The Founders' Pages:
Plurality 101: What is it?
"The experience of having more than one person, self or identity within the body" --Manchester Metropolitan University's Understanding Multiplicity
That's it. The rest is commentary. However, if you want that commentary...
Understanding Multiplicity, from Manchester Metropolitan University. Probably the most concise, down-to-earth introduction I've seen, and while it's written for young people, it applies to older folks too. A lot of their resources in their Uniting Senses and Experiences Network is worth checking out! Local copy here.
Free Welcome Pack, from the Dissociative Initiative. Contains brochures and posters with intro info!
Quick'N'Dirty Plural History, by LB Lee. A four-part series covering just a few of the actions, interpretations, labels, and slapfights of various plural camps from 1811 to 2019. Condensed (and subtitled) hour-long video version here.
Becoming Median, by Zyfron. After years of hiatus, Zyfron explains what happened after the end of their webcomic, Gemini, and what life is like for them now. Text-only version here!
Daily Life and Getting It Together
Does It Work? and The Power of Naming, by Vicki(s). Probably the most common question any plural group ever gets is, "how can I tell I'm multiple?" or "but what if I'm faking?" These essays help. Local copy here and here. (I have no idea if Vicki(s) are still around, so can't contact them for permission; if you are Vickis, please let me know if you want me to take this down!) (Link fixed 4/28/2024.)
Am I Plural?, by the Dragonheart Collective. If your response to Vicki(s) essays is, "but no, really, what are common plural experiences I can compare myself to, so as to figure myself out?" this essay is for you. Local copy here. (Link updated 4/28/2024.)
What is Safety?, from Staci Haines's Healing Sex. I know I have trouble understanding what safety is, so Haines breaks it down.
Beginning Communication, Building Safety and Trust, by Vicki(s). Advice on where to start when you and your headmates don't trust each other or want to listen to each other. Local copy here.
Mapping Your System, by Sarah K. Reece. How to get an idea who all is in there; comments discuss when mapping is inadvisable. Local copy here.
NEW! New System Member Guide, by Dragonheart Collective. "For some plural folks, sometimes new system members form and then do not know important basic information about their life. If they front before they learn this, they may become incredibly confused and upset. This is a guide on how to make your OWN personal guide for your system's use. This way the guide can be tailor-made to your life and what information system members tend to not know at formation." Local copy here.
Beginner's Guide to Fronting, by fuzzyjayling. A guide on letting someone else take over. (Note: some of these techniques involve purposely dissociating.) Local copy here. Also, fuzzyjayling has a newer guide if you prefer that one that comes at this from a different perspective! Try it if this one doesn't work for you.
Small Worlds, Contained Inside: Visualization Guide, by Hidden Storys of the Metallic System. A more in-depth primer to making an inner world, presuming said world will not be hostile. (Originally hosted on tulpa.io, rehosted with permission.) (Note: this guide is of limited usefulness to people with aphantasia. We as of yet have no guide for that situation.)
Headspace Discovery and Defense, by LB Lee. If a headspace is volatile or hostile, advice on working with that. Comes from the framework of headspace as a subconscious construct. (Note: this guide is of limited usefulness to people with aphantasia. We as of yet have no guide for that situation.)
Body Focus, Communication, and Memory, by the DreamWriters. A guide to handy, easy tactics to ground yourself and help keep up system communication, internal and out, even if dissociation is high. Local copy here. (Also check out their Brief List of Coping Tools!
$got parts?: Time Management, by ATW (RIP). (Scroll to page 8-10 for relevant info.) A selection from got parts? on managing time, even if memory-sharing is low. This entire book has useful stuff on getting to know your system, including mapping, creating a timeline, and building a headspace. The website's back up as of 7/15/2022, and the paperback and audiobook editions are back up for sale. Ebook seems to be out of print.
System Governments and Other Order-Keepers, by LB Lee (with quotes and selections from got parts? by ATW). An overview of various ways to keep order in the system, including headspace design, daily meetings, contracts, system government, and rules. If you're curious about ours, or want to use them as a conversation-starter, they are here.
NEW!Handling the "Silent Periods", by Phosphor and Hungry Ghosts. "Everyone's gone quiet, and you're beginning to question everything. What can you do?" Local copy here.
Healthcare and Disclosure
Plural Etiquette Questionnaire, by Hungry Ghosts. "A questionnaire geared towards helping plurals (of any kind!) lay some ground expectations and etiquette for others, especially non-plurals." Local copy here.
Should I Tell My Friends/Doctors/Parents About Being Plural?, by the Dragonheart Collective. A guide for preparing to disclose, and dealing with the fallout therein. Local copy here. (Link updated 4/28/2024)
The Plurality Playbook, by FreyasSpirit and Irenes. Originally published inside Google in 2016, it's now publicly available as "a practical guide for plural systems, for their teammates, and for their managers" in the workplace. Alternate copy here.
($) Rock Steady: Brilliant Advice from my Bipolar Life: the Therapy Chapter, by Ellen Forney. Though intended for folks with mood disorders, Rock Steady is on the whole a good investment and the chapter on therapy is still applicable. See also Staci Haines's Healing Sex: "Selecting a Therapist or Counselor," pg. 14-15 ($), and siderea's Shopping for a Therapist.
Getting Disability/SSI, from the Multiples-of-DA community on DeviantArt. For those of us looking for advice dealing with the disability system. (US-centric.) Local (abridged) copy here. (We were unable to get permission to do this, on account of the group being dead and the mods having left.)
Know Your Rights: A Handbook for Patients with Chronic Illness, by Jennifer C. Jaff, Esq. A very thorough book on everything from special education to insurance to housing. Because Ms. Jaff is sadly deceased, and the organization she created no longer exists, this handbook is out of print. If one of Ms. Jaff's estate would like us to remove this, I will. (Note: US-centric, predates the Affordable Care Act.)
Transitioning While Plural, by Yavari of Plures. Are you a trans system, or wondering about it? Yavari covers some 101 for plurals considering transitioning! Local copy here.
Abuse, Trauma, Self-Harm and Crisis
Multiplicity Crisis, from the Dissociative Initiative. Resources for dealing with common causes of a multi crash.
the Psychological Badness Scale, by LB Lee. Our own personal scale for measuring our crazy. We urge you to make your own.
NEW! What To Do When Your Source Upsets You, by Dragonheart Collective. For people with a strong identity connection to fiction, sometimes taking in that fiction is a form of self-harm. Clues on how to deal with it. Local copy here.
NEW! Finding (and Weighing) Safe Spaces, by Phosphor of Hungry Ghosts. "The question of 'how do I find a safe community space?" is an evergreen one in a community as stigmatized and rife with drama as the plural community. Here's some thoughts I have on that." Local copy here.
NEW! Safety In Alterhuman Spaces, by Dragonheart Collective. Gauging safety in nonhuman and plural groups. More expansive and detailed than Hungryghosts'; read them together. Local copy here.
The SAVE YOURSELF Files: a big zip file dump I've slapped together of resources for surviving and escaping terrible situations that helped me. Contains fourteen ebooks covering everything from abuse, homelessness, diagnosing your level of function and okayness, and recovering from the aftermath. You can see the full list and description of the resources here.
($) The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Sourcebook, by Glenn Schiraldi. Takes a scattergun approach to trauma, covering everything from dealing with emotions and memories to forms of therapy. Definitely a "take what works, ignore the rest" book, but good on the nuts and bolts. Available in ebook and print.
($) Healing Sex, by Staci Haines. A practical book on pursuing sexual pleasure while dealing with triggers and emotions. Intended for cis women, covers queerness and kink. This book's use, however, can be limited if there are memory blocks still in the way. Still, it's worth a shot! Available in ebook, paperback seems to be back in print as of 7/15/2022.
($) Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men, by Lundy Bancroft. BIG CAVEAT: Bancroft is a massive transphobe, does not seem to believe in female-on-male abuse, and none of his work is recommended except this book, which is very much for heterosexual, male-on-female abuse. That said, it's still the best thing I've found so far that explains why abusers do what they do and how, so I'm kinda stuck for it until something better comes along. If you want trans stuff, check out Domestic Violence: A Resource for Trans People by NHS Barking and Dagenham.
Memory Work Essays, by LB Lee. Exactly what it says on the tin.
The 'Hurt Yourself Less' Workbook, by Eleanor Dace, Alison Faulkner, Miranda Frost, Karin Parker, Louise Pembroke, and Andy Smith. National Self-Harm Network. Workbook for managing self-harm, not necessarily quit.
($) Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks, and Other Outlaws., by Kate Bornstein. Exactly what it sounds like. It helped keep us alive, so it does indeed work! Highly recommend buying the big version, but Bornstein also put a tiny mini-version up for free!
For Singlets
Rules of Engagement: Plural Etiquette, by Em, Hess, and Jack of Plures. Some quick lessons in basic plural manners. Local copy here.
So You Want to Write A Plural Character, by the Dragonheart Collective. Local copy here. (Original link corrected 4/28/2024.)
Sensitivity Reading with LB. Did that above thing not quite cover what you needed? You're welcome to pay us to help you out!
Miscellaneous Fun Stuff
Plural Pride Symbol: Created by ouregaiya (RIP) in October 2011 for all kinds of plurals to enjoy, whatever camp you're in. Also check out treblesand's treble ampersand, made in 2020!
The Plural Stories Catalog: A searchable, filterable catalog of plural stories. (Searching requires a Dreamwidth account.) Please submit your favorite plural stories here!
Monster Linkdump of Stuff I Found Plurally Useful: huge monster sourcedump of nonfiction citations that helped us understand the history, cultural context, and limitations of the concept of plurality, or which we want other plurals to know about. (See also: Linkdump of Noncorporeal Sexual/Romantic/Queerplatonic Relationships.)
LB's Old Pluralish Book Scans and PDF Hoard: LB's collection of PDFs, overwhelmingly of out-of-print hard-to-find many-selved books they dug out of the library archives and fed through the bookscanner. Now fairly screenreadable, thanks to Orion Scribner!