#cos i thought it was interesting

[timethehobo]

Still really like these lil sitting buddies (and silly Rook). May clean them up to make charms / standees.

Would folks be interested maybe? Hm.

[circusmilkk]

new system just dropped

[joodles98]

we all trying to make sense of swsh story. no problem ☺️👍🏼

[hayaku14]

kaito buying every ticket to every soccer game available just to see that excited look on shinichi's face

[charmac]

Do you think Mac has jacked off while reading the Bible? Or is he too ashamed? Or does the shame just turn him on more? Are the pages of his Bible all stuck together?

Oh, I don't think; we know:

(Pages stuck together, thanks for the confirmation, Charlie)

I think the shame definitely turns him on more, considering Mac Day:

And, the connected punishment, lest we forget The Gang Goes to Hell... (and the script here... whew)

While he was repressed then, he wasn't as of Charlie's Home Alone, so I think it's clear to claim that a part of his "homosexual awakening" was connected to the fact that he was gradually getting more and more into the idea of being punished (gone sexual) for his sins, to a point where he was just genuinely jerking off to the "evils of homosexuality"

I do wanna continue here though and say Season 15 is pretty interesting because we see Mac battle between being Catholic and proudly gay. He seemingly has no issue bragging to a Priest in the middle of a church that he's into triple penetration, but it is his sex life that is the driving "reasoning" for why he thinks he should become a Catholic Priest:

He's been "S-ing&F-ing" his way though life for too long and now he thinks God has taken away one of his identities (Irish) as a result. Mac's idea of being punished by/for God continues, but it's now through the form of revocation (as opposed to shame or flagellation). I think there's a clear "connect the dots" idea that depriving himself of sex (via becoming a Priest) is an "evolved" form of allowing God to punish him for being gay.

Obviously Mac learns he was lied to, as he actually is Irish, so his "journey" here is a bit of a wash, but the fact that his rationale jumped to God punishing him for having gay sex still stands. As he grows to accept himself, he's still looking for ways to feel shame (which, as we've seen, gets him off)...

But is the constant seeking for some form of punishment still there? We didn't see much of his Catholicism in Season 16 (I think the only mention of God from Mac was in The Gang Gets Cursed), but we did continue to see his sex life and—well, that was pretty heavy on Mac, openly gay dating, somehow managing to be neglected and deprived of actual gay sex, wasn't it?

[bardicblast]

Van der Linde Isaac - "CoS is actually a western" is such a concept ever since i saw somebody pointing that out i kept thinking about it

i rant about the redesign a bit:

so i went ahead and redesigned him to fit the rdr2 setting entirely, i cant give him a full on wolf arm, so i gave him burn scars on his face, that he hides all the time with a scarf or a bandana. hat in the back to replace the hoodie's shape. he is most comfortable using the rolling block rifle plus a knife. he would probably play a lot of five finger fillet.

plus, he gets his arm blown off at one point (not from finger fillet!! i swear), probably during the saint denis robbery, then dies during the guarma chapter, bc there is no way he would survive longer than that

also i cant have him choose sides at chapter 6 when i know he has blind loyalty

[blackjackkent]

Today's dialogue file exploration! Summon lines for all of your allies in the final battle!

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Summoning: Balm of the Moonmaiden (Isobel)

ASTARION: Isobel! A little healing magic, if you please. LAE'ZEL: Isobel, we're in need of your talents. GALE: Isobel - some healing, if you please. SHADOWHEART: Isobel - now's your chance! WYLL: Some healing, if you please. KARLACH: Hey, Isobel! Can the Moonmaiden perk us up? JAHEIRA: Time to save our skin again, Isobel! HALSIN: Isobel - lend us your healing touch! TAV/DURGE: Isobel! We need healing!

-----

Summoning: Battle-Ready Owlbear

ASTARION: Get out here, cub! It's time to finally earn your keep. LAE'ZEL: Bare your claws, cub! GALE: My owlbear friend. Time for some of your fabled ferocity. SHADOWHEART: Owlbear, show them your claws! SHADOWHEART (MIND FLAYER): Owlbear cub, let's test that armour of yours! WYLL: Let's see what the cub can do! KARLACH: Here, owly cubby cubby. KARLACH (MIND FLAYER): Bare your beak, owlbear! JAHEIRA: Come, cub - show them how you've grown! HALSIN: Young owlbear, show us your fury! TAV/DURGE: Time to bite, my owlbear friend!

-----

Summoning: Black Fist Enforcers (Zhentarim/Roah Moonglow)

ASTARION: Zhentarim! It's time to step out of the shadows. LAE'ZEL: Zhentarim, show yourselves. GALE: It's time the Zhentarim earned their keep. Join me, Roah! SHADOWHEART: Zhentarim! To arms! WYLL: Come on, Zhentarim. Make yourselves useful. KARLACH: Zhentarim! Make yourselves useful! JAHEIRA: Come then, Zhent - earn your pay! HALSIN: Zhentarim! To battle! TAV/DURGE: Zhentarim! To arms!

-----

Summoning: Florrick's Cohort

ASTARION: Florrick! Get out here, Counsellor! LAE'ZEL: Florrick - it's now or never! GALE: Counsellor Florrick - Baldur's Gate requires your protection once more. SHADOWHEART: Florrick, help us! WYLL: Now's the time, Counsellor Florrick! KARLACH: Florrick! Bring the Flaming Fist to my aid! JAHEIRA: If you would be so kind, Counsellor! HALSIN: Florrick - I need your aid! TAV/DURGE: Florrick, where in the hells are you?

-----

Summoning: Guildmaster Keene's Fixers

ASTARION: We need you, Lady Keene! Time to honour your debt. LAE'ZEL: Lady Keene - your fighters! NOW. GALE: A favour given is a favour owed. Lady Keene - time to repay your debt. SHADOWHEART: Don't stand on ceremony, Lady Keene. We need you! WYLL: All right, Lady Keene. Send them in! KARLACH: Lady Keene - get in here! JAHEIRA: Oh Astele? Send in your ladies, would you? HALSIN: Lady Keene, we need you in this fight. TAV/DURGE: Lady Keene - we need your people. NOW.

-----

Summoning: Gur Huntwardens

ASTARION: All right, let's see how the Gur fare against this. LAE'ZEL: Ulma, call in your hunters! GALE: Ulma - I need the Gur's strength. Join me! GALE (MIND FLAYER): Ulma. Your Gur hunters will turn this tide. SHADOWHEART: Gur hunters, aid us! SHADOWHEART (MIND FLAYER): Gur hunters, attack! WYLL: Ulma? Call in your hunters - we've found their prey. KARLACH: Get in here, Ulma! We need your Gur hunters! KARLACH (MIND FLAYER): Ulma - we require your hunters! JAHEIRA: Ulma - we need your hunters! HALSIN: Gur hunters, come to our aid! MINTHARA: At our command, Gur. MINSC: Noble Gur, heed my hamster's call! TAV/DURGE: Ulma, gather your hunters! It's time to slay some monsters.

-----

Summoning: Hellrider Platoon (Zevlor)

ASTARION: Zevlor! Tieflings! Now's your time. ASTARION (MIND FLAYER): Zevlor, dear, this is your cue! LAE'ZEL: Tiefling warriors, show your might. GALE: Zevlor! War summons you once again. Show me how you answer. SHADOWHEART: Tiefling veterans - put your skills to use! SHADOWHEART (MIND FLAYER): Tiefling veterans - put your experience to work! WYLL: Tieflings, to arms! KARLACH: May this be your last battle, my friends! KARLACH (MIND FLAYER): Fight your last battle, friends! JAHEIRA: Zevlor - you are needed! HALSIN: Veterans - join the fray! TAV/DURGE: Veterans of the Hells - to arms!

-----

Summoning: Hellstalker Yurgir

ASTARION: Yurgir, be a darling and lend a hand! LAE'ZEL: Yurgir - to battle! GALE: Yurgir! I need an orthon's might in this battle. SHADOWHEART: Come, Yurgir. The hunt awaits. SHADOWHEART (MIND FLAYER): Yurgir, time to hunt! WYLL: Yurgir, unleash the Hells' fires! KARLACH: Get in here, you big devil you! KARLACH (MIND FLAYER): Yurgir - make use of yourself! JAHEIRA: Heel, hellhound! HALSIN: Yurgir, to the hunt! MINTHARA: Yurgir! Today, we hunt a Netherbrain. Join us! MINSC: Hound of hell! Boo calls, so come and serve a true hunter! TAV/DURGE: Yurgir - lend your strength! TAV/DURGE (MIND FLAYER): Orthon - with me!

-----

Summoning: Ironhand Grenadiers

ASTARION: Ironhands! Let's see if gnomes are actually good for something. LAE'ZEL: Ironhands - alight! GALE: A blast of Ironhand ingenuity will turn this tide. To me! SHADOWHEART: Blast away, Ironhands! WYLL: Blast away, Ironhands! KARLACH: Ironhand Gnomes, time to make it rain fire! JAHEIRA: Show the Absolute some Ironhand engineering! HALSIN: Grenadiers - unleash your bombardment! TAV/DURGE: Bombs away!

-----

Summoning: Mizora, Agent of Avernus

ASTARION: Mizora! Bring down hellsfire! LAE'ZEL: It's your move, Mizora! GALE: Mizora. It's time these creatures paid a devil their dues. SHADOWHEART: Mizora, we need you! WYLL: Time to make good, Mizora! KARLACH: Mizora, show your ugly face! JAHEIRA: Come and break a nail, Mizora! HALSIN: Mizora, aid us! TAV/DURGE: Time to do your part, Mizora!

-----

Summoning: Retinue of the Vampire Lord (Ascended Astarion)

ASTARION: Come, my unholy minions - fight for your master! LAE'ZEL: Awaken your undead servants, Astarion! GALE: Lord Astarion, the armies of the undying must join this fight. SHADOWHEART: Astarion, call forth your army of the dead! SHADOWHEART (MIND FLAYER): Astarion - send forth your army of the dead! WYLL: Astarion, bring in your undead! KARLACH: All right, fangs - it's all you! KARLACH (MIND FLAYER): Astarion, unleash the dead! JAHEIRA: Come then, Astarion - introduce us to your new friends! HALSIN: Astarion, bring forth your undead warriors! MINTHARA: Lord Astarion, unleash your nocturnal servants! MINSC: Astarion! Summon your pale and scrawny fellows! TAV/DURGE: It's time, Astarion - we need the dead on our side!

-----

Summoning: Rolan's Firestorm

ASTARION: All right, Rolan. Let's see if your powers match your ego. LAE'ZEL: Where is that wizard? Rolan, to the fray! GALE: Rolan! Unleash fire from the heavens. SHADOWHEART: Rolan - bring down fire from above! SHADOWHEART (MIND FLAYER): Rolan - unleash fire from above. WYLL: Come on, Rolan. Show off that magic of yours! KARLACH: Bombs away, Rolan! KARLACH (MIND FLAYER): Rolan - fire up that artillery! JAHEIRA: Time to make yourself useful, little wizard! HALSIN: Rolan, let loose your barrage. Rain down fire! TAV/DURGE: Rolan - bring the fire. NOW!

-----

Summoning: Silver Harp Squadron (Harpers)

ASTARION: To me, Harpers! For Baldur's Gate! LAE'ZEL: Harpers - weapons ready! GALE: Harpers, stand with me. We defeat this evil together. SHADOWHEART: Harpers - attack! WYLL: Harpers? Out of the shadows. KARLACH: Those Who Harp, let's kick evil's arse! JAHEIRA: Harpers! For the fallen! HALSIN: Harpers - to me! TAV/DURGE: Harpers - now is the time!

-----

Summoning: Sword of the Silverlight (Dame Aylin)

ASTARION: Dame Aylin? It's your time to shine! LAE'ZEL: Come, Dame Aylin. It's your time! GALE: Dame Aylin. Your light must shatter this darkness. SHADOWHEART: Now's your chance, Dame Aylin. WYLL: Daughter of Selûne, show me what you can do! KARLACH: All right, Dame Aylin! Time to tear these rats a new one. JAHEIRA: Dame Aylin - there are some here who don't yet fear your name! HALSIN: Dame Aylin will surely aid us. The Moonmaiden's very own daughter knows our cause is just. MINTHARA: Aylin! Bring your righteous fury to bear. MINSC: DAME AYLIN! WE HAVE NEED OF HEAVEN'S BOOT! TAV/DURGE: Dame Aylin! Lend me your sword!

-----

Summoning: Veil of the Weird (Auntie Ethel)

ASTARION: Auntie Ethel? Be a dear and help, won't you? LAE'ZEL: Auntie Ethel, it's time you got up to your old tricks. GALE: Ethel - to me. It's time you made good on our arrangement. SHADOWHEART: Ethel, show them what you're made of! WYLL: Time you made good on your bargain, hag. KARLACH: All right, Ethel, show us what a hag can really do! JAHEIRA: Be a dear and come when you are called, Auntie. HALSIN: Time to put your trickery to good use, hag. TAV/DURGE: Auntie Ethel - it's time to hold up your end of our bargain!

-----

Summoning: The Watch (Valeria)

ASTARION: Guards, come quick! Gods, that felt wrong. LAE'ZEL: I call for the City Watch! GALE: Baldur's Gate trembles. City Watch, come to her aid. SHADOWHEART: City Watch - reclaim your home! SHADOWHEART (MIND FLAYER): City Watch - fight for your homes! WYLL: City Watch, shake the ground! KARLACH: City Watch! Show us what Baldur's Gate is made of. KARLACH (MIND FLAYER): City Watch! Make Baldur's Gate proud. JAHEIRA: Where ever are the City Watch when you need them? HALSIN: City Watch! Defend your home! TAV/DURGE: City Watch - into position!

-----

BONUS: Summoning Steel Watcher (available in the dialogue files but not in game)

ASTARION: Steel Watcher - fall in! Time to join the fight. LAE'ZEL: Steel Watcher - stand with me! GALE: Steel Watch! Subdue these creatures. I command it. SHADOWHEART: Steel Watcher - forward! WYLL: Steel Watcher, into service! KARLACH: Steel Watch - cousins! Time to shine! JAHEIRA: Watcher! You were made to save the city, were you not? HALSIN: Steel Watcher - those foes are for you! TAV/DURGE: Steel Watcher - on guard!

[hephaestuscrew]

The role of Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure Protocol Manual in the characterisation, symbolism, and themes of Wolf 359

TL;DR: The DSSPPM is used as a tool to help establish and develop Minkowski and Eiffel as characters: Minkowski as a strict Commander who clings to the certainty provided by a rigid source of authority like the DSSPPM, and Eiffel as the anti-authority slacker who strongly objects to the idea that he ought to read the manual. The way their contrasting attitudes towards the DSSPPM manifest through the show reflect their character development and changing dynamic. The DSSPPM can be directly used against the protagonists by those with power over them, and the reveal of its authorship gives a particularly sinister edge to its regular presence in the show. But it can be also be repurposed and seen through an individual interpersonal lens.

Note: There’s plenty that you could say about the DSSPPM through the lens of what it says about Goddard Futuristics as an organisation, or about Pryce and Cutter as people. Or you could talk about Lambert quoting the DSSPPM an absurd number of times in Change of Mind, and Lovelace’s reactions to this. But in this essay, I’ll be analysing on mentions of the DSSPPM with a focus on Minkowski, Eiffel, and their dynamic.

“One of those mandatory mission training things”: the DSSPPM as a tool to establish characterisation

The first mention of Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure Protocol Manual (the DSSPPM) in Wolf 359 is also the very first interaction we hear Eiffel and Minkowski have. In fact, the first time we hear Minkowski's voice at all is her telling Eiffel off for not having read the manual:

[Ep1 Succulent Rat-Killing Tar] MINKOWSKI Eiffel, did you read your copy of Pryce and Carter?  EIFFEL My copy of what?  MINKOWSKI Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure Protocol Manual.  EIFFEL Was that one of those mandatory mission training things?  MINKOWSKI Yes.  EIFFEL In that case, yes, I definitely did.  MINKOWSKI Did you now? Because I happened to find your copy of the D.S.S.P.P.M. floating in the observation deck.  EIFFEL Oh?  MINKOWSKI Still in its plastic wrapping.

This is an effective way to establish their conflicting personalities right out of the gate. Minkowski's determination to "do things by the book - this book in fact" contrasts clearly with Eiffel's professed ignorance about and clear disregard for "this... Jimmy Carter thing”. Purely through their attitudes to this one book, they slot easily into clear archetypes which inevitably clash. Everything about Eiffel in that opening episode sets him up as a slacker who doesn't care about authority, but the image of his mandatory mission training manual floating in the observation deck "still in its plastic wrapping" provides a particularly striking illustration.

By contrast, we immediately encounter Minkowski as a strict leader who cares deeply about making sure everything is done according to protocol; the intense importance she places on the DSSPPM is one of the very first things we know about her. Her insistence on the importance of the survival manual might seem somewhat understandable at first, if perhaps unhelpfully aggressive, but it starts to feel less sensible as soon as we start to hear some of the tips from this manual:

Deep Space Survival Tip Number Five: Remain positive at all times. Maintain a cheerful attitude even in the face of adversity. Remember: when you are smiling the whole world smiles with you, but when you're crying you're in violation of fleet-wide morale codes and should report to your superior officer for disciplinary action.

The strange, controlling, vaguely sinister tone of some of the tips we hear in the first episode is largely played for laughs, emphasised by the exaggeratedly upbeat manner in which Hera reads them. But even these first few tips give us some initial suggestions that the powers behind this mission might not care all that much about the wellbeing of their crew members.

It says something about Minkowski that she places such faith and importance in a book which says things like "Failing to remain calm, could result in your grisly, gruesome death" and "when you're crying you're in violation of fleet-wide morale codes and should report to your superior officer for disciplinary action." (Foreshadowing the Hephaestus Station as the home of immense emotional repression and compartmentalising...) Having those kind of pressures and demands placed on her (and those around her) by people above her in the military hierarchy doesn’t unsettle Minkowski.

Eiffel groans and sighs as he listens to the tips, but Minkowski seems to see this manual as an essential source of wisdom. The main role the manual plays in this episode is to establish Minkowski and Eiffel as contrasting characters with very different approaches to authority and therefore a potential to clash.

When Minkowski demands that Eiffel reads the DSSPPM, he decides to get Hera to read it to him, asking her to keep this as “a 'just the two of us, totally secret, never tell Commander Minkowski' thing”. Eiffel seems convinced that Minkowski won't be happy with him listening to Hera read the DSSPPM rather than reading it himself. This suggests that (at least in Eiffel's interpretation) Minkowski’s orders are not just about her wanting him to know the contents of the manual, since this could theoretically be accomplished just as well by him listening to it. But she wants him to do things in what she’s deemed to be the correct way, to put in the right amount of effort, and not to take what she might see as a shortcut. It’s not just about the contents of the manual; it’s about the commitment to protocol that reading it represents.

“When in doubt: whip it out”: Hilbert’s use of the DSSPPM

In Season 1, the DSSPPM isn't purely associated with Minkowski. Hilbert actually quotes it more than she does in the first few episodes. In Ep2 Little Revolución, Hilbert's response to Eiffel's toothpaste protest is inspired by "Pryce and Carter six fourteen: “When in doubt, whip it out - ‘it’ being hydrochloric acid.”" This tip is absurd in a more direct obvious way than those we heard in Ep1. While this absurdity is partly for humour, it also casts further doubt on the usefulness of this supposedly authoritative survival manual, and therefore on the wisdom of trusting Command.

In Ep4 Cataracts and Hurricanoes, Hilbert starts to quote Tip #4 at Eiffel, who protests "I'm not gonna have one of the last things I hear be some crap from the survival manual". These moments again place Eiffel in clear opposition to the DSSPPM, but also suggest that Hilbert's attitude towards the DSSPPM - and therefore towards Command - is closer to Minkowski's than to Eiffel's.

When Hilbert turns on the Hephaestus crew in his Christmas mutiny, his allegiance to Command is revealed as dangerous. And here the DSSPPM comes up again. As Minkowski dissolves the door between her and Hilbert, she triumphantly echoes his own words back to him: "Pryce and Carter six fourteen: “When in doubt, whip it out - ‘it’ being hydrochloric acid.” Never. Fails." This provides a callback to a previous, more comedic conflict on the Hephaestus, and reminds the listener of a time when Minkowski and Hilbert were working together against Eiffel, in contrast to the current situation of Minkowski and Eiffel versus Hilbert. But it also shows that Minkowski, like Hilbert, is capable of using some of the more absurd DSSPPM tips to defeat an adversary. And it shows Minkowski leaning on those tips in a real moment of crisis.

Once Hilbert has betrayed the crew in order to follow orders from Command, we might look back on his quoting of the DSSPPM as casting the manual in a more sinister light, and again calling into question the wisdom of Minkowski placing such trust in it.

“It's not that I don't believe it, I'm just disgusted by it”: the DSSPPM as an indicator of a changing dynamic

The next mention of the DSSPPM is in Ep17 Bach to the Future:

MINKOWSKI Eiffel's been spot-testing me, Hera. He doesn't believe that I've memorized all of the survival tips in Pryce and Carter. EIFFEL It's not that I don't believe it, I'm just disgusted by it. I keep hoping to discover it's not true. MINKOWSKI Well, believe as little as you want, doesn't change the fact that I do know them. And so should you!

I think this provides an interesting illustration of the way in which Minkowski and Eiffel’s dynamic has developed since Ep1. They still have deeply contrasting attitudes to the DSSPPM, but this contrast is now a source of entertainment between them, rather than merely of conflict.

Given that Hera wasn’t aware of Eiffel testing Minkowski on the tips, we can guess that it’s a game they came up with while Hera was offline. In the midst of all the exhaustion and uncertainty and fear they were dealing with after Hilbert’s mutiny, this was a way they found to pass the time. It must have been Eiffel who suggested it; Minkowski cites his disbelief as the reason for the spot-testing. And yet she plays along, responding each time, even though this activity has no real productive value.

Minkowski is keen to demonstrate that she does know the tips and she emphasises that Eiffel ought to know them too, but their interactions about the DSSPPM in this episode have none of the genuine irritation and frustration that they displayed in Ep1. It feels almost playful and teasing. Eiffel still thinks Minkowski is "completely insane" for learning all the tips and is "disgusted" by her commitment to memorising them, but these comments feel much closer to joking about a friend's weird traits than to insulting a hated coworker's personality. It feels like something has shifted since Eiffel responded to Minkowski’s passion for the DSSPPM by saying “I'm so glad that your shrivelled husk of a dictator's heart is as warm as a decompression chamber”.

Another thing to note here is that Minkowski's respect for the DSSPPM has clearly survived Hilbert's Christmas mutiny and Minkowski's resulting distrust of Command. From Hilbert's behaviour at Christmas, it's clear that the crew's survival is not at the top of Command's priority list. But Minkowski still trusts the book that Command told her to read. She still thinks Eiffel should read it too. The main figures of authority above her are dangerous and untrustworthy, but she still clings to the source of guidance they provided her with.

It's also worth noting that Minkowski has not just learnt the advice in each of the 1001 tips, but she has memorised (nearly) all of them by number. If it was just about the information that the manual provides to inform responses to potentially life-or-death situations, then knowing the numbers wouldn't be necessary. Nor would it be particularly useful to know them all exactly word-for-word. Minkowski's reliance on the DSSPPM is again suggested to be about more than the potential practical use of its content. It's about showing that she is committed and disciplined and up to the task of leading. She does have some awareness of the strangeness of many of the tips, but this doesn't diminish the value of her adherence to the manual for her:

EIFFEL You're insane.  MINKOWSKI I'm disciplined. Although I will admit they do get more... esoteric as you go higher up the list.

There's only one tip Minkowski doesn't seem to remember, and that's revealing too:

EIFFEL 555? Minkowski DRAWS BREATH - and STOPS SHORT. [...] MINKOWSKI Hold on a second, I know this. (beat) Dammit. EIFFEL Hey, look at that! Looks like there may be hope for you yet. MINKOWSKI Quiet, Eiffel. Hera, what's D.S.S.P.P.M. 555? HERA "Good communication habits are key to continued subsistence. Be in touch with other crew members about shipboard activities. Interfacing about possible problems or dangers is the best way to anticipate and prevent them." This hangs in the air for a second. Then – EIFFEL So you forget the one tip in the entire manual that's actually helpful? MINKOWSKI Shut up.

Communication is a key theme of this show, so it’s interesting that this is the one tip Minkowski can’t remember, perhaps indicating an aspect of leadership and teamwork that she doesn’t always prioritise or find easy.

Eiffel saying “Looks like there may be hope for you yet” seems like just a throwaway teasing line, but it’s got a profound edge to it. A lot of Minkowski’s arc is about learning how to provide her own direction and support her crew outside of the systems of authority and hierarchy that she’s grown so attached to. So perhaps Eiffel is right to see a kind of hope in her failure to remember every single DSSPPM tip – she has the potential to break free of her reliance on external authority.

“Which one was 897, what was the exact phrasing of that Deep Space Survival Tip?”: the DSSPPM in interactions with Cutter

The Wolf 359 liveshow, Deep Space Survival Procedure and Protocol, is literally named after the manual. This suggests, before we’ve even heard/watched the episode, that the DSSPPM will be a key symbol here. Which is interesting because I'd say the liveshow has two main plot points: (a) Eiffel's failure to read the DSSPPM or follow orders in general, the resulting disruption to the mission, and his crewmates' frustration with this; and (b) the looming threat of Cutter, the necessity of keeping information from Command, and the risk of fatal mission termination.

Even without the knowledge that Cutter is one of the co-authors of the DSSPPM (which neither the Hephaestus crew nor a first-time listener knows at this point), there's a kind of irony in the contrast between these two plotlines. On the one hand, Minkowski repeatedly berates Eiffel for not having read Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure and Protocol Manual, which was made mandatory by Command. On the other hand, she is aware that Command in general - and Cutter specifically - represents the biggest threat to the safety and survival of her crew.

Cutter uses the DSSPPM against each of the Hephaestus crew in their one-on-one conversations with him. For Minkowski, he uses it as a way of emphasising the expectations and responsibility placed on her:

MINKOWSKI There are always gaps between expectation and reality, but-- CUTTER But it's our job as leaders to close that gap, isn't it? Pryce and Carter...? MINKOWSKI 414, yes. Yes, sir, I know.

Cutter knows that Minkowski will know those tips and he knows abiding by them is important to her. She's quick to demonstrate her knowledge of the DSSPPM and agree with the tip. There's something deeply sinister to me about Cutter's use of the word 'our' here. His phrasing includes them both as leaders who should be ensuring that things are exactly as expected. It’s almost a kind of flattery at her authority, but it comes with impossibly high expectations. This way of emphasising the importance and responsibilities of her role as Commander is a targeted strategy by Cutter at manipulating Minkowski, designed to appeal to her values.

In Hera's one-on-one, Cutter uses a DSSPPM tip to interpret her behaviour and claim that he can read her motives:

CUTTER This thing you're doing. Asking questions while you get your bearings. HERA Sir, I'm just curious about-- CUTTER Pryce and Carter 588: Shows of courtesy and polite queries are an efficient way to gain time necessary to strategize.

Unlike with Minkowski (or Eiffel), Cutter doesn't prompt Hera to demonstrate her knowledge of the manual. That wouldn't work as a power play against Hera, who would be able to recall the manual (or, rather, retrieve the file, however that distinction works within her memory) but who doesn't care about the DSSPPM like Minkowski does. Instead, Cutter implies that Hera’s behaviour can be predicted - or at the very least seen through - by the DSSPPM, which seems like a cruel attempt by Cutter at belittling her.

For Eiffel, Cutter uses the manual as a weapon in a different way again. He asks Eiffel, "which one was 897, what was the exact phrasing of that Deep Space Survival Tip?", something which Eiffel clearly doesn't know, but Cutter of course does. This puts Eiffel on the back foot, trying to defend and justify himself, allowing Cutter to emphasise his position of power yet again.

The DSSPPM plays a double role in the liveshow. On the one hand, as Minkowski reminds Eiffel, proper knowledge of the manual "would've saved [the crew] from these problems with the nav computer" – some of the tips can potentially save the crew a great deal of hassle, stress, and risk. On the other hand, the same manual is used by Cutter to manipulate, unsettle, and intimidate the crew. There are these two sides to the information given to the crew by Command - two sides to the manual which Minkowski still values.

In another duality for the DSSPM, the manual is sometimes used as a symbol of the relationship between the crew members and Command, and sometimes used to indicate the dynamics between the individual crew members, usually Minkowski and Eiffel. Before Cutter’s appearance in the liveshow, Minkowski and Eiffel’s discussions of the DSSPPM reflect interpersonal disagreements between two people with fundamentally different attitudes:

MINKOWSKI Oh come on, why do you think I keep trying to get you to go over these things? Do you think I enjoy going through them? EIFFEL Yes. MINKOWSKI Well, alright, I do. But this knowledge could save your life.

Minkowski enjoys rules, regulations, and certainty, for their own sake as much as for any practical usefulness. Eiffel very much does not. This is a simple clash of individuals, in which the link between the DSSPPM and Command is implicit. Minkowski doesn't seem to question the idea that the information in the DSSPPM is potentially life-saving, even though she knows Command don't care about their lives. But Cutter’s repeated references to the DSSPPM remind us who made that book a mandatory part of mission training – it certainly wasn’t Minkowski, even if she’s often the one attempting to enforce this rule.

At the end of the liveshow, in a desperate attempt to prevent mission termination, Eiffel promises Cutter that he will read the DSSPPM (the liveshow transcript notes that him saying this is "like pulling teeth"), an instance of the manual being used in negotiations between the Hephaestus crew and Command. All Minkowski’s orders weren’t enough to get Eiffel to read that book, but a genuine life-or-death threat might just about be enough. Perhaps it's ironic that Eiffel reads the survival manual out of a desire for survival, not because he thinks the contents of the book will help him survive, but because he’s grasping anything he can offer to buy the crew’s survival from those who created that same book.

In the final scene of the liveshow, Minkowski catches Eiffel reading the DSSPPM, and he fumbles to hide that he's been reading it, a humorous reversal of all the times that he's lied to her that he has read it. Perhaps admitting that he's reading it would be like letting Minkowski win. Minkowski seems to find both surprise and amusement in seeing Eiffel finally reading the manual, but she doesn't push him to admit it. There's some slightly smug but still friendly teasing in the way Minkowski says "were you now?" when Eiffel says that he was just reading something useful. In that final scene, the manual is viewed again through the lens of Minkowski and Eiffel’s dynamic – Command’s relation to the DSSPPM becomes secondary.

“The first thing I'd make damn sure was hard wired into anything that might end up in a situation like this one”: the DSSPPM as a tool of survival

In Ep30 Mayday, when Eiffel is stranded alone on Lovelace’s shuttle, he hallucinates Minkowski to bring him out of his helpless panic and force him into action. And this hallucination also brings with it one of Minkowski’s interests:

MINKOWSKI Eiffel... I worked on this shuttle. Reprogramming that console. EIFFEL So? How does that help – MINKOWSKI Think about it. BEAT. And then he gets it. EIFFEL Oh goddammit. MINKOWSKI What's the first thing that I would do when programming a flight computer? The first thing I'd make damn sure was hard wired into anything that might end up in a situation like this one? EIFFEL Pyrce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure and Protocol Manual.

Again, a conversation about the DSSPPM gives us an indication of the development of Minkowski and Eiffel’s relationship. Not only does Eiffel imagine Minkowski as a figure of (fairly aggressive) support when he’s stranded and alone, he thinks about what advice she’d give him and he follows it. Rather than dismissing the manual entirely, he looks for tips that are relevant to his situation. He’s not pleased about his hallucinated-Minkowski trying to get him to read the DSSPPM, but that was what his mind gave him in an almost hopeless situation. Some part of him now empathises with Minkowski’s priorities in a way that he definitely wasn’t doing in Ep1. He thinks that the DSSPPM might be on the shuttle because he knows the manual is important to Minkowski. It’s by imagining Minkowski that he gets himself to read the manual in order to see if it can help him survive – he certainly doesn’t think about what Cutter or anyone else from Command would tell him to do.

In the end, the tips Eiffel picks out aren’t all that helpful or informative: “Confront reality head-on”; “In an emergency, take stock of the tools at your disposal. Then take stock again. Restock. Repurpose. Reuse. Recycle."; and “"In times of trouble, an idle mind is your worst enemy”. But Eiffel does use these tips to structure his initial thinking about how to survive on Lovelace’s shuttle. In an almost entirely hopeless situation, Eiffel finds some value in the DSSPPM. But since the tips he picks out are mostly platitudes, the actual wisdom that allows him to survive all comes from his own mind; the tips, like his hallucinations, are just a tool he uses to externalise his process of figuring out what to do.

“Wasn't there something about this in the survival manual?”: Minkowski potentially moving away from the DSSPPM

Given the significance of the DSSPPM in Season 1 and 2 to Minkowski in particular, it feels notable when the manual isn’t referenced. Unless I've missed something (and please let me know if I have), Minkowski – the real one, not Eiffel’s hallucination - doesn't bring up the manual of her own accord at all in Seasons 3 or 4. This might make us wonder if she’s moved away from her trust in and reliance on that book provided by Command.

Perhaps the arrival of the SI-5, which highlights to Minkowski that the chain of command is not a good indicator of trustworthy authority, was the final straw. Or perhaps the apparent loss of Eiffel - and any subsequent questioning of her leadership approach, or realisations about the valuable perspective Eiffel provided - were what finally broke down her faith in that book.

Alternatively, perhaps Minkowski still trusts the DSSPPM as much as ever, but trying to get Eiffel or any of the other crew members to listen to it is a losing battle that she no longer sees as a priority. Either way, Minkowski’s apparent reluctance to bring up the DSSPPM feels like a shift in her approach. 

The associations between Minkowski and the DSSPPM are still there in Season 3, but they are raised by other characters, not by Minkowski herself. The manual is used to emphasise Eiffel’s difficulties when he’s put in charge of trying to get Maxwell and Hera to fill out a survey in Ep32 Controlled Demolition. Trying to force other people to be productive pushes Eiffel into some very uncharacteristic behaviour:

EIFFEL Jesus Christ, what is wrong with you? It's like you've never even read Pryce and Carter! Tip #490 very clearly states that – He trails off. After a BEAT – HERA Officer Eiffel? MAXWELL You, uh, all right there? EIFFEL (the horror) What have I become? [...] Eiffel, now wrapped up in a blanket, is next to Lovelace. He is still very clearly shaken. EIFFEL ... and... it was like an episode of the Twilight Zone. I was slowly transforming into Commander Minkowski. [...] It was a nightmare! A terrifying, bureaucratic nightmare!

This is a funny role reversal, but it shows us the strength of Eiffel’s association between Minkowski and the DSSPPM, as well his extreme aversion to finding himself in a strict bureaucratic leadership position. It also suggests that becoming extremely frustrated when trying to get other people to do what you want might make anyone resort to relying on an external source of authority, such as the manual. I don’t know whether this experience helps Eiffel empathise with Minkowski, but perhaps it might give us some insight into how her need for authority and control in the leadership role she occupied might have reinforced her deference to the DSSPPM.

In Ep34, we get a suggestion of another character having a strong association between the DSSPPM and Minkowski. After the discovery of Funzo, Hera asks Minkowski what the manual says about it:

HERA Umm... I don't know if this is a good idea. Lieutenant, wasn't there something about this in the survival manual? MINKOWSKI Pryce and Carter 792: Of all the dangers that you will face in the void of space, nothing compares to the existential terror that is Funzo.

It’s interesting to me that Hera asks Minkowski here. We know from Ep1 that “Pryce and Carter's Deep Space Survival Procedure Protocol Manual is among the files [Hera has] access to”. Two possible reasons occur to me for why Hera might ask Minkowski about the DSSPPM tip here. One possibility is that Hera thinks that retrieving the manual from her databanks and finding the correct tip would take her more time than it would take for Minkowski to just remember the tip. Which suggests interesting things about the nature of Hera’s memory, but also implies that - at least in Hera's view -Minkowski’s knowledge of the DSSPPM is more reliable than that of a supercomputer.

The other possibility is that Hera could have recalled the relevant DSSPPM tip incredibly quickly but she doesn’t want to, maybe because she resents having that manual in her head in the first place, or maybe because she wants to show respect for Minkowski’s knowledge as a Commander. Either way, we can see that Hera – like Eiffel – strongly associates Minkowski with the DSSPPM.

And Minkowski, even if she wasn’t the one to bring up the manual here, recalls the relevant tip immediately. Perhaps she is moving away from her trust in that manual, but everything that she learned as part of her old deference to the authority of Command is still there in her head. She might want to forget it by the end of the mission, but that’s not easily achieved. The way Minkowski’s friends/crewmates associate the manual with her emphasises the difficulty she’ll face if she tries to move away from it.

“One thousand and one pains in my ass”: The authorship of the DSSPPM

In Ep55 A Place for Everything, Eiffel effectively expresses his long-held dislike of the DSSPPM when he comes face-to-face with both of its authors:

EIFFEL What? What the hell are - wait a minute - Pryce? As in one thousand and one pains in my ass, Pryce? (sudden realization) Which... makes you...? MR. CUTTER (holding out his hand) W.S. Carter, pleased to meet you. 

It’s significant that the two ‘big bads’ of the whole series are the authors of the manual which Minkowski and Eiffel were bickering about all the way back in Ep1. It’s not the only way in which the message of this show positions itself firmly against just accepting externally imposed authority and hierarchy without question or evidence, but it does reinforce this ethos.

By being the authors of the manual, Cutter and Pryce have had a sinister hidden presence throughout the show. Long before we know who Pryce is and even before we hear Cutter’s name, their manual is there, occupying a prominent place in Minkowski’s motivations and priorities, and in her arguments with Eiffel. It’s not at all comparable to what Pryce put in Hera’s mind, but it is another way in which these antagonists have wormed their way into the heads of our protagonists.

Minkowski will have to come to terms with the fact that the 1001 tips she spent hours memorising and reciting were written by two people who would have killed her, her crew, and even the whole human race without hesitation if it served their purposes. We never get to hear Minkowski’s reaction to learning the identities of Pryce and Carter, but I think processing the role of their manual in her life will be a long and difficult road that’ll tie into a lot of other emotional processing she needs to do. Her assertion to Cutter that, without him, she is “Renée Minkowski... and that is more than enough to kick your ass!” feels like part of that journey. She doesn’t mention the DSSPPM at all in Season 4. She’s growing beyond it.

"Doug Eiffel's Deep Space Survival Guide": The DSSPPM as a weapon against those who wrote it

Last but not least, I couldn’t write about Eiffel and the DSSPPM without mentioning this scene from  Ep58 Quiet, Please:

EIFFEL As someone once told me: "Pryce and Carter 754: In an emergency, take stock of the tools at your disposal, then take stock again. Repurpose, reuse, recycle." And right now? You know what I got? I got this lighter from when Cutter was using me as his personal cabana boy. [...] and I've got myself this big, fat copy of the Deep Space Survival Manual, and you know what I'm gonna do with it? [...] Eiffel STRIKES THE LIGHTER. And LIGHTS THE BOOK ON FIRE, revealing Pryce just a few feet away from him! EIFFEL I am going to repurpose it... and reuse it... and recycle it into a GIANT FIREBALL OF DEATH! And he swings the flaming book forward, HITTING PRYCE ON THE SIDE OF THE HEAD. [...] EIFFEL That's right! Doug Eiffel's Deep Space Survival Guide, B-

No one other than Doug Eiffel could pull off the chaotic energy of this moment. It doesn’t get much more anti-authority than lighting the mandatory mission manual on fire and using it as a weapon against one of its malevolent authors. It might not be the wisest move safety-wise, and it certainly doesn’t improve the situation when the node gets jettisoned into space. But there is still a powerful symbolism in taking a symbol of the hierarchical forces that have tried to constrain you for years and setting it alight to fight back against those forces. Eiffel takes his own approach to survival and puts his own name into the title, an assertion of his agency and rejection of Command's authority.

The DSSPPM tip that he uses here is one of those he considers when stranded on Lovelace’s shuttle. It’s understandable that after that experience it might have stuck in his memory.

I can’t help feeling that the line “as someone once told me” has a double meaning here. The immediate implication is to interpret “someone” as being Pryce and Cutter – it’s their manual after all – which makes this line a fairly effective ‘fuck you’ gesture, emphasising how Eiffel is using Pryce’s manual against her in both an abstract and a physical sense.

But I think “someone” could also mean Minkowski. Eiffel uses a singular rather than plural term, there’s already an association established between Minkowski and the DSSPPM, and, in Mayday, it’s his hallucination of Minkowski that gets him to read this tip. She's probably also recited this tip to him at other points as well. Under this interpretation, this line is as much a gesture of solidarity with Minkowski as it is a taunt to Pryce. I like the idea that these two interpretations can run alongside each other, reflecting the duality of the use of the DSSPPM that I talked about in relation to the liveshow.

Conclusion

The DSSPPM is a symbol of external rules imposed on people by those with power over them. These rules can be strange, arbitrary, and even sinister, but for those with a desire for certainty and control, like Minkowski, they can be tempting. And they can have their uses, as well as the potential to be repurposed. Attitudes towards these rules provide an effective shorthand as part of Minkowski and Eiffel’s characterisation. And the clash between these attitudes, and how that clash manifests, can tell us something about how the dynamic between those characters develops and changes.

[bumblingbabooshka]

Voyager should have had an episode where the command trio beat the absolute hell out of each other while blaming each other for being stuck in the delta quadrant as the fever pitch of a rising tension that was building throughout the episode. Like, they're absolutely being pushed to do it by some outside force. Maybe it's a telepathic being - maybe it's that they're stuck in some arena or an alien court or a time loop only the three of them are aware of - no matter the specifics, the sentiment behind their words has to be true and it has to be something they've been keeping back for months, maybe years. That fear and hatred and blame that doesn't really have an actual target because it's not actually rational but 'who's to blame' doesn't have to be capital T true to feel true. If Chakotay hadn't been in the badlands, If Janeway hadn't made that choice, If Tuvok hadn't supported it... "You trapped us here. It's your fault. If you hadn't-! If you hadn't-! If you hadn't-!" are just echoes of "I trapped us here. It's my fault. If I hadn't-! If I hadn't-! If I hadn't-!" Because at the end of the day more than being angry or hateful they're despairing in their own ways. Episode probably has a somber end - they beat whatever it was and it's a victory! They won by working together even after they beat each other half to death! But after the celebration we see them alone in their quarters...silent. Gazing out at the stars, into a candle's flame, at that same family picture before turning away. Because even though they won they're still there in the delta quadrant. Is that really victory?

[redrobin-detective]

So I was doing my 4? 5?? watch of Lockwood and Co the other night with a friend and I noticed something that I'd missed before. When Lucy holds Skull up to the mirror, before she passes out, she gets a brief flash of some visions. From what'd I seen in other rewatches, it looked to be a recollection of ghostlocked/dead people from the series (Norrie, Fairfax etc) but one image jumped out. I opened Netflix on my computer so I could slow it down and

Bam, it's Lockwood. Now this image certainly wasn't in the 8 episode series and it got me thinking. The previous images were of those Lucy had seen killed/ghost locked ending with a frost covered Lockwood?

It was set up for the conflict in the Hollow Boy, about Lucy worrying that Lockwood is going to die for her. Lucy got a brief future vision of the Fetch impersonating a dead Lockwood which would lead to the events of The Creeping Shadow. Basically I'm even more mad that we don't get to see Cameron all done up in frosty ghost make-up.

[milquetoad]

abubakar.. i mean… can you stay around forever…

[chisungie]

FINALLY 🥺 i got anbys the other day and im happy abt that but NICOLEE <33

[bisaster-energy]

'cause i'm all out of hurt, you used up all i've got // the dismemberment song

your favorite creation has turned the gun you crafted for him on you but he does not pull the trigger because your least favorite creation has convinced him you were wrong you were wrong you were wrong

@butch--dean ^_^

[rookflower]

my graphic novel isnt coming for another week grrrrafgghhhhhhhhh i need it nowwwwww

[randomnameless]

Re about Cat :

In Nopes she complains because her dad asks her to lend CoS troops, instead of asking Dimitri or Rhea herself...

But unless Count Charon is as dumb as Leopold, he knows pretty well Cat isn't the one who can lend him Church soldiers.

Of course Fodlan dgaf about non students characters, especially if they are affiliated to the Church, but I wondered, maybe Count Charon didn't want to ask Rhea herself to lend him some troops because he has a strange relationship with her -

Rhea is, after all, the one who welcomed his daughter when she was hunted by the Kingdom and the reason she's alive, Dad!Charon, whatever was his position during the "Cassandra hunt" wasn't the one who protected his daughter, Rhea was.

Maybe he feels already to indebted to her to even ask her, in person, for more soldiers?

As for Dimitri...

I always found it disappointing how both game never explored more Cat's backstory, ffs if Faerghus was "feudal uwu", the Crown (even if it was during Rufus' regency) ordered Cat's death, she was branded a traitor and someone who commited regicide ffs.

What was happening with House Charon at that time, were they happily going to give their daughter to the crown, when Catherine was the presumptive major crested heir, to have her executed? When the entire Kingdom branded her a traitor and had her name besmirched, was House Charon totes okay with, you know, the accusations that their precious heir participated in the plot to kill Lambert?

Lonato throws a fit because Christophe was executed by the Church, but Lonato is only Rowe's bannerman - Charon is one of the major Houses in the Kingdom, wouldn't they have thrown a "larger" fit if the crown wanted to execute their heir??

Or maybe that could fell in the larger "the Kingdom was in chaos" thing - House Charon might have been "this" close to rebel against the Crown ?

In a way, it might explain why Garreg Mach wasn't visited by the Kingdom's forces asking Rhea to hand Cassandra over if the crown's forces had to cross Charon territory to reach Garreg Mach...

So in with this BG, it would make perfect sense why Count Charon wouldn't ask Dimitri for more soldiers (granted we're talking about Church soldiers?) - Charon is still a loyal bannerman who fights for Faerghus, but his trust in the crown would have been severed, and it's up to Dimitri to rebuild that bond.

[byooregard]

poll number two.