Field Guide to encounters with The Glow, Part One: Type 1 infected, AKA Growlers.
Growlers are intensely aggressive, so much so that they are just as violent towards other infected as anything else that moves. While blind, the Growlers are equipped with keen hearing and smell, and can locate a potential meal from far distances. Constantly on the hunt, these unfortunate beasts' diet of choice ultimately leaves them unsatisfied and starving. Stage 3 Type 1 infected usually die within weeks, but some have survived up to two months.
To Distract a Growler: Find some way to create noise in the opposite direction that you are located. Make sure it is loud, and lasts long enough for you to run. Flying is a viable method of escape if you possess wings, as stage 2 and 3 Growlers are incapable of flight. Stage 2 due to the weakening of their flight muscles- and stage 3 due to the loss of feathers.
How to avoid detection: Mask your scent. Try to remain as neutral-smelling as possible. This can be hard to do, but do your best and you will avoid being sniffed out by a late stage Growler. Avoiding detection by a stage 2 is simply a matter of staying out of sight and keeping noise to a whisper. Additionally, avoid making noise when near a stage 3 Growler. If you cannot be detected through smell, your best bet with a stage 3 is to hold completely still, breath slowly (quietly), and wait for them to leave line of sight- then you can make a run for it. Stage 3 Growlers are strong but slow-moving. Outrunning them in a large enough space is possible.
Special Notes: Growlers at stage 3 cannot be reasoned with and have the minds of starving, cornered predators. However, due to stage 2 Growlers being still rather cognizant, you can communicate with them- it is recommended to do so with some form of barrier however, due to their overwhelming instinct to bite and infect everything they see. When things were still relatively stable and infected were being appropriately contained, Princess Twilight Sparkle had frequent verbal contact with multiple stage 2 Growlers in her care. They were reluctantly polite, expressing a clear desire to attack the princess, but understood their situation well enough to be compliant at the time. All these stage 2s eventually progressed into stage 3, and were either put down, escaped, or kept for further study.
did i spend three hours learning how to use audacity because i couldn’t get the idea of a merthur song duet out of my head? maybe. was i unable to edit the whole song because the rest of it was too complicated? maybe. but at least i have a physical example of the concept now even if its super messy. i can finally sleep in peace
(merlin’s voice is from the james arthur cover and arthur’s voice is from the stephen scaccia cover)
this isn't a prediction so much as just thinking about things I think would be neat parallels if they did happen!
I was thinking about the Wilhelm and Sara parallels and how Wilhelm and Sara are protagonists of the A plot and B plot, respectively, and trying to imagine things that might happen with Sara in the final season that would parallel Wilhelm's story in ways we haven't seen yet. I came up with two main ideas:
1. Trying to make up with Simon. Maybe Sara will spend s3 trying to make up with Simon, similar to how Wilhelm spent much of s2 trying to do that. I think it'll look different for her, of course, but I could imagine a scene similar to this one with Wilhelm where Simon is essentially like, "I'm not cutting you out of my life but I am feeling pretty hurt right now"
2. Making a public statement where she has been pressured to say one thing but ends up deciding to be true to herself instead. For Wilhelm this was the jubilee speech; for Sarah the main thing I could think of was her potentially having to testify against August. I could imagine the royal court pressuring her to deny having seen him upload the video or heard him confess to her. And maybe Simon even has a "if it has to be secret, then so be it" moment with her just before she has to speak. But when it comes down to it, she chooses to tell the truth instead. And just like how Wilhelm's speech will surely kick big things into motion, hers does as well because now everyone finally knows it was August and there's no taking that back. And just like Wilhelm's speech, this will have huge consequences for her (former) love interest. (people who better understand how trials work please feel free to smash this idea to pieces) (also shoutout to this post about the justice system in Sweden as it relates to YR)