Unexpected Inspiration Character: Adair Cerulean


Adair tapped his thumb to his ring finger for luck, something he had picked up from his new friends, then tucked his paintbrush behind his ear. Emotional support from an art supply. Creators, he was pathetic.

Adair is a young artist in a culture where artistic talent goes hand in hand with magic, which in his culture is called weaving. He's a trans boy who wears his heart on his sleeve next to the paint stains that regularly splatter his clothes-- he's a cartographer and an illustrator specializing in illusions. (His drawings have the uncanny ability to move around on the page, for example.) More than a little obsessed with food, particularly pies and desserts, Adair loves cooking almost as much as he loves drawing, spending time with his friends, and puns. Nothing can compare to his love of a groan-worthy joke! He was working on his final project as an amateur artist when his life suddenly became much more interesting-- and complicated.

Adair lived a relatively ordinary life up until his unfinished map was stolen. He had spent six years serving as an apprentice under a skilled master artist, learning both colorweaving and cartography. A few months before the events of Colorweaver (book 1), his former teacher had deemed him ready and his studies complete, and Adair was sent on his way to independently work through his year as an amateur. During that time an artist's main purpose is to create and finish a project that would allow the Artisan council to promote them to novice status, the first rank of a full adult artist. The arcane map was to be his graduation project.

He had done well as an apprentice, but truth be told, his master wasn't as traditional as most. This shaped Adair's outlook and personality and he now bears little resemblance to the average Artisan. It's a running joke that no one ever recognizes him as one, which both pleases and irks him. He's adaptable and warmhearted, two traits that helped him fit in when the tug of his stolen project led him straight out of normality and into a troupe of carnival performers. Unfortunately, those same traits can also lead to him being too passive and patient, too willing to go with the flow, too willing to give someone a second, third, fourth chance. After years of being disregarded and mistreated by someone who never deserved even a second chance, Adair must find his voice in order to stand up for himself, his friends, and his future.

Adair is one of the main point-of-view characters in the first trilogy of the Unexpected Inspiration series. You can find his bio page here and his backstory moodboard/post here.

CONVERSATION

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