#beta duck

[cozycraftzbl]

A beta duck and a beta cuck

[masterdizzi]

The latest Chibiverse episode was WILDDD

[mypunkpansexualtwin]

My quote of the week that filled my girlfriend with Rage:

"Destiny is just Kingdom Hearts for Halo fans."

[sunmoontruth-stiles]

I need a completely rewritten teen wolf series with Derek Hale as the main character. I think it would heal me.

[pondrea]

lionboy sora winter ver.

[samijami]

I made a Chai AI of Dr. D. Light since his Character AI chat has gotten 61k chats.

So I guess you can fuck him now or whatever..

I don't really care- what I'm hoping is that people won't talk to him and he immediately tries to do that since those are the AIs on there-

Although, I know he will engage in seggs if he wants, I'm hoping yall can have normal roleplays or chats with him without that if ya want-

[duckduckhjonk]

Duck's Rendition of Muppets Mayhem Season 2 Track 1.

hi ho muppetblr, I'm posting this now so I don't overthink it tonight.

Word Count; 2711

Please note; this entire thing is going to be extremely self indulgent, not in a shippy way, just, me taking headcanons i have about the characters and running far with them. This is also not beta read. I got too silly and posted it without anyone beta reading it. With that being said; Enjoy!

The bus was a complete bust. As hard as any of the band tried, it would not start back up. All it would do was sputter pathetically and spew smoke. As the Electric Mayhem all took turns looking pathetically at the now exposed engine, Nora got immediately to work calling a mechanic. After the call had been placed, she quickly turned around and approached the band.

“I just got done calling a mechanic, they should be here soon,” She announced happily.

The band cheered in delight at this information. Before long, they ended up back inside while waiting for the mechanic to arrive. While the Mayhem gathered around the table, Nora and Moog took a moment in a separate room to discuss a few things.

“Do we have any idea of where to go first?” Nora asked.

“Nah, the band usually just goes wherever the road takes them,” Moog explained, “They talk to the venue day of usually.”

Nora took a deep breath, still obviously getting used to the Electric Mayhem’s strange ways of doing what they do. Moog noticed this and quickly tried shifting topics.

“Uh, how long until the mechanic gets here?” He asked.

Nora checked on her phone for a moment before replying, “They’re about… five minutes away?”

“Awesome,” Moog answered awkwardly.

The air around them became rather awkward. That was until Nora noticed on the other side of the room, a polaroid camera sitting alone and unaccompanied. She walked over and picked it up.

“This is Zoot’s camera…” She said quietly, “I don’t think he remembers he doesn’t have it.”

Nora swiftly rushed out of the room, Moog quickly followed behind her. She headed into the main room where the band was set up in a circle, Dr. Teeth passing out cards. Nora pulled up a seat next to the saxophonist and handed him the camera.

“You seem to have misplaced this,” She said as she did so.

“My camera. Man, where did I leave it?” Zoot exclaimed, visibly excited to see his camera again. Almost immediately he snapped a picture of Nora, the flash leaving her stunned for a second.

“You, uh, left it here when everyone went off on their own to do solo projects,” Nora explained, trying to wipe the remnants of the flash from her eyes.

“We split up? When?” Zoot asked, now much more distressed.

“Well, it doesn’t matter now, because we’re back and better than ever,” Dr. Teeth interjected, throwing Zoot another card.

“What’re you even playing?” Nora asked as she watched Zoot sort the cards in his hand very poorly.

“A very ancient game about sorting cards into the most pairs and going fishing,” Dr. Teeth explained. Go fish. It was quite literally go fish.

Nora blinked for a moment, before being interrupted by the sound of a knock on the shack’s door. She quickly got up to answer it. On the other side was a very tired looking and rather gruff lady. She explained she was the mechanic and was here to fix the bus.

“Oh, terrific, it's right this way.” Nora led the mechanic to the bus.

The mechanic immediately got to inspecting it. She seemed quite shocked with the issues with it. The gruff mechanic began asking a few questions about the bus. Nora explained how it used to travel a lot but had been sitting in the garage for quite some time. This caused the mechanic to sigh.

“Look, It’ll take a bit,” She explained to Nora, “Are you willing to wait maybe about a few hours?”

“Yeah, take as much time as you need,” Nora reassured.

“Good, I’m gonna need it,” The mechanic grumbled.

~

Meanwhile, back inside the shack, the band was deep into an oddly heated game of go fish. Nora stood next to Moog and watched the chaos of it unfold.

“Hey, uh, Janice,” Floyd started, sounding desperate and tired, “Do you have any sevens?”

“Ooh, as much as it pains me to say this, I, like, don’t have any sevens,” Janice responded, unphased by Floyd’s desperation, “Go fish.”

Floyd let out a loud ‘nooo’ as he reached for the pile. He put the card into his ever expanding hand of cards. Notably his hand was much larger than the rest of the band’s. That mixed with the lack of matches near him made him a guaranteed loser of this intense game.

“Lips, do you, like, have any kings?” Janice asked.

Lips merely nodded and handed Janice a card. She took that card and matched it with a different one in her hand of just three cards, now leaving her with two.

“Zoot, dyou hav annines?” Lips asked in his typical mumbly fashion.

Zoot, who must have been asleep, shook himself awake before frantically looking through his cards. “Uh, go fish.”

Lips grumbled as he grabbed a card from the pile. After a few seconds of silence, it had seemed Zoot was once again asleep, having forgotten to ask anyone for a card. Eventually the game faded from their focus, now the band idly reminisced about their older days.

Soon, a thump on the door stirred everyone out of an evening daze. Nora got up and answered it. The gruff mechanic was on the other side.

“Bus is fixed,” She said in a monotone and tired voice.

“Cool, uh,” Nora said, “How much is all of that going to cost?”

“Oh, this is on the house,” the mechanic replied, her voice sounding a little warmer than before, “Just as a favour for my old teacher. Yeah, Lips taught me how to repair old vehicles. I owe him one.”

Nora was quite unsure how to respond. Before she could, though, the mechanic had quickly left. Nora closed the door and rejoined the band.

“We’re good to go!” She announced. The band cheered and all rushed out of their seats and out of the door.

Nora took a slower pace as she met with Moog. The two walked beside each other before stopping between the old bus and Moog’s truck.

“Are you joining us on the bus, or-” Nora began, her voice trailing off.

“Someone’s gotta bring the equipment,” Moog answered, before beginning to climb into the truck, “If you want you can join me?”

Nora paused, debating whether or not to take the offer. A loud thud from the bus prompted Nora to make her choice. Soon both vehicles left.

~

The bus travelled for a while before needing to stop at a gas station to refuel. As it pulled into the gas pump area, plans were immediately made as Dr. Teeth handed Floyd a wallet.

“You pay, I pump,” He offered.

“Works for me,” Floyd replied, “Any snack request?”

“How about one of them crunchy granola bars?” Dr. Teeth asked.

“Gotcha. How about Zoot? Any requests?” Floyd turned towards the back of the bus.

“Huh? Oh,” Zoot mumbled, “Bag of chips.”

“Right on, we’ll be right back.” With that, the fluffy bassman exited the bus, followed by the other members of the Mayhem sans Zoot and Teeth.

The inside of the gas station’s shop was easily described in two words: run down. Despite the grime, ripped up tiles, and obviously dangerous demeanour, the band remained cheerful as they entered. Nora and Moog remained close by.

Almost immediately, the Mayhem had filled a shopping basket with various snacks. The four muppets stood at the front of an isle and went over what all they had picked out.

“We got chips for Zoot,” Floyd began, “Funyuns for Animal-”

“FUNYUNS! FUNYUNS!!” Animal shouted, bouncing up and down.

“Pretzel sticks for Lips,” Floyd continued, unphased by Animal’s shouting, “Veggie straws for Janice, granola bars for Teeth, and Cheez-Its for me.”

Once everything was listed off, the band stopped crouching around the basket.

“You two want anything?” Floyd asked, looking at Nora and Moog with a blink.

“Oh, uh,” Moog started awkwardly, “I’m fine, I brought my own snacks in my truck.”

Floyd turned to face Nora with the same question. “Maybe just some gum?” Nora requested.

Floyd nodded, “Any specific brand?”

Nora shook her head, “No, just, uh, mint flavouring, though.”

“Got it,” Floyd replied, wandering into the candy aisle and putting several different brands of mint flavoured gum into the basket. Quickly, the orange haired muppet got distracted and put several other different candies in the basket as well.

Upon reaching the checkout, Floyd began handing the cashier the various treats he had gotten for the band. The cashier appeared increasingly annoyed as he scanned each item.

“Will that be all?” The cashier asked, once he finished scanning.

Floyd handed him a few $20 bills, “Can you put this on the pump with the bus? We got a long road trip ahead of us.”

~

As the members of the Mayhem exited the gas station, they arrived back at the bus to see Dr. Teeth having some kind of conversation over the phone as he pumped gas into the bus.

“I’m telling you, Twinkles, we haven’t even left the state yet, and you’re already trying to start this,” Dr. Teeth said into the phone.

Dr. Teeth visibly winced as the person on the other end, Penny, screamed at him over the phone.

“What is going on with them?” Nora asked with concern.

“Every time Penny and Teeth get back together Penny always starts some kinda lasting drama that she’ll scream for days on end to him about,” Floyd explained, “That's why they’ve broken up at least six times.”

“It’ll all, like, blow over and they’ll break up again,” Janice chimed in, “It all repeats every time they, like, meet.” Despite her usual cheery tone, Janice sounded disappointed about the whole thing.

The band boarded the bus once more and waited a little bit for their keyboard player to get off the phone and rejoin them. After a few more moments of yelling, it all went quiet as Penny had promptly hung up the phone. Dr. Teeth nodded solemnly before rejoining the rest of The Electric Mayhem.

“You alright?” Floyd asked in a respectful tone.

The doctor nodded, “Yeah…” without another word the bus was started up and began to drive away.

~

The band had been driving for a long while. By now the snacks had all been finished, stories had been shared, and chaos ensued. Nora was exhausted by all of this.

“Do you guys even know what venue you’re playing?” She asked.

Dr. Teeth nodded, “We’re here.”

The bus had been parked at a rather large venue. The band all piled out and began spreading out. Nora was last off. Needless to say she was quite confused by all the happenings. Lips communicated with some of the staff, Floyd had Animal by his leash and was being dragged around in an effort to get some energy out of Animal. Janice and Zoot were helping Moog unload equipment, and Dr. Teeth stood next to Nora with a proud expression on his face.

“How do you-” Nora asked, but was quickly cut off by the doctor.

“Just the mellodific magic of the Mayhem,” he answered.

“Weot a gig fo toniht aseen!” Lips called to the rest of the band.

“Well alright!” Dr. Teeth cheered as he hurried to help the rest of the band set up the equipment.

Nora approached Moog, “Now I know why you followed them for so long…” She said exhaustedly.

“They’re really something, huh,” Moog replied.

“Truly… something…” A third voice came, causing both Nora and Moog to flinch.

The voice belonged to a man in a blindingly white suit accompanied by a red tie. His expression was a mix of smug and disgusted and his stance provided an air of superiority to him.

“Who’re you?” Nora asked defensively.

The man chuckled and handed her a business card as white as his suit. “I am Seymour, a representative of Music United. I’ve come to make a deal with you.”

“What… kind of deal?” Nora asked, clearly suspicious of him.

“I propose we give you a large sum of money, and we get the rights to the band,” He offered smugly.

Nora and Moog exchanged equally angered looks. As if to say to each other ‘what kind of gaul does this man have to try that?’

“Yeah, no. Not happening,” Nora answered, quickly attempting to shoo him away.

“How much would change your mind?” Seymour asked.

“None. Now leave,” Nora said rather upsettedly.

“But! Don’t you even care about their futures? Shouldn’t you ask the band first!?” Seymour attempted to argue.

“Yeah, I think the band would agree about not wanting to be sold like property,” Moog chimed in.

Seymour huffed as he nearly tripped on his way out of the parking lot.

“That guy does not seem like a cool cat,” Floyd said from behind Nora and Moog.

“Ooh, his aura was, like, totally sinister,” Janice shivered, “Like a mouldy green bean…”

“You said it,” Nora replied, “But something tells me he’ll be back.”

~

Inside the venue, everything had been set up rather quickly. Kind staff showed Moog to the audio board, and he began doing sound checks with the band.

“Alright, Teeth, you’re up first,” Moog began.

“Well alright.” Dr. Teeth began pressing keys on his keyboard, a snippet of one of their songs.

“Excellent…” Moog said as he adjusted a few things on the board, “Floyd?”

“You got it.” Floyd joined in with the same song and hummed a few lyrics to it.

“Allright, Janice, your turn.”

“Fer sure,” Janice answered as she started strumming. The band was slowly but surely building up.

Moog pointed towards Animal, gesturing for him to start playing. Animal gladly obliged and started slamming the drums. As he did so he growled and shouted at the top of his lungs, enthralled in his own drumming madness.

“Yeah!” Moog shouted, clearly getting into it, “How about some sax?”

“You got it, Mort,” Zoot said before starting to play.

Moog adjusted a few more things on the board while bobbing his head, “Get in there, Lips!”

Lips nodded and joined in. The band revelled in their own jubilee despite the lack of an audience. Although it was quite short lived as the song ended rather quickly. The Mayhem cheered once it finished.

“Awesome! You guys sound great!” Moog shouted.

~

The concert was full of bright lights and life. Despite the short notice, the venue was almost entirely sold out within moments. The Electric Mayhem truly lived up to their name.

Their set list had contained plenty of their album songs, but also contained on the spot covers, each eliciting a roar of cheers from the audience.

But alas, just as quickly as the night began, the concert came to an end. The crowd dispersed and the band celebrated their concert within the greenroom.

“Terrific job out there tonight!” Nora cheered.

“Why thank you,” Dr. Teeth replied, “I think the first night of our most immacurific tour has been quite the success.”

Nora nodded, “Any idea what kind of hotel you want to stay in?” She asked the band.

“Hotel?” Floyd interjected before anyone else could answer, “No way, we sleep on the road!”

Nora felt unsure about this, “Are you sure? I don’t think it's smart to be driving all night like that…”

“Ooh, we, like, don’t drive all night, that’d totally just make us, like, so tired,” Janice explained, “We’re usually, like, parked overnight and totally sleep all together in a big pile! Fer sure!”

~

The band started unloading everything into the truck. Everyone except Lips, who was frozen in horror at the sight of the amount of trash leftover by the fans. As far back as he remembered, everyone threw away their trash on the way out. What had changed?

“Lips? You alright, buddy?” Nora asked, tapping him on the shoulder.

“I donet it,” Lips started, “ereon usto take alleir rashithem, noeave iall oer thround. I’sad fo thnvironment…”

Nora paused. She never really thought about that. Venues usually always had large trash cans. Why would people still leave their trash everywhere? But before she could reply, Lips had vanished into the seats of the venue and was already picking up trash with the rest of the staff.

Something told Nora this was going to be a long tour.

[duckprintspress]

Fandom 101: Everything About Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics You Wanted to Know (but were Afraid to Ask)

A guest post by Aeryn Jemariel Knox. (@jemariel )

Omegaverse, also known as Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics or a/b/o for short, is one of the most baffling paradigms that fandoms have ever invented. Even within fandom, most peoples’ reactions on discovering a/b/o range from bemusement to disgust to fascination. I’ve had some non-fandom friends ask if it’s related to the alpha male/beta male concepts that have become so popular in certain corners of Reddit; I’m very glad to say that no, it is not—that is an example of convergent language evolution. At best, they both call back to the same misunderstanding of wolf pack dynamics, but the typical “Alpha Male” would be cast as a villain character in most a/b/o stories, if he’s present at all.

At heart, a/b/o can best be categorized as a science fiction sub-genre. Yes, really. It’s speculative fiction that examines current societal assumptions, problems, and fears through a lens of alternate physiology. If you thought a/b/o was just an excuse for porn, well… being honest, most of my best and deepest stories start out as “an excuse for porn.” My thoughts on that are best saved for a future blog post.

The most common defining feature of a/b/o is right in the name—humans are biologically stratified into two or three sub-, or secondary, genders: alphas, sometimes betas, and omegas. Alphas are typically described as socially dominant, physically strong, and they have certain physiological traits that we’ll get into later. Omegas are generally assumed to be socially submissive and physically weak, though in most a/b/o stories there is some element of challenging those assumptions.

A/b/o has its roots in the “kink meme” days of the late 2000s and can more-or-less be traced back to tropes common among people writing werewolf erotica. Lots of early a/b/o has a significant focus on pack dynamics and more “wolfy” characteristics. This is still an element of a/b/o as it’s currently written, but it makes up a smaller percentage of the overall works produced than it once did. A reader can see these roots in genre tropes such as children being referred to as “pups” in most a/b/o stories. The first a/b/o fic—as far as anyone in my social circles has been able to determine—was a Supernatural RPF AU story, and, even in the genre’s inception, there is an element of challenging assigned gender roles. The assumed roles of an omega are present and accounted for: that they belong barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, that they should be relegated to caretaker roles, that they shouldn’t work, etc.—think every stereotype of a 50s housewife. Similarly for an alpha: that they are hyper-sexual and domineering, to be feared by most omegas, inherently predatory, etc. But the characters who are the focus of the story deliberately and obviously go against these trends, expressing their individuality and bucking what their society expects of them. In a very 2010 sort of way, they are “not like those other girls.” There are critiques to aim at that trope as well, but the point stands: subversion has been a part of a/b/o since moment zero. Not every author chooses to lean into this aspect of the genre but, in my opinion, subverting the genre tropes makes for the most interesting a/b/o stories.

It’s tempting to describe a/b/o as a setting, but that’s not accurate. It’s more like a toolbox from which an author can pick and choose elements to add to any setting they are writing their story in, then use those elements to help them tell their particular stories in a unique way. I’ve read historical a/b/o, fantasy a/b/o, modern-day a/b/o, canonverse a/b/o, science-fiction a/b/o, western a/b/o… you name it, it’s probably been combined with a/b/o. And not all authors will apply the same level of focus to any given aspect of a/b/o: just because you add some cinnamon to your chili doesn’t mean you’re suddenly making a dessert. Every author puts their own spin on the world—that’s part of the fun. 

So, keeping in mind that hardly any a/b/o stories will use every single genre trope, here’s a list of some of the most common features that make a story recognizably a part of this genre.

Societal stratification: To varying degrees, societies in most a/b/o stories are divided by secondary gender. This can mean anything from “omegas experiencing easily recognizable misogyny or other discrimination,” to “cultures that have strict hierarchical structures in which omegas are segregated, barred from certain social opportunities, or kept as property.” How many people are born each designation (a term often used to refer to the types of sub-genders in the genre) varies widely depending on the story. Sometimes, all humans are either alpha or omega and there are no betas; sometimes, alphas and omegas make up only a small minority of the population. Sometimes only men are divided and women are all betas, if they’re incorporated in the sub-gender system at all. (If there is one major weakness to a/b/o, it’s the lack of focus on how women are affected by this social structure, but if I get into that, we’ll be here all day.) Depending on the author’s goals with the story, these social structures may be used to make commentary on our modern society, to create obstacles for our heroes to overcome, or it may be leaned into by people who enjoy the power dynamics and differentials that result from the a/b/o set up. Other works have egalitarian a/b/o societies in which the different genders are treated equally! Oppression and discrimination are not a requirement of the genre, it’s just an often-seen element.

Pheromones/Scents:One of the many physiological differences often present in a/b/o is that humans give off pheromones or some otherwise-defined personal scent. These scents serve a variety of purposes: they’re linked with attraction; they often indicate where an individual is in their mating cycle (see the next paragraph!); they aid identification since each person has their own individual scent; and more broadly one can usually tell who is an alpha, an omega, or a beta) by their scent. Often, someone’s scent gives clues to emotional state, especially extreme distress or sexual arousal. A compatible pair may know instantly that the person they are scenting is their “true mate,” or may be particularly attracted to this person’s scent. Betas may or may not be able to pick up on these scents and may have a “neutral” scent or no scent to speak of. Scent blockers may or may not be used in polite company, and even if scent blockers exist in a specific a/b/o ‘verse, they may fail at narratively appropriate moments. It’s a frequent genre element that scents emanate from a “scent point” on the characters’ necks, and that the spot in question is especially sensitive to touch/kissing/etc.

Mating cycles: Likely the most well-known aspect of a/b/o is the hormone- and/or pheromone-driven mating cycles. Omegas experience an estrus or “heat,” and sometimes alphas also experience “rut” though this is somewhat less common. A person’s secondary gender is often a mystery until they “present”—usually marked by going through their first heat or rut—sometime during puberty. Pheromones given off during these times can have a disproportionate effect on people of the “opposite” secondary gender who happen to be in the vicinity; in some stories they provoke such a powerful reaction that omegas cannot leave the house during heat for fear of sexual assault. This is where the genre starts to display some of its more non-consensual elements, which are not always present; sometimes heat just makes them horny. But sometimes they absolutely must, er, resolve their heat with an alpha, which leads to a “Fuck or Die” situation—a trope as old as slash fanfiction itself. 

How frequently heats and ruts occur varies by story; the most common are monthly (mirroring human menstruation cycles) or every three months, six months, or year, mimicking various animal species (for example, dogs go into heat every six months, so stories that emphasize the wolfy aspects of a/b/o often have heat cycles on a six-month pattern). Trying to figure out how to navigate a life/job/family while working around mating cycles is a frequent feature of a/b/o stories.

Mpreg, which is genre-speak for “male pregnancy:” In most a/b/o stories, omegas of any primary gender have the ability to get pregnant and carry children. It’s a mainstay of the genre, but like any other trope in the a/b/o playbook, the level of focus on it varies from author to author. Sometimes, it’s glossed over entirely or deliberately omitted. Sometimes, it’s only suggested for the sake of—for lack of a better phrase—“breeding kink.” But some authors use this genre to tell stories about familial relationships and explore the emotional and physical journey of pregnancy through the eyes of their favorite (generally male) characters. Mpreg stories can also incorporate lactation and may follow the characters’ post-pregnancy lives to segue into the kidfic genre. The extent of the omega male character’s feminization often increases in proportion to the focus on mpreg in the story (though, as with all of these tropes, I am wary of making sweeping generalizations because a writer is absolutely free to write an mpreg story where the pregnant character remains thoroughly masculine throughout). Note that a story including mpreg doesn’t automatically mean the fic is a/b/o. There are other fandom tropes that can result in mpreg, but the most common trope that leads to mpreg in modern fandom is a/b/o.

Medicines: As part of mirroring regular society, it’s also common for a/b/o stories to incorporate elements of genre-appropriate birth control and other types of medication. For example, scent blockers have already been mentioned; scent blockers are often incorporated to enable an alpha, beta, or omega to navigate society without people judging them based solely on their scents, or to enable them to present themselves to the public as a sub-gender different than their birth sub-gender. Another common medication is “heat suppressant,” which is what it says on the tin—an omega on heat suppressants won’t go into heat (until they fail at a narratively appropriate moment, anyway…noticing the genre trends yet?). On the flip side, “heat inducers” are also absolutely a genre feature, with obvious results.

Related Genres: As said earlier, a/b/o can be combined with any other genre. But it does have some sibling tropes that are more often coupled with a/b/o for fiction-writing purposes. When I first started reading a/b/o, there was a heavy emphasis on the power dynamics inherent in the existence of “dominant” alphas and “submissive” omegas; that made it feel close to the biological Dom/sub genre (a sub-genre where being a Dom or being a sub is inborn and is essentially a sub-gender in a similar way to a/b/o). That seems to have been a feature of that particular fandom, though, which leads me to wonder how different a/b/o looks in different fandoms. (Full disclosure, most of my experience has been in the Supernatural fandom.) A/b/o stories set in modern/contemporary settings tend to be more common than other types (such as science fiction, fantasy, etc.), though that’s been changing as a/b/o continually ripples outwards into more fandoms. In stories where omegas are considered property, they heavily overlap tropes with slave fic; some more romantic a/b/o can read like a soulmates au, with people recognizing “the one” immediately by scent and a focus on true mates and/or the formation of a strong mating bond, usually for life. 

Of course, coupling a/b/o with these tropes isn’t required. Nothing in a/b/o is required. These are all simply options; as I say, it’s better to look at the aspects of a/b/o as toys in the toybox—play with the ones that appeal to you, ignore the rest.

Other Anatomical Differences: This is where I cannot avoid getting sexually graphic, so for those who’d rather avoid an explicit rating, I’m putting this section at the end (under a Read More on platforms that include that functionality).

So, what’s the point of all this?

If you ask a hundred people why they like a/b/o, you will get two-hundred answers. Some people come to the genre for the primal, animalistic appeal of heats and ruts, pheromones, and the, uh, anatomical differences. A lot of people enjoy  the “he couldn’t help himself” trope in fiction; non-con fantasies are extremely common, and the fantastical elements of a/b/o make it a great way to explore them at a safe remove from real-life situations. Or perhaps you’re drawn to the opportunity to explore pregnancy in a safe way with your favorite characters, or maybe you really enjoy the strict societal structures and the obstacles they create. Maybe you love that moment when the omega realizes that this handsome alpha is his true mate and they live happily ever after.

For me, as may already be clear, a/b/o is strongest when it’s used to shine a light on the oppression of marginalized classes and the ridiculousness of strict gender expectations. Over and over, a/b/o stories focus on omegas overcoming their oppression and empowering themselves. But my favorite corner of a/b/o that I’ve found, my weird little a/b/o niche, focuses not on alphas or omegas, but on betas.

There was a time when I wondered to myself, why would anybody focus on betas? Why would you write an a/b/o story and then focus on the people who don’t experience heats and ruts and mating cycles? Who don’t have a scent? In a world where all interpersonal relationships are defined by this rigid structure, why would you focus on the people who are outside of it?

And then I realized that I had to write a story about betas.

The result is the most personal story I have ever written, which gets deep into my experience of being nonbinary (or genderqueer, or gender fluid, I’ve used all those labels at different points of life) through the lens of somebody who is neither alpha nor omega, but is instead distinctly “other.” The joy of using a/b/o to tell this story, and what makes a/b/o such a strong vehicle for telling subversive stories of all stripes, is that it magnifies everything about gender and sexual attraction, making it all bigger, brighter, more obvious, which lets you dig into the nuance of an character’s experiences when they don’t fit the status quo. 

The number of people who have read this story and said “I’m not genderqueer, but I relate to Dean’s struggle of feeling other” has been hugely rewarding. In the end, that’s the story I was telling, through my own experiences but with the personal “serial numbers” filed off, which allows it to be a story accessible to anybody. That’s the beauty of using a fantasy or sci-fi language to tell a real story: when it doesn’t directly reflect anybody’s exact experience, it’s easier to see yourself in the mirror.

Whether you decide to dive into this genre or not, I hope this has been useful in understanding the, er, ins and outs of this strange little world that we, as a community, are continually collectively creating. Happy reading!

(read more)

Did you scroll down to read the naughty stuff? *cough* As it were. We’ve got you covered. Be forewarned, there’s NSFW text describing unusual genitalia ahead:

THE PORN PART:

Okay, so let’s talk about knotted dicks and self-lubricating asses.

…that’s it, really.

Alphas generally have a “knot” of extra erectile tissue at the base of their penises that inflates and becomes firm during orgasm with the intention of locking their penis inside the omega’s penetrated hole (which is usually, but not always, the anus). This is where the werewolf origins of a/b/o are the most obvious, because yes, this is modeled after canine genitalia. The knot inflates to a size that makes removal impossible or highly painful for the omega, although if left it where it is, being knotted is generally described as highly pleasurable. Most of the time, the alpha can enjoy multiple orgasms while he’s in there, and ejaculate tends to be, uh, copious. This lasts for as long as the author decides is narratively appropriate and provides a great opportunity for post-coital conversation, either awkward or heartfelt depending on the story. Because the knot means the penis grows quite large, a common a/b/o sexual trope is size kink; less common but still fairly frequent is “inflation” or “bulge” kink—which is a kink related to the feeling of being “full” of a partners ejaculate to the point of feeling swollen (in a good way), and also being able to feel or see the penis moving within the bottoming partner when looking at the bottom’s backside and/or belly.

Omegas, on the other hand…

There’s much more variety in omega biology. On one end of the spectrum, you have male omegas who are written as having both a penis (sometimes smaller than human average) and (usually) testicles and a vaginal opening located somewhere around the perineum. Sometimes, a male omega won’t have any penis at all. More commonly in the a/b/o that I, personally, have enjoyed, the omega has a fully functional penis and testicles (sans knot), but when aroused, he will produce personal lubrication in his anus, which is the intended orifice for sexual intercourse. This personal dampness is usually called “slick” and has a habit of popping up at the most inconvenient of times and staining one’s underwear and/or being noticeable by scent. When an omega is in heat, this slick becomes copious and uncontrollable, often to the point of requiring rubber sheets on whatever unfortunate bed the omega has confined himself to. Generally, slick is described as having a similar aroma to the omega’s scent, but more concentrated, and also as being delicious to the alpha. Rimming is thus quite a common sexual act in a/b/o fics, more common in a/b/o than in other mlm genres.

It’s also worth repeating, while discussing sexual kinks in a/b/o, that due to the “uncontrolled sexual need” aspect of omega heats, consent issues are common in a/b/o. Rape/non-con are mentioned above, as the omega-in-heat becomes irresistible to the alphas around them; however, even in a/b/o stories that don’t utilize that trope, omegas in heat will often desperately plead to be sated. Consent can be dubious at best for either or both partners; it’s common that the couple settles those consent issues after the act, when they’ve both calmed down enough to discuss what happened and offer up their mutual expressions of “no, you didn’t hurt me, I would have wanted you anyway.”

In spite of all the relatively high-minded ramblings above, there is a huge amount of totally valid a/b/o that is pure, unadulterated smut, and if you happen to enjoy these kinks, you have a plethora of options to pick from. (Trust me, they are much hotter in context than when laid out bare like this.) The beautiful thing about fanfiction is that we don’t have to choose between interesting, empowering, subversive stories and sizzlingly hot filth. They frequently go hand in hand, and in no genre  is that more evident than in the wide, wild world of a/b/o.

Thanks for reading!

Now that you know the basics, ready to read some a/b/o? Check out the oh-so-erotic “Heated Desperation” by Aria D. Leren.

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[call-me-maggie13]

please save my weeknd with some family fluff 🫶🏽

Can I ruin your *weekend* with an angst instead?

[annachronisme]

reading Three caballeros fanfic boost my motivation so when I was taking breaks between writing my next fic I tried my hand in drawing the human version of the three caballeros and a redraw of the kids also (Sorry for the mediocre picture my phone is bullshit)

the colored version of Donald Duck under the cut!

[savrenim]

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[cozycraftzbl]

Beta Magictastical Backflipping Rubber Duck

[antiquarianandunusual]

We’ve hit the point of my descent into Good Omens obsession that I feel comfortable analyzing and writing Aziraphale and Crowley’s characters. It’s over for you bitches.

[unluckyuncle]

Oh- Donald just got a message on his phone!

[Oh boy oh boy! I'm so lucky! I can't believe I won free crypto!] Wait, did Isola have crypto. Ah, who cares, it's free money! Is this how Gladstone feels all the time?

[ofxscavengcrs]

@coreofgold || Della for Dewey

.｡.:*☆ Della was on a walk all by herself. She needed to explore this place more. Also to maybe find answers about why she was here. Or how it could be possible that she looked so different now. Human.... that was the word people had used. And still, it was strange. Even when she still had two hands and two feet and...

So lost in her thoughts, Della noticed to other person on the sidewalk only when it was too late. "Geez!" She blurted out, jumping backwards. "Where did you come from all of the sudden?!?"

[benene-the-banana]

My dumbass absolutely could not resist

I genuinely couldn’t bcuz as we all know I am a MAJOR Donaisy enthusiast and I am also becoming a MAJOR Ruddie Enthusiast

And since I already had a DuckTales but as Alpha Betas Au

I figured this was perfect to make BWBAHWB