Skittering Hollow (Bleach/Worm)

[SoldMars]

[X][Lights] Full Trust

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[Shadowoflight]

[X][Lights] Full Trust

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[Knightlight]

[X][Lights] Full Trust

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[Argentis]

[X][Lights] Trust.

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[CrimsonFate]

[X][Lights] Trust.
[X][Q&A] Continue.

 

[zarabg]

[X][Lights] Full Trust
[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal? ​

 

[Zakara]

[X][Lights] Trust.
[X][Q&A] Continue.

 

[abyssmal_kismet]

[X][Lights] Trust.

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[Its_a_cauldron_plot!]

[X][Lights] Full Trust

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[CrimsonFate]

I don't know if this too late ask but who is Anansi and what would've happen if Weaver accepted his offer?

 

[mattsaber]

[X][Lights] Full Trust

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[Zakara]

I don't know if this too late ask but who is Anansi and what would've happen if Weaver accepted his offer?

Click to shrink...

Anansi was a spider-based Hollow named after the African Trickster God of Storytelling, Anansi the Spider. He works as the Forest of Menos' local information broker, and offered us a sip from his Pot of Knowledge in exchange for adding our experiences and knowledge to the Pot, or at least that's what I gathered from his wording. We would have gotten more in-depth knowledge beyond the Beginner's Guide to Hollowing that he gave us for free, but he would have gotten a glimpse at a few things we might not want him knowing, and we had no way of confirming just how truthful he was being about his Pot.

We were still low level and not particularly enthused about taking him for his word on what the Pot would do, so we hightailed it away from him before he could get a word in edgewise. Last I remember he was still an option to visit, and Aizen specifies him as "that old fool" in his interlude, so it might not be a terrible idea to check back with him at some point. He didn't immediately try to eat us, which brackets him above 99% of Hueco Mundo as far as I'm aware. We don't even have to take his offer, just talk.

 

[Planeshunter]

I don't know if this too late ask but who is Anansi and what would've happen if Weaver accepted his offer?

Click to shrink...

More than being too late, it's actually too soon. Since he's still around and might become relevant again, I'll avoid spoiling anything and leave you guys to speculate about him.

 

[CrimsonFate]

Anansi was a spider-based Hollow named after the African Trickster God of Storytelling, Anansi the Spider. He works as the Forest of Menos' local information broker, and offered us a sip from his Pot of Knowledge in exchange for adding our experiences and knowledge to the Pot, or at least that's what I gathered from his wording. We would have gotten more in-depth knowledge beyond the Beginner's Guide to Hollowing that he gave us for free, but he would have gotten a glimpse at a few things we might not want him knowing, and we had no way of confirming just how truthful he was being about his Pot.

We were still low level and not particularly enthused about taking him for his word on what the Pot would do, so we hightailed it away from him before he could get a word in edgewise. Last I remember he was still an option to visit, and Aizen specifies him as "that old fool" in his interlude, so it might not be a terrible idea to check back with him at some point. He didn't immediately try to eat us, which brackets him above 99% of Hueco Mundo as far as I'm aware. We don't even have to take his offer, just talk.

Click to shrink...

I see then it was good thing Weaver didn't accept his offer not for the fact that it was shifty as hell but the fact that Anansi is a spider-based hollow. Since spiders are top predators in the insect world and his name is inspired by a trickster god as well.

 

[[Quixotic_being]]

[X][Lights] Full Trust

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[Naddakka741]

[X][Lights] Full Trust

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[Demetric]

[X][Lights] Full Trust

[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

 

[scionofrevan]

[X][Lights] Trust.
[X][Q&A] Continue.

 

[Ratatoskr]

[X][Lights] Trust.
[X][Q&A] Continue.
​

 

[CatOnFire]

Full trust is promising and all but Moon-chan herself tried to warn us away from it, plus it might interfere in our growth which would eresult in causing thier rebirth any ways. Plus if it becomes a skill we might learn to pull souls out of ourselves on our own.

 

[Planeshunter]

Alright ladies and gents, votes are now closed!

And this time's winner is...

[X][Lights] Full Trust
[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

Don't have the Tally program with me, but Full Trust won over Trust by 18 to 7 votes and no other option was considered. Everyone seems to want more answer too.

Wow, you apparently trust the Hollow Moon a lot. I mean, sure, there are good reasons for it, but I tried to make the choice hard, so was expecting some more disagreement. I've seen the discussion, at least some of you have unsettling suspicions about her nature. That's without mentioning her physical appearance.

Anyway I'm not trying to influence the votes here, just a bit surprised with the results.

Glad everyone wants more Moon Consultation Room tho, was worried all the exposition would be a bit unappealing.

 

[hillo315]

Well, this quest looks interesting. Sign me up.

Man I gotta play Hollow Night already, The Radiance looked cool AF

Click to shrink...

On a definitely unrelated note, I assume you have ideas for our Vasto form?

I'm not trying to influence the votes here,

Click to shrink...

Well, you did close votes, so that's sort of a given.

 

[Zakara]

Alright ladies and gents, votes are now closed!

And this time's winner is...

[X][Lights] Full Trust
[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

Don't have the Tally program with me, but Full Trust won over Trust by 18 to 7 votes and no other option was considered. Everyone seems to want more answer too.

Wow, you apparently trust the Hollow Moon a lot. I mean, sure, there are good reasons for it, but I tried to make the choice hard, so was expecting some more disagreement. I've seen the discussion, at least some of you have unsettling suspicions about her nature. That's without mentioning her physical appearance.

Anyway I'm not trying to influence the votes here, just a bit surprised with the results.

Glad everyone wants more Moon Consultation Room tho, was worried all the exposition would be a bit unappealing.

Click to shrink...

I voted for just Trust myself, but I can see where they're coming from. Hueco Luna has had plenty of opportunities to do us wrong and has been a rather awesome benefactor. She helped us out during the Gillian Arc and totally saved our bacon from the Nightgaunt's parting gift. And while she did override our wishes during the Sun/Moon Conflict, she seems to have only done it out of concern for Weaver's well-being. Plus, I'm getting the feeling that both Luna and Weaver are, at the moment, cripplingly lonely. The more Lights we expel, the more friends we have. Plus, Full Trust seems to be the decision to go for broke and broach the topic of the "other way" Luna mentioned that would let us help the Lights Right Now. Not a decision to go through with it exactly, but more like "Hey, you mentioned that 'other way' right? Some exposition?".

 

[CrimsonFate]

If anything Weaver should just have Moon Lady those two souls that she failed to save earlier and leave the rest for Weaver to save on her own power. Mainly so that Weaver can have a goal to work towards besides growing stronger in power.

Either way, the ways that things are going now is that Weaver is going to become a proud parent of four souls and that Moon Lady might become the father figure to this strange family dynamic. And that said four souls would have another set of parents when they get reborn like an Isekai novel. Most of all Weaver can excuses to mess with her soon to be grandchildren.

 

[CatOnFire]

Glad everyone wants more Moon Consultation Room tho, was worried all the exposition would be a bit unappealing.

Click to shrink...

Well the better informed Taylor is the more option we have to react to challenges in the story. Let's say we encounter a Dragon, well if we learn about it from Moon-chan we now have more options in how to deal with it rather than how it tastes.

 

[Planeshunter]

On a definitely unrelated note, I assume you have ideas for our Vasto form?

Click to shrink...

There might be a couple of sketches around with potential forms. Nothing set on stone yet though, becaue one never knows when the questers are going to throw one a curveball and screw the plans over.

Well the better informed Taylor is the more option we have to react to challenges in the story. Let's say we encounter a Dragon, well if we learn about it from Moon-chan we now have more options in how to deal with it rather than how it tastes.

Click to shrink...

Yesh, well... I should probably say it now, there are currently no plans to use BURN THE WITCH and it's expanded lore for this story. That might change later on, but don't count on it. If I understood everything right, it doesn't really affect the world outside the UK, anyway.

On the other hand, if you play your cards right, you won't need to be told about it now...

EDIT: Is it me or the "Hammerback" dragon from BTW is actually an Uragaan from Monster Hunter?

 

[Planeshunter]

[X][Lights] Full Trust
[X][Q&A] Continue.
-[X][Ask] Human World
-[X][Ask] Why Me
-[X][Ask] That Thing.
-[X] Something about your situation seems suspiciously familiar did I encounter something like you when I was mortal?

Spoiler: A/N

Sorry if this update isn't up to snuff. I've been dreadfully busy this week.

---

Okay, things got a bit dangerous there, let's try lighter questions. Like… What can you tell me about the Human World? You know, how to go back, what might surprise me… the works.

The first thing to know is that you should take anything you remember about the human world with a grain of salt. This isn't the same human world you originally came from. The technology level and civilization is similar but certain… important events never took place here, or did so in completely different circumstances.

Like alternate Earths? I remember that being a thing.

Alternate Earths, yes, but not like anything you can remember. The multiverse is a big and scary thing, full of possibilities. Realities group up in clusters, and it's only within your cluster that your people learned how to move. We're no longer there, we're not even close to there.

Very few can move freely through the multiverse as a whole, through the Garganta has the potential to do it. That might be how you arrived here, but I digress.

Yeah, because shedding some light about how I ended up in an entirely different branch of the multiverse isn't actually relevant.

Don't you get snippy on me, young lady. I can only speculate about that, and that helps no one. Better to focus on what we do know.

… Now I feel like a chastised child. Which I guess I kinda am, aren't I? Sorry Miss, please continue.

This Earth is pretty much at peace, compared with what you're used to. Be careful with how you react or you'll easily blow things out of proportion.

Don't kill people just because they're a threat, got it.

… Damn that one will be hard to keep in mind.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean the place is safe. There are certain plots with far-reaching consequences centered on that town you recently visited. Those plots are actually the reason you ended up there.

They're after me?

It's more that you were in the wrong place at the wrong time. The actions that brought you to the Human World were supposed to be indiscriminate.

Yeah… there was a lot of cannon fodder around. I guess 'indiscriminate' is a good word for it.

That said, if you were to resurface now that you've revealed yourself as a dashing knight in shining armor, I very much doubt they'll ignore you.

… Peachy, just peachy.

No good deed goes unpunished...

Is that why you chose me?

Oh? I didn't choose you, little godkiller. You chose me.

I don't understand.

Many Hollow turn to the comfort of my light. But all of them, without exception, do it unthinkingly. Even for the smartest of Vasto Lordes, gazing at the Hollow Moon is an instinct carried over from the time they were tiny Hollow, something they view as natural and don't think too deeply about.

You? From the first time you gazed upwards, your eyes were inquisitive, full of questions. I gifted you my light, like I do to all Hollow, but you didn't accept me on instinct like all the others do. You decided, you chose. After reflecting on my nature, you welcomed it within.

There's no, 'how long since' question to ask here, little godkiller. What you did had never happened before. You are one of a kind.

O… Okay. I'm not blushing. I'm a cool big girl and it takes more than a divine lady of warm smile and perfect breasts praising my very existence to make me blush. When I check her expression, she's just placidly smiling. No wait, that's a hint of smugness. Ugh… stupid mind-reading beauties.

A— Anyway! Next question! Something radically different so I can keep my face from overheating!

What was… that thing -and man, just thinking about it makes my soul shudder- I met on my way here?

The Hollow Moon's smile loses her smugness, turning into a sad, resigned thing. After a small pause her lips part to form incomprehensible sounds in a language I've never heard before. Sounds that hurt my soul as they reach me, and whose meaning I can somehow divine in spite of everything

Ṫ̶̩͕h̸͙̯͌̃å̶̭͗ť̶ͅ ̶̘̚í̷̧͚̕s̵͚̲̄͊ ̸̩̱̆͋n̸̮̍o̶̗͂̇t̸͉͊͠ ̸̺̯̾̓d̶̖̖̒͋ḛ̸̲͆a̵͖͖͐d̸̫̾ ̸̡̜̋͛w̶̗̗͗h̵͚̬́̂i̴͖̎̾c̵̜̓̏h̷̞̹̄́ ̷̳͛̓ċ̴̬a̴̼̺̒n̵͙̗͠ ̸͖̅e̶̢̋́t̴̪̄ͅe̵͇̥͐ŕ̷̰͂n̶̮͝a̶͇̅͜l̸̻̈ ̷̭͌͜ļ̶͔̅i̵͉̤̾e̴̩͓̿̎.̸̡̮̑ ̴̢̡̒͋Ā̸̬n̵̫̉́d̷̙̊ ̴̳͘ͅw̶̖̯̃̀i̵̬͐t̶͙̜̑h̵̻͒ͅ ̵̫̈s̵̭̈̉t̴̘͆r̷̹͌͗å̸̜n̷̥͋̕g̴̣͋̚è̶͎̩ ̶̫͍̚a̷͈͍̍e̷̼͝͠o̶̫͒̕n̸̼͙̄̑s̸̭͊ ̸͓̰̆e̷͍̾̉v̵͎̇̓ȅ̷̥̬̕n̵͎̂̚ ̸̥̐̿d̵̠́̎e̶͛͜a̷̢̎t̷̪̆̌h̵̖͓͛ ̵̘̠̎m̵̲̋̐ą̶́ỳ̶̾͜ ̴̺͈̑͌d̷̝̞̆i̶͉̘͗̌e̸͝͠ͅ.̷͖̼͋

---

You're hemorrhaging existence! You— Not this time.

---

Her expression is still sad, but she at least goes back to speaking something else than mind-bending gibberish.

There are things out there you're not equipped to comprehend, knowledge that hurts merely by being known. You would do well to avoid those who move through more dimensions you can understand, little godkiller. Even at the peak of my power I'd hesitate to antagonise the weakest of them.

Nightgaunts like the one you met aren't intrinsically malicious, but it's not in their nature to understand the frailty of others either. And you know what it did to you, simply peeking at the place it came from. Live and let live, and do your best to remain ignorant of their world. As long as you don't attract the attention of some scheming god, it shouldn't be very hard.

Yeah, avoiding the abominations against known reality living beyond comprehension with all my might. Somehow, with my luck, that won't be enough, but hey! One can dream...

One last question… I got a distinct feeling meeting you should jog some memories. Any chance I used to know about you or yours?

You can be irritatingly sharp sometimes, little godkiller, did you know that? Then she lets out a long, drawn sigh. I had hoped to postpone this particular conversation. Truth is… I can't tell you, not until you remember for real. It just wouldn't be fair. One day you'll recover yourself and, when you do, it won't take long to realize what I am in turn. At that time, I only ask you to remember what others assumed of you just by your species. If you can be more than your labels, others can too.

Yesh… heavy much?

Wait you never told me how to go back to the Human World!

Oh, that's easy. Just use your Kumon to open a gate there. You'll need some familiarity with the place you're trying to travel to, but you've already been there.

---

New answers bring new thoughts. How do you feel about being in a completely different world, maybe without a way to go back to your native Earth?

It can go hang. Old Taylor wasn't happy. Scratch that, she was plain miserable. Whatever hellhole she came from you don't want to have anything to do with.
Visit sometime? It's still the place you came from, and you're pretty sure you left friends and family behind. So yeah, not a priority but you'd like to find a way to go back and visit, at some point.
Origins are important. You'll work in a way to get back, even if just to see the place. Origins are important.
No place like Home. No matter how much you feel you belong to Hueco Mundo now. You need to get back home, even if that involves a jump through the multiverse you're not sure how to even begin to work at. The sooner you get at it, the sooner you'll manage.

[X][Earth Beth] Can go hang.
[X][Earth Beth] Visit sometime?
[X][Earth Beth] Origins are important.
[X][Earth Beth] No place like home.

---

The Hollow Moon choice of words about choosing and being chosen can be taken in more than one way.

At face value. She felt lonely after millenia stranded here. Anyone who's not a jerk would've probably managed the same in your place.
There's more. She's being subtle and hinting at things. You wish you were more sharp with social interactions, that way you wouldn't have to wonder about it.

[X][Why Me] Face value.
[X][Why Me] There's more.

---

As frustrating as it feels, it really sounds like the best counter for that thing is to bury your head in the sand and try to forget it exists. About that…

Resignation. Some things are not made for your mind to understand, remaining blissfully unaware might be your only defense until you're like… a gazillion times stronger. Maybe you can buy brain bleach somewhere and forget the entire encounter?
Cautious Approach. Okay, forgetting everything doesn't sit well with you, even if you trust the Hollow Moon's judgement. You won't be looking for trouble, but if the chance to learn more about strange non-euclidian entities appears, you'll do your best to become informed.
Screw Caution. No, you can't just accept that. Ask for more information from the Hollow Moon. If she still refuses, investigate by yourself.

[X][Thing] Resignation.
[X][Thing] Cautious Approach.
[X][Thing] Screw Caution.

---

The Hollow Moon has as good as admitted you'd met her or something like her before, but refuses to talk about it until you remember by yourself. About that…

Sketchy. That sounds suspicious as heck. You're not going to start accusing the lovely lady of anything just yet, but there's a part of you that can't help but feel paranoid. You won't be able to completely relax around her until you recover your memories and figure out what this is about.
Not worth fighting. You're not happy about it, but you figure out she has good reasons. It's not like it'll remain a mystery forever.
Nice of her. So she doesn't want to influence your opinion while you can't remember whatever it is you can remember. It's kinda sweet, actually.

[X][Identity] Sketchy.
[X][Identity] Not worth fighting.
[X][Identity] Nice of her.

---

Six questions have been asked, but you can still keep going. About the Consultation you…

Continue. You'll ask more questions.
Stop. You're satisfied for now, it's time to act on what you've learnt

[X][Q&A] Continue.
[X][Q&A] Stop.

 

[mariuswinter]

[X][Earth Beth] Visit sometime?
[X][Why Me] There's more.
[X][Thing] Cautious Approach.
[X][Identity] Not worth fighting.
[X][Q&A] Continue.

 

[goricnac]

[X][Earth Beth] Visit sometime?
[X][Why Me] Face value.
[X][Thing] Resignation.
[X][Identity] Nice of her.
[X][Q&A] Stop.

 

[Jubjub3000]

[X][Earth Beth] Visit sometime? (if we control the time we arrive can we try and arrive at the bank robbery? Or in the alley on the first night out with lung?)
[X][Why Me] There's more.
[X][Thing] Cautious Approach.
[X][Identity] Not worth fighting.
[X][Q&A] Stop.