u/webs_ter

(1/2) part two in the comments becuase post guidelines.

I'll preface this by saying it's just a funsies discussion, not very serious. I'm just interested in hearing what other haitham-enjoyers have to say about this. be nice!

okay, so. remember when he patch 3.1 rolled around and everyone and their mothers were climbing the 'Alhaitham might be king Deshret!' tree? yep, I do too. and I was very recently thinking about it.

here's the rough gist of why I was thinking about it - I'm a fanfic writer and was brainstorming ideas. so, I revisited this theory some time back, and I liked the idea so much that I'm currently sitting on more than 300k words of unedited fic. like, I wrote a lot for this one, because the idea just sat right.

I will not sit here and discuss those theories with you, because the fic will be out soon anyway. however, if anyone's curious and hasn't looked into this yet, I'd highly suggest this google doc which goes over a lot of details.

okay, back to the meat of it. there's always been tons of things pointing him towards being somehow connected to Deshret, but by now most people have given up and accepted that we were barking up the wrong tree. still, in the process of writing this fanfic, I've fallen in love with this concept again, because it just makes so much sense!

I've never been too happy with hoyo's depictions of Alhaitham.

he's one of those characters where his potential is absolutely wasted. he's either reserved for 'smart guy with cool demeanor who says smart things' or as personality development for Kaveh, which isn't bad at all, and I say this as the number one Haikaveh shipper, but it's been happening way too much.

like, think back to the last AQ. this wasn't just an Alhaitham problem, by the way, a lot of the Sumeru cast suffered from it, but their reactions to everything almost ending and so much crazy shit happening felt pretty hollow to me. of course, on the surface, that AQ was a goddamn banger. but looking underneath at the writing? so much nuance could've been achieved that was missed.

(small rant but I fucking hate dori? why do the devs keep force-feeding her down our throats with every single patch? in the waves/reefs event she was there, in Skirk's voicelines she was there, in Nod-Krai she was there, and now in Sumeru she's back? what the fuck!? get her away from me, sorry. like, again! it's not the character herself, it's just the way that the devs keep writing in her worst traits and sidelining her good ones with obnoxious, uninteresting behaviour. easily one of my least favourite parts of the game right now, because I swear some hoyo employee is obsessed with her. feel free to disagree if you dislike her. I mean, I don't profusely hate the character herself either, but the way the game's presenting her is just. eugh. no sincerity whatsoever, and it's pmo.)

back to work. and I am qualified to analyse this since as a fic writer I've studied this quest down to its bones! let me start by saying - the plot itself is pretty lost on itself. I won't waste space on it right now, because it's a really long rant and maybe i'll post again, but it did not do the Sumeru cast complete justice. Collei's storyline was fucking adorable, and i love her, and the same goes for Nahida. (side note but the moment she called them Mr. Kaveh and Mr. Alhaitham? I spit out my chai becuase it's unbelievable as fuck).

however, Alhaitham wasn't part of this development. which is fine, again, I know they have limited time becaue holy shit Dottolone this patch was peak. but he just has so much potential!!!

instead of 'smart, snobbish guy', can we get some depth on him? someone who likes having friends, going to the tavern, but never people-pleases because he's happy with himself? what's his work environment like in the Akademiya? what exactly do his relations with the rest of the cast look like in day-to-day life? Tighnari? Cyno? Nahida? Nilou? Dehya? Candace? Collei? anyone other than Kaveh? again, saying this as a Haikaveh shipper, but damn these guys need depth. Kaveh already got a lot of his with his hangout quest and also the Interdarshan event, but Alhaitham's still missing his.

and the depth is there! he's not a shallow character at all. there is a reason behind why he thinks the way he does, and seeing him come out of his shell post-Sumeru's first AQ would be fascinating. it's already mentioned in one of his character stories! (pet peeve, but my boy didn't get a single anecdote. i don't think Kaveh did either. that's criminal.)

one more reason for why the depth is there - as a writer, i can imagine it. he's not the kind of guy who's interesting to observe at a a standstill, but when you put him in a tough situation? mhm, then it gets tasty. in the main story we've never seen Alhaitham deal with something that he's incapable of dealing with. would it not make him more 3d if we se him actually struggle with something? not even a task, becuase we all know he's very competent, but what about emotions? feelings? seeing him get attached to people after being so avoidant his whole life?

all I'm saying is this - if you try and imagine it, there's so much more to him that can be explored. that's precisely what I'm doing with my fic as well, not just making him Deshret, but also making deal with everything that comes with the divinity.

tangent over. we circle back to the point of this post.

okay, now that I'm less angry, lets discuss the important stuff.

aside from why the theory makes sense, because the google doc I linked above already explains that to you, I want to talk about if it is plausible.

I don't think hoyo will take Alhaitham all that seriously or do something like make him Deshret or give him a second story quest. this is for two reasons.

(go to comments for second part)

alhaitham mentioned in new world quest!?!?!

rethinking the haitham-deshret connection.