I mean, it probably goes without saying, but the Found Family trope is so popular because so very many people are so terribly, terribly lonely
I adore the friends I do have immensely but god it would be nice to have like five people living nearby who I could call on for help or to hang out at any given moment
it’s also a very hopeful narrative. Found Family imparts this idea that you don’t have to start out life with a family, or with roots that go all the way down a family tree. That you’re not destined to be alone and without love simply because who you were born to didn’t make the cut. Found family resolutely insists that there is always a future, always a possibility for more, and that no matter how much time it takes to find them, they could always still be out there.
It’s about resolving loneliness, but it’s also about promising that you can find that relief later. It doesn’t have to be now, it doesn’t have to be when you’re little, it can be whenever it’s time.
For those of us without families in the traditional sense, or with families that had to be abandoned for any number of reasons, or even families that had to separate for long amounts of time, found family is proof that we didn’t miss out on love.
And I think when the world seems the darkest, it makes sense that a narrative about hope for the future and always having love on the horizon is popular. <3
