Okay sorry, but this has been on my mind for too long!

Awhile back, I got in a debate with someone over the ending of a story. I liked it, he hated it.

The general basis for his hate of the ending was actually morally based. He thought the ending was bad because it ended with humanity being "forcefully" turned into ponies, unicorns, and pegasi (the story, in essence, was an Equestria's origins story).

First off, it was an accident and a result of a battle between the villain (who started the fight) gone wrong. Second, I think the biggest issue with the argument was that he almost assumed it actually happened or was made manifest in reality and he was appalled because of it (So, we're comparing a fictional character's accidental extinction of humanity to Hitler's race supremacy? That's the least of our concerns when it comes to a story's realism. No one here is questioning how the heck a horse with a cone on their head spews energy from it and lifts stuff with their mind, but this guy is gonna say explaining the origins of Equestria in a way that doesn’t involve evolution as the answer is a bad idea and realistically immoral? Wow...)

This is not what has been on my mind (just a little context).

When he originally commented on the author's story, all he said was "Boo! Bad Story."

Word for word. That was everything. No explanation why, no "here's how you can do better," nothing.

He proceeded to say more things that did not come even a tiny bit close to being constructive criticism. So, I told the author not to listen to trolls like him and encouraged the author, saying the story was good (because it was). If he [troll] couldn’t be bothered to say anything nice or helpful, then his words were meaningless.

I responded on his comment saying, "Wow, everyone loves a troll (Not)! [and then something like] But honestly, with a name like [name], I can understand you wanting nothing more than to make people's lives miserable and provide no real criticism. Have a good day troll."

He responded to my comment saying "People always think I'm a troll because of my username, but it's not my fault I don't kiss up to every story. You have only been on FimFiction for a month (at the time), so I can't blame you for having no taste."

Wow... No taste huh? You critique a story based on how it relates to reality (while ignoring the fact that you are on a FICTION SITE with writings based in a FICTIONAL WORLD!!!!), while I critique a story based on literature rules and how it invokes certain emotions effectively (English is the author's second language, so the fact that even with limited vocabulary and constant use of homophones, they managed to evoke every emotion they meant for us to feel... that’s amazing! They've also improved their English significantly now and are nearly perfect in their writing) and I am the one with no taste? Apparently it’s wrong to critique a story based on actual literary rules of writing and right to critique a story based on personal opinion.

I explained the absurdity of his claim on my qualifications to know a good story from a bad one starting with his first problem:

"My account may be a month old, but I have been reading fiction without an account off and on since I was 13. I'm 20 now. Not to brag, but to make a point: I have perfect grades in Grammar, Literature, Creative Writing (actually, any subject having to do with reading or writing), Science, and Math."

In short, I think I am more than qualified to judge a story's quality, don't you think?

Also unmentioned in my comment was the fact that my non-online reading preferences are very high quality. I have read all of the "Little House on the Prairie" books at least twice (some as many as 4-5 times), all of the "The Chronicles of Narnia" (C.S. Lewis) books at least twice ("The Horse and His Boy" about 5 times), two out of three of "The Castaways of the Flying Dutchman" books by Brian Jacques (author of "The Redwall" series), "The Screwtape Letters" (C.S. Lewis again), "Little Women," all 500 pages of "Jane Eyer" (It was okay I guess. Very very long!!!), all of the "Anne of Green Gables" books at least twice (some as many as 4 times cause I love Anne! She's so fun to read), and many others I can't be bothered to remember right now.

To further my point, all the books I listed are a minimum of 200 pages long (and I don't know which ones since I know several of them were 300+ pages). These are far from the only books I have read. I've read many smaller books and such. I just decided to list the ones people would have actually heard of (at some point in their lives. Or they can be easily looked up if you don't know what these are). Many (or all, can't remember) of these books are classics and globally recognized as great quality literature.

Knowing all of this now, do you people think this is a good reminder of a very important lesson for all of us?: Never judge a book by its cover

I judged the guy based on one comment (actually, several. I gave as much benefit of the doubt as I could, but didn't find anything immediately accessible that proved the guy wasn’t a troll, despite his claims).

He judged me based on my account age (a meaningless indicator of writing/criticism qualifications might I add)

We were both wrong about each other and we both moved on (uh, mostly 😅), but I just had to get all this off my chest!

I tried to stop thinking about his comment about me having "no taste," but the irony was just too much! I had to say something, but I've already ended things amiably with him, so I didn't feel like accidentally dredging up another argument.

Friendly reminder for everyone: DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER!!! (And always comment as if it's the first and only impression anyone will ever have of you. More often than not, it is the first and only impression most people will have of you.)

Bonus if you care for more advice on giving real constructive criticism. Otherwise, have a nice day:
Like I said before, I searched this guy's page for proof about his claims to being positive and not a troll. I only found one comment on his page that would prove that. It was 2 years old and was bookended on both sides with negativity and calling stories "sh*t" and trash.

He admitted that the guy whose story he called sh*t was a friend and they were just playfully bantering. I stated the obvious by saying he [guy who wrote said sh*t story] doesn’t seem to share the sentiment. He then explained the guy's mom was in the hospital and he didn’t know it at the time, so of course he responded poorly. That’s when I reminded him why you can't say things like that when critiquing a story, no matter how bad you think it is.

You never know what anyone is going through, so keep your words kind and helpful, not harsh and hurtful. Telling someone their story is bad is bland, obvious, and unhelpful. Like, duh, even the author can see when their story is bad and just say "this story is bad." It's more helpful to explain why. Don't say anything like, "it's bad because it is," but instead say "The grammar needs help", "the story doesn't make sense. What is happening here when -insert something-?", "you need to flesh it out", "you need to shave it down! The purple prose... I'm drowning in Twilights!!!" (true story), or anything else that will actually improve the story, rather than stating the obvious.