Going Feral

going feral

i’ve mentioned feral alphas and omegas in a few posts before, but what does that mean? this post will discuss ferality,* its causes, common feral behaviors, and treatment.

*note: i will be using ‘ferality’ as opposed to the technically proper ‘ferity’ because the latter is based on the latin root and sounds pretentious, and the former is based on the english word and is more accessible

what is ferality?

ferality is a medical emergency caused most commonly by social isolation. it causes those afflicted to behave erratically, and is the most common cause of forced bites. it is one of the top ten causes of death for those over 80 years old. it is also called ‘loneliness disease’ or ‘bite fever,’ and is often euphemistically described as ‘losing oneself.’ in the past, more than a week of ferality was incurable. today, synthetic hormones and careful medically supervised management leads to over 90% of those afflicted to make a full recovery if treated before one week, and over 80% to regain most normal function if treated before two weeks. outcomes become less positive the longer someone experiences ferality, but there have only been 1,762 documented deaths directly from ferality in the US since 1980.

why does it happen?

humans in the omegaverse are pack animals not only because their ancestors saw practical advantages to living, hunting, and raising pups in groups, but because they were biologically dependent on one another. in simplest terms, interacting with pack aids the body in maintaining its optimal balance between the twelve dynamic (i.e., alpha, beta, and omega) hormones. prolonged lack of social support means that these hormones become unbalanced, leading the body to a state of multi-system disregulation.

ferality greatly reduces people’s access to the areas of the brain responsible for decision making, planning, empathy, and abstraction. it is the body’s desperate bid to regulate itself by any means necessary. those afflicted become impulsive, aggressive, and violent in some cases, so it is essential both for the afflicted person and those nearby that if you spot a feral person, you call emergency services immediately.

how do you spot it?

feral humans are fairly easy to spot based on their unusual, erratic, impulsive behavior. they may sniff the air (or other people) unsubtly, grab or touch things (or people) and fail to respond to spoken language. ferality is most commonly associated with inappropriate scent marking and biting for good reason: a feral person’s primary drive is to share scent with someone to help bring themselves back into balance. there are also some behaviors that can generally be attributed to the different dynamic sexes:

alphas

feral alphas tend to make aggressive eye contact as a posturing behavior

growling, snarling, and clicking at no one in particular

clenching and unclenching the fists and shifting from foot to foot

violence, especially toward other alphas

an acrid scent, like burning rubber or sulfur

betas

feral betas’ eyes tend to shift rapidly, settling on nothing for very long

humming, clicking, huffing at no one in particular

similar to alphas, they clench and unclench the fists and shift from foot to foot

general restlessness, moving quickly

climbing and perching inappropriately (e.g. on tables, vehicles, or buildings)

a rotting scent, like old meat or milk

omegas

feral omegas tend to make glancing eye contact—they meet someone’s eyes, hold, and look away several times

whining, purring, and clicking at no one in particular

baring the neck indiscriminately in a bid to entice a bite

hiding/burrowing (e.g. under tables or in closets. there have been several cases of feral omegas in clothing stores nesting in the clothing racks)

a chemical scent, like bleach or ammonia

how is it treated?

if you spot someone afflicted by ferality, it is essential to call for an ambulance immediately.

treatment begins in the ambulance. typically, EMS technicians anesthetize the individual for everyone’s safety. once it is safe to do so, the technicians draw blood and begin measuring vital signs and hormone levels to ensure that the individual truly is feral. in the past 30 years, rapid tests have made measuring hormone levels faster than ever. these levels are recorded and passed off to hospital triage, along with a record of any emergency hormones administered.

the hospital then brings the individual to the feral ward, where they have an individual room and nesting material marked with synthetic pheromones of all three dynamics. if the individual has been feral for less than ~three days, typically this is enough to trigger their body to begin regulating itself. in some cases, the individual may need direct scent marking in order to jumpstart regulation. if it’s necessary, a nurse or technician will swab the individual’s face and neck with a cotton swab soaked in a synthetic pheromone solution.

in more moderate to severe cases, the individual may need further assistance regulating themselves. in these cases, the individual will receive intravenous hormones and extremely frequent monitoring.

typically, after a few days of hormone therapy, the individual’s body will have reached a state of equilibrium and will be able to maintain the balance itself again. however, in some severe cases, the individual’s body may be unable to maintain the balance. these people will need hormone therapy every other week indefinitely. in some cases (especially those where there is also malnutrition or other severe condition), the issue will resolve itself with time. in others, the hormone treatment is for life.

how is it prevented?

the best prevention is maintaining healthy pack bonds. if, for some reason, this is inaccessible, clinics, health departments, and hospitals typically have nesting materials marked with synthetic pheromones. in the past five years, some nesting material companies have begun offering materials marked with synthetic pheromones. in addition, matching agencies sometimes offer scent-marked clothing or nesting materials for sale, though this practice is judged fairly harshly.

Differences between a Nest and a Den

Feel free to dissagree/have your own versions of everything but my general ideas for my interpretations on the differences between an omega nest and an alpha den is essentially this;

Nest

Almost all soft materials

Small enclosed spaces

Not much clutter/generally tidy

Brighter colours pups like

Tends to look like the typical kid's pillow fort with being small enclosed area usually filled with pillows. Simple & bright colours and soft & fluffy textures are the way to go when designing one as of course these nests often have to be pup-safe. The space is usually very tidy, well as tidy as you can get when there's pups around, but still gets regularly cleaned.

Den

Not as enclosed & more open ended

Cluttered / hoarding is common

Lots of different textures & patterns

Darker colours

Could literally just be the person's entire room since there aren't as often clear boundaries between what is the den and what isn't. Dens are often kept dark since many alphas are somewhat nocturnal. There's also usually a variety of textures, so along with alphas' tendencies to fill up their space with a lot of stuff dens are oft cluttered. Due to denning behaviors, alphas are sometimes seen as "hoarders".

Though technically most alphas den and omegas nest, there are cases where an omega may den and an alpha may nest. Betas often will either have something more in the middle/sharing traits with both or will not participate in nesting at all. There are also non-nesting omegas & non-denning alphas. Of course, every individual is different, and there's always exceptions.

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ssup3rst4rr

3 months ago

I cannot stress enough to you that all American government agencies are falling apart at the seams right now and they will not be put back together for the foreseeable future. EPA DHS ED VA FDA NIH IRS CDC HHS NPS etc... Elon Musk is dismantling everything. Anyone who resigns or is laid off now, the word we (I am an agency employee) are receiving internally is that their position will be abolished, not backfilled.

Do you like eating clean, safe food?

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If so, you need to write to your senators and representatives RIGHT NOW. Trump is not obeying the rule of law. He is illegally firing all the inspectors general of these agencies (they are literally being escorted by security out of their offices) so that there is no one left to stop him from doing quite literally anything he wants. He has bypassed the internal structure of all of the agencies by plugging in external email servers to push typo-filled emails and memos written by employees of the heritage foundation directly into the inbox of every federal agency employee in the country, threatening to terminate them.

The rule of law is dead. The only mechanism left to stop any of this is mass public outcry via convincing your state's congressmen & women to do something, because right now they are staying absolutely silent and none of us in these agencies can figure out why. A massacre is happening right now and every single American will feel the material, concrete consequences of this in their daily lives very soon if nothing is done.

Please help me boost this information.

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ssup3rst4rr

1 year ago

This fucking cat is so delicious

OUGHHHH More Cult Of The Lamb Self Indulgent Doodles,,, Also Trying To Figure Out A Design For Mr Waits

OUGHHHH more cult of the lamb self indulgent doodles,,, also trying to figure out a design for Mr Waits himself because he’s so ugly in game /T

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ssup3rst4rr

1 year ago

ASL Resources For Beginners~

This is for a friend of mine who's asking for some good resources to start learning ASL!

ASL, which stands for American Sign Language, is a beautiful and complex visual language used primarily by Deaf and Hard of Hearing (HOH) people.

As a HOH person myself, I was never given the opportunity to learn ASL and I think it would have been very useful to me growing up if it had been offered to me. The last year and a half, I've been learning it to change that! Here's a series of resources I've used that I've found very helpful in learning ASL!

Alphabet (Slow): YouTube Video that goes through the Alphabet slowly multiple times. I found this video very useful to easily memorize the full alphabet (with practice for a week or so afterwards)! Even though it's catered for kids, I still find it very useful!

ASL Numbers 1-100: A YouTube playlist of multiple videos that teaches you ASL numbers 1-100. If you want a single video that goes through the entire 1-100 numbering, click here. Even though it's catered for kids, I still find it very useful!

The ASL App: A learning app for ASL that you can download on your phone or other electronic device. It has 387 free short videos for beginners in ASL, and 1,633 more short videos with their $10 membership (1 time buy, not monthly). It's a great beginner app, with or without the membership!

20 Beginner Phrases: Here's a video that has a lot of good basic phrases to learn! It teaches you things such as: "Hello" "I'm learning Sign Language" "My name is..." And many more!

ASL 1 Lessons by Bill Vicars: A playlist of YouTube video lessons taught through sign! I would recommend checking these out once you have a bit more of a foundation in vocabulary!

DOs and DONTs of interacting with the Deaf Community: A good video explaining some of the ways you should and shouldn't interact with the Deaf Community when learning or using Sign Language

HandSpeak ASL Dictionary: This is a great database where you can look up how to sign various words!

ASL Fingerspelling Receptive Practice: This website provides a series of short videos of fingerspelled words that you then type out to see if you interpreted it correctly. Its great visual practice! Fingerspelling is an important skill in ASL so I highly recommend practicing as much as possible!

American Sign Language (ASL) Masterlist: A useful Tumblr masterlist with an extensive amount of links for multiple different needs, such as resources, linguistics, and ASL/Deaf websites with videos, news, vlogs, etc.

'ASL Basics' Lessons by Chris Gorges: A playlist of YouTube basics and helpful tips. He gives clear explanations for a series of different concepts, and they really help to build your vocabulary and understanding!

I hope some of you find these resources helpful! Don't forget that one of the best ways to learn sign language is by practicing with other people, ESPECIALLY with someone who's deaf! I might add to this as I find more resources and links that I think would be beneficial! Thanks for reading!💜

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ssup3rst4rr

3 months ago

"I can do it by myself." but you dont have to anymore, my little doll. you dont have to face everything all on your own. you dont have to suffer all on your own. im right here now. let me carry the weight of your past. let me tend to your wounds. let me learn even the darkest parts of you and show you it was all meant to be adored by me.

let me give you the devotion you've always deserved.

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ssup3rst4rr

1 year ago

together we will create a home with no loud anger, no explosive rage, no slamming doors or breaking glass, no holes punched into the walls so hard that the foundation rocks and cracks. our home will be gentle, it will be warm. i will keep you safe and you will keep me still. no fear, no hurt, no worry. we come from broken and twisted places but together we will build something whole and safe. we will curl around each other like a pair of quotation marks at night, warm and comforted. in the mornings, you’ll sing in the shower again. we will heal, and we will raise a family that doesn’t need to heal.

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