#these also remind me of the last kidnap fam companion piece project i did

[arlenianchronicles]

Fire and Smoke. Wrath and Grief.

Throw a pair of star-eyed twins in there, and you got yourself the Third Kinslaying!

On a more serious note though, it’s generally thought (within the story) that the twins are in danger when the Fëanorians first pick them up. Elrond and Elros must surely believe it when Maedhros and Maglor take them. But then this scenario popped into my head while drawing: if the twins were found during the carnage, they were likely (and objectively) safest with Maedhros and Maglor than anyone and anywhere else in Sirion. The Fëanorians were probably thought unbeatable by any Elf at this point (not including Morgoth loll), so none of the soldiers would be able to touch the twins if Maedhros, and especially Maglor, stood in their way. And I’m sure the Orcs wouldn’t stand a chance at all, either.

I don’t know if that makes sense loll But aside from those thoughts, I also kinda imagined little scenarios to go with these pieces. To start with, we have Maedhros and Elrond. I usually pair Elrond with Maedhros since this pairing is quite uncommonly done in fanart and fanfiction. As you’ve probably guessed, Maedhros is fire and wrath here, but though Elrond may fear both, he is in fact safe from both. Maedhros’s wrath is directed at things beyond Elrond’s control, and he shields Elrond from the flames with his red cloak.

As for Maglor, he is smoke and grief. Grieving for Amras (and Amrod if you don’t go with the Losgar version of canon), the Silmaril’s loss, and a whole bunch of other things. Smoke blows all around them, both from Sirion’s destruction and his men and brothers’ funerals. He turns his face to the smoke, deserving the pain of breathing in the putrid stench, but keeps Elros facing away from it. It’s also a bit hard to see, but Maglor’s hair shields Elros from the smoke as well.

While drawing this, I listened to “Lai Lai Hei” by Ensiferum, a Finnish melodic folk metal band. It probably doesn’t fit the tone of the paintings, but I felt that it did click most with Maedhros and Elrond’s piece after a while XD