Fanfic / Of Gold and Iron

Of Gold and Iron is a Game of Thrones Real Life AU by Kallypso, trading the cutthroat world of medieval politics for the cutthroat world of modern business. The story begins when Ned Stark, CEO of Stark Industries, is killed in a drunk driving accident which also paralyzes his son Bran. In her grief, his daughter Arya rationalizes that this wasn't random - he was murdered, and she's going to prove it.

Of course, the only people who can prove such a thing are the Faceless Men, who place her in charge of spying on Tywin Lannister, her family's chief competitor - and the other man who suspects Ned may have been murdered. Before long, their families become intertwined by a city-wide conspiracy looking for their heads, forcing them together in ways no one could have expected.

It concluded on January 1st, 2021, at 66 chapters and can be read at Archive of Our Own.

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Tropes present in this work include:

• Absence of Evidence: The fact that both Ned and Arya's case files are missing tells the families more about the conspiracy's existence than anything on the file would have. One file is suspicious enough, especially on such a high-profile case, but two removes any ambiguity - someone is covering up their deaths.
• Adaptational Mundanity: As a result of the general Mundanization of the series to real life, several characters and features are tweaked to work in the setting:
  • The Faceless Men lose their schtick of actually taking people's faces in favor of making it metaphorical, with the Men instead taking the "faces" of their personas. For some who actually do change their face, it's through plastic surgery.
  • "Long Night" is no longer a mythical event, but a powerful narcotic instead, with the Night King instead being the drug's primary creator and dealer who intends to spread it across the city.
  • Bran's abilities as the "Three-Eyed Raven" are changed from supernatural omnipotence to hacking abilities instead, giving him access to security cameras and secure communications.
• Adaptational Intelligence: While Cersei in canon is capable of cunning like her father, social stigma towards women and massive ego had stymied her potential, resulting in her getting outplayed by more experienced and competent schemers. Because such a social stigma is not as severe in a modern-day setting, Cersei had plenty of opportunities to build experience while working under her father, turning her into a capable businesswoman able to deceive someone like Roose Bolton. She even inherits the company after Tywin decides to retire.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Even disregarding that Tywin is no longer in a setting where murdering entire families is every day business, he is much nicer than his canon counterpart; whereas in canon even his praises masked insults, here he is genuinely capable of acknowledging other people's successes and even offering genuine comfort in his own way.
  • Canon Joffrey is one of the most famous examples of Teens Are Monsters in modern literature history, with no act too evil or petty for him. Here, on his own, he's at most guilty of being a domestic abuser; he was blackmailed into killing Ned Stark, seems to regret it, and ultimately loves his sister even at his lowest.
  • Cersei as well. While her later cooperation with the Starks is mainly driven by a desire to avenge Joffrey's death, she never descends into a full-blown vindictive tyrant as she does in canon. She is also not involved in Robert Baratheon's death.
• Adapted Out: Although Sandor Clegane plays a supporting role in the first half of the story, Gregor goes unmentioned - especially noticeable because he still has his canon facial scars.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Jaime and Cersei's infamous incestual relationship is completely omitted, with the story strictly making them platonic siblings.
• After Action Patch Up: Ygritte and Jon first start to get close when she heals a face wound he received from a man hyped up on Long Night.
• Alas, Poor Villain: Joffrey's death is portrayed as a somber affair, with special focus being put on the their loved ones mourning the loss and the fact that they were out of their depth the whole time.
• Ambiguous Start of Darkness: Jaqen H'ghar clearly lost something very important to him as a result of Tywin's conspiracy in Braavos, but whatever it is is left to the imagination; all we know is that it was so important that the normally stoic man completely loses his composure when reminded of it.
• Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: As Tyrion talks to Bran about the attempt on Jaime's life, he notes that now all of the Lannisters have personal reasons to be involved in the fight: Jaime doesn't know when to quit, Tywin takes an attack on his son as an act of war, Cersei wants to bury the people who killed her son... and Tyrion is full of spite and wine.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: Tywin makes Arya almost on sight despite her best efforts as "Beth" because he notices she looked nervous even before his name was revealed; while he admits she could just know him from the paper, it's more likely that she somehow knows him. It only takes a few more clues from studying the people around him and how they react to her to figure it out.
• Batman Gambit: Knowing that she can't take on the Waif in a one-on-one fight, Arya instead lets her stab her before signaling for Tywin to enter, taking advantage of the distraction to take the knife and kill her while she's looking away.
• Big Bad Ensemble: Petyr Baelish, the Night King, and the Faceless Men all share the title of Big Bad. Baelish is the mastermind behind Ned Stark's death, but he is the Disc-One Final Boss before he's disposed of by the Faceless Men. The Night King is the one who created the Long Night drug and unleashed it upon the whole of Westeros on the Faceless Men's orders, but he has his own agenda in mind.
• Big Damn Heroes: During the train hijacking, Tywin saves Arya's life from an attacker when she'd previously dismissed him as a noncombatant.
• Blackmail: After learning that Joffrey killed Ned, the group quickly realizes that he must have been blackmailed into doing so. It affords the killer no sympathy whatsoever, since the only thing they were blackmailed with was the consequences of their own actions.
• Blatant Lies: At the Charity Gala, Petyr apologizes to Cat by saying that he forgot the time of year. Given that his memory is impeccable, she doesn't believe him in the slightest, but she lets it slide.
• Body Double: The Faceless Men fake Arya's death by planting a fake corpse in Westeros, ensuring no one would think to look for her.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Tyrion may be a lecherous drunk, but his eye for finance rivals his father's, ensuring that no matter how much he spends in his endeavor to spite his father, he's never in danger of running out.
  Catelyn: He doesn't seem like someone you want associated with your company.
  Petyr: You wouldn't think. But don't let his facade fool you. The man's a genius with investments. Been growing his assets for some time, and he doesn't even have his father's help.
• Consummate Liar: Cersei, of all people, comes into her own after Sansa's kidnapping, managing to pull a flawless act to convince Roose Bolton that she's allied with him when in reality she's allied with the Starks.
• Deadpan Snarker: Myrcella, of all people, gets some surprisingly good zingers in when she's comfortable.
  Cersei: You said you didn't want your bodyguard to be obvious.
  Myrcella: I know, I just didn't think you'd listen.
• Death of Personality: The Faceless Men attempt to do this to Arya, but they ultimately fail; despite her best efforts, she simply can't keep herself hidden once she returns home, and her identity gets compromised within days. Jaqen was counting on this in the first place and never expected her to succeed.
• Death Seeker: Arya has absolutely no concern for her own life and at certain points even seems to welcome death if it would get her out of this hellish situation. She almost tricks Tywin into killing her before he points out that her family would be screwed without her.
• Dirty Cop: Janos Slynt is reimagined here as a corrupt police officer, with even Allistair Thorne being more trusted by Jaime and Brienne than him. It's a good thing, too, because he's in on the conspiracy.
• Dissonant Serenity: Jaqen H'ghar is naturally a very stoic person, reacting to everything around him with a small smile and calm words.
  His expression was soft and his voice gentle. And they stayed that way no matter what. When he gave orders. When he gave punishments. When Faceless Men died. Always the same face. Always the same voice.
• Do Wrong, Right: This is how Cersei knocks themself off the suspect list in Ned's death. A car crash has far too many variables for them to use it as an assassination method when poison would work just as well and not leave as much of a trace.
• Dramatic Irony: As she sails to Westeros, Arya speculates that Tywin doesn't remember his meetings with her that well. The previous narrative section established that Tywin remembered his encounters with her vividly because she made that much of an impression.
• The Dreaded: Arya naturally has a healthy respect for all of the Faceless Men, but there's a special terror-filled place in her heart for Jaqen, the one man she hopes to never cross.
• Driving Question: Who killed Ned Stark and why?
• Enemy Mine: Following Arya's identity being exposed, the Stark and Lannister families are forced to align for the first time, knowing that their options are to face the coming threats together or let petty feuds get them all killed.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Tywin is the first person to admit that he's ruthless and killed many people during the war in brutal ways, but he's honestly offended that the Starks' opinion of him is so low as to think that he'd murder Arya for no reason whatsoever.
• Everyone Can See It: A rather hilarious inversion; everyone can see that Renly and Margaery are definitely not in love with each other, with most coming to the correct conclusion that she's only The Beard for his relationship with Loras.
• Everyone Has Standards: Mance Rayder is a revolutionary who is completely fine tearing down King's Landing if it can allow the creation of something better, but unlike his former partner The Night King, he does intend to fix the damage he causes and doesn't intend to cause casualties along the way.
• Exact Words: When Catelyn confronts Tywin over Arya being shot, she says that he promise he would keep her daughter out of danger. Tywin responds that his exact promise was that "nothing would happen to her", and aside from the gunshot wound that she's taking like a champ, she's still okay.
• Fire-Forged Friends: The Stark and Lannister families are forced to ally to combat the threat, forcing all of them closer whether they like it or not.
  • Tywin and Catelyn originally dislike each other and only interact when necessary, but as they find themselves forced to work together to protect their families, they gradually get closer and closer. They're dating by the end.
  • Jaime and Jon are originally cold to each other, but as it quickly becomes apparent that they are the only trustworthy members of the police department (besides Brienne), they're forced to trust each other more until they're basically brothers in arms.
• Foreshadowing:
  • In the first chapter, as Baelish explains how he knows about the Faceless Men, he notes that he has a "suspicious mind". The full canon quote being referenced says that "only dishonest people think this way", hinting at the fact that Baelish had Ned killed.
  • Following Stannis's death, Olenna tells Tywin to remember that everything is always just business, referencing a specific act involving the Second Essosi War and the collapse of the Iron Bank. Tywin will later reveal that he and several other CEOs purposefully collapsed the economy during the war to give them an edge, which is why Jaqen is on his warpath in the first place.
• Frame-Up: It's heavily implied that Baelish murdered a prostitute in order to blackmail Joffrey, threatening to frame him for the murder if he didn't comply.
• Get It Over With: The climax of Arya's scheme to provoke Tywin to kill her in self-defense has her telling him, "Just... make it quick." Tywin refuses in order to avoid playing into the Faceless Men's or some puppet master's plan. Arya is not amused.
• Greater-Scope Villain: The Iron Bank. They are the ones co-conspiring with the Faceless Men in bringing down Tywin Lannister and all of Westeros in retribution for what Tywin did to Braavos in the war. However, they are never confronted directly.
• Handicapped Badass: Jaime has already lost his hand when the story begins, but when the chips come down, he's just as capable as he was before the loss.
• Hypocrite: When Cersei tells Tywin she's hiring a bodyguard for Myrcella, he begins criticizing her parenting habits by pointing out she has no control of Joffrey. Cersei responds by asking if he has any control of Tyrion, prompting him to end the conversation right there.
• If I Wanted You Dead...: When convincing Arya that he had no role in Ned's death, Tywin recalls his supposed ruthlessness and pulls out a handgun, pointing out that if he truly had something to hide, he'd simply gun her down right then and there.
• Indy Ploy: A specialty of Arya's; while she's admittedly terrible at long-term strategy, she's an expert at thinking on the fly and relying on her instincts, which gets her out of many life and death situations as time goes on.
• In Love with the Mark: Arya and Myrcella end up falling in love as the masks come down and they spend more time with each other.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • It's an incredibly different set of circumstances, but Joffrey and Baelish are still responsible for Ned's death.
  • Baelish is once again responsible for someone being poisoned at a wedding, though in this case it's Stannis rather than Joffrey.
  • Discussed by Tywin and Arya in Chapter 41, regarding whether the events of the story would be different had Arya refused to find the Faceless Men in hopes of investigating whoever killed her father.
    Tywin: You think that you went to Braavos of your own volition, but someone placed that coin hoping that someone would find it. It happened to be you. But if you had set that coin down and went home, I'm sure a faceless man would have found you later on and told you the tale of your father's death. They would have gotten you one way or another.
    Arya: You're probably right. They... like to make it seem like you have choices at first. Like it's your decision. Like you can pick anything you want. But it's some impossible choice or it's not a choice at all. And I've just been a pawn all this time, thinking that I had any sort of control.
    Tywin: So make a choice they didn't give you.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Jaime and Tyrion are both self-admitted jackasses, but for the short lists of people they actually do care about, nothing is too far to ensure their safety.
• Knowledge Broker: Following the accident, Bran gets sick and tired of people pitying him and begins compiling information on the dark sides of the King's Landing wealthy, essentially creating his own dossier of the citizenry to ensure he's not the smallest one in the room anymore.
• Mama Bear: Say what you will about Cersei, she does love her children, especially Myrcella; the interview process for her bodyguard has Cersei straight up ask "Beth" if she's willing to kill someone should they threaten her.
• The Mole: Roose Bolton, while pretending to be loyal to Robb if disagreeable, is actually allied with Baelish and helped kidnap Sansa to force him to embezzle from the company.
• Morality Pet: For all his faults, Joffrey genuinely does love and care about Myrcella, with Cersei noting that even when he refused to answer his parents' calls, he'd still answer her calls. The group uses this to lure Joffrey to Renly's wedding - with disastrous consequences for all of them.
• More Insulting than Intended: One that actually works out rather well for the heroes. Arya's plan to kill the Waif involves purposefully receiving a wound, screaming to alert her allies to barge in, and then striking when her opponent is distracted by that. What she doesn't know is Tywin Lannister was part of a group that crashed Braavos' economy to gain an edge in the war twenty years ago, and the Faceless Men - despite their avowed neutrality - are actually dedicated to taking revenge upon that group. When Tywin Lannister rushes into the room at Arya's scream, the Waif flips out, and Arya dispatches her quite easily.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Dialogue between Jaime and Brienne reveals that Vargo Hoat is still the man who crippled Jaime by shooting off his hand with a shotgun.
  • Tyrion's first on page conversation with Joffrey features him slapping the insufferable bastard across the face.
• Noodle Incident: Apparently, Tyrion has interacted with the Spider before, but he doesn't give any meaningful details.
• Not His Sled: A character is tricked into drinking poisoned wine at a wedding, choking to death in front of all of the horrified guests. The twist? Even though Joffrey is present and we see him pick up a glass, he's playing Tyrion's role - Stannis ends up drinking the poison instead.
• Not So Above It All: As Tywin, Arya, and Myrcella take a train to Highgarden, Myrcella demands Arya play a card game with her on the basis that as her bodyguard, she must do as she says. Arya looks to Tywin, who gives a genuine smile and agrees that Arya must listen to her.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: Joffrey originally seems like a minor annoyance at worst - and then it turns out that he drove the car that killed Ned Stark.
• Not So Stoic: Jaqen H'ghar styles himself as a calm yet ruthless man, with nothing shaking him. When he sees Tywin Lannister face to face for the first time, however, this image crumbles away as he slowly loses control of his emotions, with his spiteful rage eventually leading to his plan collapsing and his ignominious death.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: Mance Rayder once worked with The Night King in his endeavor to tear down and repair King's Landing, only to later realize that his partner had no intention of helping the city at all, merely wanting to destroy it.
  Mance: We shared some views. Sometimes the only way to fix a system is to burn it down and start from scratch. But he's not interested in the 'fixing' bit.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: "The Spider" is clearly meant to be Varys, but his real name is never actually revealed.
• Pet the Dog: Catelyn reveals that when Arya's body was found during a meeting with Tywin, he of all people sat her down, gave her a drink, and called a car for her to get her home safe. He later gave her a drink at a charity gala, beginning an odd yearly tradition.
• Pragmatic Villainy: Tywin tells Arya that while he may not be averse to killing in general, the main reason why he wouldn't have killed Ned Stark is because it's much more convenient to drive an opposing company bankrupt than it is to kill their CEO.
  Tywin: Well, killing a rival makes everything far more complicated than it needs to be. It's actually far simpler for me to run their business into the ground. Or come to a compromise with them.
• Related Differently in the Adaptation: With no Lannister Twincest happening here, Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen are genuinely Cersei and Robert’s children while Jaime is only their uncle.
• The Reveal: Rigel, Pearl's friendly neighbor, is actually Ramsay Snow under an alias who kidnapped Sansa on his father's orders.
• Secret-Keeper: The main reason why Qyburn is trusted as the Lannisters' personal physician is because his ability to keep a secret is second to none, meaning they know he won't tell anyone anything.
  [Arya] couldn't help but wonder what other matters he handled discreetly. If he had helped to cover any of Joffrey's indiscretions. Or the indiscretions of the Lannister brothers. Or Tywin himself. This man likely knew much of the skeletons in their closets, but she could tell just by looking at him he wouldn't give anything away. You could tell the talkers. He wasn't one of them.
• Shotgun Wedding: Cersei's marriage to Robert turned out to be this. She got pregnant with Joffrey after a fling with Robert while she was barely an adult. Rather than have his daughter disgrace the family name by siring a bastard child, Tywin forced Cersei to marry Robert, trapping her in an Awful Wedded Life. Cersei knew this was also her father's way of punishing her.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Dontos Hollard appears for a single chapter in which he attempts to assassinate Myrcella, and while he fails in that goal, the aftereffects make Tywin realize Arya's true identity, changing the direction of the story permanently from then on.
• Straw Nihilist: The Night King talks a big game about how he intends to bring out humanity's true nature and right the wrongs of the past, but Bran points out that none of his claims hold up under the barest scrutiny, ultimately revealing him to simply be a sadistic bastard who wants to watch the world burn.
• Suicide by Cop: When the Waif tells her to separate the Starks and Lannisters, Arya's plan to do so is to draw a gun on Tywin and hope he kills her first. Luckily, Tywin sees through the plan immediately and points out that without her, her family would be easy pickings for the Faceless Men, convincing her to hand over the gun.
• Take Our Word for It: The amount of money Sansa's kidnappers demand is such a large amount that the narration completely avoids ever saying it, only saying that however much it is, the Starks could only afford to pay it by embezzling from their own company.
• Then Let Me Be Evil: Downplayed; a big part of why Tyrion misbehaves as much as possible is that he decided if Tywin was going to call him a lecherous drunk, then he would become the most lecherous drunk in all of King's Landing.
• Training from Hell: The House of Black and White's training regimen is appropriately brutal, depriving the trainees of sleep, food, and comfort on a regular basis on top of strenuous physical exercise.

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