Bold = Original Wiki text
Overview
Omegaverse fiction typically focuses on wolf or other canid-like behavior in humans, especially as it pertains to sex. This includes rutting and heat cycles, pheromonal attraction between alphas and omegas, penises with knots ("knotting"), scent marking, breeding, and pack structures. Specifically, these behaviors are categorized by the secondary sex, being Alpha, Beta, or Omega.
Alphas are associated with being the dominants in society, often being portrayed as strong and aggressive. They often have rut cycles, in contrast to an Omega's heat cycles, and are the secondary sex that possesses penises with knots.
Betas are essentially normal people in Omegaverse fiction, and sometimes not present and all. They have no secondary sex characteristics, sometimes possessing the ability to mate and breed with Omegas.
Omegas are associated with being the more subordinate and submissive secondary sex who regularly enter heat cycles, with male omegas often having self-lubricating asshole and the ability to become pregnant. Omegas also have mating glands, associated with scenting but also with claiming and bonding, in which an Alpha will bite an Omega's gland during sex, leading the two to mate for life.
The genre often features other fantasy elements, such as the presence of werewolves or other fantastical creatures. Some works introduce a caste system, where Alphas are depicted as the upper class elites while Omegas are at the bottom tier and face discrimination. Additional tropes such as imprinting and soul bonds, or differing/mutated genitals are often part of Omegaverse stories. Omegaverse works are most frequently focused on male-male couples, a subgenre of fanfiction known as slash fiction, though Omegaverse works of all sexual orientations have been produced.
It's important to note that these are all just a collection of tropes most commonly associated with Omegaverse, and the inclusion of all or some of these tropes can vary wildly from story to story. Additionally, some Omegaverse stories purposefully subvert the usual Omegaverse roles and traits, such as Omegas being rare and prized and Alphas facing discrimination for being seen as aggressive. As of 2020, there are over 6,000 works on Archive of Our Own tagged as "Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics".[1]
History
The origin for genre tropes associated with Omegaverse can be traced back to as early as the late 60's with the original Star Trek, a show viewed as the first modern media fan community. In the episode "Amok Time," the concept of pon farr is introduced, which is described as the Vulcan mating cycle, where Vulcans must have sex or suffer consequences such as extreme pain, or possibly death. The introduction of pon farr into Star Trek lore became the basis for many stories created by fans, and later began to spread as a concept across other fandoms, with the concept of mating cycles and an insatiable need to have sex becoming a staple in Omegaverse lore.[2]
The actual origin of the Omegaverse trope as it's used today is often credited to the Supernatural fan community (or fandom), specifically within kink memes for the J2 RPF ship[3]. The first one, posted in May of 2010, mentions "Alpha" males having knots on their penises, and those men without the knots being the "bitch males," originating as an offshoot of the male pregnancy ("mpreg") subgenre of erotic fan fiction. In November of 2010, a similar prompt was posted in a different Supernatural kink meme, mentioning the now-commonly used terminology of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas, along with their basic traits (Alphas having knots, Omega males being able to bear children).[4] The genre subseqently expanded in popularity to other fan communities, particularly those focused around the 2013 television series Hannibal and the 2011 television series Teen Wolf.
Lawsuit
In 2016, author Addison Cain released Born to be Bound, a novel 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, whose 2018 novel Crave to Conquer similarly features Omegaverse genre tropes, for plagiarism and copyright infringement. Specifically, some of the similar tropes referenced by Cain and Blushing Books include M/F (male/female) pairings of an Omega female and Alpha male, the idea of Omegas hiding their secondary sex by use of suppressants, and Omegas being rare and valued mates. Due to the DMCA take down notice against Ellis, her books were removed from sellers (with the exception of Amazon) for a few months.
Ellis and her publishing company Quill Ink subsequently brought a lawsuit against Cain and Blushing Books for damages due to lost revenue and reputational harm, with representation from Quill Ink stating that the idea of the Omegaverse is not owned by anyone, nor are the varying tropes that make up the Omegaverse. In 2019, Blushing Books (under which Cain is no longer publishing) settled, conceding that no copyright infringement had occurred, paying out an undisclosed monetary amount in damages to both Quill Publishing and Ellis. In September of 2019, Ellis and Quill Ink filed a separate, civil lawsuit against Cain on the basis of Cain filing false and malicious copyright claims towards Ellis's retailers.[5] As of 2020, three of the four counts filed by Quill Ink have been dismissed without prejudice, but the fourth count, Intentional DMCA Misrepresentation, was dismissed due to Quill Ink filing for bankruptcy and being unable to continue the lawsuit.(need source)
The lawsuit was covered by The New York Times, which noted that the case could 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." The lawsuit also drew attention from other notable sources such as Kristina Busse, a professor at University of South Alabama known for her research on fan fiction and fan communities, with her article "Discussion of Addison Cain's Alpha's Claim and Zoey Ellis's Myth of Omega"[6], and author/film critic Lindsay Ellis (no relation) with her video essay "Into the Omegaverse: How a Fanfic Trope Landed in Federal Court"[7].
References
https://destinationtoast.tumblr.com/post/59371807212/its-time-for-fandom-stats-omegaverse-edition-in
https://earlgreytea68.tumblr.com/post/183441214821/the-omegaverse-lawsuit
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/23/business/omegaverse-erotica-copyright.html
https://spnkink-meme.livejournal.com/32449.html?thread=7639233
https://spnkink-meme.livejournal.com/21800.html?thread=4996904#t4996904
https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5dba825e342cca7a1832b814
https://fanlore.org/wiki/Omegaverse_Litigation
- ^ "Search Works | Archive of Our Own". archiveofourown.org. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
- ^ Busse, Kristina. "Pon Farr, Mpreg, Bonds, and the Rise of the Omegaverse". Fanwriting Today.
- ^ "(no title)". spnkink-meme.livejournal.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "(no title)". spnkink-meme.livejournal.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ Alter, Alexandra (2020-05-29). "A Feud in Wolf-Kink Erotica Raises a Deep Legal Question". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
- ^ "omegaverse – Kristina Busse". Retrieved 2020-10-27.
- ^ "Into The Omegaverse: How a Fanfic Trope Landed in Federal Court - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.