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!