Design for love interest OC

[Steel Accord 6,658]

So I'm writing a fanfiction and I have the love interest's personality fleshed out but I can't settle on a look for her. Or I should say, I have a design in mind, it's just incredibly uninspired. (Don't read until you've read the rest of the post!)

Spoiler

White unicorn with long black hair and blue eyes. She's Rarity in a Fluttershy mane wig that's been dipped in ink. I do admit certain "preferences" for both Rarity and Fluttershy, which is why this character has visual traits of both but as I've gotten better as a writer, I do think I can do better given the sheer variety of colors, hairstyles, and occasional prop that can be had with pony characters.

To give you some idea of where to go, Saffron is a shy girl with a talent and passion for mathematics. Her mousy demeanor is not a natural disposition but a result of growing up under an abusive father. As soon as she gets away from him, she slowly starts to come out of her shell to the point where she can stand up to him when he catches up to her about his mistreatment of her. Saffron doesn't completely flip the script and become Rarity or Rainbow Dash, e.g. the self-confidence of a concrete rhino. She's still dainty and reserved, however she's also no longer terrified of the world around her and is even accepted into Celestia's school for gifted unicorns due to her math skills. Saffron's last emotional hurdle was finding her mom, who had left the family when her husband's drinking became too much. Greener Pastures deeply regrets not taking Saffron with her, but she did leave her own daughter to suffer at the hands of an abuser. Saffron understandably wants to reconnect with her mother but she doesn't instantly forgive her either. Opting instead to "work on it" from a distance and return to Canterlot with her boyfriend (the central protagonist) rather than stay with her re-discovered mom.

So, when I describe this character to you, what does she look like?

[Adderbane 120]

Given ponies tenancy for meaningful names, working the color orange in isn't a bad idea.  Might work better in the mane, and give her a less flashy coat since she seems rather quiet.  Depending on the time scale of the story, you could have her mane start in some sort of bun, or other subdued style that she let's down and grows as she becomes more social.

Coat color could be a softer color, possibly a green referencing her mother.  However, white might be a good canvas if her Mark would benefit from a lot of colors (Such as a Mandelbrot set)

Eye color should be chosen not to clash with coat and mane (if coat is white you can get away with just about anything). Also, same rules apply to her magic color.

Edited November 23, 2018 by Adderbane
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[Steel Accord 6,658]

On 11/22/2018 at 10:51 PM, Adderbane said:

Given ponies tenancy for meaningful names, working the color orange in isn't a bad idea.  Might work better in the mane, and give her a less flashy coat since she seems rather quiet.  Depending on the time scale of the story, you could have her mane start in some sort of bun,

I never even considered orange. Let me see if that works. To Pony Creator! Batman wipe

On 11/22/2018 at 10:51 PM, Adderbane said:

(Such as a Mandelbrot set)

 That . . . is actually a brilliant idea! Mathematical yet beautiful. And something I have absolutely no clue about.  I picked pieces of her character to contrast with the protagonist who is just as arithmaphobic as I am. 

[Adderbane 120]

9 hours ago, Steel Accord said:

I never even considered orange. Let me see if that works. To Pony Creator! Batman wipe

 That . . . is actually a brilliant idea! Mathematical yet beautiful. And something I have absolutely no clue about.  I picked pieces of her character to contrast with the protagonist who is just as arithmaphobic as I am. 

This also opens up a potential running gag of her trying and failing to explain what her Mark is to people.  For the record, I have a minor in Mathmatics and still only have a vague idea how the Mandlebrot set works.

[Steel Accord 6,658]

@Adderbane

No that’s actually a really great idea as well. I was only thinking of making “doesn’t understand math” jokes for the protagonist but having NOPONY understand what she’s trying to explain could be just as funny.

And could also potentially play for some light drama if a pony does understand the math and they start geeking out together and suddenly our hero feels insecure at not really getting his marefriend’s entire shtick.

Edited November 25, 2018 by Steel Accord