#the runaway maxathon

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in runaway max they don’t give an exact reason why they move to indiana but max tries to run away to live with her dad after hearing about it which is likely what billy is talking about when he blames the move on her.

but the thing is that it’s neil. it doesn’t matter what the ““““““““reason”””””””” is neil is an abuser and a fairly manipulative one at that because it’s all neil.

there’s no solid timeline given on how long he and susan date before he asks her to marry him but it’s fast. i mean he didn’t even introduce the mayfields to billy until they were engaged. then not long after their all legally bound together he’s moving them across the country away from their family and friends and anyone who they could turn to.

this is all standard abuser tactics. he locked susan in as quick as he could then he sped up the standard isolation process with a nice long move. it doesn’t matter who the kids blame between them because this shit was gonna happen regardless because the real enemy here is neil.

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reading runway max: the billy scenes only edition is the most haunting shit so far. i’m only in about chap 3 but like.... fuck......

chap 1:

chap 3:

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chapter 9 and this is HARD CANONICAL PROOF that billy can be a COOL BROTHER and him and max can vibe. also 1 parent point for susan, go susan!

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few things here from chap 12 i sense there’s about to be more but dlkfsjghsdfjkl fuck me this has been a RIDE

first off interesting character thing about billy

then we get the “reason” why or at least the reason neil’s hopping on to for why they’re moving

i love how max is already doing mental math about who she’s gotta protect from billy but again i feel her focus is misplaced. is billy a problem? 100% but once again the real bad guy is neil. it’s like fixating on sauron when morgoth is literally right there burning gondolin to the ground.

on that note! neil being insidious!!!!!!!

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also another mark to the growing “fuck neil” pile:

they uproot the kids in the middle of october with no actual good reason given for the sudden move. like fuck you dude.

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there is so much to unpack in this section i don’t even know where to START:

(all from runaway max chap 4)

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still in chap 10, immediately after the last section. a lot of generally interesting info about mundane hargrove-mayfield daily life. i guess this explains why billy is so unhinged. they forgot to bring along some enrichment toys for his room :(

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chap 14. i cannot believe this is the energy of her meeting steve. like 1. good on him for not being a prick to her (we know he wouldn’t but she didn’t) and 2. i LOVE she just blasted him as a retired neighbor or lunch lady. incredible

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chapter 10 and again i am confronted with a section that has a LOT to unpack but reading runaway max (billy’s version) was supposed to be a much less intensive thing so i’m not touching it rn past a few comments.

1. find it DEEPLY amusing that the hargroves are lutherans when billy’s out here wearing a catholic saint medallion. 2. i’m UNHINGED by how max is both ON THE MONEY about billy being worried about her but also being wrong thinking it’s bullshit. he IS worried about her!!!! billy is the older sibling in an abusive household and he’s not a sociopath no matter what anyone says. he knows the kinda man neil is better than she does and they are in many ways a team in surviving him. it’s the Kids Vs Neil for the fight of the century!!! it’s why she lies about him not picking her up on halloween! he has a lot to be worried about here, so far in the show and the book there’s no indication of neil hitting her but he did grab her once ircc if she goes to far out of neil’s boundaries will he hit her??? i dunno!!! but i bet it’s something billy’s worried about!!!!! 3. they way she phrases the race thing as “neil--and i guess, billy--” makes me wonder about how much of billy’s sentiments in this scene at least are his own and how much of this is him simply knowing his dad’s a racist and abusive and trying to steer them out of what would be an obvious shitshow coming down the line if/when neil finds out.

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still chapter 10!!!!! it got WORSE :D finally got to the scene that prompted me to want to skim the book and pull parts out for reference

warning: child abuse

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chap 14. steve is the mvp of my heart. love the continued use of horror movies in how max frames the world

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also can’t remember which chapter we learned this but i should mention it for reference:

neil is a bank security guard and max’s mom was a bank teller in san diego.

also they’re from san diego idk if we’ve caught that in my other excerpts dfgfdgddfg

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chap 17. glad to see max have some closure and come to a sort of peace with her mother and her life as it is right now. i’m glad the for her billy has finally bee downgraded from a monster because he’s not one. he’s dangerous yes, but not the big bad she’d depicted him as throughout the book and this is a bit closer to that reality

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some fascinating snippets from chap 14

some interesting bits about “games” which is a running theme/motif thru max’s narrative, the games people play. along with it some self awareness coming in now that she’s accepted the call to adventure.

this last snippet is DEEPLY fascinating to me. she’s talking about people in life helping her/fixing things. she talks about her mom and billy and their methods but not neil. i’m genuinely half annoyed at this neil erasure bc like... he does exist ms writer lady... why is there so little neil content??? they live in the same house too??? but i also don’t mind it bc neil is NOT an option and he’s to be AVOIDED so ofc he’s not even on this list or brought up much! max is trying to delete his ass from her head. her only options are her mother who doesn’t get her and her brother and asking him is a fucking monkey’s paw.

also SO interesting to see her say that billy “only liked her worst parts”.

i deadass read this and said “FASCINATING!” out loud fdgsfgdfsgdfs

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end of chap 13, again i am FASCINATED by how max uses the “monster” title. find it so interesting as she’s a fan of horror and currently more into slashers (hence the michael myers halloween costume). she doesn’t actually know about the supernatural world yet but she does agree that monsters are real, they’re just people like billy and not demodogs.

once more it fascinates me that when she talks about monsters it’s BILLY and not NEIL even though she’s aware of how neil really is and how he treats billy. max mentions earlier she’s usually pretty good at getting a read on people but on this one she’s kinda off and i think it’s intentional/self inflicted. she’s already had a scene on halloween where she is actively trying to distance herself from having sympathy for billy because she doesn’t know what to do with that. he’s awful to her, scares her and hurts and threatens her friends. but she’s also seeing him get the shit beat out of him by her step-dad kinda on the reg which any normal person would feel sympathy about. but billy is cruel to her so having sympathy feels wrong. also she’s like 13 and from an iffy home life herself so this is all just genuinely above her weight class so i cannot blame her for trying her damnedest to flatten billy down to just a monster. but it’s also just so fascinating that she talks about billy being the monster lurking behind her about to strike when the real big bad here is fuckin’ neil.

ALSO!!!!! love her picking between escape and lucas and picking lucas. it’s some real call to adventure kinda shit.