#'ew gross it's all pro war probably american imperialist propaganda written by oppressive killers trying to make us feel sorry for them'

[lord-squiggletits]

Between TF and my other fandoms like BG3 and TES, I keep finding myself making OCs that have some element of "battle hardened hero who is actually good and righteous, but so traumatized by the toll of war that even after the war ends they feel empty/wrecked and can't enjoy the fruits of victory" and I'm not sure if it's bc I gravitate to a certain type of media where such OCs fit in best, or bc I have a specific character archetype I like and gravitate towards media that contains those things.

#squiggposting #possibly a mix of both bc idk if i've gone into detail here but war stories are one of my favorite genre of stories #like for fun fictional reasons but also for real life political and moral and emotional implications #war stories are literally so fucking cool man i feel like they get a bad rap for just being propaganda tools #and obv a lot of them can be/are explicitly made to be but also like #(i feel like i'm stealing a quote from one such story) war stories are also a method for the soldiers of the war to tell their side #and usually the soldier's side of the story tells of the LESS glorious and propagandistic sides #maybe ive just had the pleasure of having really good teachers/professors but like #most of the war stories i've read are specifically ABOUT the bridge bt war propaganda and the actual experience of fighting in a war #and i think even the ones where the soldier in question supports the war (american sniper comes to mind) #it's very interesting and dare i say important to read it and understand when and why and how they came to support war #like idk i think it's one of those things where ppl shy away from war stories bc #'ew gross it's all pro war probably american imperialist propaganda written by oppressive killers trying to make us feel sorry for them' #without understanding... idk. the difference between an individual soldier's evil and the evil of an entire institution? #some sort of anti intellectualism regarding soldiers as being inherently evil ppl who aren't to be listened to or taken seriously? #it's not a matter of like. you don't need to like or sympathize with them per se. but i think part of understanding and criticizing #the institution of war is getting the ground level testimonies about it. and more of them are critical than some ppl believe #plus i mean FUCK usamerican imperialism it doesn't need to be about US wars! other countries lived thru other wars that are also important! #war stories may have their strongest association w american imperialism but that doesn't mean other war stories don't exist #idk sorry for rambling in the tags