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bakerstreet2023-01-15 07:13 pm
sockland) wrote in bakerstreet2023-01-15 07:13 pm
(no subject)
In our world, sexual roles are commonly defined by genders -- male or female or other, by sexualities -- gay or straight, bi or asexual or in-between. But what if they were defined by something else entirely?
Alpha/Beta/Omegaverse is a fusion of fanfiction tropes and animalistic behavior. In this world, sexual roles are divided into three categories: the Alphas (the dominant, the protective and the aggressive), the Betas (ordinary humans) and the Omegas (submissive, fertile and able to carry children).
RESOURCES:CONTENT WARNING: Below the cut contains descriptions of animalistic sexual behavior as applied to humans, situations of dubious consent, explicit situations, mpreg, and scenarios of societal oppression. Click with caution!
Fanlore on the Alpha/Beta/Omegaverse
Alphas, Betas and Omegas: A primer.
ROLES:
1 - The Alpha.
* Stereotypically type A personalities.
* Anatomically: Males have a penis; females may have a penis in addition to a vagina.
* Alphas knot their mates, meaning that the base of the penis swells and locks them inside their mate while they produce copious amounts of semen in an effort to breed.
* Strong sense of smell.
* Near an Omega in heat, they experience a compulsion to mate that is almost impossible to overcome.
* Alphas may go into rut, which is their equivalent of Omega heat, and drives them to mate.
2 - The Beta.
* Ordinary human being.
* Lack of altered genitalia.
* Can mate to anyone.
* Might be able to smell hormones of Omegas and Alphas, but will not be overwhelmingly affected by them.
3 - The Omega.
* Stereotypically submissive, quiet, intelligent and less physically able.
* Female anatomy is similar to Betas; males are self-lubricating and may have either an external or internal vaginal setup.
* Regularly go into heat, which involves being overcome by the urge to mate. They are unable to consent while in heat.
* May be made compliant by a bite to the neck. However, that may also induce a mating bond.
* Often regarded as second-class citizens or prizes to be won.
SITUATIONS:
1 - Bonding - Love at first sight. You've spotted your soulmate. You can smell them, you can feel them, you know that they'll be with you until the end of your days. Unless there's something between the two of you. It could be age - maybe one of you has to wait until the other has reached maturity. It could be that the bond is one-sided, and the other has yet to fall in love. It could be an unwanted bond, or society could have divided you into different places. Is your love strong enough to conquer?
2 - Heat/Rut - The need is coming on you strong. Everyone for a half-mile around can smell it. Better find someone to ride it out with, or hole yourself up in a room with a few bottles of water and a durable sex toy. And you'd better hope that there isn't someone out there who will take advantage of your pliable state. Best case scenario, there might be a Beta who can take care of you, or fend off anyone too predatory.
3 - Pregnancy - Whether through a heat or not, you're pregnant. Congratulations - or condolences. Is it time to start a family, or time to start panicking?
4 - Suppressants - You're using suppressants to keep yourself on an even hormone cycle, skipping heats, or maybe pretending to pass as a different class of society. After all, Omegas might want to be in the military, where they're not usually allowed - or an Alpha might want to take a job in a university or as a nurse. Shouldn't they be allowed to, if their hormones are suppressed? Just hope that you don't miss a dose.
5 - Mistaken Identity - That friend that you always thought was an Alpha, or an Omega, or a neutral Beta, turns out to be something entirely different, and your world is turned absolutely upside down. Does it challenge your preconceptions? Or does it just ruin the balance between you two?
6 - Unlikely Pairs - After all, there's no actual reason that Alphas have to mate with Omegas. Maybe two Omegas can satisfy each other. Or two Alphas. Or your intended mate could easily be a Beta. Maybe this is just about breaking out of your pre-established role and becoming something new.
7 - Manifestation - In some cases, an individual may not know they are Omega, Beta or Alpha until their first heat/rut/manifestation, usually happening in early teen years. It may take you by surprise; it may be a blessing, or may be a deep disappointment.
8 - Other - Adventures in getting jobs, making families, fighting bad guys, and anything else you can come up with!
no subject
[ No strings attached. Yeah right. Kojiro knows himself -- and knows Kaoru -- too well for that. There'd be nothing but strings if they had an arrangement. Either Kojiro's pheromones would make a stupid decision for them in the heat of the moment, or Kaoru would turn into a jealous monster and actively sabotage anything else Kojiro tried to engage with someone else. There are a million different ways it could break, and every single one of them ends the same way:
Mated. To each other.
So, sorry Kaoru, but there's no room for cowardice here. Kojiro won't give him the easy out this time. If this is what Kaoru wants, he's gotta say so. ]
It's never no strings. Someone always catches feelings or does something stupid in the middle of their cycle. You ready for that to happen? 'cuz if you are, I'd rather cut through all the bullshit and just mate you.
[ ...ugh. Fuck. What is he even saying? It should probably speak to something immense, that they're discussing this calmly instead of fighting about it. Maybe it's all all these doped-out zen pheromones. But at least their history still lends some plausible deniability. If Kaoru wants to take it all as a sick joke, that avenue is absolutely available to them. ]
no subject
Their shared unsuitability for a long-term relationship always been an in-joke; Kaoru runs too cold for a mate and Kojiro too hot. Maybe they were just waiting for the other to give the whole time.
The thought makes his breath catch and he can't help but jerk away from him.]
Mated? [With his eyes cast downwards, it's hard to tell whether he's talking to Kojiro or himself.] Us?
[God, the worst part is how accurate Kojiro's read of him is. Some nights, he has to leave S early, knowing full well that otherwise he'd spend the rest of the night resenting whoever it is that goes home with Kojiro that night. If they were actually sleeping together- the pang in his chest forces Kaoru to look up and meet his eyes.]
You'd hate it.
["You'd end up hating me" is what he wants to say. Even the lesser version sounds so pathetic to his ears that he has to follow it up with a haughty huff to try and wrestle back some control.]
Be as that may, you're making a lot of assumptions. You might be an overly sentimental gorilla but I'm not- I don't "catch feelings".
no subject
That's your argument?
[ That's it? Really? Just a knee-jerk assumption that Kojiro would hate it? That's telling. But what Kaoru doesn't say? That's more telling. He doesn't protest on his own behalf. He doesn't say he'd hate it. He doesn't say no. Just sputters and spits venom while Carla reminds him to do some square breathing.
Something is bending here, and it feels important. Crucial, even. Maybe if Kojiro keeps Kaoru bending, something will finally break. ]
I don't catch feelings either.
[ Sincerely. He could sleep with the entire damn island -- practically has -- and never give his heart to a single one of them. But-- ]
But you're different. You always have been. You know that, right?
[ And you can't catch feelings that are already there. That have been there, for decades. It's safe to say, those are firmly caught. ]
no subject
Caught, reeled in and served up like the paccheri al coccio new to Sia la Luce's menu. He's watched Kojiro filleting fish before, slicing and taking them apart with fascinating delicacy for a man of his strength, and that's almost how he feels right now.
Did he know just how deeply that would cut? Kaoru has heard it before, perhaps not in that order or with those specific words but it's burned into his memory nonetheles. There are a hundred different ways he could bite back- some he's used on Ainosuke in the countless imaginary arguments he's had with him over the years- and they're all balanced on the tip of his tongue. Being "special" is just empty praise when it ends in being left behind anyway- and yet.
And yet.
When it's from those lips, he...
Hands balled into tight fists, the calligrapher rises from his seat. Moral high ground, literal high ground, the usual.]
You can't- we can't just- [But they can and it's so tantalisingly close it makes his head hurt. If he were capable, he might hate Kojiro for offering it up to him so easily.] You've thought about this before. How long?
[It's an easy enough question for Kaoru: far too long. Who wouldn't fall for a man as warm and nurturing as the sun on his shoulder? When he'd turned up one day with his fresh ink on display, Kaoru had been merciless in his teasing but it's really the perfect symbol for him. Generous, passionate, bold Kojiro, always there at the end of the darkest of nights.]
no subject
He could lie. He probably should, if only to spare them both the trouble of facing this mess for a while longer. But he's a shitty liar. He always has been, and Kaoru knows every single one of his tells. So the real question is, would a blatant lie make him angrier than the livid truth?
Kojiro's almost leaning toward a fabrication. I haven't thought about it before, maybe. Or, Never mind, this is just my hormones talking. But then he turns in his seat, fully intent on glaring a hole through Kaoru's head, and instead makes the grave mistake of catching Kaoru's eyes. There they are; golden fury, molten honey, melting Kojiro down to the dust he's made of. His guiding star. His sunlight.
What would Kaoru do? If he knew Kojiro's always seen his beloved sun in these eyes? ]
How long have we known each other?
[ It's stupid to answer a question with a question, especially like this. Kaoru will probably scoff, sputter, dismiss it entirely. But Kojiro remembers the day they met, scraped knees and playground scuffles. He knew Kaoru was different. He knew that some way, somehow, they were going to be together for the rest of their lives. And he remembers telling his mom about Kaoru that night, rounding out the description with a nonchalant assessment of I think I'm gonna marry him.
That's why Kojiro believes in fated pairs. Because he's known -- from their earliest moments -- that Kaoru is his. The rest has just been a question of waiting it out. ]