#pro elucien

[zenkindoflove]

Elucien & Courtly Love

I went down a bit of a rabbit hole today, and it sparked this analysis. I want to break down a common head canon that many Eluciens share which is that the dynamic of Elucien fits patterns and tropes found more in historical romances than those popularized in romantasy. I want to conceptualize what ultimately feels like a ~vibe~ they have to something a little more concrete by using the Medieval literary concept of "Courtly Love".

Courtly love mostly refers to the romantic stories between knights and women of nobility from Medieval Europe. One of the most famous stories is that of Guinevere and Lancelot. These stories of longing and chivalry served as entertainment but also influenced social practices. Many of the acts of knightly chivalry and sacrifice have influenced romance tropes that have persisted into our own modern media. There has been a lot of scholarship on courtly love, but for the purposes of simplicity, I'll use the Gaston Paris' four principal characteristics to frame this discussion as it pertains to Elucien.

The love is illegitimate, furtive (ie. adulterous).

The male lover is in an inferior position and the woman in an elevated one.

The man does quests, tests, or trials in the woman's name.

There is an art to it, it has rules, in the same vein as chivalry or courtesy.

1. The love is illegitimate, furtive (ie. adulterous).

I think this trait is one of the most fun to wrap our heads around as it pertains to Elucien because the idea of their mating bond being "illegitimate" is a bit of mindfuck, mostly because its presented to us as a superior form of romantic bonding and is treasured by the Fae. However, I think the circumstances by which Elucien's bond snaps and the context we see them interact falls under this characteristic. First, Elain is already engaged to another man - Graysen. From her perspective, having this mating bond is a sort of adultery/infidelity to her betrothal. She even goes as far as to try and return to Graysen just before the war, ultimately leading to him rejecting her not only because of her being changed but because she "belongs to another" now. Her bond with Lucien is presented as this disgusting, animalistic brand on her now in her human fiance's eyes

In ACOMAF and ACOWAR, Lucien is technically an enemy to the Night Court. Everyone in Elain's life is suspicious of him and his loyalties, and they are constantly on the verge of alienating him all together. They literally keep him separated from Elain when they are both in the same house in ACOWAR, and one of their main interactions is when Lucien sneaks into the library and finds Elain there. In ACOSF, Elain and Lucien have few scenes, however we do know both are up to secret activities that are unbeknownst to the POV characters. Now, this might have nothing to do with each other, but there are a lot of headcanons and predictions that the start of Elain and Lucien getting to know each other will ultimately have to be done in secret due to the protective nature of Elain's family and the scrutiny they are under. Many also predict that Elain will have to "run away" from her family on a mission with Lucien just to get their story started.

2. The male lover is in an inferior position and the woman in an elevated one.

While Elain and Lucien don't fit this trope from a nobility or class perspective on the surface, there are several aspects of their characters and where then end up by ACOSF that gives them this placement to each other. While Lucien is a son of a High Lord, he is both banished from that court and as we find out in ACOWAR, a bastard. By this book, Lucien is courtless, abandoning Spring to come to Night just to make sure that Elain is okay. When he greets her, we get a clear idea of how he sees himself.

'I am Lucien. Seventh son of the High Lord of the Autumn Court.' And a whole lot of nothing.

By ACOSF, Elain has a fairly high status within Prythian. Feyre is High Lady of the Night Court, and as her sister, that means Elain is firmly within the noble class among the Fae. Lucien, however, works for Rhys and Feyre as an emissary, sent away on tasks to do their bidding, not unlike a knight that serves a house. Lucien is constantly having to prove his worth to Feyre, Rhys, and the rest of the Inner Circle, who still do not trust him.

3. The man does quests, tests, or trials in the woman's name.

This is my favorite characteristic as it pertains to them. It's also one of the most well known characteristics when people think about courtly love in literature. These quests are apart of the knight's devotion to the woman he loves, and he is forced to yearn for her from afar. Often in the medieval stories, the knight may only see the object of his love once, twice, or sometimes never. The point is that he is away from her, and yet is thinking of her always. We see throughout the series that this is the state of Elain and Lucien's current arrangement. Lucien spends almost all of his time in the Human Lands, working with Vassa and Jurian, basically the farthest he could possibly be from Velaris, only returning to the city on holidays or special occasions. Much of this is related to the work he does for the Night Court, though there is an element of Lucien choosing this distance because he thinks it is what Elain wants, sacrificing with only her in mind.

The best example of this characteristic is in ACOWAR when Lucien literally goes on a quest to the Continent. He does this for Elain, not only because he senses that she needs the distance from him as she processes her grief, but also because it is her vision that he is investigating - to find the firebird and figure out what's going on with the Death God. Most of the Inner Circle isn't sure what to make of Elain having visions, but Lucien immediately volunteers for this dangerous mission, putting his trust and faith in Elain's abilities. And when Lucien returns, he does so in a very knightly, heroic away, literally cutting his way with a sword through a battlefield just to get to Elain and make sure that she is okay. We see at the end of ACOWAR he was incredibly successful on his quest, not only finding Vassa but also linking up with Papa Archeron, getting the ships and army that they need to fight Hybern.

Throughout ACOFAS and ACOSF, we see that Lucien is still focused on his other "quests", trying to understand how to break Vassa's curse, checking in on Tamlin in Spring, and meeting with Eris in secret about Beron's alliance with Koschei. Simply, Lucien is busying himself with his other duties in order to distract himself from the longing he has for Elain as he waits for her to become ready to get to know him.

4. There is an art to it, it has rules, in the same vein as chivalry or courtesy.

I think of all the characteristics, this one is likely the most obvious to most Elucien fans, as many people point out that the way Elain and Lucien act with one another makes them feel like they belong in a historical romance book. There is a lot of chivalry we witness between Lucien and Elain, firstly the polite distance Lucien maintains with Elain by calling her the honorific "Lady". Lucien also "courts" Elain in a very formal way such as only coming to see her when he is invited and giving her gifts. Lucien is well known as a sassy character who often is tricky and sly when he banters with others, and yet, when he speaks to Elain, we see a shift in his presentation. He becomes nervous and careful, deferent to her expressions of betrayal and anger towards him rather than defiant as we see him with others.

Lucien is mindful to operate within the "rules" of the mating bond, especially holding to it the inherent nature of the choice to accept or reject the bond belonging to the female. He gives Elain more space and distance than any of the other MMCs, using courtesy and chivalry as a crutch to dictate how he engages with her, rather than pushing her to make a decision or forcing her into a situation where she must be around him. Where he was once a well-known rake, Lucien is also now celibate since the mating bond snapped, rejecting other females that want to spend time with him, telling them he is a "mated male now".

Elain is also similarly formal with him as well, never outright rejecting him by telling him to not visit her or giving back his gifts, but also not putting herself forward with him as Feyre or Nesta did with their own mates. Her feelings about Lucien are more of a mystery to us, but Elain is similarly following a script that is familiar to her as she tries to maintain the distance to figure out how she feels.

Closing thoughts

One of the biggest elements of courtly love is the idea of loving someone from afar, usually someone there is a great obstacle in the way of being with you. In the case of Elain and Lucien, the distance and yearning is what makes them interesting to us and wants us to root for them, even if the largest obstacle holding them back is themselves - their insecurities, broken hearts, and trapped in a pattern of avoidance. Even if subconscious, SJM is playing on a long, long history throughout romantic literature of how chivalry, devotion, and longing set up tension within a romance. And I fully believe that is why we will ultimately see Elain and Lucien's love play out in our own modern context of Romance, where happily ever afters are guarantees.

[chaol-apologist]

🪉 bad liar

A slow-burn, regency reimagining of Prythian, written for @elucienweekofficial 2026 • Day 4: Arranged Marriage

chapter 8: paint my kiss across your chest

After two years out of society, Elain Archeron is determined to find a husband.

When she meets Viscount Graysen Nolan, she falls head over heels, and with his proposal all but guaranteed, everything feels as though it’s falling right into place.

Until it falls apart.

Facing ruin or a life on the shelf, an out-of-the-blue offer of marriage from Prince Lucien Vanserra, Duke of Glenacre, turns her world upside down.

Now married to a man she barely knows while nursing her heartbreak over the one she’d planned her life with, Elain must contend with lust, lies, and longing to find the one thing she’s wanted all along: love.

read on AO3

chapter masterlist:

chapter 1 – taking up a fraction of my mind

chapter 2 – if you're the art, i'll be the brush

chapter 3 – trying not to give in to you

chapter 4 – even if it's in my dreams

chapter 5 – call me an amenity

chapter 6 – trying to distract myself

chapter 7 – there’s nothing subtle here

chapter 8 – paint my kiss across your chest

[acourtofthought]

It does make me shake my head in disbelief when people say Sarah doesn't care about Lucien when these are just some of the lines she's written about him:

“Idiot!” he yelled at me, then glanced behind him toward where the other faeries stared. “Useless human fool.” Without further word, he slung me over his shoulder as if I were a sack of potatoes. Despite my wriggling and shouts of protest, despite my demands that he get my horse, he held firm, and when I looked up, I found that he was running—fast. Faster than anything should be able to move. It made me so nauseated that I shut my eyes. He didn’t stop until the air was cooler and calmer, and the drumming was distant.

“If I offer you the moon on a string, will you give me a kiss, too?”

“She refused, and … Lucien told her to go back to the shit-hole she’d crawled out of.

Lucien spat at Rhysand’s feet and shoved his sword between us.

Our dispersing party watched as he braced my waist in his broad hands and easily hefted me off the horse.

Lucien paused half a foot from me. He didn't so much as object as I threw my arms around his neck, burying my face against his warm, bare chest.

I lifted my heard from his sculpted chest at last, my fingers digging into the hard muscles of his shoulders as I peered into his concerned face.

"I'm going with you," he said again, face splattered with blood as bright as his hair. "I'm getting my mate back."

His eye seemed to simmer. As if being in his own lands set that molten ore inside him rising to the surface, even with the damper on his power.

Lucien's red hair gleamed like the leaves above us as he scanned the woods for anything to fill our bellies. His woods, by blood and law. He was a son of this forest, and here ... He looked crafted from it. For it. Even that gold eye.

"As the youngest of seven sons, I wasn't particularly needed or wanted. Perhaps it was a good thing. I was able to study for longer than my father allowed my brothers before shoving them out the door to rule over some territory within our lands, and I could train for as long as I liked, since no one believed I'd be dumb enough to kill my way up the long list of heirs. And when I grew bored with studying and fighting ... I learned what I could of the land from its people. Learned about the people, too." "I'd say that sounds more High-Lord-like than the life of an idle, unwanted son."

I'd been wearing my cloak, but ... he'd indeed given me his. He shivered against the cold.

"Tell me about her - about Elain," Lucien said quietly. As if the death that squatted in the dark beside us had drawn his thoughts to his own mate as well.

"But don't pretend you weren't made for something more than that."

Lucien, to his credit, didn't back away a step. From Rhys, or me, or the Illyrians.

He added to Lucien, who did not balk from those writing shadows.

He'd always had a casual grace about him, but here, tonight, with his hair tied back and jacket buttoned to his neck, he truly looked the part of a High Lord's son. Handsome, powerful, a bit rakish - but well-mannered and elegant.

...But he couldn't breathe as she faced him fully. She was the most beautiful female he'd ever seen.

"You will be going into the human territory," Rhys warned. "I can't spare a force to guard you - " "I don't need one. I travel faster on my own." His chin lifted. "I will find her. And if there's an army to bring back, or at least some way for her own story to sway the human forces ... I'll find a way to do that, too." My friends glanced to each other. Mor said, "It will be - very dangerous." A half smile curved Lucien's mouth. "Good. It'd be boring otherwise."

I shot a look at Rhys. Seems like Lucien can still play the fox. Rhys didn't look at me, though his lips twitched as he replied, Indeed.

Helion is Lucien's father. Rhys was silent. Then - Holy burning hell. His shock was a shooting star between us.

The Lady of Autumn's favorite son - not only from Lucien's goodness. But because he was the child she'd dreamed of having ... with the male she undoubtedly loved.

His mother's family is strong - that was why Beron wanted a bride from their line. The gift could be hers.

Other than the fact that Lucien might be Helion's sole heir.

I just strode to him and threw my arms around his neck.

But Vassa's freedom would end. Lucien had said as much months ago, and still visited her often enough that I knew nothing in that regard had improved.

"Send Lucien, then. As our human emissary."

Fire. His mother's gift. Not his father's. Yes, it was Beron's gift. The gift of the father who the world believe had sired him. But not the gift of Helion. His true father. I still hadn't mentioned it. To anyone other than Rhys. Now wasn't the time for that, either.

He had to give Lucien credit: the male was somehow able to move between his three roles - an emissary for the Night Court, ally to Jurian and Vassa, and liaison to Tamlin - and still dress immaculately.

Cassian didn't know why he'd expected an update regarding the High Lord of Spring. Lucien only gave those in private to Rhys

"Easy," Lucien said. Cassian snarled. "Easy," Lucien repeated, and flame sizzled in his russet eye. The flame, the surprising domiance within it, hit Cassian like a stone to the head, knocking him from his need to kill and kill and kill whatever might threaten -

Lucien stared out the window - as if he could see the lake across a sea and a continent. As if he were setting his target.

"No. But we need to summon Lucien," Azriel said, just a shade tightly, as if he didn't like ti one bit. "We need to tell him the news, and permanently station him at the Spring Court to contain any damage and to be our eyes and ears."

"It's not for entertainment." Lucien's red hair gleamed in the dimness of the rainy day. "I think Feyre wanted a progress assesment from someone who hasn't seen her in a while."

There is a reason the Lucien hatred is so aggressive from certain people in this fandom and it's because they know he's been written as someone important to the series and it drives them insane especially when you factor in exactly what and who he is to Elain. Lucien isn't just someone Sarah likes, he's someone she made extremely important to everything that's currently going on in their world and that includes the Trove and the Dusk Court when you consider how Helion's ancestors have a connection to the mask and he has the only remaining Pegasus.

Lucien has been serving MMC energy since book 1 and it chaps their ass when you can tell Sarah only started putting main character energy into their favorite in SF.

[hayaii]

I don’t understand how people can’t see how delicious Elucien’s romantic potential is. Like don’t you see??? They didn’t want each other!! That’s the point!!! That makes it interesting!! They find each other so fucking hot and don’t know what to do about it all!!! They are completely unaware of how perfect they are for each other!!

[elucienfanboy]

DISCLAIMER I LOVE LUCIEN I DON’T THINK HE’S UNIMPORTANT

Apparently Lucien is just an obstacle to Elriel and was never meant to be an MMC as he is unimportant🤡 (it’s an irony i obviously think he IS important I love him!)

It’s not like he is mated to one of the sisters, tied to every single plot in Prythian along with Elain and a heir to the Day court🤦

[hayaii]

am i toxic for genuinely believing that you can only wholeheartedly ship e|riel if you’ve not read very much outside of romantasy? like i cannot comprehend that someone would have this much confidence in a ship that has so little narrative potential purely because they had one sexually charged interaction. Did you think odysseus and circe were endgame too???

[acourtofthought]

Elain now refusing to meet Lucien's eyes after scenes like this yet some are still confused why we want their story?

Those scenes were charged, those looks are loaded with things unsaid. That is an author leaving you hungry for more, hungry for answers. With a need to know what she thought then and why she's so nervous to meet his eyes now.

[starsreminisce]

One bed, but Lucien and Elain respectfully have a wall of pillows between them.

The fire is slowly dying and Elain is shivering from the cold. She wakes Lucien up to tend the fire.

He stares at her, bleary-eyed, as she begins with “I’m cold” before he moves all the pillows, just pulls her in and wraps his arms around her.

She’s stupefied as he adjusts to fit her better. Elain couldn’t argue. She’s warm, pleasantly so, even without the fire. She looks up at Lucien to see a small smile on his lips before his warmth lulls her back to sleep.