#post brisingr pre inheritance

[modern-inheritance]

Modern Inheritance: A Simple Matter of Luck (supershort, post-Brisingr pre-Inheritance limbo)

(A/N: The elves are pretty upset about Murtagh and Thorn after Oromis’ death. Arya takes a moment to tell her mother, in a roundabout fashion, that the hatred and anger is misplaced. And also tell her that, if it weren’t for a simple matter of luck, things could have been very…very different.)

~~~~~

A SIMPLE MATTER OF LUCK

“Mum.” Islanzadí looked up, her scowl breaking. Even now, her heart smiled when Arya called her that. Her involuntary grin fell when she saw the troubled frown on her daughter’s face. “Murtagh…he’s a good kid. It’s not his fault.”

The Queen stared, absolutely aghast. Was Arya…defending Morzan’s son and his devil of a dragon? After what they had just done? “Arya, he killed Oro–”

“I already told you, Galbatorix was controlling his body.” Arya’s voice was firm yet oddly soft. “Don’t blame them for this. It’s not been easy for either of them, and they’re not in control of any of it. You know that.”

“I’m sorry, but I disagree.” The brittleness creeping into her tone was hard to suppress. “There is always a choice.”

Arya dipped her head, just the barest shift. Islanzadí stiffened. Her child’s eyes had gone glassy, hollow. She stared at some unknown point near the mirror, expression blank. That, at least, was some comfort. Whatever she was seeing…it wasn’t causing her pain. Not physically.

And then she blinked, and the dimmed emerald fire sparked back to its usual intensity. 

She didn’t look up.

“Mum…I never told you this.” Arya shifted. Her mother couldn’t see it, but she was sitting cross legged on the ground in her tent, mirror propped up on a borrowed supply crate. She gripped an ankle with one hand, her other trailing her fingers along the thick band of scarring around her wrist. As odd as it was, it was…soothing. “When Eragon was captured by Durza, there were already plans in motion to take me to Uru’baen.” 

The grin she gave Islanzadí was crooked, underlain by the upturned tilt of her brows. “Three days. If Eragon, Saphira and Murtagh hadn’t sprung me then, I would have been taken to Uru’baen in three days. And Durza had already told me of what Galbatorix wanted of a broken elf under his control.”

She tightened her grip, clasped her free hand around the scars and squeezed. Remembered the feeling of magic-laced iron and steel biting into her flesh. The control it robbed her of, the short leash pain and metal and magic kept over her while in Gil’ead. Oh, she had fought. Every second she could spare, she fought. 

And yet…it was a stalemate. She never clawed any of that control away from him. And he never gained more than he initially had over her. It was not victory, but she could not say it wasn’t some form of defeat.

Arya couldn’t imagine the pain Murtagh was going through. Her shackles had been physical. She had no doubt Galbatorix had, and still was, torturing the young man. But to have a Partner of Heart and Mind…

Thorn was Murtagh’s salvation and his curse. His own shackles made of red dragon scale and anguish of shared pain and the terror, horror, agony of being forced to watch someone he loved be, for lack of better words, ripped piece by piece to control him.

If Fäolin had been there. If Glen had been found alive by the man shaped monster that night. If, like Murtagh, Arya had been whisked away to Uru’baen and one of the eggs had hatched at her touch…

She wanted to say she would not have broken had it played out that away. As she always said, she would never break. It was a point of pride, a boast. A softly whispered reassurance. Her truth.

She wanted to say that she would not have broken. That she would have taken their place, made him hurt her instead, or that she would find the resolve to suffer their screams in silence.

But she never wanted to find out.  

It was with that in mind, the path not taken, the future unseen, that Arya met her mother’s golden gaze. 

“So…when you say you hate Murtagh and Thorn, or call them monsters and traitors and think they’re evil…. Just remember that. Because, dragon or not…

“It could have just as easily been me.”

[shadeslayer]

I completely agree those are great points, I'm hoping he won't be a sadboy the entire time because that can be really exhausting, but I won't lie my primary motivation for wanting to read the book is I really want to know more about Thorn, I think he's really interesting and I'm hoping the story will focus more on their bond and Thorn healing from being magically forced to grow. It sounds like it's pretty soon after the end of inheritance

YOOO OKAY. you have SUCH a good point actually. we havent gotten Fuck All about thorn. its been too long since i read brisingr and i only ever read inheritance once or twice so i may not remember, but do we even *ever* get a pov from him or murtagh communicating with him and showing his internal landscape at all? bc i dont think we do, at least not one with any real insight into him or his mind

YEAH !!!!!! gd like the thing of thorn being forced to grow and hatch is so insane is the thing and i do actually really want to see what that really means for him. because i remember like.. i think it wouldve been a quote from brom or oromis probably about shruikan, where they say how shruikan grew dark and twisted internally bc of it all. but i cant remember if theres a quote like that about thorn, i feel there might be?

and this concept of like. the dragon hatching and the eldunari is all really cool on its own but like that dragons are sentient pre-hatch and that thorn iirc was forced to hatch for murtagh and then forced to grow as well, and this discussion of a twisted broken mind re: dragons under galbys control... it introduces this concept of thorn being "born broken" in a sense. like hes already been abused before he was even hatched and then all hes ever known is that and has only ever been able to take comfort in the (forced) connection to murtagh. and murtagh connecting to this bc of his childhood abuse etc but that thorn is like. it goes even deeper for thorn bc it was pre-hatching, but also that it raises consideration for what murtaghs childhood fully looked like outside of the little we do know, and it just AWOOOOO its a really good concept and ur actually so right i might have to read it just to see what thorn is like and what goes on there

thats honestly too part of why im wary about canon murtagh stuff - because his character touches on/brings up a lot of *really fucking interesting and complex* questions and issues about abuse and mind control and trauma that i dont know if i would trust anyone outside of like, some random ao3 author with a 30k slowburn backstory fic to have the chops to really do justice, yknow?

like as long as we're talking about old fandoms i was deeeep in that mcu back when the 2012 avengers came out and i got hooked into clint/hawkeye particularly the fanon version and theres some really good fics exploring like, post-avengers (2012) what that would look like for clint in recovery from mind control esp one where he was aware of everything he was doing but was powerless to stop himself from it (or, some interpretations consider, if his mind was warped into truly being happy/relishing it/wanting to do it) - esp if he had been abused as a child and still had that trauma to reckon with. and theres only a few fics that i really would say "THATS a Good Fucking Job writing it" and thats in a fandom with like hundreds to thousands to who knows how many fans + massive fanon pushing that type of longfic into popularity and giving lots of diff takes on it

[weirdponytail]

Modern Inheritance Stories Masterlist

This list has MOST of the full MIC stories and my favorite concepts/rambles, all in somewhat book-chronological order. To be honest, now seeing it all laid out, I thought I had more. I can’t even find anything post-Eldest really, at least nothing that I’ve posted before. If y’all remember a story I haven’t put here let me know!

Pre-Eragon

The Promise 

Pray with Me? 

The Medic (NEW! Nov. 8th 2020)

Thnks fr th Mmrs/Dagshelgr (Arya and Fäolin) 

Thnks fr th Mmrs/Sway (Brom and Selena) 

Sam Cooper (Unfinished worldbuilding story) 

Look at my Son 

Blagden the Trickster 

Eragon

Apology (Flashback, unfinished/abandoned shorts series) 

Defiance 

Torin’s Story Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // TBC (NEW! Dec. 13th 2020) (Events recalled occur during Eragon, while pt 1 and the start of pt 2 occur Post-Brisingr/Pre-Inheritance)

Breakout (Future WIP, concept in progress)

Judge Me Not/Murtagh 

Rain 

Hotel Pit Stop/Sleeping Arrangements 

Two for Flinching (I’m actually not sure when exactly this occurs, pre or post Hadarac crossing…) 

Judge You Not/Blue Black Arrogant Prick 

Post-Eragon/Pre-Eldest

Eragon Being a Dumbass (Fill) 

Limits 

Eldest (most are loosely dated to ‘sometime in Ellesmera’)

Tarnag Incident (a ramble with a story concept) 

Night Terrors Part 1 // Part 2

Art Therapy 

Islanzadí Sparring Match (story concept) 

The Swear Jar (story concept/short) 

Father and Son 

Post-Eldest/Pre-Brisingr

Nothing yet! That you know of....

Brisingr

Nothing yet! That you know of....

Post-Brisingr/Pre-Inheritance

Nothing yet! That you know of....

Inheritance

Nothing yet! That you know of....

Post War

Nothing yet! That you know of....

[meliaamethyst]

My Fanfics and Original Stories

So I’ve been sitting around, knowing I should post something here but entirely unsure as to what. And I’ve finally decided! What better introduction to me as a writer, as a shipper, than for me to start things off by posting links to the stories that I’m OK with sharing and telling a bit about my thoughts and impressions for each? I will also be including links to each mentioned story and a synopsis at the end of the post so you can visit them and read if you so desire.

The first story I want to share is my Fairy Tail fanfiction. To be honest, I don’t even remember where or when I first got the idea to write this, but I’m so glad that I started it because it has grown to be one of my favorites! Through a lot of hard work, equal portions by me and my #1 Beta Sandry-Chan, and only two revisions, Fairy Tail: Dawn of Change (I’ll be using the acronym DoC for this one) is about a young girl who doesn’t fit in the real world and wishes desperately to be somewhere else. After a magical day at an anime convention, she wakes up in an animated meadow. Naturally, her first thought is that this is all a dream, but the bruise on her thigh says otherwise. She wanders until she collapses and when she wakes up again she is in a hotel bedroom, being watched by Natsu Dragneel, Happy the Cat, and Lucy Heartfilia; three central characters to her favorite anime Fairy Tail. And that is just the start of her adventure! From there, things are exciting and depressing by turns, shifting from euphoria and the epitome of “OMG!!” to “What did I land in?!” But despite everything, Roxanne perseveres and proves that she is a true Fairy. I love this story not just because of how much blood, sweat and tears I have poured into this, but also because of how similar Roxanne and I are, and how I could channel my own daydreams into her experiences and live out my dreams through her. I also did a lot of pre-writing planning, and I planned things that might not even be used. But if they become needed, then I’ll be ready! I also had to do a lot of research, into the individual magics and the rules for magic, and figuring things out to fill in gaps, and research into how a nine year old thinks! And Sandry also pinpointed some trouble areas for ms to work on, and I strengthened my Showing not Telling. Because of this fic, I feel like I’ve really grown as a writer and that also contributes to my love for this fic. So I really recommend that you read this fic! Also, since it starts at the beginning and explains almost everything as things become relevant, you really don’t need to have any Fairy Tail background to read DoC!!

The next book I wanna talk about is my original idea, inspired by the wonder of freshman year of high school; new friends, new experiences, and a new fascination with dragons. Dragon Girl (the acronym is DG) is my first real attempt at storywriting, my pride and joy. The overall story hasn’t changed much and I still remember almost everything I figured out. DG is about a teenager who can shapeshift into a dragon. Surrounded by humans, she lives in an abusive household and believes herself to be the only one like her. She almost kills herself doing chores and homework everyday, biding her time, waiting until she can move out on her own. But she has trust issues because every time she opens her heart and tells the other person about ‘the dragon’ they end up running away and hating her. And that, of course, puts her life in danger in addition to the damage her heart sustains. In spite of that, she finally finds the courage to fly away and she ends up discovering that she is actually part of an ancient race called Drakons, and she is a very special Drakonian. She helps to rebuild this dying race and she is instrumental in the war against the natural enemy called Scylla. I love this story because it marks where I first started getting serious about writing, and I use it as a landmark for how I used to be and where I am now. Also, its gotten the most attention despite its unrevised writting, telling not showing state, usually one to three people favorite it EVERY DAY. And I have a deal with a graphic artist for a comic book adaptation. So I am very proud of Dragon Girl for a variety of reasons and I hope that you’ll read it.

The third book I want to share is the first in a four-part saga, a fanfiction based off of Christopher Paolini’s bestselling series 'The Inheritance Cycle’ (the acronym will be IC) The first part of the original series was remade into a movie named after the first book in the saga, Eragon, in 2007. Even though it was a blockbuster hit that summer, fans in the IC fandom did not enjoy it. In my opinion, while the movie preserved the overall gist of Eragon and Saphira’s adventures, there was a lot of stuff that was changed or omitted. In the movie, Brom and Eragon killed the three Ra'zac that pursued them in Palancar Valley. However, Eragon and his cousin Roran are the true heroes in Brisingr, and are responsible for defeating the two Ra'zac while Saphira killed the two Lethrblakas herself. This was a huge mistake on the movie’s part because now there is no one to kidnap Roran’s love Katrina, and Carvahall would not be attacked and subsequently burned to the ground. Thus, Roran would not lead the villagers to the Burning Plains in time to help the Varden in the battle against the Imperial Army. Also, Brom was not struck by an arrow as he rescued Eragon from Gil'ead, he was struck by a knife coated in an oil by the Ra'zac outside of Teirm after Murtagh jumped in to help. Also, Eragon was captured by Imperial Soldiers in Gil'ead just after Brom’s death, and the ordeal resulted in Eragon meeting the Shade, Durza, and discovering the woman he had been seeing his dreams was a prisoner as well, and that’s when he rescued Arya. The movie also got several other things wrong, like barely showing Orik and not even mentioning Hrothgar and the Twins. On the other hand, I enjoyed seeing Saphira and hearing her voice. Anyway, my fanfiction series is based off of the books, and called Wyrda, and the first installment of four is called Istalri. In this first book, an orphan elf and her brother are introduced, oppressed by their tyrannical uncle. They dream of becoming Riders because that is the only fate they can stand until they are old enough to retake their family home. One night, one of the dragon eggs they hold hatches, and its the girl who begins her journey. Like Eragon before her, she will face new challenges and overcome obstacles as she helps to rebuild the Rider Order. She is surrounded by mentors Murtagh, Eragon and Arya and their dragons, and she has to carve her own future out of the bedrock of her life. I enjoy writing this because I relied on the canon series so heavily so it was a great excuse to read the series again and even write a letter to Paolini himself to ask questions, and I get to bring life to Alanna and Dusan, two obscure characters that we glance at only once in Brisingr. I get to make them fully rounded, unique characters that are this perfect, unstoppable team when they’re together, and still terrifying when they are apart. I get to give them a past, a life, and a future full of hopes and dreams and a healthy dose of reality. Istalri is also the ninth edition of this series, and is my first legitimate fanfiction that I wrote out of sheer pleasure when I was only 12 years old, in 7th grade. It gave me something to discuss with a woman who would later become my best friend close enough to be my sister, and, through her, another sister. Because of Istalri, I got to develop relationships that I even now must lean on to survive my life. I couldn’t be prouder of Istalri, and I hope that you will read it and come to love it as much as I do.

Thank you.

LINKS:

DoC https://m.fanfiction.net/s/11262127/1/Fairy-Tail-Dawn-of-Change

Istalri (Previously Kvistr) https://m.fanfiction.net/s/10524735/1/Kvistr-Book-1-Of-The-Wyrda-Series

Dragon Girl https://www.bookrix.com/_ebook-melissa-nichols-dragon-girl/

[modern-inheritance]

MIC Shorts and Snippets

I've tried to organize these but I may have gone overboard. There's probably a lot more of these floating around but I can't find them all due to Tumblr's shit search feature. That's why we're getting this page. I'm terrible at updating these things but I'll try!

For A Future Story

Their Hatchlings (#1)

Dance Lessons (#2)

Let It Out (#3)

Unfortunate Encounter (#4)

Pre-War/Pre-Eragon

Kill

Gil'ead Time Period

Loooooom (mostly a bit of fun)

An Attempt (Will possibly be expanded later)

The Escape Series (most of these are likely going to appear in the actual stories when I finally sit down and write them)

A Choice of Words

That Doesn't Seem Physically Possible

Lake

Earned

Eragon Post-Escape

Elf Operating License Revoked (not really canon, just some fun)

Eldest

Shotglass

Bud Like You (semi-canon)

Spittake

Brisingr

Dark Humor

Inheritance/The Extended War MIC Timeline

Hand-to-Hand

When You're Not Fine

Experimental

Piece By Piece

Batshit On The Battlefield

[modern-inheritance]

Modern Inheritance Story Masterlist

This list has MOST of the full MIC stories and my favorite concepts/rambles, all in somewhat book-chronological order. To be honest, now seeing it all laid out, I thought I had more. I can’t even find anything post-Eldest really, at least nothing that I’ve posted before. If y’all remember a story I haven’t put here let me know! 

(NOTE: Many of these are double posted! They were originally posted on my main blog, @weirdponytail, but I’ve decided to post them fresh here so I can keep the comments and whatnot on the main blog and see some new interest here as well.)

One Word Prompts Fills

SHORTS AND SNIPPETS

Pre-Eragon

The Promise

Pray with Me?

The Medic 

Thnks fr th Mmrs/Dagshelgr (Arya and Fäolin)

Thnks fr th Mmrs/Sway (Brom and Selena)

Sam Cooper (Unfinished worldbuilding story)

Look at my Son

Blagden the Trickster

Eragon

Defiance

Grip (Check the warnings!)

Torin’s Story Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 3 // Part 4 // Part 5 // TBC   (Events recalled occur during Eragon, while pt 1 and the start of pt 2 occur Post-Brisingr/Pre-Inheritance)

Judge Me Not/Murtagh

Escape Part 1 // Part 2.1 // Part 2.2 // Part 2.3 // TBC {NEW! The Escape from Gil’ead!} 

Rain

Hotel Pit Stop/Sleeping Arrangements (NO LONGER CANON but you can read it.)

Two for Flinching (NO LONGER CANON but you can read it.)

Judge You Not/Blue Black Arrogant Prick

Shattered Part 1 // TBC 

Post-Eragon/Pre-Eldest

Clipboard

Fatherhood 

Eragon Being a Dumbass (Fill)

Limits

Eldest (most are loosely dated to ‘sometime in Ellesmera’)

Tarnag Incident (a ramble with a story concept)

Reunion {NEW! Dec 31st 2023}

Nightmares series: Ashes {NEW! Jan 31st 2024} //

Cadence 

Debrief Part 1 // TBC

Night Terrors Part 1 // Part 2 (Not really canon anymore, but it’s the first MIC story, so we can keep it here)

Iron in the Irony

Art Therapy

Islanzadí Sparring Match (story concept)

The Swear Jar (story concept/short)

Father and Son

Post-Eldest/Pre-Brisingr

Nothing yet! That you know of….

Brisingr

Nothing yet! That you know of….

Post-Brisingr/Pre-Inheritance

Collateral (Smoke and Mirrors) 

Inheritance

Dras Leona Interlude 

First Kiss 

Wonder (Short) 

Mates 

Post War

String Bean (short + incomplete story concept)

Surprise!/Name

Dress Code (slightly spicy Eragon/Arya)  

Sammiches (Alston, ~25-30 years post war)  (Not canon!)

Bed Building (Alston) (Not canon!)