#bb!bumble

Bumble IS a wonderful name. Her Clanmew name wouldn't need to change at all, it could stay Bombolmlemlaan in honor of her inspiration.

Could just translate that directly as "Babble." Which is what "Bombol" comes to mean to Vow Cats, from the Rogue of Rot story

Ugh. Rough. She's so Bumble to me LMAO. Maybe I'll make her name Beatrice, which her owners nicknamed her as Bea, which she translated to Turtle Heart as "Bumble Bee" and then Turts extends her name to her in mateship as Bumble Heart.

Plus, I'm personally having issues writing a dyspraxic character (mostly because i kinda suck at absorbing information about things like disability when not using characters as exemples) and you've really helped me in the past with making characters with BPD, so it would be personally useful in character making

(Sorry if I'm rude, I deeply respect your work and it greatly inspires me, especially Clanmew)

All righty! BB!Bumble's dyspraxia!

First off, for newcomers;

WHY I ADDED DYSPRAXIA TO BUMBLE

In canon, Bumble is called a fat, useless kittypet, before being dragged back to her domestic abuser. She then dies while trying to survive on her own, starved to the point of emaciation before Clear Sky murders her.

A very common fandom response to this is essentially, "shes NOT useless! She could hunt/fight if you taught her!" And a lot of AUs will have her survive, learning how to be Truly Useful with all the same skills as everyone else.

I won't lie; I think that's very disappointing.

You're not refuting the rotten heart of this ideology, you're just doing what DOTC already does with Jagged Peak. You're AGREEING. You're saying she WOULD be useless if she couldn't hunt or fight like a wild cat, giving her Coolgirl Badass moments to haha embarass her bigots, and Actually the only problem here is that they didn't give her a chance.

What if they GAVE her that chance, and she COULDN'T hunt or fight like them? Would it be okay to send the battered housewife back to her domestic abuser? Hopefully fucking not!

Let's be frank; None of the groups in DOTC are starving. Not even after the prey sickness pandemic.

"Starvation Rhetoric" is an excuse, only ever rolled out by monsters like Clear Sky as justification for stealing land, murder, and throwing out cats the groups deem unworthy of life.

Yet, this gets rolled out for Bumble specifically, by the MOOR CATS, who are supposed to be opposing his ideology.

And that's where I'm starting from.

Okay. What if she couldn't perform physically like other cats?

What if she was part of a group that DID have real concerns about not having enough food?

How does Bumble herself cope with her feelings, and her desire to help her friends and contribute to a group that loves her?

Let's go through all that, and attack the heart of the idea. In fact, we're going to be doing a lot of it, with a significant portion of early ThunderClan being disabled cats.

(Thunder Storm has three legs. Bright Storm has asthma. Sunlit Frost loses the use of both front paws and ends up with chronic pain.)

Bumble's Dyspraxia

The first thing to know about dyspraxia (or DCD, Developmental Coordination Disorder) is that it comes in a LOT of different forms. The next thing to know is that it's RIDICULOUSLY common. Some estimates say 5% of the population has it-- 1 in 20 people.

It's heavily associated with autism and ADHD. The "classic" symptoms are general clumsiness and motor control issues, like having a hard time tying shoes. But these are also symptoms of dyspraxia;

Short-term memory issues, but not long-term

Being constantly covered in bumps and bruises

Having a hard time telling lefts and rights

Difficulties holding pencils or writing in general

"Wobbliness" including tripping mid-step or tripping over your own feet

Issues in the acquisition of "muscle memories," being slow to acquire physical skills.

Stuttering and taking long pauses before responding to someone else speaking

Most dyspraxics won't have all of these, these are symptoms. Not a checklist.

My partner describes theirs as like "constantly working with cold hands through a layer of gloves." The stiffness of being in a freezer, paired with the general delay of having a cover over your skin.

Mine is more focused on the mental side, acquiring new skills is unnaturally difficult, my reaction time is delayed, and I stumble into things.

Every person with dyspraxia is different, but what links us is that we're uncoordinated. We can't help it, telling us to try harder or pay more attention doesn't work. We aren't being careless-- our brains don't send signals to our bodies properly.

I'm basing Bumble's off my own. Her mate, Turtle Heart, shows her over and over how to hunt. It never sticks. She tries to pick up battle moves from Thunder Storm to help defend herself from Clear Sky's goons. It doesn't work.

She's really trying, she really is. The Moor group quickly loses patience with her, and Bumble is well aware that she's only tolerated on Turtle Heart's vouch. Her worst fears come true when Tom steals their children, and her mate is killed trying to retreive them.

That messes with her, and makes her believe that she really is worthless and a burden.

ThunderClan was FOUNDED on Thunder Storm's fury, breaking off his supporters to retreive her from exile, and Bumble's struggle with self-worth begins in earnest.

There's one thing she's confident about, and really loves. Bumble is trilingual, outgoing, and confident in her ability to talk to others. That's what she can add, and what she wants to do.

ThunderClan is different. It works with every strength and weakness of its members, and values diplomacy to keep it afloat against the odds. Bumble really is needed, but eventually even her translation work becomes less special as more kits grow up bilingual. Eventually, this too feels taken from her.

And then it's back to square one. Her mate is gone, one of her kits betrayed her, Owl Eyes is a big strong man who doesn't need his mum anymore. She's left with her fumbling paws, taking more from the pile than she puts in.

After a lot of time in StarClan and the distortion of prayer and generations of altered memory, a LOT of the founders have almost completely lost touch with themselves. Thunderstar especially-- as a Patron of Justice in a society with a very flawed understanding of it, the person he was in life might be furious with what he's become.

Bumble Mumble, mercifully, is the sort of Patron kept close to the heart of very soft cats. Cats who prefer diplomacy, those who feel unfit for battle. In a way, this Patron of Communication is also, secretly, a patron of the underdog. Pinestar was one example of them.

It makes sense, when you think about it. Even in her most legendary story, she won because she cried. It's one of the few stories Clan cats have where the combatants don't win. It resonates with the right kind of people.

So she keeps a lot of herself through the generations. She's not immune to the distortion of the gods of her generation, but I think of all of them, Bumble Mumble has stayed the most consistent.

But generally, no, StarClan cats don't clarify their stories. It serves their power better to let their tales become exciting and mythologized-- an interesting story is told more than a boring one. Bumble Mumble also probably does have "memories" of the false story, but in a hazy sort of way where she's vaguely aware are dream-truths.

Dark Forest cats are more likely to clarify their stories. Cloudberry and Ryewhisker, for example, are VERY eager to correct the record and talk about how evil the Law of Loyalty is.

I feel like Turtle Heart would get wigged out by Star Flower. Her presence is unsettling. She's not just a cat-- She's some sort of nature spirit, and she revels in the way her power can make others flinch.

Bumble doesn't know how to be scared of such things. What's there to even be afraid of? She's seen it all and come out safe through fire and flames. What's really terrifying about life is the existential dread of becoming obsolete and unneeded, people just pretending to like you as everyone who was a true ally dies and you can't save them, never being able to tell the difference until it's too late.

So if they did all end up in StarClan together, I feel like Bumble would end up having them seperate. She'd try not to make them mix. Bumble loves them both but there's something kind of scary to acknowledge here;

Bumble's not the same person who Turtle Heart was mates with, while she was feeding the little family all on her own and Bumble stayed home to raise the kits. She's become the unshakable diplomat of ThunderClan, mother of Owlstar, she who speaks all tongues. Bumble STILL loves her the same way she did-- but Turtle Heart has been up here waiting for a person who died with her.

And Star Flower would kind of revel in that. Turtle Heart is soft and simple. She did not live through the hard, hungry seasons and hurried relocations that Bumble did. Bumble has hardened and lived long and Star Flower is the cat she walks with as the final version of herself.

"Turtle Heart loved her when she was soft and flexible, like a young sapling. I had her when she was a sturdy oak bearing a hundred fruits. We are not the same."

BUT. That's an If Star Flower even goes up there in death. I'm not sure if she would want to. She's palling around with ThunderClan now, but I have a feeling that she is going to want to move on eventually. Her father is dead, and she loved him, but this world is vast.

Nature Spirits are still a WIP but I don't think they "die" like normal spirits. They can be killed, but always come back. There is no way to doublekill one, either. And they're functionally immortal, just going into "hibernation" when they feel satisfied.

If Bumble has millions of fans I am one of them. If Bumble has ten fans I am one of them. If Bumble has only one fan that's me. If Bumble has no fans, that means I'm dead. If the world is against the Bumble, I am against the world.

[ID: Bumble from WC on a purple, pink, and blue background. She is a fat tortoiseshell cat with a white chest and paws and bright orange dapples. She has two pawprint-shaped marks on her face and a torn ear.]

Need an animation-friendly version? Go here!

I won't get into a rant here, but go ahead and review the scene where Bumble gets exiled if you wanna get mad. Fair warning that I do not like Canon DOTC and I'm not 'nice' towards it.

BB!Bumble is the mate of Turtle Heart, and eventually ThunderClan's greatest asset. She cracks open diplomacy for the underdog Clan, allowing them to speak with cats for whom there would otherwise be a serious language barrier.

Her personality is self-confident, outgoing, and compassionate. She loves funny idioms and turns-of-phrase, and is always down to hear a good story. Of course, she also LOVES a good meal, and sees the incalculable value in a long nap before a hard decision.

After her death, Bumble becomes the ancient patron of Speech and Communication. When love makes you tongue-tied, when you hear the perfect phrase and it echoes in your head for hours after, when you need to find the right words to express a complicated idea, that is a moment to invoke Bumble.

(Full outline below!)

Short answer: Bumble was treated very poorly by early ShadowClan, with this terrible treatment directly leading to the formation of ThunderClan. Her story is utterly misrepresented by history, entirely falsified into a xenophobic warning against outsiders.

The Truth: The foundation of ThunderClan

When Tom was brought into the house, paradise became hell. Tom began abusing both partners, often setting them against each other and forcing them to lie to keep the peace. Turtle Heart became pregnant, and Bumble spilled the secret that Tom was forcing her to keep; Humans often take kittens at 6 months or so-- especially from households like this one with a lot of cats.

Turtle Heart left, Bumble followed suit about a month later and was quickly accepted by her mate. They became the parents of two; Pebble Heart and Sparrow Heart.

While Tall Shadow and her group were quick to welcome back Turtle Heart, they weren't happy to see Bumble. Turtle Heart accepted full responsibility for her, promising that she would teach her how to hunt, or otherwise be solely responsible for feeding her.

Bumble has dyspraxia; she was never able to learn how to hunt. So she watched the kits as her mate provided for them. Shortly after this, Thunder Storm left to learn under his 'father' Clear Sky, at his mother Bright Storm's suggestion.

Of course, one day, Tom found where his children were being kept, and lured them away. Bumble ran to Turtle Heart who charged off immediately. When Bright Storm, Acorn Swoop, and Lightning Cry returned with the kits later, they also brought the news that their mother had died in the trip.

Patience for Bumble had run out. She couldn't hunt. She failed to stop Tom. Her mate was gone-- and she served no use in Tall Shadow's eyes.

Bright Storm herself, thinking of her own failure to save Jagged Peak, the stillbirth of Thunder Storm's littermates, and Clear Sky's opinions on the usefulness of cats, solemnly agreed. She took the side of Tall Shadow, that Bumble was to return to the town. There was no place for her, here.

Thunder Storm returned shortly after this, and ripped into them for this cruelty-- "I didn't think I'd come home to find a second Clear Sky!"

It was the beginning of ThunderClan.

The Myth: Bumble Mumble and the Rogue of Rot

ThunderClan is remembered as being founded for diplomacy, not for its stance against cruelty. Many generations after her death, Bumble is remembered with a full name-- Bumble Mumble, Bombol Mlemlaan, "Sentence Tonguetwisted," and her story has been heavily fictionalized.

In contrast to the truth, the Parable of the Rogue of Rot is a story about fearing outsiders, and introduces the concept of "babble" to kits. Though babble serves a social purpose in warning against certain types of predators (ravens, foxes, humans), it is also used as a form of bigotry against outsiders.

The story goes, so StarClan Says;

Long ago, all cats spoke the same language, and they could converse with foxes, ravens, and many other animals. Humans and their owners used this ability to do many evils together.

Turtle Heart was recruited by Bumble Mumble into her housefolk's home over a harsh winter, tempted into a life of excess. But heroically, Turtle Heart saw through these sinful ways, revealing the truth to her mate and revealing that they would pay the price for food and warmth with their kits. Thusly, they escaped the humans together.

But humans, vengeful and evil creatures, wanted their pound of flesh. So they sent their monster, the Rogue of Rot, after the couple to retrieve what they believed was theirs to own.

He very nearly succeeded. Through his clever and charming words, he lured away the kittens, and Turtle Heart fought bravely to save them. She was murdered and cast to the ground at Bumble Mumble's feet, and all seemed lost.

All she could do was cry, and cry, and cry, until the pain welled up inside her so tightly that it burst forth into a great and terrible WAIL

The spell was broken in an instant, for he no longer had the charming words to enchant the kittens. Her grief had scrambled the tongues of all the rogues and villains in the world, snatching the words from their mouths and damning them with babble in their place.

When the Rogue of Rot returned to his humans empty-pawed, he found himself unable to explain what had happened. The humans heard nothing but strange, meaningless mewls and yowls, and so banished him for his failure.

It is said that he still walks the world to this day, seeking kittens to bring back to his humans so that they might let him back in. Children and warriors alike are warned against noises that sound like words but have no meaning, your name being called in the forest in strange tones, and outsiders who speak in a strange cadence. This is what they call "Babble."

I need to make the summary nicer, but for now I've changed Gray Wing out for Bright Storm so it should be accurate and a simple intro to her new role.

But in a nutshell;

ThunderClan forms in opposition to Tall Shadow cruelly exiling her.

Bumble, self-proclaimed "master of three languages", is invaluable to the budding Clan for her ability to translate with the River Kingdom and Wind Coalition

This opens up new allies to the underdog Clan, which they desperately need after burning a bridge with ShadowClan over Bumble's kittens later.

Bumble plays a HUGE part in the story. She's a really important character to BB!DOTC actually!

Over time, as more cats spread across the Clans and the languages influence each other, Bumble is needed less. Thunderstar himself eventually picks up a significant amount of Parkmew to speak with his ally, King Riverstar, directly.

It was very painful to her, when that started happening. Bumble talks a big game about herself, but is actually quite self-conscious and felt like she was losing her "purpose."

But... she was able to find comfort in the knowledge it was self-doubt, and not anything real. ThunderClan loves her. Thunderstar didn't make his Clan because she was an asset, he did it because she's his friend.

Eventually she is the mother of the next Clan leader. Owlstar is her baby, she's his other mom.

I feel like Bumble has a super agreeable personality, she makes you feel good about yourself and it's just generally great to be around. River's Ripple just wants to have fun, get away from all the expectations of being River Kingdom's prince. Bumble's chock full of fun stories and knows just what to say.

"I can be very persuasive," She'll purr.

So her and River's Ripple are able to vibe immediately. Really, it was Thunderstar who was the more unlikely one to make fast friends!

Bumble's very busy in those first few years, and sadly Riverstar has to keep in mind the political reality that Bumble is a "rival" group's diplomat above his personal buddy, but I think there's a... "silliness" below their Big Serious Official Roles that they both relate to each other about.

Here he is, KING RIVERSTAR of the RIVER KINGDOM, lord of the land, keeper of peace and fidelity. And behold, it is BUMBLE, speaker of the warlord in the forest, forger of alliances for the clan-that-defends-the-weak. They both like the color pink and can't sing. Two silly little dudes with more responsibility than they ever wanted.