FAQ: Welcome to Alt.tv.beauty+beast - Semi-regular posting
Zenobia
FAQ - 30 December 1996 - Version 1.2
Welcome to alt.tv.beauty+beast. In choosing to
follow this newsgroup you have become part of
the extended family of Helpers and Tunnel
Dwellers who are all dedicated to keeping the
_Beauty and the Beast_ dream alive.
We hope you'll enjoy your time with us, and
have compiled the following information as a
sort of guide - a map of the Tunnels, as it
were. If you feel that there is something we
haven't covered, feel free to post a message to
this group with the subject "FAQ: <subject>,"
and someone will make sure that it's
incorporated into this file. This FAQ is
posted roughly once a week, and is revised
as necessary.
1) Abbreviations and Netiquette
There are a few _Beauty and the Beast_-related
abbreviations that may help you navigate our
virtual tunnels. The most common, BATB, is
fairly obvious: _Beauty and the Beast_.
Others are:
1S, 2S, 3S - these refer to the specific
seasons in which the BATB episodes originally
aired - first season & etc.
4S is a fan fiction-related term, used to refer
to stories that continue the events in the final
season of BATB.
SND (she's not dead) is another fan-fiction
deriviative. It is used to denote stories and
scenarios in which Catherine never died (or at
least, not permanently), and the final season
either never happened, or happened differently.
IMO (in my opinion), IMHO (in my humble/honest
opinion), ROTFL (rolling on the floor laughing),
LOL (laughing out loud), BTW (by the way), and
WRT (with regard to) are not specific to this
group, but are used here as much as anywhere else.
With regard to NETIQUETTE, no attempt is made to
censor this group. If you have an opinion, feel
free to share it. Rather than a long list of rules,
we ask that you simply use common courtesy. Honest,
even provocative, discussions are encouraged; flaming
(messages sent for the sole purpose of rudeness) and
long conversations meant for one other person /only/
are best taken to private email.
In addition, since many of the people here are
limited in time, money, and storage space, we request
that you do not quote entire messages when responding
to them unless it's absolutely necessary. Judicious
"snipping" can be just as effective, and people will
appreciate your efforts - really.
Finally, please label your messages with related
subject messages. If it's off-topic, say so. If you're
replying to a message that was part of a thread about
Vincent's favorite ice-cream flavour with your own post
about Catherine's coolest outfit, change the subject
header. Also, while we are, by and large, a warm,
friendly group, there are fans who prefer not to read
posts concerned with certain seasons or scenarios. For
example, some "classic" fans (1S & 2S) don't like reading
about possible 4S events, and some "all-season" fans
are not all that interested in your little sister's
top-ten reasons why Catherine didn't die. The important
thing to remember is that we are all here because we
love Beauty and the Beast. As in any family, people have
differing opinions, and labelling your messages helps
reduce strife.
2) Who is Reading the Group?
If you are new to this newsgroup, you may think we're
suffering from a severe lack of interest, especially if
it's summertime, when the active population of the
Internet decreases. In fact, all posts to this newsgroup
are forwarded to a mailing list, so many more people are
reading your messages than you think. At the moment, the
people who administer this group and the mailing list
have not figured out how to forward the mailing list
messages to the newsgroup without creating infinite loops.
They are working on it, and a message will be posted when
they have succeeded.
If you'd like to subscribe to the mailing list, send a
message to majo...@rtchaos.com with no subject, and the
following message as the first line of text:
subscribe beautyb...@rtchaos.com
To post to the list, send email to
beautyb...@rtchaos.com.
Your message will go out to everyone on the list.
3) Other Sources for your BATB "Fix"
Everything BATB-related
"Songs of the Bluebird" - Eric Tullis's web page.
If you have web access, don't miss this page. It includes
news, info, pictures, and some fan-fiction and fan-art.
Here's the address:
http://www.iquest.net/~jeneric/songs.html
CABB's Home Page
CABB, Classic Alliance of Beauty and the Beast has a
wonderful web page that includes zine excerpts, fiction,
and Tunnel-ish links. Another "must see."
http://www.rtchaos.com/cabb/cabb.html
AOL Tunnel Network (ATN) - this is for America Online
subscribers only. It's a mailing list that provides
information about the show, fandom, etc. Contact
Beas...@aol.com for more information.
Discussion & Chatter:
Of Love and Hope (OLAH) is an email digest that comes
out about every two weeks. To subscribe, send email to
Eric Tullis at jen...@iquest.net. To post, send your
message to Betty Christophy at bche...@aol.com, and
it will be included in the next volume. Back issues of
this digest are available at Eric's web site.
IRC: There is usually a chat room/channel on the irc
server EFNet between 9pm-12am Eastern time. The channel
name is #BeautyandtheBeast. Look for Oscoda.
Fan Fiction
Father's Online Library (FOL) - This is another mailing
list run by Beas...@aol.com. It's used to distribute
fan fiction and is /not/ limited to America Online. Most
of the content is eventually put on the "Songs of the
Bluebird" web page, but you can get it here faster. Send
email to Beas...@aol.com to subscribe or request
submission guidelines.
Merchandise
You can order video tapes of BATB episodes from
The Picture Palace. They sponsor contests, too, so even
if you're not planning to buy anything, you should visit
their web page:
http://www.picpal.com/picpal/bandb3.html
Sun Coast also sells the tapes - look for them in a mall
near you. Their prices are resonable, and most branches
have a decent selection. Some will even special-order.
There are more sites that are related either to Beauty
and the Beast itself, or to the cast members of the
show. They will be added in future revisions of this
file. In the meantime, keep dreaming, and be well.
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NOTE: If there is a web page/ftp site/or organization
that you believe should be included in this FAQ, please
send the address, name of contact person, and a brief
description to zen...@sd.cybernex.net. It will be
confirmed, and added in the next revision of this file.
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