#nakdjf

max was born and raised in halloway to the ‘never gonna get out of this place’ sorta people. only her mother did, shortly after she was born, in the middle of the night with no warning and no telling. of where she might go, leaving her with her father. woof. 

her old man really tried. he was a good dad, but the man’s moral compass was all sorts of out of whack. he spent as much time as possible with max and took as good of care of her as possible but like honestly?? having a kid is EXPENSIVE. being alive is expensive, and the straight and narrow honest path doesn’t always get you what you need.

he ultimately fell back into old habits which meant he spent a lot of time in the city boosting cars only to bring them back to halloway to sell for parts or modify for street racing and upselling. this was a business he ran under the table at an autoshop in town that the duval family started decades prior. 

max never really knew this was going on because he kept it very much separate from her. they spent a lot of time working in their garage at home together on his old beater truck and a couple of other junkers that came in through the years, but she never visited the autoshop past sundown. just figured dad was a mechanic by day and a bit dependent on alcohol most nights.

when she was around fifteen, though, a job went horribly wrong and put her father away for life. thus began max’s time in the system, three years and three different foster homes in and around the halloway area... which had her consistently frustrated because she A: knew being adopted wouldn’t happen since she was 15?? and B: had pretty much been taking care of herself her whole life so sticking her in a house seemed stupid.

duval’s autoshop was bought by a friend of her father’s who was a friend no more after the ordeal, and renamed. she got a job there when she was old enough, first running the front desk, then working under the hood. she’s a hands-on learner and caught on to anything her father didn’t teach her very quickly.

even though she was a hard worker and happily minded her own gd business... she’s her father’s daughter, and trouble always seemed to find her. sometimes it was her fault— because she’s got a temper and a knack for being fussy under heavy authority—, other times it was the preconceived judgements attached to her last name. “trouble’s in her dna” sort of thing. 

18 rolls around and she’s made.... decent enough grades to get into a few schools with scholarships, but she opts to defer in order to work for a year and save up. lives out of her car for a little bit, couch surfs every now and then, stays with some very gracious hosts, and works her ass off until she’s able to go to school for mechanical engineering which is great!!!

but because she’s still in halloway, hat last name follows her, and a lot of local students kinda know who she is. know she's a bit sharp, a bit rough around the edges, from an icky background. but she did her best and kinda loved being able to actually work in labs and have friends and come back to the same dorm every now and again, even if she didn't have anywhere to go over holiday break. she was doing well fOR ONCE!!!

then the storm happened bc no one in halloway is ever allowed to be happy

it’s every man for themselves, last names and reputations be damned at first so despite initial panic she’s.. relieved, to say the least.

because her grey morality is no longer such a bad thing!! probably reveled in it for a while, hotwiring cars, picking locks, maybe took a bat to the window of an old foster home. then when she realized how serious the situation was ... she kinda ... started to promise herself that she wouldn't be the villain of this story!!! 

and now?? well... like everyone else she’s just trying to survive, just trying to figure her shit out, and still takes no shit bc she is useful in this world and she will be damned if u make her feel like she’s not!!

P E R S O N A L I T Y 

she may not be able to read jane austen in her free time at the speed of light, but max is sharp. she’s intuitive and knows how to take care of herself when the going gets rough. she’s quick to think on her feet and 110% a tactile learner as in... throw her into the fire and she’ll learn on the job. it’s why she’s so good with her hands and why she went into mechanical engineering.

she’s got... a lot of anger quietly bubbling under the surface bc she’s been dealt a shitty hand. but with no family, whose there to be mad at?? so she probably drinks more than she should... like father like daughter!!! because alcohol is cheaper than therapy my friends

a lil rambunctious, a lil rough around the edges. bold and a lil too fearless... never backs down from a dare even if she knows it’s a stupid one.

does not give up on herself and hates being underestimated. that said, she does have a tendency to give up on others quickly. she’s been let down a lot, and i mean, if you see a pattern and have no reason to believe someone’s going break it...

VERY loyal to the people she loves. she’d do anything for them, ethically questionable favors included, but these people are few and far between bc yikes! it’s hard to really get to know her

nice until you give her even the slightest reason not to be, and not much for second chances

looks like a cinnamon roll, could probably kill you type shit

chaotic good “i read the rules before i break them” type shit

fundamentally good

there’s a.... soft undertone to her... it’s there. it’s just rare, and it takes the right people to bring it out of her.

likes to take things apart and put them back together to see how they’re made aksdjf

also,........ has a lowkey love affair with music. she picked up guitar about a decade ago and often plays to relax herself. she’s got pretty voice and isn’t bad at the strumming game bUT YA KNOW it’s not something she ever wanted to do anything with. u wanna know what she sounds like??? of course i’ll show you even though you didn’t ask!! here ya go 

she does not mind the disappearance because!! she has no one to go back to anyway. it also kinda gave her a clean slate. she’s useful here more than she is notorious. the playing field is more even. and like... the girl IS useful so !!! she’s better off here than back ‘home’, in her opinion

lil bit of selina kyle... lil bit of season 2 nancy wheeler... lil bit of raven reyes

OK THIS TURNED OUT MORE OBNOXIOUS THAN PLANNED