History Fanfic / ATriangleInTheStars

** GenderFlipped and {{Downplayed}} with Steven and Connie, unlike in the show proper. It's especially highlighted in Chapter Forty-Six, where Connie can't even play Citchen Calamity because [[spoiler:Bill was sitting right across from her]], whereas Steven thoroughly enjoyed every minute.

* IncorruptiblePurePureness: Steven resembles this in spades, albeit {{Downplayed}}. To count:
** In the battle to get [[spoiler: Steven back from Gabriel]], Bill [[spoiler: was about to lose, and despite being stuck in his gem and to the star's form, he managed to stop the weapons before they hit and killed Bill.]]
** [[spoiler: While Gabriel's essence activated and was getting worse within his mind, he managed to hear Bill's pep talk and pop the bubble.]]
** [[spoiler: When Pyronica reached him within his mind, he was still Steven, and swore he could handle Gabriel and reform him.]]
** However, he can still [[spoiler: seemingly become corrupt]], as seen in Chapter Forty-Two. [[spoiler: Turns out, in the chapter afterwards, this was the Void's doing, and Steven turns out fine.]]

* {{Catchphrase}}: Some characters have things they say a lot.

* DaylightHorror: One [[spoiler: Cluster Demon goes after Steven on Gabriel's orders, offscreen however.]] And before that, a [[spoiler: Gem Monster and the result of Bill's chaos in Chapter Six]] terrorize the school. It was during the morning.
** After the storm clears up, which Bill didn't want to happen, in Chapter Fifty-One, [[{{Downplayed}} Stan and Ford]] resume their journey to Beach City [[spoiler: to destroy Bill]].

** It finally passes in Chapter Fifty-One. It actually turned out to be empathetic, because it didn't go away until [[spoiler: Wendy and Connie began to fully trust Bill and see the good that lay within]]. But, [[DaylightHorror unfortunately for Bill]], it signals possible doom...

* NiceHat: Bill's skinny topper, which has a [[{{Tearjerker}} story]] [[WellDoneSonGuy behind it]]. He doesn't like it when people touch it or take it.

* UpToEleven: Bill uses this phrase word for word to describe [[spoiler: what Gabriel made [[MindRape the]] [[PsychologicalTormentZone Void]] into]] in Chapter Thirty-Four.

* ArcWords: There are quite a few of these too.
** [[spoiler:"Lowly triangle. Mighty star..."]] occurs around Chapter Thirty-Four.
** "You're on Earth now. You're free."

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: As much as [[spoiler: growing your conscience back after years of it being gone]] is portrayed as good, the mental pain of [[FirstTimeFeeling processing it all again]] can be tough to bear, and if you've done horrible things while lacking it, [[ForegoneConclusion we]][[MyGodWhatHaveIDone ll...]]
** Similarly, trauma, especially deep-seated, doesn't just disappear after it's seemingly fixed. Neither do habits when told they're wrong. It's played painfully well, particularly in Chapter Thirty-Four in the case of the latter. [[BreakTheCutie Steven, not used to this, doesn't take it well]] and briefly thinks [[spoiler: Bill [[PygmalionSnapBack snapped back]].]].
** Weather doesn't actually occur simultaneously in every single area. It could be brutally storming in one place, and lightly raining or even sunny a few blocks away. Ford is nonetheless amazed by this in Chapter Forty-One.
** Depression often lurks beneath the personality and isn't always noticeable, and often builds up before exploding. Just ask [[spoiler: Bill]]. His suicidal breakdown in Chapter Forty-Four wasn't out of the blue. It was built up over time, until he couldn't take it anymore. It's also really, really hard to watch and it's when Steven fully realizes just how deep his pain really went.
** It takes time for trust to be gained or regained, as exemplified in Chapters Forty-Six and Forty-Seven with Connie and Wendy.
** Certain unburied secrets can seriously hurt trust. And some people may be desperate to get the truth, even going so far as going behind the secret keeper's back. [[spoiler: Pearl starts exemplifying this in Chapter Thirty-Eight.]]

* AbusiveParents: It was hinted at in several chapters and finally confirmed in Chapter Thirty that [[spoiler:Bill Cipher suffered from these for ''several years''.]] And that's not all. [[spoiler:[[WordOfGod Alex himself]] confirmed he had a much WORSE childhood than Stanley Pines did.]] '''''OUCH'''''.

''A Triangle In The Stars'' is a collab crossover fanfic between ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' and ''WesternAnimation/GravityFalls'' created by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/1762565/Vampire-Tails Vampire Tails]] and [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/9780410/ Anonymistress]], otherwise known as Ace, or Gay, the Demon, both of whom are on Google Plus where this story originated as a roleplay May 2016. It has then been uploaded to [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12015928/1/A-Triangle-in-the-Stars Fanfiction.net]] by the former on June 24th, 2016, where it is ‘completed’ in 70 chapters, and in [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/27718931/chapters/67843367 Ao3]] on November 26th 2020.

* AbusiveParents: It was hinted at in several chapters and finally confirmed in Chapter Thirty that [[spoiler:Bill Cipher suffered from these for ''several years''.]] And that's not all. [[spoiler: [[WordOfGod Alex himself]] confirmed he had a much WORSE childhood than Stanley Pines did.]] '''''OUCH'''''.

* AdaptationalAngstUpgrade: Bill gets this treatment, especially when he [[spoiler: starts regrowing his empathy]].
** As if Pearl didn't have enough to suffer over, she has to deal with wanting to know exactly what happened in the Zodiac Temple, starting in Chapter Thirty-Eight, but no one, particularly Garnet [[spoiler: and Keyhole]], will tell her and keeps her LockedOutOfTheLoop, adding to her frustration. [[spoiler: And it also involves Rose.]]
* AdaptationalHeroism: In the school arc [[spoiler: Bill and his friends band together to rescue Steven from Gabriel]], with varying degrees of reluctance and of excitement.

* AdaptationalVillainy: While she does retain her care for Steven, Lapis's disregard for Earth and the people who live upon it is more highlighted here, [[AscendedExtra simply because she has more screentime]], and she's also more manipulative, drawing more parallels between her and Bill. She also [[spoiler: goes along with Jasper, though it's often unwilling and vitreous]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: Chapter Fifty-Six focuses on Peridot, and in it she explores Beach City, having gotten tired of sitting in the boat. [[spoiler: This, unfortunately, leads to her getting poofed and captured in the next chapter.]]

* AfterActionPatchUp: After Bill [[spoiler: rescues a then-poofed Steven from Gabriel]], Steven heals the triangle's wounds via his famous [[HealingHands healing spit]].

** [[spoiler: Ocean Town]], which was visited and explored in Chapter Twenty-Four, falls into this after Last One Out of Beach City aired. In this story, its economy reached a dead end and it and the citizens never recovered from the riots. In the episode, it's confirmed that [[spoiler: [[NoodleIncident it was simply set on fire]]]].

--> "His expression was [[spoiler: a lot softer than it had been, like an enormous weight had been lifted off his shoulders, and there was a subtle warm glint in his eye. It made his hellish pupil seem unnatural now...]]"

** It's even shown that [[spoiler: thrown shields actually ''hurt'' Bill and waver his own shields, though how much of this is because Bill isn't at his full strength is unknown. Either way, Gabriel notices, tests it out in Chapter Twenty and takes full advantage of it in Chapter Twenty-Nine.]]

** Bill Cipher serves as villain zero, the one who [[{{Jerkass}} antago]][[BitchInSheepsClothing nizes]] and [[FalseFriend plans]] from the getgo. [[spoiler: [[CharacterDevelopment For a while anyway]].]]

** Second are [[HeroAntagonist Stan and Ford]], coming to [[spoiler: erase Bill from existence because of a call from Wendy in Chapter Twelve]].
** Third are [[spoiler: Lapis and Jasper, coming to capture the [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch rogue]] [[DefectorFromDecadence Peridot]]]]. Later, however, [[spoiler: Jasper]] takes an interest in Steven. See IdiotBall.
*** Later, [[spoiler: they fuse into Malachite to deal with Bill in Chapter Sixty-Four]].
** And the fourth is [[spoiler: the Void. Its motive is to destroy everything and everyone. It also seems to be the ManBehindTheMan, if Chapter Forty-Three is of any indication]].

** [[spoiler: "Lowly triangle. Mighty star..."]] occurs around Chapter Thirty-Four.

--> "Then... I can only ask...[[spoiler: why did you spare me?"]]

--> "WHY DON'T YOU [[spoiler: WANT ME DEAD LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE?!"]]
* AscendedExtra: All of Bill's friends get more attention and are fleshed out more in this story, albeit with the authors' interpretations of their characters. Kryptos and Hectorgon especially, since they're said to have been [[spoiler: Bill's friends years ago, long before the rest, and had been spared from dying in their [[DoomedHometown dimension]] when the fated day came]].
** Lapis also counts, since she has a lot more screentime to allow for her full personality to shine, and also details [[spoiler: what happened between her and Jasper when she was captured in Chapter Forty]].
* AssassinOutclassin: Keyhole planned to kill Bill for [[spoiler: Gabriel]]. It didn't go as planned, and in Chapter Twenty-Seven took three failed tries. He's rewarded with [[spoiler: Pyronica [[PutOnABusToHell tossing him away]], literally, from the group.]]
* AStormIsComing: Both literally and figuratively in Chapters Thirty-Two and Thirty-Four, almost respectively. The clouds are much closer in the latter, and distant thunder is even heard. And [[spoiler: Bill himself begins to feel something he'd never felt in a long while...]]

* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: One of the main reasons [[spoiler: Bill Cipher changes.]] Steven was the only one who stuck by his side and was genuinely kind and understanding to him through and through. Everyone else either hated him, suspected him and wanted him dead at one point, saw him as a boss, or perhaps merely took pity upon him. [[spoiler: No wonder Bill came to care for the boy so much.]]
** It's also the reason [[spoiler: Kryptos and Hectorgon were spared all those years ago. They were the only ones who were and remained nice to Bill]].

** Second time around Bill [[spoiler: has been reformed]], so this time his mask is [[StepfordSmiler happiness]]. It cracks every now and then, breaking apart even, but it's always glued back together. Both times Steven isn't really aware of just how deep they go until [[ManipulativeBastard they]] [[DrivenToSuicide break]].
* BerserkButton:
** Bill Cipher
*** Do NOT, and I repeat, do ''NOT'' [[spoiler: take his hat and/or take selfies with it]] if you want to see the light of another day.

*** Betrayal, or moreso perhaps wasting time, is also a big one, and [[spoiler: Keyhole learned it the hard way]].
*** [[HatesBeingTouched Touching him]] is a [[{{Downplayed}} minor]] one. He won't outright blow up, but he'll be miffed. Except for the first time, which was a hug. [[spoiler: This goes away by Chapter Twenty-Nine.]]

* BewareTheNiceOnes: While he definitely wasn't nice in the start, [[spoiler: Bill Cipher comes to genuinely care about Steven. So any and all attempts to hurt the boy will make him angry.]]

** Wendy Corduroy, usually laidback, kind and calm, doesn't hesitate to threaten Bill in Chapter Eleven. [[spoiler: It falls flat, since he's still stronger, but they even engage in a "glaring contest" afterwards. It doesn't even stop until Steven comes back and drags Bill away]].
** There's also Sadie, who stands up to Bill and [[spoiler: keeps him from messing up the school as badly as he initially wanted]], Peridot, [[spoiler: whose metal powers activate with feelings of frustration]] and Kryptos, who banged his hands on [[spoiler: the bubble keeping him and the remaining Henchmaniacs trapped upon hearing that Pyronica betrayed Bill.]]

* BigDamnHeroes: What Xanthar and 8-Ball were [[{{Subverted}} expecting]] in Chapter Twenty-Nine [[spoiler: after being freed from the bubble]]. But [[spoiler: Gabriel was [[CurbStompBattle one step ahead]] of them]].
* BitchinSheepsClothing: Definitely Bill. He puts on an air, sometimes thin, of friendliness and innocence, moreso for Steven, only letting his true colors slip occasionally, and his hidden plan is [[spoiler: to backstab everyone he can string along when his powers get restored]].
* BodyHorror: The [[spoiler: Cluster Demons]] from the school arc. They're [[ShoutOut reminiscent of the Gem Mutants from the primary home series]], [[spoiler: punished amalgamations of different demons who refused to break their loyalty ties from Bill to join Gabriel.]]
* BondingOverMissingParents: It's brief, but [[spoiler: Steven and Bill]] touch upon the fact that their parents, one or both, are no longer with them in Chapter Thirty.
* BookEnds: The story begins with Steven and Bill alone in the Beach House. [[spoiler: At the end of Chapter Sixty-Five, Steven and Bill Cipher are alone in the Beach House, since everyone had left to their homes or rooms or some other destination. But Bill isn't plotting, and Steven is slightly depressed.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler:'''Bill''']]. Nuff said.

* BrickJoke: During the school/[[spoiler:Steven Rescue]] arc, Bill thinks about chicken and how it would sound good as he's [[spoiler: trying to catch 8-Ball]]. Later, when the arc's all over, and they get home, Bill summons chicken sandwiches for himself and Steven.
* BrokenTears: [[spoiler: Bill Cipher]] cries these in Chapter Sixty-Eight, while no one's looking. But [[spoiler: Greg]] notices because of the redness in eyes that usually result from crying. He then proceeds to cry more while speaking to the man [[spoiler: about how perfect a parent he is]].
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: Though both boys, Bill is definitely brooding, and Steven is gentle, helping the triangle through his troubles. And sometimes, especially later, it's [[spoiler: swapped and Bill helps back in his own way]].[[note]] It's completely platonic.[[/note]]
** GenderFlipped and {{Downplayed}} with Steven and Connie, unlike in the show proper. It's especially highlighted in Chapter Forty-Six, where Connie can't even play Citchen Calamity because [[spoiler: Bill was sitting right across from her]], whereas Steven thoroughly enjoyed every minute.
* CainAndAbel: Way before this story begins, [[spoiler: Bill was the Cain to Gabriel's Abel, though they [[WeUsedToBeFriends initially got along excellently]]. The triangle [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge just got]] [[TheResenter fed up with]] [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer how]] [[TheUnfavorite he]] [[AbusiveParents was treated]] and how Gabe was so loved, and Gabriel in fact grew to be condescending towards his older brother.]] Instead of murder, the "Abel" was simply imprisoned. In the present, the school arc, the roles switch, for obviously different reasons. Interestingly, [[spoiler: it's the Abel who kills the Cain]].
%% * CampingEpisode: An interior variation, but this is what Chapter Forty-Six and Forty-Seven are.

--> '''Pyronica''': "We don't have time for this!"
--> '''Bill''': "Eh/Well, <insertsentencehere>."
* CharacterCheck: Bill has one in Chapter Twenty. Ronaldo had shown up to the school to record for his blog. The demon treats him with [[FantasticRacism condescension]], showing that, [[spoiler: even though he's changing, he hasn't changed ''that'' much]].

** Bill Cipher [[spoiler: slowly evolves from the [[HairTriggerTemper angry]], condescending yet [[StepfordSmiler giddy]] {{Jerkass}} {{Sociopath}} he was in the show to a relatively kind character struggling with empathy and depression and who deeply cares about Steven.]]
** Steven Universe becomes less happy, and more serious as the story goes on. [[spoiler: Even his relationship with Connie seems to be going downhill, and it's mutual]]. The poor boy is also becoming depressed and less excitable.
** [[spoiler: Gabriel goes from a rampaging revenge seeker to a remorseful, slightly quiet {{Atoner}}.]] However, [[spoiler: it's more or less revealed in Chapter Forty-Three that it was mostly the Void's fault.]]
** Pyronica [[spoiler: goes from a selfish mole, to a [[BrokenBird depressed wreck]], and then blossoms into a relatively good person, er, demon.]]
** Cowardly Keyhole [[spoiler: evolves from his indecisive, quiet ItsAllAboutMe personality, to a CowardlyLion who, while still a follower, often makes his own decisions.]]

** Connie, at first friendly to Bill, turns hostile when she sees him again in Chapter Thirty-One. Turns out, as revealed in Chapter Forty-Six, [[spoiler: Wendy gave in and told her what happened]]. She goes through this again in Chapter Forty-Six, where she learns that [[spoiler: she can trust Bill, that he's changed]], and goes back to being friendly. [[spoiler: And at the beginning of the story, she was friendly to Steven, as close as she was to him in the show. But later she begins growing more reserved towards him.]]
** [[spoiler: Stanford]], after spending the majority of the story being hateful towards [[spoiler: Bill, for good reason, starts to realize he's not so bad now]], and the realization is solidified by Chapter Sixty. He even attempts to [[spoiler: save Bill from Jasper when he saw how courageous and sacrificing Bill was by helping them rescue Peridot, something the Bill he knew wouldn't do]].
* TheChessmaster: Bill's main modus operandi. [[spoiler: Even after his HeelFaceTurn, it's hard to break]]. It does prove useful, but at one point [[spoiler: while playing Citchen Calamity with Steven and Connie]], he even sees the little characters as pawns, like a chessboard.
** Steven himself shows heroic signs of this, particularly in Chapter Forty-Five, where he tells Connie to come over and have a sleepover. [[spoiler: All so he can get her to see that Bill's changed. Wendy was just an added, unprecedented success.]]

* CloudCuckooLander: Ronaldo, as displayed in Chapter Twenty. He shows no fear or apparent concern towards what's happening to and in the school, only there to record for his blog. He also shows no fear when he walks up to [[EldritchAbomination Bill and his friends]] and even expresses [[{{Keet}} excitement]]. [[spoiler: He's [[TooDumbToLive lucky]] Bill didn't do anything but [[FantasticSlur sneer]] and that the only thing Pyronica did was set his camera on fire.]]
* ColorFailure: In Chapter Eighteen, Bill suffers a downplayed version of this when he's told that [[spoiler: one of Gabriel's Cluster Demons poofed Steven, by Gabriel himself]].

* CoversAlwaysLie: In Fanfiction.net, the cover is the Crystal Gems on the front ready to fight with Bill Chipher looking down on them from behind. However, not only are the Crystal Gems (except Steven) on a mission, [[spoiler: Bill Cipher pulled a HeelFaceTurn, and has no need to antagonize Steven anymore.]]

* CuddleBug: This portrayal of Steven is more so than the one in the show, as he's always quick to hug people. This [[BreakTheCutie dies down]], to asking before he hugs, to not at all. [[spoiler: At least until Bill's CharacterDevelopment.]]
** Chapter Thirty-One hints that [[spoiler: Bill Cipher himself used to be one]]. And in Chapter Forty-Six, it's stated that he used to play with stuffed animals, and is slowly warming back into that.
* CurbStompBattle: While not really much of a battle, [[spoiler: Void!Steven puts Pyronica and Gabriel out of temporary commission within seconds and minutes]] in Chapter Forty-Three, all while [[EvilGloating boasting about it]].

* AdultFear: There's quite a few of these.
** Greg, [[spoiler: [[WhatTheHellHero though he did have his son go out in the middle of the crazy, ugly storm alone]], which had Bill want to talk with him]] in Chapter Forty-Four, was understandably concerned for his safety [[spoiler: because, as Connie puts it in Chapter Forty-Five, there are people coming and the house should be evacuated of all humans]].
** Bill goes through this a lot. His most prominent one [[spoiler: is losing Steven one way or another, which almost happens quite a lot]].
** Wendy's fears [[spoiler: that Connie's memory of Gravity Falls had been erased by the Blind Eye]] have sadly been confirmed.
** Lapis has a fear of [[spoiler: Jasper getting to Steven]]. It comes true in Chapter Fifty-Five.
** The Crystal Gems, Pearl in particular, express worry for Steven, hoping nothing happens to him, and wonder how he's doing while they're away.

** And the fourth is [[spoiler: the Void. Its motive is to destroy everything and everyone. It also seems to be an OverarchingVillain or ManBehindTheMan, if Chapter Forty-Three is of any indication]].

* CampingEpisode: An interior variation, but this is what Chapter Forty-Six and Forty-Seven are. See SlumberParty below for more details.

** Steven Universe becomes less happy, and more serious as the story goes on. [[spoiler: Even his relationship with Connie seems to be going downhill, and it's mutual]]. The poor boy is also becoming depressed and less exciteable.

* AbusiveParents: It was hinted at in several chapters and finally confirmed in Chapter Thirty that [[spoiler:Bill Cipher suffered from these for ''several years''.]] And that's not all. [[spoiler: Alex himself confirmed he had a much WORSE childhood than Stanley Pines did.]] '''''OUCH'''''.