#its based on a scrapped spin off of the original show focusing on this side character

[blast0rama]

James Gunn and Peter Safran Reveal DC Studios Chapter 1: Gods and Monsters

Let’s just get into the nitty gritty here…

The Hollywood Reporter:

A new Batman movie without Robert Pattinson (but featuring Bruce Wayne’s murderous son). A Superman movie on the release schedule (mark your calendars for July 11, 2025). A Game of Thrones-style drama set on Wonder Woman’s home island of Themyscira (Amazonian palace intrigue). And an animated series already in production (Creature Commandos … wait, what?).

That’s just part of what will be coming to theaters and TV screens as part of DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new slate.

The pair have been busy in the three months since taking over and combining the film and television slate of DC properties, including live-action and animation, as well as gaming. They revamped the way the movie and TV sides do business, cutting ties with projects and creators. A writers room was formed to find an overall story that will launch a unified DC Universe. Creators have been approached. And a plan, at least part of one for what is being billed as Chapter 1: God and Monsters, was formulated and a slate of projects put into development.

And the long-awaited lineup reveal:

Creature Commandos: An animated seven episode series, written by Gunn, that is already in production. Originally a team of classic monsters assembled to fight Nazis, this is a modern take on the concept. The voice actors have yet to be cast but the executives are looking to find people who can voice the animated characters and also portray the live-action versions when the anti-heroes to show up in movies and shows.

Waller: A spin-off of Gunn’s own HBO Max hit series, Peacemaker, Viola Davis will return as the ruthless and morally ambiguous head of a government task force. It is being written by Christal Henry (Watchmen) and Jeremy Carver, the creator of the Doom Patrol TV series.

Superman: Legacy: The movie featuring the Man of Steel that Gunn is writing and may direct, although no commitments on that end have been made. While the two previous titles are meant to be “aperatifs,” in Safran’s words, Superman is the true kick off for the duo’s DCU plans. “It’s not an origin story,” Safran said. “It focuses on Superman balancing his Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing. He is the embodiment of truth justice and the American way. He is kindness in a world that thinks that kindness as old-fashioned.” A release date of July 11, 2025 has been penciled in.

Lanterns: Greg Berlanti’s long-in-the-works Green Lanterns TV series has been scrapped and the duo have parted ways with the longtime DC series steward. In its place will be a new take on the space cops with power rings. “Our vision for this is very much in the vein of True Detective,” Safran described. “It’s terrestrial-based.” It will feature prominent Lantern heroes Hal Jordan and John Stewart and is one of the most important shows they have in development. “This plays a really big role in leading into the main story we are telling across film and TV.”

The Authority: a movie based on a team of superheroes with rather extreme methods of protecting the planet that first originated in the late 1990s under an influential imprint known as Wildstorm, run by artist and now head of DC publishing, Jim Lee. “One of the things of the DCU is that it’s not just a story of heroes and villains,” said Gunn. “Not every film and TV show is going to be about good guy vs. bad guy, giant things from the sky comes and good guy wins. There are white hats, black hats and grey hats.” Added Safran: “They are kinda like Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men. They know that you want them on the wall. Or at least they believe that.”

Paradise Lost: The duo describe this HBO Max series as a Game of Thrones-style drama set on the all-female island that is Wonder Woman’s birthplace, Themyscira, filled with political intrigue and scheming between power players. It takes place before the events of the Wonder Woman films.

The Brave and the Bold: “This is the introduction of the DCU Batman,” said Gunn. “Of Bruce Wayne and also introduces our favorite Robin, Damian Wayne, who is a little son of a bitch.” The movie will take inspiration from the now-classic Batman run written by Grant Morrison that introduced Batman to a son he never knew existed: a murderous tween raised by assassins. “It’s a very strange father-and-son story.”

And, importantly, it will feature a Batman not played by Robert Pattinson…

The Batman sequel: Pattinson will continue to portray the Dark Knight in at least one more crime saga movie directed by Matt Reeves. That movie, the executives revealed, will be released Oct. 3, 2025 and is being titled The Batman Part II.

“2025 is going to be a very big year for DC,” crowed Safran. “Superman and Batman within the same year.”

Booster Gold: an HBO Max series based on a unique and lower-tiered hero created in 1986. Safran said of the series, “It’s about a loser from the future who uses basic future technology to come back to today and pretend to be a superhero.” Gunn described it as “imposter syndrome as superhero.”

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow: Taking its cues from the recent Tom King-written mini-series, this movie project promises to have a different take than what most think of when the idea of Superman’s cousin comes to mind. “We will see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl, raised on a rock, a chip off of Krypton, and who watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life and then come to Earth. She is much more hardcore and not the Supergirl we’re used to.”

Swamp Thing: a horror film that promises to close out the first part of the first chapter.

There’s a lot here to be excited about — casting remaining consistent across movies, TV and animation (unless you’re Batman, I guess), some interesting pulls of comics to turn into films (The Authority! Tom King’s awesome Woman of Tomorrow series!) — but we’ve got 3 movies to deal with from the old guard and a few years before any of this actually makes air/hits the screens.

I am cautiously optimistic. Let’s see how this looks come 2025.

[ambersky0319]

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#agjfhfgfhfgfjdkggdnchcj #have you ever like. checked out a video. maybe an animatic. thats for a fandom/series youre not too interested in #and find out #its based on a scrapped spin off of the original show focusing on this side character #and the spinoff actually has a really really interesting story and the characters seem awesome #and when you check out more animatics #you just fall deeper down the rabbit hole and are now somehow invested in a story that will literally probably never be made into a reality #and will just be animatics. art/comics. and fanfics #anyway #i also discovered an artist whose style i absolutely love during all this #all in a day #and i just #sjdhdggshsgdh #so yeah- varian and the seven kingdoms. disney. wtf were you thinking with scrapping that whole concept its GREAT (imo) /srs #anywho #amber's shit you can ignore

[catsitta]

Handle With Care - Post Mortem

When I first started writing Handle with Care, it was going to be 100 chapters long and there were a few key differences in the plot. These changes occurred generally slowly as I gained a better understanding of my world and characters, while some shifted dramatically due to my feeling they were thematically inappropriate for the story I wanted to tell. So with the conclusion of the main fic and its various continuations, I decided to detail a little more in how I approached a 100 word daily drabble fic, and why certain events occurred or why certain characters played certain roles. This post is mostly for the folks out there who like all the nitpicky background information that goes around in the author’s head while writing.

100 WORDS A DAY

In choosing to write 100 words a day, I gave myself both a goal and a challenge. 100 words is often little more than a paragraph. Maybe two. I often found myself writing on my commute into work or during lunch on my phone, because while 1000 might feel overwhelming, 100 is not. Right? Yet some days I found just enough time to type up 100 words between work and other commitments (October was interesting, since I did Inktober and well as Promptober, on top of my usual working schedule). But the most challenging part was not writing 100 words. Writing 100 words was easy. Writing ONLY 100 words was where things became tricky.

In my original intentions for this fic, scenes were not supposed to span over multiple chapters. Each drabble was to be a self contained snapshot of time. But as the story became more emotionally centered, I shifted away from that idea and focused more on making each drabble exist as a chapter. Chapters can have cliffhangers. But they need to communicate a thought. An idea. A feeling. With 100 words a day, my objective became: Progress the story in a meaningful way or communicate some important information to the audience. With 100 words, there was often little room for getting lost in details.

Now one my ask again, why 100?

100 is the number of words in the definition of a drabble. 100, again, is an easy minimum to reach. But when you are used to writing 2-3k word chapters, flexibility is minimal and you have to decide what needs to be said, and what you were saying to fill space. And I found it a wonderful learning experience and valuable exercise as a writer. I’ve attempted to start drabble fics in the past, but rarely did they ever get past a couple chapters before I would get frustrated by the limitations. Because let’s be honest. Writing a 25,000 word story, 100 words at a time, is a test of one’s patience as much as anything else.

THE STORY

Handle with Care was originally supposed to be pure romantic comedy with just a splash of darker undertones in the background for color. But as much as I love fluffy comedies, as I wrote, there were conflicts that I didn’t feel should be glossed over. As some of my long term readers and commenters will know, I’m terribly fond of bitter with my sweet. Angst with my fluff. The bad things in life make the good all the brighter. And conflict drives a story forward.

So what changed?

There were many different variations on how Sans ended up raising Papyrus alone. Some took our overbearing science dad, Gaster, and outright cast him in the role of a villain as opposed to a mid story antagonist. Straight into, why aren’t you in jail, territory. Others barely featured Gaster at all, as he was disconnected from Sans after his son didn’t end up pursuing a ‘productive’ career in the sciences. There were even a couple considered drafts where Papyrus and Edge did have another parent and the reason Sans was distrusting and cagey was because of a broken Soulbond. (And for those of you who were Web/Sans theorists, well, there was a version where you weren’t wrong! Sans started an affair off with Web after the LOADs began as a sort of ‘regain control of his life’ thing.)

What may interest folks is that the story was originally not supposed to end with a wedding and a house in the planning. The happy ending was going to be less sugar and more height of the moment drama. Around the time Frisk intimidates Red into silence, she was going to instead start him on the path to discovering answers. No confessions from Sans. No journals. Instead Red goes on the hunt for clues and gets fragments of the story from different people, especially Gaster and Frisk. It was all quite emotional, but the pacing felt off, and I felt it would be more rewarding if Sans grew as a character and he was the one to confess all his secrets.

Another altered thread was Red being only Web’s son. Early, early on, Red was the product of Web and some other monster. I even considered that monster having died in birth with Edge. But I scrapped that quickly, and decided that instead, Edge was Pap’s twin, and that the grim mood Web was in, was because of what he saw as well as what he remembered from past timelines. He almost watched his friend and coworker dust in his arms. Properly traumatic, eh?

There is a completely cut scene that I may write in the spin off that goes more into detail about Red’s similarities to Gaster, and Sans’ to Web, and how people often choose partners that are like their parental figures. You may ask. Wait. What do you mean? Well, Webdings didn’t smoke. He drank. Red, despite having dabbled with the stuff, is never shown to drink recreationally or get drunk in the fic, for more reasons than being underage to do so. However, it is very lightly implied that Sans’ coping method of choice is alcohol, though Red quickly quashes this habit after the drunkenness incident. Now, who else smokes? Gaster. Sans doesn’t like that Red smokes (for obvious reasons it reminds him of his father and Red does try to quit in the fic, though ends up falling back on it when stressed.) There are other similarities if you look close. It’s one of the reasons that Gaster and Red don’t get along. They’re both strong personalities, and can be pretty quick to pass judgement on someone.

THE CHARACTERS

As many folks picked up on, Handle with Care, has multiple meanings. It is a moving pun based on the CAUTION: FRAGILE | Handle with Care, labels on the sides of some boxes. It is also one of the main themes of the fic itself. Everyone in the story is a person with their own pasts and pains, which makes them fragile in different ways. And some of them even represent different types of relationships and people we encounter in our lives.

Red - Our protagonist. He’s a young man picking up the pieces of his life after his father’s apparent suicide, left to raise his baby brother when he was only sixteen. He’s the child of an alcoholic and forced to take on an adult role too young. As a result, he has a few unhealthy coping mechanisms, struggles with his temper and his sense of self worth. But he’s the one that got out. That put his life on the straight-and-narrow.

Sans - The love interest. Grew up young from the sheer expectations in his life. He was never without, but when the LOADs happened, he cracked under a lifetime’s worth of pressure. He broke down. Stopped trusting anyone, including himself. And very likely only kept himself from Falling because of Papyrus. Much of his struggles is based on the single mothers who would say that their child is what saved them or got them through those darkest time by just existing. He is also the individual who was groomed for success that ended up with absoluting no proper coping skills because of his rigid upbringing.

Papyrus - The optimist. He stays positive through everything. Everything and everyone can do better, and he sees the best in all situations. But he also has a responsible streak with an urge to organize everything (clean/cook/no desserts before dinner). His relationship with Sans could have very well ended up problematic, with Paps taking on a parental role for his parent early on in his life.

Edge - The pessimist. Edge is the other side of the coin from Papyrus. While his world view is often just as rigid, he is emotional. While it is implied he was always a fussy baby, he’s very sensitive to change, and shows that children are capable of picking up on things that the adults in their lives try to hide. His abandonment issues run deep, and will cause him to lash out until he is older and learns better self control and comes to terms with his father’s death. It is not uncommon for children of single parent homes to become resentful, if not at their present parent, but at the one that is gone. It is difficult for Edge to separate his father’s death, and Red’s fights with Sans, away from himself, and his self-centric view of the world.

Gaster - The (sympathetic?) antagonist. There are points where you love to hate him, and other times, you have to step back. He’s the authoritarian parent that dictated most of his child’s life up until that child literally vanished and became a hermit for a while. It isn’t through callousness or unkindness that he acts this way, but in what he believes is the opposite. He struggles with emotions, especially showing them, an example of how often older generations, especially males, often don’t/can’t/won’t show emotional vulnerability. He wants the best for Sans and those he cares about, even if he often fails to show it properly.

Web - The dead dad. Red’s relationship with Web is complicated. He remembers when Web was a brilliant man, even if not the most fatherly of fathers. But he also laid witness to his fall from grace as well, his drinking habit the most evident. His role is ambiguous much of the story, though he’s left behind hole. His death is the catalyst to a number of the story’s events, and Red’s struggle with him in death is to show the complicated feelings people may have when they lose a loved one who may have not been the best person. Sans’ relationship with him was more to highlight how far he’d actually fallen in the end from where he used to be.

Toriel - The mother. She is a maternal presence in many character’s lives. Her mothering is revealed to be related to her inability to conceive a child. Infertility is a common problem for women. She goes on to foster, babysit and even adopt after Asriel is born. She also an example of the powerful bonds we form with others and how sometimes families are found. Toriel was as much of a mother to Sans as she was Asriel.

The Fallen Humans - The catalyst. If Frisk didn’t exist, there wouldn’t be a story. After all, she was the child that climbed the mountain, starting the events of Undertale. Frisk and Chara both are implied to have troubled pasts, which lead them to being vulnerable to that idea of absolute power corrupts absolutely. The meddle. They are often selfish and don’t consider the consequences of their actions, and when they do, there is a sense of it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters when you can manipulate reality itself. But where Frisk possess a sense of guilt for what happened with Sans, Chara does not, and even outright tells Red that he is willing to do anything to accomplish his goals (even if that means hurting everyone else). Kris is a ‘dreamer’, and while he has more control over tweaking the events that play out, he is far less calloused by RESETS and LOADS. He just wants to be close to his brother Asriel, as well as help his ‘siblings’ find a sense of belonging.

Undyne - The Protagonist’s parallel. A child of divorce, which for monsters often leads to trauma and death, she is left to be raised by Gerson. She’s angry, resentful and prone to get in fights. Red often compares her to Edge, but can also empathise deeply with her troubles. At fourteen she is old enough to understand the reality of the situation, but also young enough to be deeply affected by the changes. Given the rarity of divorce, it is implied that her home life was unstable before the events of the story. Red tries to help her as he never got help himself.

Asriel - The miracle child. Mostly a background character. Asriel’s main connections are to Kris and the Dreemurs. He was the child that a couple struggling with fertility finally conceived. His being born, however, resulted Gaster creating Red for Webdings.

Asgore - The powerful person. Gaster and Toriel both have names that are impactful in the community, but Asgore is the founder of Dreemur Medical and Biotech. He was the King of Monsters. Despite his passive role, he influences many of the character’s choices and actions but simply EXISTING as a person of importance. Gaster tries to literally create viable monster cloning/fertility enhancement methods for him which lead to Sans and Red being born. His inviting Web to work with determination led to the creation of the Machine.

Gerson - The substitute parent. His main role in the story is as a family friend of Undyne’s and in the end, her new parental figure. She resents him and he takes care of her. He cannot replace what she’s lost, but he tries to provide her a future. A hard role to fill in a child’s life.

Grillby - The old friend. Grillby plays are far more subtle part. He’s survived a broken Soulbond, he’s friends with Sans, and through every up-and-down, he’s remained open to Sans when he comes back around. Sometimes as children we form friendships with adults that are just as strong as those we form with our peers. This is true for Sans.

There are a few more characters that show up mostly for color and world building but don’t play a significant part in pushing the themes of the story.

CONCLUSION

Would I do this again? Yes. I am planning on continuing the 100 word trend in the Pre-Sequel This Way Up. It may be truer to the spirit of drabbles since we will have a lot more ground to cover since it will be telling Sans’ history. We’ll get to learn more about Gaster, Webdings, the Dreemurs, Grillby and the Fallen Humans. And for those of you who want to know more about the HwC boys as they are? Moving Day will fill in the blanks. And I also promised a sequel. Bubblewrap Blues will take place significantly in the future and center around a certain aptly named skeleton and the edgy boy that likes to get coffee in his cafe.

I’m pleased with how the story turned out.

I never expected the reaction and the feedback. To those of you who commented and kudosed. Thank you. And to those who quite literally followed me from the start, reading and commenting near every day if not every day? You’re extra amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much.

#Handle with care #Undertale #fanfic #post mortem #kustard #textpost #babybones #daily drabble #100 word drabbles #personal challenge #finished #finished fanfic

[postgamecontent]

Studio Pixel Spotlight: Kero Blaster & Friends

As Cave Story made its way to a variety of platforms, its fame only grew. So too did the anticipation for whatever Daisuke "Pixel" Amaya was working on next. Not many people paid all that much attention to Guxt, and perhaps that was fair. It didn't really offer what people were looking for nor was it where many of them wanted it to be, so it's perhaps understandable why it barely registered. Without Guxt taken into account, however, the wait for the next big Pixel game was an extremely long one. There were a number of false starts and scrapped ideas before Kero Blaster finally made its debut in 2014 on PC and iPhone. If you were among the earliest players of Cave Story and didn't pay Guxt any mind, that meant you waited nearly a decade for Pixel's next game. Was it worth it? Well, I think so. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that Kero Blaster is better than Cave Story. But we're getting ahead of ourselves here. Kero Blaster also has a few spin-offs, one of which acted as a teaser for the game.

Pink Hour

Original Release Date: April 11, 2014

Original Hardware: Windows PC

Kero Blaster's development was long and had many twists to it. Interestingly, it started off as a game build specifically for smartphones. Pixel had taken an interest in the format and wanted to try to crack the nut of making a traditional action game work with touch controls in a more imaginative way than just slapping a virtual controller on the screen. Somewhere along the line, he decided to also release the game on PC. That was probably a wise move, given the state of the iOS market for pay-once-and-play games by the time Kero Blaster came out. The PC version had no need for Pixel's inventive mobile control set-up, allowing players to simply use a controller and play it like any other action game. For most players, this is easier than using even the well thought-out control method Pixel came up with.

Why is this relevant to Pink Hour, the brief teaser that was released a month prior to Kero Blaster's full release? Well, it led to the odd situation of the teaser for what was originally a mobile game being initially released on PC only. Pink Hour uses the same core gameplay mechanics as Kero Blaster. Instead of controlling the Frog, however, you control the office secretary, Pink, as she tries to retrieve an important document. The game consists of just one level, and it barely lasts longer than fifteen minutes even if you take your time. But it's a pretty tough level by Kero Blaster standards, and since Pink can't power up the way Frog can, skill is the only way through it.

Pixel felt like the challenge in Pink Hour was too much for the mobile controls to handle, so the game was exclusive to home computers for quite a while. He later relented and put the game out on the iOS App Store, complete with the Hard Mode and extras he had updated the PC version with. Pixel needn't have worried, I think. If you could get through Kero Blaster on mobile, Pink Hour wasn't that tough. It is curious that he opted to go with a rather difficult stage to tease Kero Blaster with, however. In cases where developers are able to release a demo, they almost always make it easy and accessible. Pixel's never been shy about turning up the heat, though.

I feel like Pink Hour kind of did Kero Blaster more harm than good. As much I love Pink's little side adventures, I think that Pink Hour's brevity and lack of any of the crunchier mechanics from Kero Blaster may have given people the wrong image about the game to come. Nevertheless, I'm glad it exists. It's a little extra slice of the Kero Blaster world and gameplay, and I'll gladly take as much of that as I can get. I suppose it's easier to enjoy it in all of its tiny glory when you've already feasted on the main course.

Kero Blaster

Original Release Date: May 11, 2014

Original Hardware: Apple iPhone

After years of working on ports of Cave Story, smaller projects, and false starts, Pixel was finally ready to release a new large-scale game in 2013. The game was announced as Gero Blaster, and from the early trailer released, it appeared to be based on the characters from a manga Pixel created called Ame. Cute with a dark tone behind it, Ame was largely focused on three characters: a talkative frog named Kaeru, his silent oddball girlfriend Ame, and a black cat named Sasuke who served as a rival to Kaeru for Ame's affections. From appearances, Gero Blaster was about Kaeru saving Ame from aliens who kidnapped her. It featured run-and-gun action and an overworld map similar to the one seen in Super Mario Bros. 3. Gero Blaster was planned to launch in the spring of 2013, but Pixel decided to postpone it.

Gero Blaster made an appearance at PAX East in March 2014 in playable form, but mere weeks later, Pixel announced that the game's title was now Kero Blaster. Oh, and the game would be released in May, just weeks away. It seems like an inconsequential title change, but much like how Cave Story changed considerably from its beta form, Kero Blaster was a near-total rebuild of the game that was originally announced as Gero Blaster. While the main character was still a frog, this frog and his friends had no connections to Ame whatsoever. Instead of rescuing his girlfriend, Frog was a janitor working for a clean-up agency called Cat & Frog. The cat in question is not his girlfriend but rather his boss, and she's quite a difficult one to work for, by the looks of things. The overworld map was gone, giving way to a more traditional linear stage progression. It's unknown what else was changed since we saw so little of Gero Blaster, but according to Pixel, nearly everything down to the weapon selection and bosses were tossed out.

Apparently, Pixel had been unhappy with the way Gero Blaster was turning out. He turned to an associate of his, Ms. Kiyoko Kawanaka, to help him rebuild the game into something better. Kawanaka handled the level design and production of the game that would be dubbed Kero Blaster, while Pixel took on the rest. Having an extra pair of hands helped Pixel keep his motivation up, and the new game was put together relatively quickly. The game released on iOS and PC on May 11, 2014. It was later updated with an expansion called Overtime Mode on October 11, 2015. Nicalis had talked about bringing the game to the Nintendo 3DS, but nothing seems to have come of that. In April of 2017, the game was released by publisher Playism on the PlayStation 4. I doubt that will be the last of its ports if Cave Story is anything to go by.

Unfortunately, it feels like Kero Blaster wasn't as warmly received as Cave Story. I think there are lots of reasons for this, but virtually all of them come down to the game not being Cave Story 2. Kero Blaster was not designed to be a non-linear action-adventure game in the mold of Super Metroid. Instead, it hearkens back to an earlier era of gaming, the more straightforward 2D action games that could be found on Nintendo's 8-bit console. I feel like Pixel was pretty clear about the game in advance, but some people still came to a Contra party looking for Symphony of the Night. The default release is quite a bit shorter than Cave Story, and it's far more of a linear romp than its older sibling. The story feels silly and somewhat inconsequential, which may have turned off those looking for a repeat of Cave Story's emotional tale.

With that acknowledged, I am now going to go out on one of my pet limbs and say that I think Kero Blaster is a better game than Cave Story. The level designs are more focused and flow more smoothly, the basic shooting action feels better, and the overall experience is considerably more consistent all-around. There are fewer difficulty spikes, and the game is designed in such a way that it helps out players having trouble instead of kicking them the way Cave Story does. Its brevity has been tempered somewhat with the addition of the Overtime Mode expansion. That content also helps fill out the story and characters a little more, giving some context to the weird black blobs you fight all the way through the original story mode. I can see why people might connect more with Cave Story, and I must stress that I think that game is also brilliant. But Kero Blaster is a more refined game, showing what Pixel had learned over the course of nearly 10 years of reflecting on his work.

It's funny, because work is exactly what Kero Blaster is about. Frog's adventure is a fun run-and-gun game, but he's just doing his job. His boss appears to be letting her work get to her, and in the Overtime Mode, we learn that the little black blobs littering each stage are manifestations of unfinished jobs. At her previous job, the boss worked for a company that nearly had to close because there was no work left to do. A work-making machine was created, churning out endless jobs and tasks for the employees to toil away on. That excess work soon starts to take over the minds and souls of the workers, turning them into veritable zombies. This unfinished business followed the boss to her new company, warping her into the monster she becomes during the original story. Having kicked that particular problem, the employees of Cat & Frog decide to go the hot springs, but Frog needs to take care of that work-making machine first. Frog is a good employee and isn't going to play until the job is done.

While this is possibly commentary on the major social problem of overwork in Japan, it could also be referring to Pixel's own struggles with finishing the development of Cave Story. I have to imagine that the final testing and debugging of that game had Pixel feeling a little like Frog watching stacks of paper drop out of thin air. Overtime Mode is much harder than the original story, and every time you get a game over, you're tempted to quit. The doctor asks you each and every time if you just want to skip out and head to the hot springs. You have to tell him no if you want to continue. The harder the game breaks you, the more tempted you might be to take him up on his offer, but the only way you'll see the proper ending is by finishing all of your work first. Particularly since Cave Story was a free game, I'm sure Pixel had lots of opportunities to throw in the towel and head to the hot springs, but the only way he could see his vision realized was to keep on saying no to those offers. Was it the right choice? Well, it was the only way to see the ending.

You don't have to worry about any of that as a player if you don't want to, however. It's perfectly fine to enjoy Kero Blaster simply as the marvelous game that it is. The basic mechanics of the game feel right in a way that most games don't quite match. While the regular enemies in the normal story mode are a bit weak, the bosses will give you a good run for your skills. The pace is more Mega Man than Contra, mind you. Frog can take a few hits and you're rarely having to dodge multiple shots coming from all directions or anything. There's also a somewhat significant amount of platforming to be done, especially in the Overtime Mode. You can also find quite a number of secrets if you know where to look.

While it's hard to get precise numbers as to the sales of each game, what I have seen suggests that there is a large number of people who have played Cave Story but haven't played Kero Blaster. If that's you, I would strongly advise correcting that. Even the mobile version is a fine way to go here thanks to the clever control set-up of using a stick-shift to automatically shoot in various directions. Just play it however you can, on whatever platform you have available to you. Play it through, and don't forget to take on the Overtime Mode. Even if it may never escape the shadow of its predecessor, Kero Blaster is a genuine treasure of a game.

Pink Heaven

Original Release Date: October 12, 2015

Original Hardware: Windows PC

Just as Pink Hour had heralded the arrival of Kero Blaster, so too did its follow-up, Pink Heaven, serve as a sort of interactive announcement. In this case, it was to get the word out about the Overtime Mode that was being added to Kero Blaster. But Pink Heaven is a worthwhile game all on its own, I feel. It has a cute story, and there are mechanics here which are not found in Kero Blaster. Oh, it's still very short. The game consists of only two levels, with the usual Hard Mode unlock coming after you clear the main game. There are a couple of different endings, though, so there's good reason to play through it at least a few times.

Pink steps into the starring role yet again, picking up from where the Hard Mode ending of Pink Hour left off. The intrepid secretary has been sent into the clouds by a mysterious frog. There, she spots Blue Shopkeeper, who she's a little sweet on. She's nervous about what to say to him, but approaches him after settling on a greeting, only to see him suddenly kidnapped by a UFO. Since no one else is around, she decides to save him herself. I wonder if this is the same UFO from Megane? Anyway, after playing through the first stage, that strange frog appears again and asks Pink what she needs most: strength, or gentleness? If you choose strength, Pink will get a powered up gun. If you opt for gentleness, she receives an umbrella that allows her to float short distances. The ending of the game differs based on which you choose, with the best one tied to picking gentleness.

It's a breezy game, and even the boss fight doesn't ask much of you. Quite a difference from Pink Hour in that regard, and certainly more suitable as a demo. If you prefer the teeth of Pink Hour, worry not. Beating the game unlocks a Hard Mode that is extremely tough. There's only one ending here, as you don't get any items from the frog at the halfway point. Hard Mode is full of tricky jumps between precarious ledges, and the added enemies and bosses sure don't make things easy. I kind of like that the game allows anyone to experience its sweet story, even if their skills aren't the best, but also bares its teeth for players who like that sort of thing.

In the best ending, Pink rescues Blue Shopkeeper and utters her prepared greeting. The two of them share Pink's umbrella to float safely back down to the ground. Pink then wakes up at home in her bed. It seems like it was all a dream, but when she stops at the shop to buy her usual plum gum, Blue Shopkeeper gives her something else along with her change: the umbrella! He asks her if she forgot what happened yesterday, and emboldened by the knowledge that her bold adventure was real, she heads into work with an extra bounce in her step. Pink Heaven is as adorable as it is short, and it's dripping with the same charm that makes Kero Blaster work so well. If you enjoyed Kero Blaster but somehow missed out on Pink Heaven, you really should give it a go. Like Pink Hour, it's free.

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