2013-04-06
Original: 2013-04-06 on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1
Woman: I take back all the bad things I ever said about you.
Woman: You can do that?
Panel 2
Man: Yeah.
Man: I take back the bad things I said that were inaccurate.
Panel 3
Woman: Then I reinstate all the bad things I said that *were* accurate.
Man: I reinstate some of my unfair insults that felt right in the moment.
Panel 4
(The woman shoves the man.)
Panel 5
Woman: I take back the nice things I said about you.
Man: I take back the nice things I said about you, and your hopes and dreams.
Panel 6
Man: I take back all the sex we ever had.
Woman: What? You can't do that.
Man: Can and did.
Panel 7
Woman: I take back all of our dates!
Man: I take back our marriage!
Man: I take back every moment when either of us had vulnerability, empathy, reassured or empathy accepted gratefully.
Panel 8
(The man and woman face each other in silhouette.)
Panel 9
(Close-up of the woman, angry/upset.)
Panel 10
(Close-up of the man, sad.)
Panel 11
(Close-up of the woman, sad.)
Panel 12
Man: I guess we're just two people who share a house and a bank account now.
Woman: Yeah.
Panel 13
Man: You know... it'd be a huge inconvenience to get a new place and divvy up that bank account.
Woman: Are you saying...
Panel 14
(The woman faces the man.)
Panel 15
Man (kneeling, proposing): Will you marry me?
Panel 16
(Close-up of the two leaning toward each other to kiss.)
Votey:
Woman: I convert all the bad thoughts I had into words.
(A figure rests, eyes closed, looking content/spent.)
Woman: I take back all the bad things I ever said about you.
Woman: You can do that?
Panel 2
Man: Yeah.
Man: I take back the bad things I said that were inaccurate.
Panel 3
Woman: Then I reinstate all the bad things I said that *were* accurate.
Man: I reinstate some of my unfair insults that felt right in the moment.
Panel 4
(The woman shoves the man.)
Panel 5
Woman: I take back the nice things I said about you.
Man: I take back the nice things I said about you, and your hopes and dreams.
Panel 6
Man: I take back all the sex we ever had.
Woman: What? You can't do that.
Man: Can and did.
Panel 7
Woman: I take back all of our dates!
Man: I take back our marriage!
Man: I take back every moment when either of us had vulnerability, empathy, reassured or empathy accepted gratefully.
Panel 8
(The man and woman face each other in silhouette.)
Panel 9
(Close-up of the woman, angry/upset.)
Panel 10
(Close-up of the man, sad.)
Panel 11
(Close-up of the woman, sad.)
Panel 12
Man: I guess we're just two people who share a house and a bank account now.
Woman: Yeah.
Panel 13
Man: You know... it'd be a huge inconvenience to get a new place and divvy up that bank account.
Woman: Are you saying...
Panel 14
(The woman faces the man.)
Panel 15
Man (kneeling, proposing): Will you marry me?
Panel 16
(Close-up of the two leaning toward each other to kiss.)
Votey:
Woman: I convert all the bad thoughts I had into words.
(A figure rests, eyes closed, looking content/spent.)
Alt text
A long SMBC comic strip showing a couple having an escalating argument that runs in reverse. A woman tells a man, "I take back all the bad things I ever said about you," and he asks if she can do that. He says "Yeah" and takes back the bad things he said that were inaccurate. She then reinstates all the bad things she said that were accurate, and he reinstates some of his unfair insults that felt right in the moment. She shoves him. She takes back the nice things she said about him; he takes back the nice things plus her hopes and dreams. He declares he takes back all the sex they ever had ("What? You can't do that." "Can and did."). She takes back all their dates, he takes back their marriage and every moment of vulnerability and empathy between them. The two sit in tense silence, shown in alternating sad and angry close-ups. The man muses that they're now just two people who share a house and a bank account, and that it'd be a huge inconvenience to split everything up. He kneels and proposes, "Will you marry me?" and they lean in to kiss. In the bonus votey panel, a woman in pencil-sketch style says "I convert all the bad thoughts I had into words," while a figure rests below her with eyes closed.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.