The Rise (and Rise) of the Omegaverse | Video Essay 

Something I’ve experienced reading fanfic in the last couple years is that almost every pairing you can think of, no matter how niche, has at least one 40k plus word Omegaverse fic that’s always surprisingly well written.

I've seen people queer it even further by having relationships that are in-universe considered to be forbidden or wrong. I saw an entire fic dedicated to exploring a relationship between two alphas in a world that sees romance between them as something destructive and doomed to fail. And one where an alpha has to fight to be able to court a beta. Fertility also often comes up as a theme. While male omegas can generally get pregnant, there are some fics where they're specifically devalued because it's either much harder for them or outright impossible. In a world that sees the ability to have children as an Omega's main value, what does it mean for those who don't have that ability. For female alphas, there's often a perception of one trait diluting the other. EIther they aren't a real alpha because they're a woman (and therefore supposedly lacking in dominance, aggression, and all other things alphas might be expected to have) or they aren't a real woman because they're an alpha (and therefore would have a penis and be expected to top during sex). I'll also reiterate what I think a lot of people have already said. People who approach ABO as a porn genre and nothing else often miss half the world. Alternative family dynamics, the effect ABO has on child development, the effect that it might have on friend groups or workplace culture. Life for us exists outside of romance, and that's absolutely the case in an ABO world as well!

I don’t think I’ve ever heard someone discussing ABO without relentlessly making fun of it. Bravo!

I generally stay far away from omegaverse because the gender roles in it make me feel quite hopeless.. as a nonbinary person, a world where it is unquestioned that regardless of gender one can have either role in conceiving a child should seem great, but it is often still so rooted in sexism about how society at large sees omegas as less than, and any subversion and criticism of gender roles mostly come from the protagonists. That said, I also have quite a bit of disphoria about my menstrual cycle and how my endometriosis makes my physical PMS and period pain worse, and I found a select few a/b/o stories with suppressants giving characters freedom from all reproductive symptoms, which are sometimes comforting to read

As an open minded person, I really appreciate hearing earnest rebuttals to the "so cringe" cultures the whole interent knows and hates. I appreciate the work you put into this. I'm Ace Aro so I seriously love hearing it explained for me why I'm into fanfics. It's just safe and often times very emotionally charged, which is what I like. I can't say I'm really interested in anything ABO, but I ever had anything particularally against it. It's nice to hear more about the reasons this stuff is so beloved.

It's not good, it's not bad, it's just hot. The idea of bonds, and heat and rut just makes for good PWP. taken seriously, they also force an examination of gender roles, sexual politics, biology.

Why am I not surprised that it was a Supernatural fanfic, that started it all? SPN is truly the king of fanfiction

Something that I didn't see brought up in the video about the potential of Omegaverse is the affirmation of Found Family - most a/b/o stories I read are about characters having "pack mates", or having "bonds", which are essentially psychic and emotional links to other people that you *choose*; usually, claim bites are used to create these "bonds", but can also be established through strong emotional connections! That, or the usage of pheromones bringing comfort to characters rather than just a source of arousal is also comforting when put into a family perspective, at least to me, because in these fics anyone that the character trusts can be utilized as a source of calmness, peace, and serenity. The lack of enforcement of biological family and having the ability to choose your "pack" is something that I crave in my a/b/o fics! And we all know about the connection between queer youths/young adult's and the trope of Found Family.

I have to say, you've completely opened my eyes about this as a genre. It's still not something that appeals to me as a reader, either of fanfiction or published original fiction, but I was unfairly prejudiced towards it. As someone who prides themselves on thinking about things with nuance and not tarring all works of an artform with one brush, I can now see how misguided I was!

As a sex repulsed ace, the main thing that’s made me avoid omegaverse content is the concepts behind heats and ruts as the were traditionally conceived. The idea that biologically you’re *forced* to have sex, and have absolutely no control over those urges is utterly terrifying to me

I find this framing of Omegaverse is really fascinating-the way it examines gender, sex, and the way those interact with sociopolitical ideas. It reminds me of a book I read recently, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin (1969), which also creates a unique world with a group of people who have a distinctly different sexual anatomy and gender presentation than the reader. (It has its own version of mpreg and mating cycles, but diverges from Omegaverse in other ways.) It's a science fiction book with no romance plots, but it's really interesting to think about that book now after this video. Love your content as always!!!

While Omegaverse itself may only be a decade old these things were also already common tropes in certain types of furry erotica, mature slice-of-life and RPs way longer than that. Omagaverse only really applied these tropes to humans, brought it all into the more mainstream fanfic space and standardized it more.

To start with I just wanted to say I really wish we could destigmatize women enjoying things just because it turns them on. I'm a bi woman and I've used fanfic (and text based rp) all my life to deconstruct my relationship with my queerness and my gender, but also as an enjoyer of pure PWP. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that so long as it's not actively hurting other people, at least imo. I think that's why so many people find 'we forced this actor to read dirty fanfiction of their character' shit so very offensive and uncomfortable, because it breaks that barrier of consent for us and for them and pushes a harmless hobby into being something potentially harmful, all because some outsider decided to use it as a weapon for clicks. I also wanted to note that so far as our world mapped onto another world goes, and how A/B/O worlds are just a hellscape version of our own patriarchal hellscape and why would that be sexy or interesting or subversive? If someone took an Omegaverse fic and directly mapped it onto heterosexual patriarchy the characters would be so completely unbelievable and pandering and annoying as fuck that it would just be unreadable, eyerollworthy and therefore lose the reader before any soul searching or subversion could even happen. Take that example about Jared being an Omega rights advocate and make him an ~outspoken male feminist~ instead, telling lady Jensen what a fine catch he is because he's standing up for women. It'd be red flags all the way. The way our patriarchy is structured and our built in prejudices just makes that kind of examination of gender roles so much more difficult in heterosexual fic. This was a great video. Obviously I'm a fan myself, but I appreciate you shining a kinder light on this genre of fic (and fanfiction and slashfiction in general) than it usually gets. For those who are considering dipping a toe in, a reminder to pay attention to tags, and the old adage 'don't like, don't read, and definitely don't flame the author when they warned you ahead of time'. Also do yourself a favor, narrow down the search terms thoroughly and also sort by kudos. Thank you for the work you put in, Rowan, it was well researched and thorough.

I enjoy looking at the relationship potential and conflict created by the omegaverse system. I can definitely relate to that acespec bit about feeling of 'having to get this over with'. I remember there was this alpha/alpha fic that I found the premise so funny how their 'instinct' is to show off to the other that led to some amazing flirting and wagers and other shenanigans and it's amazing the humor the genre brings to the stories and not only just as a serious exploration, it's just fun as well

The respect I have from her for being able to so calmly talk about a universe whose stories I read as a guilty pleasure is immeasurable.

The variety is fascinating! As an outsider, I've always filtered the trope out since certain (seemingly) core qualities make me highly uncomfortable, but now I see that there's room to play up/down any aspect of it!

This was truly fantastic. I can't tell you how much I appreciate hearing comprehensive and objective discussions about fandom culture, and it's tragically all too rare. Omegaverse is honestly one of the most remarkable creations of fandom. It's even started to spread to the world of doujinshi! And I think its popularity really speaks to what an excellent tool it is for the exploration not just of gender and sex and how society is built around them (and how they can in turn be warped, confined, and manipulated by society) but also of human sexuality as an animalistic thing, treating hormones and instincts as much more explicitly tangible things than we do in the real world. It's that aspect of the genre that particularly draws me in. Humans are so unconsciously trained to consider ourselves separate from the animal kingdom to the degree that we pathologize the most basic things rather than accept them as instinctual, like our own cycles of feeling particularly horny when we're also the most likely to get pregnant with a certain kind of sex, or why we find some features more sexually attractive. I'm a bit of an anthropology nerd, I guess you could say, and I'm not nearly enough of a furry to have ever found satisfaction going QUITE that far into animalistic territory, so Omegaverse is a perfect compromise imho. I do understand the discomfort a lot of trans ppl feel towards the genre, just as I understand why many trans ppl can also really love it. The thing I disagree with is that it's "cisheteronormative" when… it's just not. Not unless we consider the desire to raise children with the person you love to be "cisheteronormative" which sadly I know many do, but I think that's terribly reductive. The animal world is full of examples of this, from fathers who play what we would consider "maternal" roles like seahorses and certain frogs, to same-sex couples that will adopt or even downright magically conceive their own children via parthenogenesis, like penguins and condors. Cuttlefish have two distinct kinds of "male" that both serve important roles for the survival of their species, and hyenas… well, they're practically a blueprint for female alphas, I suppose! And this is exactly why I think Omegaverse is important for more than just indulgent erotica. It's a sandbox with which we can build a society as similar or dissimilar to our own as we want, and then from there explore and deconstruct what the concept of "cisheteronormative" even IS, all without being clouded by our own reality. We can be more objective, an outside viewer, as you demonstrated yourself in the video. It gives us degrees of separation that help to not only protect ourselves from our personal traumas and biases, but to really dig deep and work out our own truths about gender and sexuality. What is a cis man when raised with the gender roles and societal expectations that AFABs are raised with in our world? Or put another way, what is a cis man when raised withOUT the entitlement and sense of sexual dominance that AMABs in our world are? Would they be more inclined to have a demure manner? Would they chafe against the expectation to be submissive in any way? What traits do we associate with masculinity that actually have nothing to do with sex or gender, and instead are purely nurture vs nature? From those points, we can further dissect what femininity is, where it connects to sex and gender and where it doesn't, and vice versa. It's so incredibly rich and interesting!! And it's not just these concepts, either. I've read incredible fics that work through societies of extreme sexism, where the omegas of each clan or village are kept locked up and isolated together in a house with boarded up windows from the time they present as omegas to the day they are married off, never allowed to even step outside, "for their own good." The cruelty of a normal childhood followed by such a fate, to suddenly be asigned this role that's little more than furniture, and the main character who was kept from that fate with the help of drugs to hide his status as an omega, and who was even further kept from the knowledge of how his kind is treated by the rest of the world. Was it that blissful upbringing of relative equality that gave him the willpower to lead a revolution against society? Was it inevitable that he would be the one to do it? Of course (and again I understand why many ppl are turned off by this aspect) like many Omegaverse stories, this one also dealt with the trauma of SA and forced pregnancy, and of the further distress caused by having so much trauma related to the very sex/gender you are also exclusively attracted to. These are very personal, sensitive subjects that can be made easier to work through objectively when you're not writing about characters you can relate to too intimately. It's unfortunate that ppl feel like this is "fetishizing," but I don't think it's especially healthy to conflate oneself with the entirety of your marginalized community to the point that you feel personally victimized by such distant representations as fictional characters in fanfiction. As a cis woman and a lesbian, I've seen my fair share of cishet male fetishization of my identity, …but I've also seen a lot of art involving women and/or lesbians made by cishet men that's nuanced, respectful, and part of their own effort to work through their own feelings and issues. Nabokov wrote Lolita to deal with his history as a survivor of CSA, and it's not hard to understand how much harder it would have been for him to write Dolores as a little boy instead. It's too close to the wound. And the mangaka who makes my favorite wlw manga has an ambiguous gender in their representations of themself on social media and in the author's notes. I make no assumptions about their AGAB, but I know a lesbian's writings about lesbians when I see it, and for these reasons, I take a firm stance againsy judging art based solely on the author's perceived gender. You never know when someone is still unaware of themself, or has to stay in the closet. Policing and gatekeeping art by something as complex as gender and/or sexuality is a wildly different ballgame than something like race or disability, and to me it veers too close to bioessentialism for comfort. Not to go off on a tangent, but just to illustrate this point, a while back I encountered a cis gay man who was going off on the "cishet women writing mlm is fetishization" schtick, and in the process misgendered or erased the sexuality of every author he used as an example. It was pure misogyny that, as it always does, ended up as unintentional bigotry against trans men, nonbinary ppl, and queer women. "Trans men are always men, even before they've come out" he said, as if trans men always KNOW they're trans, as if they don't gravitate towards mlm stories as part of their awakening, as if hearing gay men proclaim all this about fetishization isn't the last thing they need to hear. Half a year later, I check back on this guy out of somewhat petty curiosity. I'd had a gut feeling when we first butted heads. Something familiar, as he talked about finding it more comfortable to write idealized smut about straight women than gay men. Aaaand yep. Said author had since come out as a trans woman. And I'm happy for her, truly I am. She hasn't walked back a single word she said, but that's no business of mine. She's made the first step towards understanding why her words hurt so many ppl. I'd had that gut feeling bc the way she spoke about how she felt wrt personal comfort writing smut about cis women rather than cis men is a maaaajor first clue in the "Identity Awakening" journey, and one queer women especially (in my experience, just bc we're not as discouraged from engaging with queer romance as those who are raised as males.) can relate to. I didn't realize I was even slightly gay until I was 20, but I had been crazy about mlm stories for years. I just felt more comfortable reading and writing about queer romance that wasn't TOO relatable. I'd get weirdly nervous whenever I tried to read about wlw. And the times when I stumbled upon a good lesbian romance WRECKED me in ways that I still, at 31, have to mentally and emotionally prepare myself for even when I knowingly engage with that kind of story! I /get/ it. In a better, more equal world, maybe we wouldn't have to hide from the intensity of our own feelings, the traumas, the vulnerabilities, the compulsions, by projecting onto characters of the opposite gender. But we're not in that world. And we need to be aware of these reasons for the things that we do so we don't hurt each other. I… don't remember if I was going anywhere before I got off track, and I'm scared to scroll back up and see how much I've rambled like a loon. I spend entirely too much time trying to educate queer youths about these things only to be met with "don't you have kids to feed? Go pay your taxes. Weird old hag." 99% of the time, so I'm prone to Going Off every time I get the chance 🙃

To me the best part of a/b/o is its fluidity. The rules and roles are never the same twice. I'm still questioning my gender daily, so it's nice to be able to read fics where the genders, body parts, social norms etc. involved are reshuffled constantly with every new work. Since I'm also somewhere along the ace spectrum I find the level of distance (and oftentimes humor) of most a/b/o fics not only relatable but also comforting.

Breeding and pregnancy happen to be my biggest squicks, so I've avoided a/b/o since I first discovered it. Still, I find fandom and fanfiction super interesting so I've been curious for years. This video was a really excellent way for me to learn about this tag & genre without diving into fics that make my tummy hurt due to my own hang ups, and I really really appreciate that!

"So where does that leave us toward the end of this video?" Me listening to this in the background: It leaves me with 20 more minutes of cooking! Keep talking, damnit!

i definitely have mixed feelings about omegaverse fic. as a transfemme person, i remember discovering a/b/o before coming out to myself, and deeply relating to feelings of shame and powerlessness when it comes to bodies and sex. and yet one of the main reasons i haven’t come back to the genre since like, 2015 is the gender essentialism of it all. most stories i had come across had no fluidity of gender or really any room for transness within this gender system, despite the inherent queerness of it all. and that’s just not something i want to read. i hope things have changed, to be fair i haven’t read any of this content in a *while*, and societal awareness of trans people has changed drastically. anyway, really cool video!

Gosh, min 10 onwards is the best defence of ff I have ever heard out loud. As a whump-fiction writer and reader, I always get really bothered trying to explain anything, because people think it's a weird kink/feti* thing and lack category or nuance to actually understand or even try. Thank you so so much.

Knowing how to search for great fanworks is HUGE. There's no editor to goalie or sort for you, so you've got to do it yourself. Personally, I've found sorting an AO3 tag/fandom from 'publish' or 'updated' - showing newest or most recently updated first - to 'bookmark' or 'hits' - showing those most bookmarked or with the most hits first - to be extremely helpful in finding well written works.

I always think omegaverse as a trope histories are super interesting but the fact that the trope was around in fic long before supernatural popularized it is normally over looked. There was omegaverse fic in the tennis fandom at least a few years before supernatural aired and I remember being really young in the early internet days reading a sailor moon AU that was basically omegaverse. Supernatural gets full credit for making it mainstream though.

Honestly my favourite thing about a/b/o and the thing that keeps me coming back for more is that there’s endless possibilities for what you can do with it! You can have pure smut or an in depth examination of systematic oppression OR both that the same time!! I’ve read plenty of fics with a 'standard' omega verse set up (literally every author has a different take on it down to what characteristics differed sub-genders have) but I’ve also read explorations of what it would mean to be an alpha attracted to other alphas, hell I’ve read a couple fics where the typical hierarchy was flipped and omegas had more social power. No author will write it exactly the same and you can get really creative with it and that’s why it’s so fun.

24:11 'oh the essay title can't be THAT bad' *looks up the essay title* 'ok so it IS that bad'

I used to read ABO stuff, but recently started to actively avoid it because I've noticed that especially the recent stuff really has a lot of complete disregard of consent, and honestly giving me like super traditional het couple vibes. "You will submit and have my babies and be happy about it" kind of vibes. Well, it's not uncommon for a genre to gain popularity and at the same time have the genre be dumbed down to its worst aspects. Or maybe I've just been exposed to the worst version of ABO stories recently, that's also possible.

I think a lot of fanfiction is mentally playing house for adults, trying out relationship dynamics without any impact on their lives, figuring out how personalities would coexist in a household. Theres a lot that reminds me of when I was a small kid playing house at afterschool club, kids of all different ages, genders, families were in this group. I remember how sometimes people would change rolls, boys playing mum, respectively, girls playing dad, not because they were experimenting with their gender but because they were exploring different aspects of their personality under these archetypes. It was more the character than a reflection of the roll, and the "kids" would respond to the roll as well rather than the person playing the character, for example if you need something most go to mum, although I recall a few stay at home dads in games, in which case dad was the go to. I actually vividly remember a boy playing a working pregnant mum with a stay at home dad played by another boy once. If that doesn't sound like omegaverse I don't know what does

I once read an omegaverse comic set in a kindergarten that was honestly very sweet and pg which I'm quite upset to have lost the name of honestly, I hadn't been aware there were that kind of stories in the genre before reading it

I haven't figured out how to do this yet but I've always wanted do some writing exploring how transness might look in omegaverse. Because A/B/O dynamics are physiologically and socially treated like secondary sexes there's so many more way a character could be trans. How is being transgender treated versus being transdynamic? What do transitions and trans healthcare look like? How does your dynamic not being known until puberty affect it? Can you go on hormones to influence your presentation one way or another? Would the abuses and discrimination be unique in omegaverse or would it be similar to our own? What would it look like without transphobia? How might these characters find happiness and affirm their true gender and/or dynamic? I have lots of questions and few answers and absolutely no idea what to do with any of it lmao its been many year since I've written any fanfiction and even longer since I've written an original work. 😅

Your argument that ‘trope subversion’ in this instance, is, in fact, one of the primary purposes of the genre rang so true to me. I know there are some fics out there that “play it straight” with ABO with power dynamics, nesting, gender roles, whatever. But, that subsection has always rubbed me the wrong way (the same way it feels to see a trad-wife RU-vidr woman claim that they live to obey their husband, or similar). The extreme of that vibe is definitely a squick for me. When I encountered that ridiculous author trying to copyright ABO in Lindsay’s video, my immediate reaction to her violent, un-critical take on it was: “ugh, she’s doing it wrong! How dare she claim what she doesn’t even understand!” Obviously, uncritical porn in a genre isn’t actually *wrong*, even if I find an example squicky. But, for me it misses the whole point of the genre. It’s good to see an analysis that centers the parts of this trope that appeal to me, when well-handled.

As a woman who vehemently resents being born with the ability to become pregnant, I enjoy seeing a male character suffer through the same crisis inducing reality I experienced as a young preteen. And the ensuing struggles of trying to assert yourself as more than your biologically determined destiny of bearing children in a world that laughs when you declare you will not be having children. Is it in a strange way revenge fiction? Possibly. Has it also helped me explore this rift between my identity of self and my biology? Possibly.

an asexual here! I read ABO fanfics mawhas and mangas, it is very interesting for me to read them, although here is the twist I only read them because normally in this kind of stories there's a huge amount of fluff and consensual paradigms in which we can find similarities with those of our current society, it is very necessary for me to find this kind of stories without content explicitly related to sex which is somewhat difficult, in general it is very difficult for me to read sexual content if a story has it I normally avoid them, but if I am already in the middle of one and it is something that happens in part of the development I usually avoid it

I love omegaverse and every time I bring it up nobody seems to actually like it in my real life so I love seeing people talking about in a positive side of it!

OMGs, this is so much better than I expected. I should know better than to underestimate you by now.

Yes, cross stitch is a subgenre of embroidery. Technically every time needle and thread are used to decorate a surface, mostly fabric, it counts as embroidery. Answering the most burning and relevant questions, I know.

I constantly have to relearn about the omegaverse because every time I learn about it I completely forget what it is.

Really interesting video! Omegaverse has always been a genre I instinctively disliked- for me, the secondary gender roles offered restrictions and rigidity, and I’ve been deeply uncomfortable with how it can “force” gay pairings into a hetero dynamic (although I think that’s a problem that comes up across all fanfic). Definitely realized there’s an element of dysphoria in it for me which I hadn’t clocked before lol, the omega role is an issue for me probably because of that,,, That being said, omegaverse may only produce a visceral dysphoria in me, but I think it’s fascinating and super cool that it can be a source of euphoria for other trans people!! This is never going to be something for me, that’s ok I can filter tags for a reason, but as long as it is bringing joy to others pls go ahead and do ur thing!

to extend upon the gender subversion thing, ive frequently read a couple of fics where there are people who are “secondary transgender” as in, people who were born omega, beta or alpha but identify differently than the sex characteristics they were born with. i find this interesting because it sort of gives transgender, enby and gender non-conforming people the opportunity to basically decide whether they want discrimination in their fic. it’s outside of the realm of actual sex characteristics and components so when they decide people can be “secondary transgender” and not discriminated for it or (or vice versa) they aren’t deciding to ignore trans discrimination. they’re simply indulging in a fantasy universe without having to think about the irl consequences this would have because this is all fiction and maybe they wouldn’t be discriminated, and they can’t be judged for that! it really gives fandom loving trans people a safe space i think :) sorry if this doesn’t come out right im kinda drunk rn…

I wasn't quite able to finish what I was saying in chat cuz I was behind lol so: ​As someone who's currently involved in a survey/poll about people's omegaverse worldbuilding, I'm looking forward to watching this when I get the time Also (tho I've just showed up so it's probably addressed elsewhere), historically, omegaverse was a way for two male characters to have a "normative" relationship, but recently I've seen many people (both from that poll and not) across several fandoms writing fics that involve omega/omega, alpha/beta, etc. relationships (so they're actually looking into how things would change) and/or have non-canonically trans characters (so they're trans in the fic but not in canon I mean) I've also seen a couple people (at least) talking about how they would implement queerness in their worldbuilding. Like, how asexuality would be addressed with heats/ruts, or how intersexuality would intersect with "secondary designations". Stuff like that. I also know that there're fics that significantly lessen the impact of heats/ruts (to the point where you can just go about your everyday business without worrying all that much). Hell, there was one fic I came across that had subverted traditional roles by justifying omegas as stronger and alphas as prettier Anyway, there's definitely more than that (like, I haven't even touched on trans-designation people or normative polyamory), but trust me when I say it's there.

a really interesting deep dive! i honestly have avoided most videos and ~explainers~ on the topic simply bc i don't really...trust ppl who are, or whose audiences are, so far removed from fandom to do it justice or speak abt it fairly and clearly. so this was really nice to see! i didn't actually expect to watch the whole hour but i got invested. lol anyway, i don't have much to add to the analysis of the genre itself (nicely done, great sources--if i ever have time/further interest, i'll be taking a look see). but you mentioned one part of it early on, and it's my thought throughout most of this: in terms of the experience of reading omegaverse, it's entirely about how you engage w fandom and how you sort through and find fic. it's sort of a self-selecting bias, how people feel about it. like i've been reading fic since the mid 00s (relatively young as many "fandom olds" would point out). but in that time, you just develop a keener sense of how to pick out the fics you'll actually enjoy, which ones are really good, and then you also accept that there are times where you simply lower your standards to read something in particular (much like going back to the fridge repeatedly and lowering your standards each time lol). so it's just odd to me when people read fics they don't like or assume that a whole genre/universe is across the board [bad/good] based upon their poor or limited choices in fanfic. lol in addition how you engage in fandom and not just searching through sites has a lot to do w it, and i'd wager a guess that particular fandoms have more or less of certain problems in their omegaverse fics, as well (though statistically it probably evens out over a lot of fandoms...). but finding key fandom participants and writers that you like is crucial, bc if you've found *one* good writer, chances are you've just found a group of like, 5 of them, bc they all beta read for each other, too, and have like all these private group chats to plan and write fic. lol simply find ppl who you agree w abt the piece of media, wait for them to post fics or fic recs, take a gander, evaluate from there. then go through their favs/bookmarks on AO3 if you want to branch out beyond their groupchat of authors...lol oh and god bless those moments when you all collectively traverse to a new fandom together at the same time, or when you get into a new fandom bc a writer you love has started writing for it! ah man. being a casual (but astute/picky) lurker/reader in fandom is great, honestly. lol anyway, i almost never read a/b/o. i've read a handful, &why? bc it was done by fic authors i already knew, liked, and trusted. so p much exclusively the a/b/o fic i've read has engaged critically with race, gender, sexuality, politics, etc. often i end up (by chance) reading more utopic ones, where things have shifted naturally around this ~situation. there's also plenty of cisswap involved when ppl get tired of writing abt two cis men but love the characters so they just simply make them cis women instead (or other variations of gender exploration while keeping the same characters). and that in itself is a whole thing where the name of the trope even changed to acknowledge the lack of trans rep and inclusion! ANYWAY on the surface, there's p much nothing in the basic definition of a/b/o that's appealing to me, and yet there have been fics that have worked for me. //shrug. such is life, such is fic. you're absolutely right that painting it w one brush is oversimplifying it and doing it a disservice. like honestly if someone's gonna write shitty fanfic that upholds systemic bigotry, they don't need a/b/o to do it, and it doesn't even necessarily make it easier to do bc of all the worldbuilding that might need to be established. but in a metacognitive/metafictional way, the use of omegaverse for upholding bigotry is also kind of an interesting commentary on our world and omegaverse, as well. lol it's p much inescapable w the whole thing.

I loved the nuanced take you had on this topic! As a big fan and frequent writer of a/b/o fics (both fan works and originals), I’m so used to the “eww look at these freaks!” take on the genre (particularly my favorite part of it, mpreg!) I wanted to comment on the criticism I’ve seen levied repeatedly against a/b/o that you brought up, that mpreg is transphobic against trans men. I strongly disagree with this sentiment. While I can see that making the idea of male pregnancy seem salacious or otherworldly would be erasing the experiences of trans men, choosing to write cis men or otherwise amab masculine-ish characters as being able to give birth to a child is incredibly affirming and important to an amab enby like me with severe genital dysphoria who wishes for a “female” reproductive system more than anything else. If I could press a button and grow a vagina and womb I would do so in a heartbeat! Just because trans men can get pregnant in the real world does not mean that they should be the only males/men/masculine-ish people to get to do so in my damn fantasies (or hopefully in the near future if technology keeps advancing as it currently is!)

From the beginning I've ruled out ABO fics as that weird internet kink that bothered me because of the gender norm rigidity, but I've been getting curious lately. I think listening to you talk about this in such a nuanced and scholarly manner has sealed my fate x)

I just realised that in A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers (one of my favourite books), the Aeluon species and society is very similar to the omegaverse. They have four genders/sexes, one that produces eggs, one that can fertilise them, one that switches between the two and one that is infertile. It’s very much like a desexualised version of ABO and it’s my favourite culture in the Wayfarers series.

As a embroidery beginner I can only speak from the knowledge I've recently gathered. And Cross-stitch Is a stitch used in embroidery. It is it's own genre from what I've seen, people either use it on a whole piece or use other stitches, I have yet to see a piece mixing it with other stitches (I'm looking forward to stumbling on a full contradictory statement)

The race aspect of this conversation though short was quite interesting. I didn't think about race beyond the fact that fic in general is very white and cis man, because that's mostly what we get on screen.

"Has this changed anything about your view of the genre?" - Yes, it's changed just about everything. I've never got into any kind of fanfiction (although I'd probably enjoy it and the community immensely ... I think I was probably too elitist for a long time, and later on it just hasn't happened) and most of what I know about the Omegaverse comes from Lindsay Ellis's amazing and hilarious videos, which means that my view of A/B/O pre this video was essentially "weird alternate reality wolf? porn/pseudoporn but to each their own I guess". Let's just say I did NOT expect myself to come out of it viewing Omegaverse as a 'legitimate' (what does that even mean anyway) literary genre with great potential and interesting problems and rules/tropes that can be used for insightful philosophising or social commentary. Yet here we are. Why is it so bloody easy to dismiss everything that's even vaguely counterculture and the slightest bit associated with teenage girls as shallow and unworthy of respect or consideration? (Yes, yes, I know, the answer is cishet patriarchy with a dash of ageism, but argh.) That's all to say, thank you Rowan for making a video essay that almost completely changed my mind. Well videoed, and thank you.

Damn. I walk out of this one with some newfound respect for ABO... and I did NOT expect this to happen. Excellent job.

Thank you for engaging with this genre in such a nuanced way. I often find that many people who dip their toes into the genre tend to get overly bogged down by the "kink" aspects of the whole setting, where you have them looking at things like the concept of mpreg and act like "oh my god, you find this sexy?!" as if that were ever how that worked. They perceive the genre as a kink, rather than a set of tropes, like a filter through which anything is made "sexy" in the eyes of hypothetical readers. (No kinkshaming if anyone does find it sexy of course. I mean the majority of people who don't tend to see a man giving birth as the height of eroticism) While yes of course the kink is a definite part of it, it is only a PART and not the whole or the entire essence of it all. I wrote an ABO fic, constructed out of perfect kink-trope setups and made it asexual, in part to prove a point and in part just because that's what appeals to me. Like, I don't need weird gender biology to write smut. But the weird gender biology can give a framework where a masculine, strong, self-assured man can crumble into tears and be held, because the people around him intrinsically understand that this is an experience he cannot escape from. If I were to set this kind of scenario in our world, I'd probably have to write circles around the scene to make it feel realistic, given our sad, current gender stereotypes. But if this is set in an ABO setting, suddenly it clicks and feels natural. (Not that these kinds of scenes shouldn't exist in our real world setting! Please, give me weeping men, give me supportive groups of all kinds of people coming together to acknowledge each other's needs and fighting to ensure that everyone gets the care and help they need!) Furthermore, as someone who is perceived as a woman in society, I have my fair share of things I'd rather not remember or think about, that still continue to haunt me despite that. Projecting these experiences onto a gendered "other" that isn't "like me" but still emotes and reacts similarly to me, can give me a kind of catharsis by proxy. Beyond the typical ABO tropes of romantic or sexual pairings, I actually find a great depth of complexity in things like parental or sibling relationships. How does a single male omega parent raise their female alpha daughter? How do siblings of opposing secondary genders grow up? How does this impact their sibling rivalry, how do they cope with societies view on them and so forth? ABO adds a filter of complexity to our already complex world, while simplifying other aspects, which allows me as a writer to focus on the things I actually want to explore in my stories. Since the genre itself is so varied also, I can theoretically re-write any story into something completely new and different just by changing a few details of the given ABO setting! Anyway, sorry for this wall of text nobody asked for. I just want to praise and elaborate where I can.

Thanks for such a thoughtful and in-depth look into this trope. I've written my fair share of the omegaverse fics on AO3 (most of them falling into the "E" category, although I have some "M" and "T" ones). This past February I published my 5th book on Amazon and it's an omegaverse story. So far, it's been my most popular book yet.

I’m guilty of liking omegaverse and I think me being trans makes me see it in a different light. There’s so many ways omegaverse can be extremely sexist- my favorite thing is when omegas don’t act like “omegas” cuz that box is so misogynistic like the whole more fem and they cook, clean, supposed to have children and take care of them, meant to be submissive and pretty. I love when things break the mold of that. Give me badass omegas who don’t take shit. I have a character who is an omega but acts like an alpha, he is very self insert due to the fact I don’t want to be seen as some weak mess and having that power while still being able to be fem and have those parts is somewhat refreshing. Omegaverse is ridiculous at its core, have fun with it, make it how you want it but be able to point out and recognize the bad parts of it since there is Edit - that being said there isn’t anything wrong with wanting to be fem and cook and clean and what not - should not be forced or expected though from society

Listening to a fellow ace talk about ABO is an utter treat. Whoda thunk.

I'm queer (non-binary) with my spouse that is Trans F to NB, one who is literally going through their hormone treatments and did a top surgery, but has no intentions for a bottom. Despite all of this, I also still desire to have a child myself for our family. Since I'm in that place of being in a relationship with someone that biologically shares the same sexual organs as I do, there actually is a great deal of emotional trauma and pain I feel when trying to get into things like the ABO. But I'm actively working in our world's system with my spouse on our mental wellness and to raise a family. It is a small slap in the face to read about a world where it both their 'genders' cause have biological capabilities of childbirth, and I can't. It's a frustration to me. This doesn't mean I don't see the value for others to inspire hope for them. That is the beauty in literature as it is. Everyone will take out of it what they want. It's just for me personally, I can't read a world that is more male dominated in characters, that are expressed as men and not in a true nonbinary manner having the potential to procreate. Here I am struggling every month to save up the money to attempt one chance on my own. That's the representation I want to read on the matter. Those like me that struggle and despite that persevere to attain the family they've wanted. But again, that is a personal want. I don't think that makes the genre bad in the slightest. I find it refreshing so many can be inspired and strengthened within it. It merely is not the genre for me, and that's ok.

as someone who is also asexual but enjoys the occasional abo fanfic, this really nailed Why i enjoy it! there's something so fascinating about the ways it uses this exaggerated and fictional experience of gender/sex to say something about the way our world works in real life.

One specific storyline that I commonly see and really connect with, as a trans-masc, is the Sudden Gender Change element. It starts with a character receiving a false test and believing themselves to be one gender (typically alpha/beta), only to find suddenly it was wrong (and they are actually an omega). The bodily betrayal really resonated with my experience of puberty and gender dysphoria. Then, there are often complex feelings about the social repercussions of truly being an omega. They are opening themselves to dehumanization and violence, closing off their job opportunities, and sometimes losing their social supports. The resolution will usually include found family and self-acceptance through integrating the previous understanding of themselves with the newest one. Unfortunately, this is one of the only times I have felt myself really represented in the media I consume, and I am not really sure the answer currently is for more cis writers to be creating trans storylines. The consequences of inaccurate depictions of social oppression or dysphoria in a fictional universe seem much less severe than one that takes place in our own universe, no matter how much we like to pretend that fiction does not affect our real world beliefs.

~30:50 Is such a perfectly worded explanation for why I read slash!

I ran across the Omegaverse around 2012, initially in the Sherlock fandom. I was pregnant and I ended up reading a lot of pregnancy-focused ABO fics because I was going through the experience of a wanted but difficult pregnancy and I connected emotionally with a lot of them. I don't read Sherlock fics much anymore, but I do still read ABO fics, for a lot of the reasons you discussed in the video.

As a gay man, I've always felt like ABO was just an excuse to write extremely heteronormative gay porn

The trope of omegaverse is based in the idea that your biology defines you. It has a very strict set of pre-determined rules for relationships and sexual intercourse that authors very rarely diverge far from. There are exceedingly few stories that challenge those tropes in a meaningful way. Because most of it, to be candid, is fetish porn. It is not meant to challenge or explore, it's meant to satisfy a sexual fantasy. Which is FINE and OKAY! However, I take issue when the argument is put forward that this is somehow liberating for queer people or women. It is fundamentally not. To explore and question and to liberate, you need to actually grapple with questions of gender, power or social status, and have the characters make meaningful choices in reaction to these themes. Otherwise, you are just recreating existing ideas of power and domination. There's a difference between "exploring themes" and just writing about them and perpetuating stereotypes. Because the vast, vast majority of a/b/o fic does not imagine a better world. Instead, it portrays inequality, domination and strict gender roles as fine and normal, or (often) as sexy and fun. A/b/o doesn't just have harmful elements, the entire universe is based on a fundamentally harmful premise: that biology is destiny. People generally don't like to be told that what they like could have harmful elements. But it's okay to like something even if it does not align perfectly with our politics. CAN this trope be used to explore and question themes mentioned? Probably. But any trope can. All authors are free to use their skills to imagine a different world. That's just writing.

I remember A/B/O being really popular on the Sherlock Kinkmeme, and then popular in the Teen Wolf fandom. And I’m pretty sure it’s what’s inspired those really bad (but kinda addictive) werewolf e-books that advertise on Facebook. It’s not my thing… but it does lend itself to kinks I’m into. And I’ve somehow ended up reading a lot of it over the years as it’s grown in prevalence. Some of the writers who write A/B/O are pretty talented. So I find all of these videos going into what Omegaverse is to be really fascinating.

i want to introduce one of my english lit profs to the omegaverse, she'd get a kick out of it, but her inevitably telling me that of course she already knows it would be unbearable... loved this breakdown of speculative fiction!!

I've seen Stanzi's shorts about them, but that's all... 40 seconds in and now I'm scared.

Mature fanfics often involves explicit sex as well and even t-rated fics may have a chapter of explicit sex. Anything about a g is rarely rated properly as the rating is self reported. So more like 70% is likely explicit sexual content. This was a topic of conversation in my friend group recently after I stumbled in to an explicitly sexual torture chapter in a t rated dragon age fanfics. Not all explicit are sex but near all mature are, and a good amount of teen.

As a lesbian fanfic writer who consistently reads and writes omegaverse, I really appreciate how you unpacked the layers of complexity in the genre and spoke equally about merits and criticism. The way omegaverse enables writing political criticism and gender subversion are big draws for me. As always, your video essays are brilliant.

It's kind of crazy the difference between published novels featuring A/B/O themes vs fanfiction that uses the same ideas. Fanfiction tends to be much more nuanced than novels, in my experience; often challenging and subverting the creppy and sometimes violent parts of the Omegaverse, while novels tend to lean into those aspects along with often favoring abusive heterosexual relationships which is why I only read Omegaverse work in fanfiction at this point. The vibes are just different.

I think one of the main issues I’ve found with this genre is it takes a queer couple but forces there to be a “man” and a “woman” in the relationship, essentially making it a het fic (I don’t usually enjoy het fics cause I can’t relate) but also enforcing harmful stereotypes about queer couples- obviously there are some abo fics which have alpha/alpha pairings etc but this is definitely a minority

a/b/o is one of those things that takes a while to get into, but once you find the kind of thing you're looking for (porn or otherwise), it's smth you keep going back to. some of my favourite fics in general have been a/b/o fics almost purely for the social, sexual, and gender deconstruction and reconstruction that these writers lovingly spend thousands of words on. (i'm acespec, so the erotica side of it less so). was a really interesting video!!

a truly amazing watch, love how you put everything i'd want to be conveyed into cohesive sentences because I for sure can't. thank you for explaining why we love and are intrigued by omegaverse to people who might be judgemental towards it. or simply to people like me who enjoyed the deep dive of why we like it.

This brings me back to like a decade ago in college when I discussed the omegaverse trope in my final paper for my Romance Novel class. If I hadn't known my teacher read fanfiction, I might have not had the guts.

As progressive as people say this genre when discussing the differences between sxual expression vs genital appearance vs genital function, it still boils down to "pole dominates hole. When hole submits to pole, hole is rewarded."

Omg I'm dyslexic and I've never heard of dipsy! I've been relying on the kindness of strangers (podfic readers on RU-vid) this sounds awesome thanks so much!

why is it angst and not gruff and fluff

As someone who is also ace, and often enjoys omegaverse stories, I want to say thank you for not only talking about the nuances in the genre, but also helping me to put into words what exactly it is that I like about not only this genre, but also other corners of the fanfic world that seem similarly unlikely for me to enjoy. The thing I love most about fanfiction is how every time you start a new fic, you have the potential to find a story that really makes you think about the world around you in new ways. Sure, that's not all fics, and sometimes you just want a bit of fluff, but all of my favorites have that quality to them, whether through delving deeper into individual characterization, examining relationship dynamics (of all sorts, not just romantic), further developing or exploring an existing world, or even transforming it entirely, fanfiction as a medium has, in recent years, honestly been more consistently fulfilling in these regards than most mainstream media (i.e. books, TV shows, movies, etc). I feel like this is in part because there is no capitalist underpinnings to which works of fanfiction make it out into the world, and while that does mean that sometimes you have to wade through mediocre or even outright bad fics to find the gems, is that honestly any different than what we do to find a gem published in the mainstream? You're just more likely, rather than finding they're poor quality (though those obviously also exist), to find that the stories that make it into mainstream media have been confined by or even stripped of their individuality by the processes they have to go through in order to make it onto shelves or into theatres, or that they do nothing more than reinforce the status quo, simply because more money and gatekeeping are required before you even see them in the first place. That's not to say that there isn't some media that makes it into the mainstream that successfully holds on to its ideals and messaging and is genuinely amazing, but I feel like not having to go through the process of producers or editors approving of a story for marketing reasons (as well as the fact that working off of an existing IP means you have the ability to delve deeper into characters and relationships and worldbuilding than is always possible when you're introducing characters and a universe that are entirely new to your audience) means that fanfiction can more easily tell the kinds of stories I wish we could see more often in the mainstream.

i haven't even finished watching the video but this start is SO PROMISING. i have really been waiting for a more nuanced discussion on fanfiction that actually talks about why people LOVE fanfiction that doesn't boil down to looking down on it or its reader

This really put all of my feelings about ABO into words and gave me a better idea of why I like the genre so much. Lovely video and well done!!

This is the first video of yours that I've seen, and I must say that I'm very impressed in the depth you went into, and amount of areas and topics that you touched on about the omegaverse. I tend to get kind of obsessive about a fandom or two at a time, and at the moment, I haven't come across any a/b/o fics in my current fandom. This video reminded me about some well-written fics that I want to go back and read :)

ah i'm so pleasantly surprised by this good faith analysis ! really enjoying your recent videos :)

Algorithm brought me here! As a person who read the warriors (cat) series as a kid and now rereading them, I have found the huge benefit of telling stories through being an animal is the ability to separate the physical aspects of gender so that storylines can focus on the more spiritual implications of a story… universal themes like betrayal and being outcast as well as love itself aren’t colored and possibly tainted through the lens of what we think ‘should’ be possible based on physical characteristics. Omegaverse seems to take this concept further and make a person’s gender be more about things within their spirit that make them a certain way (the usual binaries, dominant / submissive, running / chasing, etc) juxtaposing this upon our existing ideas of gender as being male and female. Rather than avoiding the topic altogether it forces us to confront our biases, regardless of how attached or detached we are to gender issues and the power dynamics that are so intimately connected to gender identity. My mind is officially blown right now and I feel such a level of hope for the future, that there is an outlet for people to see themselves more clearly than traditional archetypes could ever truly allow. And yes, I mention the warriors series because the tie between our non physical self and our physical, animalistic instincts as being intrinsically separate invites very interesting dialogue as well. Interest piqued!

I used to exclude omegaverse when searching for new fanfics. Now im writing one.

I think my favorite game to play while watching your videos like this is to see how long it takes for star trek to show up. Also, dark angel did a really good job of the heat cycle thing, and it makes total sense why it would have some good fics for omegaverse.

i don't know why, but a large proportion on levyaku fics on ao3 are omegaverse. they're really good and you should go read them (sort by kudos!!)

So...I'm not a huge fan of omegaverse stories. They do have good sides, but I find the constant reaffirmation that if you just stick to what your gender role requires in the expectation of who you're mate needs to be, then you will be happy. Even the the ones that rail about how f'd up society's gender roles are...still end with an omega and and an alpha together, in love, and being happy. And yes there are some that don't automatically go for the alpha/omega pairing, but they are vastly outweighed. How subversive is it really to end a book basically reaffirming the idea that indeed Alphas and omegas are best suited for each other, just like society says. (And before you comment with, "but I read this one story that did differently!" please consider the ratio of how often it does not. I'm not saying it is impossible, just that it is vanishing rare.) And, look, as a Trans person I love stories that break out of traditional gender roles. But like, how untraditional are these roles in most omegaverse books? Alphas are societies warped ideals of men, omegas are their warped ideals of women, and betas are...well in most books they might as well be planks of wood (I've read like 2 stories were betas were not just "everyone else who doesn't really matter"). I'm glad that other Trans people see omegas as some kind of inspiration of what it can be like to have your body praised not despite its differences, but because of them...but when I look at omegas I see a woman with a sprinkle of queerness over the top to make it more like an exotic fetish the reader can get off on. And, like I said, if there are Trans people out there who find affirmation in these stories, then I am glad. But they make me feel like a sex object...and a not very well cared for one at that. This is not helped by how often r@pe fantasies play into them. There are so many that involve consent so dubious that I honestly can't fathom why anyone would call it consent at all.

I both read and write omegaverse fanfic. It just speaks to me as a nonbinary biroace person. The fluidity of gender being so normalized in omegaverse really speaks to me, and the distance it creates with the sexual aspects makes it comfortable for me to explore sexual themes without it being too real.

I’m absolutely glad you made the video ! The world of fanfiction never ceases to amaze me.

I don't always read ABO, but, when I have read these fics in the past, I liked that it was a way for me to sort out the different feelings I have about my body versus my gender. I am nonbinary and I have a uterus, and I appreciate that you brought up in the 'Biological "Determinism"' section that ABO fics sometimes try to tackle that issue, pointing out that the ability to give birth isn't always (and shouldn't be) what defines your role in a fictional or IRL society... but... how do the characters cope with that when it is -- or when it at least has a part to play -- in the plot. Thanks for putting that nuance in this video!

for me, transgressive and dark fantasies are my favourite, so naturally i love the genre. i understand why they make people uncomfortable but i do wish people would stop hand-wringing about the impact of an extremely niche subgenre in the very niche hobby of fanfic in the also niche hobby of fandom. fiction is safe. it's a place where you can experience terrible, strange things that you don't want in real life and when it's over, you close the tab. it's wonderful. nothing is wrong with plain erotica. nothing is wrong with strange kinks. you close the tab and it's gone. it's catharsis and someone's 100 kudos omegaverse fanfic isn't going to impact trans rights. but it might make a trans person like me happy.

This is so well made, thankyou!

i dunno if this has already been brought up, but when talking about a/b/o, just be cautious of how you write it because "abo" is used as a slur against indigenous australian people, so just include the forward slashes! grat and well thought-out video :)

This whole video had me going “yes! Yes, exactly that!” Love or hate the genre, it still sparks a complex and enriching discussion.

I agree about enjoying subversion of the genre as some of my absolute favorite stories or uses of the genre are ones where the Omegas (or since this was from a Chinese Fandom, Kunzes) are the powerful ones. Not just that they are treasured but they literally had the ability to control or compel Alphas to do what they liked! Also a cute subversion I saw was a genderfluid character that would alpha, omega, or beta depending on the day or moment and was so nervous about coming out to their partner. But when they did, it turned out that their partner was already aware because, since they were true mates, He could tell by scent what they partner was at that time. The genderfluid character's scent actually changed with them further validating what the character had already known and figured out for themselves! It was really cool!

Reading fan fiction is mostly about filtering the stuff online. There is no quality control so you have to look for the good stuff on your own. But finding gems is possible, and very satisfying.

I love the rise of critically examining the omega verse

Nowadays Omegaverse is crazy popular in korean, chinesse and japanesse yaoi's and shounen ai's comics, it's one of dominant (if not the most dominant) trends in this medias and it's not ff anymore, we talking about mostly independed, totally comercialized products.

I used to feel very biased against omegaverse overall because I used to only pay attention to the smut-centric part of the fandom and never really delved into the worldbuilding parts of it, but I didn't realize how complex the whole thing was until I heard others speak of it in a more nuanced way. Also, just getting over the last bits of my former kinkshaming self because I'm honestly no better than the average omegaverse writer in that department anyway.

personally as someone whose ovaries + uterus (and i suppose wider endocrine system) have caused him nothing but discomfort and fear, i cant really relate to people who would be comforted by an even MORE deterministic and uncontrollable reproductive system. the idea that somebody’s sexual impulses have little to do with their minds and everything to do with their bodies seems nightmarish to me. a world where being horny basically takes away all your common sense and turns you into an animal? terrifying. i can’t imagine being an alpha with ocd in this world, where going into rut means that yeah, *accidentally* assaulting someone isn’t even really all that absurd. i wouldnt be able to sleep at night. IDK it just seems like the premise totally takes away the choice involved with being submissive or dominant, which to me always seemed like the most appealing part about it. maybe theres something im missing but i cant bring myself to see “a world where sexual aggression is biologically determined and totally natural” as a radical idea. i would like to see these subversions people keep talking about, though

it's really weird to imply that if someone wants to write about male pregnancy they should just write a trans man as if cis men might never be interested in exploring the concept of them getting pregnant, especially among queer cis men there are plenty of men that would love to be able to carry a child and absolutely would if they could and I think fanfiction involving cis men with the ability to get pregnant is a completely valid outlet and there's nothing stopping people from writing stories about pregnant trans men as well. I know as a cis queer man myself the topic of children is really complicated for me because I know my only options are extremely expensive medical procedures and/or adoption which can also be surprisingly expensive. Even lesbians have easier access to having biological children than cis mlm relationships. Not to mention that a hypothetical world where AMAB bodies are capable of giving birth can also be inclusive for trans women too.

You can't explain omegaverse tropes in any way that doesn't sound insane and nonsensical, because it is nonsensical and insane. I find it to bizarre and deeply upsetting gender essentialism. The idea of being born with a biologically determined sexual role really grosses me out and it makes me want to remand everyone involved with creating or consuming this trope to manditory therapy until they STOP.

I've enjoyed the omegaverse for some time, and always avoid talking about it because of how the general public views it. I think it's great that you're willing to have such an open discussion about this. It helps me to realize the reasons I like it and that there's nothing to be ashamed of! Love all you're analyses.

i loved your preface about fanfiction. as someone who used to read a lot of comic books, your points were spot on. like, the comics industry has a huge fan-to-writer pipeline, with people who grew up as fans of a character writing for comic book publishers down the line. as with fanfiction, because different writers interpret things differently, characters can have varying personalities depending on who's writing (which is also what makes it so difficult to be a fan. if there's a writer who hates a character, it'll show in the script lol.) so you'll have times when a character is acting OOC within the comics canon, it's truly wild sometimes. i also agree with your points about people seeing all fanfic as bad even though a lot of it is really great! generally, "real literature vs fanfiction" debates on the internet annoy me as someone who reads both published fiction and fanfiction, and who has written fanfiction and hopes to publish novels someday. i used to read a lot of fanfiction but never really got into omegaverse stuff, but you did a great job of explaining the history, the tropes, and why it appeals to people! great video :)

Man, I was kinda nervous to watch this video; I've been holding off for months. Part of it was because of the psychic damage I knew I would take to hear omegaverse terms explained but also because of the odd shame I've come to feel for enjoying this type of fanfiction. I don't usually get the chance to explain myself so I'll do so here. I like it for a variety of reasons really. The BDSM-esque dynamics that can result from it are one part (specifically I like the comforting dynamic that allows the omega to like give up control and allow someone to help them when things get stressful), but I also like the fun subversion of our idea of gender. I mean anyone can be an omega or alpha as discussed. It brings me comfort like, even as someone born AFAB, in this world with my like reproductive abilities or whatever I could simply be a male omega. There wouldn't be much fuss about it. Another thing I like is when omegaverse fanfictions explore different relationship dynamics. There's a fanfic series I've been following for a while on Ao3, the first part being "Lock Me In (Let Me Try)." The first part is smut but they later wrote a whole story explaining the relationship of the 4 main characters (polyamory for the win babey). The main omega, Nathan, is like reconciling with his trauma and trying to find a healthy way to cope and eventuallly he's also trying to figure out romantic relationships. The way the author writes about the impact of trauma on his health (specifically his omega heats and purr) is fascinating. When Nathan does eventually get into a relationship, It's fun to see the dynamic between him and his other omega partner and then him and the two alphas he's with. Later fanfictions in this series go further in depth about the relationships between the different partners (such as the two alphas). And Idk I just love it so much. Anyway yeah, omegaverse is a genre I really like and, while at first I was kinda scared how this would go (especially because people tend to make fun of it), I'm really glad I watched.