~~Behaviors are in this post~~
Alright, so, I'm not a fan of traditional solutions to how heats/ruts and blockers work in ABO. I'm in no way a biologist (meaning, I've made shit up) - but I've tried to transform animal behaviors into something that would make a little more sense for hoomans and here's a few things that seem a little more logical for me, in terms of hormones;
Heats happen only for omegas; typically once per 2-3 months. Heat can last anywhere from 2 to 5 days. The intensity of the heat may vary from month to month. Typically, if omega is healthy and happy, they will get the heat with most intensity lasting for 2-3 days. If an Omega is under severe stress, is ill or malnourished, their heat will be very weak, if there at all. It's a survival tactic for the body – it basically going “there's something wrong, we're not ready for the baby! We might even die!”. Weak heats can be normal but if they are frequent, or not there at all, it's a serious sign of something being very wrong.
Weak heats still attract Alphas – but if Omega is also sick in some way, their smell makes Alphas want to care for them, not breed with them.
Heats that are lesser in intensity usually last longer but may be in fact so weak, that some omegas chose to work or go to school during them - of course after applying scent blockers – but it's not recommended since heat is still exhausting for the body.
Ruts are very sparse, though longer. They occur once or twice a year (typically in spring or/and autumn seasons) and last anywhere between 5 and 10 days. They can only occur in Alphas and can trigger an Omegas heat – thought if an Omega is close to it anyway.
As opposed to Omega heats, they are not much affected by Alphas state of being, meaning they can be dangerous for sick Alphas, though they are not as (internally) physically demanding as Omegas heats.
A non- typical Alpha rut can be triggered if alpha is long term separated from their mate. It can be very dangerous for both the Alpha and others around them. It's also very stressful for said Alpha so it is advised for long-distance couples to have some scent memorabilia of their mate or wait with mating until the couple can be in vicinity of each other psychically.
Now, there are two types of blockers that are typically legal in my ABO:
Heat blockers - heat blockers are basically the same thing as contraception for us. They do not completely eliminate an Omegas heat but it does make it more manageable for an Omega. It's actually very common for unpartnered Omegas to be on heat blockers as it is very tiring to go through heat alone.
Scent blockers - now, scent blockers are a more difficult topic.
Lighter doses, that only refine the scent, may be used by omegas in heat, or in some corporate settings since the large body of scent can be dizzying for some people
Full doses are legal but very much universally disliked by every gender. What they do is completely erase a personal scent - not only a dynamic scent but every aspect of a personal scent. Using the full dose of scent blockers is considered an unhealthy practice. In a community so largely focused on scents, a lack of one usually makes others uneasy - including the person using it. There has been some research speculating that using a full dose of scent blockers regularly can make a person depressed, anxious, and unsure of their own identity.
It has indeed been (and sometimes still is) used by dynamics (though mainly Omegas) that felt unsafe in some environments. Socially using it since then means either that an individual wants to conceal their status, identity, or has some long term mental or emotional issues as it's mostly avoided by healthy individuals.
Trans-dynamic individuals after transition do not use scent blockers. Their goal is to smell like their true gender, not to not smell at all. Scent is a side effect of being a dynamic so it changes itself after taking hormones.
