Alpha/Beta/Omega

[memeliscious]

THE ALPHA/BETA/OMEGA MEME


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:
Fanlore on the Alpha/Beta/Omegaverse
Alphas, Betas and Omegas: A primer.

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!

 

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.
* Males have penises; females have vaginas.
* 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!

Comments

[full_of_wrath]

"Do you want that, or do you want to try to rest again?"

Checking, quietly.

"The way I'm feeling now, if you start to smell any better we're going to be moving right along with things, and in all likelihood biting is going to bring that on."

[moriarty_was_real]

"I'd always read that the biting was a ceremonial custom with no direct physiological effects. Would the neural shunt negate the effects, I wonder? You might have to do it repeatedly."

Though it might not have been the most intelligent move, Moriarty opened his mouth and licked a long line from the Alpha's shoulder to just under his ear to see if he tasted as good as he smelled. Yes, yes he did. Lovely.

"How long has it been? Am I already going into heat? There's supposed to be a long dormant stage while my sex organs grow to normal size before they can start the signalling cascades to bring on a heat. Or have you been so sexually deprived that you're tempted to jump the gun? Mmmmm, I think I can relate to that..."

[full_of_wrath]

"I think, from what I felt, you're nearing the end of that dormant stage. Near enough that you're starting to taste close. What worries me is that I could probably bring you into it, like we talked about, but that if it's a way to manipulate your body despite underdeveloped sex organs it could be damaging to you if I do get you gagging for it and then take you prematurely."

He explains, but with his eyes close, sounding just a little bit pleasantly drunk at the touch of Jim's mouth on his skin.

"A knotting would be fairly biologically traumatic on someone ill-equipped."

[moriarty_was_real]

Moriarty mused about that for a few moments, running his hands over Khan's face, hands, body...

"You're very likely right about all that. I've definitely started reacting to your pheromones well before my body had any way of doing something about it. Hypersensitive, perhaps. I bloody well felt like I was hit in the face with a brick when I got to your rooms."

Perhaps Khan had reason to refrain from biting but Moriarty didn't. Halfway through the next long lick he pressed his bared teeth against the side of the Alpha's neck. It wasn't any kind of show of aggression, he didn't even bite down, it was simply meant as playfully erotic.

[full_of_wrath]

He growls, and slinks off him. Moriarty might not have a reason to bite, but Khan has every reason to avoid it. He wants to bite back, wants to bat down his challenge and hurt him and take him for keeps.

"I've got to leave."

A few more hours, then this will all be much better.

[moriarty_was_real]

The shocked vulnerability showing on Moriarty's face might not have come as a big surprise to Khan, but the Omega had never felt anything like it before. He clutches at the bedding nervously but makes no attempt to follow.

"No, don't leave! I'll behave, I promise!"

[full_of_wrath]

It twists something in him. He turns back to him, reaching out to push him down, soothingly, pinning him hard to the bed. It's meant to comfort, not to threaten.

"I didn't mean to upset you. You wouldn't find it easier?"

[moriarty_was_real]

Being pinned down might have been a comfort if Jim had been paying attention. It certainly didn't strike him as threatening, though. At the moment he was deeply confused and attempting an in-depth mental analysis of his own current state.

"What the bloody hell was THAT all about?"

The question might strike Khan so absurd that he could not possibly have heard it right. How could Jim, rather quick-witted for a normal human, knowing intellectually what it meant to be an Omega, experiencing it himself with no external prompting, not understand what it all meant on an evolutionary level?

Was he that far removed from his own natural instincts?

Yes. He was. And he would become even more agitated unless it was explained to him.

[full_of_wrath]

"It means that this is more complicated than I'd initially realized. You're quite primed, emotionally, but physically things aren't quite as quick to follow. I'm just as ready, and now we're relying on my self control to last out against your... blatant luring."

Is the best way he can explain it, fingertips skating down his throat.

"I was proposing I wait in another room, when you reacted badly."

[moriarty_was_real]

"But I'm not in some dire need of your protection, there are no predators and certainly no other Alphas around to snatch me from you."

Yes, this particular brand of physical touch IS comforting. Jim tilts his head back and allows himself to be soothed, closing his eyes as he does.

"I'll dispense with the cutesy flirting then. And yes, I'm still rather exhausted and could really do with more sleep right now. By the way, sorry about that little outburst. The neural shunt is very specifically designed to prevent permanent emotional processing changes, but it does nothing to stop heat-of-the-moment responses. No actual bond is possible, not even a temporary one, but it seems that can't stop my brain trying for one anyway."

[full_of_wrath]

"Don't apologize. I'm sure we'll both say much, much more compromising things before the day is out."

Reminding him, giving him another little push into the bed.

"I won't hold your instincts against you."

[moriarty_was_real]

It was so pleasant, in a dreamy fluffy way, to be anchored down so lovingly and securely so that his brain could detach and wander about, free and curious.

Jim was going to defend his apology and explanation. It might have seemed like he had lied about being bond-proof, and therefore possibly about being pregnancy-proof as well. Entrapment, betrayal...

Then he decided he didn't give a toss and embraced sleep again instead.

It was a deeper sleep this time, free of pain and saturated with vivid dreams. While he slept his hormones kept racing recklessly forward into a long-overdue full heat while his reproductive organ maturation struggled in vain to keep up. If the situation was difficult before it was now going straight to hell.

[full_of_wrath]

Khan curls around him for the first few minutes, but eventually decides he has to slip away to keep his head.

In the kitchen, it's a little easier to think about the reproductive risks associated with proceeding with the heat without the proper biology as a framework. Lubrication won't be an issue, that much is obvious. He's more worried about tissue elasticity and muscle tension in response to girth and pressure, how to do this without any risk of bleeding or fissure.

He reminds himself quietly that many a man with standard biology enjoys a good fisting... but it's not quite the same, really, since part of the problem here is going to be Khan's comparative lack of self-control and most fistings at least begin as a delicate procedure.

[moriarty_was_real]

Not the same at all, considering that this Omega had disdainfully stated that he had never "taken it up the arse" and with modern hands-off medical scanners he would never have even had to take off his clothes if he had needed some kind of prostate exam. The question about perhaps having lost his virginity from a little bit of fingering wasn't very promising in terms of experience withstanding penetrative sex of any kind.

When Jim wakes again, three hours later, it's not preceded by restless squirming and noise. No, that starts after he wakes up. Within moments of opening his eyes the Omega is on his feet, pacing the room with an unfamiliar and oppressive nervous energy, practically climbing the walls. He has no idea what it is he wants, what he needs, and so he begins picking up objects, anything that's not nailed down or too heavy, to form a pile of them in the centre of the room.

Bedding, knick-knacks, lithographs hanging on the wall, charming faux-antique paper books, water glasses, toothpaste, it's all fair game as long as nothing breaks. It has to be ALL the objects. He assembles it all into a symmetrical mound, that's very important for some reason, it's all very IMPORTANT and there's no time to argue about it!

[full_of_wrath]

One particularly hefty thump attracts his attention, and has him padding back upstairs to check on him. He stops in the doorway, staring at him and his small mess of objects, and smiles a little indulgently.

It's been a long time since he's been in any sort of biologically peculiar situation. He's forgotten, how differently some people take to it.

"We don't gain anything from delaying at this point, except to make it harder to control."

Offering him his hand, from the doorway, using every ounce of self-control he has to keep himself steady these last few minutes.

"Now."

[moriarty_was_real]

The sense of needing something without knowing exactly what pulled Jim in multiple directions even now. It was the Alpha. THE Alpha, and the Alpha wanted to be with him. He wanted to be with the Alpha. Despite having been given clear verbal instructions he wasn't exactly sure how to go about doing that.

Jim was already on his knees as he attended his... what, nesting material?... and he immediately turned and went down on all fours when the footsteps approached. He looked up at the extended hand...

... and spread his knees, bowing his back and tilting his tailbone up. He held his breath and bore down, helpless to fight off the urge to press himself into position and squeeze out the first handful of warm wet lubricant. It was still too thin and runny despite the fact that every other part of the Omega's body was in full heat.

Even as it flowed down his legs to the floor, Jim pulled out of position and began determinedly crawing toward the door. He made it most of the way there before sinking back into position, voluntary muscles overridden by powerful involuntary contractions.

[full_of_wrath]

Khan is not generally a merciful man, but meets him the rest of the way, sinking onto his knees in front of him and crossing the floor to get to him, to gather him up and lift him close.

They'll want to get somewhere softer. He's barely breathing now, as the very air cracks his composure to pieces, but the bed isn't far, and Jim feels very light to him right now. There isn't much his heightened strength couldn't move.

"Almost."

Is the only word he manages to rasp out to him. There's no waiting now.

[moriarty_was_real]

Jim clings to the warm, reassuring form as if fastening a vital part into place. How he had survived this long with his Khan missing from his body was a mystery, it was like his entire life up to now had been a dream. They must be assembling him in a factory or a cloning vat and only now added in the lungs and heart.

"Is this what dying feels like?" he muttered, face pressed against broad strong chest while another contraction started. This time Jim cried out in pained indignant displeasure. "Stupidest fucking idea! Call it off right now!"

Of course he didn't realise that he was mere seconds from relief.

[full_of_wrath]

"This isn't death, and I'm not sure death is a force that could be called off even if you did wish it."

He tells him, absently, as he settling him down onto his hands and knees and pouring himself down over him. He slips forward, nudging into him, breathing slipping until he's panting shallowly, bent over his back.

"Almost-"

Sinking into him is a rush of pure heat. He goes as slow as he can stand.

[moriarty_was_real]

Having his body covered with his Alpha's brought with it a strange sense of emotional and physical completion. Now pinned in place, the air he was breathing so thickly saturated with Alpha mating pheromones made Moriarty feel almost as if he was submerged in warm water. Not warm water, more like being drawn inside Khan's body to feel the Alpha's lifeblood pulsing around him.

Then his desperately aching insides were properly breeched. The Omega shrieked, hard and loud, his "bonding scream" completely raw and instinctual and unrehearsed. Jim had never known how much the moment of first penetration had been romanticised in the past, he had never seen the pervasive over-stylised mating bond pornography that had been created by, and for, Betas, in Khan's time.

Though it was a very tight fit, and attempting the mating before Jim's body had produced the usual gel-thick lubrication of a fully ripe heat meant that the progress wasn't satin-smooth, Jim's reproductive organs were far enough along that he was physically capable of mating without serious injury.

Capable of partial penetration, anyway. His body flat out refused to accept the last, most critical ten percent of his Alpha's length. Tissue not flexible enough, leaking everywhere? This is what the "health care provider" meant.

He needed to be bitten before he could be knotted.