Archive of Our Own ^beta

Welcome to Operation: GenSen, we are thrilled to have you!
The Sentinel, a show which aired for four seasons from 1996-1999 is something of a legend in the fanworks community and has a smaller but devoted following. As one of the most prevalent, if niche "Little Black Dress" fandoms (a fandom which can crossover/fuse with anything.) there is no shortage of stories and art if you know where to look.
However, the vast majority of those stories focus on a romantic and/or sexual relationship between Sentinel and Guide. There are sadly very few platonic fics out there.
We are not denying anyone the right to write the sorts of stories they want, nor the easily extrapolated subtext that can be found in any story-line where two characters depend very deeply on each other, but that doesn't mean we can't encourage the production of more stories that feature the fast friendships and family-of-choice aspects of the ideas.
That is the point of this collection. To gather together and (hopefully) produce more Gen Sentinel stories.
Thank you for your interest and contributions! Write well and prosper.

What is The Sentinel and where can I find it?

Most of the episodes are on YouTube for free.

1. Must feature the "Sentinel" concept from the show. (I feel like this is obvious but it seems as good a place to start as any.)
2. Must be a fusion or crossover. In other words, must either feature characters from another fandom with one or more of them being Sentinels and/or Guides, or involve characters from another fandom interacting with those from the show.
3. Must absolutely be able to be legitimately categorized as "Gen". AKA, if a romantic relationship between the two primary characters is the focus, it does not qualify. Background relationships are fine but they cannot be between a Sentinel/Guide pair, neither can they be the primary topic. Unless you have/want to write a fic about a Sentinel/Guide pair negotiating all the romantic complications that come when you more or less exist in your best friend's back pocket, that would be fantastic actually.
4. Well-Written. This isn't usually a problem in the Sentinel fandom but bears saying anyway; If a story features profuse bad grammar, poor spelling, and sentence structure that gives readers headaches, see about recommending/obtaining a beta first. A few errors and clumsy grammar points aren't too big of a deal, they happen to everyone, but it is still always nice to be able to avoid posting embarrassing mistakes and typos on the internet. (If you don't know how to obtain a beta, let us know, we would be happy to help!)
5. Be positive. The intent of this community is not to devalue or bash non-platonic fics, simply to try and make it easier for those of us who prefer non-sexual reading material to find it. If you want to rant over the disgustingness of [insert story/author/pairing/situation here] then please go elsewhere. Watch yourself, it can be easy to unknowingly cross the line from commiseration on the scarcity of gen fics into a bashing of het/slash/whatever. Try and avoid that like the mature, responsible fandom members we know you are.
Similarly, be polite when commenting on fics. Fan-writers work hard to produce content for no reward other than feedback and flaming a story does nothing but make you seem juvenile.
6. Enjoy! We hope that this collection will grow and be a place where an under-appreciated category of fics can be easily accessed. Have fun!