I feel like I used to have a satisfactory layout for years but haven’t since found a consistently comfortable arrangement. I like to have a fairly thick pillow or two under my head to accommodate my bad shoulder, a pillow between my thighs to avoid chafed skin, and a pillow for hugging - also mostly for my shoulder.
The head ones tend to get distorted really quickly and it’s really difficult to find a good hugging pillow.
I haven’t tried a plushy, but yeah, I also find sleeping accessories marketed towards side sleepers to generally be unsatisfactory.