Referencing archival in the OC design could take the form of various nods to resistance to previous censorship/slander pushes and putting bits in that reference other cases around that starting point, like having the floppy disk have a title bit referencing some 70s-90s case. Maybe Discord or something in classic Doom or Diablo text, to poke at the Satanic Panic as a whole, and in Doom’s case it could have a 1/3 to refer to the shareware version.
I’m also partial to the robo-pony thing, though in fitting with the retro aesthetic I’d suggest an animatronic core appearance, in the sense of all the joints being seams, with some exposed wires spliced to more advanced-looking robotics at puppet string points for some of the body parts (lower legs, maybe go for a pinto look with it covering some of the face and back). Possibly have those animatronics be mostly Nips’ robo-pony design to nod at the design process itself, with the “stocking” look kept for the mid-leg joints or neck and torso.