To me, someone who celebrates a bit more of the spectrum than most: Metal hot. Make food hot.
Non-stick means easier cleanup, but my wife seems to think cast-iron is necessary for certain things (searing a prime rib roast, for example.).
After I figure those out, then I gotta figure out gas vs. electric vs. induction vs infrared…
You can’t use soap with free lye in it. Any modern dish soap is fine. Just don’t go making your own soap out of lye and fat like in the olden days, because then you’ll probably have free lye in it.
There’s a bunch of imaginary rules around cast iron, some of which was relevant 40 or 50 years ago and some of which has always been misleading.
Truth is, the more you cook with a cast iron pan, using oil or whatever other fats, the more it’s seasoned. You don’t have to re-season it at all unless you somehow manage to strip the existing seasoning.