oanja

These are just some things I came up with while thinking about how this kind of world might work. I really enjoy the world building aspects of writing AU's, but most of this stuff is completely irrelevant to the actual plot, so I decided to put them here. (this post is completely un-betaed, so apologies for any and all mistakes)

There are six sexes: alpha women and men, omega women and men and beta women and men.

People refer to social groups as packs. Your primary pack is your family. (Parents and siblings, sometimes also extended family, if they live close enough) When you move on your own and start your own family that becomes the primary pack, but you will still belong to your parents pack and usually even adult children will defer to their parents. People also belong to different secondary packs, made of their friends or classmates, co-workers etc. Any group that spends enough time together will take on a pack like structure, with it’s chosen leaders.

Alpha women have a penis like organ (like female hyenas) that they can use to impregnate other people (female betas/omegas and male omegas), but they can also carry a baby themselves (if they are bonded with a beta man for example). The alpha woman can’t be raped vaginally as the ‘penis’ is able to block the vagina completely. Female alphas also used to die in childbirth quite often before the C-section was invented as there was always tearing or the ‘penis’ which could cause the alpha to bleed to death. As a result alphas almost never had babies themselves.

Omega men and women can become pregnant, but only during their heat. Omegas are very fertile then though and unprotected sex then will almost always (95%) lead to pregnancy. Because omega’s can only become pregnant once a year they will always carry the baby to term and almost never have a baby with birth defects. They produce 3-5 eggs and after fertilization the eggs have about a week to develop before the extra eggs are reabsorbed, leaving the most viable egg to develop into an embryo.

Omega men have the birthing channel/vagina go parallel with their rectum and they share the same opening. So when something is inserted in, it will go into the vagina and not the rectum. During pregnancy the male omega's pelvis will slowly change shape to more closely resemble a woman's pelvis and make birthing easier. Male omegas will also develop breasts and produce milk, but they are like other mammals, who don't have breast when they are not lactating. (if the man has a lot of kids the breasts might stay a bit more noticeable, but an omega man who hasn't had a kid will look just like a beta man would)

Betas can breed with anyone (except male beta/male alpha etc) but all alpha/alpha and omega/omega pairings are infertile. These are also the pairings looked down upon as unnatural or inherently wrong. (close to how we view incest)

Sexuality wise betas are the most versatile, they will find all a/b/o sexually attractive, but usually have a male/female heterosexual preference (around the same number of homosexuals as in our universe). Omegas will usually be alpha sexual regardless or male/female, but will also mate with betas. Same goes for alphas (so alphas and omegas are pretty much bisexual). Alphas and omegas very very rarely find individuals their own sex (a/o) sexually attractive.

Bonded alphas won’t react to an omega in heat and a bonded omega will only be interested in their bondmate. (even if they are bonded to a beta and an alpha would be interested)

When an omega is in heat it will affect betas to some extent. I would compare it to seeing someone walk around naked. Yes, most people will react to that in some way and you will definitely notice it’s happening, but usually you won’t want to have sex with a random naked person unless you already find then attractive. But of course for other people that might be the hottest thing ever. (and some might find that really offensive and off-putting)

Historically your secondary (a/b/o) sex mattered more in the higher ranks of society, like royalty and nobility. No beta could become king/queen for example, but omegas could become rulers.

In times past being an alpha with no station in life could be life-threatening, as some countries went as far as to outlaw alphas who weren’t part of the ruling class and usually nobles had the right to kill any peasant alphas they met. Even if the measures weren’t that harsh it was common that alphas could not own property or land (which would make then undesirable as mates) and usually the only way for them to make a living was to join the army. These kinds of societies would spread a lot of the negative stereotypes about alphas, but only as far as it touched the plebeians. So there was this divide between aristocratic alphas, who were lauded as great leaders and the unfortunate alphas of the common people who were painted as rapists and pillagers, loose cannons and generally as people you couldn’t trust. Not surprisingly many of these alphas resented their lot in life and lashed back, which only enforced the bad image they had.

As a result many local communities were ruled by omegas, which was fine by the ruling classes as omegas were seen as submissive and nonviolent à easier to rule over. There were cases of rebellions led by omegas though, which in many occasions came close to overturning governments, or that were exceedingly popular among the common people (let’s say the French revolution was started and led by omegas as well as Joan of Arc being an omega)

The American colonies attracted a lot of alphas to migrate as there was a promise of land and being able to finally have their own pack. With this newfound freedom, early communities went through a lot of different ways of governing themselves, as alphas tried to get used to having power again. Let’s just say that the Wild West was actually rather wild and especially unbounded alphas caused a lot of trouble.

One of the reasons why North America is more ‘traditional’ when it comes to alpha/omega roles is because of this history. Alphas finally had power in a wider scale and were definitely not going to give it up again. (war of independence and the civil war had aspects of this in them)

Betas started to wrestle the power back around the early 1900’ and the great depression was used as a reason to demand more power for the majority sex, as government (that was overwhelmingly alphas at the time) had done a poor job at ruling.

Omegas had to wait their turn until the 60’s.

A pack can be built around an omega as well as an alpha, even though usually it’s the pair that rule together. When the omega is the ruler, the pack members always want to please and impress him/her, whereas if the ruler is an unbonded alpha the relationship is usually not as close and tend to be more aggressive. Lone alpha as a leader is seen as a bad thing and usually led to unstable dynamics inside the pack and don’t last very long. (unbonded betas and young alphas could form packs this type, and as soon as they found a mate they would leave the pack, or if the alpha found a mate things would usually stabilize and the pack would stay together)

Alpha/omega pairings commonly have alpha and omega offspring. Beta/beta parents can also have alpha or omega kids but as the gene is recessive you have to get it from both parents. Alpha/beta or omega/beta pairings can have alpha or omega kids if the beta carries the gene.

Before genetics testing became possible you didn’t know for sure if someone was an alpha/omega/beta before they hit puberty. Usually there are some signs especially with alpha kids as they tend to be quite assertive and bossy, but sometimes even that is just a sign of a strong personality or the kid mimicking one of its parents.

These days testing is rare and seen as kind of distasteful, as the western society says (on the surface) that everyone is equal, so finding out your kids secondary sex and then raising them with that role in mind is seen as very old fashioned. (there are still those who thing omegas should settle down with a nice alpha and stay at home raising kids, but especially the insistence that omegas should only bond with alphas is seen as dated and sexist(?) (not sure that’s the right term to use here)

Omegas mature faster than alphas, so they will read as omegas between the ages of 14-16, but they won’t have their first heat until around 17-18. Alphas present around 16-18

When it comes to reproduction omegas mature slower and are only fertile once a year until they mate during a heat, after that they will have a heat twice a year. (if they don’t mate during three heats, their cycle will go back to once a year)

The stereotype for omegas is that they are very nurturing and caring, understanding and social. Good at communicating and problem solving. It’s also seen that an omega can’t really be happy alone unbonded and that they always want to have kids. Seen as very un-violent so it was very long a rule not to let omegas in the army, which was seen as the place for alphas and as such seen as a distraction especially if they went into heat. most popular occupations: nursing (later doctors), education, politics, acting/performance/art

The stereotype for betas is that they are rather unimaginative, organized, goal oriented, competitive, team players. Seen best suited to middle management, business, administration, things like engeneering, marketing etc etc. But also team sports like hockey/football etc for example. Like to work together towards a common goal.

The stereotype for alphas is that they tend to be rash, aggressive, the action hero type basically. In some ways seen as least adaptable to change, a useless throwback to the stone age (if you listen to some betas) Seen as working best as an entrepreneur where they can be their own boss, or in jobs where the hierarchy is not too strict. Seen as being bad at following orders (even though they can very well do it, but stereotype!) Used to be sheriffs and army commanders etc, and the armed forces/police/firefighters still have a lot of alphas. Likes the protector role. Most common in solitary sports like swimming and other summer Olympic sports. Many famous singers and other celebrities are alphas, as they can be very charismatic.

There are myths about omega sexuality of course, because of their heat cycles. it’s seen in a strange romantic light and perpetrated ad nauseum in movies/books/TV as the joining of soul mates. In truth omegas if unbonded will usually have sex with any alpha or beta for that matter, or take care of the heat by themselves. So it’s also seen as pretty slutty and there is tons of porn and bad jokes about the subject. (the virgin and a whore trope basically) In the romantic books and movies the omega is always a virgin when they mates with the alpha for the first time and they bond. There are of course different types of relationships shown in media but it’s still the equivalent of a romantic chick flick in our universe. Omega flick :D

Normally any pair romantically connected will gradually (usually takes years) form a bond between them. Once a couple notices a bond forming it’s seen as a sign that they should marry/get engaged. Usually only happens when people are in love with each other, but can also happen between two people who just live together in close proximity, especially if they have sex with each other.

Bonds can be scented by others, so it’s impossible to hide one. People can only be bonded to one person at a time, but bonds will also fade and break if the couple separates for a long time. Even if the two people love each other very much, two years apart will break any bond. If the people are more indifferent the break will happen sooner, especially if they have sex with other people during this time. This is one reason why people get married, for example it was very popular during WWI and WWII as soldiers might be away from home for years and years. If their bondmate still waited for them, their bond would reform when they were reunited. (marriage is a legal safeguard pretty much. Protects property etc)

Bonds don’t mean telepathy. There is the sense of the general location of your mate unless they are too far away. You will know if they are badly hurt or if they die (the bond will be severed) There is a sense of your bondmates state: sleeping/awake, and if the bond has been in place for a long time you can sense their emotional state in general terms: happy/unhappy etc. The range is pretty limited, you would lose all sense of the bond if the separation is more than 200km.

Being separated is unpleasant. Especially when the bond is new the couple won’t want to be apart for long, and even if you have been bonded a long time, there is a sense of wrongness to being apart. (Also the psychological fear of the bond weakening and breaking, of course.) Still if they stay within the 200km radius it’s fine to be apart, as you can still tell the general whereabouts of your bondmate and feel the bond between you two.

Alpha/omega pairings can form this ‘normal’ bond, but usually they will first form a heatbond, which happens during the omega’s heat. Heatbonds are similar to normal bonds only a bit more intense, and happen suddenly instead of the gradual growth of a normal bond. The feeling of unease when separated is much stronger and the will to be reunited is stronger still. Heatbonds only happen if the couple is compatible and the heat sex consensual. (if an alpha rapes an omega they won’t bond. Has been used in court as evidence for example.

A heatbond will fade if the couple doesn’t renew it the next time when the omega goes into heat again. Usually a heatbond will settle into a normal bond after two or three heatbonds.

In this universe people have a better sense of smell. Even in our universe people do scent different things on people and it’s thought to play part in how people chose a mate. In this universe it’s more pointed, like you can smell if someone is bonded, or just hanging out with someone a lot (like a family will smell like each other if they live together). You can smell emotions that are based on hormones/pheromones, so like fear and anger or pain or arousal.