I kind of understand that feeling. Even though I feel like English is my best language, I still feel uncomfortable with the way I phrase my sentences and stuff. So sometimes when I make jokes, I tend to bumble and fail at delivering it because I was thinking of how to word it best.

My best subject was math lol. I loved puzzle games as a kid and I think that really built the way I handled logic.

This. Yas. Bad puns are good puns too! They're honestly the kind of puns that make me smile even though I don't want to because they're bad XD

I feel the same with YA romance. I used to like the typical YA romance books. Then they started feeling 1-dimensional and boring. I actually dislike John Green's books for that reason. I think I have most of his books but I never finished any.

Will add that to my 'books to hunt' list. I know that this is an old way of thinking but I really like the way physical books feel. Not the smell though because I tend to sneeze if they smell old XD. But the feeling of turning the pages is so satisfying *^*. Also, I'd love to get recommendations from you. I'm also aware of Brandon Sanderson and I've yet to try out his books.

Me and my family used to be close when I was a kid. But when I started growing up, I chose to be more distant with them because of my low self esteem and other problems. We're slowly getting back to how we were before though which is nice.

Uhhh I'm not completely sure if this is it but I think it's Microsoft Children's Encarta 2006? That started my love for learning in general and my knowledge in mythology. I also had a physical set of children's encyclopedia (it isn't complete though and it's not with me right now and I can't remember the name) which helped me a lot with science. A big chunk of my foundation in science is from there.

As much as I'd love to make stories, I don't have the patience to write fiction. I tend to write straight to the point when it isn't conversational so it'd end up more like an academic paper than a story lol.

@Juli
If 4th year is thesis, then what do you guys do in 5th year? I can't say petite is accurate for me because I'm average height here.

A note on being sarcastic little shits, sounds like everyone in STEM. All my STEM friends and I are shit talkers.

My boyfriend is my comfort for me although I feel bad for him because I'm so stressed out and in social situations I just follow him around.

Oh you and friends sound similar. My friends and are vastly different people so I'm not sure what binds us besides familiarity and time. My best friends and I are another story. My bestie does migration law, we're both very open people and independent.Conversation comes easily for us and we talk about lots of taboo things that you can't open up with other people. My other close friend is hardcore christian whereas bestie and I are secular, she does IT. We get along because we challenge each others views and I show genuine interest in her beliefs. Idk, these people make good conversation. My other friend is an overly sensitive artist going teacher. The overly sensitive, clingy part makes her difficult but she's very caring and considerate.

Oh right, Mika your number was 5. Lol. Sending over some stuff soon.

I only have 4 years of CS because of my trimestral uni XD Although I will be pursuing the 5th year for my master's degree. God bless my (already dead) soul. I'm smaller than the average height here ~.~ I'm 5 feet flat.

What's STEM? XD

I do the same tbh. Whenever he tries to introduce me to his friends, I usually just hide behind his back.

The way you challenge each others views reminds me of my best friend XD Generally, my best friend and I have similar views. But our specifics differ. It's fun bantering with her because it's always intellectual and non-offensive. That and she's just a really good debater. We often talk about things that are considered 'awkward' by other people too. She's the realest person I know.

@Julianne1122

I'm scatterbrained and speak before I can properly collect my thoughts, so sometimes having a spoken conversation with me can be random and nonsensical. Online, I'm better able to collect my thoughts, and can take my time in phrasing things, so I come off as more loquacious. It helps that I have a dictionary in my bookmarks to help me find the words I'm looking for. XD

I often ruin my jokes by laughing at them. XD I swear, no one thinks I'm as funny as I think I'm funny. I'm a riot unto myself. But people do find me quirky, though, so there's that.

Ooh, dude, nice. My best subject was English (probably thanks to all that reading).

I agree! (About agreeing about bad puns. XD) In my last (semi-current?) RP group, we have one dude who makes amazing puns. Our characters tried to mess with each other through wordplay and puns and it was a riot.

My character got his character by calling him Calderp (his name is Calder), and he got mine by calling my character Gavril Lavinge (his name is Gavril). I was fantastically outdone by him, but it was great.

I am a fan of the Green brothers, although I've never read any of Green's books. I like who they are as people and enjoy their vlogs and how they try to make the world a better place by encouraging the younger generations to be the best they can be and learn and explore. I don't know if I'd enjoy Green's works personally, but I respect what he does with his writing. To me, he's trying to share some strong morals through his stories in a way that's intended to be understood or would connect to a young adult audience. As a person, he seems fun and positive, and active and real with his fans.

Oh, dude, I collect paperbacks still as well. I just like having them in my hand and knowing that I wouldn't lose them electronically.

I like that series enough that I would read it with anyone who would read it. Just so you know, if you're looking for someone to read it with. (I'm like that with all my favorites. I sat through Oofuri numerous times when I convinced friends and family to watch it, and same with Avatar: the Last Airbender.) Some things are just that good.

Would you tell me what elements appeal to you? Not genres, but what you appreciate or look to get out of a book when you read it. It might help me narrow what books to recommend.

I'm sorry to hear that you aren't as close with you family as you used to be, but I'm glad it's improving. For me, I think I've gotten better with my family, with the exception of my aunts and uncles. There's nothing wrong there, but I used to spend a lot of time with them as a kid, and now I don't have as much time for them as an adult. I try to keep in touch with one aunt and uncle in particular though; to me, they're like my second set of parents.

My relationship with my brothers and mom have definitely improved. I was a brat as a kid (and still kinda am?), but now that we're all adults, we have different priorities and better understanding of each other. No matter what, we've always loved each other, though. We were the kind of family that while my brothers and I would fight over the TV or snacks, we would never steal from each other, and we would try to be there for each other when one of us was upset.

It makes me sad sometimes to hear that not all siblings can get along to the point that they can't stand each other. Even though my middle brother and I are very different, and I get easily impatient or irritated with him, I still love him immensely and would often try to make him feel welcomed when he comes to visit (usually this means plying him with food and snacks). I'm also constantly concerned for him, although I'm bad at vocalizing this. But then again, I always worry about family and hope they're doing well. XD Vice versa too, apparently.


Ooh, interesting! I used to read the children's encyclopedia. I think we had a set at home? Or was it at school? I used to love browsing through it all. I just like having trivia knowledge for some odd reason. Maybe it's because I'm curious about a lot of little details.

The Magic School Bus and a bit of Bill Nye was where my science was at. XD PBS did me a lot of good, come to think of it. Sesame Street taught me numbers and letters, Reading Rainbow gave me good book recs, and Mr Rogers helped build my morals and sense of empathy. Barney taught me about friendship and responsibility.


Aha, nice! My writing style is actually wordy, but sometimes I have difficulty in collecting my thoughts or phrasing them just right. ((Here))'s a sample of what I can do on a good day, though.


@Poshi

Welcome back! And woot, sweet! X3

AHAHAH. Same. I crack up thinking about the joke I'm about to say while I'm telling it to other people. Especially with puns. Really bad puns.

I like the Green brothers as people too. I also like their channels in Youtube, most especially Hank Green's crash course. I'm such a nerd for knowledge. Also with John Green's writings, I do get what he's trying to convey. It's just that there's something off with the way he writes that makes me unable to finish his books. I do appreciate that his books try to tackle real problems though.

Same. It's reassuring for me to see the piles of books I've read compared to seeing a digital list. But I guess not everybody feels this way. Plus space wise, it's definitely better to get an electronic copy.

I probably won't be able to start reading the series until late December lol. Right now I'm still pretty swamped with projects (I have 4 due next week) so I don't exactly have the luxury to sit down and read. I'm procrastinating as we speak. I kinda want to rewatch Avatar: the last airbender now.

Hmm...it kind of depends. Sometimes I'm just happy with the world built by the authors and the rules and laws that govern it is amazing even if the story isn't that good. But I mainly focus on character interactions and growth. And definitely stories that make you think while you're reading it. The books you recommend don't have to be all those but it would be amazing if they are XD. Coincidentally, I love Dan Brown's books because of the plot and the way he makes me think about my knowledge of this world because of all the references he throws and the way he subtly weaves in fictional inventions into a real world setting.

I used to have a really bad relationship with my sister too lol. As a kid, I was the annoying clingy type. The fact that I looked up to her and used her as an excuse when I was doing wrong things irritated her more too. It got to the point where we would rarely speak to each other in over a year despite living in the same house. It's only recently that she started reaching out to me to better our relationship. I'm extremely appreciative of that fact.

Same same. I used to browse through the internet just to look for trivias lol. I also love those youtube channels that explain certain concepts or theories.

Brb time to read your story. I was surprised that you're on gaia too.

Sorry if I don't read the walls of text. I have a slight headache. I think I'm still not used to wearing plastic frames yet; again.

Eep. Sorry about that Lady River. Did you recently start wearing glasses again? Also, please try to rest ><

STEM is science, technology, engineering and maths. Very few here benefit from a masters/phd unless you're planning to be an academic and do research for the school. I try not to hard but some days I feel social and other days I rather nestle under his arm.

Mika I am similar ;-; I'm not articular either online or offline but it's so much worse in person. I'm the biggest mess in the world because my mind races at several kms per hour. I can't deliver prepared jokes, they're usually spontaneous because I laugh at my own jokes. No one thinks I'm funny either D: They just think I'm eccentric/odd.

I hated English and instead loved Physics and Chem.

Same Juli. I tried to read the fault in our stars and couldn't make it past the first page. I dislike his style of writing, I find it immature. I however enjoy their videos and it feels like we're picking their brains. I can be very picky when it comes to books. I read "how to make friends and influence people" and although I agree with some aspects I scoffed most of the way through.

That sounds like a normal family Mika.

Woah there's a lot of posting, I gave up after reading about three pages of long posts.
Speaking of books, reading about body language has helped me quite a bit in my life. You see, my body would respond well to someone's body language but I had no idea what was happening in their head.

Going to choose number two then :)

@Julianne1122

Nice. XD We seem to share a lot of similarities.

Oh yeah, I watch that sometimes too --though SciShow is where it's at for me. The LitoJohnny episode slayed me. I also watch their Question Tuesday episodes where they talk to each other and answer questions on VlogBrothers.

Aha, that's fine. Sometimes we like the person, but not their writing, or vice versa. I think Anne Rice is mean, but I have very mixed feels on her writing.

In contrast, I adore Turner through and through. I even wrote an email to her once, and she was very kind in her response, even commending my use of the English language. Unfortunately, I lost that email when I got locked out of that account, but it's still a fond memory for me. I follow her on her Tumblr page. She posts all sorts of interesting myth type content and story/world-building posts. They aren't necessarily related to her stories, but they are inspirational for storytellers of similar genre.

Yeah, the electronic copy definitely saves space.

Aha, that's good because I'm reading a lot of books right now, and I would cut in even more on my free time if I joined you (as much as I love the series). I used to (and still am) a big fan of the Jetko ship. XD; I once read a really great fic about the pairing, and it got me hooked. I see a lot of potential there --not just the chemistry between the characters, but conceptually as well. There's a lot of similarities and contrasts to work with.

I've always felt a little bad for Jet, dying like he did.

If you like world-building, DM Cornish is the go-to dude for me. His Lamplighter series is set in a complex yet detailed world (what threw me off was that he came up with his own names for the days of the week). He's drawn maps, I think, but even better is that he's a pretty great artist and has added many illustrations to his stories, including samples of the uniform and attire, as well as all the different monsters featured in his book. There's a sense of adventure to his story, though much of it is about prejudice. The protagonist also takes some getting used to.

Watership Down by Richard Adams may be more to your tastes, though. There is a lot of interesting lore there, but the character interactions and the story itself is what carries the book. The movie made for it is pretty intense though, but it captures the author's tone very well. (If I had to summarize this, it's about rabbits trying to find a new home because one of them had a negative premonition about their current one. There's really a lot more to it, but it's the adventures that they have and the way the story is written that makes it so good.)

Other than that, I think Sunshine by Robin McKinley is another good rec. It's a vampire story with a female protagonist, sure, but I really like the concept and world-building involved with this story, to the point that I often regret that McKinley is steadfast on not writing a sequel. In this book, it's the story that will really get you, rather than the characters. There are also a lot of beautiful lines and quotable content.

Then there's the "Tillerman Cycle", which is written in a simple and easily digestible style. It's set a few decades back, and is mostly about some orphaned siblings and they people connected to them. What I like about this series is that there are characters that break gender stereotypes or expectations (especially the protagonists of some of the books). My favorite of this collection (which you can read out of order) are "Solitary Blue" and "The Runner". "Solitary Blue" connects to me in its theme of self worth, and "The Runner" hits me with its issues on prejudism and the way it's tackled. I have almost the entire series on my shelf (not because I need to reread it, but because it's a favorite that it needs to be displayed, just like Turner's books).

Finally, if you like Arthurian tales, Mary Stewart's quartet about Merlin's life (starting with "The Crystal Cave") have ruined all other Merlin retellings for me. I first found this series over a decade and a half ago, back when I was reading a ton of Arthurian books, and I'm not ashamed to admit that I had a hardcore crush on Merlin because of it. (Every time I read it, it's rekindled because of how beautifully the character is written.) Merlin's a flawed character, and despite being portrayed as a person with intellect and power, Stewart's style and characterization somehow helps connect him as a very human character; someone who despite his power and heritage still feels very humble. I can't get over how beautiful Stewart's writing style is, UGH. Now I feel like I need to reread this series, even though certain parts of it feel like a stab in the gut with the level that I connect to it.


I used to read a lot of Dan Brown too --uhh, the first two of his Best Sellers, I think. "Angels and Demons" and "Da Vinci Code". I don't remember much about it, but I did enjoy them at the time.

I'm glad you worked things out with your sis. :3

I oused to (and sometimes do) go to specialized sites and just get lost in the content. I would read up on faery tales and mythical creatures, or witchcraft (to a degree) or information on castle life and knighthood, or flower languages or animal facts. Wikipedia was a rabbit hole for me; still is, if I let myself get caught. When it comes to trivia stuff on the internet, I just go to YouTube.

Aha, I'm not active on Gaia; I just use it to find RPers when I want to write. And those aren't stories; most of them are just RP intros, LOL. That particular link features my character, Sereno in different opening scenes. I used to like writing for him a lot, because of his haphephobia (er, that's not quite it, but basically, he doesn't like being touched.)

I eventually snagged the perfect RP partner to write his story, though we never finished (because I couldn't commit. *facehands*) Basically, a gypsy (Yann) forces his way into Sere's life and ends up whisking him away on an adventure. The two work together towards a mutual goal of saving Sere's community from a crooked politician by restoring power to a wizard of said community. They both end up working in the background and uncovering runes to help with this, and on their travels, they begin to appreciate each other's differences and strengths and fall in love. Thinking about it, it's one of the better and more concrete endings for my RPs. XD I can count the number of successful romantic relationships in my RPs on one hand. (Not saying that the majority of them are unsuccessful so much as I'd say that most aren't OTP worthy.)

The RPer for Yann is a pretty amazing writer, and a really chill person. I was continually impressed.


@Poshi

Aha, I think you're fine online though?

If you say that's normal, then it's really sad that some people don't have the luxury of a normal family. D:


@Haze @Lady River

*pats* Please excuse us and our walls. We wanted donuts. XD;