while I’ve still got the survey on my mind, shoutout to the 17% of respondents who gave this pattern the highest possible score to categorize it as ‘highly informative’. y’all’s brains are massive and I’m still thinking about it days later
The second half of the results! This was fun as heck to make. :) Thank you to everyone who filled out the survey, and a big thanks to Wrought Iron Stitcher on Insta for coming up with the idea!
The results of last weekend’s survey are in! Since it was just a quick survey made as a joke I planned to just slap something together for the results, but it turns out my two favorite things in life are messing around in Excel and making mockup Powerpoint slides, so here we are
For why certain ships were favored, general reasons included good interactions,good potential,good chemistry,cuteness, and good fandom content.
For specific ships:
Shiro/Keith:
Shiro and Keith have a great dynamic that comes from their history and their satisfying canon interactions. They fit the friends-to-lovers trope well. Their relationship is very supportive; they have a close, strong bond characterized by mutual respect, love, trust, care for each other, devotion, andloyalty. They are each other’s most important person, and their character development is intertwined. Shiro and Keith are both handsome together, and have a lot of potential, due to their mysterious pre-Kerberos backstory. They can be angsty at times, as well. Other responders like Sheith out of spite, because Shiro and Keith are their favorite characters, or because of the size difference.
Pidge/Lance:
Pidge and Lance have a nice existing dynamic. They play off each other nicely and have the same sense of humor, subtle teasing, and love of video games. Many responders said that they are very cute together. Their transition to romance has the potential to be interesting as well; they can go from a sibling dynamic-/friends who tease-/unlikely colleagues-to-friends-to-lovers (possibly featuring an adorably jealous Pidge, and a Lance who falls for a girl he hadn’t even considered he could fall for). They can bond about how they miss their families. They have had good canon interactions, and there’s good fanart associated with the ship. Also, the size difference is good!
Allura/Lance:
Many people like this ship because of how their relationship has gotten deeper as the show has progressed. They’ve gone from a one-sided relationship to a two-sided relationship, and that relationship is becoming something new and interesting; there’s more respect, mutual support, character development, and lots of bonding.Season 3 especially had some great moments for them. Allura and Lance can help each other grow as people; for example, Allura can help Lance be more serious and responsible, and Lance can help Allura embrace her youth more, have fun, and be sillier. Lance can be the foil to Allura’s overly responsible and serious personality. The two of them are incredibly strong characters and they make a fun and cute ship with a good color scheme.
Hunk/Lance:
Hance falls into the friends-to-lovers trope of ships. They already have a strong bond as friends and have a good dynamic to work off. Their personalities contrast but work together well. It’s a feel-good ship.
Keith/Lance:
For some, this was the first Voltron ship they were introduced to. Others like their rivalry dynamic; their relationship can fit the rivals-to-lovers trope (or an “enemies-to-friends-to-lovers” one), which can create exciting slow-burn. They have good chemistryandpotential, as seen in their canon interactions and moments (including those in season 3). The fandom has produced good content for them, and they have an opposites attract, yin-and-yang kind of vibe.
Shiro/Allura:
They have a good power couple dynamic with an element of emotional complexity (they have a common enemy and a shared sense of loss). They have a good amount of respect for one another and are supportive of each other. They have good canon interactions in which they have demonstrated an interest in one another. Plus, they are cute.
Hunk/Keith:
Hunk and Keith’s personalities and stories can make for interesting explorations in the fandom. They are liked characters, and the Weblum episode really highlighted their potential. They are very soft and cuddly!
Keith/Allura:
They have good character interactions and dynamics. They have a “rockier road” to getting along, especially from Allura’s end, but they end up becoming stronger for it and gain a lot of respect for each other. They have a lot of potential for relationship development. Furthermore, Kallura was the main ship in previous iterations of Voltron, so there is a nostalgia factor. “I’ve shipped Kallura for 30-plus years,” one responder wrote, and another responder described how they have loved the ship since they were a little girl.
Shiro/Lance:
Theirpotential dynamic is interesting. For example, Lance can get over his hero complex with Shiro to see he’s a real person, and Shiro can realize that there’s more to Lance than just being a goofball. They can work together mutually to solve each other’s insecurities and be there for each other. In addition, there is good Shance contentandfriendly fans in the fandom.
Hunk/Shay:
Some adjectives used to describe this ship are: pure, sweet, good, adorable, wholesome, andfluffy. They have strong canon interactions and are the most likely to be canon. They inspire each other to be their best and most heroic selves.
Least Favorite Voltron Ships
The tally of least favorite ships is as follows:
General reasons for disliking a ship included lack of chemistry,discourse,non-romantic interpretations of a relationship, and lack of appeal.
For specific ships:
Keith/Lance:
Thefandom can be overbearing, and the antis bring shipping toxicity and discourse, ruining the ship for many. Because Klance is The Popular Ship, the fandom is also oversaturated with this ship. Portrayals of Keith and Lance in Klance fanworks tend to destroy their canon personalities. They don’t have any chemistry or canon material, and have an unappealing dynamic that comprises of them fighting a lot. Other responders just aren’t a fan of rivalry ships, calling them bland. This ship reminds one responder of dismissing bullying for affection.
Shiro/Allura:
Fandom attitudes about this ship and the presence of antis have turned responders away from it. Shiro and Allura are characterized as the “Space Parents”, which is an unappealing mischaracterization. Before the Allura Age Reveal, it was often presented as a “better alternative” to other ships that are just as, if not more viable. There is a lack of a romantic dynamic, canon support, andchemistry for the ship. For some, it conflicts with other OTPs that they have.
Shiro/Pidge:
Respondersinterpreted their relationship assibling-like or father/daughter-like. There is a lack of chemistry between them, and a concerning age gap.
Shiro/Keith:
Many responders perceive their relationship asbrotherly. There is a concerning age gap, and the discourse attached to this ship has ruined it for others.
Shiro/Slav:
There is an abundance of antis that either push this ship as “The Only Acceptable Shiro Ship” or use this ship to get Shiro out of the shipping pool in a “stupid and petty” attempt to undermine other ships. It’s a crack ship that taken a bit too seriously, considering their lack of a romantic dynamic. Also, Shiro and Slav trigger each other’s mental illnesses, which is unhealthy and part of the reason that they don’t like each other in the first place.
Shiro/Matt:
Antis have flocked to this ship, pushing it as “The Only Good Shiro Ship”. This has created some bad times in the fandom and has upset responders. There is a lack of canon support due to Matt’s lack of character. Thus, there is a lack of chemistry. This ship may also conflict with OTPs.
Lance/Lotor:
Too often, this ship is used as a prop for Klance, which is unfortunate; it seems that everyone else is used to prop up Lance as the star. The portrayal of this ship by fandom is distasteful, often involving dub-con, non-con, abuse and woobifying Lance. They don’t even like each other or what they stand for in canon, so why pair them up? There’s currently no way for them to fall in love as equals. Lancelot is an uninteresting crack ship that also happens to be associated with antis.
Shiro/Lance:
There is a lack of interaction and chemistry between them, and some interpret their relationship as friends rather than potential lovers. They have a lack of understanding of each other because they have different worldviews and values that won’t mesh well in a romantic relationship. The age gap is questionable, and some would rather ship Shiro with others.
Shiro/Sendak:
Some responders don’t like this ship because they don’t like Galra/Paladin ships. Others don’t like Sendak himself. He has hurt Shiro (and the other paladins) before so this ship can be said to be inherently abusive. Portrayals of this ship can involve squicky things like non-con and dub-con. They don’t like each other in canoneither.
Some people mentioned that they didn’t like some wlw ships (e.g. Shay/Allura, Nyma/Allura, Pidge/the Space Mall Girl) due to antisshipping them to either get characters out of the way or for “fake woke points”
Feelings about Groups of Ships
Shaladin
Most responders were okaywith Shaladin ships. “Ship and let ship” was a common motto among them. The only real, consistent caveat for them as Shidge: people were wary of the age difference, and they at least want Pidge to be aged up enough in AUs and such so the age gap isn’t weird.
Of the people who didn’t like Shaladin, they cited things like power dynamics,uncomfortable age gaps, and personal preferences.
Piladin
Again,“Ship and let ship” was thrown around a lot in response to Piladin. However, there were slightly more people against Piladin ships than Shaladin ships. Mostly, people were wary of the age gap and (especially in the case of Shidge) wanted Pidge to be aged up before shipping her, and some saw more of a sibling/platonic relationship between her and the other paladins.
Palalotor
The opinions overall were more neutral. Some responders liked them as crack ships, or liked hero/villain ships in general. Responders noted that portrayals of Palalotor often involved non-con, dub-con, and general creepiness; some liked those sort of stories, and others didn’t. Some responders called out Lancelot as the worst of the Palalotor ships, mostly due to the overabundance of non-con and dub-con, Fanon Lance, and the fact that it is often used as a vehicle for Klance. Others mentioned that any Palalotor relationship would be unhealthy, and it would be hard to judge any of the ships’ potential considering the lack of canon interaction.
Klance
Opinions were very mixed. The people who liked Klance liked it for their onscreen chemistry,potential,rivals-to-friends (-to-lovers) dynamic, and their compatibility.
The majority of people who don’t like Klance said that the fandom/antis/discourse ruined it for them. The antis and toxic shippers give the ship a negative association, especially when they attack people who don’t ship Klance. The fandom is oversaturatedwith Klance, and even still, many portrayals of the ship are OOC. In some works, Keith is OOC and treated as a reward for Lance, in others, the fandom forces Keith and Lance into an unsatisfactory dynamic. Others who don’t like it cited lack of chemistry and their distaste for rival based ships. As one responder said, “the whole ‘two skinny boys who hate each other are actually gay for each other whodathunkit’ thing is overused, noncanon, feels like a ‘hatesex-yaoi-trope’ kinda thing”.
Shallura
People who don’t like this ship do so because of the fandom and fanon portrayal of the ship. Antishad a strong hold on the ship, but ever since the age reveal they’ve backed off, and some responders were able to enjoy the ship again. The “Space Mom and Dad” characterization has gotten old, and tends to be used to get Shiro and Allura out of the way of other ships (e.g. Klance), and responders do not like that at all. In addition, there is a lack of chemistry or standout romantic-coded moments; they have potential, but it needs to be developedfirst.
By contrast, people who like this ship like the Space Parents characterization. They see Shiro and Allura as two young people put in positions of responsibility they were not ready for, but nonetheless are strong leaders and would make for a great power couplewithmutual trust, support, and sacrifices.
Overall, opinions were split evenly.
Kallura
Again, the split opinions made for interesting explanations.
Responders who liked the ship found their dynamic interesting, noting that they had potential. They are similar characters that complement and can empathize with each other, and the ship is plausible for canon (It happened in OG Voltron, after all). One responder described their relationship as going from “strangers, to teammates, to not really enemies, but in a bad spot, to teammates again, to friends, and so on and so forth.” They’d make for an interesting battle couple, as well. A few responders shipped Kallura out of spite.
People who dislike Kallura don’t see any chemistry between Keith and Allura. Their interactions have been awkward and the ship has no canon roots, so shipping them would feel forced. The incident where Allura found out and reacted to Keith being part-Galra weighs heavily in these people’s minds as a negative interaction between the two. Kallura conflicts with headcanons of a homosexual Keith, diminishes Allura to a love interest role, already happened in the original Voltron, and is predictable and an example ofheteronormativity.
However, both sides (and the people who were neutral) agreed that their interactions should definitely be explored more in canon.
11 voters (3.82%) answered “Other”. Their responses included: queer (2 voters), asexual lesbian, polysexual, omnisexual, and others.
Favorite Voltron Ships
The tally of favorite ships is as follows:
For why certain ships were favored, general reasons included good dynamics,good chemistry,good potential,healthiness, the involvement of favorite characters, the possibility of being canon,cuteness.
For specific ships:
Keith/Lance:
They have a likable dynamic; they clash and bicker, but in the end, they support each other and help each other grow as people. Their dynamic as friends has especially developed as the show progressed, which shows that there is a lot of potential for if they go further. They have had several canon moments to fuel shipping, they are a rivals-to-lovers ship, and there is a wealth of content in the fandom. Also, they are red and blue (and fire and ice)!
Shiro/Keith:
Some adjectives used to describe their current relationship are: loving, protective, respectful, supportive, trusting, healthy, pure, caring, equal, tender, considerate, intimate, and devoted. They are each other’s most important person and they would go through hell for each other. They have an intense connection and history, and their canon moments are romantically charged, pairing them in ways that are different from the other characters. Their personalities match well, and they have a lot of potential. In addition, they are Asian mlm, and have a size difference.
Shiro/Allura:
Apower couple, these two have respect and understanding for one another. This ship would be a “union between equals” – they are both competent co-leaders, skilled fighters, and care for each other. They can bond over leadership issues and their respective angst. Also, S1E10 felt like the beginning of a romantic subplot, and they even follow the Princess & Knightarchetypes!
Hunk/Lance:
Hunk and Lance have a strong friendship, which makes them good candidates for the friends-to-lovers trope. They are adorable,healthy, and supportive, and fit togetherpersonality-wise.
Pidge/Lance:
These two have a strong “bromance” dynamicwithgood interactionsandstrong, compatible personalities. They are already good friends, with Lance even borrowing some of Pidge’s things sometimes (i.e. her headphones, her phone). They would lift each other up and help each other be better people. They are cute, and have a substantial height difference!
Shiro/Matt:
These two have good romantic potential. The fandom has proposed interesting ideas and headcanons for the ship, and Shiro and Matt have the opportunity to connect and grow closer through their shared trauma and heal together. It could potentially be quite angsty…
Shiro/Lance:
Theirpersonalities go together well, and they would support each other. For example, Shiro would help Lance feel more confident while Lance would help Shiro relax and cut loose.
Shiro/Keith/Lance:
This OT3 has all the interesting things about Klance and Sheith with a mix of Shance, combined to form something different and new! They are quite beautiful together, as well.
Keith/Allura:
Keith and Allura definitely have emotional obstacles to overcome, but it would make them stronger in the end. They are very prettytogether.
Zarkon/Haggar:
This ship is canon! And it has a deliciously tragic story behind it. There’s a good amount of dedication from Zarkon’s end, and they make for quite the evil couple.
Least Favorite Voltron Ships
The tally of least favorite ships is as follows:
General reasons for disliking a ship included lack of chemistry, distaste for canon interactions, the involvement of disliked characters (e.g. Lance, Matt), rabid shippers/antis,lack of canon basis, perceiving/preferring a platonic relationship between the characters, and simple dislike/uncomfortableness.
For specific ships:
Keith/Lance:
Thefandom has ruined this ship for many people. There are annoying shippers and antis that spew hateful rhetoric and attack other shippers (and even the cast and crew of the show). Klance has become the face of the anti movement, which gives it a negative association for many people. The ship is also everywhere. Between the oversaturationand the crosstagging, the ship has become borderline inescapable, which upsets some people. Even still, in many of these fanworks, Keith and Lance are often written OOC; this especially applies to Keith, who is often reduced to Lance’s arm candy or washed out support character. Additionally, there are responders who dislike rivals-to-lovers ships. They’re boring, and the idea that “they pick on each other so they must like each other” seems childish. Arguing does not equal attraction, and this rivalry has some underlying issues that should be worked out first. People shouldn’t romanticize their fighting. Also, Keith and Lance don’t really have that much chemistryanddon’t have that many reasons to ship them.
Shiro/Pidge:
There’s an 11-year age difference between them, and some people don’t even age Pidge up when shipping them. Their dynamic seems more like a father-figure/friend/sibling dynamic.
Keith/Allura:
Theirdynamics so far in canon are unsatisfactory. Keith seems uncomfortable with Allura, and their season 2 moments were not very good. Actually, there isn’t really a canon basis for the ship – season two just definitively established their friendship, and their season 3 interactions were rare. People who ship this are disregarding their canon events and personalities. Perhaps partially due to this, there is no chemistry or interest between them; their dynamic needs to develop more before it makes sense to ship them. Some people noted that this ship was already done in 80s Voltron,and seems forced by the creators. Others said that they headcanonned Keith and/or Allura as gay/lesbian, so they can’t be paired with each other. In addition, it seems that antis have flocked to this ship, which turned people away.
Shiro/Keith:
The most popular reason for disliking Sheith is that Shiro and Keith’s dynamic seems more brotherly/platonic than romantic. In addition, their age gap was mentioned, and one person believed that their interactions were too boring.
Shiro/Lance:
This ship gets in the way of Sheith and Klance. Their dynamic seems more platonic than romantic, and even their romantic dynamic is a bit squicky. They are often written as OOC, and there is apparently too much nsfw content of them.
Allura/Lance:
Theirpre-season 3 dynamic was…not the best. This ship was bland, and not interesting, and “morally righteous” shippers are abound.
Lance/Lotor:
This ship often portrayed negatively, i.e. a creepy rapist. The ship only seems to exist for the sake of Klance and Langst, and is often “overkill” and fetishized.
Other ships that were mentioned were Shaladin, Piladin, Lotor ships, hero/villain ships, Holtcest, and Coran/paladins.
Feelings about Groups of Ships
Shaladin
Opinions were split. There was a lot of conditional enjoyment of Shaladin ships. For example, they like Sheith but not others, they like them all except Shallura, or, most commonly, they like all Shaladin ships except for Shidge. The age gap is a concern, as well as potential power imbalances (however, it’s not as much of an issue compared to the response from the Anti portion of the survey). Also, some say that Shiro has more of a platonic relationship with the other paladins.
Piladin
People who didn’t like Piladin were concerned about the age gap between her and the other Paladins; Pidge was too young, as a 14-year-old, and characters like Allura and Shiro were too old. Also, some responders headcanonned Pidge as an aromantic asexual, which conflicts with shipping, or as a lesbian.
There was a lot more indifference for Piladin; people didn’t ship it but they didn’t mind it either. Mostly, when it comes to people who liked Piladin, they liked all the ships except for Shidge, and they would like Pidge to be aged up before shipping her.
Palalotor
Opinions on Palalotor mostly depended on Lotor’s portrayal. In many Palalotor-related fanworks, Lotor is portrayed as a rapist/abuser/manipulator/etc., which leads to bad, unhealthy dynamics that some responders didn’t like. Certain Palalotor ships are okay though; responders mentioned Keith/Lotor, Lotor/Shiro, and Lotor/Allura as interesting ships. Lance/Lotor, however, is “questionable”. Others just don’t like Lotor. He’s a bad guy, kind of overrated, and many want to see more “proof” in canon before considering ships. Other than that, there were the people who were okay with this group of ships and the people who were indifferent to it.
Klance
Klance is mostly liked for its dynamicsandrivals-to-lovers trope. Others were indifferent towards it. Many people had mixed opinions on it, liking the ship well enough but disliking the OOC portrayals,oversaturation in the fandom, and the anti movement that has tainted the ship.
Shallura
This pairing is mostly liked, as well. Notably, the“Space Mom and Dad” portrayal is unwelcome, and Allura being confirmed as a teenager made some responders wary.
Kallura
Many responders don’t like this ship, mostly because there is a lack of chemistryandthey preferred a platonic dynamic between the two characters, and also because they headcanon either or both as homosexual. People who are indifferent or like Kallura recognize that there is potential in this ship.
[This survey was held 9/9/17-10/7/17, aka before Season 4]
24 people considered themselves Anti-[insert ship here], out of 557 total responders.
Basic Demographics
How old are you?
16 voters (66.67%) are 12-17 years old
7 voters (29.17%) are 18-24 years old
1 voter is 25-34 years old
What is your gender?
11 voters (45.83%) are cisgender female
6 voters (8.33%) are genderqueer/non-binary
2 voters (8.33%) are transgender males
1 voter is a cisgender male
3 voters (12.50%) preferred not to say
1 voter was agender.
What is your sexual orientation?
7 voters (29.17%) are bisexual
5 voters (20.83%) are pansexual
4 voters (16.67%) are asexual
4 voters (16.67%) are heterosexual
1 voter is homosexual
1 voter preferred not to say
2 voters (3.82%) answered “Other”. Their responses included: biromantic asexual and panromantic asexual
Favorite Voltron Ships
The tally of favorite ships is as follows:
For why certain ships were favored, general reasons included sufficient chemistry,good dynamics, the involvement of their favorite characters, and complementing personalities.
For specific popular ships:
Keith/Lance:
Theirchemistry, already existing banter, and their complementary personalities and relationship makes them seem the most natural. They have a lot of potential in terms of developing their friendship/romantic dynamic, which could go on an “enemies to friends to maybe boyfriends” route. For example, Lance can help ground Keith, and vice versa. Also, they are red and blue!
Hunk/Lance:
Their already existing close friendship,existing banter, and camaraderie makes their romantic relationship, which should be founded on a strong friendship anyway, seem like a natural progression from friends to lovers.
Shiro/Matt:
They have a lot of potential, despite a lack of canon interactions. The possible backstory and dynamics presented in fanon have given this ship appeal, For example, they could be “awkward nerd bfs”.
Hunk/Shay:
These two are practically canon already, and they deserve to have their love expressed as such. They’re similar in personality and would make a cute couple.
Shiro/Allura:
A romantic relationship between them seems naturaland “meant to be”.
Shiro/Keith:
They are already an affectionately inseparable pair, possessing an existing banter and relationship, i.e. how Keith relies on Shiro. Perhaps they were friends since childhood? Regardless, they already have a good relationship in the show, and the ship seems to be the one that is most likely to happen if allowed. Nevertheless, their relationship is satisfying whether platonic or romantic, in any case.
Allura/Lance:
Theirrelationship has developed from flirty (one-sided) to meaningful, especially now that Lance respects Allura.
Least Favorite Voltron Ships
The tally of least favorite ships is as follows:
For this question, many mentioned Shaladin, Piladin, Palalotor, and Kallura, which are also addressed on the next question, so I’ll save those for then. Meanwhile, there were some specific ships named, so:
Shiro/Keith:
Along with the age gap (18 y/o vs. 25 y/o) and the problems it can bring, it seems that Keith is often feminized/a bottom, which contributes to the “fetishization of mlm relationships”.
Shiro/Pidge:
It’s hard to entertain the idea that Shiro and Pidge are in the same age group; the age gap makes it pedophilic no matter how you look at it. Besides, they have more of a mentor/familial relationshipanyway.
Shiro/Allura:
Itdoesn’t ring for some people, and others dislike it mostly in spite of the other antis who are giving it a pass.
In addition, some didn’t like Lotor/His generals because they saw it as more of an mlm/wlw solidarityrelationship.
Feelings about Groups of Ships
Shaladin
A majority of this responder group doesn’t like Shaladin. Many of them see Shiro as older based on both the guidebook and how he looks and acts. Thus, the large age gap between Shiro and the other paladins is uncomfortable. Some people compared their relationship to that of a high-school student and a college graduate, or a teacher and a student. Such a large age gap is unhealthy, inappropriate, and downright pedophilic, and can produce power imbalances that can lead to abuse. This can reflect back on Shiro in a negative way, making him look bad in his position as a leader, and running his “space daddy” image. Also, some responders were uncomfortable with the age gap were either Shiro’s age or the other paladins’ age, and were personally uncomfortable with the idea dating someone in the other age group, which turned them off from these ships.
Others dislike these ships because they perceive the relationships between Shiro and the other paladins as familial/sibling-like, not romantic.
Some responded with conditions; for example, Shaladin is okay as long as it isn’t Shidge (if you don’t age them up, it’s a 14 y/o dating a 20-something y/o), Sheith is all right, Shallura is the only acceptable Shaladin ship, etc. One responder claimed that if you ignore the guidebook and assume either everyone is a teenager or everyone is an adult, then Shaladin ships are okay.
Piladin
Some people say that Piladin can be handled well if you are careful with it. Others can tolerate Pidge having an unrequited crush, or only Kidge, Hidge, and Plance.
Although people don’t hate Piladin as much as they hate Shaladin due to understanding how and why people age Pidge up in AUs and the like, they still believe that it doesn’t make this group of ships any less uncomfortable. The main issue that these responders had with Piladin, especially Shidge, was the age gap. As before, such an age gap is unacceptable, and the resulting power imbalance can pave a way towards abuse. Shidge, again, has the worst of this, because its “literal pedophilia”, (according to one responder). Because Pidge is so young, she shouldn’t be concerned with romance, and she has expressed no interest canonically. Also, some responders headcanon Pidge as asexual or aromantic asexual, which clashes with the idea of her being in a romantic and/or sexual relationship with others.
Palalotor
Some people mentioned that they haven’t seen enough of Lotor to form an opinion of him or potential ships he could be in. Also, any ships involving Lotor and the Paladins wouldn’t be interesting because they haven’t canonically met yet.
Other responders are against Palalotor because Lotor is a villain and the enemy of the paladins so any relationships between them would be unhealthy and abusive. Also, Lotor is, presumably, older then even Shiro, so Pidge/Lotor is out of the question.
Klance
Opinions on Klance lean more towards positive compared to the previous topics.
Responders like Klance because it has a small age gap,lots of chemistry, and good dynamics that hold a lot of promise for the future. A number of people named it as their OTP.
A few people still like Klance, but only as long as the characters aren’t reduced to OOC tropes or the rest of the team isn’t villainized “so Keith can be the paladin in shining armor”.
The other responders who didn’t like Klance say that its overrated,omnipresent in the fandom, suffers from mischaracterization, and doesn’t have much canon basis.
Shallura
Opinions were more split here. Mostly, the people who don’t like this pairing used to like it until Allura was stated to be like a teenager, after which they were uncomfortable with the implied age gap and turned away from the pairing. However, some people don’t buy the age estimate and ship it regardless.
Kallura
Again, opinions were split. People who were okay with Kallura saw nothing inherently wrong with it and liked that it was a positive portrayal of an interracial relationship. Others who were indifferent to this ship recognize that this ship is weak and needs more material, but it has potential to be a good ship.
Among the reasons people don’t like this ship are possessing the headcanon that Keith and/or Allura as gay/lesbian, and the interactions Keith and Allura have had so far have been too cold and unsubstantial to ship them. In addition, this ship already happened in the 80s, and pushing forward with it in the present day is unnecessary and heteronormative.
To summarize the general results, the top 10 favorite pairings from this survey are:
Sheith (Shiro/Keith)
Klance(Keith/Lance)
Hance(Hunk/Lance)
Plance(Pidge/Lance)
Shallura(Shiro/Allura)
Allurance(Allura/Lance)
Hunay(Hunk/Shay)
Shance (Shiro/Lance)
Kallura (Keith/Allura)
Shatt(Shiro/Matt)
The top 10 least favorite pairings from this survey are:
Klance(Keith/Lance)
Shidge (Shiro/Pidge)
Kallura (Keith/Allura)
Sheith (Shiro/Keith)
Shallura(Shiro/Allura)
Shance (Shiro/Lance)
Shlav(Shiro/Slav)
Shatt(Shiro/Matt)
Lancelot(Lance/Lotor)
Shendak (Shiro/Sendak)
Comparison to First Shipping Survey
In the first Shipping Survey (done in May 2017), the top three favorite pairings were Klance,Sheith, and Shallura. As said in the previous section, the top three favorite pairings in this survey are Sheith,Klance, and Hance.
The general reasons for shipping turned out to be similar; many people cited good dynamics,good chemistry, and good interactions between characters in their favored ships.
Pro, Anti, or Neutral?
I asked this question because I wanted to see how these results would affect the favored/not favored ships. The results I got were:
314 voters (56.37%) said that they were Pro-[insert ship here]
184 voters (33.03%) said that they were Neutral
24 voters (4.31%) said that they were Anti-[insert-ship-here]
Also,
Most “Pro” responders were 18 to 24-year-old bisexual cisgender females.
Most “Neutral” responders were 18 to 24-year-old asexual cisgender females.
Most “Anti” responders were 12 to 17-year-old bisexual cisgender females.
This is how the favorite and least favorite ships differed:
Hey! So I posted the Langst survey results super early this morning and also it was fragmented into different posts so I thought it would be nice to make a post with all of the links to the results in one place!
The answers to this question hit on a few major grievances with Langst, which will be summarized below:
OOC Lance: Lance’s character tends to become woobiefied in Langst, which then turns it into a “Break the Woobie”-fest and that isn’t very appealing. Also, this inaccurate characterization results in Lance turning into a one-dimensional person, with almost all of the canon qualities that make him interesting, like his optimism and humor, being erased in favor of him being a turning him into a “messed up caricature of whining and stupidity”. In addition, there exists Langst in which Lance struggles with certain things that his canon self may not have had the same issues with, which is another disservice to his canon strengths. Langst creators also manage to overwrite his existing flaws with new, less realistic ones. On another note, another characterization error that Langst makes has to do with the fact that a lot of Langst uses Lance as a self-insert type of character, ignoring his issues in order to depict the issues of the writer/artist/etc. While there isn’t anything inherently wrong with this, responders at the very least wanted Langst featuring Canon Lance, not a self-projection with Lance’s name.
OOC Paladins: In Langst, the paladins tend to exist for the sole purpose of either being the problem/causing Lance’s angst or to gush and fuss over Lance constantly. Both of these options mischaracterize them or neglects their characters completely. In terms of being the problem, often what happens is that the other paladins become mean to fit a (false) “"oh Lance is so misunderstood and everyone is mean to him"” narrative. However, Lance’s canon angst comes from his own personal insecurities, and not from the actions of others, which is a narrative that a lot of Langst pushes. Characters like Shiro, for instance, are painted in a bad light in order to intensify the Langst (i.e. Shiro is abusive to Lance), and Keith, in particular, is either abusive or Lance’s Trophy Wife (or otherwise only exists to help Lance and nothing else). Finally, as mentioned earlier, when the paladins are mischaracterized in this manner, their own personal issues and angst fall to the wayside in favor of Lance. For example, in certain Kerberos AUs, Lance goes to Kerberos in Shiro’s place and his resulting PTSD is explored and acknowledged, but Shiro, who canonically went to Kerberos and got PTSD, is dragged for being in the same exact circumstances.
Oversaturated, Overrated: Some responders have noted that it was a bit strange that Lance has an entirely separate word and subgenre for his angst. There is a lot of Langst out there, and some responders feel like this lessens the value of individual Langst pieces. In addition, it always seems to be Fanon Lance that is used in Langst, which weakens the appeal. Also, it’s been overdone and to some, it is now boring.
Over-exaggerated, Uncreative: Lance’s insecurities in the show are turned in to a full-blown angst-fest in a lot of Langst. Lance isn’t as insecure as people are making him out to be, his insecurities aren’t always everyone else’s problem to deal with, and a lot of it ends up overdramatic or badly written. Also, there are a lot of the same clichés, overused tropes, and repetitive/obvious arcs used in Langst that makes it look not very creative in terms of pulling heartstrings.
Neglects others’ angst: Several responders were irked that the angst of other characters was being ignored in favor of Lance’s perceived insecurities. Everything seems to revolve around Lance, probably due to his popularity in the fandom, but Lance isn’t the only homesick one or the only character who has angst. For people who prefer other angst, it can be disheartening to try to search for that angst and scrolling through pages and pages of Langst to find even one thing. Also, in ignoring the struggles of other characters, Lance himself is absolved of any crime, i.e. if he hurts others it’s mostly overlooked and he isn’t required to apologize or make it up to them, and sometimes other characters’ angst is reassigned to Lance (for example, Shiro’s struggles are Lance’s now).
Racist: When portraying Lance’s Cuban/Latino heritage, Langst can fall into some unfortunate stereotypes. As one responder put it, “A predominantly white fandom brutalizing the attractive, brown main character? No thanks…It makes fans who should be able to relate to Lance as a Cuban and latino teen fucking uncomfortable with even showing their content in fandom…He’s also an openly emotional boy, which you don’t see often, and yet people turn him into personal wank material and spread it as a popular, proudful idea. It’s not…”
There were also responders who don’t understand why people would intentionally hurt Lance, as they believe that he has already suffered enough in the show and that he deserves love and happiness. Conversely, other responders simply don’t like Lance, so Langst doesn’t appeal to them as a result. Still other responders disliked Langst due to specific prompts/tropes, i.e. they would rather there be less character death and more ship-free material (Klance likes to appear hand-in-hand with Langst, to their dismay).
Other issues responders had with Langst include:
They portray Lance’s family as evil sometimes
Not being a fan of angst
The tendency to put Lance through continuous hell with little to no positive resolution
It’s “unnecessary to constantly take lance’s anxieties and beat him over the head with them”
Presenting elements of Langst as canon despite it all being based around headcanons
Ignoring canon
Are there any good Langst prompts/topics/tropes that you like?
13 of the people who responded said that there weren’t any good prompts. Of the people who chose a prompt, the most popular ones were Homesick Lance (missing his home or family) and prompts in which different team members come to comfort him (e.g. Hunk or Coran).
People also liked prompts that included Lance’s insecurities – as long as they were handled in a satisfactory manner. For example, one responder didn’t want to include “Keith apologizing for Lance being jealous of him.” Other related prompts include scenarios that involve his insecurities coming to light, hiding insecurities to both take care of the team and their issues and not worry them, and Lance dealing with his insecurities about his place on the team. People also liked prompts that looked more into Lance’s character and how he doesn’t feel as useful and looked deeper into his canon psyche/insecurities (as long as, again, it’s done in moderation).
Miscellaneous good prompts include:
Canon-based Langst
Insecurities about his place on the team
Lance worries he’s not enough
Lance-centric hurt/comfort
Paladins comforting each other as a family, and acting as a support group for each other
The team tries to cheer Lance up but makes things worse
Conflicts that aren’t completely resolved
“Lance realizing that he shouldn’t lash out when he’s feeling insecure and thus damaging his relationships and going on a self-discovery making painful realizations that he doesn’t need to be the best and accepting he’s fine the way he is realizing validation while nice is not essential.”
“I ship Lance x happiness”
What is your least favorite Langst prompt/topic/trope?
4 people don’t like most, if not all, Langst prompts.
Many people noted OOC Lance and/or the other Paladins as a least favorite Langst trope. For the paladins, responders disliked when they were demonized and turned into bullies. Subcategories of this include: Lance isn’t appreciated enough by the team, “Everyone hates Lances except Trophy Husband Keith”, “Keith blows up and tells Lance he’s worthless/will never be good enough/anything of the like”, Shiro neglects his needs, and Shiro is mean to Lance. For OOC Lance, as one responder aptly put it, they dislike prompts that go along the lines of “Keith is mean to meee, I cry myself to sleep and no one caresss, The team won’t listen to me even tho I’m righttt”.
Other unpopular prompts that multiple people mentioned are: Lance dies, Insecure Lance, and Lance feeling suicidal/cutting (suicidal ideation, being caught self-harming, etc.)
Other least favorite prompts include:
Lance being “singled out for unending hell”
It’s Keith’s fault that Lance is insecure/compares himself to Keith
Lance feeling like he shouldn’t be a paladin (especially when the feelings are triggered by things the other paladins say)
Lance is injured
Violence, abuse, neglect
Non-/Dub-Con
Pining for Keith
Kidnapped, tortured, brainwashed by Lotor
“sex makes things better”
Homesick Lance
If you could change anything about this microgenre, what would you change?
Firstly, one of the things responders wanted more of is a focus on angst for other characters besides Lance. Similarly, responders wanted more variety in Langst, giving Lance depth as to why he’s sad or depressed, instead of making it due to, say, pining for Keith. Related to that, people wanted less Langst (or any angst, for that matter) being used as a ploy for ships; this is mainly having less Langst be from a romantic standpoint, and also making it less “Klancey”, since in those scenarios Keith tends to lose a lot of personality in an effort to make Lance Happy™
Speaking of Keith losing his personality, the main thing that this set of responders wanted to change about Langst was to let everyone remain in character. Characters shouldn’t be thrown under the bus or reduced to something they’re not in order for Lance to achieve maximum angst. The other paladins value Lance as a member of the team and are supportive of him, and their characterization should reflect that. In addition, the team’s characterization should remain intact, allowing them to be fleshed out characters in their own right, rather than one-dimensional foils. Good angst can still be done with canon characterization. Furthermore, some responders singled out Keith and his characterization; he seems to be used as a prop to deepen Lance’s angst, and this may involve altering his canon personality.
In regards to Lance’s characterization, he also needs to be written better. He should be portrayed as a stronger, more confident character (some Langst portrays him as less intelligent or a “pushover woobie”, which irks responders). Moreover, Lance’s loud personality and sense of humor should be allowed to shine, even though he’s experiencing angst; liveliness and humor and angst are all able to coexist at once.
Of the people who responded to this question, 4 of them said that would change the entire subgenre, and/or its very existence.
Other things people would change are:
Create Langst in moderation
Normalize characters showing vulnerability (Don’t ignore their flaws)
Let Lance be the cause of his own problems
Let Lance be happy
More believable scenarios
More of other paladins reacting to Lance’s problems (i.e. Pidge)
More team support (Team is part of the solution, not the problem)
Less plotless/baseless angst; don’t simply suckerpunch Lance constantly
Less horribly cliché/sappy
Less association with Lantis/Klantis
Don’t romanticize things like (internal) homophobia, depression, self-harm, abuse, non-con, etc.
Do you enjoy angst focused on other Voltron characters? Which ones?
6 voters (2.63%) said “Other”; their responses included: not engaging at all, having “vague interest in others’ headcanons sometimes”, “I look at it when it comes up on my dash and I say “wow he’s sad in that"”, and “I witness”.
Any reasons for your indifference?
Some say that Langst isn’t done well and is too over the top. It can be entertaining, but more often than not they find it OOC and unnecessarily blown out of proportion; it can seem like the people involved just want to beat up Lance for no reason. One responder claims that people do so to Lance without a proper understanding of trauma. Langst is good when it explores Lance’s character and insecurities in interesting ways in conjunction with the team’s support, (and is balanced with fluff) but falls flat when other characters are made into villains or the angst goes too overboard. Also, the fact that it is often a vessel for Klance shippers detracts from the subgenre. Langst is believed to not be the best read of Lance’s character that the fandom has produced.
Also, indifferent responders said that they it too much of it to fully enjoy it. It’s been overwrought and overdone, its large prevalence in the fandom making it redundant. Thus, they would like a larger variety of angst; it felt unfair that Lance specifically has a word and subcategory for his own angst, when there are a wealth of other characters to “spread the suffering” to. One responder says that Lance doesn’t deserveall the focus on his angst in particular. Another reason for indifference is that they are indifferent to Lance in general, mostly due to discourse. Others pay more attention to angst featuring other characters, such as Keith.
Some responders are indifferent to Langst for personal reasons; for example, seeing their favorite character hurt bring their mood down, (but they’ll still read it if they’re in a slump), or Langst itself makes them anxious and depressed but they don’t want to get in the way of others’ enjoyment of it.
Preferred Langst prompts/topics/tropes
Preferred tropes that multiple people voted for were homesick Lanceandcanon-based Langst; this includes topic such as possible claustrophobia from being locked in the healing pod/airlock, or something similar to what happened in season 3, where Lance has insecurities, opens up about them, and people comfort him.
Miscellaneous preferred tropes include:
Self-discovery
Coming-of age stories
Overcoming trauma that stunted social/emotional growth
Lance doubting himself
Lance talking about his issues with the team for the sake of team bonding
Langst that is lighthearted/has a happy conclusion
Hurt/Comfort (especially if paired with Hance or Klance)
Extensive injuries (to a point)
Injury/death
“Long ship fics like Hance or Klance with Hunk or Keith dying at the end, letting you back with an empty feeling and wet clothes of your tears”
Less preferred Langst prompts/topics/tropes?
Lesser-preferred tropes include the paladins being mean to Lance because it’s OOC to canon. Also, people dislike when Klance is included, and they dislike character death.
Also, there is a “samey trope” of Lance being captured, the paladins feeling bad for not listening to/believing in him, etc. that is disliked. Other plots neutral responders were tired of included ones such as “Allura is too tough on the team”, “Keith is insensitive and stuck up”, and variants of “Lance sacrifices himself for the team and they realize they never appreciated him”
Miscellaneous less preferred tropes include:
Anything involving insecurities or homesickness
“7thwheel”
Self-hatred
“ADHD” is a shameful burden”
Sickfics
Anything that stems from popular headcanons that aren’t based on canon
Lance losing everything he loves (he doesn’t deserve it)
Characters suffering for no reason, bodily/mental harm for the sake of harm
Langst for the sake of making other characters look bad (i.e. Team Voltron shunning Lance for his issues)
“Overt use of the trope without the nuance needed to take it out of horror porn.”
Over the top Langst, e.g. Lance passing out from fear because Keith locked him in an airlock
Unrequited Shance ft. Sheith
Especially if Lance is depressed or suicidal over it
If you could change anything about this microgenre, what would you change?
Many of the people who answered this question said that they would change Langst by making the characters act more in character. The team loves him in canon, so Langst should reflect that. Keith, in particular, shouldn’t be demonized in order to make Lance seem more tragic. Also, Lance, too, should remain in character.
One responder wanted less blaming Lance’s insecurities on other characters; the team doesn’t cause Langst, he has to find himself and realize his worth independently (though the team can help him sometimes). Another wanted people to stop acting as if Lance is the only one with mental issues while assuming the others are all neurotypical.
Other changes that multiple people called for include:
More gen Langst
Different/more dynamic circumstances
Less of Lance always being the victim (e.g. through power imbalances with other paladins)
Less Langst in general
Miscellaneous things people want more of:
Diversity in AUs
Expanding on the Langst
“Long ship fics with character death”
Happy endings
Paladins comforting and supporting Lance
Miscellaneous things people want less of:
Character death
Self-hatred
Shaladin drama
Writing Langst to be edgy
Suicidal stuff (it feels OOC)
Projection/self-insert
Do you enjoy angst focused on other Voltron characters? Which ones?
I know I chunked it, but this is still kinda wordy, so I’ll put it under a cut:
How do you engage with Langst?
31 voters (81.58%) read Langst
12 voters (31.58%) create headcanons
6 voters (15.79%) draw
5 voters (13.16%) write
1 voter said that they “View other people’s comics/drawings”
Why do you like Langst?
There were a lot of different reasons people liked Langst. Here are the big ones:
One of the biggest reasons was that Lance was very relatable. In canon, he has his own insecurities and his own ways of displaying/hiding those insecurities, which many people could already relate to. Langst that capitalize on that part of his character in a well-written and satisfactory way and can expand on them are favored. Being relatable also allows readers to project onto his character, letting him have and work through insecurities that closely resemble one’s own can be therapeutic and let you feel represented in a positive way.
Langst also can be a vehicle for additional character development that doesn’t exist in canon. Lance, as a character, is dynamic, and Langst can take advantage of this and create a gateway for more character development. Putting a character such as Lance through conflict, bending and breaking him, and then allowing him to overcome the pain and adds complexity and deepens his character even further. These angsty new character arcs create a juxtaposition between a happy, sometimes silly character and his suffering that is appealing to some. Langst fics can also develop new and different relationships, both platonic and romantic, between different members of the cast.
Some read Langst simply because Lance is their favorite character. There are people who like to see him suffer and be in emotional pain. Others like to experience the heartbreak and cry. There is more of an emotional payoff when he overcomes hardships, and it’s very satisfying to see him get comforted and get the help he needs. As one responder stated, “Theres something about Lance that makes us all want to see him go through these many feelings”.
A few other people simply like angst and other darker storylines, and they like seeing Lance be the subject of it. Those people believe that it makes things more realistic and interesting, especially since the only people who get hurt are fictional.
Something that many people noted was that Langst was best when there is a successful conclusion. The “nonpermanent hurt” allows for many opportunities for hurt/comfort, in which characters can care for and support Lance in ways that, to some, are superior to how they treat him in canon.
Some other miscellaneous reasons for liking Langst include: it being a good inspiration for good art (including vent art), it being a cool concept in general, and liking how “It also tends to show how hard fighting in this universal war can be for all of the paladins, not just Lance.”.
What is your favorite Langst prompt/topic/trope?
Many people’s favorite Langst prompts are those that deal with his insecurities and the issues that arise from them. These insecurities include feeling like the “7th wheel” - being insecure of his status of a paladin and his role on team Voltron - having his own self-doubt - thinking lowly of himself and doubting the team’s love for him – or feeling otherwise left out or unimportant. Also, people’s favorite fics included ones where he overcompensates for his aforementioned insecurities, and someone seeing past the overcompensation, the team realizing that Lance feels worthless (perhaps through a mind link), and Lotor taking advantage of those insecurities.
Another popular prompt was Lance missing his home/his family.
Miscellaneous favored prompts include:
Lance, feeling like the least valuable member of the team, is desperate to prove himself and goes on a dangerous mission; the team is worried about him, and validates him when he gets back.
Lance has a secret about himself (i.e. he’s transgender, anorexic, suicidal) that is revealed against his will, and the other paladins help him by giving him healthy coping mechanisms, offering moral support, and generally being nice and accepting.
Lance getting separated from team Voltron and having to find his own way by himself.
Feeling ignored
Team Voltron makes a callous joke that hurts Lance’s feelings
Depression
Unrequited Shance ft. Sheith
Hanahaki AUs
Sickfics
Lance is gravely wounded (possibly due to self-sacrifice)
Whump
Lance leaving Voltron
Rebel Leader Lance
Death(Fun Fact: one person’s example of this particular trope was “Lance getting rejected and killed by Blue”)
What is your least favorite Langst prompt/topic/trope?
Overwhelmingly, one of the least favorite tropes in Langst fic is the team being OOC. Langst in which the team is mean to Lance, bully him, or are demonized in general are not appreciated; some see it as “lazy angst”. There were also multiple people who disliked character death, especially if Lance is the one who dies.
Miscellaneous disliked prompts and tropes include:
OOC Lance
Overdone uselessness
Lance downright hates himself
Lance being ignored or cast aside by the team
Lance being made fun of
Whump
Anything involving rape, assault, abuse, or death
Torture porn
Lance’s legs are amputated
Anything involving Lance’s family
Lance becomes “strictly gay”
A love confession from Keith instantly cures Lance of his angst
Internal homophobia/biphobia/panphobia
What type of Langst prompt/topic/trope would you like to see more of?
There were a lot of different ideas, so I’ll just list them:
Plot-driven Langst
Lance’s feelings about being shut down by Blue, not being chosen by Black, and always seeming to be a second replacement for Keith
Lance missing his family (especially his mom)
Focusing on Lance’s insecurities
Lance needing more assurance
Lance figuring things out on his own
Addressing how he overcompensates for his insecurities (by flirting with lots of people, etc.)
Lance changes his personality, leading everyone to understand that the old one was better
Angsty interactions with Pidge
Team realizing how he feels
Team caring for him
Lance hiding how he feels for the sake of the team, but its revealed he doesn’t have to
Lance realizing his skills and talents
Biracial/bilingual Lance
Langst that addresses his ADHD directly and accurately
Lance is separated from the others (i.e. he thinks they forgot about him and slowly goes crazy he’s forced into life/death situations, etc.)
Lance running away from the team (e.g. he “joins” the Galra to help Voltron, but he can’t tell Voltron)
Rebel leader Lance
Battle wounds (Before and after getting the wound)
Lance does something self-sacrificing (but he survives)
People believing that Lance is dead, but he isn’t
Injured/dying lance
Lance fails at something, leading to his death
Dark!Lance
Angry Lance
Unrequited Shance
What type of Langst prompt/topic/trope would you like to see less of?
Most responders would like to see less of the rest of team Voltron being OOC and mean to Lance. People would also like to see less of Lance dying (e.g. Lance sacrificing himself for a teammate), character death,and Lance’s self-hatred.
Miscellaneous less desired prompts/topics/tropes include:
Mary-sue Lance
Lance is kidnapped
Running away from the castle
Anything involving suicide or self-harm
Anything involving rape, assault, abuse, or death
Permanent hurt
A Quick Resolution of the problem
Hanahaki disease
Romance being a cure-all
Klangst
Keith is the first to notice Lance’s issues (This responder believes that it’s more realistic for Coran or Hunk to notice first)
If you could change anything about this microgenre, what would you change?
Many people want the characters in Langst fics to be more in character. Team Voltron should not be demonized or a bunch of assholes. Lance’s insecurities are based on how he views himself and how he compares himself to the rest of the team, not on how the team treats him, and many responders would like Langst fics to reflect that and give more realistic interactions between Lance and the rest of the team. Sometimes Lance is too OOC, and the Langst is taken too far.
To answer this question, many responders mentioned Keith. Some would like less Klance. Others like the Klance, but would like less of a seme/uke dynamic between them, or would like an in-character Keith – Keith’s character is often misinterpreted, turning him into either an unnecessarily mean jerk or Lance’s trophy boyfriend.
Some mentioned that in many Langst fics, Lance usually only goes to Keith for comfort. They would like to change this so that Lance goes to more people for support; Hunk is his best friend, and Pidge is close to him as well. Having Shiro, Lance’s idol, comfort Lance would make an interesting plot point, and Allura and Coran can empathize to Lance’s homesickness.
People also would like to include more happy endings in Langst fics.
Miscellaneous things people would include:
More of a focus on Lance’s journey and character, instead of using him as a crutch for others’ development
Separate canon from fanon
Less Lance seeming excessively useless
Less of lance being “the weakest link” or inadequate or always messing up (because he’s not)
Less forgetting Lance’s ego
Less Lance dying
Less excessive torture porn
Less of Langst in which he gets hurt/abused
Do you enjoy angst focused on other Voltron characters? Which ones?
Hi! Thanks to everyone for responding! Sorry this is a bit later than I wanted it to be ^_^; . But the results are here! I ended up with 12 pages of notes, which is a lot, so I’m posting the results in chunks so I won’t inconvenience anyone. This post is essentially the basic demographics and TL;DR of the results. More detailed results will be coming soon!
Basic Demographics
Regarding age, 52.98% of responders are 18-24 years old.37.5% of responders are 12-17 years old, and 8.93%are25-34 years old. Interestingly enough, 1 voter said that they were under 12 years old!
Regarding gender, 68.45% of responders are cisgender femalesand14.29% of responders are genderqueer or non-binary.5.95% of responders are transgender males, and 2 voters (1.19%) are cisgender males. 7 voters answered “Other”’ their responses included agender and female-aligned genderfluid.
Do you like Langst?
35.15% of voters said that they liked Langst.
32.73% said that they were indifferent towards Langst
32.12% said that they did not like Langst.
TL;DR
People who like Langst:
Mostly read Langst
Mostly like Langst because Lance is a very relatable character
Like Langst that deals with his insecurities or homesickness
Dislike Langst that features an OOC team or character death
Want characters in Langst to be more in character
Also like Keith, Shiro and Pidge angst
People who are indifferent to Langst:
Mostly read Langst
Feel that a lot of Langst isn’t done well and is too over the top to be enjoyable
Like Langst featuring homesick Lance and canon-based Langst
Dislike Langst featuring the paladins being mean to Lance (OOC) or character death
Want characters in Langst to be more in character
Also like Keith, Shiro, and Pidge angst
People who dislike Langst
The abundance of OOC characters, oversaturation, over exaggeration, and the fact that it neglects the angst of other characters makes Langst unenjoyable
Like Langst that deals with Lance’s homesickness and insecurities (handled in moderation) and Langst in which different members come to comfort Lance
Dislike Langst that features OOC characters
Want more of a focus on other characters’ angst, more variety in Langst, and for everyone to remain in character in Langst
Enjoy Shiro and Keith angst, as well as angst for all characters.
First of all, I apologize it took me so long to publish the results. Various others things came up, and there were more write in questions than I usually put in my surveys, so it took me longer to analyze.
I made this survey to find trends in the aromantic community regarding preferences when it comes to sexual relationships. A total of 816 people took part in it. As most questions weren’t mandatory, not everyone answered every question. The survey was split in three main parts: a demographics part, a personal experiences and preferences part (itself divided in three sections, one for people with previous sexual experience, one for people without, and one for people who preferred not to disclose), and a last part asking some opinions about aromanticism and sexuality.
This will be a very long post, with a lot of numbers. There will be a summary of the results at the end of the post.
Demographic questions
Question 1: How old are you?
18-20 - 40.8%
20-25 - 38.6%
26-30 - 14.1%
31-35 - 3.7%
36-40 - 2%
41-45 - 0.6% (five people)
46-50 - 0.1% (one person)
51-55 - 0.1% (one person)
Question 2: Which of the following do you most identify with?
Allosexual Aromantic - 32.2%
Aroace - 31.4%
Oriented or Angled Aroace - 11%
Non-SAM Aro or Just Aro - 10.2%
Questioning - 6.4%
I don’t identify with any of these - 5.3%
Aromid - 3.6%
Question 3: Which arospec identities do you identify with?
Aromantic - 81.3%
Arospec - 39.5%
Greyromantic - 17.8%
Quoiromantic or WTFromantic - 15.4%
Demiromantic - 13.1%
Questioning - 11%
Aroqueer - 9.3%
Aroflux - 9.1%
Cupioromantic - 6.7%
Aegoromantic - 6.4%
Lithromantic or Akoiromantic - 4%
Nebularomantic - 3.9%
Bellusromantic - 3.1%
Apothiromantic - 2.2%
Arospike - 1.7%
Reciproromantic - 1.1%
Freyromantic - 1%
Participants could also add their own orientations in an others section. Out of the commonly mentioned orientations, the most common ones were queer, fictoromantic, loveless aro, and romo aro.
Question 4: How would you describe your sexual orientation?
Queer - 43.4%
Asexual - 42.8%
Bisexual - 28.9%
Greysexual - 12.5%
Allosexual - 11.9%
Gay (man) - 10.3%
Pansexual - 10%
Other asexual spectrum identities - 8.9%
Demisexual - 8.8%
I do not label my sexual orientation - 8.6%
Questioning - 7.5%
Lesbian - 7.4%
Other mspec identities - 4.3%
Enbian or other nblnb label - 3.4%
Heterosexual - 3.4%
Polysexual - 2.7%
Toric or other nblm label - 2.6%
Trixic or other nblw label - 2.5%
Here too participants could specify other labels. Out of the ones that were submitted, the most common were aegosexual, fictosexual, abrosexual, multisexual, and omnisexual.
Question 5: Do you experience sexual attraction?
Yes - 45.1%
No - 29.7%
I don’t know - 24.3%
Prefer not to say - 1%
Question 6: What are your general feelings on sex?
Very favorable - I very much enjoy sex, or I absolutely want to try it in the future - 25.5%
Moderately favorable - I like sex, or I would like to try it in the future - 28.6%
Indifferent - I don’t have strong feelings regarding sex either way - 11.8%
Moderately repulsed - I don’t like sex, or I wouldn’t want to try it in the future - 9.3%
Very repulsed - I very much dislike sex, or I absolutely do not want to try in the future - 4.2%
It’s too complicated to be summed up in these options - 19.6%
I don’t know - 1.1%
Sexual experiences
Have you ever had a sexual encounter before?
No - 49.1%
Yes - 45.8%
Prefer not to say - 5%
Before continuing, I would like to point out that the demographics of the survey very likely influenced this specific results. Regardless of any other factor at play, younger people are less likely to have had sexual encounters for no other reason than being less likely to have ended up in the right situations. For reference, if we consider the age group 25 and younger, which make up more than ¾ths of the total participants, 40.3% said they have had past sexual encounters. If we consider the far less represented 26 and older group then we have that 67.3% had past sexual encounters.
Depending on how people answered this question, they were redirected to different subsections. I will list results for each subsection separately. Afterwards, I will make comparisons between the questions that were common to all the subsections.
Has previous sexual experience: yes
Question 1: How many sexual partners have you had in your life?
1-2 - 54.7%
3-4 - 19%
5-7 - 8.6%
8-10 - 2.4%
More than 10 - 11.5%
Prefer not to say - 3.8%
Question 2:Do you prefer to have committed, long term sexual partners or occasional ones?
I prefer committed partners - 42.3%
It makes no difference - 35.8%
I prefer occasional partners - 13.7%
I dislike both - 8.2%
Question 3: Do you prefer open or closed sexual relationships?
I prefer open relationships where I can look for additional partner(s) - 24.3%
It makes no difference - 22.4%
I prefer open relationships, but I would be willing to be in an exclusive relationship if my partner(s) wanted - 16.7%
I prefer closed relationships with one or more exclusive partners - 15.9%
I prefer closed relationships, but I would be willing to be in an open relationship if my partner(s) wanted - 14.8%
I dislike both - 5.9%
Question 4: Which kinds of relationships do you know you enjoy with a sexual partner (because you have had experience with one)?
Friends with benefits - 46%
Queerplatonic relationships - 37.7%
Romantic relationships - 35.7%
Kink based relationships - 27.1%
Sexual partners with no other relationship - 19.7%
One night stands - 17.7%
None of these - 15.2%
Participants could also add other forms of relationships that they enjoy. Relationships mentioned were alterous relationships, soft romo, querrelational, paid sexual relationships, and emotionally intimate relationships regardless of the context.
Question 5: Which kinds of relationships do you know you do not enjoy with a sexual partner (because you have had one in the past or imagine it wouldn’t suit you)?
One night stands - 46.3%
Romantic relationships - 46%
Sexual partners with no other relationships - 37.7%
Kink based relationships - 17.7%
Friends with benefits - 16.9%
None of these - 15.8%
Queerplatonic relationships - 13%
Other relationships some participants disliked include monogamous relationships (romantic or in general), anything involving strangers, and sex work.
Question 6: Which kinds of relationships do you think you would enjoy with a sexual partner (because you haven’t been in one, but would like to try)?
Queerplatonic relationships - 45.4%
Kink based relationships - 37.7%
Friends with benefits - 34.9%
Sexual partners with no other relationships - 22.6%
One night stands - 20.3%
None of these - 18.6%
Romantic relationships - 9.1%
Someone mentioned they would be interested in full time kink.
Question 7: If you had the chance, would you prefer to have other aromantic people as your sexual partners rather than alloromantic people?
Yes - 37.4%
No, it doesn’t matter - 35%
I don’t know - 17.9%
I don’t want any future sexual partners - 7%
No, I would prefer alloromantic partners - 2.7%
Question 8: Have you ever disclosed the fact that you are aromantic to a sexual partner?
No, never - 36.7%
Yes, to some of them - 35.4%
Yes, to all of them - 27.9%
Question 9: If you answered yes to the previous question, how did they react?
This was a write in question, and people were fairly divided on what they said.
Some people said that their partners reacted in ways that were neutral to positive. This was especially the case if their partner was also aro. Some people who were in a romantic relationship continued that relationship, or changed it somewhat but didn’t break up.Some partners didn’t know what aromanticism was, and were more or less supportive upon learning about it. Other times, partners didn’t mind the person’s aromanticism since they weren’t looking for a committed relationship in the first place.
Other people said their partners had negative reactions. Some ended up breaking up due to their aromanticism, even if at times the partner said that wasn’t the reason. Some people were told fairly hurtful and/or arophobic things by their partners, the details of which I prefer not to detail. At times people were supportive of an aromantic identity at first, but that acceptance decreased with time.
Some people also said that some of their partners reacted positively and others negatively. Including some specifically mentioning that when they had partners who were also aro, their reactions were positive, but their alloromantic partners more often reacted negatively. It’s hard to get definite numbers over write in questions, but there was about a 50/50 split between partners whose reaction was positive or confused but supportive, and partners whose reaction was negative or dismissing.
There were also cases where a partner knew of the person’s aromanticism long before they got in a relationship, so it wasn’t an issue. There were also times when a person only told their former partners after their relationship ended, so their former partner’s reaction wasn’t too relevant to their current relationship.
Has previous sexual experience: no
Question 1: Would you like to engage in sexual acts in the future?
Yes - 45.4%
I don’t know - 35.7%
No - 19%
Question 2: If you think about the kind of sexual relationships you would like to have, would you prefer committed, long term partners or occasional ones?
I would prefer committed partners - 43.2%
It makes no difference - 22%
I would prefer occasional partners - 19.2%
I would dislike both - 15.6%
Question 3: If you think about the kind of sexual relationships you would like to have, would you prefer open or closed relationships?
It makes no difference - 24%
I would prefer open relationships, but I would be willing to be in an exclusive relationship if my partner(s) wanted -17.4%
I would prefer open relationships where I can look for additional partner(s) - 17.1%
I would prefer closed relationships, but I would be willing to be in an open relationship if my partner(s) wanted - 15.1%
I would dislike both - 15.1%
I would prefer closed relationships with one or more exclusive partners -11.3%
Question 4: Which kinds of relationships do you think you would like to have with a sexual partner?
Queerplatonic relationship - 63%
Friends with benefits - 56.2%
Kink based relationships - 28.5%
Sexual partners with no other relationships - 24.9%
Romantic relationships - 24.2%
One night stands - 17.1%
None of these - 12.3%
Some people said they would like polyamorous relationships, alterous relationships, or sex work. Some specified they would prefer non sexual kink, or that they are alright with sex if their partner(s) wanted but don’t personally have an interest in it.
Question 5: Which kinds of relationships do you think you would be opposed to having with a sexual partner?
One night stands - 54%
Romantic relationships - 47.8%
Sexual partners with no other relationships - 41.4%
Kink based relationships - 27.5%
Friends with benefits - 19.5%
Queerplatonic relationships - 14.4%
None of these - 10.8%
Some people said they specifically don’t want commitment, or that they wouldn’t want to share a house with their partner.
Question 6: If you had the chance, would you prefer to have other aromantic people as your sexual partners rather than alloromantic people?
Yes - 42.4%
No, it doesn’t matter - 22.8%
I don’t know - 19.5%
I don’t want any future sexual partner - 14.5%
No, I would prefer alloromantic partners - 0.8%
Question 7: Do you think the fact that you are aromantic is part of the reason you have not had a sexual encounter before?
Yes - 52.1%
No - 27.2%
I don’t know - 20.7%
Question 8: If you answered yes to the previous question, could you elaborate?
The main reason people mentioned is that if they were alloromantic, they would have probably looked for a romantic relationship already, and that often includes sex. As they aren’t interested in dating, that decreases their chances. This is particularly relevant to people who also aren’t interested in hook ups and/or would prefer their first time to be with someone they know and trust. Friends with benefits is also not a possibility for many people, either because they don’t trust the other person not to develop feelings for them, because they are afraid of rejection if they were to ask a friend, or because they are aplatonic.
Intersection with other identities was also mentioned. For example, some afab people mentioned how society pushes them to find romantic relationships and not have casual sex, and that they feel it would be easier for them to find a sexual partner if they were a cis man.
Some people said that they have a hard time finding someone whowants to have sex with them, as many people hear aromantic and are less interested in any form of relationship. This is especially relevant to aroace people, as many people avoid seeking out sexual relationships with asexual people too. Furthermore, those aros who do want a romantic relationship are often turned down when others find out about their aromanticism.
There’s also people who are themselves not particularly interested in sex (be it because of low libido or because they are on the asexual spectrum) and don’t feel like putting in the effort to seek it out, and since they never had a relationship the matter of sex just never came up. This was particularly relevant by people who identify as non-SAM aro or non-SAM ace, or otherwise feel that their aromanticism and asexuality cannot be separated.
Someone mentioned how being repulsed to specific acts like kissing also leads to having a harder time when it comes to sex, as kissing is expected to be part of it.
Have previous sexual experience: prefer not to say
**note** I’m sharing the results of this section for completedness, but as only 41 people completed this section these results aren’t particularly statistically relevant
Question 1: If you think about the kind of sexual relationships you would like to have, would you prefer committed, long term partners or occasional ones?
I would prefer committed partners - 34.1%
It makes no difference - 29.3%
I would prefer occasional partners - 24.4%
I would dislike both - 12.2%
Question 2: If you think about the kind of sexual relationships you would like to have, would you prefer open or closed relationships?
I would prefer open relationships where I can look for additional partner(s) - 31.7%
I would prefer closed relationships, but I would be willing to be in an open relationship if my partner(s) wanted -19.5%
It makes no difference - 17.1%
I would dislike both - 17.1%
I would prefer closed relationships with one or more exclusive partners -9.8%
I would prefer open relationships, but I would be willing to be in an exclusive relationship if my partner(s) wanted -4.9%
Question 3: Which kinds of relationships do you think you would like to have with a sexual partner?
Friends with benefits - 70%
Queerplatonic relationships - 67.5%
Kink based relationships - 42.5%
Sexual partners with no other relationship - 40%
Romantic relationships - 25%
One night stands - 17.5%
None of these - 2%
Someone also added sex work.
Question 4: Which kinds of relationships do you think you would be opposed to having with a sexual partner?
Romantic relationships - 65.8%
One night stands - 47.4%
Sexual partners with no other relationships - 34.2%
Queerplatonic relationships - 21.1%
Kink based relationships - 21.1%
Friends with benefits - 18.4%
Question 5: If you had the chance, would you prefer to have other aromantic people as your sexual partners rather than alloromantic people?
Yes - 46.3%
No, it doesn’t matter - 31.7%
I don’t want any future sexual partner - 12.2%
I don’t know - 9.8%
Section comparisons
I have decided to do the comparisons between people who have previous sexual experience and those who do not. Since the sample size for the prefer not to say subsection was small, I have decided not to include a comparison with it.
When it comes to whether people would prefer committed or occasional partners, both groups as a whole preferred committed partners and roughly with the same percentage. More of the people who have had previous experiences say it makes no difference (35.8% vs 22%). On the other hand, more of the people who do not have previous experiences say they would prefer occasional partners (19.2% vs 13.7%) and that they would like no future sexual partner at all (15.6% vs 8.2%).
When it comes to whether people prefer closed or open relationships, more of the people with previous sexual experience say they prefer open relationships (24.3% vs 11.3%), while more of the people who don’t have previous sexual experience say they wouldn’t like either kind of relationship (15.1% vs 8.9%). As for the other percentages, they were very similar, with a small majority of people saying it doesn’t matter, and the others roughly even split between the other options.
As for the relationships people enjoy or would enjoy, comparisons get a little complicated as the people who had previous experience where asked both about what they enjoy and what they think the would enjoy in separate questions, while people who do not have previous experience where only asked what they think they would enjoy. I’ve done a bits of maths to put together the two answers for the subsection with previous experience. I calculated a total percentage for the section with previous experience over both questions, and the end results are as follows:
friends with benefits was the most liked/desired relationship in the group with previous experience (45.7%), and the second most desired in the group without previous experience (56.2%);
queerplatonic relationships were the most desired relationship in the group with no previous experience (63%), and the second most liked/desired in the group with previous experience (36.2%);
both groups had kink relationships as the third most liked/desired, although more so by the group with previous experience (32.3%) than from that with no previous experience (28.5%);
romantic relationships were the fourth most liked/desired by the group with previous experience (22.6%) and the fifth by the group with no previous experience (24.2%);
sexual partners with no other relationships was very close with romantic relationships in both groups, being fourth most wanted in the group with no previous experience (24.9%) and fifth in the group with previous experience (21.1%), with a very small distance from romantic relationships in both cases;
one night stands were the least desired relationship by both groups, with very similar percentages (19% and 17.1%).
When it comes instead to relationships that aren’t liked/desired, comparisons were easier to make, and the differences are:
one night stands are the least liked/desired in both groups (46.3% in those with previous experience, and 54% by those without experience);
romantic relationships follow in both groups with similar percentages (46% and 47.8%);
sexual partners with no other relationships is third least liked/desired again in both groups, although more disliked by those with no previous experience (41.4%), than by those who have it (37.7%);
on the other hand, kink relationships where fourth most disliked in both groups, but more so by the group without previous experience (27.5%) than by those with previous experience (17.7%);
friends with benefits were fifth least liked/wanted, disliked by 16.9% of those with previous experience and 19.5% of those without it;
lastly we have queerplatonic relationships, with very similar percentages (13% and 14.4%).
The “none of these” options was ignored in both analysis as I considered it too complex to factor it in the cumulative analysis of the relationships people like. In general, it seems the group with previous experience feels on average a little more interested in less committed relationships (one night stands, sexual partners with no other relationships) while the group without previous experience is more interested in long term relationships (queerplatonic relationships, friends with benefits). This is coherent with the comments left by people who talked about how being aromantic made it harder for them to find a sexual partner since they don’t like hook ups and would prefer a partner they are emotionally close to. Feelings regarding romantic relationships instead were very similar.
Lastly, both groups had a small majority of people who would prefer to have aromantic sexual partners, although this majority was larger in the group with no previous experience (42.4% vs 37.4%). The people with no previous experience also had a larger percentage of people who don’t desire future sexual partners (14.5% vs 7%), which apparently leads to a lower percentage of people who don’t care either way (22.8% vs 35%). In both cases, people who wanted alloromantic partners were a minority.
Personal experiences and discrimination
These last questions were in common for everyone.
Question 1: Do you think being aromantic makes looking for a sexual partner easier or harder?
Being aromantic makes it harder to look for a sexual partner - 47.2%
I don’t know - 39.5%
Being aromantic has no influence on this - 11.3%
Being aromantic makes it easier to look for a sexual partner - 2%
Question 2: Would you like to elaborate on the previous question?
Many people who believe being aromantic makes it harder to find a partner echoed similar sentiments to those people who didn’t have sexual encounters so far and believed their aromanticism is partially reason for it. Many potential partners do not understand or respect aromanticism, it’s hard to find a sexual partner who doesn’t want a romantic relationship, people who desire sex without a romantic relationship are often judged negatively, and it’s not always easy to find safe one night stands.
Some people have said being aromantic specifically makes it harder to find a long term partner, while it has no influence if you’re looking for one night stands. Other people instead said that for them being aromantic comes with a series of boundaries that are too complex to explain to a casual partner.
On the other hand, people who say being aromantic makes it easier for them to find a partner say that as they know exactly what forms of relationships they want it’s easy for them to exclude potential partners who wouldn’t respect them or their identity.
Some people have stated that since they prefer one night stands and casual partners they don’t have the risk of catching feelings for their partners, which makes it easier for them to find compatible people.
Question 3: Have you ever seen or heard someone say that wanting sex without romance is inherently sexually predatory?
Yes - 77.1%
No - 15.8%
I don’t know - 7.2%
Question 4: Have you ever seen or heard someone say that alloaros or other aros interested in sex are inherently sexually predatory?
Yes - 54.6%
No - 31.5%
I don’t know - 13.9%
Question 5: Has being aromantic influenced how you feel about your sexual attraction or desires?
Yes, being aromantic has made me view my sexual attraction/desires in a better way - 32%
I don’t know - 30%
No - 23.5%
Yes, being aromantic has made me view my sexual attraction/desires in a worse way - 14.5%
Question 5: If you picked one of the yes options in the previous question, would you like to elaborate?
Out of those who said being aromantic makes them view their desires in a better way, many says that knowing they are aromantic has made them more confident in themselves and what they want. Some also said that being aromantic has made them self-analyze far more than what they feel is average, giving them a better understanding of their feelings. Some people said that it’s easier for them to understand their sexual attraction and desires now that they don’t try to connect it to romance.
Various people said that being aromantic has helped them get over certain kinds of stigma against sex in general, non-romantic sex, or kinky sex in particular. They have also said that they now see better how sex can be a wonderful way to connect emotionally with people, without necessarily dragging romance into it.
Some people in particular were ashamed or disturbed by the way they felt before knowing they were aromantic, thinking that they were predatory or broken for experiencing sexual attraction without accompanying romantic attraction. They now don’t feel that shame anymore, as they know it’s a normal experience to have.
There’s many aroace people who believe that being aromantic made them see their sexuality better. On one hand, aroace people who also interested in sex say being aromantic has made them better accept the fact that they can want sex without feeling attraction. On the other, those who are less interested in sex say being aromantic has also helped them accept the fact that it’s alright not to want sex or to not have had sex yet by a certain age. Some aroace people said that they are relived to be both aromantic and asexual because they think trying to navigate a romantic relationship while asexual would be too complicated.
Out of the people who instead find their aromanticism makes them view their sexual desires and attraction in a worse way, various people cited how wanting sex without romance is stigmatized in society. Some people feel in general guilty about having sexual thoughts, worrying that the other people may see them as predatory for them.
A lot of people expressing these feelings mentioned how it intersected with their other queer/LGBTQ+ identities, saying that there’s a lot of pressure to be pure lately when you belong to this community. There were in particular various sapphic people who struggle with feeling sexual attraction to women without romance, and bisexual people who worried that being alloaro makes them play into the promiscuous bisexual stereotype. There were also multiple transmasculine people, both exclusively attracted to men and exclusively attracted to women, who struggle with feeling predatory due to their lack of romantic attraction (note: I say transmasculine because all people who left these comments specified being transmasculine, I don’t have data on transfeminine and transneutral people’s feelings).
Some people also talked about how the intersection between being arospec and POC gives them particular struggles due to how racism influences the way POC’s sexuality is seen.
Also, some people connected their negative feelings to the issues discussed above, where being aromantic makes it harder to find a sexual partner. They think that if they weren’t aromantic they may be able to find partners more easily.
Additional comments
There were various points in the survey where people could leave additional comments.
Some people said that being aromantic played a role in past break ups, or that they prefer not to share their aromanticism with their current partners for fear of causing issues in their relationships.
A few people mentioned that they feel their aromanticism takes precedence over their other identities. On the other hand, some people found that some of their other identities or past experiences have a bigger influence on the matters discussed in the survey than their aromanticism.
Many people talked about how sex is a complicated matter for them, in that they enjoy it in theory, but they don’t know if they would actually want it in real life or they don’t know if their fantasies are what they actually want or just what they enjoy in fiction.
Some said that they aren’t actively looking for sex, but wouldn’t mind doing it if someone offered in the right circumstances. In alternative, some said they may be open to attempting sex, but aren’t interested in making it a regular thing. Some also said they prefer to deal with their sexual urges on their own, while looking for a sexual partner would be more of a bother.
A couple people mentioned that they would be interested in non-sexual kink more than sex itself. Also, some people said that in the past they have found the kink community particularly friendly to aromantic people.
Conclusions
The survey participants tended to skew young (group 25 years and younger > 75%), with a higher percentage of aroallo people compared to other surveys on the aromantic community. Most identified with queer, asexual or acespec, and other LGBTQ+/queer identities, with heterosexual people being a minority. The majority of people who participated was either some degree of sex favorable, or didn’t think terms such as favorable/neutral/repulsed were enough to describe their feelings about sex. About half had not had a sexual encounter before, while a little less than half said they had at least one in the past.
For both groups, people tend to want or prefer committed sexual partners more than casual partners. Both groups also had a majority of people who prefer open relationships or don’t care about whether they are in an open or closed relationship. The most desired and least disliked relationships by both groups are queerplatonic relationships, friends with benefits, and kink based relationships. One night stands were both the least wanted and most disliked type of relationship by both groups. Sexual partners with no other relationships was also less popular than some other relationships. For both groups, less than a fourth of participants said they wanted a romantic relationship, and nearly half said they instead dislike them. The group with previous sexual experience seems moderately more favorable to less committed relationships.
There is also a general tendency of aromantic people to prefer aromantic sexual partners. Half of the people who do not have previous sexual experience said that their aromanticism is part of the reason they haven’t had sexual encounters so far, due to their aromanticism making it harder to find non-romantic partners for them. When it comes to people who do have previous sexual experience, out of the people who shared their aromanticism with previous partners, there was about a 50/50 split between people who said their partners were supportive and those who said their partners reacted badly.
In general, about half the people who participated said that finding a sexual partner while aromantic is harder, mainly because a lot of alloromantic people aren’t interested in non-romantic sexual partnership. More than 75% heard that people who want sex without romance are sexually predatory, and more than 50% hard that aromantic people who want sex in particular are sexually predatory.
About one third of participants said being aromantic makes them view their sexual desires in a better way. This includes both people who experience sexual attraction and aroace people, with many saying they feel more confident about their attraction/desires or lack thereof. About 15% on the other hand said their aromanticism makes them view their sexual desires in a worse way, usually due to shame or feeling predatory. This is particularly common between people who are otherwise members of the queer/LGBTQ+ community, and among people of color.
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