Shakespeare explores these same problems through Robin Starveling. Portales was an effective satirist, contributing several popular articles to The Starveling. The Beyonder/Starveling forces arrive and easily overwhelm Ulubis's native defences. Robin Starveling plays the part of Moonshine in their performance of "Pyramus and Thisbe". "Starveling" is a word for a thin or poor person lacking food.