Omegaverse Theory

BETA HEADCANONS

(Bc I got “Needy Beta” on the A/B/O Test)

A/N: When I say “male” or “female” Betas, I’m referring to the AGAB—not the gender identity. No disrespect intended! All are welcome here, obv <3

Also the neurodivergent/autism parallels are intentional, as part of the community myself <3

β Betas are the rarest type, rarer than Alphas and Omegas, not because they’re better or worse but because some of society vilified them and now people try to avoid bearing them. Overall, the average person wouldn’t be against Betas, but there’s still a good chunk of the world that has a little prejudice.

β Naturally there’s a little shame culture, in some regions/countries more than others, similar to neurodivergence stigma or something equivalent.

β Much like Omegas and Alphas, Betas produce a scent that is unique to them. Omegas tend to be cloying or sweet, Alphas tend to be muskier or smokier, and Betas tend to be earthier or mildly floral.

β Examples of Beta scents: Green tea, moss, jasmine, rosemary, fig leaf, almonds, a mild pear.

Alpha best friend who seeks his recessive alpha friend because they are the only one to soothe their outbursts, their pain, their feelings - they find comfort in a strong yet calm presence, more than any omega and their scent. They’ve been friends for a long time, and balance one another.

Recessive alpha and his alpha best friend being teased at the university because of their closeness and preference for one another over anyone else. At first they think the others are just being silly.

Alphas don’t love other alphas, right?

But one day, a pretty omega asks the best friend out in front of the recessive alpha, and he feels dread pool at his stomach. But he is surprised when his friend doesn’t even bat an eye at the omega before gently turning them down. The alpha is relieved on the inside, and almost as if sensing his distress his best friend presses their shoulders together as they walk away, a protective spike in his scent.

The recessive alpha asks his friend, “Why did you turn them down? They were beautiful, smart, everything you deserve in a mate.” His best friend looks a little lost before wrapping an arm around the others shoulder with a chuckle before saying matter of factly, “A mate? I don’t really want one. I have you, don’t I?”

The recessive alpha cannot stop the tinge of redness on his cheeks, his eyes wide as he looks his friend in the face, who looks completely undeterred by the weight of his words. He simply nods, his voice rough. “Y-Yeah, you have me.”

scents and pheromones

pt. 1: physiology and function

pt. 2: scent messages

along with reproductive cycles and mating bonds, a heightened sense for interpreting scents and pheromones is a pillar of the omegaverse. this series uses language that describes scents in a way we can understand, but the effort to describe scents is in reality much like the effort to describe color to someone who may never have seen it. scents are intangible, and the descriptors used in this series are abstractions and metaphors rather than direct concrete descriptions.

review

to briefly summarize the first entry in this series, humans have scent glands present all over the body, with higher concentrations in certain areas (e.g. the palms, neck, and groin, among others). the scent carries pheromones which are interpreted by the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and decoded as basic information about approximate age, dynamic and phenotypic sexes, mating status, and pack health.

individual scent

individual scents function exactly as they sound. they are unique markers that help distinguish one person from another. they are the core of a person’s whole scent, and they contextualize all the sensations and underpinnings that carry the broader information about age, sex, etc. these scents are most frequently described with comprehensible reference points: honeysuckle, burning wood, vanilla. there are dynamic sex stereotypes—dark and earthy for alphas; light and floral for betas; warm and soft for omegas. in reality, individual scent is not influenced by a person’s dynamic sex. an alpha is just as likely to smell like chocolate cupcakes as they are to smell like petrichor or citrus.

what does dynamic sex smell like?

For characters who may not want to wear rings, or a fantasy culture with different customs!

ankle bracelets or cuffs

blood oaths

charm bracelets, which you add onto with each relationship milestone (10/20/… years, kids, grandparents, …)

combining their families’s crests into a new symbol, which is engraved on all important possessions

custom weapons

exchanging each other’s favored weapon

head bands

lighting an eternal fire which shall not die until their love does

magical bonds / oaths

matching tattoos, either somewhere visible to show off, or hidden because of the intimate nature

necklaces without a clasp, that would have to be cut off to be taken off

pieces of armor

planting a tree / flowers in the garden of their new home

sacrificial and ritualistic scarring / branding

temporary ink marks which will fade if the work to upkeep them is not consistently put in

Great dialogue can come from radical emotional honesty. But in most real conversations, people

dodge questions

answer indirectly

lie (badly)

change the subject

crack jokes to avoid serious answers

lie (convincingly)

say half of what they mean

tell the truth but get so anxious/angry/defensive others now think they're lying

If your dialogue feels unnatural, it might be because everyone is saying exactly what they think, or articulating their thoughts too well. Try letting characters hide things instead.

This concept works for other things too. When I feel stuck I like to put the work down for a bit and come back to it later. One of the first things I look for on the reread are the stakes. Does the story have real conflict? In a quest story for example, is the journey emotionally/mentally relevant to your characters or could they just pick up that golden amulet at their nearest discount store?

I hate reading stories based around those cliche miscommunications, however without some crossed wires your story may deflate. A story filled with agreement, honesty, acceptance, and understanding the other person/people’s point of view can get flat out boring! Sometimes that’s hard to navigate, as the writer who has (unless you’re doing a truly evil character or conflict which is also difficult) knowledge of both sides and is using that to make stuff happen.

I LIKE it

someone else might LIKE it

it is FUN to do

I get those THOUGHTS out of my head

it's fun to look BACK on

have I mentioned it's FUN?

it's CATHARTIC

it's nice to see what I CAN DO

if you don't feel like tagging, at least clarify it's dddne content, although you should always tag

hate sex does not mean lack of consent, add a noncon or dubcon tag if needed. any other form of abuse should also be tagged

degradation/insults does not imply the use of slurs, add a tag of which slurs will be used

violence does not mean character death, add a tag about it

use the reader insert tag properly: if you describe any non-universal features, say so (i.e. blue eyed!reader, black!reader, etc.). if you do not want to assign a gender to the reader but want to describe their anatomy, it's okay to write amab!reade, afab!reader, intersex!reader. do not state it's a reader insert if it's an oc written in 1st or 2nd pov, that's still about the oc

for readers: it's okay if a creator you like or something you see something on your fyp that seems interesting to you has a tag that doesn't suit you. nothing is written specifically for you, and even requests don't magically know what you look like/prefer. don't be whiny about it, just move on or reread something you already liked

if your fic is a slowburn and only the ending is dddne, still mark those tags at the beginning. it doesn't matter if you think it will 'ruin the surprise', people should still know what exactly they are reading

if you don't want minors interacting with sfw works, also mark those as mdni. they can't guess if you're mdni based off the vibes of your post in their feed

it's better to over-tag than to miss a tag

if you even have a hunch that something is supposed to be tagged, tag it

for your next poem/story

Ahlam - dreams

Bahaar - sea

Fajr - dawn

Ghazal - love poetry

Hadiya - gift

Hikma - wisdom

Ikhlas - sincerity, loyalty

Ishq - passion

Mawadda - affection, loving-kindness

Mawsim - season

Qadr - destiny

Qalb - heart

Qamar - moon

Rihla - journey

Sabr - patience

Sadaqa - friendship

Shawq - longing

Ta’aburnee - "you bury me"; when someone says this, it means he wants to die before the other because he wouldn’t be able to live without this other person

Tarab - ecstasy (in music or poetry)

Thuluth - large, elegant letters with sweeping curves often used in architectural inscriptions and religious texts

Warda - rose

Yashtaq - to miss

Yatamanna - to wish

Yu‘aniqu - to hug

Yu‘jib - to like

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 ⚜ More: Word Lists ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs