Can U Knot? Exploring the Omegaverse
| Meta | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Can U Knot? Exploring the Omegaverse |
| Creator: | dicktouching and lielabell |
| Date(s): | July 15, 2014 |
| Medium: | slideshow |
| Fandom: | |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | Can U Knot? Exploring the Omegaverse, Archived version |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Can U Knot? Exploring the Omegaverse is a slideshow panel presentation by dicktouching and lielabell that was given at Dashcon in 2014.
The subject is Alpha/Beta/Omega. The seven slides give a brief history of the trope, as well as organization and explanation.
Description
Slides from the Omegaverse panel that I co-hosted with dicktouching and sashaforthewin at Dashcon 2014.
Many thank to dicktouching, who helped a great deal in the streamlinging [sic] of the information presented in these slides, and to cymbalism, who was kind enough to do a quick beta of the written text, though she should not be blamed for the grammar fail present in the flowcharts. That’s 100% my fault.
Fic rec list to follow.
Fan Comments
Jesus Christ Omegaverse. It’s like, hey, let’s make a society where reproduction is separated from real-life sex and a person’s caste is entirely based on their reproductive viability that still manages to be misogynistic as fuck.
oh my
Oh god this is just…. this was a panel…? Basically about wolf guy sex organs and hierarchy from what I gather. Please tell me it was 18+ because seriously ugh.
It was actually a panel on using Omegaverse as metaphor for real life and as a way to subvert gender roles and gender stereotyping. It focused heavily on what it means to identify as one gender and present as another and explored how authors were able to take a particularly problematic trope and use it for positive purposes.
The slides above were created to make sure that everyone present had a basic understanding of what the rules of the Omegaverse were. The final slide was basically a list of talking points that the panelists wanted to be sure to include in group discussion.
And of course it was 18+. Everyone who entered the panel had to show photo ID with their birthdate on it.
I’m sorry but I don’t see anything “queer” or related to queer things in any of the slides. No mention of lesbian or gay werewolves. You seem to have mentioned some type of intersex (as in the females can apparently magically grow a dick or a tentacle…? ok? I’m not familiar with this series so i probably sound awful sorry). But what about transgendered werewolves?
All these slide show is a hierarchy and how each type gets it on. I suppose most of the “queer” aspects were verbally mentioned then?
As I stated above, the slides were created as a basic starting point to get everyone on the same page as relates to the overall rules that Omegaverse is governed by. After the basic explanation was finished, we moved on to group discussion where a large amount of time was spent discussing the following subjects:
•Typical Masculinity •Typical Femininity •Androgynous •Reversal/Reassignment of Gender Roles •BDSM Undertones – Inter-relationship power plays/struggles •Polyamory Undertones – conquesting omegas; “whole” ABO family units •Societal Expectations – behavior, dress, schooling •Class differences – rights, laws around abuse •Biology – male/female versus ABO
Also covered, but not detailed above, was treatment of Alpha/Alpha and Omega/Omega pairings, what it meant to be asexual and still be subjected to heat/rut cycles, dealing with a gender that one did not wish to have, and the difficulties associated with not conforming to societal expectation of gender expression.
Along with those topics, we also had a lengthy discussion about how Omegaverse is often used to exclude female characters entirely and how very few author make use of Alpha females. Part of the reason that there is a fic rec list coming is so that people who enjoy Omegaverse dynamics but are not thrilled with the vast majority of Omegaverse fic can find authors who are doing positive things with it instead of creating more drek.
As a side note: while some Omegaverses have werewolves, most do not.
Look I’m back with more!
Surrounding the idea of heat, we started to look into what caused heat, because it varies in different versus. As you see above, sometimes heats and ruts are on a regular cycle, with varying regularity, and sometimes only when population levels demand it. This idea of self-regulating biology is actually not new, as there are several species that only reproduce when enough resources or available partners are available. It also sets up a different relationship dynamic than regular heats, because it gives the omega choosing power in who their mate is. Some alphas present evidence, gifts rather, that they’re good providers, and the omega has the power to accept or deny these gifts. It creates something of much more formal courting ritual than the flirt-and-fuck of many other verses.
From there, we started branching into Betas and societal roles. As you’ve seen mentioned, Omegas are generally considered bottom of the heap, alphas at the top, and betas are the generally ignored middle class. This steps into my favorite part of the panel, because there was a LOT to discuss around betas.
First thing we look at is how alphas and omegas are considered the main alignments because ~shipping~ and ~sexy times~ while betas are largely ignored, often even left out entirely or only mentioned in passing. In some cases, betas are infertile and made to be the caretakers of the verse. This also leads to fics where beta characters work against stereotypes and assignments they feel oppressive (“We shouldn’t have to take care of the babies while these guys fuck all the day long.”)
Going on from that, there are some versus where betas are just less intense versions of alphas and omegas, and are considered the more sane of any of the three. While alphas and omegas face overwhelming biological imperatives to breed, betas sort of sit off to the side and go “you’re at it again? jesus guys.” In some cases, they don’t have much of a roll in a story beyond providing a reference point to when behavior becomes extreme, sometimes to be the level-headed adviser to a character since they aren’t as clouded by biology. They’re also often considered the most independent characters because they form emotional relationships before sexual ones, which is the the opposite of almost all alpha/omega pairings.
And finally, we step into MY favorite part: betas as the creator of a “whole” relationship. While most versus focus on an alpha and an omega, some look at ABO as being the ideal relationship, the one that makes you and your family unit perfectly whole. The beta completes levels of attraction between alpha and omega characters, serves as a standard for communication between them, and generally rounds out a relationship otherwise troubled with extremes. Why is this my favorite topic? Polyamory! While we’ve been exploring some ideas of gender roles and social status, to me, throwing the beta in as the final part to a strong relationship is where we start when really, seriously normalizing things we otherwise consider socially unacceptable in real life. The very nature of the verse allows us to explore ideas we may not initially be comfortable with and explore them with a new interpretation, where ideas we aren’t comfortable HAVE to be present in the fic. Then we start to see why these idea might work out of choice, rather than necessity.
GO TO JESUS
whoa
BOO for kink-shaming and not-understanding-how-presentations-work
YAY for a super-useful presentation as I embark upon researching a/b/o!
Every time I stumble upon something this “omegaverse” thing, I have to contain myself from vomiting. There is nothing “inclusive” or “progressive” about fetishizing homosexualy [sic] and reinforcing violence and social stratification. The fact that this particular one even tried to pull these so-called racial parallels makes it even sicker.
This is literally yaoi masturbation material repackaged. People passing it off as some meaningful social critique is incredibly hilarious
Question about omegaverse: do the male omegas have penises? Do they ever use their penises? If they never use their penises why do they have them, is it just to pee out of? Do they give birth and poop out if the same hole like a bird?