Sooooo, it has occured to me, that many fans here, (especially some of the younger ones), might not know what is actually behind all the ‘Sentinel and Guide’ fanlore talk. And that’s a shame, honestly, because the concept lends itself to some of the best fanfictions that I have had the pleasure to read in my time.
So I decided to put together a little information.
The post focuses specifically on the show that birthed the Sentinel and Guide craze among fanfiction writers, and it’s really good.
Now some additional info from me: (p.s., anyone who is versed in the Sentinel/Guide fanlore, please add whatever I missed out on, or correct me if I presented some of the things wrong)
What is a Sentinel?
- A Sentinel (Watchman, Guardian), is a person with all five of his or her senses being hyperactive/acute. They can see, hear, smell, taste and feel everything many times more than a normal human is capable of. And I’m not talking about not needing glasses to read the newspaper that’s laying across the table. I’m saying the Sentinel would be able to read the fineprint on that newspaper from like fifty feet away. They are able to tell how many people are in a different room, from feeling the body warmth these people give off through the stone wall seperating them. They can focus on someone’s heartbeat to determine if they are lying or not. And many more such useful tricks.
However, such strong senses can and often turn out to be, a great liability. The sensory input that the Sentinel has to deal with is simply too much. Imagine being able to hear a pin drop in the apartment across the hall, and then being in a crowded mall and having to suffer through this kind of noise. Some strong smells, in fact ALL strong smells, like peppermint, garlic, or cheese, would become completely repungant to such a sensitive nose. Spicy meals are pretty much a no go for someone whose tastebuds have become oversensitized to such an extreme level. Fabrics that normal people don’t have a problem with, would scratch and irritate the skin of a person with a hyperactive tactile sense. Too bright colors or lights would cause constant headaches.
If one or more senses get aggravated too much, from high input, they can cause ‘Spikes’. Which are usually referred to as sudden pain coming from the area of the sense. Think about it like overusing a certain muscle, to the point where even slightly moving that muscle brings you pain and discomfort.
And that’s not the only drawback.
There are things called: Zone-out’s. Those are moments when the Sentinel becomes so focused on one sense alone, that they subconciously close off all input from their other senses. This leads to the Sentinel getting ‘lost’ in that one sense, falling into a catatonic state (and becoming incredibly vulnerable to attack). The Sentinel can usually not get out of a zone-out alone, as at least one other sense has to be stimulated for the Sentinel to stop focusing on the one that they zoned on.
This is where the Guide comes in.
What is a Guide?
A Guide is a partner to the Sentinel. Someone who watches the Sentinel’s back and helps them control their hyperactive senses.
A Guide will ground the Sentinel, be a calming influence on them, and often the only one who can get the Sentinel out of a zone-out, or ease a particularly bad ‘spike’ (or even prevent spikes from happening.)
There are certain excersizes that a Guide will ‘guide’ their Sentinel through, that will help the Sentinel with gaining and maintaining control over their senses.
A popular concept in this regard is the visualization of ‘dials’.
Picture one of those old stereos, or radios, with the round knobs you had to turn, to increase or reduce volume, bass, etc.
When a Guide helps their Sentinel control their senses, they sit close together and talk them calmly through the process of appointing each sense to a dial. The dial usually has a scale from 0 to 10. The 0 Level, is when the sense shuts off completely. (And that can be very dangerous, too, and is only done in dire situations). The Level 10 on the other hand, is the one that leads to spikes and zone-outs. (Also to be avoided). Levels 4 or 5 are usually appointed as ‘human’ levels, or the ones that are the most neutral and comfortable for a Sentinel. Under the guidance of a Guide, a Sentinel can dial their senses up and down as needed (dial up sight if one needs to spot a sniper hiding somewhere miles away, or dial down hearing so as not to be hindered by loud noises when one needs to focus on something else, for example.)
A Sentinel can learn to use those kinds of dials on their own, but it is very taxing and hard, and often leads to very unpleasant outcomes.
Now, going a bit deeper into the fanlore.
Sentinels and Guides are usually genetically engineered for each other. The Guides scent is pleasant for the Sentinel, their heartbeat grounding, and so on. On the Guide’s side of the spectrum, the Sentinel often offers a sense of protection or ‘shielding’, for the Guide’s more emphathetic nature (though not every story has Empath Guides, it is a popular trope in fandom).
Sentinels and Guides (if compatible) often ‘bond’. These bonds can be platonic, or romantic/sexual in nature, but they usually all share a ‘bonding bite’. Which is a deep bite mark at the nape of the Guide’s (and sometimes the Sentinel’s) neck. And often brings with it a kind of psychic connection between the pair. Though not every story with Sentinels and Guides utilizes such..
There are often also some more spiritual aspects to Sentinels and Guides and bonding, but those are completely dependant on if and how and what the author wants to work into their story.
Needless to say, the possibilities are endless.
While the Sentinel is often presented as more primal, territorial, and possessive, the same things can be and have been attributed to Guides in many fanfics. Again, this aspect is completely up to the author and how they want to write their story.
Okay, I hope I covered most of the bases. Again, if anyone wants to add stuff, please do so!
industandstarlight asked: I'm so sorry, but could you explain to me the concept of Guides/Sentinels? I've been reading your work and I absolutely love it, but even Wikipedia is limited. I'm especially confused with coming online and being feral and the need for bonding. And generally the differences between a Guide and a Sentinel and why they need each other. I hope that's not too much trouble :(
No trouble at all- I was laid out with a migraine the past few days so wasn’t on computers at all, so my apologies for the delay.
There is no unified canon for Guides/Sentinels, it’s a bit like Alpha/Omega AUs that way. So any story you read will have variations and idiosyncrasies or even inconsistent world-building because we’re all human and there’s no reference point.
Generally most Guide/Sentinel universes have Sentinels with heightened senses and Guides with empathy.
Specific in my universe(s)
Sentinels are subject to “zone outs” in which they lock in on one sense and cannot break out of it. Sometimes they even enter a catatonic state long-term. Guides are generally subject to empathic overloads. When they bond, Guides have the ability to bring their Sentinels out of a zone-out or even help direct their senses. In turn a Sentinel helps shield a Guide from their own empathy.
Sensory Prolapse- a Sentinel that goes unbonded for too long will fall into periods of sensory prolapse in which their body/mind attempts to defend itself from overload by dampening various senses. If it goes on for too long, multiple senses may be shut down, eventually to the point that a Sentinel feels entirely cut off from the world.
Sentinels usually have five enhanced senses- scent, taste, vision, hearing, touch. However, extremely rarely, Sentinels do have an empathic sense. These Sentinels are extremely vulnerable to empathic overload since the senses can form feedback loops, and a sixth sense is more than they are really equipped to deal with.
Guides benefit from bonding, but are usually better equipped than Sentinels to survive alone. In part this is because Guides can help support each-other without necessarily bonding.
Some people feel as though Guides and Sentinels have one true spiritual match. Certainly there are Guides and Sentinels who feel like the person they bond to are not quite the right fit, and others who feel a soul-deep connection immediately.
The level of abilities varies. Some groups have tried to assign a numerical value, in one of my stories a range from 1-6, with 6 being the strongest. Others use an Alpha/Beta system to designate the leader, but don’t formalize it beyond that. A fair amount of the hierarchy is instinctual and seems very primitive to outsiders.
GoingFeral- essentially going berserk. In my universe, Viking berserkers were feral Sentinels. They have heightened speed, strength, reflexes, and bloodlust.
A Sentinel without a Guide can go feral with very little control, generally to protect themselves or people they see as “theirs”. A bonded Sentinel can be goaded into a feral state if their Guide is in danger or if their Guide dies.
A bonded Sentinel can be brought into a more controlled feral state purposefully by their guide.
A Sentinel with empathic senses can bring other Sentinels into a feral state with them. In my universe the Spartans were lead by a Sentinel, and Shieldbrothers were Sentinel/Guide pairings. At the Battle of Thermopylae, Leonidas brought all the Spartans into a feral state, they fought for 4 days straight, defeated the Persians and then 75% of them died from exhaustion and untreated wounds.
Latent/Dormant/Online:
People are born with the potential to be Guides or Sentinels. I have a background in biochemistry, so I’ve elected to hand-wave the genetic testing rather than try to get into a details in many part.
Latent- Basically, when a person has the right genetic makeup, they are latent. In my universe a latent Guide/Sentinel may show some abilities- low level empathy or a couple enhanced senses.
Online- A person comes online when their gifts manifest. Ideally, a person comes online naturally, generally around the end of puberty. Close proximity to other Guides/Sentinels is thought to increase the chances of someone coming online. Trauma does increase the chances of someone coming online.
Dormant- not in my stories yet, but a state in which someone has the genetic potential to be a Guide or Sentinel, but will never come online. This is usually due to some other aspect of their mind or body that conflicts with the Sentinel/Guide potential.
For instance, a sociopath will never come online as a Guide, because the empathic overload from other people without the ability to understand or process interferes. A person with Brittle Bone Disease will not come online as a Sentinel. Someone who receives a traumatic brain injury may not come online either, depending on the consequences of the damage.
I am still feeling my way out in the Sentinel/Guide universe, so some of these things may change, but this is the basic set-up I’m using.
Adding for further info: the whole Sentinel/Guide scenario comes from an old TV show called The Sentinel about Jim Ellison, special-ops-turned-police-detective with super-enhanced senses. Blair (the “Alpha Guide” mentioned in the fic) is an anthropologist who comes to be a very close friend of Ellison’s and helps him when he gets sensory overload, etc. Fans shipped them intensely.
Until I started writing this post and looked up the Wikipedia article, I thought the entire Guide concept was pure fanfic invention, and not part of the show at all! Apparently it is in fact part of the show mythology, though not, I think, anywhere near the organized level depicted in fanfic. I was only a very casual fan of the show, obviously.
If you’re interested in Sentinel/Guide fic, I’m mostly familiar with it through Chameleon, an infamously unfinished Johnlock story that has a million tons of fantastic Sentinel/Guide worldbuilding.
Incomplete list of recommendations if you want greek myth retellings that are actually interesting and do something new with the concept:
Hadestown by Anaïs Mitchell (& friends)
O Brother, Where Art Thou (2000)
Cassandra by Christa Wolf
The King Must Die by Mary Renault
Los Reyes by Julio Cortázar
Lavinia by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Trojan Women: A Comic by Anne Carson and Rosanna Bruno (let’s be honest, Ms. Carson could easily dominate this whole list but I’m trying to limit myself to one and I think this one is the most interesting.)
Girl on an Altar by Marina Carr
Oresteia by Robert Icke
An Iliad by Denis O'Hare and Lisa Peterson
Till We Have Faces by C. S. Lewis
Helen in Egypt by Hilda Doolittle (H.D.)
Norma Jean Baker of Troy by Anne Carson (ok I lied, what are you gonna do about it?)
Did I daydream this, or was there a website for writers with like. A ridiculous quantity of descriptive aid. Like I remember clicking on “ inside a cinema ” or something like that. Then, BAM. Here’s a list of smell and sounds. I can’t remember it for the life of me, but if someone else can, help a bitch out <3
“middle aged women shouldn’t participate in fandom” and you think it’s teenagers that are writing those brilliant, incisive 100k fics of your favourite characters
“If you’re reading this, if there’s air in your lungs on this November day, then there is still hope for you. Your story is still going. And maybe some things are true for all of us. Perhaps we all relate to pain. Perhaps we all relate to fear and loss and questions. And perhaps we all deserve to be honest, all deserve whatever help we need. Our stories are all so many things: Heavy and light. Beautiful and difficult. Hopeful and uncertain. But our stories aren’t finished yet. There is still time, for things to heal and change and grow. There is still time to be surprised. We are still going, you and I. We are stories still going.”
last song: according to youtube - Impurities by LE SSERAFIM
last movie:
Top Gun: Maverick
(2022) (not bad)
last show: probably The Phantom of The Opera from a year or two back
currently watching: God of War Ragnarok playthrough (I know people who don’t play and just watch online sometimes get slammed but I do play games! Just not these because I’d never be able to finish them
currently reading:
Midnight Diner
by
Yarō Abe, and a bunch of others.
currently working on: trying to start a new fic when there are a dozen in my head lol
favorite color: blue, always, but other colors are nice too
sweet/savory/spicy: sweet
coffee/tea/cocoa: cocoa, coffee rarely works for me and when it does never at the right time. black tea is a favorite but green tea gives me headaches (I have experimented)
craving: for a good job to fall into my lap (it’s not going to happen so I’m working on getting a new one lol)
