Voltron Fandom Stats

Surveys and polls about the TV Show Voltron: Legendary Defender

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Yay!!!! I’m so happy your posting again!!! I think this blog is such a good idea and is really vital for the voltron community right now so that people can discuss opinions in a safe place!!! Keep up the good work!!!! 💛❤️🖤💚💙

Ahhh, thank you!!

Admittedly schoolwork is starting to take up a good chunk of my time again, but I want to at least post another survey before the month is over! (Or maybe after season 5 would be best...)

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VLD Shipping Survey II Masterpost

So they’re all in one place!

[This survey was held 9/9/17-10/7/17, aka before Season 4]

-Demographics, Overview, Comparison to Previous Survey

-Shipping Survey Results: Anti

-Shipping Survey Results: Neutral

-Shipping Survey Results: Pro

Thanks for reading!

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Voltron Shipping Survey II – Pro

[This survey was held 9/9/17-10/7/17, aka before Season 4]

314 people considered themselves Pro-[insert ship here], out of 557 total responders.

Basic Demographics

How old are you?

177 voters (56.37%) are 18-24 years old

74 voters (23.57%) are 12-17 years old

52 voters (16.56%) are 25-34 years old

6 voters (1.91%) are 35-44 years old

2 voters (0.64%) are over 45 years old

3 voters (1.26%) preferred not to say

What is your gender?

211 voters (67.20%) are cisgender female

62 voters (19.75%) are genderqueer/non-binary

13 voters (4.14%) are transgender males

7 voters (2.23%) are cisgender males

16 voters (7%) preferred not to say

5 voters (2.51%) answered “Other”. Their responses included: agender (2 people), agenderflux, female

What is your sexual orientation?

99 voters (31.53%) are bisexual

79 voters (25.16%) are asexual

45 voters (14.33%) are heterosexual

42 voters (13.38%) are pansexual

19 voters (6.05%) are homosexual

18 voters (5.73%) preferred not to say

12 voters (3.82%) answered “Other”. Their responses included: demisexual (2 people), biromantic asexual (2 people), homoromantic asexual, panromantic Demisexual, demi/pan, queer, aromantic, biromantic greysexual, demisexual.

Favorite Voltron Ships

The tally of favorite ships is as follows:

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, and loyalty. 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 chemistry and potential, 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:

Their potential 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 content and friendly fans in the fandom.

Hunk/Shay:

Some adjectives used to describe this ship are: pure, sweet, good, adorable, wholesome, and fluffy. 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: 

The fandom 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, and chemistry for the ship. For some, it conflicts with other OTPs that they have.

Shiro/Pidge:

Responders interpreted their relationship as sibling-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 as brotherly. 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 canon either.

Some people mentioned that they didn’t like some wlw ships (e.g. Shay/Allura, Nyma/Allura, Pidge/the Space Mall Girl) due to antis shipping them to either get characters out of the way or for “fake woke points”

Feelings about Groups of Ships

Shaladin

Most responders were okay with 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 oversaturated with 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. Antis had 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 developed first.

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 couple with mutual 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 of heteronormativity.

However, both sides (and the people who were neutral) agreed that their interactions should definitely be explored more in canon.

What Ships do you feel strongly about?

Some notable positive feelings go towards:

Zarggar

Lotor/Allura (holds promise)

Thulaz

Hunk Ships (i.e. Hunk/Lotor, Hunk/Shay, Hunk/Kolivan, Hunk/Happiness)

Ships that explore the Galra more (i.e. Kolivok and Allurivan)

Keith’s parents

The Holt parents

Queerplatonic Hance

Alforan

Kolivance

Rolo/Sendak

Some notable negative feelings go towards:

Allura/Coran

Wlw ships (the ships are crawling with antis)

Shiro/abuser ships

Shklance (tends to be “wangsty lance-centric”)

Incest

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Voltron Shipping Survey II – Neutral

[This survey was held 9/9/17-10/7/17, aka before Season 4]

184 people considered themselves Neutral, out of 557 total responders.

Basic Demographics

How old are you?

102 voters (55.43%) are 18-24 years old

45 voters (24.46%) are 12-17 years old

30 voters (16.30%) are 25-34 years old

3 voters (1.63%) are 35-44 years old

1 voter is under 12 years old

3 voters (1.63%) preferred not to say

What is your gender?

113 voters (61.41%) are cisgender female

33 voters (17.93%) are genderqueer/non-binary

12 voters (6.52%) are transgender males

4 voters (2.17%) are cisgender males

15 voters (8.15%) preferred not to say

7 voters (3.80%) answered “Other”. Their responses included: agender (2 voters), female genderfluid, demigirl.

What is your sexual orientation?

54 voters (29.35%) are asexual

45 voters (24.46%) are bisexual

24 voters (13.04%) are heterosexual

19 voters (10.33%) are pansexual

17 voters (9.24%) are homosexual

14 voters (7.61%) preferred not to say

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:

A power 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 & Knight archetypes!

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 together personality-wise.

Pidge/Lance:

These two have a strong “bromance” dynamic with good interactions and strong, 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:

Their personalities 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 pretty together.

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:

The fandom 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 oversaturation and 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 chemistry and don’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:

Their dynamics 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:

Their pre-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 dynamics and rivals-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 chemistry and they 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.

What Ships do you feel strongly about?

Some notable positive feelings go towards:

Poly ships (e.g. the Galra ladies)

Lance/Plaxum

Hunk Ships (e.g. Hunay, Heith)

Matt’s potential shipping opportunities

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Voltron Shipping Survey II – Anti

[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:

Their chemistry, 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 natural and “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:

Their relationship 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 relationship anyway.

Shiro/Allura:

It doesn’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 solidarity relationship.

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.

What ships do you feel strongly about?

Some notable positive feelings go towards:

Hunay (passed over in favor of ship wars)

Shatt (can’t wait to see them appear in the show)

Hallura (unappreciated)

Pre-zombie Zarkon/Haggar

Everyone/Happiness

Some notable negative feelings go towards:

Shlav

Shatt (pedophilia)

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VLD Shipping Survey II Results Overview

[This survey was held 9/9/17-10/7/17, aka before Season 4]

Hello! Here’s an overview of the results! There are more specific posts following this one!

Basic Demographics

In total, 557 people responded to this survey. Of them…

How old are you?

302 voters (54.22%) are 18-24 years old

144 voters (25.85%) are 12-17 years old

91 voters (16.34%) are 25-34 years old

9 voters (1.62%) are 35-44 years old

3 voters (0.54%) are over 45 years old

1 voter is under 12 years old

7 voters (1.26%) preferred not to say

What is your gender?

355 voters (63.73%) are cisgender females

110 voters (19.75%) are genderqueer/non-binary

27 voters (4.85%) are transgender males

12 voters (2.15%) are cisgender males

39 voters (7%) preferred not to say

14 voters (2.51%) answered “Other”. Their responses included: agender (5 people), and others.

What is your sexual orientation?

168 voters (30.16%) are bisexual

143 voters (25.67%) are asexual

79 voters (14.18%) are heterosexual

68 voters (12.21%) are pansexual

37 voters (6.64%) are homosexual

35 voters (6.28%) preferred not to say

27 voters (4.85%) answered “Other”. Their responses included: biromantic asexual (3 people), queer (3 people), demisexual (2 people), grey ace/pansexual (2 people), panromantic asexual (2 people), and others.

TL;DR

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:

Favorite Ships:

Least Favorite Ships:

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Hey! I know you've already done a survey about Pidge gender headcanons, but I'm really curious to know how a person's own gender affects their headcanon. Would you consider revisiting that survey like you did with favorite characters?

Definitely! I'll put that on my list! Thank you!

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It seems like many (Klance) shippers are also antis. But of course, not only them, other shippers too. Maybe you would do a specified poll about antis? Usually most hated ships are Shaladin, Piladin, Shallura, Kallura, Lancelot, Keitor, in general any ship with Keith and a girl. It would be interesting to know! And questions like if someone doesn't like ship, they send hate or comment things "I don't like it" or "No.". I know it is controversial, but you could give it a try!

That's definitely something to consider! Something that was interesting about the most recent shipping survey was how few antis there seemed to be. It would be interesting to hear from more of them. Thank you for the suggestion!

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Hey, remember that Shipping Survey I distributed last September?

Well, I finally finished the analysis!!!! The posts will go up later today, I think. For now, here are a few notes:

Again, sorry for the delay on this. This survey got big, there were a lot of text responses, and school got busy really fast, so…yeah…

Looking at some of these text responses though, I feel kind of bad because some of you guys had detailed, interesting, passionate things to say about your ships…that were cut off by the survey character limit. I’m really sorry about that, but I don’t know what I would have done to prevent that. I suppose all I can say is that I enjoyed reading what the survey let me read! Your responses were still super interesting!

Also, looking at the survey, I know I tried to separate the antis and the pros and the neutrals, but I feel like I didn’t do such a good job at that. It’s something to keep in mind for the future, I suppose…

Finally, in order to actually get this out to you, I actually skipped analyzing two questions: the question that asked you to specify your identity as a pro or neutral party or an anti, and the last question about the other ships in other fandoms. I feel especially bad about leaving out that last one, so if anyone actually wants those results in particular, let me know! I’m sure we can work something out.

In any case, I just need to proofread the posts and they’ll be all set, so expect them sometime in the afternoon/evening! Thank you for your patience!

(Oh and also, thanks to the 500+ people following this blog! (I’ve been at this milestone for a while actually, but I wanted to finish this survey first, honestly) But thanks again to all of you for your interest!)

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Hey are you alright?

I’m drowning in schoolwork! But I’ll be fine, Winter Break is coming soon and then I can actually have time to work on those survey results I owe you guys!

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Time for another survey! This one, as you can see, is about your favorite VLD episodes and seasons!

If you haven’t gotten around to watching Season 4 yet, don’t worry – you don’t have to have watched it to take this survey! Even still, this survey ends on November 11 at 11:59:59pm, so you can come back to this survey later and fill it out once you’ve watched it!

Also, I’m still taking suggestions for future polls and surveys, so send me anything you’ve got! Any and all suggestions will be sorely appreciated!

[voltron-stats]

Time for another survey! This one, as you can see, is about your favorite VLD episodes and seasons!

If you haven’t gotten around to watching Season 4 yet, don’t worry – you don’t have to have watched it to take this survey! Even still, this survey ends on November 11 at 11:59:59pm, so you can come back to this survey later and fill it out once you’ve watched it!

Also, I’m still taking suggestions for future polls and surveys, so send me anything you’ve got! Any and all suggestions will be sorely appreciated!

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Hey I was just wondering what happened to that ship survey you had going?

Well, regarding the shipping survey, I am slowly but surely working my way through all the responses! There were a lot of them, and I’ve been busier with IRL things than I’ve wanted to be. Rest assured, the results will definitely be appearing at some point in the near future; the results are super interesting and I really want to share them with you guys. I’m really sorry for the delays!

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Time for another survey! This one, as you can see, is about your favorite VLD episodes and seasons!

If you haven’t gotten around to watching Season 4 yet, don’t worry – you don’t have to have watched it to take this survey! Even still, this survey ends on November 11 at 11:59:59pm, so you can come back to this survey later and fill it out once you’ve watched it!

Also, I’m still taking suggestions for future polls and surveys, so send me anything you’ve got! Any and all suggestions will be sorely appreciated!

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Langst Survey Results Masterpost

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!

So:

-Basic Demographics & TL;DR

-I Like Langst!

-I’m Indifferent to Langst!

-I Don’t Like Langst!

…And that’s it! Happy reading!

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Thank you for all the time and effort you put into these surveys! This langst one especially looks like it took a lot of work to go through, and I really appreciate your work because the results are really interesting to see! Thank you!

OMG thank you for the kind words! (^_^) It took a bit longer than I'd like, but I'm glad the final product came out alright! These results were indeed incredibly interesting, and I'm glad I was able to share them with everyone!

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Langst Survey Results – “I Don’t Like Langst”

Third time’s the charm! Here’s another read-more!

Why not?

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?