#all. kuno

[agrcn]

closed starter for @kunokye location: tower of olympia note: uwu

The battle had been lost. Aventia had been lost. Agron wasn't going to sit and sulk about that though. There wasn't much he could do about the situation so mulling it over in his head wasn't going to help. He'd already had a few guild members and one specific witch asking if they had done anything wrong. What was he ever supposed to say to that? He probably could have done a lot different himself, but it wasn't going to change the fact that Aventia was lost. Just like Iskaldrik had been. All he knew now was that he needed to make sure the same did not happen to Eterna.

"You survived." He spoke as he came upon Kuno in the Tower. Agron would never admit to it aloud, but he had been concerned that the kid wouldn't be able to survive. He was glad to see that his concern had been misplaced. "I should pat myself on the back."

[agrcn]

Of course he had expected Kuno to apologize. Honestly, he was surprised the bowman hadn't done it more than he had. Agron had expected about twenty apologies back to back and then maybe a tear or no direct eye contact for a half hour. That was how it normally went anyway. He had grown to know quite a lot about Kuno in the time they had known each other. He observed the other quite often because he simply wanted the best for him. It was what the human deserved. Honestly, Agron was happy that it had been him and not the other to get decapitated.

Then again, he was sure it was a traumatizing sight to see. Agron had seen much worse, done much worse, in his time as a strigoi. Kuno had not. Kuno was an innocent bystander, but he still survived. He still made it out and survived. It was more than he could say for himself. Maybe he would ask the other how it happened at some point, but he didn't want to open up a fresh wound so soon. There was a lot they needed to do and Agron was sure that he was not ready right now to get back into training the bowman quite yet.

"No offense taken." He patted the bed next to him for Kuno to sit down. Whether the other did or not was entirely up to him, but Agron started speaking anyway. "I'm fine." What else was he even supposed to say? He wasn't sure anything could really be said about the events that had occurred so he moved on to something else entirely. "Have you continued your training?"

While he didn't like to admit, growing up without parents - without a father - left him feeling lost during times like this. Surely this mixture of pain and regret and disappointment was familiar to those with a family, but that was one of the many things he'd never had. How was he supposed to navigate a conversation he'd never been through before?

Orphans weren't uncommon in Lysara, but they all differed in how their loss had shaped them. Sometimes Kuno wished abandonment had made him heartless and unable to feel, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. It was because he'd been through the worst that he tried to see the best in people. It was because he had nothing that he wanted to give some people the world. And it was always those people that ended up leaving him, or betraying him, or dying. Maybe he was destined to be alone.

He'd been so consumed by his feeling of failure and inadequacy that he hadn't bothered to consider that Agron felt the same. It was hard to imagine the man failing anyone, let alone being worried over it. Kuno had apologized to Agron an immeasurable number of times over the smallest things - messing up a drill, speaking out of turn, putting an arrow through his chest during that strange vision. Now he knew what it felt like to be on the other side of those apologies, knowing they weren't necessary.

He didn't know what to say, so he sat down on the edge of Agron's cot, his hands clenching and unclenching into fists to keep them from shaking any further. The young man stared at the floor for a long moment as he weighed his response. "We made it out. And you being there wouldn't have changed the outcome of the mission, anyway. No offense." Kuno gulped as he looked to Agron finally, his eyes naturally flitting to the scar now wrapped around his neck. "H-how are you feeling?"

[arminthada]

PJ MAHIDOL as BAABIN

GELBOYS (2025) | Episode 2

[fortist166]

Ranma squad! Who is your “best girl”?

[landofanimes]

Ranma 1/2

OVA Ed#1: Ranma to Akane no Ballad (The Ballad of Ranma and Akane)

[cinemaobscura]

The Paradise of Thorns | วิมานหนาม (2024) dir. Boss Naruebet Kuno

[geekgirles]

Okay, but something I love about the recent Takahashi anime remakes is how artists can finally match her original drawings with the technology available and we get glow-ups like these:

[karizipan]

orv dump 5(?)

[duchaisruin]

BREAKING MY SILENCE...

@cielenruine || @crevassier

Miklan shifted around on the barrel, trying to find a spot that could be tolerable to sit. At least enough to get through this. Running a hand through clumps of matted hair, he took a breath in. "Alright. Listen up," Fiddling with his legs, he kicked away some rotting apple peels (Seiros they really needed to clean the place), downing a breath of musty air "I'm Miklan Anschutz—a former member of House Gautier."

"With the newly appointed Emperor exposing the Archbishop and the Church for corruption and the Crest System, I'm going to tell you lot about the real House Gautier that Faerghus doesn't want people knowing about."

Ever since the Empire declared war on the Church, commoners and nobles alike were scrambling to figure out their loyalties. To nobody's shock, Mach flopped over and turned their backs on the Kingdom (that bunch were indecisive fence hoppers from the start). Miklan wasn't fond of Adrestia; but if the spoiled brat turned emperor is able see how Crestless, such as himself, were forced out of their noble houses and kicked to the streets because the Crest system. Hell, if she really was going to uproot the rotten Crest system…

… Well, he wanted to make his stance clear.

"First off, everything you heard about Faerghus about Crests is true. The Kingdom is obsessed with Crests, they don't give a rats ass about talent, or honour, or any of that garbage they love to preach. No, at the end of the day, it's always about those damn Crests."

"A close ally of House Gautier was the late King. The late King's elder brother, Regent Rufus, was overlooked in favour for the King. All because he didn't had a Crest. Regent Rufus is a talented man, I spoke to him personally—an expert in politics, understood what was best for our country, he was more than capable of being king."

"That didn't matter though, because his younger brother had a Crest. Regent Rufus was forced to govern Itha as grand duke, hidden away from Fhirdiad in favour of the late King." Furrowing his brow, he slammed a fist into his knee. Damn the Crested for leaving commoners like him to live in a broken shithole of a country. "King Lamber died in Duscur, leaving the Kingdom in ruin and forcing Regent Rufus to govern a broken country. His future was stolen from him—not just by his brother—but by the Crests. Regent Rufus' case is one of the many noble children of Faerghus who lack Crests."

"The Crested nobles of Faerghus flock together, they steal the futures of Crestless folks, chaining them away without anything to their name. The worst part? Those rotten bunch cover for each other."

"Margrave Gautier, my father…" Blowing out a sigh, Miklan made sure to blink twice as he lowered his shoulders. "When I was born and I didn't manifest the Crest of Gautier, his intention was to replace me as soon as possible. Margrave Gautier acts like he cares about talent and getting the job done, but that man's obsessed with Crests. Don't believe me? The late Margravine was expecting his second child before she died. That was his intention from the start."

His hands twisted the fabric of his pants as familiar rage burned deep through his veins. "When Sylvain, the current heir of Gautier, was born—everyone in house Gautier left me to fend for myself—I had to survive in that nightmare of a house treated less than dirt, while Sylvain was allowed to take everything from me. They didn't just allow him, but he was encouraged to take whatever he wanted because he was born with a Crest."

"I had all of the skills to become Margrave: I could lead our men well in battle, I understood the aims of our enemy. It didn't matter how skilled I was, the position of Margrave is not dictated by skill, but by Crest." Lowering his voice, the brigand dropped his head. "Eventually, I was disowned for being Crestless. I was forced out on the streets, forced to become a brigand and freeze during the winter. All because I didn't had the Crest of Gautier."

"Even though Gautier's stationed a hostile border, the crest bearing fool spends all of his skipping classes, shirking training, just to go chase skirts. Tell me, what kind of Margrave would turn a blind eye when his son is running around trying to bed everyones daughters, and toss em' out like rotting fruit? Margrave Gautier turned his head away when the degenerate was relentlessly pursuing Lord Gwendol's daughter."

Rubbing his eyes with a hand, Miklan huffed. "House Gautier will tell you that I tried murdering their heir, they'll lie and say I left him to freeze to death or stuffed him down a wall. But they're scared in their boots that a Crestless commoner is revealing the truth about their house. That's what Crested nobles do, they spread lies and slander about the Crestless who fight back against their bullshit."

"Emperor Edelgard, if you're watching this—do what you will with this information. I'm staying out of your war."

[enjoyeroflanma]

Forgot how tiny this fucker is.

[agrcn]

closed starter for @kunokye location: tower of olympia note: my son

“Again!” Agron was used to this. He preferred this between Kuno and him. Honestly, he wasn’t sure what it was about the kid, but he felt like he needed to protect him. Which wasn’t something he should have felt, but there weren’t many people he could say gave him that feeling. Maybe that was why he worked the mortal so damn hard all the time. If Agron couldn’t protect him, then what would happen? He’d have to protect himself. Kuno had survived everything that had happened, but everyone could keep improving. His gaze moved up towards the target that he had made for Kuno in the air. “If you miss, I’ll be giving you a sword instead and that’ll be much worse for you.” It seemed the other responded best when there was no emotion behind Agron’s words. Taking it easy on his mentees was not in his nature anyway. No matter how much he wished to protect this one.

[agrcn]

Those were the exact words he preferred to hear. Agron was not the kind of guy that was going to easily mentor someone. If he was going to, they needed to put more than one hundred percent into everything they did. He may not have been proficient in the use of bows and arrows, but he was proficient in fighting. That was what really mattered at the end of the day. Everyone needed to know how to deal with any situation thrown their way. A Bowmaster could outperform a Blademaster and vice versa. The Queensguard would never downplay another party's ability unless they had shown that they were incapable. Right now? Kuno was not even giving one hundred percent and he knew that the kid could do better than that if given the opportunity. However, coddling was not in his nature. The best way to get the other to realize his capabilities was to put it to action.

As soon as Kuno picked up his bow, he was pushing forward to attack. The arrow hit the ground beneath his feet which caused Agron to deftly move sideways before another arrow was shot at his shoulder. Before it could land, he was shifting into a bat and then landing himself behind the other warrior. His blade at Kuno's throat, he shook his head. "You should know your enemy's strengths as well as their weaknesses." He moved backwards, sword still lifted and pointed at the other's back. "You're human, Kuno. Strigoi and dhampir have many abilities that make it easy for us to move across any battlefield. If I attack you headfirst, you adapt and attack where you think I will end up." His other finger lifted to tap against his own temple. "Think like a strigoi and you beat the strigoi. Think like a human and you fail."

Kuno had already spent the past few weeks berating himself, picking out every flaw and convincing himself that was why he was alone. He didn't need yet another voice amplifying his own, as it only felt worse to have his worst insecurities confirmed. So, yes, he was done, but Agron didn't seem the kind to take 'no' for an answer. For better or for worse, Kuno was done when his mentor said he was done. He hung his head in shame as Agron laid into him, not daring to utter a single word until the other was silent. A quiet "Yes, sir." was all he could manage after.

He rose slowly, practically shrinking under the strigoi's gaze as he picked up his bow. Unlike him, it was refined, polished, and made to fight. Kuno didn't quite feel like fighting anymore, but he'd have to push on if he wanted to walk home without bruises. He knew Agron wouldn't hold back. Before the archer could even get into ready position, the older man charged at him, causing Kuno to quickly kite backwards. He reached behind him and grabbed an arrow, gracefully nocking it before pulling back and firing at Agron's feet. He hoped to throw off the strigoi's footing, make him stumble to create more space in between them. Even though his demeanor might not suggest it, his aim was always precise. It was stamina he needed to work on, clearly. He sent another arrow flying at Agron's shoulder, again trying to knock him off balance.

[introvertedpedant]

Stephen Dillane as Glen Foy in Goal (2005) - Set Fourteen

Whenever Santiago needs him (and maybe even when he doesn’t) Glen is there for him.

[recurring-polynya]

i think that if you showed rukia and byakuya some ranma 1/2 they would think the kuno siblings were fine actually

[riotatttherite]

stop I love them sm

[weedle-testaburger]

i love how akane's trying not to scream 'fuck off' at kuno bc same