It's been forever since I actually made a REAL journal entry on here...and today won't be any different. XD
I was in church this morning...totally NOT thinking about God XD...and came up with a Hamlet sequel, Hamlet Resurrection, an action-fantasy (REALLY fantasy..it has a zombie, lol) that fills in some of the plotholes from Hamlet (such as why Laertes died first when he was stabbed second, or where many characters were during major chunks of the play)...and is also somehow a partial crossover with Evil Dead XD. I already wrote up the outline to the entire story, including a timeline that explains in further detail what when on behind many of the events in Hamlet via flashbacks. (It takes place in CHS's cutting's continuity, by the way, so the Fortinbras in this story is NOT the Ambassador that appeared at the end of our Hamlet).
Two years after the events in Hamlet, Fortinbras has gained control over Denmark and is a mediochore king, but the kingdom is nothing like it used to be. Horatio and Marcellus find a message at Hamlet's grave (presumably from the same Ghost in Hamlet) that says that Hamlet must live to save the world.
Horatio has never recovered from his friend's death, and decides that he is obviously important, so he mysteriously obtains a part of the Necronomicon (the same book of the dead that appeared in the Evil Dead movies) and uses and incantation from it to transmutate his own lifeforce into Hamlet's corpse, subsequently resurrecting him. However, the ritual leaves Horatio weak, and he quickly dies as Hamlet is brought back to life.
Hamlet returns to Denmark, where he meets Osric, who explains that Horatio resurrected him in belief that he would save the world. Osric then reveals himself to be a part of The Advocacy, a group of elders who have vast knowledge of the Necronomicon and have sworn themselves to prevent it from getting into the wrong hands. However, Osric notes that, aside from the part Horatio had, the Necronomicon has completely disappeared, and theorizes that the message was regarding to Hamlet recovering the Necronomicon and stopping whoever obtained it from destroying the world.
Hamlet eventually meets the British Ambassador who appeared at the end of Hamlet, who is shocked at Hamlet's resurrection. He inadvertanly makes a reference to Hamlet not being "the only one who turned out to not actually be dead". Hamlet threatens the Ambassador further for more information, and reveals that Claudius actually survived. The Ambassador reveals himself to be an old friend of Claudius, and when he was commanded to drag the bodies off, he realized the Claudius was alive (but barely), and immediately gives him medical attention. Claudius woke up just long enough to tell the Ambassador that it was the poison of mountebank that was killing him, and if he retrieved the antidote soon he would survive--but no one could know of his survival. The Ambassador helped nurse him back to health and eventually helped him flee to Norway, whilst the rest of the country believed he was still dead. The Ambassador then tells Hamlet where Claudius is hiding.
Hamlet goes to Norway where he finds Claudius living as a decrepit recluse. Claudius explains the "curse of the mountebank": even if you get the antidote soon enough, it has lasting effects, as it paralyzed his entire left side. Hamlet, in anger that his old nemesis survived, questions how he and Laertes were immediately killed by the poison, but Claudius lived long enough to recieve the antidote. Claudius reveals that it was as a result of his messing with the Necronomicon years before, leaving his body with an unusually powerful immune system. He also goes onto a further revelation: he was actually the cause of King Hamlet returning as a ghost. Apparently, the ear poison Claudius used on King Hamlet was a potion derived from a spell in the Necronomicon, one which not only kills the person, but also restrains their spirit to Earth--leaving King Hamlet to forever walk on the planet as a lonely ghost. Hamlet, of course, if even more enraged due to this new revelation and gets ready to kill Claudius (again), but Claudius stops him by revealing that the Necronomicon was stolen from him years ago and he fears that it may be in the hands of someone more evil than he. He tries to convince Hamlet that they must work together to find the Necronomicon to save the world, and settle their personal disputes later. Hamlet reluctantly agrees.
Reynaldo, the servant whom Polonius sent to keep an eye on his son at the beginning of Act II of Hamlet, appears, and Claudius believes that he may have been the one who stole the Necronomicon, so he and Hamlet give chase. He escapes, but when Claudius and Hamlet return to Claudius's home, they find the British Ambassador dead. Hamlet suspects that whoever stole the Necronomicon is aware that they are tracking him/her down.
After some philosophical discussions, Reynaldo reappears, but instead of giving chase Hamlet immediately confronts him for answers and they fight. Hamlet threatens to kill him when he reveals that he is not the mastermind, and he is working for someone. Just before he can reveal who he is working for, he is shot by an arrow from far away.
Claudius suspects that Polonius may be Reynaldo's leader and could have survived the attack; Hamlet does not believe it is possible, as he buried Polonius himself.
Later that night, Claudius is kidnapped by one of his former female lords (one of the ones that couldn't act at all), and Hamlet chases them into a nearby cave. Hamlet and the Lord battle, but is distracted when the Lord begins playing mind games with him, reminding him that the person he is trying to save (Claudius) is the same man who killed his father two years ago. Hamlet contemplates it, and is sucker punched by an amazingly strong Lord.
Trapped in a corner, Claudius and Hamlet ask why the Lord is doing all of this. The Lord then takes off her disguise, revealing herself to be none other than--Ophelia!
She explains that she had been seeking revenge on Hamlet for taking advantage of her at a young age and breaking her heart, and years later she manipulated many of the events in Hamlet. After the confrontation she and Hamlet had in Act III, she set her plot afoot. She witnessed Claudius's reaction to the play in Act III and connected the dots, discovering that he was the killer of King Hamlet. Ophelia continues to explain that when she was very young, she witnessed Reynaldo having an affair with her mother, and when her mother decided to end the relationship and tell Polonius, Reynaldo murdered her. Ophelia used this information to blackmail Reynaldo, who became her pawn for the remainder of the plot. She had Reynaldo send a message to Laertes in France that Polonius had been killed--by Claudius.
Meanwhile (around the beginning of Act IV), Ophelia explained in full detail to Gertrude Claudius's acts. Gertrude was at first distraught that her first husband was dead, her second husband is a killer and her son is insane, and she contemplates suicide. Ophelia convinces her to be part of her plot--however, she makes it seem like a revenge plot against Claudius, not Hamlet--which includes feigning madness to further enrage Laertes. Gertrude helps Ophelia convince everyone she has gone crazy. Ophelia talks of her manipulation of Laertes to become enraged at Claudius, who would subsequently manipulate Laertes MORE to kill Hamlet in what he believed was his own unique plan. When asked why she did not simply manipulate Laertes herself as she did everyone else, Ophelia responds that Laertes was one of the few good souls out of the entire group, and never intended to kill anyone; even when he finally decided to kill Hamlet in vengeance, he only saw it as an eye-for-an-eye, not to make him suffer, so he cut him just enough to get the poison into him and kill him painlessly, whereas Hamlet stabbed Laertes directly in the liver, killing him quickly (this explains why Laertes died first). Ophelia eventually uses Gertrude to spread rumors of Ophelia's death in order to drive her brother off the deep end. Gertrude also spied on Laertes and Claudius as they plotted Hamlet's murder; thus she transferred the details to Ophelia, who commanded Gertrude to drink the poison at the swordfight in Act V and die in front of Hamlet's eyes, explaining to Gertrude that it would drive Hamlet to kill Claudius; in reality Ophelia knew that Gertrude's death would be the ultimate blow to Hamlet, giving him further distress before his final death. Earlier in Act IV, Reynaldo was also sent to follow Hamlet, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern on their trip to England, and saved Rosencrantz and Guildenstern from the pirates as Hamlet escaped. Upon returning to England, Ophelia convinced them that they owed an extreme debt to her for saving them, so they agree to help her with her plot. While everyone believed they were dead, they went undercover as gravediggers to find a look-a-like corpse for Ophelia's "funeral" in Act V, and also spy on the characters. After their deeds were done, to keep the from talking, Ophelia had them killed. Ophelia disguised herself as a lord, and the swordfight went on as it was supposed to--until Laertes was stabbed (Ophelia was hoping that only Gertrude, Claudius, and Hamlet would die). Ophelia then came up with the plot to have Hamlet resurrected, only to seek her revenge and kill him again; she delivered the part of the Necronomicon to Horatio, knowing that he would resurrect his friend.
Ophelia further explains that it is more than a simple revenge plot; as she had been studying the Necronomicon for a long time (it was given to her as a gift from Laertes after his first trip to France; he had no idea what it was; unbeknownst to him The Advocacy themselves had actually stolen it from Claudus years ago and had chosen Laertes to protect the book, but they never delivered him the message until he gave it to Ophelia). She realized that if she found the right altar and made a human sacrifice, she could recieve eternal life and ultimate power, and then subsequently take over the world. Hamlet would be that sacrifice.
Claudius attacks Ophelia but she wounds him badly, revealing that the Necronomicon had already instilled super strength into her. She then realizes that she needs to prepare the altar for the ritual to sacrifice Hamlet, and to stall he and Claudius, she resurrects Laertes as a bloodthirsty zombie, who immediately attacks Hamlet.
Hamlet prepares to fight the zombie, when Claudius (knowing he may soon die because of his wound) reveals to Hamlet that Gertrude truly loved King Hamlet, as the only reason she married Claudius was because he was similar to her first husband, and at one point told Claudius that she wanted a divorce. Hamlet, now happy that his mother did actually love his father, prepares for battle. A Hamlet/Laertes-Zombie battle ensues, and Hamlet eventually decapitates the zombie. However, the battle gave Ophelia just enough time to prepare the altar, so she uses her strength to wound Hamlet and place him on the altar, preparing for the sacrifice. Claudius reveals his "secret weapon"--a bottle of the same ear poison he used on King Hamlet--and tosses it to the very bloody Hamlet. He opens the bottle and smashes it against Ophelia's head, who, in the middle of her incantation, begins to melt, but then instead explodes in a gruesome shower of blood and bodily fluids. The altar starts to shake and the Necronomicon glows--the incantation was stopped in the middle leaving everything unstable--and Hamlet and Claudius escape.
Out of the cave, Claudius tells Hamlet that he doesn't have long to live, and though he has repented for his sins, there would be no way he could make up for what he did. Hamlet tells Claudius that now they are "even". Claudius tells Hamlet to return to Denmark and take up his rightful throne, as he would be the best-fit ruler.
Hamlet leaves Claudius (who presumably dies) and walks off into the clichéd sunset.
= )
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
