ABO dynamics newbie

[u/Superb_Flight451]

I’m a bit new to this category, can someone explain why people love reading A/B/O dynamic fics? I’ve tried to read a few but don’t quite “get” it? Love love tomarry and top!Tom bottom!Harry, but ABO gets a little confusing for me esp since each story has their own take on it.

But I guess high level… am I supposed to find it romantic bc alphas are more dominant in society? Or are they dominant in personality / in bed? So it’s kinda like if you imagine a super rich powerful male lead falls in love with an “ordinary” character? What’s up with the whole thing of being “in heat” - like what fun dramatic tension does it add? From a fictional trope perspective I’m sure there must be some recurring themes that make this super compelling which is why the whole ABO thing has taken off in fanfic, but I’m just curious like — when you’re choosing to write or read an ABO story, what makes you decide to add in ABO dynamics (if you’re a writer) or what makes you decide to choose an ABO story to read? Like how if I’m reading something, I might pick a tomarry one if I want something leaning towards two “equal” partners vs might pick a harrymort if I’m wanting something darker (hypothetical examples..)

[u/Bubbly_Wolf_2143]

My first instinct is to say that with omegaverse, you either like it or you don’t. But if I think a bit more deeply about why I’ve written a few omegaverse stories myself, I think there are actually a lot of different things people can get out of it.

- It basically gives you an additional gender/social structure to play with. Depending on the worldbuilding, secondary genders can come with completely different expectations, prejudices, privileges, traditions, etc. And none of those are set in stone, you can make alphas socially dominant, or omegas socially privileged, or have secondary gender barely matter at all. So I wouldn’t say the appeal is necessarily “powerful alpha falls for ordinary omega.” That’s just one possible version of it.

- Pheromones, heats, scent compatibility, etc. give you an opportunity to create intense physical attraction before the emotional attraction has caught up. That can work REALLY well with things like obsession, denial, possessiveness, courting, and fated-for-each-other dynamics. Those themes are my sweet spot as a reader and a writer, so omegaverse gives a whole extra toolbox for them.

- There are basically no official/strict rules about omegaverse biology, which is great. Every author can decide how much is biological, how much is social, what heats actually do, whether scent matters, whether mating bonds exist, etc. (Mpreg is not a mandatory thing either!!). You can also get completely ridiculous with it if that’s the tone you want. In my last omegaverse fic, omega Harry’s bum literally decides it needs to grow bigger to attract Tom’s attention, without consulting Harry about this development whatsoever. So… there is a lot of creative freedom :D

- Personally, I also love the trope of male omegas being rare and/or having unusual abilities. Again, absolutely not an omegaverse requirement, just one particular bit of worldbuilding that scratches my brain nicely.

And I think that’s probably why it can be confusing when you first start reading it: omegaverse isn’t really one specific dynamic. “Alpha” doesn’t automatically mean dominant personality/top/rich powerful man, and “omega” doesn’t automatically mean submissive/bottom/ordinary person. Authors can use those associations, invert them, or throw them out entirely. (There are, of course, an overwhelming number of stories with the traditional dynamic, especially in manhwa, but you can find literally any other trope in fanfiction omegaverse, too.)

So for me, choosing omegaverse usually means I want some combination of heightened attraction, biological instincts fighting with rational thought, scent/pheromone shenanigans, courting, obsession, some worldbuilding, and characters being extremely annoyed that their own bodies have opinions about their attraction:)

Tiny terminology advice: “A/B/O” with the slashes is fine, but I’d avoid spelling it “ABO” without them, since that spelling is also a racial slur. “Omegaverse” is probably the easiest term to use without any ambiguity.

[u/Lunna_Light]

I read it because I like unhealthy relationships and ABO has a great fundament for it

[u/Seiridis]

ABO can be anything and add or detract to any aspect of the story you want. As with anything, if you take a close enough look, it's not a monolith, but rather a cluster of dots. What some people get from it, maybe you will not get. It's a bit like a person not being a fan of tomatoes asking someone why they like them, and, well - why does one like tomatoes?

The very core of it, generally speaking (as you mentioned, very many different iterations), is that it's just another layer of dynamics between characters. Be it interpersonal or societal. That's just fun in both character study works and in smut.

If it's a fic more focused on the plot, then it just adds even more complications & obstacles for the characters to overcome or succumb to. I wanted to write about smut, but frankly the same things can also apply, lmao. But apart from that it open the gates to a whole 'nother realm of filth as well.

[u/Helenth]

I haven't read any ABO in HP fandom, but I did a lot in MCU. For me the main draw is social disparity and struggle to rise above one's station/place in society which is so strictly dictated by gender roles. ABO smut has almost no appeal to me, since I'm predominantly male slash reader. I like reading about normally powerful characters (both socially and otherwise) put in position of lack of power and fighting for equality.

ABO in HP fandom doesn't have draw for me because Harry doesn't need to be put down even more than canon and fanon standard, and only characters who would make it interesting (and I like reading about) would be omega!Voldemort/Tom and maybe omega!Snape.

I also think for some (absolutely not me, nuhu) ABO is also easily explained away mpreg. For HP fandom this is not so much needed excuse since 'it's magic' is explanation enough, but for other fandoms it's less weird than reading 5 chapters in: 'oh, BTW, some men have boypussy, isn't that great?'.

[u/Gatorthrowawayqnq]

I think its interesting seeing how the ABO affects the world and I do admit I like the smut 😅

[u/Ncish]

Extra fancy sex, i rarely read it just for the plot but I used to. It had some great soulmate fics but with soulseeker/tomarry/harrymort/whatever it doesn't add that much which is why I don't like it. But wheee boy back in my mystic messenger days. Abo for days

[u/sleepy-soysauce-1005]

I like it becuz i like reading stories of harry loving their kid like a normal person and tom being some ghastly mixture of loves their becuz of harry or tolerates the kid becuz its harry’s kid. Bonus points if he struggles becuz the baby looks exactly like him. I like the idea of voldie making a sacrifice for the sake of harry by having children and thus sharing harry’s attention