*UPDATE*
Hiiiiii! I am still in Los Ãngeles, spending time with my family and sightseeingâleaving me no time to write! Also, I have no laptop and sprint as my phone server. ð So unfortunately I will not be updating a chapter today, but instead, I'll be re-releasing Tea Bodhi.
I am not sure if I want to continue this segment. I was hoping for questions to clarify what has happened already in the story. People had been asking questions that were boarding on spoiling on the story. So, with that being said, no more questions! ð All your questions will be answer in the story.
Anyway, thank you for y'all's amazing support by voting and commenting on my story! Our fan base for Glass Prison is growing and that calls for a name for our fandom. Comment here on what it should be! ð
If you wanna follow me on my adventure in L.A. â follow me on my insta at andie_s.e
Enjoy~
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BODHI: HIIIIIIII!!!!! WELCOME TO TEA WITH BODHI! (Poses like a vogue model on couch)
GALE: Why are you yelling? They can hear fine. (Grumbled)
BODHI: Stop being a grouch, Gale. Oh! This is Gale, my amazing shi-amare! He is the guest of the show for today! (Waves towards him like a car salesperson)
GALE: (Shifting in his chair) Hello, humans.
BODHI: Okay! Let's get started! (Claps)
(Looks at question cards) Oh wow! So many questions! (Jumps excitedly) And questions for me! (Squeals excitedly) There is also a lot of questions about our kind. I DON'T KNOW WHERE TO START! (panics)
GALE: (Sighs) Give me the cards. Lets see... Let me categorize them. (Organizes questions) Here, that'll make it easier. (Gives cards back)
BODHI: Oh wow. I see what you did here. (Smiles at Gale) You're awesome!
GALE: I know. (shrugs)
BODHI: (rolls eyes) First topic. Gale's personal questions. (Reads card)
"Hi Bodhi! I have a question for Gale. Gale, what color is your tail? And how can you handle Bodhi?! She is a crazy shark!? No offense Bodhi, cause in chapter 11 Meredith had to tell Bodhi don't do this, stop that, and no you can't do that. Plus, she ate an entire bag of Doves chocolate!!! -Twilight_Marvel
BODHI: Hey! (Sputters) It just... everything was new to me... And I was excited! I wasn't that bad... (mutters)
GALE: (Laughs) Poor Red. Wish I could have seen that. As for the first question, my tail is gold and resemblance a shark's tail. (Rises his chin) Only better, of course. I believe you see my tail in chapter six of Glass Prison. And for the second question, I don't handle Bodhi. She's her own person and I... (mumbles) love her for that.
BODHI: (Lips tremble) AWWWWWWW! I WUV YOU TOO!
GALE: (sighs in exasperation)
BODHI: Okay! For the second topic, my personal questions! (Bounces in seat) First question!
Bodhi, what is your favorite style of shoe? -Livkingz227
(Breathes heavily)
GALE: Oh no.
BODHI: YOU CAN'T MAKE ME CHOOSE! (wails) That's like asking someone to choose between food or air! But if I HAD TO choose... (Bits lip) Leather boots! They smell amaaazzinnggg. (Derp face) I feel like a badass when I wear them and you can wear them with anything! Oh gosh, I love those uhmm... (snaps finger to remember name) Creepers! Those are so fun to wear and they make me taller! I do love the heely ones. I feel so sexy and tall when I wear them. Also the high heel serves as a good weapon too! If you angle the stiletto at a right angle, aiming the enemy's eye, you can reach the braiâ
GALE: (Clears throat) Let's stick to the questions, shall we?
BODHI: Right! Anyway... Next question!
Hi Bodhi!!!! First of all you're my favorite merwoman!!!! What's your favorite color? -Twilight_Marvel
BODHI: OOOO! My favorite color is yellow! It's so bright and pretty. Yellow complements my red-orangish tail! And yes, of course all the characters have a favorite color! We still have likes and dislikes. (Giggles) (Scans the cards) The rest of the questions are mainly about our anatomy.
GALE: (Rub hands) Alright. Let's choose the most frequent question.
BODHI: Our tails!
GALE: Uh, you have the questions.
BODHI: Oh right. (Picks up cards)
How tall are the mers in their form?
Hi Bodhi! Is it possible for you to grow your tail back? (not that I don't like you in your human form!)
Could you describe their tail in more detail so I could envision them more...idk how to say that, help.
How do you mers swim with your arms, are your arms in front of you as you swim or at your side?
Gale, take it away! You know this stuff more. (Looks away) Not that I didn't pay attention in class...
GALE: (Stares at her) Because you never showed up to class.
BODHI: (Sputters) It just... SO HARD TO GET UP EARLY! (Wails)
GALE: (Rolls eyes) Alright. Here we go. The author posted some tail biology stuff on the story's tumblr page. But we can bring it here, I guess.
GALE: Our spinal is longer than humans, but our tail would not be the same length as a human's legs would be according to their height. Our tail makes up â our height.
BODHI: And the fins obviously add more length to our height!
GALE: (Smiles proudly) Right. I would say the fin add approximately two to five feet to our length. Then again, it depends on the type of fin we have.
GALE: See, we don't all have the same fin.
BODHI: Just like how humans don't have the same kinda toes, ya know? Some has the second toe bigger than the big toe!
GALE: For instance, in human formâI'm 6'2" but in my form, I am about 10 feet tall.
BODHI: In human form, I'm 4'11" (Pouts) but in my form, I am about eight and a half feet tall. My fin is longer and a bit frilly. (Search for pic as an example) HERE! This is the closest tail art that I can find that looks most similar to mine but the color is different.
GALE: (Frowns at picture) Your looks way better than this cartoon.
BODHI: Gale! (Whispers) We're in public...
GALE: Next question!
BODHI: (Reads card) Yes! Of course we can go back to mer form.
GALE: Obviously since It's our true form. Also, shifting mer or human, it's not easy. It's an extremely long and painful process.
BODHI: And another on how we swim and how we swim with our arms!
GALE: Ah, here's how we differ from humans. Like fish, our bones and muscles are less dense than water when we're in mer form. So we're more buoyant and we can counter gravity. This makes swimming easier for us to swim since humans not only need to be able to move, but be able to stay afloat. We don't have to worry about that.
BODHI: (Stares at Gale in awe) You're so smart!
GALE: (Puffs out chest) Thank you, so are you.
BODHI: (Giggles)
GALE: Now let me see that brain of yours.
BODHI: (Grins) And the slightest twitch of our fin can send us at a walking pace with our arms on our side. But when we need more speed, we put out arms out in front of us to cut through the water more smoothly and at a faster speed.
GALE: Just like humans with their running. You don't see humans walking with their arms waving around erratically and when they're running, you don't see their arms hanging slack by their sides. It's common physics. (Rolls eyes)
BODHI: Gale. (Glares) Behave.
GALE: Excuse me, readers. (mutters) Anywayâ(Indicates the picture above) See the fin on the side, where our human feet is? They're not for decoration. They're pretty important to us. Nearly all the mers have em. They help us keep us level and can help us 'steering', you could say.
BODHI: Pretty much keep us even so we not tumbling around like crazy. Think of it like airplanes. (Looks down to cards) Here's the next question.
At what age do mers come of age? -StarlightRyder
GALE: Hmm, when is humans considered "of age." As far as I know, there are some thirty year old human man who still lives in his parent's basement, still living off their income. Would you consider him of age? I say a leech, not "of age"... But what do I know. (Shrugs)
BODHI: Gale! That's rude! Just try to answer the question! (Looks to readers and whispers) Sorry, Gale can be impatient and a bit of a grump.
GALE: I can hear you!
BODHI: Oh, that's another thing. All our senses are waaaayyyy better than humans. As far as how much better our sense is... that'll be answered in the story.
GALE: (Sigh) Hmm, when we are considered "of age"? I would say 16 since that's when we finish our basic education at school in math, science, historyâyou get the idea. Since we can basically live forever, we mentally age faster than our bodyâlike a few extra months every birthdayânothing major Merchildren are very intelligent and can easily learn a multitude of languages. Their intelligence is what keeps them alive in the great blue oceans. Also our body ages at a human rate from birth, but it slows downâI'm guessing somewhere at 25 years old. I hope that answers the question.
BODHI: Nicely explained, Gale! (Looks to audience) Isn't he sooooo smart?
GALE: (Clears throat) It's just basic knowledge...
BODHI: Here's the next questionâor rather, topic! About what makes a mer a soldier!
GALE: (Looks to audience) We're gonna keep the answers brief and to the point, since it'll come up in the story later and we don't want to spoil it.
BODHI: Ok! Now that's out of the way, we can start. (Claps hands) After we finish our basic education. We kinda go to "college" but the eldersâ
GALE: By elders, we're not talking in the sense of old, wrinkly mers, but professionals in certain career paths. You can continue, Bodhi.
BODHI: Right, thanks for that. But yes, the "professional" gives us certain tests to see our aptitude and what skills we have that can benefit for our kingdoms. Some mer might be more artistic whereas another would have a higher aptitude in the science field. Then we're chosen by professional for that career path. As for the how... that'll come up in the story later.
GALE: But to be chosen for the Sea Legion as a soldier, one must show soldier qualitiesâstrength,quick thinking, and speed. Now, any mer can enlistâswitching from their chosen careerâbut not every mer can last, muchless make it through brutal training.
BODHI: (Gestures to Gale's tattooed arms) They also wanna know what the tattoos means?
GALE: Like humans military soldier, they wear medals and stripes on their uniforms to showcase their achievement and valors they showed.
BODHI: And we will know more about the tattoos later in the story! Excellent question! You guys are really paying attention!
As for the elements and powers, we're leaving that unanswered. The answer will be coming up in the story soon. (Winks) Now on to the next topicâshi-amares.
GALE: (Shifts) Ah, this is not gonna be the serf perches and the zooplankton talk?
BODHI: (Rolls eyes) Not that part! I'm sure the readers just wanna know the basics, like (looks at question) if the color of our tail or if our status has to do with our chosen one?
GALE: Well, humans, do you choose your mate based one hair color or jobs?
BODHI: Actually...
GALE: I mean, for those who actually falls in love and are not ruled by greed and lust. I've heard the human's saying "we don't choose who we fall in love." Shi-amares is similar but much more primitive. We really don't choose and it can happen to anyone with anyone. That's all I'm going to say on this topic without spoiling the story.
BODHI: YAY!!! We covered all the questions! We'll, readers, I hope this will help you understand our world a bit more! Now, let's give an applause for Gale! Thanks for joining us, Gale!
GALE: Thanks for having me and thanks for all your questions!
BODHI: Maybe I'll see you guys next time! BYEEEEEEEEE!!
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AUTHOR: HIIII GUYYYYS! I hope you enjoyed this special segment. (lol) Anyway, I really wanna say thanks for all the questions and support. As for the question of whether I know the ending of the story... I did have the ending of the story that I wrote eleven years ago, but with time and plot and new characters, it seems the ending is becoming more vague. I have a general direction and a timeline written down for me to go on, but it can change. I am just excited as you to see where it goes.
Would you believe that Bodhi didn't exist in the old story that I wrote when I was 13? When I made her last march, she wasn't a character that I intended to keep around muchless become a major character and make her shi-amare to Gale. I barely even wanted to keep Gale around as well. But I fell in love with Bodhi and Gale, I couldn't bear to let them go.
At this point, I feel like I'm not writing the story, but the story is writing for me. I'm just following it to see where it takes me too!
Thank you, readers, for all you support!
- Andie S.E.