I wanted to write a lil appreciation of Murati Nakara because she is a wonderful bean.

When you first meet her in the intro to Unjust Depths she almost seems kind of silly. The only things she really has going on are her girlfriend Karuniya, (they seem to have an uncomplicated and wonderful relationship) her skill at diver piloting and her ambition in the military. To be honest, early on I had thought she didn't really have any flaws, but she takes a good while to unfurl and bloom as a character.

Murati is not among the several autistic lesbians in Depths, that I know of anyway, but her staunch hard-headedness is very appealing! Much later in the series she's talking to this scientist lady who knew her parents, the famous revolutionaries the Nakaras, and she is borderline affronted when science lady says "Yeah they did a lot of great shit but they were mostly just oceanographers lol, idealists really" and it's borderline adorable. I can really respect how strongly she feels about her Mordecist beliefs and sense of justice. When she first steps off the Brigand and into an Imperial city, her moment of utter shock at a capitalist hellhole that leaves its people destitute and homeless is superb for her. Murati might be a military-strategic galaxybrain and a steadfast revolutionary, but she's also somewhat green, and her single-minded commitment to justice can sometimes cause problems, like she bothers Captain Ulyana for money to try to house these homeless guys in the Empire, holding up a critical extraction mission.

What I really want from her is more flashbacks, though. Stepping back in time about fifteen years and finding out that not only has Murati always been like this, but she was equally loud and brash about matters of her gender is a wonderful thing. She went from "good" to "great" though when she gave her adoptive parent Deshnov shit about his goofy-ass "allowed you to go on tbose medications" spiel.

It's fairly uncommon to see trans kids in fiction, unless it's some kind of Young Adult, coming-of-age story I guess, likely because the vast majority of trans people now still transition in their 20s or 30s. I'm weird though, and so the idea that an indignant, righteously angry 12 year old Murati had to lash out against Deshnov (and probably everybody else Idk) to get her way and be who she is? Wow, she just like me, fr fr. That's something I can really relate to, and even just hinting at that kind of hardship for her has me deeply invested basically for free. I feel a great affection for the First Officer, the Brigand couldn't ask for a better Diver Leader and I'm always excited when she is onscreen. Murati, my beloved ❤