The Diary of Mr J. Walker: Difference between revisions
No edit summary |
No edit summary |
||
| Line 3: | Line 3: | ||
== Summary == | == Summary == | ||
In which Mr Walker reports on his encounters with a nice merman. | In which Mr Walker reports on his encounters with a nice merman. | ||
== Author's Notes == | |||
This piece was literally years in the making. The core idea of ‘human artist-scientist and curious merman’ had been incubating in my head for a very long time. The spark that really lit it, though, came when I wondered what merpeople genitalia would look like, and I went on a deep, deep dive into cetacean and pinniped genitalia. Okay, mostly penises. So I’ve been seriously working on this piece for a good three years, on and off, and was intending to submit it in one of the Theme Free issues—and then this issue’s theme was announced! <br/> <br/> | |||
I can’t really remember when the whole diary idea happened. Probably around the time I watched ''Gentleman Jack''. It will come as no surprise that I took the idea of an encrypted, explicit, queer diary from Anne Lister. Even the name of Walker’s editor is a reference: Lister’s main editor is Helena Whitbread, I invented Ellen Baker. Walker’s name is some kind of reference to the Lister diaries too: as I contemplated what to call my human protagonist, I recalled that Lister’s wife was called Ann Walker, and thought to myself, “Wow, wouldn’t it be stupid as hell if the land-dwelling part of a merman/human couple would be called Walker?!” But then, like so many things in my brain, it stuck. <br/> <br/> | |||
I can’t remember why I called Maurice Maurice. Sorry. <br/> <br/> | |||
Most of the merman’s sexual behaviour is based on the courting and mating behaviour of dolphins, but I based the rest of his biology mostly on that of seals. I am, however, emphatically not a biologist, and I am certain that, if aquatic humans existed, they would not be considered a subspecies of humans; actually, I think they would not even be considered in the same genus at all. But merfolk do not exist and so I can do what I want. So, in essence: the biology and taxonomy and other sciency things in this piece are nearly all hogwash, though I hope it’s at least verisimilitudinous hogwash. I did try to follow taxonomic rules and conventions as much as I could. For those wondering: ''aquatilis'' means “dwelling or growing in water, aquatic” while ''terricolus'' means “dwelling on land, terrestial.” <br/> <br/> | |||
I had an absurd amount of fun making this look as scholarly as possible. Don’t try to seek out any of the citations; except for the OED, I made them all up. Many, but not all, scholars’ names are some sort of pun or wordplay. <br/> <br/> | |||
With thanks to Joanna, who read this when it was still a WIP and left excellent commentary, and to melanofly, who once again blew it out of the water with their amazing illustrations! | |||
=== Content Notes === | |||
Some off-page animal cruelty in the entry for 24 July. | |||
== External Links == | == External Links == | ||
Revision as of 02:06, 22 October 2026
The Diary of Mr J. Walker by Kit Miller, with art by melanofly first appeared in issue Issue 109 in 2024.
Summary
In which Mr Walker reports on his encounters with a nice merman.
Author's Notes
This piece was literally years in the making. The core idea of ‘human artist-scientist and curious merman’ had been incubating in my head for a very long time. The spark that really lit it, though, came when I wondered what merpeople genitalia would look like, and I went on a deep, deep dive into cetacean and pinniped genitalia. Okay, mostly penises. So I’ve been seriously working on this piece for a good three years, on and off, and was intending to submit it in one of the Theme Free issues—and then this issue’s theme was announced!
I can’t really remember when the whole diary idea happened. Probably around the time I watched Gentleman Jack. It will come as no surprise that I took the idea of an encrypted, explicit, queer diary from Anne Lister. Even the name of Walker’s editor is a reference: Lister’s main editor is Helena Whitbread, I invented Ellen Baker. Walker’s name is some kind of reference to the Lister diaries too: as I contemplated what to call my human protagonist, I recalled that Lister’s wife was called Ann Walker, and thought to myself, “Wow, wouldn’t it be stupid as hell if the land-dwelling part of a merman/human couple would be called Walker?!” But then, like so many things in my brain, it stuck.
I can’t remember why I called Maurice Maurice. Sorry.
Most of the merman’s sexual behaviour is based on the courting and mating behaviour of dolphins, but I based the rest of his biology mostly on that of seals. I am, however, emphatically not a biologist, and I am certain that, if aquatic humans existed, they would not be considered a subspecies of humans; actually, I think they would not even be considered in the same genus at all. But merfolk do not exist and so I can do what I want. So, in essence: the biology and taxonomy and other sciency things in this piece are nearly all hogwash, though I hope it’s at least verisimilitudinous hogwash. I did try to follow taxonomic rules and conventions as much as I could. For those wondering: aquatilis means “dwelling or growing in water, aquatic” while terricolus means “dwelling on land, terrestial.”
I had an absurd amount of fun making this look as scholarly as possible. Don’t try to seek out any of the citations; except for the OED, I made them all up. Many, but not all, scholars’ names are some sort of pun or wordplay.
With thanks to Joanna, who read this when it was still a WIP and left excellent commentary, and to melanofly, who once again blew it out of the water with their amazing illustrations!
Content Notes
Some off-page animal cruelty in the entry for 24 July.
External Links
This story is also available on Archive of Our Own (AO3).
