#twt crosspost

[reason-with-the-underdog]

alhaitham then vs now

alhaitham as a teenager, puffing up with indignation: cute is not a word that applies to me. first of all, the connotations are frankly, presumptuous about age-- alhaitham now as an adult, with the most deadpan voice ever: am i not cute kaveh

[layzeal]

the fandom hates yu ziyuan and wang lingjiao, yet their one scene together is the only reason mdzs passes the bechdel test 😔 who are the real #feminists now?

[reason-with-the-underdog]

au where siraj recruited kaveh into his hivemind, except kaveh doesn't know he's in a hivemind

ok so in a series of unfortunate events, kaveh is inducted into siraj's hivemind.

...except he has no idea he's in a hivemind & just thinks he has weirder intrusive thoughts than usual

so the hivemind is suddenly full of:

"the cross-tensile strength of concrete made with fine grit sand + seawater is.." and

"remember to place another order of those beautiful tiles" and

"i can't believe alhaitham wakes up an hour early to drink coffee leisurely before work"

...wait what?

siraj goes from being jubilant over recruiting the light of the kshahrewar into his hivemind(!!!!) to realising very quickly that hivemind thoughts about alhaitham have increased by 250%.

in three days.

basically kaveh accidentally hijacks siraj's hivemind lmao with his 21 revision draft woes and also with the thought of how cute alhaitham is when he hums while doodling

imagine if alhaitham goes through all the effort of his SQ and then he discovers that the hivemind is already in shambles bc there's a civil war waging between two camps:

"alhaitham is the worst" and

"alhaitham is misunderstood"

(kaveh is leader of them both btw)

kaveh has no idea he's part of the hivemind (and has been considering hivemind thoughts to be intrusive thoughts) so when they get more negative, he's just like "wow brain i know alhaitham's the worst but that's a little extreme... he should be nicer to me though, you're right, brain"

once the truth is revealed, kaveh would be VERY horrified to discover that many many strangers know a bunch about his personal problems

(he got tipsy and went on a passionate rant about how capitalism devalues what it cannot sell to the masses, the hivemind was ENRAPTURED and agreed to form a union immediately...

siraj put a stop to that, absolutely no need for unions in a hivemind!!!)

it turns out that the hivemind has incredible potential for unlocking human brainpower beyond individual capacity, exactly by design ...which also means its easily hijacked by strong emotional appeals for idealistic causes

exactly what kaveh is good at--

except kaveh isn't actually trying to radicalise anyone into becoming activists. he just thinks a lot about how the decline of arts in sumeru is a leading sign of academic society's downfall... also about how there exists disrespectful juniors who always keep score, whatever happened to common decency!

so this means siraj & kaveh having a brain fight broadcast over hivemind like:

siraj: alhaitham is a terrible scribe who will kneecap the akademiya with his close mindedness

kaveh: don't be preposterous, he's actually really good at his job. alhaitham can't stand incompetence, especially in himself

another hivemind member: shut up about alhaitham already

siraj & kaveh: no.

bear in mind that this is the time period where kaveh built mehrak bc he was lonely so when he accidentally joins the hivemind, there are no red flags to him bc hell yeah, he's not lonely anymore, he's got a bunch of random voices in his head now

call that problem solving 😤😤🧠‼️

tighnari is mildly concerned when kaveh stops ranting to him as much about his roommate woes as of late. kaveh says that he's gotten better at talking with the voices in his head about his emotional problems, actually more helpful than you'd think

tighnari: the what now

kaveh: idk remember that one time you said i should see a therapist

tighnari: yeah..?

kaveh: well i looked up how much that costs & oof... anyways some stuff happened and then now its like i have imaginary group therapy sessions

tighnari: now you need that therapist even more tbh

siraj went from congratulating himself for recruiting the light of kshahrewar into the hivemind to experiencing major regret in 0.4 seconds bc it turns out kaveh has unmedicated adhd and now the hivemind is:

20% rug facts

12% fancy angles

28% eco-friendly wood veneer

25% alhaitham thots

15% wine math

recruiting kaveh into the hivemind is the beginning of the end for siraj's plotting bc the hivemind's existence becomes known now that alhaitham suddenly goes from being "who? oh, is that the scribe?" to:

oh my god IM SICK OF HEARING ABOUT HIM

he sounds like a dick tbh

i know way too much about how this guy prefers his coffee, almost like we had lived together??

imagine if kaveh mostly ignored the responses he gets from the hivemind (there's plenty of thoughts going on in his head, no need to pay attention all of em) except for when he needs witty quips to respond to alhaitham with, which the hivemind delivers, pronto

quality of life upgrade right there for kaveh, huge!

imagine having all the computing power of a hivemind at your fingertips... and you use it to come up with clever remarks for your housemate who you absolutely do not think too much about

(the hivemind goes absolutely wild when they learn that alhaitham chuckles at one response)

siraj is coping & seething SO HARD btw this hivemind was supposed to benefit HIM the most!!!! how did this happen. this is all alhaitham's fault, clearly

kaveh: ok random negative thought, not everything is alhaitham's fault. i'm perfectly capable of creating my own problems!!

anyways the hivemind falls apart, for entirely different reasons to canon, but also very much due to alhaitham's existence. kaveh still doesn't know who siraj is

[reason-with-the-underdog]

that kaveh is uniquely suspicious of alhaitham's (genuinely good) intentions is a goldmine for both comedic miscommunication and painful angst

the way kaveh would accept compliments about his artwork from anyone else & is genuinely cheered by the idea that someone liked a project he worked on

but alhaitham? clearly he's up to something if he's trying to butter kaveh up with honeyed words. or else he's being sarcastic

you can take that in a painful ouchy way where alhaitham and kaveh clearly both love each other but also cannot stand each other because of how they constantly keep hurting each other with their suspicions and fears,

the way that their shared history hangs above them as a threat...

or it can be stupid comedy "talking past each other" hijinks

🏛️: oh my god alhaitham, out with it. enough dancing around the subject!

🌱: hm? [internally: is he... asking me to confess to him..? doki doki 🥺]

🏛️: where's the ugly statue you're trying to buy my forgiveness for?!

and that they have the range is beautiful 🥰🥰🥰

but also kaveh pls bbgirl i want you to get therapy

[reason-with-the-underdog]

why kaveh agreed to live at alhaitham's house, despite not trusting him at all

or, how alhaitham changes the narrative by being a true romantic

kaveh also knows alhaitham's views (Egoism), so he knows that he won't take unfair advantage of alhaitham

alhaitham will stand up for his own self interests first, as is natural for an egoist like alhaitham

(…he doesnt know alhaitham's in love with him and thus all bets are off)

"his pain pains me"

(Max Stirner, The Ego and Its Own)

KAVEH GETTING MAD AT ALHAITHAM FOR FALLING IN LOVE WITH HIM IS SO REAL

kaveh: i cant believe you changed the narrative and made me accept i was worthy of love without conditions

kaveh: how despicable of you to change my entire worldview

alhaitham: despicable i may be, i love you

alhaitham references his light novels for tips so now kaveh wakes up to post it notes on his forehead that say that he snores and stuff like that

kaveh: AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE SWEET alhaitham: oh i didnt think you'd want that. okay then 🙂 kaveh: oh no did i make a mistake--

kaveh sighs dramatically and often bc

his heart will never recover from this how is alhaitham so good at being romantic? this man once crossed out an entire page of a novel bc the love interest's confession wasn't up to par--

he's being spoiled & worse he's getting used to being spoiled like now alhaitham has to take responsibility for the fact that kaveh can now actually read one of these love poems and not immediately die on the spot or turn cynical like "oh yeah empty words not like he means it"

oh yeah i think kaveh was very cynical about love poems and displays of affection in general (whenever he was in relationships before he was always focused on "how do i make the other person happy" and would thus do grand romantic displays and thus knew they weren't hard to fake)

again the pretty privilege thing (the darker aspect of it) where he's so used to compliments but also that people try to butter him up and flatter him for their own purposes so you know words are cheap (and then alhaitham proves him wrong)

the thing is kaveh can't even retaliate the same way (with post it notes nitpicking alhaitham) bc haitham would just be like "heh at least now its quieter if you write your complaints instead of vocalising them" and NO

(the solution is to fall asleep on alhaitham more to subject him to more snoring)

cross-posted from twt with permission, thanks @alrambles!

[reason-with-the-underdog]

you were not mine to save -> to be loved is to be changed

i keep thinking about how

if you boil down alhaitham & kaveh's akademiya-era fallout fight, it was that alhaitham wanted to change kaveh & kaveh could never agree with his proposed course of action

but now, as full grown adults, alhaitham isnt trying to change kaveh anymore

that core conflict does reoccur, as it did during Parade of Providence when alhaitham lectured kaveh after Act II & kaveh got annoyed

(even though Alhaitham was obviously just worried about kaveh's health/wellbeing...)

this is a common pattern of behavior for them: alhaitham is worried about kaveh & kaveh reacts defensively to it

which speaks to how stubborn & hyper-independent kaveh is

despite being someone who's dedicated to giving back to the community and contributing towards the larger social good, he's quite determined on his own path in life

he'll bear the consequences (ie bankruptcy) all by himself if necessary...! and he's much too stubborn to be talked out of his own decisions

i dont think there was any possible way kaveh could have walked away from the wrecks of the first build of alcazarzaray and still be at peace with himself

and kaveh even admits he was naive (in his teapot dialogue), but he doesnt regret it still even now

so i think its cool alhaitham realised that there's no point in trying to convince kaveh to change who he is

such is kaveh. kaveh will not be someone different, not even for alhaitham. his work & altruism are parts of his core identity

why fight a mountain who will not be moved?

instead, alhaitham goes for more "harm reduction" strategies:

help cover kaveh's bar tabs, which means he's also the one lambad calls to pick up kaveh & see kaveh home safely

snark at kaveh when he's ranting about clients to keep him in a righteous mood instead of getting depressed

there's a quote about how to be loved is to be changed....

and alhaitham certainly has changed so much from that smart-mouthed student who had pinpointed what he thought was the root of kaveh's overbearing altruism and figured he could fix kaveh's problems with that knowledge!

to now as an adult with a lot more life experience: alhaitham knows that kaveh isn't his to save

and the more he tries to force kaveh to changing, the more likely kaveh is to dig his heels in

alhaitham doesnt need to be kaveh's minder or overbearing best friend--

he wants to be kaveh's partner, his equal, which means respecting kaveh's choices for what they are

anyways kaveh's drowner analogy works rly nicely for this core conflict between them (changing people vs supporting them and protecting them from harm)

& i cant believe its canon

i really appreciate this aspect of their relationship too-- it feels very mature & realistic...

how easy it would be if you could just TELL someone how to fix their problems!

its very frustrating to see someone you care about run straight towards problems again & again...

but you can't change someone's mind bc you want it to be that way. they have to decide on their own, on their own volition, and to truly believe in their decision, for the changes to really stick

as much as it sucks that you can't just solve people's problems for them

the human experience is so much richer for all of our different perspectives and ideas and principles that will not be compromised bc someone else wanted it to be

you can't control people's thoughts & that's for the best (also alhaitham's SQ is literally about this lmao)

[reason-with-the-underdog]

the sumeru AQ's long lasting changes on society (and on hkvthm)

while yes a lot of this progress is due to kaveh & alhaitham working out their differences (they used their words!)

this is also in part due to the sumeru AQ results, specifically that nahida is freed to guide the nation & the anti-arts trend that had been pushed by the akademiya under azar is now much less prominent

kaveh was worried about his rental situation being known bc then his bankruptcy would be public

& as the "light of the kshahrewar" and a prominent figure famous for being passionate about the arts, he couldn't let his personal insolvency look bad for the rest of the arts community/kshahrewar darshan

he's not ashamed of being bankrupt/poor, he knowingly took on that debt & would do it again. but he's always concerned about the weight and cost that fame & titles have on the person underneath (ie, he's expressed concern for the well-being of those lauded as "genius" & "god")

but after the AQ, the akademiya is cleaned out of azar's cronies & new sages are installed, ones that aren't actively trying to devalue arts & personal expression, which means there's less pressure on kaveh to be the perfect exemplar who's the envy of all

so that's a big relief for kaveh mentally as time goes on

also we know he hasn't missed a debt payment with dori, so he's been able to make good progress on his financial situation, so now it's not as worrisome for his living with alhaitham to be known

(he's living there by choice! not out of financial penury)

...plus, he now can admit to himself & to the public that he actually enjoys alhaitham's company now

so yeah now alhaitham & kaveh are just incredibly domestic and hanging out in public in addition to their at home time 😊 (as shown in their birthday letters)

in summary i honestly think that alhaitham & kaveh have been like this (cyno sq 2) all the way since last july 2023 at the time of kaveh's bday letter

its so nice to actually see them interact on screen though

[reason-with-the-underdog]

body swap au

a bodyswap au for hkvthm would be really sexy bc imagine them both being reasonably competent enough at each other's highly specialised jobs to be able to "pass" for a few days

plus you KNOW they'd react so differently to the situation:

alhaitham in kaveh's body unanimously decides to call in sick on all of his ongoing commissions so he can get a solid week of sleep to make up for the crazy sleep debt he's feeling (and also to give kaveh's body a caffeine break bc the caffeine withdrawal jitters are NOT it yo)

kaveh in alhaitham's body spends one day in office being very helpful and easy to find (which scares the rest of the office btw) before being reminded by panah that the mahamata has a generous PTO policy

kaveh graciously accepts, partly out of "i need to figure out what's going on here and if alhaitham's ok" & also out of sheer novelty (bc small business owners like him dont get paid time off...)

which means that alhaitham and kaveh are both at home, officially on leave. so now what?

well, alhaitham in kaveh's body discovers that even though he's incredibly tired (again, the sleep debt), the insomnia very much won't let him. he's grumpily counting desert constructs in his mind with all the curtains pulled shut and soothing instrumental music playing on the record player and still. sleep does not come

meanwhile kaveh in alhaitham's body hears that alhaitham paused all his projects and is just like "nope i refuse" especially because he's actually feeling pretty great right now. so kaveh plans to keep working on those commissions anyways so he can meet the original deadlines

....except he discovers to his disgruntlement that alhaitham's body demands an afternoon nap right after lunch. it doesn't even matter that kaveh in alhaitham's body drank coffee, he's sleeping even if he doesn't want to

and worse, he wakes up refreshed... and ready for a run??!? wtf (kaveh has asthma, he has never woken up feeling like he wanted to run ever)

anyway one of kaveh's clients is super pushy and insists on a meeting with kaveh

so a very grumpy alhaitham in kaveh's body shows up & reads them the riot act (he knows the law, the client's property deed was improperly filed & the resulting delay is not kaveh's responsibility)

meanwhile kaveh's dealing with sensory overload bc wdym that textures are loud?? :(

somehow this all results in the same way they always seem to end up, alhaitham and kaveh napping together in the living room, piled up on the same divan despite having three perfectly good couches to use

and now they understand each other a bit more, but also they're both pretty grateful to be switching back into their normal bodies