MARCH REWARDS 9 (Patreon)

putinforgod

Cooties Host: I really liked the idea of the Cooties, with the hosts eventually bursting into jelly, releasing the cooties.  We only had a good view of the earlier stages of the infestation, but I'd like to ask if we can see a host at the latest stage before they burst, aka as a full ball. Also I wonder if there's a way to save/stabilize a hosts in such advanced state, like injecting a venom that'll kill the cooties before they hatch, or use some spell to freeze or slow down the gestation.

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Cooties are a definite plague on the kids of the Underside, with kid doctors always working to attempt to find a cure for the zombie like plague. Those infected are occasionally kept in hospital wards and drained of the cootie juice. In some parts of the Underside, the doctors have learned to utilize the hypnotic saliva along with a mixture of the Cootie Juice, Wakey Juice extracted from a Bed Bug, And the venom from a Grindygag in a horrid concoction called a Cootie Shot, that allows them to vomit out most of the Cootie Juice in their bodies and become somewhat numb and stabilized. This cannot be administered for long periods however as the subject will start to become completely paralyzed. To Administer it, you must draw two circles and two dots on the target before injecting them with the mixture, thus the phrase "Circle, circle, dot, dot, now you have your cootie shot".

Due to this, it can be a short fix, but there is no true way to fix it that is known. A few have been fixed permanently from it, or from strange concoctions created by the Witches that can occasionally be found in distant places or in seclusion. They can recover through the construction of a cootiecatcher from a reputable witch. Usually they just need to be drained of the juice however. This works for a period, but as they get bigger and bigger from the affliction, draining the juice becomes an issue, and as we see here, sometimes even the smallest prick will set off an overpressurized cootie carrier.

Though this usually just splashes those around them with the contaminating liquid, those afflicted by a queen will free the young that were feeding inside of them and be the center of a new hive. 

There are some strange circumstances however beyond those listed here, in which kids that have been bitten by the Cooties and infected, have not only made a recovery, but have in a way, been able to adapt to the infection. These infected do not lose their minds and act as zombies, much as the other Cootie carriers do, however they still become kiss happy and affectionate but maintain their typical mindset. Much more cunning, these infected can hide the fact that they've been infected to a certain degree. Their eyes still change, and they become much more aggressive and friendly. They also seem to be able to access some of the latent magic of the Cooties, and it allows them to levitate and even manipulate things at a distance through some sort of telekinesis like abilities, and they become a pseudo queen, able to mentally call swarms of Cooties and send them to do your bidding. They can also lure people in with the pheromones they give off, the sweet smell of their breath and their hypnotic eyes. These Cootie Vampires, called Love Bugs by kids, or Ukuto by Bugaboos, are very dangerous as they still wish to allow colonies of Cooties to flourish, they have just taken on the role of the Cootie queen themselves. The personalities of those who become Lovebugs change drastically, as they retain their base personality and demeanor, but become more manipulative, violent, and bloodthirsty as a vampire would. 

Here we see the girl who got caught in the blast zone, effected by the infection and becoming a Lovebug instead, most likely to being afflicted by trace amounts of the infection over years of training...