#palace of alcazarzaray

[fernandamaya]

Scarring Passion 10.03.2024

Kaveh was an immediate favorite of mine when we learned about him in the game. It dawned on me pretty fast afterwards that the favoritism was stemming partly from feeling reflected in him, which is sweet and emotional but also a tough realization. Kaveh is an idealist and too empathetic for his own good, a creative soul and big heart whose life experiences have irredeemably affected his mental health. Will Stetson's Writing on the wall is an amazing approach to Kaveh's character, the song was on a loop multiple times while I drew this piece. It's hard to put into words just how much this character's existence means to me, since, despite of the blows life's thrown at him, he still continues to be his own form of soft. I feel like he makes me realize that I, too, have remained my own form of soft, but that the inherent guilt of not being the soft I think I should be has made it difficult to show up for myself sometimes and it derives into unhealthy coping mechanisms (although I'm not an alcoholic but gaming and oversleeping are their own form of worrisome escapism lmao). He reminds me of the passion for the craft and the world itself overpowerng the instinct of preserving oneself. Kaveh lacks boundaries because he doesn't respect himself over the benefit of others, and at least, thankfully, I've started to learn that lol. I think the character personality design team did a wondeful work with him. There's a lot of nuance in genshin characters, hoyoverse in general for that matter, and I truly appreciate that we get to enjoy these fictional character's lives and find the light they so beautifully keep in themselves, maybe to be able to find it in ourselves as well.

Ah man, too many things I'd say as well but I'd express myself better in Spanish and even then it would be a bunch of rambling because mind goes faster than hands lol

I really loved doing this artpiece. I've wanted to draw Kaveh for months and started two other drawings before this that I didnt really like and scrapped. I hope I draw him again in the furute 💖

[pikipigeon]

18 hours 44 minutes and not even close to being done… I haven’t touched this in months.

[furan-cosplay]

"Within every building made with pride

The architect lives on inside."

I thought about sketching the details of the Palace of Alcazarzaray last "World Architecture Day" 2023 - I spent some time viewing it from different angles in game.

[astrugglingacademic]

Gang, rewrite copacobana for Kaveh. I know you want to.

Options for chorus:

Here at the Aka, Akademiya,

Here at the Palace, Alcazarzaray,

Possible last verse?

"His name was Kaveh, he was a scholar,

But that was many years ago, when the money used to flow

Now it's a hotel, but not for Kaveh

Still in the shirt he used to wear

Faded feathers in his hair

He sits there so refined and drinks himself half-blind

He lost his hope and he lost his funding

Now he's lost his mind"

[canonical-transformation]

Hi, I'm Ningguang, and welcome back to Monster Mansions of Teyvat.

Today we'll be looking at the Palace of Alcazarzaray, a lovely jungle hideaway that is all splendour... if you have no taste.

Now, the Palace of Alcazarzaray is the private residence of Lord Sangemah Bay, an magnate and fellow billionaire with strong credentials in the mercantile and shipping industries.

Lord Sangemah Bay and I are business partners, and an NDA prevents me from disclosing any details about their identity. But what I can tell you is that Sangemah Bay suffers from a congenital condition: they were born without a shred of aesthetic sense.

We start with the location. Nestled deep in the Lokapala Jungle in Sumeru's northeast, this estate is... no, let's start there. Nestled. Nestled.

Here we observe the first symptom of having money and no taste: the location of this monster mansion is hidden from view, so that nobody else can find it.

You think I'm joking? I spoke with the estate's butler, who confirmed the location was chosen for seclusion, peace, and quiet.

Now, we've discussed this before on Monster Mansions. When you design and commission an opulent residence, you flaunt it. That's the whole point! Why would you even bother having a four bedroom five bathroom estate like this if you're not going to rub it in the faces of everyone who ever said you would never make it? If you're not going to drop your shredded paper on the heads of all those old money geezers who looked down on you while you were working your ass off to make your fortune?

It baffles me.

Then again, this is the same Sangemah Bay who insisted the Sumeru edition of Liyue Millennial use jewel-encrusted playing pieces. Like some tacky Snezhnayan auntie. Maybe the Lord knows how ugly any house they commission would turn out and is just trying to hide the evidence?

Credit where credit's due, this pavilion is pretty nice. Good use of ornament on those load bearing columns. I guess if you don't know how to engineer your own house there's nothing wrong with getting a renowned Kshahrewar architect to design it for you.

These flowers are so uninspired though.

I did see a nice padisarah:

But the upkeep on this garden... It's like the thing exists to justify having half a dozen gardeners on payroll.

I've said it on previous episodes, and I'll say it again: if you want to see some greenery, go to a damn park. A house is a built environment. It's your special place to line with beautiful fountains and booby-trapped windows and secret Geo-Vision-unlocked torture chambers. None of this manicured lawn nonsense. Some bare minimum to contrast your cleverly engineered water features, but otherwise, that's it.

Also what's with all these side houses? If you have your pirate wife over, are you really going to make her sleep in a different building? Pah.

But this is the design 'logic' of the kind of business genius who thinks running a shipping line direct from Ormos to Dornman without stopping through Liyue is a sane "cost saving measure". Routing through Liyue Harbour is a value-add, you buffoon.

Now, the main house is perfectly nice... or so you'd think.

What this picture doesn't show is how all this intricate glasswork faces southeast. You know what that means? That's right. No sunlight through the stained glass.

I took a few test photos over the course of the day. The top of this ornate window gets the most light right at sunrise... and it still doesn't reach the full thing.

Dear Lord Sangemah Bay, maybe if you focused less on trying to hack my export tax code you might have noticed your estate was facing the wrong way?

And what even is this? How did that get there?

Fun fact: Lord Sangemah Bay once cheated me at cards. I don't mind because I was cheating too, but still. Tasteless.

(continued)

[wobster109]

Unpopular opinion, ahoy—

I don't think the Palace of Alcazarzaray is all that impressive. I mean:

Ooooo it's a bigger version of every single house in Sumeru City.

Same green roof and gray walls, and the same flared/arch shape. It looks like a generic palace. Come on, Kaveh! Show me something that surprises me!

[entropyvoid]

Ace of Wands - Kaveh

Meaning: Creativity, enthusiasm, confidence, courage

Genshin tarot series

[sleepyorchidmonster]

Can we please have another Sabzeruz Festival? This time with no Akademiya conspiracies?

It's literally Nahida's birthday, let her celebrate it with a great event, invite the archons and let Nilou do her dance!!

Except this time, there are a few new additions to the celebrations, like a giant cake with 500 candles, a chance for the eremites to shine (Jeht appears and dances with Nilou!), not to mention a Genius Invocation TCG tournament.

And if anybody tries to ruin the fun, we throw Wanderer at them, murder time! Candace also makes an appearance.

There is also an Azar piñata.

[oshitgirlie]

do you think the "she's barbie. he's just ken" thing fits kaveh and haitham respectively

[dreamybrains]

i love mora and mora loves me!

my art instagram ♥ dreamybrains

[35253319]

This is the most out of pocket thing you'll hear me say but I feel like a pregnant lady who's emotions are completely out of control cause tell me why . . .

[hydrodragons]

OH THANK THE FUCKING ARCHONS ABOVEEEEEE 😭😭😭😭

[maplleaf]

《"Bridal style? but I'm not a bride!》

Sumeru boys reacting to you carrying them bridal style.

Characters: Alhaitham, The Wanderer (Scaramouche), Kaveh, Cyno, Tighnari

》 Akademiya's Scribe : Al Haitham

Those arms are no joke, Alhaitham is a beefy man.

And you. His precious partner; someone who can somehow defy his 'always rational' mindset. He knows you're capable of handling yourself but the scribe has always liked the idea of protecting you.

Which is why when you picked him up and held him nonchalantly, he's quite ??? at first.

He's never been into heavy PDA and the endless teasing that might come from his roommate if Kaveh sees this makes him dread the idea.

He'll ask you to place him down, but if no one's around and he has a perfectly good book in his hands; Alhaitham would sigh and continue on reading.

The feeling of you holding him so gently whilst having the strenght to carry him made Alhaitham slightly flustered, but you didn't hear it from me.

8/10 very heavy, but now you have a pretty bookworm nerd prince in your arms.

》 The Wanderer : Scaramouche

(I know he's from Inazuma but his vision frame is Sumeru's soooo)

Touch starved boy

Despite his rather unpleasant temper, Scaramouche has a soft spot for you. That doesn't mean he won't be cranky tho.

Honestly, if you're in a public place Scaramouche would be uncomfortable and angry; he wants these types of moments where he could be vulnerable only for you and him. He'll be fine with it when you're both alone.

When you picked him up and held him so closely, he went tsundere mode and demanded you to place him down, but the way he stuttered those words may mean he doesn't fully want you to.

If you do as you're told, Scaramouche would act pissed off, but he can't stop thinking about how you picked him up and held him gently for the rest of the day.

But if you don't listen to his demands and complaints, Scaramouche would still be angry at first then the complaints slowly turned into a "fine, whatever" as you held him close to you

9/10 tsundere boi, he's light as hell so it's easy to sweep him off his feet. The whining gets annoying tho.

》 The Palace of Alcazarzaray's Architect : Kaveh

Smirks at you, goes confident mode

Kaveh has always been the type to tease you. So when your strong arms swept him off his feet, he sees a golden opportunity.

"Oh? Did someone missed me?"

A part of you is tempted to drop him on the floor for all the teasing but didn't have the heart to.

It slowly morphs into the two of you flirting/bickering with eachother. If Alhaitham walks in on this, it's best he pretends to not see it.

Kaveh actually likes you picking him up like that. Whilst he does take the more affectionate role in the relationship most of the time, Kaveh likes the feeling of you holding him gently after he finished the sketches for his next project.

10/10 he's light to be picked up + bonus flirting with eachother.

》 The General Mahamatra : Cyno

One might think the general mahamatra might not like the idea of being picked up and carried like a bride. They're wrong.

Cyno is neutral when he's being carried by you like this; it just depends on the surroundings.

If the place you're is both in is safe and he's not doing any important work, he'll let you pick him up with ease. The blank and straight face might say otherwise, but he likes it.

Cyno is a warrior at heart, he brings judgement upon those at the Akademiya or those at the desert; but being picked up gently by you makes him feel butterflies.

He might show you his appreciation in the form of a smile, or three of his best jokes.

10/10 he has those muscles from being the General Mahamatra, but Cyno is still easy to pick up. Remember to laugh at his jokes.

》 Avidya Forest Watcher : Tighnari

"Watch it on the tail!" He did not groom it to be soft n fluffy just for it to be ruined, be careful.

Like Cyno, if he's doing any important things or is in a dangerous area; don't pick him up. But if the two of you are just patrolling or in a private area, go for it!

Tighnari quite likes it when you pick him up. He's not big on PDA, but some exceptions can be made.

If the forest ranger is feeling tired that day, he might lean to your chest and rest his eyes for a bit. Keeping anyone safe from the forest isn't an easy task, so let the fox rest for a bit against you.

His ears are sensitive, so he can hear your heartbeat clearly if he presses his head against your chest. He finds it comforting

11/10 very light and soft, pet those ears.

[velkia]

do you think a 'the little mermaid' au for alhaitham and kaveh would be fun? who'd be the prince and who'd be the mermaid!!

I've been thinking about it for 2 days...

The most inspiring for me would definitely be an AU where Kaveh is the mermaid. He would be a talented architect from the undersea.

During his youth, his mother fell in love with a human from Fontaine, and turned into a human to live with him. Kaveh was left alone. He then began take an interest in the human species, going to the surface to interact with them, studying their culture, especially their architecture, their food…etc etc. After a while, the humans of Port Ormos would appreciate him so much that he was asked to renew the structure of the Port.

One day, he noticed a beautiful student from the Akademiya sleeping on the beach, a book in his hands. His name was Al-Haitham. They became friends very quickly, meeting there as often as the could.

The heart of Kaveh began to be flooded with a strange feeling towards his friend. He wanted to spend his days with him, laughing, discussing...cuddling.

But they'd never be able to live together, and he knew it. Unless he became human.

He and the student worked on a project together: "Decoding the Runes and Architectural Philosophy of the Ruins of King Deshret's Civilization". Kaveh actually used this project as an excuse to ask Al-Haitham to help him to find a way to become human. Then their fallout happened.

Since this terrible event, Kaveh didn't return to the surface, even though people asked for his talent, until…

Dori.

She asked Kaveh to design her famous Palace of Alcazarzaray. In exchange, she'd turn him to a human. He accepted, was given two beautiful legs, then…you all know how it turned out.

Al-Haitham offered him a room. Kaveh felt both relieved to be given a shelter and shameful that his no-longer friend saw him in such a pityful state.

An architect mermaid with nor home, nor fins, nor sea.

Time passed, their relationship started to improve. However, Kaveh missed the undersea, and Haitham noticed it. Thinking his friend would be happier if he returned to the sea, he found a potion to turn him back to a mermaid. He gave it to Kaveh, who eventually just spilled its content to the floor (he'd clean it later don't worry).

Yes, he felt miserable. Corals, seashells, fishes...how much would he pay to swim among all of that just once again. But nobody awaited for him there. He would never be as loved as he was on the surface there. And above all...

He'd never feel more home than with Haitham.

...

Nevertheless they managed later to buy a magnificent aquarium for Kaveh. He would sit in front of it during harsh days, an ocean of stars flooding his eyes, while Haitham would secretly observe him.

Aaand, that's it! Sorry if anything seems weird, I'm french but I do my best with english. owo

[cheri-2047]

Genshin date headcanons (venti, lyney, ga ming, kaveh)

if i accidentally mischaracterized them i deeply apologize

warnings: nothing it’s mostly fluff, btw it’s established relationship already

VENTI:

He would love to take you on a picnic up on a hill. somewhere where the sun is in the perfect position and where the winds feel nice.

he would have a basket of all your favorites and a bottle or two of wine. (If you dislike wine, he will bring your favorite drink)

you guys would talk and just do whatever and have fun! This man loves to make you laugh, it makes him feel really happy.

afterwards, you guys go on a gliding date. Going down the hill and going around mondstadt wherever you guys please.

At night, he brings you to the tavern to drink (but then again if you dislike drinking, he will take you out to a romantic dinner).

afterwards when he brings you home, he leaves a flower in your hair and gives you a kiss

LYNEY:

this MF would greet you at your house doing a magic trick for you to get a rainbow rose on your hair. He would also say smth flirty as his first greeting like “it was a cloudy day before you, my light has appeared!” Or smth like that

he would take you to his favorite cafe in Fontaine, to have breakfast with you there.

whenever a kid approaches him and asks him to do a magic trick, he would go “alright! But only one okay? I’m on a date with this (if ure a girl, beautiful lady, if ure a guy, handsome man. If ure a diff gender he says with my dearest) and afterwards starts rambling on to the kid about how much he loves you. This man would show you off every single moment he gets.

he would walk you around the streets of Fontaine until he reaches his home. He brings you there and cooks lunch for you, somehow he knows your favorites even if he never told u. This man is strange 😭

after you guys eat he cleans up (and if you offer to help, he would not let you) and you guys cuddle on the couch watching a movie until both of you fall asleep.

GA MING:

He would take you on a dim sum and street food date, all with him paying for it ofc! He would bring you to his favorite street food stalls and you guys get to try the most delicious foods ever.

whenever he sees fellow co-workers, he loves Telling them “I’m on a date!!” He’s really happy and excited you guys are together.

whenever he sees any of his relatives he tells you to run, which actually becomes pretty fun for both of you since ou guys treat it like a heist 😭

When it gets dark, he brings you to a special area in Liyue Harbor. He then performs you a dance that he himself made specifically for you. Obviously this attracts some people so at the end he proudly announces that he made it for his beloved.

He brings you to your home and before you guys part, he hugs you tightly saying “Thank you..I had the best day today my love”

KAVEH:

He’d take you to the palace of Alcazarzaray, showing you around. Hed talk about his experiences in making it too.

you guys hang out there for awhile, talking about yourselves and getting to know one another even more

afterwards, he’d take you to an art museum. Both of you then jokingly judge modern art 😭😭😭😭 and just have fun

afterwards HED invite you to his and haithams home. He payed haitham to let him have the date there and for haitham not to interrupt because this man knows haitham would interrupt you guys 😭

he cooks for you and you guys eat together

afterwards you guys play bored games. You personally invite haitham so that you’d have more players and you’d get good entertainment whenever haitham and kaveh are beating each other

when it reaches night, kaveh invites you to stay. You two cuddle on his bed and sleep in each others arms.

sorry this was not proofread at all and that venti’s part is so short 😭 I tried.

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

okay but the fact that we hear all about kaveh's life post-fall out with alhaitham, the fact he graduated, worked at construction firms and continued taking on others' burdens, had a hard time finding solo work because of how arts are perceived in sumeru, that he went to his mother's wedding in fontaine, that he took a vacation from work because he was stifled by the environment and felt he had lost motivation and worth as an artist, was determined to complete the palace of alcazarzaray at the cost of everything he owned just to have a tangible object of his efforts and view of art only for its outcome to further emaciate him, until he meets alhaitham for the first time in years, is understood at once, has no need to don a front as he does for everyone else in his life, is listened to, is challenged once more and reinvigorated in his perception of his ideals, is offered a second chance, a home, and accepts it, although he cannot comprehend why alhaitham would offer such a thing and yet not ask anything of relevant substance in return, other than rent

all of this, and we hear virtually nothing of alhaitham's life post-fall out with kaveh, besides his graduation and his taking on the job of the scribe. his character stories omit this part of his life whereas kaveh's is full of detail and emotion, mostly suffering. the first instance we see of alhaitham in this time is from kaveh's perspective when the two meet again in the tavern, and in this alhaitham endeavours to understand kaveh once more, before offering his house - the research centre previously allocated to the both of them for the success of their joint thesis before they fell apart - to kaveh.

we don't know why alhaitham moved out of his grandmother's house and into the research centre, why he renovated it from a research centre into a livable home, only that he did so after kaveh informed alhaitham through a third party that he was not in need of a house, nor do we know his thought processes and emotions in the years spent apart - the years that are carefully documented in kaveh's character stories. the image we are presented with is that of stasis; alhaitham pursues no other close friendships, he works as the scribe, owns a nice house within sumeru, is financially secure, and functions within, and carries out, his own ideals - is content with this way of life. in this, from alhaitham's perspective, there are no details necessary to give from this time

but in inviting kaveh to live with him, his character stories tell us that what he gains by doing so is the mirror of himself, both in personality and scholarly thinking, and in this, he is able to gain an enhanced view of the world, which otherwise would be limited. with kaveh being present in alhaitham's life, alhaitham believes that his vision is perfected, whereas it could not be before, with kaveh's absence. it is in this that we hear what alhaitham has been missing in his life, and ultimately, it is kaveh, not just as a scholar, but as a person

what is omitted from alhaitham's character stories is provided in kaveh's character stories; where we hear about kaveh's struggles, we don't hear about alhaitham's. perhaps this is because alhaitham did not struggle as kaveh did in terms of realising and achieving his ideals, but instead his struggles were in silence, recognising that his vision, and himself, had been compromised because he had rejected the ideals that served to enhance his own vision, that he had inadvertently rejected, and thus had been rejected by, kaveh.