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Proposals and Consequences by dianakc
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV), North and South - Ambiguous Fandom
02 Jan 2026
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Yet another hurt/comfort fic from me.
Having previously thrown Margaret under the bus and nearly killed John with influenza, it's Margaret's turn again (poor thing).
The day after the riot, John Thornton goes to do what he must. But things don't quite go the way he planned... -
A Romantic Depiction of the Northern Countryside by alovelydream
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV)
30 Dec 2025
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John Thornton, flushed with brandy and thoughts of Miss Hale, stumbles upon her alone in his study after the dinner party, to their detriment.
A short, multi-chapter fic, exploring how Margaret and John would have handled a marriage of convenience before the pivotal moments of the riot.
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North and South à la Zoom by sophiaquills, Violet83 for Aaliko
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV), North and South - Ambiguous Fandom
27 Dec 2025
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John Thornton insists his Marlborough Mills office space needs urgent repairs.
His landlord, Margaret Hale, insists on preserving its historic charm.
Can a landlord-tenant dispute played out over emails, texts, and Zoom meetings resolve the damp walls and poor drainage?
And -- purely hypothetically -- also lead to romance?
Stranger things have happened. -
A Marriage of Inconvenience by TheScribbler_CMB
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV)
21 Dec 2025
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A collection of short stories based on the premise that John and Margaret marry for convenience and gradually come to realise their feelings for each other.
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Everyone lost their spirits after the violence at Marlborough Mills. What were they thinking, throwing stones at a woman?
In a single moment of brash emotion, Margaret Hale put herself in harms way and paid for it with her every memory of everything and everyone. On doctor's orders, she is kept in a guest room at Marlborough Mills until her memory returns.
For Mrs. Thornton, this is an insurmountable inconvenience.
For John Thornton, it is a priceless second chance at a first impression. He vows he will not waste it.
[Weekly updates to resume JAN 4]
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Ours by dianakc for Aaliko
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South - Ambiguous Fandom, North and South (UK TV)
30 Nov 2025
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The new Mr and Mrs Thornton have problems. His are with the mill and hers are with her mother-in-law.
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The Machinery Behind the World by sophiaquills
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South - Ambiguous Fandom, North and South (UK TV)
23 Nov 2025
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He was never in the plan.
Then again, neither was she.
But they arrived on time.
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Parodium by TheScribbler_CMB
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South (UK TV), North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
23 Oct 2025
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Parodium, from the Latin for "parody," is a collection of short stories that reimagine the characters of North and South in different worlds and situations. Through these playful twists, the familiar characters are seen from alternative perspectives, offering a fun way to explore the themes of the original story.
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The Thornton Tales by TheScribbler_CMB
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV)
04 Aug 2025
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A series of short stories set after John and Margaret get engaged and celebrating the many years of their happy marriage.
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The Thorn and the Rose: A Collection of North and South Short Stories by TheScribbler_CMB
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV)
03 Aug 2025
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A series of quick and simple North and South fanfic stories that follow the love and life of John Thornton and Margaret Hale, spanning from their early days of misunderstandings to their happily forever after.
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Between North and South by foldingmoonlight
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell
11 Jul 2025
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The story didn’t end at the station: Margaret Hale and John Thornton have only just begun to learn about each other - body, soul and everything in between.
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Before We Were Us by TheScribbler_CMB
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV)
16 Jun 2025
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A series of short stories exploring different paths by which John Thornton and Margaret Hale could have found each other, fallen for one another, and confessed their love.
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This Wild, Strange, Miserable Convenience by ElizabethHades
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV), North and South - Ambiguous Fandom
30 May 2025
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At her Father and Godfather's bidding, John Thornton makes another offer of marriage to Margaret Hale, who is no longer in any position to refuse. But he is determined to keep his own feelings to himself, and leave her to her desires and inclinations. He cannot risk having his world, and his heart, shattered by her once again...
If you love a soft, tender, lovesick John, and a fragile, gently trusting Margaret, this story is for you!
A slow-burn, HEA, romantic marriage of convenience, with some sickness, hurt/comfort, loneliness and a fair amount of angst and tension.
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A Fall of Consequence by ForeverAutumn1
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV), North and South - Ambiguous Fandom
10 May 2025
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What if Frederick, not Leonards, suffered a fall at Outwood Station…
After Margaret Hale rejects his proposal, heartbroken John Thornton is devastated to see the woman he loves in the arms of another man. But when an accident leaves her lover injured, John becomes their only hope. Now he must face an impossible choice...
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And so we will go on together, no longer strangers but not yet friends... by RoseintheBud
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South (UK TV)
27 Apr 2025
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What happened right after North & South ended? It turns out there was a lot of things that needed to be figured out. This is just a little slice of John and Margaret's lives in that window of time before they get married, from John's POV. As in the book, so here is John a beautiful, obsessive, neurotic man who doesn't think he is equal to Margaret and doesn't realize that she is every bit as in love with him as he is in love with her.
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A Marriage of Convenience by sophiaquills
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV), North and South - Ambiguous Fandom
19 Apr 2025
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Margaret is forced to marry John.
But can these two stubborn and passionate people overcome their differences and learn to fall in love.
[Started posing on FF.net but revising and completing it here]
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Milton Casebook: the affair of the missing diamonds by DarkshireLass
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South - Ambiguous Fandom
12 Apr 2025
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What if some of the minor characters took over telling a non-canon North and South? A tale where Fanny Thornton’s diamond earrings go missing, just at the time Mrs Hale dies. When Frederick Hale is spotted at Outwood Station, is his furtive manner due to the fact he is wanted for mutiny, or is there something more to it? What is his relationship with George Leonards? Suspicion about Hale’s actions rebounds on his sister, Margaret. What price will she pay for refusing to speak? How will John Thornton react? Will the truth be revealed? What toll will it take on the characters?
oOo
This story owes a debt to The Moonstone (1868) by Wilkie Collins. Not a character or exact situation from that novel appears, but I took the idea of a police investigation, and used Collin’s technique of narration by several voices, including those of servants, from that work.
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Tethered by AnnabellaGrace for SomebodyCalledMeSebastian
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV)
07 Mar 2025
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John Thornton had never stopped loving Margaret Hale, or wishing that he could call her his own. His mill was struggling financially, and she lived in London with her family, hundreds of miles away. In spite of the difficulties, did he have the audacity to go after her? If he did, how would she respond?
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New Year, New Beginnings by Kaybell
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV)
25 Feb 2025
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After Margaret offers John a “new beginning” to their friendship on New Year’s Eve, they are forced to wait out a storm together in his office. After some champagne, where will things lead? Takes place after Maria’s death and Outwood Station.
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Home Is Where The Heart Is by Aaliko
Fandoms: North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell | UK TV, North and South - Elizabeth Gaskell, North and South (UK TV), North and South - Ambiguous Fandom
21 Feb 2025
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A retelling of North & South where Margaret Hale is the older one (near her 30s) and John Thornton the younger one (in his early 20s).
How about a more mature, calm, level-headed Margaret meeting a young, more idealistic and eager John?
You'd be surprised how well this works! Give it a go, you won't regret it :)She's a spinster, caring for her ageing parents, uprooted from her lovely Helstone.
He's a freshly appointed mill master who just came out of poverty and tries to thrive.
They both have to find their place in Milton and quickly become friends but soon have to sort out their feelings.
Set in the 1850s, like the novel.Complete. (There might be variations in the future, or little one shots from the same AU...)