#Sentinel/Guide

[sentinelmania]

If you ever wondered why The Sentinel became a huge slash fandom, here a nice video, that will get you some idea...

There is soooo much casual touching!!! :-)

[alexanderlightweight]

Wednesday prompt, guide-sentinel au?

here we go! i hope you enjoy

<3 lumine

sentinel!alec and guide!magnus - flowers blooming in the winter

-

Alec hears the beat of unfamiliar but beautiful heart and he knows.

There is no other outcome possible and he smirks even as he types a code into his phone and then signs off a fire message.

The premier pair of Idris’ pride will receive his resignation and Alec feels no shame in known that they will be both lost and bereft without his influence.

“Take point until my relief gets here.” He tells Jace, handing over a small badge that makes Jace’s eyes widen before he nods, smirking. His brother doesn’t quite understand just how important the tasks he’s been given are, but he will.

Alec can’t let himself think about it, so he doesn’t.

His guide is somewhere in this building, full of life, heart pulsing an intricate tempo that croons to Alec.

It’s nearly primal, the need with which he wants to hunt down and secure his guide.

Instead Alec lets himself drift, closing his eyes as he reaches out his senses.

It’s intoxicating, the steady beat of his guide’s heart and then it pulses, as if upset and Alec can no longer bear to be denied his guide’s presence.

— Magnus feels the tell-tale intrusion of nephilim on his wards and nearly lets it go… until it’s followed by the the sparked presence of Circle runes.

Rage ignites and his heartbeat flutters with anger before he steadied himself. In the mere moment it takes to pull himself together, Magnus feels the energy of one of the Circle members be extinguished.

He relaxes instantly, letting himself reach out to assess the threat without moving.

The surviving Circle member is being brought to him, wrapped in the aggressive energy of a hunting sentinel and Magnus lets out a little hum of pleasure.

Even without seeing him, Magnus knows that the sentinel coming to him is his.

It’s not how he expected this to go, but he can’t be upset that his sentinel is hunting for Magnus’ protection and pleasure.

The Circle member is obsolete, his presence unnecessary, when Magnus gets eyes upon his sentinel.

He’s gorgeous and he’s nearly feral.

Hazel eyes are lined with runic blue and his large hand is barely restraining from crushing the Circle members neck.

“Darling—” Magnus murmurs, unable to do anything but whisper the translation of the endearment his heart cries out.

Instantly the sentinel is there, his sentinel is here.

A heavy weight is in his lap as thick thighs slide across his own and strong hands cup his face, lips nuzzling against his jaw and goatee.

“Are you safe?”`

Magnus is asked carefully, almost ritualistically and he agrees with magic and voice.

Hands reach greedily for his skin and his sentinel sighs in relief as chapped lips brush Magnus’ neck and a tongue flicks out for a taste. Unhesitant fingers reach under his shirt and callouses memorize the skin of his waist and hips.

“Stop that,” Magnus chides, hand coming up to grip his sentinel’s nape, “what will you do if you imprint on me fully here? Slaughter everyone who dares to look at me?”

An upset grumble is felt against his jaw and Magnus sighs, soothing with everything he has as he reaches out to gentle his boy.

“None of that darling, be good for me, please?”

His sentinel settles with a huff, teeth nipping at Magnus’ neck.

“For you.”

Magnus is promised and then his beautiful sentinel is sighing and rubbing his cheek against Magnus’ own, glowering at the beings gawking at them.

“Take me home?” His sentinel asks and Magnus knows instantly that wherever he takes his sentinel, it will be considered home.

[frownyalfred]

Have you thought about writing fics in sentinel and guide AU? Where they can have their own spirit animal as well and connected in the mind and like feel each other and like- so much more :000

I just did a quick search, and I’m shocked that there are only a handful of sentinel/guide fics for DC.

I’ve never written that trope before but I do enjoy reading it. I’ve never heard about the spirit animal thing before though.

[immortalmuses]

Fanlore Info Dump | Sentinels & Guides

So thanks to the babe @leschanceux and feral encouragement from folx in the Dev Tea Room, I'm going to info dump about my very specific interest: the Sentinels & Guides Trope!

What Even Is the Sentinel/Guide Trope?

The origin of this trope is from a TV Show in the 90s (literally called The Sentinel) where one main character has latent hyper-enhanced senses triggered by being stranded in an extreme situation, revealing that he is a Sentinel. Through the show's narrative, we learn that Sentinels are an evolutionary role in mankind that has existed throughout all historical societies, manifesting in people who are biologically granted abilities to serve as "Protectors" of a community. This means Sentinels have (at least 3, sometimes all 5) exceptionally enhanced senses, which they can dial up or down as the situation calls for it.

But the thing about Sentinels is that their enhanced sense are a double edged blade. Yes, they're powerful and tend to have the advantage in a fight or encounter, but those senses can also present a significant weakness due to what's called 'Zoning' Or 'Zoning Out.' This is when the Sentinel becomes too hyperfocused on one single sense to the detriment of everything else, and is unable to pull themselves back. Zoning can also happen if they have a sense dialed up (like their hearing in order to track something far away) and an unexpected input overwhelms that sense (such as a loud explosion into a heightened sense of hearing). When a Sentinel zones, they are both incredibly physically vulnerable because they're immobile and unresponsive, and they're at risk of never being able to find their way back from their hyperfocus (which would ultimately lead to their death). This is where Guides come in.

Guides themselves do not have any canon enhanced abilities in the original content. In fact, they're technically fanon as a result of one episode in the TV show. But their presence is widely accepted as adopted canon in the Sentinel/Guide trope, and pretty much everyone writes them as the unique "other half" of a Sentinel -- if not uniformly empowered. Guides are the biological companion to Sentinels, possessing the ability to connect with a Sentinel on an astral or spiritual level. The original show used the concept of a "Sp!rit World" and "Sp!rit Animals" alot when relating the Guide character to the Sentinel character, a detail I don't personally adhere to nor promote because of its typical appropriative 90's TV shaman stereotyping. But the trope itself has moved beyond those origins to instead keep the basic concept of a metaphysical "soul-bond" connection between a Sentinel and a Guide. This means that the Guide has the ability to empower and protect the Sentinel's senses from harm. A bonded Sentinel/Guide pair are meant to be inseparable, and are often considered incredibly powerful because the Guide unlocks the potential of the Sentinel.

(Sidenote: As you can tell from my note above, the show had some good stuff, but overall it was kind of poorly done? Low budget, etc etc. The vast majority of the audience keeping the fandom alive were early era slash fans who saw the two main male characters and immediately built up fanlore around them. When the show was cancelled in 1999, many of those fans kept the concepts introduced in it alive by injecting this trope -- with improvements -- into other fandoms. We salute you, Fandom Elders! )

Tell Me More About the Connection Between a Sentinel & a Guide

The Sentinel/Guide bond can be written in a wide variety of ways, often tailored to suit whatever fandom the Trope is being applied to. But there are some universalities. Such as:

Guides can convene with the Sentinel at a metaphysical/transcendental level (sometimes interpreted as a telepathic connection), guiding the Sentinel to focus on or repress one sense over another and fine tuning their abilities in the process.

Sentinels with Guides have notably more powerful senses and better control over them. They are often consider the most powerful iteration of a Sentinel.

Guides can reel back a Sentinel's senses, even shield a sense from sensory input in order to avoid being overwhelmed.

Guides can also pull a zoning Sentinel out of their zone by giving them a lifeline to follow back to the physical world (note, a Guide does not need to be bonded to a Sentinel to accomplish this)

There are more elements of the Sentinel/Guide Pairing that are considered flexible to the trope, often applied in writing and art but not labeled as requirements. Such concepts include:

Sentinels and Guides are generally believed to have been biologically destined for one another. A Guide's scent will be pleasing to a Sentinel, for example. The sound of their voice is naturally calming and grounding.

Some Sentinels and Guides have full-on telepathic bonds, sometimes they just have a merging of souls and a sense for one another. Almost always, and Guide can sense what a Sentinel is feelings unless the Sentinel closes himself off from his Guide.

In some scenarios, Sentinels can let Guides perceive the world through their own heightened senses, so a Guide can experience those same abilities.

Sentinels can be territorial of their Guides, and sometimes just territorial in general. They occasionally get written with overlap in the A/B/O lore, where Sentinels are Alphas and Guides are Omegas. This means that two Sentinels tend to be written as kind of aggressive towards one another.

Sometimes a Sentinel/Guide Bonding includes the "bond bite' (yet another thing that tends to overlap with the A/B/O Dynamics in the writing). These are bites on the neck that seal the bond between Sentinel and Guide and can trigger the psychic/telepathic connection between the pair.

Guides are sometimes treated like coveted prizes in fictional societies. Sometimes the premise will be that there are more Sentinels born than there are Guides, and so Guides becomes highly sought after and sometimes aren't given much autonomy or rights (this has some similarities with the social dynamics of Witches and Familiars in our other verse)

Guides aren't always depicted as the weaker of the pair, but there is sort of an implication there. The concept is that while Guides are not weak, they are an Sentinel's weak spot. A villain to seek to control a Sentinel by taking the Guide hostage, for example.

Again, none of the above details are necessary to depict the Sentinel/Guide trope. They're just additional features I have observed in the concept as it has evolved over the past 20-odd years.

Let's Talk Power Sets

Sentinel Ability Specifics

Hyper-acute Senses of Smell, Hearing, Sight, Taste, and Feel: This means they can sense things completely indiscernible to regular humans, sometimes miles away in different locations or behind seemingly impenetrable barriers. Examples: They can hear the heartbeats of goons in a underground compound they plan to infiltrate; They can smell the diesel of an incoming military vehicle that hasn't even crossed a border control checkpoint; they can feel the heat of a fire that started hundred of hectacres downwind; They can see a termite crawl on the wooden window sill of a cabin on the opposite side of Lake Michigan.

Detect Physiological Responses: This ties in to a Sentinel's acute awareness to detail, in that they can focus their senses on an individual to determine whether they are lying or having a response to something. Examples: they can focus on the sound of a person's heartbeat to catch heartrate spikes as a sign of lying; They can smell the flopsweat on a person who is suddenly nervous; They will see any tics that betray a person's true intentions.

Accompanying enhanced strength/speed/reflexes: This isn't present in all depictions of Sentinels, but does occasionally come up as another way to make Sentinels seem more like superhuman protectors. In addition to their enhanced senses, they also react more quickly, which gives them the appearance of being faster and more agile. Or by shutting down senses that transfer pain, they can push their bodies beyond normal human limits.

Guide Ability Specifics

Grounding a Sentinel: A Guide's attributes are all meant to be a natural focal point for Sentinels, so Guides use their voice and touch to draw a Sentinel's attention onto them, or will have them focus on their smell or their heartbeat to settle and orient their own senses.

Dialing up/down a Sentinel's Senses: The 'Dials' concept is often used in this trope for visualizing how each set of senses can be scaled up or down with the assistance of a Guide. Guides will often instruct Sentinels to think of each sense as having an accompanying dial that goes from 0 to 10. If they dial a sense down to Zero, it can actually disable that sense for a Sentinel entirely, which is dangerous but sometimes necessary to protect a Sentinel from zoning. Equally, a Guide will rarely have a Sentinel dial any sense up to 10 without first considering the risks of overexposure and zoning out.

Empathic Sensitivity: some Guides are also written as empaths that can sense the feelings of those around them, not just their Sentinel. When this is the case, the empathic connection between Guide and Sentinel is often exponentially stronger than anything they can pick up from regular people around them. This often leads to the telepathic bond with the Sentinel as well.

Tap into a Sentinel's Active Senses: Some Guides can perceive things through the eyes/ears/nose of their Sentinel, an experience passed through the telepathic/psychic bond so that Sentinel and Guide can share information seamlessly. Again, your mileage may vary on this element of the trope.

Ok I'm going to end this lengthy post here, but this is my way of documenting beloved fanlore that has managed to survive nearly thirty years as a community driven idea. It's a creative concept spanning media platforms (from analog to online), fan-driven social circles for diverse storylines and topics, and the everchanging nature of time and memory on our collective consciousness. I hope this trope, like others before it, finds a way to live forever.

[morenotles]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV), The Sentinel Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale Additional Tags: Crossover, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Alternate Universe - Sentinels and Guides Are Known, Sentinel Senses, Sentinel/Guide Bonding, Sentinel/Guide, Bonding, Biting, Sex, Male Slash Summary:

Sentinel Derek and Guide Stiles explore the really fun side of the bonding process, eat dinner, make plans for the future, and bond some more.

[strangeharpy]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 3rd Life | Last Life SMP Series Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Martyn Littlewood/Rendog, Martyn Littlewood | InTheLittleWood/Rendog Characters: Martyn Littlewood | InTheLittleWood, Rendog (Video Blogging RPF) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Sentinels & Guides, Pining, Canonical Character Death, Temporary Character Death, mentions of HC season 9, mentions of New Life SMP, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence Summary:

Martyn doesn't need a Guide.

He's been fine on his own for his entire life, keeping his senses in check by his own force of will.  He can catch himself before he gets so lost in the input of his eyes, his ears, his skin that he zones out.

It's not easy, but it's worth it. No one has to know that he's a Sentinel. A Guide would only be a hindrance, a weakness that can be exploited. He doesn't need one.

@gooddogbestfriend prompted me for a Sentinel/Guide AU and I blacked out for a week until this fic happened. Seriously, it consumed so much of my waking mind for the past 8 days and I’m excited to share it.

If you’re not familiar with the concept of a Sentinel/Guide AU, there’s a link in the notes to a brief rundown on the basics.

Anyway, enjoy the fruits of my brainrot!

[satashiiwrites]

Scintillation, Chapter 3

First of the month, time to update some fics since NaNo has ended…

Title: Scintillation, Chapter 3

Fandom: MCU

Pairings: Tony Stark/James “Bucky” Barnes, Erik Killmonger/T’Challa, one-sided Steve Rogers/James “Bucky” Barnes

Fic summary:

Everything changed for Tony Stark in a cave in Afghanistan.  For years he’s been dealing with the fallout of the shrapnel imbedded in his chest—both physical and mental—in his own ways. He’s got an arc reactor in his chest and demons that stalk him in his mind as he becomes Iron Man and eventually an accepted part of the Avengers during the attack on New York City.

All he has to do is keep giving people what they want.  That’s the lesson learned. 

Die, resurrect, live as much as you can. Wash, rinse, repeat.  He thought he’d known why he was the way he was… but he and everyone else missed one tiny little detail caused by his repetitive brushes with death. 

Or, a guide coming online as he almost dies yet again at the hand of a friend shatters the controls put upon the Winter Soldier and sends Sentinel James Buchanan Barnes fully online and into a feral rage in the middle of Siberia. 

Steve’s lucky T’Challa’s there to rescue him from his best friend gone feral. 

Tags/warnings: MCU canon levels of violence. Howard Stark’s A++parenting, panic attacks, PTSD, unhealthy coping mechanisms, Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, will eventually have bonding sex (and other explicit sex acts for enjoyment—no rape), issues of consent with Sentinel bonding with a guide to save their life, Sentinel/Guides are known, spirit animals, Discussions of racism (T’Challa, Erik and Tony have some talking to do), interrelationship and partner violence mentioned, Discussion of child neglect (Tony and Erik) and poverty (Erik, Steve, Bucky), Not Kind to Steve Rogers (eventually he gets better), other tags to be added later—will warn at top of chapter if not listed here although I feel like Erik is his own kind of warning. 

T'Challa wakes before Erik. He exhausted his sentinel last night, pushing them both to the point where there hadn't been any residual resistance in their bond, which hums strongly between them.  

That lingering resistance had been maddening. A constant tug and irritation that he didn't have his sentinel fully because they'd been interrupted before they could complete the bond like they had last night. 

He shouldn't have listened to his mother or Zuri for so long—he'd hurt his sentinel with his reticence. The one thing an orphan from California hadn't needed from his true-match guide was hesitation because he wasn't one of them. 

Read chapter 3 here on AO3

[fanficmaverickpodcast]

I had a phenomenal time chatting with The Retro Fanfic Retrospective podcast about my favorite retro fandom of all time, The Sentinel! Give it a listen! These folks run an incredible podcast on all things retro fanfic, so make sure you check out their other episodes too and give them some love! 

Thank you so much for having me on, Retro! 

The link to Legion’s ‘Unsung’ is here: https://www.squidge.org/~theforest/lrecent/unsung.htm

[greywayfarer]

Just read your latest Turn You Inside Out chapter. Since you are already an expert on medieval fantasy world building, how ist this: a Sentinel / Guide story during medieval times. No centre yet, just maybe a new cult lurking on the distant horizon that favours sentinels... And a hunt that lasts 20 chapters ;)

Yyyyeeesssss, I'm all for this idea! A cult is a fantastic thought, as Sentinels are so useful to the community, they would have wealthy backers and would soon accumulate great power.

And in a medieval setting, such power would rub a religious sect the wrong way, particularly if the mass would turn to the cult instead of to God, so the ensuing power struggle would be fascinating.

And what better way to thwart the Cult, than to hide/offer sanctuary to Guides who want nothing to do with such a bond?

[rangers-are-cool-moved]

Sentinel or Guide?

For some of the muses written by: @sorrowssinger

Elves Maglor: Sentinel - a hidden one as everyone thinks he's a Guide. Turgon: Guide - although he could be either. Elrond: Guide - no doubt about that! Erenion: Sentinel? - Little bit uncertain as I don't really know enough about him if I'm honest.

Men Aragorn: Sentinel - OBVIOUSLY!!! 😅 Faramir: Guide - only a select few know this at his mother's advice, although his brother knows Boromir: Sentinel. Anborn: Mundane - so he's worked hard to get to where he is in the Ithilien Rangers Damrod: Feels like a Guide to me

Random one from your list Denethor: Dormant Sentinel - He was a Sentinel but his use of the Anor stone caused his abilities to shut down over time, until he finally went Dormant

[sentinelmania]

The Sentinel/Guide trope and where to find it!

The sentinel/guide trope spread to other fandoms.

Something to ponder over the weekend: who would be guide or sentinel in your other beloved fandoms, and why?

Are there cross-over elements to the widely popular Omegaverse, which even broke ranks from fandoms into general novels?

I'm just waiting when Omegaverse turns up in a TV show...

XD

[redjacketficrecs]

mask that hides the glow

orphan_account

Summary: He’s good at paying attention. He scans Flyers media, checks the Phantoms for good measure. He’s pretty sure they’re all about as normal as hockey players are.

He is wrong.

Recommendation: I have weirdly had like two conversations about this trope in the past couple weeks but hadn’t read it for AGES and then I reread this fic and it’s great. Love the inversion of the usual trope dynamic in this. I love the way the associated Flyers are written in this. I adore the way Nolan gets to have a nice, healthy relationship with Nico outside the team and that it just. Ends naturally and not badly. And I LOVE TK and Nolan’s dynamic, I love the way the deal with each other and their talents and how they’re unconventional but they work. TK/Nolpat is always such a tragic dumpster fire of a thing but it’s tragic because it works and then Nolan gets hurt and something gets lost. I like the feeling of frustration and loss in this fic, both due to Nolan’s head stuff and COVID. It’s ends happy, which, honestly, I’m like 50/50 if I want that for them in this kind of fic.

[riverageleis]

That relatable feel when you have 30+ tabs open and over half are ao3 story\series links and 1 is to your stats, 2 are to your het OTP in one fandom and the rest are multiple slash pairs in another fandom. All they have in common is the theme of loneliness, angst, and hurt\comfort. 🫠 Most of these are also AU. Im glad i can appreciate AU these days. Thanks MCU fandom. I will NEVER show these tabs to my therapist.

[shardofmoon]

Meeting of Minds

In Elexia, Sentinel and Guides are so common than a lot of them don't bother to enter in the military and take regular jobs. The mystical pull is still there though which is why JK can't take his eyes of JM. His spirit calls for him even though they are from rival companies.

Things get really interesting when their minds link at a music show and now they can always hear what the other is thinking if they are close together. As you can imagine... this causes some .. interesting situations.

JK thinking: damn he's so small and shapely and is that his- just right in front of me like that JM: Eyes at chest level. JK: !!! haha sorry. JM: Sure you are. Now Jk is giggling to himself and his bandmates think he's lost it. If only they knew...

[christinesficrecs]

I am a big, BIG fan of Sentinel AU's. But it seems like the post I had went poof! Anyway! Enjoy. ❤️

Unmapped by Jerakeen | 11.3K | Explicit

Stiles can never leave a good mystery alone.

I'll Tie You (In My Arms) by Kian | 19K

Derek doesn't want a Guide after his last attempt at a bond nearly got his whole family killed, and Stiles doesn't want to be one if it means losing the last of the family he's got. But Fate doesn't take requests.

I Want You Under My Skin by FunkyinFishnet | 6.6K | Mature

Stiles is a Guide who looks after catatonic or feral Sentinels. One day a grief-stricken fugue-state Derek is brought in and Stiles realizes that he's found his Sentinel. Now they've just got to get Derek out of his own head and able to bond.

Bonding for Beginners by Ember | 43.2K | Explicit

Sentinel AU where Stiles is a Guide looking for real connection, and Derek is a Sentinel forced to get a Guide.

Collide by Green | 36K | Mature

Guide Stiles Stilinski has been waiting his whole life to meet his one and only Sentinel, knowing everything will fall into place perfectly once he's bonded. Then along comes Derek Hale, his werewolf Sentinel, who already has a mate (alpha werewolf Peter Hale) and doesn't want anything to do with a new bond. Does Stiles even fit in the picture? Will he ever get his happily ever after, or was that just a childish dream?

On Anchors and Rudders by Unloyal_Olio | 15.1K | Mature

Stiles might be a sentinel, but Derek is a werewolf. Derek is not and never will be a guide.

W-e-r-e-w-o-l-f.

There is no way in hell he’ll be a guide. No. Way. In. Hell.

The Normal One? by hellbells | 10.9K | Explicit

Stiles had always prided himself on being the normal one in the pack. He was until an Alpha fight shows him just how wrong they all are. It just might be that he needs Derek to anchor him as much as Derek needs him.

It Started Out as a Feeling by flitterflutterfly | 15.4K | Explicit

When the newly bonded Sentinel Scott joins Derek Hale’s pack, Derek had just been happy that his group was growing larger and stronger. But Scott brings with him his old-temporary-guide-turned-friend named Stiles and the rest of Derek’s pack begin to conspire to get them together. And while Derek is attracted to Stiles, Stiles doesn’t want a full bond and Derek would never force that.

Who Needs A Guide? by LadyDrace | 3.7K

Derek is a sentinel who doesn't need a guide. Good thing, too, because what he ends up getting is in fact not a guide.

Ochre Moon by SOABA | 13.3K

Stiles has unknowingly spent years on medication designed to fully suppress his Sentinel Gene. Then, one day, the medicine stops working and it’s definitely Derek’s fault.