Omegaverse Fanfiction
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About
Omegaverse, also known as Alpha/Beta/Omega, is a genre of erotic fanfiction that centers around a Wolf-kink trope where humans are sorted into dominance hierarchies of dominant "alphas," neutral "beta" and submissive "omegas." These hierarchies determine how people in the story interact with each other in social, romantic and erotic settings. The inception and popularization of the genre are attributed to early 2010s Livejournal, Dreamwidth and Fanlore slash-fiction writing based on the CW TV show Supernatural.
Background
The term "omegaverse" denotes a subgenre of slash fiction, which refers to fan-fiction written about homosexual relationships between two characters. The word "omegaverse" refers to a kink trope where characters within a story are assigned biological roles based on the hierarchical system Alpha/Beta/Omega.
According to an Archive Of Our Own primer written by fan writer Nora Bombay and subsequently cited in the article Pon Farr, Mpreg, Bonds, and the Rise of the Omegaverse by author Kristina Busse, "Omegaverse" stories, also known as "Knottingverse," feature at least three of the following five tropes: mating/heat cycles, mpreg (as in male impregnation), knotting, semen and soul bonding.[1][2]
There is consensus in academic literature and internet fandom communities that Omegaverse fanfiction was started and popularized by J2 RPF shipping community writers. J2 is a term used to refer to Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, the lead actors of the CW show Supernatural. RPF refers to Real Person Fiction, meaning fanfiction written about real people rather than characters in a story. Communities on Livejournal and Dreamwidth often hosted "kink memes," a term for online events where participants write a fic based on a prompt they've chosen from a list compiled by the fest moderators.
The earliest known story considered to be part of the Omegaverse genre of fanfiction was a story named "I ain't no lady, but you'd be the tramp," or "Tramp!Verse," posted by Livejournal user tehdirtiestsock[3] in July and August 2010 in response to a prompt (seen below).[4]
![AU - Their world is just like ours...except...in their world there are two types of men. One is the alpha male, the other is the bitch male. Alpha males are like any ordinary guy with the exception of their cocks, they work just like dog cocks (the knot, tons of c-- etc) The bitch male, is just an ordinary guy without the special c---. I'd like to see Alpha male Jared, and Bitch male Jensen. Jensen is a snotty prude (think Lady from lady and the tramp) he may be a bitch male but he's not just going to let anybody take a go at his sweet little ass...until he meets Jared...then prudey little Jensen turns c--- slut for Jared. Bonus points for J2 being OTP, Jensen was a virgin before Jared, and now that they met each other, it's for life. Completely up to you if mating happens just anywhere like in the middle of the sidewalk, in a park etc or on a more private level.[7]](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/473/682/c2c.png "Omegaverse Kink Meme Prompt")
The earliest explicit uses of alpha/beta/omega terminology in J2 fiction were the stories "Heat" by the_miss_lv [5] in November 2010 and "No Substitution"[6] by pianoforeplay in January 2011. These stories were similarly inspired by a prompt (seen below).[7]
![There are three types of men, alpha males, beta males, and omega males. Alpha males are like any ordinary guy with the exception of their cocks, they work just like canines (the knot, tons of c--, strong breeders, etc) The beta male, is an ordinary guy without the special c---. Omega males are capable of child bearing and often called bitch males.[note 2]](https://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/002/473/675/eef.png "Omegaverse Kink Meme Prompt")
Online Presence
Omegaverse fanfiction has continued to have a strong internet presence, especially in fanfiction communities. As of 2020, over 70,000 Omegaverse fan works have been submitted to Archive Of Our Own] The subgenre quickly began to encompass fanfiction written outside of the Supernatural fan community, with stories featuring characters from the shows Hannibal, Teen Wolf, Glee, Doctor Who, and the movie The Avengers. [9]
An August 2013 study by Tumblr user destinationtoast chronicled the spread of the Omegaverse fanfiction genre from April 2011 to July 2013 across various metrics (seen below).[10]
Omegaverse Litigation
In 2016, author Addison Cain released Born to be Bound, the first novel of a series adapted from one of her fanfictions that features Omegaverse genre tropes. In April 2018, Cain and her publisher Blushing Books filed a Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notice against author Zoey Ellis for her 2018 novel Crave to Conquer. The phrase "Omegaverse Litigation" is used to describe the lawsuit and subsequent attention and media coverage given to the obscure kink trope that is the Omegaverse.[11]
The following quote is sourced from a New York Times article published in 2020:
In both books, Alpha men are overpowered by the scent of Omega heroines and take them hostage. In both books, the women try and fail to suppress their pheromones and give in to the urge to mate. In both books, the couples sniff, purr and growl; nest in den-like enclosures; neck-bite to leave “claim” marks; and experience something called “knotting,” involving a peculiar feature of the wolf phallus.[12]
Omegaverse TikTok Ban
On April 12th, 2021, TikToker[13] @omarsbigsister posted the earliest known video about the Omegaverse in relation to being a Muslim, gathering over 230,000 plays and 50,000 likes in over a year. On April 15th, TikToker[14] @kireiparks stitched the aforementioned video to talk about how their "for you page" is riddled with muslim-omegaverse jokes, gathering over 230,000 plays and 62,000 likes in over a year (seen below, left). On April 20th, 2021 TikToker[15] @xiaostrophywife posted a joke about the Omegaverse, gathering over 140,000 plays and 40,000 likes (seen below, right)
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6951533350792236293
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/6953444028322974982
In early August 2022, the word "Omegaverse" was banned from TikTok, with TikToker[16] @icaruspendragon posting a video joking about the situation and gathering over 450,000 plays and 100,000 likes in over two months (seen below).
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7127860127083908395
Various Examples
Search Interest
External References
[1] Archive Of Our Own – Omegaverse
[2] Kristina Busse – Pon Far, Mpreg, And The Rise Of The Omegaverse
[3] LiveJournal – I ain't no lady but you'd be the tramp
[6] LiveJournal – No Substitution
[7] LiveJournal – SPN Kink Meme
[8] Archive Of Our Own – Omegaverse
[9] Kristina Busse – Pon Farr, Mpreg, And The RIse OF The Omegaverse
[10] Tumblr – DestinationToast
[11] Fanlore – Omegaverse Litigation
[12] The New York Times – Omegaverse Erotica Copyright
[13] TikTok – omarsbigsister
[14] TikTok – kireiparks
[15] TikTok – xiaostrophywife?
[16] TikTok – icaruspendragon
Top Comments
Commodore V
Nov 07, 2022 at 05:17PM EST
The Sea-Dumpling
Nov 07, 2022 at 05:00PM EST