Just Your Average Minecrafter

i love this show

And that may sound a bit bias because I am the creator of this series, but this journey WizMark is going through is just so compelling to me. We see a bit of his life before Before, and all of these flashbacks are really growing his character. A lot of what this series is about is how WizMark comes into himself and learns from his mistakes in the past. 

We’re already more than half into the season and I’m really glad how this turned out! As you can see, there are two ongoing storylines throughout the series so far -- WizMark and Nirvana’s mission to return home & WizMark reliving his memories in an attempt to remember who put him in the Aether in the first place. The latter is more of a a teaser that will be explored more in Season 2 as the Season One Finale will leave you guys most definitely wanting more!

Introducing WizMark’s Ascent to the Aether

I have never been more stoked about Minecraft in awhile until now. It has been a hectic past few months, but I am nothing but excited to finally introduce the newest series I have been teasing for awhile now. 

Synopsis The new series takes place directly after the third season of WizMark’s Let’s Play Series, following WizMark on a spiritual expedition into the Aether dimension where his faith is tested to its limits. 

Schedule I will be broadcasting episodes on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays throughout the month of June.

Purpose & Gameplay Overall, this is my first experience playing the Aether mod, and so far it has reinvigorated my interest in Minecraft. I have been eyeing this mod ever since I found it, and am really glad to have finally found the time to play through it.  

Resource Pack As of right now, I am using the default texture pack provided within the Aether Launcher. However I have edited the photos to create a more vibrant vibe within the series. 

The Future Currently, with what the mod has to offer, I am striving towards two seasons of this show. However, if more content is added into the mod, I can most definitely see this series ending with five or six seasons. If more content is added months after the end of the series, the idea of bringing the series back may become an option. 

it’s been awhile

But I am back! And I’m glad to announce a whole bunch of exciting things coming this summer 2015! It’s been a relaxing hiatus, but I am ready to revisit this blog and reinvigorate the essence of Minecraft once again. 

Ascent to the Aether 

My main focus as of right now is developing the Aether spin-off I had originally intended after the end of the third season of WizMark’s Let’s Play Series. It will follow WizMark’s journey into the Aether world and how it will affect his character’s outlook on life after Jhumar. After researching a bit on both the Aether I and Aether II mods, I have concluded that as of right now, I am aiming for a 5 - 10 episode per season, 2 - 3 season run of the show. Depending on the updates regarding the Aether II mod, I can easily expand the show into a 3 - 6 season show, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

WizMark’s Let’s Play Series

I plan for Ascent to the Aether to premiere throughout the rest of the summer, with WizMark’s Let’s Play Series premiering its fourth season shortly after its conclusion. That said, I do not think that the fourth season of WizMark’s Let’s Play Series will premiere until 2016. 

Survival Island

Additionally, I also intend to finish out the last season of this series finally concluding the series and moving on!

Uncovering Season Three 

This past year has been nothing but a rollercoaster ride of emotions, crazy plotlines, and lovable characters. I can’t be ever more proud, and believe that this season so far has been my favorite. From the very start of Season Three Unearth, I was already developing plans for Jhumar’s departure. Days were hectic, timing was unbearable, and of course, our dwindling interest in Minecraft altogether contributed to our decision. But I don’t regret that decision one bit. This season was all about committing to Jhumar’s origin story, allowing for great imagination and bursts of creativity. Altogether to create an amazing season.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays was initialized due to me wanting to create an abundance of holiday-esque episodes, while also developing WizMark and Jhumar’s budding friendship as I felt it wasn’t developed well enough to be believable. I wanted Jhumar’s choice to mean something, and it felt backed up for Jhumar to choose WizMark once the episodes rolled out.

Unearth

Unearth was mainly about the effects of Jhumar and WizMark’s decision to ride through a journey in finding Jhumar’s family. I envisioned this season to be more about exploring Minecraftia outside of their tired village, as this was displayed through the various expeditions throughout forests, swamps, jungles, and new additions to the casts such as the horses and ocelots. However, WizMark’s optimism and trust in Jhumar fades as searching through various biomes leave them hopeless.

When they reach Harley Jungle, WizMark is then reminded of what Jhumar has saved him from, a life of suffering. Jhumar gave WizMark a reason to live, and he feels that he owes Jhumar for saving him. However, in the next few episodes Jhumar reveals his true selfish self as finding his family becomes his number one priority, over his and WizMark’s friendship.

Once the Nova Nuevas plant an idea into Jhumar’s mind, his original agenda in pursuing revenge against the Wither is set in motion, against WizMark’s wishes. This is where the big battle of the season takes place, and it’s not between the Wither and Jhumar. It’s between Jhumar and WizMark. Their friendship was the driving force of the show for awhile now, and it’s been tested over and over again. To this day, if only I wished they passed that test.

Isle

Isle was in particular, the hardest piece of writing I’ve had had to do this whole series. It was also the most challenging setting-wise. Jhumar and I were in an all new environment, so it was especially difficult to film things accordingly to plan. This season was all about testing WizMark and Jhumar’s friendship, because at that moment in time, their friendship was made up of false hope and ultimatums. 

In the aftermath of the Wither, Jhumar realizes that the hole he was trying to fill with revenge is still empty, if not emptier than it was before. He realizes that this wasn’t enough. And in the midst of it all, he feels that he does not believe WizMark can fill that void either. WizMark was so close to him that Jhumar revealed that he reminded him of his own brother. In an attempt to escape WizMark, he builds a ship and sails to an unknown island. However, WizMark won’t give up on Jhumar that easily and hops on as well.

With Jhumar going slightly crazy, splurging WizMark with comparisons to his brother who abandoned him, WizMark begins to uncover the true side of Jhumar. Their old village was just a disguise, and the island allowed for unscripted, unpredictable circumstances. Jhumar felt vulnerable, enough so to tell WizMark, from the heart, that was no longer enough.

WizMark comes to terms with his and Jhumar’s incompatibility, realizing that it is best for them to part ways. He believes this journey has changed Jhumar too much to the point that he was unrecognizable. WizMark leaves a note and sets sail to escape Jhumar on the same boat Jhumar had previously used to escape him.

Once Jhumar has read the note and reflected on himself, he realizes he can’t just let WizMark go. But as usual, his realizations come too late as he left alone once again. In his departure in the series, he admits of his greedy intentions, but promises WizMark that he will make a change, find his family, and never ever give up on their friendship, no matter how complicated it was to endure.

The Finale - Free

It was a touch decision burning off one episode this season in favor of creating just one finale. However, I feel very satisfied with this one. This season was able to resolve Jhumar’s storyline, as well as strengthen WizMark’s abilities in independence as he willingly left Jhumar on his own terms. But of course to lead us into the next potential fourth season, the storm will take us into a whole new storyline, undoubtedly relating to underwater..

Spin-off

Uncovering Season Two

This season felt like a struggle to write. The main concept for this season was mainly to introduce Hell and Jhumar, and to reveal the origins of the apocalypse from which both of the main characters having trouble escaping. 

Hell

Hell was all about WizMark addressing and coming to terms with the idea that he could never be happy without someone by him side. WizMark admits to himself on various accounts that rebuilding society was not enough, the beauty of the world itself was not enough, and even moving on from Harrison was not enough to keep him in the overworld. His village was all for show, and his feelings were what he was truly afraid of. He needed to stay in a place where there were no distractions to complicate his path, and he chose Hell. Not only was Hell his only choice, but he felt drawn to that place, as if someone was waiting for him. And there he was, in Hell, finding a man named Jhumar among the fire.

Escape

Escape was used as a way to ease transition with Jhumar moving into the series as a series regular. I advertised the series on the Minecraft forums recently, and at first, the viewers originally believed Jhumar to be an intelligent badass who would mentor WizMark. Looking back at this episode, I can see that; Jhumar has such a funny and witty comment in this episode. But how more wrong could they be.

Companion

Companion details the introduction and uncovering of Jhumar’s past revelations with the events of Before. Once Jhumar’s fears risks their lives, WizMark gives Jhumar an ultimatum, leaving Jhumar no choice but to explain his connections with Before. 

I’m glad with the way I developed Jhumar’s character, as well as unraveling Before for the very first time. From the very instant Jhumar revealed his reasons for being in Hell, it was solid that this had turned into a revenge story for Jhumar, that would later take place more prominently in Season Three. Jhumar was always thirsty for revenge, and it wasn’t only when WizMark helped him out of his denial of Before did he realize that was all he really wanted. 

Uncovering Season One

When the series was first conceptualized, I didn’t see it becoming what it is today, a cinematic Minecraft drama. So when Shelter debuted, it was nothing more but a way to document my Minecraft experiences. It wasn’t until the seeds of drama were planted in Silence did the pace actually start ramping up.

Shelter

Shelter was all about establishing the character of WizMark and the uncertainty of the world itself. At this point in development, I was not making any type of advanced planning into the story. Really, I was just letting Minecraft go with the flow, and whatever happened was incorporated into the Let’s Play. 

Reading over the old episodes now, you can really notice how light-hearted and fun the show and WizMark himself used to be. How innocent WizMark was. The midseason finale conveyed a little foreshadowing of what was to come. WizMark enjoyed what was Piggie Forest, and eventually befriended the rest of the piggies. WizMark didn’t know what he wanted until it was taken away from him, which brings us to the next chapter of his life.

Silence

Silence concerns the main storyline of the death of Harrison and how it affects WizMark’s perspective of life after the apocalypse. This opened up multiple venues for WizMark’s character to act and grow. After the introduction of the Laveri Tribe and his dive into a cave, he decides that the feeling of loss never goes away. WizMark eventually learns this the hard way once Luna’s death strikes upon him. Once WizMark hit rock bottom when he attempts to end his life, he realizes what he must do. Denial leads him to enacting a dangerous ritual into Hell itself.