TW/CW for below the cut: semi-graphic descriptions of permanent character death, violence, gore; depression/self-hatred; mistaken identity/stolen identity; memory loss; philosophical debates on death; rebirth/religious implications; dehumanisation; misgendering (referring to a ‘he’ as an ‘it’ in a derogatory sense)
These are my interpretations of Watcher/Listener lore which I used to write my fic You Say You Feel Hollow (and you know it's 'cause you are) ! So spoilers ahead for that fic!! These ideas aren’t what I interpret as ‘canon’ (because that would make me sad tbh) but are more like a collection of ideas that make up an AU. Please proceed with caution as it is not pleasant!
Watcher-vessel Grian & Listener-vessel BigB
This lore is partially inspired by @definitelynotshouting ‘s Hunger AU! It is very cool you should check it out <3 !!! It was the fic that got me into the fandom so it’ll always be in my heart.
WATCHERS:
What are Watchers? In my lore, Watchers are god-like beings which feed on the emotions of players in the servers they Watch over. They are more satisfied by negative emotions than positive ones, so they will cause chaos and pain to the players in order to feed. They also just enjoy ‘entertainment’ (read: despair) from these players. They rarely communicate with players, but when they do, it is often through rhymes and puzzles.
What is a Watcher-vessel? This is a player chosen by the Watchers to become their puppet or chaos-causer. It is basically something that is halfway between a player and a Watcher, holding some of their powers but not all.
How is a Watcher-vessel chosen? The perfect player to become a Watcher-vessel is one that is already entertaining and a bit of a chaotic soul, as well as someone who is loved by many people. This way, their capture and Transfer will cause the most emotional pain to the maximum amount of people.
How is a Watcher-vessel made? This is a process known as Transfer. Once chosen, the player is taken away to a remote part of the void to face the Watchers. The player’s code is unraveled from their body slowly (painfully) until they become an empty shell of a body. Then, the body is harvested for vital organs such as the heart and brain. These parts are stuffed into a new body, a Watcher-vessel which looks almost exactly like the player, and the player dies. The Watcher-vessel gains all the memories and personality of the player, but is aware it is a copy. Transfer is a long and painful process for the player as they die, but the vessel suffers as well, sent into a coma-like state for several days as it tries to contain the vast sum of memory and life the player once held.
What does a Watcher-vessel look like? Exactly like the original player, but with purple coloured eyes. If the player had wings or other hybrid traits, these become purple as well. Other vessels can tell when the Watcher-vessel is Watching, as opposed to watching, but to a normal player this difference is unknown. The Watcher-vessel tends to hide what it is for as long as it can, a small part of it still able to grieve for ‘itself’ (the original player) and knowing it is safer to hide what it is. But when it is revealed, the Watcher-vessel may have trouble understanding other players’ grief.
LISTENERS:
What are Listeners? Listeners are a fragment group of Watchers who disagree with the Watchers’ methods and find their forms of ‘entertainment’ cruel. They appear much the same as Watchers, also speaking directly into players’ minds and in rhyming sentences.
What is a Listener-vessel? A Listener-vessel is the equivalent of a Watcher-vessel, but with the express purpose of spying on Watcher-vessels in order to give information to the Listeners. They are meant to be enemies with the Watcher-vessels and are meant to kill Watcher-vessels if given the chance.
How is a Listener-vessel chosen? The perfect Listener-vessel is a player who is rather inconspicuous but with a slightly violent air- someone who can be convinced to attack. The whole purpose of a Listener-vessel is to spy, so most are chosen for not being too loud or chaotic. However, some players are chosen specifically because they appeal to Watchers, designed more to act as bait for hungry Watcher-vessels rather than spies.
How is a Listener-vessel made? This is a process called Hollowing. The player is taken away to a voidspace, and their mind is scoured for important memories- which are Saved. The player is then Hollowed, their flesh, organs, blood, etc removed from their body so they are only skin and bone (known as a Shell). The Shell is then altered to be able to Hear and Listen properly, then put back together as it was made. The Listeners have a basic understanding of player biology, so some elements may be a little skewed. The player’s mind is blank, and also must be put back together using the Saved memories, hopefully not removing anything important (but removing any past loyalties to Watchers). Whether the Listener-vessel is the same entity as the original player is up for debate, but the Listener-vessel is conditioned to think so.
What does a Listener-vessel look like? Exactly like the player, though perhaps with a couple of Wrong parts and a strange Hollowness. To the average player, the Listener-vessel does not hold anyone’s attention, their vision sliding off of them. They are designed to not be noticed, and even direct questions from players about the vessel’s identity can be redirected. Watcher-vessels are especially unable to See the Listener-vessel, registering them as a normal player. However, once the Listener-vessel’s identity is revealed, it becomes very obvious they aren’t a player.
CODE:
How does code work? The ‘code’ is the fabric of the universe, made up of several different code languages which can be learnt by players, and are inherently understood by Watchers & Listeners. The code manifests most often on ‘admin screens’, literal screens that server admins can open. These screens contain a 2D representation of the code, stored in various neat files, from player code to world settings. The player code manifests in 6 or 7 layers, with each layer becoming a progressively more complicated code language. The first few layers are all an admin should ever really need to access, unless something is very deeply wrong with a player.
How do Watcher-vessels See code? As a part of their Watching ability, Watcher-vessels can access a 3D version of the code, known as the ‘codespace’ or ‘codeworld’. This manifests as a sort of overlay on top of the physical world, making the vessel much more involved in the code than an admin. The vessel can edit this code without knowing code language, and sees it in more colours and emotive functions than an admin player would. The codeworld is also how vessels feed, as they must in part eat emotions like Watchers do.
Emotion code? Each player’s ‘level 1′ or ‘surface’ code is changeable, called ‘emotion code’. It can be taken and eaten by Watchers, which can feel invasive or strange to the player. The player may forget their emotion or feel numb for a while after being fed upon, but usually a Watcher or Watcher-vessel will not take enough for this to happen. Technically, Watchers could eat the player’s other code elements, but this would probably kill the player.
PLAYERS:
(NOTE: this is more focussed on Grian than BigB, because I’m currently working on a BigB fic and don’t want to spoil it all! This is your last chance to go read my Grian fic linked at the top of the post to avoid spoilers!!)
Grian: As per my fic, Grian is a Watcher-vessel. He (or the original player) was taken from EvoSMP and Transferred before being placed into Hermitcraft. He knows he is a copy, but this does not bother him until other people have negative reactions about it. He does not know how to be anything other than Grian, and literally cannot be anything else as he was ‘born’ with only player-Grian’s memories. A few times, he struggles to understand his friends’ grief, but eventually he does understand and tries to rebuild friendships with the Evo folks. He also holds a funeral for player-Grian, which is a sort of catalyst for rebuilding his lost friendships. He is unsure about BigB, but knows since double life there is something off about him.
BigB: He is a Listener-vessel, Hollowed around the same time that Grian was Transferred. He is meant to spy on Grian (thus his inclusion in the life games becomes his greatest strength) and potentially kill him. However, he does not want to kill Grian and ends up ghosting the Listeners in favour of being with his friend again. He is not particularly bothered by Grian’s Transfer, though it is sad, he gets over it quite quickly as he has a deeper understanding of what it is like to be remade. Though he believes himself to still be ‘original BigB’. He hides what he is from everyone, worried about what might happen if Grian finds out.
Pearl: She knows something is wrong with Grian when they reunite on Hermitcraft season 8, but she doesn’t fully figure it out until after double life. She is disgusted and angry, believing Watcher-Grian killed player-Grian and is actively lying / manipulating everyone rather than just existing. Instead of his name, she calls Grian ‘Not-Grian’ and ‘the stranger’. She keeps this perspective for a long time, and is the one who tells Jimmy what Grian has become. There is currently no indication that she is getting over it. During session 3 of limited life, BigB tells Pearl what he is, but this does not bother her so much, as BigB explains he was not killed like Grian.
Jimmy: He was told by Pearl what Grian is between session 3 and 4 of limited life. His initial reaction is one of anger and bitterness, referring to Grian as ‘the Watcher’ and ‘it’ in a derogatory sense. He does not care about the philosophical debate around what Watcher-Grian is, rather just asking if the body is still around and if player-Grian could ever come back. Like Pearl, he sees everything Watcher-Grian does as an ‘act’. However, he seems to have a slight change of heart after the funeral, telling Watcher-Grian that they can try to be friends again. Also, the Watchers and Listeners find Jimmy entertaining, and do not plan to Hollow or Transfer him. They just think it is funny when he dies.
Martyn: He figures out what Grian is through guessing, mostly. The Listeners are very interested in him, as he could be very good Watcher-bait, but he is not taken by them after limited life. Once he figured out what Grian is, he felt some kind of solidarity with him, as they both dislike the Watchers and Grian seems happy to try to protect his friends. He is suspicious of BigB, but cannot see that he is a Listener-vessel, yet.
Scott: Likely the player who knows the least, out of everyone here. All he really understands is that Grian saved him from being taken by Watchers after last life. And Grian is strange. He’s mostly just grateful that he’s alive, but at the funeral he definitely expresses support for Watcher-Grian.
Scar: Because of his Vex magic, Scar knew Grian was unusual when they first met, and it didn’t take him long to ask questions. Grian confided in him quite quickly, and it didn’t bother Scar, having not known player-Grian and therefore not having anyone to miss. He learnt more about Watcher-vessels during double-life, where he could feel the emptiness of being a Watcher-vessel. He’s very supportive and understands the concept of being not-quite-a-player.
Mumbo: Despite Mumbo knowing Grian before the Transfer, it doesn’t bother him very much. He took time to grieve when he found out what happened (shortly after Scar) but he treats Watcher-Grian the same as he would player-Grian. If he were actually faced with player-Grian’s death, he would likely break down, which is why he avoids the funeral.
Xisuma: Being a Voidwalker, he actually worshipped Watchers for a lot of his childhood, making the reveal of Grian’s identity a bit strange for him. When he first finds out, he is looking through Grian’s code, and Grian is there with him, so it is a little awkward. But other than calling Grian ‘Watcher’ (mostly out of misplaced respect) and being a little overwhelmed, he manages to deal with the news. Grian’s code baffles him, the 7th layer being something that constantly moves and changes (impossible to read) aside from two lines of dead player code which hold up Grian’s entire existence. Somebody give this man a cup of tea.
Aaaand that’s it! As I say, there are a few bits and pieces I haven’t included because I’m working on a companion fic to my original piece, this time focussing on BigB and how his relationship with Grian develops over time. I hope you guys find this loredump interesting! Feel free to riff on it or ask me questions about it :D
Yknow. I've been re-watching the Evo SMP. And the Mumbo shrine/summoning stuff feels VERY FAMILIAR to a certain summoning platform for a certain Taurtis....
