Being autistic doesn't mean being completely oblivious to social cues, and to how minds work. We just can't feel ya neurotypicals on an instinctual level, but we can make out social cues on a cognitive level. In Aaru Village, when that one woman didn't tell everything to the main character, Paimon and Cyno, Alhaitham points all the cues towards her not having told everything that are visible on a cognitive level. He wasn't like "You should have known that she didn't say everything, it was obvious" , he pointed out the cues visible on a cognitive and rational level. Being able to read social cues on a cognitive level and then acting neurotypical despite not being neurotypical is called masking btw.

Something I personally enjoy about Al-haitham is that the game actually gives him friends, usually when i see autistic-coded characters in shows or games they’re seen as people that can’t form bonds or are seen as annoying, blunt, and rude. It’s nice to see a character have people that don’t constantly hate his presence. Even Kaveh, though he gets annoyed and they bicker, does not hate Al-haitham for his autistic traits but for the fact that Al-haitham purposely messes and bothers him.

Not to mention that out of all their interactions so far, Kaveh is the one who starts the arguments, al simply insults back in defense.

You take the words out of my mouth. It's quite cool to find out that my vision is shared by some people. My hypothesis is that having Alhaitham showing such a consistant Asperger personality might not be an "accident" but made on purpose by miHoYo. It's quite obvious to me that everything in the story is quite very thoughtful and documented. The game mechanics (like playing solo with minimal interaction) might bring into the game some ASD people and miHoYo would then taking them into account by having a character they can identify with. Thanks for sharing this.

A very insightful and a proper take. Finally someone who understands where Alhaitham comes from. Also wholeheartedly agree with Kaveh's take as well, dude keeps pestering Al for no reason whatsoever when he knows Al doesn't take his bs. Props man, great vid

A very interesting take! I think that this makes a lot of sense.

I understand your take on Kaveh. I am neurodivergent(not on the autism spectrum, probably ADHD or something). I am very emotional, so I understand Kaveh up to a certain point. But Kaveh takes Alhaitham comments too personally. Like he claims to know Alhaitham the best and yet he hasn't concluded that while Alhaitham does sounds harsh, he doesn't mean to hurt. Kaveh should just not take alhaitham critics to heart. My bestfriend is similar to Alhaitham and I'm never offended by her, because I see her comments as they are: constructive criticism. Yes I have feelings and it hurt but I won't lash out like Kaveh does. If Kaveh cannot take Alhaitham I think they should just part ways. Or find a middle ground. They're both adults, surely there is a way. Also Alhaitham has subtle ways to show his affection (brings kaveh home when he drunk, actually thinks about tidying his books -you hear his thoughts with Nahida- and a bunch of details I can't remember). They remind me of my bestfriend and I so much. We are roomates as well. It is a bit sad for me to see them bicker so much.

not sure if you've seen already but in cynos Sq 2 kaveh and alhaitham have less hostile conversations!! I think it's really interesting

Something that I have noticed was that he actually shows more symptoms of aspd. People with aspd typically share a ton of symptoms with asd, they just usually use other people to get them where they want to be. Something that is often assumed about people with aspd is the fact that they are "evil", which is usually not the case, and and term "sociopath" usually isn't used to describe a person with aspd for that reason.

(side note from future me: pls read this on a computer for your eyes' sake, I didn't mean for this to be soo long and in case you don't want to read this (understandable) TL;DR: Kaveh has untreated ADHD (and needs help), and Alhaitham has ASD. They fight, but don't truly hate each other. All are important info, and idk how to reduce without losing too much context, but I tried to divide this a lil better so that it's easier to read. Okay, idk if you have done Kaveh's hangout or the events/quests where he is featured since then, but I can confidentially guess that Kaveh has undiagnosed, untreated ADHD from having a diagnosis myself to hours of research I spent on the topic (as well as autism, caus I'm pretty sure I have both). I think it's easy to miss the more complex nuances of Kaveh (and Alhaitham honestly) because most people are too focused on "Kaveh is Alhaitham's secret roommate haha " rather than their individual characters. In a way, he is a complete opposite of Alhaitham, even in their portrayed neurodivergence. He is impulsive to the point of putting himself in massive debt after spending all his savings and taking a loan from Dori to rebuild the palace of alcazarzaray after the first one had failed, to buying keychains which raised money for children in need which turned out to be a scam, forgetting that even healthcare in Sumeru is free. He can be seen as overly sensitive or easily offended but that can be a display of having a hard time regulating his emotions and a sense of just believing he is simply right, especially when discussing his own field of expertise. He is often inclined to drop projects or commissions out of disagreement or discontent with the resulting proposals, when the passion is lost after feeling that the amount of changes made no longer feels like his own work or interesting to work on. He also has huge substance abuse issues from often wanting to drown in alcohol instead of facing his own problems whenever he gets the chance (addiction being also a highly common issue in those with ADHD). Similarly to Venti, this can be seen as a gag of "haha alcohol addict lmaoo", however the problem stems deeper than avoidance and is more so a side symptom to executive dysfunction. RSD (Rejection Sensitivity Dysphoria) and PDA (Pathological Demand Avoidance) are both conditions that deeply relate to ADHD (and ASD as well), the first being an increase sensitivity to perceived rejection which can come in the form of criticism, disagreement, roundabout phrasing or subtext, etc. (i.e.: "You can come to the party, if you want" translating to "We are just being polite, we don't actually want you there" in their minds, while it really was just a friendly invitation.) PDA is having an intense avoidance of perceived demand, from other or even from yourself, making you physically unable to complete the task at hand due to the feeling of losing independence and the choice of doing that task. Kaveh also sacrifices too much for others at the expense of this own happiness and well being (such as using some of the one million he earned from the competition to treat his friends to a meal because feels indebted to them, rather than spending it on himself and paying his debt). He also threw away an entire fortune that would've set him free for life, however he declined all of it due to him not agreed with the sage's philosophies and actions and instead donated all of it because he would rather not live with the guilt of using the money that took advantage of others (I forget what exactly, but it had to do with the sage's unethical practices). This can be attributed to just his personality, however more acute emotional empathy, not wanting to be a burden and sticking true to your values and your own sense of justice can be heightened with ADHD. My brain is getting too tired (it's late lmao) and I'll have to review their character stories to confirm what I'm saying, but I feel like Kaveh does understand Alhaitham to an extent, perhaps even subconsciously. His defensiveness towards Alhaitham could be because he was right on the money about Kaveh's own shortcomings and inner thinkings and he doesn't want to admit or come to terms with Alhaitham's observations. He also doesn't want people to find out about them being roommates (out of embarrassment and not wanting others to know he is basically homeless) nor that he is struggling, so he may subconsciously or deliberately play up his annoyance towards him so that they think "they hate each other so much, no way they can be roommates". There is a reason why he came to Alhaitham's place at his most desperate time and why he chose to stay with him until today despite hating Alhaitham on the surface. There's also a reason why Alhaitham chose to help Kaveh, as someone who doesn't seem to offer his hand unless it puts his own status quo at risk (whether anyone wants to interpret this romantically or not is up to them, however diminishing their relationship to just being boyfriends is mischaracterizing them in my opinion). Kaveh could also be projecting his own dissatisfaction towards his own life towards Alhaitham in a sort of jealousy that he seems to know everything and have his own life together while he, despite also being a genius, doesn't seem to be able to gain such stability. He may also resent himself for not listening to Alhaitham sooner, which could've prevented his massive debt and the predicament that he is now. Alhaitham may know the most about Kaveh and his circumstances, whereas Kaveh struggles to read Alhaitham and what he is thinking which can cause him to feel insecure that Alhaitham does know so much (also may I add that Kaveh did overshare and basically broke down in front of Alhaitham, and oversharing is a common symptom of ADHD as well). They also have different opinions academically, but ultimately I don't think Kaveh truly hates Alhaitham, and I don't think Alhaitham hates Kaveh either. They are opposites in almost every shape or form, which explains how abrasive they are towards each other at times, but opposites also balance each other out. Kaveh has the emotional sensitiveness that Alhaitham lacks, and Alhaitham has the rationality that Kaveh lacks. I believe both can learn from each other's best qualities to support their worst. Both have their "bad sides" which are often surfacely interpreted as being "unreasonable" or a "selfish jerk", however those sides we see stem from a much more complex background and psychology. They are beautifully written complex characters that portray neurodivergence in a subtle and realistic way (whether or not it was intended for them to be coded this way), and reducing one or the other to some of these descriptives doesn't do them justice. Kaveh isn't just an Al-hater and Alhaitham isn't just a jerk either. Both are incredibly misunderstood characters, in game and in the community and I don't mean this as a personal attack to your video, but I really wanted to clear things up on Kaveh's side mostly (this also isn't a defense of Kaveh's behaviors either (he needs to get his sh!t tgt lmaoo) but more so an analysis of why he is the way he is). I think Kaveh's character is especially tragic and complex, and more credit towards his writing should be given, though Alhaitham's ASD is a lot more subtle and easy to miss for a lot of people in my opinion, due to him not being stereotypically autistic, like a lot of other characters depicted in media (such as Woo Young Woo and Shawn Murphy, both of which portray the Savant Syndrome spectrum of autism, which is quite rare and doesn't represent a majority of autistic individuals). Alhaitham could also fall into the category of a "savant autistic" though much more subtly, and there isn't a direct causality that is emphasised compared to some other depictions (for example, Shawn's medical prowess is often directly associated to him being autistic (and almost having super powers because of that). It's the difference between "he's a genius and he is autistic" and "he's a genius because he is autistic" if that makes sense.) Anyways, I could say more, but this went on longer than planned and I doubt anyone would want to read this or anything longer than that, but TL;DR: Kaveh has untreated ADHD (and needs help), and Alhaitham has ASD. They fight, but don't truly hate each other. (oh and final note, Asperger's is now a defunct term caus the dude the condition is named after did horrible things, so the whole spectrum is now just ASD) That's all :D

I love you

:)

That's bad way to characterize Al-Haytham. That's not him