#Janeuary Day 3

[fawnilu]

Oh to be jealous and in love in Bath💕

@janeuary-month

[jomiddlemarch]

The Pump Room was excruciating and the lovely golden Crescent a horror. There was no delight to be found in the gardens, no diversion over tea or cards, no lace or ribbon tempting. Anne’s reticule hung from her wrist and her eyes stared sightlessly at the great blue sky, the kestrels and sparrowhawks aloft. Dear Lady Russell was kind and her friend Sarah Follett was as amiable as when they had been at school together and it was all worthless. Anne had broken her heart herself, sending Frederick away, and nothing in Bath would soothe her. She’d never, never return.

Posted for Day 3 of Janeaury, prompt "Bath"

[jaeausten]

JANEUARY-MONTH.

Day 3- Bath.

[elmorinn]

Janeuary Day 3 - Bath ☁️

@janeuary-month

wholesome horror novel talk from Northanger Abbey ^^

Isabella Thorpe they can never make me hate you <3

i referenced this wonderful illustration by H.M. Brock:

https://dk.pinterest.com/pin/844987948869980996/

[mysunfreckle]

Northanger Abbey, March 17.

My dearest Isabella,

Though I know it was but two days ago that we took leave of each other in Pulteney Street, it seems an age since I have seen you. I hope you are well!

My journey was very comfortable and we arrived yesterday before five o’clock. Northanger Abbey is a very fine place, but I do believe I shall miss Bath. Almost as much as I long to see you. The principle part of the abbey is not so very ancient after all. It is certainly nothing like the one poor Adeline sought refuge in in Romance of the Forest. Has Miss Andrew had any news about this new publication that is to come out in London? Pray tell me all about it if she has!

I dearly want to know all about how you are getting on in Bath. For Mrs Allen has given me no hopes of a letter till she has got back to Fullerton, and James protested against writing until his return to Oxford. And I am sure he is very reluctant to leave Bath at present.

Have you indeed matched that fine netting-cotton of which you spoke when last we met? You must tell me if you shall have your new gown made up exactly as you wished it.

Pray send my love to James, and remember me to Mrs Thorpe. I eagerly await your letter and shall write again soon.

Your loving friend,

Catherine Morland

Chapter/letter number 5 of From Wiltshire to Gloucestershire by way of Oxford and Bath, a collection of letters that we know were written, but (mostly) weren't included in the text of Northanger Abbey. And very fitting for the @janeuary-month day 3 prompt: Bath!

[chocolatepot]

Janeuary day 3, "Bath"

It had been difficult to communicate with Anne Wentworth when she was aboard her husband's ship and far across the ocean, but the missives Mrs. Smith had received had been extremely encouraging. Efforts had been made with her property, she knew, and she trusted that they would come to fruition in the captain's capable hands.

Still, she did not expect the Wentworths to appear suddenly at her small apartments in Bath, without having given her any notice.

"I am so sorry!" cried Anne. "I did write from Portsmouth, but then we came here so quickly that I suppose we passed the stage."

"You are forgiven heartily," Mrs. Smith told her as they clasped hands. Even if she had been inclined to be testy, she would not have been able to muster any ill-will in the face of Anne's transformation. A year of connubial happiness and the application of West Indian warmth and sunshine had worked on her so that she could almost pass for a different woman than the one that had sat with Mrs. Smith when she was still Miss Elliot — particularly due to the interesting condition the observer's canny eyes thought she must have recently fallen into.

Indeed, there was much to discuss.

[mollywog]

The plan was to post part 2 for the Janeuary day 1 prompt (letters)… the new plan is to post it for day 3 (Bath)

Regrets

(An Everlark x Persuasion AU)

Summary: He’s seated at the desk in the Odair sitting room, trying in vain to attend to his letter. The conversation is not private, the room buzzes with activity, but he still feels an intruder listening in on the pair by the window. But Katniss Everdeen has always been his weakness.

Inspiration

[alexandercolbourne]

A Portrait of a Lady - Janeuary Day 4

hey there, jane austen friends! i made this for @janeuary-month! i hope everyone likes sanditonnnn <3

this is self-indulgent, and you all need to know this. this is a canon/oc ship story, but it's more about alexander as a whole than his relationship with my oc. there's obviously talk of it, but this especially concerns himself, heyrick park, and how things change when one falls in love! the story is below the cut, because i dont remember my ao3 login info anymore, oops!

There are very few things that men of Alexander Coulbourne’s countenance are, by their own fault, unsure of. Unfortunately for Alexander Colbourne, though, he is a man terrified of so many things. He was widowed by a woman who had loved him little when she died, and the father of a child who was his not by blood, but of his wife’s. But that mattered little now; having all happened such a long decade prior, there was nothing he could do. Besides, he thought, as he entered Heyrick Park behind the din of Leonora and Augusta, he couldn’t keep his mind occupied for long, laughing and shouting after his daughter as she breezed past and through the foyer, past the waiting Mrs. Wheatley. “How was your outing, then?” The older woman asked.

“Quite fine, Mrs. Wheatley, thank you,” Alexander said, walking over and doffing his top hat. He looked down at the face of the woman who had been so much a mother to him when his had failed - one of the few people in Sanditon who knew him, who cared to know him. So many in this town thought of the Colbournes as if Jonathan Colbourne still lived; as if the youngest son had not received the entire estate, leaving the elder Samuel to be a well-off, yet drunken, prosecutor. Alexander was not his father, even through his faults. 

“And you did it all without Mrs. Colbourne’s wizened assistance. I believe that means you have lost our bet.”Mrs. Wheatley looked up with a smirk on her weathered face, her eyes sparkling in mischievous amusement. 

With a glance down at the hand outstretched between them, Alexander himself smiled. A tight-lipped and small-mouthed smile was something seen more often these days, much to the entire house’s enjoyment. Even when he lost a bet - usually a paltry shilling- he was glad to pay it. He would pay for a home, a pension, anything for Mrs. Wheatley, but she had so often vehemently denied it. The woman deserved her rest, to be pampered and cared for as she had done for Alexander and Samuel in their childhoods. He procured the coin from his pocket and placed the silver coin into the pale-yet-dark palm of the woman before him. “Hm. You win yet again. Has Mr. Lockhart arrived?”

“Yes, he is in the drawing room with Mrs. Colbourne.” The two took their leave from the other, with Alexander’s booted feet moving over the wooden floors toward the drawing room. Even from down the corridor, he heard them - the always affable Charles Lockhart, Sanditon’s resident portraitist - and the lady of the house herself, Mrs. Colbourne. Alexander stood in the hall and looked in, as the two fawned over young Leonora a moment, before he was noticed.

“Father, Father!” Leonora crowed in her excited child’s voice, rushing to him. “Mother’s done!” Now, of course, the new Mrs. Colbourne was hardly the child’s mother - no, that had been the late Lucy Colbourne. The woman whom Alexander had married at such a young age had given Leonora life - yet that hadn’t stopped the child from becoming nearly as infatuated with her stepmother as her father was himself. 

“By which she means, my darling, is that my portrait is done,” came the voice of the woman in the room. Alexander looked up from his daughter to his wife across the room - in a gown the color of pink peonies. Her hair was curled around her head, the blonde a cloud of sunlight upon her head. Alexander’s heart seemed to melt as he saw her - as it tended to do. He broke himself away from Leonora just enough to step over to his wife; a quick kiss placed to her porcelain cheek. “Welcome home, my darling.”

Mrs. Colbourne was the bane of Alexander’s being, and yet at the same time the only thing that kept him so truly sane. An heiress - a veritable spoilt brat - from both respected English households and Russian alike. Her complexion was of one that many described as English rose, all while her features seemed so very. . . Russian. Not that she would let you forget it; she certainly would not allow Alexander to do so. The eight-and-twenty year old had met Alexander the year prior, in a dynamic so intense that he truly thought he was going mad. Never had he met someone so headstrong, so intent on doing what her mind was set to, to a point that she drove him to the absolute brink. But it was only when he realised that his nerves seemed better with her, that he seemed to think about nothing but Miss Lidya Taracova that he knew he was in love with her. “Glad I am to be home, Lili,” he replied as his lips left her cheek. “Have we not seen the painting yet? It cannot be so bad, can it, Mr. Lockhart?”

“Ah, no! In fact, I think it rivals any such portrait England will see in some time. We were discussing if it must be hung before it is unveiled.”It was a good question, truly - for Alexander hadn’t thought that far. Lili had joked time and again how it should hang in his study, above the fireplace, but when Alexander offered to hang it in their chambers, Lili stuck out her tongue and furrowed her brows.

“Perhaps the drawing room?” “Perhaps the dining room?” “Really, Xander, hang it in your study!” “I think it would look fine in the solarium.” “No, not that!” “And why not?” “The sun will ruin it!” 

And so it went. 

With her hand on her husband’s back, Lili looked up to him. She smiled devilishly, knowing that they must now indeed choose a spot for the portrait. Her brown eyes sparkled. “Well? Where shall it go?”

“Mr. Lockhart, what do you yourself recommend?” Alexander asked, amusedly rolling his eyes at his wife before looking to the artist himself. After another few moments, and after Leonora had burrowed herself into her stepmother’s side, did her voice ring up in the conversation. “What did you say, Leo?”

The blue-eyed, cherubic face looked up. “I think it should hang beside Mother’s portrait. In the foyer.” 

Lili gasped softly, her free hand going over the top of Leonora’s hair. “Leo. . .” It seemed presumptive, in a way - to place herself beside the late Mrs. Colbourne, the one portrait everyone saw when they entered Heyrick Park. 

“No, no. She’s right,” Alexander said, in a tone stronger than anticipated. To speak of Lucy, even so long after her death, even now that he was remarried; it sometimes seemed unfair to her. But no, his daughter was right. For the loss of Lucy had plunged Heyrick Park into darkness, all while the arrival of Lili had bathed it in light. It took three servants to carry the portrait and prepare to hang it, while the artist, the muse, and the benefactor all stood and waited expectantly. Once it was upon its spot on the wall, Charles pulled the fabric off, showing the portrait in its fullness - a gold filigreed frame - and a painting bedecked in light. 

And all while the portrait of Lucy beside it, dark and haunting and beautiful, seemed such a contrast, and with Lucy looking right at the viewer, Lili’s was different indeed. For Lili, painted in a gown of white, looked lively and warm, her eyes were not on the viewer. 

No, the new Mrs. Colbourne sat, straight backed, jaw soft and straight, and eyes clear as day, even through her profile. 

No, her eyes looked to Lucy. 

And there the portrait stayed: With the late Lucy Colbourne welcoming all in, while Lidya Colbourne waited patiently for her turn.

[doriansredroses]

So, my novella fell flat on its face. It was not the right storyline and I’m not ready for a novella yet. It was actually supposed to be the basis for my senior writing project, but I did pretty poorly in most of my classes due to mental health and it destroyed my project. But my professor likes me and is giving me a winter break extension to write this 25 page project for a full grade. So this means I can start fresh. I have until January 19th to complete it.

I need help though. Well I’d like to thank @janeuary-month for doing the Janeuary event because I’ve had an idea for day 22, which covers the plot estate. It has to be about an estate in some way, and follows the guidelines as well.

The title is called Woodward Park and it’s about a haunted estate. Here I go again making things spooky. I’m just stumped on the overall story. I’m thinking about basing it on Pride and Prejudice but I’m unsure which version I should do.

Version 1: MC (who’s basically a fusion of myself and Elizabeth Bennet, sort of but she plays Lizzie’s role) travels to England and stumbles upon this handsome young man but she’s not interested in him at all. But as time goes on she does fall in love with him and discovers the secrets of his estate, Woodward Park, and that he’s a vampire. He’s essentially vampire Mr. Darcy in the modern day in a Pride and Prejudice retelling.

Version 2: MC travels to England and meets a young woman who becomes friends with her. She goes to her estate and discovers that the house is indeed haunted. The ghosts start talking to her and tells her that the mistress is evil and she must get out. She may or may not fall for one of the pesky spirits. This is the least Austen-esque story of the bunch, but there will still be hints of regency. It’s also very similar to my old novella plot but with some signifiant tweaks.

Version 3: It is set in a fantasy dimension and MC must team up somehow with my Mr. Darcy character. It follows a similar plot line to Pride and Prejudice but also combines my mysterious manor idea and loosely inspired by Margaret Rogerson’s Sorcery of Thorns. I am unsure if there will be ghosts, sorcerers, or vampires yet, but I’ll get there. The setting is fantastical, but is set in the regency era of that dimension. Sorcery of Thorns was set in like 1813 in their dimension and the aesthetic was regency (ish).

Version 4: MC is now a young man and Darcy is a woman. It is set in the fantasy dimension again with a similar plot, but with a twist. MC is not interested in fem!Darcy at first, but slowly goes crazy for her to the point of obsession. She traps him in her estate and he slowly discovers that things are not all they seem. The ghosts try to warn him that things are sinister and he finds out Darcy is a witch who’s centuries old and has trapped all these men in her manor to serve her forever and to steal their souls. This is the most similar to my original novella plot except changing things from 18th century in colonial Massachusetts (the Salem obsession still rages strong) but to a fantastical regency-esque universe.

I’m unsure which idea to go ahead and start, so I need your feedback. Plot idea 2 seems the least Jane Austen so I am apprehensive about it because the event is Austen related. But, I could end up scrapping doing this day for the event if my thoughts go elsewhere. I hope not. I’ve been thinking about doing a Jane Austen inspired called Woodward Park for months.

@xxiamtiebrousxx

@ilovegayvampires

@firthbetterorfirthworse

@fetchmearum420

@mysteryofvampires

@ibrithir-was-here

[nnschneider]

The Good NA-borhood

Janeuary Day 7 prompt: Servants

Chapter 3 Summary: Henry meets Mr. Thorpe, another resident. Thorpe enlists Catherine’s help to throw a party to welcome Henry to the neighborhood.

"Tilney, have you met Catherine? Can you believe how cute she is?" Thorpe asked, already stepping closer to her.

"Yes," Catherine answered for him, chipper smile on her face. "We met in Michael's office and Mr. Tilney has already said that he finds me attractive."

"Don't get any ideas, Tilney," Thorpe told him, trying to make it sound like a joke. "Catherine is my girl." Henry couldn't tell if Thorpe thought of Catherine as a servant or a girlfriend on demand.

👉 @janeuary-month

[annaofthenorthernlights]

💖 What is your primary writing goal for this year?

🛳 Are there any new ships you want to write for? (Platonic, romantic, or anything in between.)

🤔 Are there any new characters you want to write about?

🍄 Are there any fandoms you've never written for but want to try?

💥Is there a chapter, scene, or WIP you're most excited to write? Share a snippet or tell us about it!

Thank you for the interesting asks! It´s not that easy but I try to make this a sensible post... lol

💖 Not to stress about how much I will achieve. I want to write out of pure joy for writing sake. Indulge in my blorbos along the days, weeks, months - I hope I do justice to all of them.

🛳 Well, there is one ship completely new to me to write about: Marianne Dashwood/Colonal Brandon from Sense and Sensibility (1995 adaption) for @janeuary-month 2025, and if assigned, for Valentine´s day gift exchange on AO3 2025. Another ship that´s not that new but I have not explored very deeply yet, is Alicent Hightower/Larys Strong from House of the Dragon (TV, season 1).

🤔 A very new character are for one Marianne Dashwood and Colonal Brandon (see above). And then, there is my OC Constanze, Baroness of Liebenstein for my post Frozen 2 fanfic "Love can bear uncertainty" (Hans redemption & arranged marriage au). This WIP is a result from writing my post Frozen 2 fanfic "Love can see beyond" (part 2 of my series The sight of love on AO3), where Anna and Kristoff are travelling to the Southern Isles. There they learn that Prince Hans was assigned into an arranged marriage. Now, while Hans and Constanze were mere side characters in about 2-3 chapters, I grew very fond of the vibes I got from working them into the fic. I then decided to give them their "own fanfic".

🍄 Sense and Sensibility (see above)

💥For this I would like to share a snippet to introduce my OC, Constanze (see above for new character). While the WIP is still in a very chaotic state of drabbles and ideas, I have grown very fond of my OC here (and how I see the development of her engagement and marriage to Hans). I could go on, rambling about how I see her, and Hans, and what ideas I have... but this would be too much.

Note: In the prologue, her mother dies in childbirth bed, and mysteriously, her mother´s lover dies in the same night...

This snippet is happening 18 years later, and is also the beginning of chapter 1:

The girl was called into her father´s study, and she stood in the door, kneading her handkerchief in her hands. He seldomly called her to his office. Actually, only when he had to lecture her about a report that had been brought to his ears. Like when she´s stollen herself away to spend time in the stables or strolling along the pastures, instead of studying languages or historical matters. But today, the old Baron glanced at her from over his reading glasses and leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers together with his elbows braced on the armrests. “Ah, Stanzerl dear, come in, and please sit down.” He turned to his secretary and motioned him to leave because they were done for the day. He then turned to his daughter, recognizing with a faint pang that she had her mother´s eyes, but her features had no resemblance of his line of family otherwise. The sting still sat somewhere deep inside him, but after all those years, Rudolf of Liebenstein had learned to push it far into the abyss of his subconsciousness. It was not her fault, after all… He sighed and considered the options he had to tell her about her future. But the truth left him little space to move. “Remember I told you that we´d receive important visit from an ambassador?” “Yes, father. That must be soon, I reckon?” “Yes, dear, indeed. Actually, tonight.” “Oh.” “I hope you understand that I need you to show yourself from your best side.” The young woman blinked irritated. “But father, don´t I try to do that all the time?” “Yes, dear.” He shifted uncomfortably on his chair, his fingers tapping more tensely now. “But tonight is overly important.” “I see. May I ask why, father?” He took a deep breath and then told her.

[queen-vessaraia-ashlynne]

Other information you might like to know (that isn't decently covered in the reference article)! This list is based off my own knowledge and common mistakes/misinterpretations I have come across in fics which you might also have come across, not realising it is inaccurate! We love being obsessive about such a niche topic as carriages.

Horses would be changed roughly every 12 miles (no more than 15 unless it really couldn't be helped, and really it was just not worth it to change it if only 10 or less miles had been traversed)

2. Horses would generally be changed at a stage stop, also known as a stage station. These were generally established specifically for the purpose of individual riders changing horses or coaches/carriages doing so. They do not necessarily coincide with towns/villages or inns.

3. Most carriages with hard bodies (thus generally more accurately a coach) are designed to be used at night as well as in the day. They would have usually been oil lamps, at the time, and they were surprisingly big (generally 40cm-50cm tall in total, or about 16"-20"). Of course, you would likely not find it as comfortable (given you do not have enough light within the carriage to do anything), and it would make the roads more difficult to navigate and thus more dangerous, but they would be used. If you only have one or two hours left of the journey, it does make sense. In summary - for the wealthy, travelling was not restricted to the daytime.

4. Almost every single carriage ever has had a step built into the framework. They are not that difficult to enter or exit, and being helped into a carriage is mostly a status or respect marker (depending on whether you are helped in by a servant or someone of your own status).

5. If you were wealthy and had a carriage, it would have your family crest painted onto it. Details are important, especially status symbols. This is not necessarily as important as the other points, but it interesting nonetheless.

As a quick aside about this last one, in Persuasion, if Mr. Elliot had not left Lyme in a curricle but a coach of some sort, he would have had the crest on the side, and thus been identifiable to the party espying him from within without them having to ask after his identity. Of course, he likely could not afford that at the time, but they would not have known that.

I could not discuss carriages and not mention, in length, the travelling chariot. Serious fanfic writers NEED to know it. So, without further ado.

At the time, the main private carriage used for long journeys by the (upper) gentry was a travelling chariot. It would not be used for short trips (i.e. Longbourn to Netherfield) but for longer trips, even those which could very easily be done in a day (i.e. Longbourn to London). I cannot emphasise to you how key this carriage was. It has a hard body, space for luggage under the seats and atop the carriage, as well as room for two people on the front outside (one of whom would be the coachman, aka the driver, and the other of whom would generally be a footman. Also regarding footmen, they would almost always be the servant helping anyone from or into any sort of carriage) as well as space for two other servants on the rumble seat at the back, which is also exposed. Usually a valet and a maid would sit here. Many also had a boot of sorts by the rumble seat, for even more luggage, and spikes on the framework that extended beyond the rumble seat to prevent people grabbing on to the carriage and hitching a ride.

Why so much storage?? People would literally tour Europe in these. They are the ultimate comfort travel carriage of the time. Because they would be heavy, they would be drawn by four horses, making them expensive to maintain. For a vague idea: the Darcys would definitely have one, the Bennets definitely would not have one, and the Bingleys likely would not have one, but might hire one for their travels instead.

I hope that helps! To anyone writing for @janeuary-month's amazing prompt season, I look forward to reading your work!!

Carriage writing prompts

There's still over a month left until the day 29 carriage prompt for Janeuary, so there's still plenty of time left to use one of these ideas for a new fic or piece of art!

Falling asleep on a stranger's shoulder in a public post-chaise/stage coach

Kid "stealing" parents' carriage for a joy ride

Needing help getting into a carriage

Stumbling while getting out of a carriage

Getting caught during sexy times in a carriage

Getting hurt during sexy times in a carriage

Carriage accident!

Squabbling with family members squashed into a single carriage on a family "road trip"

Accidentally touching hands/shoulders/thighs in a carriage

Getting motion sickness on a carriage ride

Wedding proposal in a carriage

Hat/bonnet/shawl blowing off while riding in an open gig/curricle/phaeton

Getting rained on while riding in an open gig/curricle/phaeton

Swallowing a bug while riding in an open gig/curricle/phaeton

First kiss in the carriage on the way from the church to the wedding breakfast

Forgetting a hat/purse/suitcase in a public post-chaise/stage coach and having to track it down

Making friends with the horses pulling the carriage

Making enemies with the horses pulling the carriage

Picking out a carriage to buy with new spouse

Meet-cute when he almost runs her over with his phaeton

Gossiping with best friend in the carriage ride home from the ball

Rushing a sick/injured person home in a carriage

Waving goodbye from the window of a carriage and wondering if they'll ever see each other again

And here's a reference article about different types of carriages in Regency England

[elmorinn]

Janeuary Day 8 - Cravat 🩷

@janeuary-month

for this prompt i wanted to do something cute so behold Anne helping Frederick make up his cravat while they get ready for a party at their friends' <3

i love them so much it's crazy 😭 drawing flustered Frederick was an unimaginable joy