#daemon being an imperfect father and husband but still doing what he can to protect and defend his family!!

[derangedthots]

rewatching hotd clips for inspo and it still drives me insane how whole conversations were happening in the glances btwn jace and daemon on dragonstone. like!! definitely across the painted table when nyra was in labor but the dragonmont especially!!

daemon asking ser lorent+steffon abt whether they acknowledge the true line of succession(him feeling out where their loyalties lie), jace sending him a look when they answer in the affirmative(as if to say "see, they're loyal, this isn't necessary"), but daemon still holds his frown like "hm, maybe, but let us leave no doubt" before leading the conversation to his true goal(steffon+lorent verbally recognizing rhaenyra as queen) and summoning caraxes to quell any remaining doubts the kind of violence daemon has in store for ppl who hurt his family.

also honorable mention for jace shuffling and visibly swallowing but maintaining face, never looking away, when daemon makes them reaffirm their oaths upon pain of caraxes - a moment which i read less of him being afraid of daemon's dragon(even tho this is the blood wyrm™ we're talking abt) but more of as his own acknowledgement of the lesson his stepfather is trying to teach him: viserys, daemon's own brother and jace's grandsire, should've had his vassals recommitting their oaths to his named heir(rhaenyra) in the long years of his reign, but he didn't. with him dead and succession 'unclear', daemon will not suffer that mistake and neither should jace. there can be no room for doubt, for division, with war looming on the horizon.

daemon reestablishes the hierarchy here and teaches jace the kinds of measures he'll have to take as rhaenyra's heir. daemon might be putting on a show of intimidation - i.e. threatening - steffon and lorent but he's not threatening jace.

he's guiding him.

and jace accepts it.

babes!! i'm insane! i'm insane abt this!! the intimacy and experience it takes to be able to communicate with someone else over a distance and IN SILENCE the way daemon and jace do here!! the blacks are a family period end of fucking sentence.

#hotd #the blacks #daemon targaryen #jacaerys velaryon #are they a perfect family unit? no bc they have their own strong opinions. will their trust eventually fracture? yes but still!! #the brainrot is strong abt how loyalties run in the blacks #daemon being an imperfect father and husband but still doing what he can to protect and defend his family!! #jace learning from his examples even if he doesn't reenact them in entirety bc he still has his own disagreements!! #the familial interplay!! #hotd meta #this is me throwing flowers at matt and harry bc god the microexpression were microexpressioning this whole episode