There were quite a few people who absolutely refused to believe Elrond and Elros were who they claimed to be when they first came to Gil-Galad's camp. This led to the rise of several extremely questionable theories on who they really were, from the more mundane– they're just two half-elves the Feanorians found somewhere– to the more... esoteric, like that Maglor had "sung them into existence" to fool the armies of Valinor into letting them steal the Silmarils.
The most popular theory was that Elrond and Elros were actually the children of Maglor and Daeron of Doriath, and that they'd been kept secret for... some reason– look I never said the conspiracy theories made sense. E&E look a lot like Luthien (Luthien and Daeron are siblings with pretty similar features) and a bit like Fingolfin (who looks like Feanor who looks like Maglor), so it's not totally implausible. It would also explain how E&E had Maia powers without being Elwing's kids. And that was just enough information for it to become a completely unkillable rumor. Most of it dies down after E&E show some clearly human traits, like getting sick, but there are still die-hard believers out there. Some genealogies from the early Third Age list Elrond as Daeron and Maglor's child.
Elrond, who's been confronted about his "real parents" several times, is very over it. Gil-Galad thinks it's extremely funny.
Elros is just a random human child that Elrond adopted as his brother. They were both just playing on the beach, and the Feanorians attack, so Elrond just goes 'welp you're now my brother, just run with it'. And with the help of his Maia witchery, Elrond makes himself look similar enough to Elros that they're basically twins. (He also connects them together with said Maia witchery, but that's accidental).
Elros is probably a distant cousin of Elrond's (but then again, who isn't??) but he's def not Elrond's brother. But he also doesn't want to be abandoned and left to die. So he goes with it. And the two of them grow at relatively similar rates (cause Elrond is half-Man), so no one questions it.
And then Eonwe conveniently gives Elros an out when he offers Elrond the Choice (which Elros never gets, but no one else knows that). And after Elros leaves for Numenor, Elrond slowly starts removing the Maia witchery thing, and then it's completely removed about 400 years later, and that's when Elros dies (cause he's no longer connected to Elrond, who was keeping him relatively immortal)
Late submission for @maedhrosmaglorweek Day 7 - Storytelling
I think Maglor sang or read the twins to sleep almost every night when they were little (or simply told them stories of Valinor and whatever else came to mind because I assume they didn't actually have that many books lying around by that point in time, let alone ones suitable for children). And if Maglor asked Maedhros to "help" every now and then, it totally wasn't because he hoped it would entice his brother (who hasn't slept in a week) to rest as well. Maglor would never resort to such tactics.
Alt version below the cut because I couldn't decide on a color scheme and I had everything on separate layers anyways, so:
Elwing's goodbye, for @nolofinweanweek filling both prompts for Day 4 and for Day 5 (Elwing, Elrond, Elros). Double posting today because I'm working the rest of the weekend and I don't think I'll get around any more prompts this year.
This hurt to paint lol. I need to go lie on a cold floor for a while.
"Are the fëanorians war criminals" this "do elves even have a concept of war crimes" that, but have we considered:
Baby elrond and elros knowing that mistreating hostages is very much frowned upon and bringing this up every time maedhros or maglor does something like "make them leave the library" or "tell them to eat vegetables" or "fail to tell them a bedtime story"