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". As is often the case with
different writers, the stories are sometimes in conflict with each other and there is
no single, integrated timeline into which all the tales neatly fit. Still, the core
elements of the setting, Jane Thompson and her 'petticoat discipline' methods, are
common.
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 there is an expectation that
eventually the student will revert to an 'ordinary' masculine role.
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 nugget or two of insight within the grit (or so he claimed).
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). 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 would not know a lot of things about that environment,
and the environment itself is deliberately confusing to him as Jane Thompson
manipulates him into seeing the benefits of civilized behavior. To see the purpose
and structure to the program, the writer needs to be able to access Jane's point of
view, and speak in authorial voice. However, in thinking about the student's
motivation, it helps me to make the situation personal, as though I were myself
living it. I 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 sophisticated, more colloquial
style, but in the first person point of view, even thoughts and reactions would
need to show that same level of youthful . . . (ahem) 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)