There must have been a mistake. He doesn’t belong here. Life is great. Monsters are free, the surface is wonderful and things couldn’t be better. So the fact that Papyrus still wants to die, isn’t really a problem, is it?
The Deep End
is an Undertale fanfiction by Yessica. It details Papyrus’s life in the Psychiatric Unit of the University Hospital in a post-pacifist route.
This fic provides examples of:
- Bittersweet Ending: When all is said and done, Papyrus is alive and continuing his recovery, Sans is seeking help with his own psychological issues, but their bond will never be the same, and Marcus is dead.
- Bookends: At the start of the story, the residents gossip about a recent discharge, Nathan, having committed suicide. The story ends with Papyrus receiving a letter informing him of Marcus’s suicide.
- Bungled Suicide: Alex’s suicide failed due to them tying their noose too long. Eli crashed his car which, instead of killing him, broke both his legs.
- Cathartic Chores: Inverted. A sign of Papyrus’s recovery is him deciding to reorganise the rec room cupboard.
- Dysfunctional Family: Sans and Papyrus consistently keep secrets from and lie to each other, exacerbating each other’s issues.
- Dysfunction Junction: Every character in the PUUH is this, what with it being a psychiatric unit.
- Interspecies Friendship: Between Papyrus and the other residents of the PUUH, especially Alex, Marcus, and Eli.
- Mental Health Recovery Arc: While it’s not perfect, the story ends with Papyrus in a much better state than he started in.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: Sans has this, as in popular fanon, but so does Papyrus.
- Suicide, Not Accident: Papyrus’s plan was to make it seem as though he fell off a railway bridge and got hit by a train.There is a golden ratio for attempting to commit suicide: It has to look like an accident. Your family shouldn't be the ones to find you. And, perhaps most importantly, it should kill you.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Papyrus remembers nothing of his life before Snowdin. Until he does.
