February 2026 - Vol. 23, Issue 1

From r/MermaidProgram

Should I ask my supervisor if she’s in the program?

u/fish_ez • 1d

I (23F) just started working here and my supervisor is gorgeous. I know it’s a stereotype but she has the look. She’s super friendly and told me I can come to her about anything so I feel like it wouldn’t be totally out of line. Do I ask her?

u/ng09327482734126

no.

u/mervelousmaid32

Girl, no. What if she isn’t? Do you just quit?

u/SwimThisWay

You’re being super vague. What kind of job do you have? How old is your supervisor? You mentioned the “look”, but making that kind of assumption never ends well.

It’s not a bad idea to talk to a trusted adult if you’re struggling, but work is not the place to do that. Have you told your parents, or a therapist? Start there. DO NOT ask your supervisor. Discussing your personal life at work could get you in trouble with HR or whatever equivalent you have.

> u/fish_ez

We have an HR department. I don’t know if I’d ask her at work but maybe on break or something. Also I think she’s older, like in her 40s, because her kids are teenagers. I know it’s unprofessional but you guys don’t know her, she’s literally so friendly and sweet.

When I say she has “the look” I mean she’s almost like the ones you see on TV. I hugged her on my first day and could literally feel it. I won’t do anything that would get my job in trouble but I feel like we could have a lot to talk about.

u/hanabananaaaaa

i’m like 99% sure my teacher is in the program and its driving me crazy. you should ask her 

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From the Mermaid Tales forum

(ARCHIVED) For real members of the Mermaid Program ONLY. Posts suspected of mocking, parodying or spreading misinformation will be taken down.

My story

13 September 2018 • Posted by miss_fish

Hi everyone! Hopefully this is allowed.

I feel like I didn’t get into the program in the conventional way. Or maybe you could say… I got into it backwards.

My mom had a lot of self-help books lying around, so I started reading them when I was in middle school. I felt really restless, like I had to do something with my life before I lost the chance forever. I got really obsessed with clean eating and skincare and stuff.

Of course I knew about the concept of mermaids. I just felt very strongly that I wasn’t that kind of person. I wanted to do things the “right” way, not the “easy” one. Honestly I thought they looked kind of freaky. My mom kept talking about how she felt sorry for them. She was like, Fish, they’re doing that to themselves because they’re empty inside. It only looks glamorous because that’s what they want you to see. Then they retire before 30 and have no relationships, no prospects, no degree (was she trying to get me to do my homework? LOL) and everyone forgets about them. And I was like don’t even worry about it, Mom. I basically told her I’m too smart for that. (I know!! I was an annoying kid.)

But I kept getting deeper into the self care trends, and someone on Reddit was like, the mermaid program has really good tips and tricks even if you’re not actually doing it. (Yeah, I was one of

THOSE.) So I started with the thing that literally everyone starts with: brushing your hair 100 times in the morning. Holy f…rick, my hair was SO SOFT. Immediately I started getting compliments. This girl that was a total b to me even said something nice about it. I felt pretty and otherworldly and beautiful. That was the start of it.

Then I started watching MerTok, because we ALL end up on MerTok, LOL. I was watching creators like Princess An and Sirena right off the bat. And I had this realization that people DO look like that in real life. They’re not always photoshopped. I was so unhinged right away, I was like, I have to look like Sirena TOMORROW. Obviously I know now that’s not how it works!!

Anyway, I wasn’t even really thinking about what it meant to be human. I just wanted to be beautiful. I still kind of think that’s the best approach, because the humanphobia in this community can get out of control sometimes (seriously… LOL). It’s important that we don’t hate other people. We just love ourselves a lot! Sometimes I have days where I hate myself, but I just remember that I’m in this because of self care and because I believe in myself to work hard.

But that’s how I got here. It’s been a weird day so I thought I’d share. We watched a documentary in health class about the program, and after all my classmates were asking questions that made me super uncomfortable. It’s weirdly disrespectful how people talk about us when they think we’re not listening.

Love, your undercover mermaid,

Miss Fish

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From r/MermaidProgram

A comment on “HELP!! Teacher found seaweed pills” • 9y

u/Fishesthrowaway

If your parents ask its a choice and they cant take that away from you. Its like being religious in school. People can disagree but they cant tell you not to. Remember its your body and you deserve to stand up for yourself!!!

> u/meowmeowmeowmeow

Okay you did not just compare being in the program to a religion.

>> u/Fishesthrowaway

Sorry I just meant its a personal choice

>>> u/OpalescentEphemera

Is this trolling? The program ISN’T a personal choice, it’s a condition. You don’t “choose” to get into it. We struggle every day with living in a world that is totally incompatible with us. We deal with people calling us vain, crazy, annoying, and being accused of faking for attention. No way would I EVER choose this life. The program chose me and if I don’t get to my goal, I’m going to die trying.

>>>> u/Fishesthrowaway

Ok Im sorry

>>>>> u/Fishesthrowaway

Please dont die

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From Teen Vogue: “In A Locked Forum, The Secret Lives of Wannabe Mermaids”, published 18 June 2022

One former user, known as miss_fish, describes the overall culture as “competitive”, “petty”, and prone to gatekeeping, where newcomers could feel excluded and attacked.

“They wanted to know everything about you,” miss_fish shared. “When you started the program, what you did every day, what kind of ‘progress’ you made. If you disagreed with anyone, you were toxic. If you gave people suggestions, you were fetishizing their experience. I was glad that I wasn’t alone anymore, but honestly, most of the time I felt scared. Everyone around me was waiting for me to mess up and catch me in some sort of act.”

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From r/MermaidProgram

So I think I’m back in it

u/fish_ez • 1y

I was huge into the program in high school. I got pretty far too. My legs were sloping in, my skin was flaking, all the stuff you see before they put you in a ward. My parents gave me an ultimatum before that happened and honestly, I was so tired at the time that I just said I’d try. I didn’t want to be dealing with this in college when my grades were already taking a dive.

I was doing better for a long time. Nobody at my school knew I was in the program and I didn’t tell counselors or anything. Then, literally a month ago, I saw this girl on campus. I don’t want to be creepy but she was just like, objectively the most beautiful person I’d ever seen. She was sitting and doing that hair-stroking thing. She looked like everything I ever wanted to be.

I tried to forget about it, but for the rest of the week I was thinking about how I felt when I started out. I know everyone says it’s just a phase, but there was a part of me that never stopped feeling light and dreamy and above it all. It gave me an escape when everything was going to complete shit in my life (unrelated).

So the week after that, I started brushing my hair. Like I said it’s been a month now.

Is it true that you can spend your whole life in the program? I don’t know if the idea of it scares me or just takes some getting used to, but it’s been on my mind a lot.

u/Willa08261

Hi, OP. I’m in my 30s and got into the program when I was 7.

I don’t know if you’d really call it living, but I have a husband and daughter and am relatively successful at my job. No one knows my history with the program, including my family. I know I appear happy and sociable to my coworkers. I can function without falling into the depths of despair like I did when I was in school.

That said… I know I’m anxious and depressed. I can get moody and snap at my husband. Sometimes I’m too exhausted to get out of bed, and then I feel like I’m not doing my job as a mom. It can feel like I’m just waiting for the day to be over. I have good days, and I want to enjoy my life, but it’s hard to balance that and everything the program demands from you.

You’re young, so I’ll tell you this: you have time. There is so much more for you out there, but you have to be human to experience it. We all have that voice in our head — don’t listen to anything it tells you about humanity. It doesn’t want you to live as you are, and what you are is beautiful.

Stay strong.

> u/fish_ez

Wow this actually made me cry. Thank you. Sometimes I genuinely feel like I’ve been coming out of a fog and I’ve just been delulu this whole time, LOL. I want to live my life.

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From the Mermaid Tales forum

vent

2 February 2015 • Posted by miss_fish

I HATE BEING HUMAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i hate this disgusting fleshy body and the way air feels when i breath it!!!!!!! WHY WAS I BORN HUMAN!!!! i literally want to die!!!! like why do other people get to look like real mermaids and i just look like an ugly blob??? no matter what i do ill never look like them and it kills me because i know i deserve it too. ive been working so hard and my progress is nothing. nobodys even said anything at school!!! honestly at this point i would rather just go to the hospital or something because at least people would NOTICE!!!!!

mods let me know if i should delete this but im just so frustrated

Comment • Posted by polkapearl

super sorry ur feeling down!!!! always here if u want to talk :(

Reply • Posted by miss_fish

thanks pearl im just feeling really sad. i dont get why the rest of us have to try so hard? i know i can get there but its taking so long and i feel like ill die before i get there

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From Ordinary People [audio podcast] interview with TikTok influencer sirena7: “Sirena Napham: Can we be for f*cking real?!”, posted 14 May 2017

SIRENA: Like people have accused me of grifting, grooming young girls, literally trying to KILL people. And like — of course discrimination is a real thing that real people deal with, but I also think it doesn’t always, like, look the way you think it does. Because if you’re telling someone to F off and die because of the way they look, that’s hate and that’s discrimination.

HOST: So you think this slander thing is coming from…

SIRENA: Yes! And bulls**t accusations of plastic surgery are absolutely the first thing people go to when they’re hating on women on the internet. I built my brand on this sh*t. I am not a grifter. And absolutely the last thing I EVER want to do is promote a lifestyle that would harm someone. But I’m also not responsible for what people do on their own f*cking time! I’m not a doctor, I’m not a psychologist, I’m not responsible for that sh*t! I make my content and I do my best every day. At the end of the day, I’m human just like everyone else.

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From Teen Vogue: “In A Locked Forum, The Secret Lives of Wannabe Mermaids”, published 18 June 2022

At 13, miss_fish met her best friend on the forum: a user known as polkapearl. “I called her Pearl,” explained miss_fish. As it turned out, Pearl was just a year older than miss_fish, and the two talked every day — sharing their secrets, insecurities, and tips for “finning” — until Pearl suddenly went dark in November of 2016.

“I got really anxious right away,” miss_fish said. She reached out to moderators on the forum and, when they didn’t know how to proceed, asked for help from the forum’s aspiring internet sleuths.

Answers came in the form of an article published by the Santa Barbara Independent, dated November 2016. A 14-year-old girl had drowned off the coast of Santa Barbara.

“Nobody told us,” said miss_fish. “I don’t think anyone in her life even knew I was her best friend.”

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Deleted, recovered from the Mermaid Tales forum

Merry Christmas Pearl

25 December 2016 • Posted by miss_fish

I miss you

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From r/MermaidProgram

Should I ask my supervisor if she’s in the program?

u/fish_ez • 1d

EDIT: Wow, okay, this blew up. I guess I appreciate everyone commenting even if some of you need a lesson in internet etiquette.

Anyway no, I am not going to ask her. I don’t actually think I want to know. Every time I look at her I feel kind of euphoric and kind of sad, but that’s life in the program. If she is I’ll start getting obsessive again, and if she isn’t… okay, I’ll probably also get obsessive. The program will do that to you.

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking since I posted, and the thing I’m trying to focus on is that I really like this lady. She’s sweet, passionate, and super smart and accomplished. She has a happy home life and she landed this job, which isn’t easy to get. If she’s in the program, she’s really good at pretending that she enjoys being human.

So maybe I’ll try that too. Or maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and brush my hair 100 times. I guess it’s okay, as long as we’re alive.

Eat breakfast, get your rest, be safe when you swim.

Love, Fish

(This post has been flagged by moderators for deletion.)