Plural Stories

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.

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

"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.

“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:

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 a generous Anonymous! Thank you, Anonymous!

“You're not from Mars. You're from too much pressure on my brain.” “FORGIVE ME–US–YOURSELF. …NOT “MARTIAN.” NOT LITERAL. SYMBOL/SYNECDOCHE– “OUTLINE OF BEST FIT.” MARTIAN CONCEPT-CONSTELLATION—ALIEN–DIFFERENT–FAR AWAY.”
And I… see isn't the right word… there are no words for it…New nonsense senses describing–experience of–somewhere so distant the universe will burn out before light from Earth can reach it…a place beyond places”

Blurb: a year after FBI agent John Jones moved to the Stochastic Terrorism Unit in Middleton, he is caught in a suicide bombing. Afterwards, he starts seeing colored smoke coming from people and knowing close details about people around him. He also begins perceiving messages from an unknown being he calls the Martian. Together, they must learn to work together in order to protect Middleton from acts of violence and the encroachment of the mysterious White Martian.

Why is it worth your time?: This ongoing series is a refreshing new take on the DC superhero Martian Manhunter. The Martian is truly eldritch in nature, and the story visuals do bend your brain a bit in a delightful way. Despite the triggering content (and there is a LOT of it–see content warnings), the story so far has an altogether positive outlook on humanity.

Plural/1+ Tags: realitymashing, type: setting-specific, visions, voices,

( Spoilers for days! )

Accessibility Notes: Currently available where comic books are sold. May be available online (though currently that may only be on bootleg sites.)

Misc. Notes: definitely for adults and possibly older teens but definitely not younger teens

“What are your pronouns?” I ask, after they introduce themselves, trying to be polite.

“We/us/our,” is the response.

Blurb: A drunken date, a sloppy makeout, a merging into a happy greater hivemind.

Why is it worth your time?: A fun realitybending story of mind joining. It's short, online, and free!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, creator speaks from experience, identity blending, romantic relationships

Content Warnings: identity loss and alcohol

Access Notes: free, online, screenreadable

Misc Notes: Read it here! Back-up link here.

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 Sploosh! Thanks, Sploosh!

"Even if we lose our way, we keep moving."

Blurb: The sequel to BanG Dream! It's MYGO!!!!! following the titular band coming together and falling apart as each member is forced to confront their struggles, insecurities, and traumas.

Why is it worth your time?: Mutsumi Wakaba, the rhythm guitarist of Ave Mujica, has Dissociative Identity Disorder. Her alter Mortis first fronts in Episode 3, and is a recurring character throughout the series. While Mortis is somewhat of an antagonist to Mutsumi, she's given more nuance then most Jekyll and Hyde style systems are given in media, and she's shown to be genuinely well meaning and trying to protect Mutsumi. Their arc together ends with the rest of the system reawakening after several years of dormancy, able to work together and switch out depending on the situation.

The series does dramaticize its depiction of plurality, but the entire show is very, VERY dramatized, and while Mutsumi and Mortis are in conflict for a good portion of the series, they do eventually reconcile. This show isn't for everyone, but it's still worth watching if you can tolerate/enjoy Girls Being Bad With Each Other.

Plural/+1 Tags: abuse high-focus, closeting, enmity, teamwork, friendship, switching, visions

Content Warnings: parental abuse/neglect, hallucinations from character's pov, depictions of poverty, depictions of alchoholism, the bandmates all just generally having very toxic relationships with each other, character lying about their entire identity, same character being unhealthily obsessed with the protagonist,

Accessibility Notes: Show is available on Crunchyroll and Amazon Prime Video(?) officially.

Misc. Notes: Currently has a sequel movie in production as of the time of writing.

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)