OH GOD. Imagine Charlie realizing that Titania still holds enough affection for Lyell that SHE is the reason he hasn't faded away. Or in a slightly more wholesome direction, maybe to make up for Titania's "love" being less strong than Amy's then in this au Grizelda still has just enough motherly affection for him to help keep him alive. Both loves, on their own, are too weak to save Lyell but combined they are JUST barely enough.
Tbh in my mind I was thinking of little kids as inherently more rowdy and destructive but maybe the Brankos were always quiet and unmoving little creeps (affectionate). They're still annoying but over time Amy and Maisie win them over and they join the forces of good. They still act like haunted dolls instead of people but at least now it's Manfred's shit they're messing with at school. They still fight Charlie for fun but they don't intend to hurt him this time and that's a step up.
Which would be very funny because then you have two cool looking doll girls and now they're next to the world's plainest Jane looking guy going "we are family".
OH TRUE. Amy, Charlie, and Maisie (Amy wouldn't leave her behind) all move in with the Brankos instead. Tbh Bogdan's job isn't enviable but neither is being a grocery shopkeep. At least Amy has a history of selling things.
Imagine the Yewbeam sisters trying to get Natalia on their side, to watch Charlie like Grandma Bone did. And maybe she even agrees at first because Charlie is an unendowed nobody right now and Natalia doesn't think he'll become anything important. Then Eustacia has a premonition and Natalia allows them into her house to test her stepchild because she sees no harm. But once Charlie becomes somebody and gets it in his head to save Emma, Natalia has to actually decide where her loyalties lie. And it's with Amy, of course.
I do not think Natalia would be happy to hear about Lyell, though. She might even try to keep Lyell out of the picture and Count Harken in his picture just so she won't have any rivals for Amy lmfao
