bring on the comfort

Some coziness inspired by the wonderful Corrie twins asks @diamondluna2 sent me!

In my AU, I imagine Thire retains a permanent limp and still uses a cane after "Ambush," and mostly had to be Fox's second-in-command for office duties, while Thorn took over as Fox's second-in-command for street duties. Post-war, Thire is very laid-back and just likes watching the holovision and such, and has gotten quite chubby, while Thorn is an acrobat as a hobby, and still looks much the same as he did in the war.

But I am begging you, PLEASE do not forget the extended family in this picture.

Some people (read: me) cannot get married or produce children of their own for a plethora of reasons (health issues, emotional issues, being intercourse-repulsed [there's actually a Bible verse about this, Matthew 19:12], just plain not finding the right person before middle age and being wise enough to not throw themselves into an unhappy marriage with the first available person in panic, etc.), and those people (again, read: me and also several friends I've come to know) are NOT all somehow these frigid, money-chasing, prestige-chasing, religion-or-tradition-hating and/or child-hating and/or opposite-sex-hating beings who've turned their back on domesticity and home and love.

I would eat, laugh, play, and platonically cuddle with family members ALL FREAKING DAY if I could, and do housework and help take care of a friend's or (if I had them) sibling's children over office work if that somehow became an option for me. I don't have any siblings, but I often wish I did, for this very reason.

And what about aging grandparents (particularly widows and widowers)? Are they to just be abandoned and lonely, as all their adult children leave the house to Start Separate Families of Their OwnTM?

What of sickly and severely disabled adults, who will need someone to care for them after their parents die? Will their siblings, cousins, and friends just essentially have to abandon them too, because the Nuclear Family must come above all, and no other adults except the Husband and Wife must live under the same Sacred Roof?

I'm sorry, but this subject is a painful one for me, and I dearly wish more people (particularly of the traditional-leaning crowd) would acknowledge it. Not everyone is ABLE to get married or bear children, but selling the idea of those people somehow getting complete fulfillment out of a Career instead (and presumably dying alone in a nursing home) is such a sad lie.

Every human being needs the help and nurturing and affection of a family, ALL THROUGH THEIR LIVES. EVERYONE!!

TL;DR, I'm actually very happy for this recent resurgence of "Domestic Family Good Actually," but please please PLEASE understand it needs to be "Extended Family Good Actually," instead of just "Nuclear Family Good Actually." Making extended families the norm again would actually be very pragmatic for everyone, because it ensures the children will all receive individualized attention from adult guardian-figures any time they want it, even if there are quite a few children, AND the husband and wife will be less exhausted and able to spend more time together, because of the aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents helping with the housework and childcare (and possibly part-time incomes)!

…I've been sitting on these thoughts for a while, but what ultimately made them spill over into a proper post was me seeing this other post talking about "every character in the whole friend group getting married and having a ton of babies is seriously the best way to end a story." I know that post was made with good and wholesome intentions, but it stung a bit, in a way I know the OP probably didn't intend. (PLEASE understand I'm also not criticizing or upset with any mutuals who reblogged it, I'm just explaining why it hit a little differently for me.)