a-severe-disorder
Original: a-severe-disorder on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
Woman (the examiner): Lily, I'm going to hold up a series of cards, and I want you to tell me what they depict.
Panel 2:
Examiner (holding a card): TEN
Panel 3:
Examiner (holding a card): TEN
Panel 4:
Examiner (holding a card): CIRCLE
Panel 5:
Examiner (holding a card): CIRCLE
Panel 6:
Examiner (holding a card): TEN
Panel 7:
Examiner (setting down clipboard/papers at a desk): Thank you, that's all.
Panel 8:
A man (in a doorway, distressed): I'm afraid she's a psychopath.
Votey:
Text in a speech bubble (handwritten): Where did we go wrong?
(The bubble points to a sketchily drawn, anguished face.)
Woman (the examiner): Lily, I'm going to hold up a series of cards, and I want you to tell me what they depict.
Panel 2:
Examiner (holding a card): TEN
Panel 3:
Examiner (holding a card): TEN
Panel 4:
Examiner (holding a card): CIRCLE
Panel 5:
Examiner (holding a card): CIRCLE
Panel 6:
Examiner (holding a card): TEN
Panel 7:
Examiner (setting down clipboard/papers at a desk): Thank you, that's all.
Panel 8:
A man (in a doorway, distressed): I'm afraid she's a psychopath.
Votey:
Text in a speech bubble (handwritten): Where did we go wrong?
(The bubble points to a sketchily drawn, anguished face.)
Alt text
An eight-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: A woman tells someone named Lily, 'I'm going to hold up a series of cards, and I want you to tell me what they depict.' Panels 2-6: The woman holds up plain cards one at a time, each showing only a single printed word; in sequence the cards read TEN, TEN, CIRCLE, CIRCLE, TEN. The implication is that Lily literally reads the words on the cards rather than interpreting any inkblot-style image, naming exactly what is written. Panel 7: The woman, now at a desk, says 'Thank you, that's all.' Panel 8: A worried-looking man stands in a doorway and announces, 'I'm afraid she's a psychopath.' The joke: the cards depict words spelling things out, and answering them plainly is taken as a damning psychological diagnosis. Votey (bonus panel): A loose, scribbly drawing of a distraught human face with a downturned mouth, with a handwritten speech bubble reading 'Where did we go wrong?' suggesting a parent despairing over the child's diagnosis.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.