Tales of the Seasons: Jessica's Story
by Brandy Dewinter, with infinite help from Tigger
Foreword
Some time ago Joel Lawrence wrote a story about a woman who teaches bad boys to become
good men - by first turning them into well-mannered young women. That story was called
"Seasons of Change." The woman was Jane Thompson, and the rest, as they say, was history.
Unfortunately, it was not primarily the history of Joel Lawrence's writing. He seems to have
disappeared from the cyberworld. "Seasons of Change" was incomplete (by his own admission),
and certainly the setting was not fully explored. It was not only a shame to have no more to enjoy
from Joel Lawrence's talent, but also a sort of nagging itch because the story needed to be
finished.
Along came Tigger. Since no one within the community knew how to reach Joel Lawrence,
Tigger wrote not one, but two endings to Joel Lawrence's original story, each interesting and as
excellently written as the original. Then he wrote more stories in that setting, developing and
expanding the characters well beyond Joel Lawrence's original creation. Other writers have
explored that setting, too, creating a mini-universe of "Tales of the Seasons"
The original "Seasons of Change" story is about the internal struggles of Michael, the
protagonist, as much as it is about the physical elements of dressing and acting as a girl. In fact,
the core premise of the story is that an undesirable behavior needs to be changed. Feminization is
a means to that end, not an end in itself. If the protagonist does not learn to 'behave' in a civilized
way, then the skills in cosmetics or walking in heels have no value. As such, the stories in this
setting needed to focus on that internal growth, and did so very well.
The style set forth by Joel Lawrence in the original, and followed by the others who wrote in
the setting, is third person. That is a very useful point of view in several ways. It allows the
writer, in authorial voice, to explain things that would not be clear to the protagonist. A young,
teen-age boy suddenly inserted into the feminine world of Seasons Manor might not know the
difference between French Provincial furniture and Mediterranean. If the story were told from
the first person point of view of Michael, the protagonist, a simple label ('French Provincial')
would not necessarily be reasonable for him to apply in his mental description of his new room,
and he would have to think in terms of spindly white legs on dainty furniture instead. This can
slow down the pace of the story in direct proportion to the strangeness of the setting, and a very
key point of the story is how out of place the protagonists (Michael, and all the subsequent
characters) are.
In addition, the third person point of view does other valuable things. It allows the writer to
report on the thoughts of other characters rather than being confined to the point of view of the
central protagonist alone. We can learn *why* another character does things and not just observe
them being done with no more insight than the protagonist himself. We can see the confusion of
the central character without being confused ourselves by events we do not understand.
Writing in third person also provides and requires a certain tone to a story. Even in describing
the thoughts of a character, when using third person the writer must be a reporter, not a
participant. It requires that the descriptions be less intense, less 'stream of consciousness' and
more structured. That enhances the stiffly formal atmosphere of 'Aunt' Jane Thompson's
elegantly refined prison.
Some time after Tigger wrote his first ending to "Seasons of Change", he and I began a
rewarding correspondence on a variety of topics. In the course of that, he flattered me by
allowing me to read advanced versions of some of his stories, and even solicited comments and
advice on them. My opinions are like grains of sand on a beach; there are a lot of them, they tend
to gum up fine machinery, and they're not worth much. Nonetheless, he received them by the ton,
and even sometimes found a grain or two of insight in them.
In the course of that, we were discussing the motivation of one of his characters (yet another
boy trapped in Aunt Jane's lacey spiderweb). In thinking about that student's motivation, I sort of
got into that frame of mind and started thinking about what it would be like from the student's
perspective; specifically, a first person account of an angry, chip-on-his-shoulder kid (in my
story, Jesse Shepherd) who gets sent to Jane's. It would be different, and at the very least, it
would be a challenge.
For example, it would be interesting to show the results of the manipulation of Jesse by Jane,
without always (as the omniscient third person narrator would) recognizing the overt
manipulation as it occurs. Jesse wouldn't know *why* Jane did something, yet he would end up
doing or learning what Jane wanted. The evolution of the behavior of the student needed to be a
realistic combination of recognized struggles (for example, in suppressing bad language), and
unconscious progress. In the end, the student must truly be a better person, not just a person who
acts in a more civilized manner. Yet, as we often do not recognize our own failings, the student
might not (probably would not) recognize all the ways in which he has grown. Showing this
would require that the student do something without even noticing that it would once have been
beyond him, without being so subtle that even the reader could not see the change, either.
A further challenge, at least for me, would be to write of a teen-age character. I know it's not
apparent from 'my' pictures, but it's been just a while since I was a teen-ager. Further, as I was
always a model student and dutiful child, I have no personal insight into troubled teens. (Trust
me. Would I lie?) Not only would overt elements like dialog need to reflect a less mature, more
colloquial style, but in the first person point of view, even thoughts and reactions would need to
show that same level of maturity and energy. Not being smart enough to resist challenges like
those, I started thinking through my fingers a little.
The result was Jessica's story. I hope you enjoy it.
Brandy Dewinter - February 2002
(
geocities.com/b_dewinter)