Tunnels: Different Realities

Zine
Title:	Tunnels: Different Realities
Publisher:	Artemis Press
Editor(s):	Barbara Storey
Date(s):	November 1990
Series?:
Medium:	print zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Beauty and the Beast (TV)
Language:	English
External Links:
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front cover by Nancy A. Stasulis

back cover

sample page

Tunnels: Different Realities is a 104-page het Beauty and the Beast (TV) anthology edited by Barbara Storey.

The cover art is by Nancy Stasulis. There is no interior art.

Contents

• Faerie Tale
• Possibilities and Plans (Quantum Leap crossover)
• It Will Last Forever

From the Editorial

TUNNELS: DIFFERENT REALITIES kind of snuck up on me. I've had both Susan's and Guinn's stories for a while, hoping to do a mixed-media zine that never quite came to be. I knew that— although they were firmly entrenched in the spirit of the first and second seasons of B&TB (Vincent and Catherine are together, always)--they were not quite "mainstream" enough to put into a regular issue of TUNNELS (especially Susan's, which is a B&TB/QUANTUM LEAP crossover); and then Lynette sent me her story—again, a little out of the ordinary, but still a great story I wanted to see published. Finally I realized that the three of them together were just the right size for a little zine of their own (for me, 100 pages is little!) . . . and here they are. Once you read Susan's story, there will be an obvious question: where's the other side of this tale? Being a serious Sam Beckett fan myself, all I can say is that Susan tells me the other story is in the works--and I bug her about it on a regular basis. If you want to see it, too, send a postcard and I'll pass it along to her.

Summary

This zine is comprised of three stories that deviate from the usual Classic B&B. Story One, 'Faerie Tale,' has an alternate universe plot where homely research scientist, Vincent Wells, falls in love with childhood friend Catherine Chandler. Can she return his love? Story Two, 'Possibilities and Plans,' is a Quantum Leap crossover that has Sam Below and Vincent waiting in the future to return. During this time his thought-provoking conversations with Dr. Mominglory Hayes help him come to terms with his relationship with Catherine. Story Three, 'It Will Last Forever,' has an unusual fantasy story line.

Contents

• Faerie Tale by Guinn Berger (3)
• Possibilities and Plans, a B&B/Quantum Leap crossover by Susan Crites (23)
• It Lasts for Always by Lynette Combs (reprinted in What Light Through Yonder Window #1) (92)

Reactions and Reviews

[zine]:

Al cries: 0

Sam cries: 0

They hug: 0

104 pages digest size, stapled sub-20, 10-point courier widely spaced, one-color printed cardstock cover. A B&B mini-zine with *sigh* Sam leaping into Vincent in one of the three stories, not recommended for non-B&B fans.

[Possibilities and Plans]:

Possibilities and Plans is a 71-page story, in a digest-sized zine. It's written with style and competence, and the original character is clearly drawn. I appreciate well done "guest" characters, but in this case Our Heroes rather suffer by comparison ~ Sam is reduced to a walk on, and I don't think this version of All has much to do with the one Dean Stockwell plays.

Sam switches with Vincent, and the story focuses on Vincent and Dr. Glory Hayes, the woman in charge of Sam's body and those who inhabit it. Glory tries to help Vincent deal with being in Sam's body, and Vincent tries to help Glory with one of her biggest problems. This problem turns out to be Al, and if Al were really like this guy I probably wouldn't get along with him too well either. Trouble is, I've always figured Al for a "teddy bear boss" ~ the kind that give you little hugs of praise whether you want them to or not; who spend a lot of time telling crude jokes with the guys; and who sort of sputter aroimd being obnoxious and cracking everyone up but still somehow make sure everything gets done. They tend to be pretty sexist, yeah, but every boss I had in this category understood the fact that I didn't appreciate off-color remarks, and rarely made them in my presence ~ and usually apologized when they slipped up. These guys do like to tease, but they don't mean to hurt anybody. The biggest threat from a teddy bear boss is the possibility of asphyxiating from their aftershave. When they're your boss, that is ~ dating them is something else again!

This author does not see Al as a teddy bear boss, but portrays him as someone who gets his jollies by making crude Jokes at Dr. Hayes' expense, who forces her into humiliating situations with sexual overtones, and who generally sets himself up for a sexual harassment suit that could earn Glory the big money. You would think that a story that's basically a tirade against sexual harassment would ring some bells for me, since I've worked for a few of those guys ~ one of them got hauled up on multiple accounts and the company paid through the nose to settle out of court ~ but the only time it seemed remotely close to reality was when Glory figured she looked like a mark to Al, because she was committed enough to her job to stay even though he was harassing her. That's legit ~ these guys know full well what they're doing, and they do look for vulnerable prey. So presumably the author knows something about how sexual harassment works in the real world. I guess she can't see Al as that nasty, though, because when he is actually confronted with the fact that Glory is upset by his remarks, he reacts with honest surprise. I found this impossible to believe, since (1) no one of average intelligence reaches Al's age without cluing into the fact that some people are offended by risqué remarks, particularly personal risque remarks, (2) the military has had mandatory "Enlightenment Seminars" on sexual harassment since at least the late '70's, and (3) if Al1 was this much of a bonehead he'd be a complete liability to the Project. Their friendship might have inspired Sam to include Al, but there's no way he would have allowed Al near the Committee! And of course there's also (4) ~ I can't see Sam being that close to someone that thoughtless. My experience is that guys this inconsiderate of women aren't particularly wonderful with their male friends either. Al just struck me as so wrong, both as a believable character and as Al, that it's hard to see anything else to the story. Sam never seemed completely wrong, but he hardly appears ~ although it did seem to me Al is most in character in those scenes with Sam. Vincent strikes me as a bit prim, but he did on the show now and then so maybe that's legit. One the other hand, Catherine blushing because Vincent excuses himself to go to the bathroom?!? I think not. And I could have done without Glory's patronizing attitude toward Vincent's sexual activities (rather, toward his lack thereof).