#autistic alhaitham genshin impact

[gremlinisjay]

I'm reading Al-Haitham's story rn. And I just want to say... Autism.

[aco1yte]

Akademiya kvthm you mean so much to me

[ozzy-wozzy-the-iii]

oh I wonder why I like labru so much–

Well shit

On another note, the Adam Sandler thing for laios is because in the Daydream hour (I think that's what it's called) laios is shown to be very picky with what he likes to wear aka. Sensory issues which directly translate to him dressing as comfy as possible aka Adam Sandler vibe.

[tiramisooooh]

good luck with your alhaitham pulls 😍

[weirdliltwink]

Today is Autistic Pride Day, so I drew these two autistic dorks 💞

[erabu-san]

Sumeru bois taking a pic

[neferrious]

[boilingrain]

I've been doing Alhaitham's story quest and I understand why people ship these two. They're like an old married couple

[nebulairis]

ive been reading kavetham fic lately and sometimes the dialogue is too direct. it's important to keep in mind that alhaitham is a cheeky asshole and says things to force kaveh to defend himself, while kaveh knows alhaitham well enough to perceive his emotions and actions and be very annoyed by them

for my own indulgent writing i am using the following formula to good effect, this can be well observed in canon dialogue if you're obsessed like me

another thing to consider is that alhaitham wants kaveh to be living with him, it's just that kaveh feels guilty for existing, so as long as kaveh feels like he's doing something to earn living there he can accept it without spiralling into guilt and self-loathing. and alhaitham is being annoying on purpose because again a bit of a cheeky asshole

another thing is that a big reason for kaveh being a bleeding heart is because of his guilt, which alhaitham dislikes because he doesn't think kaveh has anything to feel guilty about. alhaitham telling kaveh this is the big thing that caused them to separate in the akademiya btw

leading up to that was them disagreeing about "genius" as a concept, kaveh believes it doesn't exist because anyone can achieve and learn with support, whereas alhaitham believes that some people (like himself and kaveh) are smarter than others. nahida says that she has a special preference for kaveh because of his perspective so maybe his opinion on that is a part of it

and kaveh actually has a greater understanding of the inequality in sumeru because, despite the whole lion keychain "this is sumeru where even healthcare is free" it's not free everywhere per dori's backstory and people still obviously have to pay for rent and food and housing so if you can't work, then what?

this ended up longer than i thought it would but hope you enjoyed

[cat-downthestreet]

hey, listen! this is a rant post about neurodivergent characters in Genshin and my frustration with the fandom's reading comprehension skills. if you're in a bad place or just don't like angry rants, please don't force yourself and go read something else instead. <3

Okay, so, I watched this video recently, and let's just say, I have some thoughts.

https://youtu.be/tYK3297p4rk?si=eMaf8NF57HFlUhfd

This isn't just a Xiao problem- the entire fandom is terrible at characterization. The example that makes me the most angry is the mischaracterization of neurodivergent characters.

Take Alhaitham for example. He's often seen as rude and narcissistic by the fandom- which is especially apparent in Haikaveh content, where people portray him as straight up abusive.

You wanna know why this makes me so mad? The supposedly narcissistic and rude traits Alhaitham has are actually just exaggerated symptoms of autism.

Like, come ON, people. Don't skip dialogue. Better yet, go read through his story quest again. He straight up tells someone who sees him as narcissistic that he doesn't see others as less than himself. Also, his voicelines basically confirm this- he's extremely socially inept and he doesn't care. He has difficulty showing emotions as readily as his peers- that doesn't mean he doesn't have them, just that he expresses them differently. He comes across as rude because he doesn't get that people don't like to hear what they're doing wrong, and he probably doesn't care because that's not his problem. If people don't like how blunt he is, that's their problem. At least, that's how I think he views the world.

And like, there are SO many hints that he's autistic. He wears sound-blocking earpieces, for crying out loud. Hell, the ENTIRE REASON why he helped out during the Archon quest was because he didn't want his life to change too much. Preferring routine is an autistic trait.

And the worst part is, when I talk about this outside of neurodivergent groups, people tell me I'm wrong and that he couldn't be autistic DESPITE THOSE PEOPLE NOT BEING AUTISTIC THEMSELVES.

And I'm not saying that every autistic person relates to Alhaitham, but I certainly do. And I'm actually quite friendly because I'm anxious about being rejected. Alhaitham isn't, and I'm so jealous of him for that. He's living his best life.

Finally, back to the Haikaveh thing... Alhaitham isn't abusive. He doesn't say horrible things to Kaveh, and the one example of him doing that I could find, he immediately backtracked and subtly tried to make Kaveh feel better. Hell, Alhaitham doesn't even actually care about making sure Kaveh pays rent. He says it as a joke, but because he's autistic and his tone of voice doesn't give that away as well, he's portrayed as abusive and misunderstood as narcissistic. Y'all just don't like neurodivergent people and it shows.

Yes, neurodivergent includes Xiao. PTSD is often viewed as a form of neurodivergency, and there are many MANY characters in Genshin that have PTSD or some other form of neurodivergence. Yet people refuse to see them as such and mischaracterize them as "edgy," "narcissistic," "unapproachable," "weird," and the like. Yet none of these characters are any of those things.

You wanna know the true narcissists? The true edgelords? The actually rude people? Might I direct your attention to Scaramouche, Childe, and Dottore, whom everyone makes out to be as misunderstood pathetic little meow meows that need love.

Reminder that only two of those three are actually redeemable, and one is STILL an edgelord who is more rude than Alhaitham could ever be, while the other is a certified insane person with a weird set of morals.

(Side note: I love Scaramouche and Childe as characters. I'm just tired of people acting like they aren't worse than the autistic characters. Scaramouche is extremely rude, but he's trying to be better as Wanderer thanks to Nahida's help. He has severe PTSD, and Childe does, too. But both of them are actually messed up and have done horrible things, yet people portray them as better and more in need of love than the characters with unlikable (read: neurodivergent) traits.)

Don't even get me started on how people portray Kokomi, Sucrose, Fischl, Diluc, Zhongli, Cyno, Furina, Neuvillette, and Albedo. Especially that last one- I WILL get mad if one more person tries to tell me he's just emotionless and rude.

Also, if anyone is wondering where I've seen people misunderstanding these characters, it's mostly on Hoyolab site discussions. There's one too many posts talking about how "rude" and "annoying" these characters are.

With Alhaitham especially, I see many people writing him as abusive in Haikaveh content. I see people arguing about the ship being toxic because Alhaitham is "abusive," "unfeeling," and "cruel." Even people who like the ship portray him as such. And I've seen too many people comparing him to Dr. Ratio, who is literally just a narcissist who views others as beneath him. Don't get me wrong, I understand the comparison. It's just... very obvious that people skipped dialogue during Genshin's Archon and story quests.

And it's frustrating because I've been misunderstood in the exact same way. I've been called "rude," "annoying," and "unfeeling" in the past and it's screwed me up. Seeing people do the same thing to a character I so deeply relate to makes me lose confidence in both myself and people around me.

If that's how you view a fictional character with autistic traits, how do you treat real people with the same traits?

Thanks for reading this far. My previous post seemed to get a lot of attention, so I felt more confident about posting my full perspective on this subject. Can any of you think of other characters that have been constantly misunderstood in the fandom? I'd love to hear about it.

[weeb-polls-with-pip]

Autistic Anime Boys Side A Round 1 Match 30

Propaganda:

Alhaitham -

"He’s handsome, successful, and also autistic (headcanon, of course.) But, allow me to elaborate on my headcanon.

Caution: slight spoilers ahead! First of all, he wears noise cancelling headphones everywhere. He is never seen without them. Many people say this is a major reason why they consider him to be autistic-coded, and I agree.

Second, he is very asocial. He always has been since childhood. He doesn’t care what others think of him, and he states that his mindset allows him to avoid complicated social relationships. His few friends (Kaveh and the Traveller for instance) usually fail at convincing him to join social gatherings. Alhaitham is difficult to get a hold of because he’s usually curled up with a book somewhere away from people.

The man is also pretty routine bound. He orchestratesd an elaborate and risky plan to save Nahida so just he could keep his 9-5 job. I’m not even kidding. He resigned as quickly as he could from being the acting grand sage so he could assume his regular duties as the scribe.

NOW, Some argue that he understands society and other people. Okay, sure, but I don’t think that comes intuitively to him. Masking is a thing unfortunately. Plus, he’s a scholar in linguistics so he’s learned most of what he knows about human interaction in an academic setting. Which, by the way, is how many autistics learn social skills.

Alhaitham often comes across and pompous and eccentric to others. He’s constantly accused of having no empathy. Truth is, he does feel empathy but he doesn’t express it in ways that most people understand. I could honestly write a whole dissertation on why I think he’s autistic, but I don’t want to take up too much time or space with this. Thank you for listening!"

Balam -

"My precious baby boy!!! Hes like if Ariel from the little mermaid was an eight foot tall demon that can destroy almost any monster without breaking a sweat. Obsessed with biology and animals and learning about what kinds of creatures live in the human realm. Not to mention he's like the sweetest character in the whole show i want nothing but the best for him."

[genshin-impact-updates]

Happy Birthday, Alhaitham!

"You went out of your way to get me a gift."

"Thank you very much. I shall accept it."

[pigeonpeach]

Brains vs Brawn

Dehya vs Al haitham!

Fem reader

Summary: you, a new professor in the Akademiya is currently stuck between what might be scribe Haitham’s attempt at flirting and the Eremite Lady Dehya.

Al haitham was a bit hard to understand at first. He was in fact, extremely blunt but also difficult to understand. He preferred to be alone mostly. Your experience studying when he was a student wasn’t notable. If anything he melted into the background minus when Kaveh, the most beautiful man you had ever seen, was talking to him. But now that you’ve become a professor he seems to… ‘bother you’. You aren’t certain but he critiques very often including your lenient grading requirements. But you aren’t irrational. You hear him out and stand your ground. Al haitham to you isn’t a bad person, he’s definitely not incapable of empathy or emotions. He is simply just stone faced and a very logical person. Logic and emotions don’t often coincide well together afterall. But you couldn’t really read him well. You knew he respected you but a crush? No you didn’t think that. Until he asked you out for lunch. Which was a surprise but still a nice free lunch.

The problem for Al haitham however isn’t that he’s too blunt or difficult to read, its that his rival is the complete opposite of him. Dehya, a eremite with not a unit completed or a term studied is his adversary and he knows she stands a greater chance of winning your heart. In fact he thinks she might’ve.

Dehya like Al Haitham is muscular but she’s also very socialable. She likes chatting with the ladies and when you started hiring her for expeditions regularly and paying her handsomely for such, she grew fond of you. Not because of your money but because you were a nice lady. She liked getting a glimpse of the life you had, she LOVED how you would open up about the scholars even airing dirty secrets to her in confidence, which she will keep. You two were unlikely friends. While your fellow professors believe Al haitham to be the better choice you just vibe well with her. Not to mention those muscles, oh eremites gals are truly a different breed. The muscles, the scars, the beautiful tan skin showing how hardworking she is.

But Al haitham wasn’t going to give up. He instead decided to read up on the subject of courting and romance a little more, finding it difficult but necessary. He went out of his comfort zone to ask his friends for advice. Which immediately made them think he was some impostor and also snoop around to discover it was you he was pursuing. Al Haitham made a effort to ask what you wanted to do or if you felt like you needed more funding, you were very talented at your profession and very humble though.

Al haitham doesn’t despise or even dislike Dehya, he understands that love is hardly ever a logical choice or thing, but that it is something he doesn’t fully grasp yet. But he also wants to understand it better with you. He likes the presence you bring and secretly adores how your annoyed or angry face looks when you argue with others. He doesn’t mind if you pick her though, in the end he trust’s you’ll pick who you like the most. He still will try and if he doesn’t succeed then he’ll just try again someday when he feels ready to.

Dehya meanwhile is actually confused but picks up that he’s pursuing you. She’s a bit feisty though so it just makes her all the more bold. But she isn’t going to try and sabotage him or ruin his life. She is confident that she could win your heart with her own tatics. And if she loses then well she tried. She’s an adult. She’ll handle her emotions accordingly. Probably can’t stand to see you with him but she’ll get over it.

Its truly a difficult choice as both of them have such nice physiques and are both strong and smart in their own way.

[nepenthendline]

autistic alhaitham who has a routine of making to-do lists every morning and planning out his day to the minute

autistic alhaitham who stims by fidgeting with his books, parts of his clothing, and often his keys (he likes kaveh's keys more because they've got a bunch of different charms attached)

autistic alhaitham that tends to eat the same things every day, unless he's pre-planned time with his friends, he gets overwhelmed by choice and it's comfortable this way

autistic alhaitham who stays up all night when he finds a new topic he's become obsessed with, kaveh finds him in the morning in the living room surrounded with piles of books and reports, alhaitham has a love-hate relationship with this part of himself, he loves learning and reading but when he gets too engrossed in things it puts his routines out of sync

autistic alhaitham who has no idea when he's info-dumping, especially because everyone around him just sees him as a genius sage so they feel honored to listen, smart people just talk about smart stuff, right? It's only those close to him who realise that his choice of conversation topic is also what he's spent the last week reading about non-stop, and are comfortable intervening when he needs to stop

autistic alhaitham who takes a lot of responsibility for his own differences or struggles - he never asks for accommodations or support, even if he could, instead he'll ask a mountain of questions to make sure he understands correctly, or write instructions and check them with someone so he knows he's taking the right steps

autistic alhaitham who stands up for himself and his needs whenever he gets overwhelmed or overstimulated - if he's struggling when why should he stay in this overcrowded loud room? He'll let someone know he's going, and then he'd off home or to the library to calm himself, everyone knows by now what it means when his happens and they never get mad, even if it seems abrupt

autistic alhaitham who, sometimes, feels too little stimulation, which makes him uncomfortable, so he gets kaveh to squeeze up and down his arms and hands or uses his weighted blanket for support

autistic alhaitham who, despite having a group of friends who are also neurodivergent (kaveh, cyno and tighnari), sometimes questions himself and his experiences - sometimes he feels like his friends seem more settled than him, less affected than him, or can cope better - he's learned to ask questions to them to understand their struggles, not only can he help his friends better now, but he also knows he's not alone

[rrcenic]

hc that alhaitham and kaveh both were diagnosed as neurodivergent as kids and had to deal with being belittled and disrespected because of it.

alhaitham went through his childhood as a star student and yet was always treated differently because of his autism. people would make him feel like some kind of anomaly for being autistic and “smart” and he grew to learn that people don’t want to see an autistic person thrive, they’d much rather see a textbook “helpless” person who they can pity. because of that, he decided no one would ever like him the way others are liked, and convinced himself he was meant to be lonely

whenever kaveh would get upset, people would tell him he was overreacting because of his bpd. if he had strong opinions, he would be told it wasn’t really a big deal and was all inside his head. he learned to water himself down for other people and to expect to be told he was simply experiencing anger issues or was simply struggling to form attachments when he pointed out real ways he was being mistreated.

and it was a shock when they found each other, two smart and complex people who were always told by those around them that they were too much or too little or too loud or too quiet and always had their experiences reduced to their disorders. they found so much comfort and support in each other, in the ways they understood the struggle of simply existing as a neurodivergent person.

when they had their huge falling out, however, it went to shit. alhaitham told kaveh he was overreacting. kaveh told alhaitham he was incapable of empathy. in their anger, they fed into the prejudice they’d received and took it out on each other.

now, as roommates, kaveh doesn’t let himself be anything other than angry or distant, and alhaitham forces himself to be rigid and cold.

anyways i project on kaveh and i think they should kiss it out

[eternal-moss]

Alhaitham Autism Coding

One last post before I go to bed but idk something rubs me the wrong way about a Genshin AU I’ve been seeing lately, specifically a Haikaveh one. I think I’ve seen a couple of artists make it already and I can’t help but feel uncomfortable about it. This isn’t to diss them or anything like that, I was just thinking about it.

It’s the premise where Alhaitham is a robot and Kaveh is a human (usually his creator, but that’s not really relevant). And the root of my discomfort is that Alhaitham is immensely, immensely autistic coded. It really couldn’t be more canon unless Alhaitham had a voice line that said ‘I am autistic’ (except Genshin is a fantasy game so of course that sort of thing isn’t viable).

So why not? I know a lot of autistic people can often relate to feeling ‘inhuman’ but that often comes as a result of life-long isolation and outcasting, and I think to dehumanise Alhaitham in this way discredits his actual humanity, which is not lessened by him being autistic.

The Trope Talk: Robots (a video by Overly Sarcastic Productions) finally made me understand something that I hadn’t when I was younger; I was quite a big fan of Zane from Lego Ninjago (spoiler warning for that) and didn’t understand the sinking feeling in my gut when it was revealed that he was actually a robot, and not a human.

When you make something inhuman represent traits from a real group of humans, the inverse sentiment of comparing that group to being inhuman also exists, even if unintentional. This was explained in that video by OSP, (which is really worth a watch) and made me realise a lot of things about ‘coding’ in media,

When I saw Zane, I saw traits I could recognise in myself- being slightly stilted and awkward, having a monotone voice, not picking up on social cues, being gullible, etc. However, despite these traits and shortcomings, his friends still cared about him a lot, and he wasn’t treated any lesser for it. I had never seen a person in media like that before, who behaved like me, and it made me happy.

I think the revelation that he actually wasn’t a person upset me in a way I couldn’t figure out at the time, but it was the implication that people who behave like that can’t actually be people at all.

Although out of all the autistic archetypes in media, the male ‘savant’ is definitely pretty overplayed, but details like Alhaitham’s headphones portray sensory issues in a realistic and interesting manner, rather than just being hyper-intelligent without any deficits or difficulties.

Because as much as Alhaitham is a bit of a dickhead sometimes, he’s still quite important to me (and I’m sure a lot of other people) in what he represents, and how unlike a lot of other characters who are autistic-coded, he manages to retain these traits without losing his humanity. I do think it would be somewhat of a disservice to his character to strip him of it.