Just unfollowed someone I seriously respected and admired because they said something really hurtful about people like me (cringey enjoyers of pleasant fanfiction) that I could not stop thinking about <3
the question of fic comments is very straightforward actually. readers do not owe writers comments. writers do not owe readers fic. there is no bargain, no transaction, no debt.
fic is a gift. comments are a gift. gifts are exchanged between friends, out of love, not out of obligation.
I write for myself. I post it for others, as a gift, because their joy brings me joy. I read for myself. I comment for the author, as a gift, because their joy brings me joy. perhaps we were not friends before, but we are now, however fleetingly, because we have given each other gifts out of love.