#or pacifabel

[legendary-defender-of-fandoms]

The Hitachiin Twins vs The Pines Family (aka Why I’m Anti-Pinecest)

For the record, I’m against incest in every way, shape, and form - cousins, step-siblings, twincest, etc. - whether it’s real, fictional, or mythological. But my reasons for being anti-Pinecest go a little further beyond *shudders*, *gags*, and just plain Nope. And to better demonstrate my point, I thought I would compare & contrast the Pines Family with the Hitachiin Twins from the Ouran High School Host Club anime. Because, while I don’t ship the Hitachiin Twins with each other At All, I will acknowledge their bond lends itself towards twincest more than either set of Pines Twins.

See, everyone at the start of Ouran High School Host Club treats the Hitachiin Twins like one entity. Their servants, their classmates, the other members of the Host Club. Even the animators are guilty of this - in the intro, the Hitachiin Twins never get solo shots despite all the other members of the Host Club getting at least one solo scene each. And in the show proper, the Hitachiin Twins are always seen on-screen together, either reciting a script to impress their clients or speaking, moving, even thinking as one. It’s not until Haruhi joins the Host Club and treats the Hitachiin Twins as two people rather than one entity that Hikaru & Kaoru start to explore their individuality - wearing different outfits that become more distinct as the two become more confident in their separate identities, having different opinions of people or activities, even getting a few scenes apart here & there.

It’s hard to say why this is - did outsiders failing to acknowledge the Hitachiin Twins as individuals cause them to reflexively shut out everyone but each other, or did Hikaru & Kaoru’s reluctance to separate or bond with others lead to outsiders reflexively seeing them as two indistinguishable halves of one being?

Whatever the reason, the Hitachiin Twins by the time the anime begins are so perfectly in sync they might as well be one character. With these two, twincest isn’t about two people being in romantic love no matter what society says - it’s more like one consciousness split between two bodies. Like the Topaz Fusion in Steven Universe, or the Heretic & the Wanderer in the new Dark Crystal series.

This is NOT the case with either set of Pines Twins.

The writers of Gravity Falls did a great job establishing all the members of the Pines family as individuals first, someone’s twin second. Dipper and Mabel spend a lot of on-screen time together, but they also get plenty of opportunities to demonstrate their individuality. There are plenty of cutting remarks that either Hikaru or Kaoru could say without sounding out of character, but Dipper getting excited about an 80s themed dance party would be about as weird as Mabel staying up all night reading books about code cracking. Stan was intitally introduced as his own person, not one half of a set of twins. The reveal of Ford recontextualized a lot of idiosyncrocies about Stan’s backstory, but it didn’t change his personality. Ford was a latecomer to the show, but he set himself apart from his brother right at the start.

Both sets of Pines Twins can be unstoppable forces when they work together, but they can also stand on their own two feet. Dipper and Ford aren’t as social as their counterparts, but that doesn’t mean they’ve completely shut themselves off from others like the Hitachiin Twins.

So if Mystery Twincest & Stancest aren’t based on two people acting like one, like the Hitachiin Twins, then where did they come from? Are they based on the simple fact that both sets of Pines Twins love each other? You guys know it IS possible to love someone without feeling any romantic or sexual attraction, right?

I’m not sure what the situation is like in other countries, but here in America there’s this weird, pervasive idea of putting romantic/sexual affection above all other forms of love. Oh, these two people shared a hug? Must be True Love! Wait, they’re related? Ooh, gotta be incest! The Ancient Greeks believed there were at least four different kinds of love, with romantic/passionate love (Eros) being far from the most important.

So, while there is no doubt in my mind both sets of Pines Twins love each other, I would categorize their love as either Philia (virtuous, dispassionate love for friends & family) or Storge (love of family, usually between parent & child but could also qualify for siblings). Sweet, unrelenting, and 1,000,000,000% NOT SEXUAL OR ROMANTIC!!!