Jim/Blair

Pairing
Pairing:	Jim Ellison/Blair Sandburg
Alternative name(s):
Gender category:	m/m
Fandom:	The Sentinel
Canonical?:	not quite
Prevalence:	most popular slash pairing
Archives:
Other:
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Jim/Blair is by far, the most popular slash pairing for the television show, The Sentinel.

from Gemini by KOZ (1997)

It pairs main characters Jim Ellison, the superpowered cop, and academic Blair Sandburg, his unofficial partner.

From a fan in 2004, a pairing even your mother could imagine!

Unlike many fandoms where it takes a slash-colored view to even begin to see a couple as possible, Jim and Blair come across as well on their way to a relationship, if not already involved in one, in canon. My mother, five minutes into her first ever viewing of the show, asked me if they were lovers. All the ease of canon, without the pesky canon getting in the way!...

[...]

First of all, they're easy. They're so clearly a couple that it doesn't take a lot of effort to put them together, so if this is your first time considering reading or writing slash, you can definitely see it here.

Secondly, the chemistry between the actors leads to a great dynamic, one that's physical and affectionate and funny and sexy. Third, they are eye candy of the first order, and together they're like Reese's peanut butter cups -- something for everyone.

Finally, there's also plenty of material for fans of angst, buddy shows, fantasy/spirituality, h/c, or all of the above. Cheap, pretty, bendable and poseable, we give you -- Jim and Blair!

Appeal of the Pairing

The relationship between Jim and Blair, be it friendship or something more, is one of the central ingredients of the show, arguably more important than Jim's super senses.

In the glimpses of them we see outside of adventure, they frequently joke and laugh, and clearly enjoy each other's company. They are physically affectionate with each other, frequently touching, and though they never go so far as to hug, they often stand very close together. The threat of being torn apart by cruel fate renders them both unable to speak or look each other in the eye on several occasions. This open affection led to a proliferation of smarmy stories, vids, and other fanworks, all examining their friendship, their struggles, and their love for each other.

Fan Comments

2000s

In the early 2000s, a fan, Annabelle Leigh, wrote:

I often ponder why the relationship between Jim and Blair is so powerful to me; my interest in it far exceeds my interest in any other pairing. I mean, it's not just that I think the actors are cute or that I'm a hopeless romantic or even that I like the whole heightened senses thing, which I do. It's more than that.

Their relationship *means* something to me. It's almost like it's become part of my belief system. It provides a strange sort of solace and reassurance, in the same way that real life couples who seem devoted to one another sometimes do. Only it's more profound with Jim and Blair, because this is fiction, and they can only leave each other and spoil the illusion if I read certain kinds of stories, which I won't.

I think my own anxiety about the future -- this worry I have that nothing lasts forever, that even though people love each other it's still so easy to break apart, despite the best of intentions and even the best of efforts -- has everything to do with why I find the idea of Jim and Blair's relationship so comforting and compelling. Story after story in this fandom includes some little mention of how Jim and Blair will always be in each other's lives, no matter what, because they are Sentinel and Guide and this is forever, a true commitment, an immutable connection. In a world where so many things are ephemeral and so many commitments falter, it warms me inside to think that these two people, fictional though they may be, will always have a soul-deep bond between them.

The sense of certainty I have about Jim and Blair renews my faith in what is possible, not just for them, but for me.

From another fan, T'Mar:

The show has managed to give us characters who have depth despite the fact that they are often saddled with boring, re-used cop-story plots. If that was all there was to the show, I would never have watched it. But the acting, the continuity, the writing, and the wonderful chemistry between the lead actors has made me a complete Sentinel fanatic. The characters touch and care about each other so obviously that one just cannot help seeing the slash potential. Not to mention that the actors play up the slashiness of the show in the bloopers, giving us fans even more reason to think the show is slashy. Let's face it: Jim and Blair love each other.

A fan's comments in 2004:

'The Sentinel'. It's a gateway drug. While it's not the first fandom I became involved in, it is the one that grabbed me, chained me to my computer, and has ever since refused to let me go. The premise of a cop with hyperactive senses hit my science fiction interest, and is probably what drew me into the fandom when I'd never seen an episode of the show. But what caught me and keeps me in the fandom is that Jim and Blair are just so easy.

[...]

Admittedly, I saw a picture of RB as Jim and said wow. And followed that with a picture of GM as Blair and said WOW. Most important to me of all, though, is the characterization. Plots are automatically second fiddle to the people on any given show I watch, which helps a great deal in Sentinel fandom. What TS lacks in well-planned plot, research, and logic, it more than makes up for in terms of inner demons, depth of character, and armchair psychoanalysis of the main (and even supporting) characters. Jim's got a list of issues a mile long, which opens with the retelling of his tragic loss of his entire Army Ranger unit, leaving him the sole survivor, in the first moments of the first episode. But Blair, too, has issues, and though his aren't explored as much (the show's called 'The Sentinel' after all, not 'The Guide'), eventually they come out, and prove to be just as far reaching as Jim's own. That, for me, is the draw of 'The Sentinel', what will keep me coming back for more fic, no matter how illogical the canon plots or frustrating the dropped plot-lines.

A fan's comments (2004):

In the slash circles I inhabit, 'The Sentinel' seems to have been everyone else's wading pool. It's the fandom where you get your toes wet, because the actual show is like Intro to Slash 101. Jim and Blair are one of the most married m/m couples I've ever seen, and compared to some of the other subtexts I work with, providing evidence for their relationship is a walk in the park. Unfortunately, since I never got to see the show in its original run, TS actually has turned out to be my fourth slash fandom, one I've only been in for about eight months. However, it's one of the most fun to write, and it helps that they're just so damned cute together....

I first started reading large quantities of Sentinel fanfic before I got my hands on the actual show, and I was immediately intrigued by the premise of the geeky intellectual paired with the tough cop. How would that work? Why did it work? After watching the show, I was completely and irrevocably hooked, because--well, because of a dozen reasons, but most of all because these characters were so much more than geeky intellectual and tough cop, and suddenly it was crystal clear why they worked. Blair was tough and courageous, like Jim, and Jim was goofy at times and strangely vulnerable, like Blair, and they were not always doing what you might expect them to do. As characters, that makes them a lot of fun to read and write about.

From a romantic standpoint, they work because they each give things to the other, ingredients the other is lacking. Blair gives Jim a handle on his senses, a safety net, a sympathetic ear, and a partner who (despite his fears to the contrary) will not desert him, even when the temptation seems irresistible. Jim gives Blair stability, a chance to "ride the roller coaster" of police work, and an opportunity to become someone upon whom others depend. Jim and Blair clearly understand and care deeply about another, and there's lots of opportunity there for a writer to explore their relationship.

Fanworks

Tropes in Fanworks

Sentinel fandom is rich in AUs, a trend which was reflected, perhaps to a lesser extent, in its slash stories. The AUs would often feature exotic locations, sometimes future societies with social structures which accommodated or repressed sentinels or guides in interesting ways, and sometimes tribal societies in an imagined past, often where the sentinel was a high-status position.

Many slash authors imagine in their stories that the relationship of Sentinel and Guide might create some kind of special bond, perhaps psychic, psychological, or biochemical, which might force a sexual relationship. Despite the fact that Jim, arising from his sentinel instincts or biology, is portrayed as having an intense need for Blair, these stories are were generally presented as noncon; societal changes and changing opinions regarding consent may cause fans today to disagree.

Other tropes:

• Blair needing to find another place than Jim's apartment to live; early on due to their original agreement, or due to Jim kicking him out after the reveal of Jim's abilities
• Jim paying close attention to Jim's fixation on Blair's hair, Blair's compromised lungs, the way Blair smells
• Jim and Blair's relationship symbolized by spirit animals
• power dynamics
• guilt and remorse as motivators
• mpreg
• kidfic

Notable Fanworks

For more fiction with this pairing, see Category:Sentinel J/B Fanfiction.

• Another Mode of Belonging by Grit Kitty (Kidfic) (2002)
• BJ Sandburg by Gillian Middleton (Blair becomes a woman for one year at the age of thirty due to a ancient family curse.) (1999)
• The BS Factor by Jen Riddler (It was posted toward the end of the season. It had a much darker tone and ended on a horrifying note than what fans were used to.) (1996)
• changes by Jean Kluge (A controversial story where Blair has brain damage, Jim and Blair continue their relationship.) (1999)
• Detour by Em Brunson (An AU where Jim had never met Blair at the University.) (1999)
• Distant Journey, Unknown Lands by Martha & Lemon Drop (Blair and Jim deal with the fallout of Jim's exposure as a Sentinel.) (2001)
• Ever After by Myrna (prequel to changes) (1998)
• Everything You Need In One Convenient Location by Julad (domestic humor) (2000)
• The Hunger Series by Kim Gasper (Jim and Blair meet at a sex club. The Hunger Series was at that time much more sexually explicit than other slash stories, and so was both widely recced and widely imitated, so much so that certain tics in Gasper's storytelling technique continued to appear in other slash stories for years.) (1997)
• Into the Summer Sea by Audra Rose (After the final episode, Blair isn't fully healed and is being pulled into a spirit world. Jim, meanwhile, is watching helplessly as the man he loves is fading away.) (2004)
• Major Crimes by Merry Lynne (A classic first timer) (2000 or before)
• The Nature Series by Francesca (A series of stories dealing with Blair and Jim’s sentinel/guide relationship and how it evolves into something neither dreamed of.) (1998)
• Not Exactly Funny by Helen (After a traumatic fall, the boys get an unusual case of amnesia: they remember everything except each other.) (1999)
• Out of Whack by Bone and Aristide (Blair's out of luck with the ladies. Jim's out of patience listening to him whack off. So when Blair informs him that he's taking up with men, Jim offers to help.) (1999)
• Sanctuary by Lynna Bright (After fifteen months away on expedition, Blair returns home to Cascade and begins a far different kind of relationship with Jim.) (1996)
• Sentinel-Guide Research Project by Sorka (in the genre of "what if sentinels were known") (unknown date)
• True Minds by Lanning Cook (A student of Blair's is in an abusive marriage with a man who it turns out is a major mob boss that the cops have been looking to bust for some time now. Along the way Jim and Blair are trying to deal with the events from S2P2 and find a way to reveal their feelings for one another.) (1999)
• Where Friendship Takes You by Tazy (Takes place a few weeks after Blair has become a detective. He and Jim are returning from a camping trip and are pulled in to help with a manhunt.) (2003)

Jim/Blair Rec Communities

• Anna S had a list of Sentinel Classics.
• Allaire Mikháil kept a very thorough rec page at storyteller's campsite.
• Sandy Justine maintained a recs page in the early years of the fandom; now long gone from the internet, it can be found via the Internet Archive: Part 1, followed by Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5.
• Born to Bottom, a recs page focusing on "bottom!Jim" stories (2001-07)

Example Art Gallery

1990s

• 

  from Mating Rituals #1, by H. Ann Walton (1997)

• 

  from The Nia Chronicles, by TACS (1997)

• 

  from Come to Your Senses #2 by TACS (1997)

• 

  from Lost and Found, artist is KOZ (1998)

• 

  "Sense and Sensuality," from Primal Instincts #3, by Suzan Lovett (1998)

• 

  from Love and Guns #10, by TACS (1998)

• 

  from Pregnant Pauses #1, K9 (1999)

• 

  from Angel on My Mind #1 by K9 (1999)

• 

  from 852 Prospect #2 by TM Alexander (1999)

• 

  from Love and Guns #8, TACS (1999)

2000s

• 

  from Pregnant Pauses #2, K9 (2000)

• 

  from Synergy #2, by Larrkin (2001)

• 

  "Full Circle," from Jake's Universe, artist is Lorraine Brevig (2001)

• 

  "Once More With Clothes On" by Suzan Lovett, from Warriors #2. This illo won both a Sizzler and a Golden Guppy. (2002)

• 

  from Warriors #2, Killashandra (2002)

• 

  from Warriors #2, Suzan Lovett (2002)

• 

  from Whispers of the Heart #6 by IM Mueller (2002)

• 

  from Essential Sentinel #5, artist is Shar (2002)

• 

  Art from Synergy #7 by Lorraine Brevig (2004)

• 

  from Come to Your Senses #26, by TM Alexander (2004)

• 

  from Storm, by Lilac (2004)

• 

  from Senses of Wonder #3, Lorraine Brevig (2005)

• 

  from Derailed by Romanse (2005)

• 

  from The Many First Times of Jim and Blair, The 2008 Moonridge Edition, by Ankaree (2008)

2010s

• 

  from Choices by L.A. Adolf (2011)

Other Resources

• Jim/Blair of The Sentinel by lamardeuse and misanthrope7842, an introduction to the ship posted to Ship Manifesto.
• The Gayest Show On Earth by joandarck, a video essay on the slash subtext of season one.