Plural Stories

"This would be the first time since I was a kid that I haven't bought a new console on day one..."

"STOP! You don't need to succumb to consumerism! You can always buy one in a year or two!"

"Psh, Nintendo? That shit's for babies. Go buy cigarettes."

Blurb: A man ponders buying a new Nintendo, only for his inner angel and demon to discover new feelings for each other.

Why is it worth your time?: It's cute, short, and free!

Plural Tags:abuse not mentioned, nonswitching, nonhumans (an angel and a devil), romantic relationships

Content Warnings: Beefcake. That's presumably what you're here for.

Access Notes: available on tumblr! Page 1, and page 2. Also backed-up on the Wayback Machine, but not screenreadable.

submitted by quailfence!

"he's kind of stuck around since then, mostly as an inside joke, a little bit not. I like having him around. there's something really poignant about looking at the world through the eyes of a gay person from the past"

Blurb: A piece about how ND Stevenson pretended to show Oscar Wilde around Vegas as a way of coping with overstimulation on his trip there, which then turns into a reflection on Wilde's legacy and how the world has changed for gay people since his time

Why is it worth your time?: It's a short, sweet piece about queer history and seeing things through the eyes of other people

Plural/1+ Tags: creator speaks from experience, people: copies, people: imaginary friends, people: the dead, type: nonswitching(?), type: on purpose

Content Warnings: References to historical homophobia. Passing reference to sexual harassment. A few suggestive poses/mild nudity.

Accessibility Notes: online/digital, free, not screen-readable

Read it here!

"We're a system of creatures just trying to get by in this messy modern world!"

Blurb: An autobiographical comic about alterhumanity, trauma, and memes.

Why is it worth your time?: It's fun and short, give it a shot!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, closeting, cofronting, creator speaks from experience, nonhumans (robots, wolves, dogs, horses, shapeshifters all at varying levels of anthropomorphism), friendship

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: This comic is fully alt-texted and screenreadable, yay! Free to read online at https://gze.neocities.org/comics

Misc Notes: Archive.org is in hell right now, so backing it up there may have to wait. LB has made local copies of the 17 strips at time of post though.

This one is submitted by a friendly anon! Thank you, anon!

"I wanna say, that your value is much higher than your assessment. It shouldn't be measured in terms of data..."

Blurb: An android, subject to horrific experiments, finds himself part of a network of clones. He fights to set them free along with the other victims of experimentation, and succeeds--at the cost of his life. Those 7 clones find new life together with their human partner, but the threats to their existence are far from over...

Why is it worth your time?: Season 1 is a set-up for the bulk of the plural content in Season 2, "Eclipse of Sybil", in which the androids act as an external system connected via their own network. (Yes, the title is partly a reference to that Sybil, whose name was used for the computer term 'Sybil attack'.) Although they each have their own body, the way they cooperate, share memories, and talk about each other is nevertheless very plural. It's cool seeing what a system could look and act like on the outside.

A particular heartwarming scene: one member tells the system's partner how each of them have their own unique thoughts, but laments that they must be indistinguishable due to being the same model of android. The partner, upset, responds with, 'of course I can differentiate all of you!' Just like how a system might feel as though only the body is known to others, but a loved one can tell the difference between members.

Also, the artwork is gorgeous.

Plural Tags: nonswitching, switching, setting-specific, on purpose, teamwork, nonhumans [robots], enmity, memory work, bodyhopping, otherworld [cyberspace], copies, realitymashing

Content Warnings: abuse (adults and children), blood, death (dismemberment, decapitation, shooting, falling, fire, car accidents...), experimentation, gore (machine), graphic violence, strong language, suicide (attempts and one who chooses to shut down), trauma (flashbacks, anxiety attacks), hospital/surgery scene

Accessibility Notes: Lots of translations! The entirety can be read in Chinese, English, French, Portuguese, and Russian. Season 1 can also be read in German, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, and Spanish.
There are plain text scripts in English, but they don't distinguish between who is speaking.

Available to read on Archive Of Our Own
Also available for free download by the creator (where all the translations can also be found)

Misc. Notes (if any): This is a Detroit: Become Human fan comic that goes off the rails with the artwork being a main draw (heh). Massive spoilers for the game, of course, but since most of the story is its own thing, it can (probably) be read without any knowledge of the source. Midjourney was used for a little of the art, which is clearly notated by page.

(Cataloger's note: oh jeez this is very large, I made a local copy of the English translation but don't have it in me to back up all the translations, sorry folks.)

"Goldie let me absorb him. So that I could live. That means my soul isn't entirely my own, ennit?"

Blurb: Burned-out sorcerer John Constantine had a twin who died in the womb. In the world on other side of the mirror, it was the twin who survived, and John who died. And one day, that twin comes out to make him an offer to solve everything...

Why is it worth your time?: It's good! Jes & Cin packed a lot of thought on themes of self-hatred, grief, and sacrifice into these short little comics. Give 'em a shot, they're free!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, otherworld, children, the dead [twins], nonswitching, fusion/integration [failed and successful both], family and enmity relationships, setting-specific, visions

Content Warnings: It is not a spoiler to say that these are comics about a dead twin, and the grief therein!

Access Notes: Not screenreadable. Free to read online, though not posted in order!

Misc Notes: The creators have put it all in one expanded "Director's Cut" post now! (EDIT: here's also the tumblr post version.) Here's the masterpost on the creation of it (back-up link). The authors' notes in the original posts are also well worth reading:

• Cover images (back-up link)
• John Constantine and the Vanishing Twin (back-up link)
• Birthdays (back-up link)
• Twin in the Mirror (back-up link)
• Twin Fusion (back-up link)
• Reunion and Loss (back-up link)
• The Marigold Mage's Farewell (back-up link)

Submitted by hungryghosts!

""AS OF RIGHT NOW I FEEL CREATIVELY STUNTED YET SUBLIMELY FREE AND ALL I HAVE TO CHEW ON ARE THE BONES OF THIS DEAD HORSE"

Blurb: A poetic reflection on escaping a poisonous relationship, ambiguously described, and having to refind yourself and your art afterward, shown through a conversation between two headmates.

Why is it worth your time?: Poetic and moving, and I haven't seen this topic done before. Free and short.

Plural Tags: plural creator, abuse intermediate focus, otherworld, nonhumans [wolf, pony from My Little Pony]

Content Warnings: Mention of a bad relationship in the past, dealing with feelings afterward.

Access Notes: not screenreadable. Free.

Misc Notes: Read online here!

Submitted by hungryghosts!

"one day i was watching a movie... when suddenly my tail came to life!"

Blurb: Kittylove's tail comes to life and makes it happy.

Why is it worth your time?: It's a cute little comic about plural joy!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, nonhumans [cat person, sentient limb], friendship

Content Warnings: None!

Access Notes: Screenreadable! Free!

Misc Notes: Read it online here! (EDIT: Cohost is going down; here's another link. Also a back-up link. As always, all entries with the "LB local copy" tag mean you can ask lb_lee for a copy)

This is part of a series on Moon Knight submitted by erinptah! Thank you, erinptah! :D See her whole post with clips here!

“The inside of Marc Spector’s head is a picturesque, violent landscape touched by Egyptian mythology, Judaic folklore and fragments of his past. But it ain’t always a pretty place.”

Blurb: After dying and being resurrected (for the first time, but not the last) by the Egyptian god of the moon, mercenary Marc Spector sets out to atone for the harm he caused…by becoming a moon-themed superhero. That’s on top of being Steven Grant, rich CEO/investor in unspecified businesses. And being Jake Lockley, who ranges from “friendly, easygoing, regular guy” to “comedically murderous sociopath” depending on who’s writing this run.

LEGACY BLURB:

The action returns to the real world, for some more typical short-form Marvel adventures…except that now Jake and Steven get to be consistently present! (Along with an unusually-helpful Khonshu. Who doesn’t do any of his usual god-level things, so, this might actually be a Khonshu introject?) Sometimes they’re co-conscious in the physical world, sometimes they’re all interacting in headspace, sometimes there’s a psychic realm where they can manifest separately.

The run I get the most mad about, because it has that great setup with so much potential, and then sours it with things like “Jake gets character-assassinated into a wacky sociopath with a secret-baby plot.” Pushes things to the weirdest and most dramatic places possible, which at best means “this is the funniest Moon Knight scene I’ve ever read,” and at worst, “this is the edgiest edgelord cringe.” Drops lines like “Don’t eat that rabies-ridden dolphin meat” in total earnest.

Another reader said “Damn it Bemis, I really need you to stop writing actually good character moments I enjoy and tricking me into thinking for a brief moment this could be a run I liked, rather than one that makes me want to tear my hair out,” which pretty much sums it up.

Why is it worth your time?: Marvel Comics’ longest-running and most-successful attempt to portray a superhero with DID. (Some writers don’t actually attempt it — but we’re limiting this roundup to the runs where they remembered.)

“Most-successful” still means plenty of flaws, drawbacks, and general comic-book nonsense! But at its best, the writing is a heartfelt, complex, insightful, funny portrayal of A Troubled System Doing Their Best, which a lot of IRL plural readers have found relatable.

Plural tags: abuse intermediate-focus, cofronting, otherworld, nonhumans [gods], realitymashing, family, teamwork, type: medical, type: spiritual, switching

Content warnings: Extra violence and some fairly gruesome injuries. The system gets some retconned explicit childhood trauma, in the form of “little Marc’s favorite rabbi was secretly a Nazi serial killer.” The main present-day child character isn’t harmed in any major way, but does get kidnapped and/or threatened a lot.

Access Notes: Most of these are available in print collections of some sort, as well as digitally through Marvel. Nothing audio or screenreadable as far as I know.

This is part of a series on Moon Knight submitted by erinptah! Thank you, erinptah! :D See her whole post with clips here!

“There’s nothing wrong with a good old-fashioned team-up.”

Blurb: After dying and being resurrected (for the first time, but not the last) by the Egyptian god of the moon, mercenary Marc Spector sets out to atone for the harm he caused…by becoming a moon-themed superhero. That’s on top of being Steven Grant, rich CEO/investor in unspecified businesses. And being Jake Lockley, who ranges from “friendly, easygoing, regular guy” to “comedically murderous sociopath” depending on who’s writing this run.

VOLUME 6 BLURB:

Marc breaks out of his unhealthy cycles by doing something completely different with his life: moving to Hollywood and producing a TV series! Instead of pushing Duchamp and Marlene to un-cut him off yet again, he works on some new connections: an ex-SHIELD agent for a pilot/gadget guy, and fellow quasi-Avenger Echo for a co-vigilante/love interest.

He also meets new headmates — specifically, introjects of Spider-Man, Captain America, and Wolverine. (Marc used to do friendly team-ups with Spidey back when he lived in NYC, and was briefly recruited to the Secret Avengers under Cap. He, uh, has never met Wolverine? Just roll with it.)

Together they sort out a single over-arching plot in the LA underworld. Also, that TV show somehow gets made in the background, even though Marc basically never goes to work.

(…I’m calling this run “nonswitching” because I don’t think any of the introjects actually use the body, in spite of Marc trying to physically imitate their weapons and fighting styles. I think they just hang around, giving advice and being chatty.)

Why is it worth your time?: Marvel Comics’ longest-running and most-successful attempt to portray a superhero with DID. (Some writers don’t actually attempt it — but we’re limiting this roundup to the runs where they remembered.)

“Most-successful” still means plenty of flaws, drawbacks, and general comic-book nonsense! But at its best, the writing is a heartfelt, complex, insightful, funny portrayal of A Troubled System Doing Their Best, which a lot of IRL plural readers have found relatable.

Plural tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, identityblending, people: copies, type: nonswitching, voices

Content warnings: Character death, specifically that Echo gets fridged (future comics will completely ignore this), and Inner Wolverine gets turned into The Murderous Headmate at the end. Some general “it’s the ’10s, we should be better than this” sexism in how Echo gets written.

Access Notes: Most of these are available in print collections of some sort, as well as digitally through Marvel. Nothing audio or screenreadable as far as I know.

Also submitted by a mysterious anon! Thank you, anon!

"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. Others contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: 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

Misc Notes: The primary author is nonbinary and a POC!