#picking up the omega Blaiddyd agenda

[bloomandcoffee]

Fe3h ABO headcanons

So yesterday I had a lot of fun in the anon meme writing some ABO worldbuilding for FE3H. Some of it was inspired by the amazing @theeeveetamer. I decided to post it here for easier access, and in case anyone wanted to read them/get some inspiration/play in the sandbox.

All questions and comments are welcome!

Let's start shall we?

Faerghus

Faerghus has a tradition to not give a fuck about omegas. Loog was an omega, and all Blaiddyds are as well. Omegas can inherit and can be leaders of their houses or clans. They prize Chivalry and Duty above all else, and with the harsh conditions of Faerghus they can't afford the privilege to dismiss a third of their population. All are trained to fight before they learn how to write, no exceptions. If they want to partake in the battlefield, become part of the royal guard, command armies? They can.

Which means of course Faerghus is the nation expert on omega nature, heats and all subtle intricacies of omegan behavior and its relation with other spectrums. As a nation that values righteous fury and devotion (to the King) Omegas are very prized as well because of their emotions and relentlessness when it comes to protecting their own. This clashes with the other nations and their concept on what is the proper omega behavior. Faerghan omegas find it stiffling to not be openly passionate and determined in the presence of people from the Alliance or the Empire.

Alpha/Omega unions is most desired between crest bearing nobles because they needs the crests (remember The crest of Gautier is the only thing between Faerghus and a Sreng invasion) and a huge litter will up the chances of getting one. But it is far more common outside the nobility for omegas to mate with Betas.

Betas and alphas too are held in high regard, but for different things. There's no hierarchy based on the ABO designation, but on political nobility designation and chivalry.

The Empire has made a long effort to scrub from history the fact that an omega rallied an army, fought the empire head on, and won somewhat successfully. That is, people on the Empire and Leicester (to a lesser degree) belive Loog was an alpha, while it is is common knowledge in Faerghus that Loog was an omega.

Adrestian Empire

The Empire is very conservative with ABO designations. Alphas on top, betas as servants/retainers and omegas ought to be quiet, domestic and be a perfect wife (see Bernadetta).

Omegas cannot inherit Houses, not even if they have crests (See Mercedes' mom) and while it is common knowledge in the Empire that it is not a woman's fault if the child they bear lacks a crest (or is an omega) it is still fairly common to be shunned culturally.

It is fairly recent that the Empire has allowed omegas to enter in fights, though many nobles would first have them married than allow an Omega of the Family join the battlefield and "decrease their value" (because what if they get scars and become undesirable?!), and those that do usually expect the omega to bring home a respectable wellbred mate.

Of course this doesn't mean that the empire never had noteworthy omegas in their ranks, but they easily scrubbed their designation (or outright changed them) when they excelled in fields that were deemed inappropiate. I.e. an omega excelling in the arts was fantastic, but one that excelled in martial arts and warfare was a disaster.

(It also goes the other way around, an alpha that excells in arts but is mediocre in the activities the Empire demands alphas to excell in is a disappointment, and many families have either disinherited their alpha children or tried their best to hide the shame.)

As for alphas, they are on top, call the shots and have all the rights -but so are their responsibilities. They must excel in the areas that the Empire has traditionally viewed as given for alphas like science, politics, diplomacy, warfare, management and such. The field is extremely competitive (alpha women are held to a higher standard because the Empire made the notion that Seiros was an alpha woman, so they all are compared to her) and a perfect manners and form of conduct is expected at all times.

This means of course that the Empire has the leading knowledge on alpha supressors, because they can't have their alphas behave like beasts. They are civilized individuals, the land where Seiros and the four saints lived, they must lead by example!

(There's a black market for omega suppressors as well. It moves better in the lower classes, but has higher profit margin in the businesses in the noble class)

Leicester Alliance

The Alliance being mainly a mercantile and business nation holds Betas in higher regard. Time is money and businesses that get postponed because someone got a heat/rut is money lost. The logistics of the whole thing are a nightmare for merchants, and after the third time a big negotiation or deal got frozen because of the biology of one of the parties some rules just had to be set.

So betas that don't have to get into this biological mess are valuable. Though it is also fairly common for commnfolk to procure alpha and omega suppresants to be able to conduct businesses as well.

The only people that look down on the use of suppresors are some noble families because the willful ingestion of something that impairs your body is not very noblesse obligue. They think it is either addictive like alcohol, or poisonous.

It is not uncommon to hear the rumor that ingesting suppresors will leave you sterile as a means to dissuade noble omegas from consuming them. (Of course that doesn't mean they won't ingest them from time to time when there's one big summit or deal on the line. The excuse of "oh it seems my rut/heat is coming late this time" is fairly common)

Nobles of course employ trusted beta families to close negotiations in their name, and it is a major honor for a beta family to be adopted into the noble family as their main negotiator.

The Alliance also gets a few cultural cues from both Faerghus and Adrestia. Namely that Alphas should be exemplar and omegas should use their passion to excel in the arts (which includes oratory and negotiation), but in all Alliance fashion the reason why they shouldd excel is because they must make up for the time they are impaired to support the Alliance.

Also all nobles should act in a maner befitting to their station, which means of course that alphas are hold to the manners and etiquette standards of Adrestian alphas (but without the help from suppresors) and omegas should be outspoken and passionate but in a diplomatic and well mannered way that doesn't include outbursts or displays that can be considered shameful.

Garreg Mach

Garreg Mach has everyone on suppressors, and is very liberal with contraceptives as well. There is no ABO orientation shaming because everyone is a child of Sothis and the monastery is a refuge for everyone, and those serving within the church or in the Knights of Seiros should be available at all times to reprieve and help those in need. (Of course this is mainly because Nabateans don't have ABO designations and what better way to hide it than to have everyone be the same?)

Because they are not affiliated to the church, it cannot force any of the students on suppresors. However they make it available for anyone who wants to have them, and make the transaction discreet and private. It is not uncommon for students to go to a "confessional" and leave with suppresors.

Of course the Monastery also has repurposed heat rooms and rut rooms, but they aren't many. The academy does ask the students to give their rut/heat schedules to the administration so they can properly manage the heat/rut rooms and avoid inconveniences.

As for some people:

Dimitri is an omega. But what has (and had) the Kingdom worried for a long time was the fact that he hadn't presented at the proper age (13) but at 17. (This of course is related to his extreme PTSD, survivor's guilt and the almost mortal injuries he sustained in Duscur and while saving Dedue) His heats are terribly irregular and painful. There's also the fear that he might be sterile given how late he presented and the issue with his heats. He believes he can't be a proper omega on top of not being able to be a proper prince, and that it is one more sin that has to be added to his shame.

(Of course in full Dimitri fashion, he buried all that self loathing and insecurity behind a princely smile)

Claude is an alpha passing as a beta with the aid of suppressors because he needs all the advantages he can get in the Alliance. No one really knows because he was presented as a Beta in the Alliance. (Judith knows of course, and complains that it is a pain in the ass to procure the exact brand of alpha suppresors because not all of Fodlan's suppresors work on someone that is used to Almyran suppresors). He finds it fascinating the strange cultural concepts pertaining ABO in the different countries and Almyra.

(Almyra does have a respect for omegas, with a myth that mostly resembles that of Amazons. Claude has a laugh when he realizes the fabled amazons live in a cold Kingdom and not a tropical island)

Edelgard is an omega turned alpha by Agarthan experimentation, because Adrestia cannot have an omega emperor. Among the mess of things she has, there's some internalized omegaphobia, and part of her hatred with the church stems from the fact that Seiros was an alpha (and never realizes that the Alpha Seiros thing was all Adrestia propaganda).

Lysithea is an omega turned beta. A failed Agarthan experiment (they wanted alpha) but the Ordelia family still took the small victory because Betas are more valuable in the Alliance. She doesn't care much about ABO, though it stings when an omega she knows goes into heat, and is more worried about curing herself.

Ferdinand is in fact an omega on permanent suppresors who knows very well that the only reason he's Ferdinand von Aegir is because he's the only legitimate heir. His competitive behavior and manners is he overcompensating and an attempt to hide the secret.

(Also because I love the idea of two of the most prominent and greatest minds of the empire being fucked over by Adrestia's ABO expectations)

Lorenz is an alpha born out of Beta and Omega parents, who is trying very much to prove that being an alpha in the Alliance should be an asset instead of a burden. He will stop at nothing to do so, but has a pouch of alpha suppresors that taunt him every night.

Marianne is an omega, but she is on suppresors. Margrave von Edmund justified it by saying that the suppresors helped Marianne's health given that her heats were irregular. But in fact, while her heats were irregular, she has them because her heats react strongly with her crest. It was usual for her to vomit blood or destroy the whole omega heat room. That's also another reason why she's terrified of her crest.