Reviewer: whackamole1 Signed [Report This]
Date: February 04 2018 10:49 AM Title: The storm provides misery in spades

At this point Justine might not have much of a choice but to turn back to her town and eat the rest of John's cattle. 5 cows were enough to sustain her in the past, and with a herd of cattle, maybe 40+ cows she could sustain herself for at least a week with careful rationing. She can sustain herself longer if there are other farms in the area. Which means her swallowing the "feeble minded" boy and his father was pretty short term and pointless, but I guess she was too hungry to think clearly, and she probably wanted to avoid John out of guilt. It must be pretty awful from the point of view of the terrified boy in "the belly of the monster" and his desperate and scared as well dad trying to calm him down. I'm hoping that Justine feels bad enough to throw them up in time when she gets to a more filling food source, like John's cattle. And no, she can't eat trees, grass, or leaves, since her body wouldn't be able to digest it, so she needs to eat meat. Or huge quantities of vegetables or bread, which villagers would have difficulty providing even if they wanted to.

I get the impression that Justine's town isn't much bigger than a few thousand people if even that. While her family was probably pretty reclusive considering her father's unpleasantness, some of the people must still recognize her, I'm sure she attended church, which would mean that those who recognize her would know that she isn't a demon since she's been among the townspeople for years. This could backfire on her though, since if they can't hurt her, they could hurt Kevin. Justine, once she has a head clear form hunger pains, should immediately move Kevin, Christina, and Mark to a hidden and out of reach area, just in case. The mob out to get Justine, doesn't really stand a chance against her. The first hint to them that they don't stand a chance would be when they try to summon to watchmen and find only one shaken survivor, the as of yet unnamed guy that she threw up, telling them what happened to the others and how awful it was in Justine's stomach. Soft lead musket balls would most likely shatter on impact with Justine's thick skin, and the men would lack the strength to penetrate deeply Justine's thick skin with swords, pikes, and pitchforks. It would be like baby mice trying to stab someone with snapped off 1 inch toothpick ends. Luckily for the mob, Justine doesn't seem to want kill people, and I don't think she would be willing to kill a priest, so she could probably improvise a creative way to neutralize them without killing them. Heck, she could probably knock over the entire mob just by peeing on them.

If Justine does take over the town, and even if she tries not to kill any more townspeople, and tries to state her case to her fellow residents there will still be begrudging resentment towards her. This resentment would be due to the massive needs of her body, and due to her killing 15 locals thus far. 6 crushed, 9 swallowed, 4 digested and expelled as evidence, 5 still in her intestines. The families of her victims probably will not forgive her easily to say the least.

Some ideas for the story in the short term could include, a focus on the aftermath of Justine's cannibalism. Making sure the remains of the dead got a proper religious burial was a big deal at the time so a retrieval of the 4 bodies Justine expelled earlier would have to be done. The town doctor/early scientist could do a 17th century version of a forensic examination on the bodies of Justine's victims taking notes on the condition of the bodies and the effects Justine's digestive system has had on them. The digestive system wasn't very well understood back then, and science never had a reference for entire human beings going through one. The distraught families of the missing, having to examine the remains and clothing of the victims to make identifications for burial. This could also apply to those she crushed. There could be some perspective from the families of the victims and their turmoil. Brad had a wife and kids (who probably didn't know about his adultery and probably thought highly of him), the families of James and his yet unnamed girlfriend, the emotional perspectives of loss and attitudes towards Justine from the victim's families after this might be worth exploring. Likewise, the families of the watchmen, and that hunter, would have to look at the crushed bodies she left behind and try to figure what is left of who, and they might even demand that Justine release the remains of the 5 still in her digestive tract for a proper burial. John might be forced to reveal what really happened to him and his mother to his sister's, Kevin might even find out that his father never really left like he was told. After 15 dead it might be interesting to take a look at the trauma and perspectives of those involved in the aftermath. If Justine does take over the town, most people would probably deal with her impositions with distrust and resentment, but the families of her victims might deal with indignant hatred towards her, even if she did try to apologize and come clean.

Another idea could be the spy from chapter 14 setting a Imperial intervention in motion. The perspective of imperial nobles, scientists, and advisers, as they discuss a course of action for Justine. Eventually, Justine might have to make a deal with higher authorities, like the German's, and go along with them willingly due to dwindling local resources and a large Empire being able to provide for her needs. Having to go along with being shown off and studied, in exchange for resources for her, and protections for Kevin, Christina etc. As for an idea about another giantess, it wouldn't really make sense for their to be 2 giantesses in the same place. I like the idea of Justine being a lone giantess best, since it keeps the focus on her and those she encounters. But if there is another giantess, it might be something like late in the story it's revealed that say the French or another country also have a giantess of their own.

All in all it's a good to have a character driven giantess story like this one. Too many stories are just quick crush or swallow and forget type stories, but here we have consequences of vore, destruction, and other actions. And reluctant characters, which adds layers of realism. Keep up the good work.

Author's Response:

In the near future I plan a chapter that solely covers the reactions of the town and the perspectives of those who have been impacted by Justine's choices. The Priest will likely change his assumption and find a way to keep the mob together under his leadership. I suspect many people know their odds of actually killing Justine aren't high, but hope there religion will provide divine intervention on the call of the Priest leading them to defeat her.

Though I haven't put a number on it, when writing about the town I tend to think of 1000-2000 people living there. Maybe in the future I could go more in depth on that, but for right now cannon wise this detail hasn't been established yet.

At some point I do plan on the spy from chapter 14 attempt to set intervention in motion, but at least for next few chapters the story will be locally focused. From there in the mid term other big players will likely learn of Justine's existence as time goes on and might give her other offers.

Writing about the families that have suffered losing loved ones due to Justine eating or crushing them would be interesting. Some of them might become so blinded by anger that they attack her on their own despite how suicidal trying to fight a giantess large enough to swallow them whole is. Other's maybe could end up being more passive, but still cause her problems.

The biggest thing about if Justine were to outright take over the town is that Kevin would likely figure out she has killed people and she might desire to avoid this possible outcome. If this restraint was somehow lifted, then her interaction with the town might be more hostile and forward. Effectively Justine would not be as patient before making her domination over them clear. I have thought of a few basic roads or paths the story could go in resolving the relationship between her and the town full of frightened natives. In any case it's unlikely to be a smooth transition for them as they will struggle with both the logistical needs of Justine's body and the emotional toll both her existence and actions place on their minds, hearts and even belief systems.

As always your feedback is detailed and well constructed. Your reviews are a good thoughtful read and I am glad you think the story is doing good.