@ian goldcrest achromatic @starkravingmad okay, these guys are going to go to winterclan! here's some extra background knowledge:

☆ phantomfox was originally born in summerclan as coyotewild. he was a perfectly normal child, charming even. it was only after he and his little sister, foxpaw, were mauled by dogs (foxpaw died and phantom's face is horrendously scarred as a result) that that all changed and he became something entirely new and wretched. he couldn't stay in summerclan after that, and so he left.
☆ he resurfaced in moonclan as phantomfox, during which time he met his ex-mate, rosethorn. their romance was a sweeping, whirlwind thing that they lost themselves in. it was tragically intense from start to finish. after phantom left mc to take over nightclan, serving briefly as leader before giving it to aspendust/star, he and rose suffered the tragedy of their first litter being born mostly stillborn, except their single surviving son, foxkit (now foxfable in summerclan, rped by ian). phantom was a doting father when foxkit was young, but soon began to withdraw from his family because grief consumes him. he never worked through it properly the first time, so never learned how to cope when his kits died.
☆ during his tenure as captain of the loyal guard, he and aspenstar worked very closely and thus formed a powerful bond. it rapidly turned romantic, though it never went further than emotional infidelity. they saw the broken parts of the other and intimately understood. phantomfox holds aspenstar in the highest regard. he worships her. she is his end, his beginning, and his ultimate undoing. she is the only cat he both loves and fears. rosethorn suspected this and, upon having phantom confirm it, left with their son and returned to summerclan.
☆ during the colonization of summerclan, phantomfox was in charge of subduing the clan and self-imposed a duty of maintaining rosethorn and foxpaw's 'care.' in order to do so, he physically restrained them, using rosethorn's life as a way to keep foxpaw in line and vice versa, and also branded them both (and himself) with three claw mark scars across their hearts to signify their status as property to him.
☆ he also discovered his brother, howlingheart, was rosethorn's new mate. the brothers had an encounter in the sea where phantomfox attempted to drown howlingheart. he believes he succeeded. this would mark phantomfox's first kill; previously, he was simply a torturer.
☆ the return to nightclan, in failure, did not see much of phantomfox or aspenstar before kier's rise to power. phantom in particular was noticeably absent from important clan meetings, no longer at his leader's side, and to this day his location and the events that led to his disappearance are a mystery to nightclan.

i mention these things because they are significant parts of his history and, because of winterclan and summerclan's proximity and current state of affairs, the kits will undeniably have interactions with their older half-brother, foxfable, as well as summerclan as a whole. phantom cannot step foot on summerclan territory- the ghost of his sister still haunts him there, and he is sure howlingheart's ghost now awaits him as well, but he's one of few cats sunstar has marked for death- but best believe he will make these kids do his dirty work.


as far as more details about the kits' relationship with phantom up until this point:

☆ phantom noticeably favors canes. she is molded in aspen's image and his right hand, the executioner of his will and control. she has a much, much longer leash than the others do because of this, and if phantom is not present, canes is the one in charge.
☆ these kits know nothing of a mother's love; however, phantom would repeatedly speak to them of aspenstar. she is cemented in their minds as their true mother as well as a goddess. she is the ultimate goal, what they should aspire to be, while being simultaneously unreachable.
☆ phantom grooms perfection. and even if the kits achieve his standards, it is never enough. he does not tolerate dissent or disobedience. that was beat out of them as soon as they could hold themselves on their own feet.
☆ somewhere, somehow, i do think he loves these kids. he has the capacity for love, but it is so twisted and frayed of an ideal, he doesn't quite understand it anymore. his love for rosethorn and foxfable- the purest of any he's felt- feels impossible, feels like it never existed for him, because his relationship with aspenstar was so intense that it eclipsed all else. he is fully aware that her love for him is conditional, but because of that, it has warped his sense of love so that his, too, is conditional. depending on how phantom progresses, and how his individual relationships with the kits progress from this point on, i could see him one day learning to love and care for them as his kids, rather than his possessions. or he won't, and he will want to kill them the second they are no longer useful or obedient.
☆ i had more thoughts but i started this at 5am and continued intermittently during breaks at work so they kind of got lost