Omegaverse
Omegaverse, also known as A/B/O (an abbreviation for "alpha/beta/omega"), is a subgenre of speculative erotic fiction, and originally a subgenre of erotic slash fan fiction. Stories in the genre are premised on societies wherein humans are divided into a dominance hierarchy of dominant "alphas", neutral "betas", and submissive "omegas", determining how they interact with one other in romantic, erotic and sexual contexts. Genre characteristics. Omegaverse fiction pairs traditional genders such as male or female with a "secondary gender", or a "second dynamic", that manifests during puberty. It's usually chosen from one of the following : Since Omegaverse is a type of folksonomy, some of its aspects are included or excluded at the discretion of the story author. Sometimes Betas are absent, or other intermediate genders such as Deltas and Gammas are added. Omegaverse fiction typically focuses on wolf or other canid-like behavior in humans, especially as it pertains to sexual intercourse and sexuality, which is described as instinctual, responding to animalistic physiological stimuli. This includes rutting and heat cycles, pheromonal attraction between Alphas and Omegas, penises with knots ("knotting"), scent marking, imprinting, breeding, mating rites, pack structures and potentially permanent psychic bonds with a  mate. Between Alphas and Betas, only females can carry on a pregnancy, but male Omegas are often envisaged as being able to become pregnant via an uterus connected to the rectum, and Alphas can impregnate regardless of their main gender. To make penetration and impregnation easier, Omegas often have self-lubricating anuses. The genre often features other fantasy elements, such as the presence of werewolves or other fantastical creatures. Some works introduce a rigid caste system, where Alphas are depicted as the upper class elites while Omegas are at the bottom tier and face discrimination and oppression because of their  physiology, creating an example of biological determinism. In darker stories, this results in non-consensual or dubiously consensual intercourses, forced pregnancies, Omegas kidnapping and sexual slavery. Omegaverse works are most frequently focused on male-male couples composed of an Alpha and an Omega, though heterosexual Omegaverse works have been produced, and by 2013, about 10% were labeled male/female. Some subvert the genre tropes, telling stories about illicit relationships between Alphas, Omegas who hide their smell using chemical pheromones so that they are not a victim of biological prejudices, or dominant Omegas and submissive Alphas. Non-traditional couples are often  featured in Japanese Omegaverse works. While the terms "A/B/O" and "Omegaverse" can be used interchangeably, the first one often refers only to the sexual dynamics, while the second one is preferred when the story is set in a new ideological world. In any case, "A/B/O" is less used since its spelling resembles a racial slur towards Aboriginal Australians. History. Genre tropes associated with Omegaverse emerged in the late 1960s in fan fiction based on the American television series "Star Trek". The 1967 episode "Amok Time" introduces the concept of "pon farr", the Vulcan mating cycle wherein  Vulcan males must mate or die. "Pon farr" became a popular plot conceit for fan works in the "Star Trek" fandom, particularly fan fiction focused on the Kirk/Spock pairing. The concept of mating and heat cycles among humans was subsequently adopted by other fandoms, and became a staple of the Omegaverse subgenre. Ursula K. Le Guin also wrote, in her 1969 novel "The Left Hand of Darkness", about an extraterrestrial androgynous world with hermaphroditic characters and mating cycles named "kemmer". The origin of the contemporary Omegaverse subgenre is typically attributed to the fandom surrounding the American television series "Supernatural , as an offshoot of the male pregnancy subgenre of erotic fan fiction; the first works recognized as A/B/O were published in mid-2010. That year in May, a writing prompt was shared on a LiveJournal community dedicated to the series, mentioning alpha" males having knots on their penises, and "bitch males" without the knots, inspiring user tehdirtiestsock to write "I ain't no lady, but you'd be the tramp", a real person fiction work focused on actors Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles as an Alpha and an Omega, which was published on July 24. Despite not using the  term "omega", the story created many of the characteristics later associated with the Omegaverse genre. Over the next few months, other anonymous authors shared similar stories, until on November 9 a new writing prompt mentioned Alpha, Beta and Omega men for the first time, spurring the creation of three works. By June 2011, the term "Omegaverse" and its dynamics had become commonplace; the following month, the first femslash Omegaverse work was published, and the first use of the tropes outside the "Supernatural" fandom was recorded. The genre subsequently expanded in popularity to other fan communities: first to those focused around  Sherlock and "", then it quickly reached other fandoms like those of television series "Hannibal", "Teen Wolf", "Glee", "Doctor Who" and movie "The Avengers". In 2014 it gained strong traction in Japan. Reception. Omegaverse has become both extremely popular and controversial in fandom circles. Some condemn it as revolting and sick, affirming that it reinforces patriarchal values and a rape culture, objecting to its roots in bestiality fiction and the power imbalances between genders. Conversely, others appreciate how it deconstructs bodies and gender roles, offering subversive social commentary on queer identity and oppression. Academic opinions are equally divided between those who  believe Omegaverse shows a new type of gender essentialism combined with homophobic and heteronormative elements, and those who see the space to give it a transgender reading. According to researcher Milena Popova, "the features of the A/B/O genre allow for the exploration of themes of power, desire, pleasure, intimacy, romance, control, and consent in a variety of ways", and it's used by writers and readers "as a tool to articulate and think through consent issues in unequal relationships". Similarly, Laura Campillo Arnaiz argues that dark Omegaverse works serve to gain control on the feelings of helplessness and  humiliation that characterize it, creating a cathartic experience. Angie Fazekas wrote that, "In the omegaverse, fans use traditional tropes of gender and sexuality to imagine a universe where queer sexuality is the norm and normative gender roles are often skewed and upended", but fail to offer real progressiveness since, like most of the other fan fictions, their works are predominantly focused on relationships between white men. Impact. , over 39,000 Omegaverse fan works had been published on the fan fiction website Archive of Our Own, and over 70,000 as of 2020. In addition to these derivative works, Omegaverse has emerged as  its own genre of original commercial erotic fiction: the 2007 novel "With Caution" by J.L. Langley is noted as the first commercially published novel with Omegaverse tropes. Moreover, roughly 200 Omegaverse novels were published on Amazon from January to June 2020. Omegaverse has also emerged as a subgenre of both commercial and non-commercial (manga featuring male-male couples). Beginning in 2017, the "Dom/Sub Universe" subgenre gained popularity, particularly in "yaoi" works in Japan; it uses BDSM elements, positing dominant and submissive as secondary genders, and draws inspirations from Omegaverse in its depiction of caste systems. In the Korean  Cakeverse, a small part of the human population is divided into "forks", who have no sense of taste, and "cakes", people with a particular flavor that makes them irresistible to "forks". Copyright lawsuit. In 2016, author Addison Cain released "Born to be Bound", the first novel of a series adapted from one of her fan fictions 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". Cain accused Ellis of plagiarism and copyright infringement, arguing that both  Born to be Bound and "Crave to Conquer" focus on a central couple that is an Omega female and Alpha male, and include the concepts of Omegas hiding their secondary sex by use of suppressants, and Omegas being rare and valued mates. The first two installments of Ellis' series were removed from online sellers for several months, and the pre-orders of the third installment were cancelled, as a result of the DMCA claim. Ellis and her publisher Quill Ink Books subsequently brought a lawsuit against Cain and Blushing Books for damages due to lost revenue and reputational harm, with  representation from Quill Ink contending that Cain had no legitimate claim of ownership over the Omegaverse genre. Blushing Books settled in 2019, admitting that there had been no plagiarisms or copyright infringements, and paid an undisclosed monetary amount in damages to both Quill Ink and Ellis. In September 2019, Ellis and Quill Ink filed a separate civil lawsuit against Cain, arguing that the DMCA copyright claim was false and malicious; the lawsuit was dismissed by a Virginia court in 2019. The lawsuits were covered by "The New York Times", which noted that a decision in Cain's favor could have  set a significant legal precedent for commercial works based on fan-generated material; the "Times" further noted the case as an example of "how easily intellectual property law can be weaponized by authors seeking to take down their rivals."