I've been working a lot on art recently, but currently don't have finished pieces to show just yet, but will hopefully do soon!
In the mean time I thought it'd be fun and a great way for you to get to know the interests by sending a little writing prompt and I'll respond with how an interest would react!
You can add if you want a specific interest/s, whether it's platonic or romantic (if the prompt includes the Reader), and whether its an AU or set in the game universe! ☺️
Holy shit, this really helped me flesh out the romance system in Phoenix Rising. I'm still working on it, but Oh Wow. the kindness coins system has always kind of bothered me a bit, but this! The Romance Card Tower is SO much more in depth and more realistic!
Interview with the one, the only Krissy (no last name needed)
I started following Krissy (aka @xekstrin) on Tumblr pretty much the minute I found out they were the mind behind my favorite Astoria route, Astraeus. And I am so glad I did. Their feed is always interesting, ranging from the thoughtful to the outright thirsty. If for some reason you don't follow them, I highly recommend you change that right now.
Krissy was kind enough to take some time out of a very busy schedule to answer some questions for the blog so buckle up, settle in and enjoy.
You are one busy person! A new podcast, an erotic short, prolific fanfic, one of which is nominated for the “best sex in fan fic” award from thegoodbits.com. There’s so much I want to ask you. I’d like to start with your erotic short, “Keeping You” which can be purchased on Gumroad, an online platform which facilitates the sale of products by creators directly to consumers. Why did you choose to use that platform for that particular story?
First off I just wanna say thanks for interviewing me :)
I guess I am pretty busy, but it was a surprise to hear someone else say that because that's just normal for me! There's also a ton of stuff I'm doing that I'm keeping dead quiet about on social media because NDA reasons...
I chose gumroad for that story because a few creators I admire had posted their stories on there and I was curious about how it worked! Whenever I'm curious about something new I wanna know all about it. The best way to find out is to just do it myself, so that's what I did.
Other reasons— It's difficult to get a short story published anywhere, and I knew I wanted a higher percentage of the royalties/sales to go directly to me. While doing this I discovered that Amazon takes something like a 35% cut of all sales while Gumroad takes roughly 10%. I just moved across the country and money is a little tight. And Amazon is demonstrably evil so that didn't hurt. I'll probably wind up getting some of my future books on Amazon eventually though, because like it or not it IS the largest marketplace for books right now. One day I will succumb to its siren call.
The response from readers was overwhelmingly positive and I'll probably continue to offer short stories on gumroad! Everyone was extremely nice and also funny. My readers are the best.
Pivoting to your fanfiction: you have covered numerous fandoms but your most recent focus, as anyone who follows you will know, is KDA. What draws you to that particular set of characters?
It's a bunch of hot women with juuuuuuuuuust enough canon information for me to fuck around with it however I like. I love four-man bands. I love colorful neon things. I love WAMEN. I love monster girls. I love music. I love the ARG style "narration" of finding out more lore via digging around social media. Did I mention they were hot? Evelynn is so hot and so my type she makes me weak in the knees. Highkey she was an inspiration for how I wrote Vivienne. I even gave them the same perfume. So in conclusion,
Your podcast, Trash and Treasures, was started with your best friend, Scooby and focuses on reviewing WLW content, with the focus (at first) being romance novels. What was the impetus behind the decision to create the podcast?
We were going fucking bananas batshit crazy during 2020 and were like "what if we started a podcast for an imaginary audience". Like singing in your shower and pretending it's on a world stage, but it was the two of us singing an impassioned shower duet with a kitty keyboard accompaniment. So yeah we also decided to release the episodes this year as things have gotten a little better for us both. It was a really nice excuse to talk to my best friend about books. We're aiming for three seasons I think?
Changing gears a bit, did you always know you would be a writer?
Yes. I'm incapable of being anything else.
What did your path to working professionally as a writer look like?
Luck, fucking around and finding out, being able to bounce back after COUNTLESS rejections, a partner who can pay half the bills and pat my back when I'm lying on the floor in a depression pile, and being too dumb and self-centered and hard-headed to quit. I know I'm a good writer but I'm also just interested in self-preservation. There's a pack of wolves chasing my every step and if I ever stop writing they'll hunt me down and eat me alive. It's very stressful!
Is there any work of art, visual or written, that you look to for inspiration?
I think I've re-read Sweet Guilty Love Bites by Shuninta Amano like a million times. I love melodramatic manga of dubious quality dripping with human emotion. I like new music. I like poetry. Ocean Vuong owns me right now. I like looking at art and trying to describe things in ways I've never heard before. Today I saw a very pretty picture of a river and spent some time practicing how to describe it. I just have to keep my blade sharp and ready all the time or I'll forget how to write and the aforementioned wolves will eat me.
If a VOW member made it, it's also my favorite. What an absolute powerhouse of talent. Everyone in there awes me.
Do you have a favorite piece of your own writing?
Oh, I get to FLEX? oh, you ask miette to SHOWBOAT? you ask me to flare my pretty peacock feathers for you??? [promptly forgets everything I've ever written] If it made you cry or turned you on or made you laugh or infuriated you, it's my favorite.
Many people who read this blog know you as a former writer for Lovestruck. And to be blunt, a writer that was incredibly important to the app. Just a look at the routes you have written is a testimony to how much work you put in. This may be a difficult question considering how long you were there and what you have been through, but when you look back on your time there, what stands out in your mind?
My opinion of Voltage has cooled significantly after that public statement where they made their opinion of their writers very clear. But my favorite memory was probably the time I made a producer blush with a high-heat scene. And the time my GIL producer was reading over Chance's wedding and sighed, "Oh, Krissy. That's too much blood." You can imagine I was very excited when Antonio's route had a literal bathtub full of blood. They wound up spoiling me in many ways. The relationships we fostered were, in my opinion, the backbone of many of the most popular routes.... too bad one of my last official conversations with them boiled down to "We never legally promised you would write Piama and any headcanons you sent us are legally our property. Do you understand that?" And I told them— happily— I never gave them anything I didn't want them to steal.
I think it’s safe to say Vivienne is your most popular route. Is there any other route of yours that you feel deserves more fan attention?
Lyris is such a good boy. Devastatingly so.
A friend of mine is a big fan of your writing, especially Lyris’s route, and asked me to please find out: What is your writing process like? Does it vary depending on what you are working on?
For myself— Often I'll write out of order. I'll write my favorite scenes first. Endings are important and I often do them first. Then I'll start stitching it all together. It goes MUCH faster if I have a good song on repeat. The trick is the song changes every day and I don't know which song it is until I hear it.
If I'm writing for someone else, I just do what they tell me, but if I get excited halfway through I might change things up and be like "I know you asked for A, but I think B is better, do you like it?" and if they like it we keep it, and if they don't I change it.
Do you have any other upcoming projects you would like to mention that I haven’t asked about yet?
Follow the VOW newsletter!!!!!!!! @vowtogether
Do you have a favorite quote or song lyric?
“If you live for people's acceptance, you will die from their rejection.” Just a reminder to myself. I have an awful people-pleasing instinct. Cucumber Quest also put it nicely.
Also, "There's never gonna be a perfect baby." From Adventure Time. In context it's about a bunch of wolves trying to eat a baby but they think the baby looks gross and sweaty and unappetizing and not the perfect delicious baby they were promised, so the leader wolf has to give them a pep talk about just going for it even though reality isn't living up to fantasy. It's SO stupid but every time I start doubting myself and feeling depressed about whatever I'm doing not being Perfect(™), I go, "Listen, Kris, there's never gonna be a perfect baby." I swear I say this at least 10 times a week.
The unofficial VOW Motto: All your threats should be actions.
I was a big fan of the show Inside the Actor’s Studio. Host James Lipton asked every single guest the same 10 concluding questions. I’ve picked 3 of them:
-What is your favorite word? Indelible. Ivory used that word and I immediately knew I needed to befriend them.
-What is your least favorite word? Squelch. >:C
-What profession other than your own would you like to attempt? Herpetologist. Voice actress. Professional nuisance.
What would be your advice to anyone who wants to pursue a creative career?
This is mainly advice to myself but if you take something from it, all the better: Read widely. Don't create with the audience you are afraid of in mind— be that homophobes or people who are dead-set on reading the least charitable interpretation of your work. You don't get any better if you don't fuck up a whole lot. No one "makes" you an artist, that's something you have to own yourself, or otherwise you'll be published or whatever and still feel like you aren't real. Stop self-deprecating, it's much cooler and more interesting to pretend you are already great. Likewise everyone you think is "great" is actually Just Some Guy. Never underestimate the depth and breadth of bigotry. Anti-black racism, transphobia, homophobia, fatphobia, misogyny, all the isms, it's the dominant narrative, people in power profit hugely off of it and will never let it go willingly, and if you aren't actively paddling against it, you're often gonna get swept up into it.
Your peers, not your heroes, are the ones who are gonna save you.
So whilst I do some outfit redesigns for my sprites, I thought I'd post some of the lil short fics/stories I've written as warm-ups when I've been writing Ever After!
They are non-canon, as in they aren't included in the vn itself, but are just little and hopefully cute scenes written from the perspective of a particular gender-neutral MC who I just refer to as Saint for now.
They're more casually written but hopefully, people enjoy these lil moments! <3
The first night when I was woken by the sound, I'd grabbed the protective dagger from under my pillow and held it close to my chest under the covers. I waited for longer than I can measure for the potential assassins I had been warned of, but none came. The second night I'd climbed out of bed, dagger in hand, some dubious looking red liquid that a priestess said can be used for defence, in the other. Only to find an absence of anything when I opened the door. The third night, tonight, however, I was ready.
I'd been sitting by the door since before the time I usually went to sleep, and had been waiting patiently. I don't know what it was, but I was almost certain that the footsteps would return eventually, and this time I was going to find the source.
So when the sound of heavy steps broke the silence of the night, I was up in an instant, weapons in position to defend and attack as I swung open the heavy door and lunged forward.
"S-Saint!" Large hands grabbed my shoulders stopping me in place, but it wasn't the force of his grip that caused me to freeze, but rather the all too familiar voice who called my name.
"Noah?" I look up to meet the panicked expression of the Holy Knight Commander, whose eyes were somehow brighter than the illuminating stone he'd dropped onto the floor. His thoughts were always written all over his face, and I could almost watch in real time as he started to worry about the worst. Before I could let him spiral away, my dagger fell to the floor with a loud clang, and my hands brushed against his cheeks (even if it was a bit of a stretch), causing him to almost turn into a statue. Stubble scratched against my thumb, as it stroked back and forth gently, soothing Noah as he processed the shock that the unexpected gesture of softness caused him.
I almost go rigid myself, when instead of smiling brightly whilst simultaneously pulling back behind his usual boundary lines, he leaned into it, his golden eyes fluttering shut as the softest of smiles settled on his face. His own hand finds purchase on mine, and he doesn't remove it like I'd expected, instead he just holds it there, encompassing my hand in the warmth that radiates from him.
"What are you doing here?" I have to stop my voice from going all twisted, for some reason I'm the nervous one. I'm so used to him being the one to get flustered from any display of affection, that it didn't cross my mind that he could affect me too, even unintentionally.
"Oh," My question broke the spell between us, and he pulls back with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck as he looks away. There's an uncomfortable coldness that lingers in my hand after the contact is broken, but I can only shake it off for now. "Well, I guess, the story is I suppose, um…" he continues, there's a sheepishness in his voice as he stalls for him, he can't lie for the life of him, nor does he try to, but he still gets embarrassed admitting things. "I've been getting back home pretty late, things leading up to my appointment have been really busy y'know? But by the time I get home you're usually asleep, which is not your fault at all, I'd much rather you get sleep because you deserve it, I just, it's meant I haven't been able to spend any time with you the past few days and I really enjoy spending time with you, so I end up outside your room just in case you're awake, but I haven't been able to bring myself to knock so I just leave, which makes every worse and--"
"Noah!" I have to almost shout to be heard over his ramble, and I can only hope that I haven't disturbed a bunch of sleeping people, but it luckily stops his spiralling ramble in an instant. I can only sigh fondly, unable to fight against the smile that comes from seeing his teary puppy dog face. There'd been a part of me that considered telling him off for scaring me the past two nights, but looking at him now, waiting patiently for me to speak, and worrying completely about me… well… there was no way I could be mad at him for this. "I'm thirsty, shall we go make some hot chocolate?"
"What?" It took everything not to laugh at the blatant disbelief in his tone.
"Hot chocolate, surely you've heard of it? Or is my big Saintly impact going to be introducing a hot beverage to the world?"
"I've heard of it," his shock dissolved to make way for the laughter that falls from his lips, "sorry it was just unexpected Sunshine, I can get some brought to you if you'd like?"
"Nope, it's not the same as making it ourselves, now are you coming with me? Or are you too tall to fit into the kitchen?" Hands went firmly onto my hips, so he'd know I wasn't budging on the matter, but all that did was make him snort into laughter even more. So much so that he had to quickly cover his mouth with a large fist and look away. Still, that wouldn't faze me in the slightest.
As his laughter faded, he looked back with the softest eyes, like the gentlest of early morning sunrises were captured within them. Then with the warm smile I knew all too well, he held out his arm for me to take. "Now what kind of knight would I be if I turned down your request? I'll risk knocking my head against the ceiling any time for you Sunshine."
The walk down the two flights of stairs to the kitchen a quiet one, as we both did our best to not disturb the rest of the mansion. I'd forced Noah to give up his boots part way, though he hadn't put up much argument, except for expressing a small disappointment into having to let go of my arm. We may have also had to hide from the head butler, who would certainly have at the least looked at our adventure with extreme disapproval. Other than that however, we got there completely safely.
"So what's first?" Noah asked once the illumination stones in the room had been activated, making it much easier to see the equipment and ingredients that had been carefully tidied earlier that evening.
"Nothing!" I throw a grin over my shoulder at his look of confusion, "for you at least, you just sit there and rest and I'm going to do it myself!"
"But--"
"No buts, it's a fine art, hot chocolate making, and I can't give away all my secrets just yet."
"I'm sorry, I had no idea you took hot chocolate making so seriously." He was failing to hide the laughter again. A part of me wished he wouldn't hold it back so much, it was always a joyous and musical sound.
"Of course I do, though I suppose you do have one very important job to do for me."
"Hm?"
"Well usually I'd have music, or a podcast, but since I don't have either of them, I'll need your help to keep me entertained."
"You want me to just… talk?"
"Or sing."
"Talking it is. What would your podcasts usually talk about?" There was genuine curiosity in his voice. Noah had never asked questions about Earth before unless I'd brought it up first. Even though he wanted to know, the concern over upsetting me with memories of a place I'd had to leave behind, far outweighed his interest in another world.
"A lot of different things really, sometimes about books, games, theories, others just spoke about what they enjoyed or were passionate about. Others spoke about places they'd travelled to, and I'd imagine what it was like to be there myself."
I busied myself finding the ingredients and settling in place before the stove, as I let the silence settle. I knew him well enough by this point to know he was lost in thought. He'd speak when he was ready.
"It was a long time ago now, actually it was when I was a boy, long before I came to Archelia, and I don't even remember the name of the place, but I remember that I'd had an argument with my dad, and me being young and stupid and with enough pocket money saved up from chores, I thought if I ran away I'd be completely fine on my own. So, I set out with no clear destination in mind, grabbed the nearest form of transport and just… head off. I had to switch a couple of times on the way, and it used up nearly all my money, but when I was kicked off, I just kept walking and walking and walking, until I ended up on this small beach that was more pebbles than sand. It was the dead of winter, and it was absolutely baltic and in my overconfidence I hadn't brought my scarf or gloves, so I was freezing my socks off, but the ocean was so pretty and moon gave everything this opal-like glow that I didn't even care. I walked back and forth over that beach for ages, searching through the pebbles, and I found this really cool looking pebble that had been chipped away at and in my eyes looked like the sun. Side note, it looked nothing like the sun, I just think I was delirious at that point. Anyway, I just remember wishing my dad was there for me to show him, I'd forgotten why we'd even argued, so then I started to cry because I thought that I'd never get back home with no money left. But before proper tears could even fall, my dad rushes over, worrying that I'm hurt. Apparently he'd followed me the whole way, but wanted to let me have this journey on my own terms, which is why he'd never dragged me back. I don't remember much else, except for on the way home we got hot chocolate from a local café, even though he hated it cause it was too sweet."
Noah met my eyes, which had been watching him for a while as he'd told the story, and as he realised how much he'd spoken without pause caused him to flush crimson.
"I-I guess I just remembered that story since it was the last time I had hot chocolate until now."
"Your dad sounds really sweet," I said softly, walking over with two steaming mugs, "maybe that's why he couldn't handle anymore sweetness from the hot choc."
"Maybe that's it," he laughed, though he didn't give it his all, and the redness didn't fully leave his features.
"Did you ever keep the rock that looked like the sun? I'd love to see it." I hopped up to sit on the counter beside where he leaned, and for the first time I was at his height, or at least closer to eye level. Noah picked up one of the mugs in an attempt to distract himself with something to divert part of his focus to.
"Sadly I lost it, but hey I found you, and you're definitely more like the sun than it'd ever be." There it was again, that smile. I couldn't help but be reassured every time it fell back onto his face, he almost looked wrong without it. I picked up my own mug, covered in marshmallows and cream, and almost spilled it everywhere when there was a small weight that landed on my shoulder. Luckily it was safe, and the source was identified as Noahs' head that now rested on my shoulder.
For a while, nothing was said, but the silence wasn't uncomfortable. Noah had a knack for making sure everyone else was okay and felt alright, but this was different, it was the peaceful comfort of companions. He was probably the only person in this crazy, magical world I could trust, and as happy as he tried to make everyone else, as happy as he tried to make me… I wanted to be able to do the same for him.
I stared into my now empty mug, my voice was no louder than a murmur. "Noah?"
"Yes Sunshine?" He didn't move off my shoulder, though that might have been because I rested my own head atop of his.
"You know what you were saying earlier? Upstairs?"
"… yeah?" My lips upturned at the embarrassment in the single word as he remembered his ramblings.
"I missed you too."
He said nothing in reply, instead his hand took mine and gently squeezed, and that was enough for me to know he'd heard. My eyes fell closed as time slowly crept on, and we stayed like that for a little longer.
Sometimes in writing you have to give an option where you don't need to fight someone's demons, just cuddle with this horrible unhinged woman while you scratch behind the demon's ear.
Some say he’s off-putting, with the way his dark eyes always narrow at those he doesn’t know, and the way he always finds his way towards the shadows of the city. Other say he’s just shy, with his fingers always finding their way to the edges of the coat he’s always carrying around, picking at the edges, mumbling to himself. But after having worked with him, dealing with him in information exchanges and some parties neither of you want to talk about again for very different reasons, you know it’s a bit more complicated than that. He’s away from the ports, out of his element, all to try and settle an old score that had changed the course of history for his people. And even with his hard shell, he cares, and wants nothing but those closest to him to be safe.
And, specifically, not get blown up by the idiot that keeps showing up in his life.
