L6 #03
Added 2021-08-04 13:06:33 +0000 UTCAs some of you probably guessed, L6 and CollarB are not only set in the same universe, but about to have a cross-over. One of many I plan to do between several storylines taking place in this universe with several different casts. I'm going to put them under the umbrella of what I'm calling 'Venus City Stories'. So expect me to bounce around between several casts, all active in Venus City's thriving BDSM scene~
And now onto the topic of OG Collar6. Y'all know I'm not happy with the way I've taken the story there. I've taken it to places I regret and just... don't like what I've done to the cast. To the story. To what was meant to be a fun ponyplay story. I am honestly considering retconning it all the way back to the arrival of Variscite at Sixx Manor. I've thought about it and thought about it. On the one hand, I hate the idea of losing three years of work. On the other hand, it's three years of work that I am completely unhappy with. I'm not making any hard decisions yet, but I want to hear what y'all think on the possibility of retconning back to effectively restart the Blackstone altogether. Please, share your thoughts and feelings below.
I genuinely appreciate all of you supporting me and enabling my amateur cartoonist career here and want to be sure that what I'm doing is also what y'all want to read. Y'all keep me going both in spirit and body. Thank you all. For everything.
Onto work on the next strip, which I've slated to be CollarB #07! Love y'all!!!
Comments
I’m cool with a ret con. I honestly don’t like where the main line has gone. I’m loving the Venus city stories though, more fun. Sometimes, we writers end up down a rabbit hole with no good ending. It happens and it’s ok to fix the story as needed.
Vixandra
2021-08-06 10:11:19 +0000 UTCIf you want to start a fun, kinky, cute rubber pony play chapter with a blank page, I personally don't mind. I love rubber pets of all stripes and easy relationships. So if you like it, go for it.
ED
2021-08-05 17:17:38 +0000 UTCI'm quite enjoying the current C6 story line. Partially in anticipation of the girls eventually turning the tables on Blackstone. But if you're unhappy with the direction it's gone in I don't think you should try to force yourself to keep doing it. I don't know if you want to open this can of worms, but you could do an in-universe retcon with a prevent-the-dark-timeline type of story. With a traveler/message from the future or an alternate universe that gives the girls some kind of edge to defeat Blackstone. Then the recent comics "really happened" in a sense, but the main versions of the characters wouldn't have experienced it.
Trisk
2021-08-05 07:15:45 +0000 UTCOkay, so.....a "small" reboot of around 200 pages or so? I mean, I love the current story, I want to see where it goes. The fact the Maids (are they still even her Maids?) Stella and Clair havn't been seen in most of that time, like, we just got to see Nora again. We know (in the current story) that something is in the works. Hell, I wonder what Nien's unchallenged condition for their help is, so where are the maids? They must be doing something, right? After the reveal that Nora was okay, my then-working theory that Blackstone had transported everyone to a dimension similar to subspace, and that everyone was still in Sixx's manor, well, my theory nolonger made sense. My current theory.... My current theory isn't fully formed but involves Blackstone not being as evil as she currently appears and that in the end Sixx will be released, but changed to be a switch, or a mostly Dominant switch. Xor and his sister, which, I can't tell, is Xor's sister Blackstone herself or a dark spirit possessing her? Because if it's a dark spirit...yeah, if it's a dark spirit possessing Madam Blackstone, then it's still workable. My other theory, which is more 'destination'-y, is about the outcome. As it stands, Michelle will come out the other side of this changed. Will she be a shadow of herself, a slave to Blackstone? No. I do think, however, Michelle's submissive spirit will be awakened, her family will get back together, but she will either be removed as Head Mistress Sixx. One outcome absolutely ends in that, but you don't want to write that outcome, do you? In short, I want to see the current storyline through. I would be upset if it got retconned, but it's not my call. I fucking ADORE Collar6. How the art style evolves, changes, and yet stays the same. But if you don't want to continue this story, by all means. It's your story. Just...please, don't leave this story abandoned. At least drop the general plotline of it for us.
AHopkins
2021-08-05 05:51:22 +0000 UTCIf you do not like the way the story has gone, and can not bring it around to where you want it to be, then it is time to cut off this branch of the timeline and back up to the point where things went wrong and go in another direction. May I suggest writing out a long term plot that you want to follow before starting on the revised strips. Know where you want to go, and the major steps you want to take to get there before you start on any of the strips for it. That should help avoid this type of problem happening again.
Wild Card
2021-08-05 01:06:02 +0000 UTCWow, poor Laura had certainly been super focused on getting some orgasms over the weekend, but Maaya was having none of that (with her being totally immune to Laura's attempt at Puppy-Dog Eyes); resulting in a Laura who's a little bit grumpier than normal when she gets back to work after the weekend... I do have to wonder though, is Natalie now starting to wonder about just what exactly Laura and Maaya have been getting up to during all their 'plans'; given her extremely curious glance at Laura in that last panel, even if Laura seems to have missed this detail, due to sulking about her lost orgasms? I am certainly curious to see about what might potentially happen next here, if Natalie now tries to do some discrete snooping around and ends up discovering some of the kinky secrets which Laura's been keeping from her. But having several interconnected comics based in the 'Venus City Stories' setting, it sounds like a really fun idea indeed! As for potentially retconning the current OG Collar6 story arc and starting over from a certain point where things didn't get so dark, that's totally up to you... I know that it has been a lot of work, but if you're not feeling very happy about the way things have been going and just want to scrap this current arc, we all understand completely; that okay? I could see it being the case that Nora had managed to take out Blackstone, when she invaded the mansion. But the whole experience up until now was all part of an intense mental assault which Blackstone had been using on Michelle, in an attempt to try and break her spirit, something that's akin to the Tsukuyomi illusion from the Naruto series! And while none of the events that took place after Blackstone grabbed onto Michelle's wrist had actually occurred in the real world, the whole experience could still leave her feeling mentally off balance for several story arcs afterwards (due to the illusion being super realistic or something else about this event has left a lasting mark on Michelle's mindset), with it potentially causing her to secretly experiment with the idea of being a submissive; either with Trina now acting as Michelle's mistress during these sessions (hoping that this won't leak out to the public), or she goes incognito to someone else... Whatever you decide to do though? I will continue to support you. Thanks once again!
DarkJade
2021-08-05 00:18:59 +0000 UTCOk I really like your pony play art and your latex art in general. I like Collar6 but I will not blame you for retconning the current ark. if you were happy with it I would be fine with the storey continuing as is but if you’re not happy and think its necessary I won't complain. I enjoyed the previous arc with the sisters challenges, and Laura in a cat suit having fun. So if we get more of that I will be happy. That being said it’s your story so it’s your decision. I will keep supporting you regardless.
Ross Kirkland
2021-08-04 22:34:36 +0000 UTCHonestly, I very much enjoy the current story you are doing with C6. It has been a fascinating psychological journey with excellent artwork. Obviously, at the end of the day you have to do what's best for you. But speaking solely for myself, I hope the current C6 story continues as-is, though moving towards a resolution you personally find acceptable of course...
Hober_Mallow
2021-08-04 20:40:14 +0000 UTCEasy way to retcon that is to have it all be a nightmare had by someone made aware Mistress Blackstone's power. Copout, but if you retcon it, you could have the next page be someone waking up screaming, tell the first person to come check on them if they were sleeping alone for some reason that they had a terrible nightmare, and leave it at that then move on.
Joshua Workman
2021-08-04 20:12:18 +0000 UTCI think retconning is a valid answer, however I also get the impression that if a retcon were to happen, there would always be a part of you that would be 'what if I hadn't'. I also realise that the Blackstone storyline is emotionally gruelling, but I wonder if there's an angle to that - that our heroes in trouble right now find it in themselves to overcome, and learn something about themselves in the process. For example, Evita is struggling with being confronted with her regrets but I could see an angle where between all the things that happened around her and to her, she didn't _deal_ with what happened to her and the weight of it pushed in her face is a huge burden but it forces her to actually deal with it. Bowed, but not broken, if you will. And I think that could also be an interesting twist: Evita resists what happens to her, comes out of it stronger - and it gives strength to Michelle and Laura and Trina, for seeing that this can be pushed back against. Also I don't know how this fits your personal canon, but one thought I'd like to add: I don't believe Blackstone actually severed the links from Michelle to her fam. I think she's suppressing them and *telling* them that's what's happened. That Evita's strength and resolve then gives Michelle enough strength of her own to break whatever's going on - and rediscover that link. I even think it would be neat narratively, if you wanted to, to have Nora (and Gunther and Michael and anyone else) turn up - just as Michelle snaps out of whatever funk she's in and starts to turn the tide. Not quite 'too late' but not quite 'in the nick of time' either. Just a thought. It's always darkest before the dawn. Look to the east - on the dawn of the fifth day... Whatever you want to do, though, it's your story, your tale to tell. We will go with you wherever you want to take us.
Pete Spicer
2021-08-04 17:27:15 +0000 UTCMaybe the letter Sixx opened at the start of the arc was laced with drugs making her hallucinate the whole thing.
Mindwave
2021-08-04 16:08:32 +0000 UTCi love Laura's apparent obsession with orgasms~ and I think a retcon is a tool like any other when it comes to storytelling, if you can't see a path forwards, go back and start again, even the greatest artists in the world scrapped and redid what they were unhappy with, such is the way of art
lin sanderson
2021-08-04 15:50:21 +0000 UTCLove the different strips in the same universe thing, very "everybody has a story to tell" feeling. As for retconning, you do what makes you happy. I know you draw/care about the thoughts and feelings of your readers, but ultimately, it's your story, I'm just along for the ride.
Sasquatch_2703
2021-08-04 14:16:05 +0000 UTCLove the idea of having all of the different strips in a same universe. Thank you for all of your hard work. On the idea of retconning the OG Collar6, could you make the last time line a bad dream? For example Laura wakes up runs to Sixx balling her eyes out and Sixx comforts and cuddles her and telling her it's was a just a bad dream and she would never let something like that happen in real life.
wes9511
2021-08-04 13:38:58 +0000 UTCI like the concept of exploring turning the characters against their nature. As expressed in a DM, I love bad ends and would like to see what a bad end in this scenario would look like. But if you're struggling that much with the story as is, I say go for the retcon. I would much rather read something that you enjoy producing than something you're just struggling to get out.
Isaac Springer
2021-08-04 13:18:53 +0000 UTC
