Dovewing vs. Bumblestripe: House Divided!? by Oakwhisker

Oakwhisker shares their opinion on Bumblestripe and Dovewing’s relationship. Spoilers ahead!

Heller!!!
I’m Oakwhisker, and thank you for taking the time to read my first article. Feel free to tell me how this ended up in the comments

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A couple of weeks ago, I got in a debate with my friend Jasmine over whether or not Bumblestripe was annoying or Dovewing was rude when it came down to the whole drama over if they should be mates. First of all, I should state that neither of us particularly like Dovewing; however, when it comes to Bumblestripe, it’s very easy to see where she comes from.

Before I offend everybody reading, let’s get this over with.

Now, I love Bumblestripe to death, but sometimes the same thing over and over again can get a little annoying. If you watch this video made by my VidClan fren Moonkitti (Click here), you can easily get where I’m coming from. Moonkitti herself explains my point of view best in the description of her video: “bumblestripe, he’s just so nice, what a nice guy, you should have his babies dovewing. doesn’t matter that he completely changes his attitude when you reject him.” Bumblestripe simply pushes his feelings for her too much, and when she finally has put up with enough of his and their Clanmate’s constant nagging, everyone automatically starts commenting on how bad of a cat she is, going on and “rejecting” him like that. This was also discovered with a cursory glance at the Warriors Wiki:

Dovewing, Bumblestripe, and Brambleclaw are practising climbing trees one morning, and Bumblestripe criticizes every move that Dovewing makes, angering her and making her feel that choosing Bumblestripe over Tigerheart would have been a bad decision. As Dovewing complains to Brambleclaw that they’ve been practising tree climbing all morning, Bumblestripe hisses at her to shut up. When Dovewing complains about Bumblestripe, he claims he was only trying to help, and Brambleclaw says he appreciates Bumblestripe’s patience. When Brambleclaw asks him about drop attacks, Bumblestripe comments that she’s probably better at falling out of trees, and Dovewing, annoyed, climbs a tree so high that she can barely see the two toms on the ground.

This is the part where I drew the line, saying while I’m clearly biased on this topic, I needed to draw a line in the sand and approach it analytically. And that’s where I found (in a more clear way) Dovewing’s involvement in the situation.

Approaching with the same source, but with a different perspective, you cannot forget that while Dovewing has her feelings and needs, so does Bumblestripe. To get to this point, we must dig a little deeper, though.
Bumblestripe is the son of Greystripe and so most likely has inherited Greystripe’s… eagerness, as well as his repulsion of incest. Seeing as Dovewing is both attractive and not Bumblestripe’s cousin, it makes sense that he would want to be with her. The two have been really close friends for as long as I can remember, so it isn’t like Bumblestripe is just going to disappear. Friends are there for emotional support, and with Dovewing rejecting him, it is clear to me that he would feel like he had no one to talk to, and that he had just lost his best friend, even though he hadn’t. I’m going to school for psychology when I graduate in a few years, so I’ve done plenty of papers and assignments on this subject. Things were bound from the start of the first rejection to get awkward, especially with what I’m about to reveal.
If you’ll notice, any time Bumblestripe actually does bring up the two of them, they have both been in good moods, having fun with each other, and generally happy with life. This would trigger Bumblestripe’s emotions to make him believe everything is better between them, and that Dovewing may actually love him back. Now, we may know Dovewing’s feelings for Bumblestripe crystal clear, but poor Bumblestripe doesn’t, so therefore it isn’t fair to assume that. He’s going to love someone because that is what love is. Have you ever loved someone that never loved you back? It’s terrible.
Anyway, you can see, with the help of that last little bit, that Dovewing is probably egging him on, even though it may not be intentional.

So where do you fall in this debate, and did I manage to change anyone’s view? Probably not, but oh well…
I’ll try to write an article 1-2 times a month, so keep watch for that.
*hugs!!!*