I'm so exhausted from this idea that authors aren't entitled to seek anything but readers are SO entitled to everything. ppl have commodified fanfic so badly that authors are villified for wanting support for their freely shared work, but readers are treated like paying customers
"Writers shouldn't be looking for engagement" does piss me off as a tradpub author. Like no...we share fics for community and tradpub for money. Engagement is a requirement of community. Fic isn't built to market the same way tradpub is but it's still a call for community.