Jan 20th was the anniversary of when I made my Sith Warrior, Kihmba! So on that day I began this drawing of her which I decided to finish up this morning x'D Happy belated birthday to her! 🎂🎉🎊

When I first made Kihmba a couple years ago, my initial intention was to sorta lightheartedly parody Kimba the White Lion haha! The canon Kimba is a peacekeeping hero while the version I was making was gonna be a cartoon villain (and what better way to begin my Sith Warrior experience? xD)

But then, unexpectedly, Kihmba became her own character as well as something much more personal. She became a comfort letter to a past self; the self who was a girl and very insecure about her voice and facial/body hair. The self who got scars on her chin from constant self-conscious plucking and picking every time the beard hairs tried growing in. The self who shaved her upper lip and legs and body religiously since early childhood (I had a funky precocious puberty). The self who'd make her voice sound higher and softer to fit more into "feminine" sound expectations. The self who grew up struggling with conforming to society's unfair gender norms.

Kihmba became a character my past self could find comfort in; comfy and confident in all her traits, feeling beautiful in her own skin (fur?), who admires her beard in the mirror, with a voice that's deep and proud and music to her ears 🥰 Even as my present self, and though I haven't drawn her often, Kihmba still holds a special comforting place in my heart 💗

Here's some more Kihmba! 🦁  Experimenting with her design a little. She's just chillin' this time around and seems to be in a better mood ✨

hey are you cool with people drawing your ocs, becase Kihmba's design is incredibly fun and I would like to at some point

AAWW GOSH! ❤️ I'm absolutely honored by the thought of people drawing my OCs!! ;w; 💞 If you're ever wanting to, please feel free to send a message with any oc questions you may have! I def enjoy excuses to share about my chars x'D

Btw goodness it means a whole lot to me you feel that way about Kihmba's design!!💗