(WIP) [ANIMATION (maybe)] HEX "Keyframe" (Patreon)

H'alright, I'm fucking barreling through this one. It'll be simple, more like... an animated pinup. I'm gonna try to get it done as quickly as possible. If I deem it to be taking too long, I'll just slap it together as a static and call it done, while hanging my head in shame. But don't fret, if you huff enough gasoline, that bitch will definitely move.

So, here they are. You guys voted for the goth dommy mommy witch GFs, and I hope I did them justice. I DID actually watch the movie they debuted in, the... witch's ghost or something? It was short, like an hour. But hey, I actually liked it. The animation quality is really good, and made me think that I should be putting in way more effort. It had that grainy look to it that 90's animations had, and I really dug it. It even had Tim Curry in it. His character got introduced, I said "Hey, is that Tim Curry??" and sure enough, it was. And then I said, "Oh, okay. That guy is definitely going to be evil." Because you can't have Tim Curry in a movie and not have him be evil. He does like, the greatest evil laugh. And yeah, I was right. Spoiler. I'm just gonna talk about the movie really quick. Tim Curry's character is this Stephen King analogue who meets the gang and invites them to his New England (I think) hometown. Velma knows who he is, because she's a nerd loser who reads books. Fred throws a football (American) at her head and calls her "Four eyes" while Daphne compliments his muscles. They decide to go to New England because... I can't remember. But I sure as shit wouldn't follow some guy I met to New England. That shit is far from me. 

They then go to New England and learn that Tim Curry's ancestor, the Witch, is terrorizing the town. The mayor greets them and says, "I see you've brought some friends! And their dog!" to which Scooby replies, "Rog? Rhere?" Translator's note: He's saying "Dog? Where?" I'm not joking about that, by the way. He really says that. This is implying that he's not actually a dog, he's some malformed human that they force to wear a collar and walk around on all fours. 

The gang fuck around, Shaggy and Scooby go and eat a bunch of food on Tim Curry's dime. They get all gross and swollen, which turned my stomach and turned me on. Oh right, and the chef says something about Scooby getting a bone if he wants, but Scooby is allegedly allergic to bones. Allergic to bones? Does he not have a skeleton? What the fuck is he?

I dunno, then they walk out and meet the Hex Girls. They come out of an alley and scare Shaggy and Scooby, because they're terrified of women. Then the witch's ghost comes out and starts shooting at them. They catch up with Fred and Daphne and the other girl, and I think Tim Curry is there too, and then they... go see the Hex Girls playing music? And this is where my ears perk up and I make the poggers face, because two of the Hex Girls, Thorn and Luna, are voiced by Mass Effect voice actresses, Jennifer Hale and Kimberly Brooks. They voiced Commander Shepard (female) and Ashley Williams. I said aloud "Wtf I love the Hex Girls now" and was again surprised when they actually sang. I didn't know Jennifer Hale could sing, but I guess like... she's a voice actress? It's her job to control her voice? Why couldn't she sing?

They finish their song, and then they start fucking with Shaggy. Fred starts splitting the gang up, him and Daphne go off to do something, he pairs Velma with Tim Curry in the hopes that maybe she'll finally get laid, and he makes Shaggy keep an eye on the Hex Girls. Then comes a really infamous scene that I thought was really unnecessary. The Hex Girls corner Shaggy backstage and bully him into showing them his penis. It's really long, no music plays, it's not played for laughs or anything, it just really made me uncomfortable. I dunno, I respect their right to make whatever they want to make, I just thought that the movie would've been better without something like that.

Anyways, after that they follow Thorn, the main Hex Girl, and watch her go grind her weed in her shed. Fred, captain of his church's football (American) team and incredibly sheltered, says "If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was a witch!" Like no fucking shit, Sherlock. She has fangs. 

But, that doesn't turn out to be true. They talk to the Hex Girls, who say it's all just an act. They're "Eco Goths" which I don't think is a thing but I haven't looked it up, and Thorn isn't a witch, she's a wiccan. So they're just terminally online, which isn't punishable by stoning or burning-at-the-stake. Their scary fangs are even fake. And fucking... Luna I think her name is, puts her fangs in Scooby's mouth. Fucking gross. Like, he's a goddamn dog. Or... a dog proxy. He probably licks his own ass. And then Luna says "Oooh, I put something in your mouth, now maybe you can put something in mine to make us even" and all of the sudden I'm glad I let Ashley die on Virmire. 

Anyways, the rest of the movie happens. Turns out the ghost that tried to murder Shaggy and Scooby was fake. But then they find Tim Curry's ancestor's journal. But it isn't a journal, it's a spell book that's evil as shit. The big reveal. Tim Curry is evil. What a shocker. He reveals that his whole career of being a horror writer was a ploy, and that he's wanted to resurrect the Witch to achieve witchly powers and rule the world. I actually identified with this part, because my animation career is also just a ploy, and I'm only doing this to one day resurrect my ancestor, Igor Napletekski. He was the greatest cheesemaker of his village, and he was sentenced to death via bog-submersion by a jealous local boyar. Once I resurrect him, I'll have complete mastery of all forms of dairy. Anyways, of course, Tim Curry does a great laugh. He starts zapping lightning everywhere, and then summons his grandma. She's a ghost, and she wants to kill everyone on the planet because she's pissed. Tim Curry is like "No, that sucks." And she imprisons him in a bubble. She starts zapping everywhere, and ties up the Hex Girls (Who are also there). 

And then, I see something that makes my heart sink.

Can you see it? Those pumpkins aren't painted on the background. They're on animation cels. 

As you know, I really struggled with the idea for Blair, my last animation. I wasn't happy how... not genuine it was. There were no evil pumpkins in Soul Eater. But here? There are pumpkins on animation cels.

God dammit, no! No no no! God, fucking look at them. I was facepalming so hard. There, in the flesh, are genuine evil pumpkins. By this point, I was saying, out loud, "Son of a bitch! This could've been the pumpkin animation! This would've worked! THEY'RE ACTUALLY IN THE MOVIE!" And look at the vines. That's pretty much how I drew them in the Blair animation. And their faces! Their faces are awesome! They look so fun to draw. God, it makes me sick. 

And then, I was fucking taunted.

There. Boom. That would've been it right there. That would've been the animation. I'm shaking looking at this right now. If any of you have read Gothic Horror, that's basically what this is. Some disphit wanders around his mansion with a lamp and sees a painting of his dead wife, and screams and goes insane or something. That's what happened here. I was wailing. Just screaming. I'm still upset at how disingenuous Blair was, and this like, just broke me. Quoth the goblin, "Oh motherfucker, that would've been it! That would've been the pumpkin animation! Oh goddamn you! Motherfucker!"

But hey, real life Gothic horror is pretty appropriate for Halloween. I gotta move on. I'm shaking my head as I type this.

Anyways, they kill all the pumpkins, and then get the book that summoned her. They make Thorn read the banishment spell, because she posts the most frequently on Tumblr, and it starts sending the witch back to her prison. She says "No! I'm not going back alone!" and drags Tim Curry in with her. And like, man, it was kinda fucked up. But got me thinking. Those two were in that dimension, like, for the rest of eternity. I mean... I'm just saying... they probably fucked at some point, right? Like, come on. Trapped with your GILF witch ancestor. "You know... technically since I'm such a distant descendant, it wouldn't really be incest. we're about as related as distant cousins." Isn't that how it works? Maybe I'll ask Neil Degrasse Tyson if it works that way. I'm just saying. It probably happened eventually. Then they go to the Hex Girls concert and the movie is over.

I liked it. I'd recommend it, since it's so short.

-----

Anyways, onto my art. I'm making this pretty fast, and I want to see how much quality I actually achieve without really trying. I included my preliminary sketches, because I really tried to make their poses way more dynamic than usual. You can kinda see where I kept raising the shoulders over and over, just trying to nail the initial poses. I also sort of changed up their designs, while also trying to maintain the feel of the characters.

Now, Thorn (middle) was pretty much fine. I just rolled through her and drew her like how I would draw any character. I am happy with her proportions, she's not as stylized as I usually draw characters, so it was cool that I was able to pull it off and have her look pretty accurate to a human woman. She also kinda looks like a Batman Beyond character to me. Luna (left) was mostly just given curly hair. Kimberly Brooks, her voice actress, is a black woman, so I tried making her look slightly blacker. Things like the earrings and necklace were removed or simplified because... I didn't want to draw them. Close enough. Dusk (right) is the one I changed the most. Now, I like to consider myself a pretty progressive guy. I'll goon to just about anyone. The one social movement I can't get behind, however, is the "No eyebrows" movement. Sorry. I think it looks horrible. So, I gave her some thin eyebrows instead. Now, I do really like her eyes, I like how round they are and how small the irises are compared to the other two, so I kept those. They're really distinct, and adds more variety within the three. Her hair is also a bit shit, so I made it frame her face more and added a bit more weight to her pigtails. I also didn't draw the X necklace because I didn't want to. Sue me.

Anywho, that's that. That's a long post. I hope you read every word, because I really tried to be funny with this one. I'm trying to go as fast as possible with this one, so next up will be background.

Thanks for reading (If you read it, you are a true friend. The others are posers) and Happy Halloween.

- KYDE