#steph is traditional rebellious teen

[diamondpython00]

One line I haven’t seen talked about much that is relevant to this is in Literal Monster when Max says “Don’t need no one to tell me/High school will be my peak/So I’m willing to take advantage”. Coupled with his reaction to the prank, his comments about his dad, and his interactions with the rest of the school, a picture starts to form of a kid who has been told his whole life that he’s going nowhere. At the Waylon Place, we get a glimpse of what Max could have been if he had the right influences in life. Treated with something vaguely resembling respect, he returns it, and notes that he was probably wrong about these guys. And then he dies, thinking that they betrayed him, and the rest of the show happens because he’s so obsessed with his social order that it lasts into the afterlife. Max is a literal monster, but he’s very much a manmade one, and that makes him very interesting.

Reason number 2636185372 I love Nerdy Prudes Must Die-

Max is humanized without being absolved of his actions. Maxwell Jägerman was undoubtedly a piece of shit. He was a controlling prick that refused to let anyone have control over their own life, abusing his "friends" and his enemies alike. He took real joy from punishing the people around him when they tried to sidestep his arbitrary rules, enforcing them with the threat of violence. He knows he's physically stronger than everyone around him, and he takes advantage of that. He's 100% eager to fight before considering other options. Even the other jocks are scared of him, because he defaults to beating the hell out of people. (Also note that he's stronger than all of them too. When they do the chest bump Jason falls backwards and has to catch himself, and he knocks Kyle senseless with just one hit, to the point that he has to be carried out by his friends.)

I feel all of that very strongly. But at the same time? He's like... A full person. Big things can be revealed when a character thinks they're alone, and although him going through the Waylan place shows him being a prick as expected, it also shows him being scared. It seems to me like he's a very fearful person. Scared of ghosts, skeletons, judgement from his dad, even those cheap costumes seem to genuinely freak him out before he forces himself to get a grip (which just means getting aggressive). Or look at how he interacts with Grace. It's easy to assume he's just being manipulative, but there's never a point where it seems like Max is particularly skilled at emotional manipulation. It seems to me like he actually, genuinely likes her in a weird way. He's an ass, but he totally brightens up when he talks to her. He thinks she's funny, he seems a little bit awkward during conversation with her, he doesn't like people picking on her.

"She's such a prude!"

"Yeah, isn't she great?"

I'm sure part of it is that he just wants to get in her pants, but that doesn't seem to be the only factor here. He wants to carry her books, he wants to cuddle, he doesn't see her prudiness as an obstacle the way you would expect an asshole like him would. It seems to be part of the reason he likes her at all. It's not a healthy or respectful dynamic, but it is bizarrely genuine.

The characterization in this show is just so good y'all