Sacred Place

Fanfiction
Title:	Sacred Place
Author(s):	Charlotte Frost
Date(s):	1994
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Starsky & Hutch
External Links:	online here
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Sacred Place is a slash Starsky & Hutch story by Charlotte Frost.

It was printed in Heart and Soul #1 and later online.

The Author Comments

Sometimes you just can’t write enough stories to air all your grievances about your parents. Maybe Hutch’s parents weren’t mentioned much in this, but this was the first in a long line stories that gave me a lot of satisfaction to bad-mouth parents.

This story was inspired by a fan friend, whom I watched many episodes with, laughingly saying that "Hutch is mean". I never remembered such, from watching as a teenager, but it was hard to dispute various incidents she pointed out, whether one wanted to attribute them to "guy humor", a restless inner self, or whatever. So, this short story was my way of detailing how I thought Starsky would respond to such a characterization of Hutch.

Reactions and Reviews

[comments the author received when the zine was first published]: On the zine's LoC questionnaire, this story did not get named by anyone as their favorite.On the questionnaire, those who listed this story as their least favorite in the zine said:

• Too short, didn't go anywhere, and no relationship between S&H.

• I like a story about the boys, no girlfriend.

• Could have been longer.

• Not that it wasn't a good story, but I just didn't like it as well as the rest. I guess I didn't care for Laura misunderstanding the relationship. I felt her as the "bad guy".

• Didn't seem to move the two men any closer than they were at the beginning of the story.

• I liked the story and the point it made. It just wasn't as meaty as the rest.

• Comes across as somewhat "anti-woman" and being a woman that was a bit hard to swallow. I would like to think most women are more perceptive. My sister and I tease each other mercilessly, but we are inseparable friends!

• Characterization of Laura! I wasn't convinced of Starsky's reaction. He should have realized by then what his relationship with Hutch was really about.

• "Dislike" only in terms of length (I'm not a fan of vignettes), but the idea of loyalty comes across loud and clear in a few pages.

• Sometimes I don;t like the way Hutch treats Starsky, and one of the things I like about the S/H stories is that some of the crueller joking and rude treatment isn't present.

• I guess was the least believable, but still huge fun and offered good potential insights into S&H -- don't stop writing stories like this, please.

• Wished it was longer. Have Starsky explain to Hutch *why* he broke up with Laura, could have led in other directions.

Other comments beyond the questionnaire:

• Some parts of this story seemed out of character to me. Mainly, I thought Starsky's reaction to Laura's criticism was way out of proportion to the provocation. Given different circumstances, it would have been fine, but to me it seemed that her comments were written just to give him the opportunity to blow up, and I don't see him responding this way. Also, as examples of "three universal wrongs" , Starsky comes up with murder, incest, and nosiness? Okay on numbers one and two, but number three? I don't believe either of the characters would feel this way. They "poke their noses in" throughout the series. There were a lot of good things about the story. Starsky's descriptions of the day out all rang true -- you could just see them! But the points I mentioned affected my enjoyment. Line editing - "Terry" and "Teri" in the same paragraph? (p. 1) Trame/Trainy? (p. 11) Distracting.

• This was another great story.

• .... especially the choice of opening story. 'Sacred Place' makes the ideal choice here -- the shorter length is right (to me, that is). So is the theme. A very nice ending -- low-key -- feels and reads right.

• I did not like that one. The premise was fine, and I like the general idea that neither of them would put up with a girlfriend that didn't like his partner. The way the woman's misunderstanding came about was also plausible -- Hutch does say these things to Starsky and some people might just not understand how it was meant. But I found Starsky's reaction completely over the top, he utterly fails to recognize that this woman was just a bit stupid and not intentionally nasty. Ok, so he has to get rid of her, but the scene he makes I find quite incredible. And not in character with the Starsky I think I know.

• I'd love to read Hutch's version of this same incident. I found it hard not to sympathize with Laura. I wouldn't appreciate my boyfriend being called names or patronized, which is what the relationship looked like from her POV. I'd like to see what Hutch thought about Laura as opposed to what Starsky THOUGHT Hutch thought of her. (Is that unclear? Oh, well.)

• This was a cute story that didn't really go anywhere at first. I felt Starsky's narrative was a little too rambling and jumped from topic to topic. I lost a little respect for him and the way he was "speaking." Hutch really wasn't presented in the best light, as well. But it was well worth reading to arrive at Starsky's defense of his partner and their relationship, as well as his scene with Hutch the following day. Very entertaining.

• A real good "don't mess with my partner of you'll have to deal with me" story. As a young girl watching Starsky and Hutch, I was struck by the relationship in that I knew that if Hutch called Starsky a name or Starsky played a joke on Hutch, it was done in love and that it wasn't done to hurt the other. It's the way you are with family. Starsky and Hutch are like blood relatives and stick together no matter what comes along.

• I thought this a gentle, fuzzy little story - which I enjoyed, nice and short and a good opener to the zine. You characterized them perfectly. At the end of the day, they can do what they want to each other, but let anyone interfere and criticize their partner and that's it, end of the relationship with the critic. I found I could really identify with this, because one of the creeds I try to live by is never to criticize a friend's partner, it is okay for him/her to do so, just as it is okay for me to criticize my husband, but others are not allowed to criticize him, if they do - I defend. :-) Laura dared to criticize Hutch and she paid the price - great.

• Too short. I thought it would have been better if it were longer and with more explanation.

• Although I don't read much straight stuff, Sacred Place stands out as excellent - the idea that Starsky would have to explain his friendship with Hutch or defend it to anyone makes a strong statement.