I want to start off with I don't ever mean to be rude when I write comments on people's stories. I find that most authors on AFF are not native English speakers, so I try to offer some criticism when I see their comment section is only filled with "This is an amazing story good work!" or "Your English is fantastic!" If anyone, myself included, wants to better themselves as a writer, it's only fair that he or she encounters some tough love when it comes to their work. I know the story is your baby, and it's scary showing it to the monster that is the Internet where nothing goes away, but you must have known that you'd see actual bad reviews. I have gotten my fair share of them (mostly on fanfiction.net where they are terrifying), and I've learned to like them: they don't mean me or my work harm, they're just defending the story and/or characters they also love. Of course it's FANfiction, fiction written by amateur writers who are just FANs of the original work/character/real life person, so there needs to be some leeway.

I digressed, again.

The reason for this post is because I left a comment on someone's story. I just asked a bunch of questions because I didn't understand how the timeline worked: the characters were at a ski resort and then in the same chapter, they were back in their apartment with no explanation? There were other characters introduced in the ski resort, where did they go? Was there a flashback somewhere in the previous chapter? Did one character move out of the other character's apartment or were they still living together in the next chapter? Was this character always in college or did she just start going to college in this chapter? Why did one character's name change?
And the person responded by saying thanks I'll improve. Five minutes later, she tried defending herself: that she understood why I didn't understand the story because it's a tricky story, that if I knew what a symbolical order/imaginary order is then I would've been able to comprehend the story better, and that she didn't get why I had a problem with her grammar because she worked as a proofreader outside of AFF. Another five minutes later, she replied to my comment from a specific chapter, telling me that I had to read carefully before commenting because she had mentioned something in the story clearly. ALSO, she had deleted my comment and deactivated her profile...So am I to understand that she deleted her entire account because of my comment? Was I that harsh? This might be completely conceited of me, but I honestly could've been the reason. I'm not a mean person, however I think it's kinda important to point out flaws in writing, especially ones considering grammar (less important) and setting (really important; I even pointed this out in my original comment, that the grammar was less distracting than the problems I had with the setting). I can't even go back to read the story again to see what she meant with her last reply!

AND what the is symbolical/imaginary order? You mean I'm supposed to guess how the events are supposed to go, I can rearrange the chapters to how I see fit?? My brain doesn't work that way! You're the author! You're supposed to know how the story goes, not me! I'm just reading it because the foreward was intriguing and the plot seemed like a good idea! But then y'all have to go screw it up with no natural breaks, no concluding sentences to finish up the moment, no linking words to the next chapter...UGH.

I didn't want to feel exasperated by this, but now I worked myself up while writing this. *sigh. Someone share my pain.