Safe Anchorage
is an A Song of Ice and Fire fanfic by Libraryseraph. It focuses on Jeyne Poole and Theon Greyjoy after the events of Theon's The Winds Of Winter preview chapter. The story was published in February 2019 and completed in October 2022.
Tropes
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Asha ruffles both Jeyne's and Theon's hair or pats their heads when she's trying to reassure them. Theon is also frequently described as smoothing or stroking Jeyne's hair when he wants to comfort her.
- Anywhere but Their Lips: Theon kisses Jeyne on the forehead to comfort her, and Jeyne kisses Theon on the cheek for the same reasons. Their relationship is platonic, and Jeyne is still a child, so lip kisses would be too romantic.
- The Atoner: Theon sees caring for Jeyne as a way to make up for the horrible things he's done.
- Bathtub Bonding: Downplayed, but the side story "The Light In Me Will Guide You Home", Asha helps bathe Theon after his pardon, helping reinforce the new, closer state of their relationship, including Asha's care for Theon and Theon's desire for her support.
- Big Sister Instinct/ Big Brother Instinct:
- Asha is incredibly protective of Theon, guarding and taking time to soothe him when he's hurting.
- Theon is protective of Jeyne and wants to look after her, at one point explicitly comforting her in a way Asha did to him.
- Child by Rape: Jeyne discovers she is pregnant with Ramsay's child, after being raped repeatedly during her forced marriage to him.
- Cool Big Sis: Asha takes on this role not only to Theon (her actual younger sibling) but also to Jeyne. She's brusque and straightforwards, but also caring towards and protective of both of them.
- Cry into Chest: After all she's been through, Jeyne sometimes breaks down weeping into Theon's chest.
- Dead Guy Junior: Jeyne names her son Vayon, after her deceased father. She considers Robb as a potential name, but Theon doesn't take it well.
- Death by Childbirth: Discussed, Jeyne giving birth is even more dangerous than it is for adult women in Westeros due to her age, and both she and Theon are terrified she won't survive the experience.
- Declaration of Protection: In chapter 7, Asha promises Jeyne that she'll always be safe as long as Asha is there, after hearing of the depths of Jeyne's abuse.
- Distant Finale: The final chapter is an epilogue that takes place 5 years after the rest of the fic, when Vayon is a child and spring is coming.
- Don't Call Me "Sir": Asha Asks Jeyne to stop calling her "Lady Asha", since she finds it too formal. Jeyne refuses, since being familiar makes her too uncomfortable.
- Family of Choice: Asha and Theon have basically taken Jeyne in as a surrogate younger sister, since she has nowhere else to go. Later, Theon basically serves as a foster father to Jeyne's son Vayon.
- Feeling the Baby Kick: After Asha and Theon's Declaration of Protection in Chapter 7, Jeyne feels her baby kick and says the baby must have heard it too.
- Fright-Induced Bunkmate: In the epilogue,Vayon insists on sleeping with both Jeyne and Theon after he has a nightmare. They're both concerned about their ability to protect him from genuine dangers when he's older.
- Good Girls Avoid Abortion: Played With. When Jeyne realizes she's pregnant, she seeks an abortion, but is unable to get it since Westerosi abortifacients are too dangerous at her age and stage of pregnancy. No moral concerns ever come up.
- Headbutt of Love: Theon and Jeyne touch foreheads to comfort and reassure each other.
- Hurt/Comfort Fic: The fic revolves around Jeyne and Theon comforting and supporting each other after their canon abuse and torture.
- Important Haircut: When Theon's hair starts growing back darker after his Disease Bleach, Jeyne cuts his hair short to remove the remaining white hair.
- Insistent Appellation: after Asha tells Jeyne not to call her "Lady Asha", Jeyne immediately responds with "Yes... my lady." Asha drops it when she realizes the formality makes Jeyne more comfortable.
- Lap Pillow: In Chapter 6, Jeyne falls asleep in Theon's lap after they make up from their fight. Theon notes that his legs don't make a good pillow, but she doesn't seem to mind.
- Nervous Tics: Jeyne smooths or plays with her skirts when she's nervous (which is most of the time).
- Past Experience Nightmare: In Chapter 2, Jeyne has a nightmare about the first time she was raped, and Theon has to comfort her.
- Rape as Drama: Jeyne's plot and characterization are defined by her past sexual abuse, and how she and Theon deal with it.
- Screaming Birth: Played for Drama in Chapter 8, when Jeyne screams badly enough to injure her throat while giving birth, since the pain makes her flashback to her rape.
- Teen Pregnancy: Jeyne ends up pregnant at thirteen after being married off and raped. The fic is explicit about how horrifying this is, and how ill-prepared she is to handle it on her own at her age.
- Titled After the Song: Sidestory The Light In Me Will Guide You Home is titled after a line from the Vienna Teng song "Harbor"
- Trauma Button: Jeyne clearly has Ramsay as hers, given how she was viciously abused by him.
- Would Hurt a Child: Jeyne was effectively forced into sex slavery at age eleven, and was married off to a brutal rapist at thirteen. Ramsay also threatened that, if she had a daughter, said daughter would be fed to his dogs and they'd "start over".
