Welcome to the Timecrest Community Spotlight, a series where we interview some of the wonderful people in the Timecrest community.
In our fifth and final Community Spotlight, Cai tells us about her experiences playing Timecrest and gives us some tips for drawing art.
Please introduce yourself to our players!
Heya I’m Cai! I am a fellow Timecrest player that started in 2018 and I’m also an artist by hobby. I’ve drawn some Timecrest fanart which has, amazingly, been featured on the official Timecrest account and even recognized by some of the characters on their Twitter accounts. I consider myself a lucky fan.
We consider ourselves lucky to have a fan like you! We’ve put up some of your fanart on our walls. How did you find Timecrest originally?
I’ve always enjoyed “choose your own adventure”-type stuff and had tried a couple of CYOA games years prior which I liked. I was bored and wanting to play something new one day so I just happened to look up CYOA on the App Store and Timecrest was the first result.
What drew you to drawing fan art for Timecrest?
I naturally want to draw for games or series I’m into, I think to get my own ideas out there or express my own takes on scenes or characters I found cool. Especially for Timecrest since it’s a text-based game, I wanted to bring to life the scenes and visuals I saw in my head while I read it. I also like to see and read what other people write/draw about whatever I’m into because it’s fun to share that excitement with other people, and I had seen others’ art but wanted to see even more, so. Gotta create the content you want to see.
Art belongs to Cai on Twitter. Please do not repost without permission. You can find her here: https://twitter.com/choclatl_
It’s a delight for us to see your interpretation of the world and characters in Alyncia. In particular, we love the piece embodying the connection between you and Ash, and we featured it on our Twitter for years. Can you walk us through your inspiration and process for this piece?
Sure! I think one of the central points and charms of Timecrest is that the player has this connection with Ash that traverses worlds so I’d been wanting to draw something that showcases that. One of my favorite examples of that connection is the scene that the drawing references, where Ash is talking to the player at night. Every single time I come across that scene it’s nighttime for me too and I just love the dialogue there, partly because starry skies are one of my favorite concepts/themes in general. I found it cute, the idea that you have this magical friend from a whole different universe to fall asleep talking with, “apart but together.” Later on at some point I came across an art template by the artist @haruu_anthrworld which would be my reference for the piece. It was of two characters lying down and holding hands and that Timecrest scene immediately came to mind, and the concept of what would become the final piece of art arrived pretty automatically. That same idea of together but apart, with myself/the player and Ash being separate in reality but connected via our phone/pocket watch and both sleeping under the stars. We each kind of exist to each other only through our devices so I wanted to show that in the solo pieces too.
All of this thought you put into it is what made this have such an impact with us. How you captured the central feeling of connection resonated the key feeling we wanted to evoke. What would you say to people who want to learn how to put so much emotion into their own work as you do?
Do or make something that really resonates with you, and draw from your own personal experiences and perspectives. It also helps to be specific. Like, if you want to channel the idea of “happiness,” then rather than thinking generally of “smiles and laughter,” I think it would be better to consider something like “two people talking quietly in a parked car, relieving each other of their frustrations and sharing an easy smile after a difficult day.” Or something like that! From there, it’s knowing your craft so you can depict those specific emotions—from an art perspective, knowing how to use colors and depict facial expressions and things like that. But you can always tweak those things. I think the important thing is knowing the specific thing you want to portray and having your work revolve around that.
What are your hobbies and interests?
Recently I’ve been learning how to cross-stitch. I also like to play guitar, read mystery novels, and of course play games. I like watching anime/cartoons, competition shows, and documentary-type stuff too.
We’ve seen the lovely fan art you have of anime on Twitter and it seems you watch a lot of the same anime that we love to watch! What are your favorites right now?
Right now I’m keeping up with Jujutsu Kaisen—which I really love!—and also plan to watch the new Haikyuu and Yashahime when they finish airing. My all-time favorite is probably still Durarara!! though.
Coming back to Timecrest, what moments in Timecrest are the most memorable for you?
There are definitely 2 stand-out moments that quickly come to mind. First is A.C.’s, and subsequently Ash’s, death after Team 13’s fight against Ignis. Reading through that battle was stressful! And the aftermath was heartwrenching. The other moment is after the Timecrest guild fire where Ash is sitting on a hill or some grass amid the other survivors and is just talking to you while admiring the stars. It’s just a really peaceful moment and like I said before, I just really love the theme of starry skies. It’s my favorite scene so far.
What is the biggest mystery you’re hoping is answered in Timecrest 3?
Why and how does Luthor seem to know us, the player?!
What’s your wildest theory or prediction for Timecrest 3?
If I had to throw one out there, it’s that Guildmaster Crane is the lone head guildmaster that’s working against Chronos and trying to take him down from within. I want a powerful good guy to rival Luthor, or at least oppose him, and Olliver has reason to want to take him down. If I’m going all the way with this wild theory then I’ll also go as far to say he’ll replace Chronos as guildmaster. But this might also just be me cheering for him because we’re both older siblings so it’s older sibling solidarity.
... Completely ignoring the fact that Luthor is also an older sibling. But he makes it a bit hard to cheer for him sometimes.
Where can people follow you and find more of your work?
I am mostly on Twitter @choclatl_! I also have an Instagram under the same username but have yet to use it, though I plan to post there in the future as well. I also manage an unofficial Timecrest Discord server. We are a small server, but it’s fun to talk about Timecrest with others and also just meet other players :)
Here’s the invite link: https://discord.gg/jE43dFEw8P