#((clumby is no longer at the bottom of my tierlist

[twilightprince101]

The Enigma of Clumby Clumbernut

It's needless to say that, after the latest DLC, Clumby is one of my new favorite characters in Bugsnax. And yes, I'm saying that without a hint of irony.

SPOILERS FOR THE ISLE OF BIGSNAX

So for those who went through the DLC and found the Triplicate Space, that gigantic bombshell of lore likely scrambled your brain a bit. It certainly did mine, leaving me in a hype mess on the floor!! But the morning after, going through everything again and taking a hard think about it, there’s likely going to be a few questions. One of the most noteworthy (at least for me) being: Why was Jamfoot so scared in the first place?? 

I mean, all of those tape recorders were left around the temple presumably for us, right? They talk about the expedition team, Bronica Lottablog and how the listener is a journalist! It’s only natural to assume that he is addressing us specifically!

Welllll…. No. Not by a longshot. It’s really easy to fall into that trap, I’ve already seen several streamers/youtubers do the same. But here’s the thing: if you give it a tiny bit more thought, the clues are somewhat obvious.

It seems quite clear that, although you’re listening in, it’s Clumby that’s asking all the questions. 

For many people that line of thinking would stop there. They think “Oh, okay then. So Clumby is part of the Snakolites, recruited by Jamfoot in order to keep her quiet about everything that she’s seen. But that’s the thing: Everything we have heard has been said to Clumby, and Clumby specifically!

With that perspective in mind, these statements change from something directed at the player for their snooping to a gigantic lore dump of subtext!!

First off: Clumby was a journalist in the past. Likely the same position as us/the player/buddy was. So she has been to Snaktooth before and knows about all of the dangers that lurk on it. Many have already suspected this from Clumby due to the original after-credits dialogue, but we’ll get back to this in a bit.

Second: Clumby asks about Bronica Lottablog specifically. This isn’t likely something that would come up if she didn’t give a specific name and know her personally. Believe it or not, this is something that was hinted at before, in the guidebook bios for the physical release. For those who don’t know, in the physical release of Bugsnax there was a small instructional manual that was filled with several types of goodies. The most notable one being biographies of various different characters written from Clumby’s perspective. And what’s written in the one for Triffany?

The two have a history, and from what it seems like, it was a fairly close one. Perhaps as a sort of mentor/student relationship?

And finally, the biggest piece of info here:

“Your expedition.”

Clumby Clumbernut and Bronica Lottablog were part of their own expedition team, before Lizbert’s. Not likely the two by themselves, but potentially one as big--or bigger--than Liz’s. So Clumby and Bronica, in their own time, likely discovered the truth about Bugsnax and what they can do. In the process however they managed to encounter Alegander or the Snakolites in some form, which eventually led to Clumby finding the Triplicate Space as we now have. (I don’t know about you, but that sounds like prequel bait to me~)

There is one other thing I want to address before closing this out: Who sends this letter?

Because at this point we have two additional characters to look out for. Alegander Jamfoot and Clumby Clumbernut. If it wasn’t obvious, neither of those are B’s. But also, they appear to be in the same league as Clumby with their Tu Quid Edas talk. So then who is it? Well, we got two potential suspects:

Beffica Winklesnoot and Bronica Lottablog. From the way I see it either one could be likely. Beffica because from the “R.I.P. Bronica” talk in the bios, and Bronica because she hasn’t been confirmed dead. Instead she has “gone to a place you SHOULD not follow.”

It could also be someone else we haven’t met, but whoever this ends up being, it should be noted that they are on our side, along with Clumby.

Remember, all of this was because Alegander was surprised someone went through the tapes. In the final audio log Alegander says outright that he’ll be taking away Clumby’s tapes to prevent a leak like this from getting out.

The reason they’re out for us to listen to is because somebody set them there for us to find. Outright going behind Alegander’s back is a dangerous move from what’s being implied here, but they did so in order for us to learn the truth and he doesn’t know who listened. So whoever they may be, both Clumby and B are to be trusted.

Perhaps they’re doing this for revolution? To try and destroy Bugsnax once and for all? Who knows? But there’s no way they can let things lie as is. I feel confident this will be answered in the sequel. Or perhaps a perquel. Or some other -quel.

Until then, I think we should cut this lasagna loving grumpus some slack. We all painted her as our greatest enemy, but she might be the most valuable ally we have...