#rabies is terrifying

[disgracedaantt]

okay so i have a theory about how akilah (and possibly many more) is going to die! i wasn't going to mention it till i had more proof but i've connected some dots. current working name is the Bite Theory because "everything with teeth bites" :)

obviously, spoilers for s3 ahead, be warned!

i think the yellowjackets are going to get rabies. at the very least akilah! theres a couple things that make me think this, the main being what we saw in her hallucination in episode 3. we're told by the talking llama that "everything with teeth bites", which while it could mean a variety of things i think its probably a very literal meaning in akilahs case. her whole thing this season (and a large part of season 2) revolves around caring for animals. wild animals. and its fairly likely that that the reality that the yellowjackets have shown is not accurate to what is really happenong (yellow filter theory), so i think theres one of two ways that the Bite Theory could happen.

1.) and the most straightforward, akilah is bitten by one of the animals shes caring for or an animal she comes across in the wilderness. possibly in the caves since it's likely that a fair amount of season 3 is going to revolve around them. this could also be what her sinking into the dirt in her hallucination could mean. the wilderness is taking her, like the way it took laura lee and javi, into it and under it. further evidence supporting this theory is how weird all the animals are in the wilderness. the suddenly dead birds, the sick bear, even the wolves were strange because wolves generally do not go out of their way to attack humans, especially not humans in groups (from my understanding). while this may be due to some other phenomenon occurring out in the wilderness (possibly due to heavy metal poisoning) we at the very least know that the animals out in the wilderness are NOT normal.

as for the 2nd way the Bite Theory could occur, its a little more out there, but personally my favorite and i think would work well with the girls further descent into the wilderness:

2.) and, the more outlandish, is akilah being infected by coach ben or mari. akilah has shown herself to be a very compassionate character, especially within season 3, and i think thats going to get her killed. from what we know currently of the final survivors, its reasonably safe to say the neither akilah or ben are likely to make it through the final winter. we also know that pit girl is probably either gen or mari, however, with the "It Girl" episode the general consensus is that its probably gen, and the "It Girl" episode is a misdirect. so, mari probably died before the final winter. we have also directly been shown mari AND ben consuming bats (gross), which as i mentioned in my previous theory, are EXTREMELY well known carriers of rabies. and we already know that all of the wilderness animals are NOT well. rabies can also be contracted through eating an infected animal, so even if neither of them were bitten during their time in the cave its still possible for them to contract the virus. ben has also been living in these caves for MONTHS and exposed to bats and likely other rodents the entire time. we also know he's not well because mari hears him talking to "something", so maybe it was because of the gas in the caves or maybe he's already sick and losing his mind.

so assuming either ben or mari (if not both) are infected at the current point, how would akilah be infected? if its ben i think it will be dependent on his outcome during the trial. if hes found guilty i think he'll try and escape and end up attacking and biting akilah during the process. if he's found not guilty (or held prisoner) he'll get gradually sicker and akilah will try and help him, maybe by bringing him berries, hm? if its mari that bites akilah i think it will happen at the end of the season or after a timeskip. mari is clearly a more important character this season, so i imagine her death will be fairly dramatic. i could see her getting extremely sick and lashing out in a fit and biting akilah.

also another thing to note is that literally in the 1st episode of season 3 we see mari get bitten by shauna!!!! which considering how symbolic yellowjackets is could totally mean something since "everything with teeth bites" seems like its going to be an important theme this season.

another reason i think this theory holds weight is because i don't see ben NOT being eaten when he dies. they hate him and as much as the girls claim to "not being doing that anymore" i really don't see them wasting that much food. they've been willing to eat people and they will again, so i think they'd need a better reason than morals to stop them now. same with akilah and mari, i think depending on how close to winter they die they'd be willing to eat them even tho they care a lot more about them than ben. unless they cant, in which case they'd either burn or bury (cough cough like in akilahs hallucination cough cough) them. also shauna straight up says she wishes they'd eaten mari first so.... definitely not gonna be morals that stop her.

we also know they literally do go back to cannibalism at least by winter. why? well, it could be because they have run out of food, but if they know how hard winter is wouldn't they have prepared better? unless they can no longer trust their food to be safe.

anyway thats a lot to read so tl:dr: theory goes, akilah gets bit by either a.) animal b.) coach ben, or c.) mari and contracts rabies, dies and results in the girls going back to cannibalism.

maybe im totally off base here idk but this was fun to think about! sorry this got really long and i think i even missed a few things to say, but thanks if you read this far! (also if anyone agrees or has more to add pls let let me know!)

[aniseandspearmint]

if YOU show symptoms it's already too late, you're a dead person walking. There is no cure for rabies.

VACCINATE YOUR ANIMALS

"I've decided not to vaccinate my animals. Think about it, how often do you see a rabid dog?"

Yes Heather think about it. Think about how few rabid dogs you see in your comfortable western country with easy access to vet care. Think about why it might be that you've never seen a rabid dog. Really dig deep here you absolute fucking fool.

[marlynnofmany]

Now there's a conversation to have!

On the one hand, it's easy to say they'd be immune because of the whole undead thing, maybe because their body temperature is too low, or because magic, or because vampirism is close enough to rabies that they should only be able to get one at a time.

But on the other hand, the idea of a bat-vampire suffering from rabies is both funny and terrifying.

An evil vampire is bad enough, killing on a whim. But remember that rabies makes regular animals act in ways that will spread it the most: drooling, friendly, then bitey. Can you imagine the scourge of the town showing up apparently drunk and wanting to be friends with everyone -- until he doesn't?

[mynameisvarian]

Fanart for:

By: PurpleRose244 / @purplerose244

Max looked at David.

“Where.”

The man was growing more and more frantic.

“Where.”

Was that really the man that had given him a new home?

“WHERE THE FUCK IS MY SON???”

… yes. Yes he was.

(This post will make more sense if you have read the fic :D)

[razziecat]

Do you know why rabies victims develop hydrophobia? The virus lives in their saliva and they produce an excessive amount of saliva because that's how the virus spreads. Drinking water reduces the amount of the virus that can spread.

The rabies virus makes its victims fear water so that they can keep spreading it.

This is a late stage symptom and by that point its going to kill the victim anyway, but before they die they can infect others. Because the virus has a built-in system that guarantees it.

I'm reading a book about the cultural history of rabies and there's one part where they bring up Saint Hubert, whose remains were located in an abbey that became renown for supposedly healing rabies infections and also doubled as a hospice because realistically once you start showing symptoms you're fucked and there's virtually no chance of survival, but according to the book the hospice has been turned into an 'upscale hotel' and, quote, 'the hospital's original seventeen-century chapel remains intact, now somewhat gloomy but (we can attest) rather comfortable guest room where guests can commune with the spirits of agonized hydrophobes while soaking in a Jacuzzi tub'.

That feels so weirdly disrespectful to me, like 'oh here's this place where people doomed to die in one of the most horrible ways imaginable begged for salvation, let's turn it into a bourgie ass hotel with a Jaccuzi'. One of the calling cards of rabies that doesn't get transferred as much to the modern imagination is well, hydrophobia, like INTENSE hydrophobia, like 'just hearing running water puts me on edge and I can barely force myself to drink anymore' hydrophobia. Like I really don't care if the authors were trying to make a cute self-aware joke, I just... Genuinely, what the fuck.

[margindoodles2407]

margin and her horrible debilitating phobia of rabies

[detentiontrack]

Pack it up boys, we’ve made a social blunder (accidentally said a few rabies “fun” facts unprompted during orientation)

[cockroachpr1nce]

sad! i’m afraid of bats!

[disgracedaantt]

yellowjackets s3 ep3 theory

ok so I havent seen anyone point this out yet, but im pretty sure the girls are still starving? this ties in with the whole yellow filter theory (is there a actual name for that btw?) Because I think things aren't what they seem!!!

(spoilers for s3 ahead be warned)

so, we're shown in episode 1 that the girls have set up a functional animal farm AND we're told by Gen that there is plenty of deer to be hunted. this, along with the fact that they are willing to expend a lot of energy and time playing games like capture the bone and have a fairly extravagant feast implies that the girls (and travis) are all doing well in terms of food. however, in both episodes 1 and 3 we are shown evidence that directly contrasts this idea!!!

first example happens with Coach Ben in episode 1 when he comes across the food stash. we know that out of everyone he has probably been showing the most thruthful version of the wilderness (see the Jackie feast scene). so, right before he finds the pit we're shown an empty rabbit(?) trap that he resets. this on its own doesn't necessarily mean anything other than he got unlucky, but we've also been repeatedly shown since season 1 (when he taught the girls how to hunt and field dress animals) that he's got a good grasp on outdoor survival even with his missing leg. i dont think we see him catch or find any food during that whole sequence until he finds the food stash, which is a bit odd considering that according to the girls there is plenty of food to be found, which ties into my second point: Akilah's hallucination.

immediately after finding the berry bushes in her hallucination sequence she begins eating them incredibly fast and almost aggressively (like shes STARVING), when within the girls own reasoning there should be no reason for her to react so manically. we are told explicitly in episode 2 by Nat that there are plenty of berry bushes in multiple different areas (one of which being where we know Coach Ben is, so shouldn't he, an experienced outdoorsman, have been able to locate some, hm?). so we can deduce that akilahs reaction probably isnt just excitement at having fresh fruit! she was also one of the girls who were being served food at the feast, so we know that she just had access to a fair amount of food in the last day or so, so there shouldnt be any reason for to be as hungry as she seems

those are my main 2 examples of the fact that there doesnt seem to be nearly as much food as the girls are saying there is, but id also like to point out the fact that Mari ate a fucking bat? like it was likely just part of the ruse to get the bear spray from Coach Ben, but also thats one hell of a risk for her to take considering that bats are well known (even in the 90s) carriers of rabies. and while shes not the sharpest tool in the shed, she has shown that shes intelligent enough to trick both shauna and ben, so its not totally far out to assume shes smart enough to know that. and frankly i dont know if id be willing to risk getting rabies or some other disease unless im actually starving so, just pointing that out :)

id also like to point out that the feast in episode 1 looks a lot like the hallucination from when they ate Jackie! including the way the table is set up and the outfits!!! which makes me think that along with the weird yellow filter that all of that is just an idealized version of reality that the girls are projecting

also back to the animal farm, how did they manage to catch live rabbits? as someone whos owned multiple rabbits, its basically fucking impossible to catch them when they get loose outside and dont want to be caught, which im assuming since these are WILD rabbits that they do not. also, as many have pointed out, that they also have a domesticated breed of duck? could be just an unintentional thing, but considering how in depth and full of meaning every other detail of the show is id be surprised if it wasnt intentional!

tl:dr: the yellowjackets say they have a lot of food, but never actually show them catching or finding any and act like they are starving when presented with food. (and Mari eats a fucking bat) so methinks they are not doing as good as they say they are

sry this got long and rambly and idk maybe this is all a reach and im grasping at straws but i thought id just put it out there in case someone else thought the same. im not a theorist so pls do not eviscerate me if this sounds stupid pls and thank u :)

[mallach]

having chronic nightmares is miserable for many reasons, however very funny with just how bizarre they get at this point. gore does not phase me in dreams (somehow) but i DID have two back to back nightmares of

getting attacked by a rabid owl & presumably almost dying of that before i woke up

writing an about so cringe it generated a callout so catastrophic i got socially executed.

okay 👍

[viriborne]

Is it ever mentioned that Lilia has an aversion to garlic, mirrors, or water? Bc ik he’s like a pseudo-vampire

I know of his like of “tomato juice” and aversion to light that is mentioned as well as hanging upside-down like a bat, apparently keeping bats(? It’s shown in his battle sprite), and being a night owl. I’m just curious if there’s more stuff tying him to vampirism.

[artemisiatridentata]

did not have "getting vaccinated for rabies because a bat got into my car and flew into my leg" on my 2024 bingo card but here the fuck we are

[smoreboi]

ya know sometimes when you get writing inspiration from really fucked up things and then you’re just sitting there like. How easy is it to identify rabid animals? And how easy would it be to trap them? Have crime organizations ever considered this form of punishment? Corrupt governments? I can’t be the first, this is too fucked up for it to be an original thought from my brain first, I don’t want to be the first one to think of this. But yeah. What if our fictional terrible person was just giving people rabies.

I’ve been watching like,, banana fish and terror in resonance and great pretender and such again. And I was watching the click video from r/nope that talked about rabies. And yeah. I wish I hadn’t thought about this, but should I somehow and for some reason write it? And does anyone wanna give me now solicited facts about rabies and it’s possible use as a weapon now that I’ve brought it up

[crazy-pages]

Almost every single snake venom is more survivable than rabies. This is not a preference, this is a question if you understand rabies or not.

What this scenario presents is being trapped in a room with a likely carrier of the goddamn zombie 100% death virus, a small, tiny, flying carrier, and literally anything else. If you do not pick literally anything else, you simply don't understand how dangerous rabies is.

Here's a tough one:

You have to remove an animal from a room. Your equipment is a long stick, a bucket and a hoodie.

[lesbianprophecy]

ok I can’t stop thinking about the dog thing, am I actually going to die like is this a bad omen

[thankyouforthefunny]

just saw a mouse eating cheese. all is right with the world