Hey Nonnie! Nice to be back, and yes, I had a wonderful time with my lil family 🙂
IDK, there are several layers of answer here, and I went on a bit of a ramble. Please remember that these are only my opinion, bc you asked! If you want to explore these, or the question, in any other way, then GO FOR IT. But here we go (and I’m gonna go in point format, because it makes my brain less messy):
– We know that Thranduil is not a fan of Dwarves. At all. Any softer feelings Tauriel and Legolas develop for Dwarves come near-wholly from their own experiences, personalities and observations, and not from him.
– Sometimes children rebel against their parents when selecting a partner, true enough – but I don’t feel that either Tauriel or Legolas would have kept Thranduil foremost in their mind when they fell in love – that is sorta creepy, for one!
– Dwarves are very very private by nature. Tolkien uses the word ‘secretive’. There’s only a few places in the whole of the history of Middle-Earth when Dwarves and Elves have lived in close proximity to each other (e.g. Hollin) – and even then, they didn’t really mingle. They didn’t live together in the one city/place, but remained apart, nearby in their own kingdoms.
– Falling in love (actual love, not just lust or hero worship) requires reciprocal contact of some kind. There’s no internet in Middle-Earth, and so Elves need proximity to whomever it is in order to fall in love. If Erebor was situated in Harad or Rhun, then Tauriel never would have met Kili. If another Dwarf had been chosen for the Fellowship, Legolas would never have met Gimli. They would never EVER have sought Dwarves out, thanks to the climate in which they were raised by Thranduil. So, location and opportunity is a big factor.
– Adversity builds tremendous bonds between people (I am Captain Obvious now). Tauriel fights for what is right, which is ultimately for Kili and the dwarves’ cause… and that stirs up passionate emotions. We do get passionate about our causes, after all! They face terrible dangers as a consequence. Gimli and Legolas are side-by-side the whole quest, they are glued to each other by the end. They face overwhelming danger and darkness, together. That sort of bond goes deep.
– Timing is also a factor, though it’s a little more… eeehhhh *wiggles hand side to side*. But there’s this: Tauriel and Kili’s story happens long before the War of the Ring, and Legolas watches it all. Would Legolas have bothered to look deeper at Gimli if he had not already seen Tauriel’s story unfold? IDK, a lot of that is entirely movie-based and there’s not much to support it in the books. But they’re interesting questions.
so, back to the question – my opinion is that Legolas and Tauriel came to their relationships with Dwarves through other factors, ones which came from their own experiences and observations and passions. I don’t think that Thranduil’s parenting was the deciding factor in these relationships. But that would also make an interesting avenue to explore!
idk, I hope that’s an answer! And I’m really glad you like the stories, thank you so very very much! ❤ Have an awesome 2017!
Here’s a bit from Of Iron as well! Because to fuck with it! I did my whole list today, dammit. That warrants two sneaky peekies, possibly even three.
Ahem.
This scene is called Elrond Thinks Dain Ironfoot is fucking awesome because these two would get along swimmingly if they ever met. Argue with me, go on. Try.
the last movie you watched: Ghostbusters, probably. I need to get to the movies! BUT IT’S TOO HOT TO MOVE.
the last song you listened to: that wasn’t a children’s song? Um. I’ve been listening to a lot of Elena Kats-Chernin recently? This Piano Quintet is FUCKING KICKASS, it feels like gulls whirling and diving and soaring over an endless sea.
the last show you watched: BBC’s Life of Mammals. I like science, space and nature documentaries.
the last book you read: My sister gave me the script of Fantastic Beasts for Christmas!
the last thing you ate: Leftover kale, pepito, capsicum, and cherry tomato frittata. I made it for dinner yesterday, and there was a slice left for lunch today. YUMMMMMM. Cold and tasty- and low-effort hahaha.
if you could be anywhere right now, where would you be: TASMANIA IS COOLER, RIGHT? BUT NOT TOO COLD – i hate being cold, bc of my Raynauds. POSSIBLY MELBOURNE? NZ? THE MOON? it’s SO HOT omfg
where would you time travel to: Autumn.
fictional character you would hang out with for a day: oh curse you, must I choose. Okay, all right… hmm. Merry Brandybuck or Pippin Took. I’d be exhausted by the end of the day, but that day would have been awesome.
@determamfidd I absolutely love Custard and the pig from Sansûkh
Not sure what the pig’s name is, but I just feel that Petunia fits their snarky personality
Anyways
Here’s a set of pictures that shows them playing
Hope you like them
oh my GOSH THAT IS SO CUTE HELP *shovels salt all over head to counteract the epic SWEETNESS* aaaaaaaaahhh! lookit that happy kitty doing a pounce in the middle! And hells to the yes, Dain would TOTALLY call a pig Petunia (and Bilbo would die laughing when he found out) and alsdjhgfkaj sleeping all curled up together, LOOKIT THEM CUTIEPIES oh my gosh…!
and the composition is so clever ahhh! the panels marching down like a comic, telling the story of the playtime (whose legs are they harassing, I wonder! HOPE IT’S THORIN) and damn your handwriting is BEAUTIFUL and I’m still cooing over the last panel EEEE
alsjhdgflaj THANK YOU, THANK YOU SO SO SO MUCH! It’s utterly gorgeous! *clings to it and to you*
Today we learned that gravity is a fine musician. A team of Japanese filmmakers constructed an incredibly long wooden xylophone along a steady slope in the middle of a beautiful forest in Kyushu in southern Japan. Once the awesome instrument was built and carefully tuned a wooden ball was released at the very top. As the ball rolls down the xylophone it strikes each wooden bar once, producing a single note, performing Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring“ accompanied by the gentle sounds of a peaceful forest:
Aw Yiss 