Random "Make Betas Sexy" 'verse thought

[soc_puppet]

Brain: Hey, so, how xeno do we want to go with this ABO remake we're doing? 'Cuz I know knotting is fairly standard, but if we're tearing half the stuff down and rebuilding anyway, we can basically go bananas if we feel like it. Thoughts?

Me: I thought we were working on that ML fic? With the cheese? And the [spoilers]?

Brain: Yeah, but I don't want to forget this while we're doing that, so note this down real quick. I'm thinking, antlers for Alphas, fins and gills for Betas, insect wings for Omegas?

Me: *buries face in hands* Let me get back to you on that.

Brain: Cool cool cool, as long as we don't forget.

Comments

[alexseanchai]

*blink blink*

[soc_puppet]

So if I understand my fandom history correctly, ABO first surfaced in a Supernatural Werewolf AU(?). And since I'm already trying to rebuild half the stuff anyway, I thought to myself, did I want to include any of the werewolf business in there?

And then the werewolf business leads right back to something else I've been thinking pretty hard about: The labels Alpha, Beta, and Omega. (And Delta, but so far I might be the only one using that?)

See, Dominance Theory (the source for the ABO labels and application to wolf packs) is flat-out BS. What's more, it can be harmful BS when applied. Rachel Garner has a long post about how Cesar Milan is fulla shit that covers most of it.

Then there's the fact that Dominance Theory was, again IIRC, originally come up with by a fucking Nazi scientist as part of their attempt to demonize Jewish people. (People Nazis liked were wolves, Jewish people were dogs, with domestication definitely being implied to be part of the """"problem""""" (see also: Social Darwinism, probably).)

So yeah, I do have something of an inclination to distance myself from that more, but to what degree I've yet to decide. If/when I go the original fantasy route, I will probably at least change the Lunar gender names from Greek letters to something else.



....Also I'm not sure if you've noticed my slight xenokink, but uh. That is definitely a thing I've got going on.

[alexseanchai]

re xeno kink: you do you! more power to you! I'll be over there...

the rest is history I didn't know (more knowledge always good but dear world did this really have to be relevant context? ugh) + stuff as makes excellent sense. except origin of a/b/o trope; p sure fanlore says it arose on an spn kink meme but the actual first prompt was spn rpf.

[soc_puppet]

That's fair ;) <3 You just helped me make my decision, BTW; I'll be including the xeno stuff as an optional build only. (The fact that my brain is approaching this in terms of Tabletop RPG metaphors probably says something about me, but I'm not entirely sure what.) I was legitimately undecided on that front, but more and different creative options is definitely the way to go, IMO :3b

Well, I remembered the fandom stuff relatively okay, at least ^^a Especially for something that originated in a fandom I was never actually part of.

Oh, and here's a link to Rachel Garner's essay that I referenced, which includes sources on the Nazi stuff: The Damage of Dog Whispering:
A Critique of Cesar Millan's Theory of Dog Pack Dynamics

June 2, 2016 - Rachel Garner

The Nazi stuff comes up in the section, "Millan's Wolf Pack Dynamics", and continues into the next.

[alexseanchai]

:)

[krait]

I... do not think I can find any version of A/B/O sexy or appealing, but if I did it would definitely involve fins + gills.

[soc_puppet]

Yeah, I know you prefer your reproductive stuff to make more sense ;)

Operation Make Betas Sexy isn't necessarily so much about making the entire "dynamic" system sexy to everyone, as it is about giving Betas a greater role in the conventional dynamic; askerian made a post on Tumblr a while back complaining about how their role in most stories was basically "agony aunts" who assist the "interesting" characters in moving the story/romance along, and she wanted them to have an actual role in things, but what would it be? So it's less "Make Betas Sexy" and more "Make Betas Important/Useful" I guess? Though part of the goal is definitely to give them greater potential for inclusion in stories, including smut fics, so.

(I've been doing my best to make the various sexes make somewhat more sense, but it probably still won't pass muster for the more biology-science-inclined people. Though I'm also rethinking the use of Greek letters, since I'm basically rebuilding half of everything anyway, in case that's part of it at all.)

[krait]

That makes sense. Honestly, betas are pretty much the sexy ones already, as far as I'm concerned; the other letters don't appeal at all. :D

I did read a fic once where betas were a sort of 'helper' and most A/O couples had 1-2 betas who lived with them and co-parented their offspring. Biologically speaking, I found that an interesting option! Sort of a combination of "newly-adult Blue Jays may stay with their parents for a couple years and help raise their siblings for a few years", "smaller male fish of some species resemble females and hang out in a dominant male's territory to sneakily mate with the females." :D

(If you need a new name for betas, can I suggest faeders? Maybe they should have feathers instead of fins...)

[soc_puppet]

Ah-ha, I found the tag! If you care to check it out at all. You can pretty much skip the first post, the next couple dozen are where the interesting discussions happen. This post in particular sums up what sparked this whole endeavor on my part. (This tangentially related post by someone different is also interesting.) There are a whooooole lot of interesting ideas based on actual biology in there, and some just completely made up. Faeders were among the suggestions :3b

If I rename Betas, I'm renaming Alphas and Omegas, as well (see above convo). I'd been thinking "Facilitators" for Betas, maybe "Planters" for Alphas/the fertilizing sexes, and "Growers" for Omegas/the sexes that can get pregnant? You can check out my Operation Make Betas Sexy tag if you want to see what I've come up with so far. (Short version: Betas produce pheromones that help trigger Alpha heats and Omega ruts, and also slightly boost fertility, ease pregnancy, and make sexytiems extra fun. Otherwise fairly typical human reproduction options, with Alphas and Omegas getting their usual reproductive options.)