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afterartist · 4 months ago

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HELICALTALE MAIN CAST LINEUP!!

(Not ll of the characters but the most important ones to the plot)

‘And now: AU Infodump

BUT BEFORE ANYTHING!!

I will be answering any questions (within reason) any of you have about the au, even if it’s about some random side character only three people have ever heard of before

I live world building and any chance to expand on this world are treasured

I’ll probably answer with fun little doodles as well lol

So ask away :D!!

Basic AU overview:

Helicaltale is NOT a classic based Timeline.

The AU is set in a world where Mt Ebott was destroyed during the war, leaving a desert crater in its place, no protection for the Monsters to retreat and nowhere to seal them underground. In response, the Human mages put a spell on Monster kind, ‘Helios’ Curse’, forcing them to be unable to touch sunlight or else they’d burn (think Vampires or Minecraft Mobs)

The main story takes place 87 years after the war ended and 29 years after friendly communications between the two races begun, with the Monsters settled in a camp like city, made of tents and canvas buildings, around the oasis that formed in the desert that was now known as Ebott crater. Humans and Monsters have achieved peace between the races, regular trading routes and communications set up between the two cities.

Now all that was left was for both Humans and Monsters to find a way to break Helios’ Curse for good.

(None of them can touch Sunlight (minus the humans) but the ones more lightly dressed (Gaster, Alphys, Asgore) all live in the city, with proper buildings not at risk of being blown over at any second so can afford to not be covered up 100% of the time)

Locations:

Ebott City-

The capital city of the country, Ebott is a massive human settlement, overshadowing old ruins left by the war. It’s currently the main base of conferences between human and monster relations.

The Oasis-

The Monster settlement, made from tents and interconnecting canvas sheets, from above it looks like a colourful cluster of a campground, large sheets stretched over the streets. From within it’s only lit by lamps and magic, the sky completely blocked out by tarps and canvas to avoid accidentally getting burned by sunlight, to those not familiar with the city it’s a labyrinth, others, its home.

(A major inspiration for the Oasis is the Kowloon walled city, for those interested in a more accurate visual of the Oasis)

The Great Fence-

While the name conveys grandeur, the fence is a simple chain link fence acting as the border around the entire Oasis, topped with barbed wire and adorned with tarps, it’s designed to protect the residents against wild animals like Coyotes and be a barrier against sandstorms more than it is to keep people out, one of the most regular jobs for the Royal guard other than being general peace keepers is to uphold the fence, often sending patrols out after heavy storms to keep everything in order.

Central Oasis-

A mix between Newhome and Waterfall, it’s the main hub of the town, the Royal family living there along with the majority of schools and recreational areas, most Water based monsters (ie: Shyren, Aaron ect ect) also live in this area, a large lake of water being the centerpiece of the city.

Lights district-

To the west side of the city is the main shopping hub, while much more open than the majority of the Oasis, many stores foregoing walls on their tents entirely, its full of stores and restaurants, the most well known being Grillby’s and Muffets joint restaurant, many visitors to the Oasis come for the night life of the lights district, the monsters that live in that area making the camp around them as flashy and attractive as possible, neon lights and dancing flames lighting up the darkness of the district, the Celebrities Mettaton and Nabstablook have also been alluded to frequent the region and perform for onlookers.

Sandbank-

The Snowden equivalent of the AU, having gotten its name due to its position at the east side of the city, being the least protected by the walls of the crater, Sandbank often gets the brunt of the sandstorms that hit the desert, leading many of the Royal Guards live in this area in case of an emergency during the storms.

Southside (the Black Market)-

Technically not its official name, the Southside of the Oasis is whispered about in the dark of night, rumours telling of an illegal market place and shady monsters working in the south, many a monster wandering in and never coming out. While most likely just old wives tales, its best you keep your distance, just in case.

(Yeah I made the Black Market an actual real marketplace because that will never not be funny to me)

Hotlands-

The north most section of the Oasis is best known as Hotlands, given the name as it’s the highest section of city but also the most shielded by the crater walls, leaving it boiling without any wind to seep out the heat’. There’s been speculation that Hotlands actually sits over an underground chamber of magma, adding to the blistering temperature.

Characters:

The Dreemurrs:

Frisk- (Any Pronouns)

Frisk is an 11 year old kid, a runaway from one of Ebott City’s Orphanages, known for its less than legal treatment of the children. Having joined Chara as the eldest helped them both escape, Frisk followed Chara into the desert, looking for shelter from CPS.

During the trek however Frisk falls sick with an illness, most common in Monsters but able to infect anyone with strong magic, called Icarus syndrome.

With Icarus syndrome being effectively Hyperthermia of the soul, any physical treatment is ineffective, needing a particular medication to have any hope of survival, leaving the crater as not just refuge but possibly their only chance of survival.

Chara- (They/Them)

Chara is 16 and the orchestrator of the escape from the Orphanage with Frisk, after having been in contact online with a kid from the Monster camp that offered assistance. During the escape Frisk fell ill, forcing Chara to locate and purchase the rare medicine. Ending up in the Monster equivalent of the black market, Chara found a monster begrudgingly willing to help, trading a magical glass eye, a prosthetic their grandfather made for both humans and monsters during the war, for a small vial of medicine. The trader warning them to keep out of the black market before dropping the two kids off safely at the center of the Oasis.

Asriel- (He/Him)

Asriel is the firstborn son of the Dreemurrs and heir to the Royal throne, at 16 he made contact and became friends with a kid online, the other telling him of the danger they and their sibling were in at the Orphanage. Quickly offering up his home, knowing both his parents had fostered and cared for many children in the past and wouldn’t turn away two more. Upon meeting them in the Oasis he makes fast friends with both Frisk and Chara, practically adopting them as siblings on the spot.

Toriel- (She/Her)

Queen of the Oasis at 143 years old, Toriel has seen her fair share of bloodshed and peacetime, giving her the knowledge to recognise that protecting young children is the best way to ensure their future, guiding them to Mercy and pragmatic solutions instead of Fighting. One of the first things she did after Monsters had finally settled into the Oasis being starting up a school, becoming the primary teacher for a good few years before other parents eventually began to join her staff. Though, with the two new children her son had brought to her doorstep, she’s begun to realise it’s not just the children of Monster kind that need protection.

Asgore- (He/Him)

King of the Oasis and 146 years old, Asgore grew up at the front lines of the war, the heinous acts shaping him into the pacifist he is today. Currently away from the Oasis, Asgore has turned his sights on communications with the Humans, staying at the city while conferences with the city leaders on trade routes and transportation commence. He is also overseeing the Monster half of the Science team, working closely with the Royal Advisor and Scientists Gaster in developing a cure to Helios’ Curse. He remains in frequent contact with the Oasis, making the trip back every weekend to see his now growing family and make sure Toriel isn’t overwhelmed with responsibilities.

The Fonts:

Dr. Gaster- (He/Him)

At 140, Gaster has spent his life developing weapons for war (the Gaster Blaster being his pride and joy) and perseverance for Monster Kind, having a massive distaste for all Humans and most Monsters. The sudden change from war efforts to restoration efforts throwing his life in disarray. Jumping at the chance to use Human equipment on government funded experiments, Gaster didn’t hesitate to leave his sons Sans and Papyrus (9 and 4 at the time) back at the Oasis to move to the city and begin work. He’s had a hand in creating many inventions helping Monster kind (both helping with the medicine for Icarus Syndrome and a magic Sunscreen that can briefly minimise the effects of the sun) and the head of the Selene Project, the project to break the curse.

Sans- (He/Him)

28 and thriving, Sans has made a name for himself as both the comedic slacker of the Royal guard and the savvy businessman as one of the Black Markets best traders. Having been forced to raise both himself and Papyrus from a young age, Sans became intwined with the black market at the age of 12, after Papyrus caught Icarus Syndrome and receiving no help from Gaster off in the city, Sans was forced to find his own way of getting medication. At the age of 12 he found his way into the black market, ending up trading his right eye, and subsequently some of his shortcut abilities with an underground doctor in exchange for the medicine, to this day he hasn’t told anyone what happened to his eye. From then on he found himself going back and getting into trading as a way of making money as a side job while both he and Papyrus worked to get into the Royal guard, quickly becoming infamous in the criminal world of the Oasis, though he had a rule that no kids were to ever be found trading in the market. A rule that quickly got broken when a young human kid stumbled into his shop, begging for help, offering a magic glass eye as payment. Unable to send the kid off without help (or turn down the irony of selling the meds for an eye) he made the trade before guiding the kid and their sibling to the Oasis center.

(Bonus:)

After dropping the kids off, Sans makes an attempt to use the prosthetic eye, yet upon fitting it into his socket, the magic activated and bonded with his soul, causing the eye to become fused with his being, immovable. Along with the eye he’s suddenly able to see things he, by all means, should NOT be able to see, including text bubbles from the creators (similar to error sans)

He also finds, magically in his pocket, a small golden key, only figuring out its use after stumbling across a door in the middle of nowhere, upon using the key on the door he finds himself in an entirely different AU, door closing and disappearing behind him.

This is what leads him to discover the Multiverse and travel between AUs (inconveniently ending up in Nightmares Castle more times than he’d care to count)

Papyrus- (He/Him)

The Great Papyrus, second in command of the Royal guard at the younge age of 23 (you may applaud now)

Having grown up with just himself and Sans, Papyrus always wanted to become something great to make his brother proud, despite Sans’ insistence that he’s already proud of him. When he was 13, while Sans was out getting food, Papyrus had been targeted and hunted down by a group of bullies from the Southside of town, the group of teens taking turns in beating him up, eventually escalating to the point where one of them pulled a mirror from their pocket and used it to reflect a beam of sun directly onto his face, leaving a permanent scar,

He was saved however, when a teen he recognised from the Oasis center came charging out from one of the nearby tents, picking up handfuls of sand and hurtling it at the other kids before beating them up with her fists alone. Once over, the girl had turned, helped Papyrus up and took him to see her grandfather, the current head of the Royal Guard, a job she loudly proclaimed she was going to have one day,

Ever since then he attempted and eventually got into the Royal guard, along with Sans and the teen, Undyne.

Gersons:

Undyne- (She/Her)

29, Captain of the Royal Guard, Wife of the best woman around, living the high life! Having been raised by her grandfather Gerson for longer than she could remember, she’s always looked up to the Royal Guard, no matter how her Grandfather told her it wasn’t all glory. She’d been sneaking out and training with one of the Royal Guards for 8 years by the time she was 19, stumbling across a fight, six of her classmates beating down on a young skeleton. She’d jumped to defense before she’d even registered it, helping the kid up and getting him patched up where eventually the kids brother, Sans, one of Alphys’ friends found them and thanked her profusely.

The three became fast friends, practically siblings, both of them there at her and Alphys’ wedding and her promotion to Captain of the Royal guard.

Alphys- (She/They)

27 and already one of the best Scientists in the whole country. Alphys’ having grown up in Hotlands would have never dared to dream she’d be working with a whole team of like minded scientists, especially not in the human city, though not being able to see her Wife as often was a dampener. Dr. Gaster was also a bit, overzealous, with the project, it was only a matter of time before the madman created some temporal superflux that blew up half the block, even if she wouldn’t be anywhere near as prestigious without his guidance, despite Sans’ reservations for letting them near him.

(I will be adding more to this AU btw, it’s in my top 3 faves lmao)

Bonus:

Animation I’ve done for Helical Sans to explain how his AU hopping works

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howlsofbloodhounds · 4 hours ago

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Given that Sans and Gaster were trapped in the Void for like two decades, with Gaster even longer, their survival wouldn’t just be about staying alive—it would be about preserving their sanity and identity in an unchanging, nearly featureless environment.

To combat the overwhelming monotony, sensory deprivation, and existential despair, they could create routines, rituals, and games to simulate structure, meaning, and purpose.

Since time in the Void is undefined, they would need artificial structure to prevent their perception of time from completely dissolving.

Since there’s no natural light change, they might assign times for activity and rest. One of them might say, “When the lights flicker three times, it’s nighttime.”

Sleeping could become ritualistic, even if they don’t physically need rest—assuming the Void negates that need. They might take turns “standing watch” over nothing, to maintain a sense of duty.

They might develop daily “exercises” to stay active, even if their bodies don’t weaken— but if they do, this would be very important to their health. Things like counting steps up and down the corridor. Jumping between floating rocks. Touching each pillar in a certain order.

If their bodies don’t age or tire, they might take it too far—pushing their limits for hours, even days, just for something to do.

Retelling memories to reinforce their identity. Creating fictional stories about the Void, their past lives, or imagined futures. They might take turns “inventing” a chapter of a never-ending story.

The Void might alter their memories over time—if they mix truth and fiction too much, they might forget which is real.

Without paper or clocks, they might scratch symbols into the stone pillars.

If there are limited pillars, they might run out of space after years and be forced to overwrite old marks, erasing their own history. If the Void slowly erases marks over time, it could drive them into panic or obsessive repetition, feeling like their existence is being erased.

Giving names to pillars, rocks, or sections of the corridor to pretend the Void is a real place. Assigning meaning, like:

“This is the North Pillar. If we touch it first, it’s a lucky day.” “That floating rock is the Watcher. If it moves, something is changing.”

If the other starts breaking “rules” about the space, it could cause conflict, as one might cling to structure while the other resists it.

Playing mental hide-and-seek by closing their eyes and guessing the other’s position. If one moves too quietly, the other might believe they vanished—triggering panic.

Repeating words back and forth until they lose meaning. Making up new words and forcing each other to use them. Pretending they don’t speak the same language for an entire “day.”

Encouraging each other to “see” things in the darkness—like seeing shapes in clouds and stars. Betting on what the Void will show them next.

Assigning imaginary “rules” to their environment like:

“If you touch that pillar, you’ll sink into the Void.” “Jump five times before stepping over a crack, or you’ll disappear.”

Over years, they might forget these rules were fake, making them real in their minds.

Testing who can go the longest without speaking. Seeing who can stare into the darkness the longest without blinking. Seeing who can go weeks without moving just to prove they can.

Asking each other “Who’s more real today?” Keeping count of who has the strongest sense of self. If one starts losing consistently, they might begin to believe they are fading away.

If the Void negates normal bodily needs, the long-term impact on their physical form would likely be unnatural and disturbing. They wouldn’t age, but would they feel stagnant?

If old wounds never really heal or new ones never really form, they might test their limits (scratching or biting their own bones or fingertips, seeing if they can still bleed—or more like Sans would probably do this, and Gaster would try to stop him, as this is likely a period that Gaster went through and had to get himself out of before.)

Their perception of their bodies might distort—are they even real if they never change?

Any motion (even a single pebble shifting) could shock them after years of stillness. Their eyes might become overly sensitive, causing pain at even the faintest flicker of new light. If the Void ever brightened suddenly, they might collapse, disoriented and blind.

Without others to mimic, their speech might deteriorate into odd rhythms or broken words. They might develop their own dialect that no one outside the Void understands. If they went years without speaking, their voices might sound strange when they finally do.

If the Void negates normal physics, their bodies might feel too light, too heavy, or non-existent. If they ever left, gravity and sensation might overwhelm them—making normal movement feel unbearable.

Gaster and Sans’ relationship would be shaped by isolation, dependency, resentment, and a deep, painful understanding that no one else in existence remembers or cares that they are there.

Gaster and Sans are each other’s entire world now. There are no other people, no distractions, no escape—only each other. Even if they hate each other at times, they cannot afford to lose the only voice, presence, and warmth they have.

The relationship might shift between extreme intimacy and extreme distance—one moment, they may feel inseparable, and the next, they may refuse to look at or acknowledge each other.

Gaster has been alone for much longer. He has learned how to survive the silence, the lack of time, the possible hallucinations. And given that Othertale Gaster seems to have a floating head, potentially the loss of his physical body to the Void or the Core.

Sans is new, terrified, unprepared—injured. He has to lean on Gaster completely at first just to avoid breaking down—all while possibly juggling a sudden rush of memories about Gaster’s existence at all, if not alternating between remembering and forgetting Gaster— or alternating between believing if those memories are real or not.

But as time passes, Sans might begin to adapt, and the balance could shift. Maybe Gaster starts leaning on Sans instead, terrified of being alone again.

If Sans ever shows signs of forgetting Gaster again or expressing hope for leaving, Gaster might react with rage, despair, or desperate clinging—or a sort of forced intellectual, logical reaction/response that’s only fueled by said emotions in an attempt to hold it together.

Gaster has already suffered the ultimate existential horror: being erased from the world, memories, and history.

Sans also experiences this now, being forgotten by everyone outside the Void—but at least Gaster is here to remember Sans. This might create an unbreakable bond because only they know the other exists.

If they ever argue or threaten to stop speaking, the weight of knowing that silence is the only other option might make forgiveness or forced reconciliation happen faster than normal.

To maintain sanity, they could create rituals, in-jokes, and ways of speaking that no one else would ever understand. They might develop their own language, nicknames, or coded gestures.

If Sans ever escapes, these rituals would become an unbearable reminder that no one else understands him like Gaster did. If Gaster remains alone, he may continue these rituals even without Sans, talking to the shadows as if Sans were still there.

Gaster may even kinda resent Sans for ever having a life outside the Void—for forgetting him, for only now experiencing what Gaster has suffered for so long. Or, this is possibly what Color believes—fueled by his own paranoia, anger, and projection. Maybe both.

Sans may resent Gaster for knowing more about the Void, for having already adapted while Sans is still suffering, amongst other possible reasons that happened in the past, before the Void.

If Sans escapes, Gaster’s possible resentment could turn into rage, heartbreak, or resignation—after all, he is once again the one left behind. Or this could be how Color imagines Gaster thinks and feels about him after Color’s escape.

If Sans ever starts losing hope, withdrawing, or talking about the outside world too much, Gaster could possibly panic.

Gaster could start clinging to Sans emotionally, controlling his actions, or guilt-tripping him just to make sure he doesn’t mentally check out. Or this is how it feels to Sans, when in reality Gaster could just be trying to stop Sans from disappearing into his own head.

(Or making choices for Sans, such as how it’s kinda implied that Color attempted to escape the Void at least once and almost died attempting to do so—only held together and surviving thanks to Gaster.

This could also manifest in Sans as betrayal, anger, and paranoia—starting to believe that Gaster is purposefully keeping him trapped in the Void (or alive, if Sans was actually attempting to die instead of escape) due to his own fear of being alone and forgotten again. Potential for possible unreliable narrator and projection stuff if told from Sans’ POV.

Sans could even completely believe sometimes that Gaster is nothing but selfish and awful, an old man that time forgot, so desperate not to be forgotten he’s willing to damn someone else to the Hell he himself has been suffering—so long as Gaster’s not alone again.

Doesn’t matter to him that Sans doesn’t want to be here and wants to leave, doesn’t even matter to him that Sans suffers by being alive in that place.)

If Sans does leave, Gaster might pretend he never existed just to survive, only to fall apart when something reminds him of Sans again. If Sans leaves, he will change. He will remember the Void and Gaster, but the outside world will pull him back into its rhythm.

Color may forget small things—words, details, habits—that meant everything in the Void. If Color ever returns, Gaster might be horrified that Sans has changed. He is still trapped in the moment Sans left, but Color has moved on.

Worse, if Color returns and hesitates to acknowledge Gaster as he once did, it would confirm Gaster’s worst fear—that even Sans might forget him again.

Whether one escapes or both remain, their bond is inescapable and utterly unique. If one is left behind, they will never stop waiting. If both escape, they may find the outside world unbearable, gravitating toward each other even if they no longer recognize themselves outside the Void.

No one else will ever understand them—because no one else ever knew they existed.

Their relationship wouldn’t just be about companionship; it would become their entire reality, their entire world.

The moment Sans fell into the Void, Gaster finally had someone again after an eternity alone—that’s an unfathomable change.

Sans, meanwhile, had just lost everything he ever knew—and Gaster is the only thing left.

This means they would cling to each other in ways that go far beyond normal friendship, family, or even love—they are each other’s only proof of existence.

Over time, they would develop unspoken understandings, inside jokes, and ways of reading each other’s thoughts and emotions with just a look.

Given Gaster has already been alone for decades before Sans arrived, he might be bitter, angry, or deeply possessive him—or this is how Sans starts to see it.

He might see Sans as a symbol of everything he lost—a reminder that the world kept going without him.

Or he could worship Sans as a lifeline, depending on him emotionally to an extreme, because he’s the first real person he’s had in forever.

Either way, Gaster might fear that Sans will forget him again too—just like everyone else did. If Sans ever mentions the outside world, Gaster might react with rage, jealousy, or deep sorrow, because it’s a world that erased him.

With no one else around, they would slowly build their own way of speaking and interacting—almost like an inside joke that never ends.

They might give names to the flickering lights, the floating rocks, or even the Void itself just to have something to talk about.

They could develop wordless signals for emotions, like tapping on a pillar to express boredom or flicking their fingers when scared.

If they don’t want to talk about something painful (like the outside world), they might create metaphors or code words to discuss it indirectly.

Since time in the Void doesn’t follow normal rules, they would have to invent their own structure to stay sane. They might “measure days” by counting the number of times a certain light flickers or the number of steps it takes to cross the corridor.

They could have daily rituals, like tapping all the pillars in a specific order or telling a made-up story every time the Void “goes silent.” These rituals wouldn’t just be for boredom—they would be a way to survive. Losing the routine would feel like losing control.

On one hand, Sans’ arrival was the best thing to ever happen to Gaster—he was no longer alone. On the other hand, it reminds Gaster of everything he lost—especially if Sans remembers the outside world and all the people who forgot about Gaster but Gaster’s memories or trust in his memory has started to slip.

If Sans ever talked about leaving, Gaster might react with pure terror, rage, or complete emotional breakdown. Even if Sans never planned to leave or eventually gives up trying to, Gaster might constantly fear being abandoned again.

This could lead to desperate, possessive behaviors—Gaster might try to convince Sans that the outside world isn’t real, that only the Void matters now.

If Sans escapes, Gaster is left completely alone again—but this time, it’s worse. Now he knows what it’s like to have someone again, and that makes the silence unbearable.

If either of them escapes, they return to a world that has completely erased them, where they have no place, no home, and no identity. Either way, their bond would be irreplaceable, unrepeatable—they would never connect to another person in the same way again. Or would feel that way, at least.

Sans might dream of escape—but would he really leave Gaster alone again?

Gaster might say he wants to escape—but does he even believe a world exists outside the Void anymore? Their bond is both the thing keeping them alive and the thing trapping them.

This isn’t just a friendship, or family, or colleagues or even some form of love—it’s mutual survival. They are the only witnesses to each other’s existence. Without the other, did either of them ever really exist at all?

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