#not to mention Rikki not even mentioning Bella at all

[queenofthursday6599-blog]

So we all agree that H2O and Mako Mermaids are different timelines right?

Like yes we see Rikki in Mako Mermaids, but that's definitely not Rikki from the same timeline as H2O.

She's not wearing red, she's selling the artifacts she's using her mermaid abilities to find and retrieve to random privet collectors instead of trying to get them back to the rightful country/cultures.

Even though back in H2O we had a whole episode about why Rikki shouldn't just sell anything she uses her mermaid gifts to take out the ocean to complete randos for personal gain.

Like baby girl this is how you ended up accidentally selling endangered/protected animals to the black market. Let's not repeat your mistakes with historical artifacts, by way of selling it to random privet collectors instead of repatriating them to the people they rightfully belong to.

Let's not be the British Museum.

This doesn't even get into the fact that Rikki in Mako Mermaids only mentions that she was with two friends when she was turned into a mermaid. And when asked about where they are now, she just says that they all grew up and got different interests.

She only mentions two girls, and she doesn't mention them by name even.

Even though H2O Rikki was also good friends with Bella by the end of that series, and her not mentioning her two friends by name leaves the door open for the other two girls in her old group to not be Emma and Cleo.

Which I honestly think there's a pretty good chance it wasn't Emma and Cleo who MM's Rikki became mermaids with.

MM's Rikki says she became a mermaid after ending up in the moon pool with her two friends.

But H2O's Rikki wasn't friends with Cleo and Emma when they became mermaids. If you go back to watch the first episode of H2O, I'm pretty sure Cleo explicitly states that while she's seen Rikki around school before, she's only even talked to her a couple of times.

For H2O's Rikki her becoming a mermaid alongside Cleo and Emma was the bedrock of that friendship.

Sure they might have still ended up as friends if they'd stayed on Mako's beach until the water police came to pick them up and never went to the moon pool.

It's just as likely that without the secret to bind them together they wouldn't have. I mean, Rikki 100% stole a boat and got them stranded on an island who's waters is a shark breeding ground.

I definitely think Emma at the very least wouldn't have been interested in being Rikki's friend if it weren't for being turned into mermaids togehter and having to share that secret.

Not in the immediate aftermath of their being stranded on Mako island together, due to Rikki being reckless, anyways.

Now if Cleo wanted to stay friends with Rikki after that, because Rikki did save her from when Zane tried to strand her on the boat and have her drift out to see alone, even if Rikki also ended up getting her stranded on Mako island for a few hours.

I could then see Emma eventually ending up as friendly acquaintances with Rikki due to their mutual friendship with Cleo.

Not immediately, but at some point, and they'd definitely wouldn't have been anywhere near as close of friends as they were in H2O's timeline.

Then there's the fact that MM Rikki doesn't have either of her friendship necklaces. Either her locket from the 50s girls that she shared with Emma and Cleo, or the moon pool crystal necklace that she shared with Cleo and Bella.

And while that could imply that she simply doesn't choose to wear either one anymore due to drifting apart from them. I could also pretty easily see it being that due to it being a different group of mermaids from H2O, they never ended up with either set of necklaces.

I mean, they meet Mrs. Chadwick because the woman randomly spotted Cleo while she was taking a trip to the marine park, and the woman noticed that Cleo was a mermaid.

Without Cleo in the group, Mrs. Chadwick might have never made contact with MM Rikki's group, and thus even if one of them did find Gracie's locket at the bottom of the moonpool it would have just been a random locket.

I don't know if they even would have thought it belonged to someone in a similar situation to themselves. Or if it was brought into the moonpool by like sea currents, or a bird flying over the moonpool dropping it. Or something like that.

While the moon pool crystal necklaces are only introduced after Bella gets one first, and it seems like MM Rikki might have never met Bella.

All of this, and MM Rikki never talks about how she and two of her friends saved the world because apparently the Mako mermaid pod that has supposedly lived there for hundreds of years at least, were slacking off and not paying attention to the impending doom of it all.

And when we see MM Rikki in the moon pool with the Mako Mermaid group, she mentions that it hasn't changed at all since the last time she was there, even though the moonpool looks completely different in the two shows.

In H2O it looks way more natural and cave-like, while in Mako Mermaids the edge of the moon pool is like tiled, or has large stone blocks squaring the edge of it off at least. It looks man (mer) made, or at least has had construction done to it.

The moonpool in H2O definitely feels more wild-magic-y I guess you could say.

Magic collects and moves through there by way of natural means and processes, and will do so without the interference, presence, or guidance of any kind of sentient being. It is in itself alive and sentient to some degree.

It directs Rikki, Cleo, and Bella on how to deflect the comet and save the world, or at the very least the surrounding area, from the potential impact.

Mako Mermaid's moon pool feels far more colonized I guess. Lived in by beings that change nature in order to make themselves more comfortable is what I mean.

I mean the mermaids are shooing away fish from around the island, they're gate keeping the moon pool to keep humans away, they've altered the moon pool from it's natural lava tube/sea cave structure into something more people friendly, they use the moon pool's magic for their own ends.

They're also just completely willing to potentially destroy the moon pool due to their own personal fears of mermen, which is said to also kill any mermaid that is tied to that moonpool, but that's a whole other thing.

Not to mention the fact that the H2O moon pool is severely damaged by that illegal mining operation in H2O season 3. And it's the whole reason why Cleo and Rikki have to help Bella make the tower of light instead of Bella doing it on her own with the help of the moon pool.

While it's again, completely fine magically, and in fact looks like it was altered for people's comfort in Mako Mermaids, even though it's only a time gap of 6 years because Rikki is 24 years old when she meets the Mako Mermaids.

So there's just no way that H2O's season 3 and Mako Mermaids exist in the same timeline at the very least.

There would have been mention of the potential end of the world, or at the very least how the Mako Mermaids had to repair the moon pool, or Rikki noticing that he moon pool was repaired after what Will's sister did.

But none of that happens, so the only explanation is alternate timeline, and I'm not afraid to argue that to the bitter end.

[jackjackal]

Unpopular Opinion...

I don't hate it...but I'm not a huge fan of H2O season 3 (I might even write my own rewrite like I'm doing for HoA)...but here's why:

Bella is GREAT...but she's absolutely no Emma (and she's not supposed to be...I know!) All I'm saying is that her character is a little on the Alex from Totally Spies level (which again is not a bad thing!!) BUT Alex 100% got overshadowed by Clover and Sam...and I think that Bella's the same way in H2O. Rikki and Cleo are just a little bit more interesting character-wise (just in my opinion). Which means Bella is a lot like Sirena in the Mako Mermaids Netflix spinoff...she can sing BEAUTIFULLY, but other than the singing...she really just follows Will around the whole season like a lost little puppy (as does Sirena to David) and she doesn't do much of standing up for herself (at least in episodes 1 - 15). Even her power is kinda a reflection of her character...it's like slime...something that's cool and fun to play with, but eventually you get bored with it. What I mean by this is that she 100% was brought on board for looks (even Bella stans have to admit she has WAY more scenes in fancy dresses and bikini tops than Emma, Cleo, or Rikki) and because of this it muddied the whole theme of the show a bit by going against EVERYTHING H2O stood for (female independence and power...power not from the ability to turn heads or from their mermaid abilities, but from their own strength of character and intelligence, emotional or otherwise). In the end, Bella just does not meet the standards to replace Emma (and I don't think she was meant to...but still). Her character is just not as dynamic...and I think that's one of the things that makes me not rewatch or like S3 as much as S1-2.

They changed ALOT. I said it to one of my friends earlier...S3 is like that episode in S2 when Ash takes over and changes the cafe. It's just too much too soon. The JuiceNet becomes Rikki's, Bella replaces Emma, Will's there (we'll get to him later), Sophie's there (Neo-Charlotte who's less of a good villain), Sam's there, all of them are older by a noticable amount and Zane has a haircut like a 70-year-old, Mako's going insane with creepy tentacle creature thing, and the whole freaking theme song changes to be more fast-paced and "hip" with a lot of what sounds like to me to be autotune. Now I realize change is good and everything...but it really just makes me sad to watch the whole thing. ESPECIALLY when Lewis leaves (I think my heart was crushed and spat on). He was being all cute and romantic in this season with Cleo too :'( BUT, overall I liked a lot of the changes (Bella, as I mentioned was fine just maybe not as good as Emma was, Drummer!Lewis my heart, and I enjoyed the family antics with Sam...so I really didn't mind her being in it, it was cute that Don fell in love <3 ) Summary of this point: I don't like change and Emma was not my fav character but she was MY character (the most like me). When she left...it kinda made me think of things...like am I replaceable?? Anyways...moving on...

Will. Pretty much enough said with that. He's arrogant, too obessed with power and mermaids, and way too mean to Bella. He treats her like dirt most of the season and makes me wonder like...is Will the real villain of S3??? Also they make his character out to be like he's a merman just without the powers (with the whole free diving arc)...and it's honestly kinda like he's a Byron wannabe but also a weird Frankenhybrid of Dr. Denman, Zane, Zac (from Mako Mermaids), Erik (from Mako Mermaids), and idk now I'm just listing people. His character is just kinda strange to me because first of all where the other guys have their faults, they're also sensitive and romantic at times. Will is not. He's just kinda annoying. I even like Nate more than him lol (cause at least his character isn't two-faced like Will's...he's always been NateTM). Anyways...Will and Sophie are like the evil but not evil? dynamic disaster duo of S3. They're both just kinda not fun to watch...which brings me to Sophie.

Sophie. Again, enough said. She's a Charlotte wannabe with all her red hair, snooping problems, and obession with Will (which is kinda a little weird...but not unlike Charlotte's obession with Lewis...except they weren't brother and sister...yikes). She also presses my buttons, which, good job show writers. But it just makes it a little like this has happened before. What's new? Also makes the season a little less rewatchable.

I'm really just ranting at small details now, so I'll get to my last and ultimately largest point. Season 3 lost the magic for me. When I was rewatching for the zillionth time...I noticed this rather huge change. Seasons 1 and 2 I was MESMORIZED. The water, the ocean, the pleasing details of Emma, Cleo, and Rikki having the white, purple, and red motifs throughout, the details of small little scenes like how in the episode with Rikki's father she held a CHIPPED mug and her father held a non-chipped one like she felt her image was broken/imperfect based on their lack of money and less impressive house while the dad could care less and was honestly proud of it (wooooah, okay sorry about that, but like that scene made me sooooo happy as a writer like UGGH...writers/directors made gold with that scene). Anyways, details like this were just not there in S3 (well vitrually not there...there were some like when Sophie wore Rikki's color red to impress Zane)...almost like the whole message changed from being about struggles of being a teenager and growing up to yay mermaids!! And let's focus more on the image/humor of the show as opposed to teaching us important morals. It just...kinda lost it for me. It just was not nearly as magical as S1-2 and I'm not talking actual magic. I'm talking vibes and inner magic...and all that shiz.

Overall...I give S3 a 3.5/5 ⭐️s Decent if you want more of a H2O fanfic experience but just NOT as good as the OG mermaid trio and OG guys (Lewis, Zane, and Ash...Byron you were great too, but not as good as Ash).

Which brings me to Ash...okay, okay jk! I'm not gonna steal more of your life than I already have. But just know that if I get around to my S3 rewrite idea (which I already have the plot decided and everything) then you'll be seeing a lot more of him! Woot! Thanks for reading and putting up with me. Feel free to chat with me anytime your feelings on H2O season 3 or any topic really! I love chating with fellow obsessees!💖🧜‍♀️

[deafchild2000]

H2O Headcanons #29:

What if Rikki was Karl's granddaughter?

(This is for @opalsiren for her headcanon that Charlotte was Max's granddaughter as well.)

This would be crazy, right? Once upon a time ago, I did a post believing Julia was Rikki's grandmother, and oh, how the tables have turned since then. So, where to start: How did I come up with this?

(It all started when I got into contact with @misuutira for her Calamity AU and didn't hesitate to show her my headcanons to inspire her. We got to talking, definitely hit up WaterSpirit!Gracie tore Cleo in for her part in Charlotte being the "Bad Guy" and might have mutually agreed that Gracie would go after Rikki & make her regret messing with her granddaughter 😅. I won't say what she did, but Gracie called out her cruel & unnecessary behavior towards Charlotte vs her hypocrisy with Bella, and the next thing I knew, I threw out there that Gracie isn't surprised as it's expected of Rikki as she's Karl's granddaughter!... Needless to say, @misuutira loved the idea!)

And from there, what was just put out as dramatics became a deep dive into what would be a plot twist in the tail (pun intended!)

So, to get this out of the way, how or why would make Rikki - everyone's feisty mermaid - related to the man who nearly exposed her 50s predecessor work?

1. Admit it, we've all talked about who would be a fitting "grandchild" to the 50s characters! @Opalsiren pushed it by making Gracie & Max both Charlotte's grandparents (a nice theory but personally disagree with it). The parallel theme wouldn't be surprising if it was Zane being his grandson - but ultimately not following in his footsteps. And given Taryn Marler played Julia before coming in as Sophie Benjamin - any fanfiction writer worth their salts could have seen a potential plot there. So by that logic, the fandom had been playing it safe. But I, for one, push boundaries. If canon went out of its way to make the granddaughter of a former mermaid an antagonist, why can't one of the main protagonists be related to an antagonist?

2. Did anyone ever question the fact that looking back, Karl believed Julia when she told him her secret? Put some realism here: This was the 50s! It would make more cinematic sense that Karl would think she was crazy with her confession or just outright not believe her and the next scene where Julia revealed herself to him would flow better (but even that didn't). We can imagine that talk in many ways, but the main gist is that she told him and he believed her on the first try - got angry and insulted her, but still believed her. That's an incredibly important detail for someone only mentioned once! And yet, he tried to expose her and while we know he was thwarted, are we supposed to believe nothing came of the only other guy outside of Max Hamilton that knew about mermaids?

Now, here's why Rikki being his granddaughter makes sense (with many dashes of irony).

There's a lack of information about Rikki's family other than her father, Terry. While some people believe that Rikki's mother left and is better off without her, there is no mention of her extended family from either her parents' side, which could imply that Rikki wants to keep her family matters private or simply doesn't know much about them. This poses an interesting question: how did Karl, who was presumably from a wealthy family, end up with a granddaughter living in a trailer park? I theorize that Karl's obsession with mermaids might hold the key to this mystery. It's hard to believe that someone like Karl would find out about mermaids and just leave Julia alone after one attempt. I even wager Karl might have posed a threat to Mako Island and that Julia took action (personal and for the sake of the Secret) to protect it. As a result, Karl was disowned and humiliated by his proud and prominent family and left town. Sometime after this, Karl had a child, who could be either Terry or Rikki's mom, but they cut all ties with him, Rikki would never be told about Karl or his obsession with mermaids because they thought he was crazy and mermaids didn't exist.

And then, there's the personality flaws. Karl believed Julia was a mermaid (and Julia exposing herself just sealed away any lingering doubts) and Rikki becomes a mermaid and immediately takes to it. Next, they are distrustful. This follows Karl as he had Julia's trust (she let him in) and betrayed her and whatever followed caused his life to go downhill and likely left him a guarded and mistrustful man from his experiences. Rikki has always had trust issues, even when she learned to be open with her friends, regardless of personal issues or whoever came close to the Secret. Despite the fact Charlotte had many reasons to know about mermaids and Gracie being one, she openly rejected the idea - especially Charlotte being one - listening to Louise's words that there are only supposed to be three mermaids. Any mature fan of H2O likely recognizes the girls were just as much to blame for Charlotte going rogue as Charlotte getting a superiority complex about being a mermaid (stemming from their treatment of her). Rikki was the only one refusing to try to get to know her and enabled seeing her as the villain of the story when her actions - ironically betraying the rebel idea of trying something new - also caused Charlotte's downfall. And lastly is the hypocrisy Karl and Rikki share. Karl was angry with Julia for not trusting him with her Secret (for good reason in the end), yet came around only when it fit his needs and wants. With Rikki, I bring up Charlotte again - notably the volleyball game. While already displeased with Charlotte being a mermaid and having Cleo's powers - it wasn't until Charlotte made herself useful in their plight to not fail P.E. and helped them win beach volleyball (working together) that Rikki began to come around to her...until Charlotte revealed she had all their powers, to which the momentary sense of camaraderie went down the drain and Rikki upped her antagonism towards her. Let me reiterate: Rikki liked Charlotte as long as she was useful. I'd even extend it to Bella Hartley, how after Charlotte and Emma were gone, she let her inside, and given that she was an outlier with her issues and there was a space to fill, there were no problems outside Will. Lastly, Karl wanted to use Julia for greed and ambition, and Rikki - having always aspired to rise above her living situation - in a similar vein, turned her Secret into a lucrative diving/treasure-hunting career that brought her fame and attention.

Perhaps the redeeming quality is that after the pain Karl caused Julia, and for how Rikki grew up to end up in her shoes and loves her tail, she's placed in the best position to be one of Mako's protectors and to understand the value of being a mermaid - and the costs that come with it. But let's be honest, if this was canon, Rikki would not be okay with the revelation as - compared to Charlotte - her familial connection to Mako Island and mermaids is conflicting as knowing she's directly related to the man who once hurt Julia (her counterpart) and a threat to the very Secret she loved.

So at best, Rikki's flaws are the worst traits she got from Karl as his granddaughter while spiritually taking after Julia (with room for improvement) is what saves her from turning out like him.

[juicenet]

top 10 gayest h2o episodes: a definitive ranking

i'm back with another ranking, but this time it's a little different! today, i'll be ranking the top 10 gayest episodes of h2o: just add water. (in MY opinion. i realize that this show has no canonically LGBT+ characters, but come on, the subtext. also, i write sapphic h2o fanfiction, what did you expect?) anyway, please don't take this too seriously, it's just for fun.

ranking below the cut!

honorable mention: 1x05 "something fishy"

i'm just going to link this post and let it speak for itself.

10. 1x26 "a twist in the tail"

the episode where the girls are "outed" (the official h2o jaw youtube channel uses this term, no joke) to dr. denman, zane, his father, and nearly the world. thankfully they're able to avert exposure with advice from their gay mermaid mentor/queer elder, miss chatham. however, they begrudgingly have to give up their tails (temporarily, though they don't know this). even with the challenges that being gay a mermaid poses, they've still come to love what they are.

9. 2x11 "in over our heads"

rikki almost dies trying to retrieve a deep-sea treasure and emma cradles rikki's head in her arms while trying to save her. so... yeah. emma also shows hostility towards rikki's boyfriend, zane... and i get that he was a mermaid hunter last season, but this also reads like emma is jealous of his relationship with rikki. but on the flipside, zikki is kind of like a het relationship for gay people. idk. there's a lot going on here.

8. 3x21 "the jewel thief"

rikki and bella's moon crystal necklaces gravitate towards each other and cause a city-wide electrical blackout. this is gay, please don't make me explain. oh, cleo also gets a matching crystal necklace in this episode and the girls all wear them to symbolize their "friendship" (or are they just in a throuple? nobody knows).

7. 1x18 "bad moon rising"

mainly put this episode here because of emma's iconic line to rikki: "if we're going somewhere we're going together" and then their smoldering gazes that follow. but, generally, the subtext is off-the-wall. when rikki loses control of her powers, she thinks she's a danger to society and tries to isolate herself—just like how gay people have been told for thousands of years that we're destructive to society. this one is kinda sad actually :(

6. 1x07 "moon spell"

not only are we introduced to camp gay miss chatham, but there's something really queercoded about embarrassing your family at a party (as emma does in this episode). she also calls rikki "rikki baby" and now i'm realizing that this ranking is pretty much a love letter to rikma.

5. 2x04 "fire and ice"

sometimes i think the writers just forgot who rikki's canon love interest was at the time?? half of these season 2 episodes frame rikki and emma as girlfriends. anyway, emma's desire to be rebellious and wild reads like a baby gay trying to be something they're not after coming out. in the b plot, nate tells lewis he's not "manly" enough and the latter struggles with this. maybe it was unintentional, but some lines make it seem like the show is queercoding lewis. i'm here for it, either way.

4. 2x17 "moonstruck"

a moonstruck rikki and cleo try to expose emma as a mermaid to ash, but without context, you'd think they're trying to tell him that emma's a lesbian and that's why she's been so secretive and distant with him. another mermaid=gay allegory? no one knows for sure, but sources (me) say yes!

3. 2x06 "pressure cooker"

ah, yes... another episode where the writers forgot that rikki and emma weren't dating, included multiple scenes of them on an actual date, and hoped we wouldn't notice. plus, we see that rikki is emma's phone wallpaper. cleo and charlotte also could've had an enemies-to-lovers moment here, but what do i know?

2. 1x01 "metamorphosis"

three teenage girls discover something life-altering about themselves and must stay closeted keep the secret from the rest of society. in the process, they become much closer to one another but also feel isolated from their families and other girls their age. are we reeeally certain that this isn't an allegory? sure, a lot of this applies to the rest of the show, but "metamorphosis" is the episode that started it all, so...

1. 2x18 "the heat is on"

this episode is actually the reason i made this ranking. not only does rikma's homoerotic feud cause a thunderstorm, but they (+ cleo) ditch their boyfriends at the juicenet to celebrate their "anniversary" of becoming mermaids. okay, straighties! bonus points for zane and ash's UST during that game of pool.

end notes

it doesn't surprise me that this list consists mostly of season 2 episodes, because rikma was probably at its peak (imo) in the first half of season 2. it also doesn't surprise me that only a single season 3 episode is here. i'm not sure why that is—maybe it's emma's absence, maybe it's the way the tone of the show shifted considerably from the end of season 2 to the beginning of season 3. anyway, hope you enjoyed this :-)

[xilamoc]

Ok, but i feel we need to talk about something Season 3 of H2O did that a lot of shows don't even acknowledge and that its that you can be attracted to another person while you're in a relationship and that doesn't mean you love the person you're in a relationship with any less, and yes, i am talking about the clear attraction Cleo felt towards Ryan and viceversa, as creepy as it was, i'm glad Cleo didn't get demonized, neither by the show or by herself, for feeling attracted to him, she's a human being after all and can't control who she feels attracted to, but she can control her actions and put some lines if she feels like things are being taken too far in order to prevent doing something she might regret later.

Also, Keep in mind this was in 2010, and i don't know about you and the tv you saw, but my tv shows/telenovelas/films etc. usually put attraction to other persons as a prelude to cheating and nothing else, or in the contrary, if the person didn't cheat they carried some sort of guilt for feeling attracted to the person, like, i can't pinpoint exact examples but it puts emphasis on the idealization of love and that when you meet someone you're not allowed to have even the remote thought of seeing someone else in mind because if you do you don't love them enough and therefore you're a bad person.

Honestly as a whole i feel like Season 3 of H2O put a lot of emphasis of being more realistic when it comes to love and with the execution being generally well, on Cleo's side at the very least, because of course, Zikki was a mess, don't get me wrong, but even then, Rikki was allowed to breakup with Zane and the show made it very clear that it wasn't something bad to do, especially when Zane crossed a line by kissing Sophie.

Honestly i would've loved it if they took it a step further and Bella and Will ended up breaking up realizing they have nothing in common and that they just like the idea of being with each other but at the moment of hanging around together they aren't able to have deep and meaningful conversations because they barely knew each other before being a couple. AND that Rikki and Zane didn't end in such an open-ended way, if you're gonna break them up at least commit to it and have them wave each other goodbye at the end instead of flirting around with each other, because that's still falling into the idealization of love and thinking that in life you will have only one partner. Not saying it can't happen, but it's pretty weird all girls all have met "the one" and once they get into a relationship, even if there's hiccups they still come back to each other.

Honestly, now that i think about it, Emma was the only one on the show with two love interest, though she never officially went out with Byron, S1 established him as "the one" before S2 introduced Ash, but i guess Byron doesn't count because they never went out(?) and i can see Emma realizing Byron was not meant for her and backing off since she was the more emotionally mature one, i honestly would've love to see this happen now that i think about it, if you could not get the actor back, acknowledge at the very least their relationship in a way that still impacts the plot, not to mention it would've make Emma's initial rejection of Ash make more sense, but i guess they never went out so the show just went "Byron who?".

[opalsiren]

this is probably going to be an unpopular opinion but i really think it could have been *cleo voice* so cool if will found out about bella's mermaid identity on his own. the only reason lewis, zane, and ash believed in mermaids is because they saw one with their own eyes, but considering will had a brush with the supernatural before he even got close to a mermaid, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to hypothesise that he could have figured it out on his own. he is more imaginative than he is practical, raised by, ahem, non-traditional parents who preferred for him to grow up on a yacht and swim in oceans all over the world than have any semblance of a normal upbringing. out of all the canon love interests i actually think he would be most likely to believe in mermaids without substantial proof

consider the following: he knows bella has a secret and acts suspicious around water, knows there are weird stories about a pool out on mako island after a cursory google search, goes down a rabbit hole reading mermaid myths one day and puts two and two together. think the iconic twilight sequence when bella essentially finds out on her own that edward is a vampire. perhaps bella mentioned once in passing that she used to live near these sea caves in ireland, and will stumbles upon a story about an irish mermaid named eva and makes the connection. for a while he's sure he's going crazy thinking that the girl he fancies is a mermaid, but the more he thinks about it, the more it makes sense than the alternative

so he confronts her about it one day, and realises on the spot that cleo and rikki must also be mermaids, too. initially she denies it but eventually tells him the truth, not because he coerces it out of her but because she trusts him and cares about him and knows he would never intentionally disrespect her. he promises then and there to keep the secret, even though he is somewhat in shock and needs a minute to process the news. he also vows not to talk to cleo and rikki about it, but of course bella shares with them that he knows the truth. anyway dare i say... will benjamin deserved better writing?

[rjalker]

Bella when Emma finally gets back from vacation and jumps into a group hug with Cleo and Rikki knocking them all into water to reveal that she also has a tail and that they all know about this and that she knows about them despite Cleo and Rikki never even mentioning the name Emma around her at all or even implying that there is a fourth mermaid out there that they know and love and are best friends with and became mermaids with:

[ID: The gif version of the confused math woman meme. End ID.]

[cleo-serotonin]

thoughts after watching h2o: mermaid adventures

the art style is cute, but it feels very anime-y

I like the designs for our main 3! but they don’t look like what you’d think the animated versions of them should. If that makes sense

my friend pointed out that the scenery doesn’t look like the og show, so now im wondering: is this even on the Gold Coast?? is this even still in australia??

also they don’t uh. Have australian accents?

ARE THEY AUSSIES OR NOT

Lewis is fuckin BUFF

he legit looks like a cross between a jock and a nerd (he has glasses)

pick a side bitch

Lisa is a) a whole lot younger and b) she’s MEAN!

like,, i can’t stand for this. Lisa very well may be the best mom. Ever.

Zane splashed Rikki with his jet ski, and this is the first time he appears on screen

WHAT IS THIS CHARACTER DESIGN????????? WHOMST IS THIS BITCH????

The juicenet cafe is now just. Juicy.

Elliot and Kim are in this, and I appreciate that

Elliot’s design is Good but Kim’s is Chaotic

Oh I forgot to mention but Cleo and Kim have purple hair

Rikki has red hair & Emma has short blonde hair (which somehow gets longer when she’s a mermaid?)

When they turn into mermaids they all of a sudden have shells and shit in their hair

H O W

also this is a Netflix original? (and mako is too) idk why i didn’t know this before

they remind me of polly pocket dolls. Or lego friends

Alright, is this supposed to take place in 2006 or 2015? im waiting for a flip phone

I’m really wondering if Charlotte or Bella will be in this later on and how’d that go

the character designs would probably be WACK we stan

I have like 3 minutes left of it and it’s already been a wild ride

[mermaidmovieclub]

Common Mermaid Movie Tropes (With Examples)

I’ve noticed with a lot of mermaid movies that a lot of them tend to share common tropes. I mention common mermaid tropes a lot on the Mermaid Movie Club, but thought, hey, maybe I need to come up with a handy list that’s easy to follow? Hey, that’s what blogs are for. Without further ado, a list of Common Mermaid Movie Tropes, and examples for each one. Since these are going to be part of the Mermaid Movie Club going forward, I thought I'd compile them neatly into a little list. Of course, this will be updated as I go through more movies. 😉

These are not taken from TVTropes, these are just things that I have found from watching these films/TV shows, so I just kinda made stuff up. Perhaps in due time I could make a list of tropes taken from TVTropes but that’s a loooooooooot to sift through.

(Also, this is not necessarily negative. Understand a lot of these will be interpreted differently from film to film. It's all about looking at something from a different angle, which a lot of these filmmakers do in their own way.)

1. The Only Way To Get What You Want is to Become Human Yourself

Literally what it says on the tin. The mermaid has to become human to achieve some kind of goal. Usually a romantic objective.

Examples: The Little Mermaid and most adaptations of it, Splash (1989), Aquamarine (2006)

Subverted in: The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010)

2. Teenagers Scare the Living Fish Outta Me

Mermaid as a coming-of-age metaphor. For me it comes across as a kind of "fish out of water" metaphor but in the case of one film I have to rethink that.

Examples: The Thirteenth Year (1999), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), Blue My Mind (2017), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010)

3. You Can Take Your Mermaid on Land Adventures, When She Dries Off, She Gets Legs

Again, what it says on the tin. The mermaid can achieve a human form but only when dry. When she touches water again she reverts back to her mermaid form.

Examples: Splash (1989), H2O and all of its spin-offs, Aquamarine (2006)

Splash: Obviously there’s the iconic scene with Madison unfolding her fins in the bathtub, and rushing to dry off when Allen calls for her. There’s also the scene where Walter Kornbluth sprays her down with a hose as she and Allen leave their dinner, effectively revealing her tail to the public.

H2O: This is revealed in the first episode where Cleo gets stuck in the bathtub after her tail develops, Emma transforms while swimming in the ocean, and perhaps the most telling of all is Rikki transforming after getting hit with a sprinkler. There are many more examples as the show goes on.

Aquamarine: Had an additional stipulation that she would have to be a mermaid at night, so it was almost like a werewolf-mermaid situation.

4. Born Yesterday

Mermaid is a bit naive to human things.

Seen in: The Little Mermaid (especially the Disney one), Splash (1989), Aquamarine (2006), Siren (2018-present)

5. Human Stuff

Mermaid falls in love with a human.

Examples: The Little Mermaid and all of its adaptations, Splash (1989), Aquamarine (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Siren (2018-present)

6. For Science

Mermaid is pursued by scientists for science.

Examples: Splash (1989), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), The 3 Tails Movie: A Mermaid Adventure (2015), Siren (2018-present)

7. Hush Hush

The mermaid has to keep her mermaid identity a secret, potentially as a result of For Science, as well as You Can Take Your Mermaid on Land Adventures, When She Dries Off, She Gets Legs. The mermaid might have to avoid water to avoid being exposed.

Examples: H2O and all its spin-offs, Aquamarine (2006), Splash (1989), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), The Thirteenth Year (1999), nearly all of them except for some older pre-Splash ones.

H2O: Just Add Water: The mermaids even have to drink water through straws to prevent the water from touching their skin.

8. The Power of Three

There's likely a trio of mermaids. Mostly common in H2O copycat shows on YouTube.

Examples: H2O and all its spin-offs, Mermaids (2003), as I said, a lot of H2O copycats on YouTube. Aquamarine includes a main cast of three, but Hailey and Claire are not mermaids.

9. Power Up

They have superpowers. That's it that's the trope

Examples: H2O and all its spin-offs, The Thirteenth Year (1999), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010)

H2O: The core mermaids (Rikki, Cleo, Emma, later Bella) all have some kind of different water-based superpower.

Scales: Siren's powers in this movie are pretty similar to those in H2O, particularly, the ability to move water. At the end she kills a hunter by dehydrating him to death.

The Thirteenth Year: Cody Palpatine Griffin emits force lightning--I mean, static electricity

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale: Royals of Oceana are capable of producing Merillia, a sort of oceanic life force. 

10. I'm In the Sea, and I'm SINGING

Mermaid can sing, which checks out given the mythology honestly

Examples: The Little Mermaid and nearly all of its adaptations (especially Disney), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011), Siren (2018-present)

11. You Should See Me In a Crown

Mermaid is part of a royal family, most likely a princess. Her father is likely Neptune or Triton or Poseidon, or some non-specific King of the Sea. (Notice that the Queen of the Sea is rarely mentioned? That's weird, right?)

Examples: The Little Mermaid and all its adaptations, Aquamarine (2006), The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2001), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010), implied in Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017)

The Little Mermaid: It's kind of the basis for the story itself. In Disney's The Little Mermaid (1989), Ariel is the daughter of King Triton and has six sisters. Her mother, Queen Athena, is not revealed until 2008 in The Little Mermaid: Ariel's Beginning, but it's revealed that she was killed when Ariel was very young, so she doesn't exist by the time the original film takes place.

Aquamarine: Aqua's father is a non-specific king

SpongeBob: Mindy's father is King Neptune

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale: Merliah’s mother is Calissa, Queen of Oceana, overthrown by her sister Eris

Scales: Siren's birth mother is referred to as "the leader of the mermaids," and it is later revealed that they are both pureblood mermaids, which implies that Siren and Emerald are some kind of royalty. The film uses the word “leader” which is fairly vague, however.

12. Kids' Show

(I read this in my mind like the Will Ferrell/Molly Shannon “Dog Show” sketch from SNL.)

A character from a kids' franchise becomes a merperson themselves, most often to help other merfolk. This might also be reflected in a corresponding toy line.

Examples: Barbie (numerous titles), Dora the Explorer, Paw Patrol, Monster High, Sofia the First, Shimmer and Shine.

Barbie: Numerous mermaid characters exist in the Barbie Cinematic Universe (if that isn’t already a thing it is now), but at least five mermaid-centric Barbie films exist: Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia (2006), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale (2010), Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 (2012), Barbie the Pearl Princess (2014), and Barbie Dolphin Magic (2017). There have also been multiple Barbie mermaid lines throughout the years, the most recent being part of the Dreamtopia line. A number of lines corresponded to the films, such as the Mermaidia and Barbie in a Mermaid Tale lines. (I’ve got one of Kayla from the first one somewhere)

Dora the Explorer: In the 2007 TV movie Dora Saves the Mermaids, Dora became a mermaid to help the crown of mermaid princess Mariana. Dora later reunited with Mariana in the Dora and Friends episode “Magical Mermaid Adventure” (1x13) in 2015. Dora once again became a mermaid in the 2012 episode “Dora’s Rescue in Mermaid Kingdom” (7x01). I remember there being dolls for Dora Saves the Mermaids but not for the other two.

Paw Patrol: The six main pups of the Paw Patrol become merpups (it’s exactly what it sounds like) in the 2016 episode “Merpups Save the Turbots” (3x21B). Initially it’s just Marshall after he is turned by a mother merpup but later all the pups have a merpup form. I don’t remember a ton of toys for this one, but I often run into the merpup bath squirters, namely Skye.

Monster High: Lagoona Blue, daughter of a sea monster, is a part of the core team of monsters, but she’s more Mermaid-Adjacent. The first true mermaid character to be introduced to the franchise was Sirena von Boo, the daughter of a mermaid and a ghost, in the 2014 Freaky Fusion movie and doll line of the same name. Later on, the 2016 Great Scarrier Reef movie coincided with a corresponding doll line of the main monsters as mermaid-like creatures, with the addition of some new aquatic characters such as Posea Reef, Kala Mer’ri, and the two-headed Peri and Pearl Serpentine. (Mattel had a similar line called Ever After High that featured Meeshell Mermaid as the daughter of the Little Mermaid, but there was never any kind of mermaid line or movie made for it, which, come on, I wanted mermaid Raven Queen.)

Sofia the First: 2013′s “The Floating Palace” was a special episode that aired toward the end of the show’s first season. In it, Sofia meets mermaid princess Oona and Queen Emmaline, and helps them stop Cedric from taking the magical Mermaid Comb of Merroway Cove. Of course, in order to do that, she has to become a mermaid herself. Along the way, her magical amulet summons Ariel because this is a Disney Princess show and her amulet just magically summons Disney Princesses when she needs a pep talk because of course it does.

Shimmer and Shine: In the 2016 episode “Mermaid Mayhem” (2x06), Leah wishes she and her genies, Shimmer and Shine, were mermaids. If only it were that easy. Yep. There were toys. Just expect it at this point.

Subverted in: Elena of Avalor: Song of the Sirenas

13. Looks Like a Seannamon Roll But Could Actually Kill You

This is really just a trope for sirens or "darker" mermaids

Examples: Siren (2018-present), She Creature (2001), Killer Mermaid/Nymph (2014), Mermaid's Song (2018), Night Tide (1961)

14. Mermaid-Adjacent

Not quite a mermaid but similar human-fish hybrid.

Examples: The Shape of Water (2017), Creature from the Black Lagoon (1953), also the Zora race from the Legend of Zelda games even though that’s not a movie, shut up it counts

15. Gadgets and Gizmos Aplenty

There is some kind of magical trinket used by the mermaids, typically a piece of jewelry with magical properties.

Examples: The Little Mermaid 2: Return to the Sea (2000), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2010), H2O: Just Add Water (2006-2010), Mako Mermaids/Mako: Island of Secrets (2013-2016), both Barbie in a Mermaid Tale movies (2010 and 2012)

TLM2: Melody's locket, a gift to her from King Triton, projected an image of Atlantica when opened, but otherwise didn't do a lot.

Mako Mermaids: The mermaids possessed blue moon rings, which store moonlight and can be used to perform different magical functions dependent on the situation.

H2O: The necklaces worn by Rikki, Cleo, and Bella in the third season serve a similar function to the Moon Rings of Mako.

Scales: Siren Phillips was given a special necklace by Crystal which seems to serve as a kind of homing device. It's not explained in depth what it does exactly, but it performs a similar function to the Wailing Stick if I remember correctly, which was a sort of mermaid distress signal.

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale: When Queen Calissa gave baby Merliah Summers to Break, she gave Merliah a magical necklace that, years later, revealed to her and Zuma that Queen Calissa was still alive after Eris overthrew her from the throne of Oceana. Merliah is later given a necklace by Calissa that allows her to alternate between human and mermaid forms at will. In Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2, Kylie Morgan steals the necklace out of Merliah’s hoodie when Hadley is distracted and uses it to become a mermaid herself, so it’s clearly not specifically made for Merliah to use.

If it counts, Ursula’s soul-stealing necklace in The Little Mermaid (1989) is one of these as well.

16. You Want Thingamabobs? I've Got Twenty

Girl is a hoarder, or fascinated by human trinkets.

Examples: The Little Mermaid and nearly all of its adaptations (especially the Disney one)

17. The Mermaid Elder

An old woman that’s sort of a mermaid wise woman.

Examples: The Mermaid (2016), most interpretations of The Little Mermaid apart from the Disney one

18. Foreshadowing Name

Very very very obvious mermaid name.

Examples: Barbie in a Mermaid Tale/2 (2010/2012), Scales: Mermaids are Real (2017), Aquamarine (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (2011)

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale/2: You really expect me to think a girl named Merliah isn’t gonna be a mermaid? Come on.

Scales: I feel like naming your kid Siren in a town full of mermaids AND where there are known mermaid hunters is just a great example of not thinking things through.

Aquamarine: Self-explanatory.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides: Astrid Berges-Frisbey played main merm Syrena in this movie. There were other named mermaids in this, I think, but Syrena was the most prominent, obviously.

[chloenwckobiaarchive]

raquellereyes​:

Raquelle followed what her friend pointed to and shrugged as she spoke. “Right, my bad! I should have known! I know this is the whole point of ghosts to be invisible, but it’s not too practical.” She laughed as Chloe mentioned the sign. “We bring chaos, giggles and good vibes! Not that this place seems to lack in those departments, but we are going to improve all of that to a whole new level!” She bumped the side of her arm against Chloe’s. A bit of apprehension was lifted off her shoulders by the other person’s enthusiasm. It was a scary thing to travel to a whole different place sort of on her own, but knowing Raquelle could count on her friend made her look forward to future adventures in the country. “I can’t accept this compliment, because that’s all you! OOh, maybe we will learn how to do those towers of glass that look like cascades! Totally beginner level, I’m sure.” She nodded her head in agreement. “I already knew you had good taste, but this made it even better. They taste better and you don’t get the sickness of the next morning? It might be the best of both worlds.” Rikki put her hands on her hips. “I have three questions. First one, where is that class? It would be ironic for me to be late to class, but it is absolutely guaranteed if I am the one guiding us. Secondly, you need to tell me where you shop because I love what you’re wearing. And finally…” She wiggled her brows playfully. “We need a sleepover where we just match records and songs to cocktails! That would be so much fun, don’t you think?”

Chloe let out a giggle at Rikki’s words, crinkles forming at the edge of her eyes as they continued their conversation. “Unless you’re trying to be like Casper, the friendly ghost!” She vaguely remembered the plot to that movie, but could recall that he made a friend. Didn’t do a good job at being invisible but was a great little guy. At the woman’s words, she nodded her head in agreement, knowing they could make something dull into something bright and shining. “You got that right!” A smile formed on her features as she felt the other bump her arm against hers. Never one to back down from a change to take an adventure, it felt nice to know that she would be able to share a memory with someone she adored. “Are you sure? ‘Cause I feel like it’s all you! And I think that is totally a beginner level thing to do,” she replied before listening to what the other was saying. “Exactly! We’re people who like the best of both worlds. Have a tasty drink, but then you don’t have to deal with the aftermath of the night the next day. I’ve had some gnarly hangovers, so I’ve learned some lessons because of that.” Which was why Chloe liked to take it easy these days when it came to drinking. One of her eyebrows rose into her forehead when the other mentioned asking some questions, a smirk making its way on her face. When she mentioned where the class would be, Chloe looked for her phone again to see the directions. “It says it’s near the kitchen area of the resort. Which makes sense!” apple before adding, “And thank you! I’ve been really loving Bella’s Boutique back in Merrock lately.” Chloe loved the small store as she always found something new and fresh. She laughed a little bit as Rikki wriggled her brows. Once she heard the last question, her ears perked a bit as she nodded her head enthusiastically, showing her love for the idea. “That would be so much fun. We have to do that when we get back home.”

[opalsiren]

some bella x emma (bemma) headcanons under the cut:

the first time they meet is in the moon pool after emma returns from her travels. bella was meeting the girls there to help with the repair effort, while emma was hoping to surprise the girls there the moment she got home. despite having only spoken the once on a skype call with dodgy signal, they recognise each other instantly. they have a 'you must be bella!' / 'you must be emma!' moment and an instant connection. the girls had given emma the bare bones of the comet eva story, but bella is the one who has to explain the full extent of the damage to the moon pool before cleo and rikki get there

lewis runs into emma and her family in the US on their travels while studying. it occurs to him at that moment that emma and bella are kindred spirits who would get on really well, and he tells her so. emma never would have guessed just how much she would grow to like bella

emma feels a little lost when she returns home with everything that's changed and all she missed out on, not to mention guilty for not being around. emma feels like cleo and rikki don't really need her anymore with bella around. conversely bella feels insecure about her place in the group when emma is welcomed back with open arms, the girls sporting their lockets again. bella feels like cleo and rikki don't need her anymore now that emma is back. they confide their fears to one another one day trying to fix the moon pool and reassure each other about their places in cleo and rikki's lives i cannot stress enough how little this ends in pointless girl rivalry

with cleo soon to study marine biology at university and rikki planning to take classes at a local college, emma feels a little lost upon returning home. she had managed to graduate high school while travelling, because of course she did, but doesn't feel college is for her right now and wants to travel some more. bella also feels lost with will away on an extended holiday with his sister and the band's imminent break-up when summer ends. they both decide to go travelling together at the end of the summer, bella insisting on emma seeing the irish sea caves, while emma knows of this gorgeous romantic little patisserie in paris she's dying to take her to

somewhere between fixing the moon pool, planning their trip, and hanging out with the others at the café, they start to catch feelings for one another. they probably start to fall at around the same time but i think bella realises her feelings first (she has known she's liked girls for a long time, whereas emma still isn't really all that comfy with the concept of fancying girls). i'm inclined to say cleo, rikki, and even lewis know that emma fancies bella before emma herself knows. bella is scared to cause a potential rift in the group but slowly starts to insert 'she' pronouns into the band's songs and even has the nerve to be a little more touchy-feely with emma than the others. emma is the stereotypical clueless sapphic who has no idea that bella is flirting with her, even after she realises she herself likes her. eventually rikki uses one of the thousand favours zane owes her to lock them in the café's storeroom and force them to admit their feelings for one another

when they start dating emma freaks out about coming out to her parents. the others reassure her that coming out may not be necessary, but emma has such a hard time lying to her parents and even told them about her tail before they went travelling. bella assures her that, if they're okay with their daughter being a mermaid, they should be okay with her being gay, promising to be as involved as emma wants. in the end the coming out is out of her hands: elliot catches a vibe between emma and bella and essentially tells their parents to stage a family meeting to show her they love and support her no matter who she dates. the meeting itself is long and filled with happy tears and lots of hugs. they are completely accepting of her sexuality and basically treat bella like another member of the family. elliot starts a gsa at school and the whole family go to pride events together every june. bella, not close with nor out to her parents, is overwhelmingly grateful and jokes about taking emma's last name when they get married

emma and bella are quite different on the surface, but ultimately bring out the best in one another. bella is the zen member of the group and gets super into yoga and meditation. she helps emma deal with her anxiety and lets her know that it's okay to just be, that she doesn't have to perform to high standards of perfectionism all the time. emma is for sure the extrovert of the relationship and helps to bring bella out of her shell when she wants to retreat into shyness, allowing her confidence and assertiveness to flourish. when emma is quick to anger, bella calms. when bella doubts her worth, emma reminds her just how valuable she is. they are both deeply warm, empathetic, and compassionate people who are loyal to a fault, and these traits only grow the longer they are together

rikki likes to take credit for their entire relationship for the stunt at the storeroom, while lewis is certain he is responsible since he told emma that she would like bella. cleo claims that, if she never got into zane's zodiac all those years ago they never would have become mermaids together, therefore she should be credited for emma and bella's entire relationship. chaos ensues

during their extended world tour, they find half a dozen other moon pools and meet ten or fifteen other mermaids. with consent they send their details on to the others back home in the hopes of gaining further understanding around magic and mermaids

bella uses her gifts to make emma lots and lots of jewellery. in the early stages of their relationship she can be found proudly wearing a dozen or so different bracelets, necklaces, and anklets at any given time. for their first anniversary bella makes her a rose made of crystal from the water in the moon pool

emma doesn't have the same sense of creativity as bella, but years of taking elliot to oboe practice, reading music theory for fun, and even her grasp of english grammar conventions helps her to help bella write songs. if bella is stuck on a particular line or needs a second pair of ears, emma is the first person she goes to with her problem. when the record deals start flooding in, emma also helps to decode the legal jargon and acts as her manager until a more permanent replacement can be found

bella is lowkey obsessed with emma's mum's extensive crystal ware collection. she likes to make one-of-a-kind, totally unique crystal sculptures for her using her powers. it takes mrs. gilbert a little while to make the connection

when emma starts to study medicine and bella goes on tour, they have to do long distance for a little while. long distance with a mermaid's tail isn't quite so bad, though, as they frequently meet in the middle of the ocean to spend time together between more land-oriented visits

both emma and bella are deeply connected to the environment. when emma is a little older with an established medical practice she uses her money and connections to campaign for environmental protections. when bella gains success as an artist she, too, uses her platform to promote environmental awareness, LGBT rights, women's rights, and a whole host of other issues

they propose to each other at the same time, out for dinner near the marina. right as bella presents emma with the diamond ring elliot helped her pick out, a clumsy waiter spills a jug of water, and bella has to leg it to the water so as not to expose the secret. emma finds her crestfallen at the moon pool and quickly surfaces to console her, revealing the moonstone ring she’s had hidden behind the rocks for weeks. suffice to say, they said yes

despite her best efforts, emma never really got over having to abandon her swimming aspirations due to her tail. similarly a part of bella always mourned the childhood she never got to have since she became a mermaid, nor any chance of a relationship with her family. in the end they are both able to make peace with their fate: it brought them to each other

(bonus: shameless self plug of my bella x emma oneshot aka the only bemma fic in existence. god bless)

[opalsiren]

okay. given the opportunity which h2o mermaid do we think would be most likely to want to give up their tail, for good?

my knee-jerk response is cleo. while she was able to retain a lot of what she held dear prior to her transformation, like her relationship with lewis and her fish collection, her mermaid identity caused a ton of friction between herself and her family. this is especially pronounced in season two after her mum leaves and she runs away from home, and i don't know that this was ever adequately addressed. cleo's ancestral counterpart is gracie who chose to give up her tail after struggling to find the balance between the two worlds. while i think that lewis is a far better boyfriend than max and that cleo is able to lean on her friends for support, if i had to pick a mermaid to give it all up, it'd be cleo

of course emma is the obvious choice given that she lost her competitive swimming career after becoming a mermaid. however i feel that she made her peace with this by the end of her time onscreen, throwing herself into studies and her job at the juicenet as well as her new life as a mermaid to compensate. emma has a better relationship with her family even than cleo. her folks seem to trust her implicitly and are willing to bend to accommodate her without too many questions, like changing the location of the family holiday to somewhere more dry

somehow, it's hard for me to see rikki giving up her tail. even though it's important to them both, emma and cleo have other interests outside of being a mermaid. this doesn't seem to be the case for rikki in the same way. being a mermaid is everything to her. initially she probably struggled the least with the adjustment, as compared to emma and cleo she had so little to lose. her relationship with her family wasn't the same, nor was her proximity to water and water-based preoccupations. rikki was also the most reluctant of the girls to give up her tail when denman came to town. i think it would take a lot for rikki to want to give it all up, like a direct threat to her safety or that of her friends

if charlotte had managed to retain her tail past the season two finale, it's hard to see her wanting to give it all up either. girl was obsessed with being a 'super mermaid' and revelled in her power even when she was left all alone. the same can be said of bella: by the time we meet her she has been hiding her tail since she was nine (9!). she has hobbies and interests outside of being a mermaid but has seemingly managed to find a balance between her two worlds. she probably hardly remembers a time before she had a tail and is accustomed to keeping the secret

of course all of this is hypothetical, and it's near impossible to theorize when the girls share a solid foundation of friendship and support. gracie ostensibly didn't feel the same level of support from her friends nor max when she gave it all up. i'd be remiss not to mention the implications of mermaid-ness on the lives of the girls in the future: would it be possible to hold down a full-time job with a tail? what if the job involved close proximity to water? could you share a dorm room with someone in college without revealing the secret? live in an apartment with a roommate? how do they learn who to trust? can mermaids even have biological children? what sacrifices are you prepared to make to keep your tail?

tl;dr based on her strained relationship with her family and the parallels drawn between she and gracie, of everyone cleo would be most likely to give up being a mermaid. ymmv!

[opalsiren]

okay so i have spent much of the last week on ao3 and ff.net in search of decent h2o fic and have found a couple of gems. i’ve decided to compile them all here in one handy directory of sorts even tho literally no one asked. enjoy!!

ocean eyes (moonlight smile) by fiesa: to start off this is a beautiful little clewis one-shot containing musings on cleo from lewis’s perspective. it’s sweet and heartwarming and beautifully written. it will make you fall in love with the series all over again! mentions of charlotte, zikki, and the rest of the girls on the side if that’s your thing

On My Mind by Sir-Not-Appearing-In-This-Show: this is a zikki-centric one-shot that takes place during rikki’s stint on mako mermaids; she has fallen out of touch with the girls but is back in town for a night or two and runs into zane at a restaurant. it’s beautiful and nostalgic and the dialogue is so real. highly, highly recommend!

Part of the Teenage Angst Brigade by littledust: this zikki one-shot is comprised of lil drabbles based on the songs featured in zane’s playlist for rikki. it spans from their first meeting to the end of season 2-ish. the alternative summary according to the author reads ‘rikki and zane are dorks in love’ and i couldn’t agree more! it’s so, so beautifully written and perfect in p much every way!

And the Walls Kept Tumbling Down by WanderingThisWay: described by the author as ‘five people who infiltrated the complicated infrastructure around rikki's heart, and the one who blasted his way in, no holds barred.’ a really beautifully written take on the relationships that rikki holds dear. unfortunately it is incomplete and hasn’t been updated since 2014, but still worth a read for its flawless characterisation and exploration of rikki’s psyche

Five Simple Rules for Being a Teenage Mermaid by Damkianna: this one is a one-shot of five little insights on the trials and tribulations the girls experience as mermaids, avoiding water and keeping the secret. great dialogue, sweet and very well written, and even features an emma/bella interaction that isn’t totally ooc!

Thunderstorm by bananacosmicgirl: a little hurt/comfort zikki one-shot that takes place between s1 and s2. zane gets caught in a storm off mako and rikki has to save him, thus revealing her mermaid identity to him (again). it’s simple and sweet and well-characterised and i cannot recommend it enough!

wish (upon a starfish) by fiesa: this is a one-shot on lewis’s take on his relationship with charlotte, set during season 2. probably not one for the charlotte stans, nor charlotte-bashers, but definitely has big clewis overtones. i really do love this one, it’s super lovely and a little bit sad at the same time!

Repetition Demands by saiditallbefore: this one is a little different and i don’t really know how to aptly describe it. rikki gets caught in a time loop one full moon and experiences the same day over and over again. i don’t want to say anything more and spoil it but it contains an interesting ship dynamic i’ve never even considered before!

Marry Me by MoldyMoo: a longer one-shot in which a twentysomething lewis finally returns home from the states to propose to cleo. i really feel this is what h2o would look like if the girls were in their twenties and not their teens. really beautifully written, excellent dialogue, and a great insight to p much every relationship on the show. highly recommend!!

Done Feeling So Alone by jellybean96: this is kind of a fix-it fic for those episodes of mako mermaids rikki was in that we all have mixed feelings about. everything is p much the same except rikki and zane are still together. she calls him from her hotel room and he encourages her to reach out to the girls again

ghosts in the air by kadma: a very short little charlotte/emma one-shot where they meet at the moon pool by chance after the events of s2

when the leaves are gone by kadma: this is a short rikki/emma one-shot that takes place between s2 and s3. a little sad and wistful but hopeful at the same time

stuck in my head (stuck in my heart) by saiditallbefore: rikki and emma share a kiss during 2x04 ‘fire and ice’

Perfect by Shasta627: a (much) older cleo and lewis go house-hunting in this one-shot and find the perfect place

No Flaws That I Can See by BlazingLegend: a little insight into an engaged rikki and zane’s relationship. takes place after the events of s3

feel free to rb and plug your own fic!!

[xilamoc]

Don't worry, S3 lore enthusiast to the rescue.

The way I see it the moon pool's function to warn mermaids about the comet doesn't necessarily negate or overwrites it's ability to turn someone into a mermaid, of course then the question becomes, why in the world then does the moon pool reject Will instead of turning him into a mermaid for him to save the world, to which I have a theory, and that it's that the moon pool's natural instinct is to reject EVERYONE who isn't a mermaid as a safety precaution to prevent someone to abuse the powers it gives, this leads to another question, why didn't the tentacle then manifest itself on S1 of H2O? My answer is that the moon pool isn't able to use it's powers whenever it pleases them, throughout the show we see that the moon pool's powers are only activated through involuntary reactions to other planets or cosmic entities within the solar system, the moon forces mako, whether it likes it or not, to go into a chain reaction and free some lunar energy from the crystals into the moon pool in order to prevent an energy overload in them, the energy that's freed from the crystals increases depending on the position of other planets, thus, a human turned mermaid base power is more or less depending on the day they turned into mermaids, When Charlotte transforms the planets where very close to align all with one another so it makes sense why she's the more powerful on the show, when Cleo, Rikki and Emma transformed, the sun was on it's way to form an eclipse with the moon, and I theorize that their insane power-ups in season 2 are the result of another allignment due to how powerful these new abilities where, Bella is clearly the least powerful one so I assume the planets where not near to go into some special cosmic allignment when she transformed.

Next, the tentacle only formed as a reaction to the comet, and said reaction only occured once the comet entered the solar system, Mako reacts in this case by starting to use some of the energy in the crystals to create and maintain the waterfall once it detects the moon is close to positioning itself since it knows that using all of the energy of the crystals is a bad idea, Mako relies on the chain reaction and energization produced by the full moon in order to be able to last longer that it normally would with only the crystals.

In short, Mako is co-dependent to the other planets and cosmic entities in the solar system and can only free its magic through reactions to them, ideally Mako would reject everyone from the moon pool, and be able to free the tentacle everyday until the girls get that it's trying to warn them, but it's unable to due to its dependence on the other cosmic entities and in the second case, due to the limited magic the crystal have, not to mention, Mako needs the magic on the crystals in order to live and produce magic like the S3 finale implies when Sophie heavily alters the moon pool's natural flow by destroying it, thus destroying the flow of the crystals throughout the moon pool that can be seen when Rikki lights them up with heat in E14 and E21, of course, Will, Rikki and Cleo took Crystals from the Moon Pool, but these instance where far between one another, and major damages to the moon pool's natural structure where not made, so the moon pool was able to easily recover from these instances. If Mako released the tentacle for a full day (idk if that's even possible tbh), who knows how long would it take for Mako to recover, if Mako did that, every full moon its energy supply not only would be insanely limited to the energy the full moon and other planets give to it that day, but the crystals would barely store any energy from the encounter due to the need to use said energy to warn the girls, and Mako would be left in a position where it would need to choose between an energy recharge to eventually not be fully dependant to the full moon or to warn the girls with the insanely limited moon energy that varies every full moon.

is the moon pool meant to still be 'active' in season three? like if a non-mermaid ended up in the moon pool as the full moon is rising overhead would they become a mermaid and transform the next day? or is the moon pool's sole function during season three to warn the girls about the impending comet

[opalsiren]

i was partially right!! 3x04 'valentine's day' is also a high point of the season for me even if the will x bella drama makes me roll my eyes so much they fall out of my head. 3x08 'kidnapped' for sure gets an honourable mention for the rikki's birthday of it all

i watched 3 episodes of season 3 yesterday and i genuinely enjoyed them who wants to clap for me

also guess what the episodes were

[bluemoonpool]

I love this post. I hadn't thought about the possibility of Bella and Charlotte being friends, until I read through it! I would have loved to see it happen, and I really do think that both of them would've greatly benefited from their friendship. Like op states, Bella and Charlotte's personalities balance each other out in a wonderful way. And because their powers differ, there's little to no room for territorial jealousy. I would like to point out a few things-- Just some areas of the post where I differ. I'll put them below the cut, to keep this post from getting any longer. 

While I do agree with a lot of this post, I feel like there might be some misinterpretations. For example, when op said that Bella doesn't let anyone get close to her. That's not the case at all. Bella and her parents moved around a lot, so she never had the chance to really make friends as a child. For children, making friends is important to developing social skills. I personally know what that's like, because my parents moved around a lot when I was a child too. Bella's an open and friendly person, she's just socially awkward. Another thing was the mention of Louise Chatham and Max Hamilton being rigid and stuck in their glory days. I disagree with this because someone who relives their glory days is someone who hasn't grown up, and accepted the idea that that stage in their life is over. It's a very internal thing that reflects outward, and requires no outside trigger. We can say that it's not the case for both of these characters because a) both of them speak about their experiences as parts of their lives that are no longer there, and b) both of these memories are triggered by outside sources. For Louise, it was meeting Cleo that triggered this, and for Max it was Lewis (and later Charlotte). Louise and Max weren't exactly interfering in the lives of the girls or Lewis, they were simply passing down whatever lessons they learned, whether it was knowledge or regrets. There seems to be a lot of focus on the "there can only be 3" logic. Taking another look at season 2, we can see that this idea wasn't the core of their problems, nor the reason for Charlotte being excluded. It's a bit more complicated than that, and all the girls are to blame. Cleo's indecisiveness toward her relationship with Lewis forced her to make the mistake of accusing Charlotte of something she hadn't done, which set things in motion for season 2. Emma's to blame as well, since she basically treated Charlotte (after becoming a mermaid) like a really dumb child. As for Rikki, I feel like the rigidity toward her stems from the idea of Charlotte being a bad person, which Cleo inadvertently roped both Emma and Rikki into. If it hadn't been for Cleo's jealousy, I'm more than certain Rikki would've been cool with Charlotte. Rikki's just fiercely loyal to her friends. That said, there was a lot the trio did against Charlotte, but that doesn't mean that she hasn't done stuff to mess things up too. Equally jealous of Lewis' friendship with the girls, Charlotte has lied to those around her, manipulated them, she's stalked both Lewis and the girls, and has done her fair share of exclusion as well. Even before she became a mermaid, Charlotte has been trying to force herself into their little world (finally succeeding after purposefully jumping into the moon pool, and becoming a mermaid). That's the real problem as to why the trio were so against Charlotte being a part of their group. But I do agree with op in saying that the whole season is nothing but misunderstandings and double standards! It’s almost hilarious. (Actually, I could go a bit deeper into that but I'm already hijacking a lot of this post, and I'm sorry. If anyone wants me to talk about it, let me know.) And that's where Bella and Charlotte differ, in my opinion. When Cleo and Rikki met Bella, she was already a mermaid; a part of their world. Bella didn't have to force her way in, and because of that I'm certain she'd have been accepted anyway, regardless of whether Emma was in the picture or not. It had nothing to do with "there can only be 3." That's pretty much it. I hope that I got my points across well enough, and please do add to this post if you can! I really enjoyed reading through op's thoughts, and the idea of friendship between two unlikely mermaids! If anyone could fanfic this, that'd be perfect, thank you! I need this in my life-

AU H2O Friendship: Charlotte and Bella

(I don't want any crap about this alone. Free Speech can be practiced but no hate!)

If I had to think of a friendship from H2O that I'd like to have seen, it would be between Charlotte Watsford and Bella Hartley.

(Yes, I am aware that for this to happen, Charlotte had to have stuck around and still be a mermaid for Bella to approach her, but this is an AU of itself!)

So why? Excellent question because at first, one would think they would be as opposite as Rikki and Emma were. But at second glance, if you dig deeper (and deploy better writing and character development), their friendship makes a lot of sense.

For starters, the two would have been their own separate group from the girls, power-wise:

Charlotte has the main 3: Freezing, Boiling and Manipulating/Creating water from an already existing source. Or in layman's terms, Charlotte can manipulate water in its 3 states of matter -Heat being Gas and Solid being Ice.

Bella's powers aren't in a matter of states, but thickness. Realistically, Bella has Viscosity Manipulation:

"The resistance of fluids to a change shape, influencing spraying, injection molding, and surface coating. In everyday terms (and for fluids only), viscosity is "thickness" or "internal friction", thus, water is "thin", having a lower viscosity, while honey is "thick", having a higher viscosity. Put simply, the less viscous the fluid is, the greater its ease of movement (fluidity). The user could make water thicker, making it harder for sea-life to survive or have honey pour out like water by making it thinner. " (from Superpower Wiki)

Therefore, Bella's powers allow her to make any liquid thick in anyway - thick enough to an ooz-like substance, hard enough to walk on, or causing it to explode (or attack).

So, in the best phrasing, both girls have their own sets of powers. And surprisingly, could use them in combinations if they wanted to: constructing paths while avoiding getting wet, creating attacks, creating items from molding and hardening, diversions and escapes to avoid exposure.... Basically, more than we ever saw on the show. And because their powers are so alike and different, it would avoid jealousy between them (especially on Charlotte's part, since she wouldn't feel like she had to compete).

Next, the friendship itself. What would it be like? Bella is mostly seen and notedly described as Bubbly, Caring and Attractive, but with her Status, she's doesn't let anyone get to close to her. In canon, it was Cleo and Rikki's - reckless - use of their powers that caught her attention, leading one to think she thought she was alone. Charlotte is Honest, Humorous (in her own way), and Strong-Willed. However, she is prone to Jealousy and Insensitivity, especially when feeling threatened or stressed.

As canon, we obviously saw Charlotte's worst traits at best and her best traits at worst (bad writing!) and Bella doesn't really stand up much for herself nor let it be known (debatable passive). So as friends, here's how I'd imagine it going down: (For Charlotte) Bella would be able to reach out to Charlotte in her worst moods and calm her down, encourages her to look closely at her actions and the consequences, inspire her immerse herself in her art, implore her to take in to regard of other people's feelings and accept that things won't always go her way/(For Bella) Charlotte would teach her to not be such a Pushover, to raise her voice, to take risks with relationships but call out when said relationships don't seem fair, provide honest opinions where others would rather flatter her, and tell her it's okay to be a little selfish in her life. But the main they both have in common (beside being the "4th" mermaid) is that, regardless of how it came to be, both girls know what it's like to be the outsider and will go out of their way to reassure each other that they're not alone anymore.

Lastly, they would become best friends because, unlike their Mako Mermaid counterparts, the Main Mermaid Trio would never have let them in.

(Y'all gonna think I'm bashing, but on this blog, I'll never be anything BUT honest regarding this!)

Take away the love triangles, legacies, durations and all that, let's tell the truth: Charlotte would have never been welcomed into the group. Not only were they waaayyy too closed off with anybody else aside their group (include boyfriends and exclude families), they had these two rigid yet nostalgic old people where were stuck in the glory days, back when they were young and happier, but disregarded why their group basically broke up (I mean, c'mon! They never even had families! They were still old geezers in the end!). "Only 3 Mermaids" statement only ended up being proven true because the girls (together and on their own) couldn't see past the idea that it didn't need to be "just three", choosing to follow the Past Gen's terrible examples . Max himself was in the wrong too for low-key encouraging Lewis that Cleo would always be the one for him - Basically my logic: If they are meant to last, let it happen on its own. Don't interfere! - and for leading Charlotte to gain and lose her tail, only indulging her because she was Gracie's granddaughter and inadvertly helping her loss only when her bad side became more apparent. Yes, she may be a lot like Gracie , but she has her flaws too. Basically, Season 2 was a mess of misinterpretations, past nalstogia, constant hypocrisy! Charlotte may have been in the wrong, but everyone else constituted to her downfall. Plus, Charlotte was realistic and straightforward on how she felt, having no problem of acting on it (like a certain fiery mermaid y'all like to praise....). Cleo, Rikki (and later Emma) were long ready to dismiss her before they even gave her approval or a chance. A chance they'd never give her, even as a legacy.

(If you by a feel I'm using the same arguments, sorry. As said before, I can't even talk about the second season without ranting!)

Moving forward, lets talk about Bella. For thise who believe they would have let Bella in, even if Emma hadn't left, bless your optimistic hearts. I might have said the same thing, but if the experience with Charlotte was still fresh in the mind, powers and lovers aside, the Ireland-made mermaid was better off if she kept walking when she first appeared. Let's play on the Comet still heading to earth: From 3x01, Bella would try to acknowledge the girls after the guy harassed her, they'd dismiss her. She'd try again at the bar named after Rikki, where they'd do it again until the Water Tentacle takes said mermaid away. Bella still stays to introduce herself, they'd thank her but dismiss her. 3 times would be enough for Bella to believe they'd want to be left alone. Why? Because the girls choose to only stick in 3s and Charlotte is still a fresh wound for them. Lewis might try to get them to befriend her, but they never listen to him anyways unless needed. Bella keeps her distance, the girls are stuck realizing a comet would destroy the world (and regarding the crystals, never wear them.) When comes time, either Emma or Cleo might realize Bella could help, but dismiss it as they'd thing 3 of them are enough to stop it. But Emma's powers can't hold hold the Tower of Light and the world does end. Why? Because they chose to be stuck in their ways and ignore the signs that Bella was meant to be with them for a reason. Yeah, this is all speculation on MY own take of how it would have went, that's beside the point. While it's nice to think Bella would have got a chance, in actuality, the only reason her spot was made was to secure the "Only 3" rule in Emma absence and you can't really deny it. Season 3 was an AU of its own where Bella's introduction all depended on timing and inconvenience on the Rikki and Cleo's part.

That being said, between the two mermaids, the H2O Trio would have never batted an eye at them, not unless they had too. And because of this, Charlotte and Bella would feel it was better to form their own group since they literally would have no one else to accept them.

All together, friendship between Charlotte Watsford and Bella Hartley is one friendship that I would have love to have seen and recognize as it's a friendship formed from loneliness and differences that set them apart from everyone else yet their do very personalities compliment each other and would bring out the best in them. Between their very different sets of powers, traits, interaction with the girls, they just might actually be what the other needed.