By now, almost everyone and their mother has heard about the omegaverse. If you didn’t discover “wolf-kink porn” through the copyright debacle a few years ago, you might have heard of it when AIs seemed to devolve into writing a/b/o fics. That loaned support to the idea that AI had been trained on stolen fanfic—among other stories. (Ron Lach / Pexels.com) Whether you’re brand new to omegaverse or...
The Issue of Mr. Mom in Mpreg
I’ve argued before that omegaverse tends to play fast and loose with our notions of gender. Mpreg, generally, does the same thing. One of the curiousities of the genre is that characters who can get pregnant maintain a cisgender identity. Because sex and gender is always so very clear cut. That can cause some consternation when it comes to terminology—particularly when Baby arrives. Should we...
Platonic vs Romantic Love
These candy hearts, oddly enough, include both “romantic” messages and platonic ones (Jill Wellington / Pexels.com) It’s February once more, which means the subject of love and romance is on everyone’s minds. One big topic that’s come up in more recent years is the debate about platonic vs romantic relationships. What’s the difference between them? Can you actually tell them apart...
It’s a Fine Line: The Relationship between Horror and Romance
A lot of romance novels don't seem to realize when they're veering into horror territory. What's the line between horror and romance?
Between Here and Eternity: The Age Gap Romance
The age gap romance gets more play than anyone gives it credit for. What does it look like when we put supernatural creatures into play too?
Can We Ever Get Identity “Right”?
When everyone demands authenticity in fiction, we fall all over ourselves to "prove" our identities. Maybe we're asking the wrong questions.
Is Polyamory Queer?
Is polyamory really queer? I think we should probably consider it to be queer praxis, at least in some sense.
Why Romance Novels Are the Latest Target of Book Bans
Nora Roberts is apparently too spicy for people -- and we need to be worried about that. Book bans are coming for romance novels -- even clean ones.
Bioessentialism in Omegaverse
Art is always political, which means even tropes like omegaverse take on political bents. We should be wary of bioessentialism in omegaverse.
Why “Level-Up” Romance Sucks
Does an HEA always have to mean marriage and kids? Probably not, which is just one of the reasons the level-up romance is a problem.