Ranting with the Sanses

Keeper, Guard, Guardian, Protector

All : Huuuuuh... Kath...? What the hell is wrong with the title ?

Kath : Me thinking too much. Like usual. Especially about Ink, Dream and Nightmare. ... Ok, especially Ink, to be frank.

All : Why are we not surprised.

Kath : Anyway !! Let's continue. So, I was wondering why Ink is called the Protector of (the script of the) AUs. Why not the Guardian ? The Guard ? Or the Keeper ? Same logic goes with the Dreamtale's guardians. Why are they called guardians ? Why not another word ?

Jill : You could ask their creators...

Kath : Where would be the fun in it ?

Ink : And by fun, I think we need to understand...

Bill : Insanity.

Everyone nods.

Kath : So, let's do some ethimology and analyses the nuances behind each word. In the order I wrote them. Let's start with "Keeper".

So, Keeper comes from to keep. Which, actually could have a more... how to say... Personal ? Selfish ? meaning.

Like, if you said that Ink is the Keeper of the AUs, it may implies the AUs belongs to him. If you call Dream the "Keeper of Positivity" it may give the feeling he is gonna keep Positivity all for himself. Which, isn't what they do. Hence why thse are likley not the one who were kept.

Jill : Arguably, Kath does headcanon that Marvul could fit, in how she imagine Swapverse on the "Keeper of Positivity" thing though.

Kath : Moving onto the next term. "Guard". Well, a guard is technically... a work, a job, a profession. It includes for example. A salary. And as far a I know, none of the above mentioned people are getting paid for their work.

She looks at Ink and the twins who all shakes their head.

Kath : Yeah, that's what I thought. So, here, free labor. So, they can't be guards. And, yes. I am aware there is more to being a guard, but I will come onto that part later. So, the next word is the one of "Guardian".

The way I see it, Guardian is basically the neutral term between "Keeper" and "Protector". It is more of a duty than anything. The best example is Nim, which as far as I understand... didn't give two shits about people's feelings and just guarded the Tree of Feelings.

Jill : If anyone more well versed in Dreamtale feels the need to rectifity this, please go ahead and do so. Kath never read Dreamtale and only made research on it, but she may have gotten some stuff wrong. (it is also why she is a tiny bit willing to play devil's advocate for Nim, despiste recognizing she wasn't a good mother)

Kath : And lastly, you have the term "Protector". Why is Ink the only one called a Protector is the question that caused me to go in this spiral there. Why isn't he called the "Guardian" for example (since I already took care of the Keeper one). I think the reason is because, in a way, even if Ink is forced by circonstances (his vials) to work for the Creators and protect the AUs, it is still also a choice on his part.

And, this is a the big difference. If I asked Cross why he joined the Royal guard in the first place, it was because he wanted to "protect" his friend. Protecting isn't linked to duty. You may protect something because it is part of your duty (what turn the job "guard" into a profession). When you use the term "protecting" it actually implies love and care for what is being protected.

Which makes it sarcastically hilarious for me. Because Comyet picked the one word for Ink's title that tell you "HE CARES" and what I see the most often are people convinced he couldn't giev two shits about others !!

Jill : And here, we shall cut, because Kathleen is raging about it, since as you all know, she loves Ink as a character very much, so it is infuriating for her.