Danmei not manhua? Wdym different, danmei is literally bl bruh just a chinese language for that genre i mean bl is an umbrella term, im not talking about just novels lol im just saying interstellar genre is not new in cn bl. Sorry for the late response though but you seem like you're after me, you should read properly next time
The medium is different. It shows a growing traction and phasing a Fandom trope into mainstream publishing.
Danmei is mainly referring to a type of bl novels and manhua is graphic novels. Which shows the move from fanfic to webnovels to graphic novels.
As someone who witnessed the beginning of this trope years ago, I was commenting on how it has progressed. Especially when you consider this (and omegaverse) were fanfic tropes started in American and British shows such as Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Sherlock, etc. Sentinel/Sentry and Guides comes from a 1990s Canadian show called The Sentinel. Which became a big trope in Sherlock fandom.
So it's always a bit weird to see these concepts in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese published media. It also shows how global and intersectional Fandom is.
1970s? Really?
I think that's when Cultivation stories first popped up.
But I never heard of Sentry/Guide stuff until after 2010 when it started taking off in Sherlock fandom.
Fanlore shows it as part of The Sentinel fandom as primary source for the trope.
https://fanlore.org/wiki/Sentinel_AU
Wow after omegaverse it's the guides.
Fanfic creations are really becoming mainstream.