Okay. I was asked to do an Omegaverse lore drop by @veranderen about my/my friends' personal flavour of Omegaverse. Here we Fuckin Go.
Starting off with the Second Genders, 8 total!
Prime Omega: The Most Omega ones. Very much heightened instincts. Extremely protective of their nests/pups/friends/etc, ironically has them acting a bit alphan in how viscious they can get.
Omega (standard): What you would consider a stock standard ABO omega.
Sigma: A combination of Alphan and Omegan, that tend to lean a fair bit more to the Omegan side of things. With some fluctuation, 3/4 of their cycles will be heats. Extremely hard to pup them!
Deltas: Also a combination Alphan/Omegan*, and tend to lean slightly more to the Alphan side. Generally, ranging from 1/2 - 3/4 of their cycles will be ruts. They're generally the role-fillers when a pack needs more of one of the other 2Gs!
(*In AUs where I minimize to A/B/O/D, Deltas take priority and are closer to 50/50 alphan/omegan. But frankly, the cycles for both of these genders will vary wildly depending on what I want in the moment, or what I want the character of choice to experience.)
Alphas (Standard): What you would expect of a stock standard alpha in ABO.
Prime Alpha: Like their omegan counterparts, their instincts are heightened, and it makes them more territorial and aggressive. Prone to posturing!
Enigma: Top of the line Alphans. But, their instincts loop back around into being a bit omegan in nature. Protectors and providers, but with wire-thin tempers. Extremely prone to Giving with sexual partners. And although they usually fill an Alphan role during sex, they're usually happy both to give and recieve penetration. Also Hyperfertile!
Betas: Your stock standard Beta in an ABO universe. 50/50 either way if they have a normal-intensity scent, or a very faint scent.
There are no hard rules here, but each 2G will be a little more instinctually driven to another as such;
Prime Omega & Prime Alpha
Deltas and Betas tend to both play filler roles in their packs and relationships.
There are absolutely AA, OO, AE, DO, etc. varieties of relationships! These are just what base attraction usually looks like.
My ideal omegaverse world is filled with all kinds of variety of sex characteristics! What identifies someone as "Male" or "Female" is very loose and I do not feel like pinning it down. Though female omegas will most frequently have a vagina and breasts, and male alphas will most frequently have a penis and pecs, the other 2Gs frequently have just about any combinations of genitalia you can imagine. Dicks, cunts, both, dicks that are hidden and extend from the 'clit', vaginal wombs, anal wombs, etc etc. Mixing and matching is fun.
My omegaverse also contains Studding and Bitching, as a way for people to move throughout the 2G chain. This can include changing sex characteristics. (Personal pet thought is that they're a single-sex species, but different characteristics are expressed from different hormones, but this is usually Magic Bullshit for the fun of it, don't look into it deeply, it's just There). This is usually a quick-to-medium-long process, and I do not have a science behind How It Happens.
I'm tentative to call it so, but my version of omegaverse also contains what I think would be an omegaverse-specific Intersex Variation (hormonal); It's not common, but Sigmas and Deltas are both susceptible to 'Mixed Cycles'. Where, during the course of what would be a normal heat or rut, their hormones try to course correct and overshoot into the opposite cycle.
This can manifest in a few ways;
A 'Combined' cycle, where satisfying either/both heat or rut symptoms would bring relief.
A 'Split' cycle where the first half is one cycle, and the second half is the other.
A 'Metronome' cycle, where they bounce back and forth between heat and rut.
A 'Spotted' cycle, where the cycle is primarily one or the other, dotted with blips of the opposite cycle.
Some very small portion of Sigmas/Deltas will Almost/Always have a mixed cycle, another portion may have some normal cycles and some mixed cycles, and the largest portion is susceptible to mixed cycles as an unlikely occurrence. But all three of these groups collectively make up a very small portion of Deltas and Sigmas.
Glands, Scents, Mates, and Bonds;
In my omegaverse, all 2Gs have 3(+) sets of glands. Two on the neck. One on each wrist. One on the inside of each thigh. Neck glands are reserved for mates. Wrist glands are meant for packs. On Sigmas, the thigh glands are more sensitive than most other 2Gs.
Enigmas also have a fourth set of glands beneath their jaws that are prone to overproducing oil. This oil is often used to coat pack/mates as a claiming ritual, and can act as a mild aphrodisiac when ingested/inserted.
In my variety of omegaverse, scents are usually made up of 2-3 components, though the individual components can be complex (ex, maple rum, or raspberry chocolate cake).
People are able to willfully produce scents, sweeten, sour, or bitter their scents, and restrict their scent. You can tell a lot about how someone is feeling by the way they smell. Distress and sadness usually come with an instinctually sour scent, for example. And with alcoholic scents, these can shift into something more like rubbing alcohol when enraged.
When a bond is formed, there is an immediate connection between mating partners. Congratulations, you now have a direct line to what your mate is feeling. Partners can both send and recieve emotional signals through the bond connection. Comfort, arousal, sadness, etc. Though, these connections can also be closed shut. To a lesser extent, pack bites have this same effect, but the feelings are extremely muted.
If, for some reason, one or both people end up with an unwanted mating mark, this connection can be severed! It usually consists of cutting through the mark to sever the bond. These cut marks will fade over time, but the disconnection is immediate.
If, for some reason, it happens that only one person is bitten, and the mark was unwanted, one or both partners can become 'bite sick'. Lethargic, nauseous, and generally unwell. An incomplete mark will fade over time. But if it's an unwanted mark, it's recommended to cut it in order to relieve both parties of bitesickness.
Glands can become impacted if they're neglected! Forming blackheads and pimples that need to be cleaned. If they remain impacted for too long and sustain damage, they may need to be removed.
Slick, cum, and scent oils mimic the taste of how people smell. If you smell like cotton candy and blueberries, your slick will taste that way too!
An Omegan's nesting area is called a Nest. These are typically built with low walls, and are softer. Built with comfort and breatheability in mind.
An Alphan's nesting area is called a Den. These are usually built with taller walls and with harder bottoms, and are usually heavily coated with the alphan's scent to obscure any omegas hidden inside.
A combination Nest and Den is called a Burrow. Usually built together between mates, they tend to be the best of both worlds. Soft, comfortable, and inviting. With high walls and coated in the alphan's scent to hide their mate.
It is crucial in this world that you be invited into a Nest, Den, or Burrow. Most everyone is territorial over their nesting spaces. Omegas especially so.
Intrusions into omegan's Nest areas can cause Nest Anxiety!
Nest Anxiety tends to manifest in destructive behaviours, including;
Scratching themself, pulling their hair, aggressively rubbing their own skin, skin biting, panic attacks, destroying of the nest, territorial behaviour, biting and clawing of intruding parties.
There are three types of Nest Anxiety; (this is mostly silly, but a good way to explain the reactions)
Anxious Hamster; Do not look at me or I will Die.
Cat licking themselves bald; Self-destructive behaviours.
Rabid Dog; Get the fuck out before you get attacked.
People can have a mix of these reactions! And the scale of reaction usually depends on the scale of the intrusion. Ex; A stranger entering the nest of an omega in heat will get an extremely strong reaction, whereas a friend coming into a nest uninvited might warrant a slow-simmering discomfort. Some people like mates or close freinds can comfortably be given blanket permission to enter nesting areas.
My omegaverse usually has a "Mate Clause" (read: Kill Rule) where, if you are being abusive/harrassing/violent to someone, their mate has free reign to no-consequences Kill Your Ass.
Omegans can lactate when they aren't pregnant! Often during heat when a choice alphan is accompanying them, to entice them into being pupped.
Omegas can Lock behind an alphan's knot for a more secure connection, though this reaction is voluntary.
Everyone can purr! This is often used for comfort, and it's said that omegan purrs can speed up healing for those around them!
Non-Verbal communication tends to be a bit more commonplace. Chuffs, trills, purrs, coos, growls, and other animalistic noises make up likely at least 5-10% of communication.
Saliva has a very mild healing effect, helping to clot things like mating bites!
Everyone has retractable Tongue Barbs! These are very small and not particularly rough like a cat's tongue. More akin to a firm rubber. But it helps with grooming pack/mates!
People are likely to groom one another and each other's glands or hair with tongue baths. Usually as a bonding activity.
Fangs are retractable! Most omegans have fairly similarly-sized fangs, but alphan fangs get larger the further you go up the chain! Dropped fangs will usually cause lisps in alphans.
Omegas who live in houses can get Nest Anxiety about their entire home if they have too many/unwelcome visitors near or during their heats.
Pupils can both dilate, and constrict into slits depending on the person's feelings.
Packs most often have a "Pack Alpha" they coalesce around. (Note: This is a title, and the holder does not have to be an alphan.) This is the person that the packmates will reach out to in emergencies, and turn to for guidance for major decisions. They're usually the problem-solver and peacekeeper.
