#also barda and lindal. and lindal and steven.

[transhitman]

I <3 secondhand characterization. Like when two unlikely characters are besties and that fact alone says so much more about both of them than anything they do on their own ever could.

[lindalofbroome]

source: @incorrectdeltoraquotes ‘s post

we need uncle steven and uncle doom content

[deltoravivisection]

Anyway, with all that prefaced, frivolous LGBT headcanons that may or may not be mentioned ingame GO:

Lindal and Barda are bi4bi. Obviously. Might be mentioned as part of a gag/passing comment but otherwise irrelevant.

Doom's bi also. Probably won't ever be brought up but *gestures to my design for him*

Tom is a gender centrist lol. Like he is whatever is most convenient/funniest/safest at the moment. You ask him for his pronouns and he just giggles gayly.

Ava is trans. I imagine the plains triplets are identical so at least one of them has to be.

Joanna and Orwen are also both bi but their relationship is up to interpretation. Probably won't be mentioned.

Alisa Merin and Bruna are a throuple lol. Might be mentioned/implied but maybe not idk. I have not thought much about npc dialogue.

Steven is trans and it actually is plot-relevant due to some lore rewrites I did for the Bee family (they are the only major lore change I've done actually).

Glock is a gay tboy because I think it would be really funny (saying this as a gay tboy). The gay part might be mentioned as part of a gag but he wouldn't have a serious love interest lol.

Manus is gay. Idk I just feel this one in my heart. Will not be brought up.

Gla-Thon is probably also gay but doesn't have much interest in dating at the moment. Probably won't be mentioned.

Neridah isn't gay but 20 dollars is 20 dollars. FORTNITE.

Jinks.

[dragoninmypocket]

Name meanings master list

Some of these are well-known in the fandom, others not so much. Some seem deliberate, others coincidental, others totally random.

Lief: beloved and heir (of which he is both)

Jasmine: flower name

Barda: in Norwegian Bard is a given name and means ‘battle peace’. Otherwise derived from the English word ‘bard’ meaning poet

Lewin: derived from the name ‘Leofwin’ which means beloved friend (I can’t find a link between Lief/Leif and Leof because I’m not a linguist but both mean beloved so they must be related)

Jay: jaybird ( <3 )

Lindal: linden tree valley. In Old English this was a masculine name. As a feminine form (Lyndall) it means lime tree. Could also have been derived from ‘Linda’ which means pretty (naw)

Doran: stranger, exiled (!!!!)

Min: in Chinese this means quick, clever or sharp

Jarred: variant of Jared, a biblical name meaning ‘descent’

Anna: grace

Sharn: I have always assumed Rodda derived this from ‘Sharon’, a popular name in Australia a few decades ago (I know a lot of people with mums called Sharon). Sharon means a fertile plain. There is also a Welsh name, Sian, which is pronounced like Sharn and means ‘God’s gracious gift’

Ranesh: Hindu name which means Lord Shiva

Marilen: possibly derived from ‘Marilyn’ (combination of Mary and Lynn). Makes me think of Marilyn Monroe, who besides being talented and beautiful was very famously believed to be ‘the other woman’ in a relationship 

Steven: crown

Adin: possibly derived from ‘Aidan’ which means little and fiery

Zara: princess

Alton: town at the source of the river

Neridah: sea nymph

Faith: to trust (often without proof)

Ak-Baba: in Turkish the word akbaba means ‘vulture’

Rolf: wolf

Ichabod: no glory

Tora: derived from feminine form of ‘Thor’. Thor was a Norse god who just happened to wear an enchanted belt that doubled his strength 

Names taken from places around/near Australia: Broome (Western Australia), Manus (island off Papua New Guinea and in the news constantly because we suck) 

[lindalofbroome]

24 - Confronting

‘It was not an easy decision to return to Del, Sharn,’ he said gently. ‘My whole instinct was to continue. Then it came to me that it was Lief, Barda and Jasmine who restored the Belt of Deltora, and that they did it alone, without our help or protection.’

Sharn’s eyes were blinded with tears. ‘You are saying that we should trust them.’

‘I am saying that we must trust them,’ said Doom. ‘Our place, our task, is here—especially now. All we can do is keep faith. And wish Lief, Barda and Jasmine well, wherever they may be.

The Isle of Illusion //  Ch 14 Leap of Faith

this scene is so intense for so many reasons. amarantz revealed as the saboteur. the brain worm. jasmine and co are about to enter the dome... but the thing i want to talk about is how doom made the decision to turn around and go home. that this man decided ‘you know what? interfering for my own self assurance is not worth it. the most valuable thing i can do right now is to trust them and leave them be.’ and then he did just that. it gets me every time.

‘I think he is a man who rarely trusts. Yet he trusted us. Now he fears that he was foolish to do so, for we would not trust him in return.’      - Lief, Shifting Sands // Ch 12 No Choice

you’re telling me this man, a man notorious for his distrust, the man who tentatively trusted the trio because there was a chance their goal aligned with his, the man spreading the word of and watching for shapeshifting monsters, the man who made a secret back-up plan in a last-ditch effort to save his country against an oppressive force,,, youre telling me this man stopped, and he made the decision to turn around and go home based on trust? imagine the willpower it took to turn his back on the os-mine hills and march right back home, lindal and steven in tow.

this chapter title is also one that sticks out to me especially. i don’t remember most of them off the top of my head, (i am a sucker for ‘The Bees’ naturally, and any of the character chapter titles, like at the end of star there’s one named after mab and she just unleashes the force of her personality) but 'Leap of Faith’ is one that particularly means a lot to me. it’s not just about the trio swinging across the opal cavern on the hope that they will be able to pass through the dome, that they had to have faith in the plan, the key virtue of their people. but it is also about doom’s leap of faith. the will and trust and faith it took for him to confront his natural inclinations, his default behaviour in response to shadow lord spies, to betrayal, to surviving. better wrong then dead, right?

i imagine that when doom knew that lief and co were journeying underground, he stood there, gazing at the hills. he is a man used to authority, used to leading, used to power. he is used to being the one in the know, the one used to being obeyed, the one calling the shots.

He wants to keep us by him. The three-day test is an excuse—something the others in the cavern will accept and understand. He wants to know what we are up to. He hopes that after this we will tell him.      The Maze of the Beast // Ch 5 Friend or Foe?

Why did Doom want them so close to Del, and their greatest danger? Because Withick Mire is a Resistance stronghold, the voice of suspicion whipsered in his head. Because there, Doom’s word is law.      Return to Del // Ch 4 The Seven Tribes

Doom, the mysterious, scar-faced leader of the Resistance in the time of the Shadow Lord. Doom, the stern, solitary traveller. Doom the ruthless one, who still held the ruffians of Deltora in the palm of his hand.      Dragon’s Nest // Ch 4 Act of Faith

‘There are only three curious things about this letter that I can see. [...] The third is that, again for once, he has managed to regrain from giving us any orders or advice!’      - Barda, Isle of the Dead // Ch 12 Surprises

but here,,,, doom has to confront his suspicious and controlling nature in order to come to the conclusion that leaving lief be is the best course of action for him. and i think the trust he is showing here is significant to his person, to his healing, to his growth. that he was able to overcome his nature out of a sense of love, perhaps. expressing himself was not a useful skill in the time of the shadow lord and, after his whole life was stolen by amnesia and having to live an almost empty life fueled by revenge, it was something he had to relearn. 

maybe, letting go of the reins, easing up and not being overbearing, was him trying to express that he does care about the people questing beneath the ground. holding another person was too tender for a gruff man like himself, and totally out of character according to those around him. his tongue would tie itself in knots whenever he tried to speak his feelings. he probably didn’t even know them well enough to figure out a meaningful gift for them. he was still working on expressing his affection, but he was growing to love them without a doubt.

he cared about the son of his nursemaid, whose hearty laugh reminded him of her, who was practical, and who was difficult to best. he was also not fond of big displays of affection, putting them on the same page. they understood each other to a certain degree because they shared so much in common.

he cared about the son of his best friend, whose tender compassion reminded him of him, who was determined, and who was hardworking. the boy was the opposite to himself, yet they got the same things done and thats when doom knew that there were things to learn from the boy. the boy was emotional and wore his heart on his sleeve and it put him so on edge because the boy seemed so vulnerable, but doom was surprised to see how it strengthened him instead. he wanted to mirror the boys shameless love, but he didn’t know how. not yet.

and he cared about his daughter, whose passion mirrored his own, whose eyes sparkled like her mother’s, whose willpower knew no bounds. and he had only known her for a year or two. she was a stranger, but she was so, so familiar. she was calm within stressful situations, but unafraid to release her passionate words as they formed, like him. she was ready to fight for what she believed in, like him. she would do anything for her friends, for her king, like him. they were so similar, yet he could never find the words he wanted when he was with her. when was the last time he had spoken with her at all? too far to tell. what would she do, if she were here? what would she declare?

she’d ask what she could do, if she didn’t know anything of the situation. and indeed what could she do from so far behind, what could she do that wouldn’t make it worse? she’d ask whether it was worth wearing herself out trying to catch up, travelling through the unknown. she’d ask whether there was something else she could do that would be more useful.

he probably didn’t realise he was standing there, staring and yearning for the hills, until lindal called his name. then tearing his eyes away, he turned to his companions and said something of being needed in del, as if it wasn’t the hardest thing he could say. they were his friends during the shadow lord occupation. they weren’t fools. but they followed him home without a word.

the fact that doom could let go, that he allowed some things to stay out of his reach, is a so significant to healing from the trauma of almost ten years on his own with not even an idea of who he was as a person. he started to bend the bars of his cage, built maybe out of cautious self-preservation or maybe a dreaded fear of what would happen if he didn’t act, and he was one step closer to reclaiming his life, rebuilding himself. he would never be the same again, but he could build up a life, fill it with fond memories, and be his own person again, separate from some righteous cause.

he wasn’t doom, the face of resistance against tyranny. he was just doom, a man.