Plural Stories

Motor Girl, by Terry Moore (contemporary comic, 2017)

Sun, 03 May 2026 21:09:10 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"Mike? Did that really just happen?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not stupid. I know I have problems with... reality."

Blurb: After three tours in Iraq and too much time as a tortured prisoner of war, Samantha works in a junkyard with her imaginary friend, a massive gorilla named Mike. It's a comfortable existence, but then a UFO crashes into the junkyard...

Why is it worth your time?: Terry Moore is a cartoonist with glaring strengths and weaknesses. His plots are ramshackle, but his character relationships are some of the best in the biz, and Sam and Mike's relationship carries this comic on its back. Read it for their friendly bickering and staunch mutual love and support, but if that alone can't sustain you, look elsewhere.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse:intermediate-focus (POW type, not family or childhood type), imaginary friends, nonhumans (gorilla), realitymashing, friendship, medical, visions, voices, nonswitching

Content Warnings: Contain spoilers; see comments.

Accessibility Notes: Available in paperback, hardback, and ebook. Not screenreadable

Misc. Notes (if any): Originally printed as ten floppy issues, which were then consolidated into two paperbacks, which were consolidated in turn into one big omnibus. The characters also appear in Moore's later crossover series, Five Years, but I haven't read it and can say nothing about it.

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Psychic Buddha, Qu'est-ce Que C'est by Davy Rothbart for This American Life (biographic audio, 2002)

Sun, 03 May 2026 20:55:54 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

(CATALOGER NOTE: BACK UP TRANSCRIPT LB!) Submitted by quailfence! Thank you, quailfence!

"I feel his presence there constantly. But it's like sitting in a room with somebody, and you're reading a book, and they're reading a book. And you don't always have to talk to each other. You just feel the other person's presence. And if it's somebody you really love, there's a comfort in that presence."

Blurb: Davy Rothbart's mother is funny, rational, and by most measures, pretty normal. Except that she spends every day in the company of an ancient Buddhist monk named Aaron, who no one else can see. Davy talks to his brothers, father, and eventually his mom, and asks the question they've somehow never managed to discuss: do any of them actually believe he's real?

Why is it worth your time?: It's an example of spirit channeling by someone in a Western society, which is pretty unusual and uncommon. I also like how the story goes out of its way to show that regardless of if he's "real" or not, Aaron has been a largely positive influence in the Rothbarts' lives

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse:intermediate-focus, people:the dead, relationships:friendship, relationships:teamwork, relationships:mentoring type:spiritual, type:possession, type:switching, may qualify for "creator speaks from experience" given that we hear from Davy's mother and Aaron a few times

Content Warnings: The story briefly discusses how Aaron helped Davy's brother process childhood sexual abuse. A decent amount of time is also spent on how Davy's mother suddenly becoming deaf negatively affected her relationship with his father, including his father saying/doing some ableist and victim-blamey things. As the blurb alludes to, a main focus of the story is Davy and his family trying to decide whether Aaron is real or if his mother is simply "crazy",

Accessibility Notes: Available free online in English. Transcript available. Link: https://www.thisamericanlife.org/212/the-other-man

Misc. Notes (if any): Produced as Act One of the This American Life episode "The Other Man".

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Be Three, by Jewelle Gomez (sci-fi short story, 2015)

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 03:34:51 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"There will always be two voices; I didn't know that at first. I'm sorry. Your work will be to find the balance, to know when to follow which voice. One will be rash, angry, cold, dangerous; the other is sensitive, empathetic, innocent. Both are valid when in balance. But you cannot let go of one and follow only the other. You'll... you won't survive. You won't survivie unless you can carry all the realities!"

Blurb: After merging into one being at the end of Lynx and Strand, the new woman, Tryna, discovers that it's not as simple as just becoming a tabula rasa...

Why is it worth your time?: When we tripped over this sequel to Lynx and Strand in the sci-fi library, we couldn't read it fast enough! Fusion between singlets is an unusual enough twist on the "we fuse, the end" premise, for it to not BE the end, and for Tryna to struggle with being one person... this is a story that rarely gets told, and it's good! Give it a go!

Plural Tags: abuse low focus, fusion/integration, identityblending, setting-specific, voices

Content Warnings: none

Access Notes: Available as ebook, hardcover, and softcover. It's also available to borrow on archive.org!

Misc Notes: This is a sequel to Lynx and Strand, but there is absolutely NO WAY TO KNOW THIS if you hadn't read Lynx and Strand already; nobody mentions it ANYWHERE, far as I know.

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the Swap, by H. F. [Gerald] Heard (supernatural short story, 1944)

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 20:48:36 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"Jones had been reading up on Sufi esoteric practices. One in particular had interested him. It was called 'How the rainbow which circles the spray of the Fountain of Light (The Nor) may, by heart-contact, be thrown to link with another such rainbow. ' There followed quite unmistakable instruction as to how this rainbow interchange was to be effected."

Blurb: Two academics, an anthropologist and a psychologist, experimentally swap bodies for a time. But in their distraction and getting used to each other's bodies, one forgets to mention he's diabetic...

Why is it worth your time?: It's a neat little body-swap story that does a great job of expressing the weirdness and discomfort of getting used to someone else's body! Give it a shot.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, bodyhopping, possession

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments.

Accessibility Notes: Widely anthologized, available on paper and on ebook, and archive.org has a copy of one of those anthologies, Bewitched Beings: Phantoms, Familiars and the Possessed in Stories from Two Centuries.

Misc. Notes (if any): Henry Fitzgerald "Gerald" Heard was an interesting guy, a gay mystic before that stuff was fashionable, and apparently a real bear to read the nonfiction of. "The Swap" is a straightforward read though!

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Pipe Up! by The Salt & Pepper Bunny, Tinysweetbunny, and TheTRUEgge (coming of age webcomic, 2023-)

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 03:26:39 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

Submitted by Anonymous! Thanks, Anonymous!

"I didn't choose to be here, but whether I like it or not, I am."

Blurb: Percy hasn't been here for a long time. In his place is his big sister Piper, who is determined to make sure no one notices her little brother is gone. Now his life is her responsibility, from school to friends to extracurriculars, but the bustling life of a gifted high schooler isn't easy to maintain. Thankfully Piper isn't alone; she has the Warren—the group of animals who live in her head and share her body. With Harper the bluebird, Quinn the wolf, and Niko the stoat at her side, perhaps Piper can maintain the charade and prove to the world that nothing is wrong. But what will change when Percy's best friend Kai discovers the truth?
(taken from the ComicFury description)

Why is it worth your time?: Has both the struggles of a system still figuring themselves out with a member now missing, and their friend who struggles to understand/accept it, all involved being emotionally messy teenagers. Also it's nice to have another plural story where there are no bad/'evil' system members, just misunderstood/flawed ones. (Mod LB adds, this is a really good intro comic for teens! We feel it makes both the singlet friend's distress and the system's sympathetic and understandable! If you know a teenager who wants to learn more, this is a good thing to hand them!)

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse (intermediate-focus?), children, cofronting, coming out, closeting, enmity, family, friendship, nonhumans, otherworld, switching, teamwork, creator speaks from experience

Content Warnings: Authors list strong language, underage drug use, ableism, drug addiction/abuse, queerphobia, child abuse. Additionally, there are religious mentions, domestic violence, a system coming out to a singlet friend who doesn't immediately take it well, as well as a system member who is mistreated/disliked (once locked away as stated in a character Q&A). There's also one warning that involves spoilers!

Accessibility Notes: English only. Doesn't seem to have alt text? Online only on ComicFury (https://pipeup.thecomicseries.com/archive/), DeviantART (https://www.deviantart.com/saltnpepperbunny/gallery/90132209/pipe-up), and Tumblr (https://pipeupcomic.tumblr.com/post/812704354239938561/pipe-up-chapter-1-cover-this-is-a-reupload-we), free to read.

Misc. Notes (if any): Still ongoing, currently on Chapter 5 and supposed to end on Chapter 6. There are two DID folks and two medians on the creative team, according to the blurb on one of the pages on ComicFury.

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The Jet-Propelled Couch, by Robert Lindner (psych case study, 1954-1955)

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 02:20:08 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"As I read about the adventures of Kirk Allen in these books the conviction began to grow on me that the stories were not only true to the very last detail but that they were not only true to the very last detail but that they were about me. In some weird and inexplicable way I knew that what I was reading was my biography. Nothing in these books was unfamiliar to me: I recognized everything--the scenes, the people, the furnishings of rooms, the events, even the words that were spoken--recognized all this with a sense of familiarity that one has when he sees a house in which he has lived or a friend from years gone by."

Blurb: Psychoanalyst Robert Lindner's account of a government worker who in childhood became convinced he was a popular sci-fi character and built a life in that story world, only to finally get thrown into his office.

Why is it worth your time?: Despite its age, this story will be immensely familiar (and interesting) to anyone who's felt they lived a life from media. Despite the nature of the story, we recommend it for anyone looking for older stuff!

Plural Tags: abuse intermediate-focus (MIND THE CONTENT WARNINGS IN COMMENTS), otherworld, fictioneers, medical

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: Came out in a few paper books, the most recent of which came out over fifty years ago. Mercifully, one of them has been put on archive.org. There's also a paywalled version in two installments on Harper's Magazine (part 1 and part 2)

Misc Notes: Nobody seems to know who "Kirk Allen" was in reality. It also got a TV version apparently, in 1957, though it doesn't sound like it was very good.

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Mefisto in Onyx, by Harlan Ellison (sci-fi novella, 1993)

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 04:50:45 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"Slip into the thoughts of the best person who ever lived, even Saint Thomas Aquinas, for instance, just to pick an absolutely terrific person you'd think had a mind so clean you could eat off it (to paraphrase my mother), and when you come out--take my word for it--you'd want to take a long, intense shower in Lysol."

Blurb: An assistant DA asks her telepathic friend to look into the mind of a serial killer she swears is innocent. He's not sure he believes her, but the case takes a turn he truly doesn't expect.

Why is it worth your time?: This is a story where telling too much would ruin the experience. Suffice to say, it has breathtaking twists and a trickster hero who's not necessarily always pleasant, but magnificent to watch. We started this story not sure if we would like it, and by the time we finished, we felt humbled by how satisfying we found the climax.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse intermediate focus, bodyhopping, closeting, setting-specific type, switching

Content Warnings: contain SPOILERS; see comments. It is not spoilers, though, to say that HEINOUS crimes are a major plot point in this book, and they are touched upon just enough to be evocative and unclean to hear about.

Accessibility Notes: Harlan Ellison is EXTREMELY famous and this novella got nominated for a bunch of awards, so this is a comparatively easy work to find. Available in... well, all of these collections, in hardback, paperback, ebook, audiobook, German, Serbian, and French.

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"The Outside Makes the Inside Makes the Outside" By The Symbles (Experimental Pop Album, 2026)

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 02:20:55 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

Submitted by paxislandsystem! Thank you, paxislandsystem!

"You haven’t clicked on this song, you haven’t brought me along.
You just thought that you could clone yourself till nobody was wrong."

Blurb: Eclectic album written by various members of a plural system about relationship troubles, headmates fighting, and isolation.

Why is it worth your time?:
A number of songs get quite explicit about the nature of plurality and feeling incomplete, trapped, trying to stay in control, and longing for connection, as well as references to plural love in some form or another.

Plural Tags: abuse low-focus, plural creator, creator speaks from experience, fusion/integration or identityblending, fictioneers (many many many of them, but namely Jax from The Amazing Digital Circus and Glad0s from Portal come to mind, as well as presumably the other TADC and homestuck characters seen on the album cover), enmity, friendship

Content Warnings: headmate conflict, isolation, identity troubles

Accessibility Notes: Available (with screenreadable lyrics) on bandcamp in English for five dollars and a limited amount of free streaming, as well as in the form of a lyric video on YouTube published by the artist.

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Constant Compainions (Deluxe Edition), by Jamie Paige (Electropop album, 2024)

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 02:13:14 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

Submitted by ghost_ship! Thank you, ghost_ship!

i've been here 'fore you knew me
a name without a body
we both know what we've been through
my darling, my companion
don't think, just let me shine through
more than your comprehension
i hope you know i love you

Blurb: Constant Companions is an energetic and unabashedly sincere album exploring connection and love. Along with Jamie Paige's own vocals. it features the vocal synths ANRI, Kasane Teto, Megpoid Gumi, Solaria, and Adachi Rei. And there's leitmotifs. And trans themes. And yuri.

Why it it worth your time?: Jamie Paige uses a mix of her own vocals along with vocal synths to represent relationships between her parts in a cool way! The songs most explicitly about her plurality are really sweet and heartfelt. The sense of constancy and connectedness is a major theme in the album, and the inspiration for it's name.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse low-focus (only in "Object of Affection," where the monarchs use magic to suppress the will of their "prince"), creator speaks from experience, relationships intimate, romantic, and teamwork, type median and medical, voices

Content Warnings: ROT FOR CLOUT involves the blurring line between self and commodity and the deep emotional strain stemming from that. Cadmium Colors and Clouddrop are about suicidal ideation (Though they do end on hopeful notes!). Object of Affection is an allegorical tale of parents suppressing their trans child's identity.

Accessibility Notes: The album (with full screenreadable lyrics) is on Bandcamp! Unfortunately the CD and vinyl editions are sold out. Also can be listened to for free on various streaming platforms.

Misc. Notes: Jamie Paige has talked publically about her experience with OSDD in her behind-the-scenes posts about Breeze Blows and My Darling, My Companion.

There's 17 tracks (70 minutes total): 1. Dyad 2. Not Quite There (with telebasher) 3. ROT FOR CLOUT 4. I Wish That I Could Fall 5. Cadmium Colors 6. Breeze Blows (with Marcy Nabors & Marlow Jacobs) 7. Aggrandicize 8. Liaison 9. Object of Affection 10. Clouddrop 11. My Darling, My Companion 12. Machine Love 13. BIRDBRAIN (with OK Glass) 14. Shiny Chariot 15. Strawberry 16. Manifesto 17. Dance Delightful

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What If...Marc Spector was Host to Venom? by Mike Chen (superhero novel, 2024)

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 02:01:36 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

Submitted by erinptah! Thank you, erinptah!

"Steven and Jake are part of your Hive. In whatever form, whatever body. Just like that, we understand."

Blurb: Marc Spector is used to voices in his head. He’s used to waking up disoriented, unsure what his alters, Jake and Steven, might have been up to. He’s used to having an Egyptian god command him as Moon Knight, his avatar of justice and revenge. What he’s not used to: staring into the face of a literal, out-of-body doppelganger.
Another Marc, crash-landed from an alternate reality, begging for help? Yeah, that is a new one, even for him.
But before he can really process anything beyond Khonshu’s incessant alarm bells, it becomes clear this other Marc didn’t travel solo...

Why is it worth your time?: Moon Knight has always been Marvel Comics' most-successful attempt to write a superhero with DID, and this spinoff novel (set in a universe similar to the main comics) is a worthy addition to the effort. Not only does the writer remember that Steven and Jake exist, he gives them roughly equal page time with Marc, and is clearly coming from a perspective of "all these characters are equally valid/important/interesting."
They're also dealing with Venom (a bodyjacking alien symbiote made of black goo, itself part of a Hive Mind), and Khonshu (the shouty Egyptian god who spends a lot of time in their head). The world-saving superhero plot is set up in a way that gives each of their personal strengths a chance to shine, and their shared experiences help the team-ups work, in spite of their varying levels of messiness and dysfunction. It's a fun time.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse low-focus, bodyhopping, cofronting, otherworld, relationships: family, relationships: teamwork, type: medical, type: spiritual, type: possession, type: switching. Does "Marvel-typical multiverse stuff" count as realitymashing? If yes, that too.

Content Warnings: Genre-typical fighting and violence. Non-consensual body possession (canon-typical for Venom). Reference to abusive treatment at a psychiatric hospital. Character death (canon-typical for Moon Knight). Further warnings have SPOILERS! See comments.

Accessibility Notes: Recent and mainstream book, I got the hardcover from my library. Ebook and audiobook versions are available.

Misc. Notes (if any): To keep the cast list manageable, the writer knocks out one of each headmate for most of the book, so Local Marc and Visiting Steven+Jake are the ones left to handle the plot. (Chapter POVs alternate between those three, and Venom.) It's a little hacky, but it works, and each trio gets a nice reunion before the end.
I wrote a much more detailed review/reaction of the book here.

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Positive Feedback, by Ben Mehlos (porn comic, 2022)

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 01:45:53 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"Raj... I... have never fucked as Shivalree before. Like... I do it alone... jerk off with it turned on... but I have never done it with someone else."

Blurb: (from the ebook listing) A pair of rookie “Creative” Fighters–artists with the ability to physically manifest their varied creativity as superpowers–square off in a Creative Fighting Championship underbracket 2v2, wherein they develop a taste for one anothers’ abilities. In the locker room afterwards they explore other applications for what they can do.

Why is it worth your time?: This is a case where we are using "median" because upon multiple rereads, it is fascinating seeing the unspoken interplay between Randall and Shivalree; panel by panel, you can see which is speaking or emoting, and it's subtle and fascinating to watch, Randall's "eeee, I'm getting laid!" excitement contrasted against Shivalree's swagger. In a non-porn but related comic, Every Hole #1: Randall, you see Randall's friend Alix unable to unlock Squidlock (who not only has different body language, expressions, and possibly gender, but also a completely different monster body) and in deep depression due to it. It's unclear just how separate the fighting personas are from the performer, but clearly being able to access them is a big part of being happy and okay. Also, the way this comic uses color is gorgeous.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, identityblending, realitymashing, median

Content Warnings: It's porn!

Accessibility Notes: Available in ebook (though only with Paypal payment) and paper versions (at least for now; it's trans queer porno so who knows how long that'll last), and also via subscription at Filthy Figments (which accepts all kinds of methods of payment, not just Paypal). Not screenreadable.

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Phantom Lover, by Tigrina (supernatural poem, 1946)

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 06:59:44 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

My phantom lover comes to me from out the lonely night
My eyes trace, through their tears his misty shape within the gloom

Blurb: A poem about yearning for one's phantom lover, banished to another plane of existence.

Why is it worth your time?: It's a neat short little poem from eighty years ago, and it's free to read! What've you got to lose?

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, otherworld, romantic relationships, visions

Content Warnings: none

Access Notes: Originally (and only) printed in Mutant vol. 1 #1 in October 1946. Technically a very faded copy has been digitized thanks to FANAC, but some of the words are illegible. I've taken the liberty of reconstructing those words and posting the full poem in the comments.

Misc Notes: Tigrina, AKA Lisa Ben AKA Edythe Eyde, was a lesbian. She wrote this poem before coming out!

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"Break," by Bruce Boston (heist short story, 1974)

Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:49:25 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"We are two very different men, with different needs and desires. Yet we share the same cell and tonight we shall leave it together. Tonight we make the break for freedom."

Blurb: Two convicts plan a jailbreak. They don't like each other, but seeing as they share a body, they have to escape together...

Why is it worth your time?: This is an interesting story of two people who don't like each other, aren't kind to each other, and yet still plan and pull off a heist together. If that's of interest, give it a shot!

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, fusion/integration, teamwork, visions

Content Warnings: Contain spoilers; see comments

Accessibility Notes: This short story has been collected in New Worlds 7, New Worlds #6, Jackbird: Tales of Illusion & Identity, and the New Bruce Boston Omnibus. All are/were paper only releases, and we haven't found any bootleg digital versions or audio versions; sorry!

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With Delicate Mad Hands, by James Tiptree Jr. (sci-fi novella, 1981)

Thu, 05 Feb 2026 04:51:24 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

As for the Voice giving her new ideas, elaborating details about the Empire, she read that creators, artists and writers--usually the mediocre ones--often projected their inspirations onto some outside source like their "Muse."

Blurb: A young woman, treated as a "human waste can" by the men around her, flees to the stars in pursuit of the Voice who has been her only comfort, and discovers its true nature.

Why is it worth your time?: This story is so good, it made us cry. CP is one of the most relatable fictional depictions of a person with a story continuously running through her head that we've seen. It is a story of daring to embrace madness and the stars.

Plural Tags: abuse intermediate focus, otherworld (Empire of the Pigs), nonhumans, romantic relationships, visions, voices

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: Available on paperback, hardback, ebook, and audiobook forms, in English, German, and Japanese.

Misc Notes: This is a queer story. According to James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, "The story of Tiptree's that Alice considered her most romantic was 'With Delicate Mad Hands.' [...] Alli thought of this as a lesbian story, yet she also told an editor that 'the lesbianity (!! word??) isn't really important between beings so alien--so very alien" (107).

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Peter Ibbetson, by George du Maurier (nostalgic novel, 1891)

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 21:48:27 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

Our joint life must be revealed--that long, sweet life of make-believe, that has been so much more real than reality.

Blurb: After an idyllic childhood in the suburbs of Paris, the titular Peter Ibbetson finds a way to go back to his childhood in his dreaming life... where he also becomes #1 Wife Guy for his beloved.

Why is it worth your time?: I first heard of this book because it kept coming up in later nonfictional accounts of lucid dreamers and spirit spouses... and with good reason! The first half of the book is focused on Ibbetson's ordinary childhood, but the second half almost entirely takes place in the dreamworld, and it describes a very straightforward lucid dreaming protocol that is still used and advised today. If you're willing to push through a hundred and fifty pages of Parisian childhood, this is a gentle read, and for anyone with an otherordinary spouse or a life they love elsewhere, the book is sure to tug your heart strings! I read this while very sick, and I feel it's a perfect read for that kind of circumstance.

Plural Tags: abuse low-focus (only one or two incidents with the villainous uncle are mentioned, and not dwelled on), bodyhopping, identityblending, otherworld ("dreaming true," or the past), children, copies, dreamfolk, imaginary friends, the dead, romantic and family relationships, voices

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: In the public domain! You can read the text-only version in various formats on Project Gutenberg, but if you can, I HIGHLY recommend you chase down a copy with du Maurier's illustrations, because he was a cartoonist long before he became a writer, and his art gives the book a singular charm. (We lucked into finding a fancy luxury edition secondhand with the illustrations at 100% size, and it's massive but also totally worth the $25 we paid for it.)

Misc. Notes: There was a 1935 movie made of this with Gary Cooper as Peter Ibbetson. It's on archive.org. It's nice enough, but the shared dream stuff is cut down to the last twenty minutes, so it doesn't quite make it into this catalog.

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The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean (YA thriller, 2007)

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 22:58:03 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

Submitted by acorn_squash! Thank you, acorn_squash!

[Titus] is anywhere I am. He is inside me, and my brain closes around him like hands around a warm drink. [...] And oh, I am so glad of him.

Even though no one else in the world can reach me now, he is never out of reach. Even though Time is a one-way street and it's not taking me anywhere I want to go, with Titus I can travel to and fro through Time—to the Boer War, the Indian raj, the Curragh Races, Gestingthrope in high summer, Hut Point....There was an Otes at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, you know? (I wonder if he was scared too.) From the windows of Glasstown I can see into the future as well—as far forward as my fifteenth birthday, when Titus has promised to take me to the top of the Eiffel Tower! I can't express how glad I am of him.

American Library Association blurb: Fourteen-year-old Symone's exciting vacation to Antarctica turns into a desperate struggle for survival when her uncle's obsessive quest leads them across the frozen wilderness into danger.

Why is it worth your time?: Symone, who goes by Sym, is accompanied by Titus Oates, an explorer who died in the Antarctic and now lives in her head. He and Sym are in love and he plays a critical role in her survival. Despite several close calls, he is still with Sym at the end of the story.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse: high-focus (there's no connection between the plurality and the abuse), people: imaginary friends, people: the dead, otherworld (Glasstown), relationships: romantic, type: nonswitching

Content Warnings: Life-threatening danger. Kidnapping by manipulative adults. Murder. Emotional, financial, and occasionally physical abuse. Deeply creepy matchmaking of Sym and another teenager, Siguard. Pseudoscience. Bullying (emotional, not physical). Sym's father, now deceased, was addicted to alcohol and was violent towards Sym and her mother while not in his right mind; this is discussed occasionally. One of Sym's teenage classmates says she is dating an adult man she met on the Internet, which is also discussed occasionally. Graphic description of animal death. Illness and vomit. Drugging of side characters. Imperialist attitudes. Suicidal self-sacrifice, with some associated ableism. Misogynist character. Transmisogyny, p. 254 (American first edition).

More specific content warnings that include spoilers can be found in the comments.

Accessibility Notes: Can be found at libraries. Available in hardcover, in paperback, as an ebook, and as an audiobook on CD and cassette. Translated into Chinese, Spanish, German, French, Swedish, Catalan, and Persian.

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Familiar, by Cyrus (autobio comic, 2023)

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 22:50:03 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

Submitted by acorn_squash! Thank you, acorn_squash!

My parents always told me to never talk to strangers. But I have been living with one for most of my life.

Blurb: A transmasc cartoonist reflects on the way his relationship with the sometimes-cruel stranger in the mirror has changed over time.

Why is it worth your time? It’s a four-page comic with interesting panel composition, compelling use of colour, and a sweet, hopeful ending.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse: intermediate focus (second page only), creator speaks from experience, relationships: enmity

Content Warnings: transphobia (second page only), dysphoria

Accessibility Notes: Included in the anthology The Out Side, which can be found in libraries, including as an ebook (through Hoopla). Not screenreadable, unfortunately.

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Dead Man's Bells, by Nicola Kapron (horror short story, 2023)

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 22:46:20 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

“I am not dead,” said the voice that wasn’t his own. “You did not kill me. Even like this, you cannot tame me. Raise me, and I will live again.”

Blurb: The younger son of a family that has long captured and taken power from a demon, Liam discovers that maybe he and the demon want the same thing: OUT.

Why is it worth your time?: A short haunting story about getting possessed by a very nonhuman entity who isn't malicious, just very Other.

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, nonhumans (forest demon), plural on purpose, switching, voices

Content Warnings: gore (non-graphic descriptions), self-harm.

Access Notes: Available as a $2 ebook from the publisher, Duck Prints Press! (There are also paper zine copies, which is what I got, but you can only get those by being at a con Duck Prints Press is at.)

Misc Notes:

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Ghost Story, by Charming Disaster (love song, 2015)

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 21:21:06 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"Since the day they told me he was gone
Haunts me faithfully from dusk till dawn
Hear him whisper sweetly in my ear
Can’t you see we got a good thing here?"

Blurb: A love song about a widow finding her marriage revitalized after her husband dies.

Why is it worth your time?: This is a sweet song about growing as a person after your death and haunting your lover in the best kind of way.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, the dead, romantic relationships, voices

Content Warnings: Death. It's in the freakin' title. (The death is implied to have been from a duel.)

Accessibility Notes: Available on CD, vinyl, or mp3 at bandcamp! Lyrics available.

Misc. Notes (if any): Definitely made us feel gooey inside.

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Doc Phoenix, by Ted White (pulp short story, 1975)

Mon, 29 Dec 2025 03:03:01 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

"It's not irretrievably lost, you know. You can have it back."
"But--but--the life I've had--the things I've done--you can't just wipe them out, like wiping a slate clean!"
"No. But they can be integrated. Right now they dominate you. They can become only memories, part of the suffering you've known, but suffering from which you've learned, from which you have been tempered--like fine steel. Emotional health doesn't mean reshuffling your memories or selective amnesia. It means integration--wholeness. It means strength. It means becoming your own person."

Blurb: Doc Phoenix, a superpsychologist dream-diver, dives into the headspace of a corrupt politician who wants to change his ways... and maybe assassinate the good doctor afterward.

Why is it worth your time?: This is self-declared pulp, and it embraces that genre. Deep art it is not, but it is entertaining. Weird Heroes was a series with the self-proclaimed central message of "Respect life and enjoy it," and the idea of a hero who works to rescue people's minds from the inside out is a pretty great premise! If you just want a fun, humble psychological adventure, this is worth a shot.

Plural Tags: abuse low-focus, bodyhopping, otherworld, dreamfolk, visions

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: This short story was in the anthology Weird Heroes, vol. 2, edited by Byron Preiss at Pyramid Books. Unlike the sequel, this book has been digitized on Anna's Archive! Uncertain whether it is screenreadable.

Misc Notes: Got a book-length sequel, called the Oz Encounter (or Weird Heroes Vol. 5: Doc Phoenix: the Oz Encounter), which is also worth reading, though apparently that one has never been digitized! Obviously I should fix that.

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Never be loved, by Snailords (autobio comic, 2023)

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 00:47:33 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

beepbird told us about this! Thanks, beepbird!

"There is a man who loves me, as I am. MYSELF. Whether other people see me as I am or not. I am here."

Blurb: a bigender cartoonist talks about self/s-love.

Why is it worth your time?: It's short and sweet and awesome!

Plural Tags: abuse intermediate-focus (transphobia), closeting, creator speaks from experience

Content Warnings: transphobia, threats of lovelessness

Access Notes: This five-page comic appears in The Out Side: Trans & Nonbinary Comics, which is available in paperback and ebook.

Misc Notes: In the "about the author" blurb, he says, "Two souls accidentally got placed into my body. I'm bigender."

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Nearly Roadkill, by Kate Bornstein and Caitlin Sullivan (cyberpunk novel, 1996, 2025)

Sun, 21 Dec 2025 20:41:26 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

The two editions have different subtitles. The 1996 edition is Nearly Roadkill: An Infobahn Erotic Adventure and marketed as cyberpunk, while the 2025 edition is Nearly Roadkill: Queer Love on the Run, and marketed as romance.

Karn: Question: ... ::drumroll:: Online, what *is* your "self"?
Leilia: Oh, christ, there's the question of a lifetime.
Karn: Uh huh. Why so for you?
Leilia: I really become that person online. That's the scary thing. i really believe my fiction. Used to feel bad about it, but obviously there's truth in those fictions.

Blurb: Genderfucking netizens Scratch and Winc splatter across self and identity in this cyberpunk epistolary novel, accidentally starting a global Internet strike, getting accused of high treason, and falling in love.

Why is it worth your time?: Sullivan and Bornstein are queers who used lots of their own chatlogs for this book, which depending on your feeling will be either a good thing or a bad thing. The 1996 edition especially has a lot of pontificating on the nature of self and personality on the Internet, including an exchange where the hero/ines email with a self-declared MPD multi going by "StLouis7." (They decide that they aren't that kind of multiple, but they DO have multiple genders and are exploring interesting expansions of self!) Scratch's persona of Razorfun is ESPECIALLY separate, to the point that Razorfun outright says that "it is my most primitive persona. It is where I go when in danger" and when Winc has to ask Scratch to break out of the Razorfun persona, it's stated to be both difficult and painful. If you're interested in queer cyberspace of the '90s, check it out!

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, creator speaks from experience, otherworld (cyberspace), fictioneers (Lt. Yar and Jadzia Dax from Star Trek), nonhumans (Dax is a Trill, Scratch mentions multiple times wishing ze was a wolf with a tail), switching, on purpose

Content Warnings: include spoilers; see comments

Accessibility Notes: Okay, so heads up, the 1996 edition and the 2025 editions of this book differ subtly but significantly! The 2025 edition just came out, and it's available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook; it's much easier to find and removed a fair bit, including stuff that really needed removal... but also a lot of the most interesting (to us) ponderings of the nature of self! It also simplified the typefaces and style, but in our opinion to the book's detriment; with all the chats, web diaries, emails, news stories, and announcements flying around, it can be easy to get lost! So the 2025 edition is smoother and simpler.

Meanwhile, the 1996 edition is rough and crunchy in a very '90s way; while the 2025 edition focuses more on gender and romance, the '96 edition pays more attention to self in general. The older edition is expensive and difficult to find these days, though it's been scanned and bootlegged online, and the first chapter is available in clean screenreadable PDF on the Wayback Machine. Take a look, compare and contrast the formatting, and pick the edition you prefer! We are grateful for reading both simultaneously, comparing the drafts side-by-side.

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Do I Know You?, by Omicron Seti III (filk folk song, 1979)

Sat, 13 Dec 2025 16:36:58 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

(words by Martha Bonds, music by Marcia McCombe)

Do I know you?
Are you dreaming of tomorrow?
If so, it seems you're a starchild, just like me.
The night's alive,
And we travel 'cross the light years,
TV screens and books of dreams can set us free.

Blurb: A fan (filk) song about how fans find meaning, joy, and other worlds through Star Trek.

Why is it worth your time?: It's an old fandom song about finding home and new worlds in the fictional. Definitely worth a listen to, for any fiction folk around!

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, creator speaks from experience, otherworld, fictioneers

Content Warnings: None

Accessibility Notes: I will post the lyrics in the comments! Otherwise, it is only available in The Complete Omicron Ceti III Lyric Book (not screenreadable) and the record album Only Stars Can Last.

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Going Home, by Omicron Ceti III (Star Trek fan song, 1979)

Thu, 11 Dec 2025 01:39:45 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

(words by Martha Bonds, music by Kathy Burns)

I know a place so far away, a place I long to see,
There's no way to travel there, I must reach it in a dream,
The dreams they are so special, they take me there again,
A thousand conquered dangers, heroes, lovers, friends.

Blurb: A song about "Fans' feelings about [Star] Trek."

Why is it worth your time?: It's an old fandom song about finding home and new worlds in the fictional. Definitely worth a listen to, for any fiction folk around!

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, creator speaks from experience, otherworld, dreamfolk, fictioneers

Content Warnings: None

Accessibility Notes: I will post the lyrics in the comments; you can also stream it here or listen to it on YouTube! Otherwise, it is only available in The Complete Omicron Ceti III Lyric Book (not screenreadable) and on the album Only Stars Can Last.

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The Guy in the Glass, by Dale Wimbrow (poem, 1934)

Mon, 08 Dec 2025 19:49:10 GMT

Posted by: lb_lee

(Learned of this poem thanks to rybbot. Thanks, rybbot!)

For it isn't your Father, or Mother, or Wife,
Who judgement upon you must pass.
The feller whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the guy staring back from the glass.

Blurb: A poem about the importance of honesty and being able to make peace with yourself.

Why is it worth your time?: It's a good poem! Probably not intended to be plural, but hey, if it's about making friends with yourself, who's to say it ain't? It's free, online, and almost a hundred years old, what more could one want out of life?

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, friendship

Content Warnings: None

Access Notes: Free, online, and screenreadable at https://www.theguyintheglass.com/gig.htm thanks to Wimbrow's children! Back-up link here: https://web.archive.org/web/19990428030413/https://www.theguyintheglass.com/gig.htm

Misc Notes: Wimbrow's kids list the context and copyright information of this poem here: https://web.archive.org/web/19991008172354/http://www.theguyintheglass.com/copyright.htm

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