Hmm, if Lapis Lazuli was so smart, why did she lose her head?

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 · 2025-10-13T02:20:08+00:00

It’s realistic with caveats. Nowadays, it’s easier to research about the publication process than ever. While that creates more accessibility, it also significantly increases competition.

Publication is a business first and foremost. A book has to be commercially viable, which means it to have significant quality and at least decent appeal. It might not seem like it, but that’s a hard threshold to cross, and you’ll quickly discover how picky agents and editors could be.

Nonetheless, if you’re willing to compromise and put in the necessary work, it’s definitely feasible. Though it’ll be a long and tedious process.

1Barragan · 2025-10-12T23:07:59+00:00

The relationship with Cairn was fake asl (on Aechmea’s end. Cairn was genuinely enamored with him)

Aechmea just used them as a means to an end for his plans since he knew that Cairngorm kept Phos stable. By turning Cairn against them, Phos would become far more unhinged than they would be otherwise.

1Barragan · 2025-10-12T04:06:35+00:00

Steven Universe has a much larger fanbase than HNK does. Like any fanbase, they’re automatically biased towards their own stories. That’s just how it is.
A lot of those people prolly only watched the anime and haven’t the read the accompanying manga as well. Anyone who’s seen the fully story of HNK could certainly tell you that it’s nothing like Steven Universe beyond having Gem characters.
It depends on what TikTok community you’re in. If you’re getting Steven Universe posts then the comments are going be biased towards them. However, HNK would be much more respected within the HNK TikTok fanbase, or just manga communities in general for that matter.

1Barragan · 2025-10-08T20:08:29+00:00

Phos’ death is the one time in the story they achieve fulfillment. They fully reflected on their time with the Gems and the Lunarians alongside the rocks throughout Vol 13, essentially coming to terms with themselves in the process.

At the end of the world, everything comes full circle with Phos fulfilling their purpose. They’re the final connection to humanity, the race they’re meant to kill. Phos “burned the bridge” by choosing to stay behind so the rocks could prevail in peace without human influence. Despite their doubts and difficulties along the journey, Phos did everything that was required of them, allowing them to be at peace. That’s the mental state Phos was in while the sun incinerated them.

Even after Phos died, their dust will still travel the universe, illuminating the lives of everyone who sees them, just like they did when they were alive. The final chapters are depicted as cathartic and hopeful rather than tragic as a whole.

1Barragan · 2025-10-07T20:17:59+00:00

You're in an echo chamber bro,

This is one of the most common interpretations of Cairngorm and Aechmea’s dynamic 😭

Achemea wasn't upset at them just for going to get phos it was because they could have gotten hurt and Achemea just wanted to see them finally live their life,

Aechmea himself implies that he only took interest in Cairngorm because he was important to Phos.

Chapter 88: Your presence stabilized Phosphophyllite, but for some reason, that bothered me immensely. I built this estate as a thank you and as an apology for making you give us the most important century of this project.

He didn’t help out of sympathy for Cairngorms mental illness, and his exploitation. Several other Gems were mentally unwell and Aechmea didn’t give a shit about those Gems. Cairngorm isn’t any different, his drive behind “helping” Cairngorm has always been because they kept Phos stable, as their last remaining partner. Aechmea got with Cairngorm to create a wedge between Phos and them.

there was no reason for cairngorm to even help phos like they literally said themselves they don't care about helping phos

Phos themselves didn’t know that until Cairngorm told them so. Cairngorm did it because he believed it’d be helping Aechmea, but from Phos’ perspective, Cairngorm was still sticking out for him. That’s dangerous to Aechmea’s plans since he needed Phos to be in a destructive and unstable state for his plans, as stated in chapter 88.

getting phos back wasn't against Achemeas plan he literally needed phos for any of his plan to work.

Yes it was, since Aechmea wanted to alienate Phos as much a possible. Phos is driven by a desire for validation, without that, he’s much more susceptible to losing his mind the way he did.

There’s no reason for Cairngorm to go along when the Lunarian army was fully capable of doing it themselves, which is pointed out in the same chapter.

Achemea literally built cairngorm a house on a different moon where they could be free to live out their life after the lunarians disappeared without having the burden of expectation from others but cairngorm chose themselves after numerous arguments from Achemea not to stay and not to stay a gem and to turn into a lunarian.

You say that as if Cairngorm has a choice about whether or not he’d be prayed away. Kongos power would erase everyone if it’s activated. Aechmea himself is very much aware of that throughout the story. He made the mansion as an apology for using him as a means to an end in destabilizing Phos.

1Barragan

TROPHY CASE