#velaris

Anti-SJM.

Pro-SJM.

Anti-SJM but still ACOTAR-invested.

Anti-ACOTAR but pro-Throne of Glass.

Pro-Rhys but anti-IC.

Anti-Rhys but Feyre defender.

Anti-Feyre but still Nesta apologist.

Pro-Nesta but anti-Nessian.

Critical fans.

Ex-fans.

Hate-readers.

Lore archaeologists.

People who left but still receive the psychic newsletter.

People who “don’t care anymore” but can write 4,000 words by moonrise.

It proves one thing though: Nobody is free. The unsubscribe button is decorative. 💀

The books are not just being read, they are being litigated. Like seriously. A normal fandom has fans, haters, shippers, maybe a few discourse goblins in the walls.

SJM somehow has created an entire civilization of competing courts:

people defending the text, people defending the characters against the text, people defending SJM from her critics, people defending ACOTAR from SJM, people defending one book from another book, people rejecting canon but staying loyal to the emotional concept, people who left but still know every trial transcript by heart…

That proves the foundation is unstable but magnetic.

Because if the books were simply bad, people would leave.

If they were cleanly good, people would mostly celebrate.

But because they are conceptually powerful and structurally messy, everyone keeps coming back to argue over what the story meant versus what it actually did.

That’s the cursed genius of it. Not necessarily intentional genius, but still effective. The emotional promise is strong enough to trap people. The execution is weak enough to make them fight forever.

And before you start protesting. I considered many actors. Between those, yes, Ben Barnes, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, Jacob Elordi, Fionn O'Shea, Nicholas Galitzine, and at least several more.

But because Rhysand is NOT just dark hair, handsome, powerful and morally grey, here is the criteria:

✨Jamie is the only one who posseses the exact hyper-specific "dangerous angel" duality that Rhysand requires.

✨Yes. Shadowhunters has been acknowledged as his failure. But seeing backwards and analyzing his career objectively it was a failure in casting choices. And for that if you want to see who flopped more fantasy projects than him: Lily Collins. Respectfully.

✨ Has proven himself terrifyingly well as Vecna/Henry Creel in Stranger Things.

✨ Has a classic face. Sharp cheekbones. Intense eyes and is perfectly capable of projecting Rhysand's calculating majestic persona.

If that is not enough. Here is the criteria I used for the search.

Rhysand requires simultaneously:

✨ danger

✨ intelligence

✨ sensuality

✨ theatricality

✨ emotional restraint

✨ ancient exhaustion

✨ predatory elegance

✨ softness hidden under calculation

✨ swagger

✨ mythic charisma

✨"villain before lover" energy

✨ voice authority

✨ eye intimacy

✨ touch-starvation tension

✨ high fantasy credibility

✨ devastating close-up survival

Most actors hit 2 to 4 of those categories. Very few hit the "night itself walked into the room" and that's why the fandom has been fighting and split into DIFFERENT VERSIONS. That's why even SJM can't help herself. It is a very difficult role.

The reason why Jamie survived:

Gothic Rhys (elegant, dangerous, vampire-coded, bat coded, poetic, seductive, emotionally haunted...)

Prince Rhys (charming, seductive but safe, polished, strategic, aristocratic...)

Feral Night Rhys (unnerving, emotionally intelligent predator, soft voice/dangerous aura, starved intensity)

The BookTok Rhys (hot, tall, sexually charged, visually dominant) - this is where adaptations can die btw.

And Jamie carries naturally theatrical darkness, mythic energy, old-world cadence, visible fragility under menace, emotional unpredictability, fantasy legitimacy, eye intensity and touch starvation energy.

He has that "beautifully dangerous dying prince" energy. Which sounds dramatic until you realize... THAT'S LITERALLY RHYS.

He does however require the Correct Feyre balance. And can become TOO gothic if the adaptation leans wrong. Requires too restraint in styling so he doesn't drift into pure vampire aesthetics.

But: He naturally understands performance through gaze and that matters enormously for ACOTAR. And ultimately... the secret category:

✨ Can he survive Chapter 54?

This is the ultimate Rhysand test. Not abs, jawline or else.

But if the audience can believe vulnerability, confession, restraint, longing, devastation, worship and emotional exposure WITHOUT the illusion collapsing.

And I'm barely touching the love triangle dynamics, but Jamie does act perfectly as Luke Eisner counterpart (Tamlin). Luke being the Golden Prince. Jamie being the Dark Prince. One poised and slightly stiff. The other one being theatrical, physicaland intensely expressive.

"Leaning on the wind" makes me think of Azriel and their tie to him

"And the garden showing through," their relationship with Elain and her being a source of life and them being vessels of death. Life and death coming together in harmony.

Warning: long rambling below!

I've been thinking today, about how it's mentioned in Silver and Flames and in Frost and Starlight they have the option to drink hot cocoa in Velaris. 

But like.. how do they get chocolate there ? My main question is how Velaris works?

It's described to be a place of hidden, serene sanctuary protected for thousands of years. And that is built upon hills along the river.  But cocoa beans can't grow in the cold so I assume the city needed to trade at some point, no? 

And where do they get the canvases and paints and pencils and brushes and clay to create art? 

They make it themself? Do they frequently reuse old canvases by painting over old, failed, or unpopular works as da Vinci and Van Gogh? 

Or where do they get the gems to jewelry shops? (Okay maybe they mine the mountains around the city)

So they had a trade line over the river ? Or with merchants? Or they stored it for centuries worth of hot chocolate?

I know they could have greenhouses and warm glass houses to grow their own but they had to get those plants too from a place at some point.

So either it wasn't  as unknown to other cities and courts as Rhysand said (wouldn't be the first nor the last when he lied about something like this) or was it like a super secret trade line? With specific merchants? 

Also Feyre mentions many buildings are made out of white marble. But marble isn't a good choice for such a cold place. Here is how marble works based on my google search (no I did not use AI! "Marble is highly susceptible to cracking and damage in cold weather. Freezing causes water trapped in pores to expand, creating internal pressure that can shatter or crack the stone." 

I was thinking .. 

So maybe every crack is fixed with gold paint? Like kintsugi houses? (I know kintsugi art apply to clay first and foremost so pls don't come after me in the comments) Also Feyre mentions sandstone buildings too. Uhm same appy here sandstone is porous, making it vulnerable to freezing in cold, wet weather.

So is it protected by magic? Was the place once a warmer weather? Or someone just thought about what a vibe would be and didn't think about practicality? Where did they get the marble? 

I'm open to any idea on how Velaris works as a thriving city. 

Maybe the locals are so shielded like Ba Sing Se city in ALTA season 2? No one knows about the war about Amarantha and the outside? They are so busy making art and doing.. stuff. And what do they do with so much art? Do they have their own money? Is there somehow a way they sell things to Hewn city too? 

Or maybe the locals want to be open? Want to be able to travel and see other courts? 

I know many artsy and artist people. They say that the fuel to creativity can be traveling and seeing many cultures and talking to others. So maybe they want out as well? Do they also want Hewn city to join them ? I assume they are not interested in the illyrian camps. 

And books! Do they read? Does everyone have access to a library? Or is it the same 100 books available since centuries? Do they write books to themselves? 

And don't even start dating. The dating pool must be small. The books mentions fae children running around. But like..how dating works since they shielded from the world for centuries sooo...they date their cousins? 

Is Velaris such a wonderful place or is it a facade of pretty outside with dark layers?