The Parents Were Sold Out

[Heloin]

The Restorationists are Pro-genocide Nazis.

IKR.

I mean, yes, in all these threads the Empire has shown themselves to be a poor government, too. But we can save bringing them down for another thread. In not supporting a pro-genocide history (even if for selfish reasons) they are doing one thing right, and might be persuadable to pass anti-discrimination legislation.

If the Empire is going to be the consistently better option I might as well go full 40k and start shouting prayers to the golden throne.

[Polish Prussian Commonwealth]

Why are you asking us to worldbuild a story for you.

[Infected Mushroom]

Why are you asking us to worldbuild a story for you.

This is just a thought experiment.

What do you think of the Lucy character? Would you, as an Imperial, trust her? Or does she come across as too unstable?

[Infected Mushroom]

So far the polls reveal a general distrust in Lucy's ability to serve the Empire after the turn of events described in the OP. This is very interesting.

[Necroghastia]

4. Join the Restorationists. Fuck the Empire! Skyrim bel- I mean Europe belongs to the magicians!

The Restorationists are Pro-genocide Nazis.

Aren't both factions?

[Baltenstein]

Seems... very specific.

I mean it's not as if IM copy-pasted the plot almost word-for-word from the popular manga "Attack on Titan" or anything.

I'm just waiting for the thread where the resurrected Queen Annie Holstadt will unleash a million gigantic monsters to destroy the entire world and IM's dilemma on wether to cheer for her or not.

[Infected Mushroom]

IKR.

I mean, yes, in all these threads the Empire has shown themselves to be a poor government, too. But we can save bringing them down for another thread. In not supporting a pro-genocide history (even if for selfish reasons) they are doing one thing right, and might be persuadable to pass anti-discrimination legislation.

If the Empire is going to be the consistently better option I might as well go full 40k and start shouting prayers to the golden throne.

The Empire is the main standard government for IM-Verse hypotheticals

Kind of like how Basic Psych is the main employer etc

[Senkaku]

I don't know what the 12 Relics are, but if they're weapons and we only have 12 of them, that suggests I probably don't want even one of them to fall into the wrong hands. Why risk even the slightest chance that eventually she'll go rogue? Just liquidate her and find a different candidate. It's the only way to be sure. (And I do not mean "just put her in a camp with her parents where she can easily escape from" like some self-sabotaging movie villain.)

That said, if I'm an Imperial officer in this society, I think I've probably already made some poor life choices... so sure, let her in! Let's bring this baby down from the inside! I'll finish the radicalization program where her parents couldn't!

[Infected Mushroom]

I don't know what the 12 Relics are, but if they're weapons and we only have 12 of them, that suggests I probably don't want even one of them to fall into the wrong hands. Why risk even the slightest chance that eventually she'll go rogue? Just liquidate her and find a different candidate. It's the only way to be sure. (And I do not mean "just put her in a camp with her parents where she can easily escape from.")

That said, if I'm an Imperial officer in this society, I think I've probably already made some poor life choices... so sure, let her in! Let's bring this baby down from the inside! I'll finish the radicalization program where her parents couldn't!

One of the considerations is that the power and effectiveness of the Relics in combat depend in large part on the skill and magical talent/potential of the wielded

But yes there could be concerns about Lucy’s allegiances

There’s two narratives:

1. She was so loyal to the Empire and its ideals that she pointed out her own parents

Or

2. The fact that she could betray her parents means she could betray the Empire

[Senkaku]

I don't know what the 12 Relics are, but if they're weapons and we only have 12 of them, that suggests I probably don't want even one of them to fall into the wrong hands. Why risk even the slightest chance that eventually she'll go rogue? Just liquidate her and find a different candidate. It's the only way to be sure. (And I do not mean "just put her in a camp with her parents where she can easily escape from.")

That said, if I'm an Imperial officer in this society, I think I've probably already made some poor life choices... so sure, let her in! Let's bring this baby down from the inside! I'll finish the radicalization program where her parents couldn't!

One of the considerations is that the power and effectiveness of the Relics in combat depend in large part on the skill and magical talent/potential of the wielded

And we've already established she's extremely talented and skilled, so I definitely do not want her to have one if I'm a loyal Imperial and she might use those skills against the Empire.

But yes there could be concerns about Lucy’s allegiances

There’s two narratives:

1. She was so loyal to the Empire and its ideals that she pointed out her own parents

Or

2. The fact that she could betray her parents means she could betray the Empire

Does it matter? If I'm a loyal Imperial, I have to make decisions based on facts I know, not ambiguous interpretations of other people's personalities and flawed character assessments that could easily prove incorrect. The fact is, we can't know that she won't betray us, given that her parents were underground radicals-- whether it's a result of this whole thing being part of an intentional plot, or a result of her eventually coming to regret her decision to turn them in, or just her going crazy or something. I assume there are plenty of other candidates for this extremely selective Empire-wide position, sorta like astronaut training school-- there's probably a dozen others who might not be quite as powerful or skilled, but who have nothing in their backgrounds to suggest they'd be a security risk. Let's go with one of them instead, and make sure that this one can't ever escape to start some sort of magic rebellion.

[Cetacea]

Have you seen Motherland:Fort Salem (Freeform channel)? Its about the Salem Witches being recruited to the US military too.

Anyway I would probably allow Lucy to train in the elite forces but put her under strict observation before allowing her any kind of access to a relic. While she may have lacked loyalty to her parents, her upbringing and willingness to betray those closest to her make her a security risk.

A brainwashing regime might be essentially to keep her in line as a useful asset

[The Lone Alliance]

I'm pretty sure I've seen this somewhere, and I'm pretty sure in the end Lucy does betray the Empire for her own agenda. And I'm pretty sure it blows up in her face and ends up making everything worse.

[Infected Mushroom]

One of the considerations is that the power and effectiveness of the Relics in combat depend in large part on the skill and magical talent/potential of the wielded

And we've already established she's extremely talented and skilled, so I definitely do not want her to have one if I'm a loyal Imperial and she might use those skills against the Empire.

But yes there could be concerns about Lucy’s allegiances

There’s two narratives:

1. She was so loyal to the Empire and its ideals that she pointed out her own parents

Or

2. The fact that she could betray her parents means she could betray the Empire

Does it matter? If I'm a loyal Imperial, I have to make decisions based on facts I know, not ambiguous interpretations of other people's personalities and flawed character assessments that could easily prove incorrect. The fact is, we can't know that she won't betray us, given that her parents were underground radicals-- whether it's a result of this whole thing being part of an intentional plot, or a result of her eventually coming to regret her decision to turn them in, or just her going crazy or something. I assume there are plenty of other candidates for this extremely selective Empire-wide position, sorta like astronaut training school-- there's probably a dozen others who might not be quite as powerful or skilled, but who have nothing in their backgrounds to suggest they'd be a security risk. Let's go with one of them instead, and make sure that this one can't ever escape to start some sort of magic rebellion.

This is fair enough I think.

[Autumn Wind]

One of the considerations is that the power and effectiveness of the Relics in combat depend in large part on the skill and magical talent/potential of the wielded

But yes there could be concerns about Lucy’s allegiances

There’s two narratives:

1. She was so loyal to the Empire and its ideals that she pointed out her own parents

Or

2. The fact that she could betray her parents means she could betray the Empire

Or, she knows that she has enough power/skill that if she gets her hands on a relic, it would be difficult for the Empire to stop her from blasting everyone and then rescuing her parents/friends afterwards.

I don’t want to be stuck with the bill for that sudden but predictable turn of events.

Imperial Inquisitor: Who was the fool that gave the relic to the girl?

Imperial Colonel: Autumn Wind, my lord.

Autumn Wind: God damn it.

[Infected Mushroom]

I'm pretty sure I've seen this somewhere, and I'm pretty sure in the end Lucy does betray the Empire for her own agenda. And I'm pretty sure it blows up in her face and ends up making everything worse.

make everything worse how?

[Infected Mushroom]

Have you seen Motherland:Fort Salem (Freeform channel)? Its about the Salem Witches being recruited to the US military too.

Oh? Interesting. Is that a great flick?

[Auphelia]

This young woman is clearly willing to change her beliefs easily, seeing as she betrayed her parents in such a way, even if it was for the Empire.

She cannot be trusted as an elite, and given her great power, the camps will not do. Have her executed as quickly as possible before she can switch sides again or become more of a threat. We wouldn’t want another Witch Hitler on our hands, now would we?

[Infected Mushroom]

This young woman is clearly willing to change her beliefs easily, seeing as she betrayed her parents in such a way, even if it was for the Empire.

She cannot be trusted as an elite, and given her great power, the camps will not do. Have her executed as quickly as possible before she can switch sides again or become more of a threat. We wouldn’t want another Witch Hitler on our hands, now would we?

Seems reasonable though a bit harsh

She just your side a great favor Also, she’s young.

[Auphelia]

Seems reasonable though a bit harsh

She just your side a great favor Also, she’s young.

If we view magic so harshly, it seems a logical conclusion for a powerful user who has lived most of their life indoctrinated to oppose us. Though she shows loyalty now, such a thing cannot be assured, especially after she was already convinced to betray her own parents. Her youth is also part of the problem. They are prone to swings in thoughts and feelings, something too dangerous to allow for any trust.

If she decided to ruin her own life, so be it.

[Page]

I let Lucy join the program because I know the power of the sunk cost fallacy. While there may be a part of her that is resentful of the Empire, I think she is going to stay loyal because if not, narcing on her family is all for nothing. The only way she can live with it is to go forward serving the Empire.

[Infected Mushroom]

I let Lucy join the program because I know the power of the sunk cost fallacy. While there may be a part of her that is resentful of the Empire, I think she is going to stay loyal because if not, narcing on her family is all for nothing. The only way she can live with it is to go forward serving the Empire.

A very interesting take.

I agree that the sunk cost fallacy can be a powerful motivator. You have an interesting read on the character. =)

[Infected Mushroom]

Seems reasonable though a bit harsh

She just your side a great favor Also, she’s young.

If we view magic so harshly, it seems a logical conclusion for a powerful user who has lived most of their life indoctrinated to oppose us. Though she shows loyalty now, such a thing cannot be assured, especially after she was already convinced to betray her own parents. Her youth is also part of the problem. They are prone to swings in thoughts and feelings, something too dangerous to allow for any trust.

If she decided to ruin her own life, so be it.

So if you're in charge, it would Lucy have been better off if she didn't report the parents?

Doing a job for the Empire actually made things worse for her? How ironic =(

[Chan Island]

Oooh, I think this is the biggest expansion yet of the IM-verse. We have the origins of the empire, the origins of the various terrorist groups, an actual sense of timeline between when Witch Hitler was alive and when everyone else was doing their thing.

*Sits patiently for IM to finally write the damn novel*

[Cetacea]

Have you seen Motherland:Fort Salem (Freeform channel)? Its about the Salem Witches being recruited to the US military too.

Oh? Interesting. Is that a great flick?

Its a series release March 2020, the premise is that during the Salem Witch Trials, the real witches cut a deal with the US military that they would enlist and fight for the union. Now 300 years later young women from Witch families are recruited and trained at Fort Salem. However some other witches have formed a resistance movement against the military conscription of witches, who often use violent terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets.

Very very similar to the premise of you're OP

its a good watch too

[Infected Mushroom]

Oh? Interesting. Is that a great flick?

Its a series release March 2020, the premise is that during the Salem Witch Trials, the real witches cut a deal with the US military that they would enlist and fight for the union. Now 300 years later young women from Witch families are recruited and trained at Fort Salem. However some other witches have formed a resistance movement against the military conscription of witches, who often use violent terrorist attacks against civilian and military targets.

Very very similar to the premise of you're OP

its a good watch too

I see...