murdockhawkeye

i wanna be a mermaid

[murdockhawkeye]

i've rewatched this show a million of times, and somehow i missed the fact that the girls tied their shoes to themselves before going into the moon pool in the first ep

[liasummers]

there's something abt ash that i cannot stand. and i'm not sure if it's something in his personality or is it simply because in my eyes emma is a lesbian

[themakomoonpool]

My friend, there are many issues with Ash aside from comphet, so I have compiled a list off the top of my head.

He is clearly in college but is pursuing a 16 year old high school student.

He is a manager who is pursuing an employee under his direct supervision and control.

Against Emma's express wishes, he hijacks her house and springs a date on her. Him getting "permission" from her friends is not consent. Her not sending him away once he is there does not fix it.

He decides to forcibly "help her conquer" her fear of water for her without her consent or prior knowledge. Him eventually putting her down after she all but starts puking on him does not fix it.

In addition to his behaviour as a predatory older guy and boss who constantly spits on her boundaries, I find him incredibly irritating because of how the narrative uses him.

I think the narrative uses him to make Emma seem paranoid, pettily competitive, and as someone who thinks too highly of herself. Emma is paranoid for not trusting him even though he's a "nice guy." Emma hates him and causes a horse to get sick because she's pettily competitive and thinks too highly of herself. Emma hates him because she's overly competitive and petty from losing the manager job. Ash has done nothing wrong but try to be understanding and good and romantic and patient according to the narrative. Ash is used to make Emma look bad at every turn.

These are not traits that truly Emma truly had in season 1 before Ash. Before Ash, she was smartly and rightly cautious. She and her friends were kidnapped by a mad scientist for experimentation! She was not portrayed as a paranoid person. Before Ash, Emma's competitive spirit was shown as her and Rikki bantering (and bonding) over who the faster swimmer is and her doing her best to help Byron train like she did as he specifically requested. Him insulting her over it was him being a little bitch. She was competitive, but not pettily or unprompted. In season 2, she is constantly and pettily competitive with Ash for the sake of it, unprompted. Before Ash, Emma was an empathetic and capable person.

Ash is meant to be this "nice guy" who softens the cold and mighty Emma, and they change and punish her character in order to do so. Instead of making him likeable, the story makes her unlikeable so that he seems likeable in comparison.

Could she realistically develop these traits as a trauma response to this mermaid secret? Yes, BUT it is blatant misogyny to step on Emma in order to uplift Ash.

[liasummers]

there's something abt ash that i cannot stand. and i'm not sure if it's something in his personality or is it simply because in my eyes emma is a lesbian

[opalsiren]

soooooo clown shoes of me to even notice BUT charlotte’s favourite food being chinese food

and then bella later eating chinese food with [redacted]

hartford soulmates methinks

[opalsiren]

mermaids as a metaphor for disability and chronic illness tho… your bodily functions are seldom within your contol and inhibit you from any sense of ‘normalcy’ thus isolating you from the social world… this necessitates forming a close-knit community of people with whom to share resources and experiences… medical intervention as a concept is terrifying as medical practitioners seek to treat you like a lab experiment… even your well-meaning loved ones with whom you share details of your condition are constantly trying to fix or ‘cure’ you… it is necessary to hide or downplay certain aspects of your identity in order to function semi-normally in a society with little to no awareness of your true circumstances… thinking

[murdockhawkeye]

eh.

[speerfisch]

Off Topic from my usual posts: Indulging in my yearly ‚H2O just add water‘ rewatch (feat. Lewis supporting EmmaxRikki)

[outatmako]

Cleo's celebrity crush is Robert Irwin and everyone gives her so much shit for it because that's just Lewis in a different font, which is obvious to everyone except Lewis

[h2ojustaddmako]

H2O just add water debuted 20 years ago today, on July 7, 2006.

[outatmako]

Thinking about what h2o teaches boys.

Nate is probably the show's biggest example of toxic masculinity. (Zane has his moments, too, but he's allowed growth in a way Nate isn't because Nate isn't as important.) Nate tells Cleo to wear something "short and tight", hits on pretty much every girl in the show, and is constantly violating boundaries and being disrespectful in general. All that on top of him just kind of sucking. He's a jerk and he never changes. And you know what? He never ends up getting a girlfriend. The girls are pretty consistently annoyed or disgusted by him. Narratively, he is the butt of the joke.

On the other hand...

Lewis is by all measures a very decent guy. He's kind, respectful, trustworthy, understands basic boundaries, and treats women like human beings, and not just objects of desire. I mean his three best friends are girls. And even when he pines over Cleo both in season 1 before they get together and again post breakup, it's clear how much he values her friendship. He's in love with her, obviously, but he's also just happy to have her as his best friend. He's not perfect but by god if he doesn't respect the women in his life. And you know what? He has at least three girls interested in him. Hell, the second season is largely about two girls fighting over him.

I know the show's main audience was young girls, and I think showing girls an example of how they should be treated is very important. Knowing what respect and healthy relationships looks like from a young age makes it easier to spot when you're being mistreated! But I also think for any young boys watching, it's a good lesson in how to treat the girls and women in their lives.

[outatmako]

#let's not talk about what season 3 does to all this lol#but even in zane's earlier iterations. yes he is undeniably a little shit circa early s1#then rikki begins to fall for him when he shows a softer side AND only agrees to go out with him when he calls off the mermaid hunt#throughout s2 he proves time and again that she can trust him to keep the mermaid secret#ambergris episode notwithstanding. s1 + s2 of h2o mostly have decent takes around boundaries and consent

yes! yes! I also love how Zane in season 2 is totally happy to let Rikki set the pace of their relationship and accepts all her conditions. It's all on her terms. but I also appreciate the show is careful to show that he very very willing. I think something important season two does is show that coercion can happen in any direction in a relationship. Charlotte manipulates and coerces Lewis, as an obvious example. And while that arc isn't handled perfectly for many reasons, I think one thing it does well is show us what an unhealthy, toxic relationship looks like, from both sides, and not only that, how it can happen accidentally. Neither Lewis nor Charlotte have bad intentions towards the other, and I think that's important. Being toxic, even being full on abusive, is not usually a conscious choice but the result of many complicated factors. We're all capable of it.

I also really love the episode where Cleo and Lewis are babysitting Kim and Elliot at the marine park. It shows how easy it is for someone sweet and a little naive like Elliot to be taken advantage of. It uses the simple example of one person paying for everything for someone who clearly doesn't care about them, to highlight what an unequal relationship can look like. And I especially love when Cleo and Lewis tell Elliot a relationship should be an equal partnership.

To go back to the zikki of it all, I think it's important that though Zane agrees to all of Rikki's terms, including not being seen in public with her, which imo would be a reasonable deal breaker, he does it with a smile on his face. She's calling the shots, but it's not remotely coercive, which given everything else going on in season 2 feels intentional. There's nuance to everything and what could on paper seem uneven actually isn't in practice for various reasons.

Idk what happened in season 3, but between Zane not treating Rikki like an equal partner in the business even though they're supposed to be, and Will stomping all over Bella's boundaries, they really threw this messaging in the trash.

[h2ojustaddmako]

Every time I watch In Over Our Heads and Zane hits these poses my gayness awakens again

[outatmako]

One thing I love about the first two seasons and the 50s mermaids is the themes about breaking cycles, of the past not defining the present. Max and Gracie were a tragedy, but Lewis and Cleo learn from their story and find their way back to each other. Gracie gives up her powers, Cleo is able to find the balance Gracie never could. Julia couldn't trust Carl, but Zane helps the girls escape Dr. Denman. Louise ends up alone when the 50s merms drift apart and their friendships fade over time, but Rikki and Cleo stay in regular contact with Emma when she travels the world.

[outatmako]

Nobody noticing that their lips became suddenly glossed and their cheekbones highlighted with glitter sends me

"She's clearly sick, Kim. Anybody can see that!" idk Don it looks like she's about to hit the club actually

[outatmako]

frame of all time. the sunglasses. their faces. 10/10 no notes.

[opalsiren]

'uhh no i'm greg' will never not be funny. to me

[murdockhawkeye]

i just know it in my heart that don would never stop making fish puns if he ever found out about cleo

[opalsiren]

also while we're on the subject. there is an entire episode of h2o practically dedicated to the fact that lewis never gets angry, while rikki tries to piss him off to no avail for days on end. how and ever lewis is visibly furious in season 1 episode 1. what, pray tell, is the thing that makes lewis so angry? zane threatening cleo. all rikki had to do to get on his bad side was say something mean to cleo, and lewis would have been incandescent with rage. that's why i believe in clewis supremacy