4 My Birthday: ST:HF Boldly going where few gay fan bois went before! Battlestar Galactica: Lt Felix Gaeta Comes Out; Intro: Western Nightmares Comics

*PLEASE NOTE THIS POST HAS A MAJOR UPDATE BELOW*

EDITOR: Please accept my apologies for this post running way behind for several reasons, including a dedication to accuracy, followed up by severe weather locally. This was suppose to be a blended Saturday and Monday post on Sunday, as my present to all of you on my 33rd birthday. But before I begin to unwrap this present for you, I would ask that we all take a moment and remember the First Lady of Star Trek, Majel Leigh Hudec (Barrett) Roddenberry, whom passed onto Risa to be with Gene and all the other greats of Star Trek lore and history earlier this month.

BOLDLY GOING WHERE FEW GAY FAN BOIS
COULD EVEN DREAM OF GOING BEFORE

Star Trek: Hidden Frontiers was an offshoot of the fan series Voyages of the USS Angeles (ANG), produced by the Star Trek Fan Club in Southern California. Hidden Frontier inherited the setting, Deep Space 12, and several of the characters from the Angeles series, but quickly went on to establish its own unique identity. The series (ran seven seasons from 2000 to 2007, comprising 50 episodes), was set in the Brier Patch, the wild region of space introduced in the motion picture film, Star Trek: Insurrection.

Command presence from the Flag Starship Excelsior, NCC-77246, but the entire series focused around its home base, Deep Space 12 (sector 441), which orbits the Ba'Ku Home World, as they fend off attacks from a powerful new alien race, the Grey, and mediated disputes between such races as the Tholians, Cardassians, Bajorans, the Son'a and the Breen. Even though it is a new and Hidden Frontier with the metreon gas cloud it is close enough to receive assistance from the Bajoran Home World and DS9 and yet at the same point necessary still to have a specified Federation presence in this particularly hostile area.

The show (while being true to Cannon, including characters like Cmndr. Elizabeth Shelby and Lt. Wesley Crusher (yeah!), when possible) strives to unfold the civil society and political and social sciences side of the Star Trek franchise to new heights. It goes further in detail and depth with the principles of the Federation and how they can be applied to everyday life now, which was always part of the Star Trek platform, as yet it had been more discreet or reserved.

Hidden Frontier has garnered media attention and honors for its boundary-breaking portrayal of gay characters, the series’ gay story arc involves a three way multi-dynamic give and take between Bajoran Ro Nevin's search for his sexual identity, his near-romance with Corey Aster, and Aster's eventual relationship with Jorian Zen Dao, a joined Trill.

Below you will see two videos from season five that I found last week, while doing a random search to get my Star Trek fix. I received the shock of a life time for my birthday. I want to share these beautiful stories of gay love and romance dynamics and dealing with relationship development and anxiety from a very honest standpointe into these intense explosion of love for your best friends and brothers in arms. I hope that you enjoy them as much as I did.


Star Trek: Hidden Frontier 5.03 "Darkest Night"
from Hidden Frontier on Vimeo

The first video is about four to six months into their new found relationship and Ro Nevin, trying to be polite to Zen, has Aster invite his now boyfriend along for a camping trip to study some ancient ruins with his best friend and Academy chum Barrett. Of course an atypical protective response ensues and then Aster goes and Zen stays on board, until a swift kick from a good friend, allows the heart to win out in every man involved.

In this second video, a year has past and as they are celebrating their anniversary, Cassius Dao, Zen's mentor shows up and informs him that he is dying and that he has been expelled and is regarded as a lost symbiont. Does Zen accept his mentors request? Does he accept the expulsion sentence that comes with such an act? Does he loose himself and his love for Aster by joining with a straight symbiont who has lived for 17 life times?

Star Trek: Hidden Frontier 5.06 "The Battle is Joined"
from Hidden Frontier on Vimeo.

It should be noted that Adam Browne (Jorian Zen Dao) and JT Tepnapa (Corey Aster) are actually Married to each other and make their home in Los Angeles. The fact that the Producers and Cast have opened this story line and allowed two gay actors, let alone a preexisting couple, and three gay characters at a minimum, to actually play out multi dynamic relationship story line with all of its natural setbacks and successes is even more phenomenal.

As best as I can tell so far, in the current show time/story line, after being saved from death by Nevin's ex Klingon boyfriend and drifting into a comma for six months, Corey (c) was rescued from a Romulan Medical Prison by the USS Helena, and Jorian (r) is on board as the 2nd in Command. Their friendship is not as strained as much as one would think due to the symbiont influence and the former love interest factor.

However Corey's husband Nevin (l) who is currently stuck in the Andromeda Galaxy (follow info for ST: Odyssey below) and is presumed dead by Starfleet, after the same battle. Corey who is psionic inclined naturally, would shares an obvious connection to husband Nevin, and is receiving dreams, which assure him he is still alive and scars (which force him to restricted duty) that turn out to be a star chart of particular anomalies in the Andromeda Galaxy. The Helena as it fights to find Nevin and the crew of the Odyssey had to go rouge and is crossing the universe to bring their people back.

In the clips used above from season five, the character, of then Ensign, (now Lt. Cmndr.) Bajoran Ro Nevin, was played by Aurthur Bosserman. The roll was then followed by Bobby Rice (see the bottom of this post for a major update), and currently by Brandon McConnell. All three Browne, Tepnapa, and McConnell are currently involved with the sister spin off series: The Odyssey & The Helena Chronicles. Other cast members are active in the two previous mention sister shows or being attached to another sibling of the series, Star Trek: Federation One.

Even with being done on green screen which sometimes glows through and distorts the images in the earlier episodes this is the best ever "fan fic" I have seen yet, and the common bonds between the cast and crew is intensely obvious. This series and its spin offs need to be picked up by a network, preferably Sci Fi, please!

Battlestar Galactica character comes out
by Matt Schafer Staff Reporter Southern Voice

It’s difficult looking at the future and not seeing yourself in it. Some three decades ago, after watching "Logan’s Run" with its all-white cast, Richard Pryor said black people weren’t in science fiction because, “White folk ain’t planning on us to be here.”

The same could be said for gays.

The original "Battlestar Galactica" was widely regarded as cheesy, so when a miniseries came out in 2003 revamping the concept, expectations were low. But the Sci-Fi channel quickly managed not only a hit science fiction show, but one of the most popular dramas of any kind.

Former "Star Trek" writer and producer Ron Moore reinvented the concept as an analogy for terrorism and our growing reliance on technology. The Cylons - machines man created that rose up to destroy them, but called a truce after a long war, only to return with a doomsday attack and 12 Cylon models who look human - are hunting the remains of humanity through the Galaxy as they search for Earth, the last colony of man.

The show remake took some heat for white-washing the cast -- roles played by black men in the original were changed to a balding alcoholic white guy and a Korean-Canadian woman - but ultimately pushed far more race boundaries than all of the "Law and Order" and "CSI" franchises combined.

"Battlestar" has even seen a lesbian couple, albeit briefly and it ended badly, but never approached the “Pink Line” of an openly gay reoccurring character until just before the end of its four-season run. The final season returns to the sci-fi channel in January and introduces online "webisodes" [http://www.scifi.com/battlestar/webisodes] each Friday until the premiere.

On the Dec. 12 webisode, regular character Lt. Felix Gaeta (Alessandro Juliani) kissed another guy, an officer who until now stood in the background and occasionally told people the Cylons were calling. On a side note, Gaeta is also the first handi-abled gay man on television, because last season some jackass shot him in the leg and refused to get him medical attention in time to save it.

Gaeta is a regular, but not a main character, so it remains to be seen how much of an impact his sexual orientation will have on the overall plotline. At Dragon*Con in Atlanta this year, leading actor Edward James Almos told everyone he ran across that “Lots of us die” in the final season, so who even knows how much longer Gaeta and his lover will live.

A lot of the credit for Gaeta’s sexuality goes to actor Alessandro Juliani, who not only deftly handles the techno-babble the writers consistently give him, but endows Gaeta with a sense of subtlety and ambiguity. Because of his choices, at least one of the writers has said it felt natural to give Gaeta more dimension with a same-sex relationship.

The reaction online to Gaeta’s outing has been pretty muted. Gaeta has been largely written as asexual (read: gay) for some time now, so it's really no surprise to hardcore fans. At Dragon*Con a couple of years ago, someone asked Aaron Douglas, who plays Chief Galen Tryol, why there weren't any gay characters on the show, and his response was along the line of, “Not only is there a gay character; I have the gag reel to prove it.”(clip above)

So after spending a lifetime looking at the stars and wondering where the hell the gay boys are, now we know. They’re quietly serving on "Battlestar Galactica." So the only remaining question may be, where are the transgender folks?

WELCOME TO BLACKWOOD, AZ! Population: 113, circa 1880.
Please enjoy Western Nightmares.

Forget what you think you know about Vampires and Werewolves and prepare to enter a new world of darkness and shadows. For here nothing is what it seems to be and living in the light can be a dangerous place. But as dark as this place can get, love does exist. In this world love tends to take on unfamiliar forms.

In 2006 Tony Lawrence, aka Skylar, and Iceman Blue came together to produce a western, action/adventure, romance, dark comedy, gay comic series that is intended to explore the struggle of finding love where you least expect it. Western Nightmares is graphically violent and sexual format, but it is erotic not explicit, when it comes to frontal nudity and same sex intimacies. In its first issue we are slowly introduced to the main characters in a dual story line. The story will seem a bit confusing at first since they have to set up the characters for the most part of the first issue. Below is a basic rundown.

I realize this is a long standing debate inside the comic, animation, and science fiction industry about how much back story is necessary to tell a good tale, but I think they made good use of this endevour by splitting the two main characters into their own parts of the book. As Lawrence admits it is "moving slowly, but it's moving. It appeals to a wide range of people: gays, cowboys, horror fans." Unfortunately if you are a grammar Nazi you will have a migraine with the first issue however the art is excellent, the future graphics I have seen look phenomenal and even with with traditional black and white sketch nature that the strip uses there are only a few detail and shading issues.

Marshall Starbuck

Starbuck towers at six feet one inch, his taught body is encased with sandy blonde hair and blue green eyes. We are introduced to him in the story as he is just finishing a three way with a mother and a daughter by lighting up a cock sized cigar, when his Deputy comes barging in with bad news. Not much is known about Starbuck. As a baby, Starbuck was found in an abandon gypsy covered wagon alone on the main trail 20 miles south of the town. The town adopted the baby. Starbuck suddenly stopped when he turned 20 years old. The town became quite fond of him and made him their Marshal.

When Starbuck was found the only thing with him was a book with the name Starbuck and had an unusual symbol written on 20 pages. It was a slow acting spell to protect the baby from harm and give him eternal life as an Awarewolf. Now as an Awarewolf Starbuck can change into an Awarewolf at will. He can even control how drastic the change will be. In our world, people Magic Users are looked at as drug users. Here in this world magic comes at a heigh price. It eats away at your soul and over time you can become a very dangerous person. Come see what keeps this from happening to Starbuck.

Jack Anthony Reaper

Kid Poison stands a mere five feet seven inches tall with black hair and brown eyes, at now age 18 he has lived an interesting life. At six years old his mother, a rich prostitute was hung for poisoning his entire class with cookies laced with rat poison. It was then discovered that Jack had a supernatural immunity to all poisons and in fact his body needed the poison in his system to survive. After the Mayor of Dead River Junction stripped Jack of his mothers inheritance and home he sold him to a Side Show passing through town. Ten years later, when the side show joined the circus, he met Patrick McClellan Angel, the only person who was not scared of Jack and the first to show him any kindness, their friendship developed from there. One year later the circus was burned to the ground by Patricks father, Patrick lost his life, Jack lost his best friend and his grasp on the world.

Jack became a mercenary. At 18 he was shot in the back by Marshall Bodin and taken back to town to the doctors office where he was left to die. Just as he was about to take his last breathe he was fed on by the Vampire Jessie James, this had an unexpected result as Jack already was a superhuman with an ability to absorb poison, his spiritual body became an Energy Vampire which then took possession of his best friends body in order to maintain corporal form. He can suck the life out of anyone, turn into the form of a fog cloud, and when he is angry turn the sky with red lightning. He still needs poison for his physical nourishment as well as energy, even though he can still tap an artery every now and again.

Patrick McClellan Angel

Knifes is a beautiful Irish lad, stands two inches taller and is one year older than Kid Poison, with auburn red hair and emerald green eyes borne in Gateway. At the age of 15 he immigrated to the United States from Ireland with his older brother Darren and his mother Kelsey to escape from their abusive, drunken father, Erin. Life in the United States was a lot more difficult. In order to make ends meet for her family, she decided to sell her body on the streets. The first man who came up to her was very handsome, tall and had a strong face. She blushed as he introduces himself as Christopher Angel. He knew she did not belong on the streets, so he invited her and her sons to join him in the Traveling Circus in witch he performed in. Very soon the two lovers found themselves married to each other.

She and her two sons took Christopher's last name and they became known as the Angel family. Now being part of the Angel Family also meant you were now part of the act as well. Patrick and Darren were trained by Christopher himself. Within a short amount of time, the boys were a part of the act. and part of the initiation was to get tattoos on their backs that matched their auburn/red hair. It was when the Circus teamed up with a Side Show, Patrick meet the Poison Kid and an unlikely friendship developed and it was quite an adventure. It was Jack who gave Patrick his nickname, Knifes. Patrick's brother was previously shot by a drunken cowboy. Patrick was about to quit the circus but Jack gave him a set of throwing knifes and a hidden talent was discovered.

The Issues At Hand!

They have enough text written to form the first six issues. You can preview Issues One and Two here. Issue 1 is currently on sale and can be purchased for $5 including shipping and handling. Issue 2 is in production currently.

Issue 3 has also begun pre production with the revelation that a portion of the artwork will be contributed by world renowned artist Joe Phillips (MySpace), who was also recently spotlighted on Gay Agenda, and whose work appears on F6 any chance I can get. Please check out the other links below in the Bibliography/Works Cited section.

Linked Out Of This World

Star Trek: Hidden Frontier
(Original Series 2000-2007, 50 episodes)
Website You Tube You Tube 2
Created by Rob Caves Produced by Areakt Pictures & H. F. Productions
Unofficial Sources: Vimeo Spike TV
Gay Three Way Relationship Storyline (not complete)
(r) Adam Browne: MySpace (c) JT Tepnapa: MySpace
Biography: Adam and JT are Partners in real life, living in Los Angeles.

UPDATE (16 JAN 09): BLOOD BORN PATHOGEN AND GAY ROMANTIC STORY LINES ORIGINALLY SLATED FOR THE LAST SEASONS OF ST:TNG FINALLY COVERED BY PHASE II PHENOMENALLY!

Bobby Rice, who played Bajoran Ro Nevin, from season six through the end of Hidden Frontiers to the first Episode of the new series The Odyssey, according to reports initially forwarded to me by Gay Tel Aviv as originally reported on by Andy @ Towle Road, Bobby is now reappearing/playing the role of Ensign Peter Kirk, Captain Kirk's nephew, in Star Trek: Phase II (formerly known as New Voyages), another fan made series. ST: Phase II, which continues where the Original Series ended, released the first part of their latest project "Blood and Fire" by David Gerrold's, as a special gift for the fans right before Christmas.



In this clip, Peter Kirk has joined the Enterprise A as a new crew member and while recovering from a bad burn during a recent attack has a romantic session with his partner Alex Freedman, played by Evan Fowler, in secret. They begin discussing, in between the smooching and groping, the elder Kirk's overextend protectiveness and how they are going to come out as a couple to his Uncle and then ask him to marry them on the Enterprise, as is the Captain's Privilege. I believe Admiral Picard once said it was a Captain's sole prerogative.

The horrific story finds a battle damaged Enterprise caught between an incurable contagion that threatens to overrun the galaxy, the pull of a dying star, and Klingons poised to attack. Like all of the best Star Trek episodes, Blood and Fire finds the Enterprise crew facing their own human fears and failings as they have to weigh the costs and decide how much personal risk to take in order to save the people around them.

This episode besides having main guest appearances by Bobby Rice (bottom) and Evan Fowler (top) as the same sex couple (in the pictures above and below), also sees the return of Denise Crosby (who played Lt. Tasha Yar on ST:TNG). Blood and Fire is also the culmination of many years of anticipation by fans and the original goal of Gene and Majel Roddenberry.

Right before his death Gene planned to cover HIV/AIDS, to pay tribute to the many legends and heroes of the Universe who lost their fight in the battle against such a horrible disease (William Ware Theiss, Mike Minor and Merritt Butrick); and and have a primary gay character story line in the last seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation for all those whom suffered with a long standing discrimination just even for being gay and a Trekkie let alone an actor on television.

The original episode for TNG, was shelved indefinitely specifically because of the simple mention of a gay crewman aboard the Enterprise, was originally written by David Gerrold, and is now the basis for the P2 episode Blood and Fire, which David produced and co wrote with Carlos Pedraza. It was also Gerrold's intention to challenge the apathy of the public regarding the small sacrifice, yet far reaching power, of blood donations. You can download the episode here.

Battle Star Galactica
Website Wiki
Actor: Alessandro Julian/ Wiki Character: Lt. Felix Gaeta Wiki
Commentary: Queer Visibility on BSG October 2008
Article: Battlestar Galactica character comes out
by Matt Schafer of The Southern Voice

3. Western Nightmares Comic Series: Website MySpace
Writer/Creator: Tony Lawrence (aka Skylar)
Art/Lettering: Iceman Blue: Website Blogspot MySpace
Published by Red-Tail Comet, 2006 Distributed by Prism Comics

OTHER REVIEWS
Western Nightmares
by Mike VerblePrism ComicsRating 2*/4*
The Wild, Wild West: Tony Lawrence's Western Nightmares
by David Alexander NahmodBay Area Reporter05 April 2007

EDITOR: I pray that over the next year your warp cores do not breach and your main computer's gel packs not melt into silicone puddy, you get the idea. We will return to normal programming and pictorials on New Year's Eve. Thank you and Blessings!