I feel a lot more satisfied with this design as well as the story I have given to Max. I decided to take some inspiration from growing up in a mostly Christian area and school as well as a bit of how I chose not to follow that religion as it’s just not for me
Warning for mentions religious guilt!!!
(Also sorry if this is a little long)
A little while after settling in from their big move Max starts to do some charity work, one of her first jobs is to go from house to house asking for any unused toys for kids in need.
One of her first stops is the Levy house where a middle aged woman tells Max that she can pick up anything that's on her son's floor and take it, Max happily does and leaves only slightly disturbed by the collections and mess.
After a few more streets Max reaches the Dickey house, unfortunately Bill answers the door and in the middle of Max's little speech about "for the kids" and whatnot Bill notices that Max is carrying the 'kids-under-3-Batman-animated-figure-with-non-removable-cape’.
At first he tries to politely ask if he can have it or trade for it to which Max refuses since it's a donation. The two start to get into an argument until Max finally suggests that if Bill can show her why the figure is so important she'll give it to him, Bill tells Max to meet back at his place later that night and he'll prove it's value.
Later that night The Eltingville Club hold their usual meeting until Max eventually shows up with the Batman figure, Bill decides the best way to show Max how important the figure is to him is by showing her his collection and Batman: The Animated Series.
This goes as well as you can expect with Max immediately calling the whole show "satanic" over the smallest things but she gives Bill the figure anyway since she wouldn't want to donate it anyway. Josh also realised that it's in fact his figure which causes an argument as Max takes her leave.
The next day Max takes her time sorting though all of the action figures related to anything that Bill showed her, since she feels so bad for accepting the donations but not knowing what belongs to who Max takes her time to research all the action figures so she can sell them online to raise some money for another charity.
A week or so later Max runs into Bill again on her way to drop everything that was brought off at a post office. Bill asks what Max is doing with all the parcels which soon leads to another argument, filled with rage and pettiness Bill grabs some of the parcels and runs off. Max of course chases after Bill, soon leading her back to his house.
As they continue to argue Max points out that one of Bill's figures is a fake, bringing the argument to a halt as Bill starts to ask Max about all his other figures and merchandise since thanks to Max's research she's become a bit of an expert.
From that point on Max becomes an authenticator for the club, coming up to her with random things to ask if they're the real deal or not. This doesn't bother Max as she asks for compensation in the form of cash and cute trinkets and she's not keeping any of the 'satanic' things.
Soon Max starts to attend meetings as it's just easier to meet up in one place to look over everything but she starts to really enjoy herself and realise that maybe she does like a few things they watch and read while they're there, she even realises that she has a strong interest in angelic characters (not related to religion, just as a special interest).
This does unfortunately cause a little religious guilt to peak its ugly head but Max tries to drown that out with prayers and extra bible studies.
As Max spends more time with the club and some other new friends she starts to feel that maybe Christianity isn't for her and no longer lines up with her values.
By the time of This Fan... This Monster! Max confronts her father about how she feels to which Max's father is surprising supportive, even mentioning that he wants to leave for personal reasons (he's a closeted gay).
Max goes to celebrate by treating herself at Joe's but arrives as the building is burning, at first Max believes this to be a sign! Especially after hearing the fire was caused by Bill but from her friend's and father's she soon breaks out of that spiral.
Max is banned from seeing Bill like the rest which she doesn't seem to mind for a while but she grows to miss him as the years go on. They do eventually meet again but that's not until the epilogue.
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