#what can't Yorick do?

[noir-renard]

Hey! I saw the sopa de fideo and figured: there must be some duck-shaped pasta for sopa, to add to the Yorick lore.

And there is:

Oh my goodness, I LOVE!! Sopa de patito!! Jason would 100% buy this pasta and so would I tbh ❤️❤️❤️

[izzymarksthespot]

John, in the middle of his explanation: And... And that made me realize that I... Orthur? Orthur what is it? Am I not... Would you prefer me to be quiet? *sad anime eyes*

Arthur: No! No, no, no, John of course I... It's just... *whispering* Can we not do this while she's watching?

Cue to the Witch's body slumped in the corner of the room, still animated by Yorick because his tooth got stuck and he can't pull it out.

Yorick, muffled: Apologies, master. My king.

[chuckeroo777]

Dungeon Meshi Volume 4 Part 1

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my liveblog. Going to try a slightly different format today. Instead of separate posts for each chapter, I'm just going to keep going until I hit the image limit.

As always, spoilers ahead!

You can run, you can hide, but the spoilers are everywhere.

Senshi very conspicuously siting out the explanations of Merini.

The twins were characters I mostly ignored on my initial read-through, but the amount of subtle characterization even they get is cute.

Tansu may be a grumpy old man, but he gets it, man.

There is something very funny about Tansu's mental image of Marcille being just as unhinged as Laios.

Honestly, this is my biggest issue with the anime. This scene is really important for establishing just how dire Falin's situation is. And for establishing a sense of danger in general.

God, I'm not a big shipper (I have no endgame ships for Laios or Senshi, and Chilchuck+his wife barely counts), but even I can feel the tension between Kiki and Namari.

Chilchuck: I don't fight. It isn't in my contract.

Also Chilchuck: *Totally helps fight*

Marcille never misses an opportunity to cast shade on Shuro.

Also Also Chilchuck: Hugs are definitely not in my contract.

Other than the red dragon pizza (Which doesn't even have sauce?), this might be the tastiest looking meal to me.

*Gives a sidelong glance at the progress bar that currently reads 23/97*

BOY IT SURE IS A GOOD THING THIS PLAN DIDN'T WORK, HUH?

Just so we're clear.

An important image.

Laios isn't fluent in Half-Foot, but he knows enough to know this is foul.

Uh, was he keeping that in his beard?

Chilchuck: I don't fight.

Also Chilchuck: *Unerringly hits every shot he takes.*

Another important image.

It's honestly inspiring just how ride or die these two are. I also love the little detail where he tied Kensuke to his hand.

Kitty! :D

He's so good at cheering her up. They're so cute.

Soooo... What is the deal with this scene? It can't be a flashback. Laios is wearing his modern armor. Is this really a vision of her departing spirit? If Marcille hadn't used ancient magic, would she be gone for good? Unsettling to be sure.

I HAVE AWOKEN!

You know you love it.

Very important information for my fanfics.

Alas, poor Yorick. But seriously, the anime did a phenomenal job adapting this scene.

Getting close to the limit, gonna do the rest of Volume 4 in a second post.

[scream-at-a-whisper]

John learned what a sleepover was and was immediately very excited about having one. He tried playing truth or dare with Arthur but. Well.

Some thoughts about how a sleepover with them would go.

Arthur thinks it's a waste of time, but he'll do it to make John happy

John wants to watch a movie, since he thinks that that's typical sleepover behavior. Arthur doesn't approve.

Arthur paints John's nails, and John struggles to make braids with Arthur's short-ass hair.

After truth or dare doesn't work out, they pillow fight. This turns violent quickly, with Arthur turning much too competitive and then being upset when he loses.

John really wants them to do each other's make up. Arthur really doesn't want to do this.

Yorick is not allowed to hang out with them for this.

They somehow, in a sleep deprived delirium, find a way to call Kayne. In their tired, almost drunken state, they tell Kayne to go fuck himself.

There's no homoerotic tension. At least, that's what Arthur finds himself repeating in his head.

Arthur sleeps first. Though John has heard that sleepovers often include some prank towards the person who fell asleep first, he can't bring himself to do anything harmful.

In the morning, they make pancakes and have coffee together. Arthur states that it has just been a normal night for the two of them. John disagrees vehemently, stating identifying factors of a sleepover.

[women-of-malevolent]

All references to women in Part 45 - The Fire

I guess John called out for Kayne when the witch was killing them? And Kayne didn't answer. So they figure this time/place is a blind spot for Kayne

John and Arthur find fish traps, maybe signs of life of people in the village. Briefly PTSD about the witch who did kill them; no no it's okay she's dead. That reminds Arthur that Yorick is a rotting Prince head, so he puts Yorick on do not disturb+back in his purse

There's a village but it's abandoned

They debate hanging out in the abandoned building. Arthur doesn't want to, it's trespassing and the "houses feel off" like John seeing the bad Scratch auras. Sure. They build the fire outside

Campfire talks with the boys about how time in the Boy's Brigade wasn't all bad

Arthur made a dear, dear friend there who he doesn't want to talk about

John sees a figure in the woods, and then John and Arthur seem to really fall under some kind of trance under the fire they build. I think they're being ENSORCELLED by MAGICS. They are strangely, vaguely contemplating their lives, past present and future

Arthur gets despairy, what's even the point? John says, fuck the point! contemplative.mp3 plays in the background

There's a man transfixed by the firelight. MalaM

god

ngl I think MalaM is fun... much like Yorick i doubt it's the same way the author thinks it's fun... but who knows... maybe... lmao

I like the true/untrue nature of his palindromity

I want to clip his whole dialogue but nah... I'll just summarize

MalaM is all fucked up physically and mentally. Beat to shit.

MalaM is surprised Arthur started the fire. Why would he do that, when the light could attract bad things? Arthur says, he needs warmth... MalaM says he's forgotten the need for that.

There's bad stuff in the woods, MalaM says... Arthur says, are you bad stuff? MalaM says oh no no lol i'm just a little guy c; passing through, I was called here, I was needed... they work out that teehee MalaM killed the whole village... because a man summoned me... a poor, sad man... just wanted to make the world better..... this fire sure is warm.... you are so kind to me.... mysterious.... unexpected.... c;

A man kills a child.... I had to take a Taylor Swift break here, ok, rejuvenated

Listen I don't care enough about the story anymore to do season 5 miscellaneous categories... But the whole village had women in it and really should be a category... I don't care enough rn... Maybe someday. Just like most of the violence against women in this story, it's vague and stupid, the emotional weight of their lives or deaths is never felt. MalaM killed everyone, so he's like an even eviler version of Arthur, because Arthur saved the people of Addison. See. Parallels. 1 million notes, please. It really makes you think. You know... MalaM is a lot like Kayne too. And John. Arthur just meets hot man after hot man who just slaughtered a whole town and if that guy is like 'ii heard u leik daughters' he's like owo

whatever the fuck is going on here

yuck

more

sorry no faroe just "a truth or an item"

I can't believe how credulous the entire ass voting fandom was about this random eldritch murder monster. Just like "HELL YEAH A TRUTH! This guy IS the arbiter of truth, AND his truths absolutely will help us!" *confident nodding* The worst part is you're probably right, the story is for you, you are on the wavelength with the story that didn't realize/care Hattie was the girl version of Arthur. Hattie doesn't have a notebook, she's old!

Oh wow go figure the dude who just killed a village offered a "truth" that was "some woman is terrible and you should kill her". Literally what else could it have ever been in this story.

this

lmao i love that Malam meets 5 dudes and mutters "don't trust him" and John and Arthur are both like "Yeah fuck Yorick" that's SO funny

ok an then John and Arthur are both like "i'm so glad faroe is alive :)". which I take to mean they're under a spell because lmao no she's not. you put her in the fucking ground. but, you know, the story and most of the fandom has lived down to every one of my expectations about women so far. i can't imagine it's about to stop now

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

tell me about the 'betrothed from the start' Rheagan AU

My dumb joke I made earlier will now be given serious thought.

No organization, flow of consciousness, tangent, another tangent, another tangent, "although," next intrusive thought, no sounding board, another tangent, another tangent

I think it would come about as kind of piggy-backing off of Lord Desmond Manderly helping to find a betrothal for Aemon. Desmond is a good guy, but he does enjoy having politically influential friends; it sets his family up with good connections for th future & he sees that as doing right by them. Which, he isn't wrong. So having a hand in helping Yorick’s daughter get a match, maybe even one that's more influential than what he can secure for Aemon since Rhea'd be marrying in as opposed to for Aemon someone's daughter marrying out to a second son who's 6th in line for the succession by the time the betrothal is finalized, would really be a good thing for Desmond & House Manderly. "Hey, I'm good enough friends with House Royce that I helped arrange your marriage. Remember that." It'd look doubly good to Desmond because no one wants his oldest daughter fr (no one wants their heir to marry someone who's gonna steamroll past all his decisions & rule for him).

So Lord Desmond somehow helps to secure Rhea getting betrothed to the heir to Winterfell, & now trips to go visit Uncle Aemon include flying to Winterfell for a few days because "if we're already up here the kids might as well have a playdate. Being friends first is good."

Child!Rheagan are complete gremlins. They are 100% getting on all fours & pretending to be wolves & using this as an excuse to scream howl at each other. Cregan is better at the howling, but Rhea is louder. Like, I do truly think they'd have made for good friends as kids. Show!Cregan Stark is a fucking freak (affectionate), I know he is, & Rhea's into that. She wants her friends to be weird, she's weird! They are playing all sorts of weird as hell pretend games & Cregan is allowed to add onto the elaborate fiction of the games Rhea plays back home with her brothers & Griffith & Cousin Abby. "It doesn't matter that my friend Cregan is all the way in The North, the warrior prince who talks to wolves & runs as fast as the wind & is immune to cold damage is canon & you will respect him. And when I wear Cregan down about Prince Brandon having an ice dragon that's going to he part of the stories too, no take backsies!"

I'm fairly certain they'd be getting married way sooner too. Cregan's 13 when he becomes Lord of Winterfell/his dad dies, that's the kind of shit where you gotta shore up your succession. Especially after you have to kick your regent's ass to give you your seat. So instead of being 20 & 21, they'd probably be, like, 17 & 18. If not 16 &17, juat dependingon how working that stuff out goes..

Also, them having known each other for years & growing up as pen pals & knowing they're supposed to marry each other would alter their romantic relationship a little bit, I think. But in a good way! It'd honestly make it easier, because Rhea'd have way fewer hangups & insecurities about stuff like that. "I don't need to worry about a bunch of guys who don't match my freak & who's families only see me as a really prestigious baby factory trying to woo me, because I already have a man & I know we're gonna work together because he's fucking weird." RIP Cregan, you don't get to Dog Whisperer your girl, but she's got fewer issues now.

It'd also probabmy make her dynamics with her cousins more normal (if not at the onset, then at least faster), because you can't project what you think a relationship would be onto someone who's gonna be getting married/is already married. Or, well, you can, but you can't do a whole lot about those issues--like, what are you gonna do, make that her husband's problem? Perhaps, but that's also probably how you get your ass beat. So being betrothed from the start really mitigates a lot of issues & also gets rid of the bad 2000s teen romance plot Rhea never consented to her personal life being 😂

[bringthekaos]

"And as for the solution to this? I think it’s to have less armor, and have the metal be a more obvious part of him. " YES YES MAKE HIM NAKEY LMAOO

Ok but for Real, Machine Herald really suffers from "2011 league champ design" syndrome. Is important to note that at that point they didn't even had a proper narrative team or cohesive lore direction, and they were just starting to build the world of Runaterra and the aesthetics associated with each region

That being said, they do (very slowly) update old champions under new standards, this is called a VGU or VU, and the results have always been fantastic (look up vgus for Volibear, Yorick, Fiddlesticks, Warwick and even Cait), and I can't wait to know what they will do with Viktor... eventually. There are some Champs that are in far more need that him

Yessssss, Viktor being *technically* naked would be so hype. Like… the armor IS HIM and he is the armor. He could probably move shit around, slim things down when he requires stealth. But it would be awesome if he just… doesn’t feel the need to put clothes on. His build is perfect, the mechanized form that it is. Why bother hiding it under something purely for cosmetic reasons? (Which is actually a decent argument for why should anyone wear clothes, and I think that’s kinda hilarious. Viktor=accidental nudism spokesman).

Also ooooooo yes those VGU are pretty great! And I have a sneaking suspicion that the reason they’re not/haven’t given Viktor an update in the last 5 years… is because they’re saving it to make it match Arcane; either by giving him an Arcane skin, or straight up changing his main look (kinda don’t want that?? Like I want him to be updated, but… I have a fondness for his outdated look, and I think it should still be an option. Like call it a legacy skin or something, rather than wiping it out entirely).

But either way… I want him to be spooky. I want him to be terrifying. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: if Arcane MH doesn’t trigger my inner monster fucker, I don’t want it 🤣

[clonerightsagenda]

HDM 3 & 4!

Episode 3:

me watching Mrs. Coulter ransack a university library while demanding "find me something heretical or illegal" wow haha it's just like being at work

"tired old men talking about tired old things" How much of breaking Jordan's scholastic sanctuary is revenge for the fact that they won't let women like her in? If you can't beat them, tear them down.

Tony's mumbled excuses about how he found Lyra are so on point for 'kid who does not want his mom finding out about his vigilante justice escapades'

Loving the running gag of Boreal going to our world and finding his car ticketed/booted. He doesn't even know what the boot is

Oh wow, we're getting our first look at Will now? As well as backstory on why his family is getting harassed, and we dropped the bomb of John Parry = Grumman already, even though that's a late book 2 reveal. Interesting choice. My guess would be that they want to spend less time in season 2 on stringing that mystery along and more on developing Will and Lyra's dynamic, since they shift into bffsies mode pretty abruptly.

Mrs. Coulter thinking about falling off high places again... I don't recall the implication of this self-destructive impulse in the books (haven't reread the third yet) but this is certainly setting up her death, huh? Whose idea was it, I don't remember....

Also, her calling Benjamin "boy" multiple times even though he's clearly a grown man - does that have the same racist implications in the UK as it does in America? It certainly shocked me. We hadn't really seen a racial undertone in how she's dealt with Boreal, the Master, or the reporter...

Episode 4

Of course they added Lee singing a song lol. If you paid all the money for LMM...

They took away Farder Coram's disability? He's older, sure, but seems perfectly hale and hearty. I'd make a joke about Lyra just thinking someone is tragically disabled due to being 60+ but the books say his health got wrecked after getting hit by a poison arrow. There is that other gyptian with the limb differences, I suppose.

Iorek is pronounced Yorick??? Oh wow I've been doing Eye-or-eck (like neck) for years.

I can't identify the accent Iorek has, but I'd be curious as to what accent the showrunners decided bears should have. I'd assume something Northern European since we're in Fantasy Scandinavia.

Mrs. Coulter has been violent toward her daemon a few times, which I also don't recall from the books, although it comes up with that one guy in the prequels. It emphasizes her internal conflict that they're setting up super hard.

Lee's far more comic relief in the show, and they've padded out the Iorek armor quest quite a bit. Guess they decided they needed to get their money's worth out of having Lin Manuel Miranda around before he dies and gets eaten.

They didn't make Serafina's daemon a goose??? Slander!!!

Lord Boreal homophobia moment... These have been the Bigotry Episodes

So I get why they have Lyra speak up to convince the gyptians in the previous episode and take the initiative re: Lee and Iorek - it makes the MC a more active rather than reactive protagonist, etc. - but I said while liveblogging the books that I appreciated the gyptians clearly have their own plans and aren't just convenient brown people who exist to ferry the protag on her journey, and this undercuts it a little bit. Also being a kid getting helplessly buffeted around by the machinations of adults is part of what Lyra has to deal with.

I'm still reading it as Eye-or-eck in my head as I type this. Sorry. It's too late for me.

[czenzo]

talk shop tuesday! LOVE your article in Tea, Toast & Ghosts zine and very curious how you came up with it. are there any skits that didn't make it in the final article? what are other insights you'd like to share about your piece?

thank you so much!! I loved writing that piece and it's been so nice reading everyone's kind words about it :)

the idea came to me quite quickly, and iirc it was the only idea I pitched in my zine application that I genuinely cared about (I honestly can't remember what my other pitches were... one might have been written by Kipps??)... writing Skull's dialogue is one of my favourite things to do in Lockwood fics and is by far one of the things I get complimented on most by wonderful commenters (<33), so I wanted to take that with me into the zine, and what better way to fit the theme than with an advice column?

deciding Skull's alias posed a challenge for a while; finding a balance between something that didn't make it blatantly obvious a haunted skull was writing the article to in-universe readers, and making sure our zine's readers could actually tell our dear Skull was the writer was quite difficult. S. Koll and S. K. Ullsworth were my two other options, but in the end I'm very happy I went with Yorick A. Lias. it's the perfect amount of stupid, in my opinion. I can't tell whether Lucy would love it or hate it. maybe a bit of both?

the first couple of Q&As I drafted for it were scrapped after the first check-in; they were too long and not as in-character as the mod team (who were fantastic, by the way) would've liked them to be. they're also nowhere near as funny as the final piece so I won't delve into their actual contents, but the scrapped titles were 'Turducken Tragedy' and 'A Ghostly Reminder'. I also toyed with the idea of a question being written by Holly, but ultimately I never got round to drafting that.

after taking some time to study Skull's canon dialogue and with a bit more direction from the mod team, I was on my way! the rest of the Q&As that I came up with made it into the final piece, which was quite unusual. I was expecting to have to scrap/rework a few others, but I ended up getting into Skull's head-space (skull-space?) quite easily after that. I knew I definitely wanted at least two from George teasing and winding Skull up, and I knew I wanted the opportunity to poke fun at/give little cameos to other characters, so they served as the inspiration for the rest of the questions.

as for other insights... I think all of the article's easter eggs will have been picked up by most readers, so I won't delve into those – but what I will say is if you were wondering if the writer of 'Fruity Fortification' was a nod to our beloved Ruby Stokes, you're absolutely right! ;D

[hamliet]

Hi! Do you think RWBY as a story is inconsistent in tone? It is a criticism I keep seeing around? But what exactly means to have tonal inconsistency? Can you give me an example?

Nope.

I'm actually surprised to read this. Maybe because I'm on the outskirts of the fandom, but I really would not have put "tonal inconsistency" in like, a top 10 list of things I thought people might label a flaw of RWBY's. It had honestly never occurred to me.

I'd actually call RWBY extremely tonally consistent, which is hard to maintain over 9 volumes and counting.

I'm curious if these posts elaborated at all about how or what makes it feel tonally inconsistent--are there examples? Because I can't think of one. Since I don't know, I'm going to have to speculate.

Is it about fairy tale stories dealing with death? Because every fairy tale deals with death; that's kind of the central core of the vast majority of fairy tales.

Is it because this volume certainly contained RWBY's darkest episode ever? Because it did, but the descent to the underworld and meeting with the goddess is a part of the heroine's journey. Stories always get darker before they get better. Plus, I don't see how anyone could think that the volume wouldn't get very dark considering we just tackled genocide and the sunshine character died.

I also think that Volume 9 has been extremely clear since the first teaser way back in 2021 that it would deal with Ruby's mental health. The opening line is "you should never have been born." Ruby then has a literal panic attack. She faints in horror when she's told about her friend dying.

That's just episode 1.

I guess people might be thrown by the juxtaposition of simplified life, which is the essence of the Ever After, with a complex topic like mental health? But I actually think that's quite brilliant. When you're extremely mentally unwell, which I have been before, things do seem to paradoxically become simpler even as the complexity overwhelms you. Things can seem black and white. Good and bad. And you? You're bad.

Idk, no one's experience is exactly the same, but to me it rang honest. It's fine if others felt differently.

Was it about mixing humor and dark topics? But like most stories do that. I mean, going back to damn Shakespeare, at likes 45% of each of his tragedies are dick jokes. The Bard loved a dick joke. It did not even have to be a good dick joke for the Bard to love it and include it in literature to be read by billions. I mean, I'm slightly hyperbolizing about the percentages, but you literally have Hamlet lamenting about going insane and contemplating suicide in one of the most haunting soliloquies in the English language (Act 3 scene 1's "To Be or Not To Be..." ) and then making numerous dick jokes in the very next scene (Act 3 scene 2). Even when it's all gone to the grave (heh) in Act 5, Hamlet takes time to hold up a jester's skull and joke about "alas, poor Yorick."

Like, yes, there are jarring ways to incorporate humor with tragedy. I don't think RWBY is doing that, though. The last episode had some genuinely heartwarming moments of realization (the paper pleasers) and tension, and then we had Cat!Neo still being a complete cat and lolling about like "Oh HEY GUYS." (The cat is hilarious, and they've always been like this.)

The entirety of Volume 9 has dealt with grief. Even the fight with the Red Prince is the prince throwing a tantrum mingled with grief.

Idk, stories do generally progress. They go from good to bad to good to bad to worse to how is this even worser to okay there's some hope to catharsis. If you can't connect the dots and see the progression, that's tonal inconsistency. If you can, and you absolutely can with RWBY not just in Volume 9 but the entire show as a whole, then... it's not tonally inconsistent.

The theme of identity has been present from the beginning of the show. Ruby looking at a grave and hence dealing with grief is one of the founding images of the entire series. To fully explore death, characters generally have to potentially end up there at some point. That Ruby would wonder whether or not she should have been born is obvious from the first minute of this season. Her spiral has gotten worse and worse, but if you paid attention, you could see it happening.

Again, the show began as a boarding school story with some pretty dark themes (abusive relationships, parental abandonment, parental death). That the darker stuff becomes explored more fully is pretty par for the course. Even like, again, Harry Potter gets progressively more dark. So do the Avengers movies. It's like, normal.

Idk, to me saying RWBY is tonally inconsistent for any of these reasons sounds like saying, I don't know, Othello is tonally inconsistent because the first scene has Othello and Desdemona standing up against bigotry for their love and their marriage is not annulled; therefore the play should end in the defeat of racism and love conquering all. Things change. The seeds of what will happen, the ugliness of racism and the limits of love and reality of misogyny are all present even in that opening scene, and unfortunately they consume the characters.

When I think tonal inconsistency, I think of, I don't know, the ending of Tokyo Ghoul, which thematically contradicted the entire 200+ chapters and 1.5 mangas leading up to it. Things that were framed as negative were suddenly framed as positive. I also think of BNHA, which, while I do think maintains its optimistic/hopeful superhero tone, does sometimes switch the framing and tone around certain characters (Hawks, Endeavor).

So yeah. RWBY has flaws for sure, but I just don't think this is one of them.

[blorbolaundry]

As much happiness and joy that Malevolent 44 is bringing us, I can't help but feel that something isn't right/is gonna go wrong... cuz what was Yorick talking about with the hag's hand?? The fact that he just wouldn't tell Arthur and John what he was gonna do with it and the whole Dies Irae thing?? I'm a bit nervous, I'm not gonna lie

[clownoncall]

↳ "The Tragedy of Batman, Prince of Denmark,"  - an unpublished comic for DC Comics' alternate reality Elseworlds imprint, that turns Hamlet into Bruce and placed him smack dab in the midst of William Shakespeare's famous tragedy. In this version, the Joker-Jester is a benevolent agent, guiding Hamlet to his ultimate destiny.

❝ Hamlet dissatisfied with the world in general, and has the rich kid's luxury to be so. The darkness and strangeness of his vision keeps drawing him away from the tawdry lights of court, into his mind. He swears to avenge his father's death. However, Hamlet's flaw is that he lives in a world of the mind. Actual action means commitment, a choice, and he prefers the endless ambivalence of thought.

Hamlet stalks the dark halls of the castle, making fantastic, blood-thirsty plans for revenge (in his mind). But when he finds himself near his mother's apartments, he is balked by his love for her. He runs into Yorick, the Jester (visually, a mediæval Joker, with the distinctive Joker face; but as a character, something very different). The Jester, more clever and quick than Hamlet, worms the story out of him, and then advises him that if he wants to watch without being seen to be watching, he should emulate a jester - be a fool, and so be ignored. This is something Hamlet can do: avoid real action by letting his fertile mind run riot, while telling himself that he is acting. The Jester thus becomes his spiritual advisor, easing on the way he really wants to go.

Word of Hamlet's weirdness gets to the King, he asks to check on Hamlet's state of mind. This is what Hamlet has been waiting for: action involving the mind. So he plays the madman very convincingly. He manages to take a few sharp swipes at the King and Queen without, he thinks, incurring any risk. But as his mother, the Queen can see through Hamlet pretty well - better than her new husband, who was merely an uncle.

Alone in a deserted turret of the castle, Hamlet calls himself a coward and berates himself. The Jester comes and talks with him, advising him to take his adoption of a false persona a step farther. If he, Hamlet, can't make himself act, why not "become" a man dedicated to action? "They'll still know who I am," complains Hamlet. Then why not wear a mask? Something designed to show those who encounter you that you're no one to be trifled with? Something to strike fear in their hearts! At that moment, a bat flies through the turret window. And so is born…the idea for the Bat-man.

But Hamlet still doesn't do anything. "To be the Bat, or not to be…"

The King has had his men keep an eye on Hamlet, and they report that the Jester has been seen whispering in his ear. The Jester is seized and taken to the torture chamber in the castle's depths. The King grills him mercilessly, but through all the excruciating and increasing agony, Yorick refuses to divulge what he and the prince discussed - and so the Jester is murdered. Because he was a friend of Hamlet's, his body is dropped into quicklime to quickly burn away the flesh, before being disposed of by night in an unmarked grave.

Hamlet soon learns of the Jester's fate; it's a small world inside the castle. And finally - finally - he decides to become the Batman. He goes to the battlements and kneels where he met the ghost. "I swear by the spirit of my father to avenge his death by spending the rest of my life warring upon his murderers!"

It is a liberating thing for him, as the Jester prophesied. He enjoys creating the mask and the cape. He enjoys running free over the moonlit rooftops of the castle grounds, convinced his ghostly father is watching him. He revels in the superstitious fear he inspires in the night watch who see him. ❞

The panel isn`t related to The Batman/Hamlet crossover, image source Batman #682

[cosmic-navel-gazin]

"About the Blogger" Meme by @razielim

Haven't seen one of these in forever; I'm being the change I want to see. (You're encouraged to adapt/remove questions or add new ones to better suit yourself.)

Favorite Pseud: Cosmic is the new hotness but my indecisive ass has had a billion! Alas-poor-yorick! is an old one I'm still fond of because my child self really went and saw Hamlet and thought: "YES! THE SKULL OF THE DEAD JESTER! THAT'S WHO I WANNA BE!"

Time Zone: GMT

Star Sign(s): the one that's a COSMIC RAM! 🐏🌠✨

Favorite Holidays: every holiday is always tinged with just a tad of existential dread, a pang reminding me of the time that's already gone by, that I'm one day closer to death , I guess the ones during Spring and Summer, just because of the weather and that the days are longer

Last Meal: Soup and a piece of bread with olive oil (and olives)

Current Favorite Musician: my dear friend who plays the piano^^ (whom I hope never finds out about this blog and reads this or I'll never hear the end of it). Not sure if current, but I've listened to a lot of it regularly so, shout-out to Jordi Savall and his Hespèrion XXI group *gnaws on their many variations of the spanish Folías*

Last Music Listened To: Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Is In) · Kenny Rogers & The First Edition

Last Movie Watched: Saw X and The Lobster

Last TV Show Watched: The Bear

Last Book/Fic Finished: Can't remember what was the last book so I'm going with: One of only two in existence A Field In England fics on AO3 😳

Last Book/Fic Abandoned: Kafka's The Trial (not abandoned, I just wanted to finish the ones I had started first before continuing because I know this one's gonna hurt for sure)

Currently Reading: Solaris by Stanisław Lem

Books/Shows/Movies/etc. You Want to Get Around To: For Films I have some listed on this ask. For books I got some Strugatskys to get to, some Terry Pratchett, some Kafka, some Horus Heresy, my sister got me Foundation *looks at bookshelf and ignores the dozens of others that have been sitting there for years, waiting for me*

Last Thing Researched for Art/Writing/Hyperfixation: Wild boars! Boarzinhos if you will.

Last Eureka, Breakthrough, or Neat Fact/Concept Learned: Have learned nothing and remain a fool.

Favorite Online Fandom Memory: I don't think I've ever been in a Fandom™ per se. It's usually just, sitting in my dark lair and enjoying a thing with a handful of other people. But, if it counts since it's the closest to interacting with Fandom I've had: these past (4?) years on tumblr in general. From the months-long (sometimes years-long) discussions about this or that piece of media and the insightful observations traded, the juicy meta, the joy and privilege of people sending you unfinished pieces of their art and writing through DMs (the trust and intimacy of it all!!!), sending each other memes and posts we think the other might enjoy, the nice messages, etc... all of it really.

Favorite Old Fandom You Wish Would Drag You Back In/Have A Resurgence: Am baby and haven't really experienced this yet.

Favorite Thing You Enjoy That Never Had an Active or Big "Fandom" but You Wish It Did: I literally can't choose because almost everything I love is some flavour of weird-ass-obscure thing! But uhmmm, *flips through enormous tome of interests* : Here! Rule of Rose ! I was starving for psychological horror games after the Silent Hill series and this is the closest I've ever seen to them while also not being just a rip off/clone of SH, and telling its own beautifully tragic story (the combat is broken and there's other issues but everything else, maaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnn).

Tempting Project You're Trying to Rein In/Don't Have Time For: I will draw Rumata and Budach's Conversation™ from chapter 8 in full, in comic form, skill to pull it off and do it justice or not, EVEN IF IT KILLS ME!

Tempting Project You're 100% Going to Undertake: It involves sandcastles and the joys of creation... but it needs to *gasp!* actually be written and not just daydreamed about.

Tagging: AAAAAA I DUNNO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO!

[women-of-malevolent]

All references to women in Part 42 - The Prince

We get our first Witch description. She's sooooOoOoOoOooOOo old and ugly. Crooked, hunched, large features, sagging flesh, gross clothes, greasy clumpy hair. The horror. She strokes her captive man lovingly, then leaves.

Arthur asks the captive, what is she, what happened to you? She's a witch.

He's a prince, he's dead, but he's also alive somehow, but when John touches him he sees his death. John is team "use Kayne's dagger to kill everyone and everything". For once I am with Arthur. Don't kill

Stop fighting, you're going to draw her back here...

While regrouping, Arthur and John wonder, why was she feeding and stroking her prisoner undead prince?

If we encounter the witch during our escape, we'll hide, maybe dagger, hopefully we can just slip past.

Tooth mention! Kayne said we should give the tooth a voice so let's do it. John's like, "don't trust the Vanguard!" Arthur's very "I don't like it but what can we do!" I'm very, "stop listening to fucking Kayne!"

"I am whatever you wish me to be, Master. Samantha. The Vanguard. The Prince. Yorick."

I find this character sad. I think it's a bummer that John and Arthur kept a dead girl's tooth in their pocket for 4 years, neither of them ever considered that she might be somehow still in there (when they've both seen weirder shit), they've been calling it The Tooth and using its magics; Arthur has nightmares it's Samantha calling him Master. Now it's in a man's head and going by Yorick. Maybe it's intentional!

Reference to Marie's house (and the barn) (it's the Lillith aura! Fucking! The skull is a vanguard for LILLITH! I'M SO EXCITED)

Also,, could the vanguard always hear John, or is that new? (I could check Samantha's page and find out) (I will do that later)

Name me! Yorick! No! Yes! Done!

Talking to the vanguard... I know many things... Arthur says, like the whereabouts of Anna Stanczyk and 🎉 pronounces it way better! It can be done! There's zero story reason for him to be doing that now (wait. Oh my god. Is it because Kayne roasted him? Arthur lets Racist!Nyarlathotep correct his Polish pronunciation? I don't know where to start

In the event that they were ever edited to just be right the whole time, every other instance of the name Stanczyk is also mispronounced, for Anna and her entire family; and it's John, Yellow, Arthur, Kellin's!Ghost, and the vanguard saying it. Part 3, Part 14, Part 15, Part 19, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 28, Part 30, Part 31, Intermezzo, and Part 41).

The vanguard is like "Yes yes of course of course!"

Yorick says that the walls are not rock but flesh; this is a womb, of course, for Her children.

Yorick loves the maggot queen's children, he thinks they're beautiful, it's kind of cute. He really could be the ambassador for Lillith...

Ugh Arthur doesn't have enough hands to carry the dagger and torch and hold the wall, so they chain Yorick up. It's a ghastly spectacle and I'm not sure to what end. Chained again, but now it's chained by John and Arthur and likes it.

Yorick says, I'll show you the way out... unless you want the witch's doodad... John and Arthur can't say no to a doodad. It might help them find the Blackstone. Also, it'll make the witch weaker if they take her talisman away.

Yorick makes another hag's womb comment. John asks if he was this bad, Arthur says no and Yorick says yes

Yorick says he has the prince's memories, because he has the prince's brain. He can't see through dead eyes, but the mind still holds the memory, murkily. Good thing all we have left from Samantha is a tooth and it can't remember a dang thing about being a woman 😉 (I think it can and it's lying because it doesn't trust Arthur to be normal about girls after hearing how he still thinks about what he did to Bella)

Also, Yorick says, be quiet because the witch is smarter than you.

Yonic hole

They make it to the witch's living room or something. Multiple floors, staircases. Carved stone wall. A door. Stone slab. Bloody table. Witch accoutrements. A pool of stagnant green liquid. No sign of the witch or the talisman.

They don't see the talisman. She's probably in one of her inner sanctums in the back. There are multiple rooms, and one leads to more pregnant meat (thank you Yorick). My understanding is that the witch's maze has three exits, and two go into her inner sanctum. It's very mazey, hard to escape.

Yorick casually calls her a hag. John says, I thought you said she was a witch; Yorick says yes!

We're in her home. This is the fourth old woman that John + Arthur have home-invaded.

We're in her room now. There's a nice lil chandelier made of candles, and a root wall, a vanity with bottles and powders, some big polished silver for a mirror, a bark wardrobe, and a tapestry depicting soldiers in a wood and a woman before them. The tapestry is burned. A root bed with hay. Stinky bed. Old ladies have stinky beds in Malevolent it's part of the lore. It's the fourth home-invaded woman and the third to get a stinky bed comment (Marie only escapes because they inspect her spare room mattress instead of her mattress; they do comment that the spare mattress stinks, so we're kind of four for four).

Anyways, they find the talisman, and take it, but then they can't find their way out of the maze

Aaaah they're trapped

Yorick is not helping. Keeps being like "here she comes!"

We're not going to get out in time, so hide the talisman

She's coming, she's here, ,she's stabbing

[selfproclaimedunicorn]

(@queen--kenobi) Okay going back to the bad fanon takes ask game. I just KNOW Yorick either gets the "uwu baby has anxiety so he hates loud noises and he can't do basic tasks by himself because they're too scary for him no this is not infantilizing him this is what anxiety is really like" type of characterization OR "God why the fuck can't Yorick just nut up or shut up". No in between

God, but you're so right. Especially when he's younger. People would think young!Yorick is either whiney or Baby--and people with either take do not deserve dilfy adult!Yorick who has more coping mechanisms

[lostonehero]

Snapshots x Tma

:)

Oscsr blinks, staring at the skull on the couch.

"Nyarlathotep spawn!" Yorick exclaims. "I bow to your power."

"I don't know what that means." Oscar pauses. "Why do you have a talking skull?"

"I am Yorick!"

"Wait, wait, wait." John interrupts using his mouth under Arthur's chin. "You mean that's Kayne's child? Oscar, the former priest."

"Correct my King." Yorick hops a bit to face Oscar. "Nyarlathotep has been forced to forget you and is trying to regain what he lost, but he again doesn't understand or know what that is. Your mother is trapped sealed in her dimension and unable to leave, and neither are her subjects."

Oscar stares stunned. "They didn't abandon me?"

"No, they did not. In fact, you are the reason Nyarlathotep has killed his other selves even if he didn't remember why that was important to do." Yorick hops back to face Arthur and John. "How was work today, my kings?"

"It was fine, Yorick, but Martin didn't show up." Arthur sighs. "Thank you for telling Oscar."

Oscar frowns. "He hasn't answered any of my calls either." He sighs. "I have more questions, but they can wait. It's very nice to meet you, Yorick, and thank you for the truth."

"Wait, Oscar." John reaches out with his hand.

"Look , I just want to check on Martin he's my adopted son." Oscar grabs his coat. "Knowing my parentage doesn't really change the fact I don't know what I am, please don't say god. I'm not one I can't be."

"No, do you want us to come with you? Martin knows about this." John vaguely motions with his hand.

Oscar nods. "Yes, but it's up to him if he wants to talk to you, John. He's human, and I hope to keep it that way."

"I understand." John pauses. "Tell him I said thank you for the tea."

"You're lucky I've gotten used to you poking your tongue in the bottom of my mouth." Arthur shakes his head. "Be safe, Oscar, and please let us know about another day to talk. I'm sure we can grow accustomed to having the but- Dennis around."

Oscar smiles softly before leaving.

"You have made a very powerful ally, my kings." Yorick clicks. "Nyarlathotep spawn is stronger than Nyarlathotep himself."

"John, we already discussed this he accepts your apology for the ax incident." Arthur pinched his brow. "I can literally feel your fear."

"Arthur that's terrifying." John huffs.

"Will some chocolate ice cream help?" Arthur chuckles at the small yes from John.

.......

There was an unnerving song Oscar could hear as he entered the oddly empty lobby of the apartment building. The first thing that actually set off alarm bells was worms. He had to remind himself he wasn't there and they weren't going to... he screeched, and the worms that jumped at him exploded like little fireworks of slime.

He grabbed the glamour necklace from his neck and pulled it off. Two pairs of wings fan out from his back, his eyes are pitch black, and horns curl up from his head with blue flames at the tips. His hands are covered with fur, and his nails are sharp talons his clothes melt away to just a pair of boxers. Sharp spine spurs go down his spine and the back of his shoulders, elbows, and knees. He is covered in short, thick fur except for his chest to his lower stomach. His tail flicks back and cracks like a whip. His tendrils are hidden in his back. His mouth stretched wide and full of sharp teeth and his tongue is forked.

He runs up the stairs. The music only got louder as he saw a woman banging on his son's door. She was a walking hive, and she turned to stare at him. She had a torn red dress on.

"Come listen to our song. Don't you want a family?" The woman barely takes a step forward before the worms around her begin to explode randomly.

"Leave my son alone!" Oscar growls, and smoke leaks from his mouth as the woman begins to look scared as more and more worms explode.

"S-Stop!" The woman stumbles back as Oscar moves forward. "You're killing them! You're destroying the sweet music! My family loves me, and they will love you too!"

Oscar cracks his jaw, and a third eye emerges. "You don't belong here! You dare..." He growls low and dark, and the lights begin to shatter as he lunges and tears the hive apart.

Gore dripped from his lips and hands. He pauses and makes a disgusted face, and the mess is gone in an instant on himself. The half devoured corpse lay on the floor, slime of the worms paint the walls with blood and puss. He doesn't dwell as he rushes to the door and knocks. "Martin! Martin, are you ok? Fuck please say something."

A quiet voice barely audible. "D-dad?"

Oscar sighs in relief and accidently pulls the door off the hinges. "Shit."

Martin stares at his father and laughs. He runs at him for a hug, and Oscar doesn't move.

"Martin w-wait..." Oscar deflates as he rubs Martin's back. "Ok.... ok.... um, you're not staying here. You'll get your old room back it hasn't changed."

"Can I take a shower first?" Martin grimaced, realizing he was stepping in worm and human guts.

"It tastes worse than it looks."

"Why did you eat her?"

"I don't know."

"Are you ok?"

"I wanted to save you." Oscar puts the glamor back on and covers his face. "I also may have panicked a little. The worms remind of.... "

Martin nods. "It's ok. Help me pack my stuff while I shower."

Oscar nods. "Of course."

......

"Are you sure not reporting this is a good idea, boyo?" Dennis leans on Martin's doorframe.

"I can't out Oscar, and he was the one to rescue me. I could lie, but Tim knows that my windows have bars on them. I'll just say I was sick and I'm fine now. Besides, I knew what I was getting myself into. Gods don't play fair."

Dennis sighs. "Yeah, these aren't things Arthur has dealt with. These are newer. The King is older than humanity, but these exist with the creation of fear."

Martin raised a brow. "How do you know this?"

Dennis smirks and tips his cap. "I'm good at getting information. I'm allowed to worry about you as well."

Martin smiles softly. "You know that would have been good information...." He stops as Dennis hands him a book.

"All written down for you. Don't worry, Oscar already read through this." Dennis winks. "Your little adventure makes me want to get a job there."

"Please don't." Martin sighs but smiles. "Thanks, dad."

Dennis nods and begins to hum as he leaves, walking down the hall.

......

Oscar wondered around the library of the Magnus Institute. A bright visitor badge hung around his neck, and he clutched his bag tightly. The head of the Institute was guiding him, and he could hear two voices come from him, but unfortunately, he really didn't want to reveal he could hear the other one.

"Now, Oscar, what is it you're looking to find here?" Elias smiles and stops by the reception desk.

"I don't think he's going to buy the friendly banter, Jonah." The tired voice sounded after.

Oscar tilted his head. "I'm just looking for some oddly specific books on topics that I don't think a normal library would have."

"That's incredibly vague." The tired voice sounded suddenly interested. "He's not an avatar, and you can't even look at him. I'm still saying he killed Jane."

"Right, well, I'm happy to help. This insistute is all for the supernatural and macabre." Elias tilts his head studying Oscar.

Oscar holds onto the bag tightly. "Do you have anything on um cults of Nyarlathotep? He's also known as the crawling madness, the man with a thousand faces. Other names, but I can't seem to recall them."

"Nyarlathotep?" The tired voice seemed more energetic. "Oh, isn't that by the King in Yellow book in artifact storage?"

"Y-yes just like the King." Oscar smiles. "Outer realm gods you.... I...." His smile drops, and he groans. "You didn't say anything."

"You can hear me?"

"You can hear him?"

Oscar bites his tongue. "You know I probably just um uh.... I..." He covers his face. "I didn't mean to um listen. I can't help it."

"To be fair, we haven't met another avatar of the eye on Jonah's level before. I'm the actual Elias, and Jonah Magnus is the one in control while we well he works. The Beholder decided to try something new to both our i guess benefits." Elias hums. "Say, were you really a priest?"

"Y-Yes? I don't see how I could benefit from lying about that." Oscar rubs his arm. "I don't really know what the Beholder is. I know fear gods or something, but I'm pretty sure I don't follow one or that."

Jonah raised his brow. "Then how can you hear him?"

"I'm not human." Oscar messes with his sleeves. "Not excatly something I like to tell people."

"How about we talk in my office." Jonah smiles, holding his hand out. "Those are some dangerous books you're asking for."

Oscar hesitates for a moment but nods. "Yeah, we can discuss this." He pauses again for a moment. "What do you mean by dangerous?"

"Those books drive people mad." Elias sighs. "One guy who picked up the yellow book bashed his head into a wall. I was barely working here a month, and that's probably when they don't touch the artifacts with your bare hands coming into effect."

"I've been told the King has that effect. Madness is kind of his thing, along with arts and music." Oscar sighs. "Arthur knows more than me honestly, I try to stay out of this, but I'm more involved than I realized, and I probably should get more involved."

Jonah's office was a bit more than Oscar imagined. It was old and ornate, but the modern computer on his desk seemed out of place. "Sit."

Oscar nods, placing his bag in his lap. He looks at the bag and sighs. "I um brought someone with me."

"In your bag?" Elias sounded confused. "Let them out then."

Oscar nods and unzips his bag, taking out a pristine clean skull with a tooth that seemed glued in.

Jonah and Elias could see the glowing eyes and whisps of blue flames.

"This is Yorick, I asked to borrow him from Arthur for help looking for the books." Oscar frowns. "Sorry about the bag."

The skull is silent for a moment before it hops on the desk to turn to face Oscar. "Nyarlathotep spawn! You don't need to apologize. I do not feel any pain or claustrophobia." He hops back around to a stunned Jonah and Elias. "You are the Pupil of the Beholder! Jonah Magnus and the owner of the body Elias Bouchard! You have been a good acolyte!"

"I.... um..." Jonah just stares at the skull.

"What are you?" Elias questions not quite sure if this thing can hear him.

"I am Yorick! I am a Vanguard! I exist here and in the dark world. I can be considered similar to your god. I am here to collect information and serve my masters!"

"You can hear me as well?" Elias sounded shocked.

"Yes."

Jonah nods. "You're an interesting creature." He smiles at Oscar. "So why do you need those books? They are quite dangerous, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

"Well, I think John would want the King's book because he is a fragment of the King, I want the one on Nyarlathotep because that's supposably my father." Oscar crosses his arms. "Although I don't know if either of them will really help me."

"You are Nyarlathotep spawn." Yorick clicks. "He still has a broken mind but is starting to remember!"

Jonah raised his brow. "I see. Well, if you would follow me, I can guide you to artifact storage, but I must insist you do not touch anything. I also hope we can continue this nice relationship for the future."

Oscar smiles. "Of course. I'll be careful."

"It would be nice to have someone else for poker night." Elias sighs. "Simon is quite annoying, and Jude burns the cards on purpose if she is losing. Peter is fun, but he's our husband and is always down to play, but I can't exactly play."

"I can bring my husband along, so you won't have to invite those guys." Oscar gets up. "Sorry, Yorick, I have to pit you back into the bag."

"It is ok! I do not feel." Yorick clicks as Oscar carefully picks him up and places him in the bag.

"How about next Saturday? My husband should be back from his voyage." Jonah nods and gets up as well.

"He should be." Elias huffs. "That's unless his family gets involved again."

Oscar nods along.

.......

Martin pauses. "Oh, uh dad, what are you doing here?"

Jonah raised a brow.

Oscar smiles, holding up two books. "Just borrowing some books. It's been difficult to find books on Nyarlathotep. Which isn't surprising, but your boss Elias was very helpful."

"Ah, right. Hello Mr. Bouchard. So why did you bring a bag?" Martin raised a brow.

"Oh right, I was borrowing Yorick for some help." Oscar hums. "Are you alright? Did you get the lunch Dennis made you?"

Martin smiles softly. "I'm fine, and yes, it was nice as always." He pauses. "Are you staying?"

"Well, I was going to drop this book off to Arthur before I leave, but I am not just a quick stop. Will you be home late?"

"No, I don't have errands to run." Martin sighs. "Stay safe please."

"Oh, I always am." Oscar waves as Martin heads out to research a statement.

Jonah tilted his head. "Martin's your son?"

"Oh, not biologically, I adopted him after his mother's death. He's a good kid." Oscar hums and moves towards the archives.

"I see." Jonah nods.

.......

Tim gasps alerting Arthur. "Hey, you're Oscar, the former priest. What brings you back with double boss man?"

Oscar smiles and waves. "Hello Tim, I'm just here with a book for Arthur, and to return something."

"For me?" Arthur furrows his brows. "You can just drop.... that off Oscar."

Oscar pauses. "Not the bag." He holds out the book, and Arthur's left hand snatches it. "It would be safer with you t... you..."

Arthur frowns. "Thank you, Oscar." He pauses. "You just missed Martin. He's going to follow a lead on one of the statements."

"Oh, don't worry, I saw him on my way down here. Oh, I have to ask before I forget. Have you run into Kayne recently?" Oscar smiles nervously.

"Thankfully not, but I wouldn't count on it staying like that.... what do you want u- me to say when he does?" Arthur leans forward.

"I don't know." Oscar frowns. "I don't even know if he knows who I am or if he even wants to know me. This was a lot easier when I thought he abandoned me."

Arthur reaches out and pats Oscar's hand. "Hey, whatever happens, you got us in your corner."

Oscar chuckles at something, nobody, but Arthur seems to hear it. "I'll keep that in mind. I'll see you later and have fun at work." He turns and smiles nervously at everyone's gaze. "I'll just be heading out."

Tim jolts up. "Actually, do you think we could talk for a sec?"

Oscar nods and follows Tim out into the hall. "What can I help you with?"

"I... this is a weird request, but I just wanted to know if you know Martin's favorite kind of food." Tim sighs. "He's a cute guy, and if I'm going to ask him out, I don't just want it to be a fling yaknow."

Oscar pauses clearly, not expecting this. "O-oh um, Martin likes homemade things more than a date out. We would cook together often enough, Dennis never liked going out, and I guess he picked up on that." He sighs. "It's sweet that you're asking me, but I only adopted him when he was 15, and it would be better if you ask him. He likes honesty."

Tim smiles. "Thank you. I've never really wanted to actually want to go steady with someone before. I know my reputation as a flirt, but I don't know this is new."

Oscar chuckles. "Oh, I understand. Just ask him and be direct, and he unfortunately picked up my habit of being dense."

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you." Tim waves and slips back into the archives.

........

"I don't poison food. That's just a waste." Dennis scoffs. "Either eat it, or I will take it from you."

Arthur quickly takes a bite he pauses and his face lights up. "This is very good."

Oscar chuckles as Dennis finally takes a seat. "I told you."

"It is very tasty, for something savory." John mumbles. "How did you two even end up together?"

"John! Not a dinner conversation." Arthur hissed.

Oscar chuckles. "No, it's a fair question."