*grin* I'll admit to needing a while to regroup and get my head out of pity-party mode at first, but I don't think harshness plays into it. I think there's always going to be a bit of a gut-punch in this sort of thing for me... but I knew what I was getting into when I signed up. It's better to know the problems than be operating in a vacuum. :)

Re: the expected criticisms - I definitely thought I'd get dinged more on the technical side. I patched the story together almost line-by-line, so it left a lot of room for clicks, breath issues, and noise-reduction weirdness. I did my best to edit it all out, but figured there'd be places I missed or issues with the pacing because of it.

I also wasn't sure how my McKay would go over. I expected to get called on his reactions being too over-the-top or histrionic, especially compared to the surrounding narration.