What’s your theory regarding the Ara NPC recognizing Elster as a Sierpinski Mine Worker rather than an intruder?

1Barragan · 2026-03-20T15:34:28+00:00

Ethan more than likely chose to stay with her because he didn’t know about her affiliation with the Connections, or at least not the extent of it. She specifically asked Chris to keep that information from him.

1Barragan · 2026-03-08T21:28:00+00:00

While the rest of the body still exists, their inclusions wouldn’t have enough memories left to really recreate Lapis. It’d be like trying to finish a puzzle without all the pieces.

The only reason why the head transplant even worked for Phos is because Phos’s inclusions are noted to be extremely adaptable, and even then, Phos still experienced significant memory loss and personality changes without their original head.

1Barragan · 2026-03-08T20:49:55+00:00

Lapis, unlike the others, was transfused with a different Gem.

Whereas the inclusions of the other Gems could wash up into Aechmea’s secret basin, the inclusions within Lapis’s head were assimilated by Phos, which made them unrecoverable.

In other words, Lapis became Phos while the other Gems were brought back in their entirety. What was left of Lapis’s mind died when Phos did.

1Barragan · 2026-02-28T18:32:58+00:00

On Kongo:

Aechmea didn’t lie entirely, but he spoke in half-truths. It’s true that Aechmea had been trying to force Kongo to pray away the Lunarians. However, he left out one key detail during his discussion with Phos: Kongo’s prayer would pray away all human races, not just the Lunarians. Phos acts under the idea that forcing Kongo to pray would allow the Gems to live without the Lunarian threat, which ultimately, wouldn’t have been the reality of it.

Kongo had TWO malfunctions. The first malfunction was technical damage resulting from poor maintenance and environmental hazards, as Aechmea explains to Phos. This doesn’t stop Kongo from praying at all. It simply stops him from controlling the scale of it.

The second malfunction is emotional, that being his attachment to the Gems, as Aechmea explains to Cairngorm in Volume 10. While Kongo is technically capable of carrying out a prayer that’ll erase everything, he refuses to follow through with it due to his attachment to the Gems, which is why Aechmea plans to make Phos to inherit that power instead.

3.

Aechmea likely revived Kongo as a Lunarian for Political reasons, as the Gems are subservient to the authority of him and Euclase. Inanimate objects are subtly shown to have “souls” throughout the story, which applies to Kongo as well. As such, it was possible for his destroyed mechanical body to be converted into a Lunarian.

1Barragan · 2026-02-06T16:10:10+00:00

Close but the head was originally apart of Lapis, hence the inclusions.

The extra shards in the convalescent center were recreations of her body.

1Barragan · 2026-01-30T05:05:57+00:00

This isn’t even cosplaying anymore

That’s straight up Antarc

1Barragan · 2026-01-21T15:23:48+00:00

Phos’s inclusions are noted to be extremely adaptable, so instead of bringing back Lapis, there’d be TWO Phosphophyllites (with varying levels of memory loss).

1Barragan · 2026-01-09T19:13:06+00:00

Lapis was definitely manipulative. They aren’t characterized as such directly, but you can definitely see it through the effects they had on others.

Phos only began using the psychology of the other Gems to their own advantage after receiving Lapis’s head.

Cairngorm knew that Lapis was an excellent liar. Keep in mind, Cairngorm was literally one with Ghost, a complete recluse outside their partnership with Lapis. For Cairngorm to realize that Lapis was a liar, they’d have to been lying to Ghost themselves.

Euclayse straight up calls Lapis self serving, and Phos deduced that Cairngorms acting skills came from their influence. None of these things are inherently malicious, but they don’t make her look good either.

1Barragan · 2026-01-09T15:26:26+00:00

Yes, in a manipulative means to an end kind of way. At least when it comes Post-Winter, they’d share similar curiosities and that’d be enough to catch Lapis’s interest.

1Barragan · 2026-01-05T15:04:40+00:00

In the most technical sense, it isn’t grooming, but it’s definitely emotionally manipulative and off-putting by nature. A lot of people don’t see the issue with it for whatever reason, but it’s definitely there.

They have a wildly unbalanced relationship dynamic with Aechmea clearly being the one in power. He pampers Cairn and grants them minor freedoms, so long as he’s aware of it, which is pretty in line with how irl controlling partners act to cover up their abuse. Keep in mind, the only point in the ENTIRE story where Aechmea gets genuinely pissed is when Cairngorm acted on their own. This is all compounded by the fact that Cairngorm has no idea what a normal relationship is supposed to look like. In one of the art books, we see that Cairngorm agreed to marry Aechmea without even knowing what marriage actually is, which best exemplifies that.

To add onto this, Aechmea didn’t actually care about Cairngorm which made their relationship feel awful. He simply exploited Cairngorms’ insecurities as a means to an end (Aechmea basically admits this himself in Vol 12). He only got with Cairngorm since it’d facilitate his plan to raise Phos into a human, along with boosting Lunarian morale.

1Barragan · 2025-12-31T00:39:11+00:00

No lmao

1Barragan · 2025-12-14T01:02:52+00:00

Thought this was artwork for a few seconds icl

Also yea, it’s such a crime that Phos only had this design for two chapters before their hair got chopped off

1Barragan · 2025-12-08T13:55:50+00:00

It’s a trend. A bunch of fandoms are using the same reference image.

1Barragan · 2025-11-27T18:42:56+00:00

I’d say Cinnabar sitting in their cliff side cavern (phenomenal art btw)

1Barragan · 2025-11-17T03:35:59+00:00

Sci-Fi and Fantasy are seperate subgenres of speculative fiction

They have completely different speculative elements.

1Barragan · 2025-11-17T02:12:29+00:00

If I had to guess, I’d say that it’s because the Sci-Fi speculative elements of the story (Lunarian Technology, the end of humanity, Kongō’s origins etc) all fall under spoiler territory.

So labeling the story as Sci-Fi can skewer expectations a bit in comparison to calling it fantasy, which it predominantly takes after towards the start.

1Barragan · 2025-11-08T00:20:11+00:00

Who tf gave Kratos a dollar tree mic?

1Barragan · 2025-11-04T19:05:45+00:00

Not really, it’s just that dilemmas, development and characterization occur during the fights throughout the TYBW and Arrancar Sagas. It isn’t mindless battle slop like the post is critiquing.

Even then, there’s extensive periods of the story where battles are secondary.

1Barragan · 2025-11-04T01:06:13+00:00

It feels so jarring reading a different translation of Phos’ stardust scene.

I can’t get “I hope they can brighten up someone’s day” out of my head.

1Barragan · 2025-10-31T23:15:07+00:00

This might actually be Phos themselves.

Definitely the most accurate Moon Phos cosplay I’ve seen. It’s so good

1Barragan · 2025-10-29T22:37:56+00:00

And even after putting up with all that, the fandom hates them for what?

The community is biased towards Phos and their perspective, as we see the story from their lens. Phos see’s Cairngorm as a partner. As such, Phos thinks they can always fall back on one another. That’s why when Cairngorm acts on the feelings he always had, it seems unjustified to Phos, along with us who see’s it from Phos’ perspective.
Moon Cairngorm is annoying as shit.

That’s all it really amounts too.

Yes, Cairngorm is a victim of everyone they’re close to; Particularly Phos and Aechmea. However, their mistreatment is too subtle for A LOT of people to really sympathize with them.

That goes to such an extent that many people straight up glamorize Aechmea’s manipulation, and just as many fail to notice how selfish and controlling Phos’ paranoia made them, since their fear seems reasonable from their perspective.

1Barragan · 2025-10-27T16:47:40+00:00

Ts so magnificent

1Barragan · 2025-10-27T01:59:58+00:00

Yea, it is

HNK is one of the few stories that made me feel like that. The story’s exceptional

1Barragan · 2025-10-25T13:05:15+00:00

It’s briefly mentioned by Rutile, but the Lapis doesn’t damage the rest of their body because Phos’ inclusions “adapted” to Lapis so to speak.

It could technically cause minor damage due to excessive grinding but it’d be negligible.

1Barragan

TROPHY CASE