#pippa blackwell

[an-architect-of-words]

We need to talk about Tartt’s character descriptions

More Donna Tartt praise.

She writes human physical descriptions in the most genuine and true-to-life ways. I didn’t even realize how many books do not go into the actual nuance of human appearances until I read TSH and Goldfinch.

I think most books kind of categorize people as pretty, ugly, or plain then lean into what generally makes people pretty, ugly, or plain plus hair and eye colors. I love how Tartt’s books make characters appear how the majority of people really do: an assortment of specific details. There’s Boris’s bitten nails and how Henry is big and square but does not carry himself as if he is. Bunny is a once-muscled guy (now more chubby) whose naturally good looks are starting to get a little sloppy. His nose is also a bit small/sharp for his face shape. Camilla is pretty, and we hear about her thick ankles and the way her curls rest at her temples. Francis is nice-looking because he carries and styles himself well, but we hear that those things compensate for his kind of beaky nose and boney angles.

Pippa is another great example! Theo describes her looks as tender and precious. She comes across as very cute in a homely way. But we hear that her eyes look “naked” because her lashes are so pale (I can imagine this so well!) and that her nose is long. Her cheeks are thin. Theo notes these things, and thinks she’s pretty anyway; he assumes he must have some personal affinity for her and is given a wake-up call when Everett also finds these traits cute.

OH actually let me squeeze in Mr. Barbour here. Because lol???

His eyes were a queer unstable gray and his hair was pure white, which made him seem older than he was until you noticed that his face was young and pink — boyish, even. His ruddy cheeks and his long, old-fashioned nose, in combination with the prematurely white hair, gave him the amiable look of a lesser founding father, some minor member of the Continental Congress teleported to the twenty-first century.

This is so specific and so easy to see. It stuck out to me when I read it, and my mom mentioned it to me when she read it. She said she was really hit by Andy’s dad’s description and thought it was funny but did a really good job delivering an image.

It’s just so real and gets at how normal people actually are: not always pretty in a “safe” way. Tartt has the guts to give you a description of an actual unique, textured person and say “This is nice.” Or, in Bunny’s case, give someone who is basically handsome but not necessarily pleasant-looking. Theres so much nuance, and it’s honest.

It kind of made me rethink how I write human descriptions. There are “safe” things to point out that become a little insubstantial if you combine too many of them: “The pretty girl has glossy hair and curves and bright blue eyes.” And then there’s going into actual shapes and the way people carry themselves and how some features look against others. It honestly just makes the characters really pop and they’re easy to envision.

#Kitsey and Charles are the only ones who seem kind of straight-forwardly attractive #Donna Tartt is SO observant about people #she nails how people actually act and feel #and how they actually look #I can imagine that she could actually see her characters in her head while writing them #it’s all so charming #the secret history #donna tartt #tsh #bunny corcoran #henry winter #francis abernathy #the goldfinch #boris pavlikovsky #pippa blackwell

[droptheguillotineplease]

PIPPA!!! <3

#the goldfinch #pippa blackwell #the goldfinch pippa #myart #tgf #hehehe I actually like these #I forgot how much I like drawing girls #pippa is a style icon change my mind #also #popchyk #donna tartt #drawings

[yourrockdog]

i think they’d be great friends

#boris pavlikovsky #pippa blackwell #tgf #the goldfinch #ibispaintx #art tag #art #donna tartt #not ship art #if this flops becasue it’s not boreo i’m going to get evil

[spongewormedpants]

literally shaking and overflowing with emotions over the goldfinch by donna tartt

#I AM FREAKING OUT #why do my hyperfixations cycle like this #the goldfinch #tgf book #donna tartt #theodore decker #theo decker #boris pavlikovsky #pippa blackwell #boreo

[foundmywei]

#the goldfinch #boris pavlikovsky #theo decker #pippa blackwell #boreo #facts if you ask me

[chernychnyi]

pippaa

#pippa blackwell #the goldfinch #tgf #donna tartt #art tag

[sassy-sofia]

I noticed something about the three love interests for Theo in the book.

Pippa represents the past: clinging on to what he will never get back. Often likened to the last connection to his mother. Something that is fond to remember but in reality it just pains us that we will never have it again.

Kitsey represents the present: doing what is expected. Actively choosing to ignore the warning signs. Pretending to be fine, not allowing anyone to see your past. Doing what is expected of you. This can be seen by Theo’s suffering through long painful socializing nights with Kitsey’s friends for the benefit of the future.

Boris represents the future: chaotic, unpredictable, and exciting. “And yet to be with Boris was to know that life was full of great ridiculous possibilities- far bigger than anything they taught in school” (465)

#the goldfinch #boreo #boris pavlikovsky #tgf book #theo decker #kitsey barbour #pippa blackwell

[21stcenturyophelia]

I'm a woman written by Donna Tartt (vague and unknowable)

#donna tartt #camilla macaulay #pippa blackwell #the secret history #the goldfinch

[roadkilledthegirl]

he listened to Radiohead and smoked pot while complaining to his journals about his boyfriends new girlfriend. he had a crush on his step mom and hated her at the same time. he has maaaaajor daddy issues and looks for his mother in every woman he “fancies”. he hates smoking but he just can’t quit! Ladies and gentlemen, he is the tumblr teenage boy of 2004. He is… Theodore Decker.

#I love him. my stink #the goldfinch #theo decker #boris pavlikovsky #boreo #theodore decker #tgf #donna tartt #theo x boris #kotku hutchins #pippa blackwell

[buck-yyyy]

it’s so fucked up that pippa isn’t canonically a lesbian

#she is to ME #the goldfinch #pippa blackwell

[frothingbeerbottles]

Who wants to hear my long rant about how Theodore Decker isn’t an unreliable narrator because he wants the audience to take his side but an unreliable narrator that wants you to take anyone else’s? Who wants to hear me talk about how Theo’s chain of events being all mixed up is showing just how much that explosion really affected him at the cusp of his mental development when he was just starting puberty? Who wants to hear me talk about how Theo took comfort in Boris during his hard time and Boris just shielded him from becoming anything like he was because nobody held him while he cried and sobbed endlessly? Who wants to talk about how Theo probably underplayed how much him and Boris actually held each other and cried into each other’s shoulders knowing they were safe? Who wants to hear me scream into the void about how Theo wasn’t being ‘petty’, ‘girly’ or ‘bitchy’ when Boris left him for days on end just alone in the desert with no one to tell and to speak about? Who wants to talk about the fact that Pippa felt the exact same way that Theo felt about her and felt as if he was the only thing she had left of anyone that she lost and was mutually obsessed with him? Who wants to talk about how underplayed and underlined Pippa is in the goldfinch fandom despite her and Theo being two sides of the same page? Nobody?? Okay 😓

#the goldfinch #boris pavlikovsky #theodore decker #pippa blackwell #I’m so normal about this book

[carduelism]

Drew them :3 honestly Pippa is such a joy to draw so I need to do it more often!!! This is the start of my new sketch book so the tgf fandom will for sure see more of her from me :) Honestly it was such a joy to pick up a pencil again and actually have an idea of what I’m drawing lol so if any of you guys have any ideas for what I should draw please send an askkkk

#tgf #the goldfinch #boris pavlikovsky #pippa blackwell #tgf fanart #fanart #traditional sketch #traditional art #ask request #!!!!

[droptheguillotineplease]

Pippa sketch x

#myart #sketch #doodle #the goldfinch pippa #the goldfinch #tgf #donna tartt #pippa blackwell

[crocstoes]

#the goldfinch #pippa blackwell #theo decker #fanart

[sneakydraws]

@chernychnyi wanted to see adult Theo and boris and I may have… exploded a bit… where’s that post about how in Theo’s life food is often used to signify comfort and security? It was so true, and I think a thanksgiving dinner would be especially meaningful to him :’) so here he is, trying to bring all the people he loves together into a dysfunctional little family and immediately regretting it when he remembers boris’s bottomless arsenal of embarrassing stories. Theo decker lives in fear

And just because this was supposed to be about boris and Theo being cute:

#the goldfinch #boreo #theodore decker #boris pavlikovsky #James Hobart #pippa blackwell #I feel like my pippa and hobbies designs will definitely change once I get around to rereading the book… and also as I draw the #*them more #also I kinda wanted to include the harbours but I knew if I sat down and thought about all their designs I’d NEVER finish this hahaha #just imagine they’re… on their way #*the BARBOURS ffs autocorrect #popchyk

[hobartshopping]

"You, you need a bath, don't you? Is he a Maltese?"

just a little pippa doodle since prelims were kicking my ass </3 hope i did her justice!!

#the goldfinch #pippa blackwell #popchyk #ashleigh cummings #aimee laurence #boreo