Plural Stories

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

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.

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.

Submitted by erinptah! Thank you, erinptah!

"Eventually, we all have to accept reality. So, here it is. I am a person. You are not. I make the decisions. You do not. And if you ever do anything to my fingers, know that I will keep you alive long enough to horribly regret that. Your resignation request is denied."

Blurb: Employees at Lumon Industries have undergone "severance"—a medical procedure that splits their mind and consciousness between a work self and a home self. The switch is triggered by going in and out of their office floor, so the "outie" never has to experience the drudgery of being at work...and, you know, the "innie" will spend their entire existence never seeing sunlight, but if their outie keeps coming back, what can they do about it?

Why is it worth your time?: Strong acting, compelling plot, good characters. Even with all the creepy unreal sci-fi worldbuilding (the severance procedure itself is just the tip of the iceberg), the way the corporate evil actually plays out is upsettingly realistic. The writers are interested in exploring different versions of "why would someone volunteer for this procedure?" and "what kind of systemic indoctrination does it take to keep the innies going along with it?" The main four employees are complicated and messy and you can't imagine how they're going to get free...but you sure do hope.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse high-focus, fusion/integration, relationships: family, relationships: romantic, relationships: enmity, relationships: teamwork, type: setting-specific, type: switching, type: on purpose

Content Warnings: General for the series: Worker exploitation, imprisonment, severe mental/emotional manipulation. Others involve spoilers; see comments.

Accessibility Notes: Apple TV+ offers closed captions and audio descriptions in English, dubs with the option for audio descriptions in multiple languages, and translated subtitles for even more languages

Misc. Notes: I tagged "abuse high-focus", but it's not for the kind of child abuse typical for real-world plural narratives, it's because the whole plot is about the setting-specific exploitation of the work selves

Submitted by sagittaoftime! Thanks, saggitaoftime!

Blurb: The apocalypse has been cancelled, thanks to the work of scientists Hermann Gottleib and Newton Geizler (although they aren't the rockstars in the giant mecha). Then Hermann has to save Newton from bureaucracy's need to make sure he isn't going to try to get the world-destroying kaiju back, prompting them to move to a new city and start over. After everything that's happened, though, that's going to involve a lot of missteps, miscommunications, and misapprehensions.

Why is it worth your time?: Beautiful prose, accurate descriptions of the weird workings of the human brain, two friends stumbling their way through an asexual romance, it's about living through the end of the world and dealing with the mundanity of life while struggling with trauma. Its ability to pull out the raw human emotion from a summer blockbuster action movie showcases the best of what fanfiction can be. Also has so many references to various fields of science and math and philosophy such that, if you are acquainted in some depth with any of them, you will have a moment of "Hey! I know what they're referencing!"

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse: high focus, people: copies, people: the dead [i.e., copies of dead people], relationships: enmity, relationships: teamwork, type: setting-specific, type: non-switching [mostly; characters switch at two points, but it's experienced as a bug, not a feature]

Content Warnings: Per the author: "The story contains realistic depictions of neurological, physical, and bureaucratic trauma. The prose is powerful. Stop reading if it triggers you. All of that being said, like everything I write, I consider this to be a hopeful story about the ways to carry something beautiful in your heart during the darkest of times." Additionally, there's a point at which Newt goes on top of a very tall wall in an inadvisable mental state (not suicidal but like he's not Okay either), alcohol is consumed at various points, Newt can't stand the sight of the tattoos that cover most of his body, Newt and Hermann Have Issues, frequent references to past character death, horrible communication, frequent semi-graphic flashbacks but no on-screen abuse, grief, not so much ableism as being extremely frustrated with disability preventing you from climbing into a giant robot to fight kaiju, vague unhappy family relations on Newt's part... look, humanity had to fight world-destroying kaiju for twelve years, and everyone and everything is messed up from it. Newt gets nosebleeds a lot. People throw up once or twice but it's not really described. There's neurologist visits. You might think sex is about to happen but it never does and everyone's chill with that. It's life. Also Newt cuts his (and Hermann's) hand open at one point to put in a little computer chip so he can control the lights by snapping his fingers. Also Newt starts experiencing psychosis from sleep deprivation. Also coerced consent to medical procedures (off-screen), traumatic medical procedures (off-screen but the consequences make up a majority of the story). The stress of suddenly being a global superstar (mostly background, Newt's living under a rock). The AO3 tags say self-harm, I think it's in the sense of reckless behavior.

Accessibility Notes: Available on Archive of Our Own (and thus in various EPUB, HTML, and PDF formats) and on the author's website (in webpages, EPUB, and PDF; EPUB and PDF are the 2013 edition that seems to be identical to the 2025 one but I can't tell). Chapters 1 through 21 (of 28 total) are available as an audiobook here, in MP3 format. Website is mobile friendly.

Misc. Notes (if any): It also has a prequel/sequel and a prequel-sequel, which are in the process of being re-uploaded. (yes the author refers to them as that)

Submitted by erinptah! Thank you, erinptah!

“OK, Cathy,” she said, not in the least perturbed. “I’ll tell her.” Then she stood up, and started a conversation with herself, in which she told Jodie she wasn’t seeing Mummy or Daddy because she had to be safe.

Blurb: When seven-year-old Jodie was taken into foster care, her behavior was so difficult that she went through five carers in four months. Experienced carer Cathy Glass almost passed on her too, until her own (teenage) children insisted they wanted to see Jodie through. Eventually Jodie began to disclose details of the abuse, overlooked by Social Services for years, while Cathy struggled to get her the professional care and long-term support she deserved.

Why is it worth your time?: The rare outside view of a small child who appears to have DID, who ends up in the care of adults that are attentive and well-informed enough to recognize it.

You wouldn't know it from the promotional copy, and DID doesn't get invoked by name until nearly the end of the book, when a couple of alters firmly identify themselves as Not Jodie. But the dissociative traits are visible from day one, when Cathy reports Jodie having intense, distracted conversations with what she assumes are "imaginary friends." Among the kid's other issues, most of them Cathy never overtly connects with the alters, but there are a few that the reader might recognize as DID-related anyway (e.g. struggles with time perception). All of which suggests that Cathy's original real-time notes about her experience with Jodie were pretty solid.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse high-focus, cofronting, people: children, type: medical, how would you tag for "real system described from the outside POV of a singlet but not in a horrible way"?

Content Warnings: past child abuse (sexual and physical), past animal abuse, physical aggression and sexual acting-out. Others involve SPOILERS; see comments

Accessibility Notes: Available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

Misc. Notes (if any): There's some awkward misinformation in the dialogue (e.g. describing the non-Jodie headmates Reg and Amy as "characters"). Thankfully, Cathy's actions stay refreshingly grounded in "managing the issues Jodie-and-company actually have," there's not much focus on her idea of what DID "should" be.

Submitted by packbat! Thank you, packbat!

Recommended by nevanna!

"I never signed a pact with the Devil in my own blood, and I don't have nipples in my ears... but I do consort with spirits, don't I? You said so yourself. Bear does follow me everywhere like a familiar. And I am possessed."

Blurb: Sometimes, when a person dies, their spirit goes looking for somewhere to hide. Some people have space within them, perfect for hiding. Makepeace is one of the latter.

Why is it worth your time?: This book is VERY good! The plot goes through so many twists and turns, and Makepeace grows from a nigh-feral girl to a strong young woman in her own right as she accumulates her ghosts and learns to deal with them.

Plural Tags: abuse low-focus, bodyhopping, closeting, cofronting, the dead, nonhumans (a bear), friendship, teamwork, enmity, possession, voices

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: Available in French, Spanish, ebook, and audiobook.

Submitted by acorn_squash! Thank you, acorn_squash!

"Hi! I’m James, the Bored Work Alter! I come out to promote synergy and provide best-of-breed service to put alimentary products on our table unit to provide sustenance."

Blurb: The Shattered Souls System are the latest guests on Dysfunction Junction, where Hess and Zip support struggling systems in becoming more functional by connecting them with systems who have their sh*t together. Unfortunately, Ellen Barbara, this episode’s advice-giver, has her own ideas of what “functional” means—and the business-jargon-addicted James isn’t helping much, either. It’s a workplace satire! It mocks ableism and two-dimensional views of multiplicity! In short, it’s a Plures House production.

Why is it worth your time?: It’s funny and has some great voice acting!

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse: low-focus, cofronting, creator speaks from experience, relationships: teamwork, type: medical, type: switching

(Edit: Technically abuse isn't mentioned at all? Just unspecified trauma.)

Content Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, plus the topics in the blurb.

Accessibility Notes: Free online audio drama with a screenreadable transcript. Some dialogue is in all-caps. Backed up on the Wayback Machine.

This submission comes from erinptah!

"I thought I had this down, you know. I would always be the aloof and inaccessible conjoined twin, the shadowy passenger to your outer life. But now I’m triggered. The revolution is on. More people are coming out and singing their songs. I want to belt out my part before we eddy into eternity."

Blurb (from Goodreads): Two identities struggle to coexist in Ronnie Gladden's body, brain, and soul. On the outside, they are Black and male. Inside, a repressed White female identity begs for release and is ready to break the status quo. Grappling with double-binary thinking, an abusive father, and childhood trauma, they imprison their inner self to stay safe from the world.

Why is it worth your time?: A plural memoir unlike any other I've ever read. A series of letters between Ronnie and his headmate (only identified as White Girl, or WG); although both of them identify Ronnie as the core/original, WG's perspective gets significantly more page time. They don't struggle with amnesia or time loss; it seems they've both been aware of each other since WG's appearance at age 4, the struggle is about validating each other and learning to coexist. Possibly the most in-depth reflection on "our physical body has one race, but this system member has a different one" in existence to date.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse intermediate-focus, creator speaks from experience, people: imaginary friends, relationships: teamwork

Content Warnings: Contain spoilers; see comments!

Accessibility Notes: Print and digital/ebook versions available. Published in 2023, so new copies are easy to get (or have your library get).

Misc. Notes (if any): I didn't tag "type: medical" because Ronnie/WG don't use any psychiatric/DID-related terms in the memoir. (Not clear whether they've actively rejected the diagnosis, or whether they've never come across it in the first place, so they haven't had a chance to consider it.) But the experiences they describe are a typical DID origin story, of a child in an abusive household whose brain instinctively generates headmate(s) for coping and protection.

I'm not sure whether to tag dreamfolk/fictioneers, because none of those are described as full-fledged headmates the way WG is. But they write about internalizing fictional/TV characters pretty intensely ("you—we—brought these characters along in the same way most go and buy clothes"), and transcribe some "dream scene" conversations between them. Wouldn't be surprising if a future memoir said "we now realize those were from a roundtable of fictives having a chat."