IT BEGINS!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!

I can't help but feel like Fox is saying that because he hardly sees anyone with Krystal's level of care, respect and kindness to others.

With a slight hint of cynicism

KINKS But honestly it is nice to see the relationship between them start and grow in a more realistic way.

Thank you!

Bully the blue vixen.

Make the bitch cry!

She sent you a soldier, who's walls are fortified with indifference, A fighter who will place the mission first but, will hold their own personal creed.

I will always place the mission first, I will never leave a fallen comrade behind. Sure..might have to let someone get captured to save the mission...doesn't mean we don't come back for them
And when that happens? Their captors welcome death with open arms

I think that’s an awful lot of credibility to indifference.

Only speaking from experience. I did work with some mercenaries while in Iraq. Blackwater was the absolute worst pieces of shit you've ever met. However. L&L (Lock and Load) were far better. They knew there was going to be money floating around that would be waved in the air. So they were paid guards, and we oft found military working with them. Hell couple times they actually saved personnel. They adopted the warrior Ethos creed as well. Stating that the only difference between us and them, was who we answered to and level of funding.

Didnt Blackwater dissolve?

To be truly indifferent seems too robotic and I want Fox to able to show emotion— that he can still feel strongly about something. What is going to make Fox care about Krystal in a way that is more than an associate? How can he have the capacity to romantically love somebody if his mental defense to loss is indifference? Does it depend on where they are in relation to combat— being home on Corneria versus Sauria where the danger is drastically different? Or is it something else?

How do you reconcile indifference and an intimate relationship with a planet or a person?

For a soldier? It's after combat. When we're in garrison and no longer at combat. We're allowed to let down our defenses (Not completely though)
Some times relationships blossom during missions. Other times. Respect which becomes more. As time progresses

Though, where you're going? I look forward to seeing where you lead

I can't decide whether to make a comment on his eyes being red from exhaustion or make a joke about his eyes being red 'cause of what's in that cigarette he had.

Only one would be more correct

I knew it, he's a dope fiend

One blunt and suddenly a dope fiend? Lol that escalated quickly

If DARE has taught me anything, one blunt is all it takes

Fucking DARE hahaha

They sent you a snarky badass. As annoying as they can be, they've proven to be quite effective.

No, no, it's true! There was a study done across the multiverse, with a staggering amount of samples, and it turned up the same results nearly every time: snarky badasses fix problems.

Granted, they also tend to create them as well, but most seem to have the decency to try and fix what they broke. Either that or break things harder until the problem implodes in upon itself. Most of the deities get out the snacks and lean back for that latter situation. It happens rarely, and it's often entertaining to see the bad guy's disbelief when they still somehow lose.

There's a certain Eldritch God who's still sulking millennia after their defeat. They still remind him now and then to watch him flail about in impotent rage. Always good for a laugh!

Can snarky and badass be mutually exclusive or do they have to be together for that to work?

I'll have to double-check, but I think the "badass" factor is a requirement. A certain amount of both fierceness and competency is required, though the former is the prime ingredient. Snarkiness is more optional, but it does tend to deal psychic damage to the Big Bads, often causing those without sufficient self-confidence or cold hearts to make grave mistakes. Even those who might shrug off biting remarks will find them harder to resist when the plucky hero hits them with a major setback to their plans. Of course, in those cases, the Big Bad often becomes far more dangerous.

If you can't find a Snarky Badass, you should at least find a Hero, or someone with the qualities of one. They're both often sorely needed, and something always seems to put them in the right place at the right time. Or the wrong place, depending on your point of view, or your philosophy.

*sniffsniff* ...do you smell ashes?

Fox's honest truth.

A good relationship in progress indeed. Indeed Krystal is a good person.

Lol, a rocky start but i guess it can only get better from here.