#i don't know how to insert horizontal lines pls help

[infinitely-orange-paracosm]

Paramay challenge - day 2: Family

Paras: Violet (fairy, she/her), Ro (willar, she/her)

"I don't really get what the ruckus is all about," Violet said. "I mean, I'm obviously happy that Thalia could find a better home, but like... isn't that what you normally do? Leave the people who treated you badly behind, and find ones who care about you?"

"It's not that simple, though," Ro replied with a sigh. "Even after everything that happened, he's still their father. And that's not something one can just forget about."

Violet stared at her for a few seconds, confused. Then suddenly, the realization hit her, "of course! I almost forgot. You guys have this weird "blood bond" thingy where some people are more important than others because biology, or something."

Ro couldn't help but chuckle at her description of blood relatives. "I mean, you're not wrong."

"Look, when you come out of a flower that could've been pollinated by literally anyone in your close vicinity, you're not gonna be able to pick out one guy based on "biology". And especially when you're older, you'd want to surround yourself with people who respect you." Violet paused in her rant, and gave Ro a questioning look. "Is... is that not how you guys do it?"

"It depends," Ro replied. "Some people believe that blood relations are more important than anything else, even if you have shitty parents. But honestly? Choosing your own family is a far better way to go. After all, family isn't about who gave birth to you, it's about who you bond with."

"Well, it's good to know there was at least one decent thing coming out of my shitty ass culture," said Violet. "Sadly, our opinions on family does not outweigh our very broken outlook on species other than ourselves."

Ro gave her an encouraging smile, and hugged her tightly. "In that case, I'm happy you could pick a better family."

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I've always found the problems regarding family an interesting concept, especially because it's a recurring theme among my paras to talk about how messed up the family relationships are. Some have very bad connections with their parents and siblings, a surprising number of them are literal orphans; and Violet is talking about Thalia, who managed to get out of an abusive household and finally found their place with the only family of the paracosm who aren't just connected through their bonds but through blood as well. So within this context, I was kinda curious: what would it look like if we didn't place such emphasis on blood relatives, and instead "chose" our own families? Obviously this is already very much possible, but what would a society without biological bonds look like?

Anyway that's my take on this topic 😅