New Year

Fanfiction
Title:	New Year
Author(s):	Paula Smith
Date(s):	1981
Length:
Genre:	het, femslash
Fandom:	Starsky and Hutch
External Links:
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New Year is a Starsky & Hutch story written by Paula Smith and illustrated by Karen River.

The story is both het and femslash.

It was printed in Storms.

Summary

From a flyer: "Hutch falls in love with a lady enigma."

Inside Sample

• 

  from Storms #1, Karen River is the artist

• 

  from Storms #1, Karen River is the artist

• 

  from Storms #1, Karen River is the artist

Reactions and Reviews

1981

"New Year" is about a romance that goes rather badly for Hutch. It is written in an episodic style that leaves much for the reader to deduce on her own, and I found myself wishing for more detail on the development of the relationship; the breakup is painfully clear. It's a story worth reading, and together with some of the articles make the zine well worth its $2.50 cover price... Not recommended for for anyone who has a strong feeling against sexual variation. Recommended for anyone with an open mind.

Eleven episodes between Hutch and a woman he comes to love make up a well-crafted story on the difficulty of accepting new realizations while existing in a comfortable and traditional environment.

1982

[This is a] story is a Starsky and Hutch outline by Paula Smith (is a story feminist because it's got women characters?) in which Hutch seems to have instantly and selectively turned into a moron, allowing him to bumble along for the length of the piece, blissfully unaware of what the reader has realized almost from the start. While some may consider this story insulting to women, I consider it insulting to readers.

"New Year" by Paula Smith -- I like it, with no reservations, and I'll tell you why. I think Hutch's reaction toward the end of the story is understandably human. I know that if I were in a similar situation (dumped by a man I loved for another man) I'd be hurt, angry, bitter, and, yes, jealous. I also like the fact that everything isn't all sweetness and light at the end. Hutch is still wary of Carla--hell, he backs away from her twice in a five-minute verbal exchange. He still doesn't understand -- he's simply decided that he might as well accept it, since he can't change it. Some people won't like this story because everything is seen through Hutch's eyes. I think the POV adds to the intensity of the story.... Karen River's art for New Year is the best in the zine. The likenesses are good, the composition and balance excellent. My only negative comment is about the illo on page 29. Hutch looks like he's suddenly dropped 8-10 years. He's young, but not that young!

Paula Smith's "New Year" is fine as a story, which believable characters, good pace, overall good writing. The trick or treat scene is very effective -- it's the sort of human touch that's all too often missing in fanfic. I leave it to S&H fen to decide whether the characterizations were accurate. I enjoyed it as a story, period.

The other fiction piece, "New Year" by Paula Smith, didn't interest me nearly so much as Quism's story. I can't in fairness say that it was a bad story. My reaction probably had more to do with the fact that of all the males portrayed on television, I think Starsky and Hutch were among the all-time most boring and I can't under stand why any intelligent, sensitive woman would want to spend more than one night with either one, much less months. I might have liked the story more if it had been in Carla's PoV. Then I could have empathized (or at least sympathized) with her struggle to discover who she really was.

And I particularly appreciated "New Year," because I happen to have a brother who went through an experience similar to to Hutch's (a typical macho Texan, he did not handle it as well as Hutch, though). The choice of an "external" style allowed Smith to move easily through a fairly long chronological time span in the relationship and she handled it consistently; the calendar dates added to the reader's sense of being an outside observer. But the approach does have its limits, for it cannot show us the full depth of masculine hurt and rage that (I assume) Hutch must have felt.

"New Year" was good and I "identified" with everybody in it because a friend of mine who seemed to be the quintessential straight "came out" as a lesbian this past winter. Her family's reaction was along the lines of "Better you should have cancer -- at least then you'd be (as good as) dead . . ." etc. Her husband was, as you might imagine, somewhat confused/surprised/upset over the events. From my point of view, it doesn't seem to make much difference; her taste in movies is still dreadful.

Paula's portrayal of Hutch was damned unflattering -- and probably too true. I think she picked Hutch because he's usually portrayed as the more sensitive of the two. To show him at the height of his insensitivity was a new twist. He didn't seem especially rattled by the idea of two guys making love (as Starsky seemed to be, at times), but of course that's not the same as finding out that the woman you've been living with is in love with another woman, in fact prefers her to you. Touche!

Although any-S&H I've seen has been involuntary, Hutch always struck me as the kind of straight-laced guy who would freak out in a situation such as the one put forth in "New Year." I also found this story to be a nice change from the "beat-one-or-both-of-the-characters-to-a-bloody-pulp" pieces I always seem to come across.

"New Year" by Paula Smith was well-written , as 99% of Paula's work is, if a bit spare in the prose. I was bitterly disappointed by the cavalier way Carla treated Hutch. To tell him over her packing that she's moving in with a woman, a woman she's been two-timing him with? How cold, how unloving! If Carla has truly found her place in her private life, her lover, she will be more compassionate, lot less. She would try her best to recognize the shock this is going to be to gentle-but-still-macho Hutch, and break it slowly and softly. Carla's actions were cruel and unjustified. I wouldn't bIame someone still undecided about her attitude to homosexuality if she reacted badly to the story. Hutch may be male, but he has feelings, too. The argument that Carla was scared is a lame one. One's fright cannot outweigh one's human responsibilities.

... a Starsky and Hutch outline by Paula Smith (is a story feminist because it's got women characters?) in which Hutch seems to have instantly and selectively turned into a moron, allowing him to bumble along for the length of the piece, blissfully unaware of what the reader has realized almost from the start. While some may consider this story insulting to women, I consider it insulting to readers.