#always so grateful of the other orrin fans out there adfsahjk

[alagaesia-headcanons]

Hello! Finally scraped together my courage! I love how you talk of the inheritance cycle and i have a lots of feels for that saga, it's the first fantasy i have EVER read.

As you have probably guessed i love Orrin and kind of appreciate Murthag, but my favourite character is Jeod.

Could you talk a bit about your thoughts on him? I find him an incredibly fascinating character (and he wields a RAPIER. that's the BEST WEAPON.)

lots of love! i really like your blog!

Hello hello!!! Thank you so much, I'm glad you enjoy my stuff and I'm glad for the ask as well!

I really like Jeod! He's one of my favorite background characters. I think it's especially refreshing that he's not emphasized as a warrior and the most important contributions he makes are through his scholarly studies. In that way, he really balances out the main characters who are very focused on the war and the battles. And the way he encourages his same sort of curiosity and joy for books and learning in Eragon is very sweet, and I wish we could have seen more of it. Overall, Jeod simply comes across as very heartfelt, I see him as one of the more caring characters with the way he so readily goes out of his way to help- joining the Varden to steal the egg in the first place, helping Brom and Eragon without hesitation, and giving Roran and the others from Carvahall the chance to reach Surda. He does all he can and it's very endearing.

I also have an old headcanon deep in my heart that Jeod had a long standing and ill fated crush on Brom. In the beginning, the mysteriousness and intrigue that his brisk, guarded manner evoked drew him in, and then he came to admire his sharp wit experienced confidence. It started as a little crush, light and guileless. He never had the courage to mention it and Brom, always forging ahead and never slowing down, didn't give him much chance anyway. But the feelings stayed with him and they slowly transformed into something more sincere- a quiet, persistent pining. But Jeod still feared saying what he felt and Brom always regarded them as colleagues, or sometimes friends, and if he recognized anything else in Jeod's heart, he turned a blind eye to it. Jeod told himself maybe he would finally say something more after they settled the matter of the missing dragon egg, but then Brom died. At least Jeod believed so. Too little too late. When he married Helen a few years later, it wasn't his most thought out decision and he always carried a bit of guilt for never loving her quite the same way he loved Brom. After Brom suddenly appeared on his doorstep again, Jeod almost told him, but it still felt like too late. He was married now, and he could sense that wherever Brom's fate led, it was with Eragon and Saphira, not him. And lo and behold, he lost Brom a second time months later, a more gentle heartbreak than the first, but still poignant.

But on another note I've been thinking about lately, if they'd gotten a proper opportunity, I actually think Jeod and Orrin would get along very well. Of course their shared interest in academics and research and learning would give them common ground and draw them together, and I picture them going back and forth discussing their various areas of interest for ages. And I rather wish that the sort of support Jeod gave Eragon could have been shared with Orrin as well because it would really suit both their characters and could have been a very touching and significant exchange. Orrin's interest in science is very genuine and passionate but it never receives any encouragement in canon and I can really easily see that coming from Jeod, who deeply understands and respects the drive to learn, telling him that his work and skill are admirable and valuable. Also, I can only imagine how jealous Orrin was of Jeod during the war lmao.

Jeod: oh haha I'm not much of a fighter anymore so I help the war effort with my scholarly knowledge, studying books to find things that might help! :)

Orrin, through clenched teeth, vibrating slightly: god I wish that were me.