Beyond a reasonable doubt people will think having a waifu or husbando is the mark of someone who cannot get a boyfriend or girlfriend and is just down right pathetic.
2017, Chengyan Zeng, "Living in Virtual Reality: Anime and Manga Fandom", in Exploring the Rise of Fandom in Contemporary Consumer Culture (ed. Chenglu Wang), page 249:
Different from others, the waifu and the husbando are dedicated to only one character.
2018, Pilan Scruggs, "Obsessive Anime Fan Claims Waifu as Dependent, Goes Unnoticed by IRS", The MQ (satirical newspaper of the University of California San Diego), 14 March 2018, page 5:
"We should get along, and I would love to help others out so that they can claim their waifus and husbandos on their returns for this period."
2018, "Wills", The Matador (San Gabriel High School, San Gabriel, CA), 16 May 2018, page 24:
[…] passion for games and art to Vincent, waifus and husbandos to Sunhi, and a bright future to Ashley Young.
2018, "Kaye: Your Happy Pill", Bliss Digital Arts Batch 2018, page 131:
Just don't frequently mention her husbandos around her though, she'll be rendered speechless for hours. *cough* Loki *cough*.
2019, Dale Beren, It Came from Something Awful: How a Toxic Troll Army Accidentally Memed Donald Trump Into Office, unnumbered page:
For example, the otaku had popularized body pillows, a human-size pillow imprinted with the image of one's waifu (“wife”) or husbando (“husband”), the anime girl or boy to which the otaku imagines he or she is married.
2019, Marc Castillo, "Staff Picks: Best Of 2019", Konshuu, Volume 51, Issue 1 (2019), page 8:
I played this for the husbandos, and I have no regrets.
2019, Phoenix Fan Fusion 2019 Program Guide, page 65:
We know that you otaku have a waifu or husbando to share!
2019, Anabell Xu, "Put Your Money Where Your Heart Is", The Arcadia Quill (Arcadia High School, Arcadia, CA), February 2019, page 5:
That's right, you heard me, your local cartoon husbando is nothing but a marketing trick designed to get you, a single person, to fall in love and buy their merch!
2019, Aaron Wang & Kelly Yip, "'Frozen 2' Reviews That'll Thaw a Frozen Heart" (satire), The Stuyvesant Spectator (Stuyvesant High School, Manhattan, NY), 20 December 2019, page 23:
Lastly, best anime waifu/husbando is Olaf, no doubt.
2021, Courtney N. Plante, Stephen Reysen, & Thomas R. Brooks, CAPE: A Multidimensional Model of Fan Interest, page 191:
For example, about 30% of anime fans report having waifu or husbando—that is, they consider (sometimes jokingly, sometimes not) an anime character to be their wife or husband […]
2021, Stephen Reysen, Courtney N. Plante, Daniel Chadborn, Sharon E. Roberts, & Kathleen C. Gerbasi, Transported to Another World: The Psychology of Anime Fans, unnumbered page:
Those with waifus or husbandos are also more likely to feel a greater sense of belongingness to the anime fandom, a fandom which they're also more likely to consider to be unique compared to other fandoms.
2021, IJane Louise Caringal, "What Kind Of Otaku Are You?", The Leaf (Santa Teresa College, Bauan, Philippines), Volume 54, Number 1, page 15:
When it comes to her ships, husbandos, and even waifus, she is as passionate as a housewife on a time-limited sale.
2021, Booked (University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos, Bacolod, Philippines), page 87:
She has a long list of husbandos and does not hesitate to assign one for each day of the week.
