Dreaded Bonding AU Master Post
This is the master post for the Dreaded Bonding AU, a fic series that started out in The Sentinel and has now sprawled into several other fandoms.
The Original Trilogy, sometimes known as "Finding Home."
This series contains some rather extreme Blair!whump, so be warned. Most of it happens in the first two chapters of "They Have To Take You In," but it continues to be referenced throughout the story. Part titles are lines from Robert Frost's "Death of the Hired Man."
Part One: They Have to Take You In
Do I really need a summary? You either like these things or you don't...in yet another universe where Sentinel and Guides are known, and Guides are oppressed, Jim and Blair find each other and forge a partnership. Slash. 70,000 words in 9 LJ chapters. This link takes you to the first chapter; the others should be accessible through links at the bottom of each chapter.
Part Two: You Haven't to Deserve
In a world where Sentinels and Guides are known, and Guides are oppressed, Blair and Jim have found each other and forged a partnership. However, G-TAC, the Guide Training and Assignment Center, continues to throw up roadblocks in their path. Slash. 70,000 words, this time in 13 chapters. Again, each part should link to the next. If not, the "next post" buttons also work.
Part Three: Some Good, To Someone in the World Blair, Jim, and the rest of the gang in Peru. Slash. 38,000 words in 8 chapters.
The Kas and Angel stories
These focus on the OC Sentinel/Guide pair introduced in Finding Home.
First Meetings
We find out in "They Have to Take You In" chapter 2 that Angel was assigned Kas in Basic because he was too emotionally fragile to handle it on his own. This is the story.
Warnings: Angel is a total woobie, and this story deals with his Tragic Woobie Backstory, which includes allusions to abuse and suicide. It's all fairly mild by the standards of a tragic woobie backstory fic, but it's there. Slash. 34,000 words, 4 parts.
Sentinel School
Immediately following their experiences at Basic Training, Angel and Kas go to the Army's Sentinel School. 78,000 words, 9 parts. Slash.
Sentinel School Extra
Here is a ficlet that checks in on Tony, from the Sentinel School, after the events of the Finding Home trilogy.
Assorted WFT-ery
Here we have some assorted bits and pieces; most of these are fragments.
Finding Home Sequel Part 1
Finding Home Sequel Part 2
Here's where I started writing a fourth story to the trilogy. It never really got off the ground.
Kas and Angel at Med School
These are four scenes from K&A's life at the Army Med School, immediately after Sentinel School.
Signorelli Story
This is the beginning of a story about Tony Signorelli, from the Sentinel School, after his retirement. I started writing it when I was taking a course in library services for the aging, and never got around to finishing it, although I'd like to.
Sentinel!Neal: A White Collar crossover
Here's where things get a little bit weird.
First off, organizationally, posts 0-3 are a trainwreck. This was a post-as-I-wrote project, and I started off claiming I wasn't really writing this fic. So there are some bits that are just summarized or me wandering around saying what the fic would be about if I were actually writing it, which I wasn't. And I wrote some scenes out of order, and posted them out of order. From part 4 onward, it proceeds in chronological order, but it's still basically a first draft, so the writing is a little...uneven. The ending, particularly, is rushed, and there are some really aimless, draggy sections. Cleaning it up and posting a revised copy is on my to-do list, but it's a long list. For now, this is what there is. You're welcome to read it, but it's not necessarily representative of my best work.
The other weird part is that this story takes place in an AU of the Dreaded Bonding AU where Guides got civil rights in the 60's or 70's. Blair and Jim appear in the second half. Neal's a Sentinel; Peter's a Guide. Parts 1-4 are an AU of the show's pilot; after that they move on to an original case. Pre-OT3; contains masturbation.
The setup/summary: Start Here
This is where I started talking about the idea of a Sentinel!Neal story and sketched out the first 2/3 of what it eventually became. Start here if you don't mind spoilers and want the maximum possible amount of clarity for this tangled pile of stuff. If you'd rather be surprised and confused, start with the next link, "Post 0."
The beginning of the story: Post 0
This post is the actual beginning of the story...which, when I first wrote/posted it, didn't appear until somewhere near the end. Luckily, you can read it at the beginning, then move on to "Second Post."
Second Post: Read this second
There's a long note at the beginning of this post explaining how to navigate the first few bits of the "story."
Post Three
As is explained in the note to post 2, this section overlaps with post 2.
Post 4
At this point, the story starts proceeding in normal order without any confusing jumping around.
Part 5
The plot device fairies move Neal and Peter to Cascade, Washington, where they meet up with Blair and Jim.
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Post 16
Post 17
Post 18
Post 19
Downton Abbey Crossover
This is by far the better of the two crossovers. Familiarity with the Sentinel and/or the rest of the Dreaded Bonding AU is not required; familiarity with Downton Abbey is helpful, but you could probably make sense of it just reading a fandom overview first. Focuses on Thomas Barrow as a Guide; takes place in continuity with the Dreaded Bonding AU, but 70-80 years earlier and in a different country. G-TAC doesn't exist and no one gets tortured.
Thomas and the Society of Sentinels
After being arrested for gross indecency with another male person, Thomas Barrow learns that he has a natural gift which will plunge him into a startlingly different society which exists in parallel with the one in which he has lived his life until now. He’s not entirely sure whether or not that’s a good thing…. 134,000 words, 15 chapters. Thomas/OMC slash.
The Original Trilogy, sometimes known as "Finding Home."
This series contains some rather extreme Blair!whump, so be warned. Most of it happens in the first two chapters of "They Have To Take You In," but it continues to be referenced throughout the story. Part titles are lines from Robert Frost's "Death of the Hired Man."
Part One: They Have to Take You In
Do I really need a summary? You either like these things or you don't...in yet another universe where Sentinel and Guides are known, and Guides are oppressed, Jim and Blair find each other and forge a partnership. Slash. 70,000 words in 9 LJ chapters. This link takes you to the first chapter; the others should be accessible through links at the bottom of each chapter.
Part Two: You Haven't to Deserve
In a world where Sentinels and Guides are known, and Guides are oppressed, Blair and Jim have found each other and forged a partnership. However, G-TAC, the Guide Training and Assignment Center, continues to throw up roadblocks in their path. Slash. 70,000 words, this time in 13 chapters. Again, each part should link to the next. If not, the "next post" buttons also work.
Part Three: Some Good, To Someone in the World Blair, Jim, and the rest of the gang in Peru. Slash. 38,000 words in 8 chapters.
The Kas and Angel stories
These focus on the OC Sentinel/Guide pair introduced in Finding Home.
First Meetings
We find out in "They Have to Take You In" chapter 2 that Angel was assigned Kas in Basic because he was too emotionally fragile to handle it on his own. This is the story.
Warnings: Angel is a total woobie, and this story deals with his Tragic Woobie Backstory, which includes allusions to abuse and suicide. It's all fairly mild by the standards of a tragic woobie backstory fic, but it's there. Slash. 34,000 words, 4 parts.
Sentinel School
Immediately following their experiences at Basic Training, Angel and Kas go to the Army's Sentinel School. 78,000 words, 9 parts. Slash.
Sentinel School Extra
Here is a ficlet that checks in on Tony, from the Sentinel School, after the events of the Finding Home trilogy.
Assorted WFT-ery
Here we have some assorted bits and pieces; most of these are fragments.
Finding Home Sequel Part 1
Finding Home Sequel Part 2
Here's where I started writing a fourth story to the trilogy. It never really got off the ground.
Kas and Angel at Med School
These are four scenes from K&A's life at the Army Med School, immediately after Sentinel School.
Signorelli Story
This is the beginning of a story about Tony Signorelli, from the Sentinel School, after his retirement. I started writing it when I was taking a course in library services for the aging, and never got around to finishing it, although I'd like to.
Sentinel!Neal: A White Collar crossover
Here's where things get a little bit weird.
First off, organizationally, posts 0-3 are a trainwreck. This was a post-as-I-wrote project, and I started off claiming I wasn't really writing this fic. So there are some bits that are just summarized or me wandering around saying what the fic would be about if I were actually writing it, which I wasn't. And I wrote some scenes out of order, and posted them out of order. From part 4 onward, it proceeds in chronological order, but it's still basically a first draft, so the writing is a little...uneven. The ending, particularly, is rushed, and there are some really aimless, draggy sections. Cleaning it up and posting a revised copy is on my to-do list, but it's a long list. For now, this is what there is. You're welcome to read it, but it's not necessarily representative of my best work.
The other weird part is that this story takes place in an AU of the Dreaded Bonding AU where Guides got civil rights in the 60's or 70's. Blair and Jim appear in the second half. Neal's a Sentinel; Peter's a Guide. Parts 1-4 are an AU of the show's pilot; after that they move on to an original case. Pre-OT3; contains masturbation.
The setup/summary: Start Here
This is where I started talking about the idea of a Sentinel!Neal story and sketched out the first 2/3 of what it eventually became. Start here if you don't mind spoilers and want the maximum possible amount of clarity for this tangled pile of stuff. If you'd rather be surprised and confused, start with the next link, "Post 0."
The beginning of the story: Post 0
This post is the actual beginning of the story...which, when I first wrote/posted it, didn't appear until somewhere near the end. Luckily, you can read it at the beginning, then move on to "Second Post."
Second Post: Read this second
There's a long note at the beginning of this post explaining how to navigate the first few bits of the "story."
Post Three
As is explained in the note to post 2, this section overlaps with post 2.
Post 4
At this point, the story starts proceeding in normal order without any confusing jumping around.
Part 5
The plot device fairies move Neal and Peter to Cascade, Washington, where they meet up with Blair and Jim.
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Post 16
Post 17
Post 18
Post 19
Downton Abbey Crossover
This is by far the better of the two crossovers. Familiarity with the Sentinel and/or the rest of the Dreaded Bonding AU is not required; familiarity with Downton Abbey is helpful, but you could probably make sense of it just reading a fandom overview first. Focuses on Thomas Barrow as a Guide; takes place in continuity with the Dreaded Bonding AU, but 70-80 years earlier and in a different country. G-TAC doesn't exist and no one gets tortured.
Thomas and the Society of Sentinels
After being arrested for gross indecency with another male person, Thomas Barrow learns that he has a natural gift which will plunge him into a startlingly different society which exists in parallel with the one in which he has lived his life until now. He’s not entirely sure whether or not that’s a good thing…. 134,000 words, 15 chapters. Thomas/OMC slash.