AbbyCapers (Early Access): Rae and the AbbyMask (Patreon)

Edit:

• And now we have a rant!

 Synopsis/Description: 

WagglingMermaid's Rae is so silly, Nabby's not that gullible-
Okay, I guess she is?  

But the real question is... where did Rae get the Abbymask...?
(and would anyone else like to get their hands on one?) 

Process Gif/Alt. versions:

The Rant: 

So, honestly, this comic was born from all the "I wish that were me" comments that follow most of Abby's misadventures. Particularly whenever Nabby is involved. As one of Abby's closest and most vocally jealous friends, Rae was the obvious choice as audience stand-in for Nabby mask daredevil. It is canon that Rae does, on occasion, hang out with Abby specifically to get caught up in her misadventures, or lure her into a situation where Abby's bad luck will trigger where it otherwise would not (if it isn't and I've misinterpreted, plz sound off in the comments, Wags), so she absolutely would disguise herself as Abby to attract Nabby. She's also not dumb enough to 100% believe this would work (at least, by itself, though Rae would go all the way into a latex approximation of Abby's outfit if she knew it'd work), but theoretically, the worst that happens is that Abby gets a chuckle out of it. Theoretically.

Also, half the fun of doing these AbbyCapers is that Abby and Nabby should know better, but, well, they don't... Just as Abby is dumb/gullible enough to fall for any trap that crosses her path, no matter how obvious it is, Nabby is dumb/gullible enough to nab anything that faintly resembles Abby (... there's a story there....), no matter how implausible it is. Which gives me some wiggle room to send her after non-Abby damsels, provided they either resemble Abby, or impede her progress towards Abby.

The thing that really worried me was the mask, though. Because my style is very abstract, without very many texture details, I was worried that the mask would be indistinguishable from the real Abby. To that end, I purposefully didn't add eye-shines to the mask's eyes, in addition to its neutral expression. Also, making it off-color and desaturated from the real Abby to drive home exactly how fake it is. And of course, standing the mask next to the real Abby for contrast.

WagglingMermaid brought up a very good point, both in DMs and in the comments, that if Abby and Rae are on a pier, how was Nabby able to drop in on Abby? Honestly, in hindsight, it both would have been more logistically coherent and creepier for Nabby to creep in from under the water. The angle in which Abby confronts Rae would have been perfect for foreshadowing too! I considered redrawing it to match, but by that point most of the other elements (lighting, colors) had mostly settled. Honestly, I just thought it was funnier for Nabby to literally drop out of nowhere. Its also more disarming as well. Nabby should be creepy, yes, but never so creepy that you take her seriously and fear for Abby's safety. Make no mistake, it is "bad" for Abby to let Nabby catch her; I personally enjoy the tension that comes from booting characters out of their comfort zone, which is why Abby isn't openly submissive, and still bratty even when she is. But it should never turn anyone off to see Nabby catch Abby or anyone else.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments; the feedback lets me know how I am doing! Thanks for your continued patronage, and I'll catcha over yonder!

-Saunter