So, random thought: Why is "dating the genderbent version of yourself" such a popular trope in media?
For context, I was forced to rewatch the Alvin and the Chipmunks live action movie, and ADHD did as ADHD does.
I ended up considering the Chipettes, who are generally considered to the Chipmunks' love interests, and are just literal female versions of them.
Which led to me thinking about how both the Chipmunks and the Chipettes have the same mutations that make them slightly larger than average and capable of human speech.
A mutation that specific happening twice, to two completely unrelated sets of chimpmonk siblings, is beyond unlikely. Not impossible, it probably could happen, but it's far from being likely. Add in that my first thought on meeting a genderswap version of me would be 'holy fucking shit, when did my parents have another kid?' rather than anything to do with dating or romance, I concluded that the Chipmunks and Chipettes are probably related.
They could be half-siblings* that share a mother, possibly from the same litter (chipmunks can have 2-6 babies per litter) or from 2 separate litters from the same year, considering the two groups are portrayed as being about the same age. This is probably the worst-case/ickiest possibility, and sadly also the most likely.
The less icky possibility is cousins, born from siblings who share the same mutation or carry genes for the mutation, and both passed it on to their children. Still a bit gross, but less disturbing than siblings.
TL;DR: It's weird that we ship characters with opposite-gender versions of themselves when our logical assumptions should have been closer two "those guys are related some how" and I'm slightly icked out.
*I'm saying mother because chipmunks, like many animals, are polygamous, and females often have litters that are fathered by multiple males. As the Chipmunks are together and acknowledge each other as brothers, I'm assuming that they're from the same litter.*
