#bound by fate au

[au-sonic-smackdown]

AU Sonic Smackdown - Round 1, Left Side

Bound by Fate AU belongs to @midnightshard06

Old Man Sonic AU belongs to @wereh0gz

Read more about them under the cut!

Bound by Fate-

Sonic in this au is born as a werehog, but really has no idea why. He just rolls with it, but this does limit his friendship potential. As such he's kind of a loner, not that he acts like it. He's rather outgoing, and can talk to anyone really. Definitely leans on the sassy side, particularly with people he's comfortable with. Though he finds it hard to trust people due to bad experiences when in his werehog form. A lot of people don't take kindly to him at night so he tries to stay away from people as best he can while transformed, and he doesn't like to stick in one place for too long. At some point he meets Tails and the two mutually help each other out (Tails saving him from a group of hunters that were trying to kill him and Sonic helping Tails gain a better reputation in the town he lives in). The two are close even if Sonic isn't always around. Eventually Sonic and Knuckles run into each other, Knuckles trying to take out Sonic due to a misunderstanding. Though the two end up bound together through prophecy shenanigans and have to save the world as a team.

Sonic's abilities are pretty standard fair. Sonic during the day has the super speed and all the stuff to come with it. Though he is a bit physically stronger since some of his werehog strength tends to leak over. At night it's mostly standard werehog stuff with the exception of the stretchy arms. He can however sense nearby dark gaia monsters and gaia temples, and him and Knuckle's bond let them know were each other are at all times.

Old Man Sonic-

It's the Sonic we all know and love! ... Except he's long overdue for retirement.

He's gained the "gift" of immortality thanks to the large amounts of Chaos Energy, Dark Gaia Energy, and other godly energies he's absorbed over the years. You could say he's something of a demigod now, capable of running at extreme speeds (of course), commanding the winds, and even turning himself into a beast!

Now at the ripe old age of 215 and heavily scarred in more ways than one, he wanders the world fighting off evildoers and stopping world-ending calamities just as he did in his youth. He's not alone, though, as he has help from Tails, Shadow, and even Silver on occasion. He may not be as spry as he used to be, but he'd never allow his world to fall into the wrong hands, even if it means pushing himself far beyond mortal limits and dying time and time again. It's not like death is permanent for him, anyway.

While Sonic still retains the title of "hero of Mobius", he doesn't interact much with the public anymore. In fact, he's seen as more of a myth now, and almost the entire world (except for Tails, Shadow, and Eggman Nega) thinks he died from natural causes long ago. He tries his best to keep his identity and immortality secret, going by different names on the off chance he runs into someone.

Unfortunately, the worst possible person who could know about his secret is already well aware of it, and is always hunting him down to capture him and see what makes him tick...

[midnightshard06]

Imagine:

Werehog Sonic wants to move, but nope. He's too fluffy, and his friends are too sleepy.

You're so right anon. They would definitely do that lol. It gets especially bad when it's cold. He's just so warm ya know?

I'd imagine Tails is first to come in, and Sonic begrudgingly accepts that. Plus he could probably move him off without waking him up as long as he's careful. Then Knuckles comes along and he's truly stuck. Better to just try and fall asleep himself at that point.

Thanks for giving me an excuse to draw more wholesome stuff lol.

[scrunglepaws]

I inked and colored some sketches for @midnightshard06's Bound by Fate fic. Though, I believe this scene was from one of the flufftober oneshots? I forget; it's been a minute since I read them. (Been meaning to reread them all- Heart of a Hero is my favorite. :>)

Why did I color basically the same drawing twice? Not because I made mistakes in the first one, then mistakes in the second one too, so just finished them both anyway. Certainly not. ... qwq;;;

[mari-lair]

cut string, tie it back

part one here

[hajimedics]

welcome home persona AU, aka mostly an excuse for me to draw my human designs in classy children’s fairytale-inspired outfits

[boringmarinn]

It was supposed to be just a training session with clothes and poses and it turned into something I don't know if I'll finish it... Frisk its so frickin fucking cute aaaaaaaauuhhggg (beware them you two...)

[casiavium]

love how ghiralink can range from they are deeply in love with each other (obvious to everyone but them) but won't even consider holding hands in public to actively trying to kill each other while saying some of the most romantic shit you've ever heard. In the same fanfic even

[kittygamer2888]

Yea-ok- so maybe he's a little edgy :'>

Also, he is SMILING???👀

Anywho- more propaganda art for the @au-sonic-smackdown

Also

BONUS PROPAGANDA DOODLES!!!

The first image, "Bound by Fate" Sonic AU, belongs to @midnightshard06

And Restless Spirit! Sonic on the second image belongs to @awobbles

[soolarmoon]

In my universe, almost every mythical creature is called a youkai. (There will be some characters with the kind of youkai that I invented myself because I couldn't find a suitable youkai for him or because I wanted to)

There are not so many Youkai in the whole world compared to humans.

Every youkai has his own master, but not every person has his own youkai. Unfortunately, not every supernatural being manages to find his master.

Youkai can live both among people and without intersecting with them. People are aware of the existence of these creatures, but do not often meet them in everyday life. Youkai often hide behind the appearance of a person, hiding their outstanding features, but some can freely walk in their usual appearance without fear, it depends on the character of the youkai himself.

Let's go back to the definition of "master", who is it?

This is the person youkai is attached to. But there are two kinds of masters. One of them is a master who made a deal with youkai and they are bound for a certain period, which ends when the deal is considered completed. In this case, youkai does not feel anything special about the person, treat him as an ordinary person with whom he has some business. There are few such masters, since it is very difficult to get a youkai to make a deal.

Another concept of a master is the one who is tied to a youkai as soon as he was born, connected with him once and for all. The person himself does not know with which youkai he is tied and whether he is tied at all. It will be possible to find out about this if only the youkai with whom he is tied will meet with his master, and this meeting is most often accidental.

Youkai next to his master feels a surge of positive emotions and love for his master (what kind of love they do not know, they listen to their master, so the definition of this attachment will be at the master's request). After meeting with their master and after tying the ribbon, the youkai do not need to replenish their energy (they replenish it with the help of the master. The master will not receive any harm). Before the master, they have to restore energy to survive, the method of replenishing energy is chosen by the youkai himself. It can be both sleep and eating simple food or other youkai, they also do not disdain to eat people, there are other ways.

How do you understand that youkai has found his master? As soon as they intersect, a ribbon will appear in the hand of the youkai, which he must (if he wants the master to know about his existence) offer the master to tie on himself, after that it is impossible to remove the ribbon and any decoration will appear on the ribbon. The ribbon may not be worn, but in this case, the youkai will have to replenish energy in the old way, and not from the master.

That's all for now, if there are any questions you can always ask them, I'll try to answer!!

I hope I didn't make a mistake in my choice of words, because my vocabulary of English words is not that big:")

[dark-elf-writes]

Honestly the implications that in the Astoria's Kiss AU Harry is probably Thanatos's reincarnation is interesting. And hell, if you want you can easily play with the God reincarnation rules because as the God of Death, who knows if Harry has any of Thanatos's memories or personality. Because why would the God of Death exclude themself from dying at least semi-permanently?

I have so much built up lore for Harry as Thanatos and how the addition of godly power and aura to his already existing magic works, the dynamic of a “minor” god that technically holds power over all of them since even gods can die, and the politics do him being Alex and Andy’s kid first and a god second particularly after the schism between H.E.R.A. and Olympus from the last time Zeus found a reincarnated god in the mortal world.

But the thing that sticks in my head most of all is Harry’s relationship with death, his own power and the one thing that has haunted him for years.

Because Thanatos is different than the other gods. He was before, always apart, ever present but never among them, the reminder that while they were immortal they could still die. Even the way Harry awakened wasn’t the same as other gods. There was no calling him home to Olympus, but the power itself waking in him. In the end the past him had wanted above all else for his future reincarnation to know how to live as well as know what it is to die.

It’s a lot to think about. It’s even more to think about when Harry still has the mind of a teenager while all the other gods have been around since time immemorial. He is different he is something new. He is arguably the most powerful of all of them because no one not even the gods can escape death.

He also really really has issues with authority in general and Zeus in particular.

But while I think he definitely has moments that he feels instinct take over when it comes to his power Harry doesn’t have the memories or personality of his past life, because in the end Thanatos didn’t reincarnate in the same way that the other gods do.

[illumiera]

thinking about her... FDB!Elentari...

she'd have to be one of the very first bretons, or a snow elf (since she does have distant snow elf ancestry on her mother's side, inheriting the pale hair, skin, and eyelashes, but none of the tolerance for the cold, poor thing).

she's a wolf priestess—worshipper of Mara the Wolf-Mother—and both this and her natural compassion would lead her to begin rebelling against the dragon cult. of course, when the Dragon War kicked off and mortals brought the first dragon down, she'd be as surprised as anyone when she absorbed the soul. she'd be quickly positioned as a figurehead of the rebellion, and much like her LDB self, she'd see it as her duty: save everyone, however she can.

but what if she accepted the Nord Heroes' pleas for help and was there that day atop the Throat of the World?

what if, when all seemed lost, after she determinedly refused to let Gormlaith Golden-Hilt die of her injuries, she sacrificed herself to enter the Time Wound with Alduin? knowing that she'd be leaving her world and her people behind, not knowing when—if ever—she'd return?

and what if she emerged four thousand years later in that same spot, exactly as the wheel turned on the Last Dragonborn... a golden-haired farmer's son turned mage and musician, who is given the name "Miraak" in another life, another universe?

[midnightshard06]

Ah a rare moment where Sonic can actually get some rest... and Tails too.

Felt like drawing these two today cause why not, so this exists now.

[citriarchive]

you ever just see one (1) post about how characters in AUs will likely be ooc by way of how their backstory is affected by the change in universe and proceed to wonder what the effect of a world where there is an expectation that once you're drawn to your soulmate you Will fall in love with would have on a character whose defining arc is trying to find some semblance of self-worth (<- frothing at the mouth)

i'm gonna put this under a cut bc it's like. mildly heavy character stuff to do with self-worth. not too bad but just in case.

like you'd think it'd be good for him, right. because ny way of having a soulmate he is inherently worthy of being loved by at least one person. but then you remember that he has this Feeling of just. Being Bad. this inherent shame attached to...Being™ thanks to The Horrors. and he has to exist to someone. which raises two problems:

being perceived at all and

(more importantly) the question of even if he does meet his soulmate, even if they do fall in love, is that their soulmate choosing to love him with his flaws? or is it them forcing themselves to resist being poisoned by this nonexistent (but very existent to him) Bad that resides in him? putting up with him? just barely tolerating his existence?

like i genuinely think he might've been excited to have a soulmate when he was younger. and then he got older and things happened and he realized how much inherent terror there is in the concept of being bound to someone who could see him the same way he sees himself.

and i think that makes The Choice to Love™ really important to him. or even more so, the choice to BE loved. the choice to trust nithral's decision, because he trusts nithral. the choice to just. let go and let someone care about him and realize that it's not causing some kind of irreparable damage. in fact, quite the opposite, it seems!

honestly without the context of soulmate AU this sounds like an analysis of their canon relationship and i find that very funny but anyway yeah i'm uhhh EXTREMELY grrrawrawrawr rn. scuttling along my walls screaming at the top of my lungs like a Creature. thank you for listening to my TED talk

[manawari]

"You and I. . . We are vessels. When I first met you, I had a small feeling that there is something odd about you. And when you came to help me defeat the ants, I knew my speculations are right — that I can't be the only hunter who had received powers from a powerful entity out there in the universe."

"So what are you implying?"

"Join hands with me, Hae-in. A powerful eldritch has chosen you to be his vessel, and I fear something bad will happen if you fall under his control. Allow me to be by your side and fight together if anything happens."

Two hunters. Twisted by fate. One was destined to be the harbinger of death and the sovereign of darkness. And one was chosen to be the destroyer of the world if fallen under the powerful hands of the greatest being of all.

Lady Dragon. Puppet of Destruction. Master of the Light Sword.

Shadow Monarch. Darkness. King of the Dead.

Together, they could be anything. Be it facing the most powerful beings to befall on earth and fighting with all their might to protect humanity.

[lunarscaled]

⋇ THIS VOICE THAT HAS BEEN BOUND TO FATE DUTIFULLY SERENADES: HIGH FANTASY

...the only thing granted equally to all is an unfair reality. ( TLDR at the bottom. )

Once upon a realm, in the foothills of a steep mountain, there was a kingdom that laid over the layer of a powerful white dragon, whose presence covered all the terrain in thick layers of snow and ice. Their crops could not grow, and their people could not flourish, and merchants and travelers never came with their wares in fear of an unescapable winter and vicious beast. The citizens of the kingdom, in a shambled state between death and terror, begged the ruling family to do something, unable to leave with nothing to their names. To quell the power of the merciless dragon, the royal family pursued endless leads, and fell upon but a single answer in their own daughter: a powerful, beautiful song magic that would lull the dragon into a deep sleep.

The King and Queen were despondent---would they really sacrifice their daughter to a life of spellcasting merely to subdue a dragon? But the princess was of a tender heart, and she insisted; her only request as that she marry the boy of a noble house who she loved, so that they could have a child together, so that they would not be without an heir and her husband would not live alone if she did not succeed. After three years of harsh winters and trepidation, the first Dragon Maiden descended to the lair of the dragon, dressed in crystals and silver and flowing silks, disguised as an offering. Arrogant, the dragon believed this lie, and cast his eyes upon her as she danced and sang for him. Without realizing her intent, the dragon fell into a deep sleep.

But the spell would not last forever. Each month the Dragon Maiden must descend into the lair of the dragon to cast her song, and each month she sang a little more of her life whittled away in service of humbling the mighty beast.

The Prince Consort, looking upon his young son years into the affair, was under duress: how long must his wife continue this charade, doling her life out? What will become of the kingdom, when there is no longer a Dragon Maiden to keep the dragon at bay? The snow had begun to melt and give way to the vibrant ecosystem the mountain was meant to hold, and the fair springs and mild winters made the land rich for their people to live off of; sellers came to the towns to trade, and the commonfolk no longer feared the tyranny of the dragon beneath them. But that peace could not last if it was not asleep, and no sword or knight they had come across had a sword or swing strong enough to break its hide, so it could not be killed. The Prince Consort, desperate to someday relieve his wife of her burden, sent emissaries out across the content in search of one thing: to find all bearers of song magic and bring them to the Kingdom Selene. From them, from their children generations on, a new Dragon Maiden would be chosen; and for such a grim fate, one of the children of that family would be betrothed to the heir of the royal family, their life to be cared for in all aspects for their dutiful service to the kingdom.

And so, it was. With less than 100 families answering the Prince Consort's call, half as many came to live in the kingdom, motivated by various means to give their daughters (and sons) away to future princes and princesses, to the body of a dragon in a cold cold cavern beneath the earth. And to celebrate this morbid fate, the kingdom celebrated with flowers and fine fabrics and music---a four-day engagement of singing and dancing citizens of all ages, and from them a new Dragon Maiden selected, her hand sworn to the young prince for her beautiful voice and graceful foot.

Generations of families gave their bloodlines to the pursuit, and generations more would come flocking over centuries, hoping to change their fate by offering the fate of their own. The ruling family changes hands as easily as the Chosen Voice does, and in the blossoming garden of her parent's noble home was Lyric's own mother chosen. Still young, still sweet; Amélie Gravellese's parents knew even before she was of age that there was no better voice in all the kingdom. Flowers bloomed at a word, animals were soothed by her presence, the crops and herbs she grew all flourished under her songs. On her 18th birthday, she danced and sang on the stage for the spectacle and envy of all watching, and no more than a week later did she meet the Crown Prince to be betrothed. When the life of the current Dragon Maiden, the Queen's sister, began to diminish, they would be married so she could assume her duties: children, ruling, mothering succession.

But Amélie was a lively young girl, and the Crown Prince was distant. And when she lay arms outspread in a field of long grass and lavender, she was met by a quiet but honest farmhand with a steady gaze, who offered her a single rose that he held in his calloused hands. And together, they ran away.

you know where this story is going, don't you?

The farm boy and the Dragon Maiden ran away from the kingdom to be together, in love, eloping. At the same time, the crown prince's Aunt fell suddenly ill later that month and passed just as she was meant to renew the spell. With no Dragon Maiden prepared to perform the ritual, gradually the dragon rose from its hundreds-of-years slumber, rancorous that it had been deceived. Its roar quaked the ground of the whole kingdom, its presence set all life withering, and no amount of wealth or tribute or maidens would soothe what had been done.

With the blood of the Dragon Maiden on its teeth and cold wind at its back, the dragon laid waste to the kingdom---stood upon the crest of the King and Queen's castle and issued his decree: Sacrifice all who sing before me. Until you do, all your kin will become sickly and die, for all the years you have imprisoned me.

A dragon's curse.

For a decade the kingdom comes apart at the seams, bending to the will of a dragon. Sons and daughters are dragged before him, cast onto the stone by their hair and crushed, maimed, left to bleed to death. For a decade the King and Queen must sacrifice their own people, hoping it will be enough, and it never is. The kingdom becomes cold and barren once more, the ground hard where nothing grows. People flee, only the destitute and stubborn remaining, and all is silent where there once was much sound.

Somewhere not so far away, a young pair of twins were singing an old tune.

In the 10th year of their life, Lyric Gravellese suffers unexpectedly. Their mother's sickness suddenly overwhelms her following the birth of her fourth child, and their brother who had once made the crops and garden bloom with his joyous voice coughs blood like a songbird given to the grave. In that year, 7 months apart, both of them pass and are buried in the garden. Lyric weeps. Their father weeps. Their young sisters are too young to understand. The message comes a year from then from a passing farmer, his cattle hauling all he owns in a cart with his two children: the dragon calls for all who sing. He is seeking the last of them.

Lyric's father is angry the whole year before. He is grieving, wallowing, he drinks---Lyric sings softly to themselves in the garden and he seizes them by the hair, beats them until they think there is no other outlet for his sorrow. He thinks of his youngest children, he thinks of his wife and his son, and he looks at them with such disgust as they have never known. "I will give you to the dragon," he says, Lyric trembling in his fist, "I will save my children by giving you away." It is not a pleasant trip. A kingdom from a dark dream, covered in snowing clouds and sheets of ice, a castle with claw marks where the dragon sits and the ruins of the town where few shuffle about the streets. Their father stops on the edge of the city and tells them to go alone. They are his no longer. ( Lyric, no more than 11, feels their lip wobble and hot tears on their cheeks. his cold eyes do not change. they hug their arms around themselves and back away, hunched and sobbing. he does not stop to pity them. )

A young Lyric stands upon a stage for all to see. The dragon leans his long neck down towards them, inspects with his large terrifying blue eyes, huffs a breath through his nose that blows all their hair away from their face.

You are the last? questions the beast. They wish to end my curse, but my revenge has not been nearly enough. He leans his broad head away from them, raises it high and stares down. Lyric feels their body shaking in the wind and cold, longing for gentle hands and finding none. All eyes resent them, including the dragon's. Until I have had my revenge I will keep you here---I will keep you alive. The beast rumbles, full of malice. You will live your life in this castle, in this kingdom, imprisoned as I was. For as long as I wish it to be.

And so, it was. Their body was sliced open by a claw tip and sutured by the dragon's blood, inflicting a terrible longevity to their life in contrast to the brevity of the lives of those who sang, or once had. It hurt awfully, and they sobbed on the carpeted floor of the castle clutching their closing wound, begging for relief that would not come for many days. The dragon did away with the King, the Queen, and their son. All the servants of the castle who had not fled would now from the false prospect on the throne---a child. Not yet even in their teens. The Kingdom Selene was a putrid and decayed shell of its formal self, ruled by the child of the fled Dragon Maiden, who was despised by all their subjects. An evil child they hissed. Guilty.

Nearly a decade has passed since then.

That child, who was once so small they could curl up on the chair that was their throne to cry to sleep, is now the age their mother would have been when her time came to become queen. But what would they be queen of?

There is nothing here.

TLDR;

Lyric is the ruler of the desolate, ruined Kingdom of Selene, which once used Song Magic to quell the dragon that made its lair deep below the mountain and city. In revenge for all the years it spent imprisoned by the spell cast on it, the dragon cast a curse on all users of Song that their bloodlines should be weak, and that they will become frail and die. Desperate to save his youngest daughters, Lyric's father offered them to the dragon as the final Chosen Voice, to be slaughtered. Lyric, the last wielder of Song Magic in the boundaries of the kingdom, has been forced to consume the blood of the dragon to extend their life to prevent the curse from ending so that the dragon's revenge may continue until it is satisfied. Because of this blood, Lyric has grown to develop a number of draconic attributes, such as tough skin, scales, horns, and even a potent form of Ice Magic ( though not nearly as potent as the magic which keeps the kingdom in eternal winter. ) They have been in the position of "Prince/Princess" since they were 11 years old, and the sparse population of remaining citizens often refer to them as the "Child of Evil", believing their mother's elopement to be the source of the kingdom's collapse. Lyric's position and title can be considered hardly more than decorative. It is the dragon who rules the kingdom, who bends it to its whims and comes and goes as it chooses. Lyric is merely a figurehead trying desperately to do what they can to help the people, and a scapegoat for their anger and frustrations. Lyric cannot leave the kingdom---even if they tried to, his blood binds them to him, and he would retrieve them and raze the land they fled to. This does not prevent the kingdom from receiving visitors, but it rarely does so, for obvious reasons. Despite its tragic and violent state, the kingdom still sits upon a dragon's hoard, which the beast leaves and returns to bring more wealth to at its leisure. This hoard is a temptation to many, though it rarely ends well if the beast catches them first. Lyric is far more merciful, wishing only to preserve as many lives as possible, feeling responsible for all the tragedy and grief that plagues a once prosperous place.

[swingstep]

Please drop mrd theatre au lore????

OH HOO BOY so. genuinely did not remember i never explained that au huh ksjdngd its been a hot minute since ive messed with that one, but lets see what i can dig up for it. as a disclaimer, its kind of an... abstract au, very rough around the edges as well. dont expect it to be anything too concrete WAHAHA

anyhow. tldr:   the mrd theatre au is exactly what it sounds like: the plot of the game described entirely through the lens of a theater production! alternately referred to as the dance au, because... its a musical! major events are described through dance, each piece pushing the story forward with the power of music and expression. literally-- the story won’t move on without it. starring mad rat as the lead role, rat god as the director, and heart as... That One Guy, Sure!

    the abstraction kicks in in its presentation though-- it's told through the framing of a stage-- however, the story itself is Real to the characters. their world is real, and as characters, they see it as such. to everyone else, it's exactly as its namesake: a play. the term "actor" and "character" go hand in hand, practically synonyms. actors are the characters. the narrative is their world. all in all: the theatre au is an inspection of the meaning of Reality and Perception, the meaning of what it is to be a Character or a Person, and a play on Stories and Roles. more under the cut.

---------------

  As it does in canon, the narrative starts with Mad Rat waking up, and Rat God telling him his situation. Y'know, he died, she's giving him a second chance, etc etc. However, she Specifically tells him that he is, in fact, a character in a play and, as someone outside of the narrative, she knows what to do and what paths to follow. As long as he followed her, he'd be able to make it to the end of his story a-ok, and finally get the ending he deserved!

  In the beginning, Rat God starts out with a whole musical number as she narrates the scene (to both the audience and Mad Rat) to catch him up to speed on where he is, who she is, and why he died. As she finishes, hands off the (metaphorical) mic to Mad Rat to get a word in for his debut scene. Unfortunately, Mad Rat, having just recovered from a terminal case of Being Dead, Does Not In Fact Have The Nicest Voice. Seeing this, Rat God quickly interrupts and redirects to another option: Dance. Which is where a major quirk comes in: every character has a specialized dance style!

  Rat gods style is tap/swing, which is what the intro scene Truly is! It's Rat God introducing Mad Rat to the concept of The Show in a duet swing performance. Specifically, in this performance, Rat God takes the lead role in this one for several reasons: 1) She's Extra and Likes Showmanship. 2) She's ensuring Mad Rat goes in the direction he's supposed to-- making sure he's following along. And 3) She's effectively re-teaching Mad Rat how to move after. Y'know. Being Dead. Swing is a heavily motion-focused and improvisational dance: Mad Rat Does Not Know How To Dance. However, Rat God is good enough at it that she can take the lead and turn his stumbles and missteps into motion and flair. It's essentially the tutorial stage!

  The narrative is pretty much the same through the first third of the game, more or less. Mad Rat meets Heart, who doesn't really Dance but rather just cheers him on, and they begin "travelling" together, with periodical "intermissions" where Rat God, off to the side of the stage presents recaps, narration, and questions-- but it's never clear if it's to the audience or Mad Rat. Maybe both. What's really important is the Framing, though. Mad Rat (kind of) acknowledges he is just a Character, but doesn't really Understand it. 

  Despite the knowledge, he still functions through the frame of a Character. He perceives the stage as The World Around Him rather than A Stage, while Rat God is the opposite. This leads to Mad Rat essentially just Following Her Lead. Which ends up just seeming... brazenly reckless and incredibly dangerous-- because Mad Rat doesn't think it will lead to anything. Obviously he's the main character, so he's probably going to just... get to his goal and whatever happens happens, right? Rat God said which way the story goes so... whatever, right?

  Which all culminates at Heart's intervention: Heart notices all of this and gets worried. Whatever this Mess about "shows" and "story" and "directors" is, Mad Rat is still being really really flippant about how many Near Death Experiences he's had (not to mention the whole "Seeing Things That Heart Doesn't" thing.) So he decides to step in.

  This is the first time we ever see Heart dance! He'd always insisted on being moral support/backup for Mad Rat, not really stepping in in any major way. Turns out, he's really good at a lot of dance styles. It's the first time we have a music genre outside of showtunes and the adjacent. It's heart basically trying to tell him that, whatever bullshit about "Narratives" he's following, Mad Rat is still Here. He's still a contributor to the world around him-- he can affect It, and it can affect him. It doesn't matter what he knows about Whatever This Is because it all wont matter if he gets himself into Real Trouble. Which is a convenient segue to the next arc-- they go off-script.

  The following arcs are pretty much just those two figuring out what to do and where they’re going. Mad Rat, up to this point, was just (kind of badly) trying to imitate the swing style from the beginning, but slowly starts figuring out his own specialty on his own. Mad Rat kind of dabbles through a lot, but is Particularly good at breakdance/krump. It’s a bit of a slow process, but he slowly forges his own place in a world he technically does not belong in. 

  All the while, Rat God is suspiciously quiet. They weren’t supposed to go that way, or do any of that, But she could improvise. She passively tried to mess with them from offstage-- changing the background scenery, tossing obstacles after them-- but they just. Kept going. Mad Rat even began Understanding the nature of The Stage and learning how to use that to his advantage, predicting the way things would move or shift, and using that knowledge to move even faster. It was only after Mimolette’s scene (which was Not supposed to be this early in the script, to Rat God’s chagrin,) that she Really started to get particularly miffed. They’d completely gone off-script, avoided Everything she sent after them-- but there was still an ending that needed to be told, and she was going to tell it no matter how messy it was to get there. Which leads to an intervention of her own.

  As the director, she had direct control over a lot of things-- but she herself could never interact with the Narrative. She had no real Hold, as it were. She was barely a concept to the characters in the narrative-- they could not really perceive her. So, she decided to break that rule-- and interact with them directly. Rat God’s scene is incredibly similar to that in canon: Incredibly Chaotic and Hard To Track. She mostly keeps to swing, as that’s her specialty, but regularly switches it up to try and throw Mad Rat off. But things are different than their first dance.

  Mad Rat has a grasp on himself and his goals. Rat God’s plan is already off its rhythm-- it was clear from the start that this was a last-ditch effort on her part to kill him. Despite her still trying to take control, Mad Rat was nothing if not stubborn. He was just as good at deflecting and navigating the scene as she was. But it’s hard to truly get rid of something like Rat God. She isn’t done until the Story was done. There was still a story to be told, so here she stayed. She could keep going as long as he could, and longer. So knowing what he did now, and understanding the circumstance, he did the only think of. The two had, to some extent, switched places: Rat God taking the stance of a Character/Participant in the scene, and Mad Rat seeing the full scope of The Stage and how it worked. The show was still going, so all he had to do was end it. 

  Tricking her into a monologue, he truly exits the frame of the narrative for the first time, grabbing one of the curtain ropes and letting it free, closing the curtains on the stage-- with Rat God behind them. And... silence. In the end, it was just the closed curtains, the audience, and Mad Rat and Heart in front of them. They saw the audience, truly, for the first time-- that larger force constantly watching over him from beyond his view, pushing the show forward not of their own actions, but of their presence alone. This is who it was all for. And seeing this, Mad Rat makes the decision... to ignore them. 

  They weren’t important anymore. The show was over-- the audience had no more use here. No more power here. They meant nothing to him. Nothing to them. He has one last talk with Heart-- they knew they weren’t alone, not truly-- but all that mattered right then was just the two of them. What they’d seen, what they’d been through-- it all had to come to an end eventually. But not by the hand of someone who had no stake in their story-- in their lives. Mad Rat gets to make his own choice about his future: And with no story left to tell... he gets up, and walks off the stage. 

   The Story Is Over.