Once Upon a Time... Is Now/Issues 005-006
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Once Upon a Time... Is Now (Out-In, Out/In, Out...In) |
| Publisher: | |
| Editor(s): | Jeanne Cloud and Joyce DeBoard (issues #1-#27), Jeanne Cloud, Loreen Vanderkrats, and Linda Lakin (issues #27-#33 -- tho perhaps as far as #45), Jeanne Cloud and Loreen Vanderkrats (issues #46-#60 -- tho perhaps as early as #34) |
| Type: | letterzine |
| Date(s): | 1988 to 1996 |
| Frequency: | sometimes monthly, sometimes bi-monthly, at the end much more infrequent |
| Medium: | |
| Size: | digest-sized |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Once Upon a Time... Is Now (Out-In, Out/In, Out...In) is a Beauty and the Beast letterzine. It is digest-sized.
See List of Letterzines for similar fanworks.
Contents
The zine is a collection of letters from fans (titled "From the Helpers") of the show discussing aspects of the show including the actors, characters, stories, and fanfiction. This zine also contains photos (both xeroxed and original), some original artwork, con reports, open letters, and sometimes clippings and interviews.
Some regular features were: "OK Good...OK Fine" (the editorial), "From the Library" (zine listings), and "On the Pipes" (fan clubs).
There were 60 issues published between 1988 to 1996.
Issue 5
Once Upon a Time... Is Now 5 was published in January 1988 and contains 26 pages.
From the editors:
For those of you who have written us wondering when your letter is going to be printed, all I have to say is PLEASE BE PATIENT with us.. Everything we get is dated and used in the order we receive it. Unfortunately, we get far more letters than we can print in one issue. We would like to ask you cut down, if possible, on the length even more. Our backlog is such that we will still see old letters in the December issue. I know it's hard to say all you want to say about this remarkable show in such limited space, but try. Your editors will greatly appreciate it.
Issue 5: Excerpts from the Letters
.... Here is where I must say something about this romance. Your 'zine and others, show the fans' continued urging that this romance be broadened. I must agree that during the season, I wished and dreamed of their kiss and I was on the edge of my seat all through "A Happy Life", which wasn't so happy most of the time! When the kiss finally came, for a second I was disappointed that it wasn't a REAL kiss.
As time passed, I realized that, for this couple, it truly was a REAL kiss. I have realized also that what kept me coming back week after week was the wait for that kiss and if Ron Koslow and CBS OK'd an "all-out" love affair here, maybe the thrill would be gone. There is a mystery to Vincent that is so enchanting and suggestive and I don't know if I could handle knowing everything. I like the romance as it is. There has been some touching ...in "Song of Orpheus", when Cathy touched Vincent's chin when they were looking into Father's past in the library, I was exhilarated! When, in "Everything is Everything", these two were listening to the concert below and Vincent realized Cathy's need to talk, he reached for her hand and that touched me so much. At the end of that same episode, they walked off through the tunnels hand in hand; it was beautiful. This kind of romance does sustain me. This is what keeps me waiting for the next episode...and the next...and the next....
.... I am looking forward to the further unraveling and illumination of Vincent's past and youth. Did Father drum into him from when he was young that he could never consider finding a life with anyone, not even a tunnel person? What must it have been like for Vincent to see all the friends he grew up with going off and building lives for themselves while he had to remain behind? Speaking of which, where are these people who are around Vincent's age? Did they leave the tunnels after they grew up? Vincent's friends seem to consist of only people much younger or older than him. He speaks of how Catherine has changed him, but in what ways? Surely he was compassionate, caring, wise, and noble before he met her or he wouldn't be such a loved member of the community. Has he always flown into blind rages or is it the depth of the bond that triggers them? It's certainly strong enough to bring him out of one as we've seen on several occasions. Speaking of the bond, we know he can feel everything she feels, but is it only the strong emotion of fear that he can use to guide himself to her location? A friend of mine ventured that perhaps times of fear are the only times he would need to track her, but that doesn't jive with "To Reign in Hell". He talks only of not being able to feel her fear as if that is the only way to locate her. She wasn't totally devoid of emotions when she was with Paracelsus. She was angry when she wanted to know why she had been brought there, defiant when presented with his purpose, and when asked if she was afraid to die, she spoke of feeling sadness at the waste of his genius. The only emotion she made a point of suppressing and telling Paracelsus so is fear. Vincent says to Winslow, "Why can't I feel her fear?" Not "Why can't I feel her?" He must have felt her other emotions, but they didn't serve as a beacon....
.... Yes, I would down deep have loved to see Vincent and Catherine share a most tender, romantic kiss at season's end, but I am STILL so afraid of the series ending because of there being no more tension and suspense. Maybe Martia Skelley is right; if, indeed, they do kiss, but that is ALL they can do, it WOULD increase the tension more because, as she puts it, sharing a kiss would stir up more emotions than they EVER dreamed they could feel toward one another. That would definitely create more frustration. But as many have said, at least a kiss would keep their relationship on a human level to some extent. All I know is that if Vincent were to ever appear at my door and ask to come in, I would not hesitate for one second. And I also would not change his appearance one iota. Nothing should change about him. He is so incredibly masculine, sexy, magnetic, handsome, romantic, loving, caring, compassionate — shall I go on? Margaret Baserra has done an A++job in the make-up department.
....My thoughts on the "empathic kiss" are two-fold. First reaction: Arrgh! They got us again!
Each week I would edge closer to the edge of my seat, holding my breath as the end of the show neared, wondering/hoping -will they? Won't they? Oh, I hope they do 'cause I can't take the suspense. Oh, I hope they don't 'cause it would be too wonderful to bear! And each week I'd fall off my seat to the floor in frustration and relief! "Shades of Grey" was the worst/best in the 'tease the audience' category. If Linda Hamilton's movement towards Ron Perlman wasn't a deliberate tease to us, I don't know what would be. I loved it! (After I picked myself up off the floor and began breathing again!) My second, and final, reaction to the 'kiss' was to applaud. What a great solution. I don't see how it could fail to satisfy all of us. Once again, I was filled with admiration and thanks to Ron Perlman, Linda Hamilton, the entire cast, crew, director, producers-and especially Ron Koslow for the wonderful script of "A Happy Life"....
Issue 6
Once Upon a Time... Is Now 6 was published in December 1988 and contains 24 pages.
This issue contains a photo of the editors: Jeanne, Joyce, and Jackie.
Barbara L.B. Storey includes her column, "From the World Above" (about New York City, includes photos and a map)
Issue 6: Excerpts from the Letters
As brevity was requested re letters and with much poetic license:
I'll make it short, I'll make it sweet, Your publication's really neat.
Can't be without a single issue, So here's my sub, so I won't miss you.
I love B&TB and the characters in it, Could hardly wait another minute.
Now the season's started, Vincent is back. And I'm ambivalent about the lack of romantic tension between the two, in both new episodes I have viewed.
But Catherine looks happy, And Vincent SMILES (such a smile!), Father berates and Mouse beguiles.
So once again on Friday nights, I'm swept away on Fantasy flights, Where love is all and now it seems, I, too, take part in sharing the dream. Thanks for all the pleasure your newsletter has given me.
With respect to Vincent and Catherine's intimacy, I don't think we're dealing with an ethical issue as much as we are a term. Vincent is called a beast but he is not: a) an inferior animal, as opposed to man, b) a four-footed animal, especially if wild, c) a person of brutal nature or dirty habits. Nor is a person a beast because he resembles something less than human. Burn victims, fetuses are as human as any other human. On the other hand, anyone wanting to tie the knot with the likes of Freddy Kruger, be my guest. But refer back to definition "c" first. As the saying goes, beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone. So a stance against bestiality in the strict biblical sense simply is not relevant. There is no cut and dried right or wrong here. There are no rules or laws that apply, because Vincent is the only one.
And this story, we must keep in mind, is a fantasy. Make believe. In mythology, gods marry people, toads become princes. A reluctant vampire could fall in love in prime time without the censors going berserk; or a ghost or a mermaid or a fairy could, because we have no terms to condemn them. Even Star Trek's Captain Kirk, they say, was "married to his ship". So what would we accuse him of? Metallurgy?
If bestiality is the issue, then Catherine has already overstepped the bounds. She is in love with Vincent, she has wished she could marry him (in "China Moon"), she dreamt of kissing him, and she prefers him above all others. If we were going to be offended, surely we would have been by now.
I'm glad the producers finally wised up the romance, but why did it take them until the 19th episode for us to see Vincent and Catherine simply holding hands. This simple touching did not compromise the show and only made it better. Could the reason for this be the subject of "bestiality" and offending people that I heard about just a short time ago? Absurd! Ridiculous! Vincent is not a beast. He walks, talks, thinks, cries, and is totally unselfish. To hear CBS and the producers consider Vincent a beast is one thing, but at Space Trek V, Ron Perlman, when asked how much of Vincent is a man and how much is beast, stated that "Vincent is a beast... (pause)... with a lot of humanity." After everything Ron Perlman has said all these months about Vincent, about not judging on outward appearances, Vincent achieving self-actualization, etc., etc., I was floored that even he, of all those involved, considers Vincent a "beast", although I respect his right to his opinion. But I do hope all their thinking changes for next season. I wonder how Linda Hamilton feels about this?
My, wasn't that a depressing season opener? Yet another pair of black people bite the dust. I hope we see Rolli again under better circumstances.