What Is Lunaverse? The "Alpha and Luna" Tag on WattPad and Dreame

(For a second time, many thanks to guest researcher Erin for her help on this---especially for her cornering me on her stoop and trying to tell me, in ever-more deranged tidbits, about Secret Lunas and moon goddesses on the Dreame app. You're once again this week's MVP.)

I had the very recent (very strange) experience of seeing “cozy fall pack Omegaverse” novels recommended by romance-reading Bookstagramers I follow.

Perhaps needless to say, this experience blew my mind. “Now I’ve freaking seen everything,” I jokingly told my sister and BFF in our group chat. In my mind, Omegaverse—especially het Omegaverse—is fairly niche erotica with a violent edge, a lot of Alpha energy, and a bunch of debunked wolf behavior pseudoscience. More particularly, though, it is at root a way for paranormal romance writers to have some of the affordances of writing in a fanfic universe (namely, not being obligated to do a bunch of worldbuilding when you have better ways to spend your plot time, like write about relationships and/or smut). Omegaverse, however, allows writers to use original characters, without getting constant accusations of writing self-insert Mary Sues. And, of course, writers are then able to sell the resulting novels, or they can monetize the content on an app like Dreame (see my previous blog entry to learn more about that) to an audience that understands the subgenre and who are eagerly looking for more material.

Having gotten past my shock, I’m earnestly glad to see Omegaverse coming out of the violent, brooding Alpha shadows of its origins and expanding its niche some. I would have been happy just to see it softening its edges and escaping the monopolizing drama that het Omegaverse experienced in its publishing infancy, honestly. (See Lindsay’s Ellis’s video about the Omegaverse legal drama if you want to learn more. Or watch it just because. It’s a fun time.) Omegaverse has never been my thing; I personally do not enjoy that sort of werewolf story, and I’m not a fan of Alpha male love interests in romance, especially of the roaring, aggressive, and jealous sort so often associated with Omegaverse stories. My preference is separate and aside from any moral quandaries or judgments one might make about Omegaverse; we all have preferences when it comes to romance and romantic subgenres.

My tastes run more toward the lush and sensual prose of Donna Boyd’s Devoncroix werewolves; she was rightly called the Anne Rice of werewolf fiction back in the day, and it’s a shame she didn’t write more than three books in that series, because she was damn talented. (Donna, if you’re reading, hear me now: Post Devoncroix stories to WattPad or something and email me! I’ll pay for them! I’ll evangelize! Hallelujah!) I was definitely a teenager when I read Boyd, and perhaps my enthusiastic response is the result of that experience, but they definitely had an effect on me. Her prose revealed that an author truly can dunk a reader fully and bodily into sensation, not just giving them a glimpse into a world, but allowing them to feel it in scintillating waves over the skin and the brain. When I read authors who seem impatient with that process, who are eager to get past all that stuff, it feels to me like someone missing the point. Or maybe just jumping over the parts of reading (and writing) I like and enjoy most. But there’s room for different preferences out there.

I can definitely sense some pushback in the contemporary world of paranormal werewolf romance against the predominance of Omegaverse, its violent and non-con edges, and Alphas themselves. A friend in my writing group is determined (with my full support) to write paranormal romance with an MMC who isn’t an Alpha in the slightest, and whose pack doesn’t feature that sort of hierarchy. One reason I’m such a fan of this (aside from loving that character to pieces) is because I’m so sick of Alphas. Another way this resistance is clearly being expressed, however, is through the emerging subgenre of what I like to call “Lunaverse” fiction.

Often found under the “Alpha and Luna” tag on WattPad, Dreame, Ao3, and other such platforms, Lunaverse is another shared romantasy trope constellation and magical system, which obviates the need for an author to worldbuild (like Omegaverse). Going beyond simple tropes, I would say this tendency in romantasy is similar to certain little-considered Tolkienesque shorthand used in some high fantasy. Unless a writer wants to worldbuild or challenge/subvert the mythos, it’s perfectly allowable to park a dragon on top of a mound of treasure under a mountain without examining it, or to make orcs the servants of a demonic entity, or to make elves beautiful, aloof, and comparably deathless.* Given these ideas are connected to an entire tapestry of fantasy lore-making, mythos, and expectations, I would say they go beyond generic tropes, and they’re much more complicated. Challenging them notably takes a lot more work, even and especially in the mind of the author—Terry Pratchett is a master here.

Challenging tropes and accepted shared mythos can also take a lot of valuable page space. While it might not seem like it to the casual observer, balancing the needs of a romance novel—the twinned character arcs of the lovers, bringing them together, carrying them high and plunging them low through the engine of the plot toward a satisfying conclusion—takes up much of the book’s energy and page space. This is undoubtedly the reason why Twilight sometimes feels half-baked on its paranormal end; while Stephanie Meyer in 2005 was being creative with her mythos, she was arguably not devoting the time and space to doing it well. Most of her energy in the novels is devoted to the couple’s story. A Lunaverse author is notably, advantageously, and quite smartly avoiding all of that.

*Note that goblins in fantasy and their depiction’s occasional similarities to Nazi propaganda and antisemitic stereotypes do not deserve this kind of unexamined pass. One of the reasons it’s sometimes dangerous not to worldbuild is that we don’t think about the history or the implications of the fantasy creatures we’re depicting. This is as true in fantasy and science fiction as it ought to be in romance.  

Lunaverse Tropes

The biggest feature of the shared Lunaverse mythos is the figure of the Moon Goddess or something similar: a lunar deity, typically female, who functions as a guardian goddess for werewolves. Lycan powers spring from her, as do their connections to one another; from her flows both Lycan magic and Fate. The romance trope that is most intrinsic to Lunaverse is Fated Lovers, wherein the moon goddess has chosen a mate for the pack’s Alpha, and that person is the Luna. The Luna is most commonly the story’s FMC, though Erin has spotted a few MMCs who are Lunas (for a male Alpha; still looking for Sapphic Lunaverse fic out here). Lunaverse can really run the gamut of paranormal and fantasy settings, from paranormal romance/urban fantasy to high fantasy, just as Omegaverse could so aptly apply itself across generic settings (see cozy fall Omegaverse).

Some facets of Omegaverse appear to have drifted in as well. The claiming bite comes straight over from Omegaverse, as does the Alpha’s ability to sense or “scent” his Luna, which was originally linked to the Omegaverse mythos and its hierarchical system of caste and gender (primary and secondary). The sex side of the mythos—the stuff that makes a lot of it read like niche erotica, such as knotting, Alpha rut, and overpowering Omega estrus cycles—does not reliably move over to Lunaverse, specifically because the Luna can be anyone. She can be a werewolf, like an Omega, a Gamma, a Beta, a Delta (but not an Alpha), or she can be an ordinary human girl, something like a Bella Swan figure. This allows for more tonal freedom, and for a great deal of subtypes within Lunaverse, which I will detail below. This is very much a popular, emerging, and living genre online, so you can trust that this tapestry will change a great deal from the date of this publication. Call my list more of a time capsule than anything definitive.

Secret Lunas: She’s an ordinary werewolf girl, or a human girl, or an Omega (et cetera). Maybe she goes to boring old high school, or she’s clumsy, or she’s overlooked. For any number of reasons in the story, the Alpha cannot sense his mate and cannot sense that she’s his Luna. This version of the Lunaverse romance plays up, I think, the self-insert affordances of the FMC. She (often she, but not always) is a surrogate for the audience, and the frequency with which this character is a high school student (sixteen or seventeen) speaks to the target age range (high school and late teens). This is a story playing on the fantasy of escape from everyday life, the fantasy of receiving a revelation that one is not humdrum and ordinary, but extremely special by dint of destiny, and that a perfect man (the Alpha here often being perfect) is fated to be with you. Here the FMC’s specialness is also revealed to the people around the Luna, whereupon she gets to ascend to leadership over everyone in her family and social circle. She and Alpha then proceed to fix everything that is wrong around them—with families, social groups, between packs, perhaps society itself. I could see a young person particularly, with a clear view of what is wrong and ideas of how to repair it, finding solace and power in such a plot.

Pregnant Lunas: Playing on the archetype of the moon goddess and her expression of “perfect” classical femininity through the Luna, the figure of the pregnant Luna is extremely common. Wars between packs and a Luna on the run, or conflict between the Alpha and Luna—or his rejection of her—are common in these versions of Lunaverse stories. The pregnancy serves to legitimize the Luna and give her moral appeal, to make her at once strong and vulnerable, and to both present and drive conflict in the story. The prevalence of this trope in Lunaverse may be related as well to the recent resurgence of Twilight and the desire to play around with the quasi-Christlike martyred figure of the FMC suffering and persevering through a paranormal pregnancy. These stories often take on aspects of Hurt/Comfort subgenre which has always had a strong presence in fanfiction, wherein the fantasy of being intensely ill and suffering, while also being unconditionally cared for and comforted, are indulged in the story. Speaking as someone who read and wrote a great deal of this fiction at key moments in my life, including on the brink of adulthood, I can readily speak to its appeal. When one does not feel safe and comforted in the real world, when one worries intensely about the pains and vulnerability of adulthood (such as independence or pregnancy), it can be helpful to write or read one’s way through that fear.

Rejected Lunas: Some Alphas are just assholes, and they spit in the face of destiny. In the Rejected Luna subtype of Lunaverse, the Luna is revealed… and her mate doesn’t want her. This rejection is often the story’s entire source of conflict and drives its plot forward, but not always. The rejected Luna might be pregnant and on the run (see above), or she might have been rejected off-camera or in the very first chapters, and she could then be a Second Chance Luna (see below). The Rejected Luna is an innocent sufferer, pushed away by a powerful man, often for inexplicable reasons; in the Rejected Luna subtype, an author often works through feelings center around cheating partners and rejection from the FMC’s point of view, as well as community, familial, or societal strife and discrimination. At the root of the Rejected Luna story lies, as ever in romance, a wellspring of hope. In the mythos of Lunaverse, a rejected Luna will receive another mate from the Moon Goddess. Then she becomes a…

Second Chance Luna: The Second Chance Luna is deceptively named for romance readers, because a “Second Chance romance” typically follows the model of Austen’s Persuasion, wherein the same couple fail to get together once, and have to find each other. The Second Chance Luna, by contrast, almost never ends up with the same Alpha to whom she was originally fated. Typically, he has rejected or abandoned her somehow, perhaps even chosen her sister or another person close to her, or he’s cheated on her (see above). The Luna goes out in search of refuge or a new life or to discover things about herself, and the Moon Goddess gives her a second chance at love—with a new (usually better, more perfect) Alpha. I like this for younger readers especially, but I can see its universal appeal too. It’s hard getting over a long relationship when it’s one of your first; if you’re reading a lot of fated romance fiction, you might feel like you just lost everything. Then here comes a nice WattPad author with Second Chance Luna, telling you that there are always more fish in the sea. Or… maybe wolves in the woods? That would make me feel better. It says that you can love again, even if you believe sincerely in true love and fate, and that the universe isn’t going to totally abandon you. Evidence of the deep optimism of romance at work.

Taboo Luna: Taboo tropes make their way in here, as they do in all romance subgenres. Some of these taboos are lightest touch, such as a brother’s best friend (or a best friend’s brother), or being fated to mate with a best friend’s boyfriend. Things can get darker from there, such as a best friend’s dad (Erin found this one). The fact that Alphas and Lunas are fated to one another removes the onus of guilt and shame, feelings that might attain for being attracted and linked to a person who would otherwise be off limits. Writing this way also removes the need to use dub-con or non-con tropes, as heat and estrus cycles and Alpha rut also somewhat did for Omegaverse. There, the absolute need to be together was biological; here, it is a function of magic, deity, fate. Either way, the FMC especially is excepted from moral obligations to conform.

Overall Trope: The Importance of Turning Eighteen

One feature I see again and again across the Lunaverse subtypes is the importance of turning eighteen and the eighteenth birthday. Often the Luna’s specialness or her status, or even her powers, emerges on this day. Many times, she is identified as special, as the Alpha’s mate, on her eighteenth birthday. Consider the subgenre from the perspective of a sixteen or seventeen-year-old, looking down the barrel of reaching majority in an ever-more unpredictable, tumultuous, and unmanageable landscape where many adults struggle to make it day over day. Imagine being that teenager, and the relief of such a revelation—the idea that the eighteenth birthday brings certainty and power, not a boundless and lonely pit of nebulous responsibility and college debt.

But Is It Good?

As with all subgenres, I’m sure that an experienced writer will—if they haven’t already—pick up the pen and use these tropes to publish something great or, at the very least, extremely competent. As for what’s mostly posted online, if what you’re asking is, “Do you think it’s written well?” I will say this: like much fiction posted to WattPad or Dreame, etc, Lunaverse is written by new, young, and learning writers. As an adviser of mine once wisely told me, there is nothing wrong with being a “learner.” We are all learners, not just at one point in our lives, but always. I am a learner in my craft; you are a learner in yours. Even masters, the best ones especially, are still learners. We forget that fact at our peril.

When I was a teenaged baby writer, I wrote fanfic in the shadows of the internet and scribbled in a notebook, showing it to my friends at a coffeehouse and transcribing it at a library computer (I was homeless at some points in high school). If WattPad existed, I would have been posting whole novels on there like a madwoman. Are Lunaverse fics written by new and teenaged writers “good”? For what they are—the dreamy, intuitive, sometimes impatient writings of people eager to the get to the plot and interacting fiercely with the collective adolescent unconscious—they’re often great. I see a lot of learners experimenting with dialogue, learning about pacing, interacting with comments, taking onboard difficult lessons. If some of these folks keep at it, listen to the better critiques they get, maybe join some writing groups and share resources around, they’ll become perfectly decent journeyman authors.

For most people, this is the process. It’s not that different from how the process looked for me. Anything that keeps you writing, keeps you engaging, keeps you experimenting and iterating on plot and character, helps get you to a place where you can reliably output texts, even art, that readers will enjoy. Art that will make them feel… maybe even dunk them full body into a pool of sensation, like Donna Boyd’s novels did all those years ago. It all starts with being a learner.

So if you’re intrigued, go check out some Lunaverse. Don’t forget to leave a constructive comment if the inspiration strikes, but don’t judge too harshly. I see that LotR fanfic from 2003 hiding in your filing cabinet. 😊