Production!

Finally in the heavy stages of production for "It's a Wonderful That's Life!" and should be done around Christmas Eve or mid-Christmas day! (I would be done sooner but had some set-backs and will also be working both those days, so time is limited!!)

Thanks all for your patience and I look forward to posting it soon!

glad tidings of great "oy!"

Greetings fellow wizards!

‎

As the holiday season drags on I find myself pulled in many directions with very little time to spare. Whatever free time I do manage to get is spent studying for finals (gotta get that GPA up) and working on the script. I apologize to anyone who still reads this blog for not updating for months. Rest assured the video will be on schedule (as rushed as it's becoming, due to my procrastination)! 

I did want to mention, at least, that the more I develop the story arc, the runtime increases exponentially. My current estimation for how long it will be after editing everything is probably 30 minutes or more! Which, I assume, is great news for those who have been patiently subscribed and waiting for the Christmas special. It is, however, bad news for me, as I am pressed for time as far as finals in school goes, and trying to keep my promise of a Christmas Day release schedule. Mostly I just want everything to be absolutely perfect so it's worth the wait, and as most perfectionists understand, thoroughness is very time consuming!

On the bright side, I am quite pleased with what I have written, as it's a more story driven episode compared with the others (which were written more with the intention of fitting in as many in-jokes as possible). Many feels are guaranteed, as is the trend for holiday movies. Keep your tissue box close, as you may need to blow your nose frequently -- hopefully not because of flus or colds either. You might wanna wear your best Snuggie to the premier as well, because it's gonna be a cold Winter Solstice!

Finally, I know I don't say this nearly enough but THANK YOU to the few who do leave comments, even if they're out of frustration with how long I am taking. Believe it or not I take all your constructive comments and criticisms in mind and try to improve my stuff. I want to make this the best Wizard101 Christmas special ever! If anyone has any questions or input, feel free to contact me on here through comments or on my G+ profile, or YouTube channel (all the links to which can be found on the sidebar here). Also, if you'd like to email me for whatever reason (fan reasons, hate reasons), hit me up at throughthespiralgate@gmail.com

Thanks wizards! Keep an eye out, only 21 more days and counting!

Merry Lifemas! - a sneak peek at the latest

      It's Saturday! Which means I am bored at work. So I thought, why not spread some (super) early Yultide cheer? 

      So, remember how I mentioned a new episode of That's Life! that's in the works, which is conveniently scheduled to come out at Christmas? Well, the script is currently in the works, and I must say it is turning out to be quite the adventure!       

      Anyhoo, to pique everyone's interest I would like to hash out a sample of the script. So without further ado, submitted for your approval, I present selected reading from the future special, "It's a Wonderful That's Life!" Enjoy :D‎

AUTUMN: (pacing back and forth) I can't believe someone stole Christmas!

ZACHARY: (sitting on the couch) Technically, Autumn, you can't steal Christmas because it is a day, not an object-- 

AUTUMN: The Grinch stole Christmas...

ZACHARY: ...And secondly, someone would have stolen PRESENTS. Which we did not even have--

AUTUMN: BUT SANTA--

ZACHARY: AND THIRDLY...*who* stole Christmas?

AUTUMN: WHOM.  

ZACHARY: That is...completely grammatically incorrect--

AUTUMN: And that's besides the point, because whomever--

ZACHARY: Whoever--

AUTUMN: --Did this, will be found and killed and burned and buried and killed again and wrapped in a fancy gift wrap with a bow. And then murdered.

ZACHARY: Look, Autumn, I know you like Christmas--

AUTUMN: Oh, Zachary, I don't just *like* Christmas, I *LOVE* Christmas! It's only the funnest time of year! Caroling, snowball fights, special limited time KingsIsle events... it's all so MAGICAL, don't you think?? Why, I could sing a song about it...

*Carol music swells and Autumn takes a breath in anticipation of the first notes*

ZACHARY: Aaaaand I'm gonna have to stop you right there.

AUTUMN: What??

ZACHARY: Yeah, no singing. It's annoying, and there's royalty and copyright laws and...

*Autumn cries*

ZACHARY: Oh.. please don't do that, I didn't mean to....

*Autumn sobs harder*

ZACHARY: Oh, alright. I'll help you find out who stole Christmas.

AUTUMN: (sniffles) You will?

ZACHARY: (sighs) Yes.

AUTUMN: OH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK--

ZACHARY: On one condition! 

AUTUMN: What is it? Anything!

ZACHARY: No getting me into dangerous situations.

AUTUMN: Cross my heart and hope to die!

ZACHARY: And no more talk about death and killing. It's creepy.

AUTUMN: Aye aye, captain. (Singing) I can't wait for our adventure to begin....

ZACHARY: AND NO SINGING. PERIOD.

AUTUMN: Well, now that's no fun...

ZACHARY: Them's the rules, take it or leave it.

AUTUMN: Ummmmm............ fine, deal.

ZACHARY: *sighs* I know I'm gonna regret this, aren't I.

AUTUMN: If you live long enough.

ZACHARY: Wait what--

AUTUMN: I'm gonna get dressed. Last one to the top of the stairs is a rotten dragon's egg! (She runs up the stairs humming)

ZACHARY: AND NO HUMMING!! *sighs again* Yeah. I'm gonna regret this.

Progress check - We've reached evergreen Mooshu (and some other stuff)!

      Well, this post has been delayed for a lot of reasons -- mainly, life is life-ing (as Autumn and Zachary also know quite well). I could list excuses, but what I'd really rather talk about is all the cool stuff happening in my fake life :D

Only moments after rubbing Mooddha's belly for good luck

      After power-questing through Marleybone, Autumn and Zachary have made it into the lush green fields of Mooshu, and not a moment too soon. All the garbage and sound pollution of the city was starting to get to me... not to mention those snooty poodle ladies and all their purse errands... Ugh! Now it is time for open spaces, fresh clean air, and many many grave markers.

Who died? More like who hasn't died, amirite?

      I have a special place in my heart for Mooshu, not only because it is the place Professor Wu came from, but also because I have many fond memories with old Wizard101 friends there, who taught me how to play with real strategy. No seriously, I got through the first 3 worlds with my old wizards not even knowing how to play right. I mean, my first character was fire/storm, and yet I wasted so much angry energy not even realizing that those classes fizzle the most. But I digress. 

      We've gotten up to Crimson Fields in Hametsu Village, but we're taking a bit of a break because of some real life dramas, and other stuff. Also, we are a smidge burnt out, after power-questing through a lot of stuff.

 I mean, I wouldn't say this place looks intimidating but... well, you've seen it.

       As for Victoria, which I really consider my "main" character (since I find it more fun and easier to solo as a necromancer), things have been rather... difficult.

       These Ultra Dungeons (Kembaalung and the like) would on the surface appear to be a manageable enough dungeoun, much like Colossus Boulevard in Wizard City or The Ironworks in Marleybone. In fact, I did solo Kembaalung with nary a problem, and I thought perhaps this other place, Zigazag, would be much the same. I was, um... rather wrong.

      Through my endless frustrations, I neglected to take any screen caps/recordings, but I can list to you some stats. 

• Total time spent: 7 hrs, 38 mins 
• Total wizards: Just 1 -- me!
• Total times killed: 6 
• Total crowns spent on minions: OVER 9000!!!
• Total swears uttered: Also over 9000!!!!! 
• Total times D/c from server:  ~42. No, seriously. 

       In spite of it all, I managed to beat it, technically solo, and collected a lotta swag in the process. It did not dawn on me until later that I would not be able to return to Zigazag, and the 2 side rooms hidden within that I couldn't enter because I had no key are lost forever. Honestly, though, I'm so glad I finally got through it after all that happened, that I think I don't really mind.

 After judgment day came, my heart really was light as a feather

  

      Well, that's my ultra summer so far. Some exciting information about That's Life! is coming up, but I think that's an update for another post. Until then, sizzlin' journeys, young wizards!

Getting beefy beach bodies

  Greetings, young wizards!

  Well, it has been a busy couple weeks in the Spiral, what with finishing Wintertusk on my necromancer, Victoria Ravenblood. She has now returned to Celestia to continue the main story line, which I've been working on for, like, a year now :P

 At first I thought these guys were mecha-reptilians and I was like :D

 But then I realized they were eels and I was like :(

  What else is new? Well, with the imminent return of That's Life!, my fiance and I have been training up Autumn and Zachary to keep them nice and limber. After all, they'll be doing a lot of running around in the next episode. I won't say much regarding the premise, but I can tell you it will be a grand adventure. And the journey along the way is quite enjoyable too!

  For my fiance's birthday I got him 30,000 crowns (which, by the way, are on sale for 25% off for the rest of summer -- a fantastic deal!), and this will be more than enough to unlock quite a good deal of areas. Right now we are working on the rest of Marleybone, and after that we will probably be knocking out a good deal of Grizzleheim.

If you look really closely, sometimes the Queen's guard actually blink.

  So far, our journey through Marleybone is only about halfway through. We've been struggling with the burden of all the tiny ridiculous side quests. This is the most back-and-forth world of all, and I'm truly remembering why it is my least favorite place in all of the Spiral. Well, except for the sights and sounds...

 Plus, this guy has the sweetest pair of shades.

   But the cool part of coming back during the Summer is that there are plenty of activities. In fact, we've even paid a visit to the Professor recently

 We were... kind of hounding him so he was dogging us out. Hahaha, woof.

  Other than that, not much else is new! Although we're constantly on the lookout for any good gear. Anyone know of a boss that drops some tough death gear for level 66-68 necromancer? Victoria is still using Malistaire's robes and I feel like I'm way behind everyone else!

  

  Well, until next time, safe journeys everyone!

A word from Zachary Darkflame

New video is up! I hope this piques your curiosity and answers some questions :P



Live. Laugh. Journey.

Getting back on that unicorn

After about 6 hours of editing audio, finding/recording/editing video, and wishing I was a lot faster at doing these things, I finally have a product that I think will satisfy (and yet leave viewers wanting more).

Hang onto your hats. The wait has shortened but intensified.

#That'sLife!

A Grendel Dance Party

ETA: I've finally made a twitter for my Wiz101 stuff! @ACuriousReagent

It has been quite some time since my last update (5 whole years, omg!!), but I've finally been getting back into Wizard101 since the recent crown sale. Had a bit of fun today while trying to get rid of some of my Grizzleheim quests. Hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed making :P



In other news, my hair has changed! Bet you didn't recognize little ol' Victoria Ravenblood, didja??

THEN:

 

 NOW:

I love a good transformation, don't you? :) Safe journeys, young wizards!

Halloween

Oooh, it's the spoooky day before Halloween! I won't be online tomorrow so I have decided to post a Wiz101 poem I wrote for the occasion early :)

It's Halloween night in Wizard City! 

The sky is dark and the stars are pretty.
A heckhound howls at the light of the moon; 

the monster hour is arriving soon!
"Take care, young wizard!" Ambrose warns. 

"For in Dark Cave the Scarlet Screamer mourns."
All around the are ghoulish creatures, 

and a Ravenwood school full of trick-or-treaters.
On every street the feet pitter-patter. 

Wandering spirits moan and skeletons clatter.
Wizards dressed as ninja pigs are running past, 

gathering up candy fast, fast, FAST!
And I, avoiding Dark Cave, have fun with the rest, 

looking around to see whose costume is best.
The spiral is alive with laughter and fright. 

Oh, Halloween... such a wonderful night!

Have a great Halloween everybody!

Filming closed, no more cast recruits.

Well today's filming was kind of fail. Only a couple people showed up and I was about to cancel but they brought a few friends so we managed to have a decent small group. Normally I wouldn't be very bothered by this but I had a very very bad night last night (think of your worst nightmare and then imagine how you'd feel if it almost happened to you), and even though I really, really wanted to cancel, I didn't because I didn't want to disappoint a bunch of people. Turns out a bunch of people disappointed me.

So I've decided I will not be taking extras in my videos anymore, I will only be using a couple friends as extras from now on. For those who actually care, I'm very sorry, I would really love to let more people be in my videos but it's just too hard working with other people on a "serious" project. Maybe someday I'll start a series that I don't care about the filming quality of but for now I'm just gonna focus on finishing this one on my own. I'd like to thank everyone who helped me today and everyone who's been in any of the episodes as well, you guys have really helped to make the series great and I hope you can understand my decision.

Anyhoodle, I actually did this filming before finishing the script for the episode (I tend to put the cart before the horse like that sometimes), so it will be quite a while before Ep. 4 is out, especially since I start school Monday so I won't have decent internet till the weekends. I will try to work on finishing the script in the meantime though, so there is some progress in that.

Um um um... what else... Oh, I'm going to see Scott Pilgrim today :D Should be a good distraction from what happened last night. And... hmm, well I think that's pretty much it.

Safe journeys, everyone!

Filming info for ep. 4 of That's Life!

Yup, it's that time again... filming time!

[x-posted from W101C]

Here's the info you need to know to be in the next episode of That's Life!:

DATE: Saturday, August 14th.
TIME: 1pm pacific time (look on google to convert it to your time zone)
PLACE: Life tower (NOT the life classroom this time. Life tower)
SERVER: Wu (subject to change during filming)

• Anyone of any school is welcome to come (but preferably only people with text chat)
• This time we will be allowed to wear our regular clothes (however pets and wands will still be unequipped)
• Please listen to me and follow my rules when filming, so we can get it done quickly, hopefully in half an hour or less.
• We start at least 5 minutes after the meeting time, try to get there on time if you wanna be in the episode!
• If I make any changes to the date, I will make the updates on here or my blog so try to keep track of this post.

That's pretty much it! Everything else you need to know, I will tell you on the filming day. Hope to see you guys there!

 Safe journeys, everyone!

Advice from Autumn - Celestica?

Here it is: my first question, answered via video! I jumped right on it because I know certain updates will be made to the game soon :)



In other news: There's a SyFy original movie premiering tonight called "Frost Giant". Although I don't think it's quite the same as the one we're familiar with...

 RAWR, I am... see-through?

 

Looks like a combination between Alien and the water spirit from Princess Mononoke. Well, I thought it was pretty interesting/lame looking. 

Safe journeys everyone!

A Spiral special :)

You know those little comics I did called Advice from Autumn? Well, I decided to bring it back, except with a little twist to it! So, if you would like to help me out (pretty please), leave me a question about the Spiral, any question at all, and Autumn will give you some of her professional advice. Also, if you do submit a question, go ahead and leave your wizard's name as well so that I can credit you :)

Ummm... oh yeah! Here's a video for it!



Safe journeys, everyone!

Shame on me!

I've been away from the Spiral for a while now, and I apologize for lack of updates. I've been busy trying to register for Fall semester at my college (hopefully my final one!) and so I'm a bit stressed out. However, I'm still keeping up to date about all things Wizard 101, so yes I know about the increased server capacities and all that. Good for you KI! I'm so glad they're doing this prior to the release of Celestia. If the real release will be anything like the pre-world questline (and I know it will be), then we're gonna need all the server superpower that we can get!

Anyhoodle, in other news I'm still working on writing episode 4 of That's Life! (I use the word "working" loosely, since I kind of haven't written anything at all for it in days). It will be quite some time before filming for the next episode, probably a couple/few weeks, so I will tide you guys over with a short teaser of the script. Enjoy!

ZACHARY: Okay, so what's all this about?

AKITAME: As you most likely already know, your teacher Moolinda Wu is in quite a lot of trouble.

AUTUMN: Yeah, we gathered that.

AKITAME: But what you don't know, is why.

ZACHARY: No, we already know that too.

AKITAME: Oh? But how--

AUTUMN: Best not to ask reasons.

ZACHARY: We gave up doing that a long time ago.

AKITAME: I see. Well, then, you already know that we've exhausted our resources trying to find her.

AUTUMN: That we did not know.

ZACHARY: How is that possible? Mooshu is a world full of samoorais and martial artists! There's got to be someone who can look for her.

AKITAME: Ah, one would think so. And considering that we sent all our greatest masters, we thought so too. But there is nobody in Mooshu that is fit to rescue Moolinda Wu.

AUTUMN: Rescue? Hold on, you didn't tell us she was in grave danger! That puts a whole different spin on our mission.

AKITAME: What part of the word "Yakuza" does not suggest she could be in grave danger?

AUTUMN: Aren't you Mooddhists supposed to be peaceful? I figured what's the worst they could do?

AKITAME: We are Mooddhists, that much is true. But the Yakuza do not answer to him. And they go to great lengths for revenge.

ZACHARY: If you knew who we're talking about here then you'd be more worried for the people who have her...

AKITAME: Oh, I know Wu, alright. I know her well...

DUN DUN DUNNNN! Lol jk. But seriously, folks, this one's gonna be pretty epic. It's gonna be hard to keep topping the newest episodes with even better ones, but I'll certainly try! Lemme know what you think so far.

Safe journeys, everyone!

That's Life! Episode 3 - Scratch and Sniff

At last it is complete! This is in 2 parts because it was so long I had to split it in half. Youtube is lame like that.





Let me know what you think :)

EDIT: And here's a nice review from Kevin Battlblood, the Chillanthropologist!

Bravo! Very impressive work here. What you've applied and utilized was exactly what I was hoping to one day see in the Wizard101 Video Community: A twist on the original storyline, use of voices (decent job with the British and French accents, and not bad voice acting either!), and a brilliant mix of genres ranging from comedy to drama, yet mystery is still the umbrella on this episode.

What I really liked was the use of different camera angles that follows cinema theory; it gave a professional feel to the movie....

I'm excitedly looking forward to your next installment; keep up your creativity!

Thanks Kevin! You can expect a new installment sometime in the next few weeks :)

At last - It is done!...ish

[x-posted from W101C]

Thank you so much to everyone who showed up for the updated filming, I really appreciate it. I was so glad to see a lot of people returning and even a few new people, it makes me happy to know that the word is getting out about That's Life! and that people want to be a part of it :)

I do realize that some who were there last time could not be there this time, and I'm sorry for that. There will still be more chances for you to be in it so no worries! I will announce the next filming session a few weeks from now, so keep an eye out.

Anyways, thanks again to all the extras, I'm very grateful for your help :)

 Now for the hard part: everything else.

*facedesk*

A Friendly answer.

So, stingite from The Friendly Necromancer has been recruiting some people to take on a bit of his answering work load. Call it an experiment, if you will. Anyway, thought I'd give it a shot and see how I fare in the role of Friendly :P

Noah DreamBlood asks about pets, saying:

You can tell normally if its a hybrid or not depending on time it takes to hatch. School pets are 18 hrs i believe hybrids are 24 or so. And i mixed a colossus that had 54 with a stormzilla that was 53 and got another colossus that had 55, whats up with that? lol

 Aha. Unfortunately Friendly happened to give me a question with a subject that I've very little expertise in. However, I can give it my best educated guess. It's what we college kids do best. /bitter chuckle

 That and sleeping in class.

The only level 48 pet that I've gotten since the pet updates is the wraith for my Necromancer, and as you said the hatch time was around 18 hours (that or 17 or 11; I get my numbers mixed up sometimes). A good deal of the higher level boss drop pets I've gotten are the same hatch time, lower level ones tend to be less (around 6 hours), and gift card pets even less than that (some of them just 3 minutes). Unfortunately I've never bred one of my own, let alone a hybrid, so I can't confirm your numbers, though I believe you in the matter of their hatch times.

 "Umm... little help over here?"

As for the numbers next to their names and how it relates to breeding and such, my first guess was that it represented the number of chromosomes for each breed, which would totally have explained why the baby came out with a new number (new species means a different amount of chromosomes). But according to people on Wizard101Central, the numbers next to your pet name is its pedigree, or in other words the sum of the traits it has already manifested. You know how when you're on your pet summary page in your spellbook, and next to its abilities there are little yellow pips? Well, when all the pips -- full ones and empty -- are added together, that makes the little 54 and 53 next to your parent pets names. As for the number in the parenthases, that is based just on all the full pips -- the yellow ones -- which is why it is substantially less than the first number. There's a fascinating guide for pedigrees HERE.

Now, when you breed pets together, the baby obtains the appearance, class type, and I think even some of the abilities(?) of the parent pet that has the higher stats. Your Colossus had the higher pedigree, but it was 54 and your baby pet had 55. Clearly there is a pattern in there somewhere, although truthfully I haven't the slightest idea what that pattern is. I never really question the all-knowing MCP that is Wizard101, especially when it comes to numbers. I'm kind of numeral phobic. Maybe since you paid a lot of gold for it the game wanted to give you that one extra point. Or maybe there was an added ability from the weaker parent pet. Or maybe they were just going in chronological order (53, 54, 55). It's a complete mystery to me. The most important thing that indicates your pet's abilities is the number in parenthases, as that is a number that rises with much training and care.

The MCP knows all...

If you happen to obtain a lot of gold over the course of your journeys, you should experiment some more, with pets of different schools and stats. I'm especially interested in seeing what people discover about crown pets as they seem like they can probably make some really nifty hybrids.

Fun fact: I wrote the word "pet(s)" 15 times, including the one just now.

Anyways, good luck in your search for the truth, and safe journeys young wizard!

OK, this time... seriously.

 [once again x-posted from W101C]

Here's the new filming info for That's Life!: Episode 3.

DATE: Monday, July 19th.

TIME: 1pm pacific time (if you don't know what time that is in your zone, google "time zone converter")

LOCATION: Life school classroom.

AREA: Wu server (subject to change during filming)

• Same thing as last time: noob clothes, wands and pets unequipped.
• Filming should take around half an hour.
• Please no complaining or rushing. It will take however long it takes, I don't like being nagged when I'm trying to get the filming just right.

That's about it. I'm hoping for the same turn-out as last time but completely understand if there isn't. I know people's schedules are busy so thank you to everyone who makes time to do this. Note: I can't make any special changes or arrangements to the date for anyone, so don't ask. Sorry.

And this is how you fail.

Thanks to some friends from Wizard101 Central I was able to shoot the opening/ending scenes for the 3rd episode of That's Life! Although, it wasn't without a few problems (people coming in and out of the scene, extras not following directions, people randomly porting in). Then to top it all off, the footage was ruined. So, we're gonna have to do a re-shoot, hopefully sometime soon, and hopefully with all of the original cast, plus the extras who missed it last time.

This is very frustrating. I initially planned on hashing out the video by Monday/Tuesday. But I guess it just wasn't meant to be. I'm thinking I might need to unplug for a while, take some time off from the internet and just chill with some friends. I will probably just try to get the filming done first, then take the weekend off and edit the video next week. We'll see, I might not be able to get everyone to come when I finally decide to get around to it.

Anyhoodle, that's the frustrating news of the day. *growls*

Safe journeys!

Success!

Well last night I got my necromancer to level 48. Victoria Ravenblood is now a Master of Death! I just finished the obsidian chest quest for her and now I'm thinking of taking it nice and slow :P I mean, no hurry now that I got one of the most important things done (the scarecrow spell). Tomorrow will be a filming day for That's Life! episode 3, as well as probably Thursday, then I will be editing it on Thurs/Fri. Busy weekend, folks, very busy.

To celebrate my newfound success I will spend the rest of the day playing Left 4 Dead 2. Woot!

Safe journeys, everyone!