Icon version looks like she's playing basketball.

Eh, its a tambourine- but its hard to tell in thumbnail size...

Honestly, I just tossed it in so she would have a prop to carry. :)
(It looked too plain with her hands empty, so the tambourine became her trademark instrument and dance prop.)
-Badger-

Now THAT is one fine looking red panda, and a harem one at that. :)

She is werry nice, and so ar the art. :)
And you know where we gather around and enjoy reading such storys. ;) :D

Wow! Really love the work on her clothes.

And what would you say is the biggest difference between real harem life and the idealized Hollywood myth?

The main differences between the reality of the Ottoman turkish harem and hollywood are two things.
(All of this is from a large and well researched reference book I own.)

The real harem was maintained with extremely strict discipline.
Defiance was not tolerated and even slight infractions of the rules were punished with severe whippings.
The harems were organized in sections overseen by an older matron of the harem, who had absolute power over the girls under her.

The second thing is that the harem was a breeding pool for the exclusive use of the Sultan.
The Ottoman Sultans did not practice marriage- they slept with many girls and bred many children, and the most worthy or strong male became the next Sultan.
Not necessarily the oldest- in practice, usually the first one to make it to the palace upon news of his father's death..
And then he would have all his brothers executed by strangulation with bowstrings to prevent any other claimants to the throne.

His mother however, became the Sultan's mother- the most influential and powerful advisor to the throne in the entire empire, and held enormous wealth and power in her own right.

There was powerful incentive to enter the harem because of this- but the palace was a snake pit of intrigues and deadly politics as hundreds of women vied for the favor of the Sultan.

Harem rivals schemed to have others killed, and girls who could not mold themselves into the right mindset were executed without pity or hesitation.
Usually by being sewn into a weighted sack, and thrown off the cliffs into the nearby sea.

Theres a lot more to it- but thats the short version.

Zayarra's story is going to be a bit different- the different species means no children to complicate inheritance of the throne, for the most part- but closer in tone to the real world version than to hollywood of the 50s and 60s.

-Badger-

Interesting... would like to see when this project gets off the ground since you've finsihed(?) your "Trouble's Tales" related stories.

"work"... don't know why I typed "stories" just now. Sorry 'bout that.