#bethany ryswell

[muadweeb]

son of roose bolton and bethany ryswell

[barbreypilled]

au where she puts a leech under a cardboard box propped up by a stick and traps Roose and puts him in some sort of contraption

don’t tag as racebending

[gafellique]

Everyone’s favorite family from the North <3333 the Boltons!!!!! Love to see them winning :)

[medievalcat]

the women of House Bolton

[amuelia]

Some of my fave characters to draw so i wanted to have a drawing with all of them in one place :)

unnamed lady (married to lord bolton), unnamed lord bolton, unnamed lady (married to lord ryswell), rodrik ryswell, roger ryswell, rickard ryswell, roose ryswell, roose bolton, bethany ryswell/bolton, barbrey ryswell/dustin, domeric bolton, willam dustin

[studyofasoiaf]

Names used in the North

(according to books; names of characters from Northern houses or Northmen, Crannogmen and Hills Clansmen)

- next to the names are either houses which have a character/s with that name or culture of the character/s with that name

Female

Alarra (Stark)

Alys (Karstark, Stark)

Alysane (Mormont)

Alysanne (Stark)

Aregelle (Stark)

Arra (Norrey)

Arrana (Stark)

Arsa (Stark)

Arya (Flint, Stark)

Bandy (Nortmen)

Barba (Bolton)

Barbrey (Ryswell)

Berena (Hornwood, Stark)

Beth (Cassel)

Bethany (Ryswell)

Branda (Stark)

Chayle (Northmen)

Dacey (Mormont)

Danny (Flint)

Donella (Manderly)

Erena (Glover)

Eddara (Tallhart)

Jessamyn (Manderly)

Jeyne (Manderly, Poole)

Jocelyn (Stark)

Jonelle (Cerwyn)

Jorelle (Mormont)

Jyana (Cranngomen)

Leona (Woolfield)

Lyanna (Mormont, Stark)

Lyanne (Glover)

Lyarra (Stark)

Lyessa (Flint)

Lynara (Stark)

Lyra (Mormont)

Lysa (Locke)

Lysara (Karstark)

Maege (Mormont)

Mara (Manderly)

Margaret (Karstark)

Mariah (Stark)

Marna (Locke)

Meera (Reed)

Myriame (Manderly)

Palla (Northmen)

Raya (Stark)

Sansa (Stark)

Sarra (Stark)

Serena (Stark)

Shyra (Northmen)

Sybelle (Locke)

Wylla (Fenn, Manderly)

Wynafryd (Manderly)

Male

Alaric (Stark)

Alyn (Northmen)

Arnolf (Karstark)

Arthor (Karstark)

Artos (Flint, Stark)

Barthogan (Stark)

Bartimus (Northmen)

Belthasar (Bolton)

Benfred (Tallhart)

Benjicot (Branch)

Benjen (Stark)

Bennard (Stark)

Benton (Glover)

Beren (Tallhart)

Beron (Stark)

Billy (Burley)

Bowen (Marsh)

Brandon (Norrey, Stark, Tallhart)

Byam (Flint)

Calon (Nortmen)

Cayn (Northmen)

Cley (Cerwyn)

Cregan (Karstark, Stark)

Cregard (Stark)

Daryn (Hornwood)

Denys (Woodwright)

Desmond (Nortmen)

Domeric (Bolton)

Donnel (Flint, Locke)

Donnor (Stark)

Dorren (Stark)

Duncan (Liddle)

Eddard (Karstark, Stark)

Edderion (Stark)

Edric (Stark)

Edrick (Stark)

Edwyle (Stark)

Edwyn (Stark)

Ellard (Stark)

Elric (Stark)

Errold (Stark)

Ethan (Glover)

Eyron (Stark)

Farlen (Northmen)

Gage (Northmen)

Galbert (Glover)

Gareth (Long)

Garth (Northmen)

Gawen (Glover)

Hallis (Hornwood, Mollen)

Harlon (Stark)

Harmond (Umber)

Harrion (Karstark)

Harwin (Northmen)

Harwood (Stout)

Harys (Hornwood)

Helman (Tallhart)

Heward (Nortmen)

Hoarfrost (Umber)

Hother (Umber)

Howland (Reed)

Hugo (Wull)

Hullen (Northmen)

Jeor (Mormont)

Jojen (Reed)

Jon (Stark, Umber)

Jonnel (Stark)

Jonos (Stark)

Jorah (Mormont, Stark)

Jory (Cassel)

Joseth (Northmen)

Karlon (Karstark, Stark)

Kyle (Condon)

Larence (Hornwood)

Leobald (Tallhart)

Lonnel (Stark)

Lothor (Burley)

Lucantine (Woodwright)

Lucifer (Long)

Luton (Northmen)

Lymond (Fisher)

Mallador (Locke)

Mark (Ryswell)

Marlon (Manderly)

Martyn (Cassel)

Maynard (Holt)

Medger (Cerwyn)

Medrick (Manderly)

Mikken (Northmen)

Morgan (Liddle)

Mors (Umber)

Mortimer (Boggs)

Ned (Woods)

Ondrew (Locke)

Osric (Stark, Umber)

Owen (Norrey)

Quent (Northmen)

Porther (Northmen)

Portifer (Woodwright)

Ramsay (Bolton)

Raymun (Redbeard)

Rickard (Karstark, Liddle, Ryswell, Stark)

Rickon (Stark)

Robard (Cerwyn)

Robb (Stark)

Robett (Glover)

Robin (Flint)

Robyn (Ryswell)

Roderick (Dustin, Stark)

Rodrik (Cassel, Flint, Ryswell, Stark)

Rodwell (Stark)

Rogar (Bolton)

Roger (Ryswell)

Ronnel (Harclay, Stout)

Roose (Bolton, Ryswell)

Royce (Bolton)

Timotty (Northman)

Theo (Wull)

Theodan (Wells)

Theomore (Manderly)

Theon (Stark)

Tomard (Northmen)

Torghen (Flint)

Torren (Liddle)

Torrhen (Karstark, Manderly, Stark)

Tym (Northmen)

Varly (Northmen)

Vayon (Poole)

Walder (Northmen)

Walton (Stark)

Warrick (Manderly)

Wayn (Northmen)

Wendel (Manderly)

Willam (Dustin, Stark, Wells)

Wyl (Northmen)

Wylis (Manderly)

Wyman (Manderly)

Wynton (Stout)

[vivacissimx]

roose bolton as a father figure to theon

the theon's disturbing relationship to paternalism beam is still shining bright. obviously the ned and balon and balon and ned Thing is happening but if we are going to embrace the horror of ADWD, let's lean all the way in.

the role of the father is molded as such to manufacture obedience from his children—generally speaking but also daughters in a specific way, sons in a specific way. filial duty is considered a virtue in westerosi society (even when your father fails to be virtuous himself) and it's the mode by which the father holds power over his children when they come of age. the father reproduces himself by claiming a son under his name & castle, the father reproduces his values by shaping behavior, the father punishes unsanctioned behavior not (merely) by criticizing the contents of the actions of the son, but by virtue of it being disobedient i.e. obedience to my instructions has within it an inherent Rightness / my instructions are Right because they are mine (circular i know!). this is probably doubled for those who follow the Faith of the Seven where the image of the father is a reflection of the Father aka disobedience flirts with blasphemy. sorry for the monologue—this is gonna be important later.

one of the reasons ned & balon come across as such supreme assholes in theon's ACOK storyline is because even outside the emotional reality of theon being a hostage from 10 years of age, he also pretty much does obey what they have to say. there is a time where he plays by their rules and they still don't approve of him or claim him fully. it's a social contract where ned and balon don't really fulfill their ends of the bargain, so it feels unfair. it feels willfully blind because ned and balon SURELY see the benefits they've accrued at theon's expense—ned lives in peacetime having experienced war, and balon keeps his life/lordship which if he were to have been executed for treason, would have all seemingly gone to a boy lord theon—yet they don't recognize the "theon's expense" part.

see how that works? "you are virtuous and right for following my commands" but theon follows their commands and doesn't get his Virtuous and Right headpats. and that rankles him deeply.

okay, now onto roose as theon's father figure in ADWD:

theon is part and parcel of roose's son ramsay. Reek belongs to Ramsay, and Ramsay belongs to Reek. in fact the original reek was a servant who roose gave to ramsay's mother as the first act of acknowledgement. it's through reek that ramsay became roose's bastard. we see that when roose demands ramsay give theon up (briefly), ramsay must oblige... hence, reek is still a form of reward/acknowledgement from roose to ramsay. theon is entangled in them and for roose to kill theon could very well be construed as killing off (ramsay as) his son

roose thanks theon for giving him the north via taking winterfell & (inadvertently) ruining robb's situation. roose is thanking theon for the ability to reproduce himself as lord of winterfell and warden of the north—a duty that a son owes his father

i wrote a post about theon's gender troubles that delves into his parallels with barbrey ryswell dustin—how roose treats them both with certain cares to insure their good behavior, and how they both see through the farce. however the difference in roose bolton's world of easy replacement (he replaces multiple wives, domeric with ramsay, reek with reek II) is that barbrey is warned of her fate via the example of bethany ryswell bolton, her sister and roose's dead wife, while theon is warned of his by the example of domeric bolton, roose's dead son.

barbrey steps into the role of domeric's caretaker and main maternal figure because her sister is dead. then ramsay kills domeric. roose allows it. barbrey puts it as: “The widow of Barrowton… and yes, if I so choose, I could be an inconvenience. Of course, Roose sees that too, so he takes care to keep me sweet.” sweet is not the best word for our barb but she plays along with roose's game despite there being no real endgame beyond a petty revenge against the starks. the writing is on the wall though. not to put too fine a point on it but: ramsay will kill any children walda frey has from roose, and barbrey will know precisely who did it

in theon's case, roose's manipulations go like this: “Serve us in this, and when Stannis is defeated we will discuss how best to restore you to your father’s seat,” his lordship had said in that soft voice of his, a voice made for lies and whispers. Theon never believed a word of it. He would dance this dance for them because he had no choice, but afterward… he will give me back to Ramsay then

roose actually tells theon the story of domeric. he describes domeric's relative capability and desire for brothers. he confesses that ramsay killed domeric and that he did nothing about it, that he fully anticipates ramsay to kill any children he has with walda. later, when theon is thinking about how roose will give theon back to ramsay, the conclusion is clear: ramsay is going to torture and abuse you, and i will do nothing—just like i will do nothing for any other sons i might have

theon co-victimhood with jeyne. does that make theon roose's sort-of daughter-in-law?

that last point was a haha joke... unless? after all, theon did canonically desire for ned to adopt him via marriage to sansa. so roose adopting him via "marriage" to ramsay, theon's use to roose being dependent on his subservience to ramsay, or more specifically, his role as legitimizing ramsay/reproducing roose in a similar way to marrying arya stark and having bolton children with her will... that is to say, haha

starks and boltons are foils, ned and roose are foils, ramsay's dogs and starkling direwolves are foils: if ned was a quasi-father figure AND simultaneously warden to theon then why would roose not be as well considering the stark/bolton relationship?

remember when i said that theon is intensely bothered by the fact that he "obeys" ned/balon but gets nothing for it? if you agree with that then consider this passage: Theon wondered if he might be allowed to fight. Then at least he might die a man’s death, sword in hand. That was a gift Ramsay would never give him, but Lord Roose might. If I beg him. I did all he asked of me, I played my part, I gave the girl away.

there's likely much more i could say here but those are a few points that i think are interesting as part of the larger discussion on theon as well as the social critique in ADWD theon POVs. i mean it really pulls the curtain back—stripped of all romanticism and in the dead of winter where nothing grows, what is a wife truly? a whore, jeyne says. what is a hostage? mine own face on their lie, not [even] a man, theon says.

what is a father? well in theon's decidedly horrifying case, it's the man who has use for you or else what's the point of you being alive

[kingsmoot]

🔥 bethany ryswell

bethany is deeply connected to a house and story i care most about (roose's second wife, domeric's mom, barbrey's sister) but i have never actually had a thought about her. i should change this. she canonically had a bunch of children die in infancy which is dope as well.

ok, i resolve to start thinking about bethany more thanks to this ask. you have granted me a new quest.

[bravelittlescrib]

The curse of being a based and Bolton-pilled asoiaf fan is that you can’t just say shit like “well my favorite characters are probably Bethany Ryswell and the miller’s wife”

[ofnobilites]

( richard madden , thirty-six , cis-male , he/him ) : ANNOUNCING !! lord jorah bolton of house bolton hailing from the dreadfort. they are known to be indomitable & astute but also, stoic & malicious across the realm. there are faint whispers that they support house velaryon alongside their house. they are currently at court in driftmark

trigger warnings: murder, death, illness

Basics

name: jorah bolton

age: thirty-six

height: 5'10

hair color: copper

eye color: blue

gender: cis-man

pronouns: he/him

starsign: gimini

sexuality: bisexual

home: the dreadfort, the north

titles: ruling lord of house bolton

loyalties: house stark & house bolton

religion: the old gods

Family

father: robyn bolton †

mother: helly bolton nee farwynd †

wife: palla bolton nee ryswell †

siblings: catlyn lannister nee bolton *twin sister, two siblings, bethany bolton (eighteen) †

other family: cousins to house farwynd & in law to house lannister

Early Life

house bolton reaches out as far as they can, their reach found house farwynd of the iron islands. robyn bolton and helly farwynd had 5 children. bringing ties for the first time to the iron islands and house bolton.

the eldest bolton by three minutes jorah was born alongside his twin sister catlyn. they were close as children jorah smart and wanting to do whatever he could to do right by house bolton and by his siblings. jorah loves his siblings, he always has and in the end it's why he does everything he can for them. why he's done what his father has told him to. every time push comes to shove jorah is there.

he was raised with the old way, he was raised to hold onto those old ways, to focus on the ways his father wanted him to be. it never made him flinch or blink, he was raised to know that the ends justify the means. and to house bolton it was for them to climb, for them to become better.

jorah's first chance at that was with eira stark. his father wanted a stark marriage, and she was the right age. it worked for a little while, they were cordial and fine but macabre influences were too deep in him. the betrothal was broken off and it was frustrating to his father but it didn't matter much to jorah.

love wasn't something that called to him, even when he was married to his late wife palla ryswell it was only for political ties. he never loved her but he did enjoy her company, she was kind but smart and was able to hold conversations with him. he was left to his own devices mostly.

when the need for aid came his father refused any help from house stark, the rivalry too deeply engrained in his mind. stubborn and stupid his father refused any help from the Starks. the "betrayal" of the broken betrothal to eira stark left him too proud.

jorah was smarter, and he was angry, palla died when they refused to take medicinal help from the stark's. he knew what they needed, if his father wasn't going to help his people or his children, his father had to be out of the way. when the bolton lord died no one questioned it, an accident that lead to ruling lord jorah bolton and the help they needed from the starks.

Pre-Split

the boltons followed house stark to king's landing, determined to show that they were loyal to house stark, an opportunity that would continue to put house bolton in house stark's good graces. jorah wanted to be out of the place where he lost his wife, his mother and where he had to kill his father.

the journey to king's landing was a mistake, bethany had begged jorah to let her come, she wanted to see catlyn, she wanted to see king's landing. he allowed it, jorah let his eighteen year old sister join him in king's landing.

during the mandatory feast held by queen visenya, bethany had left only for a few moments. she'd excused herself and despite jorah's wanting to follow her he stayed. it would have shamed house bolton to leave.

it wasn't until after the feast that they found bethany was gone, she was found dead later. her killer caught and executed but the damage had been done. none of house bolton had followed her, the queens insistence they attended the fest left them unwilling to leave and face anger from the queen.

house bolton left king's landing with his sisters body to have her buried in their crypt. they'd decided to stay in the north until house stark announced their support of house velaryon.

Now

joining house velaryon was an easy choice, they were one of the first to follow house stark which looked good with their liege lord. corwyn velaryon wanted visenya dead, and if they showed enough support they could find more power if they sided with the new king.

jorah is angry, he's lost his wife and his sister. he blames the queen and the people who side with her after letting an innocent die for no reason. when he appealed to have bethany's killer brought north or have himself or lord stark execute him in the old way she refused.

house velaryon needs to win this war, and jorah will do his best to make sure they do. he knows king's landing, he knows they wont play fair. neither will jorah.

Fun Facts

!!!COULD CHANGE!!!!

jorah is a skinchanger like other members of his mother's house, house farwynd. he's always had a connection with water animals, he loved them, and they loved him. he was 14 for the first time he realized he was a skin changer. at the river he shifted into one of the fish in the stream. his mother was the one who told him what happened, he was a skin changer.

as he grew his abilities grew stronger, he was able to find himself in small marine life, seals, and if he tries harder other animals connected to marine life. he wants to be better at it. he wants to be able to use other animals, he's loyal tot he stark's but he knows if he can prove useful he can be more.

it's not known he's a skin changer but there are probably some who know, stark's especially?

!!!COULD CHANGE!!!!

it's an open secret he killed his father, people can know or they don't have to. he's probably killed other people. basically if you need someone dead he's willing to do it for the right reason.

Connections

betrothal/potential love interest: house bolton needs and heir and he's going to do whatever he has to, to have one. he's willing to marry because he doesn't care about love. but he knows he should marry soon.

doubtful people/enemies: he's a bolton, he believes in A LOT of the old ways and doesn't mind the idea of the whole... flaying people. so there's plenty of people who might doubt him or just not like him for his reputation. it's also an open secret he killed his father so maybe they know that

had an affair with before his wife died: traveling or something he slept with someone else, maybe the were just casual, maybe they had feelings for each other kind of? but it adds to his guilt of his wife dying and him not being faithful, even if he didn't love her

friends, enemies, people who want his help? there's a lot we can do with him.

[ladyoflosgar]

“Dad and Walda had a feature in Debonair. Westeros’ leading publication on old school men’s style and fine living, preserving the ethos of chivalry and class and sharing the best of fashion, travel, and high culture. Official Sponsor of the Westeros Trust for Historical Preservation. This magazine brought to you by Lords of Westeros. The Ladies’ equivalent was Debutante.

The Debonair feature was a fucking disaster. Three two-page spreads, a full-page glamour shot each of Walda and Dad. Voluptuous Living: How to Keep your Vigor at 50. A panorama of the wedding at the Dreadfort. Kickin’ it poolside at the Twins. Their bedroom. What the fuck. Little photo insets of Dad’s naturopathic therapy leeches and individually calibrated skincare products and REDACTED. Walda’s plus size REDACTED line. BBBeautiful by Walda Bolton. Seven thousand words about their marriage. Their story. How they make it work. How to be young forever. It made Domeric want to fucking die.

They mentioned him about six thousand words in. Roose Bolton’s first marriage ended in tragedy when his first wife, Bethany Ryswell Bolton, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of ovarian cancer and passed within the year. Their union produced one son, Domeric Bolton, a junior at the Citadel of Gulltown. Read more about Domeric Bolton in our magazine archives.”

[barbreypilled]

silly ahh Cursed Subway AUverse Barb and Beth I will probably post this silly fic soon idk anyway

[snow-blower]

whats this new fic you're on about writing?

Buckle in mother fuckers cuz I'm about to talk more than anyone's ever talked before.

So, it's an OC x Jon Snow kinda slow burn fic?? I don't have everything figured out yet, so bare with me.

The OC, Kaelith Bolton, is the second oldest child of Roose Bolton (that lived longer than his others lol) and her mother, Bethany Ryswell. Kaelith has an older brother, Domeric, who is mentioned in the books. And then obviously, Ramsay exists.

I could rant on about her backstory before she meets Jon but you didn't ask for that lol.

It'll probably start off after Theon and Sansa escape, Kaelith escapes with them. With her father being dead, she was left more vulnerable due to being older than Ramsay and technically Roose's true heir.

With Ramsay having killed her father and suspected to having killed Domeric, Kaelith has an odd obsession with wanting to rid of Ramsay for his crimes against her family. Hence, her allying with the Starks. She knows the ins and outs of her brother's army, and essentially uses that knowledge to win the battle of bastards. She gets to kill Ramsay.

She also has a deep obsession with keeping Sansa safe, the two having become good friends whilst Sansa was married to Ramsay. Said obsession tenfolds when she becomes somewhat friends with Jon. She's also besties with Tormund. And Ser Davos is her father figure. (Need to give the old man something after he looses Shireen 😭✋)

I'm not sure where I want to go from there and how close I want to keep it to canon.

But yeah, new series coming soon, hopefully I actually write this lol

[rise-my-angel]

really random but whenever i hear the strangers song by ethel cain- “am i making you feel sick” i always think of the scene where lord bolton tells the reader that his wife is pregnant with a boy 😩 he took that from her and now he has it and it breaks my heart, you truly are such a talented writer

I tried to look at that scene in terms of what it originally was about. Ramsay has always had a power struggle with his father to be seen as his true son, in the books going as far as to possibly poison Roose's only son from Bethany Ryswell so that he has to be front and center, since he is all that remains of Roose's blood. They don't go into that detail in the show, but my assumption is that it still happened since we saw no details that would get in the way of that narrative.

So from there, I did what I do a lot of looking at canon plots and scenes, and ask myself, what does adding a new person into the mix turn it into? And in mostly unexplored context, Tywin had given specific orders that Roose kill Robb and the Reader, but that he was to kill you first, as to dispose of Robb's unborn child. Him killing the reader the way he did was specifically to murder her along with your unborn child.

So when that moment rolls around, yes he and Walda announce the news in a way that allows Roose to gauge Ramsay's reaction, but now with the reader there, it changes. He keeps that dagger on his person as a reminder of what he is capable of, especially for the reader to scare her into staying in line. Let the blood of her, her son, and Robb stay dried on it to always say "i was capable of this when i was your ally imagine what i could do now if you step out of line".

Announcing that Walda's unborn child seems to look like it would be a boy is just another twist of the same knife. "Watch me and my young wife get what you know I purposely stole from you."

Knowing that by then, you are so broken that all you could do was congratulate Walda and sit in silence. Truth be told you had gone to spy on Roose and Ramsay that night with intent to kill at least one of them, fully accepting you probably wouldn't survive in the process, and if Roose was the one who survived, my only question is:

WHAT WAS YOUR GREAT PLAN THEN, BUDDY?

[lazuli-writes]

What if Benjen Stark married?

summary: So if Benjen Stark married, how different would his story be?

pairing: Benjen Stark x Female OC

genre: rabbit hole rambles

estimated word count: 1600 words

a/n: Hey y’all, this is a very old ramble of mines that I wanted to reshare and wanted to throw out there again for the public to theorize with me. Remember folks, copying other people’s works is plagiarism and that’s illegal. Don’t be that kind of person. Anyways, hope you all enjoy it :)

©little-lazuli. Do not copy, repost, or translate without permission

Hey y’all, so the topic of today’s rabbit hole discussion is: what if Benjen Stark married? Imma just run through the idea and the au I had in my mind with the issue. The three points I wanted to touch upon would be: who does he marry, his familial life as a husband and his au story I made in my mind.

For starters, I am 99.99% sure if Benjen were to marry it would be within the North because 1) politics 2) I don’t have a number two, I just felt bad that #1 was all alone.

Before I get into the potential brides, the decision of when is to be answered. I just figured he would marry some time after Robert’s rebellion, after growing tired of Winterfell and all the memories he had of it, talks of him joining the wall would occur between him and Ned and Ned mentions the chance of maybe Benjen starting his own family.

Benjen dismisses it but eventually finds love, that’s the au I had in mind. Yes it’s a cliche, “love thaws his frozen heart” blah blah blah but anyways… on to the why it would have to be a northern. I truly believe in that sentiment that the North is more inclined to marriages within the North. So when Rickard Stark dismissed his own bannermen, I think he was unintentionally saying that the northerners weren’t prestigious enough to marry his children. That is destined to spread some ill will to the starks.

And now there’s Ned who literally married a Southerner who not only is lowkey out of place with her gods and her pov towards social etiquette, but also, I’m sure some northerners weren’t as thrilled with a southern lady. Granted they eventually respected Catelyn for the sole fact that Ned was mostly loved across the North.

So I would think Ned would make it clear to Cat that if their kids (and also by default Benjen because Benjen was lowkey still Ned’s responsibility) if they were to marry, it would be in the best interest of the North for them to marry into the North. Damn I hope I’m making sense.

Anyways onto the “who” would Benjen married. I accumulated four main choices that I thought would suit best for Benjen and I am under the impression that all of them are around the same age range as Benjen as well. Benjen was born in 267 ac so I tried to find women who I thought were also born around that time. The options were Jonelle Cerwyn, Bethany Ryswell, Lyessa Flint or OC northerner.

Now I can see a bunch of scenarios with each one. For Jonelle I would think it’s a fifty fifty chance. House Cerwyn would be happy with any Stark marriage, but I think Ned wouldn’t really see the need in a marriage between their two houses. Marriages meant alliances, and Ned wouldn’t see the need in an alliance with a house presumably as super loyal to the Starks as the Cerwyns.

For Bethany Ryswell, this one would be a cool story I think. Bethany Ryswell in canon marries Roose Bolton and died not long into their relationship. House Ryswell was possibly already miffed by house Stark with the whole Brandon+Barbrey issue. So either lord Ryswell would be totally against Bethany and Benjen or completely for it, either seeing it as a sorry attempt by Ned to appease him or as an apology gift for Rickard’s and Brandon’s insult.

Lyessa Flint is the matriarch of house Flint, to my knowledge. She is the lady of Widow’s Watch on the east coast of the North. Her son, Robin Flint was the lord of Flints Fingers until his death at the red wedding. Lyessa was ill during canon but also pregnant. Idk her hubby’s name or if he was even alive. But assuming Benjen could marry her, I think that would bring up many political strides to the Starks. For a Stark male marrying into house Flint all but ensures Stark claims over much of house Flint’s wealth, but mostly the lands of house Flint. Two strategic fortresses on opposite sides of the North as well as ties to the presumably the largest clan of Flints, the Flints of the mountains (who are also the first flints or the flints of Breakstone Hill). I’m pretty sure some houses *cough* Bolton *cough* would not be happy with the power moves of Benjen marrying Lyessa, but he wouldn’t really say anything out loud I think.

Lastly, an OC from another northern house. I like to think Benjen wouldn’t really care about the political side of his marriage and would genuinely look for love when the chance arrives. So for my oc I decided to have her be from a smaller northern house. So maybe a Tallhart, a Skagosi lady or a lady from the northern mountain clans.

Following the au in my mind, Benjen Stark marries a Skagosi noble lady he meets while visiting Eastwatch by the sea when considering to join the Night’s Watch. He marries a lady from House Stane of Driftwood Hall. Many mainland northerners silently scoff at marriage considering the Skagosi have a bad rep. Ned wouldn’t be all that thrilled but still loves his brother enough to trust Benjen and allow the marriage.

Now for his family life, I can totally see Benjen having his story being centered around loss and how he deals with it. I think his relationship with his wife would be at first feel rushed because of the heat and quick passion that prompted them to get married quickly and joyously. I think having a wife so unexpected and different from what he would expect out of typical northern women would be a rollercoaster for Benjen and eventually genuine love versus extensive lust and attractions would build between the two.

I like to think that Lady Stane (for the sake of the explanation this is what we will address her as) would play a large role in opening Benjen’s eyes to a whole new world. Like maybe he talks about the feast of Skane and she just rolls her eyes and tells him different story about how, maybe Skane was a battle field between the ancient first men and the people who attacked Hardhome. I truly think it was the Valyrians who attacked Hardhome and ruined it. Skane is right there so maybe they tried to fight back and the Skagosi came to save the day. In the end Skane wasn’t able to sustain the survivors so the Skagosi brought them to Skagos leaving a deserted Skane.

I think Lady Skane would enjoy fixing Benjen’s perspective on Skagosi:

“Do you all practice the first night, I heard y’all do?” “No we don’t my love, if that was the case you wouldn’t have been my first.” “Oh”

“Do y’all have unicorns?” “Maybe, maybe not.” “It’s a yes or no.” *she proceeds to shrug her shoulders with a smile*

“Do the Skagosi perform human sacrifices?” “Wtf no we don’t benjen.” “But why did old nan say-“ “that hag can’t even tell her left from her right. Ask me smn like that again I’ll be sure to make you become a human sacrifice Ben.” “Yes my lady.”

“Wait so y’all aren’t cannibals?” “Idk you tell me, I mean I eat you every now and again don’t I?” “SHUSHHHHH we are out in public” “oh shut it I’m sure the whole village has heard your moans Ben.”

I just enjoy the thought of Benjen and Lady Stane being a crazy funny duo whose actions are always keeping the local peoples on their toes.

Now when it comes to children, I think he and his wife aren’t as lucky as Ned and Cat with having children so when Benjen does have a child, regardless of their gender he would fkn adore them. I think Benjen would at max have two children. I like the idea of him having an older daughter and a younger son and the two being slightly at odds similar to Aegon and Rhaenyra or Theon and Yara/Asha. The sister is simply a bad ass who’s stuck in a world with men and their brother isn’t the brightest tool in the shed but is treated like a fkn diamond or gold for simply being a dude.

I think the big issue in Ben story is the emotional divide that occurs between him and Ned that could have been. Ned was basically raised in the south at a young age and for sure would have grown up with just the slightest emotional separation from Ned. Maybe Ben and Ned’s shared daddy issues would result in them not really connecting as much as they could have if they grew up together. And now with Benjen in Skagos, Benjen is now growing even older without the interference of Ned’s presence.

The idea of a more reserved Stark then even Ned for Benjen’s character is what is cool to me because if it was a story, the reader would know Benjen is actually a very chill and pretty fun person to be around, and he’s possibly like that with his wife and kids and maybe the Skagosi. But he isn’t like that around Ned, he’s calm, caring, loving but reserved. And that’s the ‘stark’ contrast between Benjen’s two personalities. (Hahaha see what I did there, holy fuck I’m funny.)

Anyways, thank you for listening to this excessive brain dump, and if you want share your thoughts on a married Benjen, who would you want him to marry and why or how many kids would you think he should have and anything else about Benjen. Thank you for reading, have a beautiful day ✌🏽✌🏽✌🏽✌🏽

[ao3feed-tywin]

The Red Queen

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/E8zSntU

by 10868letsgo

A story of love and lust, seduction and deception, betrayal, and murder, it is uniquely told through the perspective of three different, yet equally relentless members of the House of Bolton-Berenice Bolton, Bethany Ryswell, and Domeric Bolton.

Words: 314, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Game of Thrones (TV)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Original Female Character(s), Aegon Targaryen (Son of Elia), Bethany Bolton, Roose Bolton, Barbrey Dustin, Jon Connington, Ned Stark, Catelyn Tully Stark, Petyr Baelish, Lysa Tully Arryn, Tywin Lannister, Olenna Tyrell, Margaery Tyrell, Oberyn Martell, Doran Martell, Edmure Tully, Hoster Tully, Brynden "Blackfish" Tully, Cersei Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Tyrion Lannister, Loras Tyrell, Willas Tyrell, Garlan Tyrell, Varys (A Song of Ice and Fire), Daenerys Targaryen, Stannis Baratheon, Renly Baratheon

Relationships: Aegon Targaryen (Son of Elia)/Original Female Character(s), Talisa Maegyr/Robb Stark, Domeric Bolton/Sansa Stark, Catelyn Tully Stark/Ned Stark

Additional Tags: Drama & Romance, Action/Adventure, Politics, Political Alliances, Inspired by The White Queen (TV)

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/E8zSntU