#his supposed contradictions are what enticed me towards haikaveh in the first place

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

Thank you so much for all the love you give these two! You really understand them and that makes me so happy. I think Alhaitham's kindness is such an overlooked trait because he seems aloof and only rational, but in reality this man just wants people to do what makes them happy, took in Kaveh and cares about the education of children especially (the way he enrolled Paimon? This guy would honestly be such a great father). It makes me sad when players dismiss him as an asshole or a redflag. While of course he has his kinda manipulative side to get what he wants, it never harms anyone who's not deserving of it and he has a big heart in the end. So thank you for seeing that!!

Hiya! Thank you so much for your ask! I’m really glad you enjoy my blog! These two have taken over my mind entirely so I’m really happy to have such a welcoming place to share my thoughts <3

Alhaitham’s kindness is something that is so special to me, you raise really crucial points!! I think that Alhaitham’s philosophy of egoism could be one of the reasons he often gets misconstrued, since the ‘self’ is prioritised above others, but this isn’t because he holds himself on a pedestal, as his story quest specifically highlights, rather it’s because he sees there’s a clear limit to how much a person can do when compromising themselves for others (or placing the opinions of others over oneself)

I think another reason why Alhaitham’s kindness can be overshadowed is because of Kaveh’s evident concern of others, and since the two fell out because of their vastly different ways when dealing with people, it can be construed that Alhaitham simply doesn’t care about others when comparing him with Kaveh, who so explicitly does. Viewing alhaitham as strictly rational in comparison to kaveh’s abundant empathy is misunderstanding Alhaitham’s character -  as kaveh states that any impression of alhaitham being strictly logical is incorrect

Just because their approaches differ, it doesn’t mean that Alhaitham doesn’t care about people. As you say, Alhaitham actually wants people to be free to choose their own paths, really he wants people to live how they want, which is laid out multiple times in his character stories, and explicitly mentioned in his teapot companion dialogue

I really like this detail in his past birthday letters of Alhaitham’s interest in the education of others, like with Isak and now more extensively with Paimon, I think it encapsulates Alhaitham’s care for others

Alhaitham’s manipulation tactics when it comes to social interaction can be a joy to witness at times, especially with kaveh when he deflects the topic from himself ahahah but this is also an aspect of his personal philosophy, where rules can be subverted by challenging the language that set them, and yet it’s clear that he enjoys interacting with kaveh, as he goes out of his way to secure these interactions :’)

Alhaitham’s role in the archon quest as a strategist has definitely raised people’s wariness of him (such as in candace’s voicelines), but as alhaitham has no interest in power, and saw only harm in the upheaval of Sumeru’s rules, he sought to overturn the plan of the sages and to free nahida. Whilst he claims his personal reason for doing so was to protect his own way of life, the happiness elicited from others is also something he appreciates <3

he's just such a well written character, i'm glad people love this guy <3333