This is mainly a joking post I know and I know Al Haitham and Kaveh care for each other deeply despite their tumultuous relationship BUT the reason kavelou is so compelling to me is that they complement each other in temperament and ideals.
Kaveh is sensitive and empathetic—this means he is quick to anger just as he is easily moved by the suffering of others. His heart is on his sleeve. He feels compelled to do what he thinks is right, even though life has punished him for it. This is where his internal conflict stems from: the need to help others due to guilt for perceived wrongdoings, and believing he deserves the punishment.
Similarly, Nilou also has a desire to help others and share beauty and happiness with them (through dancing). She has a naturally warm, friendly, and comforting presence. The crucial difference is Nilou is rewarded for these actions, in that she has a community that positively reinforces this behavior.
Kaveh has been defined by the loss of his family and a perceived lack of community (until recent events in game) while Nilou is defined by her wealth of family and community.
In this scene, Kaveh is arguing once again with Al Haitham and feels belittled, challenged, made a fool; yet all it takes is one gentle, calming suggestion from Nilou that calms him down and refocuses him on his goals.
It was such a natural and effortless gesture from Nilou yet it did wonders from Kaveh.
This is why I find their potential dynamic and relationship so compelling—it can be rewarding and uplifting for them both.
"The ability to appreciate beauty is an important virtue."
Kaveh, Chat: Beauty
"My teacher taught me everything there is to know about dance, but she said that the most important thing is putting feeling into your movements. Only then can you move your audience and convey emotion. To express beauty, I must first become the embodiment of beauty."
Nilou, More About Nilou II
In the Sumeru, the nation of Wisdom, what role do art and idealism - concepts often regarded as subjective and lesser when compared to facts and science - play in society?
Through the stories of Kaveh and Nilou, we learn about their struggle to find acceptance for their passion and their determination to continue practicing their passions despite hardships and setbacks.
Art
"As well as being one of the building blocks of human culture and civilization, architecture is also an art form."
Kaveh, Interesting Things
"I want to use my performances to show the beauty of art to more people."
Nilou, Nilou's Hobbies
As an architect and dancer, both Kaveh and Nilou consider art to be an expression of beauty. Understanding and expressing beauty is something that is important to them.
"You need an extreme amount of talent to pursue knowledge and wisdom. Many people throw their entire lives into it, only to end up burned out and depressed... Dance isn't like that. You don't have to understand what you're seeing to enjoy watching it. If I can use my movements to demonstrate the beauty and meaning of dance, then I'm happy."
Nilou, About Nilou: Dance and Wisdom
"Art does not exist in a vacuum, so I've always been mindful of the experiential factor for the occupants, and the emotional character conveyed to those looking on from the outside..."
Kaveh, Interesting Things
They both believe art should be accessible to all and that it doesn't need a certain level of expertise or knowledge in order to appreciate and enjoy it.
Kaveh and Nilou receive their Visions in a moment related to their art and their ideals.
Nilou's is after very first performance on stage at Zubayr Theater. She is able to achieve her dream of becoming beauty and expressing it to people via dance, thus making them happy. It is a moment of joy and triumph.
Kaveh's is the reverse. While Nilou was surrounded by friends, family, and lovers of the theater, Kaveh is alone, depressed after the disaster of the Palace of Alcazarzaray, and still mourning the loss of his father and his mother's absence. He does not think he has achieved his ideals at all, but at the moment he builds a miniature palace out of his father's favorite food, it appears before him.
This stark contrast in their Vision stories exemplifies the two sides of the coin they represent:
Nilou is immersed in the community, and in turn is the community itself (being so loved by everyone), while Kaveh has more personal and individual struggles, in some ways being left behind by society (bankruptcy, living in abject poverty for a time, having no family left), but persevering and giving back nonetheless.
Nilou and Kaveh have both had to do deal with art being undervalued and looked down upon in Sumeru, the nation of wisdom that places knowledge and wisdom above all else.
Both were able to fight for art's place in society throughout the course of the story in Sumeru, thanks to their unwavering idealism and beliefs.
Idealism
"I've always thought that you can never truly know a person until you understand their deepest wishes. But once you start exploring hopes and dreams, whether they're your own or someone else's... it can be a dangerous journey. You might unlock something that can't be put away again. Not everyone can face the potential consequences of that."
Kaveh, About Us: Ideals
Kaveh and Nilou are people who care deeply about others and society.
Nilou considers Zubayr Theater her "big family", and is friends with everyone in the Grand Bazaar. She wants to make people happy and feel good with her performances.
In her character quest, Lotos Somno: Act I, Nilou speaks as a representative for Zubayr Theater and defends its right to exist to the sages, while also helping a father and daughter, Sharif and Inayah, reconcile their differences over the theater.
"In your eyes, our shows can't meet the Akademiya's expectations. Shouldn't it be the audience who decides if a show is intellectual or enlightening? Why is someone from the Akademiya judging that? Also, I believe that there is no such thing as a wiser or more enlightening performance. Art doesn't discriminate, and it appeals to all. Everyone has the right to appreciate art."
Nilou, Lotos Somno: Act I - The Reason We Are Gathered Here
In the Archon Quest Chapter III: Act V - Akasha Pulses, The Kalpa Flame Rises, Nilou agrees to help the Traveler and company in their plot to stop the sages.
She serves as a distraction by putting on an unsanctioned dance performance at the entrance of the Akademiya, in a violation of the current laws that ban such performances. This was a blatant act of rebellion, both in the name of helping Sumeru and defending art from censure.
Kaveh believes that he should do everything he can to help other people when they're in need, even to his own detriment.
"His mother would leave all her property in Sumeru to him. Three days later, he would return to Sumeru, and once again felt the terror of the empty home — the mere act of sitting on the sofa tormented him with heretofore unmatched solitude. Here, he felt the old adage of all wise scholars being fulfilled: 'Do the right thing, no matter what it costs you.'"
Kaveh's Character Story 3
During the Interdarshan Championship, Kaveh lends his aid to others despite these actions making it more difficult for him to come out as the winner in the event. He concedes points to Faruzan after working together to complete the first challenge, then gives his food and water to desert foxes, which made it significantly more difficult for him to travel through the desert even taking them to a safer area where they won't get caught up in the Ley Line anamoly.
Most notably, despite winning the championship, after listening to Sachin's philosophical explanation and all the similar world views they hold, he destroys the diadem and donates all the prize money to charity.
Winning the championship was supposed to be Kaveh's way of getting enough money to move out and finally have his own place again, and to also succeed where his father failed in the event, and, hopefully, lessen some of the guilt that's been plaguing him for years since his father's untimely death.
But after seeing a reflection of his ideals taken to a dark extreme in Sachin, he vehemently rejects all that this wise scholar had to offer, wealth and knowledge. Kaveh once again stuck to his ideals, his belief of what is right, and put the benefit of others before himself.
In Conclusion
Kaveh and Nilou stand out from the rest of the Sumeru cast for showing a different side to genius, wisdom, and knowledge.
It doesn't have to take form in only theses and experiments. The ability to dream and create, then express and share one's vision with others takes a genius of its own. To do so in a nation that discouraged these pursuits to the point of government censure requires not only bravery, but also wisdom.
Thanks to Nilou and Kaveh, and the support of their community, art and beauty can once again flourish in Sumeru.
Yantao AU where Zhongli is Hu Taos dad/grandpa and he doesnt approve of Hu Tao dating Yanfei cause of Yanfei not signing a contract with rex lapis (no homophobia in this house lol) so Yanfei keeps going to great lengths to try to impress Zhongli but she ends up embarrassing herself, to Hu Taos amusement. And bc happy ending Zhongli sees how happy Yanfei makes Hu Tao so he eventually approved of their relationship.
“You monster… you tyrant…. Don’t you know how many you’ve slaughtered? All for your warped ideals? Face the reality you’ve created, your imprisonment ends now.”
Those words echoed among the emptiness within the Plane of Euthymia. Tearing through Ei’s ears, making her head pound.
Try as she might to close her eyes tight, she felt a force pull them wide open to see the walls of her inner world begin to close in.
Once a dull, vast realm became almost claustrophobic. The grey sand that made up the ground began to be pushed into piles. The tall thick waves were headed to bury Ei where she stood.
Suffocation was imminent, the safe haven she created turning against her. Ei was ready to accept her fate, and let her mind be her downfall.
Giving up and hiding away was so easy for the archon. Why thrust yourself into constant uncertainty? Why watch as things warp out of your control? Why do anything if there’s the chance it will end in disaster?
Suddenly a beam of light began to burn Ei’s eyes, the literal light at the end of the tunnel. All she had to do was reach towards the light to be free. But what will it lead to?
Is it that so-called reality she created? The consequences of her actions? Her actions that the anxiety and anger within her carried out by pulling the strings of her puppet. Ah yes, the puppet that was now crumbling from the inside out.
Ei swallowed the lump forming in her throat and began to lower herself to sit down. If she was the one to create this grave then she might as well lie in it. But not even a world that was completely under her control could afford her that luxury.
It instead pulled her up violently towards the light, her body feeling like concrete as she was being forced out of her inner world.
She wanted to scream. She wanted to curse. But the words were forced behind sealed lips as time sped past her. Within seconds her consciousness became hazy, her eyes growing heavy. This was it. The end.
