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That was just a wee bit forward.

And how would you like your steak-in-the-heart prepared? Well done, perhaps?

Re-reading Nadette's verbal strike, she sounds just like Tina going on autopilot reading someone's aura.

Wow. Nadette just Tina'd Cricket. Heavy is the head that wears the crown, indeed.

Y'know, I gotta say, I like the bear twins and all, but what Nadette just did kinda makes me hate her, whether it was involuntary or what. Just I really like Cricket and that look on her face in the last panel breaks my heart...

Well... from what we've seen of the ursamorphs, Berdine is the one who has done most of the talking, and Nadette was doing the strong-and-silent bit.

Maybe now we know why that particular dynamic has developed? She's a Seer, somewhat of the can't-not-speak-about-what-she-Sees variety? Berdine's instant attempt to stifle her suggests that this isn't the first time something like this has occurred... and Berdine's urgent blush suggests that previous incidents may not have ended well.

Maybe this is why the ursamorphs moved to M.S.P. and the hallowed halls of Gryphon - maybe they, too, found their old stomping-grounds becoming uncomfortable? They might be outcasts/outsiders in their own way, just as Atsali and Cricket seem to be.

I humbly suggest "You wear you heart on your sleeve, but people treat poorly" should actually read "You wear your heart on your sleeve, but treat people poorly."

Anyhow, on to the important stuff: Well, now we have a clue or two about why Cricket acts the way she does - not necessarily a trait intrinsic to Fae or the royalty thereof, but a defense mechanism she's developed over years.

Group Hug! STAT!!


Probably the only thing that will help.

TheCollector wrote:Y'know, I gotta say, I like the bear twins and all, but what Nadette just did kinda makes me hate her, whether it was involuntary or what. Just I really like Cricket and that look on her face in the last panel breaks my heart...

Yes Cricket is in shock but Nadette has just done her a huge favor. She has told Cricket that the illusion of safety from hiding behind a facade is just that - an illusion. It doesn't fool everybody (even if they don't tell her so). If she wants friend the tough shell has to break.

This may be the most important moment in Cricket's life - a turning point. It is her moment of choice and will determine her very future being.

She can cut and run, retreat behind her walls, resolve to never allow even a chink in her armor and be doomed to a lonely and painful existence.

Or she can decide to drop the tough act and allow herself to be vulnerable (at least to these people) - the only way one can gain true friendships. Nadette was not being malicious - just direct, a straight forward statement of her observations. If she had been gentle or less direct, Cricket would probably have retreated into denial and then cut and run. Instead Nadette has confronted Cricket with no-beating-around-the-bush language that Cricket can understand and cannot deny.

Cricket has to quickly decide if she can trust these people, who she has just met, to see into her soul. My bet is that she will. She is smart and while it will be a leap of faith she is painfully aware of what has not worked in the past. Living life as a lie is a heavy, lonely burden and she should welcome some relief. Also, it would make no sense for Paul to set this up just for her to sink further into her emotional abyss. This is an example of wisdom and insights into human nature that we haven't witnessed since Darien. It is a welcome return.

For me this is a real cliffhanger and study in human interactions. Anything could happen. Nadette could make it easier for Cricket by saying something soothing to help open Cricket's door. Cricket could have a meltdown, open the flood gates and release all the pain she has been holding inside. Or she could still try to tough it out while opening her door just a little. Atali could reach out and give Cricket a hug. Or something else entirely. Who knows what lies ahead? Pablo do!

MerchManDan wrote:I humbly suggest "You wear you heart on your sleeve, but people treat poorly" should actually read "You wear your heart on your sleeve, but treat people poorly."

Anyhow, on to the important stuff: Well, now we have a clue or two about why Cricket acts the way she does - not necessarily a trait intrinsic to Fae or the royalty thereof, but a defence mechanism she's developed over years.

'people treat you poorly' is more my experience ... schoolkids tend to attack any weakness they see... :/ and treat royals with contempt (what's that rich kid doing here)

looks like she didn't want to conform to the stuck-up country club rules, wanted to get a bit more action..

Dave wrote:Well... from what we've seen of the ursamorphs, Berdine is the one who has done most of the talking, and Nadette was doing the strong-and-silent bit.

Maybe now we know why that particular dynamic has developed? She's a Seer, somewhat of the can't-not-speak-about-what-she-Sees variety? Berdine's instant attempt to stifle her suggests that this isn't the first time something like this has occurred... and Berdine's urgent blush suggests that previous incidents may not have ended well.

Maybe this is why the ursamorphs moved to M.S.P. and the hallowed halls of Gryphon - maybe they, too, found their old stomping-grounds becoming uncomfortable? They might be outcasts/outsiders in their own way, just as Atsali and Cricket seem to be.

Right on money. The minute I saw the words and her expression I thought Seer. Sees the unseen, reads the past, and future sometimes. Speaks the words that should not be spoken. Quiet different from an oracle as she did not speak riddle.
BThen second thoughts kicked an and maybe seer is not exactly right. Being an bear and connected to native america in the past, might I suggest we should be thinking Shaman. It actually fits what happened better and she is young enough for this ability to start to appear. From how her sister reacted this has happened before.

TheSkulker wrote:For me this is a real cliffhanger

Maybe it is for everyone, given that tomorrow's a holiday.

Hmmm. A different box. Could be "Oracle mode" as others have suggested, but then the unfinished "They're all..." to the reiteration of "They're all gone" reads awkwardly, unless it's compensating for Bern's interruption. Or maybe a new player on the off-screen stage? Phix? King/Queen of Cricket's Princess? Jag-gurl? Shel-ynx? Mer-Girl rejecting the shallow, vapid mask she once wore to engage her nerd-power? A brand new, never before seen entity? This does seem to be a collection of new characters, so that's not out of the realm of possibility. I'm all a-tingle till Monday, unless Paul posts on the 4th.

Atomic wrote:And how would you like your steak-in-the-heart prepared? Well done, perhaps?

I don't think this was a personal attack. She has never shown that type of personality to just sit down and launch that type of verbal attack for no reason. It is easy to see she is a care bear.

Drops a stuffed teddy bear in the jar.

Ah! So that's why she doesn't talk much and remains silent she's got the gift/curse of seeing/knowing. Poor Cricket, "Tina'd"(as per kingklash I like that term!) upon first contact. Her friends gone. This could go either way, she could cry or rage. I'm betting cry even though Nadette says she lashes out. Poor Nadette because it was such a powerful revelation that she couldn't keep it in and had to speak it out loud; now people will know about her gift/curse. Cricket's face elicits sympathy... she looks like she was hit with a ton of bricks.

Oh yeah... That's gonna leave a mark...

She's definitely on auto pilot... the same blank expression Tina gets sometimes when she inadvertently reads someone. (When Tina does it deliberately, she gets a knowing, obstinate look on her face.) I like Nadette... she's always quiet and impassive...

shadowinthelight wrote:Re-reading Nadette's verbal strike, she sounds just like Tina going on autopilot reading someone's aura.

More like when Tina couldn't stop reading Georgette and telling her things. G's overwhelming need pulled the revelations out of her. Nadette's bombshell seems similar, but subtly different...

TheCollector wrote:Y'know, I gotta say, I like the bear twins and all, but what Nadette just did kinda makes me hate her, whether it was involuntary or what. Just I really like Cricket and that look on her face in the last panel breaks my heart...

It may have been deliberate. If Nadette is a Seer, she may feel that telling people the truth when necessary, IS necessary, no matter how much it hurts.

On the other hand, she hasn't done this to anyone else that we've seen. And Atsali, when the twins met her, was kind of needy too. It might be because Cricket is a fairy; in some mythos fairies LEAK magic, and the glamor can control those around them as well as themselves. That's one of the reasons it's dangerous to be around them.

And while I really like Cricket, too, and can see she's stunned and hurt by what Nadette has said, this may actually be a very good thing. It changes the dynamic between them all. Now it's not a very strong personality sweeping up several followers and pulling them along in her wake; now it's possible you can have four friends who know they need each other and can trust each other.

Even if one of them is a badass fairy.

illiad wrote:

MerchManDan wrote:I humbly suggest "You wear you heart on your sleeve, but people treat poorly" should actually read "You wear your heart on your sleeve, but treat people poorly."

Anyhow, on to the important stuff: Well, now we have a clue or two about why Cricket acts the way she does - not necessarily a trait intrinsic to Fae or the royalty thereof, but a defence mechanism she's developed over years.

'people treat you poorly' is more my experience ... schoolkids tend to attack any weakness they see... :/ and treat royals with contempt (what's that rich kid doing here)

looks like she didn't want to conform to the stuck-up country club rules, wanted to get a bit more action..

Text is fixed. Hit F5

shadowinthelight wrote:Re-reading Nadette's verbal strike, she sounds just like Tina going on autopilot reading someone's aura.

Or like Deanna Troi in the early stages of empathic overwhelm.

That's it, of course. These two ursamorphs must actually be half-breeds. One of their parents was a Beartazoid.

(drops a strip of gold-pressed latinum into the Jar)

This could turn out bad... Fae can be pretty quick to get pissed off, and reeeeeaally slow to forgive. Nadette might be right, and Cricket needs her... but she's also got that tough girl act going, and calling out that vulnerability..

Though, Crickets been sort of downplaying attention on herself as well.. so she's no the typically vain manner of fairy either.