Helen in S*P

[Arky]

Yeah, I don't blame Helen for not wanting to do phone sex- I don't judge or anything but I think Milholland has slightly forgotten that it's not a dream job for most people just because half his cast are good people who own or work for a phone sex company. If she shows aptitude for tech support, hunt up an entry level tech support job. Great! No need to say "No, bad Helen, you must agree to do phone sex work!". This being Helen, I don't think a sex-related job would be healthy anyway. She's got a bit of a history of bad life decisions in that regard.

I think for Helen it was about following through on something in her life. Her whole plan was to run away from home, get emancipated, and get a job at Nerdotica that would support her financial needs whilst becoming a writer. The only thing she was successful at so far was the emancipation and the running away which nearly ended disastrously and I think she knows it. After all the coaching and work she couldn't do phone sex and thus self sabotaged so she could nurture the delusion that it was never meant to be and not her fault. It wasn't just enough that she failed, but by wishing death upon Audrey's loved ones she made damn sure that bridge could never be built again. I'm actually a little relieved that she couldn't do this for her own personal reasons and not because her boyfriend (if he's still in the picture) is the jealous type. Despite this latest relapse she doesn't seem to have a bottle in one hand and an arm around a shiftless bum so that's somewhat of an improvement.

I agree she shouldn't be a phone sex worker considering her past mistakes although I had held out some hope for a one off joke strip where Stan Larson calls up Nerdotica seeking someone who will fill the void in his life since Lisa left and just happens to get an operator who knows exactly who he wants and how to sext speak. The last panel has her donning a red and blond wig. If only I had the talent to draw it myself, but alas I don't.

I'm 100% on board with that scenario. Stan phone-sexing with Helen-as-Lisa would be hysterical.

[Kamino Neko]

Just Helen's luck, the first time in a while Randy manages daily updates, and it's to torment her.

She...seems surprisingly self-aware in this one. It's not a terribly healthy coping mechanism (though one I empathise with), but...she can see what she's doing, to an extent.....

[brasca]

Yeah, I don't blame Helen for not wanting to do phone sex- I don't judge or anything but I think Milholland has slightly forgotten that it's not a dream job for most people just because half his cast are good people who own or work for a phone sex company. If she shows aptitude for tech support, hunt up an entry level tech support job. Great! No need to say "No, bad Helen, you must agree to do phone sex work!". This being Helen, I don't think a sex-related job would be healthy anyway. She's got a bit of a history of bad life decisions in that regard.

I think for Helen it was about following through on something in her life. Her whole plan was to run away from home, get emancipated, and get a job at Nerdotica that would support her financial needs whilst becoming a writer. The only thing she was successful at so far was the emancipation and the running away which nearly ended disastrously and I think she knows it. After all the coaching and work she couldn't do phone sex and thus self sabotaged so she could nurture the delusion that it was never meant to be and not her fault. It wasn't just enough that she failed, but by wishing death upon Audrey's loved ones she made damn sure that bridge could never be built again. I'm actually a little relieved that she couldn't do this for her own personal reasons and not because her boyfriend (if he's still in the picture) is the jealous type. Despite this latest relapse she doesn't seem to have a bottle in one hand and an arm around a shiftless bum so that's somewhat of an improvement.

I agree she shouldn't be a phone sex worker considering her past mistakes although I had held out some hope for a one off joke strip where Stan Larson calls up Nerdotica seeking someone who will fill the void in his life since Lisa left and just happens to get an operator who knows exactly who he wants and how to sext speak. The last panel has her donning a red and blond wig. If only I had the talent to draw it myself, but alas I don't.

I'm 100% on board with that scenario. Stan phone-sexing with Helen-as-Lisa would be hysterical.

If you like that how about this scenario which is a little darker. Helen takes a call from Elmer who's seeking tech support as well as advice on a very dangerous sex act. Something like autoerotic asphyxiation only more dangerous and stupid. Since T revealed that Elmer won a Darwin award it's safe to say he died doing something dumb and who better to push him than the girl he once trashed.

But it seems Helen doesn't have it in her to do that or phone sex. Now if Cyndi got released and got a job at Nerdotica...

[brasca]

And we're back. I was starting to think Milholland was shifting focus again and we wouldn't find out anything new for a year. Surprisingly Helen seems to be doing well for herself if her temp job and hours pays nearly as well as Nancy's and if she's got 3 more years of school to pay for then she's probably in college so that's good too. Moreover, if she picked a practical college instead of some feel-good liberal arts institution she'll have made a smarter decision than Anna Morgan. Hell she's already doing better than Mike Dowden. So aside from her earlier outburst she's not doing all that worse than the friends she left behind.

I'm a little curious as to what temp agency hires people who look like her, but this is the 2010s so whatever. I'm also the one that only wears black to funerals these days too.

I was right about one assumption and that was she wanted to work at Nerdotica largely to fulfill her earlier runaway plan which is somewhat admirable that she wants to complete something. However, seeing as how she's got a better shot at branching out into other fields with a temp job and at best get upper management with Nerdotica she's better off sticking with the former.

[Zanosuke Kurosaki]

I was right about one assumption and that was she wanted to work at Nerdotica largely to fulfill her earlier runaway plan which is somewhat admirable that she wants to complete something. However, seeing as how she's got a better shot at branching out into other fields with a temp job and at best get upper management with Nerdotica she's better off sticking with the former.

Well, remember how Katy-Ann said the Pennies tended to commit to a mistake even harder, once they realized it might not have been the best idea?* Helen hung around them long enough to have picked up that habit, as we saw during the Popsicle Wars. So it's not totally surprising that she's continuing that pattern for right now. I hope she finally really listens to what Nancy is saying, though, because Helen would just wilt at Nerdrotica as she currently is (she lacks the "killer instinct" a lot of the rest seem to have.)

*If I'm remembering wrong, my apologies. I might even be paraphrasing slightly.

[brasca]

I was right about one assumption and that was she wanted to work at Nerdotica largely to fulfill her earlier runaway plan which is somewhat admirable that she wants to complete something. However, seeing as how she's got a better shot at branching out into other fields with a temp job and at best get upper management with Nerdotica she's better off sticking with the former.

Well, remember how Katy-Ann said the Pennies tended to commit to a mistake even harder, once they realized it might not have been the best idea?* Helen hung around them long enough to have picked up that habit, as we saw during the Popsicle Wars. So it's not totally surprising that she's continuing that pattern for right now. I hope she finally really listens to what Nancy is saying, though, because Helen would just wilt at Nerdrotica as she currently is (she lacks the "killer instinct" a lot of the rest seem to have.)

*If I'm remembering wrong, my apologies. I might even be paraphrasing slightly.

That could have some influence, but when she first left she was also thinking about how this would prove to Penny in particular that she could accomplish what she didn't have the guts to do. I think she's still out to do that. Having something to prove can be a good motivator, but she's got a lot of other weaknesses that she has yet to overcome. And like you said she doesn't have the killer instinct. She's got a temper, but that's usually hit and miss since it's brief and unfocused.

[Adrishiana]

I kind of wonder what kind of places Helen is being assigned to through the temp agency.

[TCampbell]

I kind of wonder what kind of places Helen is being assigned to through the temp agency.

She's an extra in a training video. "Okay, Helen, this scene requires you to feel like a victim and then to lose your temper!"

(No, I don't know.)

[Adrishiana]

I kind of wonder what kind of places Helen is being assigned to through the temp agency.

She's an extra in a training video. "Okay, Helen, this scene requires you to feel like a victim and then to lose your temper!"

(No, I don't know.)

In which she delivers the phrase "THIS COUPON IS MISLEADING!" in 900 different ways!

[Pink Freud]

She'd be a natural for working at the DMV maybe.

[retrophrenologist]

She's an extra in a training video. "Okay, Helen, this scene requires you to feel like a victim and then to lose your temper!"

"Dammit, is this because I'm new?!"
"Yes, exactly like that!"

[brasca]

She'd be a natural for working at the DMV maybe.

The DMV is staffed with people who make other people lose their tempers so how would she be a natural working there? It's a good career path for people who want to make other people miserable, but then again she could do better working for the IRS.

And Adrishiana what's so wrong about confronting people about misleading coupons? If you don't stand up for yourself about that they'll walk all over you.

[Trefle]

Now if Cyndi got released and got a job at Nerdotica...

Dead. 2 weeks of work. By Aubrey. For murdering about half of the customers, two workmates, and probably three unknown people, and applying makeup in front of the computer. Quick smash in the head, or slow, torturous stabbing with rusty nails. ACIDIC rusty nails.

[CEOIII]

Now if Cyndi got released and got a job at Nerdotica...

Dead. 2 weeks of work. By Aubrey. For murdering about half of the customers, two workmates, and probably three unknown people, and applying makeup in front of the computer. Quick smash in the head, or slow, torturous stabbing with rusty nails. ACIDIC rusty nails.

I don't think she'd get that far. She'd talk one customer into killing themselves, then she'd get sleeping powder in her bottled water.

She'd wake up, naked, in the basement. Where they keep the girls for the really hardcore BDSM clients. I mean the REALLY hardcore. (Rent the movie Hostel to see what I mean, but don't eat before you watch it.)

[brasca]

Now if Cyndi got released and got a job at Nerdotica...

Dead. 2 weeks of work. By Aubrey. For murdering about half of the customers, two workmates, and probably three unknown people, and applying makeup in front of the computer. Quick smash in the head, or slow, torturous stabbing with rusty nails. ACIDIC rusty nails.

I don't think she'd get that far. She'd talk one customer into killing themselves, then she'd get sleeping powder in her bottled water.

She'd wake up, naked, in the basement. Where they keep the girls for the really hardcore BDSM clients. I mean the REALLY hardcore. (Rent the movie Hostel to see what I mean, but don't eat before you watch it.)

T addressed this once and mentioned that the characters of Something Positive aren't as tough as you might think and if a master manipulator like Cyndi could find weaknesses she could hurt them, but whatever this whole thing could easily turn into a Batman vs. Superman debate and my answer is always "it depends on who's writing the story."