Our Tunnel World
| Zine | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Our Tunnel World |
| Publisher: | A New Enterprise Publication for The Helpers Network UK |
| Editor(s): | Gwen Lord |
| Date(s): | May 2002 |
| Series?: | |
| Medium: | |
| Genre: | het |
| Fandom: | Beauty and the Beast (TV) |
| Language: | English |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Our Tunnel World is a het Beauty and the Beast (TV) anthology of fiction by Lynn Murray.
It contains art by Marina Broers & Rosemarie Hauer. The art by Hauer (and possibly Broers) has all appeared in other zines. There is also a small uncredited illo by Lynette Combs.
In it, Vincent and Catherine have many children, as do Devin and Jenny.
Some Meta and Violating the Fourth Wall
"Make Believe?" is a story where Devin Wells is a showrunner for Beauty and the Beast (TV), something he doesn't tell anyone. Because people Below have no television, they have no idea their lives have been put on the small screen. He invites Catherine and Vincent Above to view the show for the first time, though they leave Father in the dark about it all:
"Admit it, the make up job's pretty good." Vincent looked at Catherine.
"He even had the cheek to use our real names, darling. I am just glad that Father doesn't watch television." She laughed.
"I thought you came over as really sweet, darling. I think that it's a very good thing for me that cuddling wasn't really as involved as we thought. My patience would have never held out." She kissed his mouth sensually.
"Cathy, none except us knows that this isn't a pretty story I came up with," said Devin. "Thousands of women out there are going to get very involved in their glimpse of a 'pretty pretty' fantasy world, and I wouldn't mind betting that you two will be the subjects of fan clubs world wide. Because people want something to cling to in this fast moving world, it's like a dream, it takes them away from the gritty realities of life." [Devin] grinned at them. "Besides, I made you both a legend in your lifetimes, didn't I?"
Vincent looked at him, his eyes full of laughter. "I feel sorry for Ron Perlman, he must hate you every time he has to sit for hours having the make up put on. Linda Hamilton is rather sweet as Catherine isn't she? Vincent looked down into Catherine's lovely face and said tenderly, "but she is nothing like as beautiful as you are in reality, Catherine."
Some Blatant and Ignorant Homophobia, and Then a Lecture on Accepting Those Who are Different
The story, "New Addition to the Family," contains some blatant homophobia.
After Vincent Wells and Devin Wells hug, Jenny calls the two brothers "fairies":
What is a fairy?" Vincent asked. "And don't say a small being with wings."Catherine grinned back at him. "A man who prefers sex with men," she said succinctly.
Vincent looked faintly sickened. "You mean there are such men?" he asked.
Catherine nodded. "'Fraid so darling," she said.
"Then I can only think that they don't know what they are missing," he said.
Catherine crossed to Vincent's side and looked up into his face. "Darling, stay as innocent as you are," she said. "The world Above contains so much strangeness and so much crime that life down here comes as a welcome relief, believe me."
The story, "An Unwelcome Guest" features a man named Brian who comes to live below. He is a cruel sociopath and a religious zealot who is disgusted by the fact that Catherine and Vincent are physically intimate.
"Catherine, Catherine," whatever are you doing consorting with a beast man?" he asked, his voice chiding. "Does it appeal to your baser instincts?... When I met you I realised your were steeped in your sin and would never listen to any words of mine. So I sought to separate you from your paramour. In a short time more of this depravity will be no more, and I can return to my world satisfied that I have in my small way done God's work in this underworld of yours."Catherine was furious. "Who are you to say what is right and what is not?" she asked angrily. "Why do you 'do-gooders' feel you must interfere in matters which are no concern of yours?... So this is all a religious thing," she said. "I supposed I should have know really. There is more harm done in the name of God than any other way, I should think."
[...]
Brian said, "What kind of a woman are you that you give your body in lust to a rutting animal?... You are no more than a strumpet to consort with an animal, this creature under the semblance of a man.... You have no priest down here. No one religious man to unite you into lawful Christian wedlock. You live in sin, Jezebel, with your Lion Man and to see you with him makes me feel physically ill."
[...]
Catherine asked, "How could you, a self-styled man of God be such a hypocrite?"
[...]
Father said, " The Bible as I remember it says that God is love, and since God gave Vincent life, and Catherine to love, who are you tell her that the love she feels for him is wrong?"
[...]
"You and your holier than thou beliefs, and misguided ideas of what should exist and what shouldn't," said William...
[...]
"You are all perverted, sputtered Brian angrily. "This is an outrage to decency!"
Contents
- Dedication to Roy Dotrice by Gwen Lord (frontispiece)
- Just Another Day (Vincent is injured and comforted by his children (Charles and Margaret).) (1)
- Make Believe? (very meta, Catherine and Vincent go Above and watch "Beauty and the Beast," the television show that was created by Devin Wells about themselves. It stars Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton.) (5)
- New Addition to the Family (Mary (Father's wife) is pregnant.) (7)
- Sanctuary for Mike (An abused boy from Above is adopted by Vincent and Catherine.) (17)
- Naming Ceremony (An interchange between Charles Chandler and Jacob Wells (Father): "'What you have created here is a piece of Old World England isn't he? Admit it, [Jacob], you got tired of brash, modern American and decided to turn back the clock. Now my Cathy is as happy as a lark living out a scene from the past.' Jacob looked thoughtful, and said, 'You know maybe I was trying to go back to olden day values,' he admitted.") (29)
- An Unwelcome Guest (A man, Brian, comes to live below. He is a cruel sociopath and a religious zealot who is angered by an intimate relationship between Catherine and Vincent.) (35)
- A Little Night Music (Catherine and Vincent declare their undying love while listening to an orchestra.) (43)
- Mike Finds His Place (Mike settles into his new family, Catherine and Vincent make a death pact.") (45)
- Mouse's Secret (Mouse finds a baby Above, keeps it a secret, and after three weeks, he and Jamie (platonically) decide to raise the baby together.) (53)
- And Baby Makes Three (Catherine is taking the birth control pill, but she still becomes pregnant with their first child. She is a afraid Vincent "will make her" have an abortion.) (57)
Sample Interior
dedication to Roy Dotrice, illo by Lynette Combs
"The Little Things of Life" - Rosemarie Hauer
