Poems and writings

Watchers: An auto-biography

Length: 3,179 words

Author's note: A good while ago, on March, I started writing an autobiography on my species, the watchers. This is the finished product. The information written here is a combination on my own memories as a watcher, instincts, and canon from my source (minecraft, EvoSMP, and various fanfiction).

𖥂 Biology 𖥂

Watchers are beings that are made of the matter of the universe. Internally, they don’t have organs, bones, or concrete form. They’re made of energy that shows itself in the form of eyes. By analyzing its body, its made of stars, dust, darkness… That is to say, they are made of the universe. They take the form of eyes and wings to fulfil its duties more easily. They can change form to whatever they please, but this takes energy.

Biologically, they are technically not alive, but they’re also not dead. It’s some kind of in-between. They can’t be killed, they are immortals, but they are more or less bound to the rules of its worlds. Watchers don’t need to sleep, eat, drink, etc. Because they are not technically mortals, they can’t die “normally” (of old age), but they can still bleed and get hurt by external forces (they can’t starve to death or be poisoned, for example).

They have four “main components”: Its cape, its mask, its wings, and its form.

Its cape is a gift from the Universe, made of void and stars. It’s used to hide its inner form to players and mobs, so they don’t get scared of its. A Watcher’s true form can only be seen by other Watchers. To the outside World, they are invisible.

Its mask is made of a solid material, and it can’t be destroyed. It’s usually white with eyes and the EVO symbol drawn in it. A Watcher can’t Watch worlds without its mask, otherwise it won’t be able to concentrate on what they need to do.

The wings were a gift from its superiors, to get around the worlds. They are big, featherly, black and purple. They have eyes on them, to Watch better. To Watch, Watchers need to extend its wings.

𖥂 Physical description 𖥂

Watchers don’t really have physical forms unless they posses human bodies. However, in its own dimension they have its own form, but only other Watchers can access it. Mortals can’t see this form, as it, they literally can’t see it. It’s so complex and so powerful that their mind can’t comprehend it.

Usually, they are seen as humanoid entities with purple wings and capes. They are usually really tall, and nothing about its true form is seen. Under its capes its body are only formed from eyes, wings, and Universe matter. They usually wear its capes at all times. They are not for protection, but so that they don’t touch elements from the world (so they don’t corrupt it accidentally). Its wings are mostly what helps them Watch; whenever they are open, they can Watch at full capacity.

𖥂 Intelligence 𖥂

Watchers are really intelligent creatures. They communicate through riddles, so that players can decipher them. Because they are Creators, they get bored really easily, so they communicate with its worlds sometimes. They are more intelligent than players, because they need its knowledge to successfully revise the code, all of the worlds and servers, find and fix issues, and correct imperfections. They don’t create the worlds, that’s the player’s own doing, but they maintain them. They help the terrain generate when the player moves, sewing the matter of the universe in front of them. But the player never notices them, of course.

Watchers are very interested in players. Even though they think they may be silly, Watchers admire its strength and hability to create. They cherish creativity and love machines and buildings. don’t like when they do “unfair” things (like cheating, trolling, etc), they can’t intervene.

𖥂 Habilities 𖥂

They are some kind of guardians and protectors, they Watch the worlds created by the player or the Universe. They fix bugs and help the world and its mobs move from version to version.

They can only Watch. They are not designated to Hear, Touch, Taste, Smell. That’s why, when disguising as humans, they will have these senses weakened. A Watcher whose eyes don’t function properly is a weak Watcher.

Watchers magic is very powerful, but also limited to its own dimension. Its abilities inside of its dimension is unlimited:

They are very skilled on writing and inventing. They created the updates, after all, and the end poem.

They could harm players and erase an entire server at will (they would only do this if there was a corruption or a virus).

They are less like passive guardians and more like observers. We can’t intervene, we can’t change reality. We’re just… There. We aren’t power hungry monsters either. We are just doing our job. To ensure everything works as planned.

𖥂 History 𖥂

In-universe, Watchers are kind of mythological species in the minecraft world. When a Watcher appears, they do it because the universe demands it, because a player has created a world. So they Watch, they Watch the player, and when they are bored, they check the world for bugs, updates, and glitches, and they patch is as best as they can.

It isn’t really clear where Watchers come from. From my perspective, they were called or created by the Universe itself. Then they created the Council and the Universe gave them its dimension. Watchers were, at first, players acting as gods, and they did a lot of harm to the world.

Then the Council was created, and they stablished order. They were really strict with its rules at first, but now they’ve chilled out. Most of its rules was to ensure our safety: No talking to players, no interfering with words… And every Update had to be supervised by them, personally.

Young Watchers were forbidden to be given a World without proper instruction first. That’s because fledglings need proper stimulation all the time, because when they’re transformed its senses get stronger, and they need to focus on its training to get more comfortable with its new forms.

So first, a Watcher is taught about its species, its society, its powers, its purpose on the world. Some Watchers may fight this process, but is for the good of the flock. When a Watcher starts its studies, they are given classes and instructors.

Watchers are also taught that Listeners are their enemies. They will be trained to kill them, to study its weakest points and strike until they die.

𖥂 Watchers society 𖥂

Watchers divide itselves into categories when they finish its studies. There’s the Observers, that Watch over the worlds and ensure that everything is going smoothly and players stay in their line; and there’s the Archivists, that guard its dimension and collect the information the Observers brings them. Above them it’s the Council, the force that organises everything. These Watchers are the oldest and the wisest, they were there for every update. They decide what gets added in each update.

Observers are the most common “group” of Watchers. It takes very little to be an Observer, they just have to pass basic training. Observers are mostly benevolent, and even though it may seem like a boring task, it’s necessary for its survival. They Watch the Worlds and notify glitches, errors or anomalies to Archivists. Observers are trained by Archivists, its next in line.

Archivists save and protect the Worlds and Universe’s information safe in the Archives. The Archives are a place deep in the Watcher’s tower, like a giant library full of books written in Script and Galactic. Archivists are very protective of its documents and they won’t let anyone near them. Archivists decide what gets added on updates based on what Observers tell them, but before they can Update, they have to make sure everything is correct, or the Universe may suffer from corruption.

Watchers don’t have names, but titles. Its titles are given by the Council, based on its abilities or personality. They are mostly based on blocks, for example, a Watcher’s name could be Obsidian, Dirt, Netherite… Just a simple noun.

Watchers are enemies of Listeners. Watchers kill Listeners because They are a threat to Their society.

𖥂 Dimension: Hearthome 𖥂

Watchers’ dimension is located deep in the End, at the other side of the gateway. This place is impossible to reach to normal players, as its located above, beyond and under the Void. Only Watchers know its location. They don’t pass through a portal to enter its realm, though. They can do it using the command /teleport.

Their world is made of void. No stars, no moons, no suns. Just the Void and the Watchers. After flying for a few hours, they will appear a few little islands. These don’t look like the End normal islands: They are made of a white, like-dust material. The void starts to shift from pitch black to a slightly more purple shade.

Some islands have small buildings. Nothing that a player could have made, but Watchers are known for their hatred for building. No-one knows who built these builds. After a while, the center of the little village is shown: A huge end city that looks more like a temple.

It’s made of purple blocks and decorated with white end rods. It looks almost ethereal, magical. This is the Watchers tower, a huge building with a lot of halls and corridors. Every room has a purpose, and yet there’s too many of them. Because Watchers don’t sleep, eat, or play, they don’t have their own rooms, just rooms with purposes.

Only folks with wings could enter the palace, because it’s floating in the middle of the void. The halls are really, really big and insanely long.

There’s a library, full of books and scrolls to study, but that no-one reads. There’s a room where the top Watchers supervise everything. In every room there’s at least a little pool where they Watch the world below. They also have a room for training and weapons.

For Archivists, the most important place is the Archives. A giant library full of forbidden books, filled with knowledge on future updates and beta and alpha versions no longer available.

𖥂 Terminology 𖥂

My canon as fictionkin

My age as a Watcher is complicated, but I’m pretty sure I’m younger than most. Probably around… 200 ish?. Watchers don’t have form, they can make themselves its own form. This takes a lot of energy. I was taken from a world, I think, because I’m pretty sure I remember being human before. Watchers have some kind of mini-dimension at the other side of the End. I’m one of the Watchers from the EVO series, I never talked to the players. But I was the one that went between the dimension to the over world. I jumped a lot from world to world, because I can’t remember any specifics. Source: Minecraft. Watchers don’t hear. They read lips.

What I am now

I’m in a human world due to medical difficulties. My body must have glitched while traveling through realms. I perceive phantom shifts, like wings and eyes. My wings are THERE. They’re invisible to the human eye, but they’re there, and they’re huge. I Watch from my window, my perch, my class, etc.

What I was before

I was an archivist. My mission was to Watch a single world. In its dimension, they have an Archive where they store the history of the words and versions of the game.

Information on Watchers

“Watchers have long been considered among the most mysterious and powerful beings in the universe, rivaled only by their counterparts, the Listeners, and perhaps the most powerful of vexes.

Infamously defined by their feathery wings and masks, they are the subject of numerous myths and legends, and a fascinating study for any player interested in understanding the way code operates.

There are some little known, but nonetheless confirmed true facts about the Watchers. There are countless more mistruths and misunderstandings. What I have always been fascinated by are the descriptions of their presence. Watchers are also voidwalkers - a subspecies, if you will, though I use the terms "species" lightly. What sets them apart as a distinct group are three main things-

First, their social structure, a by all and few accounts highly rigid and unforgiving system. As opposed to most voidwalkers who live alone or amongst players, Watchers inhabit a particular area of the Deep End they have claimed as territory, together and in regular communication. The details are largely unknown, but it only adds to their eficiency in overtaking worlds.

Second, their abilities are distinctly different from that of other voidwalkers. There seems to be an ability to control players in a manner not unlike vexes, while most other voidwalkers can only ever affect environment code. And like vexes, they can permakill. While they seem to spawn with the abilities, the conditions for a Watcher to spawn are still a mystery.

Lastly, their wings and mask. Two signature features a Watcher has never been seen without, at least by players - or so we believe for now, anyway. The mask's function is unknown, beyond the aesthetic purpose, but the wings do, in fact, work. Watchers fly faster than other voidwalkers - some speculate they are the fastest entities in the universe, though no doubt the vexes would contest that claim.

But, back to their presence - it is said there are few sights which are dually so unimaginably beautiful and mind-breakingly terrifying as a Watcher in their full power, wings reaching towards the vast endlessness above. The majority of eyewitness accounts agree that the sight has the power to completely transfix an individual, to overpower all logic and rationale.

Is this phenomenon merely psychological? Or is there actual code and magic at play? There are no answers, only speculation. No Watcher has ever revealed their secrets. Nonetheless, it is a player’s nature to keep searching. We can only hope the journey does not end in the void of regret.”

Quotes

'What I do know for sure is that there is a higher power out there watching us. They’re called the Watchers, as on the nose as that is. They have a lot of power over pure code, so you’ll often hear about them helping with administrative duties, like world updates. The voidwalkers usually grow up worshipping them as part of our culture. There’s a whole Pantheon of Watchers, but it’s quite common to choose one individual Watcher for your patron.'

'The Watcher I chose as my patron, well, some don’t even consider Him a Watcher at all, really. I picked Xelqua, the Runaway. And yes, like His title suggests, He ran away from His home with the Watchers. It is said that He felt like a misfit in Their society, so He ran away and carved His own life. He is said to be fiercely protective of His friends and everyone He cares for. Xelqua’s story, to me, means hope, freedom and change.'

'When I finally met Taurtis again after Evo, He had his own Worlds to watch, Players to pray to Him. He had seen the rise and death of so many worlds, He had become detached– uncaring and cruel. Twisted. That’s when I knew I never wanted to become like Them, no matter what They did to break me. I learned all Their whys and hows, Their needs and Their philosophy, but I could not be part of Their carefully crafted society when I knew how some of Them were treating my friends like... like a bunch of ants. Objects, even, replaceable.'

'I'm about to tell you a story you might have heard before. See, I follow this young Watcher who is known for being the first, the only one in all the wide Watcher Pantheon to leave Their society and run away. Even though the Council tried to erase His name from the books, He is well spoken of between kindred spirits, the misfits, the runaways, people insearch of hope, a home, a new start. But most importantly, after what I’ve heard today, is that He is known to be fiercely protective of those that are important to him.'

“A Player vessel would be taken. One that is suited for becoming a Watcher in some other way already,but likely one that could not fledge into a normal Watcher. They would have their memories wiped, and they would be completely remade, in the way that fledging does, but more. Oncethey were remade into a weapon, they would do training, and it would be like mine. I would still be taking missions. Once their training had come along, I would be brought in, and would finish the training. They would then fight and kill me to prove their worth, just as I killed Blade-Two. This would be after I have had an appropriate amount of service. That is normally many decades, even centuries, but—well, after this, if they were to make a new one of me and use me for the process as they have in the past, they would wait less time. I have proved deficient in other ways. That is the standard decommissioning process. Given that they already have lost me, though, they may choose to take a vessel without performing the normal knowledge transfer steps from myself to them, and start from scratch.”

“In a way, I can see that, but no. Watchers are more powerful than any Admin. Sure, they do similar things like making sure servers stay intact, but while Admins are regular players registered to keep things running smoothly, Watchers are practically the code itself. Admins have to go through all these processes and can have their rights stripped if they mess up, but Watchers... they can snap their fingers and entire worlds will be gone, just like that.”

“The Watchers really aren’t bad. So many things would collapse and shatter without their existence, and the two that were chosen to watch over me tried, they really did, but...”

“Higher beings from above just don’t understand what it’s like to be a measly player?”

“Yeah, pretty much. They were like having slightly strict parents who just wanted what was best for you. Deep down, they love you, but they just can’t get it through their heads that what makes you genuinely happy is something they can’t understand. Then instead of accepting that fact and supporting you regardless, they try to morph you into something they think will actually make you ‘happy’.”