Cannot limit collection lists which point to multi references

I have an Articles template, and Articles can have multiple Authors (multi-reference field.) However, within the Articles template, if I link a collection list to Authors, I cannot limit, sort, or filter that list.

I want Authors to read naturally like
“Author 1, Author 2, Author 3”

but to do this, I need to two collection lists… so the first author has no comma, like
“Author 1”
and all other authors follow like
“, Author 2” “, Author 3” “, Author 4”

However, when linking to the multi-reference field, I do not get the option to limit the list, and cannot make this format.

Is this intended behavior? The best workaround I can think of right now is to make a ‘Main Author’ reference field and an “Other Authors” multi-reference field. This way I could access them separately.

Am new to webflow but if there is a multi reference field, then after selecting the authors for that article. Can you not set a conditional sort order by author and alphabetical or other variant?