#my wip reintro ☝️

[transthadymacdermot]

image in the middle my art, all others except for that of the belfast 14th july celebrations from pinterest

WIP Reintro: Red and Riotous Light

Status: seven morbillionth draft

Genre: historical fiction, gothic horror

Content warnings: gore, death, cannibalism, place & time typical bigotry, &c

The year is 1796 and the island of Ireland, once considered peaceable, is awash with sedition. In Belfast, the arrival of a mysterious Englishwoman whose defection to the French makes her a target of both curiosity and suspicion brings with her tidings of a prospective deal between a local United Irish cell and the French government: guns, and ammunition, sold at a premium price, delivered by a French ship. The only problem? The ship is arriving at the opposite side of the country, and these would-be insurgents need it where they are -- and the French said nothing about transport. Additionally, the committee seems to have had a suspicious number of brushes with authority lately. More than they used to. Hopefully someone isn't getting cold feet...

Meanwhile, in the isolated townland of Áth Síomóin, the arrival of a hapless new schoolmaster sparks the powder-keg the two sides of the area's sectarian divide have long been sitting on and leads, inadvertently, to the death of a Catholic of some consequence -- and, crucially, does not lead to the punishment of his killer. The resulting crackdown on Defender activity, facilitated by the arrival of another English visitor, is to be expected at first. However, as the situation deteriorates, it becomes clear that local agrarian resistance leaders have neither intent nor indeed means to capitulate, and all sides begin to adopt increasingly extreme measures in an attempt to win the seemingly endless feud. And there's also something off about some of the local children -- hearing voices, saying funny things. It can't be good for them, after all. All this bloodshed.

Ask to be +/- from the taglist + main characters under the cut

William Hughes Rearden - an extremely driven and neurotic member of the Belfast United Irishmen hellbent on getting French arms for his men. he/him

Lady Maria Whittaker - an English reformer who defected to the French; Rearden's close friend. Her mission is to arm the UI and she doesn't care what she has to do to accomplish it. she/her; first name pronounced "mariah"

Seamus "Seamy" Breen - a small, unhappy Irish Catholic boy who, after he witnesses the death of a schoolmate, develops the ability to speak to the dead. he/him; nickname pronounced "shaymie"

Eoin O'Donnell - a womanising Defender leader in Áth Síomóin who has decided that he will also be taking and using some of these French arms, actually. he/him; first name pronounced "owen"

Sarah Connolly - a nihilistic Catholic peasant woman trapped in an unhappy relationship with an abusive boyfriend, who knows much more than she lets on. she/her

Edward "Lazarus" McClure - the loyalist owner of a rural inn who has lately betrayed his principles for a Catholic boyfriend who he seems disturbingly devoted to. he/him

Elizabeth "Eliza" Durham - the heiress to the fortune of an Anglo-Irish landowning family who runs her family's estate like it's the navy and suffers little dissent. she/her

Anthony Franklin - an actor, committed abolitionist, philosophy enthusiast, and London Corresponding Society delegate originally from the West Indies. he/him

Charles Nathaniel Maurice Irving-Hamilton, Lord Drenning - a foppish English soldier brought over by Eliza to help quell agrarian disturbances. Really really bad at his job. he/him

Eleanor "Ellie" Gage - a waif of uncertain background who lives with the Presbyterian minister in a neighbouring townland and works unofficially for the local regiment. she/her