Why do people hate Bumblestripe??

I love Bumblestripe, I am still so mad that Dovewing left him and became mates with Tigerheart.

Raging Storm spoilers:

You do realize you don't have to be with someone if you don't love them, right? Dovewing didn't treat him right, but she never had feelings for him, either. She's allowed and old enough to face the consequences.

Pretty much, yeah. Off the top of my head, I can remember at least two scenes where she compared her time with Bumblestripe to Tigerheart. During one, she thought about how she was enjoying spending time with Bumblestripe opposed to Tigerheart, because she didn't always have to be so tense and worried about being caught, so being with Bumblestripe was more relaxing, and she wanted to push her powers away whenever she was with him. During another when she was with him, though, she thought about how she had more fun with Tigerheart during their secret meetings. Blah. So yeah, she used Bumblestripe as a distraction a couple times, unfortunately, and she was back and forth a lot. She also made physical contact a couple times and brushed noses/muzzles/put her head on his shoulder/whatever with him of her own free will without him making contact first, so she was returning his physical and emotional affections, despite some peoples' belief that she wasn't.

If anything, it was far more irritating to read about this time now that I'm older lol My patience for her has dwindled a lot during this reread...

What makes me ticked is that Bumblestripe gets called out for every single action he does and is made to seem like some horrible creep, but it’s hardly ever brought up how Dovewing literally strings him along. And even after the fact, Bumblestripe isn’t angry. He doesn’t curse or hate Dovewing for lying to the clan, anandoning them and having kits with Shadowclan’s leader.

He’s just sad, and he has every right to be. Because he truly thought that she cared for him, he does back off from Dovewing after it’s made clear that she’s through with him, and he’s really not acting any differently than most people in couples do where one person wants kids and the other does not. It’s hard to choose be in that situation where desires do not allign.

But kits or not, Bumblestripe cared for Dovewing and was in it for the long run. Dovewing ultimately used him as a rebound for Tigerheart, but did not even communicate when she wanted to not be with him. Yes, Bumblestripe asking a few times for kits can be hassling and is not the most mature thing, but neither is willingly being with someone who you do not love and comparing them only to a past lover and then never telling them that you don’t care for them.

I agree that Dovewing treated Bumblestirpe badly she used him to try to get over Tigerstar and when that didnt work she bascally just tossed him aside without an explanation. Bumblestripe desserved better.

Until the Erins and or Edtiors change thier minds. It clear that in TLH the original plan was to have Dovewing end up with Bumblestirpe but by the time of Bramblestar's Storm they just changed thier minds for some reason. I wonder why? Thought tbh not a huge fan of either parring I prefer Dove single or with Foxleap.

I think this thread actually made me like him more than when I started.

I just feel really bad for him. I mean, if she didn't want to be with him she should have just told him off instead of using his more as a distraction. It's more worse when they pretend to care about someone, only for that person to find out later you never really did. That really sucks.
I don't think Dovewing should've stayed with him though, it's worse for both of them. I just wished she just said she didn't like him like that, not implying maybe she did like him even though in reality she didn't.

Hmmm.

I’d be fine with BumbleCherry!

wonder if StormRose would be cute!

thats so dumb. they should be doing bumble with rose and storm with cherrry...where the heck does bumblexherry even come from when cherry was already set up woth storm from before!?

To be fair, in both incidences, they're one-sided.

Rosepetal was offended on Bumble's behave when Dovewing used him like a scratching post, but so was Blossomfall at one point. Another time Blossomfall joked about putting in a good word for Rose, but she was only embarrassed by that cause she thought Bumble was a good guy and felt bad for him, but that doesn't imply romance? Could be throwaway lines.

On the other hand, Cherryfall and Stormcloud is much less obvious, because the only indication from them was when Cherryfall reassured Stormcloud after his brother's death and it's implied he stayed because he liked her company, but that doesn't mean anything is concrete.

The Erins may be debating on who to give Bumblestripe as a mate at this point, maybe even they realize he deserves better, lol. I think either Cherryfall or Rosepetal would be fine, but if I had to pick, I think him and Cherryfall would work out fine. She's very kind and sweet, Rosepetal is a bit of a firecracker sometimes, but I think she'd work with Bumblestripe as well. As long as he's happy, it should be fine. Then he can leave that messy past issue behind.

No offense taken! ;p Though I'd like to clarify that I'm actually pretty neutral on Dovewing in general, while leaning toward dislike, but ultimately not caring as long as we're done with her story and don't have to deal with her and Tigerheart anymore. I did use to hate her -- now I just wished she had stayed away from him and just been happy as a loyal warrior of TC. Almost all of my issues of her were tied with him, tbh. Because of that, my favorite books for her are TFA, DwS, BrS, and other books where she wasn't obsessing/thinking about him much.

That said, most of my bashing/hatred is reserved for Tigerheart

Course they don't, because people tend to always project the Squirrel x Ashfur incident, onto this one, when in reality, it's not the same. Squirrlflight didn't really lead Ashfur on, she did find comfort in his friendship, but also internally struggled with her feelings between him and Bramble, unsure on how she felt. On the other hand, Dovewing was using Bumblestripe out of convenience, and only really looked his way because he was a TC cat, she took advantage of his feelings. And people only make him come off as creepy, simply because she was already, and secretly, in a relationship with Tigerheart at the same time. But Bumblestripe is unaware of that, even if the readers, by perspective, are.

So you can imagine how Bumblestripe must feel after he gives his all in the relationship, but Dovewing is pretty much off-put by him, then completely breaks up with him, disappears out of the blue, then suddenly show up with another tom's kits. Honestly, that scene was straight up...bad. She never bothered to tell him that she was interested in someone else, and honestly, if she had, I doubt Bumblestripe would have pursued her so much, and was given false hope that he still had a chance with her. Nope, the best way to break it to him was to bring another tom's kits with her to her clan after bailing on them for moons and having her clan spend all that time and energy trying to find her while worried for her safety. Oof. I haven't seen something this bad since when Bluestar lied about her kits death, and had Thrushpelt looking for them, and grieving for them that whole time.

Case and point. Dovewing is a jerk. 

I'm sure we can all agree at this point that Bumblestripe just deserves someone that actually loves him, and he deserves to be happy and have a family of his own.

I feel like people are looking into that bonus scene in SS too much, because whether we like it or not, Bumblestripe did have a point. Kits have always been a big deal in clans, because they're the next generation of youth, more kits, more warriors, etc. Bumblestripe clearly was still in love with Dovewing, and he thought she felt the same and that they were just going through a rough patch, he thought maybe them having a family, would have eventually smoothed out those edges. But again, because Dovewing is with Tigerheart, something Bumblestripe hasn't been aware of for a good chunk of their scenes together, he'll come off as "creepy" narrative-wise.

I don't think Bumblestripe is a bad tom, both generally, and relationship-wise, he just had a crush, was happy they got together, wanted to make her happy, but she ended things with him out of the blue. It's clear in BrS, he was trying to be supportive of her, and wanting kits after breaking up isn't unheard of. Heck, even Crowfeather thought he and Nightcloud should get back together because he thought it was appropriate after they made up, and suggested trying again despite the past they had, but Nightcloud was against that.

The problem here is the lack of communication, and this mostly falls on Dovewing's end. After they broke up, honestly she should have just been more clear about her feelings, but she couldn't because, haha no surprise, the cat she wanted to be with was in another clan. So basically, if she wanted to avoid all this crap in the first place, maybe she should have just ya know...not be in a forbidden relationship. It was easier for Squirrelflight, because her, Bramble and Ashfur were all in the same clan, but Dovewing, because Tiger and her were meeting in secret, pretty much didn't have that option, least she expose herself.

Think about it from Bumble's perspective. He loves Dovewing, he thinks that he could make her happy, he thinks they could be happy together, he thinks kits would make them both happy. It's not that Dovewing was against having kits, cause ya know she goes and has them with Tiger right after, it's because she just didn't want them with Bumble because she was already interested in Tiger, and he didn't know that.




I personally would have LOVED to see Dovewing stay single, cause it was obvious neither of her situations were working out and she should have focused more on herself than them. But it's obvious that Bumblestripe wanted to find happiness in a relationship, which is unsurprising considering, his mother is neglectful, his sister and him are no longer close after the DF incident, and his other sister will never be able to be a warrior like him so it's not the same, while his father...is barely around. And all he really had left was Dovewing, and that was the relationship he tried to focus on, and it didn't work out. So yeah, I personally do think Bumble deserves someone that makes him happy, if that's what he's looking for in his life right now. If he wants to get with another mate, then so be it.