History YMMV / ATriangleInTheStars

* NightmareFuel: You thought you were safe from nightmares? well, you thought wrong. This fanfic, as it had been born from two series prolific with such events, can also bring on the scare or at the very least mild disturbance.
** Not even well into the story and here it comes in Chapter Two, where [[spoiler: Bill poisons Steven's sleep and gives him a despairing and horrid nightmare, with ''glee'' might I add. Everyone is dead, shattered into dust, and Steven is left all alone in a ravaged Beach City.]] Can double as a {{Tearjerker}}.
*** The boy also expresses concern in the next chapter, worried that it was real.
** "If you throw me off you're as good as maimed..." by Bill to Lars in Chapter Four. It was a threat the demon was not afraid to carry out, and the cloud above the teen's head even ''darkened'' further. Jeez, Bill.
** In Chapter Eight, Bill is so angry [[spoiler: that Sadie and Steven were taking selfies with his hat after ditching him at the school]] he wants to kill them, and his rage, which causes the ceiling to become a lightning storm, absolutely terrifies them. He even slips into his VoiceOfTheLegion twice.
** The [[spoiler: Cluster Demons]], who make their official debut in Chapter Eighteen. They look disturbing at best, horrifying at worst, and their [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie unwilling]] [[MindRape ori]][[EmptyShell gin]] is even more horrifying. They were meant to [[spoiler: reference the Cluster and the Gem Mutants from the primary home series, as well as cement just how far Gabriel had gone.]] And the authors did a good job of that!
* {{Tearjerker}}: Just like [[WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse mom]] and [[WesternAnimation/GravityFalls dad]], this fanfic can turn on the waterworks.
** Chapter Thirty-One have Connie and Wendy showing Bill the book they found in Chapter Twenty-Three. But that's not what's tear-jerking. What is is the fact that [[spoiler: the book is on his [[AbusiveParents childhood]] [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer life]], and that [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness Bill is rendered almost speechless]] when Connie brings it up. As he half-heartedly scans its contents, he chokes back a sob and starts shaking. The only comic relief is Connie thinking he was cringing at her handwriting. He's at a loss for words when he slams it shut and hands it back.]] Somebody give poor Bill a hug.
*** Connie's change in attitude towards Bill can also count. Earlier in the story, she was friendly and supporting. In this chapter, she's hostile and distrustful for seemingly no reason.[[labelnote:Spoiler]]Turns out, in Chapter Forty-Six, Wendy had caved and told her what Bill had done.[[/labelnote]] [[FridgeHorror Imagine what this possibly did to Bill's psyche, even though he hid it well...]]
*** Wendy's behavior also deserves a mention. She's extremely silent, not even saying a word, and her off-screen transformation goes generally the opposite of her newfound friend. [[spoiler: She now feels sorry for the demon, pities him too. And even understands him, albeit flimsily. And she also feels heavy guilt for adding onto his pain, even though she didn't know it and even though he absolutely ''had'' to be stopped.]]
** The story behind Bill's top hat. We don't get the full details, but in Chapter Thirty-Two [[spoiler: it's more or less revealed that it was the only thing his [[AbusiveParents father]] [[WellDoneSonGuy was proud of]]]]. Which also [[FridgeBrilliance explains the hidden reason why Bill was so damn angry in Chapter Eight.]]
** Of especial mention is Chapter Forty-Four, whose later events even made the ''authors'' cry. Basically, [[spoiler: Bill Cipher breaks off from Steven to try and kill himself via lightning bolt in a severe storm.]] It's really accurate to those who suffer or had suffered from or know a friend with depression, which drives it in deep.
** How Connie and Steven are drifting apart. He even seems to hold resentment towards her in later chapters, and Connie herself seems more reserved towards him.
** In Chapter Sixty-Six and half of Sixty-Eight, Steven gets sick. Bill decides to call in Greg. Greg, however kind and friendly and affectionate he is towards Bill, can't help the demon because all he can see is the [[GoodParents one thing]] he should have had, all he sees is a perfect parent. And Bill almost breaks down completely.
** In the same former chapter, Bill [[spoiler: enters the Void with the hopes that he'd find his brother there. But he finds that the Void had already sent him away.]] He tries to take comfort in the fact that [[spoiler: Gabriel is still alive somewhere]], but fails.
* TheWoobie: Why ''wouldn't'' you call Bill Cipher one of these after reading all this? granted, he started off as a JerkassWoobie, and even a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, but...

* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Chapter Eight would have gone a bit or a lot differently if what the author had in mind for [[spoiler: Bill to take and snap their phones in half]] happened instead. If her coauthor [[ForWantofaNail had replied differently...]]
** The title for Chapter Twenty-Seven was going to be a Wizard of Oz reference - "Pebbles and Rocks and Boulders, Oh My" - but the main author decided it was too long. [[spoiler: And it would have clued in to the fact that a pebble was going to be one of the objects that fell]]. So we have "Beware of Falling Boulders" instead.
** For Chapter Twenty-Nine, Bill would have sung his own version of Stronger Than You. In the words of Vampire Tails, the Bill Cipher roleplayer, "But nah. I decided not to do that."

*** The boy also expresses concern in the next chapter, [[AdultFear worried that it was real]].

* WhatAnIdiot: Steven in Chapter Fifty-Five. Instead of [[spoiler: listening to Bill and going along with Lapis, he decides to take matters into his own hands and reveals himself as half-Gem to Jasper so he would get taken instead]]. Naturally, given what kinda gem he has, it doesn't end well, and Bill called him out on it. It's even [[TitleDrop called out by the co-author in an author note]].

* In Chapter Sixty-Six and half of Sixty-Eight, Steven gets sick. Bill decides to call in Greg. Greg, however kind and friendly and affectionate he is towards Bill, can't help the demon because all he can see is the [[GoodParents one thing]] he should have had, all he sees is a perfect parent. And Bill almost breaks down completely.

* In Chapter Sixty-Six and half of Sixry-Eight, Steven gets sick. Bill decides to call in Greg. Greg, however kind and friendly and affectionate he is towards Bill, can't help the demon because all he can see is the [[GoodParents one thing]] he should have had, all he sees is a perfect parent. And Bill almost breaks down completely.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Both parent series had them, so of course this story is gonna engage in acts of epicness.
** How Lars, besides one slip of facial fear, handled Bill in Chapter Four. It deserves a mention, given how he [[DirtyCoward usually is]]. Or ''was'', with the canon events of ''Wanted''.
** How Steven Q. Universe manages to stump Bill Cipher, master manipulator and motive finder, every chapter. [[SpannerInTheWorks And he doesn't even realize]]. Oh, and he's also [[spoiler: both directly and indirectly responsible for reforming the demon. In a matter of ''days''.]] Now, tell me that's not awesome!
** In Chapter Six, Sadie Miller proves herself as a badass yet again, like she had in ''Island Adventure'', standing up to Bill Cipher himself and forcing him to lower the level of his chaos. [[spoiler: She even pulls a Stanley Pines and traps Bill into not causing chaos at all with a deal involving his top hat, despite not knowing about his demon hood.]]
** Wendy Corduroy makes an appearance in Chapter Ten, and her subsequent rescuing of Steven (and Bill, unbeknownst to her for a bit) is nothing short of awesome.
*** Wendy also shows no fear towards Bill, keeping a cool, hostile attitude, and even threatening him and holding a glaring contest. It probably wouldn't have stopped if Steven hadn't realized Bill wasn't following him and hadn't come back.
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: As it is with its parents, this story manages a few chuckles every now and then.
** Chapter Three
*** Bill trying to give Steven Lion's teeth as a "present" of gratitude. Also a bit of NightmareFuel, since said teeth still have blood trickling from their roots.
----> '''Bill:''' Teeth! straight from the lion's mouth! far stronger than [[ShoutOut deer teeth]], if I do say so myself! and they're all for you, kid!
*** Sadie hands Lars a giant stack of posters, which she claims she had left over for him, for insulting Bill. The kicker is the fact that he wouldn't have had to join them had he not insulted the demon.
*** Bill and Lars exchanging [[DeathGlare death glares]] at the end.
** This little gem occurs in Chapter Four, as [[BlackComedyBurst dark as it is]]:
--> "He [[Bill]] took more papers and tossed them at the walls, each of them magically stapling. A few almost hit a passing human, but he hardly cared about that. Besides, it was all about raising awareness, and, if it took getting a poster stapled to a part of your body, then that's what it took."
** In Chapter Nine and Eleven, Connie and Steven call Bill "Billy" respectively, much to his annoyance.
** Steven seems [[ShipperOnDeck somewhat onboard]] with "shipping" Wendy and Bill in Chapter Eleven.
---> '''Steven:''' Hey! lovebirds! we have better things to do than stare at each other! ''[[he grabbed Bill's hand and started pulling him along, away from Wendy. Bill doesn't even notice.]]''
---> '''Wendy and Bill:''' ''[[highly offended]]'' We're not lovebirds!
*** A minor one afterwards, but Wendy realizes the pool where she works is about to close and thus rushes there to make up for lost time.
** Ronaldo's interaction with Bill and his friends in Chapter Twenty. Up to and including when Pyronica sets fire to his camera. What's more, he's only upset until he salvages some footage, and he excitedly declares that he's gonna put it on his blog.
** In Chapter Twenty-Two, Connie tries pulling a push door in her fear. Wendy demonstrably and calmly corrects her with a laughing smirk.
** Chapter Twenty-Three has Connie ask Wendy if she'd dated Bill once. Her response:
--> Wendy frowned at her disapprovingly, and shook her head slowly. ''Hell'' to the ''no''.
* CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming: Like both home series, this fanfic has moments that really warm up the heart.
** Out of all moments, Chapter Thirty-Two takes the cake, while also managing to be a bit tear-jerking too. Basically, [[spoiler: Steven gives Bill a [[YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre pep talk]] and Bill actually initiates a hug of pure, massive appreciation and gratitude, of which the boy is extremely proud, albeit a bit shocked at first.]]
*** It's when Bill also realized [[spoiler: [[GoodFeelsGood hugs and similar affection feel better and last longer than pain]]]].
** In Chapter One, Steven talks to Bill's statue as if it's alive. And he even tries to feed it. It's as cute and smile-inducing as it sounds.
** Bill actually comes to Steven's defense when Pyronica verbally looks down on the boy [[FantasticRacism for being human]] in Chapter Seventeen. Even though he wondered why he snapped that so quickly, it was still pretty sweet for him to do.
*** How excited Xanthar becomes when Bill explains Steven can help with the whole [[spoiler: war in the Nightmare Realm]] and how intrigued he is about him in general. He doesn't even care that the boy's part human.
** The end of Chapter Forty-Four. [[spoiler: Steven is successful in talking Bill down from suicide by lightning, and they spend the last minutes of the chapter in a hug, with Bill's tears having warmed up and become tender.]]
--> "The tears were still falling however, but they were now warm, tender, instead of cold and harsh. The storm, despite what everyone might have been thinking, didn't clear up. It kept going, still dark and swirling and ugly, and lightning struck again, but it was farther away, followed immediately by thunder. But they both knew and could find comfort in the fact that one of the worst was finally over..."
** Connie's and Wendy's friendship in general. Growing as it is, they already treat each other like close sisters; especially since Wendy was raised in an all-boy family and Connie is an only child.
*** And, on a similar note, Steven's and Bill's. It's an OddFriendship, but it's an amazing one too. And it took several chapters for the demon to fully and truly recognize and reciprocate it.

* How Connie and Steven are drifting apart. He even seems to hold resentment towards her in later chapters, and Connie herself seems more reserved towards him.

* * WhatAnIdiot: Steven in Chapter Fifty-Five. Instead of [[spoiler: listening to Bill and going along with Lapis, he decides to take matters into his own hands and reveals himself as half-Gem to Jasper so he would get taken instead]]. Naturally, given what kinda gem he has, it doesn't end well, and Bill called him out on it. It's even [[TitleDrop called out by the co-author in an author note]].

** In Chapter Eleven, Steven marvels over Bill's cooking skills and tells him he could open up a restaurant, while also thinking that he himself didn't have the talent. Or any talent. The demon supports this. In the show proper, we have ''The Restaurant Wars'', which comes out way after this chapter was written. In it, Steven is quite capable of cooking and starting up his own restaurant.

*** Connie's change in attitude towards Bill can also count. Earlier in the story, she was friendly and supporting. In this chapter, she's hostile and distrustful for seemingly no reason. [[FridgeHorror Imagine what this possibly did to Bill's psyche, even though he hid it well...]]

* TheWoobie: Why ''wouldn't'' you call Bill Cipher one of these after reading all this? granted, he started off as a JerkassWoobie, and even a WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds, but...

** For Chapter Twenty-Nine, Bill would have sung his own version of Stronger Than You. In the words of Vampire Tails, the Bill Cipher roleplayer, "But nah. I decided not to do that."

** The story behind Bill's top hat. We don't get the full details, but in Chapter Thirty-Two [[spoiler: it's more or less revealed that it was the only thing his [[AbusiveParents father]] [[WellDoneSonGuy was proud of]]. Which also explains the hidden reason why Bill was so damn angry in Chapter Eight.

** The [[spoiler: Cluster Demons]], who make their official debut in Chapter Eighteen. They look disturbing at best, horrifying at worst, and their unwilling [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie origin]] is even more horrifying. They were meant to [[spoiler: reference the Cluster and the Gem Mutants from the primary home series, as well as cement just how far Gabriel had gone.]] And the authors did a good job of that!

** In Chapter Eight, Bill is so angry [[spoiler: that Sadie and Steven were taking selfies with his hat after ditching him at the school]] he wants to kill them, and his rage, which causes the ceiling to become a lightning storm, absolutely terrifies them. He even delves into his VoiceOfTheLegion twice.

** In Chapter Eight, Bill is so angry [[spoiler: that Sadie and Steven were taking selfies with his hat after ditching him at the school]] he wants to kill them, and his rage, which causes the roof to become a lightning storm, absolutely terrifies them. He even delves into his VoiceOfTheLegion twice.

** In Chapter Six, Sadie Miller proves herself as a badass yet again, like she had in ''Island Adventure'', standing up to Bill Cipher himself and forcing him to lower the level of his chaos. [[spoiler: She even pulls a Stanley Pines and traps Bill into not causing chaos at all with a deal, despite not knowing about his demon hood.]]

** In Chapter Eight, Bill is so angry [[spoiler: that Sadie and Steven were taking selfies with his hat after ditching him at the school]] he wants to kill them, and his rage, which causes the roof to become a lightning storm, absolutely terrifies them. He even delves into the VoiceofLegion.

** The [[spoiler: Cluster Demons]], who make their official debut in Chapter Eighteen. They look disturbing at best, horrifying at worst, and their unwilling [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie origin]] is even more horrifying. They were meant to [[spoiler: reference the Cluster and the Gem Mutants from the primary home series, as well as cement just how far Gabriel had gone.]] And the authors did a good job of that!

** Chapter Eight would have gone a bit or a lot differently if what the author had in mind for [[spoiler: Bill to take and snap their phones in half]] happened instead. If her coauthor [[ForWantofaNail had replied differently...]]

** How Steven Q. Universe manages to stump Bill Cipher, master manipulator and motive finder, every chapter. [[SpannerInTheWorks And he doesn't even realize]]. Oh, and he's also [[spoiler: both directly and indirectly responsible for reforming the demon. In a matter of ''days''.]] Tell me that's not awesome. Go ahead.

---> '''Steven:''' Hey! lovebirds! we have better things to do than stare at each other! [[he grabbed Bill's hand and started pulling him along, away from Wendy. Bill doesn't even notice.]]
---> '''Wendy and Bill:''' [[highly offended]] We're not lovebirds!

** This little gem occurs in Chapter Four, as [[BlackComedy dark as it is]]:
--> "He [[Bill]] took more papers and tossed them at the walls, each of them magically stapling. A few almost hit a passing human, but he hardly cared about that. Besides, it was all about raising awareness, and, if it took getting a poster stapled to a part of your body, then that's what it took."