Hiii! My name is Ray, a Genshin player based in the UK. I won't call myself old but I do like to joke that I'm "pushing 30". All that's to say, I am a bonafide adult who may talk about mature subject matters, please be aware of that.
This blog will primarily be about Genshin. Though I'll probably branch out into other Hoyo IPs or tangential subject matters as well, just to keep things fresh. I've got two goals for this blog: to use it as a place where I can freely yap about what makes me happy AND to find people who share my interests.
Thanks for reading!
Tl;dr:
Late 20s
potentially mature/nsfw content
Multi-ship 🔁✅ (and I cannot stress this one enough, I'm here for fun character dynamics above all else)
Genshin and other Hoyo IPs
Tags:
Ray talks: All of my posts (not reblogs) will be under this tag
Ray's delusions: headcanons and discussions
Ray in teyvat: genshin gameplay content (screenshots, videos etc)
Teyvat communications: Messages from the inbox
Click 'read more' for my list of boundaries. The list may change as time goes on. Edited: March 2026
Boundaries:
Please don't pressure me to reveal more about myself before I am ready.
If I post art: do not repost to other sites without permission and do not feed my work into AI programs.
I do not mind having a respectful conversation if our opinions don't align. But I'm here to have a good time and not fight for my life so do not expect any in-depth debates from me.
[Spoilers for Moon Gazing, world quest for the moon map]
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So I finally got round to finishing this quest, and wow.
I think it's fair to say all world quests would be improved with voiceovers. But I'm really happy Moon Gazing got to be the first one. The ending with Ninnin's message and the response we received wouldn't have hit nearly as hard without the VAs' hard work. It makes me super optimistic for the world building and lore for Snezhnaya- which is coming in like, 20 days from the time of me writing this??? Unbelievable.
Technical stuff aside, I think the quest achieved the emotional weight it was going for. It stirred up similar emotions in me as when I watched The Martian- the plot is very different but they both have a very "indomitable human (dragon) spirit" vibe to them. There's an innate optimism that drives people forward to innovate and reach out beyond the stars.
It's very touching and I love how it all ties back to dragon lore and their tech. Someone said Phanes is such a plagiarist and I have to agree lmao. They owe so much of their control and success to the dragons.
The formatting will be the same as my beta Alhaitham post, once again I'm getting my info from this thread by ukekaveh on X. I'd highly recommend giving it a read for yourself since I won't be going into every single detail. Let's get started!
Summary
He had somewhat of a dual personality; cheerful on the outside but sensitive on the inside.
Writers played with the idea of him being an amateur magician
Initially younger than Alhaitham
All in all, there's a bit less on Kaveh than there is on Alhaitham in this thread. I get speculate a little on why that may be, but lets get the basics out of the way first!
Appearance:
From the sketches, it looks like his design hasn't changed all that much from beta. To be fair, his design is one of the strongest in the game so I'm not surprised (biased, I know). Similarly, Mehrak doesn't look too different. Though she appears to have more of a personality. Maybe the plan was to have some comedic moments where Mehrak throws a tantrum or "scolds" Kaveh for doing something she doesn't agree with. I would've loved to see the early designs and dynamics between the two.
I will say, I prefer the splash art with the projections and equations over the one we got in game. But I get why it was changed to something sleeker.
Personality:
An architect with a strong sense of empathy. Kind in nature and very sensitive to others' feelings.
I feel a lot of players forget that kindness is a core part of Kaveh's character. I don't have much to say on this, the game does try to showcase this side of him when he's talking to characters other than Alhaitham (though it doesn't happen nearly enough).
There's a significant contrast between his outside persona and inner world, as he often appears cheerful, confident and takes everything in his stride, but deep inside, he's hurt easily and carries a strong sense of guilty.
No surprises here, this is basically what we get in-game. His character story does a great job with showing the more melancholic, angsty side of his life. Though I do wish we saw a bit more that in his interactions too. Not that I need him to be actively upset or anything, just more references to his mindset and the experiences that lead him there (PoP you will always be famous- and what do you know, my wish was granted by the epilogue of the latest Sumeru archon quest!)
So that's all there was in the spreadsheet-looking portion of his description. But there are additional paragraphs regarding his personality.
Kaveh is also very candid, critical and hot-tempered, and a little self centered, having no filter or regard for common curtesy when speaking his mind.
This screenshot looks different to the others and there's speculations about his kit. Which leads me to believe this may have been a leak or something. The information presented is accurate but I get the sense it was written by someone who wasn't involved in his development.
OP is taken aback by "Kaveh" and "self centered" being in the same sentence. This might be controversial of me to say; but it does align his personality. That's not to say he's malicious or selfish (the post goes on to clarify this too). But he possesses an artist's pride; even if he's insecure about other aspects of his life, this is the one thing he knows he's good at. This facet of him is strong and unshakable, and personally, I love that he possesses this level of confidence. Of course, it often leads to friction between himself, his clients, and the culture at large. But that's what makes it so interesting!
He has taken up stage magic...in an attempt to showcase his genuius inventions to an audiance. Unfortunately, he is still learning the ropes...his shows end up unintentionally hilarious.
This is the final paragraph from that screenshot. I desperately want to know the original source. It sounds like Kaveh's concept has been fairly solid from the start (kind hearted but complicated architect). But their presentation of him has shifted a lot. It sounds like he was supposed to be more of a comedic character- likely to offset Alhaitham's stoic attitude.
The humour would've come from seeing this egotistical, prideful guy try to do something and flop in front of an audience. Maybe it's supposed to come across as endearing to the players because he's so earnest and kind.
I cannot tell you how glad I am the game did NOT go in this direction for Kaveh. There are still some comedic undertones in his writing, sure. But for the most part, his struggled are presented as something that trouble him, whilst also becoming building blocks for who he is today. This calmer, more down-to-earth writing style ingratiated him to the players so much more. Similarly, I'm glad Mehrak became a genuinely and steadfast companion to Kaveh, rather than yet another character who causes more friction in his life.
Also, how is the game supposed to show us he acts differently around Alhaitham if he's in a heightened state 24/7?? There needs to be a clear separation between "Kaveh with others" and "Kaveh with Alhaitham" for that whole dynamic to work. I feel like the line is a bit blurry with the version of Kaveh.
I'm getting my info from this post from X user ukekaveh. My original plan was to discuss both of them plus their beta dynamic in the same post. But on reflection that was never going to happen lmao. I love talking about these two too much.
Anyway, I'll be referencing the thread but if I'd highly recommend reading through it since I won't be going post-by-post.
A quick summary:
Growing up, his speech and emotional processing were limited
As a result, he was bullied by his peers
He grew out it by the time he was a young adult
He was originally supposed to be from the "school of life"? Amurta?
His beta design has more details
He was older than Kaveh
Let's start with his design, the headphone tassel creates compositional symmetry by mirroring the long hair strand on the other side. It's quite cute and reminds me of Kaveh's earrings.
However, asymmetry is a big part of Alhaitham's design philosophy, so I get why it had to go. Same situation with the gold pattern on his top/torso. The lack of pattern in that area leaves a huge block of grey but I never questioned it. If anything, I assumed the designers left it blank to show off his abs lmao.
Onto the meat of the discussion: his lore and personality.
personality:
We have no idea which stage of development this is from. I bring this up because I'm curious as to how far into development this version is, and how much had to be changed between this and the official in-game version we got.
"As a character that's a bit of a nerd and very intelligent, Alhaitham is almost impossible to find fault with."
It sounds like the devs had a strong idea about who they wanted Alhaitham to be. (I feel like this wasn't the case for Kaveh but more on him later). He's stoic, strong, and intelligent, almost unnervingly so. Someone who was untouchable and difficult to relate to, at least to begin with.
"What really moves Alhaitham is when the people around him have strong views. Even when their opinions run counter to his own..."
No surprises there. I think cool, stoic characters often come across as haughty or arrogant because they don't give their respect freely. Alhaitham isn't either of those things. But with his near-perfect demeanour and desire for mentally strong friends, I can see why that might rub people the wrong way.
...he certainly doesn't mind hearing others express themself.
Adding on from the previous point, I don't get the sense Alhaitham challenges people on purpose. But he does enjoy untangling opposing philosophies and likes people who can keep up. I can totally see a younger Alhaitham getting bored of his classmates and their half-baked arguments. Again, it's nothing personal but it does make him difficult to get along with. Ironically, this facet of his personality makes him very compatible with Paimon- who's outspoken and curious.
Onto lore:
Perhaps due to a life-threatening situation he faced early in life, as a child, Alhaitham was slow to respond in social settings and his speech was also sluggish. Other kids his age called him a dunce.
Okay, I tried really hard not to copy/paste the entire thread because it makes for a tedious read. But this chunk is so fascinating to me so buckle up-
We don't get this "life-threatening situation" in the final version of his lore, nor is it expanded upon in this summary. I assume it's the same incident that took his parents? I'm fairly confident in saying he was the sole survivor in this hypothetical crisis (even though there's no backing for it). Whether he made it out due to his intelligence or sheer luck is up in the air for me.
In the official lore, Kaveh initially reaches out to Alhaitham because he thought he was bullied. When in reality, Alhaitham was simply uninterested in socialising. Interesting that this version of Alhaitham was actually a victim of bullying. I still see him coming out on top though. He probably used people's assumptions about him to his advantage. Besides, he probably felt empowered enough with the support of his grandmother. This backstory communicates to us that Alhaitham is mentally strong and well adjusted despite the trauma. He doesn't let the past weigh him down.
Still, I can't help but wonder if he ever felt vulnerable, lonely, or yearned for a 'normal' childhood experience.
But once he was old enough to attend school, he displayed an astonishingly peculiar trait- he rarely said a word, but on the occasion he did get talking, he would express many coherent and complete thoughts on the topic.
I'm curious about whether young-Alhaitham wanted to express himself but simply couldn't. Though judging by the fact he chose to self-study/home school shortly after enrolling, the answer is likely 'no'. Alhaitham cares about what he cares about. If he wanted to connect with his peers, he would've made more of an effort to do so. Again, feels like his characterisation is and strong and consistent.
The reason was his brain was developing more quickly than most people in terms of knowledge retention and intellect, but the cost of that was his language and emotions developed more slowly than average.
A character who was behind in his speech development becomes a linguist, the irony has to be intentional (then again, he wasn't originally a Haravatat?).
A lot of people already headcanon Alhaitham as autistic; his preference for routine, aversion to noise, and stilted social skills do align with traits commonly associated with autism. Adding selective mutism into the mix would've solidified it as canon to me even if the writers didn't use the term "autistic" explicitly. I really wish they kept this part of his back story. It's not like they'd have to change any of his in-game interactions since it's stated he grew out of the mutism. We need more dynamic disability representation (that is, disabilities that fluctuate in severity depending on various factors. Another example of this would be ambulatory wheelchair users). Being disabled is rarely black or white, all or nothing, it exists on a gradient.
Imagine the hero of Sumeru being somebody who sometimes loses the ability to speak, or otherwise require social accommodations without compromising any of his "cool" traits.
So that's all I have for Alhaitham. I have two more posts teed up; one for Kaveh and one for the beta relationship dynamic!
But I managed to teach myself. Music theory is essentially math, after all. Once you learn the patterns, it's not really all that difficult.
That one scene of Dottore playing the piano is lodged in my brain forever. It's all I can think about whenever the topic comes up.
I'm sure Sandrone would loathe to be in the same sentence as Dottore- but her lines solidifies my thoughts on the topic. The game presents music as a spectrum: on one end, you have the cold calculations, a formula you plug into a machine by tapping the keys or plucking the strings. On the other end, music is pure emotional expression. It's the language of the heart, so to speak.
This metaphor is used as parallel to Sandrone's character arc (voiceline: more about Sandrone V):
I also like music, which is similar [to mathematics] many ways. I used to think playing music should be approached like a mathematical problem...Later, I came to realize that some minor flaws... can actually make the music more beautiful.
Paraphrasing here because it's a lengthy one. Her outlook on music mirrors her attitude on relationships- that there's more to life than pure cold, hard, numbers. That flaws and complications make life interesting.
Sure, maybe the "robot learns to accept feelings" trope is a bit cliché. I saw it from a mile away but it didn't take away my enjoyment of her story quest. The emotions behind Alain and the piano made sense and I liked how we had to salvage the instrument piece by piece. It was a good representation of the logical and emotional side of not only Sandrone, but the theme of music as a whole.
Both Citlali and Faruzan act like they've been alive for a long time; treating the other adult characters like children, making outdated references etc. It makes sense for Citlali because she really has lived for centuries. I've said it once and I'll say it till I'm blue in the face: it's fine for two characters to have similar traits/motifs/gimmicks. It's all about how the characters are presented and what they bring to the table.
It starts to fall apart however, when Faruzan tells us about her time in the domain. Specifically when she mentions blacking out and having no memories of that time. So how could she have developed the "granny" attitude if she herself didn't notice the passage of time? (She also didn't have anybody to interact with during this time, truly putting her in stasis.)
To me, her experience is more in-line with a coma patient who's lost a chunk of their life, only to wake up and discover everything is radically different. I really appreciate the hangout quest route where she finds the self repairing robot and the letter from her mother. It truly highlights how isolated and "out of time" she is. Every thing she once knew and love was gone, and all she could do is adapt and cope.
In other words, she should've been a Steve Rogers, not a Citlali.
idk, Faruzan's "Madam" doesn't read to me as citlali's "granny". It's heavily a coping mechanisms, she's lost everyone she knew and loved, she's out of time, her darshan is now in decline and her own research outdated. Akademiya functions heavily on status and respectability, she tries to get as mch respect as she can, and also to frame the fact that she dresses and talks differentely as a sign of her olden days wisdom. She has a theme of trying to find\recruit pupils, we see her sending letters to promising students and being crushed when getting rejections. she didn't get to become a mentor, and she tries to do it now, and keeps failing, so the honorific of "Madam" is a symbolic compensation for that. this is why she latches onto kaveh so heavily specifically to teach and improve him, while citlali basically just parents ororon without mentoring
meanwhile, citlali is so insistent on "granny" bc it gives her not just a social status, but also belonging. as most cryos, she's very isolated and finds it hard to connect to people, even in her own tribe, so it's easier for her to slip into this role of social superiority where she's the one in control and she's the one who decides to isolate herself and mad at others for disturbing her. oh-ho, don't bother angry granny Citlali, or she'll smack you!
so if faruzan uses her "Madam" status as coping mechanism for why she deserves to have pupils and as an argument to get them, Citlali uses her status as coping mechanism of why she's out of the loop with the tribe and excuse for why her being isolated doesn't make her less respectable
The way you summarised their characters in the last paragraph is great; both of them cling onto their title and seniority as a way to cope with the passage of time. (Kaveh isn't the only person Faruzan latches onto, Collei is on the list too.)
I feel like if the game actually took the time to explore their isolation and pain (and the ways they coped), then I wouldn't have as much of a gripe with the overlap. (It also doesn't help that I don't care for this trope in the first place. Though I'm aware it's a personal preference and not an indication of writing quality.) As with a lot of characters, there are crumbs of nuance scattered throughout but I want more focus and intentionality.
Like, the latest event would've been the perfect bonding opportunity for Sandrone and Citlali. I feel like it would be a very healing friendship for both of them. She did get a chance to be cool and do her shaman thing. But I would've loved to see the sentimental side of her again like in her tribal chronical.
