I was dashner's friend back in 2017 before I really knew about what he had done. I can attest that he is a very manipulative person. He is very good at making people do what he wants when they don't want to do it, using very dirty tactics normal people can't use without feeling bad about themselves. He is etremely good at making it seem like you are in the wrong and that he is right, and making things seem like it's your fault in any kind of conflict. He also knows how to make you feel like you actually agree with his ideas, or feel like you can't question his ideas. It is really strange to be on the receiving end of that kind of behaviour. It seems so easy and obvious what he is doing once you are out of that situation, but when you are in the heat of the moment it's really hard to the right thing or even know what the right thing to do is. It's very hard to describe.