من البحر للنهر! 🇵🇸🍉

(unshaded ver and story info below cut)

ghost and the other vessels were created specifically to contain/combat the influence of a higher being. they also were born of two non-bugs; one a root, the other a wyrm. the vessels are (as far as we know) immortal, and can tank hits that would easily kill a normal bug

hornet, on the other hand, is still partially mortal, and while she did inherit some wyrm traits, she definitely seems to lean to her weaver side more.

im not trying to say that ghost's insane feat of killing the Radiance and ending the infection was easy, or a small accomplishment, but I think the important thing is that hornet is a much more mortal, fragile bug, but she took down Grandmother Silk anyway.

she doesn't have the raw soul or physical strength of the vessels, but she took down Grandmother Silk anyway.

she can't take hits as easily, proven by how she takes double damage from like. everything ( im starting to think thats the normal amt of dmg and the vessels are just built different), but she still refused to leave Pharloom to suffer.

she doesn't have any sort of mastery or even vague control over the void, but she did not hesitate to throw herself in to save Lace.

she's half-weaver, but she handily took out the higher being responsible for the creation of weavers to begin with.

it's not that she's achieved more than ghost in any way, or that her accomplishments are any more important, but its her mentality the really gets me

ghost showed up, saw the infection and what the Radiance was doing and went "welp. time to go kill a bitch."

hornet got kidnapped, saw how utterly fucked Pharloom was, had the same thought process, but then when people were like "hey red maiden, you've helped us a lot but you shouldn't risk fighting a higher being, despite your wyrm heritage" and she hit them with the "fuck you I do what I want"

theres also smt to be said of hornet helping ghost save hallownest, but still feeling like she didn't do enough, right?

so then when she sees another kingdom in a similar situation, she kinda gets a bit savior-complex-y and is like "apocalypse 2.0 but I can actually help this time"

Hornet is a terrifying hybrid abomination in her own right, & imho silksong reveals her to be a much higher power level than what you might've thought from the 1st game. I actually think she's actually pretty much GMS' equal - the question was never IF she can beat her, but at what cost.

She's basically Chuck Norris; Ghost just happens to be Superman. Not being as tough as superman doesn't mean you're not still extremly tough.

One of the ways you avoid spectacle creep or mary sues/ boring invincible heroes is to have the characters all have their own niches & different roles/functions - they can't all be the strongest because that would get really cheap/boring really fast.

You don't want your characters to be dots on a line, but incomparables, apples & oranges.

She probably would win out in a few categories like agility & smarts (not that Ghost is dumb; They're noted as inquisite & a quick learner as well, but Hornet is The Smart One in the same way they're The Strong One)

To begin with, they're supposed to feel different to play as - so Ghost is a tank with a more simple moveset, whereas Hornet is an agile speedster / mobility/utility build, & the mechanics are set up to encourage you to play accordingly. - eg you take more damage cause you're supposed to dodge. (but 2 damage doesn't come with a big dramatic explosion) Basically in D&D terms they'd be a fighter and she's a ranger. You're supposed to have a different experience playing as each of them because it's more interesting that way/ it would be boing if they were too samey.

ive been playing industrial quantities of hollow knight heres some funny sibling insect designs bc I LOVE BUGS!!! I LOVE EXOSKELETONS

I just finished Silksong

Ghost rocking a new outfit.