It kind of drives me crazy, too. In some instances I inentinally made something look like something else, and the commentor seems to be alluding to the fact that I might have stolen the idea.

Yeah, that's really weird for me too because sometimes the comments feel like accusation, but because I didn't design the character, all I can do is throw my hands up and scream "what do you want from me?!".
With original art I could at least see it be critique (though like in your case, kinda mis-aimed), but with fanart I can't really help if the character design isn't that original.

^ yes, this

I GOT THAT ON SOMETHING TOO it was someone's commission of their pokemon team playing instruments.
the person claiming it even went so far as to name the artist they thought it was a 'ripoff' of and link to the art in question...the only similarity was that both pieces included a typhlosion on the team, and that in both pictures the typhlosion had a musical instrument in its hands (the "original" was a keyboard, mine was a bass)

i think these people WANT to feel like heroes for 'catching' so-called idea thieves, but really it just makes them look like an ass. cause nine times out of ten, it's merely coincidence...and weak ones at that.

I think people just get all full of feels when they look at a picture and want to say something, and then just sort of type out the first thing that seems vaguely relevant.

Or I dunno, maybe they think you're being clever showing a sly nod to an influence, and they want you to know it didn't slip past them?

Or maybe they think you like whatever it is they noticed, and want you to know where to find more things like it?

Or maybe it's just some form of idle small-talk that isn't supposed to convey any sort of meaning on its own, but lead to some sort of related conversation?

Or maybe it's just really subtle trolling, I dunno. I rarely pretend to understand other people.

I think it's just them thinking out loud without thought of what it looks like they're trying to say.

I also think they're just trying to ether talk to you, or put something there for people to notice them, feeling inclined to comment.

It's human nature to find links between similar things, so I don't get irked by the mere notion of people comparing a style to one of which they are familiar. But I agree that it's a spark for drama and people can be pretty blunt or tactless when comparing your style to others. Really, if a person can't be clear and verbose enough to bring a clear point and intention to the words they say about the art, then their opinion is pretty shallow and I don't worry about it. "I like it" "It looks cool" "looks weird" "looks like X's style" is just someone spouting out what they see, which is a reaction caused by when someone is just glancing at your work for a moment and not really thinking too deeply about it.

But, this is the internet, and despite being technically an "art website", it's still the internet. People generally have a very narrow attention span and will be as disconnected to the art as they are to the people, sometimes even less so. There's just no large population of people on FA who can really appreciate art, and rather see the site as a "doodle facebook" (which I feel it is anyways, along with DA.)

So don't worry about shallow comments and responses, those just tend to come from people who take a quick glance at your art and move on anyways. If you want legitimate critiques and input, you'll need to seek it out from other "real artists" who know how to do so, because as I'm sure you've discovered in over a week of posting art here, critiquing isn't a skill that comes naturally to all people.

Also a large portion of people are idiots, a large portion of those idiots are on the internet, and a large portion of those idiots on the internet are furries. So don't be too surprised if people claim art theft on clearly-marked fan art.

ehh... I don't think people think that hard about it. :s It used to bother me but I loosened up a little about it since really, they're just not thinking about it one way or the other, it's just the first thing that popped into their head to say.