Outside Influences

Zine
Title:	Outside Influences
Publisher:	AMC Press, then Requiem Publications
Editor:
Author(s):	Candy Apple
Cover Artist(s):	TACS
Illustrator(s):	TACS
Date(s):	1998 (online), May 1999 (print)
Series?:	Yes
Medium:	print zine
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Starsky and Hutch/Sentinel
Language:	English
External Links:	online (chapter one) link to all four parts at AO3
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Outside Influences is a slash Starsky and Hutch 206-page crossover with The Sentinel by Candy Apple.

It was first published by AMC Press in 1999. In 2018, it was reissued in print and PDF by Requiem Publications.

Summary

From the distributor, "A serial murderer’s M.O. brings Starsky and Hutchinson from L.A. to help Ellison, with the side effect of solving a personal mystery for Blair."

Series

• Outside Influences (1999)
• Family Affairs (contains the short story "Dad's Day") (2000)
• Primary Subject (2004)
• Rituals (2005)

Author's Notes

From the online version:

Acknowledgement: Thank you to Virginia Call, my best buddy and beta reader. :-)

Notes: For those who are not familiar with "Starsky & Hutch", it is best described by actor David Soul, who portrayed Hutch in the original series: "It's a love story between two men who happen to be cops." The series ran from 1975-1979 on ABC-TV. It is currently being re-run (on a somewhat irregular schedule) on TNT. David Starsky and Kenneth Hutchinson were two city detectives who worked as partners for the fictitious Bay City PD, spending their days on the streets of what looked suspiciously like L.A. and various other southern California locales. :-) The highlight of the show was the unwavering loyality and devotion between the two partners, which can be interpreted as a magnificent friendship--or one of the great love stories in TV history. I prefer the latter interpretation, myself. ;-)

The following story places Starsky and Hutch at the ages they would be today, as it takes place in the present time. I am ignoring the "Night Shift"-"Sentinel Too" storyline for this, and assuming things were left intact as they were at the end of "Neighborhood Watch".

Notes 2: The song Hutch sings in this story is "After All These Years". It was written by David Grow, performed by Anne Cochran, and appears on Jim Brickman's "Visions of Love" CD.

Summary: Blair's disappearance leads to some important revelations, and as Jim and Blair are drawn into the search for a serial killer, expert consultants from a West Coast task force on serial killers are brought to Cascade to assist.

Warnings: Some violence, language, and plenty of m/m.

Sample Interior

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Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

Another delightful Candy Apple story. I suppose this is considered a cross-over, since it includes characters from another show, but I know nothing about Starsky and Hutch 'cept that I have heard of the show. So if you are put off because you aren't a S&H fan, hey don't let that stop you! I didn't feel like I missed a thing by not knowing the show... This is a very sweet, first-time story with lots of plot! A very fast moving 'zine I was sorry to see end. However, just this last week Candy put out a sequel! I was going to wait 'til it (hopefully) appeared in a 'zine, but I lasted all of two days with that idea. And man what a sequel it was! I'm still crying over that. Ahem, anyway....get this 'zine!

Sentinel X-Over with Starsky & Hutch. This is the series that got me turned on to the Starsky and Hutch fandom. Before that I had never even thought about it really. I had never even really caught the show, just remembered what the guys looked like. S/H were so hot in this though it was hard not to fall in love with the fandom. I immediately went out and started looking for more fic in the fandom, found the S/H archive and devoured the stories there in no time at all. There are no multiple pairings in this story so if you are looking for that sorry. If you were hoping there wouldn't be then your in luck. In the first story Blair is kidnapped and S/H are called in once he is retrieved to try and help find the kidnapper. They are there because some stories one of the kidnappers told Blair of other crimes he committed are similar to an escaped con they put away. Along the way Blair and Starsky find out they may have a connection to one another that they never expected. Oh, I recently wrote Candy begging her to do an Outside Influences prequel showing us how S/H got together. I begged shamelessly for a first time piece of the guys. She said she was working on an S/H story right now that is a sequel to one of her other stories, but would love to do that. She thought it sounded great and had been thinking about it already. She said she'd see if she couldn't get one cooking up in that brain of hers. Let's hope she does. She's totally to blame for me getting into the S/H fandom and I have thanked her for it. The least she can do is give us a prequel to this wonderful series. I'd love for her to go into some things she mentions the characters working through in a couple of prequels actually. Some personal love and sex stuff, and some cases she mentioned worked into stories.

2000

In honor of the return of Starsky and Hutch to cable television, I'm recommending this gooey sweet, h/c epic crossover by Candy Apple. It's long (10 parts!) and romantic, and everything you need in a J/B story. And hey, I get to add Starsky and Hutch to my list of fandoms I've read! <g>

I got introduced to the Starsky & Hutch fandom through a Sentinel crossover fic called Outside Influences by Candy Apple. (Who is one of the best Sentinel writers out there in my opinion. Others agree with me too.) I usually don't like crossovers because they often just seem like and excuse for multiple pairings, partner switching, and orgies. I am not really into that so I usually don't like crossovers.

In this story that would just be sick. Once you read it, you'll know why.

Blair is kidnapped and once Jim finds him they try to figure out who did this to him and why. Help is offered when one of the kidnappers might be an escaped felon Starsky and Hutch put away. The help isn't exactly wanted, but is tolerated. Blair, also, discovers he may have a connection to Starsky he never could have imagined.

There is also an interlude to this story called *Dad's Day* and a sequel called *Family Matters*. All are great reads.

2002

This 'zine is a great case story, but way more than that. I just love reading Candy's take on who Blair's father is. The building relationship between Blair and his newfound dad and between Blair and Jim. It's another 'zine that just makes me feel really happy.

2004

I blame Candy Apple for dragging me into The Sentinel fandom. I was quite happy in Starsky & Hutch, when I read this zine called Outside Influences and I was hooked into TS fandom after that.

The story is set in the Sentinel universe, when Starsky & Hutch come to Cascade working on a case. They are paired up with Jim and Blair. Starsky and Hutch have been lovers for 20 years, but Jim and Blair are still fumbling through their feelings for each other. There is no cross pairings because, surprise, we find out that Starsky in actually Blair's biological father!

Yes, I know it sounds implausible, but Candy is such a talented writer, she makes this work. Jim and Blair get closer and Starsky and Blair learn how to become father and son. It is very moving as Blair finally realizes he has a father who loves him. Plus, Jim and Blair discover their love for another and the established relationship between Starsky and Hutch is still hot. All around, the story works on all levels in both fandoms, which to me is why I don't read many crossovers. Most writers can write one fandom well, but two? Candy knows The Sentinel and Starsky & Hutch inside and out and it shows in this piece.

The story became so popular, Candy has written quite a number of sequels to it. But the one that began it all is here...