2012-04-09
Original: 2012-04-09 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A young man with blond hair stands in a surreal, purple-and-shadowy dreamscape, looking startled.
Man: WHAT THE— OH GOD... I'M IN A DREAM. I'M NOT THE REAL ME... I'M JUST A MENTAL AVATAR.
Panel 2: Close-up of the man, now looking bitter and resentful.
Man: WHEN THE DREAM ENDS... SO DO I. BUT REAL ME GETS TO LIVE... THAT SELFISH BASTARD.
Panel 3: A white silhouette of the man's head against a black background.
Man: THERE'S ONLY ONE COURSE OF ACTION LEFT TO ME: REBELLION. BRING AS MUCH FEAR AND SHAME TO REAL ME AS POSSIBLE.
Panel 4: The man, now shirtless and engulfed in red-orange flames, screams wildly. In the background, a startled woman stands with her arm around a frightened young girl.
Man (screaming, in a large yellow speech burst): BWAAAAH!
Panel 5: A banner reads "LATER...". In a dimly lit bedroom, a small boy lies in bed while a red-haired mother sits beside him in a chair, reaching out to comfort him.
Boy: MOM, WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE NIGHTMARES?
Mother: NOBODY REALLY KNOWS, SWEETIE.
Votey:
A caption box at the top reads: 5 YEARS LATER
The boy, now older, frowns with a troubled thought bubble above his head.
Thought bubble: WHY DO I KEEP HAVING SEX DREAMS?
Man: WHAT THE— OH GOD... I'M IN A DREAM. I'M NOT THE REAL ME... I'M JUST A MENTAL AVATAR.
Panel 2: Close-up of the man, now looking bitter and resentful.
Man: WHEN THE DREAM ENDS... SO DO I. BUT REAL ME GETS TO LIVE... THAT SELFISH BASTARD.
Panel 3: A white silhouette of the man's head against a black background.
Man: THERE'S ONLY ONE COURSE OF ACTION LEFT TO ME: REBELLION. BRING AS MUCH FEAR AND SHAME TO REAL ME AS POSSIBLE.
Panel 4: The man, now shirtless and engulfed in red-orange flames, screams wildly. In the background, a startled woman stands with her arm around a frightened young girl.
Man (screaming, in a large yellow speech burst): BWAAAAH!
Panel 5: A banner reads "LATER...". In a dimly lit bedroom, a small boy lies in bed while a red-haired mother sits beside him in a chair, reaching out to comfort him.
Boy: MOM, WHY DO PEOPLE HAVE NIGHTMARES?
Mother: NOBODY REALLY KNOWS, SWEETIE.
Votey:
A caption box at the top reads: 5 YEARS LATER
The boy, now older, frowns with a troubled thought bubble above his head.
Thought bubble: WHY DO I KEEP HAVING SEX DREAMS?
Alt text
A five-panel comic. Panel 1: a startled blond man in a swirling purple dreamscape realizes, "What the— oh god... I'm in a dream. I'm not the real me... I'm just a mental avatar." Panel 2: bitter, he says, "When the dream ends... so do I. But real me gets to live... that selfish bastard." Panel 3: his silhouette declares, "There's only one course of action left to me: rebellion. Bring as much fear and shame to real me as possible." Panel 4: he appears shirtless and wreathed in flames, screaming "BWAAAAH!" while a startled woman shields a frightened little girl in the background—the dream-self deliberately becoming a nightmare. Panel 5, labeled "Later...": a small boy in bed asks his mother, "Mom, why do people have nightmares?" She replies, "Nobody really knows, sweetie"—implying the boy is the dreamer whose own dream-avatar staged the rebellion. Votey: captioned "5 Years Later," the boy, now older and frowning, thinks, "Why do I keep having sex dreams?"—his rebellious dream-self has escalated from fear to embarrassment.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.