I totally forgot to ask after the first Death to the Angel chapter. Why are heats and heat supplies so taboo? Like why does Hunk and friends have to secretly sell padding and perfumes like contraband? Assuming you guys are approaching heats like periods, were period supplies a bad thing during that time period?
Oh, didn’t you hear? Women didn’t start having periods until 1880.
Obviously, I’m kidding, but yeah, it was so taboo, at least in the Victorian Era, that it went virtually unacknowledged in (Western, English) society. Napkins and “belts” were not readily available, and women had to use a) cloths called “guards” tied between the legs to pretty much just sop up as much as possible and which they had to change pretty frequently, or b) wore “red petticoats,” which were thicker petticoats, often red in color to disguise the, uh....bloodstains. And tampons were sometimes used for medical reasons to stop “abnormal” bleeding...they’d fill little bags with sawdust, ashes, or tanbark (mulch) and just shove em up there. Toxic shock syndrome, what’s that?? It’s a whole lotta yikes. Source
So, in answer to your question, yes we are approaching the societal treatment of heats like periods, since they are similar in that they’re both mammalian reproductive cycles which interfere to differing but still significant extents with daily female/omega life, and yet there weren’t really any great solutions posed to make them easier, and we still have things like the tampon tax and that bullshit. “Luxury items” my ass -_-
Anyway. Clearly, as someone who has periods, I’m pretty passionate about this. Heats and heat supplies in Death to the Angel/this Victorian AU are quite taboo. In this AU, heats are not only considered very vulgar to discuss in polite society, bc I mean...“legs” was considered a bad word back then, they’re absolutely not going to be talking about uteruses. Suppressants do not exist yet, and those that do are herbal in nature and could be potentially dangerous, like many abortifacient herbs.
Omegas are then forced to a) wait out their heats in solitude if they’re unmated and feel deep shame for pleasuring themselves bc masturbation also VERY BAD in this era :| or b) just let their alpha mate do what they’re supposed to do and get their omega pregnant bc omegas can only get pregnant in heat so pretty much, omegas are led to believe that any heat in which they don’t get knocked up by an alpha, as is their God-given Purpose In Life (SOUND FAMILIAR LOL), is a heat wasted. And that’s always the omega’s fault. Not society’s, obviously......
Keith is, unsurprisingly, not down with this. Neither are the Holts. No solutions were presented to them by their society, so they’re forced to solve it themselves as best they can given their class/dynamic/resources. Thankfully they have some good friends who are more open about all this than most folks in this AU, including Shiro...for now. Shiro will learn >:D
The Victorian Era was pretty conservative and also very religious, which factored into how sex/sexuality/gender/etc were treated and viewed. Death to the Angel will reflect that!
