#&. meta ( dustin henderson. )

[kedreeva]

hello, tonight I've decided to be emotional about the blood still staining Eddie's guitar pick necklace chain. There's no chance that Dustin didn't notice it, so he purposely didn't clean it off. He doesn't look like he expected to see Wayne or maybe he would have. As it stands, this is all Dustin has to give to Eddie's only family: the blood he shed trying to be a hero when all Dustin and Wayne both wanted was for him to come home safely.

[corrodedbisexual]

The way Eddie can't even accept at first that they truly believe his story. Because not knowing about the Upside Down, it does sound insane. Who knows what Eddie had been thinking the entire time on the run. Shocked, terrified, alone and helpless. Must have turned that memory over in his head a thousand times, and it did not make sense, it could not make sense, it was impossible. If the party hadn't found him, I imagine he could have actually ended up convincing himself that he did somehow kill Chrissy, and the rest was some hallucination from drugs he didn't remember taking.

[otteranha]

Thinking about how there’s one area in which Steve can, in fact, be described as a film buff. When he shows up for his turn at picking the movie with a bunch of classic westerns. Everyone except Robin (too much respect for film history) and Nancy (too much respect for herself) moan and groan, fake gag and roll their eyes and generally gripe about Steve’s selections. It’s baffling and honestly more than a little hurtful. The rule that month to pick only movies made before 1965 was Robin’s idea, not Steve’s. And he’s watched everyone else’s picks without complaints (at least, not this level of complaint).

“Sorry Steve,” Dustin at least gives him a verbal explanation instead of just making fake snoring noises, “Just seems really old and stuffy and unrelatable.”

“But it’s Stagecoach, it’s about a group of outsiders drawn together in dangerous circumstances trying to survive! How is that not relatable?” He protests, “And everything else we watched this month was old!”

He gets a head waggle in response that seems to mean that it’s just different when he’s the one whose taste is on the line.

“Yeah but really Steve?” Max adds, “All that cowboys and Indians crap? What are you, six?”

“I brought High Noon too, they’re not fighting Indians in that. He looks around for any support.

“Just not our communal cup of tea. We’re more of a science fiction-fantasy crowd Stevie,” Eddie looks unenthused then grins, “But you should ask Wayne if he wants to do a movie night.”

Steve cringes- it’s true Westerns had been his grandfather’s favorite thing. Before he was old enough to stay by himself it had always been fun staying with his grandparents, watching them on tv in the afternoon. It was a little bit square for his friends but still… “But it’s all what do you call ‘em? Epics. Teams of outlaws living by their own rules, betrayal, battles between good and evil, friends dying to protect each other, hero stories! You nerds love that shit!”

They remain unconvinced. It sucks. Steve really thought he was on to something, nervous for weeks that he wouldn’t know any old movies to pick except Snow White or something dorky like that. And when the 1965 rule was up next month he’d thought he could bring Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (more confusing to his early sexuality than even Star Wars) or maybe The Wild Bunch - one of his only really good memories of spending a day with his dad was when he’d taken Steve to watch it at the old movie theater near his office. School was closed and his mother was doing the Christmas shopping and dropped Steve off so he wouldn’t slow her down. For once his dad hadn’t immediately palmed Steve off on his secretary to babysit, but had declared that the two of them would play hooky and spend the afternoon at the movies. His mother was so mad that his father had let him watch such a violent movie but Steve had been enthralled.

part 2

[gayofthefae]

Dustin styling his hair after Steve and then styling it after Eddie 🥺😢

[strangerwheelerthings]

Deep Dive Into the Heart of Nancy Wheeler Masterpost

In this series I am going to be exploring many of Nancy Wheeler’s best character moments, and perhaps expand the meaning of a few scenes you haven’t thought much about. She's so much more than just the fierce smart one. Despite her many walls and people’s misunderstandings about her, this girl has a heart of gold. Here’s how I know.

(Links will be added as they are completed. Concepts will be changed and added as ideas develop, but here is the current outline of planned posts.)

Who was she before Barb’s Death:

Introduction

Identity Crisis

Best Friends

Older Sisterhood:

Talk with Mike (Season 1)

Concern (Season 1)

A Study of Traits:

Introversion in someone who knows how to talk

Why is Nancy such a Good Investigator? (It’s not what you think)

Courage: A Study of Reckless Behavior 

What are you willing to do for love?

The Unlikely Optimist

Patience is a Virtue: She's trying, I promise

A Fury Mined and Saved

Miscellaneous Scenes:

The Snowball Dance

Dinner at the Hollands

Instinctive Reaction to Flayed!Tom

The Cutest Witness

Officially Friends?

[thegayhimbo]

Stranger Things Comics and Graphic Novel Reviews

For those unaware, over the past several months, I've been reviewing all Stranger Things related materials from the comics to the graphic novels to the tie-in books, and so on. I'm a major fan of the show, and I love having discussions about it! 🙂 These reviews so far cover the comics and graphic novels, and will eventually include the tie-in books and episodes from the show once I start reviewing those.

They contain my thoughts regarding each comic/graphic novel, as well as my opinions on certain characters and arcs from the show. It also serves as a template for me to share theories I have for season 5. I'm eager to hear from others regarding their opinions about Stranger Things, their theories for season 5, or their thoughts on supplementary materials related to the show.

I want to be clear that these are just my opinions I'm sharing, and this is all meant as a fun activity. It's also a way for me to help improve my skills as a writer/reviewer. I'm always eager to hear feedback, provided you are not being rude, condescending, or nasty while doing so. Let me know what you think of my reviews, and be sure to Like and/or Reblog each of them! :)

Stranger Things Six

Stranger Things Halloween Special

Stranger Things The Other Side

Stranger Things Zombie Boys

Stranger Things The Bully

Stranger Things Winter Special

Stranger Things Tomb of Ybwen

Stranger Things Into The Fire

Stranger Things Science Camp

Stranger Things "The Game Master" and "Erica's Quest"

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons

Stranger Things Kamchatka

Stranger Things Erica The Great

Stranger Things "Creature Feature" and "Summer Special"

Coming Next: Stranger Things Suspicious Minds

[devondespresso]

forgot to send an ask yesterday i think but i'm always here for more steve henderson au!!

dgkdyjsjg don't worry about it dude you're always so supportive 😭💕 i appreciate the asks as much as you can do

but yea, this snippet is from the chapter where Steve and Dustin finally meet for the first time!! they're driving from Steve's to Dustin's house and transitions into a recount of the scene in the car from canon

Steve set the nail-bat in the trunk before getting in and putting in the tape, playing from where he left off and turning to Dustin.

“Okay so.. your house?”

“Yeah, it's by the school. I'll give you directions when we get close.”

He nodded and pulled back out onto the road.

“Also, just to warn you, D’art is kinda… aggressive. And he looks pretty scary, but he was really cute and sweet when he was tiny so I don’t know why he’s so mean now but-” he cut himself off.

Steve raised an eyebrow.

“But?”  he prompted. Dustin took a breath.

“It might be because he’s hungry.”

What the fuck.

There was silence for a moment as he tried to process what Dustin was implying.

“Wait a sec, how big is he??”

“First he was like that,” he said, showing size with his pointer finger and thumb, “Now he’s like this.” He held up both hands a good foot and a half apart. That was hard to believe.

[upsidedowndreamland]

"I... do not know what to do," Meta Knight said, causing Bandana to audibly gasp and Dedede's beak to drop. Meta would... would never admit something like that. If even he had given up, then...

Maybe they really were doomed.

Thinking this over, Bandana gazed out across Dream Land, the first terrified tears falling to the ground and glittering orange in the fading sunlight. The crowd was steadily growing more and more violent.

Their pitchforks were so sharp.

"We need you, Kirby," he whispered.

[scoupsahoy]

thinking about dustin, as a trauma response to steve nearly getting killed For Him in season 3, doubling down on his already abrasive and judgmental nature to make sure the people he loves aren't too confident that they think they're indestructible

dustin who educates himself entirely on every angle and holds others accountable to REMEMBER what he says so he can make sure he's done everything in his power to keep them out of harm's way

dustin who cemented his role in his friend group years too late, makes sure he has a purpose and makes sure the peace is kept unless he is the one who is disrupting it. he can disrupt the peace because he thinks he's looking at things objectively

dustin who idolized steve who got too cocky and nearly got himself killed because that's the way his mother shows him love. dustin who has been lying, EASILY, to his mother, for years, about the cat and will and dart and the upside down, and knows he can get away with it because his mother cherishes and trusts him. dustin who instinctively wants to trust people and idolize them because thats the way he knows how to love but after season 3 refuses to do it anymore because if he lets his guard down they will get hurt.

dustin who didn't know eddie very well until he was involved into the upside down and didn't realize was someone that might get hurt because he's amazing and cool and untouchable

dustin who, if eddie dies, will blame himself for thinking eddie was indestructible, for treating eddie like he was indestructible, for maybe making eddie think he was indestructible

dustin who, if eddie lives, will start holding him accountable, talking down to him, lose his patience, not because he's angry at eddie for almost getting himself killed, but because he's angry at himself for trusting that eddie would make the right, planned decision. for trusting that eddie was too cool to throw himself into the fire. for trusting that he would follow the rules.

dustin who, from season one, mediated between his two friends who knew each other WAY before either of them knew him, enforced rules based on The Rule Of Law, who called everyone out on their bullshit because he knew them well enough to know that they were capable of making mistakes and he had to be there to bail them out

dustin who has to be the smartest person in the room, because if he's wrong, they're all going to get killed. he has to be right and the rest of them have to remember what he tells them, because if things go wrong, it'll land back on him

[cosmic-nonconstant]

Dustin & Steve in s4

I need to watch s4 again (again) but I’m reflecting on some folks’ negative reactions to Steve and Dustin’s changed dynamic since s3. In my opinion, the change makes sense.

I really think at 14, Dustin is more of a teenager (more ego, more pride + all of the dramatics he had as a kid but more biting than ever), which makes him more difficult to be around, and at 19, Steve has become more of an adult (world-weary, trying to be more responsible and serious, fantasizing about stability), or, Steve is at least trying to figure out who he is as an adult - in that way we all do when we’re still too young to really know what that means. All of which is probably really annoying to Dustin! That naturally leads to more conflict between them. They are both still growing up, and they’re at totally different stages in life. And what teenager doesn’t get on their older brother/dad’s nerves and vice versa??? The love is still there.

[peachteaglitter]

I recently saw (and reblogged) a gif set of Dustin in hockey gear and I just want to talk about that for a second.

Hockey gear is not cheap. A huge plot point of the OG Mighty Ducks movie (and the D+ series) was how expensive it is as a sport. Yet, here is super nerd Dustin Henderson with goalie gear.

But not just gear. Goalie pads and a chest protector and a mask that fit him perfectly. And seems to be of good quality.

Which, if it were Steve or Lucas, that would fit with their jock selves.

Dustin though? Not so much.

So at some point pre-series Dustybuns played hockey -- and played it long enough/recently enough that his gear still fits.

Anyway now I need fic that incorporates an explanation for this.

[directlyat-thesun-moved]

So I watched Stranger Things episode one and have Thoughts. Specifically Byler thoughts.

When Will, Dustin, and Lucas find the D20 that Will rolls to see if he can cast fireball, Dustin (I think) tells Will that it’s ok because they can just lie to Mike and say that the fireball attack worked. Will seems to agree but then goes to tell Mike that he rolled a seven and the demogorgon got him. There was no reason for him to do that EXCEPT that he wants to be honest with the boy he likes. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[otteranha]

Probably somebody already said this but for their first big sold out show Corroded Coffin’s encore song is a metal cover of Neverending Story, dedicated to Dustin. Max, Lucas, Steve, Robin and co. described the context to Eddie in great detail and he thought it was hilarious. The crowd adores it. Dustin is not amused.

[gayofthefae]

Just realized a song sung by and to people who love each other saved Hawkins in season 3

edit: also the amount of joy this has brought everyone since, the memory to collectively laugh about that brings comfort in times of stress. In Lucas on the Line, Lucas says moving day was abnormal for Max to be so energetic. When they're stressed about NINA, Will singing lightens the mood. It didn't just help then, either.

[scoopstrooptm]

dustin + the importance of his dynamics with steve & eddie

         this one has been a long time coming and rolling around in my brain for a while but I really want to talk about the importance of both Steve and Eddie in Dustin’s life and how, even though from a writing perspective they both function in a same way as older male role model / brother figures and the Duffers did kind of repeat a similar storyline and not really handle it in the best way, there are actually a lot of subtle differences in how Dustin views them / grows from their influence in his life. they are both equally important to his development ( and future development ) in different ways.

         the most important preface to discussing Steve and Eddie as brotherly figures ( because I do kinda hate the whole “co-parenting” “they’re both Dustin’s dads” trend within the fandom when it’s not for fun/the memes, they are only 5-6 years older than Dustin and as he gets older, that age gap will become much less noticeable ), is that Dustin is absent a father figure. unlike Will, however, who it is established early on has Jonathan, Dustin is deliberately set up in s2 to be living with only his mom, which then helps facilitate the fledgling brotherly relationship that goes on to develop between him and Steve. the writers often talk about them both being the spares within that season who are paired off with each other: Steve needed something to do after Nancy goes off with Jonathan to investigate the lab, and Dustin needed someone ( preferably older ) to help him with Dart and then lead the junkyard squad with Max and Lucas. they also very clearly don’t want to be around each other at the very beginning: Dustin only asks for Steve’s help because he’s the first person he can find to help him out with Dart, and it’s clear that Steve would rather be trying to fix things with Nancy, right up until he realises that Dart is actually an Upside Down monster and Dustin genuinely needs his help.

         the two of them are worlds apart in terms of personality and character. Steve is the most popular guy at school ( in spite of his star beginning to wane in favour of Billy ), plays sports, has ( up until this point ) been successful with the ladies, is not naturally book smart and has never had to try very hard in order to get what he wants. Dustin is a self-proclaimed nerd, is not naturally athletic, is extremely intelligent but lacks a lot of common sense, and doesn’t have really have any friends outside of the Party. the two also have very little in common, but they do get to bond over girls as they lure Dart to the junkyard — however the turning point in their relationship imo doesn’t happen until Dustin, Steve, Lucas and Max are attacked by the demodogs.

         this is, for me, the most pivotal moment in how Dustin’s attitude towards Steve shifts. he even says to Lucas before the dogs attack, “nobody is around. why else would I be with Steve Harrington?” but the moment that Steve decides to leave the bus and act as bait for the demodogs with his nailed bat, Dustin’s indifference to Steve’s completely changes, to the point where, as Max says “he’s insane” for going out there alone, Dustin’s only response is: “he’s awesome.”

          it’s no secret that Dustin uses D&D and fantasy tropes to contextualise the Upside Down — he does this both in a narrative sense in order to flag to the audience exactly what kind of monsters the group are facing ( he is the one who gave the Mind Flayer and Vecna their names ), but also I believe he does this as a coping strategy too considering the danger that he has been around for three years of his young life. in that moment, then, that Steve headed out of the bus and fought three demodogs with just his baseball bat with nails, he quite literally was the white knight who leapt out of the pages of one of his storybooks. he was the fighter / paladin class from D&D that their group of heroes needed, protecting the party at great personal risk to himself, and this is where Dustin’s hero worship of Steve began.

          it’s not clear to Steve that Dustin idolises him, but it’s very clear to everyone else lmao. I think, particularly at this point, Steve is the sort of person that Dustin aspires to be like, in the same way that he might look at a character like Han Solo or Aragorn and aspire to be like them. he fills the void of an older male role model that Dustin needed; he might be different to him in terms of enjoying sports and not understanding the nerdy references, but the fact that the gap between s2 and s3 establishes that the pair were close enough to learn a Star Wars-themed secret handshake shows that Steve was open-minded enough to at least try to engage with the nerdy stuff. it’s also heavily implied that Dustin was Steve’s only close friend during that time. 

          however, that also means that I don’t think Dustin ever looked at Steve as someone who was necessarily fallible: he knows that the dude is uncultured, book dumb sometimes, kinda bitchy and a bit of a stick in the mud when it comes to shooting down dangerous ideas, but Steve is still the hero who will always pull through in the end. even when Steve is beaten up by Billy, Dustin is the most visibly concerned out of the kids ( and is the one who convinces the others to bring Steve along in Billy’s car and not leave him in his concussed state back at the Byers house ), but Steve is still able to recover enough to lead the group into the tunnels and assume that caretaker role. he has never failed to protect Dustin when he needs him, and he is always there: in s3 when Dustin is left with his Cerebro by the Party, it’s Steve that he goes to in order to vent and then share the contents of his secret Russian transmission. in s4, as soon as Max comes to him about Eddie, Dustin seeks out Steve at Family Video.

          the dynamic definitely does Dustin a lot of good: as Gaten himself says, Steve helps Dustin with his confidence, and he also helps Dustin to be brave. this isn’t to say that Dustin isn’t brave in s1 because he is, but in the first season a lot of his bravery comes from being around Mike and Lucas and El. on his own, I don’t think Dustin would ever consider himself a brave individual, but then Steve came along and threw himself repeatedly into danger with only minor complaining, the very picture of the errant hero, and that made Dustin want to be brave like that too. the contrast between s2, when Dustin let Steve head down into the storm shelter to deal with Dart on his own, and s3′s “if you die, i die” isn’t just a reflection of how much Dustin and Steve’s friendship has developed in that time. it is also an indication of how, through knowing Steve, Dustin has become more courageous and willing to dive headfirst into danger as a result. in s3, he takes the lead in his and Erica’s rescue attempt of Steve and Robin which, while kinda unrealistic if we’re being picky about it lmao, is an extremely big deal for Dustin. Erica is younger than him and he’s not with Mike, Will or Lucas ( or any of the other older teens or adults ), but he goes back for Steve and Robin anyway, without hesitation.

         but on the flip side, this dynamic does create an unrealistic ideal for Dustin to live up to ( which is no fault of Steve’s or his own ), and this is perfectly illustrated by the snow ball scene at the end of s2. in that scene, Dustin takes on not only Steve’s confidence, but also his appearance in the way that he also uses the Farrah Fawcett spray to style his hair. however, unlike Steve, who I’m sure has never had to try very hard with girls until it came to Nancy, Dustin comes up against immediate rejection from his female peers and ends up completely alone, crying on the sidelines at not having a dance partner of his own. it’s interesting that it’s Nancy who actually rescues him, considering Steve’s influence on Dustin’s self-expression is at its strongest in this scene, but I digress: this highlights the limitations of Dustin’s hero worship and wanting to be like Steve. Dustin is not Steve: their experiences, particularly of a social setting like school, are completely different, and the Steve ‘The Hair’ Harrington King of Hawkins High rules for socialising are not rules that necessarily apply easily to Dustin, being a nerd and not athletic or interested in “popular” pursuits at school.

         I imagine this is a difference between them that would have reared its head again in those first few weeks after Dustin first started high school, between s3 and 4. we hear him talk to Max about the fact that nobody was nice to him or Mike ( except Eddie, who I will get to in a minute ), and I can picture a similar thing happening: Steve offering him plenty of well-meaning advice in the run up to semester starting, Dustin taking a lot of it on board, but none of it really working out that well when he actually gets there. Dustin is not destined to be a jock or the most popular guy at school like Steve was, and that is a good thing! being a jock and being popular wasn’t really that good for Steve either. Eddie’s advice and influence is actually good for both of them.

           the way that Dustin’s dynamic with Steve ( subtly ) shifts between s2 and s4 is also interesting. from s2 to s3, the pair become very obvious best friends who share secret handshakes and a single brain cell ( there is no season that they are closer than in s3 tbh ), but in s4 that close camaraderie becomes, in some respects, a little more mean-spirited jibing, especially from Dustin’s end. there is tension established early on between them as a result of Dustin’s new friendship with Eddie and Steve’s jealousy over having his position as his older male role model stolen away from him because Dustin and Eddie actually share a lot of common interests. but also, Dustin is growing up and has reached high school and his teenage years where he is starting to develop his own sense of self. Steve, also, finally has a friend his own age in Robin, so their need to be constantly in each other’s company has naturally lessened as a result. as the primary and at this point constant older male figure in Dustin’s life, there is an element of not quite rebellion in this instance, but push and pull to be expected. he’s growing! Steve has been in Dustin’s life for two years now and Dustin is finally reaching that tumultuous period of his adolescent development where he is deciding who he wants to be.

          but most important is the influence of Eddie’s friendship. it doesn’t pull Dustin away from Steve, as Steve might think, but again as Gaten says in the earlier video I linked, Eddie teaches Dustin to be comfortable and confident in his own skin. where Steve was in many ways unconsciously teaching Dustin to wear a different skin, Eddie’s entire being is telling Dustin that it’s okay to be the way he is. it’s okay to not fit in, it’s okay to break the mould and be different and to own those differences. Dustin can also more easily see himself in Eddie: they are both social outcasts, both enjoy nerdy pursuits like LOTR and D&D, and have both endured judgement and mean comments from their peers. they share a commonality that Dustin would never be able to share with Steve, no matter how close the two of them are.

          the other difference with Eddie is that he shows Dustin very early on that he is fallible. he doesn’t jump into the action as readily as Steve does, he struggles with his perceived cowardice and he is either horrifically injured or dies at the end of the narrative depending on your perspective. it is important for Dustin to see that and know that he doesn’t have to be perfect — because it is not that Steve is perfect by comparison, but only that Dustin is not witness to Steve’s struggles and doubts and regrets about his past behaviours in the same way. in s3, his slow realisation towards “it’s all just bullshit anyways” is all stuff that he only shares with Robin ( and then later in s4 with Nancy during his speech about being given a thump on the head and enabled to change ). Dustin might tease Steve mercilessly for his faults, but he’s never really witnessed Steve have a crisis of confidence in the same way that he watches Eddie struggle with his label of the freak and his belief that he’s not as brave as the others, or not brave for leaving Chrissy and running away. Eddie is therefore just a little more human in Dustin’s eyes.

        one thing that s5 is at least going to take on from s4 is the fact that, seeing the destruction and death and injury that the Upside Down has wrought first hand will change Dustin forever. even if it is horrible trauma for a 14 year old, it is still important that Dustin sees this alternative to the hero narrative that he has in his head regarding Steve  — and will also, i hope, or at least i will address it even if the Duffers don’t, allow for Dustin and Steve’s friendship to strengthen even further as a result. what happened to Eddie should be a wake up call for Dustin in more ways than one and that’s the frustrating thing about s4′s ending. with the sudden timeskip, Eddie’s [redacted] isn’t allowed to have a ripple effect on the other characters ( even though we know through word of god that it will have an impact on Dustin in s5 ), and if there is one dynamic that it should impact, it’s Dustin and Steve’s.

[strangerwheelerthings]

Deep Dive Into The Heart of Nancy Wheeler: The Introduction Scene

Link to the full Heart of Nancy Wheeler Series

I can’t think of a better way to start a character study than to take a closer look into how they are introduced. Barb’s death changed everything for Nancy Wheeler, but her response to that trauma was shaped by who she already was. In order to understand where a character chooses to go, you have to understand where they came from.

The very first thing we see is a typical teenage girl talking on the phone about a boy. She shuts a door in Dustin’s face without a word when he offers her pizza. While her attitude is relatable for many teenagers, it’s not a particularly endearing intro. However, what’s interesting is the care the writers took to quickly flip that first impression on its head. The very next scene involves the Party discussing her, and how she’s changed since she started dating the ‘King of Hawkins High’. Aside from her little brother, all of them seemed to have held her in high regard before then. Her ‘turning into a real jerk’ is recent.

“Nuh uh. She used to be cool. Like that time she dressed up as an elf for our Elder Tree campaign.”

Instantly, she’s given more depth. This is an older sister who was nice to her brother’s friends. She played D&D with them at least once, if not multiple times over the years, going as far as cosplaying for a campaign. She was a little nerdy like them, very smart, and most definitely kind. Especially with knowing what we do now about the boys, it’s the only way they would admire her so much. The previous scene is recontextualized. The very fact that Dustin thought to include her in the offer of pizza implies a familiarity with each other, a relationship beyond him being the boy that her brother invites over sometimes. Her kind of rude response is sibling-like as well. That, along with the comment about Dustin being her favorite during the snowball, solidifies this understanding; they weren’t mere acquaintances. Nancy had her own friendships with each of Mike’s friends before the Upside Down, maybe not super close ones, but still present and good.

One might assume that the change was just a factor of growing up and teenagerdom, which it was in part, but both Lucas and Dustin state that there was a very recent shift in behavior. Something changed for her when Steve Harrington started giving her attention. (In all honesty, just their very knowledge of what the change was, of Steve’s relationship with her, is another sign showing how well this group actually knew each other pre-canon.) What this conversation starts to establish, aside from a small view into the depth of their relationships with her, is that Nancy was in the middle of a good old-fashioned teenage identity crisis when we met her. Her jerkish behavior was not a straight-up personality trait, but a result of typical teenage angst and rebellion.