Heard This Before 2014-07-15

[My2Cents]

And on that, I'd hope Cricket has enough gumption, even in the face of the Jaguar Girl's intimidation, to demand to have the rules spelled out. If a kid calls her 'Jiminy', does she have to take it or can she still deck him?

Just refuse to acknowledge them unless and until they uses your proper name. If they can’t get a response your no fun to tease. This applies even if she attacks them if they can anticipate getting her in trouble for it (yes, some people are like that).

If somebody messes with Atsali or the Bruin sisters, obviously gossamer duplicate humiliation is out, but how far can she go, otherwise?

Nothing unless they ask her for help. When to do when they do ask gets tricky, because they will be angry enough not to consider all the implications. At least in those cases they will probably be on the carpet with you, so your misery will have plenty of company.

If Euryale gets her in a killer hug - as seems destined to happen - what can she do? Can she shrink down and fly off as fast as possible, or does she have to smother?

Grin and bear it like everyone else. Then distract her by explaining that it is <<fill in whoever has been annoying her lately>>’s dog’s birthday or whatever and watch them suffer. http://wapsisquare.com/comic/plumb-near/

What is still acceptable in terms of her behavior, or does she have to be Polly Perfect? Which, given what we know of her, isn't going to last long...

Short term -- Yes, she has to be Polly Perfect.

Long term -- She can build up enough case-by-case precedent rulings on what would have been permissible from Monica to make guesses.

[AnotherFairportfan]

But Monica is a poor choice for helping someone to accept their path in life.

Maybe so, but who else is there?

Jin?

Shelly?

[AnotherFairportfan]

Lily.

[Dave]

Monica is old enough to mentor Cricket about this. But Monica is a poor choice for helping someone to accept their path in life. Monica fougth accepting hers to the bitter end. She still doesn't really want to fully accept who and what she is so how is she gonna effectively help Cricket accept her path?

Sounds more than a bit like the "wounded healer" principle among psychotherapists.

The best therapists are often those who have already struggled with the same issues that their clients are presenting. There's always the risk of transferrence and counter-transferrence... good therapists are trained in how to keep their own issues and emotions from becoming entangled with those of their clients... but it's often the fact of the shared experience which creates the empathy which allows the theraputic discussions to be so effective.

This looks as if it could be a real exercise in co-evolution developing here.

[ShirouZhiwu]

Cricket and Monica are very similar. That's dangerous. It can either end well with them becoming friends or blood feud level enemies.