#supemaeve

[imunbreakabledude]

Hey! While reading Rescue Mission I couldn't help but wonder, once again, how Maeve "hitting rock bottom" or her being "a mess" was taken by the public when she was making them believe that was the case. How do you think it happened?

Like, was it hidden by Vought enough that only her peers or other celebrities knew "how bad" she was doing all the time and maybe there were just rumours going around in general or do you think it was widely known and seen by the general public?

I mean, on the fic you have her throwing up on a reporter, probably on a live show? So that would be hard to hide from the general public but then again Maeve was usually presented as a role model and she was such a big celebrity and inspiration to young girls and women in general that I think something like that could damage her reputation beyond repair (and Vought's) so I'm surprised Vought would let that happen for such a long time, especially when they were still dealing with the repercussions regarding Stormfront and her relationship with HL.

And like, I was literally wondering how her fans or the mothers of her young fans would've reacted too. I can't think of a real life situation to compare it with because I don't know much about celebrities' scandals but I wonder if she lost some fans or public support or if there were people like defending her or coming up with theories on why she was such a mess.

It was probably linked to her breakup with Elena (which realistically would've damaged Elena too, especially regarding hate from fans, but you covered a bit of it in Saviour Complex) but yeah, I was just wondering about that and wanted to know how you think it went or if you had any thoughts about it.

i actually had to look back at my fic because I couldn't remember the context of that detail you're talking about and it sounded crazy like you said hahaha but, tho i admittedly didn't think much about that detail while writing it, I have an explanation... (which turned out quite long so putting behind a cut but I kind of love thinking about Vought and the public's responses to Maeve's real-or-fake drinking problem)

so that bit about her faking vomit on a report is in chapter 6... first off, I guess I didn't write it in the text, but I was envisioning this being some pre-taped interview, not live TV. so the whole world wouldn't see that, just the people on set, and Maeve would just get sent home and bitched out and it would never air... and the news crew would be cajoled/paid off by Vought into keeping quit, the only way the public would find out is if one of the crew members anonymously spread it to a rumor site or tabloid, which is way different than actually seeing that on tv.

and, in context of this story, it's the excuse she uses to get out of work so she can go swipe compound v. in other words, she knows that this is one of the last things she has to do before the fight and it means that she and annie will confront homelander within the next couple days, so it doesn't really matter even if people think she's worse off because it's about to all be over.

All that to say - for your broader question - i assume throughout her fake-drunk-act before and during Season 3, Maeve is very careful about how she acts and how public it is, finding the sweet spot where it will cause murmurs but not get her actually pulled from her job. bc she needs homelander (and the world, but mostly him) to not see her as a threat (and not wonder about where she's going off to in the evenings when she's meeting with butcher, or in my fic, annie) but also needs to remain close to him, obviously. and I think after years of dealing with that issue in the REAL sense Maeve would have a very good idea of what level of "drunkenness" it takes to get people working around her & maybe the tabloids to seize onto the "queen maeve is a mess right now" narrative without it becoming so mainstream that Vought has to "do something" about it.

I can't think of a good real life comparison bc I don't actually follow celebrity gossip closely - but there's a difference between a celeb being in a state where tabloids/gossip sites are posting stories like "[CELEB] SPOTTED PARTYING DRUNK, GETS IN FIGHT AT BAR" versus when celebs get so out of control or cross a specific line and get REGULAR NEWS OUTLETS talking about them - either how they got fired from a job, or got arrested, or are going to rehab or something. does that make sense? she would keep it to small incidents that would only be worth talking about to people who obsess over celebs but not bad enough the entire world would know.

in other words young fans/kids probably didn't get wind of any of it, i mean maybe some parents did and shook their heads and didn't want their kids playing with queen maeve dolls anymore but certainly it wouldn't be enough to fully tarnish her entire image.

This is a bit of an offshoot from what you asked but... to me this also comes into play with the difference that comes with ASHLEY being in charge versus Madelyn previously (when Maeve ACTUALLY had drinking issues). obviously they'd both share the same goal of keeping Maeve's alcohol issues under wraps for the sake of her brand and Vought's brand. but I think they had slightly different tactics/levels of success?

I imagine Madelyn being a lot stricter about it, partly due to her own personality and level of experience but also due to knowing Maeve better and having a longer, more established relationship... I think she worked very hard to get the press/others at Vought who might witness Maeve's slightly sloppier moments to keep quiet (with threats/payoffs) such that Maeve's alcoholism was nothing more than a rarely whispered rumor among the public for the first several years, not even showing up in the tabloids (bc Madelyn kept close watch on them). I think she also confronted Maeve about it very directly on a regular basis, and used all the emotional power she had to try to get Maeve to limit or stop drinking - a combination of kindness/support, tough love, and outright criticism and shame, ... a mix that she hones over the years because she KNOWS maeve well to know what is most effective in curbing it... a little. but obviously that is not a cure for alcoholism. so it maybe gets maeve to wake up and address her drinking or go to rehab a couple times, but it remains an ongoing issue that comes back over the years. it's just that Madelyn has a sort of SYSTEM for how to handle it, so it never becomes an issue that actually interferes too much with Maeve's place in the Seven, nor does it become a major issue known to the public. more like one of those things whispered by people in the industry who trade it around as a juicy 'open secret' between people who've worked around Maeve or other Supes.

When Ashley takes over, though... I mean, to be fair to Ashley she's got a LOT of problems to deal with from the jump, she didn't have a smooth transition what with Madelyn being murdered and all, didn't get proper training or introduction to the position of SVP, and Homelander's watching her every move, etc etc. but all that to say she is not as skilled as Madelyn at managing anything, including this particular issue. we don't see it in detail, but I envision Ashley's response to Maeve's backslide at the end of s2 (which, from her comments in s3 about being sober for 4 months, we can assume continued into roughly 8 months of heavy drinking, drugs, and depression, for REAL), as being... just desperate attempts to keep it from being obvious to the public, without having the capacity to worry about how to stop it.

like, if Madelyn was in charge at that point, I don't think she would "cure" Maeve's depression by a long shot, but she would probably be more proactive at stepping in and trying some combination of manipulation/distraction/support to get Maeve back on track after the Elena debacle, but I think Ashley just tries her hardest to ignore it so long as Maeve is still functional enough to show up to work - she's probably (rightfully) too scared to confront Maeve directly - she doesn't have that kind of relationship with her... so she just lets it happen for a bit, only stepping in with a last-minute payoff or threat if it seems like some really bad photo or video of drunk maeve might get out... not the same tight watch and lockdown Madelyn had, so minor stuff gets through more. It goes from "open secret among industry people" to "common fare for trashy tabloids to talk about". and it's probably in part in RESPONSE to seeing that happen and the way that others (incl homelander) look at her in that era, that Maeve realizes she can use it to her advantage... so even when she resolves to find a way to kill Homelander, and get sober to do so, she continues to ACT the same outwardly to maintain that pathetic image.

and obviously, when she's faking it, she's able to fine-tune exactly when and where and how she "acts" drunk, so she can be sure to keep it at an appropriate level that it's known but not causing undue attention.

however, both in the show and in my fic (since I kept that same story beat lol), this mostly-clever plan ends up backfiring on her in a way, because it makes it incredibly believable to the public that Maeve really HAS gone to rehab when Homelander has captured her. like, if annie didn't know for a fact that Maeve's act was a lie, she'd probably believe it too... (okay, no, she'd sense something was wrong but she might not have the conviction to set up a trap to try to get homelander to confess he's kidnapped her, yknow?) so it's a smart plan in a lot of ways, but it IS risky at the same time.

i haven't thought too much into the reasoning that intense Queen Maeve Stans (in-universe) would project onto her drunkenness but you're probably right... some would probably connect it to elena and blame her... others would probably just fiercely ignore/deny it and shun any other fans who talked about it at all... it's both funny and sad to think about

[imunbreakabledude]

I've been on a Elena/Maeve mood today and while on the bus I started thinking about many things but I wanted to ask you about one in particular, especially because I don't know how these things works in USA.

So, I assume Maeve had money. I don't know how much but if they're meant to be like very popular celebrities I assume she had a considerable amount. What do you think happened to that, if she's "dead"?

Could she have a will? Do you think she left everything to her father? Or maybe even to Elena since she, presumably, didn't have anyone else and still loved her? Or she found a way to get it somehow before going into hiding?

I don't know, just a random thought but I was really curious to hear your take...

oh boy. i HAVE thought about this a bunch, though not for a long time, so let me think back and also do some more quick googling to get together a way too detailed pitch that basically boils down to "celebrities are rich" (i am procrastinating at work lol).

disclaimer that i am not very smart about money shit and just going from casual knowledge and guesses

so, yeah, Maeve certainly has a lot of money. but to try to get a better idea, i'm guessing her net worth in the hundreds of millions range, definitely not billionaire because a billion dollars is a stupid amount and most of the richest entertainers don't even come that close.

I don't think the show gives solid numbers very often but one reference point we have is in the pilot, Madelyn offers the mayor of Baltimore a contract with Nubian Prince for $300 million per year. Even if we assume Vought is taking the majority of that for themselves, that suggests that a Supe like him is getting at least $50-100mil per year as payment. Which makes me think the Seven are probably all getting over $100 mil per year through some combination of salary and other compensation. That's not even getting into how much they might get in terms of merchandising or image rights, etc. And Maeve, I would GUESS is one of the higher paid in the Seven? but then again, maybe not, because of how women are usually paid less in general... but also in episode 1, when Translucent mentions they've all got "four points" (i believe this means 4% stake in merchandising? which tbh would be LARGE for each of them) - then A-Train says "the fuck, you got four points?" (a nice nod to him getting a worse contract as a newer member or bc of racism...) and Maeve adds, "and clearly, better lawyers." which, doing my thing where I take one line of hers and wildly extrapolate from it, says to me she feels good about whatever her contract is so talk about it so glibly, like she knows she has good lawyers & got hers... and she doesn't chime in with what % she gets but seems like its 4 or higher but she's smart enough to keep her mouth shut about it, ANYWAYS none of that matters...

tbh, some of those numbers sound ridiculously high, so idk, but this is a fuckin fictional show about superpowers, so it doesn't matter--

the point is, Maeve probably has a net worth in the nine digits.

I imagine her good lawyers would not allow her to NOT have a proper will laid out for what happens to her money. so there's gotta be some plan in place. I like to believe she explicitly left nothing to her father, just to spite him. idk if he could try legal action to get a piece of it (i dont know much about the law around this stuff) as her next of kin... but I imagine if she had a proper signed will saying he got none, that would stand. I don't know that she would include Elena in her will because that would kinda out her, but maybe if she trusts her lawyer and doesn't care about people knowing after she dies, she would. Or maybe she'd do it secretly, more on that later. given that we don't know anyone else significant in her life, I bet that she specified the majority of her money would go to charity. not out of goodness of her heart, exactly, just that she has nowhere else to give it and that's an easy lazy answer, yknow?

but then idk what happens to the rights to her image, or her profit shares in merchandise/movies after she dies. again, not a lawyer, but when celebs die their rights usually go to their "estate", so maybe her dad would have a say? but also idk if an "estate" is automatically granted to next of kin or if that's something that has to be specified ahead of time in a will (in which case she could deny it to him)... but the most likely outcome in either case seems to be that Vought would own her likeness forever, especially given the comments in the show when A-Train is on the verge of being replaced by Shockwave, that Vought owns his name and will put Shockwave in his costume. (which is a weird thought to me, though, bc A-Train replaced a guy with a different name and costume, why wouldn't they let Shockwave be Shockwave in the Seven? lmfao. maybe that dude was just trying to get A-Train scared.).

All that to say I think the majority of her money would be inaccessible to her after her "death". BUT. I think Maeve being a smart person who clearly wanted out from Vought for a long time probably had an emergency fund set up somehow, whether it was stashing actual physical cash in case she went on the run, or some secret account under a different name she could access in the future (or elena could access). i don't know how people actually do this, but you know who would know? ELENA, who is a banker. and since Maeve and Elena did at some point talk about running away from the Seven together, I bet she told Maeve exactly whatever is the smartest way to hide some of her money so she could take it in an emergency, and Maeve probably implemented that for several years leaving them a sizable amount to live off of post-season-3... even if it's a tiny fraction of Maeve's former wealth.

sorry that was way too many words for vague speculation but as I said I'm procrastinating HAHAHA

[imunbreakabledude]

I've only read the snippets but I love your Ashely / Maeve relationship so much. Yesterday after reading the ones you posted without context I rewatched their few interactions and I wish there were so many more. I'm especially attached to the ones in the last episode, Ashley saying "I'm sorry" and then deleting the video...😵‍💫

Let's be real, how likely do you think it is that they will interact at least one more time before the show ends? My need to have Maeve find out that Ashely protected her is STRONG but my realistic side is saying there's no chance lol

The chance is far from guaranteed just because we don’t know how much screentime maeve will get in the rest of the show, period. But I think the chances of them being face to face are medium-low given that any maeve cameo is more likely to be focused on helping kick homelanders ass and/or seeing Annie again than it is on Ashley. However I think the chances of maeve and Ashley seeing each other again go up if season 4 starts ashley on a genuine shift towards being a good guy (slash a shift to working against homelander). Because if she is in any way actively part of the final takedown against him then it’s more likely she and maeve might end up together in some good guy battle planning scene yknow?

But I think the chances of “maeveashley content” in the sense of me as a deluded person enjoying any bit of them acknowledging each others existence (aka, Ashley talking about maeve lol) are pretty high. Like. There has to be SOME follow up on Ashley having saved Maeve’s ass. That was included on purpose and was the biggest shift for Ashley as a character so far so like. It’s not gonna be for NOTHING. I hope lol

[imunbreakabledude]

Oh, wait! On line with that question about her powers, my mind comes up with the most random thoughts when I need to focus on what I'm studying instead so another what if!

How much things would've changed if Maeve had been a man instead? For instance I love love love the dynamic of a single father raising a daughter and I adore the result of that when it's written a certain way, in this particular case I like the little traits that Maeve most likely got from her father, canon or headcanon.

But what would've happened if Maeve had been a boy? I know some people would point out that her being a boy wouldn't necessarily have to change things but lets be real it definitely would, some things were different almost 40 years ago...

And I guess this also depends on your characterization of their relationship and I'm not that familiar with that yet, I've read snippets and it does seem like Donnie didn't raise her as a "little lady" and he wasn't actually a misogynistic asshole in that regard but he also had her doing pageants and stuff that I'm not sure he would have a boy doing...

Plus other experiences could also be way different for her. Highschool, college, being in the seven, being bi. Would those things be so much different depending if she had been a different gender to the point where she would have been a different person?

I think this is similar to the "what if" homelander had been in Maeve's place and vice versa though that ignores their personalities so I also have wondered if things would be different if HL had been a girl but that is also a completely different case since he wasn't really raised like a normal person so many aspects that are influenced by people and your environment wouldn't interfere...?

But yeah, I hope you got why I mean lol I tend to over explain and complicate things sometimes...

lol, another major hypothetical where I will try not to say "it would just be different." I'm with you that it wouldn't be just the same. while gender doesn't innately dictate someone's personality, it definitely shapes how they interact with the world, ESPECIALLY for someone thrust in the public eye and with an image molded by a corporation, yknow?

honestly my brain doesn't even think too much about her (his?) childhood. the biggest factor I think for man-Maeve's life would be the dynamic with Homelander. If he still exists all the same. If Homelander doesn't exist, then I guess man-Maeve just takes his place, and I've kinda thought about this in a "Maeve as Homelander" AU before tho I was still picturing her as a woman but I think whoever is the indisputable most powerful being in the world would have a similar role regardless of gender - with maybe slight nuances.

BUT if Homelander exists all the same, and man-Maeve is still the same level of power (in order words, extremely close but undeniably #2), then I feel like the entire show almost shifts genre turning into uhhh most other shows on TV lol. there'd be much more of a rivalry between them I imagine and probably no sexual relationship (not that there COULDN'T be - if man-Maeve is still bi he'd probably want it lmao but with jury out on Homelander... I mean, I definitely can see him/like to think of him as bi but I really don't know that he would be comfortable admitting it and giving in to fucking his male coworker and arguably biggest threat to 'usurp' him, yknow? plus, for both of them, the stakes of being outed as Homos as the two strongest dudes in the world, would be a lot more of a turnoff, compared to the immense heteronormative forces that would naturally push the strongest man and strongest woman together because omgggggg cute perfect couple!!! yknow?)

idk about the dynamics of the Seven, though, because i mean if man-Maeve is the #2 strongest person he'd probably still be in but they'd probably want a chick in there so idk someone like lamplighter or deep would probably be booted for whatever other viable woman there was lol.

other than that I suppose man-Maeve could still have more-or-less the same character arc... being a bit less callous than Homelander & more bothered by collateral damage, i suppose you can decide if he'd still have the same closeted/coming out issues with the love of his life being a man or if it's still a woman then it's... easier, I suppose, but could still create issues if there was fear Homelander would hurt that woman out of vengeance or a desire to keep man-Maeve "in his place" as #2. and thus man-Maeve could still have largely the same issues of depression, the same fatal flaw of choosing not to act for so long...

yeah there's a lot of ways this gender-swapped AU COULD evolve based on one's tastes but this is another case where I'm like, I could imagine it many ways but it doesn't directly appeal to me - i like that Maeve is a woman lol. especially bc it's rare for women on TV to get these sort of arcs/flaws that obviously work for anyone but even as I describe man-Maeve I'm like, that kinda sounds like a bunch of male characters who already exist hahaha

(to address the childhood bit tho, it would probably be... a lot easier? in a lot of ways? not EASY easy per se but I feel like even outcast-level strength would be seen as slightly more admirable/natural in a dude? but on the other hand, the bi thing would probably be even harder, not that it's a contest, and everyone has their own struggles, but I think it's fair to say that bisexuality is stigmatized even more in men than in women and that could lead to more pent up self-hatred and internalized homophobia/biphobia. man-maeve might maybe have an easier time connecting w his dad but i dont think itd ultimately change all that much, I think they would still have a very strained relationship that might even blow up sooner?)

[imunbreakabledude]

Hey! Just got to read the reply to my latest comment on your fic, thanks for that!

But... Now I have a question lol I think I asked you this once but I hadn't read your story yet so now that I have read this far I think I can ask more clearly again.

I know the answer will always depend on many things and it's basically lots of what ifs but, from your perspective, and taking into consideration your own back stories and headcanons, of all the different ways in which Maeve could've been raised, which one or with whom do you think she would have the best outcome?

- The "canon" way, with single father Donald trying his best but unintentionally fucking up in the way sometimes.

- Joan as a single mom.

- Both, Donald and Joan, if she had stayed.

- Madelyn, as her adopted mom.

- Adoptive parents.

- Madelyn again but involving Vought with a Homelander-like situation.

Or some other option?

I am gonna try my hard to give tangible and concise answers to each of these even though it's so tough because every universe has a million subtle differences that make my brain spiral on for ages. i have considered most of these AUs already so let's see if i can successfully summarize my thoughts lmao. we'll run down each situation and get a general verdict...

Joan as a single mom: someone actually asked me about this ages ago so I will just link what I wrote then. Verdict: probably about as emotionally damaging as 'canon', in different ways (but also very unlikely to imagine this scenario being possible)

Donald and Joan together in Modesto if Joan didn't leave: STARTS better. happy family fantasy for a little while. but cracks build up over time due to the practical stresses of raising a superpowered kid, and joan's struggles to keep the truth from donald, which causes her to be depressed & withdrawn and not the best mother nor wife, and possibly Donald slowly growing suspicious from her behavior that she knows more than she's letting on, AND on top of that the fact that... their marriage might not be the strongest on its own? not that they don't have feelings for each other, but I don't know that it would be remotely strong enough for those circumstances (AND i think Donald felt more deeply for Joan than she felt towards him). so instead of growing up in a one-parent home, Maggie grows up with two parents who are both deeply flawed and falling apart in front of her, seemingly BECAUSE of her... she is fortunately able to take solace with her godmother, 'Aunt Maddie', who is very cool and gets it and always willing to listen. Verdict: while her parents remain in a miserable marriage 'for the kid' Maggie in her teen years decides to assert herself and declare she WANTS to go off to this very special cool academy for supes Aunt Maddie has told her about at Vought which has one other student who is just as special as her. and... you can imagine from there. Verdict: probably WORSE for everyone, except maybe homelander who gets a friend in his teendom? lol

Madelyn, as her adopted mom / but involving Vought with a Homelander-like situation: combining these two scenarios into one because in my head they aren't separate possibilities. well, in that I don't think the 2nd possibility would happen. I can't let myself go into much detail on this one bc truth be told i have a sort of fic-in-progress about it that i may or may not finish one day but either way it's TOO MUCH DETAIL to get into here, i think i posted some scraps of it in a tumblr post a bit back, but... in a world where Joan runs off, and Donald voluntarily gives up the kid rather than raise her on his own, and Madelyn steps up to adopt her... she IS around Vought, yes, but I envision Madelyn distinctly NOT raising her like Homelander. as in, not in a lab, but... still in a very controlled environment, if that makes sense. acting very open and caring with her but still keeping things from her, namely the origin of her powers. so, to keep from writing the whole fic here... Verdict: probably a much happier beginning, raised by a single mother who truly wants her & knows what she's getting into with her & has a support system thru Vought to help with any "challenges", but probably much WORSE in the long run as Maggie/Maeve reaches adulthood and finally learns how much Madelyn lied to her.

Other adopted parents: here is where I tap out and say I can't answer this without spending time actually imagining who the parents are. could be better, could be worse, can't say more than that lol

so, none of those are very good.

The actual "Best" outcome, I believe, is a secret option you didn't list... which i alluded to in the fic, actually...

Donald ought to be doing more. Though he didn’t know what. There had to be a way to get through to Joan. The more he thought it over, the more he suspected he’d missed the chance. Maybe back in the hospital, if he’d been nicer. Maybe if he’d made the home homier. His true regret was taking that stupid job in Philly. Leaving her in the first place. He hadn’t been a fan of New York, but he should’ve stuck around so he could be with her—it wasn’t like there was a shortage of construction jobs there. Then the little surprise would be something they shared, not something she hid and he only found out about by accident.

the real underlying issue in every configuration is that... Donald and Joan weren't ready to have a kid. and they didn't get together planning that. But, if we imagine that Donald worked up the courage to stick around, to give in to his feelings and try to cultivate something more than a fling, and if Joan was receptive, and they became invested in a real relationship... it's possible an unplanned pregnancy might still be too much for that budding relationship, but maybe it wouldn't be? and if it wasn't, Joan certainly wouldn't have given in to such a wild suggestion to join an experiment... she and Donald could've at least spent 9 months planning how to take on this new life together, on the same page... and... Maggie would not be a Supe, and while I don't think that would fully avert her baggage and flaws and depression, it probably would be a much less painful life in a lot of ways. especially if paired with parents that had a strong enough relationship and desire to actually start a family together. Maybe he would've moved to New York and taken care of the baby while Joan finished school and then they'd move to some college town where she'd get to teach like she wanted and Maggie would grow up encouraged to actually develop curiosity and interests without an obligation to enter the hilariously lucrative career guaranteed to her by birth.

But then again, she wouldn't really be Maeve then, would she? :P not to mention, she'd likely never meet Elena (given that it's canon that they were brought together due to Maeve being a Supe...)

so in another sense, "canon" is the best because it's the character we enjoy on the bittersweet trajectory we enjoy :)

[imunbreakabledude]

I have a question loosely based on a tag I saw on the outing Maeve gifset (about how maybe Maeve should've pretended being outed didn't affect her in front of HL) and that involves your fic a little bit too (mostly how you write her Vought years and her going with the flow attitude about what they made her do).

I'm just curious to read your take! Let me see if I manage to ask it in a way that makes sense and doesn't require an essay.

What do you think was what specifically bothered Maeve more about being publicly outed? Aside the obvious reason that it was on live tv and against her will, of course.

But why was it such a good "torturing" method for Homelander?

Was it because she's just really private and doesn't want details about her real life out there and prefers the public to only think of Queen Maeve as someone distant from who she really is?

Was it because she didn't want anyone to know she was gay? Because she was embarrassed about it or just not ready? Because of what people would think or if they would judge? Or because that could make her lose popularity or something?

Was it because that turned her into a token character and nothing more? And because it wasn't even the "right" sexuality? But if this was the reason, why would that bother her so much when she was used to that? She was the token woman for a long time, if she wasn't "bothered" to be turned into a fuckable character for Vought and to basically become a sexual object for sell, why would it bother her to now be mostly sold as a gay icon?

Or was it because it brought Elena into the public eye and the Vought world, something that would affect her and their relationship and put Elena in danger? Even though being public is something Elena foolishly wanted at first (without thinking what it really meant)

Or all of the above or a complete different reason?

hmm i have some feelings on those tags...

anyway... trying to be succinct, I will say, I think it's a little bit of everything you said. a little bit of not wanting to be a token, of finding the kind of 'representation' she's forced into being cringe, a little bit of not wanting the world in her personal business period, a little bit of the mortifying ordeal of being known, a little bit of genuine fear of homophobic treatment and/or losing her status at vought (which I think she cares substantially LESS about as of the time she does get outed, versus in past years, but it's still probably a factor)...

but also... let me see if I can articulate this right. I have been thinking a lot about this for a fic-in-progress (unsure if I will ever finish it but it's been mulling in my head) about an AU where Maeve decides to come out immediately at the start of her career and how things unfold from there, without her being closeted... umm rambling attempts to explain a bit under the cut

this AU is very rough and in later years would go into all the practical challenges on their relationship from being in the public eye which is a good reason, on its own, to want to be closeted, to avoid all that...

but in terms of like being "hurt" and genuinely bothered by being OUTED... I'm thinking about a scene I have half-written, in my head, of Maeve and Elena fighting right before Maeve's part of the Seven, where Elena's expressing her frustration about having to live in secret, and Maeve's trying to explain why she doesn't want to come out... trying to explain that it's not about shame, really - it's about privacy, but not JUST in the "it's embarrassing/dangerous for people to know my personal business" way, but also... like...

Maeve trying to explain, "I'm not embarrassed of you... it's the opposite... but... anything THEY know about, anything that becomes part of the character of Queen Maeve... it becomes THEIRS. and I don't want our relationship to be THEIRS. i want it to just be ours..."

like...? even in the "ideal" world where Maeve gets to choose to come out in her own time and it's well received by vought & fans, and in this ideal world she never actually dates homelander bc she never breaks up with Elena, and he maybe has some attraction to her but not nearly the same level of thinking they're actually soulmates bc they aren't together, so there's no reason to fear him harming elena... even in this world, if Maeve and Elena are known to be together by the public, that... changes how it feels. even if they're like "ooh cute celebrity couple, they're #goals" then it becomes... a narrative to the world. yknow?

AND then come back to the reality of the show where not only is it not ideal circumstances, but it's Homelander doing it to her, robbing her of the choice to ever do it on her own terms - as much as I think Maeve is not the "come out" sort and wouldn't do it voluntarily, I still think part of the cruelty of being outed (in this public fashion, as a public figure, especially) is that she never gets to decide if and how she wants to do it for herself. he robs her of the chance of ever ever doing that, because it's a huge spectacle so she'll never again meet someone who DOESN'T know this about her. she will never have the chance to tell a single person on her own terms - which... I've tried to think about what would be Maeve's "ideal" terms, in other words if Homelander's neutralized and it's safe, cuz I don't think she'd want to like, live in a bunker for the rest of her life even for avoiding attention... or like, I also think about, what was she fantasizing when she dreamed of running away with Elena, was she planning on living away from civilization forever? probably not, she probably just wanted to get away from the public eye a BIT but when she inevitably was seen again while conducting her private life, I don't think she'd want to still live in FEAR. she might not want to COME OUT, but I don't think she enjoys HIDING either... so I imagine in her ideal fantasy she probably just... lives her life, with elena, and knows that at some point paparazzi will get pics, and they'll know, and ok - you can't stop that. but they're only capturing the truth, and maeve would feel ok with that in a world where the truth will not bring potential HARM to her...

is it weird to say, I think it's sad Maeve never got the chance to even do something like that? to retire and then casually let it become known that she loves a woman? I think something like that would be her dream way... not a commoditized spectacle, but not a lie, either.

so yes, it hurts that he takes that from her, on purpose to try to hurt her, for daring to love someone else and not tell him - to have something that's just hers. he says, you tried to keep this from me? no, you can't have ONE THING that's just yours - now it's everyone's.

i hope this makes sense lol i'm not sure if I am

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Second question inspired by a gifset, though this one is something I've actually thought about before and while making it I got curious to know your take.

When Maeve asks Homelander if he would stop fucking with her if she stops seeing Elena... Do you think she meant it and would she have done it?

If, for some reason, he had made that deal with her, stop seeing Elena and we go back to how we were. Would she have broken up with Elena once again (maybe for the last time) and stay away? And if she did, would she have told Elena the reason now since she knows about Homelander of would she, once again, just leave without much explanation?

oh man, it's weird that i feel ashamed to say I haven't though about that interaction much. like, i basically forgot that line exists. of all the lines of maeve's i've hyper-obsessed over, that one never made it, I guess because I just associate that scene with giggling over the whole "girls get it on!" "done, sir, girls get it DONE" "they sure do, ashley" that I can't think about it like a serious scene, even though, for Maeve, it very much is.

I do think she meant it and would've done it... but also, probably, she knows that Homelander would never say "yes" to that. which makes it easier, of course. and also makes it a little silly of her to suggest at all.

however, I think the reason she suggests it is the same reason I think she's willing to do it... because... in all likelihood, she's done it before. as far as canon goes it's not 100% clearly established that Maeve, at some point, left Elena for the distinct reason of intending to protect her, but it is heavily, heavily implied by her conversation with annie in 107 (going from talking about running away with elena to talking about people being their weakness, and cutting them loose to become 'bulletproof'. it's a pretty simple connect-the-dots there) as well as her conversation with elena in the hospital in 203.

so that suggestion is Maeve's weak but obligatory attempt to get things back the way they were. she has to try it, even though obviously homelander wouldn't agree, because, like, if he wants to hurt her, and SHE'S suggesting it, then it wouldn't be effective torment compared to what he's already doing, right? and on the other hand, if he considers that it WOULD be effective torment for Maeve to give up seeing Elena, that she would feel that devastated to give up this person she loves but still would DO it because she loves Elena so much, that gets precisely at what bothers him about learning that Maeve loves Elena in the first place, yknow?

if, hypothetically, he said yes, I do think Maeve would do it... and knowing her, she might TRY to lie about the reason at first, but I think given the circumstances and Elena at that point having the context about Homelander's darker side, and also (i like to believe) the fact that Maeve presumably apologized and explained more offscreen about her specifically choosing to leave Elena back then for her safety... Elena would probably see through it. And once called out, Maeve would probably be direct about it, and it would be really sad, and... I dunno if they'd be able to part ways, knowing that they had to, or if one or both of them would give in and just be unable to leave each other. tbh, the answer to that depends on what genre this imaginary AU scenario is, lol.

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Hi! I know your mind is in other stuff right now (mine should be too but...) and you're also working on finishing writing your story! But I have a question for later when you have more time 😅

If flight 37 had happened in an universe where Maeve and Elena are together, or maybe if it had happened during that little time they were together in S2, do you think Maeve would've told Elena what happened right away?

I was rewatching some scenes on my study break and I was watching the scene in 1x05 where Maeve goes to look for Elena after it happened and though she wasn't gonna tell her she still decided to go there in her worst moment.

So, I was just imagining what would've happened if they had been together at the time, since she probably would've had the same reaction regarding her guilt and shock and it would've been hard hiding that from Elena if they're living together or seeing each other often, but it's Maeve we're talking about so...

interesting question...! (as always). I don't know if she would, and I guess it would depend on how long they'd been (back) together and how much other bad stuff Maeve had shared with Elena...

first off, I'm not sure whether Maeve goes to Elena in 1x05 intending to tell her about flight 37 or intending to look for a complete distraction from it. I think it's a bit of both, that she doesn't exactly have her mind made up... because obviously she doesn't go through with it, but she does start confessing it, a little bit. and the setup for that scene is that she's clearly bothered about flight 37 at the memorial so...

i don't know that Maeve would voluntarily talk about it right away, but I think it'd come up a lot sooner... at minimum, if Maeve is bothered to the same extent about the flight in this universe, I assume Elena would NOTICE and demand to know what was going on. I mean, Elena obviously notices in 105 even through Maeve's drunk dumbass exterior that something is wrong. HOMELANDER notices Maeve is deeply upset even when she's holding together her exterior, earlier (granted, he KNOWS what she is upset about, but like, he could tell even from her 'bottled up' behavior). so i assume if Elena is actively dating Maeve she would notice very quickly, one way or another, that something bad happened. And work close enough to sussing it out with leading questions or just making Maeve feel safe enough to tell the truth.

I have explored it in fic before (sort of?) that I think Elena wouldn't be upset about the Flight 37 thing if Maeve TOLD her. I mean, still "upset" in the sense of "this is a horrid thing that happened", but instead of "this is a horrid thing Maeve did months ago that she hid from me and never would've told me about if I didn't find out", it'd become, "this is a horrid thing Maeve WENT THROUGH and she NEEDS ME."

as much as people act like it makes no sense that Elena would forgive Maeve in the show... even as she leaves, she says, "I'm not blaming you," she explains it's more about her shock and about her newfound doubts about what ELSE Maeve could've lied about than about Flight 37; the mere fact that she gets back together with Maeve in the end means that incident is obviously not a dealbreaker for her lol. So I think if Maeve confessed it as soon as it happened, Elena would be nothing but supportive, tbh...

however, the kicker in this AU would be, how much ELSE has Maeve been honest with Elena about, like, has she already addressed the whole "Homelander's actually evil and you're in danger just dating me and also I've done many horrible things as a Supe, myself". Because I think even if the Flight 37 scenario goes smoother, that (plus the pressure of their relationship becoming public / implicit threats from homelander) is what really sinks them. not flight 37.

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And that "Sexiest woman alive" magazine post made me think about another thing that lead me to wonder something but once again I'm not sure if you've explored this on your fic. I was gonna joke that Ashley definitely got one copy too, but then I started wondering: did she already have crush on Maeve before she met her? Or did that develop with time? The feelings most definitely came with time but I do wonder if she already looked up to her or had a natural celebrity crush at least?

ok *strokes my imaginary philosopher's beard* so my take on Ashley is that unlike many other characters we see in the series she didn't feel any time of way about Supes before working at Vought. Like, wasn't a fan of them, also didn't have any HATRED of them ofc but I find it very amusing to believe she just Wasn't Into The Hype and looked at the Supe phenomenon the way people that aren't into Marvel look at the MCU... lol

and then she ended up at Vought kinda by accident, it being the first job/internship she got out of college, maybe not even in the Supe department, then managed to get opportunities to work her way up and found her niche in the Talent Relations side. i like this idea bc it feels right to me with the way that she genuinely does not seem to give a shit about the Supes at ALL like she's literally just doing her job.

That being said. 100% i believe Ashley has thought about having sex with every single member of the Seven or had sex dreams about all of them. I mean. working with them all the time? combination of fear & hate which are both fine fine lines away from horniness? and we know ashley is a sick little freak who would go to the kinky possibilities of their powers, you KNOW it. I think her attitude is that she would never REALLY WANT to be with a supe but it's 'just a scenario' yknow? so i believe she's envisioned that with Maeve but has such a blase opinion about it bc like that's nothing special in her mind

as for my take on how her actual feelings come about... well... I've written that in my fic so... idk if I should spoil the whole process of how it plays out there :)

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Just got around reading your tags on the deleted scene and yes yes same reasons why I love it so much but why I also get why it was deleted.

Can't remember if I ever asked you though, you mentioned we have no context, with that said, do you have a specific idea of in what party of the season it was supposed to go and maybe on where the storyline could've been going originally?

It's clear that idea was changed when they decided to go with the outing route in S2, though I'm surprised the change was made so late (after it was filmed) but to be fairI'm also not sure if that's common in writing.

But yeah, my first guess is that it definitely happens after the Courtnay scene but that maybe there was a little more to it? Since Maeve is incredibly anxious and with teary eyes but at the same time Elena is quick to forgive her and she didn't seem that upset or surprised when seeing her at the door lol

Also, the "What would Vought say?" always makes me wish it had been more explored/established if they had a say about Maeve coming out at some point? Like, I do believe Maeve probably didn't want to either but did they/Madelyn at some point got involved in not allowing her to do it? I believe you might have touched on this on the fic so you can ignore this part of the question lol

I assume it was meant to go at the end of the season, after Maeve's last scene with Annie. Mostly because then it would fit into the logic of Maeve's season 1 arc, specifically positioning her interactions with Annie in episodes 107 and 108 as giving her hope that things can be good and connecting with people is worth it and she doesn't have to be "bulletproof" - thus reconnecting with Elena.

and I imagine it was there mainly just to have a sense of closure for that plot but then they realized if the show continued, it might be a waste to have them magically reconcile without getting to explore why. I mean, I guess it could've stayed and then the s2 plot could've been largely the same, only instead of the whole emergency contact shtick bringing them back in contact, they could've been secretly dating from the start of season 2 but other circumstances led to Maeve confessing the truth of why she left before (Homelander's true nature) and also to them getting outed.

but I do really love the particular awkwarness & silliness of the hospital scenes, too, so - i'm not mad about the way it ended up

as for what Vought would think of her coming out, I DO touch on this in my fic (my own interpretation of what it was like in the Canon universe) but also was posting the other day about imagining an AU where she actually came out and i honestly can't fully imagine how Madelyn/Vought would respond if Maeve just went and DID it early in her career. it's so strange (but intriguing) to think about

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Rotating cabal of girlfriends consisting on those three is a really funny phrase/concept but it made me think...

Can't remember if you've talked about this but have you ever really considered a two sided romantic relationship between Maeve and Ashely working in any way/au?

Because so far my love for those two is based more on their already funny dynamic but with more friendship and maybe a bit of one sided love from Ashley's part lol but for some reason I haven't thought how that would work as romantic since they're just not compatible to me but then again this is only based on their canon interactions since I'm not that familiar with your take on their relationship aside from some snippets and headcanons I've read.

I certainly wouldn't be opposed to it I just don't see how that would work yet because I can't picture Maeve being ~in love ~ with Ashley (that sounds mean but is not meant to lol I love Ashley I just know more of her superficial side so far)

yes holy cow i HAVE considered it! believe it or not, it was one of my original/main inspirations when conceiving a just-for-me-but-also-trying-to-develop-a-version-that-could-work-as-a-real-tv-show spinoff of Maeve post s3, which i eventually wrote a pilot script of & turned into my current ongoing long ass fic.

i started that deluded brainstorming pretty early when the boys s3 was airing, actually, because i had heard the rumors maeve was departing the show (or dying) and wanted to cope. so i imagined what a spinoff would look like, and while a lot of the key elements of what i originally started with stayed... it did change a bit (i had at least 3 major versions of it in my head, of which #tmdoms is the 3rd) due to me not actually knowing what circumstances season 3 would leave maeve on.

my first vision was heavily inspired by Angel as a spinoff of Buffy. cuz, i mean, it kinda works as a comparison? powerful brooding mentor-type character departs after 3rd season of main show to try to sort out own troubled past and do good... and, with this in mind, i was like, ok, who's the Cordelia? The one character also from the main show that could reasonably be snagged and taken away to this spinoff to provide another familiar face & know Maeve's past? Naturally, I picked Ashley (who obviously, irl, is still on The Boys but in my imagined universe where i was actually developing this for Amazon i was like, that feels plausible that they could spare Ashley from the main show! Rather than like, Annie, or Hughie, or Butcher, yknow?)

so Maeve and Ashley have always been based on that "Angel and Cordelia" template in my head. two characters who don't interact THAT much in the original but are surprisingly hilarious and a surprisingly good pair when you stick em together and make them forced allies / friends / platonic life partners / UNEXPECTED SOULMATES. i became very charmed with the idea of a Maeve/Ashley slowburn endgame... also because, for some reason (i forget why?) in this vision of the spinoff I was imagining Elena did not appear much, only as a guest star... I think because I was being pessimistic and not expecting to see Maeve make up with Elena within s3? so I assumed she would've ended her time on the show still not having talked to Elena in over a year and thus the relationship was kinda doomed/in the past/elena thought she was dead? so in that version, Elena to me was also kind of analogous to Buffy in Angel - in the sense of, the ex-soulmate, who Angel never TRULY gets over but also will never realistically get back with, who crops up occasionally but isn't a main fixture and isn't going to be.

As I'm sure you have gathered even without reading the fic yet... Elena is very much a main character who is there the whole time in the version I actually have written. That was one of the major elements I changed while keeping other Angel-ish elements the same... lol

but anyways, back to the topic of Maeve/Ashley true 2 sided functional romantic relationship: I CAN imagine it... if Elena is firmly out of the picture. if Elena is around and there's any hope of getting back with her, Maeve would simply never seriously entertain the idea of being with anyone else. However, in a world where Elena is gone/has moved on, I do think Maeveashley could be a weird but sooooo true OTP much like Cangel... and it would look a lot like their friendship looks (as i write it, lol)... just... that they'd also have sex. lmao

oh one other thing i realize i hadn't clearly stated here but was another major thing i was interested in for a spinoff/in writing this fic: much like Cordelia, Ashley goes thru major character development to make all this happen! i mean, maeve too, but... taking Ashley away from Vought & Homelander ... and then providing good examples of friends & people around her who inspire her to be not just neutral but GOOD... yeah that's a major part of it too

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Most of the people that I've seen who watched GV first and then watched TB have some ... Very different takes and opinions but I was also reading that lots of them won't give the TB a chance because "judging by the name I'm not the target audience/it will suck" and to be honest, that name was one of the reasons I never watched it sooner so I got curious and I was wondering if you ever thought what the show could've been named that would've worked and would've been more appealing to a larger audience. For instance I actually think GV was a great choice for that one...

lol that reaction to the name makes sense I mean I had it and many other people did too but it does surprise me to hear it’s common from Gen V viewers too - like if you enjoy the spinoff, does that not make you think you’d enjoy the show it’s based on? The focus is a bit different of course but the tone is quite similar. But yeah The Boys title and marketing isn’t the most communicative and also really fails to indicate that there actually is a pretty solid gender balance in the cast and that the women are fun too.

I dunno what a better title would be though. Titles are really hard, to get one that feels catchy and communicates what the show is about. Even some that are like fun once you “get it” aren’t effective titles in terms of advertising (like Home Economics, Rip). Others that might be fine titles for talking about the show might unintentionally suck for search purposes (Reboot. Anyone who tried to search ‘reboot’ or ‘reboot hulu’ or ‘reboot tv’ knows what I mean).

Plus “The Boys” is the title of the comic series and while I know the majority of the show fan base NOW does not necessarily know about or like the comics, this was one of Amazon’s first major IP purchases so they for sure wanted to make sure it was recognizable to fans of the comic, even if it’s an adaptation that takes its own direction.

I think this show is one that kinda needs to be seen to fully get its tone anyway. It’s hard to capture it in a title or one sentence. It’s like, satire of superhero tropes but moreso satire of celebrity culture and capitalism, where every character has deep childhood trauma and they sometimes blow people up but mostly they have good laughs and form human relationships and it’s cynical on the surface but actually quite optimistic and traditional narrative at its core

I agree that Gen V is a pretty great all around title though… you can’t force that kind of inspiration sometimes it just comes hahah

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Don't know if you read this already but guess that explains why it sounded like "an amateur script" to you...

X

hmm, yeah, that feels in line with what they ended up with, but it's also on all the writers & EPs who decided the cameo would go that way and left that particular combo of improvisations in the final cut... and idk, I can imagine why eric kripke might get a kick out of inviting his old colleague here to just have fun and fuck around for a short cameo without stressing about justifying it in the world... I'm not trying to be a total hater over this one moment lol... it's marketing & fanservice which are not inherently bad things, in fact they're important... I just remain baffled, looking at it, and going, "people really think this is funny and satisfying?" lol, it's just not for me!

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Not to keep encouraging your Emma Shaw shitposting (jk I do want to encourage it bc I also don't know where I stand right now) but if they really were related and a public reveal really happened in which Maeve also finds out she has a sister. What do you think would happen realistically? And I don't mean realistically in that Maeve showing up would depend on Dominique agreeing to show up at some point or not, I mean what do you think Maeve's honest reaction would be if she were real or this didn't depend on actors and that stuff?

Would she want to suddenly meet this sister? Would she just not care and keep living her life? Would she actually care and worry that now Emma could be a target because of her and so she would look for her to warn her? Or would she actually stay away because being in her life would be more dangerous? I honestly can't decide what reaction I think would be more in character 😵‍💫

i love being enabled in my shitposting... but lol it's hard to imagine how this would SERIOUSLY play out. i mean. i say this having spent a considerable amount of time trying to imagine and depict what would happen if maeve was suddenly reunited with a family member she didn't know... but how it would go with emma, idk, it's hard to say because it depends on how it happened and also, tbh, what she's like, we don't know her THAT well as a character yet hahaha

if it was publicly revealed in the sense of like, emma shared it publicly and took pride in it (thinking Maeve is dead, ofc) and Maeve just sees this wherever she is... I don't think she would go out of her way to try to make contact. I think she'd just be like. "what?" and then like "oh i guess that checks out, my dad is a piece of shit, he knocked up a younger woman and shot up another kid with V, not really surprising," and then try to forget about it. 'cause what reason would she have to risk her own safety by going to contact/meet some teenager she doesn't know and feels no real connection to

however, if we're imagining a version of this storyline that would lead to more maeve involvement, then, idk, I guess there'd have to be some reason that would MAKE her feel connected to emma, either wanting to spend time with her or feeling obligated to step in and help her out somehow, or else circumstances could force her hand like idk how this would happen but if emma somehow accidentally stumbled into finding out maeve was still alive and then she's got a big mouth and Maeve has to like, actively keep an eye on her in order to ensure she won't accidentally spill the beans... i don't think that her connection to emma would be seen as a danger factor so long as Homelander & the world still think Maeve is dead. bc why would harming someone connected to her be worth it if she's not around to see it.

but I guess there's a maeve-centric world where Maeve gets recruited into helping against whatever sinister shit the gen v kids are fighting and becomes grizzled mentor figure for season 2... in a world where dominique did not want to live as a hermit it could be done... lol... but as long as I'm living in the fantasy land of things that probably would never happen but technically could I would still rather hope for like, a diabolical episode or a spinoff graphic novel or a full blown live action spinoff that is truly focused on maeve and elena after leaving the show

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Oh, I assumed Emma was bi because of her saying having a threesome with Luke and his gf would be like a dream lol but then again I don't know how common that is in straight people. Either way I also thought her being a Maeve fan was cute and I loved that she was the one who mentioned her a couple of times and all the things she had about her like the stickers in her laptop, her wall, the pride bar and even the queen Maeve bong lol gotta love being represented in the show 😅

But I'm actually here bothering you again because I wanted to ask you a question now that you watched. I think this may be answered in the show at some point but I wanna know what you think. Do you think Cate's powers would work on supes like Maeve, HL and SF? We saw that she gets hurt and almost had an aneurysm when she uses them too much and personally I think that could happen if she tries to hurt someone who has super strength. Like they may have a mental strength too? But I don't know maybe it's like with Neuman where we just don't know or will know at some point I guess.

oh tbf i wasn't paying super close attention and she did say a few things that sounded vaguely fruity but not enough for me to clock either way - I was just noting she did have sex with a dude so like definitely not a lesbian but yeah it's not clear if she's straight i just try to assume that as default tbh so I don't get disappointed lol but yknow it'd make sense if she's queer because she is well... pretty INTO Maeve lol

as for Cate's powers, fuck if i know! the thing about powers in this world (or any fictional world) is they are as strict as the writers make them or as flexible as they need to be. so, like you said it's like with neuman... the answer is we wouldn't know unless we see her try (just as we wouldn't know if neuman's head popping would work on one of those supes unless we saw her try). idk if her exertion has to do with the physical strength of her target or like their strength of "will" or just simply how long she uses it or the degree of how crazy the action is yknow? there's plenty more room for them to give details to her limits on the rest of the show but they could also choose not to.

however, even if we assume her powers might work on, say, Homelander, which makes her (in theory) one of the most powerful people in this universe IF she plays her cards right... she's still limited by being able to get in touch range with someone, and also if they know who she is and they're on guard, like... I mean as long as Homelander knows who she is he could very simply not let her get a hand on him. BUT if she was able to engineer a situation that she could touch him then it's almost game over for him/whoever else she wants to turn him on, UNLESS they establish finite limits on how long she can control someone bc yeah then there's that other risk of, if he is able to recover control then he'd go kill her lol.

while these kinds of situations where we don't know the extent of powers can feel slightly annoying/just make us wonder as fans it's for the best writing wise esp in a world with so many different superpowers bc it allows flexibility / suspension of disbelief as the plot requires. worlds with magic or powers that have pretty clear and strict rules can ALSO work well and be very satisfying in their own way if the writers are committed to building the world that way.

i find cate's type of power pretty interesting narratively/ethically tbh which would make me very interested in her in theory however, Allison Hargreeves of The Umbrella Academy has already scratched that itch for me pretty well and i kinda doubt cate will stick better in my mind than her lol

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I started to think about this more after watching GenV even though is not that related to it, and I also think you might have written about this in your fic but if you didn't, how did you think Maeve's dad or Maeve's parents got in contact with Vought to be part of the "experiment" and why did they do it?

I never gave much thought to this to be honest but thinking about it now, if the general public and pretty much everyone thought that these kids were born like this that means there wasn't like a public "give your kids cool powers" application and instead these parents were selected to be given the option or something similar so now I'm curious about that...

so I haven't watched the genv episodes yet (planning to tonight) so idk if there's anything relevant in there to give context but

my assumption based on the main show was that parents were approached privately by vought reps - i don't know if they had any means of screening parents before even approaching them for who they thought would be likely to agree/keep quiet, but - i assume they approach parents, make them sign the NDA, read the terms, sign the contract, get the payment and the promise their kid will be amazing. this is the only logical way I can imagine it working but at the same time it's kinda unbelievable that no parent ever squealed or no other authority ever investigated and found the truth (or a solid lead to it) for 60+ years. but that's one of those things you just have to suspend disbelief for because it's not the main point of the show lol

as for my take on Maeve's situation, how her parents became involved... that is kind of a major part of the story in my long fic so I don't want to say (unless you WANT me to i could summarize it for you lol but it is in the story too).