav, of course. It seems we have a common interest in Octascratch stories. Are you coming to Galacon 2019 in Germany this year? I'm giving a panel there and would love to meet up with you again.

Bilberry

Bilberry #7 · Jul 25th, 2019 · · · Chapter four: Octavia’s story ·

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Yes nice to hear from you too. I was planning to go there but chose to go to BronyCon instead. Had plans to attend both for a while. But two conventions, two weekends in a row would be a bit much for me.
But I will be going to UK ponycon in Nottingham this coming autumn. Maybe we'll see eachother then?

Elkia Deerling

Elkia Deerling #8 · Jul 30th, 2019 · · · Chapter four: Octavia’s story ·

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Bronycon sounds really fun! I'm afraid I'm not going there because I don't like flying very much. Actually I'm still pondering over UkPonyCon. It's in the same building and last year not many people attended my panel, so... might not be very worthwhile for me. Still, I'll think about it. Lots of my friends will go there as well. I'm very certain I will go to Hearth's Warming Con, though. That's in the weekend of 29-02-2020 in Haarlem, the Netherlands. Is that convention on your schedule as well? Please let me know!

Blazingcomet