Weird or my best option?

The Second Moon

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Not sure if this is the right form to post this in, but I need help. My MC was abducted by an adult alien and he had to stay in space for 40 years without aging for a reason that's not important to this post. The MC started to think of the alien as sort of a dad ( he only lived with his grandma back on Earth) and the alien started to treat the MC like he was his son. When the MC returns to Earth his grandma is dead so he goes and lives with the alien, but the alien fell in love with an Earth woman. I want the Earth woman and the alien to get married and for the alien to adopt the MC, but here's the catch... the Earth woman's parent's were friends of the MC 40 years ago. So if the Earth woman and the alien got married the and adopted the MC the MC's new grandparents would be his old friends which would be super awkward.
So I thought... what if there was a type of alien adoption so that the alien could adopt the MC, but his wife, the Earth woman, wouldn't adopt the MC and therefore her parents wouldn't be related to the MC. Is that weird or my best option? Does this even make sense? Maybe I could just make the alien and the Earth woman engaged and have the alien adopt the MC? I don't know.
 

Ari Meermans

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Why would you want to eliminate a situation so ripe with possibility (layers, twists, and depth) before exploring it thoroughly? If it doesn't fit the narrative, it doesn't fit the narrative—but at least wring it dry before deciding it doesn't work.
 
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Sage

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Why would you want to eliminate a situation so ripe with possibility (layers, twists, and depth) before exploring it thoroughly? If it doesn't fit the narrative, it doesn't fit the narrative—but at least wring it dry before deciding it doesn't work.

This was my thought too. Of course, I have a ghost character in a relationship with the grandson of his ex-fiancée, who he haunted (and loved) into old age, so it seems tame to me :greenie

Also, the difference between her adopting him and not adopting him comes down to whether they're called his grandparents. The relationship difficulties of his adoptive father's wife's parents being his best friends of old isn't going to be less weird just because they're not legally his grandparents.

OTOH, it certainly could open some interesting cultural discussions about why only one half of a married couple would be considered to have adopted him and not the the other half. Is it prejudice against humans? Against women? Some sort of alien legal thing that requires each person to individually apply to adopt a child (so that you could actually have trios, quartets, whole villages, etc. adopt a single person). Just stuff to think about.
 

The Second Moon

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Some sort of alien legal thing that requires each person to individually apply to adopt a child
I love this idea! It really fits my world and it also could help with another character in the series, a co-worker of the alien, who was an orphan his entire life and feels jealous when his roommates talk about their families. Maybe I could make the co-worker raised by a whole village. That would add some more depth to his personality. Thank you!
 

indianroads

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The scenario you describe seems really, really complicated to me. Is this part of your story, or really central to it? If it's just part, I suggest simplifying it because a reader (like me) is likely to get caught up and confused by the minutia of it.
 

recoveringandroid

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I don't think it sounds awkward so much as potentially a lot of fun. So this kid had some friends back here on Earth, they do kid stuff, maybe play D&D and whatnot, have a lot of childhood memories together. Their friend mysteriously disappears and they go on living out 40 more years on Earth. Then suddenly their old childhood friend is BACK, under the guardianship of an alien, and also still a kid. And now they're his grandparents-in-law. Also, this 'kid' is for all intents and purposes the same age as them still, he just didn't age physically right? Or was he in cryo or something and is still absolutely a kid in every way, mentally/emotionally/physically? Either way, the situation is ripe for shenanigans AND emotionally impactful scenes from both parties.