Below is an accurate timeline of my dealings with what I dub the Faerie Fantasy House that occurred in Rochester, New York. When there is a more detailed blog that related to each entry, it has been linked. This is only Mostly complete, probably 80%, from the time we will publicly list this page.

Xanthe was unknowingly the host of a D.I.D. system who thought for a long time that their alters were friends of theirs they could hang out with only under certain conditions. The ‘inworld’ is the internal world wherein many of these interactions play out. The suggestibility and the paranoia of the system would be taken advantage of time and time again by Rowan specifically.

So that everyone is aware of the dynamics of this polycule, Arkady (an alias to protect the identity) was Xanthe’s partner throughout the majority of these events. Arkady was also Rowan Janiszewski’s partner years before Xanthe. Rowan and Xanthe were friends. Rowan also dated Vali Janiszewski, who had moved from Arizona. Xanthe, Rowan, Vali, and Arkady all shared a three-bedroom house. You will occasionally find Rowan’s name replaced with the moniker “Ash”, just as Vali’s name is occasionally replaced by the moniker “March.” This is left over from the days I would censor their names on the blog.

Apollo is Xanthe’s friend whereas his twin sister, Kirra, was Xanthe’s abuser. There is a plot-twist about that revealed towards the end.

• August 6th, 2017: After having met Rayzel Bennett at the Park Ave. fest in Rochester, New York, Arkady discovers Xanthe’s existence and sends them a request on Facebook. As Xanthe has long-established a coping method of surrounding themselves with distant admirers, this was unremarkable.

• November 17th, 2017: Xanthe sends Arkady ‘Happy birthday, my dapper friend!’ in reference to their similar aesthetic.

• February of 2018: Upon beginning to read the Six of Crows duology, Arkady reaches out to Xanthe, knowing that they had finished the series recently and had loved it. They both begin talking excitedly about the characters and the series.

• March of 2018: Xanthe and Arkady speak regularly now, flirting with Sherlock and Moriarty gifs. Xanthe hires Arkady as their ‘arch-nemesis.’

• April 27th, 2018: Xanthe, aching for company on a hard traumaversary, calls Arkady. They talk for ten hours that day, relating an astonishing amount while drinking in their respective cities. Xanthe realises they have fallen for Arkady and pens a letter to confess their love and ask him if they can “break reality together.”

  The same night, apparently brave on alcohol, Arkady starts to call Rowan out for being jealous of Xanthe. This nearly leads to a break-up between Rowan and Arkady.

  

  

• May 6th, 2018: Arkady receives the letter and calls Xanthe, saying, “I would be honoured to break reality with you.”

• June of 2018: Xanthe and Arkady’s fiance, Rowan Janiszewski, meet in real life when Rowan takes an unexpected vacation in Savannah. They get along swimmingly and revel in their tag-team ability to help raise Arkady’s confidence and love him the way he deserves. Xanthe tells Rowan ahead of time that, though they’re open, they don’t want to have sex on this particular vacation.

  

  Within this same vacation, Rowan pulls a knife on Xanthe and threatens to cut their throat in front of Arkady on a video chat. Rowan then guilts Xanthe into sleeping with them, saying they felt hurt that Xanthe thought they were actually in danger.

  https://living-fiction.com/2022/03/17/when-i-first-met-ash-june-of-2018/

  

• Summer of 2018: As Xanthe and Arkady begin to theorize about the past lives the two of them share, Rowan weighs in. Rowan confesses to Xanthe that Rowan is the Unseelie Fae King. Rowan begins to teach Xanthe fae culture and occasionally invites them into Faerie. Xanthe, not realising that they have an inworld, believes that they do visit Faerie, and Rowan happily corroborates details of their excursions.

  https://living-fiction.com/2020/10/20/march-madness-prelude/

• November 2nd, 2018: Arkady arrives by train from Rochester, New York, to Savannah, Georgia. Xanthe and Arkady meet for the first time. Xanthe shows him around Savannah and they spend the weekend celebrating Xanthe’s birthday and bar-hopping.

  Xanthe also meets someone Arkady channels, ‘Visarden’, and the two begin a romantic relationship.

• November 5th, 2018: Xanthe has what would be their best birthday ever. Arkady takes credit for an enormous amount of fog that coats downtown Savannah that night, knowing that this is Xanthe’s favourite weather. Xanthe gains the ability to cry, if only out of happiness.

  Cross-faded and on the rooftop of the room Arkady is staying in, Arkady held Xanthe’s hand and guided them through the inworld to see Faerie, Asgard, and Kaspar. Arkady reinforced what they were seeing and praised them, telling Xanthe, “It’s all real.”

• November 16th, 2018: Rowan and Xanthe, having had planned this as a surprise for Arkady, split the cost of a flight between the two of them and Xanthe is Arkady’s birthday surprise.

  Rowan suggests that Xanthe should move in with the two of them.

  Rowan also starts to date Xanthe’s alter, Aberle, claiming to be able to meet him on the other plane.

• Late December of 2018: Vali sends a message to at least a few Facebook friends that a vitriolic ex was threatening to tell his crushes that they were his crushes, so, in a frenzy, he feels that he ‘has to’ confess his feelings to his crushes.

  He sends these messages to at least AJ, Xanthe, and Rowan.

  Rowan believed him and began dating him by January of 2019.

• January 15th, 2019: Xanthe prepares for top surgery with their mother as their caretaker. When their mother’s transphobia rears its ugly head, Rowan offers to fly down and take care of Xanthe themself.

  January 18th, 2019: Xanthe gets top surgery.

  

  January 19th, 2019: Rowan has sex with Xanthe when Xanthe is under the influence of pain killers.

  January 20th, 2019: Rowan asks repeatedly about Xanthe’s childhood sexual trauma, causing Story, a younger alter who had split from Nebula, to switch forward. Rowan asks to confirm that this is a separate person, has verbal confirmation they’re in the headspace of a minor, then reenacts the childhood trauma.

  https://living-fiction.com/2022/04/15/ash-to-ashes-xanthe-and-sparrow/

• January 22nd, 2019: As a celebration for Xanthe’s drains being out, Rowan and Xanthe bar hop before going to Sentient Bean’s Tongue: Open Mic show. Rowan meets Apollo for the first time and the three of them go out drinking together. Rowan plies Apollo and Xanthe with drinks and invites them to a threesome. Apollo ends up throwing up from alcohol poisoning before anything happens and Rowan remains the most sober by the end of the night.

  

• February 14th, 2019: Vali and his then live-in partner, Victor, had an intense fight that resulted in Vali tumbling down the hill. He would go on to prove the fall happened with photo evidence of minor injuries. He alleges that Vic pushed him, but was also binge-drinking heavily at the time. Despite only having dated Rowan for a month, he asks to move in with them, with the expectation of having Xanthe and Arkady also as roommates.

  After an in-depth discussion wherein Xanthe decides the trust they put into Rowan and Arkady would survive the challenges of adding another into the dynamic.

• Late February of 2019: Rowan claims that Xanthe had gotten their astral form pregnant and announces the birth of Xanthe’s twin sons. This is only the newest forged magical bond, as Rowan has professed to have several past-lives in common with Xanthe.

• March of 2019: Rowan and Arkady move into 324 Crosman Terrace in preparation to house their new family of four.

  Vali’s journey to Rochester is fraught with bad luck and his car breaks down. Rowan has to pay for his plane ticket the rest of the way from Arizona. He finally makes it to Rochester by the end of the month.

  Xanthe announces to their inn that they intend to move to Rochester in the following October.

  The stress begins to put a strain on Xanthe and they begin to recklessly drink.

  Rowan suggests that Arkady and Xanthe get married. They do, in a nebulous other plane, where Rowan guides them through what they’re experiencing via power of suggestion.

  

• April of 2019: Vali announces to his Facebook page that he was nearly finished moving his things into the attic. As the attic was agreed to be a communal space and the change in plans failed to include Xanthe, Xanthe becomes distressed. Xanthe is later told to apologise for being distressed.https://living-fiction.com/2020/11/06/march-madness-red-construction-paper-and-redder-flags-april-of-2019/

  Xanthe begins to suspect that Vali is bringing about an unhealthy dynamic within the house.

  During the evening known as the ‘Turcott’s Incident,” Vali becomes irresponsibly drunk, falls on his face, and needs to be carried to the bathroom, cleaned afterwards, and helped to his room.

  Xanthe feels neglected by the sudden lack of contact by both Rowan and Arkady.

  They plan for Rowan’s birthday vacation to Savannah, which is happening the following month.

• May 1st, 2019: The stress starts to get to Xanthe. They faint at work and are diagnosed with stress-induced arrhythmia. Due to their deteriorating mental and physical health, they decide to move to Rochester in June instead of October.

• Early May of 2019: Vali, distraught by the thought of being alone for two weeks, suggests that Rowan only spend a week in Savannah and Arkady remain there with Xanthe the full length of the vacation.

  Without having given an answer on whether that plan would be acceptable to Xanthe, March begins telling the household how selfish Xanthe is for not agreeing to it. Xanthe is later berated by Arkady for a decision they hadn’t yet weighed in on.

  Xanthe becomes increasingly unsettled and begins to notice instances of their ‘losing time.’ (Switching.)

• May 16th, 2019: The infamous ‘beach photo’ of Rowan and Xanthe is taken on Tybee Island.

  

  Vali calls Rowan repeatedly on the Uber ride from Tybee Island back to downtown Savannah. Arkady and Xanthe later on walk in on Vali and Rowan having a distressing conversation.

  https://living-fiction.com/2020/12/28/march-madness-may-16th-2019/

  Vali claims that he had to give himself a near fatal abortion years before on this day, in an unspecified year, and that he was breaking down due to Rowan leaving him alone for his ‘Traumaversary.’ His claim of the trauma has yet to be substantiated, despite requests for any kind of proof.

  Vali threatens to kill himself over the phone for four hours, then yells at Rowan when they fail to secure a quick enough return flight home. Arkady finally picks up Rowan’s phone and tells Vali to either stop or the police will be called.

• May 18th, 2019: Rowan, health ailing, boards a plane to Buffalo, where Vali was supposed to pick them up. Vali declines, saying he had already taken a sleeping pill. Sage has to pick Rowan up from the airport.

  Arkady and Xanthe, outraged on Rowan’s behalf, begin discussing the disproportionate amount of power Vali has on the household. They reach out to Sage and Zara, who corroborate their experiences with Vali and agree that he’s a poor influence on Rowan.

• May 21st, 2019: Rowan texts Arkady and Xanthe in group chat, telling them they were getting married to Vali.

  

  Arkady calls Rowan, expressing that he feels Rowan and Vali were moving too fast. Rowan confirms that it’s in Faerie they plan to be married in, but Arkady doubles down. Rowan then accuses Arkady of being jealous.

  https://living-fiction.com/2021/03/12/march-madness-married-may-of-2019/

  The pattern of favouritism and manipulation are familiar to Xanthe, and Xanthe begins to theorize that there may be an entity after them that had been utilized by their last abusive ex, Kirra. They would fail to realise that Rowan and Kirra had simply utilized similar methods of controlling the mentally ill. They would call the entity ‘Gaslamp.’

  Arkady confesses to Xanthe that Rowan thinks they’re Vali’s dead twin.

  A ‘past-life’, William, whom Arkady can channel also becomes more prevalent in this time. William and Xanthe begin a romantic relationship, with Xanthe now romantically seeing three partners within the same being.

  William opens up about how bad everything has gotten at the house since Vali had moved in.

• June of 2019: Rowan begins to mistreat Arkady on behalf of Vali. Arkady expresses suicidal feelings, openly doubting if he’ll be able to make it until Xanthe arrives.

• June 17th, 2019: Rowan and Vali arrive in Savannah with a Uhaul. Xanthe is taken aback by how different from his online photos Vali seems.

• June 18th, 2019: The three begin the long journey from Savannah, Georgia to Rochester, New York. Vali is caught texting while driving. He then brags about how he’s turned the attic into his ‘sex dungeon.’

  

• June 19th, 2019: Xanthe arrives in Rochester to live with Arkady, Vali, and Rowan. Xanthe is dismayed to learn that they do not have their own housekey or their own air conditioning unit, despite everyone else having one. They would not have their own access to the house for over two months.

  

• July of 2019: Arkady re-proposes to Rowan, as his first proposal years before wasn’t quite to their liking. This sends Vali into a breakdown, as he was planning to propose soon as well.

  During an excursion to Rosenkrown, Vali runs out and has a breakdown throughout the sidewalks leading back to the shared house. This leads to Vali darting down the sidewalk and running into Xanthe, which leads to Vali falling down and scraping his hand. He screams that his hand injury has caused him to ‘see bone.’ He was talking about a scrape that was hardly bleeding.

  Arkady and Xanthe are forced to take shifts in babysitting Vali as Vali cries and insists that he’s not toxic.

  https://living-fiction.com/2021/06/01/i-see-bone-july-of-2019/

  Rowan asks Xanthe why they haven’t slept with Vali yet, as they’ve been the only one who hasn’t.

• August of 2019: Despite a prior agreement to stay near downtown, it’s revealed after an excursion to Naples to visit their pastor that Rowan wants to move the rest of the household to the country and own goats. Xanthe is immediately singled out as the only one who wants to remain within the city. Caught between his two partners, Arkady feels he needs to choose between Rowan and Xanthe. Rowan claims that, due to their Faerie species, they have to move from the city because of the iron poisoning slowly but surely killing them.

  Arkady comes up with an agreement to keep a house in the city and a house in the country to satisfy both of his partners. Xanthe is perturbed that the prior agreement to live downtown was completely forgotten.

  https://living-fiction.com/2021/06/24/plans-change-august-of-2019/

  

• August 24th, 2019: Arkady, Rowan, and Xanthe have a spur of the moment trip to Niagara Falls. Rowan insists it’s to meet Aberle and Xanthe’s suggestible inworld corroborates this plan. Rowan insists that they can feel Aberle with them. Everyone agreed that Aberle was coming home with them.

• September 5th, 2019: Rowan is hospitalized due to an infection that was likely caused by Vali’s poor sexual hygiene practices. Aberle, panicked over Rowan’s resulting breakdown and suicide threat, tells them that he thinks Vali is abusive.

  Rowan confronts Xanthe about this and Xanthe confirms that most of Rowan’s friends believe Vali is abusive. Rowan then decides to hold a family meeting.

  Vali admits that he has been toxic and promises to work on himself and his lying habit, but the family meeting leaves much to be desired for both Arkady and Xanthe.

  

• Later in September of 2019: After some research, Xanthe discovers that, despite Vali having had the ‘Leo Urban’ profile since 2009, there had been no mention of his dead twin, the traumatic abortion story, or even his Romani heritage prior to 2018. They try to look up any obituary or news article regarding the dead twin and they come up with absolutely nothing.

  

• September 14th, 2019: During an excursion wherein Rowan, Xanthe, and Arkady go to a local goth club named Vertex, Xanthe admits to Rowan what they’ve researched.

  Rowan suggests that they go home and go into Vali’s room and find their legal documents, where Vali would have been listed as a multiple if he had, in fact, had a twin.

  The three take a detour in Mt. Hope Cemetery, wherein Rowan appears to enter a trance-like state and speaks from the point of view of Thysia, a goddess-like being in Xanthe’s inworld. The Rowan-Thysia explains that Vali and Rowan are simply extensions of the Thysia curse, which, again, does not exist outside of the Living Fiction’s Inworld.

  When the three return, Xanthe opts to go to sleep while Arkady and Rowan go through Vali’s documents. While they were not able to find Vali’s birth certificate, they did discover proof that Vali was lying about something else related in his past.

• September 15th, 2019: Rowan invites their friend, Zara, over for some reason (as a witness?) and all four of them confront Vali on their lying. Vali breaks down crying that they kept secrets out of shame but agrees to try to get better. Xanthe confronts Vali and demands proof of Vali’s dubious psychology degree and his twin’s existence. Vali has yet to do any of this. They all decide to reevaluate Vali’s position in the household next March. Rowan asks Xanthe to weigh in on the decision to immediately kick Vali out. Xanthe rationalizes that now that Vali has been revealed, Vali would no longer have any power over the household.

  Xanthe also informs Vali and Rowan that they will want to eavesdrop whenever an argument gets too tense, as this is an abusive situation. Vali and Rowan agree, but later on name this as a toxic trait of Xanthe’s.

  

• October of 2019: Xanthe’s mental illness takes a dive from having been constantly triggered and neglected. They begin to wonder if this magical-seeming manipulation pattern is a sign that they shouldn’t try to belong in the world.

  Xanthe brings up that it’s still unfair that Vali lives in the attic, which takes up an entire floor of the house, which was a decision they hadn’t been included in on. Xanthe insists it would be better as a communal space. Xanthe agrees to take the smallest room in the house to sweeten the deal. Vali argues with Xanthe and Xanthe rebuffs them. Vali then appeals to Arkady, who stands up for Xanthe. This makes the suddenly powerless Vali bitter.

  Vali and Xanthe spend the next week or so taking potshots at one another until, during a night of carving pumpkins, Vali told Xanthe “I remember Rowan telling me that they felt forced to talk to you!”

  This wounds Xanthe and Rowan tells Vali that they never want to see Vali do that again.

  Xanthe asks Rowan about it and Rowan blames it on the possession-like Gaslamp effect.

  

• November of 2019: Xanthe is convinced into harassing Arkady’s and Rowan’s former friends under false pretenses.

  Xanthe moves into the smaller room and Vali takes Xanthe’s former room.

  Arkady forgets to get Xanthe a birthday present. Xanthe’s existential issues worsen. Zara begins to spend weekends over at the house, unannounced, which exacerbates Xanthe’s feelings of neglect. She elects to smoke weed with the rest of the household. As Xanthe cannot stand the smell due to trauma,

  Rowan makes Zara her own copy of the housekey. Increasingly stressed, Xanthe and Arkady start to have arguments over their living situation.

• December of 2019: After volunteering to pick Xanthe up from work, Vali, Arkady, Zara, and Rowan have a night of getting ludicrously high and ignoring their phone. Xanthe arrives home two hours late and barred from the communal space Zara and Rowan are spending quality time in. Xanthe also finds that Zara and Rowan had been smoking in the house, which is a trigger for Xanthe’s CSA trauma.

  Nights later, Arkady brings up the idea that Xanthe will have to learn to drive with less anxiety in preparation for Rowan’s plan to move to the country. Xanthe reiterates that they wanted to live a carless life. When Arkady insists that himself and Rowan will always pick them up, Xanthe brings up the previous instance.

  This sparks an argument that ends with Arkady yelling at Xanthe for the first time in their year and a half long relationship.

  Solstice: Xanthe falls ill with something akin to COVID. When told Zara is coming over to spend a four-day stay with them, Xanthe asks, “Does she know I’m sick?” Arkady replies with, “Well, you said you’re not contagious.”

  

• Early January of 2020: Arkady and Vali make a trip to Naples to stay at a cabin owned by the aforementioned pastor.

  Later this same month, Arkady and Rowan also have a bonding trip planned for the cabin. Xanthe is barred from these trips due to an unspecified reason. When preparing to leave, Rowan expresses resentment that Xanthe and Arkady had waited so long to tell Vali that he had been previously toxic to them. When Xanthe and Arkady protest that they’d both tried to tell Rowan, Rowan threatens to rescind their trust in Arkady and asks to speak with Arkady alone.

  After the talk, Rowan retaliates by sneaking off to their car and taking off suddenly, as if to hurt themselves. This forces Vali, Arkady, and Xanthe to panic and catch up with the car on the corner of Crosman and Field.

  Rowan and Arkady later decide to go to the cabin the next day, isolating Arkady with Rowan after being punished with the fear of Rowan hurting themself.

• Mid-January of 2020: “Gaslamp”, the effect that Xanthe believed to be responsible for the ‘cult-like effect’ some people had in group situations, begins manifesting in the inworld as an actual being as a result of the external manipulation Xanthe continues to witness.

  Rowan knowingly triggers Xanthe by walking into rooms Xanthe is sleeping in without knocking. As Xanthe is hardly ever the first person in the system to become aware in the morning, this seemed intentional.

  

  Being as Xanthe was being continually blown off in favour of Zara and that Zara had gotten unlimited access to their space with no discussion, Xanthe’s paranoia turns to her. They try to communicate with Arkady that the group dynamics tend to turn against them when Zara is around, and they don’t ever consent to Zara being around in the first place. Xanthe is vaguely consoled by Arkady promising to include them more often, even when Zara’s around.

  Rowan suggests taking Xanthe thrifting.

• January 18th, 2020: Arkady informs Xanthe that the rest of the group would not be home when they arrived from work because they would all be out thrifting. Xanthe is hurt and expresses this.

  Arkady amends his plans and makes certain to swing back and include them, but Xanthe still feels wounded by having had to point out they were being left out again.

  Throughout the day, Xanthe is cheered up. Through the guise of being helpful, Vali corners Xanthe in the kitchen to let them know that Arkady had been venting to the group at large about them earlier in the day, which infuriates Xanthe.

  Xanthe texts Arkady, “I’d really prefer if you talked to me instead of About me.”

  They attempt to go to bed. Rowan knocks on their door and tells them that Xanthe and Arkady need to talk immediately. Xanthe, at first, declines because they’re drunk and upset, which are not the best conditions for a talk to happen.

  Rowan insists and explains that they themself will mediate. Xanthe goes up to the attic. During Arkady’s and Xanthe’s discussion, Rowan accuses Xanthe of forcing Zara to sleep at her sister’s rather than spending another night in their living room. Throwing their arms up and saying, “All I know is that our friend no longer feels welcome here,” they left the room, knowingly leaving both Arkady and Xanthe buzzed, upset, and alone.

  Xanthe points out what Rowan says and Arkady disagrees. Xanthe panics at the unintended gaslighting and they both begin to scream at each other until Arkady retreats downstairs and Xanthe collapses, sobbing.

  Arkady and Xanthe hug and cry on each other’s shoulders sometime later, apologising, but no real solution is reached. Arkady promises Xanthe that he will talk to them about it in the morning.

• January 19th, 2020: When morning comes, Arkady declines to talk. The polycule sits in an uncomfortable silence until Zara comes over. Xanthe asks if they could at least reach out to Arkady throughout the day when they’re at work. Xanthe expresses they’re “10/10 at risk territory.”

  Xanthe believes Arkady says, “Yeah, you can call me if you’re literally about to die.” It is uncertain whether Arkady said these exact words, or if Xanthe had a flashback to another time when he did say that.

  Xanthe goes to work and, switching out of control, accidentally takes more than a double dose of Hydroxyzine, which increases their confusion. Xanthe visibly hallucinates that they’re committing suicide. They let Arkady know, thinking that they’re following his earlier request, but Arkady proves that this isn’t what he wanted at all by having a breakdown at the thought of Xanthe’s suicide and sending them sobbing voice messages, snapping Xanthe out of it.

• Later in January, 2020: Rowan suggests Xanthe go to a clinic for their mental health, as they had admitted to being suicidal. Rowan sits in as Deborah the counselor scoffs at Xanthe’s suicide attempts and misgenders Xanthe.

  Xanthe decides not to open up to Deborah. Rowan later blames Xanthe for being ‘unwilling to get help.’

• Early February of 2020: In the aftermath of the events of January, Xanthe increases their reliance on alcohol. As the rest of the people in the house smoke weed every day instead, they resent Xanthe for their drinking. Rowan in particular, who prefers to use weed with their anti-depressants, tells Xanthe they couldn’t drink while medicated. Xanthe points out the hypocrisy, inspiring retaliation.

  Xanthe and Rowan schedule a ‘metamor weekend’, wherein Xanthe looks forward to telling Rowan where their mind has been lately. After one night out, Rowan invites Zara over to hang out with instead, deliberately reinforcing Xanthe’s fears.

  

  Xanthe takes this as proof that the ‘effect’ from their world is surrounding Zara, refusing to see it as simple unbalanced group dynamics and cult-like behaviour. They confront Arkady repeatedly about their theory, stressing that all they had to do was communicate to make the effect cease. After a few days of arguing, Arkady starts to see Xanthe’s point.

  Sage confesses to Xanthe that Arkady’s and Rowan’s relationship always turns sour when Xanthe and Arkady are thriving.

• February 11th, 2020: Rowan sets up a ‘family meeting.’ Xanthe assumes that it’s due to finances, as Vali had recently lost their job. Arkady had been ‘randomly anxious’ lately and, after Xanthe asks about it, says he will look into increasing his anxiety meds.

  The meeting ends up being an intervention for Xanthe’s discomfort around Zara. Arkady, Rowan, and Vali all take turns saying that Xanthe is delusional and manipulative and tells them that they’re the reason for Arkady’s anxiety. Arkady insists that Xanthe didn’t even ask why he was anxious, which was untrue.

  Rowan reveals that they believe the Gaslamp theory was never real, despite using it as an excuse for their own actions multiple times. Rowan then uses a video call function to call Zara into this, despite Xanthe expressing they were uncomfortable around her.

  This leads Xanthe to discovering that people had been telling Zara about their paranoia, laughing it off as Xanthe thinking Zara was possessed.

  Zara states that she stayed at her sister’s during the weekend of January 18th because she wanted to give the household space. Arkady says Rowan owes Xanthe an apology, because Rowan had assumed wrong about Zara’s intentions. When Rowan firmly corrects Arkady, Zara quickly self-corrects and states she stayed at her sister’s because she no longer felt welcome, fitting Rowan’s narrative.

  Seeing that Arkady was brainwashed to believing the rapidly changing story, Xanthe gives up and starts apologising.

• February 14th, 2020: Rowan starts the day off by vague-booking Xanthe about preferring to live in the city, which sets Xanthe on edge.

  

  Xanthe draws ‘The Tower‘ tarot card at the Spirit Room.

  Arkady reports being randomly anxious and, still shaky from the intervention, believes that this means that they’re already ruining things and that there will be another intervention for them. They begin to break down. Arkady yells at Xanthe when they try to go to him afterwards.

  This seems to sever the communication between the couple entirely, as Xanthe had been pushed to ‘proving the household right.’

• Late February, 2020: Xanthe is invited to go to the public market with the rest of the group. When it’s time to leave, Arkady awkwardly tells Xanthe that he hadn’t meant to invite them and that Zara, dictating the group now, feels uncomfortable with the thought of Xanthe coming with them.

  In front of the rest of the group, Zara launches into a diatribe to Xanthe about how delusional they were to be uncomfortable around Zara, how no one wants to be around them, and how manipulative Xanthe was for self-harming. Rowan denounces Aberle for having agreed with Xanthe that something was up, implying for the first time that they thought that Aberle was not even his own person, just someone Xanthe made up. Despite having dated him.

  Rowan then openly mocks Xanthe’s inworld in front of Zara, Vali, and Arkady, despite having claimed to have visited it and been a part of it. Vali, Zara, and Rowan take turns scoffing at Xanthe’s inworld, despite having made claims of similar experiences themselves. Zara also messages Xanthe further abuse, referencing their ‘demise.’

  

  Xanthe, feeling thoroughly betrayed, soothes themselves with writing a hypothetical journal entry of the future wherein Zara is no longer able to visit from Syracuse due to something being wrong with her car.

  After Story had self-harmed, she rubs her still-bleeding arm over the journal entry, smearing her blood on it as a petty act towards Zara’s views of self-harm.

• March 2nd, 2020: Xanthe meets Jane Summers, who they’d met through Vali, for lunch, seeing that the household had deemed her more likable than Xanthe themself. Xanthe asks for advice in managing their autism, as they truly believe the disorder is ruining their relationships.

• March 3rd, 2020: Rowan violates Xanthe’s privacy by reading the latest journal entry, which they convince the household is a ‘blood curse’ to make Zara die in a car crash.

  Xanthe senses something is wrong and arrives home early from work. Another intervention between Rowan, Vali, and Arkady against Xanthe ensues. Rowan reveals to have read Xanthe’s journal without their consent. All three of them accuse Xanthe of blood magic and say that they’re kicking Xanthe out of the house. Vali gleefully tells Xanthe that they are making everyone, including Arkady suicidal just by living with them, which mentally breaks Xanthe.

  Xanthe begs to be hospitalized, hoping to be locked away so they can stop poisoning people. Arkady drives them to Strong hospital, where they’re evaluated and turned away early the next morning due to lack of beds. Arkady promises that the worst that would happen between the two of them would be a break. Xanthe also resents the staff of the hospital implying that Arkady is abusive, insisting that they themself are the abusive one.

  

• March 11th, 2020: After a week’s worth of the household’s collective shunning towards Xanthe, Arkady puts Xanthe’s and his relationship on a break, slated to last until July. Xanthe feels that the household’s last reason to treat Xanthe with any sort of humanity is gone.

  Sage begins to intervene, as they’ve also felt left out of the household lately, empathizing with Xanthe and making a habit of coming to pick Xanthe up to help their spirits.

• March 13, 2020: The pandemic is being taken seriously in New York State. Xanthe realises that they can no longer safely move out of the house. Rowan proves unsympathetic and flexes the fact that they are the only one on the lease.

  

• Mid-March of 2020: It’s suggested that Jane move into the attic. Xanthe is uncomfortable with the arrangement, given Jane’s inexperience of living on her own, as well as how vitriolic the house had been. Rowan asks Xanthe in front of everyone, as if they have a say, whether Jane should stay. Xanthe views it as a sick joke.

  Xanthe continues to be isolated throughout Vali’s birthday celebration. They scroll through the photos of the household out enjoying hikes without Xanthe. Isolated, Xanthe’s physical and mental health begin to decay.

  They occasionally leave notes for Visarden, as theirs and Visarden’s relationship hadn’t seemed to decay. This is also later used against Xanthe.

• April 14th, 2020: Xanthe attempts to open up to Arkady about their stress in the inworld, which has gotten more harrowing as it reacts to Xanthe’s outerworld stress. Arkady implies that he doesn’t believe them and yells at them to go upstairs. Xanthe shakily drops their laptop, breaking it and preventing them from writing.

  

  Within the inworld, Xanthe has ceased to have a pulse and heal from all injuries. An alchemist alter rigs a temporary pulse for Xanthe, but Xanthe takes it as a sign that their time of fronting is coming to a close.

• Late April / Early May of 2020: Rowan asks what Xanthe plans to do if Arkady chooses not to make good on his promises. Xanthe discloses that they would likely try to move to Europe and if they didn’t get a job, to just keep enjoying themselves until it came to a natural and likely morbid end.

  Arkady, disturbed over this, picks fights with Xanthe over mundane subjects and discloses to them that he found out Xanthe’s inworld “began as a role-play.”

  Xhaxhollari panics and quickly wipes the memory, but Xanthe still has a resulting breakdown.

  Following Youtube drama, Xanthe introduces Arkady to the DissociaDID channel. Xanthe comments that they can relate to the Youtuber that has DID, because of their apparent ability to channel past-lives. Arkady starts to theorize he has DID. When Xanthe starts relating a lot of their experiences to the symptoms of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Arkady dismisses it, saying that, “Yeah but channeling is different.”

• May 6th of 2020: Arkady picks yet another fight with Xanthe as they’re making breakfast, saying that there would be another family discussion. Xanthe, finally fed up, snaps, “I just want to make breakfast and live!” Hearing Arkady within earshot talking badly about them, they go upstairs and calls Sage, who resolves to stand up for Xanthe.

  

  

  Sage arrives. Arkady, who wanted the talk to be just the household, is furious at Xanthe for having invited Sage but acquiesces, eventually, to talk.

  Arkady starts going on a fiery tirade about how delusional Xanthe is, about what their therapist says to them, how he has screenshots of Xanthe’s insecure admittances from October. Sage is taken aback by how Arkady is talking to Xanthe and publicly stands up for them.

  Rowan and Vali, realising how vitriolic Arkady just looked to an outsider, also take Xanthe’s side. Sage suggests that nothing should be brought up that’s over two-weeks past and the household agrees.

  Arkady later on hugs Xanthe outside in the driveway, saying, “I want to get back together with you, but we both have to get better, okay?”

  Xanthe’s morale is boosted but shaky.

• May of 2020: Xanthe starts to be invited along for more outings. Their mood improves but they’re still skittish. Rowan allows them to read on the porch with them, but they’re still barred from whichever area of their house which Zara deigns to occupy during her many visits.

  Arkady admits to Xanthe to have contacted Apollo, who he discovered to have also
  been Kirra. Under the impression that Kirra was simply Apollo’s deadname and
  that Apollo hadn’t been pretending that Kirra was his twin, he tells Xanthe as
  if accusing them. He also tells Xanthe that nothing in their magical world is
  real.

  Xanthe, betrayed by their partner having reached out to their abuser, has a
  terrible breakdown, to the point of running into the woods and throwing up.
  Reeling that their friend has been their abuser the entire time, Xanthe then
  blocks Apollo on all social media.

  Visarden, perhaps feeling guilty and realising Xanthe had no idea, switches
  in to comfort Xanthe. This is the last time Xanthe sees Visarden in the
  external.

  Apollo would later brag in June about how he had finally decided to block
  Xanthe.

  Rowan opts to remain in contact with Apollo, despite knowing it’s Xanthe’s
  abuser.

Early June of 2020: Jane starts to openly theorize that she was a part of the Seelie Fae Court. Rowan, feeling territorial over Faerie culture, begins to speak openly about disliking Jane.

June 7th, 2020: Jane is revealed to be dangerous and abusive when she gets into a physical altercation with her partner and her ex. She begins to confess publicly on social media in attempt to seem remorseful, where she admits to being a driving force in a witchhunt against Xanthe.

Jane moves out shortly after.

Vali and Rowan move to convince Xanthe that Jane was the main reason that they had treated Xanthe so badly. They begin confessing what manipulation was used to keep Xanthe isolated. The timeline for the mistreatment and Jane’s presence didn’t quite add up, but Xanthe happily accepted this theory in favour of moving on.

Rowan hugs Vali, Arkady, and Xanthe, crying out that they’re so happy they can all be a family again.

Rowan once again pressures Xanthe to sleep with Vali, saying, “He’s a good dom. When he offers, you take it.” Xanthe still declines.

Late June of 2020: Xanthe, having seemingly been reinstated to their place among the house, was invited along for a camping trip in the Adirondacks. One of Xanthe’s alters suggest they read the ‘Infernal Devices Series’, that both Xanthe and Nebula (the old host) had read and loved just before Xanthe took over, hoping it might ground Xanthe into surviving as an alter.

On the car ride home, Rowan suggests that AJ, Xanthe’s other partner, move into the house with the four of them to avoid their chronic homelessness. Xanthe, relieved at the prospect of AJ being supported by all four of their incomes rather than dying in the Oregon woods somewhere, pitches the idea to AJ.

July 3rd of 2020: Xanthe has a massive panic attack on the way home from hanging out at Sage’s. They try to turn to alcohol to self-soothe, but Arkady criticizes this move. They begin to argue.

Xanthe goes upstairs to their room, pausing at their door to see if they can call Sage. Rowan then opens the door, glaring at Xanthe. Xanthe runs out of the house, switching once or twice in a panic because they feel they’ll be accused again. At Xanthe’s inability to remember whether they had fallen down the stairs, Arkady calls Xanthe a liar and suggests that Sage come over to mediate once more.

July 4th of 2020: Sage comes over and, tired of the drama, suggests that Xanthe move out. Here, it’s revealed that Arkady did not intend to get back together with Xanthe, contradicting the promises Xanthe had been holding out for.

When Xanthe confesses concern over two people in Arkady’s apparent system, Vali tells Xanthe, ‘His alters don’t love you, Xanthe.’

Arkady admits to not knowing if that was true, but he wasn’t going to let the alters see Xanthe anyway, citing “I am the host.” Xanthe realises they’ve lost three lovers in one day.

Sage condemns Xanthe for blaming the animosity of the household on Jane, as if it were Xanthe trying to avoid accountability rather than the household.

July 8th of 2020: When asks what the housing separation means for AJ, who was originally going to be supported on four incomes, Rowan suggests that AJ and Xanthe just share Xanthe’s single income. Xanthe pleads with Rowan to let AJ move in with them instead, knowing that this arrangement would be financially crippling to them otherwise. Rowan responds less than ideally.

July 13th of 2020: Feeling hopeless and despondent, Xanthe makes the decision not to exist anymore within the system and ‘dies’, going completely dormant and disappearing from the inworld and the front entirely. Their Facebook page also deactivates at the same time. Story also begins to split, not fully developed enough to host by themself.

Xhaxhollari, the Living Fiction Gatekeeper, shaken by Xanthe’s apparent death and Story slowly going insane with her own split, tries desperately to keep the system together and pretend like Xanthe is still alive.

July 17th of 2020: Casey, Living Fiction’s long-time friend, is betrayed by their friends and loses nearly everything. Casey’s ex-friends manage to contact Living Fiction when neither Story or Xhaxhollari are fronting and tells it to Thysia, who mirrors what she is told and disjointedly repeats the message to the household. Xhaxhollari is disturbed by this rare alter fronting, but takes the opportunity to warn AJ away from Casey, fearing that the two may compare notes.

August 3rd, 2020: In desperation, Story confides in Sage that a layer of magic Sage wasn’t privy to has been used as manipulation, and that there weren’t only surface-level relationships on the line, but entire strings of past-lives. Sage dismisses this entirely, saying ‘They didn’t sign up for this.’ They then turn around and inform Rowan of what Story confessed.

Stressed, grieving, and able to find no one else able to front, Xhaxhollari, speaking as Xanthe, confides in Sage that they felt Rowan’s suggestion for AJ to move here was a malicious move on Rowan’s fault, that it was a vain attempt to prevent Xanthe from killing themselves.

Sage betrays Xhaxhollari’s confidence and tells Rowan. Rowan bangs on the door and confronts Xhaxhollari, saying that AJ moving here was not their idea, but their suggestion.

As Xhaxhollari laments the logistics of two people being supported on one meager income, Rowan suggests to let AJ die in the woods. Rowan then accuses Xanthe of making up Aberle, Kaspar, Vex– all alters of Xanthe’s that Rowan had claimed to meet in real life. When Xhaxhollari compares them to the people Rowan channels, Rowan doubles down, insisting their people are real and Xanthe’s aren’t.

When Xhaxhollari points out that Rowan had bragged about sleeping with a person that was allegedly made up, Rowan accuses them of having ‘projected’ Aberle.

Story and Xhax both try to argue within this argument. Xanthe retrieves just enough consciousness to listen in. Xanthe slowly starts to realise that this sounds familiar because it is the Second time this has been done to them; the first time, being what the system originally created them for.

Rowan and Sage unintentionally propel a barely-alive Xanthe into a situation they were made for. Xanthe starts to slowly regain consciousness.

August 4th, 2020: The Living Fiction System receives a text from Arkady that promises another intervention, the likes of which have shredded Xanthe’s nerves in the past. When Arkady makes it clear that Xanthe doesn’t have a choice in this, Xhaxhollari reaches out to Sage, who makes it clear they’re completely alright with the household interrogating Xanthe one last time.

The entire system urges Xanthe back to the front. Story and Xhaxhollari go Live on a private Facebook group called ‘Coping’, at first, which Rowan and Arkady have access to. They try to tell the story of the situation they’re in, but end up confused and frustrated by the layout.

Rowan takes this as challenge to confront Xanthe. They send Arkady upstairs to yell at Xanthe, knowing that would hurt Xanthe the most. Someone has Xanthe go Live on their own profile and Xanthe starts to front again as Arkady yells at them.

Xanthe holds their ground, even as Arkady tries to blackmail them with revealing their ‘true birthday.’ Xanthe, who had been created to defy emotional blackmail, announces it as well as their dubious relation to the body to Facebook.

One of Xanthe’s friends is tipped off to which disorder Xanthe has.

In the end, the household’s abuse as well as Xanthe’s Dissociative Identity Disorder was revealed and the Living Fiction system spends the night at someone’s house.

August 5th of 2020: When Xanthe returns to try to arrange AJ’s things, Vali, Arkady, and Rowan mockingly repeat Xanthe’s journal entries back at them, revealing all three of them had been reading Xanthe’s journals more than once. Xanthe begins to have a panic attack and Arkady calls it his “Favourite soap opera.” Xanthe, still shaky at the front, can only fight back at first before their concentration breaks, leaving Thysia to shakily apologise.

Xanthe is officially kicked out of Crosman Terrace, homeless until their lease on their new place begins on August 18th, 2020. Sage officially cuts ties with them, the FB Live being where they draw the line. (But not being in contact with abusers, violating journals, and verbal abuse.)

Epilogue: AJ gets five months free of rent and utility and plays ‘Contact My Partner’s Abusers’ bingo as Xanthe learns the true meaning of ‘Sunk Cost Fallacy’ in the next installment, ‘The Parasite Saga.’