#claim marks and pheromones and suppressants and MPREG????

[sambrosiac]

in honor of the first ever omegaverse anime i would personally like to thank the incestious undertones in the hit cw tv show supernatural (2005-2020) for making this happen

[obsessivevoidkitten]

Getting Thrashed

Female Alpha Yandere x Male Omega Reader (CW: Noncon/dubcon, heat cycles, scent kink, pheromones, non-traditional a/b/o dynamics, NO mpreg, enslaved reader, conquered society, general yandere behavior, teasing, biting, claiming, space pirates) Word Count: 3.4k (WOW, sorry that took so long. I started off writing fast because I loved the idea then lost motivation halfway through. Hope you guys enjoy the second female yandere fic I have written and the first one I have written with smut. Also first fic I have written where the reader penetrates the yandere.)

Your day on the space colony of Nithyal started out like any other. You diligently did your assigned work of farming a wide array of essential foods for the colony.

It was pretty vigorous manual labor, but you didn't mind. You rather enjoyed the scent of fresh soil and ripe fruits.

And you were fairly compensated. Everyone was in Nithyal. After all, the colony was on the planet Solstan. And it wasn't called a paradise world for nothing. The weather was agreeable, there were few dangerous animals, and everyone lived harmoniously. No homelessness, no corruption, no hunger, no violence. You were very grateful to live in such a place.

Especially since you were an omega.

Many generations ago, human fertility was greatly diminishing. In a bid to save the species, there were numerous fertility experiments.

One of the most extreme experiments that altered human DNA and psychology the most resulted in two new variants of humans: Alphas and Omegas.

They were both given extreme fertility, but what good is being fertile if you just end up with a barren partner?

So they were both given heightened olfactory senses, with omegas being given genes to produce pheromones that alphas were attracted to and vice versa.

They were also capable of quickly forming intense bonds with their romantic/sexual interests.

But the biggest difference from unaltered humans was that alphas entered ruts and omegas had heats. These periods of ultra high libido were to make sure they were compelled to procreate.

The gene editing was not without unintended consequences.

Alphas tended to be larger, stronger, and more aggressive than normal people, and omegas had a tendency to be smaller and a bit more submissive.

Alphas also tended to be possessive and jealous, even going so far as almost always needing to mark their mate with a permanent bite.

These behavioral concerns lead to the discontinuation of the program. Specifically, concerns about omegas maintaining their agency when faced with such forceful alphas that could easily sniff them out.

Human fertility was restored through more refined gene editing later, with suppressants being developed for the humans already altered and their descendants so they could mask themselves.

Heats and ruts were only partly suppressed, though and it wasn't too hard for someone to discover who was an omega when their life was put on hold in a predictable pattern once every few months.

It wasn't ideal, since most people hated such altered humans.

But Nithyal was different. Everyone just cared about each other and didn't bother with any judgement.

There was no better place in the galaxy.

That was... until the dark day that a pirate fleet came from the deepest reaches of known space to upend everything.

They were called The Eternal Eclipse. And they certainly eclipsed any joy you found in Nithyal.

Your people tried to mount a defense, fighting bravely with the few ships and ground to air weapons that were available, but given their numbers there was no chance of victory.

Your colony was pretty isolated from the rest of civilization so once conquered there was little chance of liberation.

They quickly killed or at least maimed anyone who tried to fight back or organize a rebellion.

The colonists had become little more than slaves.

Many continued the hard labors they had before, with more demand to support the new ruling population, others were forced into personal servitude for the higher up pirates, and a decent chunk of the population became personal fuck toys.

At first, when the pirates had gathered up all of the colonists to assign them their fates, you were mercifully going to continue the work that you had already been doing.

But unfortunately you somehow caught the eye of Thrash and for some reason she had taken a liking to you. So instead of cultivating plants, you were forced to be by her side all day as a simple servant. This probably wouldn’t have been too bad if the violent leader didn’t happen to be, against all odds, an alpha.

You had never met one before but you could tell right away. Her scent, her attitude, the fact that she was larger and stronger than most adult men. She had hair like fire and an energy and attitude to match.

At first you were worried that she had pegged you for an omega, but she gave no indication that she knew. You were in constant fear that your omega nature would be discovered. It wasn't unheard of for omegas to be brutally raped, sold to far off black markets, or even just outright killed. Surely if she had known you wouldn’t just be a personal slave.

It seemed that your suppressants were enough to completely hide yourself from her, and you had a huge supply of them. Though you knew for a fact that once your heat started, your pheromones would poke through. And you’d also be rather horny. Maybe you could feign illness and cover yourself in perfume?

That was probably your best bet. Though you hoped no one would notice that you got ill like clockwork. Luckily you still had plenty of time until your next heat.

Working for Thrash wasn’t too physically demanding, you just had to clean up after her, prepare meals, and do little odd tasks like deliver a note or something to one of her subordinates. You actually got a lot of down time between tasks… though you always had to stay nearby in case Thrash needed something.

The overworked farmers would have surely enjoyed such a relatively cushy work detail, but it was absolute hell for you. It was like walking on eggshells, just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Thrash hadn’t treated you poorly, never hit you. But you had no idea how an omega would be treated.

It was especially scary when she decided to tease you, just because she enjoyed watching you squirm.

When she licked your neck in the cafeteria in front of all her dining pirate crew she cackled at how your face turned red and you got as still as a statue as your brain shut down. You were terrified that she could smell or even taste the omega on your skin.

Thrash didn’t really know why but something in her made her love flustering you. She just couldn’t help it. She had always enjoyed making men uncomfortable or putting them in their place, but you were a bit different. It wasn’t like it was with her male pirate colleagues, where she strove to be the best and made them obey her. No, this was different, seeing your face turn red made her hungry for more.

One night she dismissed you with a smack on the ass and let you go to bed while she stayed up drinking with her best buddies. You felt humiliated and rushed off to your room, which was one that was in the house she had claimed for herself in case she needed you for something she wanted you close by. You were really like a live-in maid.

You tidied up a few things before washing up and going to bed, still embarrassed about having your butt touched in public. Despite that you managed to go to sleep pretty quickly.

Though a few hours later a very drunk Thrash comes stumbling in drunk. You wake up with a jolt and nearly jump out of your bed as a strong arm wraps around your waste and firmly pulls you close.

“Mmm where ya goin cutie? Ya need to stay close to yer alpha!”

She lightly grinded into you for a moment, her crotch against your ass before stopping and nuzzling into your neck.

“Thr-Thrash… uh… I think you accident-”

She shushed you by licking your neck and nibbling a bit. You went still as stone. If she broke the skin the special enzymes in her alpha saliva would cause you to have a permanent mark. Fortunately that didn’t happen, instead remaining content with sloppy kisses, sucking, and gentle nibbling.

You couldn’t help but let out a series of little whimpering moans at the sensation. You also became aware of just how nice she smelled. So dominant. Kinda… safe…

She chuckled at your noises.

“Haha, you’re practically a tiny defenseless omega!”

That made you shake the thoughts and distractions from your mind. This woman was not safe. She stole your home and turned you into a glorified slave. If she knew what you were she’d sell you to the highest bidder!

Luckily after that comment she had passed out in a drunken stupor.

You managed to extricate yourself from her grasp before scrambling to get to the restroom. You had to double check to make sure that the bites that Thrash had so kindly applied to your neck had not broken the skin, luckily they hadn’t.

But you still looked absolutely horrible. Your neck was covered in little hickeys, your hair was a mess, and you were so shaky from the rude awakening that you could barely stand.

Something about looking so debauched made your cock hard. Maybe it was because you had her alpha stink all over you or maybe it was something to do with the bites all over your neck. Maybe it was just because you weren’t used to the attention.

It didn’t matter why the result was the same, you had to do something about this almost painful arousal. And the scent that clung to you.

As you got in the shower you gave your cock the attention it was demanding, thinking filthy and shameful thoughts about Thrash. You tried to pleasure yourself to other thoughts but your mind kept drifting back to the oppressor of your people and the way she smelled as she bit and drooled all over your neck.

You couldn’t spill until you imagined her leaving a permanent claiming bite on your neck.

After your shower you felt dirtier than you had before you got in. You reminded yourself that you hated Thrash and that she and her crew had done to upend the lives of you and your people. It wasn’t your fault she made you aroused. What omega wouldn’t have been after that?

After you got dressed and left the bathroom you wrapped your spare blanket around you and slept in the chair in the corner of the room, you would have rather not been in the same room as the drunk alpha, but you had nowhere else you could go.

When Thrash woke up she found you sleeping soundly in the room and it took her a moment to realize she wasn’t in her room. She must have kicked you out of your bed. She did feel kinda bad about it, but she figured you would live. She was the one with the massive headache.

She went back to her quarters, leaving you to sleep a bit longer.

When you woke up you found her, thankfully gone, you wrapped a scarf around yourself to hide your neck, the weather was cool lately so no one should give a second thought to you wearing one. Then you left to start your day of servitude as you did everyday.

Unfortunately for you, you had to accompany her as she went on one of the landed ships to see what the problem was with it since she had originally been a mechanic and engineer. It was very hot in the engine room.

“How are you wearing that scarf? It’s so hot in here.” The heat wasn’t the only problem you were dealing with, she was sweating and only wearing a tank top, allowing her musk to practically smother you.

It didn’t really take all that long for you to get more than a bit dizzy and flustered. And once you were, it took even less time for Thrash to notice, she often kept an overprotective eye on you, though you had rarely noticed.

She came stomping over and looked down at you.

“I told you it was too hot for that! You’re gonna get sick dumbass! Take it off and let’s go outside for some fresh air.”

You fidgeted under her gaze and mumbled that you were okay.

When you didn’t take it off immediately she growled, jerked you over to her, and yanked it off of you.

She stared wide-eyed at your neck, not remembering having put the marks there herself the night before. And she was fucking livid.

“When the fuck did you hook up with someone, you fucking slut!? You belong to ME and I didn’t give you any permission for that shit!”

The enraged alpha slapped you hard across the cheek, making you yelp and stumble to the ground. You were sobbing and could scarcely manage to croak any words out.

“I-i d-d-didn’t l-let anyone d-do-”

Had one of her men defiled you against your will? Defiled HER slave?

“Tell me who did it!! I’ll cut their dick off and shove it up their own ass!”

Her eyes were like a cats, narrow slits. Your naturally submissive instincts told you to put your head down and obey anything the near feral alpha might demand of you.

“Y-you were dr-dr-drunk and b-bit me last night…”

Tears were leaking down your face. If you had not been on suppressants your scent would surely be one of fear mixed with pheromones to calm down this beast.

That’s right, she had woken up with a bad hangover in your room...

Thrash stared at you, at this tiny crying man in front of her, crying and terrified. She felt awful, and she didn’t often feel bad about her actions. She was a pirate, but for some reason she just didn’t like seeing you suffer at all. Certainly not because of her.

“Fuck… I’m… sorry…” She managed to say as she knelt down and rubbed your back.

“I really have no memory of last night...”

The large powerful woman picked you up easily, with your head nuzzled into her neck, crying into her.

“C’mon crybaby, let’s get you cooled off, I’ll deal with this engine later~”

She carried you carefully back to your room in the housing building, collecting odd looks as she did, which she quickly got rid of with a glare each time.

Thrash placed you into your bed and felt your head with the back of her hand. Despite not having the scarf, having been exposed to the cool outside air on the way over here, and now being in an air conditioned room you were hotter than ever.

Your mind was getting foggier and when she left to go get a cool rag and some medicine from the bathroom you finally realized why you were so hot. You were entering heat. The neck stimulation and all of Thrash’s dominant behavior over you must have somehow triggered an early one.

You had to leave before she came back and smelled it. It would only be a matter of moments before the smell broke through your suppressants.

Something in your brain was telling you to just stay there and let your alpha come back and take care of you, but the other much more grounded in reality part of your brain was telling you you had to hide in a utility closet somewhere and deal with the consequences of your absenteeism later. Better than being sold off or raped by every pirate who wants to try out an omega.

Right then you really wished suppressants just completely eliminated heats completely instead of just diluting them a bit.

Right after you had that thought Thrash entered the room and saw you standing by the door, you saw her hand had a bottle of pills. Though her search in your medicine cabinet yielded no fever reducers she found something else hidden away under your sink. Your suppressants.

And then your scent hit her. It was dulled by your medication, but she was an alpha unused to omega pheromones in any capacity.

She growled low and her pupils were like slits as her stare bored into you angrily.

“You’re MY property! And you’re keeping secrets from ME!?”

Before you could stumble out the door she charged at you, picked you up and slammed you down on the bed a bit harder than she had intended. You looked away, unable to meet her domineering and angry gaze. Your only response was to instinctively whimper in submission to placate her rage.

Thrash sniffed you, inhaling your scent from your underarm to your neck. You leaned your head over to give her easier access and show that you submitted to her will. You were terrified and she could certainly smell it.

Some of her drool dripped onto your neck as she hovered above it, licking you tentatively to calm you down. She was going to bite you and make you into her personal fuck toy and mate, she was mad that you had hidden your nature from her, but she would never hurt you.

Thrash sucked and nibbled at the gland in your neck, with you gracing her ears with a new whimpering gasp or moan each time she touched the sensitive spot.

Your terror evaporated quickly, replaced by heat fueled desire. And if you were honest with yourself maybe not all of the yearning was born from your heat.

The lust filled alpha couldn’t help but inhale your scent over and over, it was literally a drug for her. She had already wanted to fuck you into oblivion even before she got a whiff of you in heat, but now there was no stopping herself. Already she couldn’t wait to drink in your smell during your next heat when your suppressants were out of your system.

She made a mental note to flush them after this.

The pirate rubbed your crotch, palming at your erection, getting you even more aroused before she bit your neck. Hard. Her fangs pumping into you something that would make you smell claimed to any other alphas and leaving a large permanent hickey on that portion of your neck.

You moaned out loud in painful pleasure, arching your back and thrusting your clothed arousal into her hand.

Thrash licked your bleeding wound and then turned her attention to your cock and her own pleasure.

You could only stare and writhe in need as she pulled away from you and took off her clothes.

“Gimme a second, I just need to get our clothes off!”

It was the first time you had seen her breasts. You were in awe of this figure above you. So strong and assertive. So beautiful. A perfect partner.

To her you were the beautiful one. So sweet and pretty and perfect put in your place below her.

She practically ripped your clothing off and buried herself back in your neck as she brought herself down on you, enveloping your entire length in the warmth of her cunt. Her hands pushed down your shoulders as she rode you.

Your pleasured moans mixed with her grunts and growls as she fucked you until you saw stars. Your first orgasm was really quick, and was not nearly enough for either of you. Another perk of heats, insatiable libido.

With each of her downward movements you thrust upwards, desperate to get as deep as possible, the scent of her aroused pheromones combined with your heat making you absolutely unable to care about anything else.

You didn’t care that she had conquered your people or that she controlled them. In this state it only made her stronger in your eyes. A more suitable mate. You wanted to fill her up with so many babies.

The sex lasted hours, until the both of you were too sore to keep moving. It finally ended with you clinging to her and using her tits as a pillow with her arm wrapped around your protectively.

When the fog of pheromones and heat left your brain you were horrified by what had happened. But if you weren’t owned by her before, the new mark on your neck meant you certainly were now, and she would never let you go.

[theomegaverse]

Old News

So I just discovered something from 2018 that I definitely should have known about concerning a lawsuit between two omegaverse writers. I'll spare you the details because honestly I don't care all that much about some petty plagarism claim thats totally bogus, but what I DO care about is an official court document laying out some of the main rules and characteristics of an omegaverse fiction. You can read the full court document at the link provided here (https://www.virginiadefamationlawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/53/2019/11/Amended-Complaint-Quill.pdf), but the highlights I want to share are as follows:

THE OMEGAVERSE LITERARY GENRE

24. The AU omegaverse (or “Alpha/Beta/Omega,” “A/B/O,” or “Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics,” as its slightly broader category is called) is a collection of related literary tropes that have tended to develop and evolve in fanfictions written over the course of many stories by many authors, including anonymous and pseudonymous authors.

25. Frankly, omegaverse stories are not for everyone, although they are broadly popular and sold in major retail outlets. The overarching dynamic is that humans in the AU omegaverse are categorized not only by gender but also by a second dynamic: whether they present as Alphas (dominant, physically large, quick-tempered, natural leader) or Omegas (submissive, delicate, calm, peace maker), with an undetermined number of “humans” being default Betas.

26. Omegaverse stories often involve romantic, sexual, or other pairings between males. However, male and female pairings have existed in the sub-genre for some time and, in particular, before publication of either of the series involved in this case.

27. Omegaverse has been described as a “perfect storm” of several popular fan fiction (and romance) tropes, often including form-shifters (especially werewolves), soulmates, “breeding” and hypersexuality, empathic or telepathic bonds, and biologically deterministic hierarchical societies. As a term of folksonomy (rather than taxonomy), omegaverse is collectively created and used by its fans, who are at liberty to include or exclude any aspect they like. No one owns the omegaverse or its tropes.

28. To be recognized as an omegaverse, at least several of a large number of the usually-recognized common omegaverse tropes need to be present. These include:

• Imprinting (the mythology within omegaverses often assumes there exist certain “true” Alpha/Omega mate pairings, a perfect match of eternal love, and the Alpha often “imprints” on his mate);

• Scenting (pheromones are excessive for Alphas and Omegas often displaying their moods and affection);

• “Omega Heat Cycles” and “Alpha Rut” (a biologic necessity to procreate);

• Mate Bonding (a permanent bond between the partners, often because of imprinting and claiming bite);

• “Claiming Bite” (the Alpha marks the Omega during mating);

• Knotting (a physiological condition experienced by the Alpha during mating to aid in impregnation);

• Pregnancy (on the part of males – often called mpreg – as well as females).

29. Omegaverses share many other commonly used terms and ideas, such as “nesting” (the need to prepare a place for heat and conception), “heat suppressants” (often used to hide one’s Omega status or simply not to experience heats), and Omega “sanctuaries” (a place where Omegas may experience their “heat” without the intrusion of Alphas).

30. By most accounts, omegaverse arose as a specific sub-genre in 2010-2011 and acquired its name late in 2011. A/B/O started as an anonymous fan fiction community for the television show Supernatural, and quickly grew popular enough to become an identifiable genre with its own recognizable tropes. Within two years, the sub-genre had spread to dozens of other fandoms. For example, on the multi-fandom collection, Archive of Our Own, about 2,000 stories were tagged A/B/O by 2013. The sub-genre’s popularity grew exponentially; by 2018, more than 40,000 works had been tagged A/B/O.

31. Although the majority of omegaverse stories employ a male-male sexual dynamic, by 2013, about 10% were labeled male/female. A June 13, 2011 story is recognized as the first male/female story that followed clear omegaverse tropes and terminology. Archive of Our Own hosts several longer omegaverse stories about Alpha males and Omega females written in 2012, including novel-length male/female stories from 2014. In 2014, the mainstream feminist blogging site Jezebel featured an article explaining omegaverse to its readers.

32. The quick dissemination of omegaverse tropes across many popular fan fiction fandoms helped spread the popularity of omegaverse to male/male commercial romances (often written by fan fiction authors). Meanwhile, some established male/female commercial romance also grew in popularity in the 2000s, including that of the shifter (often werewolves, such as Patricia Briggs’ ALPHA AND OMEGA Series [2007–15]) and that of the hyper-masculine Alpha hero, which romance writer Doreen Owens Malek describes as a “strong, dominant, aggressive male brought to the point of surrender by a woman.”

[hannigram-a-b-o-library]

Hey! I was hoping you could help, i'm currently looking at about a bazzillion open ao3 tabs of ABO Hannigram fics and I just don't know where to start. I'd love something long that i can sink my teeth into. can you help???

Hi there @whataboutthefish​!

I picked the brains of the wonderful fannibals in the knitting circle and here’s a list we came up with of some of our favourites, hope they are of some help to you. Behind the cut, in no particular order 💖

As always - heed the tags, but also do check out the writer’s notes as sometimes they explain that tags further and may help you decide if it’s for you if there is anything you squick. There are also some non-canon and AU fics in here, but if you would like some wildly AU fics or rarepairs then drop another line and we will see what we can do!

A Fine Piece of Real Estate by Della19Explicit // M/M, F/M, F/F, Multi // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Series in Progress // selected tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Cannibalism, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mpreg, Will the Morally Grey, Hannibal is Hannibal, Will Graham doesn’t need anyone’s help, Happy ending (with cannibalism), Alternate Universe - Canon DivergenceSummary: And I’m gonna get me some land.Words: 70,638 Works: 4

Been A Son by pinkbagels Not Rated // F/F, M/M, Other // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // selected tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Weirdness, Hannibal is a Cannibal, weird alien booty stuff, I love writing creepy gory things, Original Murders, feminist leanings, wierd sex, implied non con, Hannibal is happily evil, Alternate UniverseSummary: Dr. Hannibal Lecter, world renowned psychiatrist, has been hiding a secret. He’s also the Chesapeake Ripper. Will Graham, Alpha, FBI criminal profiler and all around repressed aggressive mess is brought in to take down the Ripper. In hopes of helping him manage his empathy disorder while working the case, Dr. Lecter is brought in as a consultant to help harness Mr. Graham’s more unstable tendencies. While Dr. Lecter doesn’t mind Will Graham finding out about his murderous hobbies, there are *some* things he’d much rather keep to himself. Will Graham, however, is one persistent Alpha mongoose.Words: 126,185 Chapters: 18/18

Blood Bond by HotMolasses @hotmolasses​Explicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // selected tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Canon-Typical Violence, Murder SexSummary: In a modern, civilized society, most people take suppressants to keep their Alpha or omegan attribute from ever developing. Hannibal of course does no such thing, and is an omega desperate to awaken the Alpha in Will. He finally succeeds when they kill the Dragon together, causing Will to go into rut immediately.Words: 71,562 Chapters: 14/14

I could just eat you up (but not literally) by Orphan AccountExplicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Dom/sub, Impregnation Kink, Possessive Behavior, oh and cannibalism but I think that’s a given by nowSummary: Hannibal breeds Will. A love story in bodily fluids.Words: 42864  Chapters:5/5

Truths we are dealt by Nalyra @nalyras​Explicit // M/M // Series in Progress // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // selected tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Post-Episode: s03e13 The Wrath of the Lamb, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Compliant, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Possessive Behavior, Mating Bond, Serial Killers, Light Dom/sub, Bonding, Cannibalism, Rough Sex, Voyeurism, Hurt/ComfortSummary: Borne out of one of Bryan’s tweets, this follows current canon, Will Graham embracing his Omegan nature, Hannibal his, with Silence of the lambs compliance and lots of smut thrown in.Words: 54,355 Works: 6

Better Living Through Pheromones by canis_m @unicornmagicExplicit // M/M // Series in Progress // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // selected tags: Alternate Universe - Season/Series 01, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Caretaking, Discussion of mpreg, Daddy Kink, Spanking, Domesticity, Watersports, Come Marking, Praise Kink, D/s undertones, mentions of mpregSummary: On the hunt for the Minnesota Shrike, Will goes into heat early. Good thing there’s a doctor on call.Words: 24,853 Works: 3

Peachfire Whiskey by KareliaSweet @lovecrimevariationsExplicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - College/University, Teacher-Student Relationship, Sexual Coercion, Knotting, No mpreg, young!Hannibal, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Teasing, Scent Kink, Knotting Dildos, Bonding, Happy EndingSummary: Will knows he’ll remember this scent until the day he dies. Hannibal smells like firewood, and malt whiskey, and roasted peaches drizzled in honey. He smells like nothing Will has ever scented before, and it is so divine it dizzies him. - The Adventures of Professor Will Graham and His Terribly Naughty Omega Student, Hannibal Fucking Lecter.Words: 22,076 Chapters: 5/5

Who, O Lord, Shall Stand? by AGlassRoseNeverFades @aglassroseneverfadesExplicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Dubious Consent, Cannibalism, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Manipulation, Possessive Hannibal, Angst, Sleepwalking, Nightmares, Someone Help Will Graham, No Encephalitis At Least, Mpreg, Autistic Will Graham - Headcanoned Though Not Explicitly Stated In the Fic, Murder Family, Fluff, WeddingSummary: He was in love from the moment he stepped foot into Hobbs’ kitchen and saw the Omega standing there, chest heaving, pulse racing, spattered in the blood of an inferior Alpha. He had vowed to himself then and there that he would have Will, whatever the cost to the profiler’s sanity and to the lives of others. An Omegaverse story in which male Omegas are considered rare and precious according to society’s standards. Hannibal decides he wants Will and is ready to start a family with him, regardless of whatever Will wants. Starts in Oeuf but doesn’t diverge too drastically from canon until Savoureux.Words: 105,959 Works: 2

A Knack for Monsters by Sugarmouse @sugarmausExplicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // selected tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Slow Burn, Knotting, Biting, D/s, Cannibalism, Murder, Mating Cycles/In HeatSummary: Will has enough problems dealing with his bad dreams and the fallout of old cases. He does not need new nightmares, he does not need yet another alpha thinking they can run his life. This new alpha though, he’s different. Perhaps they could become friendly, maybe one day even become friends. This is canon divergence from the pilot, how things might have gone differently if Will was an angry omega and Hannibal an intrigued alpha.Words: 66,651 Chapters: 44/44

Sonata Op 57 “Appassionata” Mov3 by DarkmoonSigel @darkmoonsigelMature // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: No mpreg, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, AU, Injured Will, Hurt/Comfort, Hannibal is a Cannibal, Possessive Hannibal, Master/Slave kinda…., Slow Build, Collars, Soul Bond, Psychic Bond, Knotting, Ravenstag, no encephalitisSummary: Will is on the auction block after being outed as an omega. Hannibal buys him for reasons. Hilarity, feels, cannibalism, and the monkey shit show that is Hannigram ensues.Words: 114,367 Chapters: 19/19

The Pleasure of Giving In by DrJLecter @drjlecterExplicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Canon-Typical Violence, Cannibalism, Hannibal is a Cannibal, Knotting, Mildly Dubious Consent, Fluff, murder!husbands, Manipulative Hannibal, a darker shade of Will, Possessive Will, No mpreg, Kidnapping, Murder, Manipulative WillSummary: Circumstance exposes Hannibal’s status as unbonded Omega. Chance lets him bond to Will before being claimed by another Alpha. What will opportunity bring? (With a side of cannibalism). There’s porn, there’s plot, there are feelings. And knots.Words: 40,133 Chapters: 10/10

Some that are currently WIPs that are being regularly updated and come recommended! 

The Fairy’s Bride by AGlassRoseNeverFades @aglassroseneverfadesExplicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con, Underage, Francis Dolarhyde/Will Graham (briefly), Spoiler Alert: The Major Character Death is Francis Dolarhyde, dub-con, Kidnapping, Captivity, Captor Bonding, Stockholm Syndrome, Manipulation, Abuse, references to necrophilia, About as Much as in Red Dragon, Cannibalism, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Dark Will Graham, No mpreg, Forced Bonding, Age Difference, Murder Family but in a Slightly Different Way, Some Implied and/or Imagined Animal Abuse, Autistic Will Graham, some Fluff in Here Too, All the Bad Boys Want WillSummary: “I imagine no matter the circumstances, the loss of one’s mate must be a rather traumatizing experience, particularly after so many years bonded.”Will laughs, just once, a quick, dark, rich sound that causes the hairs at the back of Hannibal’s neck to stand pleasantly on end. He does not shy away from eye contact with Hannibal the way he does with so many others, rubbing his thumb along his lower lip, enough to tug it gently out of place as he considers his response.He curls his lip back into his mouth to wet it before asking, “Tell me, Doctor Lecter, have you ever been mated? Willingly or…otherwise.” But for the barest tightening of his smile and a flash of something once brittle, now hardened, behind storm-colored eyes, one would never suspect the sort of madness and past traumas that lurk behind the omega’s guarded cerulean gaze.Not unless one knows exactly what to look for.Words: 39,717 Chapters: 11/?

Remember (that you are) to die by 13empress Explicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Amnesia, Established Relationship, Implied Mpreg, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Betas rule the world, Dark Will, Gaslighting, Murder Husbands, Attempted Murder, Grey Will, Serial Killer Will, Post Mpreg, Slow Build, Vulnerable Will, Manipulative Will, Hannibal is Hannibal, Secret Identity, False Identity, Fluff, Sassy Will Graham, Happy Ending, Mystery, Murder MysterySummary: “How long have I been here?” Will asked, but immediately waved off her answer, realizing it didn’t matter either way. “Look, my name is Will Graham – I don’t know what happened but you have to give my partner a call.”“I’ll get the doctor,” she told him, her voice trained to the mellow murmur just about all medical professionals used on omegas.Will opened his mouth to tell her that there was no need, that he felt fine, and if she would just listen, he could discharge himself and be out of her hair in thirty minutes flat. He grabbed the safety rails and forced himself to stand, though the motion made him a little dizzy. Something on his peripheral vision grabbed at him. The whiteboard strip above the hospital bed – W GRAHAM-LECTER, omega, male, B positive – struck him like a physical blow.Words: 200,744 Chapters: 24/?

The Baby by SpklvrMature // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: Discussion of Abortion, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Knotting, Fluff and Crack, MpregSummary: Will is a very special omega. Special in that he really doesn’t like those smelly, noisy, disgusting, little humans that sometimes grow inside of bigger humans, before tearing apart their birth canal in their grandiose exit into the world. Being in his mid thirties, he thinks he has escaped this nightmare, but mother nature happens to be a bitch…Words: 54,495 Chapters: 15/?

Resurrection Fern by strangestorys @strangestorysExplicit // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // Selected tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Mpreg, Pregnancy Kink, Belly Kink, Fluff, A little angst, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Knotting, Unplanned Pregnancy, Discussion of AbortionSummary: After the fall, Will and Hannibal are living a quiet, still celibate life together when Hannibal goes into an unexpected heat. Gratuitous first-time heat sex occurs, and a few weeks later, they’re surprised to discover Hannibal is pregnant. They find themselves building a new relationship and facing the skeletons in their mutual closet as they prepare for fatherhood.Words: 15,055 Chapters: 5/9

Overcoming by purefoysgirl @jadegreenworksMature // M/M // Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter // selected tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Alternate Universe - Regency, Alternate Universe - Victorian, Angst, Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Baggage, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Alternate Universe - Arranged Marriage, Hannibal is Not a Cannibal, Empath Will Graham, Sassy Will, Past Infidelity, Past Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child AbuseSummary: A Victorian A/B/O romance in which Hannibal Lecter is the future Duke of Westvale who has been away at war for the past ten years. His Grandfather has made good on a contract made shortly after Hannibal’s birth to procure him a wife. It was supposed to be easy. Naturally, with the Omega, Will, given in the place of his twin sister, it is anything but, because if there is one thing Hannibal Lecter despises, it’s Omegas.Words: 67,214 Chapters: 10/55

[adrianfridge]

Can I ask what you define as “Non-Traditional Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics”? How does it differ from whatever "traditional" Alpha/Beta/Omega dynamics are considered to be?

Before I can define “non-traditional,” I need to break down what “traditional” even represents.

To give some context, Omegaverse was born out of the Supernatural fandom, specifically an AU kink meme for the Jared/Jensen RPF ship, so this is predominantly an M/M Romance trope. And in recent years it has become a multifandom trope that has made its way into original fiction too.

In terms of what counts as “traditional” in Omegaverse fiction, I’m going to go with general trends and observations, which is NOT a judgement call on people who enjoy these subtropes…

Traditional Omegaverse fics focus on Alphas who are usually cis men who tend to be – dominant, aggressive, possessive, physically imposing/strong, the embodiments of everything Masculine™ in a Western sense, including always being the top during sex; they also have knots and in some cases go into ruts

Traditional Omegaverse fics focus on Omegas who are usually cis men who tend to be – submissive, passive/meek, nurturing, motherly/maternal, physically weaker, the embodiments of everything Feminine™ in a Western sense, including always the bottom during sex; also usually capable of giving birth, making them childbearers and homemakers, which means they have self-lubricating anuses and typically go into heats where the Alpha will breed them

Traditional Omegaverse fics tend to NOT focus on Betas, as they are usually everyone else and unimportant because they’re not as reactive to hormones as Alphas and Omegas

Traditional Omegaverse societies tend to function much like our own, just substituting the historical trials and tribulations of cis women with Omegas (e.g. Good Omegas stay barefoot and pregnant and in the kitchen); though, more often than not, it’s referring specifically to Omega cis men, who are sometimes the only gender that can even present as Omega.

The key societal difference is that Alphas have a right to claim Omegas, often to the extremes of sexual slavery (e.g. non-con collaring). In fact, pheromones play a large role in this, allowing people to smell your designation and whether you’re in heat/rut, which affects their behavior, such as being compelled to take you against your conscious will because your body is just that ripe.

And because heat sex often leaves the Omega unable to make decisions for themselves, there’s a matter of dub-con/non-con that isn’t always addressed, not to mention the knotting that can’t be undone even if one or both parties want it to end.

Other things to consider: 

Omegaverse is based in kink and primal urges, with knotting and heat sex being a staple

People aren’t born with their Omegaverse designation


Alphas marking Omegas as “theirs” is viewed as romantic, especially because it wards away unwanted advances from inferior Alphas


Matings can be permanent, legally binding, or both


Suppressants exist and are treated like birth control pills (often being actual birth control pills) because heats are synonymous with periods


I have yet to read an Omegaverse with an Omega trans man (who can technically count as mpreg without any hand waving)


While some authors do explore intersex identities, this is done strictly to explain how mpreg would work on previously cis bodies


Cis women, regardless of designation, are pushed to the periphery if they exist at all


(This is not meant to be an exhaustive breakdown because I’m sure there’s more common tropes/cliches/“traditions” within Omegaverse I haven’t even touched upon)

With all that said, non-traditional Omegaverse tends to unravel or subvert anything from the above. Note that it’s not enough to just make the Omega a cheeky brat or have the Alpha love to cook because M/F Romances have already been toying with these progressive notions.

Ultimately, Omegaverse is a framework for an entirely new and alien society, and there’s a million billion ways to play with it even if you’re just going for simple PWP. I’m not about to act as gatekeeper on just how much needs to be subverted/changed to qualify as non-traditional because I’m a sucker for heat sex and knotting even though I also love exploring what gender norms even mean in such a culture. 

In my opinion, if you go into Omegaverse wanting to put a new spin on it, you’re probably doing something non-traditional.

--

[EDITED: In the original answer, I wasn't aware I was using an abbreviation that's a slur. I've since edited my response to remove the slur]

[brajeshupadhyay]

Addison Cain was living in Kyoto, volunteering at a shrine and studying indigenous Japanese religion. She was supposed to be working on a scholarly book about her research, but started writing intensely erotic Batman fan fiction instead. It happened almost by accident. It was 2012, and Ms. Cain — who grew up in Orange County, Calif., under a different name — was three years out of college, alone abroad with a lot of time on her hands. Her command of Japanese was halting, and English titles in bookstores were wildly expensive. So Ms. Cain started reading things she could find for free online, and soon discovered fanfic — stories by amateurs that borrow characters and plots from established pop-cultural franchises. Ms. Cain began devouring works set in the world of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. She decided to write some of her own, featuring Batman’s nemesis Bane as a sexy antihero, and posted them for free online. She quickly developed a fan base, becoming something of a star in her sub-subgenre. A few years later, she was living in Arlington, Va., and working as a bartender when she began to wonder if she could turn her hobby into a business. Her husband and parents discouraged her from pursuing something so impractical. Agents were equally dismissive, rejecting or ignoring Ms. Cain’s queries for more than a year. Then, a fellow writer helped Ms. Cain send a manuscript to Blushing Books, a small publishing house in Charlottesville. An editor read it overnight and sent her a contract the next day. In the spring of 2016, she published “Born to Be Bound,” an adaptation of her fanfic. The story takes place on a future earth where most of humanity has died from a plague and survivors live under a dome, divided into a wolfpack-like hierarchy of dominant Alphas, neutral Betas and submissive Omegas. A powerful, brutish Alpha named Shepherd takes an Omega woman named Claire captive, and they engage in rough, wolfish sex. Ms. Cain’s fans posted nearly 100 positive reviews on Amazon, enough to get her some visibility. “Unapologetically raw and deliciously filthy,” read one glowing blurb. The debut was a hit. She rushed out several more titles, and the series grossed some $370,000, according to her publisher. For the next two years, Ms. Cain published at breakneck speed, producing a novel every few months by repurposing her older fan fiction, keeping her books in the algorithmic sweet spot of Amazon’s new releases and turning herself into a recognizable brand. “Dip your toes into the erotica pool,” she said on a 2016 sci-fi and fantasy podcast. “There’s nothing to do here but make money.” Then, in 2018, Ms. Cain heard about an up-and-coming fantasy writer with the pen name Zoey Ellis, who had published an erotic fantasy series with a premise that sounded awfully familiar. It featured an Alpha and Omega couple, and lots of lupine sex. The more Ms. Cain learned about “Myth of Omega” and its first installment, “Crave to Conquer,” the more outraged she became. In both books, Alpha men are overpowered by the scent of Omega heroines and take them hostage. In both books, the women try and fail to suppress their pheromones and give in to the urge to mate. In both books, the couples sniff, purr and growl; nest in den-like enclosures; neck-bite to leave “claim” marks; and experience something called “knotting,” involving a peculiar feature of the wolf phallus. Ms. Cain urged Blushing Books to do something. The publisher sent copyright violation notices to more than half a dozen online retailers, alleging that Ms. Ellis’s story was “a copy” with scenes that were “almost identical to Addison Cain’s book.” Most of the outlets, including Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Apple, removed Ms. Ellis’s work immediately. Ms. Cain’s readers flocked to her defense. “This is a rip off of Addison Cain,” one irate reader wrote on Goodreads. “So disappointed in this author and I hope Mrs. Cain seeks legal charges against you for stealing her work! Shame on you!” It’s hard to imagine that two writers could independently create such bizarrely specific fantasy scenarios. As it turns out, neither of them did. Both writers built their plots with common elements from a booming, fan-generated body of literature called the Omegaverse. The dispute between Ms. Cain and Ms. Ellis is a kink-laden microcosm of tactics at play throughout the fanfic industry. As the genre commercializes, authors aggressively defend their livelihoods, sometimes using a 1998 law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, to get online retailers to remove competitors’ books. When making a claim, a creator must have a “good faith belief” that her ownership of the work in question has been infringed. But what does that mean when the ultimate source material is a crowdsourced collective? The question has members of the Omegaverse community choosing sides between Ms. Cain and Ms. Ellis — as will a federal judge in Virginia, who is considering whether the allegations, and the consequences, merit a payout of more than a million dollars. Welcome to the Omegaverse, where men can get pregnant To untangle the Omegaverse fight, it helps to understand its origins in a parallel literary universe — the vast, unruly, diverse, exuberant and often pornographic world of fan fiction. After getting its start decades ago in “Star Trek” zines, fanfic mushroomed when the internet made it easy for especially dedicated consumers of pop culture to find and create stories for one another. There are now subgenres upon subgenres, from “slash” (where two male characters pair up romantically, such as Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson), to odder fare like “mundane AU” (an alternative universe where magical characters live in the real world — e.g., Harry Potter goes to a regular boarding school and has normal teen problems). While some traditional authors have derided fan fiction writers as creative parasites, there isn’t really any way to stop them. Such works are legal as long as writers post them for free and don’t try to sell stories based on copyrighted material. But too much money was at stake for the genre to remain amateur forever. E L James’s blockbuster series “Fifty Shades of Grey,” which sold more than 150 million copies, started as fanfic based on Stephenie Meyer’s “Twilight” vampire saga. By swapping out copyrighted characters for nominally original ones — a practice known as “filing off the serial numbers” — fanfic writers like Ms. James, Christina Lauren and the cheekily named Tara Sue Me have leapfrogged into for-profit publishing. As more fan fiction writers cross over into commercial publishing, turf wars have erupted. “Fan fiction made authors and publishers realize there was a thriving market for this stuff,” said Rebecca Tushnet, a copyright expert at Harvard Law School. “There’s much more of it, so there’s more opportunity for conflict.” The specific fanfic universe that spawned the Cain-Ellis dispute emerged about a decade ago, when devotees of the CW drama “Supernatural” began writing stories in which its two lead actors are lovers. One would be the dominant alpha male. The other man would be a feminized omega, often with the ability to become impregnated — a trope known as MPreg. Canine, and then lupine, sex stuff got mixed in. The premise was wildly popular, and tropes were rapidly adopted by writers in other fandoms, including NBC’s “Hannibal” and MTV’s “Teen Wolf.” The sprawling body of work that followed came to be known as the Omegaverse, with its own rules, plot elements and terminology. Some Omegaverse stories involve lycanthropes (werewolves), vampires, shape-shifters, dragons, space pirates, others feature regular humans. But virtually all Omegaverse couples engage in wolflike behavior. Alphas “rut” and Omegas go through heat cycles, releasing pheromones that drive Alphas into a lusty frenzy. One particular physiological quirk that’s ubiquitous in Omegaverse stories, called knotting, comes from a real feature of wolves’ penises, which swell during intercourse, causing the mating pair to remain physically bound to increase the chance of insemination. The appetite for such tales is large and growing. In the past decade, more than 70,000 stories set in the Omegaverse have been published on the fan fiction site Archive of Our Own. As it became more popular, the Omegaverse transcended individual fandoms and became an established genre on its own. Writers began publishing Omegaverse stories with original characters and settings, and authors started to publish them for profit. On Amazon, there are hundreds of novels for sale, including titles like “Pregnant Rock Star Omega,” “Wolf Spirit: A Reverse Harem Omegaverse Romance” and “Some Bunny to Love: An M/M MPreg Shifter Romance,” an improbable tale involving an Alpha male who can transform into a rabbit. This was the thriving commercial backdrop to Ms. Cain’s allegation that Ms. Ellis stole her material. Ms. Ellis thought that the claim was absurd — and was prepared to say so in court. The ‘cat mama’ strikes back One day last spring, Ms. Ellis met me for coffee at a hotel near Paddington Station. She doesn’t seem like someone who writes dark, edgy, sometimes violent erotica. She’s young, cheerful, and works in education in London, which is one of the reasons she declines to publish under her real name. Most days, she gets up at four in the morning to write, then heads to the school where she works. On her Amazon author page, she describes herself as a “cat mama” who loves “sexual tension that jumps off the page.” Ms. Ellis said she got into fan fiction in 2006. She read stories set in the Harry Potter universe at first, then moved on to other fandoms, including one for the BBC’s “Sherlock,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch, that introduced her to the Omegaverse. The genre was unlike anything else she’d encountered. She began dabbling in her own original writing, and in late 2017 began working on the “Myth of Omega” series. Set in a medieval fantasy world, the first novel, “Crave to Conquer,” features an Alpha emperor who becomes obsessed with a beguiling undercover Omega spy named Cailyn. She resists his advances, using magic to mask the scent of her pheromones, until she is overcome by the biological imperative. To appeal to other Omegaverse and dark romance fans, Ms. Ellis built the narrative around standard genre elements — the wolflike tics and mating, and an edgy dominant-submissive dynamic. (In fanfic terminology, some of the sexual scenarios would be labeled “dub-con,” or “dubious consent.”) “You have to make sure you use the tropes of Omegaverse in order to be recognized by fans of the genre,” Ms. Ellis said. “Crave to Conquer” and its sequel, “Crave to Capture,” were published in early 2018 by Quill Ink Books, a London company she founded. Readers gave the series glowing reviews on Goodreads and Amazon, calling it “sensational new Omegaverse!” and the “best Omega yet.” In late April 2018, Ms. Ellis got an email from a reader who had ordered one of her books from Barnes & Noble, then learned that it wasn’t available anymore. She soon discovered that all of her Omegaverse books had disappeared from major stores, all because of a claim of copyright infringement from Ms. Cain and her publisher. Ms. Ellis found it bewildering. “I couldn’t see how a story I had written using recognized tropes from a shared universe, to tell a story that was quite different than anything else out there commercially, could be targeted in that way,” Ms. Ellis said. “There are moments and scenarios that seem almost identical, but it’s a trope that can be found in hundreds of stories.” A lawyer for Ms. Ellis and Quill filed counter-notices to websites that had removed her books. Some took weeks to restore the titles; others took months. There was no way to recover the lost sales. “As a new author, I was building momentum, and that momentum was lost,” Ms. Ellis said. And she worried that the “plagiarist” label would permanently mar her reputation. Ms. Ellis decided to sue. “Everything would have been in question, my integrity would have been questioned, my ability to write and tell stories — all of that would have been under threat if I didn’t challenge these claims,” she said. In the fall of 2018, Quill Ink filed against Blushing Books and Ms. Cain in federal court in Oklahoma, where Ms. Ellis’s digital distributor is based, seeking $1.25 million in damages for defamation, interfering with Ms. Ellis’s career, and for filing false copyright infringement notices. In the suit, Quill’s lawyers argued that “no one owns the ‘omegaverse’ or the various tropes that define ‘omegaverse.’” Ms. Ellis’s lawyers thought they had a strong position. But they struggled to find a prior case that addressed whether fan fiction tropes could be protected by copyright. “We were looking at cases to see if the courts had ever dealt with anything like this before, dealing with the emergence of this new literary genre,” said Gideon Lincecum, a lawyer who represents Quill Ink and Ms. Ellis. “We found there weren’t any.” ‘Maliciously’ weaponizing the D.M.C.A. The intense rivalry isn’t limited to writers in the Omegaverse. As online publishing has gotten more competitive — there are millions of e-books available on Amazon, up from 600,000 in 2014 — some genre authors have grown aggressive in their efforts to dominate their literary niche. Last year, an author who writes in a popular romance subgenre called “Reverse Harem High School Bully Romance” — a trope in which a teenage female character has several aggressive male suitors — claimed that another author had copied her books, and demanded that she remove them. The accused author briefly removed her work from Amazon, but restored them after consulting a lawyer. Other authors have tried to use trademarks to go after their rivals. Writers have attempted to trademark generic phrases like “dragon slayer” and even the word “dark.” In 2018, the self-published romance author Faleena Hopkins caused a scandal after she registered a trademark for the word “cocky,” and sent infringement notices to other romance authors who used the word in their titles. Amazon temporarily removed some books, including “Her Cocky Firefighters” and “Her Cocky Doctors.” After suing several people unsuccessfully, Ms. Hopkins backed down. Like Cockygate, the Omegaverse case reveals how easily intellectual property law can be weaponized by authors seeking to take down their rivals. Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, individuals or companies can send takedown notices to retailers as long as they have a good faith belief that their work has been infringed. Retailers are protected from being named in related litigation if they remove the material, and many websites comply with D.M.C.A. notices without even investigating the claims. Legal experts say the system is easily abused. “We’ve seen lots of examples of people sending D.M.C.A. notices when it’s pretty obvious that they didn’t think there was copyright infringement,” said Mitch Stoltz, a senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit digital rights group. “There’s not much accountability.” On May 21, the U.S. Copyright Office released a report detailing how the 22-year-old D.M.C.A. has failed to keep pace with the anarchic digital ecosystem, as online platforms have been overwhelmed by a crushing volume of takedown notices. Between 1998 and 2010, Google received fewer than three million such notices; in 2017, the company got more than 880 million — an increase of more than 29,000 percent, according to the report. Many requests are legitimate, but the report notes that other motives include “anti-competitive purposes, to harass a platform or consumer, or to try and chill speech that the rightsholder does not like.” Amazon agrees that it’s a problem. As the rise of self-publishing has produced a flood of digital content, authors frequently use copyright notices to squash their competition. During a public hearing hosted by the U.S. Copyright Office in 2016, Stephen Worth, Amazon’s associate general counsel, said that fraudulent copyright complaints by authors accounted for “more than half of the takedown notices” the company receives. “We need to fix the problem of notices that are used improperly to attack others’ works maliciously,” he said. In the Omegaverse case, Ms. Cain’s claim of copyright infringement against Ms. Ellis has struck some as especially tenuous. “They are not very original, either one of them,” said Kristina Busse, the author of “Framing Fan Fiction,” who has written academic essays about the Omegaverse and submitted expert witness testimony for the case on Ms. Ellis’s behalf. “They both stole from fandom or existing tropes in the wild.” Intellectual property experts say copyright protection applies to the expression of ideas through particular phrasing, but doesn’t cover literary tropes and standard plot points. The writer of a crime novel, for example, can’t copyright the notion of a body discovered in the first act and the killer getting caught in the end. But the Omegaverse case is likely the first time these legal arguments have been invoked in a dispute over works that grew out of a corpus of fan fiction generated informally by thousands of writers. “In fan fiction, the sharing of tropes and story parts and plot lines is free flowing,” said Anne Jamison, a fanfic expert and associate professor of English at the University of Utah, who was skeptical of the notion that Omegaverse tropes could be copyrighted. “There’s a blurry line between what is specifically yours and what is somebody else’s.” ‘I don’t want her to make any more money’ Ms. Ellis wasn’t the first Omegaverse figure Ms. Cain accused of plagiarism. In March 2016, she wrote a Facebook post charging that another author, who wrote under the name the Dragon’s Maiden, had copied at least 15 plot points from her novel “Born to Be Bred.” In a message to Ms. Cain, which Ms. Cain posted on Facebook, the Dragon’s Maiden denied she had stolen anything, and argued that “there are some similarities, but I honestly believe that they don’t go beyond common Lycan traits or actual wolf behavior.” But after being called a plagiarist in online comments, the Dragon’s Maiden, who lives in Wisconsin, removed her story from the internet. “Her fans came after me, even though our stories, other than being Omegaverse, were nothing alike,” she said in an interview. Two years later, Ms. Cain and her publisher filed D.M.C.A. takedown requests against Ms. Ellis’s first two “Myth of Omega” books. Ms. Cain also asked her publisher to file an infringement notice against an Ellis novel that hadn’t even been released yet. “Book three needs to come down too. I don’t want her to make any more money off this series,” Ms. Cain wrote to Blushing Books in April, according to a court filing. She also wanted to stop Ms. Ellis from publishing a new spinoff series of Omegaverse books, and emailed her publisher, asking what they could do. Bethany Burke, the publisher of Blushing Books, was skeptical: “The problem is — as you say — you do not own Omegaverse,” she wrote. “I don’t know what mechanism we can use to shut her down completely as an author, unless YOU want to try to trademark Omegaverse. (Which we might be able to get.)” That message, produced in discovery, probably won’t help Ms. Cain’s chances in court. She has not always been her own best advocate. In a deposition last year, Ms. Cain said that the overlap between her books and Ms. Ellis’s series went beyond the Omegaverse elements. “It has nothing to do with trope, it has nothing to do with Omegaverse, it has to do with plot similarities,” she said. But when she was asked to cite specific examples, she said she couldn’t recall any, adding that she hadn’t done a close comparison because it was too upsetting. “It was hard for me to read them side by side, honestly, because I felt very violated,” she said. Still, Ms. Cain is fighting the lawsuit. “The theft of my work was devastating,” she wrote in a Facebook message to her followers last spring. “Unfortunately, I am now facing retaliation for doing what I am legally allowed to do, which is to try and prevent unauthorized uses of my works.” More than 70 fans left encouraging notes, punctuated by heart emojis and angry cat .gifs. “It is infuriating that she can drag you through this when she is the one who stole your work,” one wrote. Ms. Cain, who now lives in Virginia with her husband and 2-year-old daughter, said through her lawyer over email that she disagrees with the claims brought against her, but declined to discuss specific allegations, citing ongoing litigation. The biggest development in the case so far is that Blushing Books has left Ms. Cain to contest the matter alone. Last year, the publisher conceded that no plagiarism or copyright infringement had occurred, and a judgment was entered against the company, which paid undisclosed monetary damages to Quill and Ms. Ellis. (Ms. Cain is now self-publishing.) Ms. Ellis and her publishing company filed a new civil suit against Ms. Cain in her home state of Virginia, arguing that she maliciously directed her publisher to send false copyright infringement notices to retailers. Ms. Cain’s lawyers have denied the claims, and have lined up authors, bloggers and readers as witnesses. If the judge, or a jury, finds Ms. Cain in the wrong, the case would send a message to overzealous genre writers that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act is not to be abused. By the same token, authors of genuinely original stories might find they have one fewer legal lever to protect their work. And a victory by Ms. Cain could encourage a free-for-all, emboldening authors to knock back competitors and formally assert their ownership of swaths of the fan fiction universe and common tropes in genre fiction. Discovery is ongoing, and a pretrial conference before a judge is scheduled for June. In the meantime, the Omegaverse continues to thrive. This year, more than 200 new books from the genre have been published on Amazon. The latest batch draws on virtually every genre and trope imaginable: paranormal shifter romances, paranormal Mpreg romances, reverse harem romances, sci-fi alien warrior romances. There are fantastical Alpha-Omega stories featuring witches, unicorns, dragons, vampires, wolf-shifters, bear-shifters, and wolf-shifters versus bear-shifters. There are comparatively pedestrian Omegaverse romances about celebrity chefs, dentists, frat boys, bakers, bodyguards and billionaires. In a teeming multiverse of stories, the tropes are still evolving, inexhaustible. Kitty Bennett and Susan Beachy contributed research. The post A Feud in Wolf-Kink Erotica Raises a Deep Legal Question appeared first on Sansaar Times.

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