ring
Original: ring on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1: A dark room, silhouette of a person reclining/contorting on what appears to be a couch or bed, working themselves into a flexible position.
Silhouetted person: "JUST A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBLE. YES, THERE WE ARE. HIPS UP YES, IF I CAN PULL THIS OFF I'LL NEVER NEED A PARTNER AGAIN! I'LL BE A COMPLETE... A COMPLETE... HUH. HUH. HUH."
Panel 2: Caption banner reads "MANY YEARS LATER...". A lecturer stands at the front of a room, gesturing toward a hexagonal benzene-ring diagram, addressing an audience shown as silhouetted heads.
Lecturer: "...AND THE STORY GOES THAT AUGUST KEKULE DISCOVERED THE STRUCTURE OF BENZENE WHILE IMAGINING A SNAKE BITING ITS OWN TAIL."
Votey: A sketchy drawing of a snake curled around biting its own tail (an ouroboros) floats above two people. One person (with glasses, looking slightly alarmed/awkward) and another person (smiling) sit together looking at something, the smiling person appearing to look at a screen or device. No text.
Silhouetted person: "JUST A LITTLE MORE FLEXIBLE. YES, THERE WE ARE. HIPS UP YES, IF I CAN PULL THIS OFF I'LL NEVER NEED A PARTNER AGAIN! I'LL BE A COMPLETE... A COMPLETE... HUH. HUH. HUH."
Panel 2: Caption banner reads "MANY YEARS LATER...". A lecturer stands at the front of a room, gesturing toward a hexagonal benzene-ring diagram, addressing an audience shown as silhouetted heads.
Lecturer: "...AND THE STORY GOES THAT AUGUST KEKULE DISCOVERED THE STRUCTURE OF BENZENE WHILE IMAGINING A SNAKE BITING ITS OWN TAIL."
Votey: A sketchy drawing of a snake curled around biting its own tail (an ouroboros) floats above two people. One person (with glasses, looking slightly alarmed/awkward) and another person (smiling) sit together looking at something, the smiling person appearing to look at a screen or device. No text.
Alt text
A two-panel SMBC comic. Panel 1: In a dark room, a person's silhouette is contorted into a flexible position on a couch, saying, "Just a little more flexible. Yes, there we are. Hips up yes, if I can pull this off I'll never need a partner again! I'll be a complete... a complete... huh. Huh. HUH."—realizing they are forming a shape with their own body. Panel 2: A banner reads "Many years later...". A lecturer gestures at a hexagonal benzene-ring diagram before a silhouetted audience, saying, "...and the story goes that August Kekule discovered the structure of benzene while imagining a snake biting its own tail." The joke implies the figure was contorting to bite their own tail/become an ouroboros, echoing the famous Kekule benzene origin story. Votey: A loose sketch of a snake curled into an ouroboros biting its own tail floats above two people—one in glasses looking awkward, the other smiling at a screen.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.