Characterization - Tara Jones

This characterization is about Tara, a minor character from the graphic novel and Netflix show ``Heartstopper``. The graphic novel was created by Alice Oseman and firstly published in 2019. 

Taras full name is Tara Jones and she is in the eleventh grade. Her birthday is on July 3rd and now she is 16 years old. Dancing Ballet is her favorite hobby. A loved movie of her is ``Howl’s moving castle``. A little reveal of her music taste might be that she likes the song ``I wish`` by Hayley Kiyoko. In the comic and also in the series she plays the role of Darcys girlfriend.

Tara is a black girl with black curly hair. She often wears little hair clips and dresses or skirts. Her friends are very important to her and to people she does not know she is welcoming. Especially with her girlfriend Darcy she is almost always in a good mood and more extroverted. It seems like she gets a boost of happiness whenever she is with Darcy. She as a character is kind, relaxed and quiet.

Her caring and understanding side is particularly shown in the scene where she meets Nick after a long time again. They meet at Harrys birthday party. She greets him and they talk a bit. They soon speak about the Nick-and-Charlie-situation. Tara shows Nick that she understands his doubts and that she empathizes with him: ``you can always talk about it if you need to … `` (l. 221 chapter 2-16, Episode 32). 

When Tara and Nick meet again she is excited and happy for him. In this scene Nick tells Tara that Charlie and him are going out: 

Nick: ``We’re sort of going out``

Tara: ``you are?!`` (l.425 chapter 3-20, Episode 60). 

The excitement of seeing her friends is also noticeable in some scenes of the series. Charlies friend group, Tara and Elle watch the rugby game together. Tara is cheerful towards Charlie and when she arrives she appears very joyful (Episode 4 ``Secret``). She gets along well with the other friend group and also becomes friends with Elle through the story. 

If Tara does not like someone you will soon notice that. She is very direct and serious, but not disrespectful. The best example for that character trait is when Imogen talks to her in the series. She sits with Darcy and Elle at the lunch table and Imogen walks by (Episode 4 ``Secret``). Even though Darcy talks more than Tara, you take notice of her not liking Imogen. 

Darcys and Taras relationship is quite special. Their start was not the best because they had misunderstandings and in addition to that Darcys family is not open to LGBTQIA+. In Episode 3 ``Kiss`` they make their relationship public. Thereby they take a big step and you can see that Tara is more than happy about that. Her character does not have a huge development through out the story but she accompanies and supports her friends through out their events. 

Overall Tara is a caring and sweet character. We do not get to know much about her but I think she has much more story than what is shown. Her character is really important, especially for Nick. From the beginning on she signalized him that she is there for him and supports him. Tara does not appear that much wether it is in the comic or in the series. But in the last episodes she is seen in more scenes.

She is someone that brings more light and kindness to the story.