What i think in two parts (damned limits)
i'm not going to pretend that i'm not a little aggravated that you posted this question, (and you know why) but i'll forgive you because you know, i love you and really, um... it's your issue not mine.
what do i want to see? well, i don't care where they live as long as it makes sense.
Pittsburgh? sure, there's canon there that says that Brian could have gone to NY whenever and chose not to.
New York? sure, (see, KIT and then everything that follows)
Mel and Lindz, truthfully, i think they should be together, but i think if you're going to have them in the story for any length of chronological time you should include bumps in their road. they were together for like six years by the time we met them and they broke up, a lot, so while i can buy that they love each other and will eventually find their way back to one another, I don't believe that they'll just be happy all the time (also, they need to raise gus and JR kthnx.)
Gus and JR, living with their mothers. Brian can like his son, love his son, spend some "off camera" time with his son but gus!fic makes me vomit in my mouth a little.
where do they live, i mean, loft, britin, NY, etc? I've written it in every permutation except for them living in a city other than pittsburgh or New York, so i'm fine with it all. I would say that as they really work together towards a relationship the loft makes NO logistical sense as a primary residence, even if gus only visits for a few hours, there's just too much togetherness in that big open space for EITHER of them to be happy, long term living like that. I strongly believe that good doors make for good relationships sometimes. (yeah, i did the badficcy thing and jsut co-opted the third floor of the building to make it more 'family friendly" but either way I'm fine.
my issue with Britin is again logisitcs, it's half an hour out of the city, which doesn't sound like much but IS, it's about convenience, and how they live and brian and justin are both into instant gratification and they're guys, so the takeout options are far more limited in the suburbs/country.
New York is fine by me, as long as they stay in touch with the Pittsburgh contingent, i don't think justin would sever ties, with his mother, I don't think michael would sever ties with Michael, i don't think debbie would allow any of her ties to be severed. I can see emmett coming in for a weekend, (staying at a hotel) and um, as for ted...read my damn fic, that's the one part i think i got right.
lesbians can live in toronto or move back, i moved them back every time because it hurts me to have them so far away and mel can't be a lawyer in toronto and the reason they moved was offensive to me as a jew, so you know, i move them back.
the rest of the family.
Michael and Ben OTP with Ben's beautiful understanding and support of the michael/brian dynamic that means that he supports and loves his partner, even if his partner sometimes regresses to a 14 year old following his best friend like a puppy dog, or sometimes lets the pendulum swing too far in the other direction and becomes a little sactimonious. in the end, he loves michael, michael loves him, and the Brian and Mikey show is part of the package. (one he canonically supports and understands even when michael seems to have lost the thread)
Ted? if i pair him up, it's with Blake, i think we're given that as he shows up in (almost?) every season. their timing was never right, but in the end, i think it was, and thus, if i'm going to mention ted's sex/love life, it's going to be blake (why invent an OC when you've got a perfectly malleable canon character?)