#i have no desire to do missions in hsr... i have no desire to learn the lore or get to know the characters

[isekyaaa]

Genshin Impact gets a lot of hate in regards to rewards, qol, and things of the sort and that is warranted. But like... in comparison to HSR, it can hold its own. In HSR, there's an endpoint where you run out of things to do. It's a game that is incredibly easy. You can automate nearly everything. The events are so tedious and time consuming because it's necessary to keep people playing the game and having things to do. There is more effort put into things like the trailers, rewards, etc, but that's all they have really.

Genshin does have its weaknesses and whatnot, but it's a game you have to actively play, not have on in the background. Simply exploring gives you with loads to do. Farming takes time and attention. World Quests can take hours and have interesting stories. Each new map update brings new mechanics and puzzles to solve. There's so much lore jampacked into the game. Etc etc etc. Yes, Genshin doesn't get as many good things as HSR, but I can't say that not as much time and effort is being put into it.

[starforger]

So, Seren and Gallagher. What's the deal with em?

As of now, that's my hsr oc ship. They were never truly 'romantic', however, and I feel that makes it even more bittersweet.

When seren met gallagher at the dreamjolt hostelry, she did not get a good first impression. She found him to be quite apathetic, which clashed hard with her passionate and vindictive personality. So she called him out on it straight off the bat, and the two got into an argument. Of course, gallagher held his cool the entire time, whereas seren could not, and that made her even angrier. So she stormed off.

It took March's gentle convincing for her to realize that she was in the wrong there, and that she needed to apologize. She did so, albeit reluctantly, and after she recovered, the two got to talking. She found that she actually had a lot in common with him, namely the desire to do right by her own people.

They didn't get a lot of time together after that, each with their own personal missions to accomplish in the dreamscape. It was only near the end of the penacony chapter when seren realized she'd have no more time. Gallagher was going to disappear. He was vague about it, of course, when he explained his situation to the AE crew, but she knew what it meant. This was the last she'd see of him.

And she panicked. Nevermind the fact that gallagher was some sort of simulacrum. The parts that made up the whole were good, admirable, and worthy of her friendship, and seren wasn't going to get to experience that. By that time, she hadn't learned to cherish the friends she made aboard the express. This was her reality check.

He takes her somewhere private so she can sort through her emotions to his face. And they hug. It's the most intimate gesture she's experienced thus far, and for her it's both so much and not enough. All at once she develops feelings for him, but can do nothing with them.

And after he's gone, she's left with no closure. It's the second time she's lost someone important to her- except this time, he became important very quickly and was gone immediately after that. She's still processing the grief, which the other AE members have taken notice of, and have given her space. It's just been a shock to her system that made her raise her guard up even higher. Even if the lesson was meant to be "cherish those around you, before it's too late."