Safe Places

Zine
Title:	Safe Places
Publisher:
Editor(s):	Rowena G. Warner
Date(s):	both in 1988
Series?:
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Language:	English
External Links:
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Safe Places is a het Beauty and the Beast anthology edited by Rowena Warner. It is one of the first zines published in the fandom.

The zines were out of print in early 1990, and the author gave other fans permission to photocopy them for personal use.

Issue 1

cover of issue #1

Safe Places 1 was published in March 1988 and contains 205 pages.

There are no interior illustrations.

The zine's dedication:

This zine is dedicated to Ron Perlman, Linda Hamilton, Roy Dotrice, the remaining cast, crew, writers, directors, set

designers, and everyone else connected with BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. May we all strive to be as loving and compassionate as they, and learn to take such pride in our work.

From the editorial:

What can I say? Never has a series so quickly and so completely captured my heart and soul. I was in Lexington, Kentucky visiting fandom friends the night BEAUTY AND THE BEAST premiered, and the minute we heard Vincent's voice, we were all hooked. If you're reading this, you knew exactly what I mean, but there is more to the series than just that incredibly sensual, loving, compassionate, and extremely vulnerable manbeast. For me, personally, I love Father, Catherine (would is really a surprise considering I usually detest to how females are portrayed on television), Joe, and all the people we've seen in the tunnels. I've also thoroughly enjoyed the storylines, and the sets, directing, and musical scores are the best I've ever seen or heard anywhere. I've always loved fairy tales, I guess I'm a closet romantic, and Shakespeare has always been one of my favorites, so how can I not fall in love over and over again every Friday night. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is not just a love story between a "man" and a woman, but a love story between Man and Woman, Man and Man, and Han and his world. To paraphrase Father, "It touches the best in all of us."

I guess you could say I'm rather obsessed with this series; otherwise,

I wouldn't have poured so many hours of my life and love into these stories. The idea for the first me I wrote, "True Beauty Touches the Soul" (the B&B/Stingray crossover) was born the day after the premiere episode when one of my friends in Lexington commented, "Wouldn't Vincent and Ray get along well together." Other remarks were made, and suddenly the group was looking at me, and saying, "Write it!" Well, I did, beginning it before the second episode even aired. From there on, I was totally lost.

• My Page, editorial (ii)
• That's More Like It (1)
• True Beauty Touches the Soul (5)
• The Journal (57)
• Love's Tender Chains (missing scene fro m "Nor Iron Bars a Cage") (66)
• Reflections in a Darkened Mirror (69)
• My Love (92)
• A Christmas Story (93)
• My Dearest Catherine, My Dearest Vincent (an exchange of letters after "Dark Spirit") (108)
• Sesame Street Was Never Like This (111)
• Ashes of the Past (missing scene from "The Alchemist") (144)
• South of Oz, North of Shangri-La (missing scene from "Promises of Someday") (148)
• Chambers of the Soul (153)

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 1

This book is a series of short stories by Rowena Warner. It has an amateurish appearance which is offset by a wonderfully xeroxed color photograph of Vincent. The stories are a mixed lot. A crossover "Stingray" story, has most of the elements I have found to reside in crossovers, principally, moments of confusion, unless one is intimately acquainted with the characters and idiosyncrasies of both genres. A whimsical story concerning getting television via satellite called "That's More Like It" is mildly amusing. A small piece, "The Journal" ostensibly penned by Vincent, is a touching reincarnation of the first days, with Catherine, as a character study. "Reflections in a Darkened Mirror" is a chilling look into what mght have happened to Vincent if not for Father. One story, "Sesame Street Was Never Like This", explores intriguing avenues, ie: "What would Vincent be like as a father?" An exchange of letters set after after the "Dark Spirit" episode come close to capturing the characterizations which the B&TB writers in the "Brotherhood of Pain" and of course, the fans, know so well. The least likely premise appears in the last story, "Chambers of the Soul", the obligatory Vincent-amnesia story. May they not do it prime-time this year (hear that, oh Brotherhood of Pain in L.A.?) Overall, I recommend this as a series of diverting "vignettes" (no groaning, please). One must read this however, understanding that the content and quality of the offerings is uneven. Ms. Warner has made this a labor of love worth reading, despite its flawed nature.

Classic stories including several episode expansion vignettes, a BATB/Stingray crossover, a new tunnel unleashes a horror from below, Christmas brings despair to a man who has lost everything, Vincent brings a street waif below who wrecks havoc on the other tunnel residents and Vincent loses his memory when he's shot and is befriended by a carnival owner.

Issue 2

cover of issue #2

Safe Places 2 was published in November 1988 and contains 194 pages.

The editors were Linda Watson and Barbara Staton.

From the editorial:

here it is. I had desperately wanted to get SAFE PLACES II in print before the new season began in case they did an episode which contradicted something I had written herein (that's always the chance one takes when doing stories about an ongoing series). But with Life and financial responsibilities intervening, the gods just weren't smiling down upon me. "Remember Love" did contradict two things in my stories. In "When the Bough Breaks" I had written that Vincent was found on the steps of St. Vincent's, not in the trash behind the hospital. Also, in "Autumn Interlude" the journey into the country actually came about without all the flack Vincent received from Father and the others in the tunnels. Personally, I like to think he would eventually be "allowed" to go on a trip like this without having a lot of guilt dumped on him. Another way you could look at it is that the entire episode "Remember Love" was a dream and Catherine never asked him to go to the country (if this isn't so, how does one explain the stained glass window?) In this case, "Autumn Interlude" could be considered a "reality" in which Vincent was able to take his journey with Catherine, leaving guilt and responsibility behind.

I want to take just a couple of lines to say I've received some touching LOCs on SAFE PLACES I, and for those, of you to whom I didn't have a chance to write a personal "thank-you", I want very much to do so now and tell you how much those wonderful letters meant to me. After a perfectly lousy day at work, it's great to come heme to something like that. Quite a few of you reminded me of the tunnel people in the way that you were so generous with your compliments. It's because of you that SAFE PLACES II is now in print (I would've written the stories, anyway, but you wouldn't have gotten to read them).

[...]

I think that takes care of everything. I again want to thank all of you who were so nice about your comments on SAFE PLACES I and hope you find a story or perhaps just a line in SAFE PLACES II that appeals to you.

• The Code (1)
• The Bedtime Story (60)
• King and Queen of Hearts, poem (64)
• Is This the Little Girl I Carried? (65)
• The Journals (71)
  • Vincent's
  • Catherine's
  • Father's
• The Sound of Alone (85)
• When the Bough Breaks (113)
• Autumn Interlude (120)
• Wings (147)
• Till an Ill Wind Doth Cease to Blow (155)

Reactions and Reviews: Issue 2

In 'The Code,' the tunnel community turns against Vincent when a man he brought Below without the council's approval is accused of murder. In 'The Sound of Alone,' Catherine blames Vincent when he doesn't arrive in time to save her from being raped. Catherine shares an 'Autumn Interlude' with Vincent when they spend a weekend Above. Forged notes are being sent Below. Are they merely pranks or something much more sinister?

The second in this series contains 12 stories and journal entries set in the 1st season time frame. In 'The Code,' Vincent falls from Catherine's balcony and is helped by a stranger who he brings Below to live with hazardous results. Stories also include : 'Is This The Little Girl I Carried' where Charles Chandler meets Vincent; 'The Sound Of Alone' where Catherine is trying to help some 'date- rape' victims and is herself raped; 'Autumn Interlude' has Vincent and Catherine finally having their country vacation; and in 'Till An III Wind Doth Cease To Blow,' Devin returns to the Tunnels and Paracelsus wreaks havoc on everyone.