#actually I don't even think it likely that Maedhros and Maglor were speaking with a thorn by that time

[polutrope]

Elrond and Elros were already bilingual in Quenya and Sindarin when Maglor took them, because their father and the refugees of Gondolin spoke to them in Quenya. They never spoke Quenya with a thorn (ETA: this part is meant to be cheeky, I know it's more complicated than that).

Now I've developed this headcanon it just seems obvious to me.

[imakemywings]

Canon divergence AU: Feanor sends a delegation to Thingol (after Losgar and before the Dagor-nuin-Giliath)

AU asks

*cracks my knuckles* Okay this one is going to take some thought.

Feanor sends a handful of Noldor into Doriath to make acquaintance with Thingol and Melian, among them Maglor (his first choice would have been Maedhros, but he finds himself less than fully trustful of his eldest after Maedhros' restraint at Losgar).

Some things stay the same: Feanor and his representatives keep mum about Alqualonde. Feanor may have left sanity behind in Tirion but even he knows Olwe's brother will not react well to that, even if Feanor feels it was justified.

Because Feanor's reps explain (sort of) the situation (Melkor killed Finwe and stole from Feanor; they're here to avenge that) there's no period where the Umanyar believe the Amanyar were sent by the Valar to help them.

Thingol still wary of allying with these strangers who've come into Beleriand for their own ends.

Because the Arafinweans aren't there, and the Feanorians have no reason to believe they're coming, they can't rely on familial ties with Thingol to sway him.

Thingol recognizes that even if they are an unknown factor, they oppose Melkor, which is helpful, so he makes an agreement to give the Feanorians some land to settle on (they have to go somewhere, after all)

The Feanorians still take some of the land closest to Angband because Feanor essentially intends to take control of the entire war against Melkor and therefore wants to be up front.

Thingol send a couple of his own representatives to the Feanorians' camp basically to spy on them and learn about them (for my own bias, Daeron is one of them and he picks up Quenya far quicker than any of the rest but pretends he doesn't so he can eavesdrop more)

Partly out of his old affection for Finwe, Thingol invites Feanor himself to Menegroth.

Feanor definitely speaks stirringly, but over the course of their encounter it becomes apparent to Thingol that Feanor burns far too hot for anyone he wants to ally with. It's clear that Feanor is driven by a rabid desire for revenge and Thingol is also hugely not a fan of his "the Valar are against us" spiel (Feanor immediately pretty mistrustful of Melian and anyone related to her, including Thingol and Luthien).

He tries to end the meeting without making his stance clear, but Feanor pushes, and Thingol tells him his honest opinion: He doesn't trust Feanor as an ally, he thinks he's reckless, and he doesn't want any part of Feanor's plan to assault Angband.

Naturally Feanor loses his temper; they have a big fight in the throne room and Feanor accuses Thingol of cowardice and false friendship to Finwe; Thingol doesn't exactly throw Feanor out, but he is most certainly invited to take his leave, which he does.

Feanor storms out with his reps Maglor trying to stuff his number into Daeron's hand on the way out and goes on to launch the effort that ends in his death-by-balrog.

Basically I think Feanor would blow up any actual diplomacy with Doriath anyway, so his effort is always going to be doomed because he is exactly the kind of person Thingol would not want to ally with, and that gets proven to a T with how Feanor dies. I think Thingol would grieve this, because he would be inclined to want to help Finwe's son, but I don't think he would like Feanor, and he also has to put his people first, which means not tying them to Feanor's mania.

[ceescedasticity]

Unforsaken, 11a

(All sections on tumblr)

(AO3, lagging behind but more polished)

[There's been an AO3 chapter I didn't link here, the fairy-tale one.]

If for some reason anyone was hoping for a desolate wasteland with cold-drakes everywhere north of the mountains, they are disappointed.

(Well actually they were kind of hoping to find an obvious place to demonstrate the Wizard's Clay. This will take some thought.)

There's pine forest on the lower slopes of the mountains, and the grasslands rolling northward are green where they aren't full of wildflowers. There are buzzing insects, birds and rabbits and foxes, and a herd of deer in the distance.

So there's food for any cold-drakes.

More importantly, there's plentiful forage for the oxen and horses. Which they were already confident of thanks to palantír scrying, but it's good it's still here.

They could do some more palantír scrying to locate good campsites with water sources, but mostly they send the kids younger set ahead scouting.

(They are various levels of qualified for scouting in this environment, but it's a good thing to learn, anyway.)

Two days past Gundabad, at the nightly conference Arwen asks if they've seen any sign of dragons. She is is glad to hear they haven't.

And they're well clear of Gundabad?

And they haven't seen any orcs or trolls around?

All right. Then she has to tell them something about those grey swans with the Geese.

This is so much worse than the hair thing.

****

Everyone reacts very well.

Celeborn does not — does not — lash out at Maglor or Celegorm. It's old news, and anyway leaving Eluréd and Elurín to die (or not) was the work of a few rogues. He believes that. Maedhros and Maglor wouldn't have hurt them without an attempt at hostage negotiation first. No doubt Celegorm inspired his retainers' behavior, but it wasn't even his fault, not directly, since he was dead at the time. (Although, as his fëa was obviously lingering— No, probably not.)

Celeborn also does not waste time asking questions like: "How are they swans? Was Elwing's transformation not because of Ulmo? Did Lúthien turn into a bird, or into anything under non-emergency circumstances? Could Dior have?"

Instead, he asks, "…Does this have something to do with Nimloth not answering the Call of Mandos?"

Turgon shrugs, awkwardly. "I don't know. I don't know if she ever told anyone anything about how that happened."

"I think it must have been," says Whiterot, who is acknowledging the gravity of the news by actually speaking to Celeborn. "And this is probably also related to how risk-averse she could be. She must have known they were here and been afraid of leading the Dark Lord to them."

(Turgon can't actually see how any of the risks Leafblight wouldn't take could have led to her leading the Dark Lord to her sons. Even if she somehow knew where they were, how is that even related to keeping a low profile generally?)

Celegorm tells Maglor he is going to go dig a hole in the ground that they can demonstrate the Wizard's Clay in, and vanishes into the night. Maglor doesn't stop him.

Time of death notwithstanding, Maglor does blame Celegorm for Eluréd and Elurín.

Even before the Nirnaeth, Celegorm and Curufin used some very violent rhetoric on the subject of Thingol, his people, and his house. (Maedhros figured it was substantially about the Silmaril and Lúthien humiliating them, but also about scapegoating someone else for Celebrimbor's rejection, Huan's rejection and death, the breakdown in relations with Nargothrond, and for that matter Finrod's death.)

After the Nirnaeth, all of them found their thoughts turning more often and more darkly towards Thingol and the Silmaril he held, though they didn't test the Girdle.

Celegorm combined that with a steady stream of vitriol towards Beren and Lúthien and their son — Men were barely more than beasts, and Ainur were hateful aliens with no place in Arda, and their joint spawn were monstrous. Maedhros hadn't been in any condition to shut him up. Maglor hadn't dared pick a fight and break the facade of unity that was holding their followers together.

(It had been one more thing to feel guilty about, with Elrond and Elros — that he hadn't said anything while Celegorm dismissed their entire family as not really people.)

Maglor doesn't think Celegorm really believed it even at the time — he hated them even more than he hated everything else and wanted a justification, like Caranthir coming up with reasons to despise Angrod and Aegnor besides 'Celegorm and Curufin like them more than me'. But Celegorm's retainers had believed in him the way they'd once believed in Oromë, and took his words as truth, and he should have watched his words accordingly.

Also, it was blatantly obvious that Eluréd and Elurín should be taken hostage. Leaving someone who didn't realize that with command of his retainers was very irresponsible.

(Celegorm realizes within five minutes of leaving camp that he forgot to grab a shovel, but was unwilling to go back and get one, so he grimly sets to digging a hole with his shitty orc sword.)

Khitwê and Risyind know about Eluréd and Elurín, more or less; Elladan covered them the summer before while trying to explain the roots of Celeborn's mood.

Obviously the Hirnedhrim have never heard of them before.

Neither has Gimli.

…Or Sharlinnu. She realizes she probably could have heard of them if she'd ever listened to orcs-who-know-they-were-Sindar arguing with orcs-who-know-they-were-Noldor rather than trying to get them to shut up, but that is not the case.

She is as helpful as she can be by not sharing the official Pelndoru version of why the Noldor and Sindar have a feud, which reliably outrages Eldar of any background:

The strife between different groups of Journey-Elves is an old blood feud started over a cursed jewel filled with the perilous light of the gods. Some of the Deep-Elves found it, were driven mad, then lost it. Then some of the Grey-Elves found it and kept it and were driven mad. Because they were all mad, they had a war and slew each other over who should keep the jewel. Because the Deep-Elves had held it longer, they were more mad and turned on their own people. Finally it was sent back to the gods as it always should have been. The Journey-Elves had never had a war before, so they were very upset, and are still angry and argue about whose fault it was.

(Sharlinnu feels it conveys most of the necessary information, but does have to concede that entirely omitting the Dark Lord is an odd choice.)

Legolas has heard of them. Celeborn would be relieved, if he was paying attention.

(Thranduil met Eluréd and Elurín a few times, between their coming to Menegroth and Nimloth informing Oropher that her father's death did not mean she needed his maternal cousin to step in and offer unsolicited suggestions, and in fact, if he could not treat her and Dior as adults and his king and queen, then he could get out of their council chambers — which had led to Oropher leaving Menegroth. Thranduil was quite young himself at the time, and grieving his dwarf-slain mother, but he remembered the twins clearly. He didn't dwell on the Kinslaying, but he mentioned Eluréd and Elurín.)

Legolas does not however feel qualified to explain Eluréd and Elurín, much less explain why everyone is so tense about it. He's hoping Elladan and Elrohir will do it.

Thus far they have not.

Elladan and Elrohir are—

Their family tree is full of ghosts. Third Age Elvendom was full of ghosts. They have to be prepared to meet some ghosts. And they are!

But Eluréd and Elurín were children of a peredhel father and an elven mother, identical twin boys with a younger sister, and— They were particularly eerie ghosts, and not ones their parents encouraged them to dwell on.

It's taking a little recalibration to absorb the idea of meeting them.

Anyway they're having a hushed conversation by themselves, and not explaining anything to anyone else.

Glorfindel, once he's satisfied that violence is not going to break out, announces he's going to ride back and see if he can find the Geese to speak with them.

…Khitwê ends up awkwardly trying to relay what he understands of the history to Gimli, Sharlinnu, and the Hirnedhrim.

Zuste says with great feeling that being a child abandoned in winter is just the worst. No one asks.

Sharlinnu remarks that this answers a number of questions she didn't ask about Reckless and Leafblight but none of her questions about Whiterot; in fact she now has several new ones.

Gimli asks for clarification on the 'can turn into swans' part. Khitwê has no idea about that.

Legolas says he doesn't understand that part, either.

Khitwê: "You couldn't make an attempt to explain the rest of it?"

Legolas: "I really don't know more than who they were!"

Risyind: "But wasn't your king still hating dwarves over Elder Days grudges? This doesn't bother him?"

Legolas denies any understanding of why he does or doesn't know anything to do with the First Age and what that knowledge or lack or knowledge does or doesn't have to do with his father's personal opinions.

The Geese prove elusive. Glorfindel decides pretty quickly they just don't want to be found at the moment, but still dawdles a bit before heading back.)

Really, everyone handles it very well.

[fuckingfinwions]

Your mind is fucking awesome. You've completely convinced me of Sam-Dean Maemags. What's the end point, in your opinion? Do they ever come together (in Arda, after the twins leave, post reimbodiment, etc) Hell, even Maedhros dying and leaving Maglor to live life alone like Sam had to live after Dean's death is a near match in theme. I am a romantic at heart and I like to imagine that somewhere thousands of years down the line they share their own little reimbodied corner of the universe just like Sam and Dean share a heaven. Maybe it's a fortress, or a cabin in the woods, or maybe just a little camp in a plentiful forest where they won't be bothered (or noticed, if they sleep in the same bed roll...)

The boring answer is that they never actually commit that final sin/devotion with each other before Maedhros dies, and once Reborn they're no longer trapped together alone. They almost never speak of "how things were in the end", and do their best to ignore how much they need each other. They try to build separate lives as separate people.

But like I said, that's boring.

I think they fuck at least once in the late first age, with a flimsy excuse, probably due to one of their injured pride.

Maglor does a bad job hiding in the woods one time and Maedhros hears someone moving nearby. Maedhros tells him to come out and face me, would you really sneak attack someone who's jerking it? Maglor walks into the clearing so that Maedhros will no it's just him, not an orc or a bandit, and will stop yelling and giving their position away to actual threats. Maedhros says "Maglor!" in surprise, and comes.

After that, the boundary is broken. The other of them might as well stay and keep watch while his brother masturbates. (At minimum Maedhros should get to see Maglor's O-face once, so the intimacy between them stays even with neither having an imbalance over the other (that's a huge lie.) But also it's maybe practical.) The one who's keeping watch has to keep his stare moving, alert for any danger. And when Maglor is masturbating he gazes at Maedhros, so he'll know in an instant if Maedhros goes on alert. Not because he likes looking at his brother while stroking his cock, of course. But they both notice - and say nothing about - that they come faster than when their brother was off in the woods giving them "privacy".

I like the idea of them reembodied in a little cabin together. Somewhere far up in the mountains where no one else goes. Maedhros goes into Tirion for Fingon's centennial birthday parties, and Maglor goes to the every twenty years greatest concert in Aman, and the both visit Nerdanel once a decade. Other than that they keep to themselves. Their family knows that each of them is off living alone in the wilderness, but not that they're doing it together.

They don't get many visitors, but even when they do it's not hard to hide that they're living together. Maedhros will claim to be just visiting, or perhaps Maglor will spot the visitor before they spot him and vanish into the trees for the entire visit. The house has one bed, a few clothes that are short on Maedhros and long on Maglor, a rocking chair and an armchair that perhaps are just fir the inhabitant's different moods. There isn't anything as obvious as only two bowls or plates, they packed up a full set or ceramic dishes and half of it broke when hiking in. So there are three mugs and five plates and two bowls, and you gave no idea how many people live there. The weapons in the closet might reveal that someone is here who favors the longsword, or the bassoon in the corner reveals a musician. But even Curufin, when he visits, just believes that Maedhros visits Maglor more often than he does. After all, the cabin is so tiny, two people could never get away from each other there for even a moment, no one could possibly share that space without going insane.

Fic rec: Strange Currencies by jouissant is about Maedhros being reborn in Valinor, after he and Maglor married each other mostly by accident when wandering dying Beleriand. And elves can see in each other's eyes when someone is married, so Maedhros is trying to avoid anyone else putting two and two together that the brothers were both unmarried when last people saw them, and then wandered off together. It's very good and very similar vibes to this.

[cosmic-walkers]

i think one thing that draws me to the line of feanor is just how mundane they were, or how human they were compared to all the other elves. even in feanor's skill he was still very human.

they aren't portrayed as these flawless, morally good beings, they actually offer depth and complexity. they aren't perfect, they don't bow down to the gods, and they speak out against things. and they are branded as rebellious because of it - well feanor and his sons are - but it still is intriguing.

and it's even also in looks - and not just feanor but miriel and nerdanel themselves. miriel and nerdanel are perhaps the only high elven women that aren't described as inexplicetly beautiful, flawless, etc. they just seem like very human women, and sometimes i feel the narrative unintentionally puts them down for it. but in that, i love them so much because to me they are such relatable women. they aren't these glowing princess/queens that are seen as the fairest in the land, they are just very "human" women to me and that is what makes them extremely beautiful to me. they don't fit usual elven beauty standards for what makes elf women beautiful, but i still love them. and why out of all the women in the line of finwe i tend to connect to them more.

But back to Feanor and his sons (specifically maglor and maedhros), I think they were also very human. Feanor didn't leave Valinor for no reason - it was a mixture of grief, sadness, oppression and anger - and it is something that the other elves just don't experience. perhaps not until the death of their king, and even then, that doesn't necessarily make them 'less elf like'. Not in the way it makes feanor and his sons.

IDK i know the other elves are interesting in their own right but that's the thing; they are elves through and through, and don't really diverge from that personality or that perception in my opinion. but the Feanorians do.

I think the only other elf to me that feels human, and experiences very human emotions and experiences is Maeglin - he has a very hard upbringing and is thrust into a kingdom where he is essentially not very liked because of his heritage and who he is, and is even considered less fair (swarthy and orcs blood, and is loved little by the people there) because of his heritage and his negative treatment in gondolin crafts how he acts like a nasty. and then he is captured and tortured by morgoth to give away gondolin (depending on the version, in the version where he is not tortured by morgoth he is basically abused by the orcs to the point of begging them to stop) but because of who he is, he is still seen as evil because of it. this is not to excuse him but just to offer insight as to his unique character.

and like the feanorians maeglin is a complex, not perfect or flawless elf. and like the feanorians the flaws and characteristics that make him 'un elf like' are somewhat out of his control.

[tolkien-feels]

Oh. I had never thought about it like that. Those tags took me out: Curufin is Fëanor from a happy, stable, loving family. Do you have any headcanons about what Curufin was like in Valinor??

The answer to "Do you have a Feanorian headcanon for..." tends to be yes lol Hyperfixation. Blorbos never leave my brain.

So like, I don't think he was the sweetest person in the universe, or even in his family. He's very Intense™️, proud and willful, pretty much from birth. If Feanor is fiery, Curufin is fierce, which I'm using both in its modern sense and in the older sense of haughty, noble, bold. He's not volatile like Feanor is, but push him at your own peril.

Feanor's enemies are his own, he despises Indis and her family, but he also loves those who Feanor loves, which makes him, if never particularly affectionate, incredibly loyal to his family. As a matter of fact, he will take his family's side by default no matter who is right, especially if it involves Feanor. He simply doesn't differentiate between the right thing to do and the loyal thing to do, which makes his morality unpredictable.

On the other hand, when he doesn't feel like his loved ones are being threatened, he's soft spoken and careful, with a talent for understanding people and knowing the right way to interact with them - which later makes him great at manipulation, but starts out as stemming from Nerdanel's mood being bequeathed in part to him. (Am I claiming he's one of the Nerdanel-like sons? Yes! Controversial, I know.)

At his best, Curufin is just generally pleasant to spend time with. He's witty and charming and directs conversations with tact and skill. Living with him is full of ups and downs, but in small doses he positively dazzles people.

Also, he feels a lot of pressure to live up to Feanor's legacy at all times, which, if it makes him a perfectionist with an extremely fragile ego, also makes him mature and intelligent way beyond his years. People naturally look to him for leadership, and it's only natural that Finwe teaches him politics to greater depth and detail than he could ever entreat Feanor to learn. Curufin is actually Finwe's favorite grandchild, overtaking Maedhros.

Speaking of Maedhros, they're closer than you'd think, just because they're often the ones being taught things by Feanor and Finwe both. They just happen to spend a lot of time together, so even if neither their interests nor their personalities match (and they really don't), they have a sort of relationship where when things happen they share A Look. And like Nerdanel can calm Feanor down for a time, Maedhros is generally a good influence on Curufin - Valinor era Maglor just straight up sends every Curufin problem Maedhros's way. Not even Nerdanel has as much sway on Curufin, though of course, Feanor's word is law and Maedhros at his most influential doesn't hold a candle to Feanor at his least influential. (On that note: I headcanon Curufin has Issues with post-Angband Maedhros and I really have to make a post about that one day)

And here's a mandatory Celegorm paragraph: in the days before they're bonding over coups and kidnapping, they're still close, but in a completely different way. After childhood, they don't necessarily spend much of their time together, but because they were inseparable growing up, Celegorm remains the one person Curufin is truly comfortable being vulnerable around. He's the (near) baby of the family around Celegorm and nobody else - he has dignity and also a reputation to live up to, thank you. One of the clearest ways Beleriand messes Curufin up is that he begins to think of Celegorm more as an ally than as a friend, which means that codependent as they are, Beleriand era Curufin still keeps a wall between him and Celegorm. They literally never manage to have a single conversation about Feanor after his death, nor about Celebrimbor after their fallout, because where before Curufin would have sought support - even an unhinged one that is of the "Do you want me to kill someone for you?" sort - he later just shuts down any conversation that makes him feel out of control.

Is this enough? I could go on but I feel like you get the idea. Again, think Feanor but less volatile.

[actualmermaid]

Oh gosh, chapter 3 had several parts I'd like to know your thought process behind, but I don't know whether I'd rather ask about Thingol Has No Balls, the livestock body horror, or the burial (Rythredionnnnnnnn D: D: D: D: D:)

Today’s your lucky day because I WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT ALL THREE OF THOSE THINGS.Thingol Has No BallsI’m not very good at writing poetry or lyrics, so the Thingol Has No Balls song isn’t very interesting:Thingol has no balls, hey!Thingol has no balls!Without his wallsDown he fallsThingol has no balls, hey!My idea was that it’s actually a much longer song, with several verses insulting multiple aspects of Thingol’s anatomy/personality/martial prowess/sexual prowess/whatever, but that’s all I came up with. It’s the kind of rude song that a bunch of guys would make up to pass the time while cooped up in a fort in the middle of nowhere, but it’s much catchier than it has any right to be. Elrond and/or Elros overheard one of the Feanorian retainers singing it and the rest is history.“It’s a good thing you can substitute anyone else’s name for his, as long as it has two syllables,” Maedhros said helpfully. He paused a moment and then glanced upward, looking thoughtful. “Besides, there is nothing wrong with not having balls, and it’s cheap to imply that there is. I’ll bet you can come up with something much funnier than five-hundred-year-old soldiers’ taunts.”I really liked writing functional!Maedhros as this kind of Chaotic Neutral drunk uncle figure who would be like “I bet you can come up with something even BETTER and RUDER that doesn’t body-shame anyone because that isn’t cool, guys.”Livestock Body Horror It was kind of a snap decision to include the livestock body horror bit (I’m not going to paste it here) as part of showing that the natural world was in disarray immediately following Earendil appearing in the sky (and the beginning of the War of Wrath, though the characters don’t know about that yet). There are powers beyond mortal comprehension fighting for control of Beleriand, and the malformed goats, along with all the other weird environmental stuff that happened, are the unfortunate fallout.I can’t remember exactly where I got the idea for the malformed goats. It might have been after I watched this documentary about wildlife reclaiming Chernobyl (BIGGEST MOOD) and the general interest in a slow ecological apocalypse that informs a lot of my worldbuilding in Pieces of the Stars.Rythredion’s BurialLike the goat thing, the decision to kill off Rythredion wasn’t really planned out until I was already in the middle of the scene. I was mostly running out of things for him to do in the story, and I was getting tired of having to keep track of him, so… RIPDeath followed the house of Fëanor. They all spoke of those who had gone before in lonely accidents and great battles, sometimes suddenly and sometimes after long struggles with wounds and infections, all unexpected endings to lives that should have been everlasting. Each death was a heavy weight on those who remained. They either learned to live with it or they cracked under the strain, like Maedhros had.He had that sort of brotherly moment with Elrond and Elros in the previous chapter, so it added a little bit of an emotional connection to his death, and furthermore it gave me an opportunity for Elrond and Elros to come face-to-face with death (something that’s going to come up later in the story as they become more acquainted with the tradeoffs of mortality vs immortality).Re: the actual burial:Berenas’ friends prepared her body for burial. Maglor and Alagostor did the same for Rythredion. Elrond and Elros did not see them until they were dressed and laid out for the last time, still and solemn, surrounded by garlands of leaves and the tools of their trades. All their blemishes were hidden from view—with his polished helm covering his terrible wound, Rythredion could have been sleeping, but his hand was cold when Elrond touched it.…Rythredion and Berenas came to rest in a green grove not far beyond what remained of the walls. Their friends dug their graves in the soft earth, arranged nests of greenery, and placed them gently on their sides with their knees bent and hands drawn in close as if they were in their own beds. Maglor crouched by Rythredion’s side for a long time, speaking softly and holding his hand. At last, white shrouds were drawn over them both, and all worked to cover them in earth and stack stones into a small mound over each grave. Elrond and Elros, thinking of how Rythredion braided their hair that first evening, worked hard alongside the others.There aren’t a lot of details about elf burials in the Silm, so I got to play around a bit. Since the Noldor are craft-oriented, I figured they would bury their dead with tools, possibly in case they returned to their bodies and needed to start building something right away (idk either). Burying them in a sleeping position also makes sense for a species that doesn’t quite understand permadeath in the way that mortals do. The grave goods, burial position, and mounds are also found in some ancient burials IRL (again, I might have been watching some PBS doc about archaeology and got inspired)

[imakemywings]

I'm glad they (or you did in the tags?) mentioned Maedhros because given Celebrimbors actions toward his uncle and father and later his actions at the fall of his city, I'm pretty sure Maedhros is the last person he would want to see or want for comfort (it seemed there was a general consensus that Celebrimbor would look for him of all people for comfort or something, which is weird for me because like @undercat-overdog said, most people don't rate their uncles as the most important people and he hasn't seen them for thousand years and when he did hear of them, it's the news of them committing the second and third kinslaying). I also subscribe to @aipilosse's headcanon about the feanorian brothers not being that close hence why Celebrimbor can easily ignore them because the relationship wasn't that deep to begin with. I fervently agree with you about Finrod most likely the family he would immediately live with after rebirth. Honestly, I headcanon him living with Finrod and Finarfin because I feel like that's the house where Celebrimbor would be able to heal (I subscribe to Finarfin being the best father and grandfather out of the three, sue me.). And even if Celebrimbor did start speaking with his father and uncles (and grandparents) the relationship wouldn't be the same anymore, like he's polite but there's no warmth or fluffiness or tearful reunion or something, it's not there anymore. What do you think of him and Elwing bonding over the trauma of getting screwed over and losing their city and people to a bunch of assholes?

With FULL WARNING that everything following is pure headcanon, since we don't actually get anything in canon on how Celebrimbor feels about his family (except that eventually he found them so morally repugnant he no longer wanted to associate with them), I think we're a lot in agreement here, anon.

I'm not opposed to Celebrimbor having originally been close with his uncles--every family is different and sure, it could be that his paternal uncles took a particular interest in his life. I DO think he was very close with Celegorm, if only because Celegorm was such a presence in his life, particularly in Middle-earth. However, I don't personally see him as super close with his other uncles (However, Lady_Gavroche has an excellent fic about his relationship with Caranthir that's a lot of fun!) I don't think Maedhros and Maglor were very fond of children as younger adults (Maedhros makes something of an exception for his brothers; Maglor does not), so I don't envision them taking much of a role with Celebrimbor.

However, with or without the premise that he was originally close at all with Maedhros, I WILL stand by that I don't think he wants anything to do with Maedhros after his death.

For me, it's that Celebrimbor put his foot down before arguably the worst of the Feanorians' atrocities. Leading up to his essentially disowning his paternal family, we have: Alqualonde, the burning of the ships at Losgar (either of which Celebrimbor may have personally had a hand in, we don't know), the fractious relationship with Doriath, the coup against Finrod, the kidnapping and attempted forced marriage of Luthien, and the effort to use Luthien to blackmail Thingol. Already at this point, Celebrimbor says "No, enough, I can't side with you anymore." (And I think his moral journey from someone who, in my mind, participated in the kinslaying at Alqualonde and in the ship burning at Losgar, to someone who says "No, this is wrong and we can't keep doing these things" is soooo interesting.)

AFTER Celebrimbor has already sided with Orodreth and left behind his family, THEN we have the attempted murder of Beren and Luthien by Celegorm and Curufin, the failure of Maedhros to address their actions in any way, the Second Kinslaying, the particularly cruel way Elured and Elurin were killed, the Third Kinslaying, the kidnapping of Elrond and Elros who were then held onto for an unknown number of years, the slaying of Eonwe's guard and the theft of the Silmarils AFTER everyone else had put their whole heart into defeating Melkor.

Like, they got SO much worse after Celebrimbor had already had enough. I imagine the amount of horror and revulsion he feels towards them and the things they did are quite high. And Maedhros, the guy who was head honcho for ALL of these things--Celebrimbor is supposed to get comfort from HIM? This guy? Nah man.

Celebrimbor died in agony and torment trying to prevent more death and bloodshed as a result of his creations. Maedhros decided slaughtering a bunch of other Elves was the best way to get what he wanted. I'm really not sure what they have to say to each other at this point.

We don't know anything about Celebrimbor's maternal family (although @swanmaids has seduced me on the idea of Curufin's wife going along with the rebellion of the Noldor and going with the Feanorians to Middle-earth) but even on the extended paternal branch of his family there are other people who have experience with torture, even torture by Sauron or Melkor! Maedhros is FAR from the only person with this experience!

Finrod would be my #1 choice because he, like Celebrimbor, was tortured by Sauron for information, and because I like to imagine they were somewhat close in Nargothrond, and that contributed to Celebrimbor being so disturbed by the way Celegorm and Curufin treated Finrod. (This is a fun fic about Finrod helping Celebrimbor through rebirth.)

There's Finduilas, who's captured and killed by Orcs; there's Celebrian, who's captured and put to torment; there's Orodreth who was killed by Glaurung; there's Aredhel who dies of slow poison thanks to her husband...and there are probably plenty of Celebrimbor's other friends and acquaintances and neighbors who have similar experiences and whom he can sympathize with. Even Nerdanel is likely to be a much better choice, since she at least never partook in any of that. He has options.

And I agree, IF he had interactions with his father and uncles again, it would be a very different relationship from what it might have been before. I can easily see him deciding he simply doesn't want them in his life anymore at all, full no-contact (as much as that's possible in Tirion).

As for Elwing, I think it would take her a while to come around to Celebrimbor just because he IS a Feanorian and I don't think she's especially inclined to give any of them the benefit of the doubt, not least one who created Sauron's rings of power ^.^;;; I'm also not sure how welcome he'd be around where she lives since iirc her tower is in or around Teler territory and you know, Alqualonde and all. But it's possible he wins her over. Kirta does a really interesting fic where Celebrimbor and Elwing meet before the attack on Sirion.

I also think it's fun when he gets to chat with Frodo.

ANYWAY long story long...I can zero percent see Celebrimbor seeking comfort from Maedhros, and honestly, it would be INCREDIBLY audacious (derogatory) for Maedhros to assume Celebrimbor would WANT comfort or support from him at this point.