Ill explain the ambiguities here.
1. There were not "five friends" it was just whippy and i
2. Nathan HAD seen the sprite, a member of our gang leaked an early version of the hat (funnily enough that member is now in silence).
3. It is clearly plaguerised. Like Eugeen said, the line-art is similar and various details were clearly copied. Not to mention the literal 'eye-dropping" of the colours.
Edit: whippy how did we post replies at the exact same minute about the exact same thing haha
Double edit: yeah Nathan did get 18 of his hats approved. He also got three stalls for halloween this year and most of his hats were'nt themed for the event and im not even going to talk about the bow.