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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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I'm just glad to see another chapter of this. I can't get enough.
Well...this situation just got more interesting in a hurry.
What do people have against psychopathic combat leaders? Between an emphatic one and a psychopathic one, the latter will always be capable of ensuring less expected casualties, assuming otherwise they're just as capable. The only advantage the former could have is that the former would be more likely to sacrifice themselves, which again is not actually something you want from someone higher up.
On the other hand, I can definitely see where Firefly is coming from.
From a "rational" (in this sense less emotional) point of view, emotional people are acting stupid.
From an emotional and emphatic point of view, rational people are cold assholes.
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An empathetic combat leader is realistically better suited due to having a better understanding of troop moral which is critical in combat even if they are better supplied and have a larger force. So long as the empathetic commander isn't also cowardly or have an overactive martyrdom complex, they can be quite capable in using the emotions and perceptions of the front line soldiers to make victory seem assured or the enemy's perception of the fight be stacked against them even when the commander themselves might be holding on by a thread. When someone thinks they are going to die/lose, it's a self fulfilling prophecy more times than not and skywind putting on the air of "he will throw you into the meat grinder with no care of your survival" is quite possibly the most destructive thing to morale a commander could have even if he knows exactly the right plans to win. If it wasn't for his command staff being down right benevolent and loyal to a near fault, skywind's command over the lower enlisted and lower officers would have deteriorated far worse than it has already.
Being a psychopathic commander only means you are more likely to be better at fighting with unconventional tactics or more confident in the face of higher projected mortality rates depending of the type of mental instability you have.
Firefly as a character is in the midst of serious growing pains. She has just lost the command she was given, shattered her previous friendships in a moment of rage, and had an eye-opening run-in with a troubled griffon whose experiences echo hers. She's no longer sure of her own of her own abilities and doesn't believe that her shipmates have any confidence in her. And yet she has been thrust into a position of command. She's in a dark place, but the only way out is to confront her demons.
Like I said in the author's notes, this is framed from Firefly's point of view. It's less about whether or not Skywind actually lacks empathy than it is about challenging Firefly's views on her commanding officer and herself.
I really liked this chapter. We've been so deep inside firefly's head that it's easy to forget that most flag officers are way past letting their emotions be in the driver seat. Skywind is definitely showing more maturity; at least he can recognize her strengths and use them.
Now it's time for the protagonist to be promoted. And it's because of her long history of leadership, quick thinking, and compassion for her wingmates rather than any particular success. We've seen her MO have various degrees of success, so I'm not even confident that that this was the right decision, which will make things very interesting.