The Week in Gay Geek: "City of Heroes" may get even gayer, Stephen Fry goes "Dork", and more!

A CHANCE TO BUILD A MORE INCLUSIVE CITY?
Gay-friendly MMO City of Heroes announced the next expansion and there could be interesting days ahead: Architect will introduce player-created content, along with "day jobs" (or secret identities), two new powersets, a new reward system and more features. As I mentioned when the game hit its fourth anniversary, I think the ability for players to create their own missions could mean a lot for Paragon City's very active gay community.

Overall, the Mission Architect system certainly sounds promising since we'll be able to "weave characters and story throughout multiple missions in a single arc" which should allow for some pretty deep missions. However, one aspect that has my attention is how player-created missions will be evaluated: Players will rate story arcs created through the Mission Architect and some stories will be designated "Dev's Choice" by the game developers, which will make the mission give out rewards equal to the official missions.

By giving players the ability to create game content, we could have a way for gay-inclusive stories to become a part of the game and a way to bring gay characters into the fabric of Paragon City, even if content created through the Mission Architect most likely won't become incorporated into CoH continuity.

The potential downside lies in the community evaluations. Not only will players be evaluating stories submitted through the Mission Architect, it sounds like subscribers will also be able to report offensive content, meaning missions that include gay content could be marked as offensive simply for the inclusion of gay characters ... otherwise known as the YouTube effect.

The wedding of Manticore and Sister Psyche

Since I can already hear the cries of "Why does there need to be such a big deal about sexual orientation? I don't care if a character is gay or straight." from the usual suspects, I'll point out that that City of Heroes has had stories where heterosexual relationships were front and center. We've seen Calvin Scott seek out heroes to help his wife and the "Wedding Pack" was promoted with an in-game wedding between two major characters, so sexual orientation has been a part of the game.

USA VIA TARDIS:
While I don't entirely trust the original source, I have to admit I'm more than a little intrigued by the rumor that two of the three upcoming Doctor Who specials might be set in the USA. The three specials will be Russell T. Davies' last Who stories and considering how Davies brought a gay sensibility to the long-lasting sci-fi franchise, I can't help but dream up what he might come up with, including possible American companions.

I can't help but think of an American sci-fi series with a gay sensibility, Pushing Daisies, and how much fun it would be to see Kristin Chenoweth paired up with David Tennant. Combining those two high-energy performers would make for an explosive combo.

Kristin Chenoweth

Since Davies gave us one openly gay man in the role of a sci-fi hero, why not repeat that feat here by teaming the Doctor up with Neil Patrick Harris? Considering the two actors' flair for comedy, they'd be amazing to watch together.

Neil Patrick Harris

One thing dampening my excitement is the fact that Davies has discussed being a Britney Spears fan (you might remember Davis' second episode featured the Spears single "Toxic") and there were rumors she might appear on Who a while back. Then again, maybe she can be related to villainess Lady Cassandra O'Brien Dot Delta Seventeen, who introduced "Toxic" as an ancient earth love song. I did like Lady Cassandra.

But who would your dream American companion for the Doctor be?

PLEASE. JUST. STOP.:
I used to be an eager follower of Mark Millar's writing, back in the day when he was best known as the Superman Adventures writer who could put out solid superhero stories that didn't come off as trying too hard or courting controversy (and who seemed to make Grant Morrison's work sharper). That ended for me when his Authority run got going. I thought that run quickly turned Apollo and Midnighter into the punchline of some immature, fratboy jokes. Sadly, that probably can be summed up by a panel from Millar's latest comic, Kick Ass, highlighted by gay comics blogger Dorian Wright:

A panel from Millar's Kick Ass #1

As Dorian puts it:

Oh, sure, I've heard those sub-Dane Cook level comedians make those same sophomoric jokes: "Hnurr hnurr, I wish I was a lesbian, I'd just stare at myself all day, amiritefellas?" It's not funny. It's really kind of offensively stupid.

The thing is, too, that this kind of humor probably summarizes how the Millar has handled gay characters; other writers have followed-up on his work nicely (see Ed Brubaker's Authority run and Robert Kirkman's Ultimate X-Men work) but that's really felt like merely a matter of luck.

DANGER, MOVIE SIGN, DANGER:
Speaking of crude, sophomoric humor, I'm feeling more than a little bit wary about the news that Garth Ennis' anti-superhero comic The Boys might be getting the big-screen treatment. Now, I kinda like Ennis but his cynical, equal-opportunity misanthropic humor can easily be taken into the wrong direction. I'm most concerned about an event in The Boys #6:

The Boys #6

In that particular issue, a racist hero dies and a hamster is discovered ... uhm, in one of his body cavities. Yep, it's the gay-men-love-hamsters-too-much joke with violence mixed in. From what I recall of his Preacher run, this is likely another bit where Ennis jokes about how bigots are overcompensating for some aspect of themselves they hate. I buy into the claim that this wasn't a homophobic joke in the comic, but I wonder if the writers of Aeon Flux and The Tuxedo can adapt Ennis' humor.

A BIT OF FRY FOR TECHIES:
As if my deep admiration and seething jealousy of Stephen Fry's incredible intellect weren't strong enough, now I find out that he's writing a tech blog for the Guardian, "Dork Talk". Fry's look at technology is amazingly witty and he makes it sound annoyingly easy to be so smart. Take this tiny bit of what Fry has to say about the controls for the Nintendo Wii:

If your wife, mother or lover has a china ornament you have always hated, make sure it is within a 10-yard radius of the TV and you can be sure it will be smashed within a fortnight. Another Wii service for which we can all be truly thankful.

Stephen Fry

Still, has no one sent Fry the Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test? That's no Dork Talk, that's Geek or Nerd talk. G-Double-E-K, I tell you.