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Description
This was my first attempt at trying to draw a sloth-bear. I used some images from Google as a reference and I tried to recapture Binga's facial features so that she wouldn't look totally unrecognizable. That's why I didn't really use a tutorial. Hopefully it's not too bad? [Even if it is, I still somewhat pride myself in the effort it took me to sketch this out:]

It may or may not be a surprise to you but... I don't like Binga. At all. "Love interest of male main character is basically a pink girl version of said main character” trope [because that's totally not sexist /s] or as I like to call “The Chipette Effect” is such an outdated and bare-bones trope. TLG had a lot of amazing girl characters with brilliant designs, so they really fumbled the bag when it came to this girl. To add insult to injury they assassinated Bunga's character in Season 3 and now we're left with a duplicate of said character assassination. The farting contest between the two, [A.K.A. the worst thing to come out of this show, even worse than the bloody Dan and Phil gorillas or that stupid Thurston-penguin] really didn't help. Season 3 of The Lion Guard dropped the ball when it came to the romantic subplots, but Binga is the worst of the lot: Out of everything in TLG S3 that I've had to tolerate or write around when it comes to my headcanons, AUs, and fics, Binga is the one thing that I flat out choose to ignore altogether. If not because of how much cringe I endure, it's because.... she's boring lmao.
And rather than just taking the easy way out and pretending she doesn't exist [not like that's not a good option either] or by having Bunga dump her [again, am not entirely opposed to], I eventually just said “screw canon” and came up with my own version of her, more fleshed out than in the show itself [I’m definitely not a fan of her name since that’s another cisbend of Bunga, but until I find a good substitute, I'll go with Sloth!Binga].
Rant Aside: On with my Rewrite version of Binga. Here, she’s a sloth bear: Why that? Because A) I want to take more advantage of the Asia setting, B) because sloth bears are termite predators like honey badgers so it does fit, C) because sloth bears, much like honey badgers are incredibly fierce when they need to be, D) I’m a sucker for height difference in relationships, and E) I think them being an interspecies couple makes it very interesting, funny, and wholesome, and be a neat mirror to Timon & Pumbaa's relationship. I originally wanted to have her be a honey guide [since they do also live in India]. But then I read that the whole "Honey badger/honey guide symbiotic relationship" thing was an outdated myth so I went with the next available bug-eating, Indian-native animal.
In my AU, Binga is the polar opposite of Bunga. She lived in fear and isolation as a result of immense trauma from the loss of her parents [in the same massacre that took Sãhasí and Ãnanda and left young Rani with a scar, I'll get to that point in my verse soon]. The Night Pride adopt her out of pity and she grows up as a sister to Rani and Baliyo until she leaves on her own: Meeting Bunga inspires her to be more brave, but at the same time, she is able to help Bunga become more mature and level-headed.
Bunga and Sloth!Binga have an on-off relationship. Both of them are new to the concept of actually being with someone, especially with one of them having such a coveted and busy title as the Night Pride's Bravest. They go through some ups and downs and travel around lands with each other before eventually deciding that they would rather spend the rest of their lives with each other. Not long after a new generation of Pridelanders and Nightlanders begin to start popping out of the snow, Bunga and Binga, well into their adulthood, get married and soon after become the surrogate uncle and aunt to Kion and Rani's kids, whilst also having little ones of their own, much to the hysterical excitement, joy, and slight horror of "Grandpa Timon & Grandpa Pumbaa."

Binga © Disney

Binga Redesign/Lion Guard AU © Me:

Description
This was my first attempt at trying to draw a sloth-bear. I used some images from Google as a reference and I tried to recapture Binga's facial features so that she wouldn't look totally unrecognizable. That's why I didn't really use a tutorial. Hopefully it's not too bad? [Even if it is, I still somewhat pride myself in the effort it took me to sketch this out:]

It may or may not be a surprise to you but... I don't like Binga. At all. "Love interest of male main character is basically a pink girl version of said main character” trope [because that's totally not sexist /s] or as I like to call “The Chipette Effect” is such an outdated and bare-bones trope. TLG had a lot of amazing girl characters with brilliant designs, so they really fumbled the bag when it came to this girl. To add insult to injury they assassinated Bunga's character in Season 3 and now we're left with a duplicate of said character assassination. The farting contest between the two, [A.K.A. the worst thing to come out of this show, even worse than the bloody Dan and Phil gorillas or that stupid Thurston-penguin] really didn't help. Season 3 of The Lion Guard dropped the ball when it came to the romantic subplots, but Binga is the worst of the lot: Out of everything in TLG S3 that I've had to tolerate or write around when it comes to my headcanons, AUs, and fics, Binga is the one thing that I flat out choose to ignore altogether. If not because of how much cringe I endure, it's because.... she's boring lmao.
And rather than just taking the easy way out and pretending she doesn't exist [not like that's not a good option either] or by having Bunga dump her [again, am not entirely opposed to], I eventually just said “screw canon” and came up with my own version of her, more fleshed out than in the show itself [I’m definitely not a fan of her name since that’s another cisbend of Bunga, but until I find a good substitute, I'll go with Sloth!Binga].
Rant Aside: On with my Rewrite version of Binga. Here, she’s a sloth bear: Why that? Because A) I want to take more advantage of the Asia setting, B) because sloth bears are termite predators like honey badgers so it does fit, C) because sloth bears, much like honey badgers are incredibly fierce when they need to be, D) I’m a sucker for height difference in relationships, and E) I think them being an interspecies couple makes it very interesting, funny, and wholesome, and be a neat mirror to Timon & Pumbaa's relationship. I originally wanted to have her be a honey guide [since they do also live in India]. But then I read that the whole "Honey badger/honey guide symbiotic relationship" thing was an outdated myth so I went with the next available bug-eating, Indian-native animal.
In my AU, Binga is the polar opposite of Bunga. She lived in fear and isolation as a result of immense trauma from the loss of her parents [in the same massacre that took Sãhasí and Ãnanda and left young Rani with a scar, I'll get to that point in my verse soon]. The Night Pride adopt her out of pity and she grows up as a sister to Rani and Baliyo until she leaves on her own: Meeting Bunga inspires her to be more brave, but at the same time, she is able to help Bunga become more mature and level-headed.
Bunga and Sloth!Binga have an on-off relationship. Both of them are new to the concept of actually being with someone, especially with one of them having such a coveted and busy title as the Night Pride's Bravest. They go through some ups and downs and travel around lands with each other before eventually deciding that they would rather spend the rest of their lives with each other. Not long after a new generation of Pridelanders and Nightlanders begin to start popping out of the snow, Bunga and Binga, well into their adulthood, get married and soon after become the surrogate uncle and aunt to Kion and Rani's kids, whilst also having little ones of their own, much to the hysterical excitement, joy, and slight horror of "Grandpa Timon & Grandpa Pumbaa."

Binga © Disney

Binga Redesign/Lion Guard AU © Me: