Despite any opinions on Beyond Canon in general I think the HICU has given Homestuck as a brand so much hope after years and years of everything feeling dead in the water. Its so obvious that the people behind everything care SO VERY DEEPLY about it, as a brand I don't think Homestuck has ever felt so communicative and professional, before it really just felt like things happened without much thought or reason behind it, that there was really no plan, likely due to how many cooks were in the kitchen, and how just about all of them (VIZ, What Pumpkin, and Hussie to a extent) had such different ideas of what Homestuck really was. But now, especially with this site (credit to everyone who helped put this together as well), things are looking on the up and up, and i'm glad Homestuck as a brand and a community is finally able to flourish again.

As for the monetization, I believe it wasn't technically legal before for them to make merch or a patreon because they didn't legally own the characters/brand, not that Hussie would intervene and stop them or anything, just on the paperwork side. Now I assume there are more opportunities with distributors and publishers that weren't available before, as well as being able to openly use the Homestuck brand.