I had no idea account migration landed. Your description actually sounds quite reasonable. I guess I was too shocked and burnt by the instance blocking incident. Maybe I should give Mastodon another try.
Just need to find an instance that doesn't block...
Finding an instance that doesn't block other instances, but also actually moderates its users and thus doesn't get blocked, is going to be pretty hard - and also a rather harassment-filled experience unless you fit in with the Gab crowd, I imagine. You could always run your own instance.
Note that the majority of instances that are "blocked" are actually soft-blocked by most instances, meaning you can still talk to people on them if you follow them, you're just not going to find posts from their users otherwise.
Just need to find an instance that doesn't block...