Sometimes Erscoga!Willy Wonka goes into the VR room and simulates his old home. (This is the real reason the VR room was made.) Nalitie pretends she doesn’t know about it.
First big lineless marker drawing I’ve done in a while, and also the first one I’ve done with a full background in…. Maybe ever? Mostly Copics with a little bit of colored pencil to lighten up some spots.
I imagine the VR room looking a little like Abed’s Dreamatorium in Community.
Also, you should all go check out our Erscoga stuff! It’s very cool and we are entering our Multiversal Gumbo Theology arc!
27: Handplates: A Christmas Carol. In Script. Being a Ghost Story of Timelines.
(Now, it is a fact, that there was nothing at all particular about Nalitie’s bathroom, except that it was very small. It is also a fact, that Gaster had seen it, exactly once, during his and Dukermin’s tour of that place; also that Gaster had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the Underground, even including—which is a bold word—the CORE, monarchy, and Royal Guard. Let it also be borne in mind that Gaster had not bestowed one thought on Art, since his last mention of his interdimensional counterpart that afternoon. And then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Gaster, settling into the bathtub, saw in the faucet, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change—not a faucet, but Art’s face.)
(As Gaster looked fixedly at this phenomenon, it was a faucet again.)
Gaster: … *assumes he must be hallucinating* *adjusts the singular blanket Nalitie gave him* *looks around, inspecting the bathroom before settling into “bed”*
(He heard the front door slam somewhere out in the entryway as Christine left for work. It was succeeded by a clanking noise, deep down below; as if some person were dragging a heavy chain over the caskets in Nalitie’s basement. Gaster then remembered to have heard that ghosts in haunted houses were described as dragging chains. The child gate over the vent hole flew open with a booming sound, and then he heard the noise much louder, on the floor below; then coming up the stairs; then coming straight towards the bathroom door.)
Gaster: It’s humbug still! I won’t believe it!
(The bathroom door creaks open. Gaster turns toward the door, and Art’s cracked mask, that of Gaster’s interdimensional counterpart, swims out of the darkness. Gaster watches, unable to speak.)
* I believe it’s your line…
Gaster: What do you want with me?
* Much.
Gaster: Who are you?
* Ask who I was.
Gaster: Who were you?
* In existence, I was the Royal Scientist, though you know me now as S. G. Art.
Gaster: That’s my job.
* And so too you are.
Gaster: Why do you come here?
* I must. It is commanded me. I must wander the multiverse and see what I can no longer share, what I would not share when I walked where you do.
Gaster: And must go thus?
* The chain? Look at it, Gaster, study it. Locks and puzzles and EXP. I forged it, each link, each day when I sat in your lab, commanded those rooms. Sullenness, Gaster, violence. Feel them, know them. Yours was as heavy as this I wear, and you have labored to build it since.
Gaster: If you’re here to lecture, I have no time for it. It is late, this bathtub is cold. I want comfort now.
* I have none to give. I know not how you see me this night. I did not ask it. I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day. I am commanded to bring you a chance, Gaster. Heed it!
Gaster: Quickly then, quickly.
* You will be haunted by three spirits.
Gaster: *Scoffing* Is that the chance?
* Mark it.
Gaster: I do not choose to.
* Then you will walk where I do, burdened by your experiments, your wrath.
Gaster: Spirits mean nothing to me.
(Art, with his cracked mask, leaking face, and amorphous dark body, begins to fade away in the hazy light of the bathroom’s night light.)
* Look to see me no more. I must wander.
Gaster: Art… Don’t leave me! … Art! Art!
* Goodbye, Gaster.
(Gaster pulls shut the shower curtains. Just as he begins to fall asleep, the couch can be heard crashing back down through the roof. He jerks awake, and the first spirit appears. It appears as a tall skeleton child clothed in a green hospital gown, his hands unmarred and his eyesockets still full of optimism.)
Gaster: 2-P? What are you… Are you the first spirit whose coming was foretold to me, then?
Skeleton Child: I am. I am the Ghost of Handplates Past.
Gaster: Long past?
Ghost of Handplates Past: Your past.
Gaster: Why are you here?
Ghost of Handplates Past: Your reclamation. Take heed! Rise! and walk with me!
(The Ghost of Handplates Past holds out his right hand, notably lacking the metal plate that Gaster in his current form would have put there. Gaster hesitates, and the Ghost holds his hand out more insistently. Warily, Gaster takes it. Nalitie’s bathroom melts away, and is replaced by dark teal walls, tile floors, and a room full of boxes and machinery. Two skeleton children are in the center of the room, poking at each other. A version of Gaster stands to the side, observing.)
Gaster: Good Heaven! This is my lab.
Ghost of Handplates Past: This is but a shadow of the things that have been. They have no consciousness of us.
(The two skeletons at the center of the room begin to rattle their bones. The Gaster in the scene of the past looks at them fondly. The Gaster travelling with the Ghost stares at the scene with almost a frown.)
Gaster: Why do you show me this?
Ghost of Handplates Past: *gazing at the Spirit Gaster* What is he thinking about, I wonder. His feelings about this pair.
Gaster: I… It doesn’t matter. You said yourself that this was nothing but a shadow of things past. I made my choice to do what I did to them.
Ghost of Handplates Past: What if a different choice had been made, though? *summons a choice menu*
(At once, Gaster is transported to the moment where he made the decision to go through with his project in full. He stands in front of this symbolic menu, a drill and two metal plates on a tray to his left, and the sound of childrens’ laughter emanating from his right.)
The Ghost of Handplates Past: *standing over his shoulder* Faced with the options, knowing all you know now, which choice will you make?
(Gaster hesitates, then deflects the question back to the Ghost.)
Gaster: It doesn’t matter. Yes, perhaps the path I chose has corrupted my SOUL, in your eyes. But I knew that’s what it would be when I created you. As I said before, when I gave you and your “brother” those plates: there is only one choice. I am the only one who would do this work, who could do this work, and to think for a moment that throwing that away for… for… … It would simply mark me a fool.
Ghost of Handplates Past: No need to defend your choices to me, I am not the 2-P you know but a spirit, here to show you the results of the promise you made. You cannot deny that for a moment you thought of “throwing it all away”. You must be curious as to what you were considering throwing your research away for. *before Gaster can reply* Come, let us see another Timeline. *pushes Gaster to the right, towards the sounds of laughter*
(The two emerge into the main street of Snowdin. The town is decorated for Gyftmas, and all of the monster children are swarming Asgore, who is dressed as Santa. Two much smaller-looking skeleton children run past to join the crowd. A version of Gaster, this one in a white turtleneck, trails behind them at a distance.)
Taller Skeleton Child: COME ON, BROTHER, WE NEED TO SEE WHAT SANTA HAS FOR US!
(The shorter skeleton child continues behind his brother at much the same pace, though he looks genuinely excited.)
Gaster: … What is this? This never happened.
Ghost of Handplates Past: Not to you, in this state. I stand before you as your mistakes, your regrets. All of the things you could have done and did not. But this timeline is as real as the one you live in now. However, you cannot change now what you would not change then.
Gaster: Then why bring me here? I have done with them. I shall live with them. As I have, as I do; as I will.
(In the distance, the two children excitedly show each other the presents they got, before running back to their version of Gaster.)
Ghost of Handplates Past: As you have, yes. *gesturing to the children and Sprit Gaster* Shall we see what gifts they received?
(As the two approach, the scene shifts, and the two boys are at home, in Asgore’s living room. They sit on the rug on the floor, playing with their new gifts. A fire crackles in the fireplace, and the lights are low. Asgore and their Gaster sit on the couch nearby, watching the two children. Papyrus climbs up in between them, turning to his Gaster to show him his toy.)
Gaster: Yet still, what is the point of showing me this? You may believe this could have been, 2-P, but you do not realize that in this timeline, then, Asgore must die. One who plays must sacrifice[1]. I did what had to be done to break the barrier without using the human SOULs, without him losing himself. He is a good person. I am not.
Ghost of Handplates Past: There is another time I could show you, from your childhood.
Gaster: No! I will not see it, I will not! They die. I could not—I did not prevent it. I was not strong enough then to do what needed to be done. I am now.
Ghost of Handplates Past: Then I will leave you.
Gaster: Hmph. And what of the other spirits?
Ghost of Handplates Past: They will come. I am always with you. *disappears*
(As the ghost disappears, the scene fades away, and Gaster wakes in Nalitie’s bathtub, cramped in an awkward position. He sits upright as a door somewhere in the house slams. Gaster stands up, gets out of the bathtub, and walks to the sink. He looks in the mirror–it’s still just him. A baby cries out in the hall.)
(A steady dripping noise starts from the bathtub faucet as a dark liquid spills out into the tub. Gaster can hear reality tearing as the eldritch horror from The Void leaks out into Nalitie’s bathtub.)
y̴̰͋̓̈̿̿̆̾d̷̡͔̜̘̼͇͖̙̣͒͜ḟ̸̨̖͉͍̜͇̱̓̈́̓j̵̺͙̯͓͒͐́͗̌̚͝2̷̢̢̠̱̘̺͚̝̀̆͂̂̋̕̚̚3̸̧̩̲̭̀̒̒̓͋̌4̶̧͖̮̲͕̩̰͊̄̊̈́̃͘: Hello again, Dr. Gaster.
Gaster: But you can’t be… We left you in that place.
8̵̘͕̠͔͚̙̀̎̈͝9̷̹̠̫̝̟̪̣̦̲͔͑4̵̪̫̖́̊͒̐d̷̡̬̪̟̝̩̒́͆̃̈́̇̓͜͝k̶͓͒̀̾a̵̰̙͙̥̦̣͛̓́͐̍̽͑̈́̄̂ḍ̵̢̡̥͒̈̾̏͘: That you did.
Gaster: Then you must be the second spirit. An imitation of… that thing.
0̶̫̻͉̘̒͐͂̑̑-̷̡̡̠͕̰͙͓̺͇̈́ͅ[̴̼̄̀͂]̷̧́̀ͅȩ̶̛̥͇̗̈́̓̊͑͑̃͜ȃ̴͕͈̘̏̄̈̈́̄̑v̸̞͈̞̻̱͗́́̒a̷̻̲̺̯͓̙̙̱̗̾̔͂: Well, yes and no. I am the second spirit. However, I am no imitation. You have never seen the like of me before; a being of the void, walking this plane of existence, enabled by your existence here. As well as by the disruption of the void that happened in Document 23. I will be your guide through Handplates Present.
Gaster: *heaves a sigh* I see. Then conduct me where you will. I went forth last night on compulsion, and I learnt a lesson which is working now. To-night, if you have aught to teach me, let me profit by it.
J̶̡̢̹̝̻̫̒̏̈̏̏́̓͊̏̈h̶̖̦̺̪̩͋̿̀̎̔̈́͑̎̾̚͜r̸͖̤̪̙͓̀̏̓3̴̡̖͈̦͕͈̿͐̈́4̵̻̑́ị̵̧͖̼̩̳͚̝̬́͒͋̈́́͂̓̈̓͘ŗ̵͍̙͈͚̯͔̝̉͂b̵̧̨̢̳̯̝̞̠͖͍͔͉̮̠̹̐: How now, Dr. Gaster! You have no desire to resist! Shall we take a walk? *extends a goopy appendage, inviting Gaster to walk through the bathroom door*
Gaster: *takes it warily* *leaves the bathroom*
(The two exit the bathroom into Asgore’s house once more. Alphys is here, talking to Asgore with a worried look on her face.)
Alphys: … a-and he was asking me about whether I’d–whether I’d thought about what it would be like i-if the world forgot about you, and now I haven’t seen him in–in three days, and I’m getting really worried… H-he’s not answering his phone, I haven’t seen him o-out of the lab…
Asgore: Ah… Shall we go check on him? Perhaps he has a hide-a-key.
Gaster: *frowning* “Handplates Present,” did you say?
I̷̼̟̼̳̳͍͕̹͙̥̩͂̂́̍͌̆̓̈͗̍͆̋̚͜͠f̵̨͇̺̙̺̠͉͎̖͈̂͗̄͂̌̍̃̋̐͜ͅ3̷̻̙̼̜̹̱̺̬̱̯́̐͌9̸̫̹͔̩͙̍̋́͐̚4̵̲̦͚̭̱͇͚̄̂͛g̵̢̛͔̩̦̬͙̩͓̹̯̬̤͙̹̿͆̓͑̽̌͆̓͘̕ͅ3̴̨͔̠̥̥̳́͒͌̚4̸̤̹̰̰̻̬̩̗̘́̋́̍͘͝͝: That I did. This is the timeline you are from, the timeline you’ve set with your choices.
(As Asgore and Alphys head towards the lab, Gaster sighs.)
Gaster: *under his breath* I don’t understand why she cares this much. I knew she’d worry.
F̵̨̨̡̛̤̯̲̙͚͍̦̜̤̼̪̅̃̃̆̒̏͜͝ņ̵̗͙͖͔̰͐ḧ̴̠̦̥̫͚̖̮̥̮̯́͐̓̍͌́̿̃̈́͌3̷͓̼͕̣̠̜̤̂̽́̃͜͠͠4̷̨͇̟̫͎̙̺̘͙̭̰̟̋͛͆̅͌̉̄͋͋̄̆̓͝ḩ̵̡̨̪̰̰̺̪͖̠̠͚̲͒͋́̈̓̈́̃͒̚f̵̫̫͉͙̝̩̠͇͖̞̯͕̑ͅ3̶̧̨̛̩̖̣͉̇͂̉͊͋͒͐̏̾̑: Worry and concern are natural. For most. *creates a doorway into the lab and ushers Gaster through*
(The two step into Gaster’s lab, in front of the cell where his creations sit. It’s currently filled with papers–mostly drawings–and other trinkets. Papyrus is fiddling with the color cube distractedly. Sans is laying sprawled out on the floor.)
Sans: ughhhh, i’m hungry. where is here? i bet he forgot about us. or maybe this is some new, worse test. see what happens if he stops interacting with us.
Papyrus: I’M SURE HE’LL BE COMING SOON! I…. I’M SURE HE’S JUST PREPARING FOR THINGS TO BE DIFFERENT NOW THAT HE’S NOT HURTING US ANYMORE!
Sans: but the lights haven’t turned off in forever. i think it’s been a lot longer than usual. he hasn’t forgotten to feed us in a long time.
Gaster: … Spirit. You are not from this plane, yet you can bring me here. Can you remove me from this place those humans have trapped me, and return me to my timeline? I… without me, my subjects, they will die.
4̸̲̰̫̬̣͍͇̦̱͖̤͔̰̼̙̾͊g̸̡̛̤̣̱̞̻̮̦̝̜̫̥̲̗̙̈́̌̓̐̔̎ḩ̴̃̋͆̀͑́͋̍̌͘̕̕3̶̮͉̦͚̦͇͎̘̭̰̉̔̐͋̅̍͊͗̆̅̔͜͠͝0̴̗̣̜͔̮̝̤͚̒̇̌8̴͓͉̟̖̫̦̻͇̮̪̠̀̐̈́͛̓̋͘͘͝͠g̸̲̳̟̥͖̀̐͗̈́͑̽̎̂̈͜͠: Ah, so now you’re concerned about their welfare? *wet, screeching sounds emanate from the being, which could be interpreted as riotous laughter*
Gaster: *catches himself* …. Keeping them alive is beneficial to the project.
(Inside the cell, Papyrus looks up from his puzzle, looking up towards where the shadow Gaster and eldritch horror are standing. He looks excited for a moment.)
Papyrus: LOOK, BROTHER! I TOLD YOU HE’D BE HERE!
(Sans looks outside the cell, and sees nothing. He turns to Papyrus.)
Sans: … there’s no one there. i think you might be having a vision. funny, he hasn’t shot lasers in our eyes for a while, though.
(Papyrus frowns.)
Gaster: But is there no hope in this Present? Without me, they will die, and monsterkind will still be trapped beneath The Barrier unless Asgore absorbs the SOULs and loses himself.
A̶̝͕͑̊l̵̡͕̱͕̲͇̟͍̩͇̣͙̈́̕ͅó̶͈̤͚̪͔̅͋̌̈̌̿̈̈́̆̚̕͝ͅ3̸̢̮̠͖̹̣̫̥̱̇̅̆̿̈̆́̚͝ṛ̷̡̨̝͙̝͗̔͌̔̄̃̀̕͘͠͝h̶̥̏3̷̧̘͔̻͚̝̣̝̼͉̟̤̫̂̈̏̌͆͒̕ủ̸̪̦͈̼͔̲͓̪͎̀͑̈́̒̅̔̀̑̓̚̚͠: Perhaps. Perhaps not. I am not the spirit of Timelines Yet to Come, after all. I have only this day, one day, and you Gaster. I also have Art, in truth, and some other beings, but that’s neither here nor there.
(As the being speaks, its appearance shifts. Different faces appear out of its amorphous body, imitating those he speaks of. From the depths of its form, two sickly children appear, mirroring the two in the cell.)
Gaster: Are these the last spirits who are to come to me?
0̵̯̻̼̮͉̫͐͋̿͊̃̔9̸̰̠̗͋̅̽͋̈̕͠[̷̛̻̹̃̽́̒̋̃́́͝o̵̻͇̿̒́͛r̸͈̰̮͘͝b̵͙͔͉͝ă̴̠͉͜ͅ: They are no spirits. They are real. Despair. Desperation. They are real. They walk your halls, look to you for comfort. And you deny them. Deny them not too long, Gaster. They will grow and multiply and they will not remain children.
(The being spins him around to look through another doorway, and Gaster is struck with a vision of the demise Art so narrowly rescued him from: his subject, throwing his weight at him, tackling him into the CORE. The other, too frightened to save his maker. The vision clears, and Gaster is still in the lab, and voices come from down the hallway.)
(Alphys and Asgore come from the elevator, calling out for Gaster. Perhaps there was no hide-a-key, but Alphys did have access to Gaster’s magical signature.)
Gaster: *only panicking a little* Alphys? Asgore?
(They hear nothing, but stop short and gasp upon seeing the two skeleton children in the cell. The subjects regard them with the same amount of confusion. After some discussion, Alphys fumbles with the keypad, trying to key it into the same magical signature recording that she used to break into the lab.)
Gaster: … I have failed then. Even if I were to return to my timeline, I would not be allowed to continue my work. I would be marked a traitor. Executed, perhaps. And Asgore will fall.
(The sound of a door slamming. The world around him fades away, into inky darkness. A figure emerges, that of a small, human child. They regard him without expression.)
Gaster: I am in the presence of the Ghost of… “Handplates” Yet to Come?
(The spirit says nothing.)
Gaster: You are about to show me shadows of the things that have not happened, but will happen in the time before us. Is that so, Spirit?
(The spirit says nothing. The human points, and a bed of flowers is illuminated in the distance. Gaster walks towards it.)
Gaster: *looking around at the familiar purple walls of the Ruins* This is the Underground. Then monsterkind remains trapped forever?
(The spirit says nothing.)
(Gaster frowns at them, annoyed. He continues walking through the Underground. It seems the whole place is empty, and he continues forward past Snowdin and Waterfall and into Hotland with growing unease.)
Gaster: I see, then. Murdered, perhaps, by a rogue human who fell down here like that one the King and Queen brought in? Or freed, at the expense of Asgore’s self?
(The spirit says nothing.)
Gaster: Hmph. I suppose I should have expected this much from a human’s company. Not nearly as chatty as those two that were dragging me around all day, are you?
(The spirit says nothing.)
(Gaster continues on, through Hotland and into New Home. Like before, all is empty. He approaches the barrier, and is bombarded by lights and color, an explosion of power unlike any he’s ever seen.)
(Asriel, the long-dead monster prince, stands before a human child in a striped shirt, the last glow of whatever power he possessed fading away. The Barrier is broken. The human steps forward and hugs the monster prince.)
Gaster: The Barrier... And Asgore didn’t… My work, then. It was for nothing?
(He turns to the spirit. The spirit says nothing. As Asriel walks away, the world fades to a blinding white, and then Gaster is in the throne room, watching the monsters of the Underground attempt to rouse the unconscious human child in their midst. His growing sense of unease and dismay threatens to overwhelm him as he sees the love his friends and family have for this human.)
Gaster: Spirit! This is a fearful place. In leaving it, I shall not leave its lesson, trust me. Let us go! If there is a place for me in this series of events, show that to me, Spirit, I beseech you!
(The wordless human that is the Ghost of Handplates Yet To Come raises its hand, and the world fades away into darkness once more, a faint hint of static buzzing in the space around them.)
Gaster: … I understand. Is there a place for me anywhere, then?
(The spirit gestures into the inky blackness. Slowly, Gaster’s surroundings come into view. A planet of monsters, rebuilding their home on the glaciers of Pluto. A warm house filled with far too many children and a couch that jumpscares its residents from time to time. An underground abode where a brooding man stirs potions and a young woman sleeps as if she has not slept in a thousand years. A city street deep underground, full of colorful lights. A market square on a planet made of light. A thin shower curtain separates Gaster from the rest of this world.)
(Gaster grabs ahold of the shower curtain and opens it. The spirit says nothing, and disappears, along with the visions of Erscoga. Gaster is standing in Nalitie’s bathroom once more, an inch of water pooling around his feet in the bathtub. He steps out and goes to the door, opening it. He walks into the hallway, tracking puddles of water onto Nalitie’s carpet. It is mid-morning again. Christine has just left for work, and Willy Wonka to bring the kids to daycare. Gaster knows what he must do.)
(As he walks out into the hallway, the couch returns from space, blowing a pile of papers that Nalitie left carelessly on the coffee table without a paperweight into the hallway. He picks one up. It’s a citizenship and relocation form from Green Circle Labs, with a schedule for their interdimensional portal usage. He walks outside, and gets direction to the lab.)
(It’s a simple matter for one as well-versed in technology and subterfuge as Gaster to sneak down to the lower levels of Green Circle Labs and operate their portal. He sets it to the world he is from, reading the interdimensional signature from a piece of his coat to find the coordinates, and tinkers with the supposedly inalterable settings to send him to the past.)
(He arrives, back in his lab, a stolen Lunchbox Portal in his pocket, and two tubes full of blue fluid and two sleeping skeleton babies in front of him. He goes to drain and open the tubes, but hesitates with his hand over the controls, thinking once more of his king and the reasons why he began this project.)
;̸̢͍̲̼̮͖͉̫̫̙̤̏́̽̈́̒̋̀̅͗̚ą̵̥͚̫̠̖̗͙̳̌ō̶̩̙̮̘̱͔͙̣͎̇̎̎̄̅̍̋͐̂4̵̧̡̰̞͚̺̏̀̈́t̵̢̢̻̰͙͉̱͈͔͙̟̗̟̜͒̎͊̐̓q̷̡̧̨̫̥͈͕͍̹̠̫͍͚̬̫̇͒̿̓̂͆̂̓͝p̷̨̛͇̈͂̎̉̊̓̒̓̅͑̕3̵̧̛̞͖͙̲͎̒́̉̾̂͑́̒̎̒͋͐̃͘: *Is suddenly behind him* How now, Dr. Gaster! Tinkering with time, now, are we?
(Gaster whirls around to face the being.)
Gaster: I thought I had finished being visited by spirits.
4̷̢̨͓̯͇͇̤͇͕͓͇͍̦͎̹̒̆̏̆̓͂̊̀̈́͂̆͘v̸̨̡̺̠̩̺̖̤̹̗̯̙̪̈͛͛͠7̴̡̖̪̤̲͍̼͎̿͊͊̾̓̒͊̒̋͛̃̔̽͝0̴̢̯̻͔̭͈͈̩͈͈͙̱̘̀8̴̡̲̩͖̲̰͙̠͔̗́́͗̓͆͆̌̀̒̓͠͝3̵̥͙̤͚̬̾͋͜ͅͅe̶̱̎̈̏̌͂̓̄́̇͘̚͝: Why do you hesitate? Do you still believe you have the capability to save everyone on your own? *wet screeching laughter* How vain!
Gaster: … I suppose not. I am a scientist, after all, and you’ve more than given me the data to prove me otherwise, have you not? That was the purpose of your visit, was it not?
R̴̛̼̞̺̟̤̘̬̺̼͚͚̪̿̇̂̃̒̂̊̒̋̔̔͛͘͜͝ͅĵ̴̡̙̗͉͉͍̯̠̹̳̤8̴̢̢̡̫̦͕̖͓͈͖̜̤̽͑̏̓͆͆̍͗̿3̵͕̩̘͖̟̫̭͓͉̹̘̟̙̰̔̈́̏̓̈́̌̽̈́̒̐͘͝0̴̢̪̗͓̲̗͓͖̜̺͐̐̊̽̉̾̈́̒̿́̑̓̊̓q̸̖̭͍̩͎̙̖͚̘͚̦͚̅͌̍̒͑̑̄̏͂͗̕͝t̶͉̫̝̓ͅg̵̩̮̗̲͓̬̜͈̀: My visit? Ah, you still misunderstand. I may not be a spirit, but those who visited you last night were driven not by an external force such as myself, but rather by an internal force. This was all your doing, as is what’s happening right now.
Gaster: …
(Gaster sighs, and hits the button to drain and open the tubes. He catches his children in some nearby towels, and they gaze up at him sleepily. For a moment, he allows himself to feel the affection and pride he’d been suppressing for so long, before squashing it back down to get back to business.)
Gaster: Will you be continuing to follow me, then? Or shall I conduct my business in peace, now that you spirits have gotten what you wanted?
4̵̢̡̞̻͓̟̬̹̋͊ͅt̵̨̛̟̣̮͓̝̻̼͈̰̠͑͑͊͛͒͗̀ỵ̸̡͔̊͂͊͐n̴͙̺̈͌̿̎̋̒̋̊̚͜͠v̸̨̢̢͓͖͇̦̘̩̹̺͌͌̇͌̔̆0̷̺́̋̄̋̃͒̂̀͗̑̃̔̕͘3̸̢̬̺̮̉͗̈́́͌̐͆̉̓̏̏͘4̸̥͚͔̙͆̒̉͋͜͠: Perhaps. Perhaps not. We’re all always with you. *dissolves into a puddle and soaks through the floor, leaving Gaster alone in the lab.*
(Gaster sets the babies down on a surface, then goes about the lab collecting his belongings and anything he thinks he might want back in Erscoga, then sets the Lunchbox Portal back to Nalitie’s bathroom. He takes one more look around at his lab, at what would be his life’s work, then down at the sleeping infants in his box of stuff, and goes through the portal.)
(The moment he and the brothers leave, something in the timeline shifts. A cosmic force, it seems, has pushed this timeline to merge with its Canon, removing its Alternate Universe status. It seems that, despite his continued existence, those that would know Dr. Gaster have still slowly forgotten about them. As the timeline rights itself, a new Sans and Papyrus emerge to fill the gaps, playing their given roles in the Storyline.)
(Dr. Gaster emerges into Nalitie’s bathtub once more, and drains it of water. He fills it with his possessions, and settles down with his children again, taking them out of the box and holding them in his arms. It is the morning after he left.)
Nalitie: *banging on the bathroom door* Gaster open up I gotta pee, apparently I’ve been asleep for 48 hours straight. If you don’t open this door I will!!!
Gaster: *stands up in the tub, with Sans and Papyrus in his arms*
Nalitie: *kicks open the door* OK I WARN—uhhhhh. Dude what the heck???
(Gaster is standing in her bathtub holding two children who appear to have come out of nowhere. The bathtub is full of scarves, mugs, a coffee maker, and what appears to be a toaster. Nalitie pushes past him, runs to the tub, and takes the toaster out, throwing it up onto the bathroom counter.)
Nalitie: You’re not supposed to put toasters in the bathtub! You could electrocute yourself AND these strange children that you have for some reason! Wait why do you have children, where did you get those? Ugh, I’m going to have to build a whole new wing for the house, aren’t I? Whatever, get out of here I have to use this room, you know.
(She kicks him and his children out of the bathroom. Bee, whose mother has not yet left for work, stands in the hallway. They look up at Gaster and the babies in his arms excitedly.)
Bee: !!!
Gaster: Yes, yes, I suppose you think this means you have playmates.
(Finished with her business, Nalitie emerges from the bathroom. She looks at her roommates toddler, then at Gaster and his mysterious random children and sighs.)
Nalitie: Well, if all of your possessions being in my bathtub tells me anything, I guess it’s that you’re here for the long haul. That’s probably for the best. We’ll just make my house a big communal family house, I guess. We can call this the end of Arc 2. God bless Us, Every One!
~•*•~
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[1] This line stolen not from Charles Dickens, but from Paul Shapera's Dolls of New Albion
Most of this is adapted from Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, with some parts adapted from the stage version by Frederick Gaines.
Willy being silly getting ready or something. I couldn’t decide which facial expression I liked better, so I drew both. One’ s a fond look at the person who made eye contact with him in the mirror while he was putting on his tinted chapstick, and the other is perhaps a more accurate reaction in that situation in which he just makes a goofy face at them, idk.
Anyway please interact with this I drew his stupid shirt pattern by hand and it took a long time ;^^
(Technically this is an Erscoga thing again, you should all go read the Erscoga content at the @erscogadatabase it’s cool. He’s in there sometimes and will be playing a slightly larger role in Arcs 3 and 4!)
A little less than five years after the whole contest debacle and inviting Charlie and the Bucket family to come live in his factory, he and Charlie accidentally stumbled upon interdimensional summoning using the Television Chocolate/WonkaVision system.
They used the system for a few months summoning a substance known only as “Stardust” to their world for the purposes of flavoring their newest confection, Wonka’s Cosmic Delights.
During a routine check of the modified WonkaVision system, Willy fell into his creation and was summarily launched through Interdimensional Space. He very nearly ended up in The Void, but a combination of Ask Erik! being so gosh-darn influential, Log_Lady’s subconscious fears magnetizing to his concept of self, and the influence of the cosmic figure known only as The Candy Man resulted in his landing in Ask Erik! instead.
Is eternally 44 (or at least until an Author decides to change his age) because he briefly shot through The Void while hurtling through Interdimensional Space.
Willy Wonka’s more impossible abilities–across all his interdimensional selves–are a product of The Candy Man’s existence/influence, as The Candy Man is responsible for all candy-related mayhem and powers across the multiverse. Being a cosmic horror, The Candy Man can also break the rules of whichever reality he is actively influencing (e.g. he has powers beyond what is allowed under Erscoga’s power cap) and grant that power to anyone he lends power to.
Willy has definitely created things in Erscoga that he should NOT be able to do under the power cap, but he and Nalitie just kind of sweep them under the rug and pretend not to notice. Dukermin also does this, apparently.
The Candy Man granted him the ability to shapeshift into various confections (Gary the Bracelet, who’s one of those candy necklace type bracelets, and into chocolate in the latest Sharknado event).
He is demi-romantic and asexual.
He has an Integrity SOUL with undertones of Perseverance.
He is ALMOST never barehanded.
Willy is the one who created the VR room, not Nalitie. It was originally an attempt at re-creating the Television Chocolate-turned-interdimensional portal he had in his original world to try to get back to his universe.
Sometimes he goes in there and simulates his universe, his old factory, and his family, and it’s almost as good as being able to go home. Nalitie has found him doing this on more than one occasion but pretends she doesn’t know because she thinks bringing it up will bum him out.
He has so far not been able to return to his universe because there are so many timelines–the books, the now THREE movies, and countless AUs and fanfictions make it difficult. He also didn’t think to try at GCL until he found out that’s what the refugees were doing, but he’s low on their priority list as his dimension is likely still stable OR was deleted a LOOONG time ago due to how long he’s been here.
He is also—perhaps unsurprisingly—responsible for the idea of “couch that blasts off into space as transportation.”
He has a candy lab that was originally in the kitchen but has since moved down to the basement.
He also has a main store location in Verdanaville, where he sells a somewhat downscaled stock of things he used to sell back in his universe. He recently opened a second location on Bensel, and plans to open one store on each planet with exclusive specialty items unique to each planet.
Willy Wonka and Old McDonald came up with their unusual plants (candy-growing plants and meat orchard) around the same time completely independently, but both of them think the other stole from them. (Neither realized the other was working on a similar idea.) Both have a corkboard of the other in the basement theorizing how they could have done this. This is why OldMcdonald is so touchy about his corn and constantly shoots at Nalitie and Co.
Some items at the Bensel location: candied produce of many varieties; a variety of sugarcane in which the sugar is already processed inside, like giant Pixy Stix; plants for home gardens which grow various kinds of sweets; regular produce that has been altered to taste like candy but still provide essential nutrients
The Termata location is the closest to his Earth store, with his classic line of candies.
Other Plans:
Lux: luminescent rock candies of a variety of flavors, edible candles, chocolate fireflies (like his chocolate birds but they light up)
Dunkel: gourmet varieties of extra-dark chocolate, Dunkelian-accessible varieties of his normal candy lines (made out of or with extra Darkness)
Aeuton: collaborations with the families in Sugar Bunting to create a variety of super decadent tortes, fudge, and lava cakes.
Pluto: THE place to get monster-safe varieties of his candy line. (Some monsters can eat human food, but not all can. All monsters can eat monster food, though.) Also features a line of candies themed around Earth’s solar system since that’s where Pluto is from. Store is surrounded by spectacular ice sculptures that–unlike the glacier–never melt. (He’s also been putting work in with Alphys to make the glaciers resistant to melting using his never-melting ice cream technology so that someday they can heat Pluto further in different zones for warm-climate monsters.)
Coloria: Everything is iridescent or otherwise very colorful. Includes several varieties of candies that can be used like a dispersive prism.
He is secretly the glue that’s holding poor Erscoga together while its queens run around putting out fires.
He perfected Nalitie’s Breadless Bread recipe and has been making a LOT of it. He’s also figured out a way to miniaturize Bread while retaining its value (monetary and nutritional), so he carries around thousands of Loaves in his wallet at any given time.
He finally worked out all the kinks in his Magic Chewing Gum, and has been giving it out to the refugees who haven’t yet converted their home currencies into Bread.
He made many more Universal Translators and DunkelVision goggles, like, a long time ago. Nalitie would know this if she ever stopped panicking in the Vent Hole to talk to him.
Between selling that magic gum to GCL and making Breadless Bread and his candy store sales, he’s, like, loaded. He is the only reason Nalitie’s household is able to afford their groceries and house renovations since Nalitie is famously broke and Christine and Steven have their own additional expenses to worry about.
Nalitie has told him pretty much all of her backstory, because he noticed right away that she was NOT the person he married in Ask Erik! (Aside from the fact that she was suddenly 13, which happened to people sometimes in Ask Erik!, she also became a lot weirder and a lot worse of a cook.)
He is the only one of the original household who stayed after Nalitie replaced Thea.
After this happened, they started sleeping in separate rooms and taking on more of an awkward friendship kind of relationship, despite Ask Erik!’s history and general acceptance of marriages with age gaps modern Americans would find horrifying (see: Log_Lady and Erik, Harrow and Raoul, etc.).
Once Christine, Steven, and Dave moved in, they moved back into the same room, but had bunk beds for a long while, pretty much until they moved to Erscoga.
Nowadays they have kind of a friendship/roommate dynamic that consists of Nalitie never being home and Willy quietly rebuilding his business empire in the background while the whole household attempts to split child-rearing duties for the seven children in their house. He is unsure exactly what he feels towards Nalitie now that she’s like 30 and much closer in age to his actual wife, especially since she’s mellowing out but ALSO has been abandoning him more and more to try to piece Erscoga back together. (Which he could totally help with. Just saying.)
Why are my organs trying to escape this broken cage?
Then I learned that this pounding can't be love,
That it can't be love,
That it can't be
Why are we always separated by bulletproof walls?
Then I learned that this emptiness could be love,
That it could be love,
It must be love… - “Sl0t,” Mili
~•*•~
I’ve had the thought in my head for a while that this particular song would be a good one for Gaster in pretty much any iteration. Here it is featuring mine/Erscoga’s!
This time cleaned up digitally so that they’re legible! Featuring Mackinac!Frisk, who is just Frisk if they were a 100-year-old man who owns a creepy, decrepit antiques shop on Mackinac Island; the Pocket Magician (TM); Dukermin; Aubrey Foresman, who appears to have been opening all of the new portals in Erscoga; @zarla-s’s Handplates!Gaster, who does not want to be here; and “S. G. Art,” our friend that we retrieved from The Void in Document 10, formerly known only as “Mr. Face Man.” Lot of old men on this page.
Most of these scenes are from Document 20, with the exception of the “we want to make bread” thing, which is from Document 16 and was just an excuse to show off Art’s weird untethered blob hands.
Chapters: 4/?
Fandom: Original Work, Undertale (Video Game), Erscoga - Fandom
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Original Characters, Candle Grandma, W. D. Gaster, Rob (The Amazing World of Gumball)
Additional Tags: Original Universe, mostly original work but Undertale is involved in the mechanics, Worldbuilding, Collection of Various Documents, Cosmic Entities, Multiversal Gumbo Theology, Fictional Religion & Theology, The Void, The multiverse, Inferno References (La Divina Commedia | The Divine Comedy - Dante Alighieri), Eldritch Horrors, Key Motifs, SOUL Mechanics (Undertale), W. D. Gaster Is Not Related to Papyrus and Sans, W. D. Gaster is not a skeleton, (more or less), Inspired by Everything Everywhere All at Once, (Gaster IS Everything Everywhere All at Once), Metaphysics, paradoxes, Existentialism
Series: Part 2 of Erscoga
Summary:
In this volume, I have compiled every bit of information I could find pertaining to the Multiverse, the people within it, and what happens to those outside of it, in hopes that it will be useful to your cause. Grand things are at work in the cosmos, and I fear that they may be bigger than we could have imagined, threatening Existence as we know it. I hope that this volume provides you with the clues you need to bring things into balance at last.
