Add a Story to the list!

[lb_lee]

If you have a story you want to add to the list, leave it in the comments below! Anyone can do this; you don't need an account!

This catalog purposely takes a very broad, ambiguous view of what constitutes "plural." Make our day! Story types that have been accepted in the past include:
* Spirit possession
* Imaginary friends
* Spirit marriage
* Exploring geographies of the mind, imagination, and fiction
* Bodysharing symbiotes
* MPD/DID
* Plural stories
* Telepathic bodyhopping shenanigans

Rules for submission (changed 5/17/2024):

• Only submit stories. We're willing to play with what defines a story, especially for personal experience accounts and experimental work, but self-help, philosophy, 101 and such do not belong here.
• Don't submit your own work. Boost your fellows!
• Please do not submit more than four titles by the same creator/s. When this archive gets bigger, we'll expand how many entries one creator/s can have.
• The story must be made by an adult (or at least not easily identified as made by a minor). This is to prevent malicious submissions and harassment of kids.
• The story must be publicly available. No unrecorded LARPS, rare books, or stuff on account-locked websites.
• If incomplete, the story must at least have a decent stop point. No just-started webcomics, please! They may not endure!
• You must have taken in the whole story (or at least all that's available at the time of submission). This is for complete content warnings and stuff.
• Spirited/many-selvedness must be core to story or main character/s. If you can remove it from the work without the whole thing falling apart, then please do not recommend it. (If you're not sure, ask! Make our day!)
• You must say why it's worth plurals' time. It doesn't have to be good, exactly, but it's gotta be worth it. This is to avoid completionist spam.

Does the story qualify? Then submit it using the form below! (Feel free to use the tags page for pointers.)

[Title] by [Creator/s] ([genre] [medium], [year released])

"[insert a cool quote from the work here]"

Blurb:

Why is it worth your time?:

Plural/1+ Tags: Choose from the ones on the tag list, or add your own!

Content Warnings: please include spoilers! I have this comm set up so that individual posts have only plural tag spoilers (because that's what folks are here for!), while content warnings will be in the comments. That way, people who want to remain spoiler-free can read the post itself and be fine, and the people who want all the warnings can scroll down.

Accessibility Notes: See the tag list for examples. Also note how you can get it. Is it an easy library book? Has someone digitized it and put it elsewhere? Is it backed up anywhere?

Misc. Notes (if any):

Is it long, medium, or short?: I wrote the standards here.

It is for kids, teens, adults, or everybody?

Comments

[talewisefellowship]

Title: ヒカルの碁 Hikaru no Go

Creator/s: Hotta Yumi (Author) Obata Takeshi (illustrator)

Medium and Genre: manga; coming-of-age, sports, and supernatural according to wikipedia; slice of life magical realism by my reckoning

Year Released: 1998-2003

Blurb: When average 6th grader Shindō Hikaru finds an old Go board in his grandfather's warehouse, he is possessed by the spirit of Fujiwara no Sai, a master Go player who lived about a thousand years ago, and from that moment his life changed forever. Although Hikaru originally had no interest in the old board game, through spending time with Sai he gradually comes to appreciate the game and Sai becomes his guardian mentor and teaches the game to him. Thanks to Sai's actions, Hikaru manages to catch the attention of a young go prodigy his own age, Tōya Akira. The two develop a mutual interest in each other and Hikaru dedicates himself to studying the game so that he may become a player worthy of Akira.

Why is it worth your time?:
Because only Hikaru can see and hear Sai and they talk to each other in his head, the way the two live together is very similar to the experiences of many plural systems, especially the "host and soulbond" type. The story portrays their relationship and their struggles in a very human way that a lot of systems might find relatable. It was this story that first motivated me to get in touch with my system.
Also the gay subtext between Hikaru and Akira is so strong it might as well just be considered text. Since it's early 2000's Shōnen Jump there is no official confirmation of the nature of their feelings for each other, but I wouldn't consider it queerbaiting either; it is what it is.

Plural Tags: Spirit possession

Content Warnings: The major content warning I can think of is very relevant for plural systems but is also a spoiler, I'm not sure how to note this.

Accessibility Notes: As far as I know there is no script for the manga so it's not screenreader accessible, however the anime by Studio Pierrot follows the manga reasonably closely. Unfortunately the anime doesn't cover the entire manga and the english voice acting is not very good, so if you listen to the dub I recommend listening to the original Japanese voice acting to get a sense of how everyone actually sounds.

[lb_lee]

Oh, I forgot to mention, content warnings SHOULD include spoilers, because I am putting them in the comments. That way, people who want to remain spoiler-free can read the post itself and be fine, and the people who want all the warnings can scroll down.

(Plural spoilers are inevitable, so don't hold back from adding those! I figure those are the spoilers people WANT to know!)

I will add that information to this post. Sorry about that! ^_^;

--Sneak

not to plug our own work but im gonna plug our own work (dw it fits the submission criteria)

[thesaltinstitute]

Title: tales of the Raven King

Creators: The Salt Institute

Medium and Genre: written (available on AO3), hopepunk prose poetry, at the intersection of fictional and autobiographical (it's explicit-selves-insert autobiography through allegory a little bit in our world and mostly in other, fictional, worlds)

Year Released: 2020

Blurb: A piece of prose, poetry, and prose poetry; about identity, plurality, and memories. Written by three of us& during NaNoWriMo 2018 - we pantsed it that year and ended up writing a half-fantasy half-earnest journey of selves-discovery. Also known as: the Salt Institute goes on a journey throughout the multiverse by interacting with weird trees and encounter various places with Mysterious Vibes as well as a couple(-ish) interesting folks.

Why is it worth your time?: so i am a little bit biased considering i took part in writing it and it's allegorically autobiographical on the topic of Existing As A System And What That Means For Our Shared Life. but we reread this piece on occasion when we remember it exists and think it still holds up after all those years -- we still think the Message is Important, the world and visuals are Pretty And Nice To Imagine, the writing itself is Enjoyable -- and the whole vibe of it is Reminders We Much Need that Not Everything Is Fucked Up Actually and Authentic Connection Is So Important On Many Levels. we have also received two (2) reviews not by friends or acquaintances on it, including one that said things to the effect of "This is beautifulll and I'm so glad to see more writing about plurality (even though it only has 20 hits WHICH [...] IS A CRIME!!)" and "Might-definitely share this with like literally everyone I know because it absolutely deserves to be seen", so it's probably not just us who got something from it even if they're not necessarily the things (or all the things) we actually meant to put in there that i just talked about

Plural Tags: fictivity/soulbonding, plural creator (maybe also potentially realitymashing given the rest of the stuff in that tag?)

Content Warnings: just to be safe, exploration of (the effects of) abuse and ableism, on a deeply allegorical level with 0 graphic or detailed depictions. the most there is are a few vague mentions + a couple lines said by a cartoonish-type over the top villain

Accessibility Notes: N/A

Re: not to plug our own work but im gonna plug our own work (dw it fits the submission criteria)

[lb_lee]

Added! Thank you for your submission! :D

[beepbird]

Title: What's Left of Me

Creator/s: Kat Zhang

Medium and Genre: Y/A Novel, Dystopian(?)

Year Released: 2012

Is it long, medium, or short?: long (343 pages)

Blurb: Eva and Addie are two souls born into the same body. Everyone is born like this, but it's expected that one soul will fade away and the other will take over. Eva never faded away. She lost control of their shared body, but she still exists, something that could get the girls institutionalized if it were discovered. When Eva is offered the chance to learn to move their body again, she springs for the opportunity... only to be found out. The girls must fight to escape the institution before it's too late.

Why is it worth your time?: The main characters remain plural throughout the entire book, and this isn't painted as a bad thing to the reader. To the contrary, the idea of Eva and Addie becoming a singlet against their wills is painted as something unwanted and immoral despite the world around them doing its best to kill off Eva. It's a bit of a rare find for a book to paint plurality in a positive light despite a society in opposition to its existence. There's also a parallel to the plural pride movement in the form of a resistance movement against the institutionalization of "hybrids" like Addie and Eva. Despite the author not being plural, she did a pretty decent job of depicting plurality in the first person. Switches, co-consciousness, and co-fronting all happen reasonably accurately. There's even a slip-up with plural pronouns.

Plural Tags: Metaphysical

Content Warnings: Forced fusion/identity death, institutionalization and unwanted medical intervention, nonconsensual brain surgery, general medical unpleasantry, general themes of societal stigma against plurality.

Accessibility Notes: N/A

[lb_lee]

Sneak: Oh, we've heard of that one, though we haven't read it ourself! Thanks for the rec! It has been added. ^_^

[yolcatzin]

Title: Counterfeit Monkey

Creator: Emily Short

Medium and Genre: Video game, text adventure + puzzle

Year Released: 2012

Is it long, medium, or short?: Medium. A blind playthrough might take a while.

Blurb: The rebel Andra and her partner-in-crime Alex live in a world where words are reality. There are tools that can change the names of things to transform the things themselves. These even work on people — Alex and Andra have disguised themselves from the police of the oppressive island nation Anglophone Atlantis by portmanteauing themselves into a single being named Alexandra. Now, armed with only a letter-remover, they must escape from Atlantis before the day is over.

Why is it worth your time?: The way Counterfeit Monkey uses plurality as a narrative device is interesting to us. The player character's headmate is the narrator of the game. He often expresses his own opinions on the situations you find yourselves in and suggests things for you to do, and the game is sprinkled with scenes where he takes control to deal with things on his own. He's repeatedly acknowledged as a separate person from the player character by others who know of their predicament. It's a surprisingly good depiction of plurality despite the fantastical circumstances, and even though the author is (as far as we are aware) a singleton.

Also, the player character and their headmate remain in the same body for the whole game (aside from one bad ending that the game immediately lets you undo).

Plural Tags: on purpose, switching

Content Warnings: Mild body horror (Dismembered body parts can be created with the word-changing mechanics. (e.g. removing the "M" from a tome turns it into a toe.) They're not described in detail, but creating at least one body part is required to reach the end.); Dehumanization (Atlantis's government sentences criminals to be turned into inanimate objects. This is portrayed as horrific.); Non-graphic death scenes in some bad endings; Gender dysphoria (not deeply focused on, but Alex remarks on feeling uncomfortable in his and Andra's shared, female-presenting body.);

Accessibility Notes: Free. Can be played in a web browser. Only requires you to read and write. There is an ingame tutorial. There is also a walkthrough (or "Invisiclues"). There are visuals (in the form of a map on the side of the screen), but you don't need to be able to see them in order to complete the game.

Can be found here: https://ifdb.org/viewgame?id=aearuuxv83plclpl.

[lb_lee]

What a nifty premise! It looks like people have spoken highly of it too! Thanks for reccing it; I've added it in!

--Sneak

[expmachine]

Title: The Human Equation

Creator/s: Ayreon, more specifically Arjen Anthony Lucassen

Medium, Genre, and Format: Music, progressive metal/rock opera, album

Year Released: 2004

Is it long, medium, or short?: Medium? It's 102:14 minutes long with 20 songs.

It is for kids, teens, or adults only?: Teens and adults

Blurb: (taken from Arjen's website) A man lies comatose in hospital after a terrible car accident. The accident was bizarre: it happened in broad daylight with no other cars in sight. The man’s wife and his best friend are keeping a bedside vigil, trying to understand how the accident happened, and hoping for any sign of recovery.
Unable to communicate with the outside world, the man finds himself trapped in a strange realm where his emotions — most of which he’s repressed for a long time — have come to life to confront him with all the choices he has made in his life — and their consequences.

Why is it worth your time?: The majority of the song's go revisit's the main character's memories with his personified emotions talking along the way. While emotions, they'll converse with each other and agree/disagree on what to do and give input on memories. The album is like a radio drama but with flute solos.

Plural Tags: mindsharing

Content Warnings: The main character is in a coma from a car crash, child abuse from the father, cheating

Accessibility Notes: Lyrics can be found online.

[lb_lee]

Thank you very much for submitting! It has been added to the catalog! ^_^

--Sneak

[(Anonymous)]

Title: Exaltation

Creator/s: Alicorn

Medium, Genre, and Format: Text, fantasy, online at http://alicorn.elcenia.com/stories/exaltation.shtml

Year Released: 2018

Is it long, medium, or short?: Short (16k words)

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? All ages

A cool quote from the work: "It says you need five people," said Sam.
"We're five people," said Emmy, and the comb came off the page into our hand and turned ivory and gold and all the flowers were made of sparkling gems.

Blurb: A young system goes on a magical quest.

Why is it worth your time?: The main characters have a satisfying narrative arc where they each get to be in their own element while also working together. Plurality and otherkin are treated with empathy. Generally fun fantasy adventure story.

Plural Tags: bodysharing

Content Warnings: Implied (not depicted) maternal abuse, mentions of poverty and bullying, standard adventure story danger and conflict, mild animal mistreatment (they are rescued)

Accessibility Notes: Text is in minimally formatted html

Misc. Notes (if any): The author has another plural-focused story (Hubward) that I will recommend after reading over again for metadata.

[lb_lee]

Thank you very much for your submission! It has been added to the catalog!

[monsterqueers]

Title: System's Out! (first story in The Sunspot Chronicles)

Creator/s: the Inmara Ktletaccete Fenumera

Medium, Genre, and Format: prose, both print and digital versions for purchase, a free version is also available. https://sunspot.world/ , sci-fi

Year Released: hardcopy paper version of just this story came out Sep 2, 2022

Is it long, medium, or short?: long (336 words/over 300 words)

It is for kids, teens, or adults only?: Teens and adults will get the most out of the book.

A cool quote from the work: Have the opening words;
" “Metabang, if everyone is genetically engineered, then why are there people like us?”

I was expecting this question. It’s common for Students with major differences from their peers to ask it. I’ve had a lot of Students, and the Pembers were one of the rarest types.

I could tell that it was Myra who had asked the question because of xyr posture, expression, and vocal inflections. The differences were very subtle between xem and xyr other system members, but I’m particularly suited for tracking these things.

Myra continued as if I didn’t already know what xe was talking about, “Why are some people plural and some not? Wouldn’t the Crew make us all singlet?” "

Blurb: "A story about plurality, consciousness, the fight to overcome physical dysphoria, and self advocacy in a world without assigned gender. Also, some good old fashioned wish fulfillment."

Why is it worth your time?: Have you ever wanted to read sci-fi with a central plural and nonbinary characters? Have you wanted to read sci-fi with characters like that that that *isnt* a coming out/discovery story and is BY a transgender plural system explicitly about their system members? Do it! Theres a free version even!

Plural Tags: Temporary Fusion/integration, Introjects, Realitymashing, Otherworld(note- there are instances of a plural character's headspace being put into a digital environment, unsure if this counts as otherworld for that), relationships: community, queerplatonic, teamwork, switching, nonhumans (note- they call themselves humans but they do not look like humans do)

Content Warnings:
Quoted from the websites blanket content warning list; " eugenics, suicide, a bombing, descriptions of severe physical dysphoria, dissociation, conflicting needs, possibly messy depictions of various disabilities, cultural amnesia, personal amnesia, social engineering, carceral “justice”, transhumanism, social stratification at birth, explorations of consciousness and self, accidental death, mourning, and the monster from under our bed writ large "

Accessibility Notes: the free version on the website is screenreadable as its html

Misc. Notes (if any): This story is explicitly about the author system heavily fictionalized and put into a science fiction setting. Even if several characters in the book were not plural, its a plural story just because of that.
Submitter has only read the first story in the sunspot chronicles in full, and is working through the rest, so only the first has been submitted at this time.


If you want to wait to take the submission until after we read the whole series let us know and we will resubmit when we do!

[lb_lee]

Added! Thank you so much for this submission! :D

--Sneak

[monsterqueers]

Title: 6 Feet

Creator/s: Left at London

Medium, Genre, and Format: song, ? genre, digital

Year Released: 2019

Is it long, medium, or short?: short

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? Teen and up, might be a little dark for younger kids.

A cool quote from the work:
" It’s common I’ll talk to myself
But it wasn’t my own voice that told me
"Don’t scream
One word & I’ll crash this car
I know that you don’t know me
But I know just who you are" "

Blurb: From the artists twitter: "A lot of people think 6 Feet is metaphorically about the “call of the void”. It is not.
It is, very literally, about living with OSDD-1b. I did not know I had it when I wrote the song. Writing it & talking about the song with my therapist lead me to get officially diagnosed."
(source: https://twitter.com/LeftAtLondon/status/1248869575749332993)

Why is it worth your time?: The song is well produced and catchy, as well as depicting the writers experience with OSDD and having a persecutor. For systems who have had or currently have antagonistic relationships with each other or may have had a very upsetting plural egg cracking, this may be quite the cathartic song.

Plural Tags: enmity, OSDD

Content Warnings: antagonistic headmate, threatened car crash

Accessibility Notes: The official youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zx415xT0gB4) has the lyrics in the description.

Misc. Notes (if any): The creator has OSDD-1b, and the song is about her experience with that.

[lb_lee]

Added! Thank you!

[monsterqueers]

Title: My Friends Are Kinda Strange

Creator/s: Left at London

Medium, Genre, and Format: song, ? genre, digital

Year Released: 2020

Is it long, medium, or short?: short

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? all ages

A cool quote from the work:
"Sometimes i close my eyes to talk to you
when i can’t make up my mind since you make it up, too
one in the same one in the same, it always felt so real
lemme hold your hand, hold our hand, so you can feel what i feel"

Blurb: A song explicitly about being friends with your headmates.

Why is it worth your time?: Are you tired of edgy plural media? This one is warm and fuzzy for a change! The creator has OSDD and this song is explicitly about being plural.

Plural Tags: teamwork, OSDD

Content Warnings: none

Accessibility Notes: The official youtube video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKxiSSQKS3M) has the lyrics in the description

Misc. Notes (if any): The creator has OSDD-1b and this song is about her experience with that.

[lb_lee]

Added! Thank you for this one too! ^_^ I am very bad with music!

--Sneak

[monsterqueers]

Title: Xenogears

Creator/s: Square, Directed by Tetsuya Takahashi

Medium, Genre, and Format: game, sci-fi fantasy, digital, analog, and bootleg.

Year Released: 1998

Is it long, medium, or short?: long. (56 hours average, ~80 hours completionist, the lets play linked is approx. 88 hours)

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? Teens and adults.

A cool quote from the work: "It's okay not to feel `whole'. Even if you feel only partly complete, if you repeat that enough, it'll eventually be `whole'. A part... is better than zero."

Blurb: A cult-classic extremely plotty JRPG about a amnesiac guy named Fei Fong Wong, who journeys across the world with some other folks to overthrow the fascist government, and in the process uncovers the secrets of their world and things about his past. Also there are giant robots.

Why is it worth your time?: Ok so this is a bit of a spoiler but Fei has DID canonically. Really not sure how to sell it as a plural game without saying this. Now its portrayal is deeply DEEPLY dated to 1998 Japan's understanding of it, but for its time its startlingly accurate and sympathetic. The depiction in the game matches the understanding of the time quite well, its just that time was 1998.

They really made an attempt at depicting dissociation through a visual medium, and the dynamic between Fei's alters is well developed. Its not amazing, its got SO many flaws in accuracy and unfortunate tropes, and its definitely not aged the best in many ways, but we did enjoy it quite a bit.

If you want a historical look at something that has a Very Robust plot -by that we mean lots and lots of lore-heavy cutscenes- and a plural character that has their plurality focused on, its beloved for a reason. One just has to keep in mind its from 1998 and everything about it is incredibly dated to that; from the gameplay to the portrayal of plurality and mental illness to the tackling of a variety of other subjects.

Please note this game is well known for being wildly dark and having a complicated and often confusing plot. The plot requires your full attention to make sense, and even then it can be confusing to many people. Its not for everyone but we personally enjoyed it and thought it wasnt as confusing as a lot of people find it.

Plural Tags: memory work, fusion/integration, otherworld, children, mpd/did, enmity

Content Warnings: This includes spoilers. There are so many content warnings and they dont play around.
Strobing and flashing lights even in unskippable cutscenes, mass death including that of named characters and children on multiple occasions, genocide (both threatened and carried out), heavy focus given to child abuse (physical, medical, and emotional, includes gaslighting) as well as a brief mention of CSA by priests, emotional domestic abuse and manipulation towards a man by a woman, stalking and government surveillance, fascism and everything that brings- there are very strong allusions to nazis with the antagonists and its not an accident, medical experimentation(on children and adults), torture(of children and adults), caste system, alcohol(some important characters are very heavy drinkers), nonconsensual drug use (and consensual drug use), gore and body horror, mind control, cannibalism (both unknowing and intentional, institutional), references to a past nuclear war, crucifixion and LOTS of religious symbolism, aftermath of a church shooting is shown, several off-camera sex scenes, mental breakdowns on screen, dissociation shown on screen and described, violent superpowered alter, integration treated as inherently necessary (but wanted by the system), fictional racism, a character mentions having considered underage sex work in the past, neutral to bittersweet ending.

Accessibility Notes: Physical copies for the ps1 are rare and expensive due to being out of print, but it may be bought on the ps vita/ps3 eshop and there are lets plays available on youtube. Linked lets play is a no commentary run: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMHR2xnx8VCrRvNrgh10j0eq5UQFvM_WC It isnt a completionist run, but shows the full main plot.
A lets play is the recommended option as the gameplay has aged considerably and its on an old system.

Misc. Notes (if any): Its also worth noting that some of the director's later works also feature plurality, and are more accurate to the experience indicating that the portrayals flaws were more due to the times than views towards plurals.

[lb_lee]

Added! Thank you for submitting, you've mentioned it but though we were PS1 kids, we never ran across this one! (We were never big into RPGs.)

--Sneak

[monsterqueers]

Title: Venom

Creator/s: Marvel

Medium, Genre, and Format: film, analog, digital, superhero,

Year Released: 2018

Is it long, medium, or short?: medium

It is for kids, teens, or adults only?: teens and up (pg-13 rating)

A cool quote from the work:
" "What the hell are you?"
"WE... are Venom." "

Blurb: After a disastrous interview with a shady company ruins his life, journalist Eddie Brock accidentally winds up host to an alien symbiote that has invaded earth through said company. The alien takes a liking to earth and decides to protect it.

Why is it worth your time?: The BANTER. The banter between Eddie and Venom is fantastic. It really feels like system banter- playful and occasionally said out loud and having to be waved off to people who overhear. Yes its incredibly edgy because Venom wants to eat people, but its a playfully edgy sort of movie.
In the end, Eddie chooses to stay with Venom, and it feels very positive- they clearly care about each other under the bickering.

Plural Tags: cofronting, fantasy plurality, on purpose, nonhumans, enmity

Content Warnings: Spoilers in warnings. Medical experimentation, possession, for a moment you think Venom is dead but he isn't, a live lobster is eaten, Venom eating people, burning alive, harm to the homeless by medical experimentation, audio gore, vomiting, brief scene of flashing lights at ~50 mins mark, gore

Accessibility Notes: Has subtitles. The digital version on netflix is only for certain countries, otherwise it seems to be hardcopy only.

Misc. Notes (if any): none

[lb_lee]

Added! And thank you very much for covering this one, we'd heard about this movie and a lot of people enjoyed it, but it very much looked like not our thing!

--Sneak

[packbat]

Title: Infinite Coffee and Protection Detail

Creator/s: owlet

Medium, Genre, and Format: Prose Fanfiction, Superhero/Slice of Life, Long-Running Serial (completed)

Year Released: 2014-2018

Is it long, medium, or short?: Long

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? The author classifies the bulk of the series as appropriate for teens, but there are two sections marked Mature that contain sex scenes.

A cool quote from the work:

“Not too busy after all, I see,” Esther says when she opens the door.

“No.”

Cat Eleanor stands up on her hind legs, balancing her front paws on his knees, and says hello in cat. Esther smiles.

“She wants you to pick her up.”

REFUSE

Higher likelihood of claw holes from picking up or not picking up.

DANGER

Eleanor makes holes in his kneecaps. He picks her up and drapes her on his shoulder, where she purrs into his neck and presses her cold, wet nose against his ear. Barnes learns that the area around his ear is extremely ticklish.

The mission imperative is a sound in the back of his mind a little like “eeeeeee.”

Blurb: Following on from the events of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014), brainwashed assassin James Buchanan Barnes, his mission imperative, and his mission briefing try to protect Steve Rogers while dealing with assassins, criminals, trauma, memory issues, and becoming a part of a community again.

Why is it worth your time?: This is a story about small victories, supportive friends, and finding your own solutions to problems. Barnes' system configuration is repeatedly affirmed and celebrated as functional and good. It also has a lot of good humor, and the fight scenes are well-integrated into the arc of the plot.

Plural Tags: memory work, nonswitching, relationships: teamwork, voices. fusion/integration is discussed but does not occur.

Content Warnings: stalking (non-malicious), near-drowning, self-harm, past and hypothetical torture, past sexual assault (not dwelled on), hospitalization and medical talk, action movie violence, alcohol use, gambling, mild ableism, brief mention of casual racism.

Accessibility Notes: screenreadable, audio/dubbing (almost all the stories have at least one linked podfic).

Misc. Notes (if any): The author retcons a number of things over the course of the series and Barnes is an unreliable narrator due to memory issues, so the work is internally contradictory in a number of parts.

Also, URL = https://archiveofourown.org/series/195689

[lb_lee]

Sneak: Added! Thank you for your submission! ^_^

[expmachine]

Title: Chainsaw Man (part 2)

Creator/s: Tatsuki Fukimoto

Medium, Genre, and Format: manga, action, comedy horror, dark fantasy

Year Released: 2022

Is it long, medium, or short?: Long (as of 2022: ongoing)

It is for kids, teens, or adults only?: adults.

A cool quote from the work:
"This is your reality. Hurry up and accept it."

Blurb: "Asa Mitaka is an introverted high school student attending Fourth East High School, who has trouble finding her place in society following her mother's death to the Typhoon Devil. One day, after accidentally killing her class' pet devil Bucky, she is confronted by a student who has made a contract with the Justice Devil. The student attempts to kill Asa, but Yoru the War Devil appears and makes a contract with Asa, inhabiting her body and making her a living Fiend host, under the condition that she kills Chainsaw Man. After dispatching her killer, Asa seeks to find Chainsaw Man, though she and Yoru have differing goals: Asa wants Yoru to leave her body, while Yoru wants to reclaim the Nuclear Weapons Devil which was consumed by Pochita."

Why is it worth your time?: Specifically it's the second part of Chainsaw Man when Asa and Yoru are introduced as protagonists. Yoru can read Asa's thoughts, she can only possess (or switch with) Asa when she's not feeling distressed. Asa sees Yoru as a hallucination and talks to her out loud. While the plot is ongoing, the way the possession and relationship between the human and devil is treated so far is interesting.

Plural Tags: comics, fantasy, superhero

Content Warnings: Gory! Chainsaw Man is a very gory, violent piece of work, unafraid to kill off side characters in gruesome ways. In the first part, there are themes of abuse, along with sexual actions and words.

Accessibility Notes: I'm unsure of any screenreader available.

Misc. Notes (if any):

[lb_lee]

Sneak: I'd be happy to put this in, but you haven't listed any plural tags! Please give me some plural tags to use for this entry, so I can put it up. Thank you!

Harrow The Ninth

[starfallhaven]

Title: Harrow the Ninth

Creator/s: Tamsyn Muir

Medium, Genre, and Format: adult romance/horror, novel, available in print, ebook, and audiobook.

Year published: 2020

Is it long, medium, or short?: long, at or near 400 pages.

It is for kids, teens, or adults only?: adults.

A cool quote from the work: "this was your shell, but it was all filled up with me. God, the double entendres were hard to resist."

Blurb: the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth follows Harrowhark Nonageismus, who has failed to become a true Lyctor--a necromancer who has absorbed the soul of her cavalier. She is being both haunted by both visions and ghosts as she attempts to survive her time aboard the Mithraeum as one of God's chosen saints.

Why is it worth your time?: this book is extraordinarily good if you know what's going on (that is, body and mind sharing). The entire premise of Lyctorhood, one of the novel's defining world building aspects, is based on the idea of a secondary soul residing in a single body. There's even possession.

Plural Tags: bodysharing, mindsharing,interactions with people who are not considered 'real', soulsharing I guess?

Content Warnings: here's a neat list:
-major emetophobia warning
-death
-corpses
-hallucinations
-so much violence. (This violence involves all manners of seemingly impossible gore due to the aforementioned necromancy.)
-just a gore warning in general?
-a lot of religious references. The main character has some religious compulsions.
-self-harm
-mentions of suicide

Accessibility Notes: audiobook available

Misc. Notes (if any): This book is not going to make much sense if you haven't read Gideon the Ninth, and I can't recommend reading one without the other. Although I'm firmly of the opinion that knowing about the bodysharing aspect in advance will only make the reading experience more enjoyable, it is technically a spoiler to know about at least one of the bodysharing relationships in this book.

Re: Harrow The Ninth

[lb_lee]

Added! Thanks guys!

Also, let me know if any of the following plural tags apply?

abuse:
high-focus [15]
intermediate-focus [6]
low-focus [13]
not mentioned [44]

cofronting [8]
fusion/integration [12]
memory work [11]
otherworld [38]

people:
children [18]
dreamfolk [5]
fictioneers [14]
imaginary friends [8]
introjects [10]
nonhumans [32]

realitymashing [15]

relationships:
community [18]
enmity [22]
family [3]
friendship [11]
queerplatonic [2]
romantic [16]
teamwork [18]

type:
median [5]
medical [20]
mindsharing [3]
nonswitching [16]
on purpose [7]
setting-specific [5]
spiritual [14]
switching [33]

visions [6]
voices [2]

[erinptah]

Austria's entry for Eurovision 2023 immediately reminded me of some of the songs here, so I figured I'd bring it up!

Teya & Salena - Who The Hell Is Edgar? music video / Lyrics (English & Armenian)

Happy to fill out the whole form if you like it...or, hey, it's a 3-minute song, if y'all wanted to write up the entry yourself it wouldn't take long.

[lb_lee]

We unfortunately have very poor connectivity in our new place right now, so listening to music or watching vids is right out. So normally you'd be right, we'd do it ourself, but in this case, you filling out the form would be a big help!

[(Anonymous)]

Title: Secondhand Soup

Creator/s: Kiernan Sjursen-Lien/zakeno/K+CO’s system

Medium, Genre, and Format: comic, comedy slice-of-life, digital (https://zakeno.tumblr.com/tagged/secondhand%20soup) and print volumes 1-3 (https://www.kiernansjursenlien.com/product-page/secondhand-soup-issue-1)

Year Released: 2018-2022?

Is it long, medium, or short?: medium

It is for kids, teens, or adults only?: it’s a colourful silly comic, but it does talk about day-to-day realities, transphobia, and mental illness so the audience is presumed to be at least teens.

A cool quote from the work: “- You’re somebody to me. - You’ll get sick of me, too. - You kidding? I wouldn’t even get sick of those silly little animated yellow guys you like so much. - They are funny… They like bananas… - They sure do.”

Blurb: “The adventures of three young adult animals just trying to get by in the big city!”

Why is it worth your time?: Bailey, the yellow cat, is explicitly stated to have Dissociative Identity Disorder and a couple of pages depict Bailey with their alters. Even though DID is shown mostly as a struggle, Bailey also has a personality outside of that (they are the goofiest member of the main trio). If you want a humorous slice-of-life comic where one of the characters happens to be plural, it’s for you!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned (but DID is specified in the tags and additional material), non-switching, mostly enmity but occasional teamwork/friendship, visions and voices, children, imaginary friends, maybe more tags??

Content Warnings: N/A

Accessibility Notes: N/A, no alt text/plain text/image descriptions.

Misc. Notes (if any): the authors were interviewed by Alexandrite System about Secondhand Soup and DID: https://youtu.be/1L7v20hJkWM

[lb_lee]

Added to the index! Sorry for the delay, switching to a new OS slowed us down. Thank you for submitting!

[erinptah]

Title: Princess & the System

Creator/s: bobapearlcomics

Medium, Genre, and Format: Webcomic, sci-fi, digital

Year Released: Not sure when it started, but it's ongoing

Is it long, medium, or short?: Short (so far)

It is for kids, teens, or adults only?: Teen+

A cool quote from the work: "Why does everyone call you princess anyways?" [Don't say it.] [SAYING ITTTTT.] [Don't say it.] "We sold our real name to the fae." [Oh my god, GOBBO WHY?!]

Blurb: It's about a cyborg with DID, also cool armor and magic powers from a deal with the Fae that they warn everyone else not to imitate, trying to become queen of the pirates. First step: rescue a future-Twitch celebrity who just livestreamed herself fighting cops by turning into a dragon.

Why is it worth your time?: Absolutely wild genre-blend with fast-paced action and immediately-appealing characters. The main character is a system of (at least) three, with a fun, affectionate dynamic. (We get a lot of their internal conversation in color-coded dialogue boxes, and when someone talks out loud, their armor lights up in those colors to help you track who's fronting.) No idea if they'll ever reach their Pirate Queen goal, but I'm excited to see how many adventures they get up to in the process.

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, teamwork, mindsharing, setting-specific, switching

Content Warnings: Sci-fi violence? So far that's it

Accessibility Notes: images, no transcript. Some fast-moving animations

Misc. Notes (if any): The main character has a fictional cybernetics-induced condition in-universe, but the creator just calls it DID in the author's notes, and says it's influenced by their own experience: "The ways the characters navigate their personas, the difficulties they face, and their coping mechanisms, reflect aspects of how people, like myself, grapple with DID."

[lb_lee]

Added to the catalog! Thanks so much for submitting this; we'd never heard of it!

Mentopolis

[(Anonymous)]

Title: Mentopolis

Creator/s: Dropout's (formerly CollegeHumor) Dimension 20 TTRPG Let's Play series

Medium, Genre, and Format: Let's Play series streamed on Dropout.tv. Noir murder mystery in a mind ala Disney's Inside Out

Year Released: 2023

Is it long, medium, or short?: Medium length Let's Play. Clocks in at 12:31:20 over 6 episodes.

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? Some elements might be too much for kids, but teens and older should be able to handle the series fine (the series starts off with the murder for a murder mystery).

A cool quote from the work: A mind in a city. A city in a mind.

Blurb: Murder mystery set in the mind of Elias Hodge, scientist.

Why is it worth your time?: The series is a fun combination of noir murder mystery and themes from Disney's Inside Out.

Plural Tags: Otherworld headspace.

Content Warnings: The series is set in a city in the mind going through Prohibition similar to the experience in the US (Al Capone era). Specific content warnings are given in the episode blurb (such as misophonia: lip smacking).

Accessibility Notes: Audio/dubbing, with subtitles and a transcript feature that's searchable (in the streaming service).

Misc. Notes (if any):
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9riE94Kkwq4
1st episode for free: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pT1OhH3F1Y

Re: Mentopolis

[lb_lee]

Added! Thank you, Chris!

Teach the Cat

[yolcatzin]

Title: ねこのティーチくん Teach the Cat

Creator/s: Oyasainoni 9

Medium, Genre, and Format: Online animated series, slice-of-life psychological thriller with comedic elements

Year Released: 2019 to 2022

Is it long, medium, or short?: Long. Although most of the episodes are each under a minute in length, the whole series is about 4 and a half hours.

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? Probably adults. Though the art is intentionally crude and cartoonish, there's plenty of onscreen gore and exploration of heavy topics.

A cool quote from the work: 「やあ、僕の名前はティーチくんだよ。今日は僕といろんな事学ぼう」 "Hey, my name's Teach. Today we're going to learn all sorts of things."

Blurb: A thriller dressed up as a very incompetent edutainment show. Your host, a cat named Teach (joined by his headmates Sam and Kobayashi), tries to give you entertaining life lessons from the white void he calls home, even as he is beset by unpleasant, horrific, and inexplicable events.

Why is it worth your time?: Don't let the crude art style fool you. The mysteries are compelling, the drama is effective, the comedic moments land, and the bodysharing protagonists have very interesting dynamics with each other.
When we watched, we were invested in the one-sided relationship Sam has with Teach. That bunny is filled with so much yearning and he is so unhealthy and obsessive about it. He's a riot!

Plural Tags: abuse intermediate-focus, enmity, family, friendship, nonhumans, romantic, spiritual, switching, the dead, visions, voices

Content Warnings: Infrequent eyestrain-inducing graphics and harsh noises.
Depictions of abuse between headmates, blood, body horror, death, illness, gore, manipulation, murder, mutilation, obsessive/stalkerish behavior, suicide, unreality, urine, vomit.
Discussions of familial abuse, incest, sexual assault, and COVID-19. (Context: This series is full of seasonal/topical episodes, so there are a few episodes from 2020 that mention the pandemic. These can be skipped without missing out on important plot points.)

Accessibility Notes: This series is entirely in Japanese. There are no transcripts or Japanese subtitles. As of the time of this submission, the first fourty episodes have been subtitled in English by the creator, and there are fansubs going up to episode 200 of 374 (compiled in this playlist). Unfortunately, all of these subtitles are baked in (not screen-reader-friendly) and riddled with errors. If you don't speak Japanese, you won't be able to fully enjoy this series.

Episode by episode playlist

Compilation playlist

Re: Teach the Cat

[lb_lee]

Sneak: Thank you for the submission! It has been added here: https://pluralstories.dreamwidth.org/40296.html ^_^

[(Anonymous)]

Title: The Glass Scientists

Creators: Sage Cotugno (main writer/artist); Julia Elliott, Lucy Xue, & Tiina Purin (additional artists, depending on the chapter)

Medium, Genre, and Format: comic, historical fantasy, digital

Year Released: 2015-ongoing

Is it long, medium, or short?: long

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? teens and adults

A cool quote from the work:
"I am the darkness within! The caged beast at the heart of all humanity! The spirit of--"
"London at night! I know! Speaking of humbug, you do realize I can hear all of your little inner monologues, don't you?"

Blurb: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, only more queer and crossing over with other classic horror. Jekyll runs a society for mad scientists like himself who push the boundaries, hoping to become more accepted by wider society. Of course, considering it's the Victorian era, this is easier said than done. Especially when there's Hyde, who has his own agenda...

Why is it worth your time?: Takes the Jekyll and Hyde story and makes it more nuanced, not simply 'Hyde is pure evil'. The two don't necessarily get along, but their relationship has elements that some systems may find relatable. Though switching has to be physically induced via potion, the two still make plans at a couple points on when to switch so one member can go out and do something he wants to do, etc. Also does a good job tackling themes such as racism, queerphobia, and classism. The art is quite nice!

Plural Tags: on purpose, otherworld, enmity

Content Warnings: racism, homophobia and transphobia, the typical psychological effects that occur with Victorian repression, trauma, body horror, blood, some sexual situations (non-explicit), emotional manipulation, strained family dynamics

Accessibility Notes: N/A

Misc. Notes (if any): The primary author is nonbinary and a POC! The first volume is now in print with a second volume on the way, but it is free to read online with weekly page uploads.
https://www.theglassscientists.com/about

Spoilers: Since it is still ongoing as of this submission, the ultimate fate of Jekyll and Hyde is unclear. Currently they are undergoing uncontrollable switching and the animosity is stronger than the start of the comic. No idea if it will lead to integration or what will happen by the end.

[lb_lee]

Sneak: This comic looks so cool! Thank you, anon, I have added it to the catalog!

[(Anonymous)]

Title: Planet Laika

Creators: Quintet, Zéque, Enix (publisher)

Medium, Genre, and Format: video game, sci-fi fantasy, PlayStation

Year Released: 1999

Is it long, medium, or short?: short-medium, roughly 8-10 hours (but could take longer if you examine everything or get lost)

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? adults

A cool quote from the work: "As no one philosophy can fulfill all aspects of human life alone, your one self cannot go on unless you learn to work with the trio."

Blurb: A small crew of astronauts is on a mission to investigate Mars, where rumor has it a strange energy called 'Evil Mind' is stirring up delusions. One of these crew members is protagonist(s) Laika, a rookie radio engineer who is also plural. Like most instances of Mars in fiction, things quickly go south. Between solving mysteries, interacting with Mars' varied inhabitants, and hopefully putting a stop to the impending 'Judgement,' Laika and their bodymates - Ernest, Spacer, and Yolanda - confront their joint past and find who they all truly are. Also, everyone has a dog face, and yes, it is plot important.

Why is it worth your time?: The depiction of plurality is surprisingly sympathetic and dimensional for the time. If any bodymate dies in combat, it's a game over because the story considers all of them important. Most residents of Mars may be or are explicitly shown to be two-in-one; a few are three-in-one and Laika is five-in-one. Bodymates are usually treated like their own people, always called by their own name and pronouns by other characters. Though the writing at times can be questionable and other times very hard to follow, there are some legitimately interesting examinations of trauma, identity, and how the conservative Christian ideals of 'pure good' and 'sin' can be damaging. Like Xenogears, it's best to go in remembering when it was made, especially if you go looking at the original Japanese materials which...are more of their time than the English fan translation. (As an example of a strange writing choice, the bodymates are labeled as separate types of 'evil' but are not depicted as bad people in their actions.)

Plural Tags: fictioneers, fusion/integration, setting-specific, memory work, on purpose, otherworld, realitymashing, teamwork, community, enmity

Content Warnings: A TON. alcoholism, animal cruelty, assault, child abuse (physical, emotional, and sexual), death, dissociation, domestic violence, hospital surgery, integration (portrayed both negatively and positively)*, misogyny, murder, pedophiles, psychosis/delusions, religion, strong language, suicide and resulting survivor's guilt, trauma, very stereotypical depictions of Native Americans.
*Spoilers, one system of three integrates via killing a bodymate, but the one responsible turns into a boss battle so it seems more negative. In comparison, Laika& integrates by the end and the vibe seems to be positive.

Accessibility Notes: N/A

Misc. Notes: The game is long out of print and has never been re-released, but there are still ways to experience the story.
For Japanese speakers, NicoNicoDouga has a couple of different playthroughs to check out, some which go into more detail than others. There's also one on YouTube with no commentary: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYnPhfZ3IEC0gVoIAvFp_S1veJosDqw1C
In 2022, an English fan translation was released. A full playthrough of that is also on YouTube with no commentary (except at the very end): https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLegyQtkE9qr02L83RyYu19HzKdrHecp2B
The translation tries to be sensitive while acknowledging the game's shortcomings. E.g., it treats obviously trans characters with more respect than the original script, but the term 'personalities' is still used to refer to bodymates, and it keeps the term 'psycho' which the game uses to refer to one of the three types of evil on Mars.

[lb_lee]

Sneak: Wow, I had never heard of this game, despite being a PS1 kid! Thanks for letting us know about it; it has been added!

[erinptah]

Title: Meanwhile at the Withershins Inn (novel); "6. A Multiplicity of Dwarves" and "7. People in Glass Coffins" (the relevant chapters)

Creator/s: The Insubordinate Pen (writing collective, 2 singlets + 1 system)

Medium, Genre, and Format: Fantasy novel, digital text

Year Released: 2019

Is it long, medium, or short?: Short

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? Not kid-targeted, but probably safe for anyone to read

A cool quote from the work:

“Just take a seat anywhere you like, there’s a dear. Oh! By chance, did you see someone leaving just now? We had another applicant here a moment ago, sweet girl. But she seems to have run off. Didn’t even wait for her tea, poor thing.”

“Um…” Elaine is clearly calculating the manifold reasons that might propel one into premature flight. But there is no whiff of gingerbread as of yet.

Blurb: What happens when you mix one drunk fairy godmother with a multitude of blue cocktails, add a stubborn barmaid with a unique taste in adventures, and filter it all through a sarcastic narrator who can't seem to keep themselves out of the story? Elaine is on a quest to rescue a dragon egg, through a world of "every fairy tale is real, but not quite the way you were told..."

Why is it worth your time?: Funny and charming. The character voices are well-rendered and entertaining. Some of the jokes will be predictable if you've read other fairy-tale parodies, but others are still refreshing. And "what if the Seven Dwarves were one dwarf system with seven alters?" is a really solid twist.

Found this via a video on the Gianu System's channel, a chat with the other two (singlet) members of their writing collective, where the novel came up. (Link is to that specific section of the video.) The IRL system was very involved in working out how to write the fantasy system in a way that would make them happy to read, and sounds really proud of the result.

Plural Tags: creator: bodyshares, abuse: not mentioned, cofronting, people: children, relationships: family, relationships: teamwork

Content Warnings: as per the original fairy tale, the Seven Dwarves have Snow White in a glass coffin, and it's ambiguous whether she's dead or not

Accessibility Notes: Available online, plain text, screenreadable

Misc. Notes (if any): The Seven Dwarves only feature in chapters 6-7, but Elaine's quest is episodic enough that you can read that adventure as a standalone piece and enjoy it. Given the plural co-creator, I figured I'd err on the side of reccing it!

(The novel is a WIP, and the video says the dwarf system is slated to reappear eventually...but as of this writing, it hasn't updated in A While.)

[lb_lee]

Sneak: Due to the problems we've had with linkrot and WIPs disappearing before reaching a suitable pause point, I have added a rule that a work has to have a decent pause point if incomplete. Would you say this work has that? If so, I will add it! :D

(Sorry for the delays in doing this. The past couple months were... distracting.)

[packbat]

Title:

Piranesi

Creator/s:

Susanna Clarke

Medium, Genre, and Format:

Fantasy print novel, with an English-language audiobook narrated by Chiwetel Ejiofor and quite a lot of professional translations.

Year Released:

2020

Is it long, medium, or short?:

Medium; the hardcover print edition is about 245 pages and the English-language audiobook is 7 hours long.

It is for kids, teens, or adults only?

It's not marketed as a YA book but I wouldn't stop a teenager who wanted to read it. I would warn them that it contains some heavy material, however.

A cool quote from the work:

[...] And indeed, this is what must have happened now, because the next thing I knew was that I was waking suddenly out of sleep.

A Full Moon stood in the centre of the Single Doorway, flooding the Hall with Light. The Statues on the Walls were all posed as if they had just turned to face the Doorway, their marble Eyes fixed on the Moon. They were different from the Statues in other Halls; they were not isolated individuals, but representations of a Crowd. Here were two with their Arms about each other; here one had his Hand on the Shoulder of one in front, the better to pull himself forward to see the Moon; here a Child held on to its Father's Hand. There was even a Dog that — having no interest in the Moon — stood on its Hind Legs, its Front Paws on its Master's Chest, pleading for attention. The Rear Wall was a mass of Statues — not neatly arranged in Tiers, but a jumbled, chaotic Crowd. Foremost among them was a Young Man, who stood bathed in the Moonlight, elation in his Face, a Banner in his Hand.

I almost forgot to breathe. For a moment I had an inkling of what it might be like if instead of two people in the World there were thousands.

Blurb:

A series of journal entries by a man living in an apparently-infinite House full of Statues, oceans, and clouds, as he comes to learn more about the nature of his world and realize certain truths which were hidden from him.

Why is it worth your time?:

Mostly it's a really cool story and we loved reading it? The protagonist's memory issues mean that he is solving a mystery where we know a lot more than he does. But also, the story being structured around a journal lets us see the perspectives of multiple inhabitants of the protagonist's body over the course of the story.

Plural Tags:

abuse:high-focus, memory work, visions, closeting

Content Warnings:

gaslighting, animal death (fishing, a monkey offscreen), human death, kidnapping, unsanitary (one character is implied to have soiled himself, another throws up), fatphobia (very brief but intense), violence, drowning. Also, there's a heroic cop character, and the only explicitly LGBTQ+ character out of the dozen or so named characters is a villain.

Accessibility Notes:

audio/dubbing, language:español, language:polski, language:deutsche, language:català, language:nederlands, language:汉语, language:italiano, language:português, language:한국어, language:türkçe, language:française

Misc. Notes (if any):

There is a lot of obvious inspiration from Jorge Luis Borges and similar otherworldly fantasty, but it also draws from the author's experience with ME/CFS in a lot of subtle ways. And it has a good ending, which for us Packbats makes it easier to deal with the heavy stuff.

[lb_lee]

Sneak: Sorry for the delay! Added! Thank you very much for your submission! :D

[acorn_squash]

Link

Title: Gardens

Creator: M. Tillery

Medium, Genre, and Format: medium: comics, genre: autobio/personal, format: digital,

Year Released: 2019

Is it long, medium, or short?: length: short,

It is for kids, teens, or adults only? audience: everyone,

A cool quote from the work: “We tend gardens in our hearts for others, even if they might never see the flowers.”

Blurb: “A story about feelings, told in the language of dreams.”

Why is it worth your time?: It’s a comic about psychopomps and emotional gardens that’s full of love. (The creator’s talked more about their psychopomps here.)

Plural Tags: creator: speaks from experience, plural: abuse: not mentioned, plural: otherworld, plural: people: dreamfolk, plural: people: imaginary friends, plural: people: nonhumans, plural: relationships: friendship

Content Warnings: None

Accessibility Notes: Free. Not screenreadable, sorry!

Misc. Notes (if any): None

[lb_lee]

Sneak: This was really cool! I didn't know about it; thanks for submitting it! :D It's been added to the catalog. ^_^

[matsushima]

"The Imaginary Friend" by Gwynne Garfinkle (Furry, Prose, 2022)

“It’s clearly been a long time since you’ve spared a thought for me. I should hate you.”

Blurb: A fictive imaginary friend discovers the truth about his existence as his human grows up.

Why is it worth your time?: Told from the POV of an outsourced imaginary friend (headmate? tulpha?) who blinks in and out of existence only when their human (host?) remembers them and grapples (some) with what that means.

Plural Tags: fictioneers; on purpose; fusion/integration (? - by the end of the story the imaginary friend and his human are brainstorming ways to send him out of her world and back to his own)

Content Warnings: off-screen character death

Accessibility Notes: screenreadable (? - HTML standard formatting but I haven't personally checked against a screenreader)

Format:

Is it long, medium, or short?: short

It is for kids, teens, adults, or everybody? everybody (general audience, not NSFW)

[lb_lee]

Sneak: Thank you for your submission! The story has been added to the catalog! :D