so explaining my take on Lucien’s heritage— I don’t think he’s Black, I think he’s Middle Eastern (there are Black North Africans, but geographically, I’m penning North Africa rather than East, West, or South). Sarah J Maas is known for being vague and having PoC characters remain ambiguous, but let me let y’all know why I have my take on it.

Date palms and sand-swept palaces remind me more of North Africa and strictly North Africa; Egypt and Morocco in particular.

Now as for his dress, it’s very Mediterranean, very Roman/Greek but also not. Another issue with SJM is that she often meshes cultures together, which is EXTREMELY problematic, and that is the vibe I am getting with Helion and his court. To finalize what I assume is an attempt at a court that is built off of North Africa and Ancient Egypt, I looked at the appearances of the others from his court.

Rich dyes, and KOHL. Kohl is a cosmetic that is heavily popular in North Africa and particularly Egypt — when you look at paintings and representations of Ancient Egypt, the people are ALWAYS wearing Kohl. Now combined with imagery of desert palaces and palms, along with Mediterranean dress that was worn by the Ancient Egyptians, and my take is that Helion is meant to be North African, and strictly Egyptian.

This is a reminder as well that Egyptians are a wide variety of colors— while as an Egyptian I am more olive, I have relatives that are Black. Egypt is a heavily diverse country, and there ARE Black Egyptians. And Lucien, to me, likely sounds as if he’s got a skin tone that is almost gold, not olive, with yellow undertones.

AND THIS IS A REMINDER THAN LUCIEN VANSERRA IS NOT WHITE.