You thought rotting wasn’t traumatizing? You thought the death of your body but the continuation of your mind would be a gift? It’s Not.
Zombie Cleo fanart :3
TW: Gore!!! Dislocated arm, peeling skin, exposed guts and muscle, blood, discolored and dying skin, blood in eyes, possible eye contact(could be percieved as that), throwing up blood, eye strain(bright red background), distressed expressions.
[ID: Digital art if Zombie Cleo! She is on the ground, holding her torso up with her hands. She faces the ground and to the right, her messy orange hair falling down her face. Her right arm(the closer arm) is dislocated and twisted so her elbow is facing the opposite direction than it’s supposed to. They are covered in open wounds: there is blood seeping out of her skull and dripping onto their face and into their eyes, there is blood coming out of their mouth and dripping onto the floor, their skin is peeling, exposing muscle, on both forearms and on her right shoulder, and her intestines and chest organs are falling out from her belly. Her skin is a mix of tan and dark green, showing her zombification. Her eyes are yellow and wide open in fear and shock, blood from their skull wound seeping in. All of the blood and explosed organs are highlighted with white for emphasis, the drips of blood from Cleo’s mouth created ripples on the ground like she is in an ocean of blood. The background is bright red. There is a watermark reading “Magical Soup”. /end ID]
story containing hypnosis and a zombie virus being injected into someone in a medical environment.
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"have a seat," the doctor said in a polite, friendly tone, gesturing to the specific chair he wanted them to sit in, a pretty normal chair you'd see in any doctor's office. it was still a little hard to ignore the other seat in the room, which had restraints built into it.
shark sat down as they were directed to. they didn't want to be here, but there was nothing they could do about that now.
"i understand you've bitten someone recently?"
"it was a hickey. i haven't had any symptoms or anything. he told you i've been normal, too, right?"
"he didn't seem to think you're infected. but it's important that we're thorough about testing people."
"yeah, i get it. better safe than sorry."
"let me just check some of your information before we get started."
this wasn't their normal doctor, and they already forgot his name. he was supposed to be some kind of virus expert, or something like that. he seemed like a nice enough person, and aside from that other chair, his office was pretty normal and boring looking.
it wasn't like they couldn't understand the restraints being there, either. some people could get aggressive, even if every reliable source they saw said that was much rarer than most people thought. but a doctor who was seeing so many different potentially infected people would have every reason to take extra caution.
still, this guy wasn't restraining them. not yet, anyway. they had to wonder if he was just that sure they were fine, and these tests were just something he had to do anyway. or maybe there were some specific warning signs he knew to look out for, and he'd just strap them down if they exhibited any of those.
"alright," he finally said, grabbing a stethoscope, "i'll start by listening to your heart and lungs."
he pressed it against their chest. "just breathe normally."
it was impossible to breathe normally when they were thinking about it.
"your heartrate is a bit fast," he said. "are you nervous?"
"yeah, i always get like this."
"that's alright. it sounds fine, otherwise." he moved it to their back. "just take some deep breaths for me, now."
when they felt like this, it was hard to control their breathing. it felt like no matter what they did, they couldn't get enough air.
"you're alright," he said softly. "just relax. breathe nice and slowly. you're doing just fine."
he had a nice voice. they did find themself relaxing, just a little bit.
"that's right... very good." he moved the stethoscope. "nice, deep breaths. you've sounded perfect so far."
that was good to hear.
it was weird how much tension had left them already. they'd never been this calm in a doctor's office, even during routine check ups.
"there you go. perhaps i'll take another listen to your heart, now that it's slowed a bit."
"alright..." normally, they would've wanted this to be over already. but it wasn't so bad this time, at least.
"mm, it does seem that you always get a bit tense when someone is listening to your heart. but it's better than it was a moment ago." he continued listening. "i wonder if i could hear it slow down as i tell you to relax again?"
there was something almost intimate about the idea of that, or maybe the way he said it.
"just sit back," he said, speaking slowly to them. "you did such a good job a moment ago. i know you can relax again. you can drop your shoulders... and just let everything slow down..."
they could feel it. even if it was slowing down, it was still pounding in their chest. their body did relax, though.
"it did change." he smiled. "your body reacts very quickly to things like that, doesn't it?"
"is that just me? i mean, other people are like that too, right?"
"it varies from person to person. don't worry, though. it can be a good thing."
there was really something about doctors commenting on stuff like that, things you never would've realized were unique to you.
he put down the stethoscope, and they straightened up again.
"i'd like to take a look at your eyes next." he picked up a penlight. "i'll just be testing your pupillary light reflex. look straight ahead for me."
"alright."
even as they stared ahead, they could just feel how focused he was on their eyes. the light moved in front of their right eye.
"that's right... keep staring, just like that..."
he carefully moved the light back and forth, in and out of their vision, before switching to the other eye, and doing the same.
"you know," he muttered, still clearly very focused, "most of the time, i'll tell patients to look at something specific. i think that tends to feel a bit more natural than just looking ahead at nothing in particular."
the light moved back and forth. they spent more energy on sitting still for the test than thinking, even if they were still processing what he was saying.
"but i wondered if with you, i could be more direct. and sure enough, your eyes haven't moved at all. you're quite good at following instructions."
all they were doing was looking forward. it really didn't feel like anything special.
"your pupils are reacting exactly as they should be, as well. that's a good sign." they turned off the penlight, stepping back over to the counter to set it down, and putting on some gloves.
"now, even if everything else seems fine so far, i'll take a look at your mouth."
"is it possible for that to be like, the only symptom someone has?"
"we don't know yet. that's why i'll check."
"isn't it kind of dangerous to stick your fingers into people's mouths when they might bite? even with gloves, like, can't someone just bite through that?"
"there's a certain amount of risk involved in having any exposure to someone who's infected. but, even if you were to start biting down, perhaps i could just tell you to loosen your jaw and keep your mouth open." he laughed quietly. "do you think that would work?"
"i mean, if i was a zombie, like... or, i shouldn't call it that. but if i was infected, i don't know. you don't really think the same or have much control over yourself then, right?"
"and how much control do you normally have over your breathing, or how relaxed you are?"
"i don't know if that's the same thing."
"neither do i. but it's an interesting thought, isn't it? there certainly are times when it's easier to do as you're told or expected than it is to control yourself. there isn't much data to work with, yet, but it does seem that even people who are infected are much more likely to bite someone in a situation where it feels more natural or acceptable. and they bite themselves when isolated. but they don't tend to engage in that sort of behavior when around casual friends, or in public."
"that is kind of weird. i didn't know that. i mean the big public cases are the ones that make the news, so it makes it feel like it's happening all the time..."
"i've heard of many cases of children biting each other, or a lover getting carried away, similarly to your situation. but, i examined the bite you left. you were quite gentle." he looked at them with a kind of subtle amusement.
what, the hickey was that unimpressive to him?
"ah, but i should continue the examination." he stepped in front of them, leaning in close, with a light in one hand. "open up for me."
they opened their mouth as wide as they could, and he gently pushed his fingers along their teeth and gums.
"you have a very small mouth," he remarked. "but you do take good care of your teeth, don't you? you must be diligent about brushing and flossing."
his fingers moved to their tongue. it was hard not to feel a little flustered.
they gagged.
"did i go a bit too far? you have quite a strong gag reflex."
he was noticing and pointing out too many things. it was embarrassing.
"everything looks good, though. i don't see any signs of infection, or signs of any other problems, for that matter." he finally removed his fingers from their mouth.
"is that it, then?"
he moved back over to the counter, peeling off his gloves. "hmm. just in case, i should check your skin. that will require you to remove your clothes. is that alright?"
"whatever i need to do, i guess."
he turned on the sink, carefully washing his hands. "there is a privacy screen, if you'd like me to step away as you do that."
well, he was going to see the same amount of skin either way. "can i just do that while you're busy washing your hands and stuff?"
"if that's fine with you."
they stood up, taking off their shoes, then their socks, then their jeans, and their shirt, putting them in a pile. it was a little awkward, but they weren't that shy about their body, at least.
"do i take off my underwear, too?"
"that would be preferable."
they pulled off their boxers, leaving every part of them exposed. the doctor was still looking away, drying his hands, and putting on another pair of gloves.
standing there for a second, they realized they really didn't need to do this. he seemed pretty sure they were fine from the start. was this really about being thorough, or was he just coming up with excuses to do these tests anyway?
the thing was, he hadn't really been leering at them, or anything. and besides that, well... if they were being honest, he was cute. they kind of felt like, even if he did just want to see them naked, they didn't especially care.
"are you ready?" he asked, still facing away, putting on another pair of gloves.
"yeah."
he finally turned back toward them. "let's take a look, then."
he didn't touch them, only asking them to move or change position to give him a better look at certain places. he looked closely, but didn't seem to linger on any area in particular.
"perfectly normal," he said. "you can put your clothes back on. would you like some privacy?"
"you've already seen me naked. i don't really care if you see me get dressed." they pulled their underwear back on. now that they were doing it, it was a little weird, actually, doing this in front of him. but they already started. they put their shirt on next. "is this it?"
"the examination is over, but i can give you a vaccine."
"is it free?" they remained standing as they put on their pants, then socks, then shoes.
"yes."
"sure, i guess." they hadn't heard anything about a vaccine. "how did it get approved so quickly?"
"it didn't."
they stared for a second. "so, like... is it safe?"
"for someone like you, it should be. you seem perfectly healthy. and i would be monitoring you."
they really shouldn't have even been considering it, right? but somehow, the dubiousness of it was almost exciting. "so why are you going out of your way to do that?"
"i'd like to do whatever i can to stop the spread and protect people's health. and, in this case, i'm also curious."
"about what?"
"well, this would essentially involve infecting you. now, it shouldn't be as serious as it would be if you were infected by someone else, but you might experience many of the same symptoms, even if they're more mild. i'm curious whether i could manage some of those symptoms the way i had helped you relax earlier. perhaps i could take it a step further, and hypnotize you. your suggestibility might just win out against the changes in your mind, and the lowered inhibition."
he was talking about infecting them with a virus that would basically turn them into a zombie, and hypnotizing them in order to manage them?
"look, i don't know where you're getting this idea that i'm like, really suggestible or whatever. like, this is a doctor's appointment. of course i'm doing what you tell me to do."
he laughed. "you're just very... well-behaved. it's nothing to be embarrassed about."
they could feel the blood rushing to their face. "normally i'm a huge slacker."
"you clearly aren't when it comes to your dental health."
"well, yeah, that's important."
"then, if you agree to this, i'll simply say that listening to me and doing as i say after i infect you is important. much of the distress people experience does come from that sense of confusion and lack of control, after all. it would be much safer for both of us, and much less unpleasant, if you could just listen to me. and then, after that, you would be resistant to future infections. are you willing to do that?"
they hoped their face wasn't as red as it felt like it was. "well, alright. sure."
"i'm glad. then, if you'll have a seat in the other chair... if you're alright with being restrained. i don't think you'll need it, but..."
"yeah, i get it. just in case." they sat down, letting him adjust the restraints.
"that's not too tight, is it?"
"no, it's fine."
he went to grab a vial, syringe, needle, alcohol swabs, and a bandaid. "do you have a needle phobia?"
"nah. i jab myself every week, i'm used to it. it's even easier if someone else is doing it."
"that makes this simple, then."
he got everything ready, wiping their shoulder, putting the needle on the syringe, and drawing out the fluid.
"relax for me. you might feel a slight tingling sensation."
it struck them as kind of a joke. the tingling sensation he meant was the asmr from him telling them to relax.
it really was just a little poke, followed by a dull ache in their arm.
"very good." he pressed the alcohol swab against it for a moment, before putting on the bandaid. a gloved hand rested on their shoulder. "now, this can take effect rather quickly. how do you feel?"
all they could really feel was their reaction to being asked that in the context of someone infecting them and wanting to study their reactions.
"i mean, my arm kind of hurts, like it does with any injection, but i think that's it."
"then let's take a moment here, to help you relax and focus, before you start feeling more of the symptoms. would you be willing to be hypnotized?"
"yeah, i guess." they were never even that interested in hypnosis, but of course now that this doctor wanted to hypnotize them, it made them feel flustered.
"you guess? i need a bit more confidence from you."
"i'm fine with it," they said quickly. "you can hypnotize me."
"and you aren't just saying that because you think that's what i want to hear?"
he really was just confirming that they were fine with it, but the way he was doing that made them feel like he was making them beg for it. "look, i just want to relax and know everything's under control."
"of course. that makes sense. and i can help you with that. you'll be alright."
his voice changed. he spoke more slowly, more deliberately, in a low, full tone. it almost made them shudder. why did it feel so intense to listen to?
there was no way he didn't notice their reaction, but he didn't comment on it. "just listen to me. if you feel anything strange, then tell me, and describe it to me, as best you can. if there's something important that you think i need to know, then tell me. if you have any questions, then ask. otherwise, you don't need to speak. you only need to listen, and do as i say."
well, this felt strange, but they weren't sure if that's what he meant. "i, uh..."
"go ahead. if there's something to say, you can say it. it's alright."
"my spine is tingling," they said, even though they were burning with embarrassment. "and i feel kinda warm."
"some people feel that way when they're being hypnotized. the warmth could also be from the virus. it's a perfectly normal reaction, either way."
the embarrassment dissipated. it was almost instant. that felt weird, too.
"when you're prepared to be hypnotized, it can happen very quickly. it might feel tingly. it might make your body feel heavy, and your mind feel quiet, or numb. some people describe the virus making them feel something like that, too. it can become difficult to think. but that's why i'm here."
they did feel something in their head. it was kind of like a numbness.
"my head's, like..." how would they even describe it? the words weren't coming to them. "it's weird. is this the zombie thing? i don't like it."
"you're alright. i'm right here. even if it becomes difficult to think at times, your ability to think will come back to you later. this is just a temporary feeling. you're perfectly safe. it might even feel nice, if you don't fight it. if you simply allow it to happen. if you just relax. i'll keep everything under control."
they were anxious about it just a second ago, it was uncomfortable just a second ago, but listening to him, they melted just a little. maybe it wasn't so bad. they still wanted to think more, and it was still weird to have that feeling that they just couldn't do that.
at the same time, just giving into it...
"it feels kind of good," they said. "it feels a little too good. is that alright?"
"that's perfectly fine. there's nothing wrong with enjoying these sensations. it's much better than feeling distressed and scared by them. see? it doesn't have to be so bad, does it? and you're doing very well."
they were starting to feel feverish, a distinctly sick feeling, those specific kinds of aches. it wasn't especially painful, but they could recognize it as being the virus.
"i think i'm getting a fever. i'm feeling sick." their voice sounded different, too. they sounded calm, almost monotonous.
"that's normal. i can take your temperature in a bit, and give you medicine, if you need it. are you still feeling alright, otherwise?"
"i'm fine."
"very good."
it was weird. even that sick feeling wasn't especially distracting. the weakness, the helplessness, it didn't really matter. their ability to think was fading on and off, but that was fine, too. even if they didn't love the feeling, their doctor's cooing and reassurance made it nice. they were always listening, too, even when they didn't feel like they were processing all of the words.
"now," he said gently, "i'd like to check your mouth again. is that alright?"
"it's fine," they said, not really thinking about it.
"just open up for me again."
he stuck his fingers in their mouth, and then they felt it. it wasn't really even an urge to bite, specifically. but there was a kind of hunger.
it took them a second to realize they were licking his fingers. they were still aware enough to feel a wave of embarrassment, even though they kept doing it.
"very interesting," he said. "now, can you hold still for me? relax your mouth. just let everything go numb, and still."
they stopped licking. it was like their entire mouth was paralyzed.
"good, very good... that's right."
he examined their mouth in a similar way to before, although he seemed to take his time more. they still felt that hunger, but they didn't move.
after what felt like minutes of poking and prodding, he withdrew his fingers, and removed his gloves.
"it's just as i thought. you're still very well-behaved. you've been very good for me. it feels nice to listen, doesn't it?"
they twitched against the restraints.
"is something wrong?" he asked, although he still didn't seem too concerned about them.
"i want something," they said.
"what is it?"
they weren't really sure. they wanted out of the chair. they wanted to be closer to him. was it about biting, or something else? everything about the situation felt good. their body was reacting in other ways.
"i want you," they said, still vaguely aware of how weird, awkward, and stupid that must've sounded.
he only politely smiled in response. "i'm afraid you can't have that. i know it's difficult, but you'll have to relax and be good for me, alright?"
hearing that just made them feel more desperate.
they were drooling. their brain felt like it was melting. everything was warm. they felt sluggish, heavy, numb, dull. they were moving without realizing it, pulling lethargically against the restraints, bucking their hips.
"shh, just hold still. i'd like to do some more tests. you'd like that, wouldn't you? but you'll have to hold still for me. you'll have to behave. you can do that for me, can't you?"
they slowed down, and eventually froze.
"that's right. just like that. very good."
if the praise was the most they were going to get, then they'd take it. they'd do anything.
"you're the last patient i had scheduled for the day," he murmured, "so it's alright that you might be here for a while. you don't mind, either, do you?"
time didn't mean anything to them anymore. "it's fine," they mumbled. "keep doing tests..."
Zombification, when one has Alterpathic(link) of the Reanimation and/or Infection of a living being known as a zombie. This identification may be because of delusions, alternate beliefs, experiencing matching symptoms in your headspace, etc.
Alt Title: Ghoulification || One May Be/Have: Cotard Syndrome , DissoCotardSyndrome , Dissozombie , are a zombie nonhuman, and/or use zombie based identities.
Chapters: 2/?
Fandom: BIGTOP BURGER (Web Series)
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Relationships: Cesare/Doctor (BIGTOP BURGER), Cesare & Doctor (BIGTOP BURGER)
Characters: Caligari (BIGTOP BURGER), LDG (BIGTOP BURGER), Doctor (BIGTOP BURGER), Cesare (BIGTOP BURGER)
Additional Tags: Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blood and Violence, Graphic Description, Angst, Whump, Zombies, Blood, Sad and pathetic Cesare, Cesare speaks Italian, Cesdoc, oh my god Allen you stupid gay ass move out the way!!!, Watcher!AU, Watcher!Allen, Zomburger crew shows up eventually, You should listen to car seat headrest reading this, Allen you moldy moldy boy
ITS UP!!! I got the first two done <3 Allen you moldy moldy boy
On what's eating liberal democracy from the inside.
By: Frederick Alexander
Published: Mar 8, 2026
There’s a parasitic wasp called Glyptapanteles that lays its eggs inside a living caterpillar. The larvae grow slowly, feeding off the flesh and keeping the host alive, rewiring its behaviour and steering it about its business until the larvae are ready to emerge. The caterpillar doesn’t know what’s going on but probably thinks something weird is happening, something a bit off. It has no idea of the seriousness of the situation because it’s now essentially a zombie. It walks, but it isn’t going anywhere of its own choosing – kept alive only insofar as it provides a useful residence and resource centre for a grand project that hasn’t yet declared itself in full.
This is a metaphor for something that’s happening in the West: an ideology inserting itself into progressive institutions that scarcely understand what they’ve got themselves into. But what is this ideology, you ask? Militant Jainism? Radical Quakerism? The horse-and-buggy menace of aggressive Amish expansionism?
Not quite. It’s the other one. You know exactly what I’m talking about. We all do by now.
Political Islam is, in its very nature, an ideology of conquest. That’s not lazy polemical shorthand, by the way. It’s a simple reading of the text. Surah 9:29 – to take one passage among many – instructs believers to fight those who do not embrace Islam “until they pay the tax, willingly submitting, fully humbled”. Sayyid Qutb – the Egyptian theorist whose writing became the intellectual foundation for al-Qaeda, Hamas, and ISIS – built an entire political programme on verses like this. For Qutb, any society not governed by Islamic law was a form of barbarism that Muslims had a duty to overthrow. A growing number of people in our societies seem quite enamoured of the idea, with some making their enthusiasm known in Christmas markets and concert halls across Europe.
Progressives, on the other hand, affect not to know what we’re talking about, deflecting instead to the idea that all grievances deserve a hearing. Sure they do. Except it might be a good idea to first distinguish between a claim that deserves protection and an ideology that would abolish the institution doing the protecting. The refusal of our institutions to make this distinction is the caterpillar meeting the wasp.
And before a progressive reader of this article calls the police over a category error, let me emphasise that I’m talking about political Islam, not Muslims as people, many of whom suffer under its tyrannical application. We’re taking aim at an ideology, at Islamists, not your next-door neighbour, Hamed, who’s lovely and helped fix your burst water pipe that time.
If you struggle with this distinction, you probably won’t much like what’s coming next.
Political Islam is a strange bedfellow for a liberal worldview that values free inquiry, women’s rights and individual liberty. How did the two things find common ground? The answer is simple. Political Islam barged in through liberalism’s front door, the one labelled ‘minority rights’, laid out a prayer mat, and started rearranging the furniture. The owners of the house, condescending to the last, thought it was all rather exotic and fascinating and congratulated themselves on their open-mindedness and tolerance.
I’ve watched political Islam rearrange the furniture for a quarter of a century – actually more, because even as a child I found the Salman Rushdie affair deeply ominous. Why are these people so very cross with a man about his book? – I wondered. This mild-mannered novelist had become enemy number one to a million maniacs calling for his blood. It all seemed a bit extreme. 9/11 confirmed my suspicions. The countless bombings and stabbings since have not changed my view.
While all of this went on, the institutions seemed to experience a different reality entirely – a sort of hallucination the rest of us weren’t in on. Except it was something worse: early-stage zombification, the caterpillar oblivious to what was happening, while the rest of us looked on first in bewilderment, then in disbelief, now in fury.
October 7th was the moment the larvae broke the skin. Hamas murdered, raped, and abducted over a thousand people in a single morning. This didn’t happen in the heat of battle. It wasn’t an accident or tactic of war gone awry. It was a declared statement of what political Islam, in its most coherent and literal form, actually intends. They WhatsApped it in case there was any doubt.
What followed was more revealing than the attack itself. The liberal West’s institutions issued bland statements that treated massacres like weather events and Israel’s military response as the real cause for moral anguish and condemnation, not the savagery that prompted it. This was a zombie’s response to evil.
Then came the student unions in Britain and America, who took official positions supporting the perpetrators within days. In Western capitals, marches calling for the elimination of the world’s only Jewish state enjoyed a police escort – like a pride parade but without the dog masks and S&M gear. When Jewish students were blocked from entering their own university buildings, institutions reached for phrases like “community tensions” – because of course they did.
This is the caterpillar in the final stages. It’s at this point that the metaphor falls a little short, because the caterpillar doesn’t merely submit uselessly to the ideological invasion. It defends it. The caterpillar, fully zombified, actually protects the larvae against other threats – standing guard over the very thing killing it.
This is where we find the institutions today. They have not been conquered so much as converted. The BBC editor who platforms an Islamist and suppresses a gender-critical academic is not confused – or not merely confused. She’s doing what the parasite’s logic demands, and in acquiescing to it, calls it conscience. The institution now treats the parasite’s defence as its own. Any challenge to the ideology reads, to the zombified host, as a personal attack.
Enter the magic word “Islamophobia” – a polysyllabic incantation now treated by NGOs, academic departments, and quangos almost like a legal term, invoked to imply racism. When someone tries to talk plainly about what’s happening following a terrorist incident, the word acts like a smoke alarm, clearing the building before anyone can put out the fire. Every time someone tries to return to the scene, the alarm goes off again. Eventually, people who shouldn’t stop asking questions stop asking questions. The journalists and lawyers, the police and carers stay quiet.
Is-lam-o-pho-bi-a… Like “abracadabra”, except the trick makes the subject disappear instead of the rabbit.
This is an extraordinary achievement. No other political movement, not even Marxism, has made criticism of its ideas equivalent to hatred of people in quite this way. We don’t talk of anti-Marxist hatred. Nobody has ever been cancelled for criticising Mormonism. There is no parliamentary working group on a definition of Protestantophobia. Only political Islam has managed to blend ideology and identity so completely that the liberal systems meant to protect individuals – including Muslims and ex-Muslims – now end up protecting the very doctrine that oppresses them.
The parasitised institution is not motivated by cynicism alone – although that’s part of it. It’s also full of true believers: the DEI administrator and civil servant activist; the BBC editorial executive who genuinely believes she is doing the enlightened thing, i.e., protecting a vulnerable minority (there’s that condescension again).
Practically all of them went to a university, which explains why they cheerfully platform an Islamist who believes women are worth half a man’s testimony in court, but remove a gender-critical academic for creating a hostile environment. That takes serious intellectual manipulation. Imagine the cognitive dissonance, the constipated moral reasoning it must take to frame intimidation of Jewish students as a safeguarding complexity while treating any scrutiny of that intimidation’s ideological roots as potential hate speech.
They cannot see what they are doing because the larvae grow slowly but implacably, feeding off what remains of their critical faculties. The caterpillar never feels a thing.
The solution to all this moral stupor is clarity, which means recognising political Islam as a separate ideology, distinct from Muslims and open to the same scrutiny as Marxism, Christianity, or any other set of ideas. Institutions must follow their original principles: free inquiry, individual rights, equality before the law, and the separation of church and state. These were the architecture of liberal civilisation. They have been quietly gutted and replaced with progressive imitations so convincing that the people running these institutions can no longer tell the difference.
There’s another word for what happens to caterpillars: metamorphosis. We usually think of it as something hopeful – the caterpillar, untroubled by parasites, becomes something sublime. But when a wasp takes over, something different emerges. Not a butterfly, but new wasps, each of which will go on to do the same thing to another caterpillar, and so it goes on.
The metamorphosis is not yet complete, at least not for the West as a whole – too many of us will not submit to it. As for our institutions, the cultural establishment, and the captured political class, their butterfly days are over.
They are the walking dead, mere hatcheries for wasps.
==
"Islamism is part of Islam. Islam is a set of codified ideas that has a spiritual element and it has a political element. That political element is Islamism."
– Gad Saad
I love trials of apollo becuase there's a lot more (?) moments than the other series (? havent read the others in a while) where you think evreythings gonna go fine and dandy and yaayayayayay silly god - demigod - siblings dynamic and evreyhtings gonna go just fine, of CORSE he'll get them out of the mini wind thiggys and the BAM