#PLS CODDLE ME KAZE

[opendoorlorien]

Two questions. One Kaze related, one not. Non Kaze first: How do you feel about Jakob. I know he's a jerk but i love him and i'm curious to hear what you think of him. Kaze related: How do you feel about Kaze and Rinkah?

TIME FOR A LONG POST

1. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with Jakob. Like a few other characters, he’s kind of a character that I kind of like AS a character, but personality wise I could totally take or leave him lol. Like whether I like him or not depends entirely on my mood. But if you ever see me hating on him don’t take me too seriously because I dont actually really hate him.

Most people, of course, are bothered by him being kind of an asshole to a lot of the cast. I can understand why this bothers people and it is a legit reason to dislike him, but it actually doesn’t bother me that much because I know where he’s coming from and exactly why he acts this way. I’m not sure if the majority of people really understand this entirely but as we know Jakob has basically been abused his entire life. His parents were cold and loveless to each other and to him, and then they dumped him on the castle doorstep where he was taken in as a servant, but he SUCKED MAJORLY so he was then abused verbally and physically by the rest of the staff. When you keep all this in mind, Corrin was most probably the first person who ever showed him genuine kindness and gentleness. Which to him, rose Corrin to a level of a god in his mind. So because of all of his bad experiences with other people, I believe Jakob’s poor attitude and him being rude, cold and sometimes mean to others is actually a defense mechanism. Since he’s run into so many shitty people his entire life, I think he believes most people are no good. Like aside from Corrin who is an extraordinary exception, he has no reason to believe most other people wont be harsh and cruel to him like they’ve always been his entire life. So he pushes away most other people with a cold, cruel and harsh attitude of his own. He mistrusts people by default.

So when you look at it like that, his attitude kind of understandable, and for me it makes his attitude more tolerable. He’s kinda like a puppy dog that adores their master but barks at literally everyoen else. It’s kinda cute tbh. I also enjoy the supports where he’s nice to people like Hinoka’s and Azura’s (and I ship him with them tbh LOL. You know he faints in Azura’s S rank right I die). And at least Jakob is like upfront about his assholery and not weirdly selective about it like Silas is in his supports with Azura and Hana.

Also quickly unit wise– unfortunately I never end up using Jakob that much. He’s basically obsolete from the get go in Birthright since you start with Sakura and get Azama only a few chapters later (and the ninjas fill the dagger role better than he does too unfortunately). I find I got the best mileage out of Jakob in Conquest where he usually sticks around as a mainstay in my party until chapter 13 at least and is a pretty good asset in the earlier chapters like the Ice Tribe one. But unfortunately again when I end up getting better units further down the road in Conquest, one way or another Jakob just always ends up dropping off to the bench. I feel a bit bad about it but that’s how things end up going.

Also really quickly I guess I should talk about Jakob and Kaze. Yall may have noticed they’re actually kind of similar characters, and not really only with their devotion toward Corrin. I generally feel like Jakob is an meaner, fancier version of Kaze, it’s like he’s the negative Kaze lol. Personally I find Kaze more interesting than Jakob because all of Jakob’s development as a character happened BEFORE the game started so it happened OFF screen. We don’t get to see it, and are just told that it happened. This isn’t bad story telling in itself but for me it makes it difficult to immerse myself or emotionally invest in it. I find Kaze easier to latch on to because we get to SEE his development happen in his A rank with Corrin and a bit in BR ch 15. I do like Jakob to some effect tho. He’s an ok dude.

2. I guess you could say that I could rank every non Kaze/Corrin support on a kind of vague spectrum. And if we’re doing that, I would honestly put Kaze/Rinkah on the higher side of it. I kinda like these two together, but I don’t think that they could really work out well romantically, but more on that later.

First of all I do think they have a cute and funny support. Kaze is totally unbothered by Rinkah’s fire, and totally brushes off all her snippy tsundere rage at every turn. He can definitely see right through her and knows it’d probably be better for her to just indulge in eating sweets every now and again instead of denying it. I actually kind of like these two in a buddy buddy way I think. This is probably because they’re in a lot of chapters together. Like they both fight you in chapter 2, and then both rejoin you later in chapter 4. And in Conquest theyre together in chapter 12 or whatever. Even though they dont really interact in these later chapters, and just kinda show up, simply the fact that they show up together so frequently is enough for some people to try to tie them together in some sense. And it makes me see them as some level of natural good friends.

Okay now romantically (and this is really opinion and perspective based so bare with me) PERSONALLY, ROMANTICALLY, I don’t think they’d really work out that well. WHY? Okay well for Kaze we know that he is the type of person who likes taking care of others and improving their QoL. He does it in basically 97% of his supports, and he does it in Rinkah’s too. Kaze is a retainer and a servant and he’s been raised to serve his entire life. It’s not only his kind of duty and responsibility to take care of other people, but I honestly think he just generally likes doing it (I could go deep into a character analysis about this but that’s for another time I think LOL).

So romantically, this aspect of Kaze wouldn’t change. I think he would want to coddle and take care of his partner and just indulge them and make sure they would WANT FOR NOTHING. This is why I think he’s naturally attracted to girls like Sakura (like, I think Sakura is his “type” since he says he’s been crushing on her for a long time in their S rank) because Sakura, while she is strong and capable in her own way yes, also needs to be taken care of to some extent because of her anxiety issues and shyness ect. And she could definitely benefit a lot from Kaze’s loving and supportive nature. She’s someone who needs a good solid support to help her along and go through stressful things with her. Kaze is perfect in that role for Sakura.

But for Rinkah? Not so much. Rinkah doesn’t want to be coddled. I mean, YEAH, she indulges in the sweets that Kaze gives her throughout their support, but I don’t think she’s the type of person who wants to be babied and indulged too much. Like Kaze gives a specific kind of affection and I don’t think she’s the type of person, with her personality, to fully appreciate that kind of love that he wants to give.I mean, it’s even kind of heavily implied in their S rank with this line.

[[Kaze: You look disappointed. Perhaps you were craving more sweets?Rinkah: Ugh…Kaze: I suspected as much. Well then, our discussion can wait. First we must find you some treats.Rinkah: No, that’s OK. You’re not responsible for my stomach, you know.Kaze: Yes, but I like making sure you are content. If I could have it my way, you’d never suffer from anything ever again.Rinkah: That’s a little…weird. I can take care of myself, Kaze.Kaze: I know, but I’m afraid I can’t help it… I’m in love with you.]]

Rinkah is assertive and strong and dominant. She is fire. That’s one aspect of her personality that I don’t think will ever change. I’m not saying they would have a bad or unhappy relationship, (they’d probably find a balance eventually and fall into a kind of natural rhythm). But because of her natural personality she wouldn’t be able to fully appreciate the kind of love Kaze wants to give, imo. Like, his words to her up there are lost on her. BUT, like I said, that’s just my two cents on the entire thing.

Because of that, while I do like them together, and they are on the the higher side of the “Kaze supports spectrum” Rinkah wouldn’t be my first choice to S rank him to you know. I kind of like Rinkah with people like Ryoma who help her try to tone down and settle her anger, but is also on a similar level with her personality wise. THAT’S ALL I GOT