Frienz/Issues 21-22

Frienz · Issues 01-02 · Issues 03-04 · Issues 05-06 · Issues 07-08 · Issues 09-10 · Issues 11-12 · Issues 13-14 · Issues 15-16 · Issues 17-18 · Issues 19-20 · Issues 21-22 · Issues 23-24 · Issues 25-26 · Issues 27-28 · Issues 29-30 · Issues 31-32 · Issues 33-34 · Issues 35-36 · Issues 37-38 · Issues 39-40 · Issues 41-42 · Issues 43-44 · Issues 45-46 · Issues 47-48 · Issues 49-50 · Supplements

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Frienz is a gen and non-explicit slash Starsky & Hutch letterzine.

They contain letters, want ads, con reports, clippings, flyers, and occasional fiction.

Issue 21 (November/December 1992)

Frienz 21 was published in November/December 1992 and contains 20 pages.

cover of issue #21

• TOTM: What is slash? Genre? Myth? Relationship? AND "Do we enjoy what Paul and David are doing now, or their old stuff, before or after S&H?"
• "Mind if I Join Ya?," fiction by Tabby Davis
• the editor writes that [E B M's] letter "was meant to be funny"—something that most fans didn't understand
• the fan, [L L], writes and says she is going back to lurking

Issue 21: Sample Fan Comments

A fan writes:

[E B M], if you are not a figment or a pseudonym, then you have to be joking, right?

• fan writes:

  Welcome [E B M]...It's a shame you've had to harbor such bitterness about so many things. Hope venting your feelings in issue #20 helped.

A fan writes:

Whew! I think a couple of typewriters or whatever must have been smoking last issue. Some of the letters got pretty hot—under the collar.

A fan is suspicious of two letters in the previous issue, the first by [L L] and the second one by [E B M]:

First to [L L ]: I think your letter must be a plant. Is it you, [addresses the editor], to increase the response level? I might take it seriously, except that I'm not aware of any instance where non-slash fans were made to feel unwelcome in S&H fandom. And why is there no first name? No address? [L L] sounds like [E]; are you [E B M], who writes a wickedly funny letter-- except that I can't help wincing at some of the personal remarks, particularly those aimed at [M R K]. Maybe I'm thin-skinnned, but I don't find that funny. But I wonder about [the editor's] hints about pseudonyms (L L?) and using humor to poke fun at both sides. Is that what this is, a joke? I really don't know quite how to take to take these two letters.

About [L L's] letter:

The letter sent in by [L L] strikes me as a bit defensive. Actually, I would have expected a comment of this nature to come in issue 22, after she had the chance lo read the letters sent in on the proposed TOTM. Why did she suspect that anyone would be angered by the topic? Was she in fact hoping to spark some controversy?... And one more thing, [L L] what's your address? Why is it that you are the only contributor to FRIENZ lo send in a contribution without your address?

About [L L's] letter:

I had thought of responding to [L L], but since [L L] is clearly a pseudonym (real people have first names), I probably already have. But it seems clear that L. was either deliberately trying to anger or offend (or why apologize before she could have read any of responses?) or else L. read the responses before they were published. Intentionally inflammatory letters have been standard fare in SH for a long time, so the 2st possibility doesn't bother me, but I find this 2nd idea disturbing, as it seems unfair to the rest of us, pseudonyms aside, and it makes me suspicious.

A fan writes:

I was pretty stunned at some of the letters in the last issue. All of this slashing (pun intended) at each other isn't going to change how anybody feels. [T], I know you're trying to fill a non-slash zine and must be feeling frustrated. But to say that 75% of the time the characters we see on screen are not carried out in fanfiction seems to be a major dig at the slash writers. I agree with [C] that even in the series we didn't always know S & H's thoughts and motivations. Who can say for sure how they would react, especially in an emotionally charged situation? Even in the series, they both were unpredictable at times.

A fan comments on Paula Smith's essay, Dream On which was printed in the previous issue:

With the unerring insight of someone who must have been quite awhile in fandom. Paula Smith has managed to list in her essay all the pre-conditions and scenarios I love and cherish most in a slash story, and she's thoroughly and mercilessly passed sentence upon them, by declaring how "tiresome" they are and "unrealistic", and "homophobic", and "unlikely". What could I possibly answer to that? Maybe I'm a moron, maybe Paula intended to provoke. Maybe our opinions are really that opposed. In neither of those cases do I feel up to a suitably quiet and thoughtful answer.

Another comment on Dream On:

I did enjoy Paula Smith's article on slash. It seems to me that the reason we like slash—and in fact relationship stories in general, including hurt/comfort—is that we are searching for such a meaningful relationship in our own lives. We want a relationship where everything works out all right. We want someone who understands us perfectly. We want the perfect sexual partner. Sure, it's idealized. And it's okay to idealize it to the point that two formerly straight people could fall in love even though they're the same sex. It does happen in real life...

A fan writes of sexuality, WNGWJLEO, and "gay sensibility":

I do like to see a gay sensibility in fanfiction - it shouldn't all be angst about whether or not it's okay to have sex with one's best friend. And in SH fiction, I do believe we have that. Note Lynna's sequel to "A Place to Hide". In "A Place in the Sun"(FIX 11), Hutch goes home to his live-in girlfriend and confesses not that he's fallen in love with a guy and can't have a commitment with her - but that he is "gay." Yes, folks, he uses the term.

In my own novel, DAY BY DAY, Hutch fired his lawyer because he felt the man discriminated against him because of his relationship with Starsky. One plot line in that story was about Hutch accepting the fact of their relationship, in effect, accepting their gay lifestyle. No, they don't have to join the gay community to be "really" gay, either. Just coming out is enough. And who's to say they won't go to Gay Pride together sometime?

Even in older stories, they aren't always saying "I'm straight but I have sex with my friend." Look at the excellent "Water is Wide" — they go to a gay bar in a resort town and pretend they don't know each other, letting other men try to pick them up. They end up with each other, despite the knowledge that they could find other men attractive, that other men could want them both.

And in DISTANT SHORES, I never once mentioned the fact that they are both men as something preventing their affair. This isn't a thing that got in the way of their eventually becoming lovers, it isn't mentioned as a factor at all. I wanted to explore the idea of them becoming lovers without this old-hat scenario being part of it. Hutch's injury and their dealing with that is enough.

All first-time stories do not have that same "should we or shouldn't we" angst—that's a generalization, possibly made by readers who don't read carefully enough.

Regarding hierarchy in fandom:

I'm not sure there is really a hierarchy in fandom. The term might have seemed applicable ten or twelve years ago, when the experiences you relate took place, but I like to think we have moved on since then. Left all that behind, as it were. I'm not an authority though, and the idea that even all those years ago, there was a "secret fandom" to which only the select few were admitted is more than a little disturbing. I do think, right from the beginning, and increasingly as time went on, certain "names" became very well-known. Mostly because they were the more active participants - the writers, artists, zine editors, Con organisers. They became "stars" if you like, not necessarily because they wanted to be, but because of what they contributed to fandom. Those of us who had no particular talents or expertise to offer, were rather in awe. I still believe there are some people who are hesitant about expressing opinions, but as you said, it's a whole different ball game now - isn't it?

A fan takes another to task for theorizing that 75% of fanfiction is poorly characterized:

Which stories are these in the "seventy-five percent of the time"?... Alternate universes, as we have many of in The Fix? Are you saying that your version is the only one (because I most definitely disagree considerably with certain liberties I feel you've taken with the characters in some of your writing. And from what I recall, your "excuse" was that "that is how you see them." I thought the way it worked was that you write them the way you see them, if anyone who disagrees can write you about it personally; when someone else writes the characters in a way you disagree with, you can do the same. But the whole tone of your last letter gave every indication that unless we write things your way, we shouldn't be writing at all. And I wish you'd for god's sake knock it off. Quit making these sweeping generalizations unless you can back them up with specific examples.

A fan writes:

You weren't the only one attacked for daring to question slash. [T] and I were both panned in the early letterzine for saying S&H did not have to be gay or hopping into bed to love each other. It is one approach, but not the only one. I write slash. I wrote all the things in H/J that Paula "condemns" in Dream On. She's right. It's unrealistic fantasy. Some friendships with never a bed in sight can be stronger and last longer than many love affairs. While it is possible for men to not know they are gay until they fall in love with a man, it is unlikely they'd have anal intercourse the first time they make love, or call themselves straight once they establish regular sexual encounters. Writing these love stories answers some need in us to find what we enjoy most, what we're perhaps missing in reality, or just want more than is realistic. When we write unrealistically, we are usually told about it, giving us a chance to learn from our errors or excesses. I find I still want my characters to love one another exclusively, realistic or not. I've tried for years to figure out why I enjoy reading and writing slash. I've decided I'm just a romantic, dirty old broad.

On fandom:

Whenever a group has existed for some period of time, and hasn't remained static, there will be "old" and "new" members. I've seen new fans welcomed eagerly, haven't you? In any group, those who provide products valued by the whole (in our case, zines, illos, or cons) will be accorded respect and appreciation, in any group, those who share similar views will be drawn together. This is natural human behavior, not some Evil Plot.

Is it oversimplification to say that what a fandom "is", is the people who participate in it? We're an otherwise diverse group of individuals who share those particular characteristics and needs which drew us into deep emotional involvement with a 70s cop show", we're human, and therefore subject to human imperfections. We have the gifted, and "just plain folks." We've got the egotistical and the insecure, sometimes coexisting as facets of a single person; we have have self-centered irritants and a very few "saints" (okay, only one!).

But, mostly we have a lot of sensitive, sincere, generous people who were affected by a loving partnership they saw on the TV screen, and who would like to see that level of caring mirrored in their own lives I remember when I first became involved in fandom, that feeling of being outside the swing of things. But, isn't that true when one enters any, new environment? You know I'm basically a shy person, but fandom is a special place where many of the usual criteria necessary for societal acceptance don't apply, and I soon developed several good friendships... I'd be interested in hearing other people s perceptions regarding their own entry and current "status" in this little subculture of ours.

Issue 22 (March/April 1993)

Frienz 22 was published March/April 1993 and contains 24 pages.

cover of issue #22

• TOTM: Memorable moments from fanzines... highlights which crystallize characterization and reflect relationships
• It has the missing piece of "Hutch Fever" that was published two years earlier in The Fix #22.
• the editor writes: "If you are unhappy with Issue #23 being an attempt to Clear the Air and get fandom back on track again, I will refund your money for that issue."
• a fan writes in about the death of a fellow fan
• this issue has a con report for Media West*Con 1992: some highlights she mentions—being on the Sunday morning panel with April Valentine, Pat Massie, and Linda McGee, a fan's lovely red Torino dress, buying an old button that said "Starsky & Hutch Fans Unite!", eating at the Red Lobster, and sitting at a table selling slash zines while wearing another fan's badge as to "not besmirch my own reputation -- at least among people who don't know me."
• a fan has some lengthy comments on the story, "The Last Charade," in Who You Know, What You Know, & How You Know It, see that page
• the TOTM is fannish memories of favorite moments from zines and fans have lengthy comments on this subject

Issue 22: Sample Fan Comments

A fan — very tentatively — asks the editor why the letterzine costs so much per issue; she's done the math and just can't figure it out:

I'm not trying to embarrass you or put you on the defensive, but could you please explain this? I'm not the only one wondering. Thanks. Personally, I might not even care if you made a small profit, though, it'd also be nice if you managed to pass on any profit to charity, like Terri and Tabby did/do.

A fan in Germany writes and complains that despite phone calls, offers to help, numerous letters of inquiry, and years of waiting, Amapola Press has been unresponsive, rude, and hasn't delivered what she ordered:

I'm afraid there's already a lot of damage that can't be undone. Yes, it is sad that all this is caused by one single press (and let's not mince words: one single person), but rather understandable if that single press is about the only one still publishing S&H zines.

The editor says the TOTM for next issue is "Clearing the Air" and:

We should say what we need to say here. Vote. Give opinions. Talk about experiences with Amapola Press, good and not so good. Make suggestions, address the issues.

A fan writes of the recent tensions in SH fandom:

I haven't written to FRIENZ in a while, but I have been keeping tabs on what's been going on. Which is why, to be honest, I haven't been writing. And if all the bickering and arguing is turning me off, I can't help but wonder what it will do to prospective new fans.

Starsky & Hutch is a small fandom, a closed fandom. No one advertises outside. But we need new blood if we're to continue to flourish. Is it that we don't want to flourish? Is it like the last season of S&H, we just want to get it over with? If so, the thing to do is step aside for the next generation. If not, we've got to show them that we can overcome our problems and pull together—show them the warm and open people that I encountered when I first ventured in all those years ago. I'm talking about most of you! Yes, believe it or not, there are new fans anxious to join in. Most of them never even realized we existed.

I don't want this fandom to die, I don't want the message of love S&H taught us to be lost—disillusionment is rampant enough in the 'real' world... Love each other, be good to each other, respect each other. Failing that, don't spoil it for the others who are coming to bring us a breath of fresh air. They are our future. Remember your good experiences in the beginning, and let them have the same chance. Show them how special it can be. If you don't, eventually this fandom will cease to exist, and Starsky & Hutch will no longer live forever in our hearts.

A fan who's been waiting for a long time for some submissions to her zine is getting fed up:

In case any of you are wondering -- the deadline is still open. I'm still waiting. Hope springs eternal, and like that. It is around this gloomy time of the year that my paranoia is at its worst, however. I did start wondering if there was maybe some kind of unofficial boycott in action. But then, I know that had to be the paranoia talking, because if this fandom I've is stooping to that kind of thing, then it's not the fandom I've loved for more than ten years. I mean, that would be just too childish for words. Let me make something clear. I do not NEED to do a zine. I have more than paid my dues in that respect over the past ten years.

About tolerance in fandom:

My impression is that, hitherto, '/' aspects have hardly made headlines in our letters — just one theme among many others. There's always so much to discuss and we don't focus on any one aspect....

We enjoy all enjoy good writing. The S&H zines which I produced sold out fast, needed re-printing, inquiries still arrive. Contributors and customers included many fans who had written - and read - S/H. They showed absolutely no discrimination against zines which were not in the S/H category, we're not picky where there's good reading on offer. A decade ago, some things were different. But that's ten whole years more.

Remember the vulnerability which surrounded the publication of the first volume of 'Code Seven'? That editorial preface reflected the discrimination (and the intolerance) of that time against a S/H sine. But that suspicion/confrontation was then. This is '93....We have moved on. As [L] truly says, 'we have progressed - to the point of mutual tolerance'. Those ancient questions feel less and less relevant.