dreaming of kinship

You know...like biting on sticks

Getting leaves all stuck in my hair

Being muddy all the time because gods forbid I stay on the main path

Talking to trees and plants and making friends with all the beings others don't even pay attention to

In wonderment at every patch of moss and every sun ray and leaf

Unbridled joy and curiosity at everything of the natural world

Yeah I think this is what life is all about

Now first, I have to say, that the plot you’re able to come up with in one day is not going to be without its flaws, but coming up with it all at once, the entire story unfolds right in front of you and makes you want to keep going with it. So, where to begin?

What is your premise and basic plot? Pick your plot. I recommend just pulling one from this list. No plots are “original” so making yours interesting and complicated will easily distract from that fact, that and interesting characters. Characters will be something for you to work on another day, because this is plotting day. You’ll want the main plot to be fairly straight forward, because a confusing main plot will doom you if you want subplots.

Decide who the characters will be. They don’t have to have names at this point. You don’t even need to know who they are other than why they have to be in the story. The more characters there are the more complicated the plot will be. If you intend to have more than one subplot, then you’ll want more characters. Multiple interconnected subplots will give the illusion that the story is very complicated and will give the reader a lot of different things to look at at all times. It also gives you the chance to develop many side characters. The plot I worked out yesterday had 13 characters, all were necessary. Decide their “roles” don’t bother with much else. This seems shallow, but this is plot. Plot is shallow.

Now, decide what drives each character. Why specifically are they in this story? You can make this up. You don’t even know these characters yet. Just so long as everyone has their own motivations, you’re in the clear.

What aren’t these characters giving away right off the bat? Give them a secret! It doesn’t have to be something that they are actively lying about or trying to hide, just find something that perhaps ties them into the plot or subplot. This is a moment to dig into subplot. This does not need to be at all connected to their drive to be present in the story.  Decide who is in love with who, what did this person do in the 70’s that’s coming back to bite them today, and what continues to haunt what-his-face to this very day. This is where you start to see the characters take shape. Don’t worry much about who they are or what they look like, just focus on what they’re doing to the story.

What is going to change these characters? Now this will take some thinking. Everyone wants at least a few of the characters to come out changed by the end of the story, so think, how will they be different as a result of the plot/subplot? It might not be plot that changes them, but if you have a lot of characters, a few changes that are worked into the bones of the plot might help you.

Now list out the major events of the novel with subplot in chronological order. This will be your timeline. Especially list the historical things that you want to exist in backstory. List everything you can think of. Think about where the story is going. At this point, you likely haven’t focused too much on the main plot, yeah, it’s there, but now really focus on the rising actions, how this main plot builds its conflict, then the climactic moment. Make sure you get all of that in there. This might take a few hours.

Decide where to start writing. This part will take a LOT of thinking. It’s hard! But now that you’ve got the timeline, pick an interesting point to begin at. Something with action. Something relevant. Preferably not at the beginning of your timeline - you want to have huge reveals later on where these important things that happened prior are exposed. This is the point where you think about what information should come out when. This will be a revision of your last list, except instead of being chronological, it exists to build tension.

Once you’ve gotten the second list done, you’ve got a plot. Does it need work? Probably. But with that said, at this point you probably have no idea who half your characters are. Save that for tomorrow, that too will be a lot of work.

Subpacks are smaller packs inside a large pack. In terms of evolution, they were created to essentially divide and conquer.

In modern times, subpacks are very common in large packs that have over 50 people. Typically, subpacks range from 3-10 people. They form for a multitude of reason including but not limited to:

creating a stronger bond between pack mates that spend more time together.

If part of the pack moves away from the pack’s primary location.

Allowing the pack leader to more easily keep track of their pack and organize them.

If some members of the large pack want to distance themselves from the main pack but still be apart of it. (For example, if a small town is an entire pack, it may be less stressful to have a few strong pack bonds and very loose, barely noticeable ones to the rest of the pack.)

Split responsibilities.

Although there are many positive aspects of subpacks, there are negative ones as well including:

Infighting

Isolation that leads to bond breaking from the large pack.

Jealousy

Resource guarding from their non-subpack pack mates.

Subpacks must be petitioned to and approved by the pack leader. The pack leader does not always say yes, especially if they think it will hurt the overall pack. Getting a subpack approved can take days to weeks depending on the pack leader’s methods of approval. Some just require meetings with each individual or the group petitioning to be in the subpack, others give the subpack a trial run to not only make sure it is a healthy, beneficial change for the members of the subpack but to see how it will affect the greater pack as well. Pack leaders almost never allow the subpack to pick their own pack lead and make that decision themselves.

Subpacks can also be disbanded if the pack leader deems it doing more harm than good to the greater pack or if the subpack themselves want to integrate fully back into the greater pack. For example, if a subpack that moved away, moves back to the greater pack, they may disband.

Subpack terminology:

Pack Lead: The pack leader of the subpack. Often just referred to as “lead” unlike pack leader, which is rarely shortened.

Heart pack: Used by subpack members to fondly refer to their subpack.

Greater pack: Use to refer to the pack the subpack belongs to.

Packling: Used to describe a subpack mate. Packling is informal and not typically used when speaking about subpack members to others though may be used among the subpack themselves.

Note: Packling has a double meaning, one to refer to subpack mates and the other to refer to pups in a pack that grew up together but are not biologically related.

Definition: Overwhelming a person’s instincts to the point where it creates a high. Used in recreational and medicinal instances. Acts as a natural painkiller and stimulant, however, it is highly addictive so it’s often a last resort in the medical field. In most instances when used recreationally, it turns into an addiction if it’s not one already.

How: To overload someone, a combination of senses including but not limited to smell, sound, touch, taste, and mental bonds must be used. For example, scratching someone’s wrist scent glands while biting their neck scent glands, releasing a high amount of one’s scent, and pulling on a mental bond is a way overloading can occur. This is, of course, not the only way to achieve overloading but is an example of the amount of effort that must be put into overloading someone. 

Overloading is often an intimate process and can be hard to achieve for people unbonded (platonic, romantic, pack, etc). In medical uses, the medical professional will often have someone bonded to their patient perform the overloading while they supervise.

Health organizations do not recommend overloading more than four times a year for any reason.

Who can overload: Technically, all dynamics, however, it is easiest for omegas to overload and they get addicted quicker. For these reasons, omegas are often targeted victims of overloading and make up about 85% of overload addicts.

Short-term effects: High, euphoric feeling. Can aid in physical and mental pain. Relaxed, sleepy state. 

Long-term effects: Dependency. Tolerance (quickly builds). Internal deterioration and shut down. Dynamic dysregulation (irregular mating cycle (very common), struggle to maintain bonds/weakened or overpowered bonds, lack of control over scent, etc). Mental health disorders (depression, anxiety, and panic disorders are the most common). Memory loss, early onset dementia (in extreme cases).

Definition: A biological response in which instincts crash due a person being overwhelmed by the situation they are in, leading to the body shutting down.

Symptoms: Feeling cold, shivering, dissociation, paranoia, lack of smell, muted “far away” bonds, depression, anxiety, numbness, fatigue, muteness, fogginess, mental exhaustion, nausea.

Dropping is not incredibly common, with most people only dropping 5-15 times in their life. Any dynamic can drop, pups cannot. 

Note: Although pups cannot drop, they may be born with a biological predisposition to it which will only make itself apparent once the pup presents.

Drop symptoms do not equal a full drop and even when someone is having drop symptoms, a full drop can be stopped. Preventing a full drop is different depending on dynamic.

For omegas, preventing a drop involves keeping them moving, often in the form of walking, and talking, both of which can be difficult due to numbness and mental exhaustion. For alphas it is the opposite. Make them lie down, preferably in a nest, and rest. For betas, it is best to isolate them in a quiet or low-volume place with one loved one or no one with them.

The reason the preventative measures are so different from dynamic to dynamic is because in order to combat the drop, one must go against what the drop is “telling” them to do. For omegas, it is to lie down and hide, make themselves as invisible as possible. For alphas, it is to protect and stay on alert. For betas, it is to find a place with a large sum of people, usually but not always loved ones, and stay aware of everyone and everything happening around them. 

Note: These are generalizations but have been proven to be the most common drop “callings” for each dynamic.

Symptoms that indicate a full drop (*note: these symptoms are only indications of a drop if they follow after the above described drop symptoms): Heart attack, seizures, fainting, stroke.

Some people are biologically prone to dropping, meaning they may have drop symptoms more frequently and/or fall into drops easier. However, this does not necessarily mean they drop more frequently than others, they simply have to be careful.