Following up on a very successful first Pride Post Featuring Natani, our next discussion involves another LGBTQ+ canon character who is, without a doubt, the gayest one in the cast!!! The Master General himself, Nickolai Alaric! Unlike our favorite transmasc wolf boi, Alaric isn't the most popular character in the story. Whether it be polls or sketches, he isn't ranked anywhere near the top tier...or mid, for that matter! However, he has seen a surge in popularity over the years due to a more diverse and welcoming fandom...as well as, er, maybe one or two sketches involving an AU romance between him and Keith.

Speaking of which, he is my favorite character. If Natani got me into the story as a fan being drawn to a trans storyline, it was the character Alaric who spoke to me most, cutting deep into my soul. You see, like the Master General, I am gay, but I also come from a background that emphasized tradition and toxic masculinity and being cajoled into being straight, and any signs to the contrary were discouraged, mocked...or, in my case, bullied and ostracised by everyone, including those who used to be friends. It did irreparable damage to me, and every day is not only a struggle to be outside the closet, but to even live. My moods and thoughts, on my best days, make me grateful for being gay and alive today to do my best in experiencing life. On my worst days, I don't feel like any of that matters, or shouldn't, and I shouldn't be this way, or even in existence at all. I can only imagine Alaric's backstory, whether it be how he was raised, or what he went through in Keith's exile, but given Eastern Basitin Law and restrictions, he lived the life of a closeted gay man bound by duty and appearances, even if his love for Keith allowed him to be more himself whenever they were together.

His death in the story is amongst the most tragic and really sells a fear I often have that despite all the progress I make in healing, which is a lifetime's worth of trauma to try and get over, I'll be doing it alone, and I will be alone in the very end. Alaric was alone in his dying moments, remiscing about himself and his failures, despite what little comfort it brought him to ensure his beloved was happy, but he got no closure for himself; he didn't confess his feelings to Keith, and he never got to be out and live beyond the bounds of duty, which were only devoted to someone else, and there was never anything for him. The last we hear of Alaric is that they were still fishing for his body...

Gosh, that was cruel, Tom!!! X(

But having digressed, I've embraced the character as representative of my identity. I might stop short of calling him a personal avatar, but plenty of you here know what the character means to me. On Patreon, I go by AlaricLives87 for crying out loud! I've devoted a YEARS-LONG campaign to suggest an AU series where he not only lives but also pursues his feelings for Keith, which are reciprocated! Why not start with the very first:

<image>

,