Fangs & Fins is a H₂O: Just Add Water Fan Fiction. It centers around the life of mermaid Rose Collins, a quiet, cynical girl who can not get over the murder of her mother six years prior, after she befriends a group of vampires and the complications that then follow.
It's more of an AU fic rather than a crossover, though the series was heavily inspired by LJ Smith's works. Most of the canon characters from H₂O: Just Add Water appear in the series, and most of them have maintained the basis of their personality, though their names and backgrounds have significantly changed. The original piece concluded in April of 2011.
A sequel was released in June of 2011 and explores the mermaid mythology and tyranny of the vampire world's government that was introduced in the original fic more deeply. It may be read here
Fangs & Fins provides examples of:
- Action Girl: Lily, Arianna and Minerva do just as well (if not better) than the boys when it comes to fighting.
- Actor Allusion: The kids like the series Legend of the Seeker, which Craig Horner, who portrays Ash, was in.
- Rose seems to like the band Muse, as Cariba Heine does in Real Life.
- Alliterative Name: Minerva Montgomery, along with her three sisters and parents.
- Ambiguously Evil: Violet, until the latter half of season 2 took the 'ambiguous' out of it. Same goes for Petra, who seemed to be kind yet misguided throughout season 1 and the first half of season 2, before she is slowly revealed to be pure evil after she blackmails Lily.
- Byron, who was a slightly less subtle example, initially appeared to be a friend of Lily's, until it's revealed he's Elliot's minion
- Ambiguously Jewish: Several of the Nereids have Jewish surnames, but Léa Abel is probably the best example.
- Arranged Marriage: Arianna discovers that her mother and James's father are planning one between James and herself. They are first cousins.
- This seems to be very common between the families who have family members on the Council and becomes a major plot point in season 2 when Sofia and Katharina are pitting against each other for Ben's hand.
- Ascended Extra: Arianna made a few appearances in the last few chapters leading up to the finale but was promoted to the main cast during the sequel/season two.
- Ben was more of a background character until halfway though the story when he was promoted to the main cast. Now he gets more page time than James.
- Badass Bookworm: James, Minerva, Lily are the most scholarly and well-read of the bunch and arguably the three most competent fighters.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Kind of. Rose is strawberry blonde and would (probably) qualify as a Fiery Redhead, Minerva is a Brainy Brunette, but Constance was not, and Arianna is very much not a Dumb Blonde, same with both Lily and Laurel.
- Butt-Monkey: James, who is referred to as a Fun Sponge and is made fun of by pretty much every character at one point or another.
- Disproportionate Retribution: Rose has a tendency to overreact in regards to Lily.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Subverted. James often resorts to this, but he drinks blood mixed with alcohol instead.
- Embarrassing Middle Name: James's is Ayden, which Arianna describes as being "kind of girly".
- Floral Theme Naming: Rose, Lily and their mother Violet.
- If you extend it to plants - Ash and his sister, Ivy.
- Friend Versus Lover: Subverted. This is what leads Lily to break up with Lewis because she thought their relationship would be weird for Rose or too hard for her to handle.
- Generation Xerox: Played with. Aside from the obvious, such as Rose resembling Violet and Ben/James resembling Isaac, Rose and the brothers all possess different personalities than their parents did and Rose is no where near as crazy as Violet was, though if Isaac resembles either brother personality wise he is closer to Ben than James, meaning that Rose/Ben kind of parallels Violet/Isaac, specifically that Violet/Isaac was mostly physical, which Rose almost seems to be trying to convince herself that her connection with Ben is just physical (i.e. what occurred in 2.04...)
- Another blatant parallel would be Ariadne/Lea vs. Arianna/Lily. They even do the forehead-touching-thing and link arms constantly. Also - Ariadne/Lea, Arianna/Lily
- Interspecies Romance: Almost everyone. The only notable exception is James/Minerva (both vampires).
- Love Dodecahedron: A milder version, mostly.
- Season 1: Jewel wants James who is dating Rose who Ben thinks he might have feelings for. Lewis is dating Constance but still isn't over Lily who is interested in both Ash and Byron.
- Season 2: James is frustrated that Ben kissed Rose which leads him to question his relationship with both of them, and is a big factor as to why they break up. Ben then feels guilty about possibly pursuing Rose, however James moves on quickly and starts developing feelings for Minerva. Lily thinks she may be interested in Arianna, but she thinks that Arianna may have a thing with Ben, while Lewis pursues Laurel. And James and Arianna get forced into an Arranged Marriage...
- Love Martyr: Lewis for Lily, a lot of the time. The guy's devoted, sure, but he does a better job at parenting Rose than Lily does and enjoys the company of Ben/James/Constance. He gets absolutely nothing out of his relationship with Lily, while he got new friends and consistency out of his friendship with Rose - yet he will always take Lily's side if an argument arises.
- To be fair though, Rose is insensitive as hell and Lily's side in arguments is generally more logical. Rose wouldn't pick Lily over James/Ben, but Lily sure would pick Rose over Lewis, which he sadly realizes.
- Lewis also has an easier time relating to Lily, Rose is very selfish and Lily is very selfless, Lewis can align himself with her because they're personalities are similar. Lily also doesn't seem to take Lewis for granted as Rose often does.
- Luke, I Am Your Father: More like "Lily and Rose, I am your brother's father" from Mr. Wood.
- Not Blood Siblings:
- Constance with James and Ben, as she is adopted.
- James, Ben, Rose and Lily all share a sibling, but they are not technically related themselves.
- Odd Name Out:
- Lily, Rose and Elliot Collins. The former two are named after flowers, will Elliot is not.
- James and Ben are both named after biblical figures, Benjamin was the last of Jacob's twelve sons and James after the Epistle of James. Their adopted sister Constance is the Odd Name Out.
- Our Vampires Are Different: For one thing, there are three species of them. The ones who are born - who can digest small portions of human food, drink blood, and have Elemental Powers. The ones who are born but are half-human/half-whatever can do the same. Then the ones who are made - they cannot digest human food, can't have children and don't have any powers.
- Parental Favoritism:
- Subverted. Mr. Wood favors James because he is the only child who is 100% vampire, but the word "favors" should be used loosely...
- Minerva's parents have a tendency to favor her older, successful siblings.
- Platonic Life-Partners:
- James and Arianna manage to keep things platonic while sleeping in the same bed in 2.02. Despite kissing in 2.03, they both admit to feeling nothing and have spent the rest of season 2 as close friends.
- Ben and Arianna. Kind of. Ben definitely had feelings for Arianna prior to finding out she was gay, and his reaction to Arianna and James's Arranged Marriage in 2.03 suggest a repressed attraction.
- Put on a Bus: Jewel, Mr. Collins, Byron, Charlotte
- Jewel came back very briefly in the last few chapters only to be killed off
- Mr. Collins also never made a physical appearance, therefore he was never actually Put on a Bus. He did appear in the season 1 finale, however, and makes frequent appearances in season 2.
- Ash tends to drift in and out of the story.
- The Bus Came Back in 2.08 for Charlotte.
- Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: James, Benjamin, and Isaac Wood.
- Lampshaded with Minerva.
- Léa is another from of Leah, who was Jacob’s first wife.
- Also Ariadne. Several of the Nereids were named after actual Nereids as well.
- Ship Tease: Loads between Rose and Ben, but a particularly mean one happens in the first season finale when the two kiss passionately, but are interrupted by Mr. Collins. Rose then goes back to James, inisting that the kiss was a mistake
- Sibling Triangle: Both Wood brothers are interested in Rose.
- Sibling Yin-Yang: Lily is logical and overthinks things while Rose is impulsive and sometimes underthinks things. Ben is passionate, mischievous and headstrong while James is serious, thoughtful and cerebral.
- Slap-Slap-Kiss: Rose and Ben. They spend the first portion of the original story hating each other, the second half full of UST, and by the sequel things are still weird between them - Rose says Ben is avoiding her, they kiss in Rose's room, etc.
- Superpower Lottery: For the vampires and werewolves. They can move and run much faster than that of a normal human, they can react much faster and quicker to situations than that of a normal human, they are able to carry or lift heavier objects with much ease and little effort, and their senses, such as sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing have become clearer, stronger and heightened; thus, they are able to see, smell and hear things from a greater distance than that of a normal human. Vampires can also heal immediately after being wounded.
- True Companions: Yes, it's a Love Dodecahedron, and yes, they ''all'' have issues, but the group really do care deeply about each other. Even Minerva.
- Two Girls and a Guy: Rose, Lily, and Lewis. But, surprisingly, while it lasted, the romantic triangle was more friendship vs. love rather than the two girls fighting over the guy.
- Two Guys and a Girl: James, Ben, and Arianna.
