I've finally started on AVOS for my reread, and it is genuinely downright BAFFLING how the book basically constantly asserts that 1. Being a doctor is an undesirable role for everyone and thus it is typical for people to be forced into it, and 2. Having three doctors is absurd. HUH???
Like okay first of all. Warriors historically has a really bad grasp on what the cats actually do with their time that isn't just working. We rarely ever get explicit recreational scenes or time anymore, and there's a sort of horrifying implication that most days the cats just don't GET recreational time at all. It's weird and bizarre. But to have that extended into the idea that the cats are SO obsessed with work that the concept of *being a doctor* is societally repulsive to the point it is *uncommon* for it to be chosen willingly? WHY? FOR WHAT REASON? IS EVERYONE SO ADDICTED TO THE ONE SINGULAR JOB THAT IS PRESENTED AS DEFAULT THAT IT IS SOCIETALLY WEIRD TO BECOME [checks notes] AN EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FIGURE OF AUTHORITY AND SPIRITUAL GUIDE.
mutual jay is so correct AND HERE'S ANOTHER THING! that's right i'm pulling up the dead warriors sideblog for this
i hate how the reason for not wanting to be a medicine cat is always the same stupid shit about feeling useless for saving lives instead of killing each other over borders or putting another vole on the fresh-kill pile.... which, you know, ~30 background cats are off doing at any given time. Who Give A Shit.
like, there are actual reasons for not wanting the job that the erins refuse to explore for reasons that are completely beyond me:
fear of responsibility
disbelief or mistrust in starclan
mistrust in medicine
wanting a mate/kits (instead of just taking the job and having them illegally anyway)
being scared they'll fail and have to watch their clanmates die
not wanting to catch a patient's illness and die themselves
just straight up being too squeamish, afraid of blood, etc
like???? there's a reason why so many fans roleplay medicine cats. it's because medicine cats are fucking awesome and you can do so many interesting things with them in a story. even if you INSIST on making them hate the coolest job in the clans, you can at least not be boring about it. fuck
