I made Leona an earth pony with a thicker build. Hes a square with sharp angles! Hes one of the first drawings I made for this ‘series’ so its a bit lackluster, but I wanted him to be nice and hairy. I gave him a more lion-like tail, and some jewelry from his culture. His ears are nicked and he has long, slightly tangled hair. He also has a lot of hair around his neck becuase he’s a lion! I gave him a color scheme vaguely resembling a lion as well. Also nice and hairy legs, i love to draw those on horses. His cutie mark is three claw marks over clouds of dust. There are multiple different meanings to this cutie mark.
Vil covers up his cutie mark for personal reasons, but its a spotlight shining behidn some curtains. I tried to give him a more ‘feminine’ look while also keeping sharper angles. I love his color scheme, and i made him a unicorn because I thought it fit perfectly. I considered making him an earth pony to really show how he works hard for everything and doesn’t take shortcuts, but in the end unicorn won. I might change it later though! I had to give him some elegant white spots too, because aesthetically it just clicked in my head. He has a purple bow and has his unique hair accessory in his bun. I gave him longer eyelashes, and instead of making his hair a blonde-purple gradient I made some locks purple.
Jamil!!! He’s one of my favorite designs. I know the obvious choice seems to make him a unicorn, but HEAR ME OUT ON PEGASUS JAMIL! It adds a lot of symbolism and extra layers I think, it’s very tragic. Plus, he looks pretty with wings. I gave him darker and greyer colors to portray his darker and jaded nature, and it’s a nice contrast to Kalim’s design. I tried to vaguely design him off of Arabian horses but it didn’t come through very well. Did you know that MLP has a race of horses called ‘Saddle Arabians’? I didnt and i think its absolutely hilarious. Jamil is also supposed to have bags attached to the thing around his waist, but I’m too lazy to draw them.. His cutie mark is an eye with the world as its pupil, and a snake curling behind it. I put a lot of thought into his cutie mark and I’m really happy with what I came up with! To me it has 4 different meanings! I kinda want to redraw Jamil because he looks so small compared to the others!
Kalim is a unicorn for even more delicious angst. His whole family is unicorns. He’d much rather be a pegasus, but at least he has the magic carpet! Jamil thinks it’s bullshit that Kalim can use magic AND can fly. I made Kalim’s colors more vibrant and yellow and lively. He wears lots of jewlery, has tattoos and is my favorite design of these four! He also took me the longest. His cutiemark is a sun or a coin with gems on it, and it has wings. This too has multiple meanings. I think in the Scalding Sands culture the snake jewelry was something the sorcerer of the sands, an alicorn, wore around his horn. Maybe the original was a magical artifact? Well, Kalim, and other people from the scalding sands, wear fakes to honor the sorcerer. Anyways, I made Kalim slightly hairier then Jamil to show how he’s softer and wilder.
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I’d love to do more with this AU, because my mind is already full with so many cool ideas! Thanks for reading my rambles and have a nice day :)
The fact that Kalim knew it was Jamil all along, he just trusted Jamil so much that he refused to believe he would ever betray him, even while the evidence was right there. Do you ever think about how deliciously ironic it is that Jamil, a servant, his unique magic is to turn other people into his servants, malign him the master. It’s so interesting to think about.
What if Ruggie has lasting damage to his arm because of the events of book 2? It’s a wonder that thing is still functional, and it must be riddled with scars, so I propose a headcanon where his arm in fact doesn’t work so well anymore. This would be devastating for Ruggie, but he wouldn’t try to make it seem like a big deal, but Leona would notice and feel so bad about it but never apologize for it.
What if Ruggie flinches whenever Leona gets too close or suddenly grabs him or moves too fast because he thinks back to what happened when he overblotted? And everytime it happens it’s awkward, and Ruggie is the one that apologizes for flinching and laughs it off, but Leona knows he’s the one that should be apologizing.
What if Ruggie can’t pickpocket anymore? What if he can’t do a lot of part-time jobs anymore? What Leona did to him HAS to have caused lasting/permanent damage, and it would be even worse if it was his dominant hand that got Kings Roared.
bring back zooterkins, the best 17th-century swear word
I don't normally do Just Characters Swearing, but. ...this kind of wrote itself and then wouldn't leave my head. it comes from both a piece of character-writing advice that has always stuck with me, and also my conviction that Leona is 1000% funnier as a character if his dialogue has to stay G-rated. let Kalim say fuck, but don't let Leona say bastard.
For your twst au, I imagine when Malleus meets Yuu, he immediately brings them to try very odd ice cream Flavors.
Hey Kouro7! Sorry for not doing anything swap AU related for literal months, but here you go! A quick, silly doodle. I love the idea of Swap!Malleus feeding Yuu icecream instead of socializing like a normal person (I would do this)