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BATB Fandom 101

Those of us who've been around BATB fandom for a while can remember when we were new and how bewildering some things were. So, we thought it might be helpful to lead you through the dark, as it were, and prepare a short guided tour of the highlights of BATB Fandom.



Glossary of Terms
(also see episode abbreviations in the reference section)

3S Third season
all season A fan who enjoys both classic and 3S content
alternate beginning A story which invents a new way for Catherine and Vincent to meet (and which ordinarily avoids Catherine's run-in with the thugs who were really looking for Carol)
alternate universe A story which takes Vincent, and often Catherine, and plunks them down somewhere (and/or somewhen) else to make a new Once upon a time but NOT in the city of New York
Bond! exclamation used when two fans express the same thought at the same time, usually in a chatroom, but also in online groups or even live
BBRC Beauty and the Beast Reading Chamber; see web sites
CABB Classic Alliance of Beauty and the Beast; see web sites
canon The story as it was depicted in the episodes
classic Stories that take place in the first 2 seasons; a fan who prefers that segment of BATB
con short for convention; there's an annual BATB con in the US, but they take place in other countries too sometimes; you may also hear the terms minicon or microcon to refer to smaller, less formal gatherings of BATB fans.
continuing classic Stories that continue beyond the first 2 seasons as if 3S never happened
crossover A story which has Vincent and Catherine meeting characters from another show
fanon Fan canon; an idea so often written in fanfic that it almost seems like canon
first time stories A story detailing Vincent and Catherine's first romantic encounter
Mary Sue A story where a primary character represents the author. (These are often looked down upon in B&B fandom, incidentally.)
OLAH Of Love and Hope, the BATB cd of music and poetry
OP obsessive pathetic; term coined by Cathy Moran to describe some of the slightly unusual behaviors of B&B fans (for example, collecting all manner of lions, watching/collecting all of Ron Perlman's movies, even the awful ones, or purchasing 3 copies of each DVD set and yet still being unable to throw away your old VHS episodes taped from TV more than 20 years ago
SND She's Not Dead; a story which explains away the events in Though Lovers Be Lost and 3S or which works with those events to explain how Catherine is still alive
TPTB The Powers That Be; may refer to the producers of B&B, the execs at CBS, or now those at Paramount who released the DVDs
TST The Steam Tunnels, a web site with adult BATB stories and art
zine short for fanzine (pronounced zeen, like the end of magazine); a printed edition of fan-written stories (also called fan fiction, fanfic or just fic) and fan-created art
Web sites not to be missed

CABB http://www.classicalliance.net/
Marina's site http://batbland.com/Marina/
Batbland http://www.batbland.com/
BBRC http://batbland.com/bbrc
Chan's site http://www.batbtv.com
Steam Tunnels http://batbland.com/steamtunnels/
Treasure Chambers http://www.treasurechambers.com/
lots more http://www.batbwfol.com/bburl/index.asp
The BATB Calendar

January 12 Vincent's birthday; see the episode God Bless the Child
April 12 Vincent and Catherine's anniversary, ie the anniversary of the day Vincent found Catherine; see the episode Once Upon a Time in the City of New York
September 25 The day BATB premiered on CBS in the US in 1987
October 31 Halloween, or Samhain; Masques is a much-beloved episode.
Winterfest No date given in canon.  Winterfest Online is celebrated here at batbwfol.com. The dates vary from year to year.
References

Fanfic Database a searchable database of online BATB fanfic
episode abbreviations Fans have a tendency to abbreviate the longer episode names into just their first letters. Batbforever has a nice reference list of episode abbreviations.
episode guides A list of episodes that usually includes a description, original air date, and sometimes other info.

This one gets our nod for prettiest:
CABB/Tunnelmom episode guide

This one is 4 episode guides in one. First click an episode on the left, then choose a guide from the upper right to see the description in the lower right:
UK Helpers Network episode guide [archived page]
literature and music Much classic literature and classical music was mentioned on the show. Here's a compilation. Also see the B&B companion section of the UK Helpers Network episode guide.
CABB/Vicky B&B Literary & Musical references
production order vs airing order The airing order of episodes outside the US was the same as the production order, and European fans have pointed out that the official US airing order doesn't make sense in several places. See the differences at babtforever:
Production order vs airing order
episode scripts A project is underway to display the original scripts of the episodes, as well as a transcription of what actually aired.
Beauty and the Beast Scripts and Transcriptions
The QFer The Helpers' Network Quality Fanzine Review Online, a guide to B&B zines
Episodes Online Find episodes of our show online at Paramount Plus.
BATB community

online groups Online BATB groups include google groups, Facebook groups, groups.io groups, and some forums.
Catherine's Balconychatroom for BATB fans
weekly chats A group of folks get together every Sunday to watch an episode and discuss it as a group. Post a message on one of the groups if you'd like to join and someone will point you in the right direction.
San Diego con More like a family reunion than a convention, BATB fans have been getting together the second weekend (or so) of July in various places around the US for years and years.
the bench Fans pooled their resources to sponsor a B&B bench in Central Park. It's outside the Delacorte theater, near the statue of Romeo and Juliet.
Crystal Rose lending library A BATB zine library from which you may borrow for just the cost of postage. Carole Whitehead is our librarian.
Band of Angels BOA is a group of individuals who help those in need by sending them thoughts, prayers, cards, emails, notes. Contact Linda Moore if you'd like to join, 1bluwing@comcast.net.
CHSBB Virtual Events The Chesapeake Helpers' Society has been hosting multiple virtual club events every week since the pandemic began. Contact them at chsbb@aol.com.

2022.12.17