A Sentinel Takes a Guide

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Fanfiction
Title: A Sentinel Takes a Guide
Author(s): Alyjude
Date(s): 2001
Length:
Genre(s): slash
Fandom(s): The Sentinel
Relationship(s):
External Links: online here and here

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A Sentinel Takes a Guide is a Sentinel story by Alyjude.

Author's Notes

"CAVEAT: Yeah, this has been done and by quite a few better than I. Wanna read a real good one, go to Brenda Antrim and her Distortion ::sigh::. And I must also mention Kathleen's Rough Trade. It's hard to do a Brackett/Sentinel story that doesn't share similar traits when so many of us saw much of the same things in Rogue. Here's my humble attempt. I love Brackett and saw almost as many good things in him as bad, but ultimately found that he could not be redeemed. WARNINGS: Non-consensual sex, rape (but off-screen and only later discussed), and discussion of child molestation. Yes, past Blairsecrets are revealed. Also death of a guest star. Guess who?"

Reactions and Reviews

Out of courtesy, I'm posting a rape warning for this story. Please keep in mind that the rape that occurs is not the point of the story, nor even a major focus of it; it’s more a character point than anything. Lee Brackett, from the episode “Rogue,” shows up a lot in TS stories. And why not? Canonically, he knew more about Jim’s past than we do; he certainly intimated that he knew a little more about Sentinels and Guides than Blair; and Brackett’s the one who elevated Blair’s role in the partnership to one of equality with its own set of special skills and abilities.

As its title suggests, a Guide could certainly be a commodity in demand; we’ve met a couple of Sentinels in the course of the series, but the only Guide we’ve come across is Blair. This story – like so many others – proposes that Brackett’s developed some interesting heightened senses during his time in prison, and is now in need of a Guide. Do you wonder where he’s going to look for one? And do you even question what Jim and the gang at Major Crimes will do to bring Blair back?

This is one of the best stories I've come across that explores Brackett as Sentinel, and the impermeable bond that exists between Jim and Blair. Nobody handles twists and turns like Alyjude. She writes beautifully, knows Jim and Blair like the back of her hand, and even though you know everything’s going to turn out fine for our boys in the end, your heart still pounds with excitement and worry as you thrill to the story she lays out before you.[1]

I read the story and it's pretty decent, but I would have liked it a lot more if the author had succeeded in capitalizing every 'jim' and 'i' instead of just some of them. IMHO, the story's not good enough to forgive these basic errors in punctuation. It's your prerogative, of course, but I would like to see stories recced because they're well-written in every sense.[2]

You make a valid point. However, and by my count, in this story, the author used lower case for "jim" and "i" when she was either conveying a tone of voice, or providing a character's thoughts. I found neither to be sufficient to distract me from the narrative, and still think that Alyjude's exploration of Brackett as Sentinel is one of the best of its kind. Your mileage, of course, may vary. :) [3]

References

  1. ^ 2006 comments at Crack Van
  2. ^ 2006 comments at Crack Van
  3. ^ 2006 comments at Crack Van