#anyway for those who haven’t read this yet. I hope you enjoy ☺️🫶

[kinopeachy]

Why I think Waluigi and Rosalina work as a couple

I decided to write this informal essay/semi-fanfic (?) for some reason, I hope you all enjoy it ☺️ I ended up posting screenshots of this draft on Twitter as a thread but have decided to post it here as well haha. They might have initially become popular due to being the “leftover characters” to pair up as a het couple besides Mareach, Luaisy, and (sometimes) Warmona but they absolutely very much still work on their own!

Waluigi and Rosalina may seem like such different characters, but I think beneath the surface they’re actually a lot more similar than they appear to be…and that there’s actually a lot of hidden potential between them as a ship.

(more under the cut!)

I should preface this by saying that I do NOT think they work realistically if they fall in love at first sight. I think Rosalina — especially after interacting with Mario and friends after so long being alone — would be quite guarded and very hesitant to be close to/befriend anyone right away, much less fall in love with them…this is also more of a feeling based on her character but I don’t think she’s the type to really be attracted to anyone based on looks alone. I feel she’s the type of person who falls in love with someone — albeit very slowly — because of who they are on the inside. (For this reason I view all Rosalina ships as somewhat slow-burn, at least on her end).

As for Waluigi, he would probably be attracted to Rosalina based on her looks and what he’s heard about her at first glance, as well as fascinated with her mysterious aura, but he wouldn’t love her in a deeper way until later. I think his initial impression would be that she is beautiful but too unattainable — even more so than Daisy, with how reserved, secretive, and how otherworldly she looks. He doesn’t know much about her, but he’s heard bits from Wario about her being a very powerful being/guardian from space that Mario met while saving Peach yet again, so I feel like with this info he becomes interested in knowing more about her and (eventually) becomes more fascinated with her than with Daisy. He does pursue her a bit romantically at the start, but not too seriously.

Anyway, first thing is I think they would relate to each other over the fact that they’re both incredibly lonely for different reasons and that they are outsiders.

Rosalina is lonely because she’s never interacted with this many humans since she left with the Luma to find its mother and is getting used to being on earth again after so much time. I feel like just before she met and befriended Mario, she longed for human connection she hadn’t had in centuries as she felt that the Lumas couldn’t fully relate to her feelings sometimes, but didn’t know how to go about it. She is also obviously an outsider as she has lived in space for most of her existence and is just getting used to how modern society works, including modern slang and technology, so she feels a little out of place even if Mario and her friends like her presence.

On the other hand, Waluigi is lonely because he’s always overlooked and overshadowed by everyone as well as seen as so much of a loser that no one believes in him. Outside of the kart/party/sports events, he’s never really invited to anything and isn’t particularly close with anybody except for Wario, but even then, Wario kind of goes off to do his own thing a lot. He never really belongs anywhere and is just…there most of the time.

This moment where they end up relating to each other wouldn’t happen right away — I don’t see either of them as the type to instantly befriend each other upon their first meeting — but I like to think it happens after Rosalina has gone to a few of the sports/kart/party events. At this point they would be aware of each other’s existence, and would have interacted a few times (with these interactions mostly being Waluigi either doing his usual grumbling or flirting with Rosa because he thinks she’s kind of attractive, she would be a bit taken aback but not really think much of it), but they don’t really see each other in a particularly positive or negative light, kind of more neutrally. Waluigi would kind of like Rosalina because of his attraction to and fascination with her, but would be a bit suspicious of her intentions because of her connection to Mario and the gang. Rosalina would think Waluigi is an…interesting character and isn’t as disgusted or as repulsed by his nature as others (she doesn’t let stuff like that bother her), but she wouldn’t really think much else of him.

However, when it does happen, Rosalina happens to catch Waluigi in a rare moment of weakness when he thinks no one is looking, one where he seems kind of...sad, which is quite uncharacteristic of him. She sees a crack through his usually carefully crafted persona he has of being vain, rude, conceited, and overconfident — which is all a façade. He actually isn’t very confident in himself at all, and has very poor self-esteem. No one — not his (former) crush Daisy, not his rival Luigi, sometimes not even his brother/friend Wario as he can be a bit self-absorbed and dismissive of him sometimes — seems to really care about him…

Rosalina is incredibly perceptive, so she happens to pick up on this small moment and that’s how she ends up confronting him. (She usually isn’t one to approach others first, but she felt compelled to since being the naturally nurturing, comforting person she is, she just couldn’t watch him being sad.) And through this moment — though they don’t get overly personal about their pasts yet — Waluigi somehow ends up being honest about his feelings of worthlessness and not belonging, and Rosalina assures him that he is worthy and that she relates to the feeling of being an outsider, having not spent too much time on this planet. This marks the beginning of an unlikely friendship where Waluigi ends up not playing up this persona as much when around Rosalina and ends up feeling supported for the first time in his life. As for Rosalina, she would feel less weird about being an outsider knowing he is too — I feel like Waluigi would be surprisingly supportive during her weak moments especially after she showed him so much kindness. Through this friendship, they’d slowly begin to trust each other more, share more about themselves, and (eventually) fall in love.

The next thing is, I feel like they would bring the best in each other. Rosalina would bring out more of Waluigi’s calmer, more mellow self; Waluigi would bring out more of Rosalina’s childish, whimsical self. I feel that because of their past experiences, these parts of their personalities don’t really shine through as much anymore…

For Waluigi, this is more headcanon than anything, but I imagine he has been dismissed all throughout his upbringing and childhood by his parents/family, so his persona is a way for him to deal with these negative feelings of worthlessness. This part of his past brings up negative memories which I feel like could be one reason he is quite secretive about his personal life…so I feel like Rosalina is helpful in reassuring him and calming him down when he feels especially angry or bitter about himself.

For Rosalina, I think deep down she still has a bit of unresolved grief over losing her mother and family as well as feels the weight of the responsibilities as the mother of the Lumas and protector of the cosmos so she lost a lot of the childish whimsical self that she had…she easily gets stressed and forgets to enjoy herself…I like to think Waluigi is a prankster even if he’s acting in a more good natured manner so he always tries to find a way to make Rosalina smile/laugh. I love thinking about them doing goofy things together from time to time…

There’s a bit more to it than this but like. These are the two big reasons that I feel they can work. I know it seems very strange and I hope it doesn’t seem too out of character for them but I hope you can see my vision 😭