Yeah. I would also point out that even if Homestuck doesn't cost money to read, it's definitely not true that they don't make money on the brand. And if they wanted money, there are numerous ways they could have leveraged said brand that would have gotten them boatloads of said money, but they chose to alienate fans instead.

So it's not like, picking on the independent artist here. Homestuck is not a struggling webcomic that never got its fair shot. Ultimately this is Hussie's organization and Hussie's extremely poor, erratic, and hostile decision making has defined Homestuck's decline, and even assuming Gio is an asshole (which I have not seen evidence for), shooting the messenger is a much dumber and more destructive way of handling things than just being transparent with the audience for the first time ever, or admitting fault in a way that isn't grumbling and backhanded.

And I mean, fuck. I'd be mad if I was working under Hussie. I would say, you go right out there and you talk to those people and tell them you're sorry and tell them that you're not gonna burn down a community made preservation project.