#character analysis kaveh

[chaosplatypus]

Kaveh is the saddest character in genshin impact.

while there are characters with objectively more tragic and dramatic backstories (Scaramouche/Wanderer, Collei, Furina, etc.) Kaveh is tragic on such a human level. His story is one that could happen, HAS happened, to real people. The loss of a parent and then responsibility for the other, intense debt, turning to alcoholism to get rid of those worries, homelessness and having to rely on an old friend with whom he has had a big falling out for housing, seemingly unachievable aspirations, pressure for perfection and yet staying positive through it all. he has human problems and deals with them, just as badly, as a human would.

Kaveh is the most human character in this game. One where you will find something to relate to. Because he feels human.

[kitty-meowskers]

idk but a part of me gets annoyed whenever people compare dr ratio and alhaitham.

like yeah ok... hot buff autistic nerdy men

but their whole ideologies are completelyyy different

would alhaitham ask you to give him a 'stimulating quiz' in his free time and then proceed to design a weapon for the express even though he didnt need to? no.

would dr ratio complain about becoming the (acting) grand sage and lead sumeru? no??

alhaitham is a 'live and let live' kind of guy. he justs wants to chill and have an easy life. like be for real, he's so worried about the akademiya finding out about his true talents and power because he hates the idea of working more. the only reason he's the scribe is because it's easy and it pays well. he's not particularly interested in helping others out unless its beneficial to him or the other really needs it. as kaveh said(i think he did??? idk i dont play genshin anymore), alhaitham is a nihilist

dr ratio on the other hand? he craves being able to fix things. all he wants to do fix things. although yeah he's not gonna do everything for you, he literally said to your face that if somethings bothering you deal with it yourself BUT he did literally go out of his way to scheme that entire thing in his quest to bring the people on the space station to there senses and get them thinking for themselves instead of obsessing over those geniuses. and that whole speech he gave to screwlum after? bro was INVESTED AND INTENSELY PASSIONATE. hes extremely passionate about getting people do use and develop their talents to the best of their ability. hes a fucking doctor who somehow has 52 courses and any of the people who actually make it through all get far in their lives. alhaitham would never put in that effort even with all his talent and ngl dr ratio would hate him for that (maybe not hate but dislike).

Another difference? alhaitham isnt a bitch about what his talents although its easy to assume he is while ratio low key kind of is and since the game itself describes him as 'narcisistic' so i think its pretty safe to assume he acts a bitch and he kind of is one too (cant blame him if i did all he did i would be the same)

[followerofmercy]

I think Freminet has some of the most interesting dissonance in his self perception of any Genshin character.

Like, of the Hearthlings we know, he's one of the most emotionally mature and intelligent. Lynette might still have him beat, but after playing her hangout... I dunno. I think they're tied. Lyney is Crumbling, Alrecchino is. Well. Arlecchino. Everyone else is a deeply traumatized child or adult and Freminet seems to pretty regularly be people's emotional support. His character stories talk about getting his vision by saving a bunch of other kids on a dive that went bad. The Selkie event literally had him being a therapist for a grownass woman, citing his past experiences with all the other Hearthlings that have died or killed themselves. And he handled that situation WELL. Yeah, he seems to live in a fantasy, but goddamn he's alive and a lot of people in his position aren't so clearly something is working.

Either his or Lyney's character story talks about the time Freminet had reached out to Lyney to try to ease his burdens, which resulted in Lyney blowing up at him. That probably contributed to Freminet thinking he's not good at it, but I think the reason Lyney reacted so badly was BECAUSE Freminet is actually a good support. He can't allow himself that from the little brother he's supposed to protect.

Freminet seems to both cry and dissociate often, but like... Kiddo you are in fact the only person in this family actually processing your emotions. Lynette dissociates 24/7. Arlecchino. Lyney lies and tells everyone he's fine and would literally rather die than admit otherwise. In comparison, Freminet is doing FANTASTIC

Freminet also gets a lot out of helping people! Like anyone, he needs to feel useful and needed. He seems to be an excellent mentor to the younger Hearthlings and perfectly competent on his own, but when you put him in a room with Lyney and Lynette who baby him and insist that THEY take care of HIM, he withdraws into himself.

Like, Freminet by himself feels like a young man and Freminet with the magician twins feels like a teenager. I have no idea how old he actually is. Logically, he would be OLDER than them! He's been with the House much, much longer and his experience shows. I think it's fascinating that they love him SO MUCH and yet, they just Cannot let him help them. Which is hurting him.

(Lynette is much better about not babying him and that is probably why their relationship is so much better than Freminet and Lyney's. Also why she keeps having to mediate between them. Because Lyney charges off trying to Fix Everything and that just makes Freminet feel useless and he doesn't want to get in the way and- you get the point)

Idk. It's hard to tell what things the previous director said to him vs what Arlecchino has said to him. I'm inclined to think our Arlecchino was the one that said he cries too much, but in a "crying in front of your enemies will get you killed" way and she herself is too fucked up to realize how "you cry too much" could be damaging.

Also I try not to consider gameplay stuff when it comes to story, but Freminet also has some of the most BRUTAL animations. He SMASHES HIS EMOTIONAL SUPPORT METAL PENGUIN INTO HIS ENEMY'S FACE. He doesn't think he's the most amazing fighter, and by Fatui standards he probably isn't, but he is winning fights against most grown men.

Tldr Freminet thinks he cries too much and is a burden and isn't good at helping people when he's actually the most mentally stable Hearthling send tweet

[mothspore]

thinking about the way kaveh mourns the loss of a relationship with someone he sees every day

he has haitham in his life. he sees him every day. he LIVES with him for fucks sake, and yet his opinions of haitham are all thinly veiled guilt and mourning. he constantly talks about how close they were during school, how different their relationship was during school, etc, and then when that starts coming off a bit too sad, he starts going on about how much haitham has changed, and how he would never give him the satisfaction of thanks now

but that’s not true. it’s obvious that it’s not. he won’t thank haitham because he feels ashamed of the help he has received, he feels he is undeserving, especially after their fallout, after he said those words that were strong and hurtful enough to tear them apart completely. it’s not that he doesn’t want to thank haitham. he is afraid to.

he’s also trying to protect himself. he tries to keep haitham at an arm’s length, arguing instead of acknowledging conflicts as what they are, in order to protect himself from what he sees as an inevitable outcome of haitham kicking him out, removing him from his life. kaveh wouldn’t blame him, it was only fair. after all, that’s all he had ever known, as well.

kaveh is so used to loss. this situation with haitham is such dangerous uncharted territory for him, and that scares him. kaveh is used to losing and losing without any possibility for gain. his father passed, he will never come back. it’s not possible. his mother left for fontaine, and he stopped writing to her out of his own perceived responsibility for his father’s passing. she never reached out to him, either. he knows faranak will never return to sumeru.

what he said to haitham, he never expected for him to come back into his life. the arguments on the message boards and in annotations and such were just petty insults to him, haitham’s way of taking things out on him. he never expected haitham to offer his home up to help kaveh. the whole thing is so different that it scares him. he knows what to expect from loss, and he knows when to expect loss. but he has no idea how to cope with this. he spends all his time mourning the friendship they once had, skirting around acknowledging the help that haitham has extended to him, and waiting for the other shoe to drop, because he cannot comprehend that this could end in anything other than another loss, another hurt to add to his baggage. and he does not want to truly lose haitham again.

the only way he can ensure this for himself is to not allow the possibility of closeness again. he has flown too close to that before, felt that warmth, and been burned. he has watched those wax wings melt once before. he will not allow himself to fall again. he will not invite the sun in again, because he knows he won’t be able to resist the urge to fly too close once more, even knowing the perceived threat.

acknowledging the help haitham has provided would directly acknowledge that they are no longer enemies. it would invite some of that warmth, something that kaveh does not believe he deserves, and something he cannot afford. he does not want to lose again, so he pretends there is no chance to fix things, despite haitham’s clear attempts to prove otherwise.

[aurae-rori]

Not a question and idk if your asks are open are not so I'm sorry if I'm not doing this right I don't interact much on Tumblr 😭

But finding your blog has been an absolute blessing cause Ratio always frustrated me as a character cause I couldn't sort out thoughts about him or entirely figure him about but reading your posts about him is scratching the itch on my brain that's been there for a while now and I absolutely adore it. He's such a well written character and reading what you have to say about him constantly is so much fun and let's me gobble up the information in a way my brain can process it.

Your blog is so much fun and I love reading your stuff!!

Also, what are your thoughts on the comparison between Ratio + Aventurine and Alhaitham + Kaveh? (Not sure if you've been asked that before so I apologize if you have!)

No worries, you did it perfectly fine!

Aww, dude, I'm so glad that my blog has brought you some joy. I'm happy to help deconstruct characters so that their inherent workings, motives, desires, and philosophies are seen. I try to keep my stuff easily edible(tm) so I'm so glad that it's working!! Thanks for the support, I saw you in my notifs a lot and it means the world.

And no worries, I actually haven't gotten this question yet.

There's a whole youtube vide on why Alhaitham & Ratio are not similar, and I wouldn't say that Kaveh & Aventurine are similar either. Alhaitham is generally a self-focused guy who doesn't want excitement and literally wants a normal life, while Dr. Ratio is reaching for the stars and wants to better the lives of literally everyone in the universe. Also, Kaveh and Aventurine share traits of being overworking (and they have dead desert dads), but I would consider Aventurine far more reserved than Kaveh is. They deal with business differently - Aventurine drives a hard bargain and takes deals that benefit him, while Kaveh's goodwill usually wins out on him and he gives into his empathy far more often. Honestly? The theories about Ratio being Kavehtham's love child is so fucking real, because he has the Autism from Alhaitham and his love for maths and his inner kindness from Kaveh.

Thanks for dropping by! <3

[reason-with-the-underdog]

haikavetham & childhood finances, pt 1

(analysis of alhaitham's & kaveh's attitudes towards money, with a focus on kaveh since more of his character story is about financial struggles)

Quick note: speaking from US-based pov but imo many things about poverty can be generalised & ofc these are all my hc’s! happy to debate and listen to different viewpoints on this subject~

Lets start with alhaitham!

alhaitham comes from a family with multiple famous scholars (both parents + grandmother), making them at least “middle class”

He also inherited multiple properties + a book collection

He seems to have pretty healthy financial habits:

stable job,

buys household “staples” like alcohol in bulk as a likely cost-saving measure,

enough “financial freedom” to buy ugly furniture and pay Kaveh’s alcohol tab, etc)

so that's alhaitham: he was born comfortable and continues to lead that comfortable life through careful decisions and choices.

now let's move onto kaveh

my overall argument for the arc of kaveh’s financial status is:

Early childhood: middle-class, stable finances

Tween-early teens: asset-rich but not much income, possibly living off dwindling savings, unstable finances

Teen-late 20s: rising wealth (rising young professional, able to save money), stable

Late 20s: bankruptcy & homelessness

Late 20s (immediately post AQ): broke (no assets, high income, high debt), unstable but has alhaitham’s support

none of these should be controversial beyond pt 2, so i'll focus on explaining that stage:

Kaveh’s bg started out similarly (both scholar parents, faranak was a famous architect)

but i argue that his family experienced financial instability and poverty after his father’s apparent abandonment + eventual death

First off, kaveh’s dad left to help aaru village for what seems like at least a few months, during which time it would have been just Faranak & a young kaveh at home

He never even communicated with them, judging by that half-finished letter,

and was considered “missing”

Faranak was a trooper during that time of apparent familial abandonment

bc she only seems to have broken down after his dad died

She couldn’t draw or work on designs, so she stopped working as an architect for some time

quite possible they lived off savings + neighbors’ generosity for at least a little while

the timeline’s unclear for the time in between kaveh’s father’s death, when faranak’s grief subsided enough for her to start working again, and when he entered akademiya...

I think a reasonable reading of this timeline is:

Kaveh’s father dies, faranak quits working

Kaveh enrolls into kshahrewar at “schooling age”

Faranak visits fontaine, gets architecture job offer, & moves abroad (kaveh is “all grown up now & could live independently”)

The sticking points here are how much time passes between points 1 & 2 vs 2 & 3. Which honestly comes down to what “schooling age” means imo

I interpret his chara story as implying faranak’s fontaine travel to be soon after he started attending school (when he has less time with his mother)

It sounds like she only visited once before getting a job offer & wanting to move abroad permanently (aka 2&3 are close together)

Given that at pt 3, kaveh can argue successfully that he’s “grown up” he’s at least a teenager (13+, teyvat is rather loose on how much responsibility teenagers can hold, look at diluc being cavalry captain at 14),

this suggests kaveh entered school as a late tween/young teen

Which pushes the gap between pt 1 & 2!

Because at pt 1 kaveh is referred to as “young” and “child” (also he wanted to play with the diadem as a toy), i think his age at pt 1 (pre-father's death) is around 7-9

So that’s potentially 4-6 or so years between pt 1&2 (kaveh entering school)

We don’t know if faranak gets a job before pt 3...

Lets say that’s worst case scenario. still that's pretty extreme & they must've had significant savings given that kaveh credits her with “raising [him] as a single mother”

and kaveh kept his childhood house until he was an adult

their finances were ok enough to not need to sell the house to stay afloat (altho not being homeless doesn't mean that they didn't struggle in other ways)

There’s room here for a variety of hc’s on how well off faranak & kaveh were during those pre-school years

So here’s where i explain why i strongly believe he experienced financial instability verging on privation (what might be described as “cash poor”, where you have assets but not much money to spend on bills and needs)

I fully admit that this is just headcanon without much canon evidence but in my defense,

kaveh being poor as a kid (& aware of it) explains some of his financial behaviors:

1. His lack of saving / him being very fast to spend his mora

Despite him being a big name architect, he complains that he “can’t seem to hold on to it” “it just disappears..."

many kids who grow up in poverty and later earn more either:

become big savers (never want to go back to being poor again) OR

are huge spenders

think about it... when you owe some million mora to dori.... that 10k mora given to charity is barely a fraction of your monthly payment 🤷.... Might as well do the nice thing and donate it (even if its a scam, more on this attitude later!)

2. Making impulsive financial decisions

kaveh decided to sell every single asset he owned to rebuild the Palace in a single night, which has HUGE repercussions on his entire life

(later on he says he underestimated how hard bankruptcy/homelessness would be, but still. no regrets)

Growing up poor and then dealing with economic uncertainty (ie, the palace’s destruction) is associated with increased impulsivity

3. Not looking for better financial terms

Dori’s interest rates are “somewhat reasonable”

....according to Kaveh, a super unreliable narrator who's quite nice to Dori despite the way she treats him

AND kaveh is already factoring in that he’s a genius famous architect prepared to overwork himself

Personal loan interest rates vary a lot depending on your credit, but it seems like 20% is average, 30% for bad credit

when kaveh says “rates that high” he’s referring to fakhr charging rates higher than 30%

while we dont have a true upper limit, given that kaveh uses 30% as a standard, it could be that dori’s interest rate is around that much, which is rather high considering kaveh didn’t actually have bad credit when he got the palace loan from her.

he already had several years of financial prosperity as a successful architect and had built up “savings” along with his property in terms of assets...

But this is dori so its believable, and kaveh in general doesn’t really seem to think he can get better from her (or in general)

And that type of helplessness when it comes to getting better treatment from financial institutions is common to people who grew up in poverty

Middle class folks might know that they can call the bank to have an overdraft fee reversed, but poor folks often don’t have that option (and even after not being “poor” anymore, they won’t know that they can call and might get the charge taken off)

Another example of kaveh not seeming to think he can protest grotesquely unfair terms at all

(he might have been able to contest the contract, etc... the legal system isnt that well defined in teyvat but still, he gave up with barely a fight instead of exploring his options)

And yes, ik it’s bc he’s more focused on the good the library will do for the children of aaru village...

but i’m trying to paint a larger picture here about behaviors that suggest a history of being financial insecure as a kid

part 2 link here

[twintravelers]

goodbye my danish sweetheart is a kaveh-centric hkvh song !!!!!!!! listen to me

alhaitham falling for kaveh first, since the academia days. there was always something between them, but it was never addressed before the project destroyed whatever they had. and after alhaitham opening up his home to kaveh, after they start falling back into their old routine, after he notices alhaitham taking care of him every time he gets drunk, it finally dawns on him. it's always been them.

in his room, thinking about what to say. wondering if alhaitham would give him the time of day so they could talk about it all, if every unspoken word could finally see the light of day, everything laid bare between them. wondering if maybe he might’ve already given up on him, it’s been so long. maybe they’re too different now. (continued below cut)

kaveh overthinking that maybe, actually, alhaitham just wants him out of his life, out of his home soon, and that he doesn't deserve the love that he might have had before now because of how far they’ve diverged from each other since they’ve met, with the underlying fear of not just being good enough.

his ideals. his ideals are what keep him alive, but also could be considered his greatest demise. and alhaitham sees it, he knows what it does, but he can't stop kaveh from it. it's something he will forever hold on to, because it is what keeps him from falling apart. the guilt, pain, and memories that threaten to shatter kaveh completely are what fuel him, his ideals always pushing him forward.

and there he is, thinking about alhaitham. he’s never listened to his junior, but now all he wants is for him to tell him what to do w his feelings, the rational part to his emotional self. after so many years, after he finally realized his feelings, is it too late? did he miss his chance?

yet again the overthinking presenting itself again, with guilt and shame of how he is right now, and how he probably doesn’t deserve the love alhaitham might give him, because he's so preoccupied of ruining everything again.

kaveh doesn’t know what this unresolved tension is going to lead to, but god forbid he hurts alhaitham with his feelings, which might not even be reciprocated anymore. but again, it’s been them, right? kaveh & alhaitham. the sun & the moon. together. he couldn’t bear to be without him, even if it’s unrequited. he can only hope alhaitham still has good memories of them together in the past. maybe he can hold on to that. to him. because, to kaveh, there’s no one better than alhaitham.

there we go!! i feel like i'm not great at putting my thoughts into words but i hope that this makes at least a bit of sense <3 i love them

[kaveh-therapist]

Just a suggestion for haikaveh fic writers :

How about writing about the way stagnancy affects Kaveh ?

Let me explain : as we have all pretty much surmised, Kaveh has a strong tendency to self-sabotage which led him to his current situation. This tendency is being managed by Alhaitham : in terms of work, emotion management and money spending.

This leads to a very stagnant situation in their lives : Kaveh earns money but then spends it in rather dubious ways - which has no consequences other than Alhaitham making the occasional remark as he settles the debt or tab. They go back and forth emotionally with bits of care immediately hidden behind layers and layers of pretend bickering. It’s a careful balance they maintain because any change may send the situation spiraling downwards like it did when they had their fallout.

However, there is one thing that can’t remain stagnant : time. While Alhaitham is content with a routine (doesn’t mean he’s fully stagnant, research, study and observation do bring him novelty and so does Kaveh), Kaveh would be likely to become increasingly bothered by this. Because Kaveh dreams big and is constantly unsatisfied, he would need change and evolution. He would want to steer himself into a new direction at some point regardless of where it leads - just to change and feel like he’s moving with the world and thus actually exists, to feel alive.

So, I’d really want to see a story written about how Kaveh would react to a few years of complete stillness in his life with Alhaitham - no big sudden change but rather a “how did I let so many years of my life go without doing anything ?” Because that’s how I think Kaveh would consider it

[thormanick]

Me back in January: writes a fanfic where Kaveh becomes a “mad scholar” bc his accidental (Traveler-esque if you would) experience with Irminsul goes wrong and so he is sent to Aaru village (with Alhaitham trying to find the solution to his problem)

Kaveh’s canon lore from the event: so yep basically his dad at some point got messed up mentally by a diadem and lost his life in the desert

Me, viewing the said fic from a new angle now:

Someone at Mihoyo really woke up one day looked at Kaveh and chose all possible kinds of violence didn’t they

[voidcat]

Kaveh of Kshahrewar Darshan, the brilliant architect, always wears his heart on his sleeve.

always acting out of the good of his heart, of his conscience, putting everyone else before him, his ideals before basic necessities, heart on his sleeve, cards on the table– an open book and an enigma at the same time; many knows of the sufferings he goes through deep inside.

a genius, an artisan spirit and a good man above all, Kaveh's priorities always lie to a fault. to the point of burning down, perishing into nothing but dust, a moth to a flame, and him, to his ideals, to good deeds, to those he calls friends, those he wants to fit into, those he wants to believe in the good of–

such a sentimental character as he, even if his heart burned from upside down, he would cast it all away, were it to result in your happiness, even at the cost of your love becoming someone else's.

he would actively reside in the shadows if it meant for your smile to last longer, people's happiness to burn brighter– he would help pave that road himself, in fact, even as much as to be the wingman, break down the boulders and place down the carefully crafted stones; creating the most beautiful road of them all, one he had to crawl and slither for, not minding the cuts and scratches he had obtained along the way.

burning down in the process to keep the lantern lit, to maintain the flame bright and fit; the sun burns bright at the cost of kshahrewar's light.

[timely-kavefaru]

spoilers for Faruzan hangout quest///

I feel like Kaveh and Faruzan could relate to how the Akademia treat their field of study similarly to how Kaveh and Nilou might relate to the struggles of being an artist in Sumeru.

In her hangout quest, she explains that the Akademia looks down on her research in current day as they think it's too niche and outdated for Haravatat's research. Therefore, the Akademia considers it "useless". She disagrees with said terminology as she believes there's no right or wrong to knowledge.

It's similar to how the Akademia might have looked down upon the arts in more recent times, opting for only what they consider to be "useful knowledge" and trying to remove anything that they might not consider as academic pursuits.

Though Faruzan might not relate to Nilou and Kaveh's struggles as artists or necessarily understands Kaveh's values in art and beauty, I think she would agree that any sort of knowledge shouldn't be censored or restricted, and things like art and beauty have their own place in Sumeru.

kavefaru rambling incoming

She is pretty open minded, so I think she'd be willing to learn more about his ideals and what art means to him, as she does value the importance of conversation. She might not completely understand it, but her interest in learning more about him and his values is more than enough in his eyes. I think it would be a nice reminder for him that people outside of the art world are able to appreciate his works, which he'd find touching on her part.

[dire-sire]

I find that a lot of people are kinda miffed at how AlHaitham is portrayed to be openly critical towards Kaveh & I get how people can see their relationship as unhealthy and much less any kind of romantic— but you do know that you can love someone while still being frustrated by their choices right.

As kind as Kaveh is, I can see why Haitham can get so frustrated by his constant need to put his own well-being at the bottom of his priorities. I think many people can emphasize with the frustration that comes with trying to care for a person who (seemingly) don’t care for themselves. It almost feels like you’re enabling them, which hurts when you see them suffering from— in Kaveh’s case— their own ideals.

In a painfully ironic way, this also makes Kaveh selfish (though I’m sure this would give him an aneurysm if you told him this) because he doesn’t see how his pained state hurts all those who care about him.

This also ties back to how Haitham treats him. As clearly shown through his character stories and general behavior— he doesn’t like sacrificing his own comfort for people and even just straight up doesn’t care how others think of him. Despite that, he readily invites Kaveh as his roommate no matter how inconvenient it is to his own comfort— Kaveh is, to put it bluntly, is a burden he’s willing to have.

Of course, if he were to tell Kaveh this, the miscommunication trope might as well be dubbed “The Kaveh-Haitham Conundrum” because their own perceptions of each other and standards for themselves would go frankly rather terribly if they were to ‘just be honest.’ The truth isn’t the problem here, the problem is who they are as clashing people— and that’s the tragic thing about them.

[silvercaptain24]

You know

The more I think about it

The more fascinating it is that Kaveh rebuilt Alcazarzaray after it was destroyed by the Withering, solely because of this line in his character story.

Someone who feels they should be punished would take Alcazarzaray crumbling as just that. A punishment. They wouldn’t try to rebuild. They would take it as a sign that they can’t do things right, take it as a punishment, and move on. Or not exactly move on, but you get what I mean.

But Kaveh… doesn’t.

Kaveh funds the rebuilding himself. He forces his dream to become a reality.

Meaning that Kaveh tried to fight back against that guilt, only to be crushed by it all over again when he finds himself in crippling debt and his dream right there in front of him.

Kaveh tried fighting that guilt once, and it crushed him.

[neros-w]

On Nihilism and the Idealist

This post goes into deep analysis of Buddhist philosophy and the events of A Parade of Providence, spoiling both the event and the events of the Inversion of Genesis. Please read at your own risk!

In concluding Sumeru, I had to give some thought on the big event of the region and wanted to understand why it was that it featured Kaveh so heavily, why Wanderer was chosen for Vahumana, and what exactly it was trying to say about Sumeru overall.

... This also may have been research for an upcoming fic but that is neither here nor there.

Now, all that's left is the evidence.

Lofty ideals may provide no defense at all against nihilism, but perhaps little decisions can. By their own choice, the idealist seeks to bring happiness to all, while denying themselves the same. Thus they shall never reach even the borders of truth until they wipe away the ignorance that blinds them. — Alhaitham, in his investigation on Sachin’s disappearance

No one, not even I included, can understand [truth] in its entirety. All of us are somewhere on the path toward truth. — Nahida, The Arc of Intellect

On the last quest of the event, it's revealed that Nahida ordered Wanderer to join the Championship to make sure that whoever inherited Sachin’s research wasn’t going to use it to harm people.

Allegedly.

(This investigation seemed to largely skip over Matra jurisdiction as well, with Nahida planning to let Wanderer mete out extrajudicial justice, when deemed necessary.

… Unless Wanderer is part of the Matra now. Now, that certainly is a thought.)

Sachin’s essays involved experiments confirming his allegedly bleak nihilistic views re: the future of mankind. These essays are, in fact, philosophies in Madhyamaka (which seems to just be referencing Tantric Buddhism… which just so happens to be what Wanderer is designed after).

Madhyamaka, for brief context, is a path of Buddhism founded by Nagarjuna, who further expanded upon nihilism in Buddhist texts. Nagarjuna, of course, also exists in Teyvat under the same name, founding the Order of Skeptics.

In the investigations around Sachin and Kaveh's father, it seems that Sachin's point of interest in desert research had been the Nagarjunites– the lost Darshan, so to speak. After eight years, Sachin came to the conclusion, after seemingly having met with the Order of Skeptics, that humanity is doomed to forever keep the suffering suffering, keeping them from ever reaching the thrones of Celestia due to their own selfishness.

The inclusion of his inheritance and the diadem in the Championship is one of Sachin’s last experiments, a challenge to see if showcasing greed and the promise of power and wealth urging humans into beating each other down would draw out a like-minded idealist who wishes to seek similar truths among the rabble.

Which, it did. Twice.

Kaveh’s Philosophy

Nahida’s point in making Wanderer watch out for the developments of this particular experiment means that she might have known what happened to Kaveh’s father 20 years ago. She must have wanted Wanderer to watch what Kaveh would have done, had he accepted Sachin’s inheritance and research. As an extension, she must have wanted him to either learn from or understand Kaveh’s own philosophies as an idealist. She wanted Wanderer to either help Kaveh or learn from the guilt erupting from turning a blind eye, had he let Kaveh die or get hurt in that experiment.

Backing this, Nahida believes that Kaveh’s philosophy on the truth is an unpopular but very wise interpretation that Sumeru should adopt as a whole. From his own Character Story:

The selfish cannot understand wisdom's final destination. Though all of us might claim to have a place in this great hall of learning, we must understand that it is people, and not knowledge, that make our world what it is. Without a vessel, knowledge shall have no home. Universal values must naturally have some merit to be named such, and denying their general meaning does not mean that minority viewpoints will arise accordingly. This is the case with aesthetics. Beauty is something objective that exists in human hearts. It will not lose its value simply because some people cannot understand it. To view oneself as some mighty vessel is to fall to the narrowness of the researcher. Know that truth has never existed for the sake of individuals. The logic of the world coexists with nature, and this will not easily change whether it is interpreted as such or not. Excessive belief in the object is self-disclosure just the same, a manifestation of a lack of confidence in the subject. Moreover, one who is sufficiently self-confident will not need to constantly use plural forms of address, such as 'we.' I alone am sufficient to sustain this position — this I can assert.

In this sense, Wanderer and Sachin’s beliefs that a history of conflict is a self-perpetuating cycle is one Nahida does not contest. It lays in Alhaitham’s note at the beginning of this post.

Lofty ideals may provide no defense at all against nihilism, but perhaps little decisions can.

As change is the only constant in Buddhism, a butterfly effect occurs.

Because Wanderer does improve himself in the Championship.

In every challenge, he assists contestants while not even participating in the event itself. While it is true that he doesn’t want the prizes, or the diadem, while it is true that he’s under direct orders to participate, challenging Layla’s lack of self-confidence, handing Tighnari water in the desert, and making sure Kaveh doesn’t fly off-course and wins the final round are all acts that equally amount to nothing.

And yet he did so anyway.

Like little decisions as a defense against nihilism.

[reason-with-the-underdog]

haikavetham & childhood finances, pt 2

(analysis of alhaitham's & kaveh's attitudes towards money, with a focus on kaveh since more of his character story is about financial struggles)

part 1 here

to recap, i'm outlining aspects of kaveh's current financial mindset that make sense if he knowingly experienced poverty as an adolescent

4. his belief in mutual aid

Kaveh’s expresses a belief in mutual aid (& shows it by giving money to unemployed shipwrights + referring them for a job)

basically mutual aid acts like an unofficial social safety net for poor folks. Pay it forward, be generous within your community, etc... do a favor for your neighbor and they might help you back, that kinda thing

It’s a mixed bag research-wise on if poor people are more generous than rich people

but anecdotally, i've seen many ppl saying that their experiences w poverty made them not care if they were getting scammed by a homeless person, the risk of not helping was much worse.

like yea that’s kaveh

5. inability to ask for help

Ok i admit this one’s pretty complicated and definitely wrapped up in kaveh’s own guilt complex

however an inability to ask for/accept help and gifts is definitely a character trait that many people who experienced poverty as children can relate to

6. couponing/discount-shopping but not buying in bulk

This one’s more a sidenote than “evidence”

Kaveh’s famous locally for being able to catch when high-quality wine gets discounted by 90%

buying in bulk has higher up-front costs even if the per-unit cost is cheaper, so it’s more of a middle-class habit (rich people don’t necessarily care, and poor ppl can’t afford it)

so onto the counter(?) evidence!

His teapot dialogue at first glance seems to have him talking about his bankruptcy and how it shocked him as an otherwise financially privileged and idealistic/naive student. But i dont think it necessarily contradicts my headcanon here

His teapot dialogue talks about abject poverty in relation to his bankruptcy period (living at lambad’s)

This makes sense to me bc homelessness is a uniquely harrowing experience& idt he’d consider childhood financial insecurity as “abject poverty” (again they always had a house)

+ he naturally has the desire to minimise any problems his mother had as a single parent

And being poor as a kid doesn’t mean he couldn’t still have strong ideals/pride as a student (and still does have as an adult)

Ok so that’s my case for why i think kaveh experienced being “cash poor” as a kid

Why am i so invested in this hc?

Beyond it explaining a lot of his financial habits/helplessness, it also makes for fun comparisons to Alhaitham!

Alhaitham is very much set up as a middle-class saver and spender. I think there’s a case to be made for him lacking insight into the struggles of the poor in a "hidden blindspots" middle-class kinda way

(the whole “free healthcare” comment vs dori’s backstory about her sister dying from being unable to afford healthcare, kaveh believing in the reality of kids in sumeru starving, etc)

here he gave decent advice (their skills are obsolete, they need to transition to more relevant industries/skills)

but at the same time… he’s asking them to leave their families behind for possibly months while they’re at sea, to invest a lot of up-front money for training, etc

ppl who grow up privileged (middle class/rich bg) tend to have those "blind spots"

good well-intentioned advice, but maybe not understanding that it may not be practical

Real life examples might be like “young and unemployed? Join the army” or “stop buying lattes/avocado toast”

(ok the latter advice may not be well-intentioned, but a lot of the rich folks saying “stop buying X” do seem to genuinely believe their words... but the problem is that if your debt is massive or buying a house is forever away, saving a teensy bit over time isn't going to fix things really)

if kaveh is set up as having experienced living as low-income, it makes sense why he’s more sympathetic to the craftsmans’ concerns and gives them what they’re actually asking for

(money for short-term needs & gigs to gain more mots asap w/o having to completely switch industries)

Anyways that’s my very long-winded soapbox. Hope this gave some food for thought on the implications the potential years of grieving faranak not working or being underemployed have for kaveh's childhood!

As a final parting shot, here’s dori in a nutshell

dori's interesting, she's more like kaveh's foil than alhaitham is (alhaitham being his mirror and sharing similar values/goals, just having different ideas and approaches to getting there)

in conclusion: there's a reason why so many thought kaveh's bg was underprivileged pre-lore drop. so many of his behaviors & ideals align with that sort of upbringing

reposted with permission, ty river!

[seanerboy]

Opposites attracte - 🏛️🌱 share

We all know how both of them are very different in many ways but I just find it beautiful how they still complete e/o in some ways.

For example, I noticed how their eyes match together.

Kaveh's look like sunset with the deep shades of red and hot orange. Alhaitham's look more like dawn : his pupils being the sun rising in the morning blue sky.

This match is also hinted in their official bd art

Alhaitham is asleep at a moment of the day we can assume being morning while Kaveh is awake, working during the night. And, we can also see how the colors match the concept of sunset/dawn :

Alhaitham's theme is light, with hints of blue and yellow reminding the colors in the sky when it's dawn

Kaveh's theme is mostly hot/warm colored, hinting the passage between day and night

I also personally think that these details can show how they both work differently.

Most of the time, we tend to be emotionally vulnerable at the end of the day because we're tired. On the other hand, during the day, we tend to use our brain more and try to focus on what's important.

That is why I think Kaveh is more of a night person and mostly lets his emotions lead while Alhaitham is a morning person, focusing on the practical aspects of life and using his mind more.

These explanations to tell you, Alhaitham and Kaveh are a really good pair. They complete e/o more than what people may think. They are both like sunset and dawn, one can't exist without the other. If there is no sunset, how can the sun rise? And if there is no night, how will the earth survive ? And vice versa. Haikaveh tone down e/o's personalities, just like that.

(This makes me feel single af 🥹)