I’ve got to admit, I’m kinda wondering if putting a Patreon link up there is really going to help much when said link is already my signature on almost everything I’ve posted in the last several months (including the three “Remastered for Patreon” pictures I upload every month) and present on my profile.

It's really tough to get patreon engagement at the best of times. I found a good balance by offering smaller monthly rewards as well as bigger "commission tier" slots where folks basically get a commission a month for their pledge, but that certainly relies on regular ability to complete whatever work a random new pledge may ask for. Unfortunately unless you're a huge artist within the fandom (and I mean like, one of the top 100 in terms of obscenely big names, haha) it's hard to get much traction with "Here's the content I want to make, support to see it sooner" as opposed to "I'll make content customised to your personal preferences".

Commissions are exactly my issue at the moment. I’ve done my best to limit my wait list to three people, but even then, I feel overwhelmed. I’ve been looking for ways to lessen the pressure a bit, and I’d been hoping to count on Patreon for that—but if the only way to get more people to join Patreon is to add an extra slot to the commission wait list, that’s just going to have the exact opposite effect…

It's not the 'only' way, just a reliable way as far as I've experienced. I wouldn't want to offer advice beyond my own experience in this circumstance. But, if you know it wouldn't work for you, certainly don't take this as a suggestion that you should do it anyway.