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This could give another reason to the ban, with Ghost surviving because they’re a void creature. (It’s also possible that Lifeblood, despite its initial benefits, is ultimately harmful in the long run, hence Joni’s demise. Not wanting the power of another Higher Being flowing through his kingdom, the Pale King banned Lifeblood and declared Joni a heretic. He feared that his subjects accepting Lifeblood into their bodies would allow the Abyss Creature to control them (as the Radiance later did with her Infection). However, the Pale King saw the Abyss Creature as a rival of sorts, just like with Unn. Joni, realizing the healing properties of Lifeblood, wanted to spread the word to others and attempted to start a following of sorts worshipping Lifeblood and its source, the Abyss Creature. Just as the Radiance’s influence causes a bug to form infection in their body, Joni accepting the Abyss Creature caused her body to spawn Lifeblood, as well as granting her a kinship to Lifeseeds (note that Infected creatures don’t attack each other). However, this changed when its first ‘host’ chose to accept the Abyss Creature’s essence AKA, Joni. I think that the Abyss Creature’s ‘essence’ initially manifested itself as Lifeblood cocoons across Hallownest. Their ‘lifeblood’ is essentially an infection like the Radiance’s, but benevolent, as it positively affects the host. What this theory is suggesting is that the Abyss Creature is a Higher Being of sorts, on a level similar to the Pale King, Radiance, White Lady, etc. I’m obviously not the first person to think of nor suggest this theory, but hear me out. Just as cocoons of Lifeblood can be found across Hallownest, the Infection can also manifest as separate ‘bubbles’ in the environment, with no clear host that it’s attached to. This, and the fact that the infection also similarly manifests as Lightseeds, as well as the presence of the Abyss Creature in the Lifeblood Core room, as well as in Godhome, leaves me to believe that Lifeblood is in fact the benevolent essence of another Higher Being That is to say, it works on a similar principle as the Radiance and her Infection. And yet despite this obvious benefit, the Pale King apparently outlawed Lifeblood, if Joni’s status as a ‘heretic’ is any indication. Lifeblood has hugely medicinal properties, giving Ghost extra masks to take damage with, essentially acting as a shield of sorts with them. This implies a level of awareness to the Lifeseeds, who are able to recognize Joni’s presence on Ghost. Using (“gotCharm_X”) or (“charmCost_X”) is prefered, as that way other mods can make their changes to the desired values.In Hollow Knight, there’s an Easter Egg where if you equip the Joni’s Blessing charm, the Lifeseeds that spawn from Lifeblood cocoons will actively follow you, instead of running.
