sometimes i wonder about what it must be like to...
I think you’re reading too much into this. People click dislike because they dislike it, not out of some urge to hurt the creator. The dislike button is there explicitly to allow you to say you don’t like it.
And why would you need to indicate to a random person who created something to celebrate something loved, on their own time, for free, for hours and hours, just in hopes of sharing their love with others, that you didn’t like their work or think it was good enough, if not out of some petty desire to make them feel bad? Because that’s literally the only thing a dislike can ever accomplish. If you thought they need some friendly advice on how to improve you can leave a constructive comment. Dumping on a piece of work anonymously helps no one, it’s entirely an exercise in petty negativity.
If you’re one of those people that values “being honest”, it’s good to know that if something not necessary to say? You don’t have to say it! You can be honest and kind and just choose to skip over the things you dislike. You can value the effort other people put into things and not rain on their parade. The world does honestly not need to know your every little negative thought and it’s egotistical to assume they do. You should aim to be encouraging rather than negative, to leave things that make a nice impact on strangers rather than the alternative.
So yeah, anyone you clicked dislike on someone’s innocuous fan thing once and want to be off the hook, you’re not getting it here. It’s a petty, unnecessary thing to do. Just don’t do it.
(It’s strange, I have yet to see the statement “I think you’re reading too much into it” be followed by something not condescending. I truly am aware of what a dislike button is for, thanks. I’m talking about how it accomplishes nothing in the scenario of an AMV or other creative fan work).