This is an analysis of Kaveh and Alhaitham’s argument posted on the Port Ormos bulletin board!! Because it is crazy actually!!
I think this exchange of theirs out of the three posted throughout Sumeru is particularly interesting, and this is due Alhaitham openly expressing that Kaveh does not understand what Alhaitham is really trying to say to him: “I have never denied what you meant, but you don’t understand what I am saying to you at all.”
This exchange is relevant in various ways in exploring the motif of communication. As according to their usual rapport, the two disagree over their differing philosophies, as in sensibility versus rationality, however, Alhaitham’s particular concerns in Kaveh spending his money on “nonsense” highlights the underlying reason for this exchange. From this comment, the argument is recontextualised through Alhaitham’s intention for getting involved, as Kaveh prompts the workmen to take his money in order to help them out.
When Alhaitham states that this is a meaningless action due to the inevitability of people rising or falling on their own accord, rather than solely critiquing Kaveh’s “impulsiv[e]” altruism, as Kaveh interprets, Alhaitham is directly contradicting his own comment – as he is interfering on Kaveh’s decisions.
As concern is evidently the intention behind his interference, Kaveh cannot perceive this, and instead attempts to critique Alhaitham’s perspective in return, although Alhaitham states: “Make no mistake. I have never denied what you meant…” This response asserts that Alhaitham does not deny, but rather agrees with, Kaveh’s statement of “mutual assistance, fairness, and righteous anger” driving the world.
In lieu of this, rather than continuing the argument, Alhaitham claims that there is no point to it, as Kaveh does not understand what he is saying, as in, Kaveh does not understand that his intentions in interfering are out of concern. He follows this up, regardless, by criticising Kaveh’s handling of his budget, as, evidently, Kaveh has offered to give his own money to these workmen, and refuses to pay for Kaveh’s drinks for that month.
For Alhaitham, Kaveh’s lack of self-prioritisation leads him to impulsive altruistic acts which serve to jeopardise his own position, particularly regarding money. If Kaveh can afford to give away money, he can afford to pay his own tabs, is the takeaway from this exchange. Although, similarly to the exchange between them posted in Puspa’s Café, this applies to one particular month, insinuating that Alhaitham will continue to pay for next month’s tabs of his own accord.
The main argument, as well as the disagreement over the speaker of Kaveh’s quote, serves as a humorous exchange, but as a motif for communication it acquires a new meaning. The two hold perspectives which contrast the other which puts them on unequal footing, demonstrated within the argument over the speaker of Kaveh’s quote. Although it is not disclosed who is actually in the right, both are convinced of their respective viewpoint. There is an element missing here, a potential solution to this problem, and it lies within the idea of “correctness” established within A Parade of Providence.
The omission of there being an objective, correct answer to this particular debate serves as a parallel to their conflicting viewpoints, with the basis of their exchange being to “prove” to the other their “correctness” – here, it is in regard to Kaveh.
However, “correctness” being the basis of their exchange, and thus, relationship, is challenged with Alhaitham shutting down the initial debate due to Kaveh’s misunderstanding of his meaning. Correctness, then, and its importance, is called into question within this exchange, with Kaveh being the one to chase it; his last message being that he would “prove” himself to be right.
At the core of this bulletin board exchange is the idea that Alhaitham harbours an alternative ‘meaning’ than the one that Kaveh assigns to him: “… you don’t understand what I’m saying to you at all.” This is a meaning which Kaveh cannot perceive due to his current understanding of Alhaitham. This represents the standing of their current relationship, where Kaveh believes Alhaitham holds him in disdain, although this belief is incongruous with Alhaitham’s actions which show his care for Kaveh.
In these instances of communication through the Bulletin Boards, it is interesting to note that Kaveh is revealed to have been drunk and “scribbling” on these notice boards, and hopes that Alhaitham does not know.
Although this is a humorous detail, it adds another layer to the unreliability of their method of communication, as Kaveh has no recollection of these exchanges with Alhaitham, and therefore could not have properly interpreted Alhaitham due to an altered state of mind. It is uncertain whether Alhaitham is aware of Kaveh’s being drunk whilst responding to him, or whether he is believed to have been lucid, which creates another element of unreliability in their exchanges.
Alhaitham understands Kaveh’s thinking and the reasons for why he acts as he does, but he cannot articulate his concern in a way that Kaveh will understand, both out of Kaveh’s incapability of receiving goodwill, but also due to his logical manner of expression. Kaveh perceives Alhaitham’s concealed expressions of concern as personal gripes and criticisms of his beliefs, and therefore believes that their relationship is based on the scholarly principle of proving the validity of one’s philosophies.
The Port Ormos Bulletin Board reinforces the core essence of their relationship: Alhaitham is invested in a personal regard, whereas Kaveh cannot see this due to his perception of Alhaitham and Alhaitham’s inability to communicate in a way Kaveh would understand.
(Update: For more analyses like this, the essay this is taken from is now uploaded! It can be accessed here and here as as a pdf <3)
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If the devs don't give UI some lore.... then I will ...
relationship chart:
pebbles:
UI dislikes him, hell they are basically one minor inconvenience away from hating him. he's slightly older than them, but despite being "such a brat" (UI is projecting onto him. pebbles is NOT a brat <///3), he is a lot more liked by the group than UI.
neither do their views align, UI is an anti-sliverist, and pebbles is a sliverist.
so basically UI is fighting pebbles for the title of the cooler third gen iterator of the group (everyone else in the group is either second gen or first gen)
moon:
UI likes moon, literally the only one who UI isn't mean around. and it's not because UI just wants to be on the good side of a senior, no, UI genuinely does think that moon is rather nice. a part of UI wishes that they were her younger sibling instead of pebbles. moon is sort of the only one who's nice to them… thus they need to repay moon by being nice back. UI tries their best to not accidentally push moon away.
grey wind:
never talked to them, sort of wary, but admire them nonetheless. neither did UI wanna talk to GW, i guess they feel too guilty, as if GW absolutely despises them for how they're unable to really keep much friendships without pushing everyone away after 100 cycles. this guilt clouds UI's eyes, making them wary of GW because they so thoroughly convinced themselves GW hates them.
no significant harassment:
rather neutral about NSH, tried to become friends with NSH but ended up pushing him away like they always do. nevertheless, they hold no good or bad opinions about NSH
suns:
UI doesn't know them, has no clue why they talk like they're a part of the group, and really doesn't like them because of this. UI is sort of distrustful of strangers, they definitely live by an extreme version of "you do not get my respect for free"
layout of the group, purely my hcs
extra ^
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Family at the Core
Parts 1 & 2, Part 3
Part 4!
***
Learning that he had put his soul at risk in making a deal with a supernatural entity was unpleasant enough.
Learning that said entity was firmly in ‘nearly completely uncharted territory’ was just the cherry on top.
(Or was the cherry on top Constantine calling him an idiot to his face?)
The research they’d conducted after their JL Dark allies’ abrupt departure had come up just as Constantine had implied: empty.
They’d keep searching, of course, but it wasn’t looking good.
The next morning they awoke to chaos; a bomb had gone off at the Yuyan building and police had started swarming it.
Presumably, Kitty had done it to draw them there and complete her end of the bargain. He hoped that was the case, at least.
Despite the media swarm the night before, they hadn’t shared any of the footage of their meeting with the ghosts. And none of the news crews had sent out helicopters to try and record - at least self-aware enough to know that regular voices wouldn’t be heard over propeller blades. The odds of it being an outside bombing were slim - a League of Assassins member might’ve made it out when the ghosts were removing their fellows, but they wouldn’t have risked drawing that kind of attention to their own base.
Signal practically inhales his breakfast in his rush to get on-scene.
Watching his helmet feed showed a Yuyan building with criminal evidence practically set out as a buffet.
Every hidden passage lay open and waiting, sticky notes and brief explanations pointing to the mechanisms, labels on weapons, an A4 sheet taped to a chair with an arrow pointing down to a desk and the words “murders committed &/or planned.”
No sign of the ghosts or the boy, however.
Not until 11, when Kitty calls to remind him of their ‘deal.’
Oracle mutes the feed and answers the phone on the batcomputer’s speakers.
Information on the attached number pops up before the call even connects, but it’s practically empty.
The number is new, no information attached to it, and the location signature is easy to find except that it bounces all around the globe like a ping-pong ball.
“Hey, Wayne. The building is getting raided as we speak. Hope you’re ready to put your money where your mouth is.”
“Or my soul, you mean?” Bruce asks pointedly.
“Isn’t it always, in business?” She laughs. “Chin up Bruce - can I call ya Bruce? We are parent-friends now - anyway, worst case scenario you default on the deal and I make you buy the building anyway. Plus a few extras - call it interest for lying. Lucky you I never developed a taste for the finer things in after-life. Ha, taste.”
All of them stiffen at that.
“Seriously though, Bruce, you are the one parent-friend and Gotham-friend my fright has at the moment. Try to refrain from making any more underly-specific deals sealed with handshakes with beings you don’t know, yeah?”
“Right,” Bruce swallows back his frustration, pulling his ‘hurt Brucie Wayne’ voice over it like a shroud. “It’s going to take at least a few days for them to complete a sweep of that size, but the building will likely be seized before the day is out. I’ll express my interest now, but it’ll likely be at least a week before we can close. If you need a place to stay until then-”
“No,” she cuts him off. “Appreciate it but we can stay out of sight well enough, and Danny…. He really shouldn’t be going anywhere just yet.”
“Is he alright?” Bruce doesn’t even have to play up the concern. The kid had been barely above catatonic when they’d seen him on the Joker’s broadcast.
She doesn’t answer, at first.
Then they hear a single, deep breath through the line - something that had been missing from their previous conversation with the ghost.
“He will be,” she settles on. “We’re gonna make sure of it.”
That tells him nothing.
“I know a great doctor, if y-”
“Nah,” she cuts him off. “Bullet ‘s going to the Far Frozen to see if someone can make a house call since Danny really shouldn’t be traveling. Given how fanatic they can be, I doubt they’ll say no.”
Bullet was the ‘deputy’ Walker had mentioned, Bruce recalled. The Far Frozen must be some kind of clinic.
“Fanatic?” he asks dubiously. The word rarely spells good things.
“Oh yeah. They’ve got murals. Anyway, I’ve got progress to monitor and a baby to check on. We’ll be waiting!”
She closes the line before he can even say goodbye.
The first thing Signal says when he unmutes is “Well, at least we know the only thing she’ll hurt is your pocket?”
“Assuming she is telling the truth,” Damian replies skeptically.
---------------------
The entrance to level with the Lazarus Pit is missing.
They watch as Signal searches, but there are no clear labels to mechanisms or secret passageways like everywhere else in the building, and even the access Bruce recalled discovering once was absent.
Nothing below the level Signal was currently on was documented; the police wouldn’t blow out a wall or floor to search through what they thought was dirt.
On the one hand, it was a relief to not have the Pit exposed so publicly.
On the other hand, what did that say about the new residents?
Had they merely sealed that section away to have somewhere to stay until the building was bought? Or had they truly been after the Pit the whole time?
Four days later Brucie Wayne is touring the building, in full ‘air-headed rich boy’ mode - blathering on and on about like the view from the top and the fascinating architecture - while his children use the time to do some exploring of their own. They don’t find anything new.
Six days later - two days after their tour - Bruce Wayne officially owns the Yuyan building.
And less than 24 hours later he’s being made to sign another contract - legal this time - granting the group of ghosts rights to the building. Not that he can say no, since “buying the building for us includes making it legally for us.”
Of course the whole thing blows up in the papers when the news catches wind of Bruce Wayne owning and managing the building but signing over all rights for use and access to the new ‘meta’ group.
A lot of “blink twice if you need us to call Superman” memes are floating around - mostly in the wake of the “Batman fails to defend his sugar daddy, same as ever #BrucieDeservesBetter” memes.
The whole thing is more than a bit of a circus, and every day they don’t get to check on the kid they all get a bit more anxious. The only relief they get on that front is the update Kitty gives them when Bruce asks before the more formal contract meeting can get started - their doctor, Frostbite, finally showed up with Bullet to get the kid a check and projected that he’d make a full recovery with ‘another few weeks of TLC,’ as she put it.
At least, it was a relief until Tim questioned what, exactly, a ghost might consider to be healthy.
Luckily, Kitty only asked they “give us a day to get the place all set up” before bringing Damian - and his other children, once she’d realized they exist - over to visit.
***
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