people brush over will's trauma and insecurities a little too much for my liking.
rick's characterization of will is definitely to blame for this, since we didn't get much of his pov, but even his fanon image (always happy, caretaker, sometimes sad but there anyway, do-no-wrong) irks me a little.
like, we're talking about a boy that had to step up as head medic in the middle of a war. a boy that was barely a teenager, that didn't get the chance to be fully trained by his brother because he died in front of him too soon. we're talking about a boy that didn't have time to grieve because, sure, his older brother and idol died, but so did many others, and even more got injured, and he can't, can't afford to stop working, to stop healing, to stop being there for others, to stop rolling up bandages and applying ointments and singing hymns and doing something because from now on, that's his job.
a boy who often compared himself to his siblings for not being the norm. there's applause for musicians, appreciation for writers, glory to archers, but medics are in the background. invisible, most of the time, unless there's a need for them, but no one wants to be around the sick and no one wants to remember the sick. i mean, who would want to stick around their hospital bed? you're healed. free to go. the person who patched you up is just another camper.
a boy who's seen as much loss and trauma, if not more, than the ones that are active in combat. because he deals with the aftermath. he's there, keeping them alive, keeping himself alive because, again, he can't afford to be anything other than the healer.
he never had the chance to be anything else.
