Encyclopaedia of Life - Behind Still Waters
Encyclopaedia of Life - Behind Still Waters
Title: Genders, Reproduction and Dynamic - The World of OmegaverseSeries: Still Waters (Run Deep)
Author:
melody_in_time
Rating: NC-17
Spoilers: Through S1 only
Disclaimer: I wish, I wish upon a star... but until that works, not mine and sadly no money made.
Fifth Entry: An explanation of the different genders, dynamics, and how they interact in this version of Omegaverse
If you've wondered here by mistake, you may wish to start at Part I of the series, Rarest of the Rare: Chapter 1.
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I frequently get asked what the rules are for this Omegaverse, and after having explained it several times I finally got asked for some actual notes, which duh, I really should have written up earlier. So below, an expose on Genders, Reproduction and Dynamics - how do they all relate.
Genders
There are four possible genders in this world: Alpha, Beta, Omega and Female. There is no such thing as a Male Beta or a Female Alpha - it’s just Alpha, Beta, Omega and Female. Combined with two dynamics, Dominant and Submissive, there are a possible six combinations (AD, OS, BD, BS, FD, FS).
This is a world that doesn’t have any concept of the word “man”. All “men” are Alphas, Betas, or Omegas. There is “boy”, for unpresented children, but once they present their gender they are what they are. It’s not a case of primary gender and secondary, they’re just A-B-O.
Unlike other versions of Omegaverse, Female is a gender in its own right. Unlike Alphas or Betas, Females are bearers like Omegas. Alphas and Betas are Sires - sort of. For more information, see Reproduction below.
Reproduction
Technically, all four genders can reproduce, however, “technically” and “reality” do not often meet.
Technically:
A+O = A/O Only an Alpha Omega couple can have Alpha or Omega children
A+F = B/F Alphas are Sires and Females are Bearers so they can reproduce together, but can only have Beta or Female offspring
A+B = Not possible Alphas and Betas are both Sires and can’t reproduce. They still might have a
relationship (with, for example, a Beta Sub - or Dom if they were gay), but they can’t have
any offspring
B+O=B/F Betas are Sires and Omegas are Bearers, so they can reproduce. Children will only be
Betas or Female
B+F=Not possible Due to an unknown genetic evolution, Betas and Women are unable to reproduce. Once
upon a time they could have children (Deltas) who were sterile. No Deltas have been born for
well over a century.
O+F = Not possible Women and Omegas are both Bearers and cannot reproduce together.
In reality, a Beta is never going to have a chance with an Omega as, due to their rarity, they will almost always be claimed by an Alpha. This is especially as Betas are unable to knot Omegas during Estrus. Worse, the stimulation without the knot enflames the need without any relief, creating a torture like state and potentially driving the Omega insane.
Dynamics - Where it gets fun
Alphas are only ever Doms. Omegas are only ever Subs. Women and Betas can be Doms, Subs, or Switches.
Obviously Gregory and Mycroft are exceptions to this, however for the purposes of this I’m going to talk about the generally accepted norms.
Alphas are all Doms. More, they’re normally strong Doms. As your attractiveness to your complementary dynamic is based on how far up and down the scale you are, this makes Alphas very attractive to Subs of all sorts. Obviously factors such as what a person finds attractive, blondes or brunettes, tall or short, etc. do also matter, but on a simplistic level: the more Dominant, the more attractive. This is one of the reasons a Beta is unlikely to ever have a realistic chance with an Omega over an Alpha, especially when the possibility of Bonding and the rest comes in in favour of the Alpha.
Conversely, the more Submissive, the more attractive as well. This means that Omegas, being the most submissive of the Submissives, are the most attractive to Dominants of any kind. Over the years this has caused a lot of conflict with Women in particular, being the other Bearers and also potentially Submissives.
There is a whole essay I have drafted about the relationship between Omegas and Women, and how it has evolved over the centuries so I won’t go into detail here.
Women and Betas have more flexibility with their dynamic. It’s possible for them to be Subs, Doms or Switches - capable of being both. Switches are more accurately described as capable of being either. It’s not that their instincts cancel to zero. It’s that they can be Dom or Sub as they choose, but they must be one or the other. If a Switch is quite strong on the dynamic scale, they remain quite strong as either a Dom or a Sub. Switches frequently find it hard to maintain relationships as they can ignore half their dynamic for only so long before it’s needs need to be fulfilled as well.
Once upon a time, a Switch would have been forced to choose what they were: Dom or Sub. Usually they would choose to be a Dom for the extra freedoms, but it would be one or the other. This would cause Switches to not infrequently suffer from depression and various addictions as they battled to ignore their other dynamic.
Our Characters
To finish up I thought I’d give you a recap of our characters and their gender/dynamics so far.
Our main foursome:
Mycroft Holmes - Omega Dom
Gregory Lestrade - Alpha Sub
Sherlock Holmes - Omega Sub
John Watson - Alpha Dom
Our supporting cast:
Sally Donovan - Female Dom
Phillip Anderson - Alpha Dom
“Anthea” - Female Switch
Mrs Potts - Female Sub
Mummy - Female Dom
Mrs Hudson - Female Switch (nominated Sub)
Harriet Watson - Female Dom
Jim Moriarty - Beta Switch
Let me know if there are any other characters you want to know about or if you have any further questions. I’ve kept this quite simplistic and tried not to go into all the history etc. but I’ll hopefully get around to actually writing up the notes I have on that soon.
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