#Even the negative parts (which btw if he didn't have any negative traits I would probably like him less)

[vexedmilky]

Y'all rate my top 5 favorite characters

Kaito

Kokichi

Korekiyo

Tenko

Shuichi

(Also look in the tags if you wanna see me rant about why I like them)

[grokebaby]

I might be stating the obvious but the black feathered lady next to Nan here is ofc Mrs. Varpunen (Lassi's bio mom)

Oh yeah, another "is this already obvious?" statement would be that Varpunen means sparrow in finnish. Their last name is Sparrow.

You can quite obviously see alot of Lassi's facial traits like nose and jaw shape in her! How strange that Lassi himself isn't more beastly than he is, considering the Mrs. Here. However a big portion of his traits also come from the Mr - notably, blue skin.

She shall remain anonymous, but throughout this I'll refer to Mrs Varpunen as P

Back when the kids were small, Nan didn't talk about the Mr and P with names, hence why they're called that (Mr and Mrs) now. She would've talked about them with names if the kids ever asked but they never really did. Ykno how, as a parent, you don't talk about your fellow parent with their first name to your child?

"Why didn't she call them mom and dad?" because they weren't that to Lassi and Siru. Nan is their mom, and they had no dad. She raised them single. Though she did say "Dad" about the Mr every now and then in some contexts, it was moreso used to denote who we're talking about rather than earning him the title.

P was always an insecure and easily anxious demon, though she had better times prior to her marriage. She could be joking and brash and fun, even if that sometimes did lead her to more anxiety causing situations. I say anxiety, as in, if she could've been diagnosed, she would've had a disorder. She was born into warriorhood but the stress of guarding others lives and fighting threats put a huge strain on her mental health which, in her adolescence, caused her to leave the lifestyle behind. This unfortunately isolated her from most of her loved ones and relatives, since she moved elsewhere upon quitting, and well (insert lore that explains more why here). Ykno. You get the point.

This post will discuss emotional/psychological abuse and/or manipulation, and misogyny after this point.

Having to grow into her adulthood with untreated anxiety and consequently depression, P was easily swayed by Mr's charms when they first met. He's the kind of person who can make you feel good about yourself in his company only. He was quick to notice Ps insecurities and offered emotional support and attention she clearly hadn't received before. He ofc thought of himself as helping her but ykno, getting a deeply insecure and struggling individual to latch onto you in order to make them a loyal spouse is... Well shitty is an understatement..

I'm not saying there wasn't genuine affections from both sides, however that doesn't change the fact that their relationship was deeply unhealthy. The existence of love doesn't cancel out abuse.

Mr Varpunen met P first and Nan later, which is a part of why she was swayed to join the relationship in the first place. The Mr alone would've at most earned an eyeroll from Nan. But he'd gained more experience in how he navigated intimate relationships by the time they met, plus the inclusion of a third person in the relationship gave Nan some reassurance in it's stability.

Before anyone says anything about this: None of this is meant to put polyamory in a negative light, this is meant to portray a toxic relationship, in general - polygamous relationships can be toxic same as monogamous ones. Even if this was all monogamous, there still would've been all the same issues with Mr Varpunen included. In the setting where these three originate, polyamory is common and considered as normal as monogamy. None of this is intended to come off as criticism of the relationship model (I'm a poly attracted person myself btw), it's criticism of misogyny.

Back to the characters.

P was fond of Nan from the start, even if she felt worried about what this would change for her and Mr's relationship. This was ofc due to her unhealthy dependency on him. She rarely spoke to Nan 1x1 outside of any instance that warranted it - she didn't go out of her way to avoid it but would always look to her husband for the majority of things. She did often wish she and Nan could've gotten closer to each other but didn't find the courage to approach her, nor receive any advances she made, in fear of what Mr Varpunen would think of it.

Mr would later come to make multiple lighthearted remarks about being pleased his two wives are getting along - "Just so long as you don't get along TOO well", so they wouldn't stop needing him.. He didn't feel threatened by their relationship to each other in the slightest since he perceived himself as the one in control, and couldn't imagine things getting out of hand. It's no surprise he flew too close to the sun (or in this case the death God's mouth) later.

P often felt conflicted towards Nan since, despite finding her a genuinely sweet and reasonable person, the damage had already been done by then and she often resented Nan for being more seemingly "Well adjusted", levelheaded and independent (Though most people would seem more independent to P in comparison to herself). She often secretly wished Nan would be expelled of the relationship, jealous, and all sorts of other things she ultimately also felt guilty for thinking. She did acknowledge to an extent that her thoughts only came as a result of the emotional abuse but that wasn't enough to help her out of it.

Despite everything, P was always held up by Mr as the more "Attractive" and desirable one, however subtly. Nan was used to being modest and putting others before herself so she didn't really have the confidence to call this out, especially since it was done so implicitly. Had she mentioned, it would've been all "Oh Nan's jealous now, is that it? You want more attention than the other wife?? You're demanding even more from me???" with Mr. Nan was the humble, low maintenance wife, and P was the hot, special, "can't be left alone poor girl". P's appeal was due to her being apparently stronger and more potent supernaturally since she was born into a warrior/"beast" lineage. You'd think this would earn some respect but it was mostly just being objectified unfortunately.

Mr would live at their homeside with his wives, but go out to the human realm to work a job he'd acquired there, and so he'd leave almost daily, sometimes for multiple days at a time. This was however balanced by him sometimes staying home for a few days in turn. Oh, Nan and P? Taking care of the home and all, ykno.. "As women should".

Vaguely related, but Lassi came out of an egg, whereas Siru was born. (is that how you say it? Birthed??)

Both chicklings were covered in silky black plumage at first, ykno, baby feathers, but they shed it in under a month as they tend to do. Lassi ended up being the favorite due to being a fat little peep and resembling the Mr more than Siru. Neither wife felt quite right about the obvious favoritism, however P was just relieved it was the one she made that became the Fave. Nan never talked about this to either of the children later on and though she mentioned Lassi resembling the Mr more, she preferred being vague about it as to not cause rifts between the siblings. Ykno, like a decent parent.

Though the names of the kids were decided as a group, Mr Varpunen insisted they were named the "human way", against the traditions of their kind. He was of course planning ahead on bringing the kids with him, as he intended for the whole family to move to the human realm eventually.

Both Siru and Lassi were under a year old when P and Mr Varpunen met their demise.

[dojae-huh]

I am not giving them any value. I was writing on what they think. And.. that’s it? I read my ask again and maybe it sounds like me saying that? I should put quote unquote on the ‘our mc’ line.

Our mc should just stay as mc.

All i’m saying is that’s the narrative they use to justify their irritation towards doyoung. What i think is Doyoung can do can be whatever it is he wants to. He definitely doesn’t need to stay in this perception of being in a different standards as the others. He decides what he wills.

He should be able to change his fate as he wills. He works hard for it and deserves it. He got a a lot of good qualities and even his look is one of it. Yes, he starts slow esp with the late debut as 127 but his progress is really admirable. Standards exist from various perspectives and those who fit in will get a bit of a boost at the start. He perseveres and find lots of ways to find long lasting fans, one is by sharing his passion for singing, covers and all. He doesn’t check all the boxes (i mean who does? What boxes even?) even at this high time of his career (which hasn’t reach the peak btw) but those are just elusive standards we should not even hold against celebrities. I stand by his hard work to become a singer for a very long time and i’ve come to love his little touches in the songs he had taken part arrangement-wise. And I can’t wait for more of his involvement in his musicsss. And he got a lot of fans who appreciate more qualities of his. Soo definitely outweigh more of what these antis are repeating over and over again.

And i stand by my words when i say the way they were promoted also influenced and even shape the perception of fans. These titles , ace, center, visuals does affect fans perceptions towards the members especially at the beginning. However, these perceptions changes over time along with the idol’s skills and values. A lot of antis chose to stay stuck with their early perceptions of an idol (which may or may not be true) and does not want to accept the change. For ex: Oh he doesn’t have lots of fans during debut. And even now, they still use the same things. He doesn’t have a lot of fans. And unknown person yada yada

By bringing up antis and descriptions of their opinions in your first ask, you gave them value. You sacrificed my time for the sake of their narrative. And the space on this blog as well. You and the readers before spred their message from twitter to here. Do you understand it now? The discussion of "what they think" is already attention.

It would be OK one time, but this topic resurfaces constantly. And I want to shut it down.

Doyoung didn't start late. He was a singer before joining SM, he debuted in 2015 and then with t7s in 2016 ine the first NCT unit. He appeared on tv programmes one of the first among neos, he had many duets. Without realising you succumb to the "loser" or "lower status" narrative. Yes, there were fans who disliked him for joining 127 later. There were fans who had been waiting for him. However, the most hated back then was Taeyong. Jaehyun was called a pig during Limitless. This narrative of some neos being more loved or of "higher status" is false. Antis rely on newer fans not knowing the history.

Jaehyun started as a cutie, he is a hot guy now. Taeyong's image was that of a fierce, reliable leader. He is a goofy Tyong now. Doyoung got a girlfriend in his second MV and another one in Star blossom, he had the boyfriend image.

Most of the current fans weren't there at the beginning to form long-lasting impressions. Especially when it comes to ifans.

A celebrety can be most beautiful, smart, talented and kind person on Earth. People will hate for those exact traits. Any individual story to success can be either painted in a positive or negative light. Antis don't need real reason.

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Sorry but what exactly is up with the bad batch arc? I've heard people talk about the issues with echo's white skin but I haven't heard that many bad things about the arc itself? (ik you said you don't want to be negative on your blog so I would absolutely understand if you didn't answer this ask)

Oooooooooooh boy. Well I just had a long, long, LONG rant about it with someone, but I guess I’ve got an excuse to put all of my points onto a post and talk about it publicly now that I got an ask x) I’ll keep it under the cut so I don’t throw my salt in people’s face. I really don’t want to upset people who love that arc - it has redeeming qualities, but overall it pisses me off so much for so many reasons. So here:

The first issue is obviously two members of the Bad Batch (minus Echo) being being just about the furthest thing from maori no matter how much you're willing to stretch it. 

Like... yeah, nah. I wouldn’t even accept Crosshair and Tech (grey haired guy and goggles guy) as Jango’s natural biological sons, nevermind as his clones. 

The problem is that their different appearances are justified by them being described simply as clones with desirable mutations (i.e superpowers). But why the hell did the creators have to change their appearances for that to be a thing? How does that correlate? Sure, the concept of clones with different faces is interesting, except... no, no it’s not, and I’m gonna rant about it in a few secs. But basically it's like they thought giving them different faces would be a good substitute for having different personalities (another thing I’ll come back to). If they really wanted to have buff clones with super eyesight or whatnot they could have just done that, without making them lose what little melanin the lighting of the show had allowed the other Clones to keep. 

But the gigantic problem is... showing that the "regular" clones have VERY distinct identities despite their identical faces has been one of the themes of the show from episode 1. Literally, the first episode of TCW has Yoda taking time out of a mission with galactic stakes to tell the three clones he’s with (who tell him they’re all the same because they have the same faces) that they’re wrong, and that they’re very different in the Force, that their appearance doesn’t matter, that they’re all equally unique and important, and he lists all of their individual skills, strengths and weaknesses. 

And it’s not just me being bothered by that, here’s a post by @cacodaemonia​ saying the same thing. 

Introducing the Bad Batch as "unique" clones who are "different" and "not like their brothers" because they have different faces and skills completely breaks that theme of the show!! Because the entire point of the Clones in TCW is that their faces don't matter, they ARE unique! 

(Plus the Bad Batch’s character designs are so cliche and uninspired it’s just laughable to try and justify bleaching their freaking skin for the sake of visual diversity. 

This took like 10 seconds. I found the first guy by literally googling “soldier movies,” and the other two are Team Fortress characters that look a LOT like Wrecker and Crosshair. One is “Heavy” and one is “Sniper” lmao.

And behold:

The above picture is a Team Fortress reference that I found just by looking up “bad batch clone wars,” so I’m not the only person who sees it.) 

And the batchers don't even have personalities to justify calling them unique! They have no character traits beyond the most cliché american soldier tropes ever. We have a token loner sniper, a token "smart tech guy" who knows everything from xenoanthropology to biology to Separatist computers to sound waves to encryption, a token Badass Brooding Leader and a token “dumb muscle guy.”

I dare anyone to find more about their personalities than this: - Crosshair is the perpetually grumpy sniper who looks down on "regs,” - Wrecker likes to blow up stuff and doesn't like heights, - Hunter is the leader and is friends with Cody, - Tech is smart doesn't trust Echo. 

That’s it, that’s literally it. Four episodes about them and that's all we get. These character tropes are literally the least inventive ever. FFS, Hunter even has a freaking KNIFE! Not a vibroblade, mind you, like in kriffing Star Wars. A knife. Against metal droids. Why. They couldn’t make this more of an american-war-movies cliché fest if they tried. (And sure, he can feel electromagnetic waves so maybe it does make sense for him not to carry a vibroblade and maybe this is nitpicking, but he looks like a ripoff of a Predator character and it pisses me off).

Another thing is that when you introduce characters you have to make them likable - and them despising the normal Clones is a terrible way to do that! And they don't even grow from that because at the end of the 4 episodes arc they just see Rex as not bad "for a reg" and they see Echo as no longer a reg, and both of these things are infuriating! 

The worst thing imo is that Echo then becomes part of them (and irreparably loses his melanin in the process, uuuuuuuuugh) when there is nothing to justify this. 

The dialogue goes like this: 

ECHO: You coming? TECH: Not really our thing. CROSSHAIR: Accolades. WRECKER: Yeah, we're just in it for the thrill. Yo! HUNTER: You sure it's your thing? ECHO: What do you mean? HUNTER: Your path is different. Like ours. If you ever feel like you don't fit in with them, well, find us. (they leave) REX: Those are some of the finest troopers I've ever fought alongside. Echo. You and I go way back. If that's where you feel your place is, then that's where you belong.

Echo doesn't feel like he belongs anymore, okay, but why would he feel like he belongs with the assholes who up to the last five minutes of the mission thought he was probably a traitor, and also verbally expressed that he was not worth saving?? In all of the arc, Echo himself never voices that he feels he’s not ‘like the other Clones’ anymore and that he feels it’s a problem. His relationship with Rex immediately picks up where they left things off - the first thing he does upon being lucid again for the first in over a year is cracking a joke for Rex’s benefit. 

Why would Echo feel like he doesn’t belong in the 501st anymore, when we don't even see him interacting with anyone from his past life except for Rex and Anakin (who are both extremely very supportive of him)?? If there had been one scene of a “regular” Clone (ugh) looking at him with horror and disgust or something, or just Kix and Jesse cracking jokes with Echo awkwardly standing by the side not getting it, I could forgive the show trying to make it feel like he has an identity crisis, but this was so shallow!

The only thing that makes Echo and the Bad Batch’s experiences similar is that they *look* different. It’s so against the themes of the Clones I’m seething just from thinking about it. And what the hell? Echo ALREADY didn’t fit in. That was the WHOLE POINT of Domino Squad. They didn’t fit in because they thought they were better than anyone else because they had trouble getting along with their brothers, so obviously it had to be their brothers’ fault (ahem, Bad Batch?). And you know what happened? Domino Squad OVERCAME that. And Echo and Fives still didn’t “fit in” because their personalities were unique and creative, and they became ARC Troopers because Cody, Rex and the Jedi VALUED THEM FOR PRECISELY THAT. Echo having new and unique skills and a modified appearance is the most bs justification for him feeling like he doesn’t belong!! 

And that brings me to my biggest issue: Rex telling Echo the bad batch are some of the best troopers he's ever met. I'm sorry, based on WHAT? What Rex values above everything is loyalty and brotherhood, and the Bad Batch DOESN'T DISPLAY ANY OF THAT. We never see them even expressing concern for each other! Wrecker treats saving Cody’s life like a trivial issue, because it’s just ‘sO eAsY’ for him, and beyond that we never see them supporting each other or genuinely expressing affection for each other beyond boasting about each other’s skills... 

Sure they can destroy a lot of droids, but they're dismissive of Rex's brothers, and the entire Umbara arc and this arc showed what he thought of that. They keep saying things like "not bad for a reg,” don't show any trust in Rex's skills or experience (even though they can't have been fighting in the war for more than a year and a half when he’s been there from the beginning, and he outranks all of them), they are essentially guerilla fighters which has only minimal value in a galactic war, and they never grow beyond their views of what regs are, and can and can’t do. 

None of that should make them good troopers in Rex's book. Going back to Echo not fitting in, remember who taught the Domino Squad the importance of seeing all of your brothers as important and equally valuable? Shaak Ti, true, but more importantly? 99! The guy the Bad Batch are named after. He did have value and was important and was no less of a trooper than his brothers, even though his mutations made him LESS powerful, not more. (And btw, just from a writing standpoint, the batchers don’t have any weaknesses, which is shit.) Cody and Rex mourned 99 as a true soldier even though it wasn’t his sacrifice that brought them victory (which would have implied that he had value as a soldier and a brother because he saved them, as opposed to him having that value intrinsically), because that’s what a fine trooper is to them. A BROTHER first a foremost, someone altruistic, brave and loyal. The Bad Batch distort the meaning of 99's character with their behavior. They’re not altruistic, their bravery is mitigated by the fact that they’re freaking invincible, so of course they take risks (again, see Wrecker saving Cody without a care because it’s easy to him, as opposed to Rex being ready to run into a burning ship about to explode because his brother is in there, and having to be physically dragged away). The Bad Batch denigrate their brothers for being less skilled, thinking their own abilities make them unique somehow, when 99 could barely fight and was still the one who taught Hevy about being a good soldier. 

And again the batchers don't grow from that. Which is all the more frustrating because the original ending didn’t have Echo joining them, from what I remember of the unfinished episodes, and the arc actually ended with them receiving their medals in front of regular troopers who cheer for them, as opposed to them smugly ostracizing themselves and dismissing the ceremony as trivial and meaningless. (original ending vs s7 ending: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab1eCfzKamw) 

It’s so annoying. Do you know what characters never had an entire arc dedicated to them and still have far more personality and more interesting designs and more symbolic weight?? 

Jesse, for starters. Kix. Dogma. Cut. Slick. Keeli. Ponds. Rys, Jek and Thire. Commander Doom. Commander Fox. Wolffe. Hevy. Hardcase. 

Cody was a more interesting character just in his RotS appearances. 

Waxer and Boil had one episode about them and then only two cameos plus Waxer’s death, and they’re still some of the most memorable, beloved Clones of the whole show. And Boil was grouchy and prejudiced like Crosshair, but he has so much growth that we could make a whole thread about it. 

I'd say the last problem with the Bad Batch is that it has cash grabbing money hungry vibes. Different faces are more marketable, cliché personalities are more toy-friendly, and it's basically a big ad for the Bad Batch series. And they throw Echo in the Batch at the end for bs reasons (again, it wasn’t in the original ep from what I remember) and they tease Cody in the show to make sure fans will still watch even if they notice the lack of soul. And less melanin sells more at Disney apparently. 

So that’s my whole pissed rant. 

[mihrunnisasultans]

i know you're not a fan of MC Hurrem but whats your opinion of historical hurrem? i felt season 1, 2 and part of 3 really didn't do her justice

Hello Anon!

Sorry that you waited so long for my response, but I wanted to give you a comprehensive answer and thus it got really long, so most of it is under Read more. And thank you for an interesting question :)

I do prefer historical Hürrem to the MC one, but she’s still not my fave. TBH I don’t have that strong emotions towards historical figures as opposed to fictional characters because we really don’t have any real insight into their everyday life, and historical accounts are always more or less subjective. Hating someone about whom I really don’t have much 100% confirmed information? Unfair and pointless. To quote Galina Yermolenko from the introduction to Roxolana in European Literature, History and Culture:

Although Western historians have been struggling to define Roxolana’s legacy for over four centuries, it is often overlooked that she was largely a creation of the European imagination. Due to the lack of historical records and hard evidence, most of what is known about this woman rests on a handful of secondhand contemporaneous accounts and subsequent reinterpretations and speculations by numerous historians, quasi historians, dramatists, and other men of letters who have shaped the Western discourse on Roxolana.

Thus said, I do understand your reservations about MC early portrayal of her. Portrayal of Hürrem as a ruthless schemer and manipulator is certainly nothing new; MC’s depiction thankfully does not make her some evil walking caricature like the earliest Western works on her (from 16th or 17th century), but she’s a complex character that has her sympathetic moments even in the view of those who generally dislike her, in accordance with later tradition. But since you have no problem with S4 Hürrem, who is even more ruthless than the earlier one, I guess your problem is of a different nature.

Again, the portrayal of Hürrem as a wild, unruly spirit is nothing new in works devoted to her, and while I totally get the problem with “undignified” Hürrem, I kind of appreciate it now? Pretty much all of “big five″ women of Sultanate of Women in MY/K are portayed based on the “slay queen” trope, but I feel that aside from Turhan, they all have their own distinctive features, other than the generic woman who slays them all and loves power? Hürrem‘s character actually develops and she becomes the true majestic sultana later on; it’s again kind of realistic that she’s not one from the start? Her wild and flamboyant image actually serves to show how much she’s of an outsider and differs from other women. Again, she becomes more dignified and majestic as she integrates herself into the world to which she was forcefully introduced. (NGL Turhan made me appreciate earlier character creations more because she’s basically a generic slay kween with little of other characteristics…) MC Hürrem is definitely a good character creation that elicits strong emotional response from the audience, whether positive or negative. I e.g. love to hate her and enjoy rooting against her, others do the opposite, but it’s hard to stay indifferent about her. And as as I sad, she actually develops in the span of 4 seasons.

But then again, I agree it’s sometimes overdone on the show. The earlier seasons do have their tongue-in-cheek moments, and Hürrem‘s sometimes excessive flamboyance is also part of that.

I have more issues with what was not shown about her character in addition to being a ruthless schemer and clever manipulator, as well as her relationship with Süleyman.

From what we know, historical Hürrem took an active interest in state matters that sometimes also wasn’t connected with her intrigues. In the show, even in S4, her occupation with state matters does not go further than what she needs because of self-interest. Most of her non-mercenary actvities are indeed shown in S4 when her participation in foreign relations and diplomatic correspondence are mentioned, but they seem a bit shoerhorned at this point and especially the mention of her diplomatic correspondence just shortly before her death seems more “tell-not-show”?

As for historical Hürrem’s relationship with Süleyman, it is often stressed by historians how he viewed her as his partner and advisor. I understand that they didn’t want to make Hürrem as such from the start because she needed to also learn about her surroundings (and her position and influence on Süleyman did rise after Hafsa’s demise and marriage), but even later in the show we mainly see Süleyman telling her that “it’s not your matter and go to your room” or “do not bother your pretty head with it”. He definitely treats her more as a partner in S4. Same about the constant (and tiring) repeated introductions of new “other women” for Süleyman and then making us watch unnecessarily long arcs of Hürrem hunting down such women. Judging by historical accounts, Süleyman stayed faithful to her, and in the show it seems that early!Hürrem spent her days mainly plotting other women’s demises. I understand giving us an insight into harem struggles when Hürrem did have to fight for her position in Süleyman’s  heart at first, but later? Why, TIMS?

Historical Hürrem is definitely a controversial figure that sparks a lot of different approaches and opinions. Not long ago, I was reading two books with two totally different approaches towards her at the same time, one was André Clot’s biography of Süleyman (Suleiman the Magnificent: The Man, His Life, His Epoch), the other Empress of the East by Leslie Peirce. Clot is highly critical of her and shows signs of the older approaches in historiography concerning Hürrem (Sultanate of Women = ruin of empire), but at the same time sees her side of the argument and is of the opinion that it is Süleyman who is truly to blame for most things (so he breaks here with the presentation of Süleyman as an innocent puppet). [And frankly, Clot is salty about everyone except for Mustafa]. On the other hand, Peirce, in an attempt to debuke the “seductress who brought ruin on the Empire”image, goes from one extreme into another. Example:

A more peaceable system of identifying the next sultan began to emerge from transformations in the practice of succession-by-combat that began with her. Roxelana helped to move the Ottoman empire into modern times, where treaty negotiations became as challenging and significant as victory in battle and domestic well-being occupied as much of the government’s attention as conquest. Bolstered by the reforms she introduced, the Ottoman sultanate would sustain itself for another three and a half centuries

Even ignoring the VERY questionable first statement (struggles to determine Süleyman’s successor that Hurrem did influence were terribly bloody), there were many factors at play that affected Ottoman Empire’s transformation and to reduce the whole complex process to one historical figure’s influence is absurd  and gross oversimplification, just as blaming solely one historical figure for deterioration of the Empire is. BTW, I recommend Günhan Börekçi’s thesis Factions and Favourites at the Court of Sultan Ahmed and his Immediate Predecessors and Baki Tezcan’s Searching for Osman: A Reassessment of the Deposition of the Ottoman Sultan Osman II if you want to read a comprehensive discussion on the whole complex process of Ottoman Empire’s political system becoming more sedentary ;) A bit of digression -  I’m sad to be so critical of Peirce here because I do enjoy and appreciate The Imperial Harem and she is far more objective and balanced in that book. Also, I’m disappointed that such a large portion of Empress is based on imagination rather than a thorough historical analysis of sources.

Another criticisim of Empress of the East that I have was well put into words in the NYT review of the book:

Less convincing are her strained exculpations for Roxelana, insisting that she was not behind various unsavory murders that benefited her. One is left with the impression that Roxelana consistently wielded impressive power, except when things went badly.

Again, in trying to fight with demonisation of someone, do not make that person an angel either. We may not have concrete evidence of Hürrem being involved in e.g. Ibrahim’s or Mustafa’s deaths, but in my opinion “there’s no smoke without fire”. Peirce does mention in The Imperial Harem that Hürrem and Safiye were two sultanas least liked by people and I don’t think the assumption that “people hated women in power” explains it all, since sultanas with even more power, like Turhan or Kösem, were much liked.

Hürrem Sultan was a controversial figure that deserves a nuanced, complex portrayal. While MC portrayal has its flaws with respect to the depicton of a historical figure, at least it does show her as a complex person, with both good and bad traits. And as importantly, it does work within the established narrative. Could it have been done better though? Yes.

On a side note,I’m  actually more salty about how Turhan was portrayed in comparison to her historical persona :/, but that’s a topic for a different discussion.