The reason for the subscription/access separation was to make it easy for people to read the journals of those who wanted to keep some entries private or for only for a few close friends. The other reason is so people can grant access to someone even if they don't want to read their journal, for whatever reason. You can do the same thing with reading filters here and at DW. It's just more work. If I want to stop reading someone--maybe they're posting a lot on topics that are sensitive to me, or they're obsessed with a fandom I actively dislike--I can just unsubscribe, but leave their access in place. They can still read all of my entries. I always check in periodically. Sometimes I'll resubscribe to people again after a time.

All of my non-fandom entries are locked up there, although I grant access to anyone who asks. My default on LiveJournal is now locked, but again, I grant access to anyone who asks.

Maybe it doesn't feel impersonal to me because I've met new people since I started cross-posting.

I also love your icon. I saw you joined theamericans. I'm two episodes behind. Sigh.