u/BeckeredCheese

You accept the deal. You aren't tied to paying Dick if the show fails. Continue other ventures on the side, up to and including another show that can replace Biggest Problem and cut Dick out. If that fails then at least you still have a show even if you have to pay Dick.

It's the obvious choice. Throwing away the Patreon isn't feasible for you.

In the Hero's Journey you have to go down into the deepest blackest BBC pit of despair, the dark night of the soul, and conquer it before re-emerging as a new actuated individual of renown. His mentor Dick Masterson, the sage archetype, is now gone from him and he is on his own to figure things out for himself.

Will Vito be able to brave this trial, or will he be one of the many who have left their bones in the labyrinth...