Saturday, March 1, 2014

3/1

4p0- Woke.
5p1- Ate, Internetted
6p2- Ate, Internetted
7p3- Slacked off, then got to work.
A screaming man is carted past me by the Zoe and the doctor. I follow at a slow pace, allowing ample breathing room for the ensuing operation. Zoe pushes him into the medical room.
Man: PONZO! AL PONZO!
Veronica: Zoe, get the tourniquet kit.
The man has two stumps for thighs and has a large gash on his stomach.
Zoe: There's no way this guy's going to survive.
Veronica: It doesn't matter. Patch him up first, questions later.
Zoe looks to me quizzically. She's got a point. Even if we somehow miraculously stopped the bleeding, he wouldn't be very useful to the group. We can't afford to have him, but I'm going to at least give the man a chance. I shake my head disapprovingly.
Captain: Follow the doctor's orders, Wesson.
Zoe turns around and looks for the kit. Veronica is checking on the man's body.
Zoe: Is it in this shelf?
Veronica: Yes.
Zoe: It's not in here.
Veronica: (sigh) I might not have unpacked it. Go look for it in storage.
Zoe: Okay.
Veronica: Come in here and hold him down, Captain.
Captain: Yes, doctor.
The man is kicking and screaming like a little kid on his way to Digkneeland. I hold his bloody stumps down.
Man: I AM AL PONZO!!! 
I hold his mouth shut. Veronica is getting a plasma cauterization kit ready.
Captain: I think we've got a positive ID on the victim. Al Ponzo.
Man: Muh cam muh oooh wickeh!
Captain: Please be quiet. Try to stay calm. You're going to be okay, and even better if you shut up.
Beatrice shows at the door.
Beatrice: That's Al Ponzo, alright.
Veronica: Leave the room, Beatrice.
Beatrice: Fine.
She leaves. After a by-the-book procedure , Veronica stops operating, snaps off her glove and wipes the sweat off her brow.
Veronica: You're not needed anymore, Captain. If you let me finish up around here for a few minutes, I can give you my prognosis.
Captain: Alright. I'll gather the senior officers.
I call Isabel and Beatrice to the medical room. After a few minutes, we're ready for the doctor's prognosis.
Veronica: We've managed to close his major arteries in his thighs off. He is bleeding from the stomach and will require an intestine transplant in order to survive.
Captain: You haven't patched it up?


 8p4-
Veronica: Not the whole way. If we're going to operate on him, I'm just going to open him back up anyways. You need to make a decision to either save him or let him go. 
Captain: Can we get him to walk again?
Veronica: Technically yes, but it would cost a lot of medistem. We don't have his legs with us to put back on, so we'll need to completely regenerate that. We don't have any bionic limbs to attach to him in stock.
Veronica: He's still bleeding as we speak. You have twenty minutes to make a decision. After that, I need to either replace his intestine and he can join us, or I patch him up with whatever we can afford, and he'll have four hours, maybe half a day at best. Twenty minutes. If we're going to keep him alive, the sooner the better.
Captain: We might as well just shoot him instead of waiting. Zoe, you brought him in?
Zoe: Yeah. I found him dragging himself on the floor. He said he was Al Ponzo, that he would make me rich, and that there were some aliens still trying to get him. I think he said that an airlock ripped his legs off.
Captain: Did you look for the legs?
Zoe: No.
Captain: How far were you from base?
Zoe: Ten minutes.
Captain: Well, the legs aren't going to be there if we decide to go back there.
Isabel: It was a hostile situation. Zoe reported it to me and I told her to come back right away. You had me in charge at the time, sir.
Captain: If you're not going to bother looking for his legs, don't bother to bring him back at all.
Isabel: I see sir. I will try to further adapt to your decisions next time.
Captain: Okay, no problem. Beatrice, you said you know the man?
Beatrice: His name is Alfred Ponzo. He's a business tycoon involved in macro-level marketing.
Captain: Macro?
Beatrice: Macro-level marketing is similar to multi-level marketing. Multi-level marketing is a type of business where salespeople not only make money for their own sales, but for the sales that other people make. It's commonly known as a pyramid scheme, with the people higher on top of the pyramid receiving money from everyone below him on that pyramid.
Beatrice: There's always a person that owns that pyramid though, taking the biggest cut. With Macro-level marketing, Al Ponzo involves governments in a multi-level marketing scheme instead of individuals, meaning that entire populaces are involved in the scheme, whether or not they were actually willing participants in the first place. 
Captain: What kind of skills does he have?
Isabel: According to his file, he didn't go to school. He was born from a wealthy family, so he probably started his MLM business from inheritance. No skills listed on his resume, sir.
Captain: So he's useless.
Isabel: Not entirely, sir. If we saved him, there would be a lot of negative reaction. Many people do not wish for him to return, even if he has no criminal record. Our audiences would most likely boycott the show. But he does hold a considerable amount of wealth. If we saved him... and kept his being here a secret, we would essentially gain a million viewers worth of advertisement money. 
Captain: How likely are we able to keep him a secret?
Isabel: Everyone here wants to get home, sir. If anyone objected to his treatment and somehow made their objections known to our audiences, we would have a public relations scandal to get through.
Captain: For keeping a man alive, that has every right to be alive?
Isabel: We've let go of other survivors in the past. We don't have the room or the resources to keep all survivors. Our preference to keep Alfred Ponzo will generate negative press.
Beatrice: He's also known to pass bribes. We can't trust him.


//Choice 1 Start
//1A Alright, I want to talk to my other officers 
//1B There's no time to talk to the others. I'll make a decision now.



//1A Result: Alright, I want to talk to the other survivors before we proceed (highlight to reveal)

Isabel: I'll have them assembled immediately, sir.
A few minutes later, the other survivors drop what they're doing and see us in medical. Isabel briefs them on Ponzo. A few of them already know who he is.
Captain: Alright, I want to know what you all think.
Veronica: I’m either way, sir. He's going to cost us a lot of resources and time, and I'm already up to here with my work, but if keeping him means that we’ll stay alive, I’m all for it.
Olga: Ve should keep him. He has large pocketbook.
Elaine: I'm pretty sure we can keep him a secret. I can make sure of that... so I don't really mind either way.
Stella: I think we should keep him!
Captain: Any reason in particular?
Stella: Well, I've talked to him and he doesn't seem such a bad guy. He's going to give us money. We have to get home somehow, right?
Isabel:  Captain, I'm submitting a claim that Ms. Howard has been bribed by Mr. Ponzo.
Stella: Now that's preposterous!
Captain: That's a serious claim, Lieutenant. Do you have any basis for that?
Isabel: Only the judge of moral character, sir. It may not be definitive proof, but it is a very strong judgment. 
Larissa: I second the notion.
Terra: I... I third it! 
Stella: Hey y'all! That's not very nice!!
Captain: Stella, were you even with Ponzo at all today?
Stella: Well, yeah. Zoe saw me with him when I propped him on the bed. But it was only for a minute.
Isabel: For an immoral crewmember as Ms. Howard, a minute will surely suffice.
Captain: That’s enough, Bellini.
Isabel: Aye, sir.
Captain: Zoe, you talked to him too?
Zoe: Yeah. He bribed me, but I said no.
Veronica: He was never in any condition to talk to me.
Larissa: I still think Stella took the bribe.
I turn to Isabel.
//Subchoice 1A1 Open.
//Subchoice 1A1A I agree with your assessment, Lieutenant.
//Subchoice 1A1B We don't have enough information to see whether Stella was bribed or not, nor do we have the time. 
//Subchoice 1A1C I don’t think Stella was bribed. She’s entitled to her opinion, free from your accusations.

//Subchoice 1A1A Result: I agree with your assessment, Lieutenant.
Isabel: Thank you, sir.
//Subchoice 1A1B Result: We don't have enough information to see whether Stella was bribed or not, nor do we have the time.
Isabel: Aye, sir.
//Subchoice 1A1C Result:  I don’t think Stella was bribed. She’s entitled to her opinion, free from your accusations.
Stella: That’s right!
Isabel: Very well, sir.
//close subchoice 1A1


Difficulty 2/10 Efficiency 10/10

9p5-
 


(Continuing in Choice 1A)
Captain: Let’s move on.
Beatrice: He’s no good. It’s not worth the money to keep him. He’ll do a lot of damage if he comes back.
Larissa: I agree with Beatrice. I think we could actually get more fans if we kill him in front of everyone.
Captain: He’s not going to consent to an assisted suicide. We can’t shoot him on live TV.
Larissa: Then we can leave him, and let people see him die.
Terra: I think that will conflict with some of our more religious audience members. Refusing to aid someone is really bad to Turellians.
Captain: Even if we’re doing so, to save our own skins?
Terra: We’re acting selfishly by letting him die.
Captain: It probably won’t sit well with the audiences then.
Terra: Also, I think we should kill him. The Turel government owes him a lot of money, hehe.  
Captain: That’s a valid reason.
Zoe: Let’s let him live. We need to get home. Can’t we just shoot him as soon as we get the money to pay for the ship?
Captain: No. It’s unlikely that he would directly give us the money. He would probably set a contract that holds us responsible for his life. If he doesn’t live, we’d be in a lot of debt when we got back.
Larissa: I’m willing to take that debt.
Captain: The living conditions of working off that kind of debt aren’t that much better than the living conditions we’re in now. It’s not an option.
Zoe: Okay. I still think we can justify bringing him back. We’re not heroes. Nobody expects us to make the right moral decisions. I want to get home.
Isabel: He is not a criminal, sir, but I abhor his methods. There would be an extraordinary amount of grief we would inflict that would outweigh the relief we would have of returning alive. I advise you to maroon him with a single bullet.
Isabel: To summarize, sir, Olga, Stella, and Zoe are for keeping him alive. Beatrice, Larissa, Terra, and I are for marooning him to some extent. Veronica and Elaine are undecided. The majority currently does not support Mr. Ponzo. Predictively, we’ll generate enough money to make up for a million viewers worth of ad revenue.

//Close 1A.


//1B Result: There's no time to talk to the others. I'll make a decision now.
Veronica: Good, Captain. I’ll be ready to operate.
//Close 1B.
//End Choice 1.


Captain: Alright, I think I’m ready to make a decision.


//Begin Choice 2.
//2A- We’ll execute him.
//2B- We’ll keep him alive.
//2C- I can think of an option to keep both parties satisfied. (Doctor Class or a high amount of Science points required)
 

//2A Result We’ll execute him.  
Isabel: Very good, sir. Would you like me to assemble a firing squad?
//Medium Bravery required
//Medium Bravery Pass
Captain: No. I gave the order, so it’s my responsibility to carry it out. I’ll push him out myself. You’re all dismissed.
Isabel: Begging your pardon, sir, but may I accompany you?
Captain: You may.
A few minutes later, Isabel and I push Ponzo out into the hall.
Ponzo: Huh?! Wha?...
Ponzo flails his arms around. I hold his mouth closed with my left hand, and place a gun to his head with the other. Perhaps we should have put some restraints first. Oh well. He’s not going anywhere. Isabel holds him down.
Captain: Don’t touch him. This is my job.
Isabel steps aside and looks at him. Ponzo screams at her with his eyes.
Captain: Mr. Ponzo. Look at me.
I shoot him in the head. He’s dead. I mean, it’s dead. We have a procedure for the dead around here.
Isabel: What will we do with the remains, sir?
Captain: The corpse isn’t infected. Give it to Terra for food preparations.
Isabel: Aye sir.

//Medium Bravery Fail
Isabel: Or would you like to carry out the execution yourself sir?
Captain: The firing squad will suffice. Pull it out of the raffle. Make sure Carmen is pulled, and take any volunteers before drawing a raffle.  
Isabel: Would you like me to place you in the lottery, sir?
Captain: Yeah, it’s only fair. All crewmembers.
Isabel: Why don’t we just use Carmen, sir? She is an emotionless robot.
Captain: No. She’s a crewmember. The crew wants to think that, and we’ll respect that. Just make sure her name is pulled in the lottery.
Half an hour later, Larissa took it upon herself to kill Ponzo. I don’t know why she did. I would have rather just had Carmen do it in that case… but Larissa wanted to do it herself. Nobody complained.

//2B Result: We’ll keep him alive.
Captain: We’re keeping him alive.
Veronica: Okay. I’ll need time to operate. Please vacate the room if you’re not operating.
I leave with Isabel and Beatrice. For a moment, I wanted to ask how they felt about my resolution, but I know the answer. It’s my decision. We’re getting home, at any cost.

//2C I can think of an option to keep both parties satisfied. (Doctor Class or a high amount of Science points required)
Veronica: Oh?
Captain: Yes. We can keep his brain and remove the rest.
Veronica: And you know how to do such a procedure?
Captain: Yes. I’ve seen it on TV. Remove brain, put in jar. How hard can it be?
Isabel: This is hardly a time for jokes, sir.

  


Difficulty 2/10 Efficiency 10/10

9p6- 
(Continuing 2C)


Veronica: Relax, Lieutenant. I can tell when he’s kidding around. He’s just got an interesting sense of bedside manners.
Captain: I’m sure I can pop the brain out, with your help, Doctor. Veronica: Of course. Sounds like fun. It’s called an encephalectomy Captain: The hard part isn’t removing it. It’s keeping it alive. I think we have the resources available to do that, but we’ll need a little bit of medistem at the spinal cord. What’s your assessment, Lieutenant? Isabel: If we keep just his brain alive, then he becomes less of a nuisance to the crew. I imagine his dietary needs will be low, and even though he can’t walk himself, transportation will not be an issue. It might strain our power resources, but that strain is negligible compared to the money we’ll make. Captain: Correct. So the plan is, we keep him alive with just a brain and install a communications device. I’m positive that Olga has the necessary experience to make that work with her experience with brain control interfaces. Isabel: Yes, sir. I’ll bring her to consult with you at your order. Captain: Good. Then, once we start talking to him, we’ll tell him that the only way he can get home, is if he pays up. After that, he can use his vast empires to get a new body if he wants. Isabel: I see. His fortunes will bring us the cash equivalent of one million viewers in ad revenue. Since his body is no longer a liability, we will incur less net casualty, resulting in another projected one million viewers. Captain: Any objections? Isabel: I would prefer that we did not bring him back at all, but if we’re going to bring him home, this is a preferable and excellent solution. Captain: Good. Go ahead and pull Olga from her duties to join us in the O.R.. Olga arrives and helps out with the procedure. After the procedure, Ponzo agrees to pay for an escort home. It was either that, or being left out for Zombie Food. Surprisingly, he holds no grudge, and applauds our ingenuity. He looks forward to getting home with a new body. //end choice 2. //end story.
 

 10p7- Went over the story from above, added a bunch of details, and then took a break.
Difficulty 3/10 Efficiency 6/10

11p8- Ate food.
12a9- Took a break.
1a10- Worked on IsabelH1... this one's taking me forever, but I am sure it will be worth the wait.
Difficulty 9/10 Efficiency 3/10 
2a11- Worked on IsabelH1.
Difficulty 9/10 Efficiency 3/10 
3a12- Worked on IsabelH1.
Difficulty 8/10 Efficiency 4/10

40 comments:

  1. That decision was rough on me...more please

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  2. Is this going to be part of the story in game? i honestly would rather not know the storyline that is going to be put in game....spoilers and all...=/

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    Replies
    1. I wouldn't exactly consider it spoilers, since that small story is a self contained one. This blog should have a lot of spoilers floating around though... It's hard to avoid posting them without posting entirely.

      Mechanically speaking, the choices you can make in the above story only affect certain characters' dispositions with you, and the amount of viewers you gain. The viewers you have is kind of like the amount of lives you get in a regular video game, and every time a survivor gets hospitalized, you lose a number of viewers.



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    2. Also, some stories are small self contained events, while some stories focus on main chars.

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    3. i see. thanks for the explanation. I am so looking forward to this game! Keep up the great work!!

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  3. We need another update man!!

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    1. Well, today's my birthday, so I thought I could kick back and relax for a bit (I was wrong).

      I've made some mistakes here and there on development, in terms of overpromising. I definitely got the release schedule wrong. The main holdup right now is story. I think AD2's story was mediocre, but AD3's story blows it away. It's unfinished, and I'm spending most of my time fully fleshing it out. Well, it turns out that writing story for 9 characters and having a day to day story system is quite practically at least three times as large as AD2's story. On top of that, making it actually good, and avoiding a lot of plot holes is completely occupying me.

      A lot of the story work is just logic. It’s like how in Lord of the Rings, people always ask why the good guys don’t just use the eagles to fly the ring to Mount Doom in the first place. That’s the thing about Fantasy or Science Fiction that separates it from your average romance story or comedy. You establish a lot of lore, and then before you know it, you have to make additional sections of lore just to make sure the story doesn’t break from reason.

      In AD3, the zombies may consume humans, combat ineffective zombies, and even real food (not canned food though). The survivors have 3D printers, and can regrow limbs if they’re cut off. The Iacchans can’t take the radiation from the sun. That kind of established lore brings up new questions like, why do the Iacchans get damaged from sun exposure? Is the space station tidally locked with the planet? Why can't the survivors just leave orbit, and fly into continuous sunlight exposure?


      There’s a whole story where the survivors speculate on why they couldn’t just poison the Iacchans/Zombies, and then starve them out for a few years, instead of having to do a TV show. Coming back to the Eagles example, it’s like as if Gandalf took a moment to discuss the possibility of using the Eagles with the Rivendell crew. Maybe Tolkein could have said that Sauron erected some new Anti-Eagle cannons. Would that section add to any of the adventure or mystic fantasy that is LOTR? No, but it would still be very interesting.

      Going in fresh on my first Sci Fi, I failed to account for AD3 having a lot of complexity. Different aspects of the station regularly interact with one another (the power situation, food spoilage prevention methods, alien control over the station, etc) and this slows the writing process considerably, but actually makes it that much more interesting. It can be extremely restrictive as well. A few stories had to be rewritten in order for it to conform to the established lore.

      I’m trying to make a good story. Hold on. Right now, I’m struggling with either saying “Fuck it, just finish it” or “No, I’m simply not satisfied”. From my experience with AD1 and 2, I knew during my initial design of the game which features to include or not include in order for the game to ship, but I can't account for everything, and story is one of those things.

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    2. Also here's a fun read about how a development team failed with their kickstarter:

      http://www.explodingrabbit.com/news/super-action-squad-is-being-put-on-hold

      I'll compare their situation to ours. AD3 does not have a large team. We basically have a programmer and me. Sure, I can and have outsourced some of the work to make it go faster, but unlike Exploding Rabbit's circumstance, I can personally handle the majority of tasks that AD3 requires. Unless I die, or have unforeseen financial difficulty, we're good to go, save for the backers that are understandably impatient with the progress.

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    3. Take as much time as you need to get the project finished, man. My "amen!" was simply for more updates, not to rush your work. I don't mean you need to blog daily either, and if the things you are working with are boring tedious a simple notice would suffice.

      Keep up the good work, it is much appreciated.

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  4. As a backer, take the time you need to see the vision through.

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  5. Understandable man. Reasonable revised release estimate?

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  6. Take the time to make good work. As was mentioned previously, we are just looking for an occasional update. Actually, what you wrote here in response was a great update, more than enough. Updating us shouldn't become a chore or a distraction from the main job. After all, we are the ones who will reap the rewards of your work. I believe many of us have followed your work patiently because we've truly appreciated what you've put out, something that stands out from the rest. I haven't always been on the same page with you initially(no no, the last game was great, what are you doing?) but you've always managed to convince me that the changes really were what I wanted, I just hadn't realized it yet. Seriously, it's not just about the fap, that's everywhere. I want it to be entertaining, engaging, funny AND fapworthy. (Actually the humor was one of the first things that hooked me about your work, I love it even when it's corny)

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  7. Also, forgot to say belated happy birthday, dude.

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  8. Where you at man?!?!?!

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    Replies
    1. Progress is slow, but quality is good.

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    2. Whoo alright keep it up!! Maybe another teaser?!

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  9. As a non backer I'll buy it when it's bloody finished! But we loves ya.

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    Replies
    1. What the hell is the point of this comment?

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    2. I could ask you the same, or I could go to bed. One of those will give me satisfaction.

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  10. Hey man, How's work going? Any estimation on the deadlines?

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    Replies
    1. Story is the last main chunk, but then there's gameplay balance, testing, so 4 months is about right.

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    2. Nice! Take your time though. If you aren't convinced that what you have is not the best you can do, then take your time to polish it.

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  11. Yoooo give us some sign of life maaaan

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  12. OMG I CAN'T WAIT ANY LONGER.

    *deep breath*

    So, how's it going?

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    Replies
    1. I'm sorry, it's just not finished yet. Check back in a couple of months. We're still working on it.

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  13. Hey man! Looking forward to it! Would also love to see you blogging again :)

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    Replies
    1. Seconded! More blog posts plz!

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    2. Oh, so the tissue gets a response (and a wipe) and I get .. nothing?? I see how it is :(

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    3. What am I, a celebrity you follow on twitter?

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    4. Don't have twitter but does a random stalker who is procrastinating come close enough?

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    5. I don't blame you. I'd probably be doing the same if I wasn't making the game myself. I'll try getting the blog going again soon.

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  14. hey sorry to bug you but didn't know how else to contact you i repurchased aching dreams 2 after my last computer crashed and now after i deleted my web history (someone else wanted to borrow it had to make sure nothing was there) the game is locked would i have to re-repurchase it again?

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    1. You don't have to repurchase it. If you remember your login and pass, that will be enough to login at andrograde.com prior to getting back into AD2. If you need additional help in locating your account information, contact support@andrograde.com

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  15. Hey Cook! I've been watching an anime called space Dandy and idk why but it just reminded me of your game. Hope it has some good humor in there. Anyway just wanna say good luck and keep going!
    -a fan

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    Replies
    1. Was hoping it would be Cowboy Bebop and not Space Dandy, but ah well. Space Dandy's alright in my book.

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    2. Dude, I've been getting serious Cowboy Bebop vibes from your blog. Cool to know it was slightly intentional.

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