TLK & TLG Confessions

Lion King & Lion Guard confessions blog! Pinned post has all the info. :)

[tlg-confessions]

Hello and welcome to TLG Confessions!

Askbox: Open!

This blog acts as an askbox for The Lion King and Lion Guard, where you can send confessions about anything to do with the movies, show, and franchise in general!

Please be aware, this blog is NOT SPOILER-FREE if you haven't watched all of the movies or the show!

DNI: racist, misogynist, ableist, proship, pro-ana, NSFW/18+ content, TERF, radfem, radqueer, zionist, anti-alterhuman, anti-copinglink.

This blog supports LGBTQIA+, therian/alterhuman identities, systems/plurality, and age/pet regression.

Disclaimer: While I understand that opinions may differ, I ask all who interact with this blog to be respectful and refrain from any sort of harassment. This goes for personal views on the franchise as well as wider views, such as those above.

Quick FAQ:

Asks, interactions or follows breaking DNI will be deleted and blocked. See also the disclaimer above, anything harassing others will not be tolerated.

You may send ANY asks. This may include: headcannons, AUs, questions, vents, short comments, long rambles, favourite characters/episodes/songs/etc, least favourites, confessions - anything. Go wild. That's what this blog is for. :)

You don't need to know much, if anything, about TLK or TLG to send an ask. If you think it's cool from a distance and you want to send an ask like “I like x character's design”, that's very much accepted and appreciated.

As a side note to the last bullet point, I'm not expecting this blog to get too many asks overall, so feel free to spam as much as you want.

Asks will be placed in queue, they are not likely be posted immediately. If you're worrying whether Tumblr ate your ask, feel free to ask.

Anon asks are all good. Submissions are open if you'd like to send images or screenshots. If you're sending fanart, make sure to credit the creator.

This blog is run by one being, me! Hi! I'm Mod Kib. I use he/it pronouns. :) /friendly tone

Any other questions or the such, just send an ask. ^^

Mildly inspired by @/wc-confessions.

Blog run by @spinnysocks.

Suggested blogs: @archive-lion-guard (an archive of clips from TLG.)

[tlg-confessions]

Hello everyone! Sincere apologies for the holdup on the inbox. I'll get through the asks as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience in the meantime. ^^

- Mod Kib

[tlg-confessions]

do you think the birds and crocodilians have a chip on their shoulders about being heirs to the dinosaurs? (birds are the closest living relatives of theropods and crocodilians are genetically closer to birds than their reptile brethren, how ironic)

now that i think about it, dinosaurs had to be THE kings of the past, i think (one of the best to ever do it). maybe ill write a lion king prequel, lion king before time or lion king level zero or something.

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[tlg-confessions]

I really do think some people give season 3 way too much crap.

Was it the best thing ever? No, it had it's faults and overall was just not the best executed but some people believe it's the worst thing in the world and I find it so strange.

Like yes, the night pride should've been other animals (Why bring us to a new continent and just have lions again? Why not make them tigers and lean into Indian culture?) and should've probably included more Indian, African, and Southwest Asian animals, but also just the inclusion of the night pride/tree of life brings such rich concepts.

Africa already had many different animals to choose from to use for ocs (and I will say, a lot of people under-utilize that), but now with the inclusion of a seemingly pangea-like planet you can have basically anyyyy animal as an oc.

Also, while yes this season did not treat some characters well, some characters they did incredible things to. Kion's arc? Beautiful. Fuli's arc in becoming a second-in-command? Beautiful. Ono's arc in (sorta) learning that he doesn't have to be the keenest to be on the guard/to be friends with the guard members? Beautiful. Makini as a character? Beautiful.

Another thing, this fandom really does love whenever we get new lion characters, and guess what, we got 12 new lion character's this season. (Rani, Baliyo, Surak, Nirmala, Janna, Ãnanda, Sãhasí, Imara, Shabaha, Kasi, Tazama, the strange lion, Scar's fastest, strongest, bravest, and keenest. Also technically if you want to, you could make an argument with Janna's possible mate and Askari. Although Askari was seen a lot earlier and Janna does not have a canonical mate. Actually also while I'm writing this if you want to count it, those three cubs in that one music video might also count. The name of that music video is blanking on me, forgive me)

This season also just adds other non-lion animals, this fandom loves feliforms a lot and Yun-Mibu, Fahari, Jiona, Mama Binturong, Azaad, Chuluun, Varya, Feliks, Polina, Pasha, the old Civet, Tompok, Astuto, and probably more. I mean I do know that some of the more obscure feliforms like Viverrids aren't as loved by this fandom, but again, this fandom sure does love some of the more popular feliforms.

I fully know I'm biased, I love season 3 and I love exploring the concepts introduced in it, but I just think people need to give this season more of a chance. Again, not the best thing ever, but it's also not the worst.

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[tlg-confessions]

This series isn't the best with it's designs but I do honestly like some of them.

For example, the lion filled lion guards. I don't think we really ever had the member's of Scar's guard's roles confirmed (and if we did I apologize) but I do find it cool that with just their body shapes you can tell what role they are.

The green eyed one is the keenest, the roundest/largest one is the strongest, the slimmest one is the fastest, and the bearded one is the bravest. Again, I don't think it's ever confirmed what role they have, but I think it's pretty freaking cool that they all have different body types that go with what role they have in the guard.

Same thing goes for Vitani's guard. While yes, Vitani's guard's designs aren't the best, I do wish they gave them more color variation and possibly could've used some of the misc outsiders for their designs, however they all also follow that same body structures. I also do realize that Vitani's redesign in the finale also was not the best, but still. I do think that the designs are interesting.

The strongest is usually the largest and roundest, Imara, Beshte, and Scar's strongest are all very round and large.

The fastest is usually slim and long, Kasi, Fuli, and Scar's fastest are slimmer and longer.

The keenest is usually one of the smallest and have brighter eyes, Tazama, Ono, Anga, and Scar's keenest all follow that. (Of course, Anga and Ono have a different case, Anga is larger than Ono)

The bravest are usually an in between of the keenest and the strongest. Rounder shapes and smaller frame. Shabaha, Bunga, and Scar's bravest all follow that.

As for the fiercest, it is a little different. Though usually, stronger build/frame. Scar is sorta an outlier.

Like I do completely understand they did not design some characters well, but I do think some of the designs are interesting. Of course you do not need a female character to be pink/purple, I do fully understand that, but listen I just want to talk about something some designs did do well with.

Also side note, this fandom lovessss when we get new lion characters but not when they are women...hmmmm...man that sure is weird. Huh? I'm referring to characters like Kasi, Tazama, Imara, Shabaha, Zuri, Tiifu, Rani, and heck maybe even Kiara. We all flocked to Kovu, Nuka, Kion, Baliyo, Surak, Askari, and Kopa (Also I would say Scar's guard and Nala's father may count here) and praised them for being great characters (not to say none of them are horrible characters, some are very well written, but y'know, not to name names but there are a few male characters that this fandom builds up to be amazing when they are literally just nothing burgers...I have a deep hatred for one of these I don't know if you can tell) but when the female characters made mistakes they were immediately hated.

Vitani's guard are not entitled brats, the writers really just fumbled the bag even though they did have a very interesting concept tied to them. Rani is not a manipulator, abuser or cheater. Kiara is not a damsel in distress or naive.

Sorry I got off track, I'm really just saying that while this show does have it's faults in some designs, there really are some pretty cool designs in the show.

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[tlg-confessions]

I would love to see more people explore the love interests introduced in season 3 (Azaad, Rani, Binga) outside of being love interests for their respective ships. (Of course Azaad and Fuli's technically not being fully canon)

Like I do completely understand if you do not like them as love interests but I would loveeeee to see more content exploring Binga and Azaad for example.

Binga would need a little...fixing...she...she's not the best written character, but I would like to see people just sorta explore her. What's her family like? Does she have a family at the tree of life? Was she born at the tree? What is her relationship with Baliyo? I will forever love the bear Binga headcanons (She's an asian black bear in my universe) so maybe explore the bear side of the world through her. Explore her relationship with the other guard members, and the other animals.

Or Azaad. What is his relationship with Rani and Baliyo? (I like to think Baliyo always tried to make friends with everyone when he was young, so he and Azaad were friends and thus Rani was included in that group sometimes) Is there a larger reason as to why he has his own territory despite he was probably meant to be a similar age to the lion guard? What is his relationship with other characters?

You don't have to like their ships at all, I completely understand it, but I would honestly kill for more exploration of the characters. Although I guess that goes for most of the minor characters in the lion guard. (the gorillas are my roman empire don't get me started. I know Majinuni and Hafifu are one-off joke characters and I don't know much about Dan and Phil but they seem like they'd be so interesting to me...Like, them learning to slowly become better princes, them growing out of childish tendencies, still keeping their silliness or whatever but growing into kings/princes, maybe still every so often fearing because they think they need to make King Sokwe proud...maybe it's just my daddy issues showing though. Also like what is their relationship with Shujaa? Never explored and I grieve for that every day...but seriously I think the fact they're another "kingdom" of animals is under-utilized by this fandom and franchise)

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[tlg-confessions]

A lot of this fandom's opinions on female characters are fueled by sexist beliefs but I don't think we're ready for that conversation

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[tlg-confessions]

I’ve had a crush on scar since before puberty and now I’m 20 and I still think that cartoon lion is hot. In fact I think he’s one of the reasons I find sassy dudes with long dark hair hot. I thought he was wayyyyy cooler than Kovu, didn’t care for Kovu, too nice. I know Scars a villain but he’s also a cartoon which makes it fine to thirst after him but also he’s a cartoon. Whatever man.

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[tlg-confessions]

rewatched meerkat manor recently (meerkats are matriachial btw) and it got me thinking

seeing as her immediate descendants are mostly male, is kiara timon's ma defacto heir? is there a game of thrones-like plot happening with ma's distant cousins gunning to take her out? does kiara have even more enemies outside of zira and her splinter group? is timon's old colony undergoing a power struggle? if timon, simba, kion, and bunga have/adopt daughters would that make the political situation worse or stabilize it? is timon still the disgraced prince to some of the mob or did he completely redeem himself? are simba, kion, and bunga viewed as threats or assests that could help their mob ice out their enemies? would there be a scandal because timon wasnt official mates with pumbaa when he adopted simba and bunga? is the reason simba connects with timon more is because they are both princes in exile? did i realize that simba would be a crown prince (if you count sarabis destroyed lineage) three times over while typing this?

much to consider

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[tlg-confessions]

“Rani is a character who is incredibly flawed both in a Doylistic and Watsonian sense and should not be immune to criticism” and “The fandom’s perception of Rani is predominantly rooted in misogyny and shipping bias” are two mutually inclusive things.

Like it’s one thing to point out what went wrong with the writing decisions with her character + her role in the story and her flaws in-universe that went unaddressed by the narrative, and see how it all could’ve been improved.

It’s completely another thing entirely to call her “bitchy” or a “Roar-digger” or a “child-predator” (fandom’s words, not mine) just because people love to feel smarter than the media they consume. (also, they’re the same freaking age, what the hell fandom)

I mentioned shipping bias before, but a lot of the hatebase around Rani, especially when the show had only recently ended, resulted from people viewing her as a threat to Fuli or Jasiri’s fanon roles as love-interests to Kion. Not anything based in canon or character, they just hated her because she sunk their ship. Which, is misogynistic and does all three characters a disservice by watering down their quality to how shippable they are with Kion.

Nowadays, the discourse is getting a bit more tolerable, probably because people have grown out of their edgy teenager phase and are actually analyzing the show overall to gain their own opinions instead of shaming it for going against widely accepted fanon or repeating whatever they heard from some YouTuber or TikTokker trying to generate easy clicks.

..but it’s still incredibly sad that the most positivity that Rani had ever gotten was back in January of 2018 when the character was first announced — as opposed to the subsequent 7 years+ of misogyny and bias that have permanently poisoned the well when discussing her character.

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[tlg-confessions]

I would really like to see a lion king/lion guard series or something of the sorts that focuses on worldbuilding and also the cultures of the places these fictional characters are in. If that makes any sense.

This franchise needs more worldbuilding, I'd love to see how new world animals (mainly just Astuto and her kits as she's one of the only new world animals seen in the franchise as of right now. While I do believe the timon and pumbaa show does have some, I'm not fully sure if the show is completely canon with it's inclusion of humans) get to the tree of life, or how the tree of life works. Like, what if the tree of life is some weird magical place that can sustain such different climates right next to each other? Adding onto that, what would happen if that magic had a life source, and what if that life source got attacked? Some of the minor worldbuilding in the lion guard is how I really got attached to this franchise more than I already was, so I would love to see it be explored more.

I would love to see people explore the cultures of the real world through the lion king world. I feel like it is a shame that the night pride didn't consist of say, tigers, or that we didn't get many different animals despite how "big" the tree of life is supposed to be. But that doesn't mean you can't fix that in your own canon. The tree of life could plausibly have any animal be a resident, so why not use that as a way to explore real world cultures? Also maybe explore extinct animals, you could totally make the argument that many animals that died by human hand, even very primitive human hand, would still be around. Dodos, Thylacines, Atlas bears, Auks, Quagga, just to name a few. Likely you would want to use them sparingly, but you could totally use animals like mammoths, saber tooths, and ground sloths. Really anything that went extinct in the Quaternary period could be used. You probably want to do research into when/how said animals died, but still, that opens up a lot more possibilities for ocs/characters. (Plus you could use it as a way to bring attention to animals going extinct today!)

This community loves making their own canon with the franchise we have, and this community loves ocs, so hey! Why not use that as a way to explore things that are under-represented in a lot of media. Yes, it would be a little different, humans don't exist in this world so the culture would differ in some ways, but taking inspiration from different culture's beliefs/practices would be so fun to explore. (Hey, plus, I think it'd be interesting to explore some sort of small version of agriculture, cooking, sculpting/clay making, and maybe even clothing making. Again, it would have to be on a smaller scale, and it would have to be something that is suspended in disbelief, but imagine a group of animals that tends to a small field of specific herbs like Tuliza. Imagine a group of animals that has found out a way to harvest mud to make small sculptures. Imagine a group of animals that creates practical clothing using vines, grass, leaves, cobwebs, etc. You could use real world cultures to inspire these things, and while, again, you will have to highly suspend your disbelief here, it would be a really cool and unique concept to explore. A concept explored easily through something like the tree of life.)

It would be really cool to see people make their own cultures for this world and take inspiration off of under-represented cultures from the real world. It'd be a great creative opportunity that I'd love to see used more often!

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[tlg-confessions]

Some people in this fandom are way too comfortable being openly sexist

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[tlg-confessions]

i really don't like Azaad

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[tlg-confessions]

Honestly I would like to see more people exploring who Kiara's majordomo would be.

I love Zazu to bits, I love him a lot, but he can't live forever. So here's a few ideas from me

For canon characters if they don't have to be birds, possibly one of the skinks or Kinyonga. Nyeusi would be fun, he's described as the stealthiest skink and he's a very minor character. You can use it as a way to characterize him and the other skinks more as well. Shupavu herself would just be fun, explore her reforming and explore her growing into the role of a majordomo. I think she could also possibly have a fun dynamic with Kiara if you think hard enough. Kinyonga is just an underrated character.

As for canon bird characters, Ono, Anga, Kulinda, Ona, Hadithi, Tamaa, that one blue bird during 'We Are One,' or even Nyuni. Ono would be fun if you explore Kion's guard splitting, exploring them still keeping in touch and still considering each other a "found family" but growing apart. Anga for the same reason. Kulinda and Hadithi are iffy, they really are just two important birds that show up in the show, I personally wouldn't go with it but hey, if you want ideas. Ona would likely be a little too young to, but maybe she could be the majordomo to Kiara and Kovu's children. Tamaa is also iffy, but might be a little better. Explore him growing into the role, honestly him and Kovu would be another fun dynamic together if you think hard enough. The blue bird in We Are One and Nyuni are just elite ball knowledge honestly, we don't see either of them again, but hey, if you want a new character that hasn't been explored in canon go for it.

But! Here's some animal ideas for ocs. An african grey would be fun to see, maybe another shoebill that's somehow related to Zazu, a shoebill, a secretary bird, some sort of vulture, a yellow-billed kite, a bearded barbet, or a lilac breasted roller (They are beautiful birds, go look them up.)

And then for non birds, a giraffe (just a jab to their longer necks, most likely wouldn't make the best majordomo), a caracal, any animal that can climb well (high vantage point), or some sort of monkey/ape.

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[tlg-confessions]

I honestly would like to see more Zuri characterization that makes her change her ways a little.

Maybe, and hear me out for a second, don't go the sexist route and give her some character/a character arc. You can have her be a bad person, sure go for it, but I think it'd also be cool to explore her changing her ways and becoming a better person.

I'm personally not the largest fan of her, just have other character's on the mind that's all, but I don't hate her. She has potential. She wasn't handled the best in the series, so I understand where the sentiment comes from, but like many of the female characters in this series/franchise I think she's a little overhated.

So if you wish to entertain me for a moment, here's my reading of the character. (+ A little headcanon. Any headcanon or things that may not be 100% canon will a little asterisk next to it. I didn't rewatch the series for this specific character analysis so I'm not 100% if anything in this is correct or not)

To me, she's a very stubborn lioness, if she believes something, there is a low chance you can persuade her to believe something else. Which can cause conflict, but also means that at times she will have a strong sense of justice*.

She is also very loyal to her friends, she most likely didn't approve of Kovu at the start*, however at that time Kiara was separating a little further from Tiifu and Zuri*.

(This next paragraph is basically all headcanon) Her vanity comes from her relation to Scar, to me he's her grandfather but it's whatever you believe. While it is indirect, she wants to prove herself and wants to make sure she barely looks like him. Her vanity also just comes as a character trait of hers, she might have Mysophobia or something, I don't know. (Hey if you want you could also give her OCD, I don't see many mental illnesses be explored through this series, and she could plausibly have OCD)

(This is also headcanon) Most of her actions during the series just came about because of her age, as she grew older she definitely toned down some of her more sensitive and melodramatic tendencies. Swapping them more her strong moral beliefs, loyalty, and possible charm. Her vanity changing from vanity to charm, as she realizes the toxicity of that trait.

It'd also be interesting to explore her losing her vanity through a possible traumatic event. Maybe exploring it through OCD or possibly by her "losing" her beauty through being scarred up or growing a mane. (Maned lioness Zuri is a very fun headcanon that I've seen sometimes, and I think it'd be interesting, especially if she originally believes she looks ugly for it but overcomes that. This could also tie in well with her strong moral beliefs eyes emoji)

Anyway I just think this fandom needs to give some of the female characters (Cough cough Rani cough cough) more characterization that isn't sexist stereotypes (Not saying you can't have them as bad people, you can and should be allowed to do whatever you want with your own story, I just personally want to see more characterization that isn't built on layers and layers of sexism), thanks for coming to my ted-talk

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[tlg-confessions]

the Tree of Life should have been in Africa, especially Nairobi, Kenya. Felidae first appeared in Central Asia based on the fossil records, but the originator of the panthera lineage, Panthera principialis, initially evolved in Tanzania 3.7 million years ago. Modern lions evolved in East and South Africa 80,000 years ago before the northern subspecies, panthera leo leo (the West and Central African lions, the Barbary lions, and the Asiatic lion) split off 40,000 years ago (the Sahara is one of the reasons the split happened. populations was separated from their natal groups). Of course, Kenya is the cradle of humanity, so that's another reason I want the origin location to be in Nairobi.

As for the plot, well let Janna's family be chosen as the next stewards for the origin tree. But rivals are gunning for the position so the lion guard has to escort Rani to Nairobi. Cue Season 3's opening credits.

I have separate thoughts about the roar of the elders originating in Tanzania before it traveled all over the world and came back to Tanzania. Eh, maybe next time

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[tlg-confessions]

headcanon i would like to share: there are modern lions, hyenas, and leopards present in europe through east asia. cave lions, cave hyenas, and european leopards intermingled with modern lions (present in the entire african and indian sub-continents, west asia, southeastern europe, parts of central and south asia, and southern russia). it's a modern humans mating with neanderthals situation.

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