#ashara x cat x ned

[shining-m00nlight]

I dive up so far in and away from Canon in my Moderen AU headcanons that:

Jaime, Ned, Cat, Ashara and Elia being in a poly relationship and having 13 kids between them of which 6 kids have at least one parent not included in the relationship sounds totally normal to me.

[ladycatofwinterfell]

okay i cooked up a ned/cat/ashara fic premise real quick

so nedcatshara meet during harrenhal. cat’s engaged to brandon, ned and ashara end up engaged and married not long after harrenhal so they’re in winterfell. the catbrandon wedding happens sooner than in canon so they’re already married and cat’s pregnant and in winterfell when the lyanna situation happens and brandon goes south. brandon dies but cat still has to stay in winterfell because she’s pregnant with the heir, ned goes and does his thing in the rebellion while ashara and cat are with each other. the rebellion happens as in canon, including tower of joy, and so ned comes back to winterfell with baby jon. and there’s angst because 1. he killed ashara’s brother and 2. who the hell is the mother of this baby? there are two of us and we’re not enough?

(of course it’s not the three of them officially, they’re just living in winterfell together because ned is acting lord until cat’s baby is old enough. officially. the history books will say that. the maesters will say that. the people of winterfell will say something weird was going on there)

[istumpysk]

OPERATION ICEBERG: THE TIER LIST

THEORY:

Lemongate

TIER:

People's Choice! I swear to god, if you guys screw this up...

Under Consideration: These theories haven't garnered strong or extensive evidence, but they're worthy of discussion.

vs.

50/50: These theories are complete toss-ups.

vs.

Low Probability: While not impossible, these theories are unlikely based on the current evidence.

vs.

Long Shot: These theories are largely speculative, based more on wishful thinking or obscure hints than on solid evidence.

vs.

Debunked: These theories have been directly contradicted by the text, George R. R. Martin, or other authoritative sources.

[Tier list overview]

EVIDENCE:

What is Lemongate?

That was when they lived in Braavos, in the big house with the red door. Dany had her own room there, with a lemon tree outside her window. - Daenerys I, AGOT

The theory argues that lemons can't grow in Braavos, therefore something about Daenerys' childhood has yet to be revealed.

What could it be?

It depends on who you ask. The problem with this theory is that it serves as the foundation for many other theories, making it extremely difficult to cover.

The possibility that Daenerys never actually lived in Braavos has led to various speculations, including but not limited to the following:

The big house with the red door was in Dorne.

Daenerys Targaryen isn't really Daenerys Targaryen, and has false memories of her childhood with Viserys Targaryen.

Daenerys is the daughter of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.

Daenerys is the daughter of Ned Stark and Ashara Dayne.

And that's just scratching the surface.

For the sake of my sanity, we won't delve into all that nonsense. Instead, we'll focus solely on the question of whether lemons can grow in Braavos and, if not, what the hell is going on.

Okay, do lemons grow in Braavos?

Maybe? Daenerys seems to think so.

That was when they lived in Braavos, in the big house with the red door. Dany had her own room there, with a lemon tree outside her window. - Daenerys I, AGOT

But there's some issues.

For starters, trees don't really grow in Braavos.

Beyond the harbor she glimpsed streets of grey stone houses, built so close they leaned one upon the other. To Arya's eyes they were queer-looking, four and five stories tall and very skinny, with sharp-peaked tile roofs like pointed hats. She saw no thatch, and only a few timbered houses of the sort she knew in Westeros. They have no trees, she realized. Braavos is all stone, a grey city in a green sea. - Arya I, AFFC

x

The stony maze of islands and canals that was Braavos, devoid of grass and trees and teeming with strangers who spoke to her in words she could not understand, frightened her so badly that she lost the map and soon herself. - Samwell III, AFFC

Braavos is built on a lagoon at the northwestern end of Essos.

(map!)

It is often described as foggy, with a damp, cool, maritime climate. It draws significant inspiration from the city of Venice, Italy.

The day looked to be a rare one, crisp and clear and bright. Braavos only had three kinds of weather; fog was bad, rain was worse, and freezing rain was worst. But every so often would come a morning when the dawn broke pink and blue and the air was sharp and salty. Those were the days that Cat loved best. - Cat of the Canals, AFFC

x

"Winter is nigh upon us. The day I left Braavos, there was ice on the canals." - Jon IX, ADWD

It's not an ideal climate for growing lemons, as the text humorously notes.

"Seven hells, this place is damp," she heard her guard complain. "I'm chilled to the bones. Where are the bloody orange trees? I always heard there were orange trees in the Free Cities. Lemons and limes. Pomegranates. Hot peppers, warm nights, girls with bare bellies. Where are the bare-bellied girls, I ask you?" "Down in Lys, and Myr, and Old Volantis," the other guard replied. He was an older man, big-bellied and grizzled. "I went to Lys with Lord Tywin once, when he was Hand to Aerys. Braavos is north of King's Landing, fool. Can't you read a bloody map?" - Mercy, TWOW

It's nothing like Dorne, a more suitable place for a lemon tree.

Anguy shuffled his feet. "We were thinking we might eat it, Sharna. With lemons. If you had some." "Lemons. And where would we get lemons? Does this look like Dorne to you, you freckled fool? Why don't you hop out back to the lemon trees and pick us a bushel, and some nice olives and pomegranates too." - Arya II, ASOS

x

There children frolicked naked in the sun, music played in tiled courtyards, and the air was sharp with the smell of lemons and blood oranges. - The Captain of the Guards, AFFC

And to the author's credit, he appears to fully understand the conditions under which lemon trees can and cannot thrive.

Sweetrobin loved lemon cakes too, but only after she told him that they were her favorites. The cake had required every lemon in the Vale, but Petyr had promised that he would send to Dorne for more. - Alayne I, TWOW

So you can see why it's a bit puzzling.

Has anyone ever thought to simply ask George about it?

Of course. If you had the opportunity to ask George R. R. Martin anything, why wouldn't you waste your moment on something as stupid as this?

George was asked about the discrepancy, and surprisingly, he was uncharacteristically forthcoming. He acknowledged that it's very perceptive to pick up on a detail like that and playfully hinted that it points to something else.

Dany remembers a lemon tree outside the house with the red door in Braavos, but citrus trees shouldn't really grow in Braavos's cold, foggy climate. Is this discrepency significant? Does it point to future revelations about Dany's past? Thank you so much. Very perceptive of you. Yes, it does point to . . . well, that would be telling. - George R. R. Martin

In that case, is Lemongate confirmed to be real?

No, not exactly.

Despite what he said, there's really no hints in the text concerning any secrecy around Daenerys' upbringing.

Ser Willem Darry was in Braavos, a fact that could be confirmed by several people.

"It is a secret pact," Dany said, "made in Braavos when I was just a little girl. Ser Willem Darry signed for us, the man who spirited my brother and myself away from Dragonstone before the Usurper's men could take us. Prince Oberyn Martell signed for Dorne, with the Sealord of Braavos as witness." She handed the parchment to Ser Barristan, so he might read it for himself. - Daenerys VII, ADWD

And while trees are rare in Braavos, they do grow in the gardens of the wealthy, where you'd expect Daenerys to be. It's not out of the question that a lemon tree could grow there. Lemon trees can also grow in Venice, Italy.

Trees did not grow on Braavos, save in the courts and gardens of the mighty. - Samwell III, AFFC

Compare one questionable lemon tree to how the author handles Jon Snow's parentage, and you can see why the theory has some issues.

Then what the hell is going on?

I believe one of three possibilities exists.

POSSIBILITY #1

Daenerys lived in a nice big house in Braavos with Ser Willem Darry, and there was a lemon tree outside her window. Nothing weird is happening.

POSSIBILITY #2

We have another instance of an unreliable narrator, who is rewriting a past event that never existed.

Daenerys is chasing a red door and a lemon tree that were never truly there, and she'll never reach her destination. It's a commentary on the futility of her entire objective.

POSSIBILITY #3*

(*also known as the real reason)

At the last minute, George changed the location of the big house with the red door from Tyrosh to Braavos, resulting in a humorous inconsistency in the story.

Yes, it's really that simple.

Blood of the Dragon was a novella published in the July 1996 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction magazine. It is based on the Daenerys chapters from A Game of Thrones and was released before the book itself.

Here's an excerpt:

That was when they had lived in Tyrosh, in the big house with the red door. Dany had slept in her own room there, with a lemon tree outside her window. After Ser Willem had died, the servants had stolen what little money they had left, and soon after they had been put out of the big house. Dany had cried when the red door closed behind them forever. They had wandered since then, from Tyrosh to Myr, from Myr to Braavos, and on to Qohor and Volantis and Lys, never staying long in any one place.

Whoops! Something's different.

The big house with the red door originally being in Tyrosh isn't surprising, given that ✨ we know ✨ Daenerys speaks with a Tyroshi accent.

The merchant must have taken her for Dothraki, with her clothes and her oiled hair and sun-browned skin. When she spoke, he gaped at her in astonishment. "My lady, you are … Tyroshi? Can it be so?" "My speech may be Tyroshi, and my garb Dothraki, but I am of Westeros, of the Sunset Kingdoms," Dany told him. - Daenerys VI, AGOT

You'd have to spend many of your formative younger years in Tyrosh for that to be the case.

As Irri and Jhiqui helped her from her litter, she sniffed, and recognized the sharp odors of garlic and pepper, scents that reminded Dany of days long gone in the alleys of Tyrosh and Myr and brought a fond smile to her face. - Daenerys VI, AGOT

Amusingly, this now-deleted part of her history was somewhat alluded to when her mirrored image twin from Tyrosh was introduced to the story.

The Tyroshi sellsword was not a good man, no one needed to tell her that. - Daenerys V, ASOS

x

"Is it Daario? What's happened?" In her dream they had been man and wife, simple folk who lived a simple life in a tall stone house with a red door. - Daenerys II, ADWD

Many inconsistencies and discrepancies are present throughout the series, but they are especially noticeable in A Game of Thrones.

Lemons grow in Tyrosh, but they don't typically grow in Braavos. It's a detail the author overlooked when making the simple change, and I guarantee you this is him poking fun at himself (and the Lemongaters) for the error:

"Seven hells, this place is damp," she heard her guard complain. "I'm chilled to the bones. Where are the bloody orange trees? I always heard there were orange trees in the Free Cities. Lemons and limes. Pomegranates. Hot peppers, warm nights, girls with bare bellies. Where are the bare-bellied girls, I ask you?" "Down in Lys, and Myr, and Old Volantis," the other guard replied. He was an older man, big-bellied and grizzled. "I went to Lys with Lord Tywin once, when he was Hand to Aerys. Braavos is north of King's Landing, fool. Can't you read a bloody map?" - Mercy, TWOW

So, we can probably put it to rest.

But George himself said it was pointing to something??

Aww, adorable.

If you've been paying attention to George R. R. Martin for any amount of time, you should realize that if there were something truly significant about lemon trees not growing in Braavos as part of a secret plot yet to be revealed, there's no way in hell he would ever answer that question in that manner on LiveJournal.

Allow me to finish his sentence for him,

Dany remembers a lemon tree outside the house with the red door in Braavos, but citrus trees shouldn't really grow in Braavos's cold, foggy climate. Is this discrepency significant? Does it point to future revelations about Dany's past? Thank you so much. Very perceptive of you. Yes, it does point to . . . [my changing the story and overlooking a minor detail, like an idiot.]

Fine, but why did he switch it from Tyrosh to Braavos?

I don't know why, but you should stop overthinking this, and we should move on.

(because of arya.)

STUMPY'S THOUGHTS:

I'd like to think Lemongate has been debunked, but I'll leave it to the people to render their verdict.

Does Lemongate amount to nothing? Absolutely. Do lemons grow in Braavos? Not really. Is the house with the red door a symbol of an idealized past she'll never be able to replicate in her future? I don't doubt it.

Many things can be true here, but one thing that's not is that she lived in Dorne, and Lyanna Stark is her mother.

VOTE:

NEXT THEORY:

Oberyn poisoned Tywin

[Main menu]

[alaynasansa]

My opinion on some asoiaf ships

Jal ->

* They aren't gonna be endgame. Val is kinda a blank slate, even Harry Hardyng has more personality and he only appeared in a sample chapter + Jon dreams of an idyllic life with Val, but based on his own tastes, in his own image of what Val should be, and this imagined future is shattered the moment Val declares that Shireen, an innocent child, should be killed. Jon is rightfully disgusted "this was a Val that Jon had never seen before", this Val is the real one, not the one he had imagined, and Jon isn't attracted to the real Val

Stardyng ->

* I kinda ship them. Listen Harry isn't perfect, far from it, but he isn't significantly older than Sansa, he didn't abuse her, he didn't sexualised her (guys she's 13), he geniunely admires her qualities (her intelligence and humor), he apologized for his classism (and he hates LF so it's no wonder he didn't want to marry LF's "bastard daughter")

Starkpoole ->

* They're perfect, okay ? They need to heal and get justice and then to be happy together in Winterfell thank you very much

Ned x Ashara ->

* I'm of the opinion Ashara was Ned's teenage love. Cat was the love of his life, but in my headcanon he geniunely cared about Ashara and he repressed his memories of her. Just like his eldest daughter, Ned repressed a lot of his trauma because it hurts him too much. He only thinks of Lyanna when he's triggered by traumatic events like Sansa pleading for Lady or when he's injured and anesthetized by the milk of the poppy and he barely thinks of his own father and brother so it wouldn't be surprising

Jaime x Addam ->

* Why not ? Childhood friends and sparring mates. He's the only speaker Jaime trusts with his secret

Arianne x Daemon ->

* I don't mind them they seem happy together (though it's complicated since Arianne is the crown princess of Dorne and Daemon's a bastard)

Sansa x Dickon ->

* We know next to nothing about Dickon but why not perhaps it could work in an au

Robb x Jeyne ->

* Perhaps Robb is Sleeping Beauty. He's the one with the evil step-mom who wants to kill him and his family. Old Fairy Walder Frey is offended by the Stark-Tully family and curses 16 YO Robb. Seventh Fairy Edmure tries to save the day but it doesn't work. Anyway. Robb was young, he made a ton of mistakes, especially towards his own family, but he didn't want any of this, he didn't want to be king, he wasn't ready, he wanted to save Jeyne's honor, he wanted to do the right thing (unlike the show version). I want Jeyne to make it at the end but I'm pessimistic. They deserved better. I kinda ship them

[ellrond]

Aemond, Ned, or Elrond. I'm not picky 👀 Thanks 😅 I will be in hiding now

COME OUT OF HIDING FOR 1 MORE SEC OK I NEED SPECIFICS now I write x reader fics on my side blog @helaelaemond I need more details ok, at least tell me who you want smut of!!!! Here are your options

Aemond x Helaena

Aemond x reader

Aemond solo

Ned x Cat

Ned x Ashara

Elrond x Celebrian

Elrond solo

Listen LISTEN you can’t go into a coffee shop and just ask for coffee, you can’t come here and just ask for smut I NEED MORE DETAIL TO GIVE U WHAT U WANT 👹👹👹 but I am a gracious barista and once you have been a little more specific, I shall serve 💅🏻 ok love you message me back

[infinitestalia]

What are your thoughts on Ned and Ashara just in general what do you think happened between them, if anything?

With ASOIAF, I'm genuinely trying not to think about the main books anymore until TWOW because the theories have exhausted me. But my opinion on those two hasn't changed. I don't think anything ever happened and would hate it if it had. Brandon makes more sense and I see it as another red herring for Jon's parentage. Ned never even thinks of her, never mourns their child, whereas Cat thinks of Brandon often. If she was his love, why can't he spare her a single thought?

The tragedy of Ned and Cat is that he never fathered a bastard, there was never anyone else, he never loved another woman more than her, but he brought so much pain to Cat all the same. I don't understand why GRRM would soil that with a relationship that ultimately changes and means nothing.

"That's not so. He loved my lady mother."

"I'm sure he did, my lady, but—"

"She was the only one he loved."

A Storm of Swords - Arya VIII

[inncorrect-starklings]

Cat?

1) No, not really. But I do think the hate she gets is undeserved

2) brave, loving, able to turn the other cheek(minus… well… y’know), witty, organized

3) impulsive, judgemental, hypocritical

4) episode 2

5) Ned/Cat

6) not counting her children because I think that’s cheating then Catelyn & Brienne

7) ??? I guess I’ve seen some Ned/Cat/Ashara fics that aren’t half bad

8) Cat/Littlefinger

9) “You each name yourself king, yet the kingdom bleeds, and no one lifts a sword to defend it but my son.

10) Had she known about Arya’s Water Dancing lessons she wouldn’t have cared, just so long as she was still getting her other lessons done

[nooneeverlookedforagirl]

Summaries to Fanfics I May Never Write

"He loved my lady mother. She was the only one he loved."

Lord Tully waits until the war is done to see his daughters married. The elder daughter for the new king and the younger for the Kingslayer, their weddings help to heal the realm.

Or, Ned Stark marries Ashara Dayne, and their son is both a bastard and not. When Ned is murdered in Kings Landing she raises the North and Dorne in the name of Rhaegar’s last son. 

Jon Stark/Arianne Martell Robb* Baratheon/Margaery Tyrell Jon Arryn/Cersei Lannister

[alinaastarkov]

Ned X cat bed X ashara

Ned x Cat

vomit / don’t ship / ok / cute / adorable / sexy / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying / i will ship them in hell

Ned x Ashara

vomit / don’t ship / ok / cute / adorable / sexy / perfect / beyond flawless / hot damn / screaming and crying /i will ship them in hell

send me a ship and i’ll rate it!

[shining-m00nlight]

Cat: Some of us and I don't wanne name names behaves really inappropriately when we are out in public.

Ned: Is it me?

Cat: It is not you.

Ashara: Is it me?

Cat: ...it's not Ned.

[ladycatofwinterfell]

Harrenhal AU inspired idea. Catelyn catches Ned and Ashara kissing(or whatever), and finds herself oddly attracted to both of them. Cat ends up having a bi panic attack, luckily Ned knows how to spot and deal with those.

Not sure this is exactly what you wanted but there needs to be more Ned/Cat/Ashara for the people <33

It was wrong. Improper. She should not have stayed. She should have turned and walked away, tried to banish it from her mind.

Though she did not. She stood with her back to the wall, just around the corner from where they were. Where Lady Ashara and Brandon’s brother were standing. Entangled with one another.

She had lost her way, taken a wrong turn. She had never meant to find them. She had not known they were lost, she had not known anything about them.

Despite that Catelyn’s cheeks were burning it felt as if though she was frozen where she stood. She raised a hand to cover her mouth and then quickly lowered it again. Her heart was beating so hard in her chest that she was able to hear it.

There was little reason for her to be affected as she was. It would have been so easy to turn and walk away, knowing she had been made aware of two lovers’ secret. So easy and yet it was impossible.

As far as she was aware neither Lady Ashara nor Eddard had been betrothed. It was sin, though no breaking of any promises. That thought only crossed her mind briefly, was quickly replaced by something else. Even as she tried to push it away.

Lady Ashara was beautiful. With her purple eyes and dark hair and a smile that was almost sparkling. The sigil of House Dayne had a falling star in it, it seemed fitting. Ashara Dayne was beautiful like a falling star.

Eddard Stark was not as handsome as his older brother. He was rather plain compared to many other men. He had not spoken much and therefore she had not paid him much mind. It was different as the light from the torches on the wall danced over him and Ashara Dayne.

Against herself she moved to once agains look around the corner. One look, that was all. Then she would leave.

Catelyn held her breath as looked around the corner, then hastily released it as her eyes met Ashara Dayne’s. And while her first instinct was to duck away and run away from them she didn’t.

They had broken away from each other, perhaps to say something. That let Ashara look over Eddard’s shoulder and she had seen Catelyn.

“I’m sorry, I did not mean to… to interrupt or, or uhm…”

Catelyn’s mouth was impossibly dry as she forced herself to be silent. Her nervous blabbering would not do anything to improve the situation at hand. Not at all.

Why had she not walked away the moment she had realised what she had seen? Why had she stayed? Why had she decided to look a second time?

Only then did Eddard turn his head to look at her. Ashara looked rather taken by surprise, he was harder to read. Though he was quick to let go of Ashara and instead turn to face Catelyn.

“You need not apologise” he simply said.

That was where she had a second opportunity to turn her back to them and walk away. That was where she for a second time did not.

Ashara’s lips formed a gentle smile. A beautiful smile. It stood in sharp contrast to Eddard’s rather cold demeanour. Yet they were a sight together. And Catelyn was unable to say why.

“May I ask you not to tell anyone?” Ashara asked.

Her voice was as soft as her smile. Smooth like honey. It sent a shiver down Catelyn’s spine.

“Of course.”

Perhaps she would have told someone had she left as soon as she saw them. Lysa, maybe. Or Brandon, she could have told Brandon. But then she knew that she couldn’t say a word of it.

“How come you’re here?” Ned said.

His voice was not suspicious, not distrustful. Even as it must have appeared like she had followed them and was spying. Though then maybe she had been spying.

“I lost my way” she let them know. “The castle is so big.”

It made her feel small, insignificant. When she had first heard them she had meant to ask them for the way.

“Indeed it is.”

Even as the shame was eating her alive from the inside, she could feel it in her chest, she did not want to leave them. She wished to stay with them. But that was not her place, not at all. And they most likely wished to be left alone.

“Though I will just return the way I came. Good evening.”

She tried to smile before she turned away, most likely it looked more like a grimace. It certainly felt so. How was she to ever look at her good brother again? That was Brandon’s brother, they would be family.

Catelyn heard them whisper as she walked. She wished to sink through the floor only to never reappear. Her mind was spinning, she could not make the thoughts out. The sight of her good brother kissing Lady Ashara was burned into her head.

“Lady Catelyn!”

She immediately stopped as she heard Lady Ashara calling for her. She barely had time to turn before Ashara and Eddard had come around the corner after her.

“Might we come with you?” Eddard asked.

For a moment all she could do was look at them in silence. Ashara was holding Eddard’s arm, still smiling that soft smile.

“If you wish” Catelyn heard herself say.

She was most likely wrong, though she believed there was a hint of a smile on his face then. He was handsome when he smiled.

“We thought perhaps you would like to join us for a cup of wine” Ashara continued.

It became stranger with each passing second. Why would they want to speak with her? What had she done to deserve it? Was that right? What was she supposed to answer.

“I would like that very much” she said before she could stop herself.

A cup of wine, that was all. It would be pleasant to know them a little better. Especially as at least one of them would be part of her family soon. Perhaps Ashara would be, too. Neither of them were promised yet, they could wed one another. A love match

When Catelyn had given her answer Ashara let go of Ned’s arm and instead moved to take Catelyn’s. Her hand was warm in her arm, it was easy to feel even through the sleeve of her gown.

“It pains me we have not had opportunity to speak yet” Ashara said.

“I say the same.”

She would very much like to know Ashara and Eddard.

“Brandon speaks so very highly of you” Eddard said.

He had chosen to walk on her other side. The distance between them was a little too close to be respectable, though she did not at all mind. He most likely merely wanted to be able to hear what Ashara was saying.

“I am sure he exaggerates” Catelyn smiled.

Brandon was much for exaggerating.

“I am not” Ashara replied.

The warmth that washed over her was hard to explain, even to herself. There was something about both Ashara and Eddard that made her feel strange. As if her body was not her own anymore, simply doing whatever it pleased.

“You are much too kind.”

[colourfulballofayoh]

Because of this darn site every time I see Ben Barnes I think Young Ned Stark.

[thestagthatlovedthewolf]

Hello, how are you? I was watching the movie Friends with Benefits, and I wonder if someone could write a nedxcat fanfic based in the movie! Can you try to write it please? Thank you so much

Hi!! I’m doing fine :) How are you? Ohhh… I know that movie, I had to check it was the Justin Timberlake/Mila Kunis one or the Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman one (No Strings Attached), because two movies in the same year with the same plot was such a weird thing…

Now this is probably not what you wanted, but I had such a hard time imagining Ned and Catelyn in a relationship like this, because I really don’t think that they have that “relationship” with sex, I think for them it’s very connected to feelings… So I went a different route, I hope you’re not mad and I hope you still like it :)

Since you’re in anon, I don’t know what other ships you like, but I hope the one I included in the side here works for you…

Catelyn knew this had been happening since their New Year’s Party and she was still scared this was going to end up with Elia being hurt.

“Cat, I know what I’m doing,” Elia told her, “I don’t want a relationship right now. I just got out of a marriage.”

“I know, but that doesn’t mean you should throw yourself in bed with the first person you meet.”

“I’m not, Cat. I’ve known Ashara for awhile, and she’s good at keeping feelings at bay, you’ve told me about that.”

“Elia…” she wanted to argue once again, but classes were starting and they had to separate to go teach their classes.

Catelyn was still worried about Elia - this would either end very badly or like in every movie they would fall in love, but according to Ned who had known her for years, she had never fallen in love, keeping each of her relationships casual. While Elia had always fallen in love with the people she dated - some more than others, but feelings were always involved.

“What do you want us to do, love?” Ned asked her, as they talked in front of the tv, now that the kids were in bed.

“Nothing, we can’t do anything, that’s what annoys me…”

“I’m just glad we don’t have to go through this.”

“Sure, what happened to guys being to nervous to ask a girl out at first, so his brother asks her, they date, and then the girl and her boyfriend’s brother bond over good books and crappy tv.”

“It worked,” he told her with a laugh.

“It was a master plan, Ned. I love you,” she told him and he kissed her hand in return. “Do you think you could have had a friends with benefits situation?”

“Maybe if it was someone I already loved and cared about, like a close friend, but more for one night stand than this ongoing thing, this will just be messy.”

“Robert, then. You would be friends with benefits with Robert.”

“Shut up, but yeah, I don’t have close female friends. If I was attracted to guys, I guess Robert - I’ve seen him naked him a million times, so that would be out of the way,” he told her, shrugging his shoulders. “What about you? Would you?”

“No. I don’t think so. I know it’s stupid and old fashioned, but in my head I feel like sex and love, romantic love, are so connected, that I would feel okay with it - I would fear it was a mistake.”

“I know, I see your point.”

“And just Elia and Ashara deal seems more confusing and dangerous than Robert and Brandon making out with a different person every day.”

“They’re going to be okay, Catelyn. You can’t tell them what to do. Just be here in case Elia needs you.”

“I know, Ned. Thank you for having my back.”

“Always.”

[manedwolftweets]

[infinitestalia]

honestly if ned was with ashara and he impregnated her, i'd be so pissed because by the time the books start, she becomes so irrelevant to him like damn you had a stillborn baby how are you completely over it?

It’s the biggest hole in any Ned + Ashara theory for me. Throughout all of AGoT, Ned does not think of her even once or react to Cersei mentioning her. Ashara would have been more than just a fling; she would have had his child and she died in the most tragic of circumstances. She threw herself off a tower after she lost their kid and Ned killed her brother, but none of this remotely lingers with him in any way whatsoever? It’s not even Ned avoiding the thought of her; she simply doesn’t exist in his inner monologue at all.

Compare it to Cat and Brandon. He was merely her betrothed and they had none of the apparent history of Ned/Ashara. Yet 15 years and a happy marriage later, Cat thinks of him frequently and with genuine feeling. Her throat still goes tight at the mention of how he died when talking to Jaime. Cersei outright taunts Ned about Ashara’s death and he doesn’t so much as blink. A man like Ned wouldn’t just forget an old love who was pregnant with his child and killed herself in part due to his actions. How does she not haunt him every day? How does Jaime sitting his butt on the Iron Throne for five minutes bother him more than the death of his lover and stillborn baby?

And then there’s just a bit that niggles at me but isn’t really a factual reason against it. The great tragedy of Ned and Cat (aside from, you know, getting murdered and all their kids supposedly dying) is that Cat is haunted by the shadow of a romantic love that does not exist. It kills her to think Ned loved Jon’s mother more than he loved her, that for this woman he would bring so much humiliation and pain to Cat. She doesn’t know that it’s actually love for his sister. To find out that there was never anyone else but her is the saddest, most bittersweet thing ever and I see Jon’s parentage mystery just as much about Ned as it is him. While I don’t think it undermines his love for Cat, it just doesn’t have the same effect if the reveal is like, “Haha, yeah, I never cheated but you’re right I did love Ashara, we did hook up like everyone says, she did have my kid- it just wasn’t Jon.” It just works so much better for me from both a writing and audience perspective if Ashara doesn’t factor in at all. And it’s not like we don’t have a far more plausible and less convoluted candidate in Brandon (that scoundrel! 😩) so I don’t see the need for Ned at all, beyond a neat red herring for Jon’s mother.

[eddardofthehousestark]

Ned x Catelyn or Ned x Ashara?

Both. But Ned/Cat is my favorite because we know them, we know Catelyn Stark and we know Ned Stark. We get an idea how much they mean to each other. Plus I love the trope of arranged marriage that becomes a marriage of love. Also Catelyn is a hot redhead with a great rack. Plus she takes shit from no one.

Ned/Ashara can be fun but we really don't know who Ashara is at all and even Ned Stark at that time is kind of a mystery. Pre-Rebellion Ned is a different character then post-rebellion PTSD like crazy Ned, and we really don't know much about pre-rebellion Ned besides what other characters told us.

And obviously all those ships are horrible in comparison to Cat/Ashara.