#scorpion 4x10

[wander-wren]

now, i want to preface all this by saying i do *not* have the capacity to run anything right now, but if someone else did i would gladly hop on board. also, no one asked me to do this but i hyperfocused a lil bit and by the time i stopped doing that i was 2+ hours deep and had to finish, so

*deep breath* may i present......

supernatural, most unhinged and nonsensical version:

SEPTEMBER

10th- 5x1 (Sympathy for the Devil)

13th- 1x1 (Pilot)

17th- 5x2 (Good God, Y'all!)

18th- 4x1 (Lazarus Rising)

20th- 1x2 (Wendigo)

23rd- 7x1 (Meet the New Boss)

24th- 5x3 (Free to Be You and Me), 6x1 (Exile on Main St)

25th- 4x2 (Are You There, God? It's Me, Dean Winchester)

27th- 1x3 (Dead in the Water)

28th- 2x1 (In My Time of Dying)

30th- 7x2 (Hello, Cruel World)

OCTOBER

1st- 5x4 (The End), 6x2 (Two and a Half Men)

2nd- 4x3 (In the Beginning)

3rd- 8x1 (We Need to Talk About Kevin)

4th- 1x4 (Phantom Traveler), 3x1 (The Magnificent Seven)

5th- 2x2 (Everybody Loves a Clown)

7th- 7x3 (The Girl Next Door), 10x1 (Black), 11x1 (Out of the Darkness, Into the Fire)

8th- 5x5 (Fallen Idols), 6x3 (The Third Man), 9x1 (I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here), 15x14 (Last Holiday)

9th- 4x4 (Metamorphosis)

10th- 8x2 (What's Up, Tiger Mommy?), 15x1 (Back and to the Future)

11th- 1x5 (Bloody Mary), 3x2 (The Kids Are Alright), 14x1 (Stranger in a Strange Land)

12th- 2x3 (Bloodlust), 13x1 (Lost and Found)

13th- 12x1 (Keep Calm and Carry On)

14th- 7x4 (Defending Your Life), 10x2 (Reichenbach), 11x2 (Form and Void)

15th- 5x6 (I Believe the Children Are Our Future), 6x4 (Weekend at Bobby's), 9x2 (Devil May Care), 15x15 (Gimme Shelter)

16th- 4x5 (Monster Movie)

17th- 8x3 (Heartache), 15x2 (Raising Hell)

18th- 1x6 (Skin), 3x3 (Bad Day at Black Rock), 14x2 (Gods and Monsters)

19th- 2x4 (Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things), 13x2 (The Rising Son)

20th- 12x2 (Mamma Mia)

21st- 7x5 (Shut Up, Dr. Phil), 10x3 (Soul Survivor), 11x3 (The Bad Seed)

22nd- 6x5 (Live Free or Twihard), 9x3 (I'm No Angel), 15x16 (Drag Me Away [From You])

23rd- 4x6 (Yellow Fever)

24th- 8x4 (Bitten), 15x3 (The Rupture)

25th- 1x7 (Hook Man), 3x4 (Sin City), 14x3 (The Scar)

26th- 2x5 (Simon Said), 13x3 (Patience)

27th- 12x3 (The Foundry)

28th- 7x6 (Slash Fiction), 10x4 (Paper Moon), 11x4 (Baby)

29th- 5x7 (The Curious Case of Dean Winchester), 6x6 (You Can't Handle the Truth), 9x4 (Slumber Party), 15x17 (Unity)

30th- 4x7 (It's the Great Pumpkin, Sam Winchester)

31st- 8x5 (Blood Brother)

NOVEMBER

1st- 3x5 (Bedtime Stories), 14x4 (Mint Condition)

2nd- 2x6 (No Exit), 13x4 (The Big Empty)

3rd- 12x4 (American Nightmare)

4th- 7x4 (The Mentalists), 11x5 (Thin Lizzie)

5th- 5x8 (Changing Channels), 6x7 (Family Matters), 9x5 (Dog Dean Afternoon), 15x18 (Despair)

6th- 4x8 (Wishful Thinking)

7th- 8x6 (Southern Comfort), 15x4 (Atomic Monsters)

8th- 1x8 (Bugs), 3x6 (Red Sky at Morning), 6x8 (All Dogs Go to Heaven), 14x5 (Nightmare Logic)

9th- 2x7 (The Usual Suspects), 13x5 (Advanced Thanatology)

10th- 12x5 (The One You've Been Waiting For)

11th- 7x8 (Season 7, Time for a Wedding!), 10x5 (Fan Fiction), 11x6 (Our Little World)

12th- 5x9 (The Real Ghostbusters), 9x6 (Heaven Can't Wait), 15x19 (Inherit the Earth)

13th- 4x9 (I Know What You Did Last Summer)

14th- 8x7 (A Little Slice of Kevin), 15x5 (Proverbs 17:3)

15th- 1x9 (Home), 3x7 (Fresh Blood), 14x6 (Optimism)

16th- 2x8 (Crossroad Blues), 13x6 (Tombstone)

17th- 12x6 (Celebrating the Life of Asa Fox)

18th- 7x9 (How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters), 10x6 (Ask Jeeves), 11x7 (Plush)

19th- 5x10 (Abandon All Hope...), 6x9 (Clap Your Hands If You Believe...), 9x7 (Bad Boys), 15x20 (Carry On)

20th- 4x10 (Heaven and Hell)

21st- 15x6 (Golden Time)

22nd- 1x10 (Asylum)

23rd- 13x7 (War of the Worlds)

25th- 10x7 (Girls, Girls, Girls)

26th- 9x8 (Rock and a Hard Place)

28th- 8x8 (Hunteri Heroici)

29th- 14x7 (Unhuman Nature)

30th- 13x8 (The Scorpion and the Frog)

DECEMBER

1st- 12x7 (Rock Never Dies)

2nd- 7x10 (Death's Door), 10x8 (Hibbing 911), 11x8 (Just My Imagination)

3rd- 6x10 (Caged Heat), 9x9 (Holy Terror)

5th- 8x9 (Citizen Fang), 15x7 (Last Call)

6th- 14x8 (Byzantium)

7th- 2x9 (Croatoan), 13x9 (The Bad Place)

8th- 12x8 (LOTUS)

9th- 10x9 (The Things We Left Behind), 11x9 (O Brother Where Art Thou?)

10th- 6x11 (Appointment in Samarra)

12th- 15x8 (Our Father, Who Aren't in Heaven)

13th- 3x8 (A Very Supernatural Christmas), 14x9 (The Spear)

JANUARY

6th- 7x11 (Adventures in Babysitting)

10th- 1x11 (Scarecrow)

11th- 2x10 (Hunted)

13th- 7x12 (Time After Time)

14th- 9x10 (Road Trip)

15th- 4x11 (Family Remains) 16th- 8x10 (Torn and Frayed), 15x9 (The Trap)

17th- 1x12 (Faith), 14x10 (Nihilism)

18th- 2x11 (Playthings), 13x10 (Wayward Sisters)

20th- 10x10 (The Hunter Games), 11x10 (The Devil in the Details)

21st- 5x11 (Sam, Interrupted), 9x11 (First Born)

22nd- 4x12 (Criss Angel is a Douchebag)

23rd- 8x11 (LARP and the Real Girl), 15x10 (The Hero’s Journey)

24th- 14x11 (Damaged Goods)

25th- 2x12 (Nightshifter), 13x11 (Breakdown)

26th- 12x9 (First Blood)

27th- 10x11 (There’s No Place Like Home), 11x11 (Into the Mystic)

28th- 5x12 (Swap Meat), 9x12 (Sharp Teeth)

29th- 4x13 (After School Special)

30th- 8x12 (As Time Goes By), 15x11 (The Gamblers)

31st- 1x13 (Route 666), 3x9 (Malleus Maleficarum), 14x12 (Prophet and Loss)

FEBRUARY

1st- 2x13 (Houses of the Holy), 13x12 (Vrious and Sundry Villains)

2nd- 12x10 (Lily Sunder Has Some Regrets)

3rd- 7x13 (The Slice Girls), 10x12 (About a Boy), 11x12 (Don't You Forget About Me)

4th- 5x13 (The Song Remains the Same), 6x12 (Like a Virgin), 9x13 (The Purge)

5th- 4x14 (Sex and Violence)

6th- 8x13 (Everybody Hates Hitler)

7th- 1x14 (Nightmare), 3x10 (Dream a Little Dream of Me), 14x13 (Lebanon)

8th- 2x14 (Born Under a Bad Sign), 13x13 (Devil's Bargain)

9th- 12x11 (Regarding Dean)

10th- 7x14 (Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie), 10x13 (Halt & Catch Fire), 11x13 (Love Hurts)

11th- 5x14 (My Bloody Valentine), 6x13 (Unforgiven)

13th- 8x14 (Trial and Error)

14th- 1x15 (The Benders), 3x11 (Mystery Spot)

15th- 2x15 (Tall Tales)

16th- 12x12 (Stuck in the Middle [With You])

17th- 7x15 (Repo Man), 10x14 (The Executioner's Song), 11x14 (The Vessel)

18th- 6x14 (Mannequin 3: The Reckoning)

20th- 8x15 (Man's Best Friend with Benefits)

21st- 3x12 (Jus in Bello)

23rd- 12x13 (Family Feud)

24th- 11x15 (Beyond the Mat)

25th- 6x15 (The French Mistake), 9x14 (Captives)

27th- 8x16 (Remember the Titans)

28th- 1x16 (Shadow)

MARCH

1st- 13x14 (Good Intentions)

2nd- 12x14 (The Raid)

4th- 6x16 (...And Then There Were None), 9x15 (#THINMAN)

7th- 14x14 (Ouroboros)

8th- 13x15 (A Most Holy Man)

9th- 12x15 (Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell)

12th- 4x15 (Death Takes a Holiday)

14th- 14x15 (Peace of Mind)

15th- 2x16 (Roadkill)

16th- 7x16 (Out with the Old), 15x12 (Galaxy Brain)

18th- 9x16 (Blade Runners), 10x15 (The Things They Carried)

19th- 4x16 (On the Head of a Pin)

20th- 8x17 (Goodbye Stranger)

21st- 14x16 (Don't Go in the Woods)

22nd- 2x17 (Heart)

23rd- 7x17 (The Born-Again Identity), 11x16 (Safe House), 15x13 (Destiny's Child)

25th- 5x15 (Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid), 9x17 (Mother's Little Helper), 10x16 (Paint It Black)

26th- 4x17 (It's a Terrible Life)

27th- 8x18 (Freaks and Geeks)

29th- 13x16 (Scoobynatural)

30th- 1x17 (Hell House), 7x18 (Party on, Garth), 11x17 (Red Meat), 12x16 (Ladies Drink Free)

APRIL

1st- 5x16 (Dark Side of the Moon),10x17 (Inside Man)

2nd- 4x18 (The Monster at the End of This Book)

3rd- 8x19 (Taxi Driver)

4th- 14x17 (Game Night)

5th- 13x17 (The Thing)

6th- 1x18 (Something Wicked), 11x18 (Hell's Angel), 12x17 (The British Invasion)

8th- 5x17 (99 Problems)

11th- 14x18 (Absence)

12th- 13x18 (Bring 'Em Back Alive)

13th- 1x19 (Provenance), 12x18 (The Memory Remains)

15th- 5x18 (Point of No Return), 6x17 (My Heart Will Go On), 9x18 (Meta Fiction), 10x18 (Book of the Damned)

18th- 14x19 (Jack in the Box)

19th- 2x18 (Hollywood Babylon), 13x19 (Funeralia)

20th- 1x20 (Dead Man's Blood), 7x19 (Of Grave Importance)

22nd- 5x19 (Hammer of the Gods), 6x18 (Frontierland), 9x19 (Alex Annie Alexis Ann), 10x19 (The Werther Project)

23rd- 4x19 (Jump the Shark)

24th- 3x13 (Ghostfacers), 8x20 (Pac-Man Fever)

25th- 14x20 (Moriah)

26th- 2x19 (Folsom Prison Blues), 13x20 (Unfinished Business)

27th- 1x21 (Salvation), 7x20 (The Girl with the Dungeons and Dragons Tattoo), 11x19 (The Chitters), 12x19 (The Future)

29th- 5x20 (The Devil You Know), 6x19 (Mommy Dearest), 9x20 (Bloodlines), 10x20 (Angel Heart)

30th- 4x20 (The Rapture)

MAY

1st- 3x14 (Long Distance Call), 8x21 (The Great Escapist)

3rd- 2x20 (What Is and What Should Never Be), 13x21 (Beat the Devil)

4th- 1x22 (Devil's Trap), 7x21 (Reading is Fundamental), 11x20 (Don't Call Me Shurley), 12x20 (Twigs & Twine & Tasha Banes)

6th- 5x21 (Two Minutes to Midnight), 6x20 (The Man Who Would Be King), 9x21 (King of the Damned), 10x21 (Dark Dynasty)

7th- 4x21 (When the Levee Breaks)

8th- 3x15 (Time Is on My Side), 8x22 (Clip Show)

10th- 2x21 (All Hell Breaks Loose [Part 1]), 13x22 (Exodus)

11th- 7x22 (There Will Be Blood), 11x21 (All in the Family), 12x21 (There's Something About Mary)

13th- 5x22 (Swan Song), 9x22 (Stairway to Heaven), 10x22 (The Prisoner)

14th- 4x22 (Lucifer Rising)

15th- 3x16 (No Rest for the Wicked), 8x23 (Sacrifice)

17th- 2x22 (All Hell Breaks Loose [Part 2]), 13x23 (Let the Good Times Roll)

18th- 7x23 (Survival of the Fittest), 11x22 (We Happy Few), 12x22 (Who We Are), 12x23 (All Along the Watchtower)

20th- 6x21 (Let It Bleed), 6x22 (The Man Who Knew Too Much), 9x23 (Do You Believe in Miracles?), 10x23 (Brother's Keeper)

25th- 11x23 (Alpha and Omega)

Between Dracula Daily happening again and all the posts about enjoying old(er) media during the writers' and actors' strikes going on in Hollywood right now, I feel like there's an opportunity for someone to organize a rewatch of some show, using the original air dates of the episodes as a guide.

I have too much life stuff going on right now to do it myself, but if you've heard of someone doing this (or you're inspired to do it yourself), share in the notes?

[mspirations]

Paige Dineen "Crime Every Mountain" - 4x10

L’Agence Band Collar Shirt

Thanks for identifying:

Worn On Tv

[aspiestvmusings]

Important moments from Quintis 410 scenes, pt  8

Episode: 4x10 Crime Every Mountain

[scribeshan]

Can we take a moment to appreciate that last night’s ep gave us the following things:

• Quintis fun...Toby’s research on conception and helping things along...and Happy totally calling him on his ulterior motives.

• HotDoc!Toby...I’m always a fan.

• Holy continuity, Batman! Followup on the Collins-on-the-lam story, Quintis baby story (even if I think it’s a little too early to be worried, they’re telling us where we’re headed). When they don’t let storylines die (RIP Megan O’Brien Dodd Pediatric Ward) it makes the storytelling so much richer.

• Sneak peeks into Toby’s background...his dark days in the grips of his gambling addiction, a disturbing mother reference, and confirmation that he’s still committed to his sobriety.

• Utterly beautiful exploration of Happy’s mindset...and she’s not worried about Toby not being there...she’s worried about their kids inheriting their shared family history of a knack for trouble. Her discussion of this at the end was honest, open, and not accusatory.

• Toby’s confidence and perspective that despite their shared “gangster blood”, the kids are gonna be all right, because the extended family will help them.

• That HUG. Something about her reaching over his shoulders instead of around the ribs is just 😍😍😍. Way to grow this character, writers.

• Toby did things with a winch and and brake lines and Happy did things with being a listening ear for a misguided teenager. #rolereversal #iknowtheyaregoingsomewherewiththiseventually

• Tiny little married pecks are the best.

• Great Walter storyline in terms of fearing the loss of Cabe and subconsciously distancing himself.

• Great speech from Paige putting it in perspective for him.

• Amazing performances from Ari and Robert this ep. Writers are growing all the characters right now.

• Toby Curtis climbed a cliff in the wilderness to save his beloved. Can we just...

• COLLINS. WAS. IN. THE. GARAGE. What a wonderful arch nemesis he’s become.

• We are all primed and pumped going into next week, with Cabe’s trial.

Best ep of S4 to date, and I’m so excited about what’s to come on all fronts. I know this show has been through it’s growing pains but this...was worth it for me. Completely.

THANK YOU, showrunners and writers (and marvelous cast)!

[fyeahquintis]

toby & happy in 4x10 [crime every mountain]        ∞ “we have gangster blood. you said so yourself.” 

[scorpionedit]

[a-beautiful-mind-wf001]

It’s gonna need a friction barrier. Otherwise, the cable won’t pull smoothly.

[scorpion-life]

I needed something to get the juices flowing so I can get back to my other fics and this is what resulted :)

Inspired by the conversation Toby and Happy had at the beginning of episode 4x10. I will be returning to my other work...soon...I hope. Let me know what you think! Thank you bunches!

[dpromophotospal-blog]

Scorpion Season 4 Episode 10 (4x10) "Crime Every Mountain" Promotional P...

[johannas-motivational-insults]

“Friendship” in the Horde

Season 4 raised some interesting questions about how people who grew up in the Horde define friendship. Kyle claimed that his squadmates were his friends, despite how we've seen them bully him, and Scorpia admitted she didn’t even know how to be a good friend. We also saw further developments in Catra and Lonnie’s dynamic that have some interesting implications about their bond, both past and present. However, while these themes became more explicit this season, they are hardly new. The Horde worldbuilding is really quite brilliant, as the writers have been laying the foundation for these revelations by showcasing certain patterns since season one.

This got a little lengthy on me, but there was a lot to consider. The lack of healthy emotional expression and relationship modelling is one obvious problem in the Horde, but the hostile environment has also led to some very specific power dynamics and social structures. These structures, while potentially helpful in hostile environments, are maladaptive in terms of fostering healthy relationships. Ultimately, every character who grew up in the Horde is emotionally crippled. (I’m not even going into Adora, an excellent example, because her repression and communication problems are well-documented and I wanted to focus on characters still in this environment.)

Scorpia

Let’s start with Scorpia. Her revelation that she doesn’t understand what friendship is was a big moment for her, but for those of us who have been watching closely, it’s no big surprise. Scorpia was so desperate for a meaningful connection that she latched onto the first person who showed any signs of considering her a friend, ignoring all the red flags indicating that the relationship was not healthy. Actually, she didn’t ignore them so much as not recognize them, because she didn’t even know what a healthy relationship looks like. To her, the fact that Catra invited her to her room and chose her to accompany her on a mission was enough for her to dub them the Superpal Duo.

Of course, we all know how that went for her. She continued to support Catra unconditionally despite the latter’s tendency to use Scorpia as her emotional punching bag. They did settle into a somewhat more reciprocal and caring relationship after Scorpia saved Catra against her orders during 2x05, proving that Catra was more important to her than the mission (even if that wasn’t what Catra thought she wanted). It’s sad when you think about it, because that was probably the first time Catra ever experienced her wellbeing being prioritized above all else.

Unfortunately, the revelation that Shadow Weaver had gone running back to Adora after betraying her triggered a trauma response and made her clam up again, lashing out at Scorpia and shutting her out even though she had done nothing to betray her trust. It took Catra blatantly attacking and insulting Scorpia when she failed to bring back Entrapta’s recordings (and some well timed reality checks from Emily) for Scorpia to realize that Catra was being a bad friend and she couldn’t win her over by being a good friend.

And actually, Scorpia’s confession in 4x10 that she “thought” she was being a good friend to Catra implies that she had since realized that she wasn’t actually being a good friend to Catra either. She knows the scorpions were a loyal people and she ascribes to that ideal, and she has so much love to give and always tries so hard to be positive, but not setting boundaries with people or demanding a measure of basic respect does nothing for them or you. Also, you can’t ignore the fact that Scorpia forced her affections on Catra, inserting herself into Catra’s life in a way that made her uncomfortable, and continued to ignore Catra’s attempts at setting boundaries with her (which is also very disrespectful). While Catra was certainly the aggressor, she was not the only one who failed in this partnership.

Let’s go back for a moment to Scorpia’s earliest indication that Catra might want to be her friend, when she confides in her and enlists her help coming up with and then executing a plan. Being chosen as Catra’s wingman seems to be important here, and perhaps she was wilfully ignoring how she was the only person who could make Catra’s plan work, but being confided in and trusted was huge to her. And since Horde soldiers are so used to being used, they don’t see it as a red flag. Catra actually flat out said Scorpia was the only person she could trust. How could a lonely gay not interpret that as a sign of being special to someone?

The squad

The importance of trust also becomes evident when considering the interactions among the main squad. Loyalty seems to be paramount in the Horde, not just the scorpion kingdom. Adora defecting to the Rebellion and leaving her squad behind was seen as a huge betrayal, and not just by Catra. Did anyone else want to cry when Lonnie struck back at Adora with “we were your friends” in 1x09? Lonnie was deeply hurt by Adora’s abandonment, feeding into her disillusionment with the Horde. Similarly, when Double Trouble revealed they had double-crossed Catra, her devastated reaction was not that her plans were ruined, but that they had betrayed her. That no doubt was also related to her previous betrayals, but also serves to highlight the importance of loyalty in their subculture.

While all the Horde characters were interesting to watch this season when it came to the themes of friendship, the arc was most pronounced in Lonnie. As I’ve mentioned previously, Scorpia had a short arc over one episode where her rosy worldview was destroyed, causing her to leave (much like Adora), while Lonnie was already a cynic who was aware of the Horde’s imperfections and had to go through more extreme hardships to detach from this unhappy but familiar environment (much like Catra, we hope).

Though she and the boys didn’t leave the Horde until the finale, her disillusionment was already evident in her first episode this season. After Catra berated them for something that wasn’t their fault and demanded they risk their lives to fix it (big Hordak energy), she had her first big revelation: “Catra doesn’t care about us, Adora left us. Everything they taught us in the Horde about loyalty is meaningless. It’s everyone for themselves.” In the next episode, she was frustrated by Scorpia’s naïve enthusiasm and trust in Catra, but it took a big blow up between her and Catra for her to finally decide she was done with her, done with the Horde in general.

Kyle represents a sort of middle ground between Lonnie and Scorpia in terms of outlook. He was not treated well in the Horde, but still believed in the ideals of loyalty and squad unity. He wanted to believe Catra had sent them out on a mission into the Whispering Woods because she trusted them and wanted it to be a team-building exercise. His take on it was: “She may be mean, but we’ve always had each other’s backs. Ever since we were kids.” He saw the squad as his family, including Catra (and previously Adora). It took Catra baring her claws and threatening to attack Lonnie outside of a battle sim for him to lose faith in her.

Bullying, the pecking order, and squad unity

As is clear by this point, the Horde defections this season were driven by Catra mistreating the others, but we can’t lose sight of how mistreatment is a fact of daily life in the Horde. And as I mentioned above with Lonnie, it’s those who were most aware of and desensitized to the mistreatment who had the hardest time naming it and leaving the toxic environment. Call it Stockholm Syndrome, call it the sunk cost fallacy, but either way once you’ve submitted to a system that dehumanizes you, it’s hard to admit that that system is wrong and leave it for a better life. Scorpia and Adora grew up somewhat privileged in the Horde in that they were destined for greatness, so they were never abused overtly and they had a level of protection from power-hungry cadets looking to claw their way to the top of the heap. They were already at the top and couldn’t be taken down, so they didn’t have to bully or be bullied.

The importance of pecking order is much more evident when considering people like Kyle, Catra, and Lonnie. Within their squad, Kyle is obviously the omega of the gang (get your heads out of the gutter, that is not what I mean), the one who gets blamed for everything that goes wrong and is constantly getting picked on. Lonnie shits on him, Catra shits on him, and even Rogelio gives him shit and goes along with the blame game. Despite all this, Kyle considers them his friends, his family.

This starts to make sense when you consider it in terms of intra vs. extra squad relations. Maybe the squad didn’t show Kyle any respect or treat him with kindness, but they did protect him in battle sims (sometimes lol) and rescue him from the spore storm. You also kind of get the impression that although they bullied him and asserted their dominance on the regs, they would protect him if other people tried to hurt him. You might say he’s the pet of the gang – he has no power within the structure and it may not be pleasant, but the structure still offers advantages. Having allies was still good for him even if he was at the bottom of the pecking order within the alliance.

Through a sociology lens, you might say the squad (and the Horde in general, given it’s a military society) follows the stereotypical male model of friend groups with clear pecking orders that everyone buys into (with exceptions for blatant power struggles), as opposed to the stereotypical female model that appears less hostile and more cooperative outwardly but involves a lot of underhanded infighting. (Obviously those are broad generalizations and it can be argued how much of it is nature vs. nurture, but they are observable patterns that boys and girls are socialized into in many human societies.) This ties in interestingly to @jaelav3​‘s observations about masculinity equating to strength and femininity equating to power in the Horde (a meta she really needs to write, because it’s brilliant). The hostility of the Horde forces soldiers into these rigid pecking orders in order to find protection in a dangerous place. When everyone knows and accepts their role, it is easier for the squad to function in a unified manner and protect each other, even if it’s at the cost of their mental and emotional health.

Now, when not everybody buys into the pecking order or it’s ambiguous, and/or if there’s a sudden power vacuum, that’s when things get interesting…

Catra and Lonnie, the perfect case study

Catra also suffered a lot of bullying and abuse in the Horde, but in a very different way than Kyle. She was in a unique and kind of contradictory position where she was somewhat protected by her close friendship with Adora, but she was also Shadow Weaver’s favourite chew toy and everyone knew it, which made her a target as well. If Shadow Weaver abused her, she wasn’t going to care if the other cadets abused her as well. Catra’s defensive body language and general distrustfulness and hostility gives the impression that she was bullied behind Adora’s back and Shadow Weaver turned a blind eye, perhaps even encouraged it.

This was all illustrated in 1x03, when Catra and Lonnie butted heads and Catra was forced to back down when two other cadets backed up Lonnie, then Lonnie told her to watch it because Adora wasn’t around to protect her anymore. That one line alone told so much of their story. This was also one of the few times we saw cadets using people from other squads to affect their own squad’s dynamics, as – like I said – that seems to be kept mostly in-house. It may have had something to do with Lonnie’s overall standing among the cadets or how Kyle and Rogelio rank lower in their little hierarchy and seem uninterested in getting involved with the power politics, but I digress.

The argument itself was meaningless, really - the whole thing was a pissing contest, an attempt to assert dominance within their squad’s sudden power vacuum. Lonnie fancied herself the new leader of the squad, and she ended up getting her wish in a backwards way when Catra was promoted out of the squad and given official power over her. Catra, of course, took every opportunity to rub this in Lonnie’s face, perpetuating the cycle of abuse she’d fallen victim to.

The reason they had a power struggle in the first place wasn’t just because Adora left, it was because their pecking order was previously unclear. Catra wasn’t very cooperative and tended to go rogue, so she didn’t slot nicely into the power structure. She was also perceived as lazy, as she had adopted an air of nonchalance once she realized she’d never get the recognition or praise so easily heaped on Adora. (Why try when failing hurts so much?) That being said, she was Adora’s best friend and basically her sidekick, so in a way that made her second-in-command of the squad.

On the other hand, Lonnie was devoted to the squad and was always around to provide tangible support, so she was also kind of Adora’s second-in-command. Combined with her harder work ethic, this also gave her a very legitimate claim to the throne. She was obviously pissed when her teammate she saw as a lazy asshat got promoted, but to her credit she lived up to her own personal ethics, buying in and not pushing back against Catra’s authority until late in season 4.

Despite the power struggle, however, Catra and Lonnie do seem to have a bond. Even if they don’t like each other, they have a certain level of trust in each other. When the princesses invaded the Fright Zone in 3x04 and shit started to go sideways, the first person Catra was looking for to try to get support and/or answers was Lonnie. Then in 4x10 when she was starting to lose her mind amid a lack of sleep and Scorpia’s defection, she pulled Lonnie aside and demanded to know what was going on among the soldiers, what they thought of her.

This was an incredibly interesting scene with some deep implications. Because while it was on one hand an expression of trust in Lonnie, it was also an acknowledgement that Lonnie was one of her bullies and held clout among the people who have demeaned and abused her in the past. It also showed that Catra still has social anxiety and her sense of social power (as opposed to power in terms of rank) is very fragile, which is extremely characteristic of a bullying victim. Also, the fact that Catra said, “Just leave. Like everybody else.” implied that Lonnie leaving would hurt her emotionally, which is rather illuminating.

As for Lonnie, her loyalty meant she bought into the system and expected to Catra to do her job running the place, taking care of the Horde. And Catra certainly succeeded early on, taking territory and increasing productivity. In return, Lonnie was a loyal and obedient soldier, even if she never hesitated to give Catra a bit of attitude. But she became frustrated in season 4 when Catra went on her sunk cost fallacy spiral and ended up making things worse for everyone else as well as herself. This failure was a huge betrayal to Lonnie, and it’s important to note that she wouldn’t feel betrayed or disappointed if she had expected nothing of Catra in the first place. It’s one thing to be kind of a dick about your superior rank, another entirely to endanger your squad/friends (or anyone you are responsible for, really) and run them into the ground as a remedy for your own anxiety.

The breaking point of course was the scene in the locker room in 4x12, when a lonely Catra tried to be “friends” with the squad again and was briefly successful in mending fences a little until she snapped at Kyle and then at Lonnie, calling them pathetic. This prompted Lonnie to shove her, which in turn made Catra bare her claws and rush Lonnie. There was really no coming back from that, even though Kyle intervened before anyone got hurt.

As an aside, Kyle stepping up in this scene was amazing - this season in general was everything I wanted for him. And it’s important that it was him who intervened, because he was really the only one who could ask Catra, “We used to be your friends, why are you treating us like this?” It makes perfect sense for Catra to push back at Lonnie given their history, but Kyle doesn’t have a history of bullying Catra (quite the opposite). And wow, it had an impact on Catra. You could just see the confusion and regret on her face before she brings back the façade of anger and kicks them out.

When the squad left the Horde, Lonnie said that they were done protecting Catra. This assertion is interesting, given their checkered past – since when was anyone protecting Catra? Lonnie bullied her, and none of them protected Catra from Shadow Weaver, not even Adora (though bless her heart, she tried). But this does make some sense when you consider how much of the idea of friendship is based on loyalty, and how important that adherence to the structure is for protection. In Lonnie’s mind, even if Catra was now their commander, they were still a unit in a way. And she saw standing by and obeying Catra to be a form of protection, helping her stay respected and carry out her plans. Lonnie is a good support person, and by removing her support, she was in a way removing her protection as well.

(After the series is over I might just go all out and do a huge-ass meta about Catra and Lonnie through the seasons. I am absolutely fascinated by this relationship, if you can’t tell.)

Allyship

Overall, you can’t help but get the impression that the Horde’s version of friendship is more akin to allyship. It’s protection, unity, loyalty. However, that doesn’t mean they don’t get emotionally attached, it’s more that how you feel about someone is less important than what that relationship can do for you. That’s why Scorpia doesn’t even understand what friendship is. That’s why Catra tolerates “friends” who annoy her, because they’re useful to her (not that she doesn’t get attached in time, but that’s not why she tolerates them in the first place).

Catra’s one of the few people in the Horde who has experienced real friendship, as her bond with Adora was much more emotional than practical (even if it was both). And that explains why she eventually lashed out at Scorpia and said they were not friends when clearly they were by the Horde’s definition. Her and Adora really had taken the friends thing to a different level, and she was missing that dearly.

It will be interesting to watch the interactions between the Horde characters when they are thrown back together in new circumstances, out of the Horde’s rigid power structure. Honestly, the redefining of these alliances and friendships is one of the things I am most looking forward to in the final season.

[trillscienceofficer]

breaking down the season to the single episodes reveals a lot more things that I don't like about it but still. overall quality fairly high

4x01-02 "The Way of the Warrior" — don't get me wrong "Scorpion (part 2)" on Voyager is a good episode but if I had to choose one Trek episode that was made to bring onto the show a new character in order to boost ratings this would be IT. It's just so much fun!!

4x03 "The Visitor" — CRYING LIKE A BABY EVERY TIME I WATCH IT this episode is so affecting and well made and Jake loves his dad so much...

4x04 "Hippocratic Oath" — This would've been an interesting one if it weren't for how it ends which sucks majorly (O'Brien why!!)

4x05 "Indiscretion" — I HATE Dukat's ugly mug so much and throughout the episode Kira has to convince him to not kill his own daughter but also. Ziyal!! ETA: absolutely HILARIOUS B-plot of Sisko going to Julian and Jadzia for relationship advice (for a problem that I should mention was pretty much entirely due to Jadzia's big mouth)

4x06 "Rejoined" — idk if I like this episode... lol can you imagine me saying that. Literally this episode changed the course of the last four years of my life I don't know what else to say about it

4x07 "Starship Down" — this episode is so good... I'm glad so many fans now recognize it as such. SO many different relationships are explored in this one, and I don't think I'm exaggerating if I say that to me it represents 90s Trek character writing at its best

4x08 "Little Green Men" — a very very fun one in a season that's chock full of good Ferengi & Quark episodes?? I love this spin on time travel

4x09 "The Sword of Kahless" — Another super fun one. Who's to say that Klingon plots have to be about political intrigue. Also making Kor a recurring character is pretty much a stroke of genius if you ask me

4x10 "Our Man Bashir" — I don't think this episode needs any explanation; Role-play Or Die is such a classic holodeck setup but the extra funny part here is that technically only Julian and Garak are role-playing

4x11 "Homefront", 4x12 "Paradise Lost" — I really like these two episodes even though "Past Tense" in s3 was probably the better mid-season two-parter. It works as a good reminder that the Dominion threat is still looming even if the overarching plot has strayed a bit from that, and it fits within the overall theme of the show when it comes to questioning the Federation's 'utopian' status

4x13 "Crossfire" — I fucking hate this episode. Sorry I don't know how else to qualify it. Odo's niceguyism at its worst, with of one stupidest relationship Kira's ever had just to contrive a reason for Odo to pine for her even more. Quark's presence is genuinely the only thing I save from it.

4x14 "Return To Grace" — Now I would really hate this episode if DS9 had chosen to "redeem" Dukat or w/e but they didn't, and while I'm sorry Kira has to spend more time with him I'm very much not sorry that she shuts him down every time (and manages to bring Ziyal off that ship)

4x15 "Sons of Mogh" — An episode that could've been interesting entirely ruined by the nonsensical finale, much like "Hippocratic Oath". (Also what the hell is this fascination with ritual killing I'll just never know)

4x16 "Bar Association" — Love this episode, kind of getting tired of the memes but w/e it's still a very good episode

4x17 "Accession" — Kinda fucked up episode!! I appreciate it anyway because it reprises the complicated relationship between Kira and Sisko, and Sisko's own feelings about his role as Emissary.

4x18 "Rules of Engagement" — eeh. boring episode tbh. I think other episodes do much better job of bringing Worf into the fabric of the show, this is just forgettable.

4x19 "Hard Time" — 'Mind Prison' as a trope is something that always tickled me and this one episode does it very well (except the mandatory DS9 attitude towards therapy and recovery which is very meh)

4x20 "Shattered Mirror" — Blaze it but I don't really like mirror universe episodes except the first and last ones lol

4x21 "Muse" — The A plot is horrible (poor Jake wtf) but the B plot is the best Lwaxana plot DS9 ever had and I'm crying rn. The Jarring Juxtaposition Of DS9 Plots is a well known phenomenon so

4x22 "For The Cause" — brilliant tbh. What other show would transform a recurring character like Micheal Eddington so thoroughly after his role of 'stickler to Starfleet security in opposition to Odo' had been given to Worf?? all the while continuing the Maquis plot?? and with one hell of a bang too. Plus it gave Kasidy something to do beyond being Sisko's LI (which I don't think the show does enough of tbqh). The only gripe I had with this ep is that the plot works only because the writers... forgot about Jadzia somehow?? idk the first time I watched it it really bothered me but on rewatch I'm mostly just along for the ride

4x23 "To The Death" — One of the rare Jem'Hadar plots that work for me, plus yes alright Weyoun first appearance. But my favorite part is the dialogue Jadzia gets to have while on the Defiant

4x24 "The Quickening" — cryin in the club it's such a nice Julian (&Jadzia) ep

4x25 "Body Parts" — I love both the Quark plot (which is an excellent exploration of his character) and, of course, the 'Kira gets Keiko's baby and gets invited into the O'Brien family' part as well. Really good.

4x26 "Broken Link" — Kind of subdued and claustrophobic but it builds onto the S3 finale and keeps the Dominion plot moving. As far as DS9 finales go, pretty solid (bonus somewhat hilarious detail of Garak attempting genocide for which he gets like six months in prison)

literally is there anything better than ds9 season 4? I don't think so

[ao3feed-scorpion]

Ties That Bind

read it on AO3 at http://ift.tt/2AkwoUR

by Anonwrite

During date night, Toby discovers something about his wife that he can’t believe…but it gives him an idea. (pre and post episode 4x10)

Words: 4827, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Scorpion (TV 2014)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Toby Curtis, Happy Quinn, Paige Dineen (mentioned), Walter O'Brien (mentioned)

Relationships: Toby Curtis & Happy Quinn, Toby Curtis/Happy Quinn, Quintis, little bit of waige

Additional Tags: Quintis - Freeform, Waige (mentioned), Husband and Wife Stuff, Date Night, Movie Night, Doctor Toby, Tie Me Up, pre and post episode 4x10, Fluffy, not too smutty, Domestic Fluff, Marriage

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2AkwoUR

[aspiestvmusings]

Quintis HUG - CAPS

Scorpion 4x10 Crime Every Mountain

[sourviolets]

what are your top 5 scorpion episodes?

sorry i fell asleep before i saw this!! hmm this is so hard!

Robots (2x04)

Talismans (1x10)

White Out (2x13)

The Fast and the Nerdiest (1x18)

Crime Every Mountain (4x10)

[simplykorra]

Thoughts on 4x10

Well, Ren and Nora officially destroyed me. Tiny Ren was cute but tiny Nora broke my damn heart. I loved it, all of that flashback stuff. From Ren’s mom (who I loved) to his dad who was awesome and all of the other stuff. 

Ren giving Nora that little hammer was amazing and them playing the slow version of Boop in the background was perfect. 

Also, and you won’t catch me saying this often, but thank you Jaune. Thank you for admitting that you weren’t the only one that lost something at Beacon - including Pyrrha and for actually making Ruby feel better. You’re off my list. For now at least lol. 

Also those Grimm that attacked Ren’s home are scary and awesome. They remind me of the creatures you fight in Witcher 3. I can’t remember the name of them, but scary monsters on scarier horses. 

This was a terrific episode and important in showing Ren and Nora’s backstory (even if it is a little overdue). Plus I loved Ruby allowing herself a moment to let the pain in a little. Her apology (and Lindsay’s performance during it) was so sad but so good. 

Also Salem’s big guy during the first scene - 10000000 times scarier than Scorpion boy ever was. 

Now to make some gifs :) 

[thegugzi]

I just watched Scorpion 4x10 "Crime Every Mountain"