#Yet another peek into my autistic mind palace XD

[shallowoak]

Design Chatter - MLP Law, Doffy & Cora

>> Link to Law & Cora << | >> Link to Doffy <<

I have way too much fun rambling about horses, so I'm going to do it again! The Donquixote brothers are some of my most loaded designs, so explaining my thought process will probably benefit y'all, too 💦💦 Despite featuring fewer ponies this time, it will absolutely be as long, so buckle up! Fair warning for OP spoilers post time-skip, Dressrosa especially.

The arbitrary guidelines I set for myself are the same as always:

Keep it fun and surprising, in the spirit of the original!

I draw in the G4 style, but features from every gen and toy line are fair game

I love back card / blind bag style character blurbs. I live for crumbs of worldbuilding XD

I've purposefully not included cutie marks because I suck at drawing them and I'd never finish a piece if I had to draw them :v (maybe a post for another time?)

🩹Trafalgar Law🩹

In-universe:

As a student, this Unicorn was invited to apprentice at the Ponyville Hospital- but sudden illness stopped him from completing his training. Bitter, he fell in with a rough crowd of Ponies who encouraged him to use his knowledge and magic to hurt instead of heal. Fortunately, he's found good friends to show him the way- and a little bedside manner.

Design:

I'd like to start this section by giving a massive shout-out to @solarmantle, whose Pony Law design inspired my own. Your work is seriously gorgeous!❤️

I knew right away I wanted my version of Law to be super fluffy. He's such a guarded, covered up person that it felt wrong for him to look 'exposed' in that way. The facial hair, thick coat and hat, feathers and... all of his backstory paint a cold image of him in my mind. (I like to think he shed lot when he was first sick, and continues to now whenever he's stressed. Which is always. Then every time it grew back, it came back thicker and thicker.) You can bet that he wears those blue foot bags you get at the hospital over his hoof fluff!

I'm a huge sucker for Law keeping his patches an adult. Since they're no longer being caused by illness, they just look like Vitiligo, which I've always thought is gorgeous. For me, it was a shame for him to lose such a unique aspect of his design! So I was self indulgent and just kept it. I decided to Ponify the spots by changing the white to 'glow in the dark green', so it still looks eye-catching, unnatural and perhaps a little dangerous too. One patch is even shaped like a skull- which really helps with his tough guy image.

Plus, I'm only human, and didn't really want to draw his intricate tattoos onto a horse body😶though for him to have 'DEATH' as a leg design would be pretty rad...

🦩Doflamingo🦩

In-universe:

This Pony misses living in the clouds so much, his head has never left there! Though dedicated to his family, he often spends more time thinking about his own plans than seeing the needs just beyond his glasses- which is probably because he's never taken them off. Maybe thinking about a vacation would be more beneficial?

Design:

I'm a firm believer that looking at Doffy should always be uncomfortable 💀He does not make a cute pony. He should not make a cute pony. So if he looks weird to you- good! That's intentional. (Unless you're looking at an actual mistake in the art, in which case no you're not)

So, Celestial Dragons. What a thing to try and put onto a cartoon horse. Honestly, I didn't want to make them actual Dragons or Alicorns or anything cool that feeds into their image. The Celestial's power comes from self-entitlement and oppression rather than any actual respect or... powers- so I'm not gonna give them any! Their whole culture is built around their (inflated) ancestry, so I decided to equate that to, and base them off of, Generation 1 ponies.

Celestials have an interesting signature style. Even the 'fallen' Doffy and Cora look... pretty bizarre. (Vine boom) Uncoordinated. (Vine boom) Gaudy. (Vine boom) So to try and emulate in this in a more MLP way, I decided to load them up with features from the toys instead. I love a good toy gimmick and G1 has loads of great ones. The whole Donquixote Family are weird and toyetic as hell. It feels like it was meant to be-!

As a loud and tastelessly dressed man, I gave Doffy three gimmick features. Twinkle-Eyes, a leg design and Celestial stripes. Totally over the top. (I'll cover leg designs in Cora's section so I don't repeat myself!) Amazingly, Celestial ponies are a real thing in G1! They've got these marble effect stripes- plus a cute star headpiece.

Since he's 'fallen' I decided to leave out the stars (wow, literally grounded! #humble) but I could totally see the current nobles having them. On a toy it's adorable! On an actual character, pretty ugly looking to have stars on rods coming out of your skull. Twilight even wore a similar headpiece in Suited For Success and the canon ponies thought it looked stupid- so I think it fits their aesthetic just fine.

The Twinkle-Eyes are a bit of fun, considering we never get to see under the glasses. There are lots of popular headcanons that Doffy might be blind or have light sensitivity (as someone who wore green lenses for this, this would be cool) and having gems instead of pupils is my in-universe take on this! Beautiful. Horrific. The official lore for the eyes is disgusting. Couldn't ask for a better blend to suit him perfectly.

🔫Corazon🔫

In-universe:

This clumsy Pony might not have a lot to say, but he doesn't need to when he wears his heart on his sleeve! He's full of surprises, too, from airship navigation to ice arrow shooting- he's even an Equestria Games champ at the sport! Perhaps behind the cute pink exterior lies an all action hero...? Nah, surely not.

Design:

Families are a weird thing in G1. Baby Ponies are just smaller versions of their parents- and even the parents look similar. Again, something really cute and simple for a toy becomes weird for an actual character 😂

But it works for the Donquixotes! As kids, Rosi is absolutely a smaller, shyer Doffy, who in turn both look a lot like their parents. So I decided to let them share more features than you'd typically see in G4 or G5: Same pony type, coat colour, build, eye shape... Consistency is key if you want to fit in at Marijoa!

Cora is a 'Twice as Fancy' Pony, so he has symbols all over his body (instead of just the flank) to emulate his shirt! There's even a heart on his nose, perfect for booping 🥺Admittedly, the 'name on leg' gimmick is from G3, but I thought it would be a fun addition for a group who use code names in their daily and business life. Think of it like a spray paint stencil on the fur! King has fully replaced his old name, but Cora is just a code name, y'know?

Doffy probably wouldn't show off his underground name every day lol, but sometimes strutting your stuff around the house makes you feel a little better 🤣