It just seems a little strange to me that someone would be enthusiastic enough to spend $5, even $10 of their money and not bother to hit "like" on the works they see. There are clearly people willing to continue to fork out $5 and sometimes $10 for months, and still not signal what they appreciate. Not every creator notices this, and I'm sure that some of them just don't care, but I can't help but feel like something's missing. That's just where I'm at.
Sometimes I really just want to let this go, but when I create something that I enjoyed spending time on like my most recent creations, I remember that there is a small handful of people who do react and the will to share my art continues. It's just been tough lately, there's a lot going on and staying inspired, even organized, is a challenge at times.
Frankly, it's hard not to feel a bit of resentment toward the silent crowd when I ask for suggestions and requests during tough times, and the only one responding is the only one that has continued to respond in the wake of the AI controversy.
(Stranger still that this non-image post got almost twice the engagement than the number of paid subscribers it was aimed at.)