#obligatory this is general shit doesn’t apply to every damn thing whatever

[starlooove]

No it gets me so tight that y’all are like. I don’t wanna say pathetic but the whole “what do we think? Who do we hate? Who are we agreeing with” mentality without critical thought is so fucking annoying. Like I need you to pause and think about ur own emotions and feelings and if ur neutral ur neutral! And that’s not saying don’t ask questions; obviously you should but taking the first answer provided or just agreeing without breaking it down for yourself is kinda fake

[alpha-centari27]

Fanfic: “Stuck”

:wave: I occasionally write fanfiction and sometimes I even finish my project and release it for people to read.

Fandom: Undertale

Title: “Stuck“

Characters: “Hope“ / “Hopeless“ and “Wings“ mostly.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Some swearing and mention of self harm.

Summary: This is inspired by the metal pipe discourse on hopxlcss’s blog a few months back.

Pipe discourse can be found: here, here, here, here, here and here.

Obligatory Disclaimer: Undertale is the property of Toby Fox. 

“Hope” / “Hopeless” belongs to @hopxlcss and Wings belongs to Ziz @unseenbutnotgone and @synensis  .

Notes:  Thoughts are in bold to distinguish them from dialogue and description.

Wings = Wings and because Hope does not like his fragment name I refer to him as Gaster mostly.  I think Wings calls him by his fragment name once.

If you don’t have anything nice to say or at least anything constructive don’t say anything at all.

Fanfic is hidden behind cut.

Reading Start!

How did he let this happen?  Of all the compromising and undignified predicaments to be caught up in, having one's tongue stuck to a frozen metal pipe in a place where such a thing should not exist had to be the most embarrassing experience of his entire existence--dead or alive.   "HEH..."  He breathes.  The ordeal is not over.  He is not free of his imprisonment, yet.  He chides himself on letting his thoughts turn to self pity. IT DOES NOT MATTER.  WHAT MATTERS IS GETTING UNSTUCK.  But what more is there to try?  Teleportation: failure.  De-materializing his tongue: failure.  Breaking the pole just above and below the points where his tongue is stuck would allow him to move freely, but create a new problem of having an unsupported chunk of metal stuck to his tongue.

Using his magical attacks poses the same problem with some additional risks.  His blasters were not exactly surgical instruments designed for precision cutting.   And despite his formidable size and strength, physical momentum alone does not seem to be enough to peel his tongue from the pipe.  From what his lone eye allows him to see the point at which his tongue first makes contact with the pipe is very close to his jaw.  If he had more length to work with he could generate more force.   Then a thought occurred to him.  If by some means he could warm his tongue or the surface of the metal, surely he could be freed--but how!? 

HMMM...  THERE MUST BE A SOLUTION.  WHAT HAVE I NOT THOUGHT OF?  THERE HAS TO BE A WAY.  I HAVE MY MAGIC AND MY BODY TO WORK WITH--   His thought processes came to a screeching halt.  He could feel it.  He was no longer alone and there was more than one. "Oh my god!" "Is that him?" "Yeah, it's him alright.  Big.  Bad.  And ugly." "He's stuck to a metal pipe!"  Someone chuckled.  It sounded like the voices were to his right, his blind side.  Gaster muttered a curse.  Just what he needed spectators to his humiliation. 

HOW DID THEY FIND ME?  NEVER MIND.  Their presence was an unneeded distraction, drowning out his ability to think clearly. "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?"  More than anything he wanted to turn his head to properly threaten them, but he could only rotate his head a few degrees before reaching a dead stop. "We're looking at you of course." "Is this a trick?  Is he really stuck?" "Do you really want to find out?  Even now he kinda scares me." "Yeah, I think so." "We could poke him with a bone from a safe distance." "Serves him right, the bastard." "ALL OF YOU CAN GO FUCK OFF!"  He roared.   "No need to be rude." "Maybe you should being nicer to us seeing as you're stuck.  We could help you, ya know.  Not that you deserve it."

"BY THE NON-EXISTENT GODS..."  Their senseless chatter and laughter was beginning to give him a headache.   "Guys maybe we should stop." "Do what you want.  I got an idea."  A flash of light.  First one, then three, then five in quick succession and they kept on coming.   "ARE YOU TAKING MY PICTURE!?"  He asked in disbelief.  Although he could not directly see the flashing what he saw out of the corner of his eye and reflecting off the metal pipe was more than enough.  A perfectly angled flash met his gaze dead on, blinding him.  "STOP!"  He closed his eye and yet he could see spots and he could still see the flashing though it was now dimmed.  He covered his eye with the crook of his elbow which dimmed the flashing more.  "HOW MANY DAMN PICTURES DO YOU NEED!?  IS THIS NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU!?  YOU SADISTIC FUCKS!  LEAVE!   LEAVE ME BE!"  The brightness of the flashing was started to increase again.  Were they moving closer?  THAT DOES IT.  He turns to face his tormentors, or at least as much as his situation allows him to.  His eye twitches from the flashing, but he does not turn away.  "I WILL KILL EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"  He bellowed.  In an instant he materialized four Gaster Blasters and laid waste to the area.  A barrage of consecutive blasts shook the level plain.  He heard a collective gasp and then everything went silent.  The blasters continued to fire until he was satisfied and willed them away.  

It had been a while since circumstances transpired to make him this angry.  He needed to rest and catch his breathe.  He learned his weight against the pole, it was better than nothing. Sufficiently recovered and alone at last with his thoughts he could think uninterrupted and undisturbed. "FUCK." His teeth painfully pinched his tongue.  Now that he thought of it, it was amazing that his tongue did not profusely bleed every time he summoned it.  Maybe it did happen, but he rarely noticed it because the cuts were always clean because of the sharpness of his triangular teeth.   PINCH?  CUT?  THAT'S IT...  AS UNPLEASANT AS IT SOUNDS I COULD BITE MY TONGUE OFF.  IF I DO THIS RIGHT IT SHOULD BE QUICK.   PAINLESS?  AT FIRST THE PAIN WILL NOT BE IMMEDIATE.  IN THE SECONDS AND MINUTES FOLLOWING IT WILL PROBABLY BE EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL.  HEH...   NOTHING THAT SOME ALCOHOL CANNOT FIX.  IT'S WORTH A SHOT.  I DO NOT HAVE ANY OTHER OPTIONS TO WORK WITH CURRENTLY.  ON THE COUNT OF THREE...   ONE...  TWO... "OH DEAR."  A voice called.

I THOUGHT I TOLD THEM TO GO FUCK OFF.  "WHO'S THERE?"   "OH, IT'S ONLY ME."  It was not a Sans or Papyrus who stepped into his line of sight, but another Gaster who went by the fragment name: "Wings."   "YOU LOOK A LITTLE STUCK MY FRIEND."  He said, pleasantly.   "OBVIOUSLY.  AND I AM NO--"  He stopped.  Wings was holding something most peculiar and out of place.  "WHAT IS THAT?"  He motioned with his hand pointing at the ceramic cup.  The shorter skeleton shrugged, a small smile tugging at the edges of his face.       "I THINK A WARM CUP OF TEA CAN REMEDY THE SITUATION." "TEA?" "I DO NOT MEAN FOR YOU TO DRINK THIS, BUT TO APPLY IT TO YOUR TONGUE.  I THINK THIS SHOULD DO THE TRICK, UNLESS YOU ARE STUCK HERE BY MEANS OF A CHEMICAL ADHESIVE, OR SOME OTHER METHOD--" "BY ALL MY OBSERVATIONS THE PIPE IS INDEED FROZEN." "HEHE...IT'S FUNNY I JUST HAPPENED TO BE MAKING SOME TEA WHEN--" "I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR EXPLANATION.  IF YOUR INTENT IS TO FREE ME THEN DO IT."   "I AM GOING TO STEP CLOSER NOW, IF THAT IS OK WITH YOU."   "AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT TOUCH ME."  Wings gave a curt nod and slowly advanced.  True to his word he did not lay a hand on him.  He merely let his fingers trail over the surface of the pipe. "THE PIPE IS DEFINITELY FROZEN.  THIS SHOULD WORK."

"ABSOLUTELY ASTOUNDING.  FROZEN PIPE IS VERIFIED TO BE FROZEN.  GIVE ME THAT!"  Gaster reached for the ceramic cup with the intent of ripping it away from Wings.  His hand missed the mark and the cup fell, spilling it's contents.  Wings carefully bent down to pick up the still intact cup. "HUH...  YOU STARTLED ME.  I-I AM A-AFRAID A PUDDLE OF TEA ON THE GROUND IS OF NO USE TO EITHER OF U-US."   "NO SHIT.  MY HEAD...FEELS LIKE IT IS GOING TO SPLIT OPEN."  Gaster expected Wings to say something, but when he looked around he was no where in sight.  "HE'S GONE."  He heavily sighed.  As much as he wanted to enjoy the freedom of movement again having two sources of pain to cope with was more than he felt capable of handling at the moment.  The headache that had blossomed into a migraine was making him feel light headed and like he would pass out.  He just had to grit his teeth and bare it.  It would pass sooner or later.  It may take be a while, but his pain would end and he could move forward with what needed to be done.   "HOPE?  ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"  The voice startled him, prompting Gaster to stand up straighter and glance around.  It was Wings, he had returned. "THAT IS NOT MY--WHATEVER."  He huffed.  "I'M FINE."  HE CAME BACK?  WHY?  "ANOTHER CUP OF TEA?"  Wings meekly smiled. "I AM AFRAID I LET THE WATER GET TOO HOT.  WE WILL NEED TO WAIT AND LET IT COOL.  I DO NOT EXPECT YOU WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF I BURNED YOUR TONGUE.  IF I MAY ASK HOW DID YOU--" "NO, YOU MAY NOT." "OK.  HOW HAVE YOU BEEN?" "MY HEAD IS KILLING ME.  STOP TALKING, OR I WILL GO BACK TO MY OTHER PLAN AND BITE MY TONGUE OFF." "DON'T DO THAT, PLEASE.  I WOULDN'T WANT YOU TO HURT YOURSELF."

"WHY THE FUCK DO YOU CARE?  AND IT'S NOT LIKE I HAVE A LOT OF OTHER CHOICES TO CHOOSE FROM." "HMMM...  YOUR HANDS ARE FREE.  AND IF YOU HAVE YOUR PHONE ON YOU, YOU COULD HAVE MADE A POST ON UNDERNET ASKING FOR HELP." "HEH... I HAVE NO IDEA HOW THEY FOUND ME, BUT A GROUP OF MISCREANTS CAME BY TO LAUGH AT AND TAKE PICTURES OF MY HUMILIATION.  WITHOUT DOING ANYTHING SOMEHOW I AM FOUND AND SUBJECTED TO IDIOT'S STUPIDITY AND JUDGEMENT.  YOU HONESTLY THINK IF I ASKED THAT SOMEONE WOULD COME TO MY AID?" "YES. I KNOW I WOULD.  I AM HERE.  THE ONLY REASON I LEFT WAS TO GET MORE WARM WATER.  I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING THAN JUST LEAVING LIKE I DID." "IT DOESN'T MATTER."  Wings chuckled.

"YOU'RE RIGHT.  BECAUSE WHAT MATTERS IS THAT I AM HERE NOW."  Wings dipped a finger into the ceramic cup.  "AH, I THINK THE WATER HAS COOLED ENOUGH.  NOT TOO HOT AND NOT TOO COLD."  Taking carefully measured steps Wings moved closer to his position.  "THIS WILL ALL BE OVER IN A SECOND."  Wings lifted and tilted the cup pouring a small amount of water onto the top of Gaster's tongue.  He repeated the process two more times until the cup was emptied.  Effortlessly Gaster was able to gradually pull his tongue away from the pipe.  Having his tongue back in his mouth felt, odd, but not unexpected.  The sensation would pass and be forgotten about in time.   "ARE YOU EXPECTING ME TO SAY SOMETHING?" "WELL, A THANK YOU, WOULD BE THE POLITE THING TO SAY, BUT I AM NOT EXPECTING YOU TO SAY IT.  WE SHOULD HELP EACH OTHER BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO, NOT BECAUSE WE ARE GETTING SOMETHING IN RETURN." "HEH..." It was more than tempting to reply with a 'FUCK YOU' yet he chose not to.  Without saying a word he walked away and when he felt ready teleported to his part of the void--where he belonged.

888888888888888888888888 When Hope teleported, Wings examined the pipe more closely.  "HMMM...  WHO PUT THIS HERE?"  He muttered to himself, once again running a hand along the length of the pipe. "AND WHY DID YOU GET STUCK?  SOME SORT OF PRANK PERHAPS? MAYBE ONE OF THESE DAYS WE CAN SIT DOWN AND TALK OPENLY WITHOUT THE DEFENSIVE POSTURING.  I WONDER WHAT NESS MUST THINK OF ALL THIS?"  With that final thought Wings teleported back to his home in the void. 888888888888888888888888 The metal pipe in the void remained standing.  A curious oddity in a strange landscape. 

A long figure emerged out of the perpetual darkness.   He could not stop himself from laughing when staring at the metal pipe.  It was a clever plan and it worked.  He is kind, but he will fight back to defend himself.  "I CAN FIGHT YOU--WITHOUT ACTUALLY FIGHTING YOU.  LET THAT BE A LESSON TO YOU."  Through the use of his magic Kindness made the pipe disappear. 88888888888888888888888

Writer Notes:

1) Not being familiar with all version of Sans, Papyrus and Gaster I decided it would be a lot less hassle to leave the identities of Hope’s tormentors ambiguous.

2) If people don’t get the ending.  I like to think that Hope and Kindness got into some sort of argument that escalated into a physical fight and binding Hope to the pipe was Ness’s idea of a non-violent solution.  I also like to think that Ness may have been the one to anonymously tip of Wings about Hope’s plight.  But it’s also possible a guilt ridden Sans, Papyrus or Gaster told Wings about what they saw.  As to how the “miscreants“ found Hope in the first place?  Maybe that was also Kindness’s doing?

3) I probably could have put in some more descriptive details in places, but I wanted to try to keep things simple.  And unless the details are pivotal to the plot, character interaction, etc why put them in?  I think the dialogue back and forth between Wings and Hope speaks for itself.

4) I don’t really know what the rules are concerning void physics and magic.  You could argue that Hope ought to be able to unsummon his tongue--problem solved, but the fact that it is in contact with something else complicates this, or at least in my opinion.  And if Hope did bite off his tongue...  I am unsure if the damage done would be permanent, if his tongue could be healed and regenerate on it’s own or if he could outright generate a new, undamaged one.

Hope you enjoyed this for what it was!  I have a fuck ass long Wings x Void fanfic that has been sitting in my gmail account as a draft for almost a year that I would eventually like to finish.  And I have a few other shorter pieces, around the length of this one that I have started, but am having a hard time finishing.