Clichés

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

I'm hoping to start a Mermaid Series on YouTube with a few of my friends. I've been looking at different clichés I should avoid.
Right now I have,
Girls finding an object turning into a mermaid.
Every mer controls one of the elements.
Its always mermaids never mermen.
The characters are always just running and hiding their tails.
Finding out their parents are merpeople.

If you have any I missed that would be great.

[SeaGlass Siren]

Forbidden Mer romance with a human

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Thanks, missed that one.

[Mermaid Fenicia]

turning into a mer after 10sec after touching water

[Mermaid Wesley]

turning into a mer after 10sec after touching water

But only after you post on 10 videos and say h20 ten times.
;)

Hey good luck! And remember that some cliches are ok, they're popular for a reason! The ones you have are a bit overused though :)

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

But only after you post on 10 videos and say h20 ten times.
;)

Lol

Hey good luck! And remember that some cliches are ok, they're popular for a reason! The ones you have are a bit overused though :)

I agree some clichés are okay. I'll be using the touch water turn mermaid type thing, but the characters have jewelry that's enchanted to help them stay human when they touch water.

[Kait]

the characters have jewelry that's enchanted to help them stay human when they touch water.
I like this, reminds me of Vampire Diaries and their daylight rings haha.

Also having only stick thin mermaids with long flowy hair. We are just like people, all shapes, sizes and hair styles :D

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Also having only stick thin mermaids with long flowy hair. We are just like people, all shapes, sizes and hair styles :D[/QUOTE]



The two of us writing it are more curvy, and have different types of hair too. Which is great in diversity. We are also going to have a rang in ages acting in it. One of the youngest actresses is 6. :)

[Kait]

Woohoo sounds great, look forward to seeing it :D

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Woohoo sounds great, look forward to seeing it :D




Thank you. :D

Im new to posting things, so sorry if things look funny or are posted wrong.

[Mermaid Momo]

Having no real control of turning into a mer
A lot of mers in any shows don't sing???
Mers who are aware of the human world too much
mers who seem to not even believe humans exist? Like I'm sure they'd have seen a human at least once bruh
All the mers look the same *glares at H20 and their same blonde,brunette white, tall and skinny mermaids*
There usually isn't any talk of mers from different cultures, I'd like to think that mers aren't one homogenous culture and that it changes around the world.
Not enough info with the merfolk lore. Like why are they here? What do they believe in?
A mermaid who has to go on land for either love, or to find a sister who fell in love
A powerful god as a father.

[SeaMansa]

Do you mean cliches from the mermaid series on youtube or mermaid clichés in general? But i'll give em both for what its worth.
Things I am tired of seeing:
Mermaids who are princesses, and specifically mention their father is the king of the seas.
Mermaids being disgusted at humans eating sea creatures. I am pretty sure mermaids eat sea creatures too or at the very least have witnessed fish being eaten by other animals before. "Fish are friends, not food"<--- Not today bruh.
Not really mermaid related but....characters talking to themselves. This is bad writng mistake because its not realistic. People don't talk to themselves, cartoons can get away with it, but its really bad and noticeable in live action. Avoid it. Characters can push information to the audience without having to narrate it for them.
Greek/Roman deities. Poseidon and Neptune that is.
Mermaids being able to speak to animals. Now I don't really have an issue with this, but its that the animals can understand the mermaids...when they are speaking plain English. By that logic, shouldn't animals be able to understand humans?
- Storyline of "Character becomes mermaid after find X object at the beach or going into a "moon-pool" at midnight" <--- give it a rest guys. There could be far more interesting ways to make someone into a mermaid.

Things I would like to see:
- Mermaid language. Mermaids speaking English right from the start bothers me (I am sorry, I am a writer and I usually try and go for some realism). I would prefer it if the mermaids had their own language (you could edit dolphin noises or whale songs or even sonars for example) and have the mermaids learn to "speak human" which could lead to some comedic episodes where they get into mishaps because they misunderstand things. They could be telepathic though which could also have some cool storylines.
- Mermaid culture. Do they have any beliefs? Rituals? Holidays? Dances? Stlye of clothing? What is their history, have they had communications with humans before? Why do they stay hidden.
-Mermen!
- Mermaid clothing. Usually we have the sea shell top, but i'd like to see more styles of clothing in general.
- Mermaids from different parts of the ocean. Are mermaids from colder regions similar to mermaids from warme regions? Are mermaids that swim around Africa the same as mermaids who splash around by Europe? Do all mermaids have the same tails? The same powers? Etc, etc.
-Queen of the seas. We usually get the Poseidon/Neptune/triton expy character or they are usually mentioned. We don't really ever get a sea Queen.

[BubbleNeon]

To be completely honest, I was a little too lazy to read through all the comments to see if anybody wrote this, but my biggest (call it a pet peeve) cliche is when the Mers can't tell anybody!
Why, cant they tell their parents? Are their parents gonna throw them out/disown them, because THAT would be interesting.
Or could you imagine the dad jokes, or the mom sneaky jokes. Like when a mom "slips" that you're on your period, but instead she just smiles and winks to her friends like; "Oh we have to go. We have some ~fishy~ business to attend to, if you know what I mean?"
Then all her friends just sit there like; "....... wut?"

Or even tell a best friend? Why does everybody have to go all "Gravity falls" and "trust no one"?

Also, why couldn't a Mer start a business and/or show their tail, and just let everyone assume it's fake? It'd be so funny to have little kids freak out saying; "You're not real!" Etc. Etc. When in reality, that little kid has no idea.

Anyways this is just a rant now I am sorry! [emoji29] but yeah, try not to go too over-board on the whole "secret" thing?

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[Mermaid Jaffa]

Shows I've watched, have merfolk with one blonde haired, one dark haired, one brown haired. They're Westerners or Caucasian. Why not have ethnic merfolk? And the evil ones are always either dark haired or blonde.

Why can't there be silver haired, redheads, pink hair, green hair, Afro hair etc.

And what's the attraction to coming on land?

Why not have a mer family that's been living on land due to their generations ago ancestor(s) being outcast from the merpod or ocean. Its always teenagers or young kids cast as the mermaid or merman.

I'd like to see something with a different plot altogether.

[Merman Storm]

The forbidden love thing goes further: Forbidden contact with humans. Also, forbidden for humans to know of the mer. That is, the mer general population get to know all about the human civilization, but its forbidden for the human general population to know about the mer civilization.

[Mermaid Aria]

http://merbooksblog.blogspot.com/

The top post covers a lot of them.

[Echidna]

http://merbooksblog.blogspot.com/

The top post covers a lot of them.

That doesn't sound so much like mermaid cliché, but rather like "every somewhat supernatural series for US teens"-cliché.
And they misspelled Andersen.

[Mermaid Aria]

That doesn't sound so much like mermaid cliché, but rather like "every somewhat supernatural series for US teens"-cliché.
And they misspelled Andersen.
Haha yeah, I think its because mermaids are becoming popular in terms of YA novels.

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[suzanne86]

I would like to see mers who are vegans. :-)

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Thanks everyone. These are great! I will be looking out for many of these.

[Echidna]

I would like to see mers who are vegans. :-)

me too!
And I got the impression that the majority of movie and TV mers at least are into eating a lot of sealife.
They even forced Daryl Hannah (who is vegan) to eat that lobster in Splash...

[Kait]

-Queen of the seas. We usually get the Poseidon/Neptune/triton expy character or they are usually mentioned. We don't really ever get a sea Queen.

Yes yes yes, this would be cool :)

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Yes yes yes, this would be cool :)



We are actually going to have one of the characters end up being Queen of the pod and lake at the end of the first season, because the pod vanished and there's only two merpeople left.
Every body of water, pod, or territory in the ocean will have a queen. The one doesn't because of a curse that slowly wiped them all out.

[Kait]

I'm intrigued!

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

I'm intrigued!




The character that's family is involved in the curse is our merman, only friend to the character I'm playing.

[Mermaid Jaffa]

I would like to see mers who are vegans. :-)

The mermaids in that Thai tv series were vegans. They only ate seaweed.

[telzey.amberdon]

How about a mermaid who makes her living as a performer at kids parties. She has to turn human every time she goes to or leaves a gig or someone might catch on. She would need a tail she never uses. Smart kids would see the difference between the real and fake tail.

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

I asked my boyfriend to be part of it. He said yes! (Only because I'm going to base his tail off the Mantis Shrimp lol :lol:)
So excited to get this started! So many awesome things are happening to me this year! Now the only thing that needs work on is motivation!
I also got a waterproof camera called Pro Air. It was originally $150 or more at our local Walmart. We only had to pay $20

[Kait]

I also got a waterproof camera called Pro Air. It was originally $150 or more at our local Walmart. We only had to pay $20

What a bargain :dance:

[Aziara]

Things I am tired of seeing:
Mermaids being able to speak to animals. Now I don't really have an issue with this, but its that the animals can understand the mermaids...when they are speaking plain English. By that logic, shouldn't animals be able to understand humans?

Things I would like to see:
- Mermaid language. Mermaids speaking English right from the start bothers me (I am sorry, I am a writer and I usually try and go for some realism). I would prefer it if the mermaids had their own language (you could edit dolphin noises or whale songs or even sonars for example) and have the mermaids learn to "speak human" which could lead to some comedic episodes where they get into mishaps because they misunderstand things. They could be telepathic though which could also have some cool storylines.


Hmm.... I could actually see how mermaids would speak English (or the native tongue of whatever landmass they border), as if they can turn human, I could see them going ashore from time to time to trade with clueless locals who have no idea what they are.
For having their own language, wouldn't it be cool if they could also speak dolphin, orca, and whale dialects? Thus "talking to animals" in a realistic fashion that is very believable.

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

What a bargain :dance:




I know! We got two of them. I practically forced my mom to drive to town to pick one up lol.

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Hmm.... I could actually see how mermaids would speak English (or the native tongue of whatever landmass they border), as if they can turn human, I could see them going ashore from time to time to trade with clueless locals who have no idea what they are.
For having their own language, wouldn't it be cool if they could also speak dolphin, orca, and whale dialects? Thus "talking to animals" in a realistic fashion that is very believable.


Im having one of the characters be able to speak to animals, because every mer has a special ability. The one character can't speak English to the animals (well she can, but they won't understand.) She can communicate telepathically in a way, like how cats talk to one another and animals that don't make sounds. It's a bit confusing to put in words, it makes for sense in my mind :lol:

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

I’ve had to scrap old ideas and put any mermaid productions on hold since last summer was not a very good one for me and my family. This summer I’m shooting for being able to film at least a season.

I have a good program for special effects (I’m learning so it will probably not be super good haha)
There will be no humans turning into mermaids
The series will revolve around a pod of mermaids and some visiting sirens who don’t speak English.
I have a few friends and relatives who are willing to do this with me. Gladly I have them. I do want diversity with different races or such, but there’s not a lot up different types of people this both, and if there is they have no interest in this stuff sadly. On the bright side not everyone will be the same body type.
I will be filming at an actual lake. The lake is actually a mining pit and it’s super clear and blue.

42824
42825
this lake is my child. I love it. I just really hope this works out and I can get things rolling. If anyone has any ideas and such let me know.

[Mermaid Holly]

I’ve had to scrap old ideas and put any mermaid productions on hold since last summer was not a very good one for me and my family. This summer I’m shooting for being able to film at least a season.

I have a good program for special effects (I’m learning so it will probably not be super good haha)
There will be no humans turning into mermaids
The series will revolve around a pod of mermaids and some visiting sirens who don’t speak English.
I have a few friends and relatives who are willing to do this with me. Gladly I have them. I do want diversity with different races or such, but there’s not a lot up different types of people this both, and if there is they have no interest in this stuff sadly. On the bright side not everyone will be the same body type.
I will be filming at an actual lake. The lake is actually a mining pit and it’s super clear and blue.

42824
42825
this lake is my child. I love it. I just really hope this works out and I can get things rolling. If anyone has any ideas and such let me know.Very cool!

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[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Very cool!

Sent from my [device_name] using MerNetwork mobile app (http://MerNetwork mobile app)


Thanks. I'm having trouble coming up with some plot ideas though.

[Ransom]

Thanks. I'm having trouble coming up with some plot ideas though.Hi Mool! There's a Writers' Guild thread here if some earlier discussion would help :) I also recommend the books from Writers Digest.

All the best! I admit to struggling with plot myself, and published stuff sometimes isn't much better. You're in good company ;)

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Hi Mool! There's a Writers' Guild thread here if some earlier discussion would help :) I also recommend the books from Writers Digest.

All the best! I admit to struggling with plot myself, and published stuff sometimes isn't much better. You're in good company ;)

Thank you for the help. I'll look into that.

[SIF]

Yes yes yes, this would be cool :)

Poseidon had a wife....

[SIF]

Let us all know what the series is called when you get going!

[MermanJamie]

Hi Mool! I'm really sorry I'm so late on this, but I agree with everything that everyone already said, especially having many different and diverse mermaids and mermen. Merfolk body image is something I've been thinking a lot about lately, because in most media, mermaids are slender and have tiny waistlines, and mermen are ripped with giant pecs and abs. To me, this repeated imagery could create some negative feelings in people who want to be mermaids or mermen, feeling like they have to starve themselves or work out until they pass out to look the part. (I know I've been dealing with this lately.) So having many different people who all look different would help to show that everyone can be a mermaid or merman, and it doesn't matter what you look like.

[Mermaid of Orbegon Lake]

Hi Mool! I'm really sorry I'm so late on this, but I agree with everything that everyone already said, especially having many different and diverse mermaids and mermen. Merfolk body image is something I've been thinking a lot about lately, because in most media, mermaids are slender and have tiny waistlines, and mermen are ripped with giant pecs and abs. To me, this repeated imagery could create some negative feelings in people who want to be mermaids or mermen, feeling like they have to starve themselves or work out until they pass out to look the part. (I know I've been dealing with this lately.) So having many different people who all look different would help to show that everyone can be a mermaid or merman, and it doesn't matter what you look like.


Most of the cast are smaller, since that is their natural body, small tummies and waists, their also very short lol. Their my smols.
One of the boys playing the merman has a problem with his voice box making his voice higher pitched and a bit cracky
I am not very small, I have a bit of a stomach from my chronic illness infecting my stomach, so I understand the body image thing a ton to where sometimes I feel bad about swimming in my tail, but then I see other mers out there who are curvy or a bit on the chubby side and it does indeed help quite a bit.





On another note I love creativity, but the creative process.... help!! omg. I've scrapped so many ideas, now I hope I have one. What do any of you mers think about mermaids being a curse? Instead of like a cool ability or magical genes, its a curse for doing a horrible deed?

[Ransom]

There are great principles for breaking cliché in Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. Maybe check it out? Then we can go over how this or that setup can work :)