All's Wells (Beauty and the Beast zine)
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | All's Wells |
| Publisher: | |
| Editor(s): | |
| Date(s): | 2002 |
| Series?: | yes |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | 133 pages |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | Online here |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
All's Wells is a 133-page gen Beauty and the Beast (TV) anthology of stories by Edna Grice.
The front and four interior illos are by Rosemarie Hauer.
Note: This zine was a charity zine and sold to raise funds for the Macmillan Cancer Relief in England.
Series
Summary
Three stories, original but true to the 'Beauty and the Beast' ethos. All classic. In "Father's Story", increasing stress causes Jacob Wells to re-visit his past - where he finds Vincent's answers. In "Coming Home", at last Father understands that Catherine belongs with Vincent. The future history of the tunnels, told in flash-backs from 2054 is told in "First Century." A celebration of the achievements during the soul-mates' long life together.[1]
The Author's Introduction
I've spent so many hours lost in stories where fans have re-written the dream, to replace the nightmare we were left with.
‘Sweet Sleep of Night’ (Pam Garrett); ‘Shall Have No Dominion’ trilogy (Caroline Kleinsorge); ‘To Hope Anew/Living the Promise’ (Rosa Tadeo); ‘All that Matters’ (Sally Wright) - we all have our favourites.
The first major betrayal of the Beauty and the Beast concept was not, however, the death of Catherine. It was those increasingly frequent allusions to some ‘animalistic’ part of Vincent. I was uncomfortable when Father declared to Catherine that ‘part’ of Vincent was a man, but I thought perhaps he had a hidden reason for misleading her. After all, he was far from overjoyed with their relationship. But when Vincent asked Father, ‘Am I a man?’ there was only one conceivable response, ‘Of course you are.’ I could not accept the destruction of Vincent’s self-image by the man who loved and raised him. It wasn’t honesty; it was cruelty. That just wasn’t part of the character, and it didn’t fit.
Intimations of bestiality were divergent from the whole ethos of the series, particularly in the light of the relationship between Vincent and Catherine. They were contrary to Jacob Wells’ scientific education. He would accept that hybrids occur within a species, but surely not between species? Jacob Wells knew there was no element of anything other than human in Vincent, so why that devastating inference?
The blood samples, which were rejected as ‘non human’, did not concern me, other than in the denigration of Vincent. Indignant? Perhaps. Convinced of a ‘non-human’ element in Vincent? Not on your life!
The blood would indeed be well outside the ‘normal’ parameters. Oxygen levels would be sky-high; unusual (or unusual amounts of) antibodies or some extra-ordinary component from his superior immune system would certainly be evident. I would expect a busy Path. Lab. to reject such a sample. It’s much more practical to presume ‘contamination’ and wait for a fresh one, rather than to investigate anomalies. Even where ‘human’ disease is encountered, a second sample would routinely be analysed before confirmation of diagnosis. Peter, rightly, did not risk submission of more of Vincent’s blood.
So what evidence is there to support my theory that Vincent is wholly human, (or possibly super-human) and why did Father not endorse my views? That’s the basis for this story.
I hope you will enjoy it.
Contents
- In Father's Story
- Coming Home
- First Century
