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found family
What does found family mean?
A group of unrelated characters — or real people — who bond into something that functions like family. The whole appeal: nobody had to love each other, they chose to. It's the emotional core of half of modern fantasy, half of queer media, and most ensemble shows worth watching.
"I'm a sucker for any book with a found family arc — give me six idiots in a basement saving each other and I'm done."
Origin
Long-running fanfiction trope tag (AO3, Tumblr) that broke into mainstream fandom and BookTok vocabulary in the 2010s.
Frequently asked questions
What does "found family" mean?
A found family is a chosen-not-born family — friends, crew, or misfits who become each other's real people.
How do you use "found family" in a sentence?
"They aren't related by blood, but that crew is her whole found family."
How is found family different from a blood family?
It's built on chosen bonds rather than birth, formed by people who decide to be family to one another.
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