Plural Stories

Submitted by erinptah! Thank you, erinptah!

-"Who'd want to put up with ten of us?" -"Well, if a guy didn't have many friends, it would make a great package deal."

Blurb: Adrian is a chirpy tech nerd on mental-health leave for his severe OCD. Grace is a shy street artist with PTSD and multiple personalities (we also meet G, Little, and Spike). After a meet-cute at their shared therapist's office, they strike up a friendship, which turns romantic as they work through some of their fears together.

Why is it worth your time?: A plural character gets to be the love interest in a sweet, funny romcom. Integration is mentioned but not pushed, and Adrian's care about "keeping track of which specific headmate he's talking to" is presented as one of the qualities that makes him Boyfriend Material. Does a nice job of balancing the dysfunction of the main characters: Adrian and Grace-and-company both have significant struggles, they both have moments of lashing out when their triggers get stepped on...then they apologize, and put in the care and effort to get closer anyway.

Plural/1+ Tags: abuse low-focus, people: children, relationships: teamwork, relationships: romance, type: medical, type: switching

Content Warnings: Reference to Grace's past CSA. Attempted assault towards the end from Grace's current boyfriend Sledge, triggering a brief non-graphic flashback. References to sex work (also non-graphic, and nothing bad happens to the sex-worker characters).

Accessibility Notes: Available on DVD, blu-ray, and streaming, including free with ads on Youtube. Closed captions included.

Misc. Notes (if any): The rare non-terrible fictional therapist! (She's mostly there so we can get exposition through the characters talking to her.)

Submitted by starfallhaven! Thanks!

"this was your shell, but it was all filled up with me. God, the double entendres were hard to resist."

Blurb: the sequel to Gideon the Ninth, Harrow the Ninth follows Harrowhark Nonageismus, who has failed to become a true Lyctor--a necromancer who has absorbed the soul of her cavalier. She is being both haunted by both visions and ghosts as she attempts to survive her time aboard the Mithraeum as one of God's chosen saints.

Why is it worth your time?: this book is extraordinarily good if you know what's going on (that is, body and mind sharing). The entire premise of Lyctorhood, one of the novel's defining world building aspects, is based on the idea of a secondary soul residing in a single body. There's even possession.

Plural Tags: mindsharing, switching, visions, setting-specific, abuse not mentioned, fusion/integration, otherworld, enmity and romantic relationships, the dead

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Accessibility Notes: available in print, ebook, and audiobook.

Misc. Notes: This book is not going to make much sense if you haven't read Gideon the Ninth, and I can't recommend reading one without the other. Although I'm firmly of the opinion that knowing about the bodysharing aspect in advance will only make the reading experience more enjoyable, it is technically a spoiler to know about at least one of the bodysharing relationships in this book.

"Kora had tried extremely hard not to overhear Eli and Cam's plans. She'd shoved her fingers into her ears, walked out of the room, turned up her music as loud as she could, trying to give them privacy, but it had been no use. The moment she stepped back into front, she was hit with a wave of knowledge."

Blurb: Cam and Eli plan the most amazing birthday surprise for their newest relationship partner, Kora. What happens when common memory fouls things up?

Why is it worth your time?: It's fluffy romantic fun about two headmates trying to sneak a birthday surprise past a third.

Plural Tags: abuse not mentioned, cofronting, romantic relationships,

Content Warnings: None. It's made of happiness.

Access Notes: Free, short, fully screanreadable. Read it here! (Back-up link)

KAT: Oh never give your money to no musician

ERNEST: Or explorer!

KAT: Don't give us dollars shekels pesos pounds or yen

ERNEST & KAT: 'Cause despite our best intentions
You'll need legal interventions
If you ever want that money back again

Because you know we ain't like other folks
We push and pull and pry and coax
The beauty from the boring and mundane
We don't know from financial things
We live like paupers, dream like kings
And everybody thinks that we're insane

Blurb: After the father of her baby leaves her to tour with a Journey tribute band, plus 36 hours without sleep, a video game music composer and single mother Kat starts having visions of famous explorer Ernest Shackleton, who encourages her to get her life together as he tries to survive his disastrous expedition to the Antarctic. Romance ensues... sorta!

Why is it worth your time?: It's cute, arguably too much so. The music's enjoyable, it's a feel-good story. Even the reviewers who didn't like it had to admit they hadn't seen anything like it and that it was visually appealing. If you're into musicals, give it a shot!

Plural Tags: visions, abuse not mentioned, realitymashing

Content Warnings: contain spoilers; see comments

Access Notes: The BroadwayHD version has subtitles!

Misc Notes: Currently available on BroadwayHD or Amazon video, or as a musical album. There have been a few live shows in the past.

"What I do remember is... 'No one will ever love you!' My mother's words... those words made me believe no one would love me. So I created two new personalities who would love me, 'Kaname' and 'Ryo.'"

Blurb: A very VERY boys love manga about the sexual and romantic misadventures of a small system of three that start as boyfriends, then get their own corporeal boyfriends over time.

Why is it worth your time? I cannot say this book is good. It is the literary equivalent of squirting cheese whiz directly into your mouth from the can. Read this ONLY if you are here for all the goofy BL tropes and are aching for unrealistic cheesy absurdity. I enjoyed it far disproportionately to its quality.

Plural Tags: in-system relationships, MPD/DID, switching, plural community (i.e., there's more than one plural in this book), abuse low-focus

Content Warnings: Explicit sex. Other warnings contain spoilers and are in the comments below.

Accessibility Notes: Available in English paperback, though only secondhand. Apparently the Japanese version is available both in paper and in ebook form, under its original title, 脳内恋愛のススメ (Nōnai Renai no Susume).