#plus pretty certain I saw a Bowuigi posts already that explained why ships don't have to be healthy

[phoenix-inblue]

No hate to anyone here, all the opinions are valid. And I agree, at least ONE (Bowser) would need to change (or be ooc from the start, or have to upset the power dynamic, etc) in order for the ship to be healthy. Not that it has to be healthy, but that's a seperate topic. Really I'm about to write this because the "why" has been on my mind lately and this is an excuse to say what I think.

There are a few other things that make the ship appealing outside of just "blorbos kissing" and "movie scene with accidental tension" (though those by themselves are valid). The easiest one to talk about is many's favorite: Beauty and the Beast! Now, if you don't like that fairytale, that's totally fair. But for those who do like it, having a Bowser / *almost any human* ship is very very easy to put in that category. Plus, in the Disney movie, the Beast does act like an a-hole at first and has to change for the better. Bowser could fill his role pretty well! Now, if we circle back around to the movie - Luigi is held prisoner and it gives a good excuse for him to fill Belle's role.

Next it's about Bowser's obsession with Peach. He is trying soooo hard to get the girl. But Peach is simply Not Interested and has directly said so. But Bowser is a likeable character for some, and so some of us just really want him to have a win somewhere. So, for Bowuigi or other Bowser-centric ships, maybe it's a matter of rethinking his goals. Why does he want Peach? Because she's pretty? Human? Royalty? Is it simply for rights to the Mushroom Kingdom? Does he just want someone to love, and how did she get into his sights if so? I've seen several fics tackle several different interpretations, and I love most different directions shippers take it!

Meanwhile, Luigi has entirely different problems. He's an anxious man who is stuck in his brother’s shadow. Further summarized: anxiety and overlooked. Now, he's not weak or anything. He's a hero too and is just as good as his brother. But with how other's treat him - or how afraid he becomes at times - it is very easy to see his potential insecurities.

This is where I might lose you if I haven't already: these elements have Bowser and Luigi complete eachother. Maybe not easily like puzzle pieces (and yeah I know a shipper would need some creative liberties, but I think that's the fun in it) but hear me out!

Depending on your interpretation of Bowser, maybe he can get his goals from Luigi instead of Peach. As I said earlier, I've seen a few different directions this could take in fics, and personally I like the variety. My personal favorite interpretations are "Bowser just wants someone to dote on as well as be a 2nd parent to Junior" as well as "Bowser thinks most humans are cute, he just happened to meet Peach first." There's also fics where Bowser just wants to make life better for his kingdom and pursued Peach to gain more prosperous land. This could evolve to "he learns pursuing Peach is a dead end and seeks out a treaty instead" and this leads to excuses for Luigi to be the one to help the kingdoms towards peace. I also read a fic somewhere where Bowser and Luigi marry as a "betrothed" situation for the sake of a treaty. Plus there's always the fun bonus of annoying Bowser’s arch nemesis, Mario, in the process! I don't want to list all the scenarios I read, this is getting too long as is, but I hope this makes sense! Edit because I think I explained it so poorly: Bowser is known for pursuing someone (Peach). How Luigi completes this goal is by having Bowser pursue him instead and win. It's just of matter of the "why?"

Then for Luigi, I think this part is actually way easier to explain. Scared of everything? But what's scarier than Bowser??? Everyone likes Mario better than Luigi :( ? Well, Mario might have fans and a princess, but now Luigi has a king! In a way, Luigi getting with Bowser has a couple of wins! And might even cover the hero's "weaknesses" if you want to interpret the dynamic that way.

In other words, while yes the movie introduced many - including myself - to this ship, the tension in *that scene* alone isn't the only appeal. There are other elements in their species (beast and human), their roles (king and hero), and their personalities (wants to love and be loved) that can make the ship make sense.

Finally, someone who gets why Bowluigi makes no sense! I swear, it has to be that one out of context scene in the Mario movie trailer where people saw "Oh, two characters in close proximity, therefore ship" and just ran with it even though there was no reason to suspect that was the context in the trailer, and when the full context was revealed, it was about Bowser worrying that he'd have romantic competition for Peach. There's nothing that Bowser would find attractive about Luigi, or vice versa. He would see a wimpy weak human and Luigi would see a huge terrifying monster.

Now does this mean that there aren't any interesting possibilities with this dynamic? Absolutely not! I could see a sort of unlikely friendship/frenemy relationship where they have things that they could learn from each other, like Bowser forcing Luigi to face his fears in the most aggressively "helpful" way possible, or maybe they could talk about the things that make them feel insecure. But I just don't see that blossoming into romance.

No I do NOT mind the ship at all! If anything, it spawns a lot of…tasteful…art hehehehe (yeah that’s right, I’m a filthy degenerate, but I’d rather not show that here on my Tumblr. That’s what Twitter is for lol)

But I would prefer it if the didn’t change Bowser’s personality. That’s it. And I applaud @xxno-thoughts-just-chaosxx for doing God’s work for keeping him as Bowser-like as possible in the ship.