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newnoirstories · 1 year ago

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Urban Gothic Memoir Fiction

[The inclusion of religious or mystical practices in my fictional stories does not constitute an endorsement of them. All illustrations contained herein are the work of perchance.org, not of me, but this is not an official endorsement of that website, with which I have no official affiliation. Finally, the reader is warned that the following short story contains violence, death and themes of trauma.]

"The Autobiography of Adam L" (Interquel to "Arjuna's Bow")

Chapter I

My name is Lillian Jennifer Morgan. You may call me Adam L if you like, but that experiment, one of learning and grief both, is over now.

An author wrote a story in which he mentioned that one Tom Carew, a Cornish man, even as I am a Cornish woman, or at least my mother was, blamed me for the deaths of those unfortunate people caught up in the schemes of Dr. Karl Steele, a loathsome man whose story has been retold more than enough by the press.

Whether or not my experiments in magick caused an imbalance, or harmed someone by mistake, I do not know, but it was never my intention to harm innocents. I feel the need to tell my entire story, as Lillian Morgan. I believe, now in my later years, in a just Providence, and He will judge me for whatever I have done, but I want a voice to my people in East Village, to let them know who Adam L really is.

Before I knew of magick, or knew anything, I was born in the year 1940, in Cornwall, or so I am told. Before my first birthday, I was in Manhattan. Some connection exists, in ways difficult to explain, between me and any other Cornish person, and somehow, Mr. Carew knew things about me, and I about him, that we could not have known within the so-called settled order of nature.

My mother, sadly, did not survive for long after my birth, and my father, Ives Morgan, moved to New York and threw himself into work, I believe, to distract himself from grief. He would speak of nothing but work and money, money and work.

I rebelled against my father, though in hindsight, I regret this, but as youth, we are so energetic yet so foolish. If the material world obsessed my dad, I was determined to know only of unseen realms. I became an avid reader, and developed what I now recognize as perhaps an unhealthy obsession with death, such that I was, by my teenage years, a goth before anyone knew us as such. My hero was Maila "Vampira" Nurmi, whom I took quite seriously at the time, failing to see the humor in her performance.

Before the end of the 1950's, I was a member of a coven, which I took an oath never to name. I no longer practice their ways, yet these women were the sisters I never had, and I will not break my word to them. All I will say is that they hid in plain sight in New York City.

Chapter II

Before I continue, I want to make it clear that I am not a gossip. While this memoir will touch on sensitive topics, to some, I suppose, I have obtained permission from both my husband and my best friend to write as frankly about them as about myself.

Before my friends, however, I must recount an enemy, a boy I knew in high school, an ambitious, outwardly clean-cut young man named Jeremy Thomas. My memory now serves me better: I remember now that he looked at me with ridicule until I mentioned that spells could bring money, and when someone expressed skepticism of this, I said a spell that resulted in $1 appearing in the skeptical girl's shoe. Then and only then, I realize, did Jeremy take an interest in me, or rather, in the money (principal with interest) he hoped I could make for him.

I married Jeremy Thomas, much to my regret, in 1964. He was a scavenging investor, I will say, finding struggling companies, removing the old ownership and turning a profit with marketing gimmicks, and he believed, and I believed also, that my spells, some of which I kept secret, by vows of the sisterhood, even from him, were making him a wealthy man.

Life with Jeremy was much like life with my father, except for the two crucial traits I still admire in my dad, which Jeremy lacked utterly: Honesty and loyalty.

The author of a tale of crime in East Village makes mention of Jeremy's unfaithfulness with his secretary. As, in truth, I had no passion of that sort for Jeremy anyhow, I scarcely cared about this, especially after meeting the secretary, Esther North. Even as I idolized Vampira, so she was fascinated by the memory of the recently departed Jayne Mansfield, and looked the part, yet like Mansfield herself, was a far more intelligent and complex person than the image might have suggested.

I invited Esther home one evening, while my husband was on one of his investment scouting trips, three thousand or so miles away. The reader might ask why Esther would accept such an invitation, given that I could have resented her, but you do not know Esther "Jayne Mansfield" North (to this day, she calls me "Vampira" and "Vampy"): She has no fear of any situation, but only curiosity. The fact that everyone whispered about my macabre lair did, I believe, make "Jayne" all the more eager to see it for herself.

That first night, she went straight for the library, and when she began reading the Sanskrit fluently, I knew I had found a soulmate. What though she loved attention (I could never cure her habit of golfing in, shall we say, a naturist way), what though the hair I loved to brush and comb for her was bleached, she was light to my darkness, and was always there for me. I love Esther, no matter how that sounds.

Chapter III

It was Esther who warned me of Jeremy's intentions in the longer term.

"Neither of us fits the bland, blend into the furniture sort that men in the public eye marry. In a way, I hope Jeremy is never too successful, for if he is, I fear he might leave you," she said.

Never were truer words spoken. Indeed, Jeremy Thomas had the audacity, one day in 1971, to approach me and say that he wanted a divorce, because his fortune was growing and he needed a more "presentable" wife, "not Morticia Addams", as he put it. In those days, ironic as it may seem, the only shoulder on which I had to cry was Esther's. In the proceedings the next year, however, she actually asked me to put her down as the co-respondent in the divorce, to strengthen my case, and also because she thought it would give her publicity for an acting career.

I rushed over to her place trying to hold back the tears, then broke down, just holding her and sobbing.

By the middle of that decade, I was very bitter and I began to call myself "Adam L", after the legend of Adam and Lilith, for those who know it. My income would have consisted only of what I could make by reading palms, were it not for my dear Miss North.

She pursued her acting dreams, with my encouragement, in southern California, but found that her ability at golf was greater than her skill at acting. Although she won only a few minor tournaments, her beauty resulted in numerous endorsements, and her head for mathematics multiplied that money as efficiently as Jeremy ever had. Math was my weak subject, but I do know that she got a return on investment more than tripling annually, and while the world knows "The Blonde Whiz", as an investment magazine called her, what they did not know is that, more than once, she sent the money home to me, saving me from public housing or homelessness.

Chapter IV

The author of "Arjuna's Bow" does accurately describe my actions regarding the old treasure chest (the provenance of which I do not know, except that my father gave it to me) and a portrait, specifically a photograph of my ex-husband, in 1986. I knew- and it was from Esther and her knowledge of the world of investment that I knew it- that Jeremy Thomas started a charity, called United Governments, as a front for money sent to coca growing in Colombia, and my spell was intended to result in his arrest, which, indirectly, it may have.

Although they do love each other, Lieutenant David Brown and Esther North, who married that same year, were also allies in an investigation into Jeremy Thomas's money laundering schemes, both to and from Colombia, and Esther, by this time herself into runes, even devising new theories as to their origins, believed back then, as I did, that her Marriage to Brown was part of fate, a fate sealing Thomas in a prison cell, after his 1989 arrest for money laundering and tax evasion.

By that time, however, I had abandoned the esoteric arts, and I had a new husband. A new chapter or more will be needed for an explanation of each.

Chapter V

I will name one and only one fellow member of the sisterhood, and that is because I later discovered that she was also a member of the Reformed Order of Red Mendes, which, from what I heard, and what was later revealed in a court of law, was what remained of a group of British occultists alleged to be involved in terror, having fled the United Kingdom to avoid prosecution. Her name is, or was, as she is no longer with us, Jessica Bell, though she preferred to be called "Jezebel".

Jessica always wanted the rest of us to practice the Goetia. I refused. Back then, what did I worship? So many have asked, and the answer is puerile and disappointing: Thor, from Norse mythology, but only because I was caught in a lightning storm in my teens, and at the time, I thought that he rescued me from it. A sorry way to pick a religion, I now admit, though I also used to see Esther as an embodiment of Venus (Roman mythology).

The mere presence of this reckless, provocative woman (even by my standards), Jezebel, in the coven was something I gave little thought, until the Summer of 1987, when Manhattan officials wanted to cut down an old oak tree, in Riverside Park, which, admittedly, in retrospect, may have been an aesthetic problem, and possibly even a danger as far as falling limbs, but at the time, I associated oaks with Donar (Thor), as did the rest of the sisterhood.

Strangely, however, on the day the oak was to be felled, while we all prayed at the Park in our heathen ways, wishing harm on no living being, but only the preservation of the old oak, Jessica was absent from our circle.

Amidst the protest, one John Marsden was determined to do his job regardless, until in a flash, he caught fire. I still see him, and hear his screams too, in my nightmares. It took what seemed like ages before I realized that Jezebel had thrown a carefully prepared weapon, incendiary, at the poor man. Two policemen were on the scene to keep order amidst public opposition to cutting down the oak, and they gave chase, but out of some bushes emerged a man with a pistol, and while Marsden survived, badly disfigured, the policemen did not.

In the soil near the bushes was found a marker with the number "99", in red letters, so although the male attacker wore a ski mask, I knew who was responsible, at least by reputation: "99" was the title given to the leader, rumored to be one and the same as Chomolungma Iscariot (born Robert Pike), metaphorically "Highest Traitor", of the Reformed Order of Red Mendes, known as the Red Goat in Britain. Before the British began arresting the Red Goat, such deeds were entrusted to underlings, but after fleeing, now smaller in number and weaker in power, to the USA, every source I heard said that Chomolungma would trust no one but himself to have been the gunman in the park, and signed the deed accordingly.

Broken by what I had seen, several of us left the sisterhood. We knew, of course, that no one but Jezebel, still on the run from authorities, condoned such a deed, but the mere association was enough. That was the day I became, once again, Lillian Morgan.

Chapter VI

I felt that I had to apologize to Marsden personally, though I did not expect the hospital to let me see him, but to my surprise, the good Mr. Marsden said he had been expecting me, and insisted on seeing me. I begged his forgiveness, which he gave without even hesitating, adding that he forgave even Jessica Bell.

"I lead a Bible study group," John said, looking at me through the only eye that still saw light, "and I believe that if I did not forgive everyone, including this Jessica, or Jezebel, Jesus would not forgive me of my sins."

Further words would cheapen what this meant, but I will say that this was the first time in my life I considered monotheism of any kind.

As for Jessica Morris Bell, she was found, in March, 1988, deceased, lightning the cause. I could scarcely believe it, and thought it must be what we would now call an urban legend, but one reputable source after another confirmed it. By this time, I prayed to one I called Sky Father, and reckoned this must be His justice.

That year, however, saw another curse, as it seemed, but brought me the husband I love with all my heart.

Chapter VII

Having left the occult, I no longer read palms, losing my only independent source of income. Likewise, while Esther insisted that she, now quite wealthy from golf, modeling and acting, but mainly her wise investments, was happy to support me, joking that I was her "wife", I felt that she deserved the money a lot more than I did, but my reputation preceded me.

As a macabre woman of mystery and darkness, as the world considered me, what employment could I find? I could think of only one thing: Go from actual magick to the illusions of stage magic, and I sought employment as a magician's assistant. Esther was such a doll: She was unofficially my costume designer, even sewing my old outfits into stage costumes. I had no money to pay her, of course, but she did it because she loves me.

My employer was Gerald Harper, stage name Mesmer Blanc, a meticulously crafted persona, and he sought me because of, not in spite of my reputation, saying that my mysterious past would bring audiences by itself. Gaunt and charismatic, I found Harper more than a little appealing, but while he kept it a secret, he preferred other men.

A fresh start, I thought, and a fine gentleman who said that one day, he would teach me to be a stage magician myself. I became then, not only his assistant on stage, but his professional protégé.

One evening, he attempted to teach me both his most popular and his most dangerous trick. He insisted that he would, in the privacy of his home, a grand, gothic mansion, demonstrate it first on himself, that I was not to assume the risk until he had taught me with the utmost care.

Harper had in his possession an actual guillotine used by notorious French revolutionaries, and he was eager to allow anyone, including experts, to examine it, to prove that it was not a trick device. He had many times placed his own head in this device, and somehow lived to tell of it, and he would now demonstrate this to me, though he locked us in a room, not trusting even his servants with the secret of how it was done.

Some strange sense of foreboding came over me. I saw an old portrait on the wall. It was as if the eyes stared at me. The glint of light from a suit of armor startled me.

"Now, now, Lillian, don't be nervous. This fine home you see: This trick bought it for me. I know what I'm doing."

Yet in demonstrating the device, he met with a very real end. I was too shocked to speak or cry out, but just stood there. I barely remember what happened next, but I vaguely recall a policewoman helping me to a chair.

The initial assumption was that it was a horrible accident, but close examination of the deadly device revealed that it had been subtly altered by someone- and I became the prime suspect- in an act of cold-blooded murder. As the guillotine was stored in the room of Harper's death, and no one but Harper himself was known to have a key to the room, I would have been arrested for a crime of which I was innocent but for the doubts of one man: Detective Sammy Drayson.

Chapter VIII

"I doubt you're the killer, but you know who the killer is," said Drayson, looking keenly at me.

I did, actually, have a suspicion. I did not want to tell the world Harper's secret life as a gay man, especially not in those days, the way things were, but here I was, facing a potential charge of murder, murder of a man I deeply respected.

"A man named Bob has a key to that room," I reluctantly told Sammy.

"Who is Bob?"

"I don't know, but I know that he is, or was, well, Mr. Harper's lover, and Harper mentioned him more than once, even mentioning entrusting him with a duplicate key."

Sammy, Detective Drayson, knows better than I do what investigative measures took place next, but he discovered that "Bob" was actually Robert Pike, Chomolungma Iscariot, revealed in court proceedings to be the leader of Red Mendes. His crime, so far as the District Attorney knew, was intended primarily to frame me, though why Pike would do such a thing remains a mystery.

Sammy would visit me from time to time. He knew of the trauma at Riverside Park, and little by little, he opened up about his childhood as an orphan. The men at the station thought him to have no feelings, but the lovely man cried in my arms, the sweetest, gentlest lamb, yet a bold tiger confronting the likes of Bob Pike. We married in April of 1989, and grow more in love each day.

Esther North moved back to New York, saying she missed me. I hugged her so hard she nearly passed out, as I forgot the strength of my grip. Born for show business, she became a Broadway and Off-Broadway producer, though under the contrived name "Helen Troy".

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roseunspindle · 2 years ago

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Favorite Books of 2023

a reread but I loved it even more the second time through.

#2023 #Favorite Books #Spinning Silver #Naomi Novik #booklr #Mysteries of Thorn Manor #margaret rogerson #System Collapse #Martha Wells #Cinderella is Dead #Kalynn Bayron #Horrid #Katrina Leno #Mansfield Park #Jane Austen #The Whispering Dead #The Ravenous Dead #The Twisted Dead #Darcy Coates

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iancumminsauthor · 2 years ago

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Background Research for my Latest Novel

"Social Murderer"

My latest book, ‘Social Murderer’, brings together three themes.

1. I realised how much the characters in a book intrude into my mind while I’m writing a book. The clash between fictional characters and events in the author’s real life is a theme that has been applied many times. The book that comes first to my mind on this topic is ‘The Dark Half’ by Stephen King – which is mentioned by one of the characters in ‘Social Murderer’. Other books have also explored the theme, a recent bestselling example being ‘The Woman Who Lied’ by Claire Douglas.

2. In ‘Social Murderer’, the killer selects his victims from the internet, and social media in particular. Again, not a unique theme – I’m not sure there are never any new ideas in fiction, just different ways of telling a story. I recently read a novel titled ‘I See You’ by Clare Mackintosh which had an interesting spin on this idea.

3. The third component of the book is puzzles, a topic that has interested me all my life. Some of the subject matter in ‘Social Murderer’ is based on my own experience, although I never achieved some of the more exotic uses for puzzle-setting that occur in the book.

Research

The book is centred in the town of Mansfield, which I chose for two main reasons.

1. The book is quite dark in its theme, and if Mansfield brings any image to the reader’s mind, it’s probably a dark one.

2. The other reason is that my path through life has twice intersected with the town. I spent my early years of my life in Mansfield and my first memories are all located there – in a street whose name you’ll be able to guess if you read the book. I also worked closely for several years with a company that was based there.

For this book, I visited two locations: a certain stretch of the Kent coast (where my journey exactly matched that of the killer) and Pimlico which, regretfully, did not commend itself to me.

If you read my books, I would be interested in your comments. Feel free to get in touch – you can reach me via various social media.

#background research #book research #author research #murder mystery #social murders #social murderer #Stephen King #Clare Mackintosh #Claire Douglas #Mansfield #new novel #amazon books #kindle books

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unmechanism · 6 months ago

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never been happier in my life, was frightened I neared the end for a second there

#mansfield mysteries #audio fiction

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findthefandom-orbecomethefandom · 1 year ago

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been bouncing between so many podcasts and haven't progressed much in any

🚩: scatterbrained commitment issues

#sherlock & co #remnants pod #the dex legacy #the diaries of netovicius #how to parallel process consuming media #audiodrama #fiction podcasts #Mansfield mysteries #sidequesting #Also need to catch up on tmagp so many spoilers gfl

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apocaliz · 7 days ago

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Current status of this year's book bingo by @batmanisagatewaydrug

I don't have a bingo yet, but I'm getting there :)

Literary fiction: Mansfield Park by Jane Austen. This was the last Austen book I had not read before, and it is usually considered her most difficult one. I thought it was a very interesting read, but definitely not a particularly fun one. It does have her usually funny and witty moments and scathing observations, but it is also pretty harrowing, mostly because the heroine is in a truly awful position and has very little opportunity to defend herself. Austen has always been great at writing hate-able characters, but in other books they are usually fun, mostly because in those books the heroine can clap back, but Fanny in this book can't. But it also means that the themes of the complicated class differences and intricacies in Regency England can be looked at a lot more clearly. So while I usually re-read Austen books fairly regularly, I don't think I'll do that with this one, but I'm glad I finally read it.

Sequel: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson. I could have put quite a few books here, Heavenly Tyrant for example, but I went with this. I'm new to Sanderson, a friend got me into his books late last year. I enjoy them a great deal, they are very comfortable in a way. I'm currently reading The Stormlight Archives.

20th century Speculative fiction: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. I actually read this at the beginning of the year, before I saw the bingo, so it is purely coincidentally one of the recommendations from the original bingo post :) But my god, what a book. What a book to read in the year 2025 of all years. Two words: Too real. I have the sequel waiting for me, but I had to take a breather before continuing. But if you are even remotely considering reading this book, do it. Do it now.

Fantasy: Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett. I'm slowly making my way through all of the Pratchett books. While this one wasn't my favourite, I enjoyed it a great deal. I especially enjoyed banter and chemistry between the three witches it revolves around.

Published before 1950: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. I have to be honest, this one has been slightly overshadowed in my mind by the Ang Lee adaptation starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet. I honestly think the movie might be better than the book, which is drier than I remember. It's still an enjoyable read.

Indie Publisher: The Antarctica Conspiracy (Time to Orbit: Unknown) by Derin Edala (aka @derinthescarletpescatarian): Ok, I think I technically cheated here, because I might have finished this last year, I'm not quite sure. But I wanted to include it, because I just love it so much. These books are absolutely addictive, both in the way they have a slowly unraveling mystery, but also in the way they look at life on a spaceship from so many angles, be it technological, sociological or psychological. Just deeply crunchy sci-fi, think Asimov but with actually enjoyable and memorable characters.

Animal on the cover: Empress of Salt and fortune by Nghi Vo. A very short but very interesting and moving story, definitely recommend.

Set in a country you have never visited: Chain-Gang-All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. I have technically been to an American airport, but I don't think that counts. Another near-future dystopia set in the US, those just seem very topical right now. Without giving too much away, this books reminded me of the greatest thing dystopia can do: Giving you characters to love in a terrible situation, giving you a tiny glimmer and then snatching it away again. Another definite recommendation.

Nonfiction: Die Suchtfibel ("a primer on addiction") by Ralf Schneider. I technically read this for work (I work in addiction rehab), but it is a pretty good and accessible book on addiction for patients and their loved ones. I have recommended it to plenty of patients. Unfortunately I think it is only available in German. So I suppose if you happen to speak German and have a professional or personal interest in the topic of addiction, this is a pretty decent place to start.

Social Justice and activism: The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein. A book on "disaster capitalism", or the way capitalist and imperialist nations use disasters further their economic interests. Written in the 2000s, but it has only gotten more relevant with time.

Romance Novel: Emma by Jane Austen. Yes, I've read a lot of Austen this year, I didn't even put everything on the bingo card. This one is my absolute favourite of her's, and one of my favourite books of all time. It is probably her funniest, and the titular heroine is a lovable disaster. I debated whether to put this one as the Romance book, or whether to use Persuasion instead, which I also re-read this year. I went for this one, mostly because I just love it so much. I also watched several adaptions on this book this year, the Netflix one I was underwhelmed by, the BBC miniseries was pretty decent. Jonny Lee Miller makes a pretty good Mr. Knightley.

Read & Make a recipe: I tried a new eggplant and white bean dish a couple of days ago. Even though I tripled all the spices it was still pretty bland. A bit disappointing, but maybe it has potential with a couple of fixes.

Published in the aughts: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson. I liked this one a lot, especially the way it shows how complicated things get after a revolution, even a successful one.

Books I've also read, which didn't make the bingo card:

Persuasion by Jane Austen

Heavenly Tyrant by Xiran Jay Zhao

The Northers Lights by Philip Pullmann

The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson

Books I'm planning to read soon which will fill other spaces:

Short story collection: Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah. I ordered this a couple of days ago and just have to pick it up, so it will probably be my next read.

Graphic Novel: I am probably going to continue reading Saga by Brian K. Vaughan, I'm a couple of volumes behind.

Essay Collection: Annotated Essays by Jacob Geller. This might also double as 2025 debut author :)

Science Fiction: I have some unread Asimov I might read, though I gotta be honest, I can only take Asimov in short bursts. His ideas are incredible, but his prose is dry.

Will update when I fill further spaces :)

#book bingo 2025 #jane austen #brandon sanderson #time to orbit unknown #nana kwame adjei brenyah #terry pratchett #naomi klein #octavia e butler #nghi vo

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petaltexturedskies · 1 year ago

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Do not resist. Take it. Be overwhelmed. Accept it fully. Make it part of life. Everything in life that we really accept undergoes a change. So suffering must become Love. This is the mystery. This is what I must do.

Katherine Mansfield, from a diary entry written c. March 1920

#Katherine Mansfield

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bethanydelleman · 1 year ago

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The beginning of Mansfield Park introduces the mysterious Ward sisters in such a strange way. We have no information about their family, we don't even know if they are in the gentry class. All we know is that they have a dowry of 7000 pounds each and an uncle in the law. Then, almost like the three little pigs, they marry into entirely different spheres of life, a straw, wood, and brick house. Maria Ward, the middle child, marries a baronet and moves to the top of the gentry, Miss Ward, the eldest and unnamed, marries into the clergy, securely within the gentry but near the bottom, and Miss Frances, the youngest, marries a "lieutenant of marines" and already on the fringes of the gentry (the marines was not equivalent at the time to the navy, it was considered lesser, paid less, and had less opportunity to accumulate wealth). The division is so exact, it's like a fairy tale. One sister married high, another in the middle, another low.

For such a realistic story, the set up feels so mythical.

About thirty years ago Miss Maria Ward, of Huntingdon, with only seven thousand pounds, had the good luck to captivate Sir Thomas Bertram, of Mansfield Park, in the county of Northampton, and to be thereby raised to the rank of a baronet’s lady, with all the comforts and consequences of an handsome house and large income. All Huntingdon exclaimed on the greatness of the match, and her uncle, the lawyer, himself, allowed her to be at least three thousand pounds short of any equitable claim to it. She had two sisters to be benefited by her elevation; and such of their acquaintance as thought Miss Ward and Miss Frances quite as handsome as Miss Maria, did not scruple to predict their marrying with almost equal advantage. But there certainly are not so many men of large fortune in the world as there are pretty women to deserve them. Miss Ward, at the end of half a dozen years, found herself obliged to be attached to the Rev. Mr. Norris, a friend of her brother-in-law, with scarcely any private fortune, and Miss Frances fared yet worse. Miss Ward’s match, indeed, when it came to the point, was not contemptible: Sir Thomas being happily able to give his friend an income in the living of Mansfield; and Mr. and Mrs. Norris began their career of conjugal felicity with very little less than a thousand a year. But Miss Frances married, in the common phrase, to disoblige her family, and by fixing on a lieutenant of marines, without education, fortune, or connexions, did it very thoroughly. She could hardly have made a more untoward choice.

Mansfield Park, Ch 1

#mansfield park #the ward sisters #jane austen

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esther-dot · 2 years ago

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Pride & Prejudice AUs

You Look Like A Movie, You Sound Like A Song 2k @jonsastan

She had met Jon Targaryen there. It was a complete accident and at first, Sansa thought, a complete misfortune. He was drenched from an impromptu swim in his pond, and she was flustered, not wanting him to think she was vying for his attention. But as she had attempted to make her hurried escape, he had found her and invited her parents to stroll with him around the gardens. He had offered her kindness, and thoughtfulness, he had talked with her parents, discussed the present state of politics with her father and chatted knowledgeably about gardens with her mother.

A Certain Step Toward Falling in Love 2k by @comma-splice

Jon Snow returns North after departing abruptly one year ago.

Pride and Prejudice ficlet series 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (or link for the tag) by @vixleonard

In which Sansa is Darcy and Jon is Lizzie because why not?

The Bennet Sisters - a P&P AU comic by @melinaillustrations

P&P Gifset by @sardoniyx, P&P Gifset by @dcbicki, P&P Gifset by deactivated

Persuasion AUs

Who Loves Longest, Who loves Best 1k by @ladysaruka

After refusing him years ago, Sansa sees her cousin once again.

Persuasion edits one, two , three by @glueck

Mansfield Park AUs

Half Agony, Half Hope 10k, incomplete by @noqueenbutthequeeninthenorth

After the death of his disgraced mother, Jon Snow is taken in by his uncle's family, the Starks of Winterfell. He grows up alongside his cousins, including the beautiful and kind-hearted Sansa, but knowing he can never truly be their equal, he fears he has little choice but to leave the place he's come to call home. corresponding moodboard

Catch Me If You Can 34k (P&P and Emma inspired too) by @ben-barnes-is-my-husband

Set in the countryside of Regency England, Jon Snow has been in love with Sansa Stark for as long as he can remember. He wants her as his wife, but Sansa is not sure she wants to be a wife at all, and she knows she doesn’t want to marry the pragmatic and boring Jon. She’d rather help Theon Greyjoy come out of his shell and play matchmaker. But then Jaime Lannister comes to town and Jon finds he has some serious competition for Sansa…

Moments Like This (So Few and Far Between) 3k by @lydiamartenism

Mama and Papa left the house to go pick up Jon, the son of her father’s oldest friend. Three weeks ago, the phone rang and their parent’s announced that Jon would be coming to live with them since his mother passed away and had no one else to take care of him.

Northanger Abbey AUs

The Lady in White 7k by @kissed-by-circe

Dragonstone Manor had looked like it had woken only a few days earlier, after a slumber of several years, if not decades, and Sansa had felt like the heroine of a gothic novel, a mysterious, naive girl with a dark past or a dark secret, arriving at the opening scene of the most dramatic story of all times. Or Sansa as Katherine Morland in a Jane Eyre Setting.

Sense & Sensibility AUs

In Such Jocund Company 2k @maybetwice

It would be no matter at all for Captain Snow to return to the north after seven months’ absence, had Sansa’s heart not changed entirely in that time. A remix of Colonel Brandon and Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility.

Emma & Clueless AUs

if i loved you less 2k by @ladystarks

Her father has, often and fondly, told Sansa that she and Mr. Snow bite at each other like wolves, but he hardly understood that their verbal sparring was as exhilarating as a sport well done, or a match coming together under Sansa’s skilled hands. corresponding artwork

Sansa: A NOVEL in Five Parts 15k by @imagineagreatadventure

Sansa Stark, handsome, clever, rich, hopes to establish herself as her town's foremost matchmaker. After seeing her governess Miss Shae married to the rich and clever Mr. Tyrion Lannister, she feels as though she deserves that title. Her dear friend and cousin, Jon Targaryen, heartily disagrees and is quite proven right when Sansa sets her sights on marrying off her newest and dearest friend Jeyne Poole to the vicar Mr. Baelish.

Clueless ficlet

“So is the new stepdad, like, a total monster or do you just prefer mooching off of us?” Sansa asks, her head flipped upside down as she brushes her hair, several Real Housewives screaming at each other on the television.

A Baldwin and a Betty 2k

Jon drives to the Valley to give Sansa a ride home.

Emma AU art by @dcvahkiin and Clueless art by wolvesofspring

Emma Gifset by @dcbicki and Clueless Gifset by @thedarkestgreys

Clueless Edits 1, 2 by @glueck and Clueless Edits 1, 2, 3, 4 by @thequeeniinthenorth

General Regency AUs

No Notion of Loving by Halves 2k @darkmagyk

The Stark cousin, Jon, goes home to discuss matters concerning the entail on Winterfell. In which Jon is a really good guy, and I flagrantly disregard how entails actually work.

Manners and Misunderstandings 114k, WIP by @x-winging-it

The Stark sisters have travelled all the way to London to begin their first season, leaving behind the familiar world of Winterfell Hall and a disappointed Jon Stark- with whom the eldest Miss Stark has been convinced to break off a connection. In London they join family friends the Baratheons and the fashionable young Tyrells in a world of romance and balls. Meanwhile Gendry Waters has been plucked out of the life he knew to become his ailing father's heir, Robb, Theon and later Rickon embark on military careers in the Napoleonic wars, and their aunt Lysa makes a foolish marriage. When tragedy hits the family, they must come together, learning how manners may hide monsters and the best people are often those misunderstood by society.

You Could Draw Me to the Gallows 2k by @azulaahai

After having eloped from home with and subsequently been abandoned by wealthy heir Joffrey Baratheon, Sansa Stark refuses to come home. Having caused a scandal that is sure to prevent her from ever marrying, she is adamant not to bring further shame to the family name by returning to Winterfell. Until, that is, a visitor comes to her - Jon Snow, an old family friend, determined to bring Sansa with him back north. He has a solution to offer her - a proposal with the potential to change both of their lives.

A Perilous Dance Indeed & fiercely, tenderly and eternally 27k by @amymel86

He should either look away or interrupt this improper little meeting, he knows. For some unfathomable reason, he does neither. The two look far too intimate for Jon’s liking, although he feels he should have come to expect it to be so. A romantic like Sansa – however proper she is – would simply adore overt flirtations and a secret tête-à-tête. Even from where he stands, Jon can see the way in which she has stars set in her eyes like precious cut stones. He only hopes the man for whom they shine is deserving of it. *** Cousin Jon is to inherit Winterfell Manor and its estate after the untimely death of his uncle leaves a widow and two daughters. Sansa is expectant of an imminent proposal from her dear beau, Harrold Hardyng and everything will be absolutely, stunningly, utterly fine.

Waiting for Your Slippered Feet 49k by @wintry-ritu

Lady Sansa Stark has always looked forward to her come-out season in London, the balls, the rides in Hyde Park, evenings at Vauxhall, the romance and wonder of it all. Never had she imagined that it would happen like this, with her parents gone and her younger siblings underfoot. Now, all Sansa wants is for it all to be over quickly so she can get back to Winterfell. She needs a kind, amiable man who will be brave enough to take on his wife's siblings. That should not be so hard to find in London, should it? And while she is most grateful for Jon Targaryen's help, why must her cousin be so distracting?

To Make You Love Me 16k incomplete and orphaned

When Ned Stark dies, he leaves behind his wife, two daughters, and his family’s estate at Winterfell. What follows is a series of unwanted marriage proposals, houseguests who far outstay their welcome, and Arya parading around in a comically large hat and an oil-paint mustache as she declares herself the new ‘Lord of Winterfell,’ in an attempt to dissuade her sister’s suitors. However, when Mr. Jon Snow — their distant cousin and Ned’s appointed heir to the estate — comes to call, an oil-paint mustache is hardly enough to deter him from courting Miss Sansa Stark. And she thinks, perhaps, that a man could marry her for love more than her claim, after all.

Mine for a Season 101k by @vivilove-jonsa

Colonel Jon Targaryen is a single man in possession of a good fortune who claims no interest in finding himself a wife. With his war wounds, he thinks no young lady would want him anyway for anything beyond the allure of his pocketbook. Fortunately and unbeknownst to him, Fate has chosen to find a wife for him and will even deliver her right to his doorstep. Taking on the responsibility of shepherding a young lady about for a Season in London is not at all what Jon had wished to do but he had accepted out of a sense of familial duty. However, once he meets Sansa again after only having met her years ago as a child, he may not consider it a duty so much as a torment.

a lady of winterfell 185k, WIP by @wandering-scavenger

She bit her lip and exhaled shakily, “If you are so sickened by the prospect of marrying me, we should be able to obtain an annulment easily enough with your father’s connections.” “I will do no such thing.” he snapped, refusing to look at her. Sansa had never felt more rejected than she did at that moment. Her past experiences of being humiliated at the hand of Joffrey did not feel as painful as this. Even so, she could not allow him to see the weakness in her, not now. “I will not be left out, Jon.” she said, tilting her chin up to look down at him. He grimaced. They were silent for longer than she cared to count, but each second that he did not speak chipped away at her resolve and her ability to withhold her tears. Jon did not want her, and she could not blame him. Who could ever want her? It should not have distressed her as much as it did. She was never his favourite sister, she who treated him as a stranger since she was old enough to understand what a bastard was. A tear slipped down to her face until she tasted the salt of it on her lips. “If we marry, we will remain so.” corresponding gifset

moth's wings 47k by @cellsshapedlikestars

Sansa was determined to convince her aunt to let Arya debut, which is how she finds herself in her current predicament. “Who is this secret gentleman who has asked for your hand?” Aunt Lysa asks, and Sansa knows from her tone that she does not believe. (She has every right not to believe, for it is not true.) And then Sansa does something very, very foolish. She says a name. “The Duke of Dragonstone!” Or, Sansa fakes an engagement so that Arya can debut and marry the man she loves. The only problem? Her fake fiance just so happens to be in the city when he was not supposed to be.

An Understanding 2k, WIP by @thewolvescalledmehome

At the start of Sansa Stark's third London Season, she decides it will be her last. She will secure a husband by the end of the final ball. Jon Snow is new to the London Season and high society. He never expected to inherit money or property from an unknown uncle. When they meet at a ball, Sansa gets an idea.

you're in my blood like holy wine 72k

Sansa finds it difficult to look at Jon’s face, with its weathered lines and cragginess. It is the face of the North and a face that northerners trust; the face of Sansa’s brothers and her father, who had been loved and respected by their tenants as their forefathers had been when they were kings. How can Sansa feel anything but resentment, looking into that face and knowing that all of her years of hard work will never earn her the respect that that profile engenders within seconds? But she does. It is a small, burning coal of something that must be smothered.

PRE CANON - WESTERN - FAIRYTALES - LITTLE WOMEN - HOLIDAY - SEASON 6 ANNE OF GREEN GABLES - THE GIRL IN GREY - FREE CITIES - FAIRYTALE PART II - POLITICAL MARRIAGE - SALTY TEENS - POST CANON - RICKON LIVES - JON X ALAYNE - EDWARDIAN - VICTORIAN - OUTSIDER POV - FIGURE SKATING

#jonsa #dot fic list #jonsa fic #regency au #pride and prejudice au #emma au #northanger abbey au #mansfield park au #persuasion au #marriage of convenience au #arranged marriage au

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