Come home to my heart

Of course Peter Gallagher knows that "dank" is a weed thing. He also knows that "in heat" is a sex thing and that when aliens "probe" someone it's in the anus.

These are words, not things. Heathcliff is a comic about symbols.

You're never going to get a comic where an alien actually probes someone any more than you're going to get a comic where the Man-Eating Giant eats a man. You're just going to get a dozen comics where aliens like the word "probe".

Heathcliff wears the ham helmet because it's the helmet you wear when you eat a ham. You can tell it's that helmet because it says "ham" on it. The helmet's function is determined not by its form but by its label.

summer = beach = sand = desert = mummy and thus there is the Summer Mummy. Because of symbolic associations that do not otherwise cohere.

Robots don't wear clothes but the mere act of labeling them "nude" makes them nude. And once a painting is a nude painting there has to be a fig leaf because a "nude" without a "figleaf" is "indecent".

Whether that be through a feminist lens regarding manhood or masculinity only through the analysis of cis patriarchal hierarchy, and/or an uncritical repetition of gendered norms produced by such a system.

So what ends up happening when a transgender man explains he is disempowered, and disempowered specifically in relationship to being a man and how the ideas (just like this) attached to it effect him, the only conclusion they can come to is that he must be implying he isn't a man, that he is misgendering himself or undermining his identity, or that he is weak and failing to live up to it- or that he is lying.

The complicated marginalization of trans manhood as manhood is so radically contradictory to the patriarchal values of power which men are expected to fulfill, and so contradictory to the intensely cis-normative approach to feminism and gendered oppression, that his experiences end up in a placeless void of compounded invalidation. Although coming from the very same place.

Enough that to even have acknowledgment for his experience of gendered oppression, his identity as a man must be severed from the very context of its existence. Just transgender, just a generic, unspecific transphobia. Denying the specific modality which produced the reality of his transgender existence. Cutting his social experience into pieces, either cutting out the manhood, or cutting out the weakness.

This continues on his invisibility, furthering the doubt of the validity of his own reality. Feeding into the inevitability that his struggle will go unnoticed and uncared for, and will not receive the attention needed to help him, or to change these things.

Ironically and integrally, all of this enabling his marginalization specifically because- well because he is a man.

Sam likes anime. It’s canon. Sam is a weeb.

Image 2: A close up of the article showing only the word “anime” in italics. 

Transcription of Image 1: Phantom’s Menace. Nick’s newest Nicktoon, Danny Phantom, is about a high school student named Danny Fenton. He’s a half kid, half-ghost superhero phenom, thanks to his dad’s ghost-hunting experiment that went wrong. Now Danny uses his newfound superpowers to battle armies of hair-raising ghosts in his hometown, Amity Park. Here’s a guide to the stars of Danny Phantom. 

Danny Fenton. What’s his/her deal? Danny is funny, shy, and unpopular at school. He uses his quick wit and powers–like walking through walls and becoming invisible–to fight ghosts and bullies. Likes? Having his friends, Tuck and Sam, help him fight off phantoms. Dislikes? That he’s not able to tell his parents that he’s part ghost. 

Tucker Foley. What’s his/her deal? As Danny’s best friend, Tucker cheers Danny up when he’s in a jam. He’s a techno geek and a loyal friend who is always ready for action. Likes? Exploring the ghost world. Dislikes? When Danny takes Sam’s side over his. 

Sam Manson. What’s his/her deal? Danny’s friend Sam is independent and tough. While she was immediately drawn to Danny’s optimistic personality, it took a little longer for Tucker to grow on her. Likes? Stuff that’s out of the ordinary. For now, her interests include anime, punk, and sci-if. Dislikes? That ghosts can be just as annoying–or more so–than humans. 

Jazz Fenton. What’s his/her deal? Jazz is 16 going on 25. She is protective of her brother, Danny, and she thinks her parents are a little too gung-ho about the whole ghost-hunting thing. Likes? Giving advice to family and friends. Dislikes? That no one ever takes her advice. 

Jack Fenton. What’s his/her deal? A brilliant but bumbling scientist, Danny’s dad invents gadgets to sniff out and capture ghosts, but they never seem to work. Likes? That he can spend his days experimenting with ways to hunt ghosts. Dislikes? That he hasn’t captured any yet. 

Of course Peter Gallagher knows that "dank" is a weed thing. He also knows that "in heat" is a sex thing and that when aliens "probe" someone it's in the anus.

These are words, not things. Heathcliff is a comic about symbols.

You're never going to get a comic where an alien actually probes someone any more than you're going to get a comic where the Man-Eating Giant eats a man. You're just going to get a dozen comics where aliens like the word "probe".

Heathcliff wears the ham helmet because it's the helmet you wear when you eat a ham. You can tell it's that helmet because it says "ham" on it. The helmet's function is determined not by its form but by its label.

summer = beach = sand = desert = mummy and thus there is the Summer Mummy. Because of symbolic associations that do not otherwise cohere.

Robots don't wear clothes but the mere act of labeling them "nude" makes them nude. And once a painting is a nude painting there has to be a fig leaf because a "nude" without a "figleaf" is "indecent".

I’m not even being pithy here. We have a character that is Going To Become Evil. That is the information we have going in. Then he shows up episode one, he’s kind and hurting and being emotionally abused by his father and the whole town hates him and he keeps trying.