Maybe sounds pathetic, but I keep the intensity going whenever my waifu and I realize that we need each other.

I don't see it as a problem personally. As you said, it happens in many other relationships, the important thing is being there for one another, much like the anon that posted before me said.

Having said that, I was able to rekindle some of the fire, so to speak, after re-watching the anime she's from the other day. It helped reaffirm why I love her. I'm sure there are many other methods that can help, but nothing beats that first impression.

My relationship isn't at 20+ months yet, but to keep things interesting, I believe you can't just rely on the source material, and you need to proactively love your waifu. Take that as you will.

To those of you who can just rely on the source material for extended periods of time - congratulations, because you have done something that many can't and I certainly can't imagine myself doing (just because it's so difficult in comparison to alternatives - although there is an appeal to what you do).

>It's like reading your favourite book for the 20th time and trying to be as pleased as you were the first time you were reading it.

You see, when that book literally changed your life entirely and you're still living accordingly, it's not even about re-reading it: it's always there, all the time, for it has become one with you and re-visiting it isn't much different from looking yourself in a mirror. For me at least, love is something that keeps working beyond any amount of temporal excitement or acedia about it; your true beloved is not what disturbs or not your heart at any given moment: it's your heart itself. In any case, I would never use 3DPD experiences as an equivalent parameter for it.

I guess you can say so. It's the moment when the spark dies out, so to speak. Maybe I'm not entirely there yet. But I am still zealous in acquiring character goods and figs of her. She's quite different and stands apart from the typical cookie cutter girls. Since her material is more on-going, I find it interesting to unravel her past, bit by bit and doing it makes me more interested in her as time passes.

It's natural that love progresses from a fiery obsessive love into a deeper bond. Based on hormones really, and fits under that time span you describe, around three years. Which is why most 3DPD relationships also break up after that point. As someone with a waifu, you should work to maintain your love and to develop it into a deeper bond. Don't feel as if you lost something. Rather, consider it a progression from superficial attraction and infatuation into love that can be tried and tested, yet still emerge unscathed.

As for how to try and rekindle the fire? Try to spend time with one another. Talk to her, think of her. Perhaps set aside a day to spend with exclusively her. A date if you will at the movies, then dinner, then cuddling or revisiting her source material.

>>14538

To me, relying on something other than source material/canon feels like deluding myself. Fan-made material is , in essence, looking at (or reading) what another person thinks of your waifu. And constantly thinking/imagining her doing novel things on your own, is your brain's interpretation of her rather than actually her. I also don't get how people can have waifus from Touhou for these reasons.

Putting it this way, it's kind of like I'm in love with a combination of the manga creator's mind, the anime's character design & animation department's art, and the seiyuu's voice.

>>14544
>I also don't get how people can have waifus from Touhou for these reasons.
>Putting it this way, it's kind of like I'm in love with a combination of the manga creator's mind, the anime's character design & animation department's art, and the seiyuu's voice.

Well, you just answered your own question. The problem is you assumed that ZUN doesn't release more canon material regarding his characters other than his games, whereas he did release material such as books, even if you do not include the numerous manga, that gives more insights to the minds of his characters. The rest is just left to the imagination of various people, much like our interactions to our waifus.

And besides, Touhou characters already have a base conception of what their character is supposed to be, on things like how do they look like, how do they act and how do they speak much like characters in a novel that have no official art, except that at least we're lucky to even have official art. Things like animation or official voicing are already trivial. I mean, would your reaction to your waifu be different if she had no animation or didn't have a seiyuu, if she was just a character in a novel? Would she then be a different person to you? Will she then be a different person?

>>14544
For me what you described feels like having a favorite character rather than a waifu. But well, it's really different for everyone.

>>14545
That's a really cute picture

>>14546

I suppose you're right. It's more of a "character I really love" thing to me, rather than an actual bond I create with a character embedded in my brain.

>>14545

>would your reaction to your waifu be different if she had no animation or didn't have a seiyuu, if she was just a character in a novel? Would she then be a different person to you? Will she then be a different person?

Well, I can't answer that since it has never happened. I've never had a significant attraction to a character that was manga/novel-only. But that's probably because I don't read much fiction.

If I had come to love a manga-only character, and then watched the anime of the manga; the character's voice, expressions and body movement would significantly affect my attraction to her.

Ah, actually there is something like an example. I've never played Idolmaster, but I've felt very attracted to Anzu Futaba just by her descriptions in wikis and other sites. However, once I've listened to her character song (I came upon that much later), her voice put me off a bit.

>>14556
>If I had come to love a manga-only character, and then watched the anime of the manga; the character's voice, expressions and body movement would significantly affect my attraction to her.

>Ah, actually there is something like an example. I've never played Idolmaster, but I've felt very attracted to Anzu Futaba just by her descriptions in wikis and other sites. However, once I've listened to her character song (I came upon that much later), her voice put me off a bit.

Well, it shouldn't actually affect your attractions to her because if so, chances are it's just infatuation, much like physical attraction. You know, the stuff the makes 3D relationships poisonous.

I mean, my beloved Marisa, for example, her wiki descriptions right from the start was that she was too straightforward, too self-serving, a thief and a person that picks fights just for the hell of it. And on the actual game, players regard Marisa as a very difficult character because she was too fast and she fires mostly in straight patterns. I can attest to that. Even fan depictions are no better in this regard, as she's depicted outright as a man, either by joke or seriously. I can't even look at her naked. But those didn't put me off her.

And there people here at /mai/ that have Saya from Saya no Uta as their waifu. Her girlish form is just an illusion and her real face is monstrous. (Should I even spoiler that?) Yet they're not put off her.

>>14561

Hm, I see attraction as having both an audiovisual and a mental/personal aspect. The latter part is of course more important, but the first part is not wholly unimportant (When I said put off, I meant only to a small degree by the way, not completely).