mourning the outvoted phantom lives au fic…. sighs mournfully
but what would have happened in it, may I ask? :)
I had a few little drafts about it but it would have boiled down to a lot of death i think, because I think i would have gone with a "they managed to escape and run away illness be damned" and they need to get soul from somewhere. I would have had to decide whether lace got her heart sacrificed still or if ohantoms the only one suffering that but lace probably would have. But ok, they would have figured out they could get soul from fresh animal meat rawer/fresher the better. Inevitablely it wouldnt have been enough so they would have figured out that humans have a better supply and attempt to get soul through them, which is much more satisfactory and lasts far longer. Neither like it but they grow used to it. Hornet would have met them because she thinks theres some soul creature nearby (all the disappearances) and goes to investigate.
After she explains things to them, I think phantom might try to kill her in a somewhat uncharacteristically short sighted move. Hornet beats them-> its humiliating. They already hated weavers as a concept not knowing what they were, now they hate them more. Nevertheless they go with hornet.
I would probably have included some sort of sibling arc. Fic would definitely have been more focused on lace/phantom. Bc lacenet didn't have their shared history hornet would have been more willing - still reluctant - to accept lace despite the silk thing. I was thinking that lace mightve been getting with hornet at first to piss phantom off before eventually feeling bad about it/it grows into smth genuine. It was in the works anyways. Lacenet definitely would have been more an aspect of phantom/laces relationship instead of the other way around which is the direction yasg takes. Anyways, I think they would be divided on what to do - lace wants to rejoin society phantom doesnt. They both have issues in opposite ways. I think in many ways neither can reconcile lace having grown up - phantom didn't think theyd see lace as a teenager let alone older and lace who heavily idealized phantom as the only person who cared for her gains Nuance and realizes they aren't perfect. Also I think lace would idealize their mother a little more bc 1) she hadn't quite gone through the teenage years yet and 2) her mother did save her from a certainly terrible unknown. So even after learning what phantom knows (more detailed explanations of their abuse and their own non-compliance) her lesser passion towards gms hate makes phantom somewhat resentful.
Anyways like I said they disagree on a lot!! (I have more thoughts about their relationship here). But theyre also extremely codepedent at this point. And also they've got real weavers (gms) looking for them, which would have been put in there somewhere. The whole thing sort of offshoots from a small story i had about phantom running away on their own to escape their death, but lace is there and makes things worse. They figure it out. It might have ended with them going their separate ways because their connection to each other is so tied in trauma and their sense of independence is warped. I would have to think about it tbh
I think it honestly would have been hard to do without perceived retcon although it is not meant to be that way, laces memories with phantom were meant to be idealized and childishly perfect. Them being sort of mean sometimes is brushed past bc... what can you do?? They still loved each other. But it doesnt mean phantom was an angel; i often think they were a broken person in a dead end situation and lace dealt with that on her own. Lace one day got hornet but phantom never got anyone really.
