"Speaking of him, he actually made an account here. Go on and ask him how good of a boyfriend I am. Don't tell them about my plans for our anniversary though. I'll know if you do." @dailyfirestarter
The last chapter of Double Vision has been posted on AO3!
Thank you to everyone who’s been following along, and leaving such kind comments ❤️ We can all be in pain together!
As you’ve all known from the start, it’s not a happy ending, but I hope it wraps up all the loose ends and finishes in a place where you feel like reading this was time well spent.
Below the cut are a few more concept sketches for the final chapter, of course some spoilers so be sure to read the chapter first (and check the notes at the end for one more beautiful image I had made for this to commemorate wrapping it up!)
Graham looking good in a fresh new rebuild, thanks 1002!
Gary finally found his hotshot…
And Flint, remembering all the good times shared with his partner over the years, hopefully ready to start looking towards the future next.
Double Vision is nearly complete, with 10/11 chapters posted Here on AO3. It’s a story where after many wonderful years together, a tragedy tears Flint and Graham apart, and nothing is ever the same. Be sure to have some tissues handy if you take the plunge…
In preparation for the finale, here’s some of my outline sketches for the story so far, for the curious:
Back at it again with the shameless self promotion, Double Vision is nearly complete, with 9/11 chapters now posted! If you like angst, anguish, and just general unhappiness, this is the fanfic for you! In all seriousness, it’s been a really interesting exploration into just how far some Suits will go for their idea of a job well done, and how negatively that could impact others…
If that sounds like your cup of tea, in which there’s a rebuilt amnesiac P4cesetter floating around in the brew, and some oil tears from the Firest4rter falling in too, then have I got a link for you! https://archiveofourown.org/works/49241854/chapters/124250593
Do heed those tags, this one’s a doozy.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
So, I never really had a place to share this so here goes… Some background on where A Different Pace came from! (For those out of the loop, ADP is that long Flint/Graham novel up on AO3 HERE )
It all started with this Toon, Soggy Nell, who says this little tidbit in Flint’s taskline…
I thought it was just WILD! So, of course, my mind went to ‘what if she got away with it’. At the same time, as I still had just started playing really, I didn’t know too much about the lore, so I was playing with the idea of the Androids AU where some of the cogs had more human origins. At this point ADP was two stories, the ‘Flint finds Human!Graham’ story and then the ‘Captured Flint’ plot. Part of my creative process is to sketch out little moments, so the very first sketch became this comic integrating that NPC text…
Somewhere along the line Nell got turned into a mouse, but the sentiment remained. Obviously, that didn’t translate directly to the story, but if you’ve read it, you know exactly what scene this is from. And speaking of the taskline, at the time I was in YOTT and reached Winston… what a shock that was! It’s really the first time that the Toons pretty much commit a war crime in response to the Cogs… thus the plot was born. To what extreme can either side justify? How far can they go before a rift forms. The Wizards, in my opinion, crossed that line, and frankly the Suits crossed it a long time ago- something for our not quite so programmed Androids to mull about than act on. Thus, the two stories became one and I realized this thing was growing legs. Many, many legs~
It was almost too perfect… So of course I had to toss some gunk in the gears! The primary of which being a bit of a misunderstanding between Flint and Graham when one of them finally confessed their affection for the other. Of course, the feeling was mutual, but Graham has a way of jumping to conclusions, and Flint tripping over his own words… Cue that visual of Graham standing there, literally bearing it all for Flint, and being let down… He pulls his robe shut, you can see the exact moment his heart breaks, and Flint has NO IDEA how he’s going to fix this. Meanwhile, there might also be an entire Lighthouse in his way!
Art by JamiPurple for me of this moment, it was too good not to have illustrated!
Chip was another character I was immediately fascinated by. I thought he could be a great glimpse into ‘pure’ suit culture and just how self-destructive it was to the Suits, and maybe Flint could help him overcome that, even if just a little… At this point i don’t remember where it originated, but the idea that Chip and Flint are ex-lovers really just catalyzed this plot point, and made it fit in pretty seamlessly with Flint’s own journey of healing after his capture and escape!
Next, let’s talk about the superstar- Graham! I could only keep his ego down for so long, and know he needed some big event to really blossom and show off. Cue the Banquet! While important for the plot, this was also such a fun excuse to dress him up in something fancy!
But, amid all that glitz and glamor, I also wanted to make it PAINFULLY obvious how much of a toll all of this has taken on him, too. He’s a performer, for better or for worse, and he was just at his rock bottom. But, I had plans to make it worse. Plans from his past… The reason for the Android AU- the story of Graham’s rather sad human past, of a man past his prime and in a rough place, unsure of where to go from here…
No, even worse! Skin peeling off his face worse. First though, there needed to be a reason for this! Cue that B-plot with Tipps’ call center. The original outline had that shaking out much differently, but some last minute tweaks filled in a lot of plot holes, and let that little guy shine! Plus, it let me highlight a really unique aspect of this fandom- many of our Toons are Cog sympathizers to a point. Not full turncoats, but willing to work with the bad guys if it means peace.
So that takes us to the final battle, and the rescue squad!
I just thought this looked badass LOL! And am a sucker for a big fight. I really enjoyed writing what a ‘real time’ toon battle may look like, gags flying everywhere and the Suits able to really use their abilities.
Anyways, of course the ending was a bit of a reset of the status quo, it is a MMO after all, but I wanted to give both sides a bit of a ‘win’ so Flint got his safe haven, and the Toons operate a little more democratically now. Oh, and Winston finally got those repairs he needed <3
If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me, I hope this was a fun bit of insight! More than happy to answer any questions you have about this story, feel free to comment them below if you want :)
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