Tag: abo

@ltleflrt replied to your post “@unforth-ninawaters replied to your post:
Upon…”

These are basically my complaints about a lot of a/b/o tbh.

Yeah, I can see that. Especially the social commentary and the under and over explaining.

One thing I always think about is like… if alphas and omegas developed a relatively long time ago in human evolution, why are male and female still the primary sex designations? I would think, even though they show up later in life (for the most part) that the stuff that determines whether your primary role in reproduction is to impregnate or be impregnated would be the more important stuff. 

Another thing… male omegas are always kind of lumped in with all other omegas, which makes sense but I always wonder like… depending on when the A/B/O stuff was introduced to human society, there’s a possibility that male omegas might be seen as the best thing in the world, right? Wouldn’t there be some cultures where being a male omega or a female alpha would land you a lot of social status? Or at least a special social class with some dignity and respect? What kind of inequality exists between male omegas and female omegas? (Because you know there’s gotta be some, right?) 

Ugh I’m rambling again. But yeah, the thing about A/B/O is that it’s ripe with opportunity to explore social dynamics and structure and even alternate history, but a lot of it is copy/paste hot button issues. 

@ltleflrt replied to your post “It’s too freaking early and I can’t sleep thought: I’d love to be able…”

I’d be especially interested in non-SPN fandoms since a/b/o originated there. Although there’s probably some pretty big differences in the 2 big ships Wincest and Destiel, and even SPN RPF where the original J2 prompt came from. It’s fascinating to me, and I really hope some nerd out there does a study following its changes over the years and fandoms 😀

*snots* If I ever wind up pursuing grad school (and post-grad) I’ll probably wind up being that nerd. 

I will say, though, just from the fic I’ve read in SW there’s some pretty big differences. Like, common things in SPN fic like omegas hating their omega-ness, the eye color changing based on presentation, presentation happening at puberty, mentions of true mates, heck even just wolves being the animal that traits and mannerisms are based off of, are either not their or are totally different. And! If you look at Reylo specifically (because that’s what I’ve been doing lol) that ship has even undergone some really interesting changes from beginning to present. (The oldest A/B/O fics are alpha!Rey while a fair number now are omega!Rey. Older fics are more smutty one-shots, newer fics are still very smutty, but crave out new and different universes where this trope makes sense. There are more comments on the American healthcare system and reproductive rights, too.) 

Yeah, I could probably ramble on for too long about this lol. I just find it so interesting that this smutty little trope can and does have so much depth and focuses on so many different things just depending on who’s writing it and for which ship/fandom. If I had to pick a topic to research, it’d definitely be this one. 

It’s too freaking early and I can’t sleep thought: I’d love to be able to do some kind of coherent research on how different fandoms and subfandoms do A/B/O. It’s so varied and interesting and the way it becomes metaphor for gender and sexuality and identity and real world struggles is just fascinating. It’s a social commentary and a sexual fantasy and it’s endlessly creative.

Learning Curve Self-Promotion

All About A/B/O

This year I wrote a Sastiel piece for the Sam Winchester big bang, and in doing so I opened a big ass can of worms when it comes to A/B/O and how I think of it as an AU. Now, I do like a good, old fashioned “we’re mates because you smell amazing and holy crap I have to have you right now!” as the next person, but I also love using A/B/O as a way to deal with genders, relationships, and sexualities that aren’t always addressed. This sastiel au has required me to completely re-think my a/b/o universe and write way more than anyone should after the story is finished.

Sex is alpha, beta, or omega. Gender is male, female, agender, ect.

Until children present at age 16 (usually) they’re determined male or female based on their genital (like in our world) but after presentation, their sex is the primary classification. But in terms of presentation rates, alphas and omega make up about 95% of the population. Beta are the remaining 5% but betas have their own issues with people trying to stuff them into either alpha or omega boxes. Male alphas are 96% of the general population alpha. Female omegas are 94% of the general omega population.

Sex, like in our world, is determined by a number of factors. If a child is born with a penis, it’s assumed that the child will be a male and an alpha. If the child is born with a labia, it’s assumed that child will be a female and an omega. But that’s not always the case, as it is with our world.

The primary things that determine alpha/beta/omega presentation are:

Hormones

Chromosomes

Genitalia

Gonads

Secondary Sex Characteristics

(sound familiar?)

Male omegas have wombs and smaller testicles than their beta and alpha counterparts. Female omegas have knots in place of a clitoris and retractable testicles. Both male omegas and female alphas can get pregnant and impregnate others, but female alphas have the lowest fertility rates in the population. Male omegas have a difficulty impregnating others and tend to have high-risk pregnancies. Betas are tricky because their traits vary based on chromosomes combinations and hormones.

Genes are more complicated.

Within every ova is the genetic material the womb carrying parent is able to provide. Within every sperm is the chance for whatever the sperm providing parent is able to provide and as such both parents ultimately determine the sex of the baby. Ova can hold one, two or (rarely) three genes and sperm only carry one. When an ova is fertilized, genetic material combines and the combination sets genetic presentation for the baby. If I fertilized egg has four genes (AAOb) it will split and form a set of semi-identical twins.  (Yes, that is a real thing!)

In the case of Sam, Dean, and Cas, their mothers were Mary (an omega) and Ellen (an alpha) Mary supplied Ob genes and Ellen supplied AA. A and O are dominant genes, b is always recessive.
Dean and Jo both wound up with Ab chromosomes, and Dean received the gene from Ellen that “turned on” the male gene within him. As a result, he is a male alpha. Jo is a female alpha.
Sam, on the other hand, has AO genes, which complicates his biology and makes him technically a beta. He also has the gene to “turn on” male-ness, which makes him a male beta.

There are three classifications of beta: “true” beta (bb or bbb), “mixed dominant” beta (AO), and “full spectrum” beta (AOb).
bb/bbb betas are much like people in our world. No one has a knot and males do not have self-lubricating channels from presentation on.
AO beta have knots and lubricating channels and can go through lesser heats and/or ruts. The high level of competing hormones in their bodies make it so that most are infertile.
AOb betas may have an easier time conceiving children, and they also have knots and slick channels.

Heats and ruts are not a desperate situation for most people in this AU. They are more highly fertile, and their bodies are producing more pheromones than usual, but they aren’t life or death and most people are full cognizant of what’s going on around them. It’s like a mild cold in terms of functionality and mental awareness and most people do take time off work or school to deal with it. A heat typically occurs every three months and lasts about five to seven days. Ruts occur every four to five months and last three to five days.

In terms of mating, bites aren’t actually required. Mating, like other romantic relationships, is voluntary and can come with bites or rings or just verbal commitments. Relationships can and do occur between all genders and sexes, and can be monogamous or non-monogamous. There is no real biological drive that requires one mate or a mate by a certain age, but there is social pressure to have one. Scent bonds are largely unconscious and can occur when people who can be potential mates spend time with each other. It’s similar to the way people who like each other mimic the other’s behavior, just with scents.

I like to imagine that this society develops much like our own, and as such it still has issues with homophobia and prejudice against two people of the same presentation dating/mating/marrying each other. Depending on the time period the story is set in (Learning Curve is sometime around 2010) there are issues with how accepted certain relationships are based on bigotry and assumptions.

@ltleflrt
See, usually I’m a huge pantser and I just do whatever but this one required actual thinking.
The last time I did an a/b/o it was funky as hell with all kinds of non-traditional relationships and that was fun. I didn’t think that much about the universe. But I liked what I came up with and decided I might as well stick with it.
This time, however, the fic isn’t for me. It was an auction fic I’ve taken waaay too long to write. But the person I’m writing for asked for something that’s completely unusual and as I’ve been writing it Ive been like “how the hell would this actually work??”. (It’s complicated and I don’t wanna give it away but trust me when I say it’s not something I’ve seen before.) So while I’ve been trying to pull myself out of this stupid funk so I can start writing it again I decided to research and come up with a consistent way I want to write my a/b/o aus.

@unforth-ninawaters
You know what, I think I might just do that. I’ve already made the whole thing needlessly complicated with how gene combinations work for alphas, betas, and omegas, I might as well make it easy on myself. Thanks!
I wish I liked hard science more. It just gets complicated and confusing for me really fast so I leave it to the people who know how to do it… unless it’s for complicating fictional worlds lol.

rosemoonweaver:

rosemoonweaver:

Am I really going to spend two fucking hours world building this A/B/O au? 

Yes, by god, I am. 

There are no goddamn female alphas with kids in this fic but I’m still trying to figure out how a female alpha/female omega pair could have male children.

@unforth-ninawaters

I’ve been playing around with the idea of multiple chromosomes but I think I’m confusing myself. Obviously, it’s the only way they could and it’s not like biological sex in our world is only M or F anyway… (what with intersex people and all)

I think I need to look up plant species… ugh.

omgbubblesomg:

rosemoonweaver:

hazeldomain:

rosemoonweaver:

Some things.

Those of you who write A/B/O, do you have a specific set of rules you build the world off of? Like can a omega male impregnate someone? Can female alphas get pregnant? Where do betas fit in? Are there any different social conventions? (Like how rude is it to sniff strangers?) Do you switch it up for different aus? How do you handle metaphor?

I switch it up, personally. 

Would you like a shitpile of data on this subject? 

http://abostudies.tumblr.com/

Fuck yeah, I want a shitpile of data!

I’ve always wondered how like… how would ABO work logistically? Like what happens if you live in fucking Norway and you can’t just go around wearing very little clothing in winter?

“Oh yep okay that omega over there needs a knot let’s just find the nearest residence with heating so we can get all these layers off.”

“Oh boy I’m feeling stressed I better scent my mate. Lemme just get this two dozen scarves off first.”

Mmh. Sexy. 

Oh my god. I can’t.

Im just imagining like, Dean aggressively unwrapping scarves from around Cas’s neck but it’s like that stupid magic trick where they just keep going on and on and on. Or like, trying to be sexy while peeling off two coats, a sweater, a t-shirt and long underwear.

I need this.

hazeldomain:

rosemoonweaver:

Some things.

Those of you who write A/B/O, do you have a specific set of rules you build the world off of? Like can a omega male impregnate someone? Can female alphas get pregnant? Where do betas fit in? Are there any different social conventions? (Like how rude is it to sniff strangers?) Do you switch it up for different aus? How do you handle metaphor?

I switch it up, personally. 

Would you like a shitpile of data on this subject? 

http://abostudies.tumblr.com/

Fuck yeah, I want a shitpile of data!