headset
Original: headset on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1:
A bearded man (Sisyphus) wearing a yellow-and-black VR headset over his eyes, draped in a white toga, stands beside a large dark boulder. He speaks excitedly.
Sisyphus: WOW! I DID IT! TOP OF THE HILL! AND ALL MY DECEASED LOVED ONES ARE HERE? AND THERE'S PIE?! AND A SWIMMING POOL FILLED WITH GOLD? I... WHY YES LADIES I WOULD LIKE A THREESOME.
Caption: That VR set really improved Sisyphus' quality of life.
Votey:
A simple line drawing of the bearded man wearing the VR headset, leaning against the boulder.
Sisyphus: I MUST IMAGINE MYSELF HAPPY.
A bearded man (Sisyphus) wearing a yellow-and-black VR headset over his eyes, draped in a white toga, stands beside a large dark boulder. He speaks excitedly.
Sisyphus: WOW! I DID IT! TOP OF THE HILL! AND ALL MY DECEASED LOVED ONES ARE HERE? AND THERE'S PIE?! AND A SWIMMING POOL FILLED WITH GOLD? I... WHY YES LADIES I WOULD LIKE A THREESOME.
Caption: That VR set really improved Sisyphus' quality of life.
Votey:
A simple line drawing of the bearded man wearing the VR headset, leaning against the boulder.
Sisyphus: I MUST IMAGINE MYSELF HAPPY.
Alt text
An SMBC comic. A bearded man in a white toga (Sisyphus from Greek myth, doomed to push a boulder forever) wears a yellow-and-black VR headset and stands beside a large dark boulder, grinning and gesturing as he narrates the fantasy the headset is showing him: 'Wow! I did it! Top of the hill! And all my deceased loved ones are here? And there's pie?! And a swimming pool filled with gold? I... why yes ladies I would like a threesome.' Caption: 'That VR set really improved Sisyphus' quality of life.' The joke: the VR headset lets Sisyphus imagine he has completed his eternal punishment and is living in paradise. Votey (a small follow-up panel, simple black-and-white line art): Sisyphus leans against the boulder, still wearing the headset, saying 'I must imagine myself happy.' This is a callback to Camus's line 'One must imagine Sisyphus happy.'
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.