Kingdom of Knuffel

I agree. Sometimes just seeing my friend's face in the crowd is enough to calm me down.

Yeah. That's what helps me when I have to lead a Bible discussion in my Bible Study. Even though our group is small (about 10-15 members on average) and we're all friends, I still get nervous about public speaking and taking charge of things. However, knowing that there are others in my group who are also on the leadership team (about six of us are) and knowing they'll help me if I falter really helps me step out.

I also have something similar where whenever I get upset, or stressed, or get anxious, I can text Ocean and she'll help calm me down. I really take comfort from her in particular --not only because she's my best friend, but also because she doesn't coddle me, but instead is understanding and yet practical. She'll give me advice on how to proceed, and her levelheadedness calms me down and comforts me. She often knows what to say to help me. (My brother is also the same way in this regard; they both seem to have high EQ.)

Ah. I have a friend who is like that for me too. He's the type of person who is almost always sarcastic but if I'm really stressing out, he just gives me solid practical advice while trying to mix some humor in to make me laugh.

Aww, that's wonderful.

My friend JK and I are the more sarcastic ones in the group. We both joke about how salty we are. XD

I think all of my friends are sarcastic lil shits, me included. But we have different kind of sarcasm(if that makes sense).

Aha, yeah, it makes sense to me. Like JK's wit tends to be geared towards pop culture and politics. I'm more of the dark humor variety. We both love puns though, oddly enough.

But everyone in my group is pretty diverse, which is great since we introduce each other to different things and can connect to different people on different points. Like there are some friends I love discussing theology with, and some that I love geeking about anime with, and some that I just talk about work with. And for my friends, they have other friends to talk about Marvel with, or play video games with, or bond over music with. In the end, no matter how different we are, we all know that we care about each other. Even if we end up hanging out with someone in the group who's a complete opposite, there's a sense of peace in knowing that at least we're both alright with each other, and we try to connect and bond over what similarities we do have.

I think that's a thing with sarcastic people. All of my friends love making puns (even though they pretend to dislike mine).

Most of us have the same base interests like reading, watching, and playing games. What makes us different from each other is the genre of our hobbies. For example, I like reading mystery thrillers and biographies while others like reading romance and drama. I'm also really big into mythologies.

I read somewhere that witty people are often intelligent. Makes sense, since you've got to be a quick thinker to make a good come-back. I'm very good at this in Thai for some reason.

Oh, same, same. My friends would often tell me to get out whenever I come up with a pun. XD I think it's because I often come up with them when I'm with someone in their car (maybe because we just talk a lot together when someone's driving).

Ooh, nice! I have some friends who enjoy reading mysteries as well, but I'm more of a YA fantasy or adventure type. Mythology is awesome! I love looking up folklore, and many of their elements are added into my stories.

Maybe because of how often you use it with family members? Despite Filipino being my first language, I'm actually quite bad at it lol. There are a lot of linguistic intricacies that I don't understand. Not to mention a lot of regional dialects that gets mixed in into the language as well. After PE, it's my 2nd worst subject lol.

I like making good and bad puns but I tend to exaggerate the bad puns more just to see their reactions. They never fail to satisfy.

I used to like YA novels but recently their core plots are starting to feel too similar. I've inherited my love of mystery from mom. When I was in grade school, she gave me all her Nancy Drew books. That got me hooked on reading. Mythology was just a thing I was interested in because of a certain children's encyclopedia. Now I'm obsessed with it.

You write stories? :o

It's possible. I think it could be that I'm more witty than I give myself credit for, but since I'm introverted and shy, I don't get to express a lot of my wit in English. Whenever I speak Thai, it's almost always because of family, so I tend to feel more comfortable there and so would be more quick in my responses.

Aha, my worst subject is math. After that would be PE and history. *facehands* I'm just very bad at numbers, and have poor stamina.

All puns are funny, aha; some more so than others. You've gotta appreciate a bad pun for how bad it is, though. XD

I see what you mean about YA novels. I haven't read up and coming or recent hit authors in a long time for YA, mostly because despite my love for YA fantasy, I strongly dislike most YA romance. It's fine if people like it, but I have a pretty high standard for relationships (that is that the characters are mature enough to communicate, and that they characters like each other as individuals and not as just an attractive romantic partner). Teen drama also gives me a headache (to the point that I rage-quit Legend of Korra).

If you like mythology feels and YA fantasy, I would recommend Megan Whalen Turner's "Thief" series. I found one of her books while browsing through an airport bookstore, and fell in love after reading it. She's been my favorite author ever since (which has been over 10 years, I think). All of her characters (regardless of age or gender) are interesting, and rather than push their physical attributes, Turner tends to emphasize her character's personalities.

(Not to say that she doesn't describe her character's appearance at all [she does this with female characters more than males for tactical reasons], but that her characters are so jam-packed with flavor --individuality and attributes, that one would remember them for what kind of person they are before recalling what they might look like.)

I need to read her latest book, but I'm in the middle of three (maybe four?) other books right now. DX

Anyways, I think a lot of good YA authors are out there, but we need to find them. I can recommend a few, if you like. I read a lot, and different authors snag me for different reason (for characterization, or world-building, or plot, or concept, etc. Turner hits all the right spots, though.)


That's very sweet that it's something that you and your mom have together. I bond with my mom over Christianity. We both like talking about God and the good things He's done in our lives. I think it's because we've both had struggles in certain points in our lives, and God has helped us through them, and we're both grateful in different ways and feel encouraged when we share together. It keeps us positive and hopeful, I think. Plus, when we both look back and see how hard things use to be before, it's hard not to feel blessed with what we do have.

Aha, my mom and aunt used to read to my brothers and I when we were children, and they both worked in a library and took us to libraries as well. It probably fed into my love of reading.

Ooh, tell me more about this encyclopedia. I read this bestiary in my elementary school library when I was young, and I think it definitely had an affect on how much I love mythical creatures now.

Oh, yeah, sorta. I'm more of a creator than anything --I enjoy world building and creating characters. Most of the time, I keep it limited to those aspects and elements (planning the details, working out the backstories and personalities and depth of my characters), but when it does come out in a more concrete form, it's usually in RPs. I've written snippets of stories before, but the appeal of writing and working on characters to me is the lack of an ending (which is why I don't usually write actual stories, but more often scenes in a character's life).

What about yourself?