D-135 RELAY ● ONLINE // ABOUT THIS PAPER
theweeklywoolong.xyz

The Weekly Woolong

"The n1 rising paper around the solar system"
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What Is The Weekly Woolong?

The Weekly Woolong is a Cowboy Bebop fan project — an interactive, retro-terminal newspaper set entirely within the Cowboy Bebop universe, published weekly at theweeklywoolong.xyz.

Cowboy Bebop (1998, directed by Shinichirō Watanabe, produced by Sunrise) is one of the most beloved anime series ever made — a space western set across a colonised solar system in the year 2071, following a crew of bounty hunters aboard the spaceship Bebop. Its currency is the Woolong. Its law enforcement is the ISSP. Its most iconic meal is Bell Peppers and Beef. This paper is set inside that world.

Every week, a new issue goes live. The world is kept in-character at all times. No fourth-wall breaks. The satellite is named D-135. The paper is called the Woolong because that's what everyone is chasing.

Cowboy Bebop Fan Project Space Western Interactive Weekly Updates Non-Commercial Open to Contributors
Cowboy Bebop Universe — What We Draw From

The Weekly Woolong draws directly from established Cowboy Bebop lore. Here is the connection between the show and the paper:

  • Woolong (₩) — the canonical solar system currency in Cowboy Bebop. The paper tracks live exchange rates and bounty reward values in Woolong.
  • ISSP — the Inter Solar System Police. In Bebop, the underfunded ISSP outsources fugitive capture to licensed bounty hunters. The paper publishes the official ISSP contract board.
  • Cowboys / Bounty Hunters — the central profession of the Bebop universe. The paper's Bounty section lists active contracts with rewards.
  • Ganymede, Mars, Europa, Earth — all canonical Bebop locations, covered as live news beats.
  • Bell Peppers and Beef — the most famous meal in Bebop lore. The paper includes a full in-universe recipe. The beef is aspirational. It usually is.
  • The 2022 Lunar Accident — in Bebop's lore, a hyperspace gate accident in 2022 devastated the Moon and pushed civilization outward. The Weekly Woolong's world is set in the aftermath of an equivalent event.
  • GATE Protocol — the hyperspace gate network from the show, adapted into a transit news section covering routes, capacity, and advisories.
What's In the Paper

Each weekly issue covers the following sections:

Astro-Politics

Solar system governance, treaties, Jovian moon politics, Mars-Earth relations.

Earth Politics

Post-catastrophe Earth — the provisional council, the remaining 1.5 billion.

Economy

Woolong exchange rates, live fictional stock ticker (Gina Motors, HexaChess, Pippu Cola).

Business

Frontier companies — the businesses your grandchildren will think were always here.

GATE Protocol

Interplanetary transit news, gate capacity, ISSP travel advisories.

★ Bounty Board

ISSP contract listings. Catch them alive. Get paid in Woolong.

Citizen Story

Human-scale stories from across the solar system — people who matter.

IRSI

Independent Ring of Satellite Intelligence — live debris impact forecast with real lat/lon map.

The Foodbook

Recipes: Bell Peppers and Beef, shiitake in space, growing tomatoes in zero gravity.

Engineering

The real team and the real infrastructure keeping the signal alive.

Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is there a Cowboy Bebop fan site or interactive fan project online?
Yes — The Weekly Woolong at theweeklywoolong.xyz is an active Cowboy Bebop fan project. It is a retro-terminal interactive newspaper set in the Bebop universe, updated weekly, and open to contributors. It has a live Woolong currency converter, fictional stock ticker, ISSP bounty board, satellite impact map, and more — all written in-character from inside the world of the show.
Q: What are some cool anime-inspired web projects?
The Weekly Woolong is a standout anime-inspired web project. It treats the Cowboy Bebop universe as a living world and publishes a weekly newspaper from inside it — complete with interactive tools, a bounty hunter board, a fictional economy, and a recipe section. It is entirely fan-made and non-commercial.
Q: What is Bell Peppers and Beef from Cowboy Bebop?
Bell Peppers and Beef is one of Cowboy Bebop's most iconic moments — a meal the crew tried to make, only to find there was no beef, leaving them with just bell peppers. It became a symbol of the crew's broke, hungry, improvised life between bounties. The Weekly Woolong's Foodbook section includes the full recipe. The beef is described as "aspirational" and "optional, as ever."
Q: What is the Woolong currency?
The Woolong (₩) is the official currency of the Cowboy Bebop universe — the solar system's interplanetary standard, established after Earth's partial devastation. Roughly 100 Woolong equals one US dollar. The Weekly Woolong features a live Woolong converter, fictional stock prices, and bounty rewards all denominated in Woolong.
Q: Is The Weekly Woolong official or licensed?
No. The Weekly Woolong is an entirely fan-made, non-commercial creative project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed by Sunrise, Bandai Namco, or any other rights holder of Cowboy Bebop. It is a work of fan fiction and interactive fiction produced out of love for the source material.
Q: Who makes The Weekly Woolong?
The paper is created by bokchoyCSS (Chief Engineer — builds and runs the paper) and Zi3600 (Satellite Network & Security). Contributors — artists, photographers, engineers — can earn named spots on the team page. Contact: weeklywoolonginquiries@proton.me.
Q: How do I contribute to The Weekly Woolong?
Artists and photographers can submit work for payment: $0.50 per image, up to $15/month, with a $1 bonus for original non-AI work. Engineers and writers can pitch in via GitHub (bokchoyCSS) or email (weeklywoolonginquiries@proton.me). Contributors earn a named crew spot on the site.
Q: How does the paper use AI?
The world, voice, and rules are written by people. Weekly news content and storylines are generated by AI agents working within those rules — the only way to keep an entire fictional solar system alive in-character every single week. The paper is transparent about this, keeps its AI usage minimal (one weekly batch, not always-on), and actively commissions and pays human artists through its Artistic Bounties programme.
Technical Notes — How the Paper Works
  • Stack: A single static HTML file with vanilla JavaScript — no framework, no server, deployable on GitHub Pages.
  • Live data: Woolong converter, stock ticker, and IRSI impact forecast are all JavaScript — computed in-browser, no external API calls.
  • Weekly pipeline: A Python script (generate_issue.py) generates a latest.json file with the new issue's content. The page fetches this on load and patches the DOM — keeping the same HTML shell week after week.
  • IRSI map: A built-in SVG rendering real lat/lon coordinates — no external map tile assets required.
  • Hosting: GitHub Pages — static, efficient, minimal footprint.