DISTRESSED DAMSELS: Shasti vs. Rose & Lily VINTAGE CON SKETCHES

Behold, a quartet of commissions from 2000 (well, mostly, as we'll see) featuring Dirty Pair's villainess Shasti yet again getting the best of Kei and Y—no, Rose and Lily, the DP's DiD-commission analogues.

A few words:

(These first three pieces are scanned from so-so photocopies, so I hope you'll pardon the crappy repro on 'em.)

Anyhoo, as the later commissioned story "Y**i vs. Shorty" featured, we see a foe having hacked Rose and Lily's "smartsuits," which were seen in 1999/2000's miniseries Dirty Pair: Run from the Future. 

But wait! There's a reversal, as seen in the subsequent sketch:

Alas, though, the always-prepared Shasti had a backup plan, leading to tape-extruding spider drones (as kinda-sorta later glimpsed in an Empowered Advanced Restraint Research story) turning the tables on poor Rose and Lily:

In-continuity Kei and Y**i would've had a tough enough time dealing with superagent Shasti; the anomalously bondage-prone Rose and Lily never had a chance, alas. 

(Note: I do rather like the concept that the "real" Dirty Pair are plagued by statistically anomalous macro-scale disaster resulting in mass catastophe, whereas Rose & Lily are plagued by statistically anomalous smaller-scale disaster resulting in distressed damselhood.) 

Now, there was a fourth sketch planned for the series, as seen in a page rough that features some visibly 2000-era character designs:

Apparently I never addressed the final illo back in 2000, judging by an unfinished commission (no dialogue, date or signature) for which I unearthed the original artwork a few weeks ago. Note the very different character design on Rose & Lily, which looks more like my mid-2000s art style; brace for the dreaded "brokeback pose," folks:

Clearly I never finished the piece, for reasons unknown. Mysterious!

(Closing note: This post took me an entire g-d hour outta my all-important morning work shift to scan and write up. Ouch!)

TOMORROW ON THIS HERE PATREON: Uh, no idea, to be honest. Let's find out together, shall we?