When Dawn first appeared, I was kind of annoyed at how busy she was bugging Buffy at every opportunity. But as annoying as she sometimes was, I couldn't help but like her. She's a little sister who popped up out nowhere - it was her job to grate Buffy's cheese. And she was plucky, she was feisty, and she was a lot of fun. Heh, I especially loved her reaction to game night with Xander & Anya and her funny comments about the others. As season five went on, I continued to like her more and more. Then came Buffy's birthday and Dawn's horrific reaction to discovering that she was The Key. Damn, Michelle was good. Is this blood? Sheesh, I still get shivers every time I think about that scene.

She started to act bratty later, but I didn't blame her a bit - hard to keep your manners up when you've just found out you're not really real, you know? Oh, and I loved the way she tried to pump Glory for information about herself - that took some serious guts! Her selfish, juvie behaviour did start to get old, but I understood. She had reason enough to act out even before she lost Joyce. But as sympathetic as I felt towards her, it started to work my nerves when Buffy was clearly working her butt off trying to take care of her, and she kept getting brattier and brattier. I understood, but it got very old very fast. I was also furious with her (and Joss) for raising Joyce they way she/they did, but I understood their reasons - Dawn was scared and lonely and wanted her mother back, and Joss needed to address the whole "coming back wrong" issue before S6. Still, seeing Joyce's corpse shambling its way home had me in sobbing hysterics and not because I gave a damn at the time for Buffy's or Dawn's feelings. I was furious that Joss would do that to Joyce. Angry first that she had to die but even angrier that once Joss killed her, he didn't let her rest in peace.

But back to Dawn. The sad, lonely way she folded up her clothes and tucked away her shoes before she was led to the tower just broke my heart, and I was impressed and moved by how readily she determined to jump when she saw what was happening. And I liked her even more when S6 began. Her attachment to the Buffybot was so endearing, and I cheered out loud when she ordered the others to back off when Buffy came home. But after that, things went horribly wrong between me and Dawn. I completely understood all of the reasons behind her behaviour, but they didn't stop me from spending most of the season wishing she'd be crushed by a falling piano. Hurt because Buffy seems more excited about the beautiful trunk her friend handmade for her than the jacket you stole and stuck in a box? Boo Hoo. Honestly, your *dead* sister is back, and you're going to get angry because she's not spending enough time with you? Girl, she spent the summer underground! Dead! You should be thrilled beyond words that you ever got to see her again, and you're bitching about not getting enough quality time? Get. Over. It.

It's true that much of Buffy's time during mid-season was spent shagging the undead instead of paying attention to her sister, and Buffy was doing her damndest to take everything and everyone for granted. But Buffy was also working double-shifts at greasy meat hell to pay the bills. She was running herself ragged and doing an awful job of coping, but as far as Dawn was concerned, it was all about her. As often as she's crabbed about being treated like a kid, she sure spends a lot of time acting like one. You wanna be treated your age? Stop throwing temper tantrums like you're all of five years old. Grow up. Like, now.

The other thing that's bugged me about Dawn is her constantly asking why she can't help out with patrol. I do think Buffy's gone overboard in trying to keep Dawn sheltered from the monstery side of Sunnydale. I think it's pretty negligent, honestly, that Dawn hasn't at least been taught the basics of self-defense. Or the others, for that matter. The Council's invasion in S5 was an obnoxious pain, but they did bring up a really good point - namely, why *hasn't* any of the group been at least taking some sort of martial arts or self-defense? So I do think it's pretty sloppy that the Slayer's sister hasn't been taught how to protect herself, and I was unbelievably psyched that she finally got to get her fight on in the finale.

But Dawn doesn't just want to protect herself, she seems to want to be to be Slayer Jr. Which, unless things change drastically, is a royally horrible plan. She's got all the potential in the world and could well prove to be a valuable member of the team in S7. But so far, Dawn's proven that she's a trouble magnet with a history of going out looking for more trouble. The last thing she needs, based on previous behaviour, is just enough self-confidence about fighting to go out and whip up yet more trouble.

I want to be wrong, though. I want Dawn to learn to fight and fight well. I want all those mushy things Buffy said in the S6 finale to come true. I want Dawn to be powerful and amazing and all those things I honestly believe she can be. She's been dealt some seriously crippling blows that would have made anybody crumble, and she's done her best not to fall to pieces. But she's also put a lot of concentrated effort into self-destructing. Dawn really can be annoying and just plain grating. She's shrill and whiny and frequenly unpleasant. But she's also funny, sympathetic, determined, and crafty. Part of the reason her bad behaviour has annoyed me so much is that I genuinely like her character! I just hope that in S7 we get a lot less of the whiny brat who's furious that her recently-deceased sister is busy and more of the Dawn we saw in the season finale. Because I could really love that girl a lot.

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