#the title of course is from the broadside ballad 'royal courage' and is being used somewhat sarcastically

[transthadymacdermot]

WIP intro: Brave Boys of Renown

Genre: horror, political fiction, kind of histfic but idk if you would really classify it as that lmao

Setting: Belfast, Northern Ireland, 1974

Warnings: this is, at its core, an extremely dark and pessimistic story about paramilitaries cannibalising people. if this puts you off in any way block the tag. it is also about child abuse, classism, colonialism, and the top ten most unsanitary commercial kitchens + none of the characters are in any way good or even mostly tolerable people. once again this is mostly just a personal catharsis story for me so I will be writing whatever I want and if it isn't for you then settings > account > filtered tags > "wip: bbor"

Synopsis

Lazarus McClure's day is already going pretty badly, but even after everything that's already happened accidentally hitting and killing someone with his car represents a serious escalation. Faced with the prospect of years spent in prison for what looks like yet another contribution to Northern Ireland's already years-long civil war, he makes what is of course the only logical decision available to him: forcing the only witness, a bystander by the name of Brendan Breen, into the car with him, and driving him and the body back to the chip shop which represents Lazarus' livelihood -- a place where, shall we say, no one will notice another body. But Lazarus has no idea how to dispose of it in a way that definitely won't trace back to him. He even considers turning himself in. And then Brendan, who works part-time as a butcher, cleverly noticing that they are currently in a room full of meat mincers and fryers, offers, in exchange for his freedom, to provide a solution...

Inspired in many ways by my own family history (NOT INCLUDING THE EATING PEOPLE. LET ME CLEAR THAT UP NOW) and an inability to stop thinking about politics ever. I will say rn that the cannibalism present in the story is used almost wholly as a horror aspect and is. how do I say this. basically if you're looking for cannibalism-as-desire this piece will disappoint you. however, if you're looking for cannibalism as a metaphor for colonialism, capitalism, the British aristocracy, power imbalance within relationships, and [insane person voice] the underrepresentation of any non-England place within the UK parliament, this will likely appeal to you slightly more <3