#dunsinane

[thenwothm]

AN INTERVIEW WITH MIDNIGHT FORCE (SCOTLAND)

Originally formed in Glasgow Scotland, Midnight Force are a band charging forward with their historically infused take of heavy metal! Having members both in Scotland and Germany, the band have been fortunate enough to play many great shows across seas and in now 2023 they busy behind the scenes working on new music. THENWOTHM: Hey Midnight Force! Can you start by telling our readers where you…

[cantheykillmacbeth]

Why am I unreasonably upset about the fact that I can't kill Macbeth? I mean, ✨gender affirmed✨ and all but it's kinda sad 🥺

((Keep your head up King your Birnam wood branch is falling <3))

[i-am-become-a-name]

doctor: *quotes macbeth*

me: haha I'm in danger

[hello-is-anyone-there]

Me and the boys on Dunsinane Hill

[canyourfavesurvivecastledracula]

Macbeth (with the prophecy in effect)?

I was all set to say the prophecy won't protect him, because even if no man of woman born can harm Macbeth, Dracula is not a man but a Thing in semblance of a man, and moreover there's the Girlies

But then I looked it up

What the second apparition actually tells Macbeth is:

Be bloody, bold, and resolute. Laugh to scorn

 The power of man, for none of woman born

 Shall harm Macbeth.

Crucially, the word is "none." Not "no man." It's possible that "none" scopes under "man" but it by no means has to.

Now at this point we could start splitting hairs and speculating about Dracula's heritage and the circumstances of his mortal birth... but that's not the point. The prophecy doesn't say can, Macbeth hasn't got any special immunity (although he thinks he does), the prophecy says shall.

The prophecy was only ever about Macduff. Macduff is the person who kills Macbeth, therefore no one else kills Macbeth. QED.

I am therefore forced to conclude that Macbeth does not die in Castle Dracula because Macbeth dies from Macduff cutting off his head and he can't do both.

Or can he???

If Macbeth visits Castle Dracula and, while there, becomes a vampire, Macduff can still kill him for realsies later on by cutting off his head (once Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane). In fact, if Macbeth is a vampire, cutting off his head is the only way to kill him.

But the apparition does say that none of woman born shall harm Macbeth. Does not becoming a vampire constitute a harm? I guess it depends on who you ask.

My thinking is that Macbeth is already consorting with witches and demons and the forces of darkness (and, weirdly, actually getting them to listen to him) - what's one more? I propose that Macbeth goes to Castle Dracula for the express purpose of becoming a vampire, Scholomancy style. He wants the immortality as a way to explain why he doesn't (be)get kings, and Dracula can give it to him.

What is in this for Dracula? Well Macbeth is long enough ago that (if they are contemporary at all) Dracula is just starting out in his undead ways. And Macbeth outranks him - Dracula is voivode but Macbeth is a king. Forging an unholy alliance with a foreign sovereign might be something a Fresh Out Of Evil Grad School Dracula might see as a real opportunity

Does any of this count as surviving Castle Dracula? ...eh?? But I'm here for it.

[gingerhastoomanyobsessions]

not to post like it’s still 2022 but how did nobody notice that goncharov was a Macbeth adaptation???

like. we’ve got our troubled protag (macbeth/goncharov) whose ambitious wife (lady mac/katya) pressures him into clawing his way to the top of a violent power structure (scotland’s monarchy/the italian mafia). he ends up ordering the death of a former friend because said friend realizes what he’s done (sending assassins after banquo/sending ice pick joe after mario, but the latter has more emotional depth since joe and mario were friends). valery takes on the role of the witches by supplying goncharov with ominous warnings and hinting that all is preordained as he tries to bring goncharov to justice. in reaction, goncharov attempts to destroy potential threats (sending ice pick after andrey and sofia, who survive because of joe’s failure to go through with it and subsequent death in the church scene), paralleling the assassination of the macduff family. it’s also when we get that sweet gunfight amid the historical ruins, but that’s not important rn. when katya learns that goncharov tried to have sofia killed, she breaks down and tries to shoot him on the bridge scene (“if you loved me you wouldn’t have missed” etc etc) before almost throwing herself over the edge, bringing to mind lady macbeth’s mental collapse and subsequent suicide. instead of birnam wood coming to dunsinane, we get the boat scene. when goncharov asked valery why he was so determined to bring him back to russia to be prosecuted instead of just killing him, valery told goncharov “you’re untouchable so long as you’re on Italian soil” and the boat isn’t technically on Italian soil. andrey and goncharov have their stand-off at the ship’s wheel, symbolizing their fight for control over the system. meanwhile, sofia and katya make their escape, getting the chance to survive and leave the system of violence that killed their shakespearean counterparts. goncharov doesn’t know that katya is still alive, so his speech winding up his pocketwatch when he’s talking about how her time ran out and how nothing could stop the clocks? that was his “tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow” moment! when andrey shoots goncharov and DOESN’T MISS, it’s not just gay, it’s his “man of no woman born” parallel. he managed to do what nobody else could. but this movie has no malcolm character to bring the system back to normal and take the throne/lead the mafia. it’s just andrey at the wheel. and the deafening ticking of goncharov’s pocketwatch, laying face-open in the pool of blood, before it runs out of time and winds down for good.

[thealogie]

Max Webster: got some straight gas 🔥😛 this strain is called “Macbeth at the Donmar Warehouse starring David Tennant and Cush Jumbo” 😳 you’ll be zonked out of your gourd 💯

Me: yeah whatever. I don’t feel shit.

5 minutes later: dude I swear I just saw birnam wood move towards dunsinane??

my buddy macbeth pacing: the wayward sisters are lying to me

[haridraws]

The 600-year old Birnham Oak

In central Scotland, there are just two trees left standing of the ancient wood named in the witches' prophecies in Macbeth.*

*(They tell him he'll never get vanquished until Birnham wood comes to Dunsinane so he thinks he's invincible but spoilers: he is not.)

I just about managed to get there in an offroad wheelchair, do a drawing of it, and... crawl inside the hollow trunk and perhaps pick up some kind of exciting curse.

(More travel drawings here)

[hellsite-detective]

Could you find this post? I found the screenshot on the Tasting History server

is this a post case which i see before me, the request upon my desk? come, let me clutch thee...

but alas, this post proved simple for me to track down. as simple as plunging thy blade deep within the heart of any monarch. i set upon my duty, to seek out my own prize from the Don, Thane of Google. they sat there upon their usual throne, indulging in revelry that bore them riches greater than any average man could hope to achieve. like the mighty Birnam Wood approaching Dunsinane Hill, i approached the Thane. they bore down on me with inauspicious gaze, and thus i felt a tinge of fear for the interaction to come...

"Sit, Lady Detective." they said in reverberant voice which resounded throughout the chamber. upon my brow sweat formed, giving way to the consternation within me.

my Thane, i come bearing a request. i search for a post regarding the Scottish Play in relation to the Kingdom of Tumblr. may i be honored with your aid?

the Thane glared at me with expression dissolute. with a wave of their hand, a fool did enter carrying a small box of oaken construct. inside was thy post which i had sought. their majesty gifted most graciously this parchment. i bowed with deep gratitude and took my leave. such was the point in which i was approached by three Wëird Sisters, but alas, a tale for another time...

i deliver upon you thy request of this parchment! i believed this case would have been solved hereafter, as tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow creeps in its petty pace. but none of woman born could keep me from this case. i bring thy desired conclusion. i bid thee farewell, and a good morrow.

Post Case: Concluded

Flourish. All exit.

[couldtheycatchkira]

500 Follower Celebration! Part 2!

The prophecy bestowed upon Macbeth, delivered by apparitions three summoned by triplicate witches under the service of Hecate, triumvirate goddess of witchcraft, lists the following clauses:

Macbeth should beware the thane of Fife

Macbeth is unable to be harmed by any man of woman-born

Macbeth shall not be vanquished until Great Birnam wood comes against high Dunsinane hill.

(Composed after deliberation with @cantheykillmacbeth)

[nudityandnerdery]

Okay, we've all seen the thing about the marines who beat the AI with a cardboard box.

But they were 2 of 8 and all of them beat the AI, and I want to say this dude has a respect for the classics:

Even setting aside the phrase "walked like a fir tree," that's some Burnham Wood come to Dunsinane shit, and I'm glad to know that AI has the same weakness as Macbeth.

[withasideofshakespeare]

Woah no way?? People (completely unprompted /s) want to hear my trans Shakespeare headcanons?? You bet I can do that.

I’ve done this once before:

But I have even more thoughts now!!

In no particular order:

Puck (A Midsummer Night’s Dream): Every single pronoun possible. He/she/they/it + all of the neopronouns and xenopronouns that exist currently or will ever exist. Fairy gender is always weird but Puck’s is extra weird.

Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream): Fairy gender. Probably he/they/it?

Titania (A Midsummer Night’s Dream): More fairy gender. She/they/it?

Titania’s fairy attendants (Midsummer): Get a hat and fill it with various pronouns and draw them out at random for the fairies.

Benedick (Much Ado About Nothing): Could go either way, but I really like the idea of transfemme Benedick. Or he/him lesbian Benedick.

Beatrice (Much Ado About Nothing): The she/they to end all she/theys

Viola/Cesario (Twelfth Night): Could be trans in literally any direction. I made a post about this too at some point. My suggestion is all of the directions: they/she/he

Sebastian (Twelfth Night): He/him, transmasc. I also made a post about this at some point.

Feste (Twelfth Night): I saw a great she/her Feste last summer.

Orsino (Twelfth Night): Specifically the himbo variety of he/they

Margaret of Anjou (Henry VI trilogy and Richard III): If I ever play Margaret, I will use she/they pronouns.

Catesby (Richard III): Just played Catesby with she/her pronouns and it worked!

Richard II (Richard II): Tell me Richard isn’t the most they/he or he/they guy alive (or… dead).

Hal (1 Henry IV-Henry V): Saw Hal played with she/they pronouns last summer and it was great. Could also see he/they Hal. Very nonbinary vibe overall. I personally believe that going by Hal rather than Henry for two whole plays is their way of pulling the “going by the first letter of what my name used to be instead of picking a name from scratch” nonbinary trick. He probably pretends to be cis after his dad dies and he becomes king—one more element of Hal’s lifelong identity crisis.

Hotspur/Harry Percy Jr. (Richard II & 1 Henry IV): He/they in denial.

Kate Percy (1 & 2 Henry IV): She/they, not in denial. (Also Katespur should be bi4bi)

Ned Poins (1 & 2 Henry IV): Transmasc Ned Poins?? Maybe he doesn’t actually have a sister and Nell is just his deadname. Ned Poins’ failed scheme to flirt with Hal.

Romeo (Romeo & Juliet): he/they (t4t R&J!!!)

Juliet (Romeo & Juliet): she/they (t4t R&J!!!)

Mercutio (Romeo & Juliet): they/he(/it?). Vibes alone. Look at them. Just look.

Nurse (Romeo & Juliet): she/her, transfemme!

Cassius (Julius Caesar): Would love to see a they/them Cassius

Hamlet (Hamlet): he/they. I’ve made multiple posts about this theory and I still love it.

Ophelia (Hamlet): she/they. As she should.

Laertes (Hamlet): she/him and NOT just because Laertes used she/her pronouns the first time I saw this play.

Rosencrantz (Hamlet): he/they/she. Vibes. Sometimes goes by Ros/Rose. Probably genderfluid.

Malcolm (Macbeth): they/he or they/them. Also vibes.

Lady Macbeth (Macbeth): stolen straight from my last post because this is still my HC: she/they; would insult you for “having pronouns in your bio” and then turn around and punch you in the face for using their pronouns incorrectly.

Angus (Macbeth): she/her, transfemme. (t4t Ross/Angus. I will die on this hill… Dunsinane Hill.)

Ross (Macbeth): he/him, transmasc

Caithness (Macbeth): she/they lesbian

Mark Antony (Julius Caesar and Antony & Cleopatra): I would not bat an eye at he/they Mark Antony

Edmund (King Lear): they/he, nonbinary, sexiest man (/gn) alive.

Edgar (King Lear): he/him. Transmasc Edgar is slowly becoming canon To Me.

Cordelia (King Lear): she/her, transfemme.

Goneril (King Lear): she/they. I would let them kill me.

Coriolanus (Coriolanus): transmasc OR transfemme Coriolanus is!!!! The butterfly/metamorphosis motif! Name changes during canon! Discomfort with scars/body! Lack of autonomy granted by society! This is THE transgender play. (Other than Twelfth Night)

Imogen (Cymbeline): Tell me she doesn’t want to be a she/they so bad.

Florizel (The Winter’s Tale): he/they(/she?). Literally just a vibe. I have a pet rock named Florizel.

Perdita (The Winter’s Tale): she/they. I also have a pet rock named Perdita.

Ariel (The Tempest): Similar to Puck, probably they/she/he? Even my conservative English prof consistently rotates between she/her and he/him for Ariel (possibly not intentionally? I’m not convinced he knows what her canon pronouns are.)

Ferdinand (The Tempest): she/they. PLEASE give me transfemme Ferdinand. PLEASE let Miranda realize she’s a lesbian during canon.

Miranda (The Tempest): she/they. Ariel taught them about the existence of she/they pronouns and she immediately started using them.

So in other words… every Shakespeare character should be trans, actually.

[cantheykillmacbeth]

So, if a man of woman born tries to have some other being or force kill Macbeth on his behalf, then the prophecy will thwart that, yes? How far does this caveat go in your eyes?

Let's assume the prophecy works by manipulating probability to make anything that can go wrong in one's plan to kill Macbeth fail, such as your gun jamming if you try to shoot him, because it doesn't exactly seem like Macbeth has any supernatural abilities of his own.

Now let's add in our hypothetical man of woman born, let's call him John Faith. John Faith has the supernatural power to see all the threads of fate and probability at once, and understands every consequence and butterfly affect for every action done. Additionally, let's make it so John Faith can rewind his actions to any time he has been alive before that moment, and that he can freeze time to give him additional room to think on his omniscience. And finally, John Faith is fully immortal unless Macbeth dies of unnatural causes, and John lives within the universe of Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

John Faith's one goal in life is to cause Macbeth's unnatural death so that John himself can finally die. However, John is a man, born through a standard vaginal birth, with his birthing parent being a woman. John, knowing all potential futures, is aware of Macbeth's prophecy, but he decides to try and find a way to arrange Macbeth's GUARRANTEED death, prophecy be damned.

Given enough rewinds and all the knowledge of potential futures and full understanding of the butterfly affect, could John Faith from @localtransvamp 's Macbeth AU hypothetical KILL Macbeth?

If I'm understanding what you're trying to say... then I think John Faith would need to get someone else to kill Macbeth for him, assuming this second person would be able to kill Macbeth (woman, c-section baby, child of trans man, etc.). He could potentially hire a hitman for this, or, with his power, could see exactly what actions he would need to take to culminate in someone else killing him via the butterfly/domino effect.

As an example of that second one: John Faith puts a lightning rod on a tree next to a road. Thunderstorm hits, lightning strikes tree, tree falls onto road, road is blocked. Sir Caesar Section, a wanted anti-monarchy criminal on his way to Somefuck City, now needs to take a detour through Dunsinane via Birnam Wood. Not happy about it; already very irritable today. Goes to Dusninane (probably running into several other frustrations planted by John Faith along the way and getting a bunch of sticks in his hair), can't keep a low profile, gets put in Dunsinane jail. Breaks out, rampage, Macbeth caught in cross-fire and killed. Congratulations, John Faith has fulfilled his life-long dream of killing Macbeth (kinda).

Now, sometimes, we've had situations where Person A using Person B to kill Macbeth wouldn't work, but that is almost always because Person A is possessing Person B, essentially using B's body as the murder weapon (see: Emperor Belos). But in the case where Person A gets Person B to kill Macbeth via hiring them or stringing them along, the murder is still attributed to Person B instead of Person A (see: Rube Goldberg Machine).

Uh. Thank you for your submission?

[bloodaria]

Hannibal 1.07 Sorbet

Much has been made of Will’s inscrutable expression in this scene. What could he be thinking? The dramatic music playing in the background may provide a clue.

It comes from an opera rendition of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, called Patria Oppressa! It plays during Act IV, Scene I. The beginning of the Act is Macbeth’s return to the Three Witches. He asks them to reveal the truth of their prophecies. They summon apparitions that tell him that "none of a woman born / shall harm Macbeth," and that he is safe until Birnam Wood moves to Dunsinane Hill. Macbeth is relieved and feels secure because he knows that all men are born of women and forests cannot possibly move. At the end of the play, Macduff is revealed to have been born via c-section (and thus not “of a woman born”) and the English army advances to Dunsinane Hill using tree branches cut from Birnam Wood as camouflage. Macbeth is slain by Macduff in battle. 

How does this relate to the scene at hand? If we go with the interpretation that Will is looking upon Hannibal as a savior here based on visual and storytelling cues (Hannibal is saving the life of Silvestri’s victim, he is bathed in light, elevated, while Will is in the darkness. Will trusts and regards Hannibal even more positively after this experience, even going later to Hannibal’s house to give him wine). Will is given a false sense of security in the vision of Hannibal saving someone’s life, while failing to see/suppressing the darker ramifications, that Hannibal’s surgical skills on display here means that he fits the profile of the Chesapeake Ripper. Just like Macbeth, Will believes he’s safe when in reality his doom is sealed.

[singing-telegram]

Birnam wood is coming for High Dunsinane in LA. Get rekt, Universal

[italic-doing-random-shit]

Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf

Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf

Good

Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf

Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf

Sept, huit, neuf (sept, huit, neuf)

Sept, huit, neuf (sept, huit, neuf)

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine

My dearest, Angelica

Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

Creeps in this petty pace from day to day

I trust you'll understand the reference to another Scottish tragedy

Without my having to name the play

They think me Macbeth, ambition is my folly

I'm a polymath, a pain in the ass, a massive pain

Madison is Banquo

Jefferson's Macduff

And Birnam Wood is Congress on its way to Dunsinane

And there you are an ocean away

Do you have to live an ocean away?

Thoughts of you subside

Then I get another letter

And I cannot put the notion away

Take a break

I am on my way

There's a little surprise before supper and it cannot wait

I'll be there in just a minute, save my plate

Alexander

Okay, okay

Your son is nine years old today

He has something he'd like to say

He's been practicing all day

Philip, take it away

Daddy, daddy, look

My name is Philip

I am a poet

I wrote this poem just to show it

And I just turned nine

You can write rhymes but you can't write mine

What!

I practice French and play piano with my mother

Uh-huh

I have a sister but I want a little brother

Okay

My daddy's trying to start America's bank

Un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq!

Bravo!

Take a break

Hey, our kid is pretty great

Run away with us for the summer

Let's go upstate

Eliza, I've got so much on my plate

We can all go stay with my father

There's a lake I know

I know

In a nearby park

I'd love to go

You and I can go when the night gets dark

I will try to get away

My dearest Alexander, you must get through to Jefferson

Sit down with him and compromise

Don't stop 'til you agree

Your favourite older sister Angelica reminds you

There's someone in your corner all the way across the sea

In a letter I received from you two weeks ago

I noticed a comma in the middle of a phrase

It changed the meaning, did you intend this?

One stroke and you've consumed my waking days

It says

"My dearest, Angelica"

With a comma after dearest

You've written

"My dearest, Angelica"

Anyway, all this to say

I'm coming home this summer

At my sister's invitation

I'll be there with your family if you make your way upstate

I know you're very busy, I know your work's important

But I'm crossing the ocean and I just can't wait

You won't be an ocean away

You'll only be a moment away

Alexander come downstairs, Angelica's arriving today

Angelica!

Eliza!

The Schuyler sisters

Alexander!

Hi

It's good to see your face

Angelica, tell this man, John Adams spends the summer with his family

Angelica, tell my wife, John Adams doesn't have a real job anyway

You're not joining us? Wait-

I'm afraid I cannot join you upstate

Alexander, I came all this way

She came all this way

All this way

Take a break

You know I have to get my plan through Congress

Run away with us for the summer

Let's go upstate

I'll lose my job if we don't get this plan through Congress

We'll all go stay with our father

There's a lake I know

I know I'll miss your face

In a nearby park

Screw your courage to the sticking place

You and I can go

Eliza's right

Take a break

Take a break and get away

Run away with us for the summer

Let's go upstate

Where we can stay

We can all go stay with our father

If you take your time, you will make your mark

Look around, look around, at how lucky we are to be alive right now

Close your eyes and dream

We can go

When the night gets dark

Take a break

I have to get my plan through Congress

I can't stop 'til I get this plan through Congress

Here ya go

THERES NOTHING LIKE SUMMER IN THE CITY-