painting time taken: 2hr 15 min

editing in the blink and background was close to 3 1/2….

each transparent frame (for blink customizability’s sake)

unused local group constellation

@foreverephemeral

what if why we didn’t see the doctor’s primary black-cloaked vessel ingame is because it’s his last resort? what if it’s where his heart is stored? or even where all the last copies of all his vital organs are kept safe?

an active consciousness can still stem from a backup of his brain, which his primary vessel holds. so, after his physical brain goes belly up (literally😭) the network of transmitting consciousness to each of his bots is still active. just transferred to a weaker method.

following the “murder” of dr harley sawyer in chapter 4, perhaps he scrambles back to this old vessel whereever it is. maybe it’s been neglected, a plan B dangerously collecting dust, or it’s sitting pristine in a sterile room on life support. nevertheless, harley finds himself in it after croaking his “last words” mid-transfer, and struggles to breathe. he forgot about this vessel. he’d cast it aside because it held the scars of his initial transfer into machine and the containment that followed. it was his first body. and it was so weak. but now it is his last chance.

however, he’s not properly adjusted to the whole having organs thing, and this vessel needs to be properly taken care of. so with bated breath and the struggle of calming his mind, he summons one of his metal corpses from his brain’s tomb. it takes a few agonizing minutes as it arrives to wherever he is, but eventually it’s close enough that he can actively switch bodies with it. consciousness transferral relies on proximity (this is why we only see the bots around his brain ingame).

revived and disoriented, the doctor must now look after himself. the fact of being reduced to this husk eats away at every atom of his being, but he’s simply too weak. he failed. he failed and he’ll be killed for it. but he’s not afraid.

when the splitting headaches cease and he gets used to being alive he can kill something again.

soon, but not yet.

4/19/25 edit : THIS AU NOW HAS A SIDEBLOG! https://www.tumblr.com/screws-of-sawyer headcanons, fics, art!!

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info ramble & sillies under cut!

✿ GO AND HAVE YOUR FIELD DAY ✿

a grand spontaneous gift for the very legendary @legendarylily , and her very legendary itties!!

IN ORDER (with links!) : a thread trapped within everlasting melody, a spiteful mockery, tainted with virtue, hollow shell, toxic biohazard, walks upon broken glass (tw: sh), and raining skies!

i took a few small simplification and color liberties here because the refs available of them right now don’t all have teeth/mouth/inner cloak color references, and that’s ok!! i had so much fun making this through the entire process of starting it lastnight and finishing it this morning. IT WAS SO HEALING i’m actually insane and i wanna draw so much more today. GUAUAAGHHHHHHH!!! lily’s already seen the sketch and unfinished lineart but huhuhu she hasn’t seen it finished,,,

also, maybe i’m using the “field day” phrase wrong but my intention was to spread whimsy through the visual of those outdoor school field days with all the water and kids eating grass and having fun!! or with it’s literal interpretation of finding joy from this misfortune of others, that could mean just making a safe space for yourself and existing despite everyone else’s demands (their misfortune in being unable to change you because you will not bend to their will). can you tell i’m neurodivergent from the way i’m explaining myself. i miss eating dandylions…

onto the process!!! i have a 1min long timelapse in video and (highly fps-tanked) gif form below the cut! it’s leisurely, but there is some slight flashing though it doesn’t go on for long wherever it may appear. i turn layers on and off a lot to orient myself while drawing, but given the length of this timelapse it isn’t as crazy intense!!

perspective test for my dr sawyer design that was supposed to look similar to the roblox pressure artstyle. the thought of partially animating it lead to me having a new, exceedingly elaborate idea which i will post soon o_o.

(here’s that reblog)

i uh….found a new painting technique???? i’ve been drawing in white this whole time and shading in white n all that and i flip the colors and….woaauaghhhhh