Blog dedicated to The Troop by Nick Cutter: A horror novel about a group of boy scouts who encounter a lethal parasitic infection while on an isolated island.
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This blog contains visuals and themes related to the novel's content, including but not limited to: Parasites/Worms, starvation, abuse, child death, extreme body horror, and gore. For an exhaustive list of book content warnings, visit this page.
You can use/repost/trace any of my art, edits, writing, and fan designs as long as credit is provided and its for personal use.
WHY do I always pick the worst times to go back to things. My personal/work life just got so much busier and straight up WORSE OH MY GOD??? Cosmic punishment for me. I'll really try to get this stuff done as soon as possible but man.
Working on the new lil ref sheet (almost done actually) but I'm knee deep in dental work still + I'm working 50 hours this week... so I don't have the most free time in the world. But I'm off for Thanksgiving so hopefully it'll get done then at the latest 😈
When life makes you this abnormal about the last audiobook you finished, I guess you make a tribute video/edit.
Content warnings: parasites, maggots, worms, body horror, blood, general disturbing audio and imagery
Spoiler warnings: The Troop, By Nick Cutter
The Troop, narrated by Corey Brill, mixed with a together mix of stock and film footage I cobbled together to the tune of Vessel’s “Red Sex”
Inspired by another video I saw putting the cognito ergo sum speech from I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream to the same song. Making this made me squeamish and it doesn’t do the novel’s own ick factor even 4% of justice.
Shower thought: I have a break so can we talk. About Max. For a minute. [TLDR: MAJOR spoilers ahead]
I've seen a lot of book reviews saying Max is the obligatory "normal one", and I guess the general consensus is that takes on sort of a protagonist role who does not really have much to offer as a character. I could not disagree with that more, though, especially upon my later reads. From the way I see it, Max is maybe the most integral character (besides our antagonist) to this book.
Max is the sheepdog. We establish that right off the bat. He is a watcher, a quiet protector and observer. He is gentle and contemplative-- you don't hear him speak up as much as the other characters or show out, but you see those very characters from his perspective, and you come to love them through him. He is, of course, the initial holder of the walkie talkie and the surgeon's assistant--it's through these things and more that we come to realize that Max is the true shepherd of the group, despite Kent's size and Eef's charisma. He's silent until he's needed, and he shows his capability and wisdom as a leader when others are in trouble (i.e Kent during the storm, the Sparkplugs/Newt in the boat, need I go on)
Of course, a huge chunk of that portends to his friendship with Ephraim. He's his wrangler (ha) yes, but they balance each other out-- Ephraim feels a lot of fearful rage, and Max is the only one that can comfort him and bring him a sense of calm. Likewise, I think Ephraim is a very righteous and emotional character driven to action when he feels like things aren't fair (I'll get back to this later.)
On the other hand, Max is the defuser of conflict, even though he himself ends up taking a backseat most of the time.
Most pertinent I think is his love for living things-- I see him as a sort of yang to Shelley's yin, the guardian and preserver of life whereas Shelley is a destroyer, picking life apart with no regard to its significance. We see this clear as day in several places, notably with the 'death of the puffins' flashback, and especially with the death of the turtle. Even for survival, we tearfully acknowledge with Max that there is mourning to be had over the suffering, the uselessness, and the melancholy of death. Life is precious. Living things have meaning and sentimentality to them, and deserve to be loved and taken care of.
All that preservation of life vs. death stuff hits a massive crescendo when Max finds Eef dead. We watch this benevolent, calm character witness the culmination of that destruction, and to the person he (arguably) loved the most, no less. That balance gets thrown off. We watch him get angry for the first time, driven to action just like Eef, and righteously so. At least from my perspective, watching him confront Shelley for that and everything else he's done (especially for the first time read) was awe-inspiring. Watching Max have that same righteous anger was like watching the two of them finally join hands, in a weird sad way.
All this really reinforced (upon my later rereads) that it makes sense to me why Max is the "final girl." He's the cornerstone, and he's all that's left when everything else is stripped away.
Anyways something something Maxi Pad for president
I'll be doing all 3 at some point, this is just what I'll focus on first!
Examples Under Cut
Examples of a handful of blinkies/stamps I've done already. I'd do a couple for the book itself + hydatid themed ones + some worm dividers and things like that. Eventually character specific ones too, but that'd take longer.
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This old thing is my original sketchy renditions of the characters, 1st time trying to design them. There's a lot I'd do different now, but I still want to keep the general look similar because I am attached. :^) (I'd also redraw the header I made of all their heads. (Ha, HEADer.))
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Basement Kent from my fake screenshot era. I HAVE tried to redraw it twice before, didn't work out either time. But 3rd times a charm!! I can make him look worse that's for sure.
The university student and the ROTC dudebro and the unemployed queer with the nicotene addiction and the one working part time at a fish bait shop all walk into a bar on Prince Edward Island!!! No worm. No shelley :):):) the world is healing xoxo
(I love being an artist because I can just create another timeline where they get to live and grow old then BOOM KAPOW there it is. ALIVE BEST FRIENDS FOREVER)
