ohhh thank you for the question anon… i think its a bit of a nothing answer that i have but still heres my input LOL i am with you in that, as an author, id really prefer people only comment if theyre truly excited about it and loved it. and i will admit that i personally struggle to comment at all, even for things i love, so i often save the energy for things that truly blow my mind. but also as an author, i know theres a serious lack of appreciation in fic spaces lately and so id love to encourage people to comment even if its not their fave fic in the world - if you can say something encouraging, thats worth it. but i think that this goes for mostly readers more than other authors honestly LOL when youre an author yourself you contribute to the fanspace in other ways but i find that lately, readers in general just. dont comment even when they DO love it lol so i think id rather encourage ppl to comment in general than worry about the earnestness of the comment i guess? i remember being a baby author and just being happy to receive a ty author! sort of comment. maybe they didnt love it but it meant a lot to me at the time :]