Imagine an elf is given a job to do at a human institution. The humans think elves donât need bathroom breaks, since they know they can hold it for days, but this elf has been traveling to reach their job, and has already been holding it to the point they are in pain. They ask for a break, but their job is important and time sensitive, so they admit they can still hold it when asked. After a full day of work, the elf tries to reach the bathroom in time, but they were never told where it is.
My home will be a home with no loud anger, no explosive rage, no slamming doors or breaking glass, no name calling, shaming or blackmail. My home will be gentle, it will be warm. It will keep my loved ones safe. No fear, no hurt and no worries.
I just think itâs really interesting that once I became more visibly Jewish- wearing a tichel or kippah on a daily basis, wearing my hamsa, learning Yiddish- I was immediately faced with (misdirected) transmisogyny- being called transmisogynistic specific slurs, being followed and harrassed off buses, being followed and watched in womenâs bathrooms, etc.
It goes to show that transmisogynists and terfs base their ideas on what womanhood is on a white, European, racist, antisemetic, patriarchal caricature of womanhood, and not actual womanhood, which is intrisic to each women, normal or cis.
A whole lot of this shite is being pulled from my ass or are my own personal opinions/theories. I was introduced to the omegaverse via original (non-fandom) mangas, so I am focusing more on what I know of the manga side of the omegaverse and not the fandom side.
This is also just a guide I made a while back while in a hypo-manic episode.
01. The Definition of the Omegaverse
Well, depending on who you are, it can be heaven or hell. For me, personally, itâs both. But in all seriousness, the omegaverse is a universe in which there are secondary genders. Itâs considered genders, but it falls more into the realm of biological sex, as gender is a construct & these secondary âgendersâ often arenât [depending on the specifics of the universe (yes, there are multiple omegaverses)].
02. Origins of the Omegaverse
It originated in the Supernatural fandom in, like, 2010 - according to the alpha/beta/omega wiki. It also says that elements of the omegaverse has been around before the omegaverse actually became a thing.
It seems to have originated among fandom culture (I feel like my terminology here is wrong but whatever). I was really hoping to say that it originated among BL manga, but seems not. I went to look for the release dates of some omegaverse mangas I have & have not read - most are from 2015 or 2016 or later.
So, yeah, fandom culture - specifically the supernatural fandom - created (or caused the creation of) this hell/heaven of a universe.
Edit: I recently saw a TikTok explaining that it first started showing up in the 60s/70s in the Startrek fandom.
03. Basic Terminology
Mates: Basically like being married but instead of papers connecting yâall itâs chemicals. And unlike marriage, it can be non-consensual - well, there are plenty of non-consensual marriages, but⊠idk. Itâs like marriage except way more permanent. If youâre married you can maybe get a divorce - but getting rid of a mate can be life threatening. Especially for omegas. Mates are usually formed via bonding / bond-forming, but thatâs a term for later.
Bonding/Bonds: Not that much later but whatever. Bonds are chemical stuff that connects two people together. Bonds form when an alpha (usually) marks an omega(usually) via a bite to the nape of the neck. Weâll explore this topic more later.
Soul Bonds: Basically soulmates. Like, these two individuals are just destined for each other, theyâre tied together with that lil red string of fate. How romantic. Itâs great for enemies to lovers tropes.
Nesting: If youâve stumbled upon omegaverse tiktok, then youâve probably been attacked for being an omega because you have a nice lil depression nest somewhere in your room. // Nesting is basically a trait of omegas. When in heat, pregnant or just stressed or maybe at any time, omegas can have a lil nest! Nests normally consist of an omegaâs favourite things - from someone they likeâs clothes, to their favourite plushies to anything that makes them feel safe or comforted.
Scenting: Aight. You know how cats rub against you or how dogs piss everywhere? Theyâre leaving their scent behind! In the omegaverse humans do a similar thing - usually by rubbing their scent glands against whatever they want to put their scent on. Scent glands are usually on the neck - I think. Mates usually scent each other up to let other people know their lover is taken.
Presenting: This is basically puberty. Once a teenager presents, it becomes way more obvious what their secondary gender is. A secondary gender can often be figured out before a person presents via testing being done whilst theyâre a child - In some universes even before birth. But once someone presents, itâs way more obvious because of hormones - unless they use suppressants, which they probably should for their own safety and the safety of others.
Heats/Ruts: Basically periods but instead of bleeding you just want to fuck. Heats occur for omegas and ruts occur for alphas.
04. Social Hierarchy
This can very much vary depending on the universe and what the author / creator of the universe wants it to be.
Here are a few examples:
Example 1 is the most common version, but lately I've seen a rise in media that have example 2. I havenât seen many, but I have a faint memory of example 3 somewhere in the back of my brain. Example 4 Iâm not sure of. I wanted there to be four examples to have an even number of examples.
05. Better Known Secondary Genders
Alphas:
[If youâre a cis dude who claims to be an alpha male unironically, youâre probably a bitch. I just wanted to make that clear <3.]
Physically, alphas are said to be taller, more muscular, more intelligent and just better at everything than the rest of the general population.
They are more aggressive in nature - or maybe theyâre just allowed to be aggressive because alphas are the cishet white men of the omegaverse society and they can get away with anything (this of course depends on the social hierarchy). In most cases alphas are at the top of the social hierarchy. They often take on roles of politicians, (successful) businessmen or any position that in our modern society would most likely be given to a cishet white dude before anyone else.
Alphas are the ones that can impregnate others - regardless of the alphaâs âfirstâ gender. Female alphas can impregnate, too - just like the males.
Alphas often make up the smallest percentage of the population - depending on the universe.
Omegas:
[Youâre not an omega for being a brat & having a âdepression nestâ, youâre just depressed.]
Physically, omegas are stereotypically more feminine. They have a smaller build, often petite, etc. The stereotypical idea of what they look like is often a feminine androgynous-kinda person that looks like a prepubescent teenager - no acne, no hair, small chest, etc. very pedophilic.
Omegas can give birth, regardless of their âfirstâ gender. Male omegas can give birth. The possibility of a male omega impregnating someone is very low, as theyâre supposed to be birth givers - but itâs not impossible, just rare.
Omegas are said to have maternal instincts and to be hormonal. Basically, omegas are what in our society would be considered the patriarchal preference of what women should be. Obviously, just like in our universe, this isnât always the case. Omegas can be muscular and whatever they want.
Omegas often, if not always, make up the smallest percentage of the population- the reason can be either because itâs just rare or because, ya know, discrimination & hate crimes.
Betas:
[Sorry to break it to you, but youâre probably a beta.]
Betas make up the largest part of the population. They are basically ânormalâ humans - like us. Theyâre not really special or have specific characteristics. They just lack the animalistic instincts that omegas and alphas have. Betas donât experience heats or ruts. They donât have pheromones.
06. Discrimination & Intersectionalism in the Omegaverse
On top of your regular racism, sexism, classism, etc. now we also have sexism based on oneâs secondary gender. Often discrimination based on a personâs secondary gender overpowers all other aspects of the self - if youâre looking at the bigger picture.
[Following explanations are based on example 1 of the hierarchies (alpha>beta>omega)].
POC alphas will be favoured over white omegas. But, of course, if a white alpha is racist they would choose a white omega over a POC alpha. Like, discrimination thatâs active in our current society is also active in the omegaverse - they just have an extra thing to add to the list of things-to-discriminate-against-others-for.
Just like in our society, just because someone is anti-racism, it doesnât mean theyâre automatically anti-queerphobia or anti-sexism. Someone can be ableist and also be pro-homo. Or someone can be transphobic but pro-homo. Or biphobic and pro-homo. You get it?
07. Heats & Ruts
[This is gonna go into the NSFW realm. Weâre gonna talk about sex, masturbation, sexual assault & so on. Warnings for specific topics will be at the start of each paragraph if triggering topics are discussed in the paragraph. Iâll add âsafeâ to the beginning of paragraphs without triggering content].
[Safe] Omegas experience heats and alphas experience ruts. Heats and ruts start when a person reaches puberty / starts presenting. The average age that it starts at can be anything from 12 to 16. Of course, some can experience these at earlier ages or much later, depending on when they start presenting. Itâs different for everyone. Often omegas present earlier than alphas.
Heats:
[Safe] Omegas usually have a heat once a month for a week - like what AFAB (assigned female at birth) people in our universe call a period. This can vary depending on the universe. Sometimes itâs once every two months and in some cases twice a month (Iâve read pieces where itâs like that - Idk). AFAB omegas donât get periods, since they get heats (at least thatâs my assumption. Who wants to have a period and a heat all in one month? No thanks). AFAB betas do get periods, but not heats. When an omega is in heat, they produce pheromones - which will cause alphas nearby to go into rut.
[TW: sex & masturbation] When an omega goes into heat, they basically are overcome with the desire to be impregnated and theyâre more animalistic in their actions. Often during a heat omegas will isolate themselves and masturbate that week.
[Safe] Omegas can take suppressants to, as the word says, suppress their heat. This is often required and in some universes itâs illegal for omegas to not use suppressants. But, ya know, governments are shitty so obviously suppressants are often expensive and often itâs not affordable to all omegas. And in some cases suppressants donât work on all omegas due to hormonal stuff. Iâm a wannabe author, not a scientist - so I donât know. Suppressants also tend to not work for omegas with irregular cycles.
[TW: sexual assault] Due to suppressants not always being accessible/reliable, homeless omegas or omegas with irregular cycles can fall victim to sexual assault and non-consensual bonding. When an omega goes into heat, their pheromones attract alphas (and in some universes even betas). Seeing as when oneâs in heat / rut, one loses all self control (apparently). So, often an alpha will assault an omega and/or mark the omega without their consent. Often neither party wants to do this, but due to their animalistic instincts taking over, they âcanât help itâ (I hate that phrase). Of course, this can all be prevented if alphas take blockers that block the effects that omega pheromones have on them - but often thatâs not legally required or even a thing depending on the universe. This is one of the reasons why Example 4 (betas>omegas>alphas) can be the social hierarchy.
[TW: pedophilia] Because omegas can start getting their heats at the early age of 12 already, often it gets used as an excuse to justify pedophilia. But this depends on the universe.
Ruts:
[Safe] Ruts are experienced by alphas that start presenting. Ruts can be suppressed with suppressants. In most universes, alphas only experience a rut when they come in contact with an omega in heat. But in other universes (very rarely) alphas also have a rut cycle. The cycle of an alphaâs rut is usually the same as the cycle of an omegaâs heat.
08. Suppressants
Suppressants can be described as a drug or medication that suppresses an omegaâs heat (and an alphaâs rut depending on the universe).
Suppressants can come in the form of pills/tablets, liquids (injections) and gas (incense burners, scented candles). Suppressants in the form of tablets are the most commonly used. The type of suppressants omegas use can vary depending on the individual, the situation, etc.
Tablets:
This is the form in which most suppressants are made. Itâs the one most doctors recommend / prescribe. Itâs also the easiest to be misused as dosages arenât always monitored. Depending on the universe, suppressants can be supplied for free at clinics, sold at drug stores or prescribed by doctors.
Liquids:
This form is often used in case of an emergency. When an omega is in a dangerous situation, injectable suppressants are used. It takes effect the fastest of all types of suppressants. These can often only be supplied by doctors or medical professionals. These are often prescribed to omegas who are immune to tablet suppressants.
Gas:
The gas form of suppressants take longer to take effect and are often used by omegas who donât really plan on going into public. [I like to imagine a goblincore omega who lives in the forest using this whilst they make jam or whatever.]
Omegas can use this form of suppressants for a long period of time and not experience immediate side effects. But when an omega stops using it, their heats can become irregular or more intense. They can also become infertile.
[End of types of suppressants.]
Most suppressants can be incredibly harmful to omegas if misused. Not only is it addicting, but it can make an omega infertile. There are also cases where suppressants just donât work for omegas or their body eventually grows immune/used(?) to the suppressants & it no longer works. So theyâll need to use a different type of suppressant - which can also be harmful as different suppressants can have different side effects.
A reason why an omega might become addicted or immune to their suppressants is taking it too often or taking larger doses than prescribed.
There are multiple reasons why this might happen:
1. They have an irregular heat and because of their fear of their heat starting in public or a dangerous situation, they take suppressants daily/regularly to prevent that.
2. Some omegas up their doses because itâs no longer working as effectively when they take their prescribed dose.
3. They assume a larger dose will last longer (it doesnât).
09. Pheromones
[ Dictionary definition (in our reality): a chemical substance produced and released into the environment by an animal, especially a mammal or an insect, affecting the behaviour or physiology of others of its species. ]
Pheromones are scents(?) that omegas and alphas can produce. It often only affects other omegas or alphas.
Pheromones are often produced by omegas who are in heat - or at least intense and uncontrollable amounts are produced during a heat. Depending on the universe, omegas and alphas have control over their pheromone usage.
Pheromones can be categorized in two: sexual pheromones & a display of dominance via pheromones.
Sexual pheromones are often produced during heats and ruts. But pheromones produced to display oneâs dominance, can be at any time - I guess.
Most commonly, Alphas are the ones who display dominance via their pheromones. Alphas with stronger pheromones can overpower omegas and other alphas. An example would be, like, an arrogant alpha dude who wants everyoneâs attention so he releases his pheromones to make it known that heâs arriving. Of course, the display of pheromones to establish dominance can also be done by omegas.
10. Bonding
Bonds are chemical stuff that connects two people together. Bonds form when an alpha(usually) marks an omega(usually) via a bite to the nape of the neck.
Mates:
When two individuals become bonded, they are classified as mates. Mates have a chemical and emotional (arenât emotions just chemicals???) connection. Often one person in the bond can tell when their mate is experiencing intense stress, pain, etc. This isnât true for all universes.
Sex when bonded:
[ Weâre entering an NSFW zone. Trigger warnings will be placed at the start of paragraphs to indicate which topics are being discussed. ]
[TW: Sex] Two individuals who are bonded, often have their heats &/ ruts sync up. Sex when bonded is also considered to be more pleasurable. When bonded omegas(usually) canât have sex with another alpha or they will experience nausea, headaches/migraines and other crappy things.
[TW: Sexual Assault] It is said that having sex with a bonded omega can cause intense pleasure for an alpha that isnât bonded to that omega. This hasnât been proven to be true. This often leads to bonded omegas to be sexually assaulted.
Bond Scrubbing:
Bond scrubbing is a method used to end a bond. Itâs basically divorce. This is most common for non-consensual bonds, bonds formed in the heat of the moment, bonds formed via manipulations, etc. [Or just when two people are no longer happy in their relationship]
Bond scrubbing is incredibly painful and dangerous. People can die from it. Itâs like going through a detox of sorts. Bond scrubbing should always be done under the supervision of a medical professional.
The process of bond scrubbing:
1. The marked individual will have neutral pheromones / chemicals injected into the nape of their neck where they are marked.
2. These chemicals will, well, neutralise all pheromones in the individualâs body by pushing out / eradicating all pheromones in the person - their mateâs & (often) their own pheromones. This is incredibly painful.
3. During the âdetoxâ the individual will become sick and will need to remain in medical care until recovery.
4. Once all the pheromones (neutral, ex-mateâs & their own) have left their bloodstream, the person will go into heat/rut to replace all the pheromones they lost. But instead of being very sexual, theyâre often just kinda paralysed.
Other lil things:
- Omegas will often wear collars to cover their nape. These collars can often only be taken off with a specific key. They wear the collars to either hide their status as mated/unmated or to prevent a non-consensual bond.
- It is said that alphas can have more than one mate.
- Depending on the universe, omegas can also mark alphas.
- Itâs often considered that alphas canât mark other alphas and that omegas canât mark other omegas. But I have seen media where this (alphas marking alphas / omegas marking omegas) is possible. This probably just depends on the universe & its creatorâs preferences.
11. LGBTQ+ Inclusivity & Fetishization
Most, if not all, omegaverse media contain queer relationships. The main pair are often of the same first gender.
Often omegaverse stories with a heterosexual pair as the main protagonists of the story, get demonized. I can understand why this might happen, seeing as omegaverse is a universe in which queer relationships can be considered normal. Itâs a genre loved by queer people because it displays queer relationships.
But itâs not. From my understanding, most people creating omegaverse content (at least in earlier years) were AFAB women who wrote MLM ships. Often these pieces were overly sexual & ultimately fetishized. I, personally, was introduced to the omegaverse via manga. I had been reading a lot of shounen AI and BL manga in 2017 and came across mangas taking place in the omegaverse. Often these manga were written by AFAB women & the MLM relationship within was being fetishized by AFAB women. And thatâs not okay.
I will say this now, when I started reading omegaverse mangas back in 2017-ish, I identified as a queer cis woman. I did not fetishize the MLM relationships portrayed in the mangas as I did not use them for sexual stuff. I read them because I enjoyed reading MLM relationships & these were just an extension of that. Me reading those mangas have helped me in figuring out my gender identity later along the lines - as I identify as a non-binary transmasc individual. But this isnât about my gender.
Anyways, from what I can tell, often omegaverse was used to fetishize MLM ships from various fandoms. But in recent years Iâve noticed a rise in queer people writing queer omegaverse fics/fanfics. Which I think is cool.
12. Pregnancy
So, the basics are that omegas (male & female) can give birth / be impregnated and that alphas (male & female) can impregnate omegas & female betas.
But something Iâve noticed is that people think alphas (male &/ female) canât get pregnant??? This does depend on the universe but isnât a general thing. Perhaps there are people who believe that male alphaâs canât get pregnant, which is fine, I guess. Whether alphas can or cannot get pregnant depends on the universe.
But, in my personal opinion, I like to think that alphas (male & female) can also get pregnant. I personally just like that idea.
Either way, pregnancy for an omegaverse is flexible depending on the creator of that specific omegaverse. How long a pregnancy lasts is flexible. IF I were to write a piece set in the omegaverse, I would keep the pregnancy rules the same as those in reality.
[TW: talking about genitalia & sex organs] One question I really donât want to answer but probably should is: How do male omegas (& alphas) give birth when they donât have a vagina? Through their penis? Their butthole? Itâs debatable. In some fics omegas have a separate vaginal canal along with their penis & butthole. In others they have a canal thingy within their anal canal that leads to a womb. It really depends on the author and whether you actually want to go in depth with the description of pregnancy and birth giving. I personally dislike this topic and if I were to write an omegaverse fic, Iâm not gonna go into detail about how giving birth works.
13. Lesser Known Secondary Genders
These are some secondary genders that I either didnât know of, or I didnât know it had a specific name. So, letâs get into it.
Enigma: Enigma as a secondary gender originated from a yaoi manga (Kanraku Alpha ~Enigma~ 4 verse). Enigma is a very rare secondary gender that can make all other secondary genders submit, even alphas. I have not read the manga so my knowledge of this secondary gender isnât perfect.
Delta: Deltas are pretty much betas with alpha characteristics. They have pheromones like that of alphas, but are still submissive to alphas.
Gamma: Gammas are betas with omega characteristics. They have omega characteristics but can dominate omegas.
14. Animalistic Features in the Omegaverse
So, the omegaverse isnât just humans with pheromones. There are universes where there are hybrids that are humanoid animals or humans with animalistic features like a tail and ears (like the hybrids in Sweet Tooth).
[TW: mentions of sex] This depends on the specific omegaverse and its creator. Personally Iâm not a fan of humanoid animals that fuck humans. Thereâs a word for that. Itâs illegal. I dislike it. But humans with animalistic features fucking humans are okay, I guess. This is something which can be debated, but Iâm not the one thatâs going to debate this. So donât ask me about it.
[TW: knots] An animalistic feature that somehow everyone just accepts within the omegaverse is knots - no matter if the people in the universe are humans, humanoid animals or humans with animalistic features. Knots are something alphas (male & female) have at the base of their penis. It expands when they orgasm & locks them inside whoever theyâre having sex with. How long it lasts depends, but itâs often said to be anything from thirty minutes and more. Its purpose is to ensure that impregnation will occur.
15. Links
This can be found on my wattpad, ao3 & I will soon have a Youtube video up, too.
who want a career, who want love but are unable to give any back, want a happy married life and will get it even if it kills them, want revenge, someone who wants it all... just yeah.... so good
This is Doris Pollas, the cofounder of the organisation now known as lgbt+ Denmark which by being founded in 1948 is one of the oldest if not the oldest queer organisation in the world.
Doris lived in a farm in Jutland as a child. She was always butch and figured out she was a lesbian in her teens. When she heard about a club in copenhagen where boys kissed boys and girls kissed girls she went just some months after and it was through that club she started a paper connecting queer people all up to seventies and co founded lgbt+ Denmark.
She is now 97 year and wishes for every queer person to have an as loving and accepting family as she did.
I donât see a lot of older gays from my country, so learning about Doris, a masc lesbian, was really nice.
me: *turns on the kettle* *makes myself a snack* *takes a shower and wears comfy clothes* *scrolls through spotify trying to find the right music* *makes tea* *opens laptop* *pulls up unfinished doc* *stares at word doc for five minutes*
me: okay i think that's enough writing for today :) *closes laptop*
got questions for you like. can i make a pact with the devil to be promised eternity in heaven. how do i teach my own clone how to be happy. can i craft a poem that makes you know me.
can we kiss like this? can i sit with my body so close to yours? is it okay i am always shaking. is it okay that you walk so loudly inside my head. is it okay that i love messy, and big, and outside of sense.
can i hold your hand? can i see you in the morning? can we stand in a kitchen together, baking and laughing and dancing? can we split this. can i make you happy. can i fold myself into your life like clean cotton laundry.
can i have a moment. can i have more time. can i hold you a little tighter. can you stay the night. can we have a little space where the world can't touch us. can i know every line in your palm.
is it okay i've never felt like this. is it okay if it feels too big. is it okay if i am scared of it.
can a robot dream in italics. can dogs ever learn to speak.
can we be here. can we be okay. can we lie down to sleep. when we wake up, i wanna ask you - is this real? is this love? does this feel to you what it feels to me?
can a wish be a prayer. can god ever sneeze. when you close your eyes, my love - who is it you see?
more and more every day i develop more hatred towards radical feminism and people who adopt their ideas and call themselves trans friendly because they know what transmisogyny is
youd rather demonize maleness than deconstruct the patriarchy and the structural power cis men have and wonder why your anti male posts get terfs in the notes.
hint
it doesnt matter if YOU don't think trans women are men. if the only difference between you and terfs is that you dont misgender trans women i dont want to hear what you have to say. you're one hop, skip, and a jump from coming to the same conclusion anyway.
as long as you believe maleness and masculinity are inherently evil, abusive, and Oppressive, you are not an ally to any trans people except ones that are feminine enough for you. you are not an ally to bigender people, amab nonbinary people, or transmasculine people. you aren't even an ally to butch trans women, because as soon as a trans woman steps out of line, you bring up her "male upbringing". as long as you can draw a line between your Unruly Trans Person and Maleness, you win! Because, don't you know, maleness makes you evil?
you are unable to see past your elementary understanding of why cis men have so much power over us and you will always, always, hurt queer people more than you'll ever deconstruct the patriarchy and male privilege in your spaces.
you do not get to replace biological essentialism with gender essentialism.
actually, growing up is feeling like i turned sixteen two days ago. iâve been eighteen for years. fifteen year olds seem so young. wasnât i fifteen just a few weeks ago? all my friends and i are still twelve. iâm closer to thirty than to being a baby. i never got to be a kid. i never grew past eight. i canât talk to my mom. i want to sit in her lap forever. i want to decide everything for myself. i need someone to tell me exactly what to do. the week is going by so slow. an entire year has passed.
A lot of the substances we think of as protection against the supernatural (e.g. salt, silver, garlic) are actually antibacterial, and would have helped stave off infections and illnesses that people once attributed to supernatural influence.
Based on this, I want to see a story where vampires are repelled by hand sanitizer.
