Michi Kaioh

It has come to my attention over the past year or so that Mermaids have become something of a “hot topic” amongst fiction writers. I’m not exactly sure where this came from, but it’s good to see. Unlike Vampires (which I obviously love, don’t get me wrong) who have been done to death (pun intended), merfolk don’t have a lot of boundaries when it comes to what people know about them. Meaning, things we “know” about vampires in fiction & media - sunlight is bad, they drink blood, they are immortal, etc… - haven’t been established so much in the minds of the consumer when it comes to mermaids and mermen.

However, it does seem there’s still a formula to nearly every book I’ve come across. It’s rarely in the category of romance (meaning, an adult setting where the main characters fall for one another and may or may not have graphic sex), it’s mostly in the category of Young Adult, and it’s almost always about a mermaid rather than a merman. Often, it’s about a girl who discovers she’s a mermaid or gets magically transformed into one. Sometimes, it’s about a girl who is hiding out as a human. And, more often than not, no matter the situation, the girl is a princess. 

I’m not saying this is a bad thing. More power to anyone who can write a cohesive story from start to finish because it is NEVER an easy thing! But, as someone who loves to read and loves a good mermaid tail (teehee), I’m getting tired of this formula.

I’m someone who loves to read about an ordinary person doing something extraordinary. Like Donna Noble in Doctor Who, who has no idea of her importance…

I want to see more ordinary people doing something extraordinary, and not because they are rewarded with a title or powers or because they are forced to. Not because they are secretly part something supernatural (or all and they are just discovering it), or have a duty to do so. Not because they have been raised from birth to fulfill a prophecy, or they are “the one” people have been searching for for millennia. And especially not because they are secret royalty (I’m so over this formula, you have no idea). No. They help because they want to, because, even if they don’t know it or want to accept it, they ARE special; and they do it because it’s THE RIGHT THING TO DO. There’s a reason Turn Left (where those gifs originated) is my favorite episode. When the fortune teller becomes so afraid of Donna and says “What are you? What will you become?!”, it gives me goosebumps because she has no idea how special she is. For one brief, shining moment, simple, ordinary Donna the secretary, is special. 

Look at Lord of the Rings, which I think holds up so well is because Frodo and nearly everyone in the Fellowship (except the humans…) are ordinary, and they do something because it’s right and they are the only ones who can do it.

I guess what I’m saying is, when I read, I like being able to imagine that I’d be able to do something extraordinary just being me, rather than wishing for powers or for something special to happen to me. That if it came down to it, I’d be able to make the right choice and accept a huge responsibility. Just being me and who I am as a person, that that’s enough and special… Wow, what a concept…

Rory and Amy in what appears to be Eccelston/TENNANT’s TARDIS!! From the new trailer just released by BBC

Doctor Who - Full Length Trailer for New Series 2011 - BBC One

So, the first episode or two of Series 6 of Doctor Who is going to be set in the USA in the 1960’s. Partially in Utah and also in Washington D.C.. I predict that one of these two episode will be called “Mr. Smith Goes To Washington”.

Just had to throw that one out there to the interwebs.