#if female alphas and female omegas are considered two different gender/sex combinations

[tumblweeds-omegaverse]

This, exactly! If one type of anatomy is associated with each dynamic...that's a system of sexual characteristics, right? A trinary / trimodal set. (as contrasted to our binary / bimodal one? not sure which word is right)

That's not even getting into calling a/b/o the secondary sex. If the setting makes it so someone's omega status has a major impact on how they interact with the world, then shouldn't it be the primary?

(clunky alternatives after the break)

My current (but messy) solution: a multiple identity axis system, with slightly different labels...

primary sex (m or f) -> presentation

what we'd call secondary sexual characteristics - angles or curves in body shape, differences in scent or sweat output or body hair, fat distribution, vocal tone, etc. (basically, if the reason for saying someone is a male is because he looks like a guy, and not as a statement of his gender or his genitals, then his presentation is male)

secondary sex (a or b or o) -> classification

the intent is to overlap with primary sexual characteristics. aka, what genitals are present, and/or what reproductive role the dynamic has. (almost the same as assigned sex at birth, in settings where dynamic can be determined before puberty)

as for the multi-axis thing...

x: classification! physical traits are the main deciding point. alphas and omegas map more simply to this, but other dynamics vary based on which setting i'm using and the details of how they work.

y: presentation! mostly based on "if this character existed irl, what sex would people assume they are, based on how they look?" includes gender expression and gender non-conformity (by irl standards) if that applies. male, female, and so on go here.

z: identity! exact details/options change from one setting to the next. but in general, is based on "if this character existed in irl, what would gender label(s) would they most likely use, if any?" this is where man, woman, nonbinary, agender, genderfluid, and other things go.

of course it's limited by being an axis - there's no way to really chart gender perfectly if showing it as a line between "100% man identifying all the time" and "100% woman identifying all the time", for one. and by focusing on how they'd appear irl, it doesn't always map to how characters function in their own worlds or societies.

but it works as a way for me to look at ocs from my own perspective. definitely helpful for comparing an entire cast to one another!

(ex: nonbinary alpha/omega woman couple is absolutely queer from my pov. but in a setting where alpha/omega is the expected pairing, they'd be straight. what part of their relationship is non normative within their society? that's where i have to get creative. or be willing to change their dynamics)

and coming up with classification / presentation / identity saved me from having spellchecker yell at me for using made up words in all my notes...

(vulgarlang is wonderful, I just can only listen to tts butcher conlang words for so many hours while having my notes autoread back to me)

Does it really bother anyone else that so often the different dynamics in Omegaverse, AKA A/B/O is regularly referred to as 'secondary genders" when they're *sexes* not genders because Gender ≠ Sex ? Like... For all the trans and intersex folks can we maybe call them secondary sexes since they aren't genders... Pls?

[gimmeromance]

GimmeRomance Glossary:

We’ve put this glossary together to give you all definitions for some of the words you’ll see both on this blog and in Romance in general. If you have any questions or think we’re missing a word, please send us an ask!

This glossary is organized alphabetically.

A/B/O: Short for Alpha/Beta/Omega, this is... complicated, but we recommend you take a look here if you don't already know what A/B/O is.  * Please don’t use the term A/B/O without the slashes -- Abo is considered a derogatory term for Aboriginal, and we honor the wishes of the Australian Aboriginal peoples who prefer that the term A/B/O not be used without the defining slashes.

Alien Romance: Usually, one MC is human, other(s) are from another planet. May include non-human genitalia and sexual acts.

Alpha: May refer to Alpha from A/B/O 'verse or Alpha of a werewolf/shifter pack. Generally sexually dominant. May also be shorthand for Alpha Hero.

Alpha Hero: One MC (usually the MMC) has a dominant personality.

Ancient World Romance: A Romance which takes place in an ancient civilization: eg. Ancient Rome, Greece or Egypt.

BBW: Big Beautiful Woman. A fat heroine.

Bestiality: Technically illegal on Amazon, but dinosaur erotica somehow still exists. Please don't make us go looking for titles to suggest to you -- though you might see the occasional Tingler on our lists!

Beta: Someone in an A/B/O 'verse or someone in a werewolf/shifter pack who's not the leader, but also not the lowest position in the pack. May also be shorthand for Beta Hero.

Beta Hero: A Beta Hero is the opposite of an Alpha Hero -- generally a man who is not dominant but softer and kinder.

The Black Moment: The moment (often around the 60% mark) where all hope of a happy ending seems lost. Often includes a temporary breakup.

Black Romance: Both (all, if it's polyamorous) main characters are Black.

BMWW: Black Man/White Woman. A specific sub-genre within Interracial Romance.

Bully Romance: One of the MCs bullies another one, usually before the romance begins.

BWWM: Black Woman/White Man. A specific sub-genre within Interracial Romance.

Chick Lit: A subgenre of Women’s Fiction which focuses on the trials and tribulations of a young woman and often includes a romance. Differs from Romance in that the romance is not necessarily the main focus of the story. Differs from Women’s Fiction in that the protagonists are usually younger and there’s often more romance. It's a fine line and some books are hard to precisely categorize, or may be considered to fit into multiple categories.

Clean Romance: We prefer not to use this term, but it can mean either Closed Door or No Sex.

Cliffhanger: A Romance which ends on a dramatic, unresolved issue. Common in contemporary romance trilogies where all books follow the same couple; rarely seen in historicals.

Closed Door: Sex occurs in the course of the story, but is not described.

Contemporary Romance: A Romance that takes place in the modern day.

Courtesan: A historical sex worker, usually on the expensive end of the scale.

Dark Romance: At least one MC who is not a good person. The romance can include such things as kidnapping, stalking, sexual assault, imprisonment, gaslighting, domestic abuse, and a whole slew of other things that are generally frowned upon in western society and might be considered illegal in some places. In the fandom world, stories featuring these themes might have the tags non-con/dub con, dead dove do not eat, and dark themes.

Dystopian Romance: Romance which takes place in a failed-state society where the government or the powers that be are often a totalitarian state and often end up being the antagonists of the series or story. Many of these take place in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world, but not all.

Equal Triad: A polyamorous triad where all parties have sex with each other.

Erotica: Sex is the point of the story and often is the plot. Happy endings aren't necessary in this genre, but they do often happen. Not quite a part of Romance but very closely related.

Fade to Black: A method in which sex is often handled in Closed Door stories.

Family Series: A Romance series which follows a family, each book focusing on a different member of the same family finding their love interest. (Like Bridgerton!)

Fantasy Romance: Takes place in another world (not to be confused with Sci-Fi Romance which takes place ON another world). There might be magic, dragons, or other mythical beasts.

F/F: Female/Female

FMF: Female/Male/Female. A polyamorous triad where the two women have sex with the man but not each other.

Gilded Age Romance: American Historical Romance, from about 1870-1900, usually among the wealthy upper classes (e.g. the Astor 400).

The Grovel: The moment where (usually) the MMC is brought to his knees by love and has to apologize to the MFC for all his stuff-ups. We love a good grovel here at GimmeRomance!

Harem Romance: One man/many women. Generally the women do not have sexual contact with each other, only with the man. Some exceptions. * In Manga, Harem Romance involves one man flirting with multiple women but ending up with only one. In Romance, Harem Romance involves one man ending up with multiple women.

HEA: Happily Ever After. A story cannot be a romance without either an HEA or HFN.

Hero: The male love interest of a Romance. Sometimes abbreviated as a capital H.

Heroine: The female love interest of a Romance. Sometimes abbreviated as a lowercase h.

HFN: Happy For Now -- not quite Happily Ever After, but the characters are together and doing OK at the end of the story.

Highlander Romance: Historical sub-genre, takes place in the Scottish Highlands. Can cover an enormous range of dates from ancient world up to early 20th century. The men usually wear kilts.

Historical Romance: A Romance that takes place at least twenty years ago.

Inspirational Romance: Usually explicitly Christian, a Romance that includes religion and/or faith playing a major role. Usually does not include sex, swearing, or a lot of violence.

Interracial Romance: The main characters are of different racial backgrounds to each other. Some people only count Black/white Romances as interracial; we count two people of any races.

Love Triangle: One of the MCs eventually has to choose between two potential love interests.

Mafia/Bratva/Yakuza Romance: The MMC (usually) is a member of an organized crime gang. These often fall into Dark Romance, but not always.

MC: Main Character

MC Romance: Not to be confused with the MC -- this is Motorcycle Club Romance. One protagonist is a member of a Motorcycle Club.

Medieval Romance: Takes place between 500 and 1500 CE.

Meet-Cute: Something cutesy which happens to bring the protagonists together for their first meeting.

MFC: Main Female Character. May sometimes be styled FMC. See also Heroine.

MFF: Male/Female/Female. A polyamorous triad where the two women have sex with each other as well as the man.

MFM: Male/Female/Male. A polyamorous triad where the two men have sex with the woman but not each other.

M/M: Male/Male

MMC: Main Male Character. See also Hero.

MMF: Male/Male/Female. A polyamorous triad where the two men have sex with each other as well as the woman.

New Adult Romance: One or more MCs is 'college age', generally 18-25.

No Sex: There is no sex in the book.

Omega: Usually only used in either A/B/O or werewolf/shifter. Generally either the sexual submissive or the lowest-ranked in the pack.

Open Door: Sex occurs on the page.

Paranormal Romance: A Romance that includes a supernatural element.

Pioneer Romance: 1760-1880, mostly American, sometimes Australian. The Romance version of the Old West.

Plus-Sized Romance: A Romance that includes at least one character (most often the woman) being plus-sized.

Polyamorous Romance: 3 or more persons find their HEA/HFN in a Romance. May include any combination of genders. * If you want to shorten Polyamorous, use Polyam rather than Poly -- Poly is a shorthand for Polynesian, and we honor the wishes of the Polynesian community who have asked that the Polyamorous community use Polyam instead.

Post-Apocalyptic Romance: Romance which takes place after a cataclysmic event that decimates human population and destroys our society as we know it.

Protagonist: A gender-neutral term for a main character.

Pseudo-Incest: Actual incest romance is banned on Amazon. Pseudo means step-siblings, a step-parent or grandparent, uncle/niece (no blood relation), etc.

Rake: A historical fuckboi.

Redemption Arc: The journey of one character who has behaved badly, to understanding what they did was wrong and making amends.

Regency Romance: Romance centered around the period when the future George IV was acting as regent for his father, George III. Technically the Regency was 1810-1820, but the genre includes 1795-1837.

Reverse Harem Romance: One woman/many men. Generally the men do not have sexual contact with each other, only with the woman. Some exceptions. * In Manga, Reverse Harem Romance involves one woman flirting with multiple men but ending up with only one. In Romance, Reverse Harem Romance involves one woman ending up with multiple men.

Rogue: A rogue is a character who misbehaves in some way. This includes characters who drink, gamble, and sleep around -- but also includes pirates and gentleman thieves. Not all rogues are rakes, but all rakes are rogues.

Romance: Stories where the romantic relationship is central and integral to the plot which end in an HEA or HFN. If a book does not end with the couple (or moresome) in a happy relationship, it is not a Romance.

Romantic Comedy: A Romance which makes you laugh. The best ones are especially failboaty. Often features sitcom or slapstick antics but many just feature funny banter. A lot of contemporary Women's Fiction gets classified as Romantic Comedy and at least one of our mods gets very mad about that because having a cute illustrated cover and/or having a cat/dog in it doesn't make it funny

Romantic Suspense: The MCs must face and overcome a serious external threat to life and limb while finding their way to a HEA/HFN. Often overlaps somewhat with Mystery and/or Thriller.

Royal Romance: At least one MC is a member of a (usually fictional) royal family.

Rural Romance: The Australian version of Western Romance. The front cover almost invariably features a woman wearing an Akubra hat.

Science Fiction/Sci-Fi Romance: On another world or in space. MCs are usually human, but this sometimes crosses over with Alien Romance.

Shared World Series: A Romance series where each book is written by a different author, but locations and many characters are shared in common.

Shifter Romance: A Romance that includes a character or characters who can shift into animals. Includes (but is not limited to) werewolves. Sex generally occurs when the couple is in human form, but there may be knotting or other animalistic characteristics.

Small Town Romance: A Romance that takes place in a small town, usually in America but there are some Australian ones out there. Tend toward the very white. Often part of series that include lots of characters from the same town.

Soulmates: Not usually an abstract concept in the Romance world. Regularly seen in Paranormal or Fantasy Romance.

Standalone: A Romance which is not part of a series. Or it may be part of a series, but you do not need to read other books in the series to follow the plot.

Steamy Romance: We prefer not to use this term, but it means Open Door or sometimes Erotica.

Sweet Romance: We prefer not to use this term, but it can mean either Closed Door or No Sex.

Taboo Romance: Pseudo-incest, Teacher/Student, Underage. A romance which may be criminalized or considered unacceptable for other reasons in various jurisdictions.

Time Travel Romance: A Romance where at least one of the characters travels in time (usually to the past). In order to have a happy ending, may end with the present character staying in the past, the past character coming to and staying in the future, reincarnation, or some other solution.

Tudor Romance: 1485-1603, during the reign of the Tudor monarchs (Henry VII, Henry VIII and his three children, to the end of the reign of Elizabeth I). Sometimes Romances that take place during the Stuart period (particularly before the English Civil War) are grouped here.

Uneven Triad: A polyamorous triad where two of the parties do not have sex with each other, but only with the third party.

Unknown: As used by the GimmeRomance Mods, we don’t know how much sex there is in the story. This may be because we have not read the book or it may be because we have read the book but don’t remember how much sex there is.

Urban Fantasy: A subgenre of Fantasy which takes place in a world that’s often somewhat like our own and often includes a romance. Differs from Paranormal Romance in that the romance is not the main focus of the story. It's a fine line and some books are hard to precisely categorize, or may be considered to fit into both.

Victorian Romance: 1837-1901, the reign of Queen Victoria.

Western Romance: Takes place in a Western state, usually rural. There's probably a ranch and horses involved. Someone's wearing a cowboy hat.

Women’s Fiction: A genre which focuses on a woman’s life and may or may not include a romance. Differs from Romance in that the woman’s individual journey is the main focus of the story.

YA: Young Adult. Fiction written for teens with teens as the main characters. May or may not be Romance.

—

This post will be updated as needed.

Last Updated: 06/05/2021

[boku-no-abo]

How would transgender people fit into an abo world? Say an alpha male realizes she’s a trans woman, but also doesn’t identify as an alpha. Would there be surgeries or hormones one could take to transition from one secondary gender to another? Also, in our world there are far more gender identities than male and female. Would people who don’t ID as a, b, or o be non-trinary? Would people try to shut them down for ‘going against their instincts/nature’? Are there intersex people by ABO standards?

Beautiful question anon! This one was incredibly fun to think through.

Biology

To start us off, let’s go through some omegaverse biology that you should take at surface level and not give much more thought. Just like in our world, the main hormonal difference between men and women is the differences in testosterone and estrogen levels. However, alphas have higher testosterone levels than the other two secondary genders, and omegas have higher estrogen levels. Omega males will still have higher testosterone levels than beta and omega females however, and alpha females will have higher estrogen levels than beta and alpha males. Basically, each primary and secondary gender combination has its own specific makeup of testosterone and estrogen levels that is unique to that combination.

Alphas and omegas have their own hormones though, which fuel their instincts, create their scents, and control their heat and rut cycles. Nodoreo (derived from the Latin words for “knot” and “father”) is the alpha specific hormone, and gestrix (derived from the Latin words for “carry” and “mother”) is the omega specific hormone. Attributes that are considered beta “instincts” are controlled by brain chemistry, not hormones, and their scent composition is determined by the lack of nodoreo/gestrix, so betas do not have a nodoreo/gestrix equivalent. Nodoreo and gestrix are made by the reproductive systems, just like testosterone and estrogen.

Labels:

Seeing as trans is Latin for “across,” the label transgender would only be used for people who transition from one primary gender to another, as across only really makes sense when referring to a two-way binary, as you can only cross from one point to another. For people who transition from one secondary gender to another, I propose the label vertogender, from the Latin word “verto,” which means swap. For people transitioning from one primary and secondary gender to another, I’d use the label ambogender, from the Latin word word “ambo,” meaning both.

Nonbinary would only apply to people who don’t identify as male or female. I love your suggestion of nontrinary for people who don’t identify as an alpha, beta, or omega, so we’ll use that. As for people who aren’t on the gender binary or trinary, they’d use the term genderless, mainly because I could not think of a more unique one.

Cisgender is tied to transgender linguistically, so it only applies to the primary gender binary as well. People who identify with their assigned secondary gender at birth would use the label cusgender, from the latin word “custodi,” meaning keep (opposite of swap). People who are both cisgender and cusgender would be called resgender, from the latin word “resto,” meaning stay.

Societal Treatment:

Amongst alphas and omegas, being transgender probably wouldn’t be seen as a big deal. Seeing as both alpha males and alpha females can impregnate and both omega males and omega females can get pregnant, changing from one to the other wouldn’t affect a person’s reproductive abilities or their societal status. It’d be seen as “odd” or a “waste of time” by bigots, but overall, it wouldn’t be treated like a big deal. Transgender betas wouldn’t be given this level of tolerance, and would be treated like transgender people in our world are. Because of this, there is some contention between transgender alphas/omegas and transgender betas, as their experiences with oppression can differ greatly from each other.

Vertogender people would be less socially accepted than transgender people. More emphasis would be placed on the gender trinary than the gender binary in an abo society, and they’d be ostracized for it, as there’s no way a vertogender can exist within the societal expectations assigned to them at birth.

Ambogender people would be given the same shit as transgender AND vertogender people, the poor souls.

Nonbinary, nontrinary, and genderless people would be given the same “that isn’t real! Everyone has a gender!” shit nonbinary people are given in our world. They’d definitely be given shit for “going against their nature.”

Transitioning:

For transgender people, hormones and surgeries would be similar to the ones that exist in the real world, though the higher levels of testosterone in alphas can make the transition from female to male easier, and the higher levels of estrogen in omegas means the opposite is true for them. 

For vertogender people, it would depend on their assigned secondary gender at birth. If they were an omega/alpha, they’d be put through hormone therapy to bring them down to a beta’s hormonal levels first. Unlike with testosterone and estrogen, nodoreo and gestrix aren’t natural foils of each other; having one in your system will not lower the other, and will result in you displaying both alpha AND omega instincts, and, if you have enough of both, will kickstart a rut and heat cycle. Because of this fact, doctors give patients a synthetic hormone called anti-nodero/anti-gestrix to suppress their natural hormone production. Once the patient’s hormone levels are consistent with a beta, they’d start taking nodoreo/gestrix, and would receive genital surgery once their levels are consistent. After genital surgery, they’d stop taking anti-nodero/anti-gestrix, and seeing as their body wouldn’t have anywhere to produce it's natural nodoreo/gestrix from, their levels would remain consistent. If they were transitioning to beta, they’d be given genital surgery at that stage, and then slowly be taken off anti-nodero/anti-gestrix. If they were assigned beta at birth, they’d start taking nodoreo/getstrix immediately.

For ambogender people, they’d be brought to beta (if they weren’t there to start with) for testostorone/estrogen hormone therapy, as the absence of nodoreo/gestrix makes it easier to control. Then they’d go through the second stage of vertogender transitioning.

Nontrinary/genderless people that aren’t assigned beta at birth are quite likely to transition to beta, as dealing with heats/ruts and alpha/omega instincts can trigger intense dysphoria for them and beta hormonal levels will remove that problem.

Depending on how progressive the country is, gender transiting might be covered by insurance. However, like in the real world, most countries either make patients “prove” they have dysphoria to therapists in order for insurance to cover it, or count it as a cosmetic surgery. In real life, Japan requires trans people to be sterilized before they can transition, and it would probably do the same in an abo setting.

Intersex People:

In my omegaverse, female alphas have a retractable penis where a beta/omega female’s clit would be, and omega males have a cloaca that switches from the rectum to the vagina when they get aroused (see @fanndists biology drawing here if you’re understandably confused by that explanation).

Heres a list of everything I could think of that would be considered intersex in an ABO setting:

Atypical scents.

Alphas born without a knot.

Alphas who produce gestrix alongside nodoreo and have tame heats and omega instincts alongside their ruts and alpha instincts.

Beta males born with a knot.

Beta females born with a cloaca and a normal vaginal opening.

Betas who produce some nodoreo/gestrix and have tame heats/ruts and alpha/omega instincts.

Omega females born with both a vagina and a cloaca, resulting in two uteruses.

Omegas who produce nodoreo alongside gestrix and have tame ruts and alpha instincts alongside their heats and omega instincts.

Omega males born with a vaginal opening instead of/and a cloaca.

Dysphoria

Dysphoria would be the same for transgender/nonbinary people in an abo world as it is in ours, as there are distinct bodily distances between the primary genders amongst the secondary gender ones, though there would be a smaller divide between the primary genders within alphas and omegas thanks to similar fashion standards and societal expectations that could alleviate some dysphoria.

Amongst vertogender, ambogender, and nontrinary/genderless people who were assigned alpha/omega at birth, dysphoria is quite severe. Heats and ruts would be unbearably awful, and the instincts triggered by their nodoreo/gestrix levels would constantly be working against them. Vertogender and ambogender people who were assigned beta at birth would feel dysphoria from a lack of those instincts and a lack of heats/ruts. Misgendering would be a huge problem for all of them, as their scent would make people believe they’re a gender they aren’t. Gender transitioning is seen as a must-have for all of them, and they’d start as soon as they’re able too.

Gender-Confirming Products:

Real-life products like binders and packers would exist in an abo setting, but there’d be multiple products for non-cusgender people as well, including:

Scented scent blockers, which would suck up your natural scent and release a manufactured alpha/beta/omega scent of your choosing.

Custom perfumes/colognes based on your base scent so you can scent your pack(mate)s with a scent that fits you, as well as let you scent your den.

Synthetic knots for assigned beta/omega at birth males to make sex more comfortable before they transition.

Easily bought pills that stop knots from forming for assigned alphas at birth so they can go through a rut/have sex without popping one.

To wrap this up (because this is a BNHA blog after all), Tiger is OFtAM and has transitioned medically, and Magne is BMtBF and hasn’t.

[thedeadflag]

so this is something I've been mulling over for a while now - do you reckon it'd be possible to make a version of a/b/o that isn't fundamentally transphobic, or would it reach the point of "this is so different that you might as well not call it a/b/o" before that? off the top of my head you'd have to take out all elements of g!p, mpreg, and biological essentialism, and it'd probably be possible to write a version of a/b/o with that framework, but I don't know if I'm missing anything.

a/b/o is a reactionary trope that relies on cissexism-derived biological essentialism to function. Like, that’s the engine that powers the bdsm/power dynamics, cisheteronormative breeding/family building, “dub/non-con”, etc. elements that draw people to it, and led people to create it in the first place. 

Like, my best attempt at describing a non-transphobic, non-shitty typical a/b/o adjacent fic would include:

Werewolves (let’s face it, werewolves can be really cool if written well, and there’s a lot of really good ways to write them, a lot of ways to subvert tired subtropes within the trope)

Found Family-focused family/pack building (because wolves often adopt wolves from other packs into their own, blood lineage isn’t really a thing; much like vampires being created, newly turned werewolves of any age can be considered their sire’s child; if it needs to have a pregnancy arc between two men or two women, there’s IVF/IUI, or magically/spiritually-induced pregnancies, and of course writing a fully fledged complex trans character with their own non-pregnancy arc and virtues/flaws/goals/etc. and getting relevant trans beta writers who aren't your friends to keep it on track if you’re a cis writer)

A flexible, non-binary gendered society (rather than the rigidly structured biology-is-destiny a/b/o society) that’s trans inclusive either explicitly, or implicitly if it’s a new social universe with different rules. 

If mating seasons have to exist, they’re cultural more than biological, and no biological processes that could impede or trouble a person’s ability to properly consent. 

No inherent, glorified or reified power dynamics, certainly none rooted in or fostered through biology. 

That doesn’t seem very much at all like a/b/o to me. It’s a werewolf AU, which is the reason why a/b/o was created in the first place. It wasn’t enough. It needed something more than just a supernatural bent

I’ll continue on below for a bit on some simplified functions of a/b/o, but it’s mostly just some ramblings.

-

Like, to quote the originators of the genre/trope:

I'd like to see Alpha male Jared, and Bitch male Jensen. Jensen is a snotty prude (think Lady from lady and the tramp) he may be a bitch male but he's not just going to let anybody take a go at his sweet little ass...until he meets Jared...then prudey little Jensen turns cock slut for Jared. Bonus points for J2 being OTP, Jensen was a virgin before Jared, and now that they met each other, it's for life.

...

There are three types of men, alpha males, beta males, and omega males. Alpha males are like any ordinary guy with the exception of their cocks, they work just like canines (the knot, tons of cum, strong breeders, etc) The beta male, is an ordinary guy without the special cock. Omega males are capable of child bearing and often called bitch males.

Like, I want you to look at that real close and see what’s going on in there.

This was created to be a trope where there’s a world where women, as we explicitly know them, don’t exist, but where a subgroup of men take up the functional role of the woman in the heteronormative social structure of the world. It’s also not surprising that (assumedly cis) women created and initiated the spread of this trope.

Look at the language used. This is heavily, explicitly gendered for a reason. If you’ve read much of anything about how the male gaze impacts female sexuality, you’ll know a common response is for women to position themselves out of the proverbial frame entirely, so that no part of them can explicitly exist as an object, where they can take on the role of a subject. There’s no women whose experiences will directly link to her own and her own perceptions, comfort/discomfort/etc.

However, many of these women also have been heavily affected by the male gaze and heteronormativity, and that combined with not knowing what a real gay male relationship is like, what it looks like, what experiences might be unique to it...they fill in the blanks with their own conditioning. 

And maybe seeing a lot of that toxic masculinity in media content was unsettling because of how women get treated in that content, and how they in turn might feel in those shoes. But if a MAN, even if it’s a heavily female-coded man, were to undergo that...well, it’d be easier to appreciate those tropes and dynamics they’ve been force-fed to believe were arousing, hot, desirable. Especially if they can have two hot men in it. They can enjoy that self-created taboo, bypass their own discomfort and insecurity, and project it onto a type of person different enough to suspend their disbelief and maintain that difference, even if they’re pumping that guy full of all the typical misogynistic tropes and experiences they’re not comfortable having directed towards them and other women.

In short, it’s a way to get off on heteronormative norms/tropes, using another as a vehicle in order to keep up their cognitive dissonance.

Of course, this eventually spilled out into the Het fandom (makes perfect sense, since many of the a/b/o originators and proponents were het women), and then worked its way into Femslash fandom by piggybacking on g!p in order to meet the necessary criteria for PiV sex. 

Just, in this case, you necessarily shift some of the puzzle pieces around. Trans women take the place of the “alpha”, acting as an acceptable vehicle for a toxic masculine cis man, since lesbians aren’t into men. Even if the trans woman is generally written, in nearly every way aside from part of her body, as a toxic cis man. The original a/b/o’s “Bitch Male”/Omega Male is swapped out for the  Omega Female, usually a spunkier, more in your face version outside of romantic/sexual contexts in the media content, but let’s be real here, she’s still by and large submissive when it comes down to it. 

In a world where more wlw grew up feeling predatory for their attraction to other women, for feeling sinful, for being rejected from female intimacy het women enjoyed with each other after coming out, etc., it’s pretty common for a lot of lesbians to lack initiative, not be able to read or communicate romantic/sexual cues between each other...to essentially be “useless lesbians’ as the joke goes,and to feel isolated and undesirable. 

So writing a F/F fic where some hot woman modeled in the image of some hot cis woman pursues you? Takes the initiative sexually/romantically? Doesn’t beat around the bush, but is blatant? Who can’t control her lust around you? Who can give you the perfect nuclear family you’ve been conditioned to want in order to feel value in our heteronormative world, but were told you weren’t worthy of or could never feasibly attain? Who gives you a sexual encounter you have some education in and some emotional stake in due to common conditioning of PiV sex > all else? Who can give you plausible deniability for a number of contexts due to a lack of ability to explicitly consent? etc. etc.

Like, yeah, that’s going to feel comfortable for a lot out there. That’s going to seem pretty hot/arousing. It’s a way to get off on the norms and expectations thrown on women in society, but in a way that lets them distance themselves ever so slightly from men by shifting it from text to subtext, explicit to implicit.

Don’t just take my word for it, though. Here’s a few snippets from one of the most popular g!p/omegaverse femslash writers (if not the most popular) that help illustrate how/why this trope has found an audience

Why Do I Write G!P?The elephant in the room. It arouses me, but it’s also a form of self-comfort. I grew up in a very fundamentalist home. Women being with women was at first unspoken, and then derided, both by my church and at home. I felt insanely guilty for my attractions, so I developed ‘cheat codes’ to deal with it.

It was okay if the woman I had sex with in my dreams had a penis, for example. It was okay if she forced me to have sex with her. It was okay if we basically simulated heterosexual sex.

Because of my childhood (which included conversion therapy), I found myself falling into heterosexual roleplay patterns, at least sexually. It was a lingering thing from my childhood.

It’s still there, and I know I’ll never be rid of it.

...

I associate penetration with power. You know, being steeped in sexism from an early age turned some problematic thoughts into kinky lemonade. And since I’m a femme sub, taking power away from the top by ‘penetrating’ them can ruin the mood for me. I mean, I can write power bottom scenes with the best of them, and I enjoy them, but… *shrug* if I’m going to write omegaverse or g!p, someone’s getting fucked, and it’s not the top.

There are rules to a/b/o. There are specific reasons it’s sought out, read, and created, and that’s why it’s hard to imagine a version of it without those harmful elements, because the trope requires them for the audience to be satisfied.

It’s why all gay male a/b/o fits a pretty specific pattern. it’s why femslash a/b/o fits a very specific pattern. There’s nearly no deviation as a rule, because there are so many parts that have to be in play and functioning in a specific way in order to get the desired result. 

I could go on for hours about this, and the above is all a pretty damn simplified take of what’s going on in a/b/o for it to exist in the way it does and meet the needs of the audience, and I’ve already written a lot about this in the past, so I’ll try to cut it short here.

[happycat14fanfiction]

A Pakhan’s Weakness: The Universe! Part 3 Omegas

Part 3

Omegas make up 25% of the world population and have there own set of classes due to not having any notable differences in their dependence on partners. There are important correlations between their fertility and primary gender though, which is what I will discuss here.

Infertile

Around half of all omega are classed as ‘infertile’. Meaning they have fertility rates between 0.01-5% which varies between individuals. Generally they pursue careers over starting a family- though modern technology has made children more possible than in the past.

Infertile Female-Sara

About 20% of omega population

Infertile female omega can often be found in high-demand career positions. Though able to have children, (averaging 5%), they only expect to produce 1 or 2 children naturally in a lifetime and tend to have a high rate of miscarriages when attempting to conceive. 

Modern IVF treatments, combined with their generally high incomes, has increased the average rate of childbirth from 0.5 children/omega (as many choose not to become a parent) to 1.5.

Some countries still treat female infertile omega as little more than sex slaves or secondary wives. If they manage to bear an alpha child they receive the same status as a fertile omega.

Crime wise they make up the majority of hackers.

Pros:

-Career-driven

-Gets a-long with everyone.

-Forward thinkers.

-In western countries, they are the most educated group. 90% have bachelor degrees.

-They have the longest life-span of all types.

Cons:

-Very low fertility.

-Some countries/communities have difficulty accepting them.

-They experience high rates of depression.

-They are the least likely group to get married.

-Most likely group to overwork themselves to the point of hospitalisation.

Infertile Male-Yurio

About 30% of omega population

There are two main differences between fertile and infertile male omega. 

1: Body size- Infertiles are smaller in stature. Very few are large enough to pass as betas.

2: They can not form an erection. This is the main indicator of their infertility.

The treatment of infertile males has varied widely across the globe. Most societies have put them in religious positions under the impression that their inability to have children was a gift to allow them more time with God/Gods. This infertility also gave them a very low sex drive, which fuelled this image of divine purity. Many popes and saints were infertile male omegas.

Modern day technology has vastly increased their chances of falling pregnant, and now they are currently more likely to have children than infertile females.

They are the most likely group to be thieves.

Pros:

-Career-driven. They are often the millionaires that make their fortune on new technology or odd trades.

-Lowest rate of obesity among all types.

-Naturally found in life-long relationships

-Selective of mates.

-They make great adoptive parents.

Cons:

-They have the highest childbirth death rate among the types.

-Very low fertility.

-Highest eating disorder rate of all types.

-20% have reportedly been involved with cults in some form.

-They lose their fertility at around 28 years old rather than the average 40 years old of other types.

Fertile

Fertile omega are prized mates, especially for alphas. They have strong scents that are described as various forms of ‘sweet’ and have the capacity to reduce rut symptoms by simply standing in a room. Some have unique scents, such as Viktor’s adoptive mother who smelled like a good cup of coffee, but the most common descriptor is ‘candy or ‘sugar’’.

Their personalities vary the most among the types, however they all seem to seek stability when preparing to raise a family.

Fertile Female-Yuuko, Zia, All the Mares

About 49.5% of omega population.

Fertile females are the stereotypical omega, as they make up the bulk of the group. Career wise they are usually the receptionist or stay-at-home soccer mum who enjoy a close relationship with their children.

Their choice in partners reflect the vast array of preferences among the group. There appears to be no standard formula in their choice of mate or how they raise their children.

They are great at forming close knit friendships and often play a key role in their local community in a variety of charitable and voluntary positions, such as meals on wheels and working at pet shelters.

They are responsible for most poisonings and are the most likely group to hire out a hitman.

Pros:

-Good at forming close knit groups.

-Naturally close to their children.

-50% fertility rate.

-Highest childbirth survival rate of all types.

-Will go to great lengths for their families

Cons:

-They have the lowest income of the types.

-Not very common overall (12.5% of world population). Alphas have killed to get their own omega.

-They make up a staggering 60% of sex-trafficking victims.

-Can become very possessive of their alpha and children.

-Often unwelcoming of outsiders.

Fertile Male-Yuuri, Masumi (Chris’ mate)

Estimated to be less than 0.5% of omega and 0.01% of the world population.

Throughout history, young fertile male omega have always been prized. Their extraordinary fertility (99.8%!) and rarity have landed them in the spotlight at the side of almost every famous ruler. Often the cause of large scale wars, kings of the past would engage in combat just to obtain an enemies male omega mate. Even WW1 was started over the assassination of a fertile male omega who was engaged to a prince.

Their elusiveness is related to their biology. While they tend to have a few omega habits, such as preferring quiet activities over sports, outwards they appear to be B or C grade betas. Heats are mild, often misdiagnosed as colds, and the fact they can have children the same as any alpha or male beta encourages relationships with female betas.

It should be noted that their intense fertility relates to both functions. They can also impregnate very easily. Most old age male omega have responded being in ‘miracle marriages’ with infertile omegas and female alphas that have produced an extraordinary number of offspring. This fertility is often why they are placed in the B or C grade category. (Yuuri was considered a C-grade).

The average age of discovery is 61, when other illnesses cause the discovery of their uterus. By this point their child-bearing capabilities are non-existent.

The other unique aspect of their biology is their inability to create slick unless in the presence of alpha pheromones. It is believed that the higher testosterone levels ‘overtake’ the omegas own and thus prepares the body for its child-bearing function. In the past, beta kings would make an alpha guard stand in the room to prepare a fertile male omega for sex. It should be noted that most omega of this class overwhelmingly prefer the sexual companionship of alphas or beta females, with very few willing male beta pairings occurring in history.

As a group, they have very low crime rates.  Children report them as loving mothers/fathers with natural parenting instincts.

Pros

-Natural Parent

-Extraordinary fertility (99.8%)

-Intelligent: Most have had a higher education, even hundreds of years ago.

-Loyal. They don’t tend to have many partners.

-Incredibly low divorce rate.

Cons

-EXTREMELY RARE

-When discovered young, they are the no.1 targets of kidnappings and rapes.

-Most likely of all omega types to commit suicide in a forced bonding or captive situation. (Often within a week). 

-They have difficulty settling down into new environments.

-If discovered young, they tend to become manipulative and untrusting due to the above.

UP NEXT: The fertility system

[abodynamicslife]

CHAPTER 1: Overview / History

Overview

Omegaverse (also known as A/B/O(/G) or simply Alpha/Omega) is one of the most prevalent, long-living and popular AUs in fandom. Though it originates as a smut-centric, niche AU, it has long-since grown to accommodate the need of contemporary fandoms and fans alike. Though it remains very smut-centric, there are a lot of themes that are often included (if not exclusively tied with) the omegaverse AU.

It details a world where people are divided according to two sexes instead of one: a primary sex (male or female) and a secondary sex (Alpha, Omega, Beta or Gamma). Though the primary sex will constitute for a large portion of the individual’s reproductive anatomy, the secondary sex will modify and emphasize a particular demeanor within the individual's reproductive physiology.

Secondary Sexes

 In general (and especially for betas), secondary sexuality will vary somewhat between individuals. There is no super hard or fast rule for every omega male or alpha female or thensome, just general anatomy for each secondary sex and some of the things they can expect of their body and mind.

 It is also not unheard of or impossible for an individual not to identify with the anatomy of their secondary sex just as much as their primary, and are able to take hormones to supplement or suppress characteristics of the typing they identify as. For example, it isn’t uncommon for, say, a Beta-A male or female to take alpha hormones, or a Gamma male or female to take omega hormones.

Background / History of Omegaverse

  From the Alpha/Beta/Omega page on fanlore:

“The trope originated in Supernatural fandom with a few very specific AU kink meme prompts for the J2 RPF ship. The first one was in May 2010 and has also been identified as the culprit responsible for the popularity of knotting in SPN fandom….The trope was a natural extension of SPN's popular werewolf and knotting kinks.”

The origins of omegaverse go as far back as 2010, as stated in the quote above, from the Supernatural fandom. The SPN fandom at the time was known for it’s abundance of inhuman characters, monsters, demons and thensome, often taking inspiration from mythology and popular adoration of monsters for a majority of it’s lore.

Werewolves were a very common theme in various SPN fanfics, and is what spawned the original inception of omegaverse as a way to include the popular heat, knotting and male pregnancy kinks without including most other aspects of a werewolf AU fic, such as shape-shifting.

Omegaverse took hold as a pan-fandom AU soon afterward, but remained associated mostly with male/male smut, due to its origins only including males as alphas or omegas. Even today, omegaverse is still regarded as a smut-centric AU due to the elements most popular works include, but has diversified with the inclusion of several other sexes (Betas and Gammas) as well as including sexual relationships outside male/male.

Chapter 2: Terminology  

Primary Sex: The base sex of an individual, commonly either male or female, but exceptions occur with a combination of the two. These are not influence secondary sex (females are not more likely to be omega, etc).

Secondary Sex: Commonly referred to as the ‘modification’ of the primary sex. Secondary sexes (or types) refer to being Alpha, Beta, Omega or Gamma. It is not influenced by the primary sex.

Sexual Orientation: An individual’s attraction to specific, often primary sexes. Specific terms, such as type-sexuality, refer to an individual’s attraction for specific secondary sexes.

Gender: The state of being male, female, a combination thereof or a lack thereof, typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological ones. Gender has no correlation with primary or secondary sex.

Type / Typing: Shorthand for referring either to an individual's overall secondary sex or a Beta’s specific typing (A, O, or otherwise).

Alpha: Commonly the most territorial of the typings and are commonly (but not always) the most dominant. They exhibit knots and go into ruts.

Beta: A general term for someone who is between being an Alpha or Omega. They are able to detect scents and are able to scent others, but they do not possess all the anatomical or biological parts of either an Omega or Alpha. The most common Beta-types are Beta-A and Beta-O, with the letter indicating which side of the spectrum they lean.

Omega: Commonly the least territorial of the typings and are commonly (but not always) the most submissive. They exhibit heats and will have a womb or womb-like structure (depending on the primary sex).

Knot / Knotting: A bulge of muscles at the base of a cock that swells either when erect or before orgasm, often to keep both individuals from separating during and after ejaculation to ensure conception. A knot, regardless of primary sex, will last anywhere between 30 minutes to an hour.

Rut / Rutting: A period of 3-5 days where an Alpha-identified individual will act more possessive and territorial than normal, but not specifically in need of mating with someone. Normally, rutting periods are more common after being mated, as part of a biological cycle to protect said mate.

Scenting: Alphas, Omegas, and Betas all give off a very specific sort of scent as a personal marker to their primary and secondary sex. They all have the ability to scent others, which is simply the process of spreading their specific scent on another person or object (often by physically rubbing against them).

Beta-Type: The specific leaning of a Beta on the secondary sex spectrum, commonly either being Beta-A or Beta-O.

Estrus / Heat: A period of 3-5 days where an Omega-identified individual will experience sexual excitability and have an increase in fertility. This often comes in tandem with a large release of pheromones to communicate the biological shift to others.

Pups: A general term for young of Omega-identified individuals, but can also refer to children in general.

Slick: A word describing the increased self-lubrication that Omega-identified individuals experience, specifically during their heat.

Nest / Nesting: A structure that Omega-identified individuals build, most commonly during heat and while pregnant. It can vary in appearance, but serves a calming purpose and dates back when a nest was required to keep an omega-identified individual safe during heat and pregnancy, as it was often built specifically to be hidden. Some still consider nest-building to be part of an omega-identified individual’s courtship or heat cycle process.

Suppressants: Medication given to Alpha or Omega-identifying individuals, specifically to suppress rut or heat cycles. It can also suppress the fertility of the individuals, and is often referred to in conversations about birth-control.

Read so much more here!

[gavinisqueer]

@the-great-poolkid (can't tag you for some reason) I mean I should be working on the fic that inspired these thoughts but, if you insist :P. This got long bc I really do have a lot of thoughts on this.

Okay so. Gonna use English for most of this since I have the most experience with it.

To my understanding the pronouns he/him were originally gender neutral. The pronouns she/her weren't introduced until the 12th century.

In an omegaverse world I imagine it would have worked the same way, except I don't believe they'd assign the pronoun to women. It makes no sense. Either the second gendered pronoun set was to distinguish between two classes of people - y'know, cause sexism - or to distinguish people based on their reproductive capabilities. In ABO, there's 6 sexes with distinct reproductive qualities that have little to do with their primary gender.

So, in this world I'd think there'd be at first 3 pronoun sets. Alphas, as the default gender in this time, keep he. Omegas would take she, and betas would take another pronoun, for this I'll use ze.

Now, that could be it. The biggest gender distinction could be in the secondary genders - and I must point out that this is a name we gave them based on our own views on the topic; they would probably view ABO genders as primary - but I'll continue on to the senary system anyway.

This bit is more world building than actually predictions, cause I'm not so good at that, but the basics stand.

I think it's likely that an early driving force to distinguish primary genders in language would, unfortunately, be sexism. Specifically, from beta males. In this world alphas have the highest place in society; it makes sense that the beta males would want to present themselves as similar to alphas to gain a better position, and they'd do this by putting down beta women.

There's no agreed upon canon for whether omega males can impregnated or alpha females be impregnated. Generally in my AUs, both are possible but unlikely, and would have happened extremely rarely and might even have been considered immoral in past centuries. Thus, omegas are the ones getting pregnant, and alphas are the ones impregnating.

Beta males would push for a societal view shift that began putting beta females below themselves, as they're more alike to omegas than alphas, without penises or the ability to impregnate. While not having the same biology as alphas, beta males are still able to claim and impregnate omegas.

Out of this would come the separation of the beta female and the beta male sexes in language. In this case I think a different pronoun set would be adopted voluntarily by the beta males as a way to distance themselves from that position in life.

The separation of the alpha and omega primary genders would probably come more naturally as a result of this. Eventually, by the 18th-19th centuries there would be a complete linguistical separation of all 6 sex combinations.

-

Other languages tho! One thing I'm curious about is noun cases, or as most European countries call it, noun genders. These are separations of words into arbitrarily gendered categories; masculine, feminine, and sometimes neuter. I question whether in this world the term gendered nouns would simply be non-existent and some other term would be created for the two- or three-case systems of Europe, or if there would simply have been more cases; either a trinary system, with all three ABO sexes represented, which would mean some languages would have an extra case compared to reality; a quaternary system, with those sexes plus a neuter case; a quinary system, with ABO categories, and feminine and masculine categories as separate cases; a senary system, with all sex combinations represented, or with the previous quinary system plus a neuter case; or a septenary system, with all combinations plus a neuter case.

-

And, slightly related, I also don't think sexuality would work the same. There's no reason for any distinction to be made between those attracted to men or women or both, because most combinations result in breeding anyway. An alpha female being with an omega female is just as viable with her being with an omega male. So, primary gender bisexuality would probably be commonplace, with singularly attracted people being an outlier but probably be considered as them simply preferring certain aesthetics.

However, there are secondary gender combinations that don't produce offspring; these would probably be relationships considered queer in the abo universe. This would mean omega females and beta females; alpha males and beta males; both in inter-gender relations and with their own gender.

There would also be societal queerness unrelated to reproduction. Omega/Omega relationships would be frowned upon even if they involved at least one omega male, because it would be a disruption. Probably explained away as omegas needing someone to take care of them and protect them and of course another omega couldn't do that /s.

Alpha/Alpha relationships would be stigmatized because of the volatile nature of alphas, which would lead them to fight too often and violently.

Both omega/omega and alpha/alpha relationships would also involve extremely low fertility, anyway. And finally, heats and ruts without someone of the complimentary gender, or at least someone capable of taking the role of that gender (i.e. beta males mating omegas and beta females being mated)

Beta males would probably be steered towards beta females and omegas, having the same issues as alpha males when with alpha females aside from the aggression.

Basically: very complicated queerness.

-

And if you couldn't tell, I'm working on a fic about queer people in an omegaverse setting and ran into some roadblocks. The first being, can I call Gavin bisexual in a world with 6 sexes.

Random thoughts on abo:

In an omegaverse world why would there still be a binary pronoun system? Why would primary gender be what determined their presentation and how others refer to them, when most people write abo as having so much more focus on secondary genders. It's just as plausible for there to be a trinary or senary (6-based) pronoun system in languages where they're purely sex based.