I think Bill projects onto Mabel sometimes, especially in Sock Opera and Weirdmageddon. He sees her as a little selfish, a little chaotic, and a lot more fun than Dipper (at least, in the way that Bill defines fun), and thatโs clearly all stuff that he represents too.
But Iโd argue he also sees himself in Mabelโs reluctance to grow up.ย Itโs true that Bill has been around longer than humans can even wrap their minds around, but heโs still immature. He still throws tantrums when he doesnโt get his way โ heโs just a big, selfish kid himself, and he doesnโt want to grow up either.
And heโs not entirely wrong when he identifies these similarities in Mabel, but he vastly overestimates the strength of her selfish tendencies while underestimating the strength of her caring nature and her loyalty to her family.
We see it in Sock Opera, where Bill expects her to hand over the Journal rather than make a sacrifice for Dipperโs sake, and we see it again in Weirdmageddon, when Bill has complete faith that Mabeland will prove inescapable โ but unlike Bill, Mabel is a good person who loves her family, and both times Billโs plans are foiled. (Meanwhile, we know Bill had a horrible relationship with his own family, and I think that plays into how he expects Mabel to behaveย โ hence the termย โprojectionโ feeling especially apt.)
[ID: The first image shows Bill Cipher floating in a street in Gravity Falls during Weirdmageddon as he says: โThis party never stops!โ The second image shows Mabel sitting at her brightly colored office desk in Mabeland, gesturing enthusiastically to Dipper, Soos, and Wendy as she says: โHere the sun shines all day, the party never endsโฆโ /end ID.]
Bill is a villain who has never grown up in a show thatโs about growing up, and that seems like a very deliberate choice. He offers Mabel an escape from reality that he sees as so tempting, so irresistible, that he thinks it would takeย โa will of titaniumโ to overcome, and he completely brushes off the possibility that the Pines might break out of it.
Maybe thatโs because Bill knows that an idealistic world like Mabeland,ย full of nonstop partying and free from any obligation to grow up, is exactly the type of trap that would work on him.
(Some sources/quotes that first sent me down this line of thinking below the cut.)
yousharknotpass
snowghoul
baratheonpilled
ellievsbear
prguitarman
gracieabrams
pixelskylines
