The Joinery
The Joinery is an alternateuniversefic set in the world of Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire where Ned Stark takes the Iron Throne for himself and ends up married to Cersei Lannister. Though the What If story ends the same way Ned's life does, the characters take a completely different path centering on the Opposites Attract relationship between Ned and Cersei.
Tropes used in The Joinery include:
- Adaptational Attractiveness: Ned, just like in the TV series.
- Alternate Universe Fic
- Arranged Marriage: Ned and Cersei, as well as the marriage of "their" daughter, Myranda to Garlan Tyrell.
- Asskicking Equals Authority: The way Ned takes the throne.
- Brother-Sister Incest: Cersei and Jaime
- Brother-Sister Team: Brandon and Myranda
- Dating Catwoman: Prominent hero Ned is married to one of the main villains, Cersei.
- Dead Guy, Junior: Brandon
- Doomed by Canon: Ned and Jon both die the same way
- Eating the Eye Candy: Cersei does this a lot when she's with Ned.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Cersei loves her husband, brother, and children
- Fandom-Specific Plot: The basis of this story (Ned taking the throne and marrying Cersei instead of Robert) is a pretty popular one among Ned/Cersei fan fiction. The only other common plot that comes close is Cersei turning out to be the mother of Ned's bastard, Jon.
- Fish Out of Water: Ned in King's Landing
- The Good Chancellor: Jon Arryn
- Good Is Not Dumb: Ned, despite his Honor Before Reason tendencies. He makes a good king because is knows how to avoid the pitfalls Robert allowed himself to fall into, such as sinking the realm into debt and borrowing money from Tywin.
- The Good King: This is actually Ned's in-universe nickname.
- Good Parents: Ned and Cersei
- Hair of Gold: Myranda and Terrence
- Honest Advisor: Jon Arryn, even though Ned doesn't want to believe what him when it comes to Cersei and the paternity of their children.
- Honor Before Reason: Ned
- Ice Queen: Cersei
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Her marriage with cold Northerner Ned ironically achieves this, which Tyrion points out near the end.
- Incest Subtext: Cersei sees some between Brandon and Myranda
- Murder the Hypotenuse: Catelyn is killed by Tywin Lannister to make way for his daughter Cersei to marry Ned and become queen.
- Opposites Attract: There's no way the honorable Ned would ever be happy with the manipulative and treacherous Cersei, right?
- Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Ned and Cersei eventually come to love each other, though it doesn't help the situation.
- Rated "M" for Manly: Ned. Like in the series, the man carries out every single one of his executions himself, meaning he spends the first part of his reign as king pretty busy.
- * Real Men Love the Old Gods: Ned is devoted to the Old Gods, despite the pressure of being in the south where they worship the Faith of the Seven.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Ned
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Like Arya Stark, Ned and Cersei's daughter Elaena is a tomboy who cares more for learning to fight than for being a princess.
- Screw the Rules, I Have Money: Implied that Tywin bought his daughter a crown.
- Tragic Hero: Ned
- Tragic Villain: Cersei
- Twincest: Cersei and Jaime
- Warrior Prince: This how Ned gets the throne
- What If: The whole premise of the story is: What if Ned took the throne instead of Robert and married Cersei?