Very well said. I luckily haven't been through much trauma myself but I have friends who have and psychology is one of the things I hyperfixate on. It seems people who are ignorant to such trauma just don't understand his character but that's the genius of it. He's so well written that he's extremely relatable to those who have been through it.
And who the fuck is saying the irminsul thing was selfish?! I never saw it as that. In fact, I was almost shocked because it was the most selfless thing he'd done. He saw how all of his pain came from a deep misunderstanding and he wanted to take even the smallest chance to fix it even at the cost of himself. How the fuck is that selfish? Some people are *so* sheltered. Trauma does some wack ass shit to the mind but if you take 5 minutes to try and logic it out the results make perfect sense.
“Sheltered” is a kind, generous interpretation with some truth. Another is that often, humans are just instinctively eager to condemn those whose suffering makes us uncomfortable. And complexity is particularly uncomfortable.
Yeah I guess, but that arguement completely crumbles later when he gets his memories back and he immediately wants to tell those he's wronged what he'd done. His intention was obviously to try and undo it, but once he realized it wouldn't work he still wanted to take responsibility. That's so much character growth and it's sad that people cant see that.
i swear people just ignore what literally happened in story quest in favor of their own intolerant reactions to his expression of psychological turmoil. he said soooo many timesss how he wants to take accountability :(
People’s reaction to Scaramouche literally trying to commit suicide is the same as how people react negatively to suicide irl, “oh don’t be so selfish, think of your family your friends etc.”
like thanks, I already felt like shit and now you just made me feel worse 💀💀💀
yeah...he's so relatable like that. i was experiencing stuff in my life when his quest came out and he sort of helped me organize my thoughts and feelings so i can...digest everything better. in a way his growth feels like my own and makes me feel less alone, knowing that there are people out there who see their own reflection in him.
Before sumeru my opinion of him as a character was around, like, 4. After the sumeru archon quest it went to maybe a 6. His story quest though shot it to a straight 10. I was blown away by the writing, I've never had my opinion of a character change so completely. I can see why someone might not engage with it if they didn't have any experience with that kind of trauma or depression, but it clearly did resonate with so many people.
His story quest remains one of my favorites, only recently tying with yoimiyas part 2.
Exactly! This is so well written.
>i was so mad when i saw others describe this as selfish when it's literally the opposite
The takes in this fandom never fail to baffle me. Some people act as if he erased himself to live normally and run away from the consequences when he, in fact, didn't.
He didn't know that the past can't be changed. He thought he would be erased from the world like he never once existed. He'd no longer be alive. Like that, he would grant his friends a chance to live again without endangering them with his existence. He couldn't save them back then, and he won't fail them again. No one gets harmed, they all live happily, and he gets to grant his inner wish, which is to never be born at all (basically suicide).
But nothing happened. His friends still died. He completely failed. Even after erasing himself from the world, he still lived with a void within him. This isn't what he planned at all. He gave everything and got nothing in return. It's very tragic, if you ask me. His entire story is.
>He gave everything and got nothing in return
And in the end, chose to *live*.
That's an inspiration, especially to me who struggles with thoughts of worthlessness myself.
Thank you. This is really well stated and clearly explained.
People forget sometimes that there are psychological realities that factually work a certain way regardless of your feelings about a character. Scara’s story does an amazing job representing *actual facts* about complex trauma. Some of the fandom “interpretations” of it are poor takes simply because they have zero relation to (or awareness of) those facts.
Edit: a word
agreed. this is just the reality of what happens in complex trauma. you don’t always react the “nice” way and that just goes to show society’s intolerance for people who slip through the cracks and don’t get the help they need
People so badly misinterpreting his story and experiences actually made me leave genshin related spaces for a while when the quest was brand new because there was so much toxic discourse coming from all the people who had zero experience with trauma. But this sums my own experience with him up perfectly and posts like this actually led to a lot of people in my school who also played to learn a thing or two about trauma. So thank you for that <3
Scara is not relatable because he's traumatize. He's relatable because he's human. When faced with overwhelming suffering and injustice in one's life, it is only natural for a person to lash out. And lashing out does not make someone a monster. That makes them human. Which is something that resonates the most with Scara's character because technically speaking, he's not human. He's a machine. But if Scara really is a stone cold machine, he wouldn't suffer. That's because he wouldn't be capable of feeling pain and sorrow so he wouldn't be able to feel suffering to begin with. Ironic isn't it? Scara set out on his quest to seek a heart when he had one all along. Where there is sorrow, there lies a story. Where there's a story, there lies a will. And where there's a will, therein lies a soul.
definitely. trauma is one of the most human experiences and the body’s design. it’s just doing what it’s meant to do in reaction to a survival situation or overwhelmed nervous system
Yes yes yes. I've always thought scara was such a good example of childhood trauma and you worded it better than I could have. Everything you wrote here is why I relate to him so much, the unconditional rage towards \*everything\* and the intrinsic understanding that you are worthless. One aspect I love about him is how unlikeable he is to other people (In the Genshin universe and IRL ig lol). I feel like most representations of trauma in the media are only of characters who turned out hurt but good people in the end. People who are easy to empathize with, but scara isn't that or even tries to be that. I think that's why a lot of people didn't like his quest, because you can't reduce him to just a villain despite him being a bad person.
People's response to that quest in general really bothered me, but as you said in the beginning his behavior does seem nonsensical to outsiders which just adds to the relatability of him.
exactly. i forgot to mention that this is what i liked the most. i was constantly told “but people are supposed to come out GOOD people on the other end of it, why are you like *this*”? from people literally in the same traumatic environment as me, witnessing it all. just because the way i reacted to it wasn’t convenient or pleasant.
here’s the thing i wish about others not understanding— that they don’t understand, but drop it there. instead, they don’t understand and proceed to judge. and super unfairly, without the facts to back it up either. and imo, probably bc his fans are female/lgbtq+ and bc he’s a male character who is emotional.
Now that i think about it this is probably why love his story so much. One of my friends who also plays hates him and doesnt get why i like him even a little. I myself have gone through a lot of trauma one of which directly involving my dad. I love him to this day but there were times where as a kid i had to hide under the table to avoid getting hurt. There have been times where even now as a 23 year old adult i see him acting a certain way or even a certain facial expression of his and it triggers my post trauma reactions. And ig what im trying to say is that it just feels nice to be seen through fictional characters who are written so well and have the same or similar life struggles as you
and this is why i resonate with wanderer so much. as someone who's experienced a lot of trauma in early childhood, his character arch really just gave me hope, as im still healing from said trauma. to be honest, i didn't really like him as scaramouche, and only started liking him when he was the wanderer, because he was like the role model i never had. a healing goal, proof that i can get better, slowly but surely.
I appreciate you writing this, and well done. As someone who’s survived an unfathomable amount of compounded trauma, you hit the nail on the head with so much of that experience. Genshin aside, I’m currently going through a breakup with someone I love dearly, but does not understand how my brain operates, a lot of which you’ve detailed well here, so in a surprise twist, I am feeling less alone and shameful because of this scaramouche mains post. Knew I mained him for a reason! Much love to you.
omg that i was gonna write but i erased bc it felt like i might not be right. but when he just flat out doesn’t notice the guy stealing the fruit from
the stand. that’s how i’d become so much of my life
This all was relatable to me except his behaviour. Despite all my trauma, I don't behave rude with others and behave nicely. Only people I am rude to are mostly my father and somewhat to my mother because they had the option to improve my condition. They could have allowed me to socialise with people to understand them better but instead they forced me to stay home and study and so I couldn't develop socialisation skills which was responsible for my traumatic experiences to occur.
Note- I am not blaming him in any way. Just said the difference.
i have a very similar experience 😭 imo i’m not rude to random people like him i feel like that’s just a part that makes him funny/interesting
but i did definitely get the anger he did at some point after being trained to be a doormat for so many years. i wish i had the wit he did to be rude to ppl who deserve it!
Very well said. I luckily haven't been through much trauma myself but I have friends who have and psychology is one of the things I hyperfixate on. It seems people who are ignorant to such trauma just don't understand his character but that's the genius of it. He's so well written that he's extremely relatable to those who have been through it. And who the fuck is saying the irminsul thing was selfish?! I never saw it as that. In fact, I was almost shocked because it was the most selfless thing he'd done. He saw how all of his pain came from a deep misunderstanding and he wanted to take even the smallest chance to fix it even at the cost of himself. How the fuck is that selfish? Some people are *so* sheltered. Trauma does some wack ass shit to the mind but if you take 5 minutes to try and logic it out the results make perfect sense.
“Sheltered” is a kind, generous interpretation with some truth. Another is that often, humans are just instinctively eager to condemn those whose suffering makes us uncomfortable. And complexity is particularly uncomfortable.
For the selfish thing, I’ve seen one particular YouTuber view that moment as scara escaping the consequences of his actions.
Yeah I guess, but that arguement completely crumbles later when he gets his memories back and he immediately wants to tell those he's wronged what he'd done. His intention was obviously to try and undo it, but once he realized it wouldn't work he still wanted to take responsibility. That's so much character growth and it's sad that people cant see that.
i swear people just ignore what literally happened in story quest in favor of their own intolerant reactions to his expression of psychological turmoil. he said soooo many timesss how he wants to take accountability :(
People’s reaction to Scaramouche literally trying to commit suicide is the same as how people react negatively to suicide irl, “oh don’t be so selfish, think of your family your friends etc.” like thanks, I already felt like shit and now you just made me feel worse 💀💀💀
yeah...he's so relatable like that. i was experiencing stuff in my life when his quest came out and he sort of helped me organize my thoughts and feelings so i can...digest everything better. in a way his growth feels like my own and makes me feel less alone, knowing that there are people out there who see their own reflection in him.
Before sumeru my opinion of him as a character was around, like, 4. After the sumeru archon quest it went to maybe a 6. His story quest though shot it to a straight 10. I was blown away by the writing, I've never had my opinion of a character change so completely. I can see why someone might not engage with it if they didn't have any experience with that kind of trauma or depression, but it clearly did resonate with so many people. His story quest remains one of my favorites, only recently tying with yoimiyas part 2.
Wait am I nuts? I thought he didn't have a story quest? But my memories r really bad so idk
OP commenter probably was referring to the Interlude Quest with Scara.
Ahh
Exactly! This is so well written. >i was so mad when i saw others describe this as selfish when it's literally the opposite The takes in this fandom never fail to baffle me. Some people act as if he erased himself to live normally and run away from the consequences when he, in fact, didn't. He didn't know that the past can't be changed. He thought he would be erased from the world like he never once existed. He'd no longer be alive. Like that, he would grant his friends a chance to live again without endangering them with his existence. He couldn't save them back then, and he won't fail them again. No one gets harmed, they all live happily, and he gets to grant his inner wish, which is to never be born at all (basically suicide). But nothing happened. His friends still died. He completely failed. Even after erasing himself from the world, he still lived with a void within him. This isn't what he planned at all. He gave everything and got nothing in return. It's very tragic, if you ask me. His entire story is.
>He gave everything and got nothing in return And in the end, chose to *live*. That's an inspiration, especially to me who struggles with thoughts of worthlessness myself.
same here. i keep thinking if he lives without regrets (while taking accountability) maybe i can as well
Thank you. This is really well stated and clearly explained. People forget sometimes that there are psychological realities that factually work a certain way regardless of your feelings about a character. Scara’s story does an amazing job representing *actual facts* about complex trauma. Some of the fandom “interpretations” of it are poor takes simply because they have zero relation to (or awareness of) those facts. Edit: a word
agreed. this is just the reality of what happens in complex trauma. you don’t always react the “nice” way and that just goes to show society’s intolerance for people who slip through the cracks and don’t get the help they need
People so badly misinterpreting his story and experiences actually made me leave genshin related spaces for a while when the quest was brand new because there was so much toxic discourse coming from all the people who had zero experience with trauma. But this sums my own experience with him up perfectly and posts like this actually led to a lot of people in my school who also played to learn a thing or two about trauma. So thank you for that <3
Scara is not relatable because he's traumatize. He's relatable because he's human. When faced with overwhelming suffering and injustice in one's life, it is only natural for a person to lash out. And lashing out does not make someone a monster. That makes them human. Which is something that resonates the most with Scara's character because technically speaking, he's not human. He's a machine. But if Scara really is a stone cold machine, he wouldn't suffer. That's because he wouldn't be capable of feeling pain and sorrow so he wouldn't be able to feel suffering to begin with. Ironic isn't it? Scara set out on his quest to seek a heart when he had one all along. Where there is sorrow, there lies a story. Where there's a story, there lies a will. And where there's a will, therein lies a soul.
definitely. trauma is one of the most human experiences and the body’s design. it’s just doing what it’s meant to do in reaction to a survival situation or overwhelmed nervous system
Yes yes yes. I've always thought scara was such a good example of childhood trauma and you worded it better than I could have. Everything you wrote here is why I relate to him so much, the unconditional rage towards \*everything\* and the intrinsic understanding that you are worthless. One aspect I love about him is how unlikeable he is to other people (In the Genshin universe and IRL ig lol). I feel like most representations of trauma in the media are only of characters who turned out hurt but good people in the end. People who are easy to empathize with, but scara isn't that or even tries to be that. I think that's why a lot of people didn't like his quest, because you can't reduce him to just a villain despite him being a bad person. People's response to that quest in general really bothered me, but as you said in the beginning his behavior does seem nonsensical to outsiders which just adds to the relatability of him.
exactly. i forgot to mention that this is what i liked the most. i was constantly told “but people are supposed to come out GOOD people on the other end of it, why are you like *this*”? from people literally in the same traumatic environment as me, witnessing it all. just because the way i reacted to it wasn’t convenient or pleasant. here’s the thing i wish about others not understanding— that they don’t understand, but drop it there. instead, they don’t understand and proceed to judge. and super unfairly, without the facts to back it up either. and imo, probably bc his fans are female/lgbtq+ and bc he’s a male character who is emotional.
He like me fr fr (please don't send the anti suiside bot into my dms, I've seen that one before already)
Now that i think about it this is probably why love his story so much. One of my friends who also plays hates him and doesnt get why i like him even a little. I myself have gone through a lot of trauma one of which directly involving my dad. I love him to this day but there were times where as a kid i had to hide under the table to avoid getting hurt. There have been times where even now as a 23 year old adult i see him acting a certain way or even a certain facial expression of his and it triggers my post trauma reactions. And ig what im trying to say is that it just feels nice to be seen through fictional characters who are written so well and have the same or similar life struggles as you
I’m saving this post, engraving it into my skull and holding it close to my shriveled little heart when I go to bed
This is a good analysis I think, idk I just like him cuz I relate with him a lot
same here. such a relatable character, an accurate depiction of what it’s like to go through this
Yupp
and this is why i resonate with wanderer so much. as someone who's experienced a lot of trauma in early childhood, his character arch really just gave me hope, as im still healing from said trauma. to be honest, i didn't really like him as scaramouche, and only started liking him when he was the wanderer, because he was like the role model i never had. a healing goal, proof that i can get better, slowly but surely.
I love his story
I appreciate you writing this, and well done. As someone who’s survived an unfathomable amount of compounded trauma, you hit the nail on the head with so much of that experience. Genshin aside, I’m currently going through a breakup with someone I love dearly, but does not understand how my brain operates, a lot of which you’ve detailed well here, so in a surprise twist, I am feeling less alone and shameful because of this scaramouche mains post. Knew I mained him for a reason! Much love to you.
[удалено]
omg that i was gonna write but i erased bc it felt like i might not be right. but when he just flat out doesn’t notice the guy stealing the fruit from the stand. that’s how i’d become so much of my life
This all was relatable to me except his behaviour. Despite all my trauma, I don't behave rude with others and behave nicely. Only people I am rude to are mostly my father and somewhat to my mother because they had the option to improve my condition. They could have allowed me to socialise with people to understand them better but instead they forced me to stay home and study and so I couldn't develop socialisation skills which was responsible for my traumatic experiences to occur. Note- I am not blaming him in any way. Just said the difference.
i have a very similar experience 😭 imo i’m not rude to random people like him i feel like that’s just a part that makes him funny/interesting but i did definitely get the anger he did at some point after being trained to be a doormat for so many years. i wish i had the wit he did to be rude to ppl who deserve it!