#my favourite book when i was 12

[kristybluebird]

"Incredible what slender threads you begin to hang your hopes on" (Wein, 2012)

[s0fter-sin]

rewatching s1 and in ep2 w*ndigo, dean makes a joke about not bringing provisions into the woods just to pull out a bag of peanut butter m&m’s and stick with me here, it’s why the later seasons’ “goofy dean” loses me

this moment is clearly a joke but if you think about it too much, it also makes some sense; a family size bag of peanut m&m’s is calorie dense and even the high sugar is good to keep you moving which they need on an overnight hunt. it also shows how due to their upbringing, they’ve had to eat lower quality food, things they always had access to that was cheap and also in bulk

what does dean eating ghost pepper jerky then tipping water on himself exist for other than to be a cringy joke? what does smelling old chinese food, testing to see if it's still good then shaking his head with cabbage hanging out his mouth when it isn't serve? it's just to make him look stupid and contrast sam's healthy/clean diet (and superiority but that’s another conversation) which has always existed but it used to be nuanced and natural

we see dean as a child give up the food he wanted to eat so sam could eat it. (“i’m sick of spaghetti-os,” “you’re the one who wanted them,” … “i want lucky charms!” “… there’s only enough for one bowl and i haven’t had any yet!” proceeds to give them to sam, 1x18) we know he hustled and stole food to ensure sam ate. (“so, what’d he take?” “get this- peanut butter and bread.” 9x07)

we also see throughout the early seasons dean teasing sam about his salad or healthy choice while he eats some form of burger or other fast food (or notably, cheerfully eating prison food that sam won’t touch, 2x19). it's typical sibling teasing but it also shows that it isn't new for sam to eat like that and for dean to know he eats like that

sam being picky isn't just a character trait they chose for him, it's a result of how dean raised him; he raised him to like and want healthy food and be food secure enough to reject food he didn't want

but dean eats anything he is given and seeks out unhealthy - cheap, plentiful, filling - food

he is the opposite of picky to the point of it being a consistent bit; they show him multiple times eating when it's socially frowned upon to do so eg. questioning a grieving victim when they're trying to be discreet (1x14, 2x15, 2x18)

a similar moment to the chinese food is in 4x19; dean wakes up in the car while sam brushes his teeth outside and is hungry. sam says there's a sandwich in the backseat, dean smells it and recoils bc it's an old tuna sandwich. the moment is funny on its own but it also exists as a comparison of their lives to adam's; he has a loving mother, goes to school and importantly, a steady stable childhood

it’s a joke with a purpose

it also supports dean's food insecurity; he wakes up and is immediately hungry, enough to complain about it and seek out food before anything else

dean is always hungry bc he never has access to nutritionally rich foods bc he got used to using the money he earned to buy sam's more expensive food. he got used to his cheaper, denser foods and grew up with (and continues to live with) intermittent access to said foods. think of how long it takes to drive from one state to another; how many hours it can take to see another town that offers food, if you arrive at a reasonable enough time for anything to be open. also think how they can’t keep any food beyond what fits in an esky; nothing that needs defrosting, nothing can be heated up. it’s bags and jars and take out for as long as they can trust it

then they get the bunker which has its own kitchen

dean even describes himself as "nesting" when he decorates his room, something he hasn't had since he was four years old, and he uses said kitchen to cook a burger from scratch that he is proud of. he is food secure for the first time in his life and it shows in how often he cooks for both himself and sam

so these moments where they have him acting goofy regarding food are no longer character driven and only exist as a joke which is why they come across as cringy and out of character compared to similar earlier moments

a lot of my issues with dean's characterisation started when they introduced the bunker. the argument can and is made that the reason these jokes happen is bc he feels safe in the bunker, that bc he now has a home he can relax and unmask but that still doesn't feel sufficient. they crank up these sillier moments for both of them, giving them a sort of playing house comedy vibe of two roommates with completely different personalities but it doesn't feel like an authentic progression. it feels forced; an attempt at humour for humour's sake

food stopped being an informed part of their characters and their trauma and instead became flanderised; sam is the judgy vegetarian health nut and dean is his borderline slovenly carnivore counterpart

[mwagneto]

i left my phone in my room and picked up an actual physical book and sat down on the balcony and read the whole thing can everyone please be so so proud of me

[puzzlesandcons]

If I had a nickel for every time I read a thick af french novel about an innocent man thrown in jail who then becomes very rich after he escapes prison and then faces his enemy with a new identity I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but it's weird that it happened twice.

[mysticsapphicsblog]

They're doing an animated version Midnight Sun and I am honestly SO excited 😭 everyone is bashing it for being animated but I'm so hopeful it's in an animation style like arcane or nimona or corpse bride because I will DIE

[iris-nonsense]

Percabeth is really THE otp of all time

[youaremysunshine-court]

give me 5 reasons not to jump out of my window

[robinsnest2111]

if I could just snap my fingers and instantly change into the Just Some Guy I wanna be I'd be so happy ngl

[bepop-moon]

[frereamour]

Wow finished a great book and immediately jumped into another one. I'm on the craziest streak of my life

[ragnars-tooth]

i completely and absolutely hallucinated the last time i read firestar apparently bc i was ten thousand percent sure russ shot beargstrom at the end. i thought that man was so dead. so imagine my surprise rereading tfe properly rn.

(i was already too confused by whos who irt the bears last time anyway so if anything its making me feel LESS stupid that i just misread a paragraph and fucked up the entire plotline for myself <- it will happen again)

consider this a public acknowledgment that it turns out idk what the hell is happening in these books, soz <3 i will continue to lie by accident and make shit up 🥰

[sadiewen]

i despise colleen hoover btw. i am proud to say i've never even TOUCHED a book by her

i am ashamed to say that I have touched 2 coho books 😔😔

the first one was regretting you. i knew about coho and how horrible she was yet i was soo bored in class that i let a classmate convince me into reading it. in my defense it was a free period and the substi teacher hadnt come yet also I was too bored to finish the pile of notes I had left to complete

the 2nd was it ends with us. i wanted to read it ironically to make fun of it but unfortunately it was just too bad so I stopped in the 2nd chapter💀

other than that ive just seen snippets on instagram reels..like the infamous line "we both laughed at our son's big balls" jane austen could never reach the level of talent required to write that 😔😔 no wonder coho is better than her ‼️

[moonybemine]

i just remembered the fact that my elementary school best friend was so dedicated to her love of severus snape that she'd leave her hair unwashed and GREASY as hell in his honor.

also when we were in 6th grade i let her borrow my copy of the half blood prince and she stole the dust jacket and let her nephew draw in the book with lipstick💀

[solxamber]

Trash Novel Chronicles Masterlist

1. Please Let Me Live || Vil Schoenheit

You get isekai'd into the worst novel you've had the misfortune of reading because apparently your life is a cosmic joke. Now all you have to do is not act like the character you've possessed and it'll be fine, you think?

Your fiancé being Vil Schoenheit makes it a little harder to behave like a human being with functional braincells, but hey, atleast he likes you, you think?

2. Villain System vs World || Riddle Rosehearts

You have a guilty pleasure: trashy villainess stories. So when you die a frankly, humiliating death, and end up in one of the worst ones you've had the pleasure of reading as the villainess, you're in denial. Then the villain system shows up. Well, there goes your second chance at life So what do you do now? Do villainous things and cause as much chaos as you can, of course. And maybe, just maybe, bag the male lead, Riddle Rosehearts while you're at it.

3. I'd Rather Date the Male Lead's Dad || Lilia Vanrouge

When you end up in your best friend's favourite but absurd novel about breaking a fae prince's curse as the heroine, you didn't expect to get attached to his little family too. Even more unexpected? You fell for the male lead's dad, but hey it looks like he likes you too.

4. Accidentally Falling for a Fae Prince || Malleus Draconia

When you get dragged into a novel which ends with the heroine in a polycule with the most annoying men in literature, as the heroine herself, you decide that you're gonna skip town. ...Only to trip over the fae prince, Malleus Draconia.

5. Not Another Royal Mess || Azul Ashengrotto

As a proofreader who gets isekai’d into a cringeworthy novel as the villainess, you decide to take revenge on the heroine and male lead for their awful story. With Azul—who just wanted to sell you a magic rock—pulled into your chaos.

6. Love Triangles and Royal Rumbles || Leona Kingscholar

When you get isekai'd as the male lead in the novel where your favorite character, Leona Kingscholar is the second male lead, all that's left to do is rewrite the romance!

7. I Want To Retire! || Idia Shroud

You write a novel that reads like a dumpster fire and while trying to delete the draft, you accidentally get isekai’d into it.

Now, as the villainess, you have to get Idia Shroud on your side as well as survive high society. You have your work cut out for you.

8. Stealing the Plot for Drama || Jamil Viper

The book you've been looking forward to turns out to be a piece of crap, and you have the bad luck of getting pulled into it as the villainess.

So you decide to steal the main character's show, just for sport with the help of your fiancé, Jamil Viper.

9. Falling for the Sun in a Cold Empire || Kalim Al-Asim

You lose everything you've worked for after a freak accident and end up getting transported to the novel that you read when you were a teenager.

As the villainess. It's time to rebuild yourself, one step at a time with a little help from Kalim Al-Asim, your betrothed.

10. My Consort Calls Me Shrimpy || Floyd Leech

You get isekai'd into a novel where the perfect Empress got absolutely wrecked by the plot, and now you have to juggle a bland heroine, 15 weird consorts, a traitor and a delightfully unhinged eel who’s oddly good at solving your problems.

11. Get Me Out of Here || Rook Hunt

You’re isekai’d into a trashy novel and stuck as a tragic side knight character. All you want is survival, but your boss is Rook Hunt—a poetic, eccentric duke.

Now you’re caught in his chaos and, worse, you kinda don’t mind.

12. How to Ruin a Plot || Jade Leech

When you end up as the villainess in a story that's hellbent on making her suffer for no reason, you decide to make the main characters suffer just for catharsis. Good thing that your fiancé, Jade Leech seems to like chaos as much as you.

13. I Want a Refund || Trey Clover

When the universe dunks you into a dumpster fire of a novel as the villainess, survival is key. Except your husband, Trey Clover, turns out to be such a green flag that it gets a little harder to function.

14. I Don't Want the Heroine || Ruggie Bucchi

You get isekai’d into what could only be described as an affront to literature, as the second male lead. So you decide to cut all ties with the heroine and live a peaceful (wealthy) life with your secretary, Ruggie Bucchi. Except life doesn't go as planned as you get more chaos than you signed up for.

15. My Knight is Too Loyal || Sebek Zigvolt

You wake up as the villainess in a novel that had to be written as a joke. The heroine is trying to ruin your life, but if you refuse to acknowledge her, then it’s not happening. Right? …Right??

It doesn't help that your knight, Sebek, is annoyingly endearing.

16. How to Escape a Kingdom || Silver

You get isekai’d as the heroine in a bad novel. The prince is awful. The villainess is worse. The only thing keeping you going is your gorgeous, tired fiancé, Silver.

17. Speedrunning Marriage Fraud || Ace Trappola

You get isekai’d as the heroine in a romance novel, but instead of dreamy suitors, you’re stuck with a yandere cryptid, a billionaire with no impulse control, and a knight who thinks he's in a Shakespearean tragedy (and more).

Your solution? Commit marriage fraud with your best friend, Ace Trappola, and hope no one asks for a marriage certificate.

[freshxsturniolo]

WISDOM TEETH - chris sturniolo / triplets x reader

REQUEST - anon : Just saying that I would die for a Chris x reader wisdom teeth fic where reader gets her wisdom teeth out and the boys take care of her 🥹 or really any protective Chris taking care of reader.

"you good, babe?" chris asks, his hand coming to your thigh and his thumbs running small circles around your leg. you look down at his hand before putting your own under his, wrapping your fingers together and then placing your other hand on top before looking towards your boyfriend. nick is in the passenger seat singing along to both of yours favourite songs from the new billie eilish album, something you know he had done to calm your nerves as matt drives you to the dentist. you've been feeling sick for the last few days at the prospect of having your wisdom teeth finally removed, only braving booking yourself the appointment after nick had told you it was nothing to fear after his own, but you were still nervous on the lead up. it was currently 10am and you were officially 12 hours completely fasted, so your dry mouth wasn't helping. all you were dreaming of was your favourite iced coffee, which matt had promised to drive you too as soon as you were done.

you give your boyfriends hand a squeeze as he moves slightly closer to you, and you lean over to rest your head on his shoulder, not being able to find the words to speak. chris understands, of course, and plants a kiss on your head as you drive the rest of the way in silence, listening to the three triplets who chat and sing away.

when you finally pull up you let out a sigh before nick springs into action, his energetic energy easing you at once.

“okay, let’s go! this will be over and done in an hour” he says as he opens the door to get out of the car, you laugh at his words as you finally remove your head from chris' shoulder, but as you move to get out of the car his hand comes up to your cheek, turning your head back to look towards him. you smile as your eyes meet his, his hair still a little damp from the shower he took before you set off, and you lean forward to give him a soft kiss, which he accepts gratefully as he kisses you back. but as you pull away, your door is flung open and nick stands waiting for you to get out of the car. you let out a laugh as you remove yourself from chris, swinging your legs out of the car and stepping to the side. you expect to take the hands of your boyfriend, but theres no time before nick hooks his arm around yours and pulls you in the direction of the entrance.

"come on. i cant wait to see you high from the local anaesthesia" he chuckles, and you give his shoulder a playful shrug with you're own. you can hear matt and chris talking behind you as you enter the building, nick dragging you across to the front desk, greeted by a woman not much older than yourself. she smiles at you as she asks your name and when you give her your full name, she scrolls through her computer a second.

"ah, yes! its this way" she says, stepping from behind the desk and walking down the hallway behind her. "im not sure the dentist will allow all of your friends in, though" she says whilst looking back at you, and you give her a laugh.

"oh im not letting them see me whilst this happens" you joke, and nick lets out a joking shocked gasp at the side of you, his arm still wrapped with yours. the receptionist laughs at you both as she comes to a stop to a small waiting room and tells you all to sit and wait, and you'd be called when it was time.

matt starts wondering around the waiting room, looking at the posters and photos on the wall, whilst nick sits to your left and chris comes to your right.

"do you really not want any of us in there with you?" he asks.

"babe, you aint seeing me with my mouth forced open for the next half an hour whilst i lay there with no recollection of whats going on. its bad enough im about to be high as a kite" you say, and a laugh escapes his lips.

"let me come in whilst you get put under, at least." he says, grabbing your hand now, and you have to admit having him there whilst you get prodded with needles would be a huge comfort.

it takes no more than a few second for the dentist to emerge from the room to your right, calling your name with a smile on your face. you give him a small wave as you stand up, chris immediately standing with you.

"is he okay to come in. just for a bit, before we start?" you ask, and the dentist holds his hand out for you to shake as you reach him.

"of course! they all can, if you want. i'll just need them to leave when you undergo the procedure" he says, moving now to give chris' hand a shake.

"oh, thats more than fine. i dont want them seeing that" you say, stepping into the room. the dentist lets out a laugh as chris steps beside him and into the room with you, and you turn to see nick and matt looking at you with a hopeful glint in their eyes. you roll your eyes as you look at them, the dentist irrupting into laughter again as you raise your hand for them to come with you.

"they way you all are so desperate to see me in this state is unbelievable" you say, stepping deeper into the room so the two brothers can join you and your boyfriend.

"you saw me!" nick squeals.

"yeah, when you were home!" you say back.

"theres a video of me on the internet for the whole world to see, you'll be grateful is just us 3" he says, and you give him an eye roll again. matt chuckling behind him as he finally steps into the room.

"okay, pop yourself on here" your dentist says, tapping the large chair as he sits down at his computer. chris comes to your other side, hand on your shoulder in a comforting rub as chris and matt stand down near your feet. you give them all a small smile as the dentist starts to explain the procedure. you were only have two teeth removed so he predicted it would take around 20 minutes complete, but said to prepare for at least an hour to allow the anaesthesia to kick in and then wear off again enough for you to leave.

he puts on gloves now as he gets out the equipment needed to pop a cannula into your arm, which would give you the anaesthesia and then an IV drip afterwards to help bring you back to normality a little quicker, and as he wipes at your arm ready to stick in the needle you turn your head towards your boyfriend.

"talk to me, please" you say, eyes closed as you feel the tip of the needle on your skin.

"you're good, baby. so good. an hours time we can go and get you that coffee. maybe some ice cream." he says, his hand coming to your and grasping hold of it, running circles across your skin. you nod, before looking back at matt and chris who are staring at you already.

"can we go get ice cream, matt?" you ask, distracting yourself some more as you feel the needle go into your arm, chris notices' you flinch and gives your hand a squeeze.

"hell yeah we can. we can go anywhere you wanna" he smiles.

"ice cream and then bed, you're going to be so tired" nick says now, and the dentist lets out a chuckle at the side of you, you look towards him just as he's finishing up putting the cannula in your arm.

"he's right" he says, looking towards you. "the anaesthesia usually makes people very tired once it wears off." he confirms.

"bed and movies it is" chris says now, and the dentist looks up at him with a smile.

"boyfriend?" he says, and you watch as chris' smile doubles.

"yeah" he nods, looking back down at you with a doting smile which you reciprocate.

"you live together?" he asks, and chris nods.

"plenty of rest and painkillers over the next few days. dont let her do anything too crazy. soft foods. ice cream is good" he laughs, and chris gives him a nod. "coffee after this may send her a little crazy though" he says now, and you whip your head around to look at him as he pulls out the anaesthesia.

"you ready?" he says. "this wont hurt, but its gonna take about 10 minutes to kick in" he says, and you nod ask you turn your head away, not wanting to see the liquid flow into your arm. as you do so, chris brings his free hand to your face and rubs gently at your cheek.

"dont you dare record me when im out if it" you whisper, gaining a laugh from all 3 of the triplets.

"okay, i'll leave you too it for a sec. i'll leave this door open a while as you may start to feel a little warm. i'll come check on you in 5 minutes." he says, and you all say thank you in unison.

as the dentist leaves the room, chris perches himself on the edge of the large chair you're sat on. "how you feeling, baby?" he says, and you give him a smile.

"okay for now. he's lovely, isn't he" you say, nodding your head to the door in the direction the dentist just left. chris smiles.

"see, i told you nothing to be worried about." he says.

you're distracted by nick and matt who are laughing at something between themselves and you spend the next few minutes listening in as all three triplets start chatting amongst themselves. but then you feel it. it hits you almost like a ton of bricks and you let out a yawn before looking towards matt, who's furtherest away from you as you try and make out his features. when you hear all the triplets stop talking, you almost snap back into reality, but you can tell you don't feel your usual self.

"you good, kid?" matt says, and you see a smirk playing on his lips before a chuckle escapes nick. you snap your head to him immediately, before a laugh escapes your boyfriend too.

"fuck sake," you say. "this is why i didn't want you guys in here"

but your words are mumbled and the triplets can't help but laugh again, this time causing you to laugh with them. you let out a sigh as you rest your head back on the head rest, reaching out for chris' hand.

"im so tired" you whisper, and you slowly start to drift off just after you feel chris plant a kiss to the top of your head.

_____

you let out a groan, your throat feeling dry and your mouth feeling numb as you let your eyes adjust to the brightness of the light in the room. looking around, your eyes catch the dentist just at the same time as he spins around to look at you.

"ah, you're awake!" he says with a smile.

"what time is it?" you ask.

"10.45 exactly" he says with a smile as he looks down at his watch, "i told you it wouldn't take long at all." he says.

you bring your hands up to your eyes, rubbing at them vagariously before bringing your hand to your mouth.

"i can't feel my tongue" you say, and the dentist laughs.

"thats very normal. the feeling will come back within half an hour i should imagine"

you continue patting at your lip, unaware you're even doing it, when you open your eyes wide.

"chris" you say, and the dentist lets out another laugh.

"he's outside. do you want him?" he says, standing up and walking to the door.

"please" you mumble, all of a sudden feeling emotional. the procedure, the anxiety you had been feeling in the lead up to this morning, the anaesthesia working through your body, you had an overwhelming urge to cry.

"the other two as well? or just chris?" he asks. you don't even feel as the tear comes down to your face, but you feel the lump in your throat.

"just chris" you manage to choke out, and he nods in understanding.

the dentist leaves you alone for a short moment, shutting the door behind him. you're unaware that he's letting all three triplets know you've come over emotional, which he assures them is completely normal and will likely wear off after speaking to chris who you had asked for, and matt and nick wait patiently as chris opens back up the door.

"baby" he says, rushing straight over to your side. the tears are flowing now, but the minute you see his face you let out a laugh of happiness. you look towards the dentist as he laughs with you.

"you did so good, y/n" he says to you, and you nod your head as you look back to your boyfriend, who gives you a smile.

"don't cry, princess. its done. its over. you did so so well." he says, grabbing your face in his hands. you can't feel a thing, so you bring your hands up to rest against his, the warmth of his hands underneath yours bringing immediate comfort.

"please don't tell me you saw me with my mouth forced open like that" you say, and chris chuckles.

"no, babe. i didn't."

"thank fuck. you'd never come near me again" you say, the dentist sniggering behind you as he types away at his computer.

"i promise you, i absolutely would." chris says with a smile as he places a kiss on your forehead, moving his hands away from your face.

"don't flirt with me" you say now, snuffling away the last of your tears and using your hands to wipe away at the tears you couldn't even feel running down your face.

"you're my girlfriend. if i can't flirt with you who can i flirt with?" he says, reaching out his hand across you, when you look to the side you realise the dentist is passing him a tissue. as chris grabs hold of it, you try to grab it off him, but he pulls away and gives you a stern look before wiping at your cheeks.

"no one. absolutely no one" you say.

"well then, shut up princess" he smirks.

you sit in silence for the next few minutes before the dentist stands up again, looking at you both.

"how you feeling, y/n?" he says, and you smile.

"good!" to which he chuckles.

"give it 5 more minutes and im happy for you to leave. im sure chris here will take good care of you."

"you bet" chris chimes, and you give him a smile.

"you can tell matt and nick to come in" you say now, and the dentist nods as he goes to open the door, summoning them both in, but your eyes widen when you see matt pushing nick through with a wheelchair.

"am i hallucinating?" you say, looking around the room, a deep cackle coming from your dentist.

"you are not" he proceeds to say. "i imagine my lovely receptionist bought this to them for you."

"for me?!" you almost squeal.

"you carriage awaits" nick chimes, arms open wide as he gets out of the wheelchair.

"not a fucking chance. i've had my teeth removed i've not broken my hip" you say, scrunching up your nose. all 4 of the men in the room let out a deep laugh, chris holding your shoulder to steady himself. "im so serious" you continue, and you swing your legs off the chair you're sat in, moving forward to stand up.

"wooooahh" matt chimes, in front of you and holding your shoulders within a second before you feel warm hands on your waist from behind. matt and chris holding you in place so you can't move any further.

"i dont think so, kid" matt says, giving you a stern look as you look up at him, giving him your biggest dead eye, which only makes him laugh as you feel chris' hands pulling you backwards.

you roll your eyes as you sit yourself back down, and you realise how stupid of a move it was you just made, hands coming to your head as you feel a huge wave of nausea push over you.

"im gonna be sick" you say, feeling sensation in your mouth for the first time, and before you know it a paper sick bowl is shoved under your nose. you lean forward instantly, chris and matts hand coming behind your back both rubbing at it to ease you.

"this is very normal" you hear the dentist say as you keep your eyes closed, willing the feeling to pass. "dont let her do anything vigorous. straight to bed until at least this evening" he says, and you let out a sigh as you lean your head back.

"i told you" matt says, and you open one to look at him, genuine concern on his face.

"are you mad at me?" you ask now, that overwhelming feeling to cry hitting you again. what on earth do they put in these drugs?

matt only chuckles. "no, just chill" he says, and you look up at your boyfriend.

"are you mad at me?" you ask, extenuating the 'you', a warm smile spreading over his face.

"only if you dont let me take care of you" he says.

you groan again, closing your eyes.

"you're so cute." you whisper, and you hear a soft laugh escape him. you stay laid back for the next few minutes, allowing the nausea feeling to ware off as the IV drip finishes flowing into your system, when the dentist announces you can leave if you feel ready. you open your eyes and give him a nod before he passes matt an after care pack, explaining to them whats inside and how to help me over the next few days.

"you ready?" nick says from behind you, but it takes only a second for him to emerge with the wheelchair. you give him an eye as he gives you a cheeky grin, but you accept defeat you need it. you swing your legs off the side, the dentist removing the cannula in your arm, before matt and nick both reach out their hands for you to take. you grab hold of them, slowly standing yourself up, taking a deep breath as you do so.

"im good" you say to no one in particular, and matt and nick guide you over, helping you turn around to sit down. as you do so, your eyes catch chris', who you can tell is trying not to laugh. pointing your finger, he slaps his hands over his mouth.

"dont even start. boy" you say, the room irrupting into laughter once again.

you say your thank yous to the dentist, who gives your hand a shake and opens the door for you to leave, before nick spins you around and starts to push you out and down the hall way. once the receptionist from earlier sees you, she gives you a smile before coming out from her desk to follow you out the car so she can take the wheelchair once you're done.

when the fresh air hits you, you let out a sigh of relief, chris running off in front to get ready to help you into the car not to far away, but your eyes widen and your hands grip the arm rests as you start to feel nick run with him.

"nick!" you squeal, but a laugh escapes your lips before chris turns around to look at you both.

"nick!" he echoes you. "shes just nearly threw up in there."

"oh, fuck" nick says, coming to a dead stop.

"im okay" you say through your laughter, realising the giddy stage of the effects of the drugs you'd been pumped with kicking in. "im so okay" you say again, and nick laughs from behind you.

when you reach the car, door open, chris comes in front of you, arms out for you to hold onto.

"im good, chris, i promsise" you say, but he gives you an eye.

"let me look after you, babe."

"if you wish" you whisper, but inside you're grateful as you hold onto his hands, nick sliding the wheelchair from under you as you stand up.

"its my job" he says now, placing your hands on his shoulders as he placing his hands on your hips and guides you into the back seat. when you're in, and his hands are no longer on yours, you quickly grab at them.

"thank you" you whisper, and he leans forward to place a kiss to your forehead, no words needed. he hated when you thanked him for anything, his motto was that he would always take care of you no matter what. his hands slip from yours as he shuts the door at the same time as matt gets into the driver seat in front of you, immediately turning on the ignition and then turning around to you, holding out his phone.

"your song choices the whole ride home" he smiles, chris opening the door and climbing in at the side of you.

"we did that on the way here" you say, remembering the entire sing song from nick. matt laughs.

"and we can do it again."

you smile as you take the phone from him, opening up his spotify.

"you still want that coffee?" he says now, and as you look up at him, chris leans forward.

"she was told no coffee"

you hold out your arm to push him back into his seat.

"actually," you start. "i was told coffee might make me crazy."

chris gives you an eye before looking back towards matt, which you do the same. "coffee, please."

matt chuckles as he spins back around, nick now jumping in at the side of him.

you lean back, scrolling back on matts phone to find one of your favourite songs, a cheer from nick as it starts to play and matt starts to drive off to your favourite coffee shop. placing the phone back in your lap, you take a look over at your boyfriend and a smile immediately comes to your face as you notice he's already looking at you.

"you okay?" you ask, and he chuckles.

"you're the most stubborn woman i've ever met" he says.

"and you love me for it"

he grabs your hand immediately. "damn right i do"

you smile as you lean back, rubbing small circles around chris' hand with your thumb and you stay in silence again as you drive your way to the coffee shop.

but before you know it, hands are on your shoulder, softly shaking you. you sit up in an instant, forgetting where you are and everything that just happened as you let your eyes adjust. the headache is immediate. the pain in your cheeks is almost unbearable. you let out a wince as you see chris at your door.

"we're home, baby" he whispers, and you look outside to see the inside of the triplets garage.

"my coffee" you say, but you close your eyes and hold your hands to your cheek immediately. "fuck. im in so much pain, chris."

"i know, y/n. i know. come on, lets get you inside."

chris grabs hold of your hand as you slide out of the car, his free hand coming around your back and holding your hip to guide you. when you step out far enough, his foot kicks the door shut, not wanting to let go of you.

"did i fall asleep?" you ask, eyes adjusting to your surroundings as you make your way to the door that would lead you into the house.

"yes, but we got your coffee." he chuckles.

"my saviours" you say, and he only chuckles deeper. making your way into the house and up the stairs, a smile illuminates your face as you see matt setting up blankets on the couch, nick scrolling through netflix as you notice your favourite show ready to be played. chris guides you over to the couch, helping you sit down before you swing your legs up, laying back on the pillows matt had already prepared. when chris' hand finally leave you, they immediately come to the blankets at your feet and he covers you up.

"thank you" you whisper, as he leans forward to plant another kiss on your forehand. you close your eyes, feeling comfortable and grateful for the most attentive boyfriend and friends, before matt appears, opening your eyes to see him holding two painkillers and your beloved coffee.

"here you go, kid" he says, passing them to you. you smile as you sit yourself up, taking the painkillers one at a time, a pleasurable hum leaving your lips as the coffee hits your system.

"thank you. so much." you say.

"anything for you" matt says, walking off into the direction of the kitchen.

nick presses play on your favourite show, and you get yourself comfortable again before chris appears again, a can of soda in his hand. he takes a sip before placing it on the table as you open up the blanket, summoning him to get underneath with you.

he chuckles as he slides in, and you shuffle up to give him more room as his hand comes behind your head, pulling you into his chest.

you stay like that for hours, sipping on your coffee, watching your favourite show, drifting in and out of sleep, all whilst the triplets wait on your every move.

AHHHH I HAD SO MUCH FUN WRITING THIS I HOPE ITS OKAY POOKIES!xxx

[ckret2]

One of my favourite things about the book of Bill has to be how hard it has cemented that, for all the airs Bill likes to put on, he's actually awful at manipulating people. Like if you look at the just the show, on the surface his record isn't bad. 2 1/2 successful manipulations out of 3 shown on-screen is solid. ((That is until you examine it further and realize that the 2 successful ones were done to 12 year old children who 1. Weren't exactly in the best states of mind at the time due to severe sleep deprivation/a difficult emotional state and 2. he still had to trick via his power (the fake timer on the laptop/possessing blendin so Mabel didn't know it was him)) But now? Oh man! Ford wasn't just lucky, he joined a tradition dating back all the way to humanities beginnings! Bill has been trying to get people to do his bidding literally since people had gotten good enough at resource-gathering and tool-usage to be able to potentially build his portal! And he failed over and over and over again and he never learned shit! That would be bad enough but not only did he fail at manipulating several civilzations worth of people, they ALSO constantly thwarted him in ways beyond that! He got himself banished, trapped, and annoyed to hell and back and thats just the stuff he told us! Thats not even speaking of his latest and possibly greatest fumble, failing the convince us, the reader of the Book of Bill who is canonically a fan of Bill or at least Gravity Falls into striking a deal with him. In short, if I asked Bill to manipulate a child into eating ice cream with just his words I wouldn't trust him to get it done within my or the kids life time.

Except, Bill IS good at manipulating people. You JUST DESCRIBED several examples of him being good at manipulating people.

Identifying the most vulnerable targets, the "weakest link" most likely to cave and do what you want—like children (or elderly people with dementia, or immigrants who don't understand the language well)—is part of being good at manipulation.

Identifying and taking advantage of people in a compromised mental state when they're not thinking clearly and are more likely to do what you want is part of being good at manipulation. (He didn't try to persuade Mabel to destroy the laptop, BECAUSE HE KNEW DIPPER WAS MORE VULNERABLE. He didn't approach Dipper or Ford dressed as Blendin—BECAUSE HE KNEW MABEL WAS MORE VULNERABLE.)

Just straight up lying to people—about a situation (the timer), about a person (Blendin)—is a manipulation tactic.

Fabricating a totally artificial emergency and pressuring a target to ACT NOW to prevent disaster is a common con artist trick. (See: scammers who cold call strangers, say they're from the IRS and the stranger is behind on taxes, and demand they transfer a large amount of money from their bank RIGHT NOW or go to jail—WHICH ACTUALLY WORKS A LOT, especially because people CAN'T THINK AS CLEARLY when they're panicking.)

Disguising yourself as somebody trustworthy or somebody intimidating to trick a target into obeying you is also a common con artist trick.

Not to mention ALL the work we see into how he manipulates Ford: he makes note of Ford's social isolation and how Bill can use that to his advantage; he identifies the thing Ford wants most (respect & acknowledgment for his intellectual achievements) and weaves that into his manipulation; he uses both Ford's ego AND Ford's insecurity against him; he almost effortlessly turns Ford against the one friend who adores him, making Ford think his friend's kindest attempts to help are evidence of backstabbing; and even though ultimately it didn't work, you can't say that threatening to destroy Ford's life from inside his own body was a BAD manipulation tactic.

Plus the entire muse schtick. Fooling people into thinking you're doing something magical or supernatural is such a common manipulation tactic that there's a whole name for it: "mystical manipulation." Bill does this NON STOP with Ford, and with many of his other victims.

We see him successfully talk an entire tribe into helping him build a working redwood portal—and they only turned against him when the portal started petrifying people, unleashing monsters, and creating bottomless pits. He talked the Aztecs into sacrificing 9,000 people to build a portal that didn't even work. He talked not-Disney into making a cartoon about Bill that included UNLEASHING LIVE BEES IN THE THEATER. Who the hell would think that's a good idea!

And to top it all off, he formed multiple successful cults that were ride or die for him until the bitter end. That's like the crown jewel of being good at manipulating. Bill talked a whole town into joining his cult in under a month in spite of the fact that he kept calling them plasma bags and chugging formaldehyde. Based on the dates in the document about Silas Birchtree, people were marrying into Ciphertology at least five years after Bill's puppet disintegrated and he ditched them.

Bill was good at manipulating people!

Do you know what Bill WASN'T good at? Getting people to finish and open a portal.

Largely because portals are difficult to make, and because he can only get so far into the process before it becomes obvious that this thing will destroy the world and that's usually enough to override any other threats or promises he makes.

Yeah, he says some stupid things that should obviously give him away—like talking about setting off all the nukes. He's kinda pathetic and a bit of a dumbass sometimes. But, here's the thing about successful manipulators, con artists, and cult leaders: MOST of them are kinda pathetic dumbasses. Cult leaders are idiots. There's a cult leader who preached his followers should be on minimal vegetarian diets, had his chauffeur take him out to a big fancy steak dinner, then told his chauffeur he did that to test his faith—and the chauffeur was like well okay. Cult leaders are idiots, AND YET SUCCEED. When Bill says you can get anyone to hum along with your tune if you've got charisma? He's right—that's true in real life.

Manipulators get away with manipulation not because they tell such brilliant impeccable lies that the most clear-headed rational person in the world would believe them... but because they know to tell their lies to people who aren't clear-headed and rational, and because they know using cheap tricks and false identities and lies that the victim WANTS to be true works better than a flawless story, and because they know most people tend to give other people the benefit of the doubt that what they're saying is probably true.

So yeah, he's too cocky, he's a bit pathetic, he lost a lot, he loses at the end of the book... but that doesn't mean he's a bad manipulator. It means that being good at manipulating can only carry you so far, and Bill didn't have what it takes to carry him the rest of the way.