NAME Adam Parrish AGE 18 DOB July 3 SEXUALITY Bisexual CANON POINT Post canon FANDOM The Raven Cycle MEDIUM Books ALTERNATIVES Talk to me ITEMS OF NOTE Adam will appear wearing his worn Coca-Cola T-shirt, a pair of neat but worn jeans, Ronan's leather jacket, and his watch. He will also be wearing his school backpack, which will contain his wallet, keys, textbooks, phone, and laptop. PB Luke Newberry
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personality
PERCEPTIVE
STUBBORN
PRACTICAL
LOYAL
INTELLIGENT
Adam, in many ways, is a boy of contradictions.
He's deeply intellectual and excels well in school. He puts a lot of thought and care into his education, and sacrificed a lot to be able to go to Aglionby. Even in the midst of everything that happens to him, he never forgets that and can't take an instant of being at school for granted. He never slacks off, because even with all the magic happening, he still knows that his future is rooted in where he can go to college and does afterward.
In many ways, he's much more comfortable with facts and things he can analyze as opposed to magic. It needs to make sense to him in a certain way. It takes him awhile to be uncomfortable with Cabeswater's power and to figure out exactly how the forest and the magic is going to communicate and work through him. Despite this, he does have a strong psychic presence. He picks up what Persephone teaches him with diligence and attention, and even at the beginning, all the psychics note that he is "loud."
When he does figure it out, though, it's not incredibly surprising. He's very perceptive -- and in a way, that's what a lot of his success in life is based out of. While he's not unempathetic, much of his perceptiveness is based in just how analytical he is; even before the events happen he pays attention to how people behave. He tries to mimic Gansey in his behavior, because he wants to figure out what the keys to success are. Because of this, though, he is often in tune with the others are feeling.
Out of the lot of them, he's probably least at ease with other people and aware of it. While he tries to behave like Gansey, he's perpetually aware that he's lacking the charm and the charisma to really draw people in. Instead of being able to draw a group to him, he's much more likely to foster a few really close friendships.
He's definitely the critical thinker and the problem-solver of the group. There are several scenarios that occur where Adam is the one who has to sort through all the pragmatic knowledge they have of the magical environments they are in and come up with a viable solution -- including blackmailing Greenmantle through Ronan's dreams and coming up with the bargain for to bring back Gansey's life.
Probably his biggest flaw is just how independent and stubborn he is. While that has made him capable of surviving his home environment, get into Aglionby, and secure his future, it makes it difficult for him to depend on the others. He's perpetually aware of how much money they spend -- particularly in the case of Gansey, and refuses to let them do anything because he sees it as "charity." Toward the end, he begins to soften on that a little, particularly after Ronan and Gansey show up to support him at his court case with his father. His relationship with Ronan will certainly cause him to grow even further.
abilities & skills
Most of Adam's powers as the magician were tied to Cabeswater. With Cabeswater's disapperance -- and his appearance in a new world -- he won't really have any "magic" left. What he will have is the training that came with it: a discerning eye for magic, and a certain level of psychic skill. He had become quite proficient at scrying and reading tarot before he left.
(Also the boy can really take a beating and remain upright.)
into the past
PRE-CANON
By all accounts, Adam Parrish did not have a happy upbringing. A native to Henrietta, Virginia, Adam is an only child. His father, Robert, abuses him from an early age, while his mother does nothing to stop him. He grows up in a trailer park and only manages to get into Aglionby Academy as a scholarship student; he has to work several part-time jobs, including one as a mechanic, to accrue the rest of his tuition. Regardless, he manages to befriend Richard Gansey III, who tries to emulate, and, by extension, Ronan Lynch and Noah; in part, this is because he can help Gansey with his notoriously unreliable car, the Pig. He joins in on Gansey's quest to find Glendower. His parents, particularly his father, do not approve of these friendships.
THE RAVEN BOYS
Adam is with the group at a restaurant where they run into Blue Sargent, who is working at the restaurant at the time. He takes something of a shine to Blue, and Gansey, on his behalf, goes over to talk to Blue. Unsurprisingly, this meeting goes disastrously.
Adam manages to convince Blue to give him a chance regardless and they start unofficially dating, although she won't kiss him. She also begins to join them on their quests to look for Glendower.
During this time, they discover Cabeswater, a magical forest where they can, apparently, communicate with trees in Latin and where time runs strangely. While there, they each go into a tree that grants them what they believe to be visions of the future. While Adam is in the tree, he sees Gansey dying on account of something that he's done.
The group later discovers that Noah was killed along the ley line and has been dead the entire time; it was the sacrifice of his life that allowed Gansey to leave seven years' prior when he was stung by hornets despite the fact that he is allergic. They also learn that it was their Latin teacher, Barrington Whelk, who killed Noah.
Ronan takes Adam back to his home one night where he is again assaulted by his father. This time he is hit so hard that he hits his head on a railing and loses hearing in one ear, going permanently deaf. Ronan steps up to defend him and fight his father. In order to prevent Ronan from being arrested, Adam finally severs the ties with his family (something he has refused to do until this point) and press charges against his father.
Gansey has wanted Adam to move into Monmouth Manufacturing, the building that Gansey lives, to live with him, Ronan, and Noah. Adam continues to resist. Adam ends up stealing Gansey's car and goes to Cabeswater. There, he finds Blue's aunt, Neeve, and Whelk. Whelk was trying to sacrifice Neeve to wake the ley lines; however, Adam instead sacrifices himself, agreeing to be Cabeswater's "eyes and hands." Gansey does not entirely understand why Adam does this, and it causes some level of friction between them. Whelk is killed as the ley lines are awakened.
Adam ends up moving into St. Agnes Church. They bring Noah's bones back to the ley line so that he can remain with them for the time being. Ronan also reveals that he had taken his pet raven, Chainsaw, out of a dream.
THE DREAM THIEVES
Adam struggles to deal with the visions that he is now receiving from Cabeswater. At the same time, his rent at St. Agnes has mysteriously gone down; at first, he believes it to be an act of charity from Gansey, which he resents. In reality, the act was done by Ronan.
Ronan is struggling to sort through his own abilities and is developed a tangled relationship with another delinquent with mysterious powers: Joseph Kavinsky. He street races with Kavinsky. He also struggles with bringing night horrors back from his dreams, which the others have to help him kill; they bury one at the Barns, Ronan's family home, which he has not been allowed to return to since his father, Niall, died. At the same time, they are also contending with a hitman named the Gray Man who is looking for an object that is actually Ronan.
Cabeswater is also currently missing.
Adam goes to Washington, D.C., with Gansey, as his mother is running for political office, and Adam is hoping to make some connections that he will never have through his family. While there, he continues to be plagued by Cabeswater's visions. He ends up losing time and wanders 15 miles away from the home, unaware of where he's gone. Gansey's family, because of this, ends up giving Adam a car.
After returning to Henrietta, he and Blue end up breaking up as a result of her being unwilling to kiss him (partially because of her curse and partially because of her growing feelings for Gansey).
The Gray Man after realizing that Ronan is the "thing" he is looking for, decides to try and protect them; he lies to his employer, Colin Greenmantle.
Persephone, one of the psychics Blue lives with, begins to help Adam understand Cabeswater, and they begin to work at repairing the ley lines. At the same time, Kavinsky, who is the one who has been draining the ley line in the first place, squares off against Ronan in a Fourth of July blast. He is also able to pull items out of dreams, and manifests a dragon while threatening Ronan's younger brother, Matthew. Kavinsky is destroyed by the dragon, Ronan comes to a fuller understanding and acceptance of his powers, and is able to reunite his mother (whom his father had pulled out of a dream) with his younger brother.
At the end, Maura, Blue's mother, goes missing.
BLUE LILY, LILY BLUE
Persephone continues to teach Adam how to understand Cabeswater's needs, particularly by scrying and reading tarot. Adam continues to strengthen the ley lines. Cabeswater also tells him that someone else is looking for the ley lines. They learn that there are three sleepers -- one who is not to be waken.
While in Cabeswater, Gansey falls through a hole, and Adam and Ronan are able to protect him through their combined abilities. A huge flock of ravens flies out of the pit, chanting "Make way for the Raven King."
A friend of Gansey's, Malory, an old British historian also arrives to help them in their search.
While at school the next day, they learn that Colin Greenmantle has become their new Latin teacher. The Gray Man reveals that it is Greenmantle who ordered the killing of Ronan's father. Ronan wants to kill him immediately, but the Gray Man cautious him. The Grey Man meets with Greenmantle, who merely reissues the order to bring him the Greywaren, which he does not yet know is Ronan.
While Adam is working at the mechanic shop, Ronan stops by to visit him. They argue, but Ronan also leaves a lotion for Adam's notoriously chapped hands.
Adam later goes with Ronan to the Barns, where Ronan confesses that he took his brother Matthew out of a dream. He is looking for a way to keep dream options alive after their dreamer dies. (Everything his father had created had gone comatose after he died.)
On a trip to 300 Fox Way, Blue reveals that one of the new acquaintances is on the death list that the psychics make every year. He realizes that one of them is on it. He pulls Blue aside and comes to the conclusion that it's Gansey. They intend to use the favor that will be bestowed upon them when Glendower awakes to save Gansey's life.
They head down into a cave with the hope of finding Glendower. Instead of discovering him, they find his daughter, Gwenllian, whose effects have been echoing into Noah and the psychics' powers. They bring her back to 300 Fox Way.
Adam begins working on a plan to blackmail Greenmantle into leaving town. He asks Ronan to dream up evidence and incriminating papers, but while doing so, he also pulls a dying version of himself from his dream, which disturbs Adam.
Adam returns home to find that his father is in his new home. Their court date is upcoming, and his father tries to convince them all he's going to do is succeed in making himself look foolish. When he raises a hand to hit Adam, Cabeswater defends Adam and grows a thorn in Robert's palm.
At school soon after, a bunch of roof tiles collapse: Again, Adam is saved by Cabeswater, as it basically forms a magical circle of protection around him. Unfortunately, this also unsettles many of his classmates who happen to witness the event. He is defended, partially, by Henry Cheng.
Adam shows up by himself for his court date. Just as he's sure he's going to lose, Ronan and Gansey arrive to the rescue. Gansey for emotional support, and Ronan to testify as a witness. Adam is vindicated. He also comes to a greater comfort in relying on Gansey and Ronan.
He then asks Blue, as an amplifier, to help him scry in order to look for Maura. While doing so, he goes too far from his body, and Blue has to cut him to bring him back. He goes to Persephone to ask for advice, not realizing that he's only talking to a vision of her. She has been scrying as well -- and is killed while doing so.
Before they all head to find Maura, Ronan and Adam drop off their Greenmantle evidence. He agrees to leave, but his wife, Piper, has other plans: She, as well, as a couple of men, end up meeting them in the cave.
On their way into the cave, our heroes find a group of skeleton animals -- some recognizable, some ancient, some imagined. They work their magic together to wake the group, and Ronan and Blue are able to ride them to the next part of the cave, leaving Gansey and Adam behind. Blue has to cross a lake by herself and discovers her parents, who are resisting waking the sleeper who should not be woke. Piper and her crew crash in on this party. Blue, her parents, and the Gray Man manage to escape. Piper is left behind. Neeve arrives. Together, they wake the sleeper.
THE RAVEN KING
The group struggles to maintain their balance between school and their increasing responsibilities to magic and Cabeswater. Adam, for his part, isn't going to throw all this work away and is diligent. However, school is changed as well: With Colin Greenmantle's disappearance, they have no Latin teacher, and Ronan has abandoned school entirely.
He has dedicated himself, instead, to dreaming. But when something strange infiltrates his dreams, he takes his guide, the so-called Orphan Girl, out of his dream and into the real world. They decide to take her to Cabeswater, where Ronan's mother, Aurora, is also installed. While there, Aurora shows them a tree that is oozing black.
The demon that Piper woke has begun to unmake Cabeswater and is intent on also unmaking Ronan, although they don't know that quite yet.
While Gansey's friendship with Henry Cheng deepens, Adam struggles through a frightening experience at school: His eye becomes possessed by the demon. He fends off the attack, but is uncertain of what happened.
He later talks to Blue and confronts her about her burgeoning relationship with Gansey, which neither have admitted for fear of Adam's reaction.
That night, Noah shows up at 300 Fox Way; he been struggling with remaining himself as he continued to decay. Blue and Gansey go to a toga party at Henry's. Adam and Ronan head to Cabeswater (with a brief deter as Adam leads them to the "wrong demon" and back to his father's house). While there, Ronan reveals that he dreamt Cabeswater, but clarifies that Adam, as its magician, is not beholden to him. While there, the Orphan Girl is attacked and Ronan has to jump into a puddle of acid to save her; they command Cabeswater to make it safe for them, but with the weaning magic under attack, it struggles to comply.
At the same time (relatively speaking, as time begins repeating itself), Gansey and Blue return to 300 Fox Way. They find Noah, who is possessed and attacks Blue, trying to gouge out her eyes. They take her to the hospital and she gets 10 stitches. When Ronan and Adam arrive at the hospital, Gansey confesses to having feelings for Blue.
Declan, Ronan's older brother, returns to town, worried for Ronan's safety. Ronan makes the decision to stay, but sends his younger brother, Matthew, out of town with Declan. They have a pseudo party as a going-away party for Matthew. At the party, Ronan kisses Adam, and Adam later spends the night. Ronan also reveals to the others that he dreamt Cabeswater and Matthew.
Behind the scenes, Piper is preparing to sell the demon to the highest bidder, and several potential buyers, who are all dangerous, are planning to arrive at Henrietta. Neeve attempts to escape from Piper and the demon, and they kill her. The demon begins to work at unmaking the forest in earnest and, in the process, kills both Gwenllian's mother and Ronan's mother.
Adam and Ronan attempt to enter Cabeswater -- Ronan by dreaming, and Adam by scrying alongside him. They discover the extent of the damage to the forest.
The Gray Man and Maura arrive at the Barns while this is happening. Maura pulls them out, while the Gray Man kills one of the potential buyers who has sneaked into the house, aware that this a declaration of war.
Blue endeavors to learn more about what is happening from her father, who has become part of a tree. He tells her a fuller explanation of what he is and that a "Willing death to pay for an unwilling death." Gansey, throughout, has had a rising awareness of his impending death.
Ronan refuses to leave his car until he has a cause of action. However, Gansey goes rogue and heads off to find Glendower without them. With the help of Henry, he arrives at the site where he had been stung to death by the hornets on the ley line. He heads into a cave by himself, but is soon joined by the others who have followed him. They head into Glendower's tomb, only to find that there is no Glendower to wake: He is dead.
With confirmation that there is no Glendower, Gansey decides he has to sacrifice himself and die on the ley line to destroy the demon. However, before anything can happen, the demon takes full possession of Adam -- who is aware of what's happening -- and attacks Ronan. In the fight, he also rips Blue's stitches back open. Afraid that the demon will destroy Adam or one of them, they tie and blindfold Adam and get him in the car. As they're driving, the demon begins to unmake Ronan, who falls in and out of consciousness and pulls things from his dreams while he oozes black -- just as the trees in Cabeswater did.
Gansey decides the sacrifice has to happen. He fulfills Blue's prophecy and kisses her; it unworks the ley line magic that brought him back to life, and he dies. The demon is destroyed and Adam and Ronan are saved. Henry urges them to do something. Adam suggests that they might be able to request what's left of Cabeswater to sacrifice itself so that Gansey may live again. They do, and Cabeswater tries, managing to bring Gansey back to life.
At the end, Blue, Gansey, and Henry decide to go on a roadtrip. Adam confronts his parents before heading off to college, offering them a spot in his life -- although the meeting doesn't go poorly, it doesn't exactly go well either. Ronan begins to dream again.
POST-CANON
Adam, still dating Ronan, goes to Harvard. The two begin to negotiate their new relationship. While the Barns is really "home," Ronan still comes with him to school, and they share an apartment.