fox mcloud

It makes me think about disability. It is straight-up called a prosthetic after all, but disability is complex, coming both from physical bodies and how society views them. And while Hornet's Pale heritage may have given her some unique skills, it also meant she lacked many of the traits seemingly shared by all Weavers: six eyes, six limbs, sharp claws, a scuttling gait, and so on. Hornet may have tools to replicate many of these abilities, but is it enough for them?

In the Red Memory, when the Weavers want Hornet to prove herself more Weaver than Wyrm, they ask her to show her weaving. Her acceptance as one of them hinges on whether she can display certain skills, with inability being treated as a signifier that she is Other. This is not unique: many societies in Pharloom and Hallownest are distinguished by their members' physical traits, be they wings, claws, or even a fungal hive mind. One must wonder how they would view those born without such things.

And the Weavers were not the only community Hornet lived within. Hallownest would’ve had its own concepts of normalcy and ability, not to mention Pharloom and its open hostility to any form of disability or sickness. In the Citadel, to be sick or frail or dissonant is a sin that demands repentance.

(And it makes Hornet's weakness at the start of the game quite notable. During her imprisonment, she declined to the point where she couldn't walk uninterrupted, even fainting in the chapel. Even when the bouts of pain stop, she's still far weaker than she was in Hallownest. How long did the pain and fatigue linger?)

But what strikes me is that the scuttlebrace isn't really useful. It doesn’t make Hornet faster or more capable of navigating spaces, and while it can open up some dodging opportunities, it doesn't feel worth the hassle. The ability it gives isn't actually needed, and after hours of learning to play with Hornet's standard moveset, it doesn't feel worth the effort of adjusting to it.