KanaAlyssum

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This darn AU about torturing the brothers has taken over my summer and my sanity.

Eragon hears of the upcoming war and a panics a little. Despite his threats and offers for mercy, the damned rebels just refused to surrender. Now, he had to navigate a war just months into his reign and come out with as little casualties as possible. He looks into Galbatorix’s reserve of oddities, and there he discovers the experiments of the Black Hand. Notably, he finds a girl. She’s been cursed with the ability to always feel other people’s pain, and perfectly predict when pain will happen. Another side effect given onto her is to prevent hurt from happening, or suffer herself. Eragon is fascinated by such a curse, but ultimately finds it dishonorable to do to a child.

He bans the Black Hand from ever attempting such a feat again. The last thing Eragon needs on his name is child soldiers being forced to serve his magicians. Eragon decides to disassemble the curse one step at a time, his top priority being to take the child’s pain away. While he isn’t able to take away her ability to feel other’s pain and predict it, he is able to cure her of her obligation to help others. Feeling protective over the child, Eragon takes her under his wing as his charge. He names her Elva, replacing the simple tag-like name she had previously. The child is bitey from the short time she suffered through the full effects of the curse. She frequently lashes out and also uses other’s dark secrets against them. She does this to Eragon only once before he shields himself against it. It is the only time Eragon punishes her, as he believes it is all he needs for her to realize he can always control her.

Still, they form a bond despite the circumstances. Elva cannot help but become a little attached to the young man who didn’t hesitate to help her. Sure, he’s pretty fucked up himself, but he feeds her well and gives her independence. It’s nice.

No relation eramur certainly makes it easier to ship them. No harm in doing so. It definitely helps with timelines in some works, which is always needed when writing.

Related eramur is much more interesting in my opinion. You can go way more in depth with societal norms, pressures, relationship drama, and how a romantic relationship could stem from arduous circumstances. Is it taboo? Yeah. But what's the point of fiction if you never step out of your comfort zone?

Eragon wears a creepy as fuck smile all the time because his advisors told him that smile calms people's nerves. And that it'd make him appear more confident. None of them had the heart to tell Eragon that his forced smiles make him look really creepy.

Still brainstorming ways on how one defeats an Evil Eragon lmao. It'd pretty difficult because by this point Eragon is fully into his control arc. There's no way you can brute force a situation into your favor or outwit him. Unless you use magic he's not familiar with. Oh yeah, wordless magic! (Accidentally blows up a building)

If and/or when he is defeated, Eragon would probably be kept in isolation and chained to the point where he can barely move. Despite this, the only person who can visit him safely is Murtagh, because Nasuada once tried to speak with him and she nearly got her arm torn off for her troubles.

Eventually Murtagh would get tired of watching his little brother deteriorate after risking his life to save him in the first place. He'd probably "kidnap" him to Argnor and put him in charge of the dragon eggs' nursery with Saphira. Still in relative isolation where he won't be stealing fingers, but with the company of his elder brother, some hatchlings, and being able to watch the sun rise.

I have the power to write Eragon to be a massive rage baiter. He doesn't always have to use force or even violence. Just rile up his opponent and they do all the work for him.

He mostly does this with the bigger targets, aka Nasuada and Orrin. He compares Nasuada to Galbatorix because all of her relationships are shallow and she has a habit of viewing people as bulletin points. He calls out Orrin for his small (and dead) support groups and how nobody respects the young king.

He'll eventually amp it up to breaking down their characters and psyche, but first he's just a little shit.

Him, basically:

It got shot right out of the gate, the poor thing.

I can definitely see the appeal, as it had huge potential to reverse the common romantasy trope of emotionless guy + sunny girl. Unfortunately, Paolini handled the romance like it was a grease fire. The age gap that no fantasy culture norms can make less weird. Arya's hostility to other cultures leading her to dismiss Eragon's well-being. Her die hard sense of loyalty that causes her to break the Old Rider code and become a queen. Her constant aversion to romance in general that kind of traps Eragon in a "damned if he does, damned if he doesn't" scenario (i.e. wait for me to decide and don't move on else it'll confirm all of my unfair assumptions about your entire race).

You can discard this ask if it's not your vibe :) your AUs and headcanons are fun to read btw!

I've done a similar AU in which Elva is Eragon's first kiddo, with Murtagh entering the dynamic later.

Murtagh is a major girl's dad, and he's super sappy about having his own family. He doesn't care that Elva is his "adopted" daughter, and always refers to her as his own to anyone that can stand him gushing about her. Murtagh puts serious work into breaking his family's cycle of dogshit parents, so he always finds time to spend time with Elva and openly loves Eragon to give his daughter a sense of a healthy relationship.

Murtagh is a sad wet cat. He isn't comfortable being alone and vulnerable anymore, so he often waits for Eragon to be done with work so they can sleep together. Or he just drags the younger man to bed if he's tired enough. Murtagh is also a huge cuddler now, but he hates admitting it. He'll wake up completely intertwined with Eragon and be super embarrassed, but Eragon doesn't mind. Murtagh often writes down his favorite memories in a journal, because he's afraid of ever forgetting them or being forced to forget them.

They used to be high school sweethearts, but Murtagh got himself stuck with the wrong crowd and started to drive everyone away. Eragon was the last person he shook off. They got into a massive argument that essentially destroyed their relationship overnight. They went their separate ways, and Murtagh spent years wallowing in self-pity and regret.

He also drags his ass back into the real world to become a better person, embarrassed about the version of himself that threw away a perfect relationship. He gets himself a job, starts working on his teaching credentials, and even exploring relationships again. Of course, this is when he finds Eragon again.

Eragon has spent the years apart becoming the head of the Anthropology department at Argnor University. He's pretty indifferent to meeting Murtagh again, having long since moved on from their relationship and forgiving Murtagh for his past transgressions. What he isn't prepared for is Murtagh almost immediately attempting to court him again. Eragon is now very unused to the attention, as he spent so long only focusing on his career. While he isn't hostile towards the attempts, he isn't exactly receptive to it either.

Basically, this is Eragon:

Who would be more jealous, how would they behave?

Eragon is able to repress his emotions way better due to social expectations and his training. Though, he's certainly not immune to being neglected. If he sees Murtagh giving someone more attention than usual, Eragon would definitely feel jealousy boiling in his gut. But, he'd keep it under wraps for as long as he could. He doesn't want to opress his love interest, or even discourage him from being more social. Eragon would slip every now and then: looking like a kicked puppy, casually asking if Murtagh hates him, or looking more tired than usual. Those are the only signs, and if Murtagh wants a straight answer he'd have to corner the man.

Murtagh's jealousy is much more external. The second he sees someone even attempt to court Eragon, it's all over. At first, he'll attempt to be mature. Deep breaths, longer walks, obsessive journal writing, plotting assassination attempts— all very mature. Then he'd start acting like a dog with severe resource guarding. Butting into conversations, dragging Eragon off for 'alone time', threatening glares, sneaking into Eragon's room way more than he should be, ect.