Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Hawaii Five-0 story)

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Fanfiction
Title: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea
Author(s): JoeLawson
Date(s): 29 July 2011
Length: 39,606 words
Genre: slash, m/m, Mermaid AU
Fandom: Hawaii Five-0
External Links: at AO3
at Livejournal
title graphic by jaguarcaine (2011)

Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea is a Hawaii Five-0 McDanno fic by JoeLawson. Often praised for its worldbuilding and characterization, the fic is an AU that features Danny "Danno" Williams as a cold-water mer who moves to Hawai'i and is requisitioned to work in the 5-0 by Steve McGarrett, eventually mating with him. As testament to the fic's popularity, fans who would not normally read a fic with this premise have read and enjoyed Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea after other fans told them to take a chance on it.

The Fic

Posted in July 2011 during the hiatus between season 1 and season 2 airing, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea covers the first half of season 1 with a mer twist. It was not the first AU of this type JoeLawson had written, although the previous fic featured different worldbuilding and is unrelated.[1] But this fic is most notable for its extensive worldbuilding surrounding the mermaids featured in the fic, as well as its popularity being the second most kudos'd Hawaii 5-0 fic on AO3[2] and the most bookmarked.[3]

Danny is an Atlantic, cold-water mermaid who doesn't get along with the native ali'i kai -- Sea Royalty in Hawaiian -- when he first moves to Hawai'i and several other tribes of mer are mentioned throughout the fic, as well as various slang and terms for mers. A large portion of the fic concerns mer-human relations and the fact that mer are technically a sovereign species, as well as Steve's quest to learn more about them after realizing how little humans know about mers.

Awards

It won the 2012 Hawaii Five-0 Ohana Favorite Awards into two distinct categories.[4]

Ohana Favorite Awards winner "Steve/Danny - Genre: First Time"
Ohana Favorite Awards winner "Steve/Danny - Genre: Alternate Universe"

There is also an official Russian translation by pakadoge[5] and a podfic read by flyingthesky available.[6][7]

Related Works

Silhouette of a scuba diver from below, in a chasm. Fic's title appears in light blue, in a decorative gothic font.
podfic cover (2012)

flyingthesky podficced this story at the request of regsi_ruka, who won its 10k to 40k podfic auction for scarleteenfans.[6][7] It has a runtime of 3:40:32 and is also available on the Audiofic Archive.[8]

According to the podfic notes,[6][7] it features the following songs:

  1. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea [cover by George Harrison]
  2. Smooth Day [Jason Paul Bonilla & Leonard Ian Dalseme]
  3. Mermaid [Francois-Paul Aiche and H. Scott Salinas]
  4. Girls Go Shopping [Alan Menken]
  5. Night Terror [Laura Marling]
  6. Ghost of a Shark [Tom McRae]
  7. Cold Cold Water [Mirah]
  8. Pirates [Francois-Paul Aiche and H. Scott Salinas]

knight_tracer later recced the podfic as the one podfic you should listen to in Hawaii Five-0 fandom.[9] An offical translation of the fic into Russian was posted by pakadoge in 2018.[5] The translation is prefaced by a note explaining that the translator did not want to use "mermaid" because it would be inaccurate and didn't feel "merman" would be appropriate either so instead used "people of the sea" instead to refer to the mers in the fic.[5]

Recs and Reviews

Merman!Danny manip by deedo2313: "Look at that! McDanno!! :D It’s been a while. I actually just wanted to fix a tiny little thing that had been bothering me in the original merman!Danno manip, but it kinda turned into re-doing it from scratch… oops. This is easily my favourite McDanno fic. It’s just sooo awesome!!! Go read it!" (2014)
The mer AU I never know I wanted. Besides being very true to the season one characters of H5-0, the mer world-building is spectacular. Never before in reading a fic has my 400-level marine biochemistry seminar in university come in handy.

 [10]

2011

I really loved this story. A well plotted and written tale that kept me entertained and held my attention throughout. You hit the ground running and stayed there; something a lot of writers struggle with. I adore anything with a mythological base and blending it with H50 just made my day complete. I do hope you write a sequel, but I understand that your 'original' fiction has to come first. Although... writing fanfic is an excellent way of breaking a block *wink*.[11]

This was amazing. Truly. Probably one of my favorite H5O stories ever. I do have a terrible mating kink and maybe mer kink as well now. Seriously. Just wonderful. I do hope you find more of this. Until then I'll just read it once, twice, twenty-seven more times. Thanks so much for sharing![12]

Awesome! This is great, the universe really thought out and detailed. I liked the cultural conflicts between the different groups of merfolk. The meeting with the King was great! As always, wonderfully written, great characterization, and nicely plotted.[13]

I was a little skeptical about reading a mermaid AU, but this was awesome. The tribal conflicts between the different mers and between mers and humans really rang true, and made it easy to go with the premise. And I love bonding stories in any context, so that was great. In short, this was a wonderful story and I very much look forward to reading anything else you write in this 'verse.[14]

I'm not a big fan of crack fic so when I saw this one pop up today, I gave it a pass at first. I mean, Danny as a merman? Oh, please. But then I saw a couple of people whose taste in fic seems to be similar to mine reccing it so I decided to give it a try. I literally just finished reading it, left feedback for the author, and ran over here to rec it.

This story follows canon from the first episode on pretty closely, but with one difference: Merfolk are commonplace and Danny is a merman. The author obviously spent a lot of time thinking about the mer universe and it's fascinating. Mer have different characteristics and looks depending on what stock they're from. For instance, Hawaiian mer evolved from dolphins and Scandinavian mer (Danny's tribe) evolved from sharks. This makes it difficult for Danny to fit in among the ali'i kai and he has a rough time adjusting to the islands where he has moved to follow his human ex-wife and their half-mer daughter. All that changes when Steve bulldozes his way into Danny's life and Danny finds himself bonding with Steve, a thought that scares him because it didn't work out well with Rachel, who was unable to handle the intensity of a mer-human relationship.

This is a well-realized AU that is fascinating from start to finish.[15]

Just awesome! Your previous were-shark Danny Jaws is still my very favorite story in H50 fandom, but this story is climbing the rankings. I adore your worldbuilding, the whole sense that there is a larger world out there beyond your story. International inter-species treaties! Different mer-clans with different biologies and languages! Mer-physiologies and mating habits! Clan symbols on nests! Halfbreed merfolk! Children's rhyming songs to aid in remembering what body parts to shift! Loved every damn detail you so carefully wrought in the story. And, of course, because you mentioned it several times and Danny's obviously already contemplating it subconsciously, no matter how loudly his conscious mind thinks it's a bad idea, we already know what any possible sequel is likely to entail....[16]

This story is amazing!! It took my breath away in several scenes, especially the fight in the water--I was gripping my keyboard and getting Jaws flashbacks ^_^ Your ideas for this universe are truly unique and it created an appetite for more of the fascinating dynamic between the merfolk & ‘lung breathers.’ I loved every second of Danny’s imprinting on Steve and of course the very hot sex at the end :D I must also say that your descriptions of the transformations, movements, and instincts for Danny and all the merfolk were truly eerie and beautiful. I really hope you do more in this universe![17]

[Keira Marcos]
Why You Should Read This: In a world where shifters that come out of the sea are common place, Danny Williams is a Homo pisces—a merman from a Northern clan living in Hawaii. He struggles to fit in as both an mainlainder as a different breed of fish than the local mer people (who descend from dolphins while he descended from sharks). Couple his culture shock with custody issues over Grace AND Super Navy Seal, Steve McGarrett invading his life and Danny has a whole lot going on. Steve is by turns charming and foolish and adorable in this fic as he maneuvers himself into a life with Danny despite their obvious differences. Fantastic fic! Highly Recommended.[18]
Sorry if someone else asked this but I just do not have the patience to get through all the comments.

How did the Mer evolved? Not in your head but in this world. It can't be parallel evolution unless Grace & Kono are sterile, also, how the hell would several Aqua-Hominids develop simultaneously from two very different sources(Dolphins & Sharks, for instance.) and still be so similar. Is the reason they are so few because you nead at least one copy of the full Mer genome so any kid of Grece (unless it's with a pure mer) will likely be human. Is it possible to tell from looking at them that Kono and Grace are half-blood? Like still having legs in Mer-form, they're just weird looking and ending in fins?

In the Back story I got in my head it was because of an old virus that made their ancestors sensitive to non human DNA and repeated exposure to aquatic DNA in food and the fight to survive had eventually made them what they are, those that survived said disease but were not exposed to such DNA remained the same.

I've said this for two reasons:

1)I want more and hope that an outsiders view will give you inspiration will love to see something that has nothing to do with what I wrote.
2) I want to know the REAL back-story for the Mer.[19]

There are so many reasons why I enjoy this fic, not the least of which is the fact that Danny is a mermaid – okay, merman – in it. Sounds crazy, I know, but the world that Joe builds around that one simple fact is amazing and makes me wish that there was more to the story, if only to sate my curiosity about mer-society. That it’s Danny, the self-proclaimed beach-hater, who’s a mermaid and not Steve, who seems to be the go-to guy for all things out-of-the-norm, just makes it that much more engrossing and definitely wins points for originality in my book. Though there are a few grammatical hiccups in the story, they really are minor in comparison to the wonderful characterization and matter-of-fact way the author has turned the universe on its head; making the presence of mer-people a well-known but vaguely documented fact of life. Even more enjoyable is that the author doesn’t try to downplay the idea of mer-people being anything other than what they are: creatures from the deep who, though able to pass for human, aren’t. They’re their own people, with their own set of rules, and that doesn’t always mesh with what humans (or Steve, rather) believe is right or easy.[20]

Why we love it: We love a good AU around here and this definitely qualifies. The world building in this Mer-people AU is solid and well rounded. The characterizations are still what we expect from the show, just within the context of a world were Mer-folk are a part of the norm. The writing is sharp and we were invested in the outcome in the best possible way. An excellent long read.[21]

Hmmm. I just read this twice in one day. I kind of want to go read it a third time. One thing that really caught me this time was Steve's scar. He get's that sympathetic tingle. Could it have any other effects? I love how he acts like a territorial mer and bares his teeth... and then wishes he had teeth like Danno. There's just so much here. The different societies, the types of Mer, the nursery song (Do you have a full version?), and the clan sigils. Steve attempting to hang the fish bones was adorable. Rachel and her sabotaging was, well, laughable. Steve give up Danno? Heh. He's as obsessive as Danno. Once he knew he had a chance, there was no way in hell he was giving it up. They suit each other perfectly[22]

The reason why I want a sequel to this fuckawesome story? FISH-BABIES. I WANT THERE TO BE FISH-BABIES, and I want there to be some special thing that makes it so that if a mer is doing the carrying, multiples is more likely because Steve would be the most hilariously overprotective father EVER and Kono would be a bitchin' auntie. I want Kono/Grace interaction, on the basis that they're both halfies and have a lot of (AWESOME) in common. This was freaking sweet and I loved it. A lot. SO MUCH OH MY.[23]

2012

(AU, eventual slash): In which Danny’s a merman. Not that it makes living in Hawaii any more bearable. The story is really well written, complete with romance and a case. The only thing I didn’t quite like is that Danny and Steve started falling for each other so quickly, but that’s just because I’m a fan of friends-to-lovers stories, where the romantic connection takes a little while to develop.[24]

2016

So I normally wouldn't read a mermaid story, but it came highly recommended so I decided to give it a try and I'm so glad I did! What a great story. You kept everybody in character and your merfolk universe was very well-realized. You must have thought a lot about this and it shows. I love how the different mers have different characteristics. Kudos and beyond! Oh, and btw, fish dick is my new favorite insult![25]

Inspired Fanworks

Art

Recursive fanfic

References

  1. ^ Jaws. Posted 23 Feb 2011. Accessed 2 May 2023.
  2. ^ Hawaii Five-0 (2010) Tag on AO3, sorted by kudos. Accessed 2 May 2022.
  3. ^ Hawaii Five-0 (2010) Tag on AO3, sorted by bookmarks. Accessed 2 May 2022.
  4. ^ deedo_2313 at ohana-favorites (2012-05-28). "Ohana Favorite Awards 2012 - WINNERS". LiveJournal. Archived from the original on 2023-06-03.
  5. ^ a b c Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Между дьяволом и морской бездной), Archived version. Accessed 2 May 2023.
  6. ^ a b c kisforkurama. also not an essay due monday. are we sensing a theme here?, 29 April 2012. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  7. ^ a b c flyingthesky. also not an essay due monday. are we sensing a theme here?, 29 April 2012. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  8. ^ Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea | Audiofic Archive. Posted 12 Jun 2012. Accessed 2 May 2023.
  9. ^ If you only listen to ONE podfic in a fandom ... [part 2]. Posted 14 Nov 2012. Accessed 2 May 2023.
  10. ^ "some fic recs: one-shots". {{cite web}}: |archive-url= requires |archive-date= (help); Unknown parameter |archvivedate= ignored (help)
  11. ^ secret_writer. Comment, 29 July 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  12. ^ Shadyladysadiesal. Comment, 29 July 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  13. ^ history_doc. Comment, 29 July 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  14. ^ Kalliste. Comment, 29 July 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  15. ^ iamrosalita in: crack_van. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Explicit), 29 July 2011. (Accessed 08 June 2016)
  16. ^ springwoof. Comment, 30 July 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  17. ^ hinokumo. Comment, 02 August 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  18. ^ Keira Marcos in: Slash World. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by JoeLawson, 08 September 2011. (Accessed 22 May 2016)
  19. ^ Omry. Comment, 09 September 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  20. ^ slyprentice in: epic_recs. Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea by Joe Lawson (NC-17), 09 September 2011. (Accessed 01 June 2016)
  21. ^ shinysylver in: h50-rec-room. Themed Thursday (9/15/11) - Long!Fic Part 2. (Accessed 16 May 2016)
  22. ^ SaharraShadow. Comment, 01 October 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  23. ^ amusewithaview. Comment, 27 November 2011. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
  24. ^ berry_muffin. Fanfic Recommendations, 18 March 2012. (Accessed 01 August 2016)
  25. ^ Rosalita. Comment, 29 July 2016. (Accessed 15 May 2016)
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