I think about those artists who spent months, years working on shows that they were excited to share with their communities - their children - having their hearts broken because streaming channels scoured it off their platforms. FOR THIS? For fucking THIS???

- if payment processors' current policies had always existed, huge swaths of culture, from the prestigious to the pulpy, simply wouldn't exist. Today's disturbing indie work might be tomorrow's essential text. And even if it isn't, the freedom to create and access challenging content is valuable.

To be clear, works shouldn't need to meet some arbitrary standard of 'literary merit' or follow specific aesthetic conventions to exist. Genre fiction, pulp novels, underground comics, indie games, and yes, even erotica ought to have the right to explore upsetting themes. But note that -

And if your main concern is how to squeeze the most money out of art by cannibalizing everything and everyone, you’re a bitch ass loser lacking in curiosity and verve and you can catch my motherfucking hands. (2/2)

There weren't enough jobs for people before. There aren't enough jobs for people now. We are just going to lose dozens of dozens of people who thoughtfully cover, critique, and investigate the video game industry forever. It is a profound loss that will not be recovered.