Not that there's anything wrong with that, but first Neil & Bob, and now Bruce & Enik the Sleestacks - aren't there any good heterosexual aliens out there (um, not that I'm saying I would be attracted to a heterosexual alien or anything... unless she was blue... like that chick that Captain Kirk got on in that ancient Trek episode... mmm, blue chicks...)

I think there should be some clarification here.

Firstly, Neil and Bob are not gay. I prefer to think of them as omnisexual -- they will have sex with anything, regardless of sex, sexual orientation or species.

Secondly, Bruce is not an alien. He is from an alternate Earth, so I don't think he can properly be called an alien (if, by alien, you mean an extraterrestrial).

Thirdly, wasn't the chick green? I'm assuming that you're talking about the Orion slave girls, of course. But I could be wrong.

In Response to jon (#2881):

Plus, I don't think we know enough about Sleestak biology/physiology/sociology to assume that

a) Bruce is *male*,
Bruce is obviously an Anglocized version of a Sleestak name, the orignial of which could very well be as feminine as 'sheila' is, or say 'dynedain'.

b) Enik is *also* male
Enik could only be a 'he' in English because English doesn't have the proper term to match Enik's actual 'gender'. Enik could be some sort of trans-neuter, like Jerrell.

c) Male/Male sexual relations are not a required part of the reproductive process, and therefore do not represent a different 'sexual orientation' than the 'normal' one. Technically still 'homosexual', but not necessarily 'gay'.

So I don't think we can say Bruce is 'gay' either.

In Response to zamphir (#2882):

The assumptions behind a) and b) are fairly safe, I would say, and will be even more safe after Wednesday. Enik, for those of you not as obsessed with pop culture ephemera as I am, is the name of the Sleestak scientist from Land of the Lost.

As far as c) goes, I can't comment on that, as I don't understand what you're talking about.

In Response to jon (#2883):

I'm attempting to say something like "In the normal course of Sleestak reproduction, a male-on-male intercourse must happen, followed by, for example, a male-on-female intercourse, followed by a female-on-third-gender intercourse, follwed by the original first male partner being impregnated by the third-gender". A true smorgasborg, as it were.

What I'm basically saying is that Sleestaks aren't *human*, and so all bets are off as to what's 'normal' for them. Ergo, what's 'gay' to them is not going to have any relationship (except coincidental) to what's 'gay' to us. I'm not, by the way, saying that being 'gay' is in any way 'abnormal' for humans, but certainly statistically less frequent.

And I'm being pedantic about the meaning of 'homosexual', taking it in it's strictest technical sense.

And I'd say I'm likely to be as obsessed with pop-cultural ephemera as you are - look at my login name for example (with a slightly revised spelling - 'fir' for 'phir'). I'll admit my datastore on Sleestaks is sadly under-populated, and will defer to your expertise in this matter.

In Response to zamphir (#2885):

I'm attempting to say something like "In the normal course of Sleestak reproduction, a male-on-male intercourse must happen, followed by, for example, a male-on-female intercourse, followed by a female-on-third-gender intercourse, follwed by the original first male partner being impregnated by the third-gender". A true smorgasborg, as it were.

That sounds remarkably like the aliens in Iain M Banks book "The Player of Games".....

In Response to evilaltor (#2889):

I'm pretty sure the aliens in the short-lived "Alien Nation" television series (based on the surprisingly good movie of the same name) did it in a similar fashion, althouhg I would never admit to having watched it.

Ah, hell.

Being that Bruce and Enik are a species of reptile, it would be hard to say exactly what there sexual orientation may be, or even exactly what gender they are, as some species of reptiles have been known "spontaniously" change gender in order to keep the species alive.

Then, to go a step beyond that, some female reptiles, most notably green iguanas, do not need the presence of a male of their species to launch into and complete their reproductive cycle (vitellogenesis through laying of the mature infertile eggs), while others do need the presence of one or more males, and perhaps copulation, to stimulate the hormone and other changes that lead to egg maturtion and laying. To confound matters still further, some female reptiles, especially chelonains, can retain sperm for many years before finally laying a fertilized egg.

In Response to coolhand (#2893):

To confound matters still further, some female reptiles, especially chelonains, can retain sperm for many years before finally laying a fertilized egg.

Almost like Boris Becker's first defence of his paternity suit. He claimed that the Russian Mafia hired a hooker to give him a blowjob and used that to impregnate her. A genius ploy...

didn't work, though

In Response to zamphir (#2882):

grrrrrrrrr...........

"You'll pay for that"

now, where's my bowler?

In Response to jon (#2892):

That's okay.

Today's comic effectively put the smackdown on my whole theory, anyway. Thank you sir, can I have another?

:-)

In Response to mccallion_d (#3478):

Wo I have no idea what I'm doing here, Riker must been red arseing it 2wice a nite!

In Response to mccallion_d (#3479):

Sigh... 12 was a tough age, eh? Wo is not a word. Arseing is not a word. two-wice is not a word, and nite is... well... a reason to hate you.

In Response to zamphir (#2882):

Wait, Jerrell's a what?

I'm holding out for Jerrell now that fish is gone, so please don't shatter my illusions.

-Mel

In Response to Haddie (#3485):

*sigh* 40 must be tough age, with all the sagging and all those new feelings your developing towards your kids female friends!!! + the menopause!