In a narcissistic cathexis, you invest more energy into your ideas about another person than in the actual, objective, external person. So the man w… - Alison Bechdel

At thirteen, I was so paralyzed with self-consciousness that sometimes I'd get home from school and realize I hadn't spoken out loud all day. Later, I would blame my social awkwardness on my homosexuality. But now I speculate that being a lesbian actually saved me... If it weren't for the unconventionality of my desires, my mind might never have been forced to reckon with my body.

Maybe it was the converse of the way amputees feel pain in a missing limb. He really was there all those years, a flesh-and-blood presence streaming off the wallpaper, digging up the dogwoods, polishing the finials... smelling of sawdust and sweat and designer cologne. But I ached as if he were already gone.

Raffi: I can too marry Stone Cold Steve Austin when I grow up!
Bill: Clarice, what are you teaching this kid?
Bill Jr.: You can not, 'cause I'm gonna marry him, and we're gonna kick your butt!