What are the Drew and Arch families like in your au? Like, their member's age, little bits of personality and such(also really curious about your Francesca OC^^care to tell about her as well? )
Here we go! :D
Warning: My AU has a slightly different time count, and there are A LOT OF discrepancies with the canon
Drew Family:
Joey's parents, Harvard and Jennifer, besides himself, also had a daughter, Beverly (Joey is 7 years older than her)
Joey's father (1936 - 1995) was a straightforward, principled and strict man. To put it mildly, he was not the most wonderful father, but he loved his children very much, but he showed it very much... in strange ways. He imposed his rules on them, which he passed off as generally accepted norms, and did not tolerate their non-compliance. He was especially strict with Joey. He did not praise his son, demanded a lot from him, did not support his hobbies, could scold even for trivial reasons, forbade Joey to show emotions, most often to cry ("You're a boy!"). Joey in my AU is naturally quite sensitive and emotional. Harvard believed that he was doing the right thing, and that in this way he motivated his son to be better, although in fact Joey grew up insecure and timid because of him.
Harvard was softer with Beverly because she's a girl and younger.
For the most part, Harvard was like that and did not allow his son to draw because when he was a child, his mother left him for a career as an artist, and his father was even worse than Harvard when he had own children. His character and methods of education are mostly from his father, except that he didn't use a belt in his upbringing.
Jennifer (1948 - 2001) was a less riotous person than her husband. She was quite a calm, patient and optimistic woman. She loved her children no less than her husband did, she was a decent mother (neither good nor bad). Sometimes she could be overly polite or mercantile, sometimes egocentric, but at the same time she remained caring and affectionate. But her love for her children could not be compared with her concern for her reputation (both her own and family). She was, in a way, vain and selfish. She forbade her children to argue with anyone, refuse, did not allow them to play games where they could "get a little dirty", did not teach them to defend their interests. She also, like Harvard, had sexist views (but her case is not so bad), for example, she, like Harvard, did not allow Joey to cry (Joey still feel embarrassed because of his tendency to tears).
Beverly (1977) basically inherited her mother's character, but she also inherited frankness and integrity from her father. She is often overly idealistic, overestimates her abilities and expects a lot from others, which is why she is often disappointed in people and in herself. But she is very caring, she always puts her family first.
Arch Family:
It was quite an ordinary family with parents, Spencer and Francesca, and two children (the eldest daughter Diana (1959) and the youngest son Nate). Spencer (1935 - 1998) was a charismatic and sociable person, he was like a movie star. Everyone adored him. There was something about him that attracted people. Francesca (1939 - 1983) was often ill at that time, and the children spent a lot of time with their father.
But love tends to fade, which is what happened to Nathan's parents. They began to quarrel more and more often and eventually divorced when Nathan was 6. Well, not really divorced. One day Nathan, his sister and mom woke up and... They didn't find the father. As well as his things. And most of the money. No notes, no calls time later. Nothing. He went to get milk and didn't come back, simply put.
Further, Nathan's life mostly consisted of whining sessions like "Your father is a bastard". He just had to sit next to his mother, listen to all her complaints and agree. By the way, Francesca's complaints consisted not only of grievances against Spencer. Of everything, may say. Moreover, she did not even explain anything about any elements of her stories (+18, etc.). At the same time, for everything else, he was "small". It's like "Participate in adult affairs, but you are still a disenfranchised child."
What about his sister? Well, the same things were happening to her. That's just she got tired of it and one day she had a big fight with her mother because of it, who eventually threw her out of the house. She was 16.
One day Nathan and his friends left to hang out. Francesca was alone at home. She had a really bad day then, and there was no one to talk to. What did she do? She went to the store and spent the rest of her monthly salary on alcohol. As a result, she did not calculate something there, she overdosed and died. Then Nate came back, but it was too late...
In the end, Nathan's sister was found and she took him. But they were not close, because my sister worked a lot. She was barely making ends meet, now she's providing for her brother too.
Nathan wasn't adored his mother, but he didn't hate her. And he certainly didn't want her dead. He still blames himself for what happened. He was 14 then.
By the way, they lived quite poorly, there was barely enough money for food, let alone clothes. Therefore, Nathan most often wore clothes for his sister, which is why his peers often mocked him.
Bonus: Nathan doesn't hate Spencer and isn't mad at him at all for leaving. He says that "for all these years, he himself has been kinda sick of living with this immature woman."
He even believes that the time when his father had not yet left was the best years of his life, and he considers his father a good man.
Well, not to say that his father was very bad, but still the image of the father who exists in Nate's head is too idealized and unrealistic.