the days of 'write the story, don't worry too much about canon' gave way to a bigger focus on 'scholarship', which felt elitist to a lot of writers who honestly were just there for the elves and knew a bit of background but didn't have any urge to study HoMe, they just wanted to tell stories

I hope that I always encouraged or gave the vibe to people to just have fun with the material that was out there. Sure I read the books, I still read whatever the estate decides to publish (the hardback ed of the fall of Gondolin begs to be read still). I just never got the 'you must exactly write this because the professor absolutely intended it this way-people. No matter when or how, this never gets old for some people. Live and l let live I'd say.

But having left the fandom, I don't encounter these peeps again (and Twitter can be fun, truly!), I just keep tabs on those people that I care and love, but I am so glad that I don't have to keep an eye on fannish vibes anymore.