Tessa Greenhart

Tessa Greenhart is the protagonist of Carmine Nights, a 3000-word short story set in the Tranziverse. Created by The Cynosure Collective in 2002, the character has appeared in a number of venues including Big Closet, Fictionmania and TGS. While never explicitly stated in the original narrative, later retcons imply that Tessa contracted The Gender Virus in utero, undergoing a complete sexual transformation in her early teens.

Summary
Eighteen year-old Tessa Greenhart is a part-time actress and model currently filming a TV commercial for "Carmine Nights" lipstick. Changing off=camera for the shoot, Tessa recalls her adolescence in Chamberlain City, where she underwent treatment for TISM. When chemotherapy failed to "cure" her intersexual condition, Tessa's Mother opted to raise her as a female, defying contemporary medical opinion.

Fast forwarding to the present day, Tessa muses that her Mother's decision has allowed her to live a full and successful life, one denied to so many others by an accident of birth and the restriction of traditional gender roles. As filming begins, Tess assumes her place before the cameras, realizing that she is taking her first step towards a bright and fulfilling future.

Continuity
While the original story was set in the late 1990s, subsequent revisions placed the character in the Tranziverse, suggesting a mid-seventies time-line. Tessa Greenhart consequently turns up on the Thames Comedy Hour, alongside several other transgendered starlets including Carla Maitland, Holly Taylor and Cathy Saunders. Links can also be found to the stories Palais and Suspender Stockings.