“TELL ME YOUR SECRET …”

In the years since our cherished “Beauty and the Beast” debuted on September 25, 1987, we’ve come to love the people who live in that wonderful world. Through multiple episode watches, reading and re-reading favorite fanfic, insightful discussions at WFOL, and the wealth of possibilities floating in all our imaginations, we’ve learned a lot about these amazing characters.

But there still must be things we don’t know, secrets carefully guarded, left in the shadows possibly for years…until now. Wouldn’t it be amazing to discover them?

The CABB Challenge for the September 2026 Anniversary asks you to reveal a secret one of the characters has kept hidden. The character can be from Above or Below, and the secret can be recent or many years old. You may tell the story in any way you wish. For example, perhaps a character shares their secret with someone else. Maybe they write about it in a journal. Perhaps it is a secret they must contemplate alone. Maybe someone discovers a secret and inadvertently reveals it. There are so many possibilities!

Just one caveat: While the secret can have its origins in canon, it cannot be an exploration or expansion of one that was revealed during the episodes; for example, Father’s relationship with Margaret, the passing of Cullen’s wife, Olivia’s marriage before Kanin, and so on. Your revealed secret must be an original one.

Your story (or poem or drabble) may be any length up to 10,000 words. Of course – no secret here – since this is CABB, it must fit into the Classic world. The characters must come from either Season 1 or Season 2 with no mention of the events of third season. (see below for details).

Your fully edited story is due no later than September 12, 2026, for publication on CABB New Chambers on September 25, 2026.

Please read the guidelines below for more info.

All finalized stories and any questions should be sent to Linda SB (Barth) at cabbchallenges@gmail.com

Have fun! We can’t wait to learn about all those secrets that have been eluding us for nearly forty years!

GENERAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

1. Since CABB is a Classic organization, your stories must include only Classic or Continuing Classic content and themes.

Policy Change – Please Note: In the past, we have accepted SND stories that rewrite the events of Third Season and include 3S characters. Going forward, we will only publish stories that abstain from any mention of Third Season.

SND stories based on the events of Third Season may be sent to Winterfest Online.

2. Please submit only fully edited stories. If you need help finding an editor, let us know and we will connect you with someone who will be glad to help. Your stories will receive a final edit by the CABB admins before being published, but only for mechanics (e.g., grammar, punctuation, spelling, format, etc.)

3. The BatB fanfic sub-genres publishable on CABB include Classic, Alternate Universe, Cross-over, or Continuing Classic. Please specify the sub-genre of your story. See below for additional information about various sub-genres.

4. Please submit your work as a Word Doc in the following format: Times New Roman 14-point font; single-spaced with one line break between paragraphs; block paragraphs (do not indent); no page numbers. Use only three asterisks (***), center-aligned, to designate scene breaks (no images, no other characters).

5. Be sure to include a title and your preferred author name; i.e., Title by Author Name.

6. Ratings accepted: G to Strong R. Please specify the rating of your story. While this is not required, if you feel you would like to include any trigger warnings (e.g., violence, strong language, etc.), please add them in an “Author’s Note’ above the title of your story.

7. Send any artwork you want included in your story as an attachment to your submission email in .jpg or .png form. Do not insert the images into your text. Specify where you want the artwork to be placed (e.g., before, after, somewhere within the text) in your submission email.

8. Readers will have the option to leave comments on your story. If readers send comments to the admins instead, we will forward them to you.

9. One month after your work has been published on Tunnel Tales, you are free to post it elsewhere. If you have collaborated with another author, all parties must agree to posting a story to an additional site. However, all submissions for CABB Challenges must only be published on CABB – New Chambers and, after one month, on your own personal website. If you have any questions, please contact us.

10. Any questions and all submissions (Challenges and Tunnel Tales) should be sent to Linda SB (Barth) at cabbchallenges@gmail.com

11. Have fun!!

~ BATB FANFIC SUB-GENRES ~

DEFINITIONS OF CONTENT PUBLISHABLE ON CABB

Classic: Takes place before or within First and/or Second Seasons.

Backstories: Explores history of any Classic characters.

Alternate Universe: Takes place in another time and place but adheres to Classic themes and characters.

Cross-Over: Classic characters interact with characters from another story, show, or universe.

Continuing Classic: Takes place after Second Season and assumes Third Season never happened. NOTE! You may choose to “end” Season Two after any episode you choose.

In a Continuing Classic story, Vincent and Catherine may eventually have children. Their first born may be named Jacob if you wish. However, in such stories, Catherine is not abducted by Gabriel, she does not have baby Jacob in captivity, and Vincent does not have to rescue her. Also, she does not fall into a coma after the doctor’s injection or go into witness protection. Stories based on 3S themes do not fit into CABB’s Classic/Continuing Classic world.