#begone

to summarize omegaverse: in a/b/o, everyone has a secondary gender or sex (dependent on the story) in addition to the standard genders of the real world (male, female, non-binary, etc). the secondary a/b/o presentations come with the following biological features:

alphas (usually) have dicks, which also almost always have knots; they go into ruts during which they can get very territorial and sexually aggressive. alphas usually have no or very limited ability to get pregnant, but they are easily able to get other people pregnant.

omegas can take knots; they go into heats during which they will experience physical pain and fever if they don't get knotted; they are super fertile and it is very easy for them to get pregnant when in heat. it's a common trope that when in heat, omegas will get so desperate for a knot that they will accept any alpha around them.

betas don't get heats or ruts; their body parts are generally left unspecified. usually they are nowhere near as fertile as omegas, if at all.

because of these biological features, most omegaverse narratives are characterized by gender dynamics revolving around (1) reproduction and (2) dubious consent - this is the case especially if you've ever read f/f or m/m omegaverse. often, there is a lot of in-universe gender-based discrimination and gender-based violence that maps onto real world misogyny, for example:

alphas are expected to occupy a role similar to super dominant men irl—they’re usually in leadership roles or combat roles, have a lot of social capital and usually physical strength. they are socially expected to find an omega mate.

omegas are expected to occupy a role similar to super submissive women irl—they are usually in very socially passive roles, their bodies are often subject to (reproductive) control by alphas, and they typically experience a lot of gender-based violence. they are socially expected to find an alpha mate.

betas don't tend to have remarkable social standing, and usually they are expected to pair up with other betas.

in perfume, these gender roles are very prevalent in the narrative, but I need to make it clear that they are about as bullshit as real-world gender roles. in this fic in particular, they are supposed to imitate a very severe, exaggerated form of traditional (east asian) gender essentialism in real life because it parallels zanka's struggle with traditional (east asian) values. accordingly, it is an integral part of the narrative that both zanka and the reader subvert their gender expectations (resulting in the accidental queer-coding described below lol)

zanka feels inadequate as a beta as a nijiku scion and eventual hell guard; he was expected to be an alpha since that's synonymous with social and physical dominance. him being a beta is seen as weakness. this of course parallels real life, traditional ideals of masculinity—and that's not a coincidence! his upbringing in canon has the subtext of a certain type of east asian conservatism (filial piety, intense academic pressure, and spartan training/implied corporal punishment), and kamuatari district overall imo carries the subtext of being very politically conservative (they are dominated by police…). so it kinda naturally fit in with his background, to me, to have him be raised with these traditional notions of a/b/o gender. he of course doesn't really buy into them—but he’s still internalized them because of his upbringing, and it's part of his inferiority complex. 

*****SPOILERS HERE*****

incidentally, it was pretty intentional when I wrote the reader as not fitting into these traditional gender norms at all. she is not very submissive in disposition nor social standing (she works as a Cleaner!) and she would probably stab any alpha who came near her during a heat. I also accidentally made her kinda queer coded SGNELFJSKS. not sure if people will catch it, but she's heavily implied to be almost exclusively o4o (has fucked only omegas – and she is usually very dominant/territorial in those relationships lmaglksdldk), and her attraction to zanka (a beta) is not seen as normal in-universe. conversely, his attraction to her is actually not conventional either.