I don't mind some kind of a penalty - I voted for the "skip a fest" deliberately instead of just commenting here that there should be no penalty. I just think that an excessive penalty might be felt as too much by the non-commenter and they would rather slink away than continue to play. It's a hard balance to strike and I don't envy you this year's rules change, I'll be honest!

What kind of a story are you thinking? Even a well-done drabble could be acceptable, perhaps?