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"What can I do when it feels like the whole universe is out to get me?"

"First, I would decide if it is a worthy opponent. If not, I prefer to laugh."

Blurb: "Conan the Barbarian versus my mundane problems!" Conan accompanies Kahn throughout their life, dispensing life advice and giving new perspectives on modern life.

Why is it worth your time?: It's a nice little comic about a cartoonist and their barbarian friend, a nice slice of WHY people enjoy the company of their favorite fictional barbarians. Plus, it's up for free online! Give it a shot!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, creator speaks from experience, fictioneers, friendship

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: Posted up online for free reading! Not screenreadable, out of print, but also available in ebook as pay-what-you-want, should you want to pay a humble cartoonist!

Misc Notes: For funsies, compare and contrast with Andy of Astraea's web page about how Robert E. Howard claimed that Conan seemed to write himself!

"How long have you known I wasn’t real?"

Blurb: The adventures of Batman, an eldritch imaginary friend who has sadly outlived the child who first imagined him. What does he do now, especially now that Superman's figured it out?

Why is it worth your time?: This is an impressively original interpretation of Batman that explains so many things about the character in such a delightful way. (Why is he able to do so many things a regular human can't? Why does his cape change in shape and size so? How is he still doing this after so many decades? Because he isn't actually human.) Reading about spooky asocial protector-of-children Batman building relationships despite his lack of humanness is heartwarming. This story is especially fun to read paired with Trippe's Something Terrible.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, imaginary friends, nonhumans (eldritch nightmare monster thingy?), friendship

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Accessibility Notes: Free to read and screenreadable on Ao3 and also backed-up on archive.org!

Submitted by

packbat! Thanks,

So out we went, and a few minutes later we were at the mall. It wasn’t a large mall by today’s standards, but it was fairly new, and though Cynthia wasn’t impressed with the selection of clothing, I was in hog heaven, since it was all new to me. I don’t know how many pieces of clothing I tried on that day. I was a little tired but still feeling enthusiastic when we stopped for lunch. I would have bought dozens of things, as much as I could possibly afford and maybe more, but Cynthia kept cautioning me not to spend so much of Scott’s money that he wouldn’t want to be me again. So I didn’t buy anything at first, until I’d tried on a bunch of stuff at several stores. Then after lunch I went back and bought my favorites: a flower-pattern peasant skirt, a solid green long-sleeved blouse, and matching shoes with a low heel. The skirt and blouse had no pockets, so I needed a purse as well. I wanted to buy a necklace or earrings too, but reluctantly decided I’d better not push my luck. Scott needed this stuff if he wanted to be me again, and the less money I spent, the more likely he was to want to be me again. Then, after he’d made a habit of it, I could buy the necklace and earrings.

Blurb: In 1970, a young college student is introduced by his roommate to jekyllase. Based on the recently rediscovered formula created and then thought lost by Dr. Henry Jekyll a century earlier, it's all the rage on campuses now: it will show you your inner, repressed self. What will that look like for Scott and his friends?

Why is it worth your time?: It's a cool story in a classic kind of speculative fiction style, and explores a lot of aspects of its specific fictional form of plurality through it - notably relationships within jekyll-hyde pairs, how the introduction of hydes changes jekylls' relationships with others, and the power dynamics and logistics of the drug-induced switching.

Plural/1+ Tags: enmity, friendship, teamwork, setting-specific, on purpose.

Content Warnings: alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use; homophobia; transphobia; attempted sexual assault; period language we wouldn't use today. Also, it's possible for a jekyll (jekyllase user) to use jekyllase to the point where the hyde (the alternate identity created by the drug) becomes their body's base form instead of transformed form and jekyllase would be needed to revive the original; the idea of doing this deliberately is discussed.

Accessibility Notes: online, screenreadable, free. The author has posted it to multiple archives, but the Scribblehub edition is our recommendation.

Misc. Notes (if any): The way it explores gender is probably not a clear match to plural gender issues, but it's definitely interesting. Also, while the story takes place in the 1970s, the framing device is that this account was published later (presumably around the mid 2010s when it was written), so things like the period-appropriate theories of gender and transness that the protagonists look up are given commentary from a more modern perspective.

"As he walked away I realized how wrong I had been with one of my answers. Two heads are better than one: Mara's and mine. She was silent then. I knew I wouldn't mind being in the hospital. But I couldn't bear if I were by myself."

Blurb: A heroine finds another world and a friend who helps her survive this one. What is sanity anyway?

Why is it worth your time?: A very short story, a time capsule from early feminist press sci-fi, still emotionally resonant today.

Plural/1+ Tags: Abuse:intermediate focus, nonhumans (space alien?), friendship, voices

Content Warnings: institutionalization.

Accessibility Notes: This story was only published in WomanSpace: Future and Fantasy: Stories and Art by Women, from New Victoria Press, a long shuttered feminist independent press, and it seems to be impossible to find a copy. (I myself found it in a sci-fi library.) Anna's Archive has a digitized copy, but the story is so short, I just typed it up myself.

Submitted by

beepbird! Thanks,

beepbird!

"“The formal definition of insanity,” I said, “is actually quite fluid. Two people can have the exact same condition, with the exact same severity, but one can be considered sane by the official standards while the other is considered insane.""

Blurb (taken from the back of my copy): Stephen Leeds, AKA 'Legion,' is a man whose unique mental condition allows him to generate a multitude of personae: hallucinatory entities with a wide variety of personal characteristics and a vast array of highly specialized skills. As the story begins, Leeds and his aspects are drawn into the search for the missing Balubal Razon, inventor of a camera whose astonishing properties could alter our understanding of human history and change the very structure of society.

Why is it worth your time?: Despite being framed as hallucinations, Leeds' aspects are treated as fully autonomous people who make their own decisions, sometimes surprising him. It's nice to see them treated as rounded characters of their own, let alone rounded characters with independent relationships with each other.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse not mentioned, realitymashing, friendship, romantic, enmity, teamwork, nonswitching, visions, voices

Content Warnings: character death, gun violence, terrorism mentions, kidnapping(? Debatable about whether it counts, but they do get knocked out and wake up tied to a chair at one point), debate about wanting a "cure". This is also the first book of a series, which has a content warning in the comments.

Accessibility Notes: Physical book or ebook (legitimate or otherwise); audiobooks are available on audible, Amazon, Google Play, etc. I'd assume that it can be found at libraries given that I found it at a library sale. All text, so screen reading shouldn't be an issue for ebooks. This particular book of the series has also been translated into French and Spanish!

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.

"Please. I could go to one of the others, maybe. But I feel closest to you. Please. Please. [...] I wouldn't try that again, an unwilling host. You have to say you'll let me, or I won't come in."

Blurb: Deep space captain Adam is on his first trip through deep space when a free-floating "matrix" personality escapes containment and takes residence in his body. She seems nice enough, but the rest of the ship is deeply afraid; how can they hide her?

Why is it worth your time?: It's a good, bittersweet tale of two different people finding and connecting with each other in space! Give it a shot!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, bodyhopping, closeting, cofronting, teamwork, friendship, intimate relationships, setting-specific

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: Available in audiobook, ebook, and still in print; also Italian, French, and German. Also on archive.org

Misc Notes: Nominated for Hugo, Locus, and Nebula.

"Hi! My name is Maura Ai. That's my body you're wearing."

Blurb: Maura and Francine are mad scientist sisters, but after Maura dies in a scientific accident, Francine tries to resurrect her... only to get someone completely different instead. How do you manage a life that isn't your own?

Why is it worth your time?: This is a "serial singlet" story--after Maura's death, she can communicate with M through mirrors, but never comes back into the body, and M did not exist prior to Maura's death. The story focuses overwhelmingly on the difficulty of the relationship between Francine (who so badly wants her sister back, and just CAN'T) and M (who comes in a blank slate, has very different tastes and aptitudes than Maura, but is terrified of being found out lest she be "taken apart"). Any plural who's had to pretend to be the "real person" will feel this book hard! Also, the art is pretty!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, serially singlet, closeting, the dead, family, friendship, teamwork, setting-specific, visions, voices

Content Warnings: Death! Others contain spoilers; see comments.

Access Notes: Available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook.

Misc Notes:

This was submitted by

beepbird! Thanks,

beepbird!

"...we are a different kind of real. It’s a kind of real that adults don’t understand, so they just assume we’re imaginary.”

Blurb: Budo is lucky as imaginary friends go. He's been alive for more than five years, which is positively ancient in the world of imaginary friends. But Budo feels his age, and thinks constantly of the day when eight-year-old Max Delaney will stop believing in him. When that happens, Budo will disappear.

Why is it worth your time?: The entire book is told by an imaginary friend, and he's largely treated as a real person by the narrative; he has his own opinions, hopes, and fears independent of the kid imagining him, and he has an interest in his own survival. The power dynamic of being an imaginary friend is a central theme of the story, which I haven't seen explored much before.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse intermediate focus, children, imaginary friends, on purpose, neurodivergence [autism], friendship, nonswitching

Content Warnings: Kidnapping, ableism against an autistic child, bullying, claustophobia, death and existential horror of imaginary friends, threats of institutionalization, abuse, grooming, gun violence, cancer and terminal illness, panic attacks and anxiety

Accessibility Notes: Available for purchase; it's been fairly easy to find at libraries in my experience, and it can be found on archive.org for free (https://archive.org/details/memoirsofimagina0000dick). Audiobook versions are also available (https://www.audible.com/pd/Memoirs-of-an-Imaginary-Friend-Audiobook/B008X9YLAU).

Misc. Notes (if any): Unfortunately, the imaginary friend does not survive the narrative; fortunately, he gets an epilogue that still treats him as a person after the fact, which was touching.

"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.

SPOCK: There is the other matter--the matter of identity.

NIMOY: Whose identity?

SPOCK: Ours.

NIMOY: I don't understand.

SPOCK: The separation of personalities. The rejection. The book.

NIMOY: You mean, I Am Not Spock? That was just a play of words, ideas. I was just trying to find a way to come to terms and explain... us. Our relationship. Did you feel rejected? I'm sorry.

SPOCK: I would not describe my experience as a "feeling."

NIMOY: I didn't mean to offend--

SPOCK: No offense taken.

Blurb: Leonard Nimoy's memoir about playing Spock on Star Trek, hearing his voice in his head and talking to it, and their relationship through Nimoy's acting, directing, and theatrical career over the decades.

Why is it worth your time?: It's enjoyable! Nimoy is playful and thoughtful, and he and Spock's regular dialogues taking the piss out of each other is a lot of fun. By the time of this book, Nimoy had all the money and prestige he needed, and he feels no shame about having Spock write the foreword trolling him, and for Nimoy himself to say first thing that he hears Spock's voice and talks back to him. Definitely give it a shot!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, identityblending, nonhumans (alien, Vulcan), fictioneers, friendship, voices

Content Warnings: None of substance. Nimoy discusses his parents death affecting him, later into the book, and Hollywood conflict, but on the whole, this book is not a painful read at all.

Access Notes: This book was pretty famous; you have decent odds finding it in a library. Released in hardback and paperback, never had an official ebook release but LibraryGenesis seems to have some digital versions. (Quality not guaranteed.)

Misc Notes: Comes with photos. Nimoy's earlier 1970s memoir, I Am Not Spock, has a chapter of the same name pontificating on the nature of identity and selfhood that may also be of interest!

Submitted by

erinptah! Thank you,

erinptah!

"You saved me. I survived because I knew I wasn't alone. You were always there, so alive, so full of hope...You are the only real superpower I ever had."

Blurb: Steven Grant is an ordinary London retail worker, with an interest in Egyptology and a problem with sleepwalking. Marc Spector is a mercenary-turned-superhero, fighting evil as the Avatar of the god Khonshu, on one last mission to stop a divine genocide. And they were headmates (oh my god, they were headmates).

Why is it worth your time?: Possibly the most mainstream DID rep to get a ton of positive reviews from IRL systems. The headmates start out disconnected, spend some time aggressively clashing over their different values/priorities (not to mention Steven's instant crush on Marc's wife Layla). Then they need to lean on each other's skills to survive a classic superhero world-saving quest, get dragged through some magical trauma-processing, and ultimately figure out how to understand and appreciate each other. Oscar Isaac plays both of them, and (with the help of an amazing crew + diligent FX team) has amazing chemistry with himself. Avoids the usual Marvel settings to bring us to London and Cairo; it's the rare Egypt-centric series driven by IRL Egyptian creatives, and it shows.

Plural Tags: abuse intermediate-focus, cofronting, memory work, otherworld, people: imaginary friends, relationship: friendship, relationship: teamwork, type: medical, type: switching

Content Warnings: Genre-typical violence. Others contain SPOILERS, see comments.

Accessibility Notes: Streaming version has multiple translations, subtitles in multiple languages, and a couple of audio tracks with voiceover descriptions included. Also available on DVD.

Misc. Notes (if any): When the show's portrayal of DID gets criticized, it's mostly over aspects that have been simplified or dramatized to keep things clear for the audience. Example: at first, when we see Marc and Steven switch, it's physically exaggerated, like they're having a seizure...because new viewers need the visual cue that something disorienting and unusual is happening. The guys have more subtle and realistic switches later, when the audience has gotten the hang of how it works.

Meanwhile, the series takes care to get a lot of important dynamics right. Like "if one headmate is doing distressing things behind another headmate's back, it doesn't mean the first one's a horror-movie villain, it means they have different ideas about how to stay safe." And "friends/loved ones don't have to be perfect experts, or to disregard their own needs, to be a good supporter for a system." And "sometimes alters are based on fictional characters, it's fine." And "trauma holders deserve to be told the trauma wasn't their fault." And "healing with DID doesn't require keeping The Original and getting rid of everyone else, it's about everyone figuring out how to work together and support each other."

"I'm a car. And a hotel. And a babysitter. And all my clients are dead. And I fucking HATE my job. Lucky me, I carry around a refuge in my head. The same place I stick all my temporary residents."

Blurb: After a near-death experience, all Kat wants is to get high and shut up the ghosts in her head. But after she ends up in the middle of a cosmic war between angels and demons, she has to pick a side.

Why is it worth your time?: It's funny, the art is pretty, and Kat's mindscape is a major player in this story about claiming your own mind and life. Give it a shot!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, otherworld, the dead, realitymashing, enmity, teamwork, friendship, spiritual, and visions

Content Warnings: Drugs, mild violence, naked nonsexual penis.

Access Notes: Available in paperback and ebook forms. One volume at time of posting.

Submitted by

acorn_squash! Thank you,

acron_squash! ^_^

“Vern reached out to squeeze Lucy’s hand. Lucy squeezed back. In her mind, Vern said the words, I love you, I miss you. Lucy put down the book, turned to Vern, and said, ‘I like living inside of you.’”

Blurb: Everybody in Cainland is used to hauntings - visions and night terrors supposedly caused by withdrawal from white people's toxins. But in Cainland, everything is connected and nothing is what it seems. After fleeing the Cainland cult compound pregnant with twins, an exoskeleton develops on Vern's disabled, teenage body, a passenger that saps her energy but connects her to something greater than herself. Meanwhile, she learns to communicate with her hauntings and develops loving relationships with some of them.

Why is it worth your time?: It’s a fast-paced thriller with some of the most unique and creative science fiction elements I’ve seen in a while (did I mention the exoskeleton?). Definitely read the content warnings first, though!

Plural Tags:abuse high-focus, the dead, children, setting-specific plurality, family, friendship, and intimate relationships, visions

Content Warnings: The author includes the following content warning: “I hope that even as Sorrowland delves into the pain these colonial states have wrought, one might see the joy, triumph, and humor of those who resist, resist, resist. That said, there is no mincing words about some of the darker themes in this book. Note discussion and instances of racism, misogyny, self-harm, suicidality, and homophobia, inclusion of animal death and explicit violence, and references to sexual violence that have taken place off the page.”

In addition to this, the book also includes the death and sexual abuse of children, the forced removal of children, poverty, homelessness, cults, medical experimentation, and drugs. Pregnancy, childbirth, and consensual sex also appear.

Accessibility Notes: Available in e-book, audiobook, and print.

Submitted by

acorn_squash! Thank you,

acorn_squash!

“Seeing is believing in the things you see
Loving is believing in the ones you love!”

Blurb: A sweet song about being friends with a unicorn, the northern star, and someone who lives inside of you.

Why is it worth your time?: It’s cute and it’s about love!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, imaginary friends, nonhumans [unicorn, celestial body/northern star in English, flying elephant, moon and stars in Cantonese], friendship

Content Warnings: Discussion of facing ableism and lack of understanding, which is shrugged off immediately. This is a happy song!

Accessibility Notes: The audio and lyrics are available for free on the singer’s website. The songsheet is $5. Also, in 1984, this song got covered and adapted in Cantonese by George Lam, with the title San Ren Xing/三人行! You can listen to it and see the lyrics both in Chinese and English here!

"There are more things in the human mind and heart, a twentieth-century Hamlet might remark, than are dreamt of in our psychology."

Blurb: Brief thumbnail life stories of overwhelmingly-American multiples from 1811 to 1981, including trance states, fugue folks, Spiritualist mediums, and the start of the MPD surge.

Why is it worth your time?: If you want a crash course and quick look-over of the historical progression of how multiples were seen and categorized in mostly-America over the course of 170 years, this book is invaluable! Dig into the citations in the back to find the original records; a lot of them are surprisingly findable.

Plural Tags: abuse intermediate-focus (depends on the case), fusion/integration, otherworld, children, relationships of enmity and friendship, medical, spiritual, switching

Content Warnings: Institutionalization, medical ableism, physical and sexual violence, self-harm, and serial rape. Despite this, the thumbnail-sketch format of the book means none of this hits too hard.

Access Notes: Still in print, improbably, and though never officially digitized, we and Orion Scribner joined forces to create a screen-readable PDF of LB's copy. (Sorry for the annotations.)

"Weary with toil, I haste me to my bed,
The dear repose for limbs with travel tired;
But then begins a journey in my head,
To work my mind, when body's work's expired:"

Blurb: A poem about traveling to one's companion in dreams.

Why is it worth your time?: It's fucking Shakespeare, the most celebrated author in the English language.

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, dreamfolk, intimate and friendly relationships

Content Warnings: None whatsoever.

Access Notes: It's Shakespeare. You can find it EVERYWHERE. Here, here's a link with notes! It's so short, we will also post it in the comments below.

"dragons may be make believe -- that doesn't make them fake."

Blurb: A children's song about a young boy and his imaginary dragon friend.

Why is it worth your time?: I mean, if you want a sad song about the abandonment of childhood wonder and dreams, there's the original. If you want the happy ending, you can read Spider Robinson's 3rd verse addendum!

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, otherworld, imaginary friends, nonhumans [dragon], friendship

Content Warnings: loss of childhood innocence and wonder

Access Notes: This is a very well-known song and easy to find lyrics and recordings of. It's also on archive.org! Spider Robinson's verse is also freely available online, because the fanzine he put it in (Niekas #30, from 1981) got digitized a while ago. If you are TRULY deadset on owning Robinson's verse on paper with an illustration, it was also printed in Fifty Extremely SF* Stories, edited by Michael Bastraw.

Misc Notes: Since Robinson's verse is so short, I just copy-pasted it into the comments below, because it seems like the kind of ephemera that might disappear. I know he's performed it live, but I haven't found any recordings, sorry!

Submitted by

acorn_squash!

“We tend gardens in our hearts for others, even if they might never see the flowers.”

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

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

Plural Tags: creator speaks from experience, abuse not mentioned, otherworld, dreamfolk, imaginary friends, nonhumans [psychopomps, vultureperson], friendship

Content Warnings: None

Access Notes: Not screenreadable, sorry!

Read for free here! (Back-up link 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)

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