azriel is getting his own book and elain is getting her own and when gwynriel happens i will revisit this post to brag to the elriels, the elucien agenda continues to thrive

Lucien is not white Helion is not white Emerie is not white and I cannot believe I have to say this but Tarquin is absolutely not white

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.

_{“so I’m supposed to pretend I don’t care?” snarls Lucien, stalking away from her, as if the proximity between the two is too much, as if he cannot stand to be near the scent that threatens to overtake him completely. “that what happened earlier didn’t happen, to forget the press of your body against mine?”
there is silence in the clearing, and it’s as if the birds that had been singing have decided that their joyful melodies were no longer needed; not when the clearing seemed to be divided, with the air thick and heavy, and tainted with an old, powerful magic.
“you told me you loved me,” bites Lucien, the word as vicious as a pack of wolves tearing into a carcass. he’d intended to be kind; to say the words without bitterness, without a care for the wounds of the past, but it is the way she stares at him that threatens to undo him completely.
it is the understand. the regret. and the shared pain.
she had unknowingly done to him what had been done to her.
perhaps she was no better than Graysen, who she had grown to despise and view as a monster, as foreign to her as the creatures she had seen that one day on a blood-soaked plain.}

_{y’all ever start writing a fic n then hear a song and skip forward to halfway thru the fic bc u just got inspo , , , , ,}

Why are the elriels so vicious lol I swear I haven’t found any elucien stans tryna fight or say anything outta pocket, meanwhile they’ve got essays out on how elucien will never happen and lucien is horrible 😭 please let it go

_{A COURT OF GOLDEN FEATHERS}

_{Elain Archeron has often been regarded as the softest of the Archeron sisters, but the years have been long and the transition to High Fae difficult. She is no longer the flower grower, but also the seer, and the rose with thorns. Lucien Vanserra is the scorned son of Autumn and heir to Day, with a temper as vibrant as his flames and unmatched, lethal cunning that would leave the fiercest predator quaking.}

_{With a war brewing on the horizon and visions that are guided by the kind hand of the Mother, Elain and Lucien have been scent to the mortal lands to face Koschei, the eldest Death God. Accompanied by Jurian, the trio have one mission, and one mission only: to free the women held captive and to have Vassa reclaim her throne, and quickly at that. Elain and Lucien race against time itself to do what was long regarded as the impossible while struggling with what they’ve long learned to ignore: the mating bond.}

_{pls send me elucien prompts ! all the prompts ! send them ALL MY WAY !}

_{more on elucien: helion being lucien’s father can’t just be a minor plot point, it absolutely holds more importance. lucien being heir to day court while eris is who we know as heir to autumn is 100% a plot device sjm won’t overlook. i also don’t think sjm would give elucien a bond just for the sake of it, and especially if it may damage (because it will) both elain and lucien. regarding lucien and vassa, i don’t find it realistic, especially because vassa’s a human and we’ve seen enough of humans being turned to fae for it to happen again. now elain may still very well end up with azriel, but i think that all three sisters ending with bat boys may be too much for even sjm again. i’m just thinking this out tho, , , ,}