In your last post(s) you've mentioned what a competitive, hard core love triangle scenario would look like between Elena , Annie and Maeve but what do you think it would look like between Elena , Ashley and Maeve ? Do you think Ashley even stands a chance against Elena and Maeve's long history ?
ahh thanks for this ask! it's good to get my brain going and i love imagining different scenarios
so, my answer to this is basically... TMDOMS, which I know you've read. lol. i mean, it's not a very drawn out "love triangle" in that fic, but that's kind of how i imagine it playing out. If Elena is in the picture, there's no real shot of Ashley winning. part of this stems from the fact that the way I originally conceived of maeveashley was a pretty direct inspiration from Angel and Cordelia's relationship in Angel. Elena is Buffy in this analogy - so it's kind of like if Angel still took place in Sunnydale and Angel was still around Buffy all the time - even if she was not interested in being with him, I think he would still be way too hung up on her to ever develop the thing he had with Cordy.
honestly, that's largely my opinion for any "love triangle" for maeve in ANY universe - if elena is in the picture, she wins by default (OR at least presents a strong enough pull that Maeve would always feel torn and regretful even if she loves the other person). that is also the reason that for all my other (maeveannie) fics, I invent specific explanations for why elena is not an option for Maeve. (and i must confess, even then, I still don't completely buy it myself! like in my literal maeveannie SOULMATES fic I ended up making the maeve/elena 'not ending up together' arc almost as involved as developing the relationship between maeve and annie lol)
and, on a similar note to the Cangel comparison, my very early vision for TMDOMS was planned as a maeve/ashley endgame where elena was a recurring character at most, and ashley and maeve developed a bond over time that eventually became a deep and unexpected (but kinda perfect) romance. and I think that would've been really fun to develop in its own way! that was honestly before I had put much thought into maeve and elena's backstory at all though - and I think by the time I wrote Savior Complex (not long after s3 finished?) and started to go more into their history I fell so in love with fleshing out their story that I wanted that to be the core of my "spinoff" :P
all that said, that is why it is hard for me to imagine a "competitive" love triangle with elena and ashley both competing for maeve's affections. like i truly think it would be like TMDOMS but maybe more drawn out. where Ashley is just always THERE waiting to shoot her shot, hating elena and wishing she would disappear (maybe accidentally manifesting it?! lol that was one of my favorite bits to write in the fic - I don't think i did put it in but I really imagine in arc 2 when elena gets kidnapped ashley being all like 'am i a witch? did i make this happen by wishing for it every single day?')
back to the point, though. What kind of circumstances might it take to make that an actually competitive love triangle...? (I'm really just gonna imagine these as offshoots from TMDOMS universe because tbh it's hard for me to imagine any other scenario where ashley and elena are both "in play" in a serious way lol)
okay. bear with me here. I got something, based on another idea I scrapped during the writing process. let's imagine a "canon divergent" AU that splits off from TMDOMS around the middle of arc 2. ignore all the joan stuff, but elena still gets taken by stormfront + dante still sees that ashley's lifespan is ticking down and warns maeve about it.
when they go to rescue elena, imagine a moment if you will where stormfront is shooting lightning or something, and it looks like elena and ashley are both potentially in danger, and Maeve can only dive for one of them, and she GOES FOR ASHLEY - knowing she was slated to die at that moment and elena wasn't. this both spikes ashley's love (and gives her some real fuel to believe she has a shot) and makes elena feel hurt. Maeve would 100% explain the situation to Elena after and apologize profusely and Elena would like, accept it, but the love of your life making a decision under pressure to save another woman instead of you is NOT something that's easy to forget.
that moment is the sort of "crack" in maeve and elena's relationship that i think would level the playing field. combine that with the other aspects that Maeve can get from Ashley but not from Elena - less fear of judgment, someone who already knows the worst shit she's done and has been complicit in plenty of it, someone who has already been in so many deathly situations with Supes that she's totally casual about it now, someone who is involved with her "work" - and you've got a real fight going!
contrast that of course with what elena offers that ashley can't: so much history. much more gentle and caring (broadly speaking) when maeve is being a poor little baby. better at ebb and flow of relationship dynamics, taking charge when needed - and crucially, Maeve RESPECTS her, which, even when she becomes close with ashley I think there's always a bit of her that's like, you are the dumb and annoying talent relations rep i couldn't even remember the name of for the first 8 years after we met. and also, for better or worse, elena is "healthier" for maeve in certain ways - ashley is not a "wet blanket", which has its upsides as she is not judgy of maeve's choices. but it also means she is fine with or even encourages some very bad choices when it suits her (example from actual TMDOMS: right before they get together when ashley's like hell yeah maeve let's get drunk together while maeve's like 'isn't it soo cool how unlike elena and even homelander, you don't tell me not drink?'). for all her flaws, denial, and well-meant but painful comments, elena really, truly wants what is best for maeve - if push comes to shove, she would rather have maeve be healthy, sober, happy, and NOT with her rather than the reverse; ashley, on the other hand, is definitely the type of person who would encourage all of maeve's worst tendencies if it meant getting to be with her.
it could definitely be an interesting love triangle but as you probably can tell from how i'm writing it - I'm biased. this is a love triangle that has a "correct" answer, which is alright - those kinds of love triangles can still create good journeys with drama and humor and growth for all involved... and as a writer, I feel like it's always a case of deciding what the "correct" answer is supposed to be for a given story and getting the characters there somehow. like, if TMDOMS was going to be maeveashley endgame with a healthier long term version of it - Elena has to be out of the picture. that's the condition. but if it's gonna be maevelena endgame (as it is), well, that's part of why I made sure to play up some of the aspects of why maeveashley endgame would not have been super ideal for either party. (it's a bit condensed there, of course, if the fic was longer I could've gone into more nuance with it - but basically, the fact that it's just ashley just having a hopeless puppy-dog crush on maeve for ages while maeve is 100% oblivious and even accidentally flirting back, unintentionally tormenting ashley with increased hopes, because she just doesn't pay enough attention to REGISTER what is going on - until it becomes a terrible bender that breaks her sobriety + she then further uses ashley to feel good when she's feeling low and lonely... yeah, that would be a pretty bad foundation to build a lasting relationship from.)
jesus. I've typed this much and still not said a lot about how it would actually LOOK. so let's go back to that competitive scenario and get into their behaviors. Ashley I think would be a lot like she is in the fic but probably a bit more emboldened and direct. More willing to directly shit-talk Elena to Maeve's face, pointing out the not-so-great things she's done and said. and/or just encouraging Maeve to "vent" about Elena under the guise of being a supportive friend... just trying to get her to dwell on the negatives. lol
I think Elena would take a long time to truly see ashley as a threat (as she does in the fic - or more precisely, she NEVER sees ashley as a threat). but the moment of Maeve saving her over Elena would probably get the job done. I think her jealousy in this case would manifest pretty differently than her jealousy over homelander (or annie) - in this case, she has no reason to spiral and assume Maeve wants something specific only Ashley can provide... literally "what does she have that I don't?". so I think instead of paranoia and passive-aggressiveness that potentially works to push maeve away further, elena would instead take the tactic of simply trying to give maeve anything she seems to like getting from ashley. This actually is in TMDOMS, just a smidge - another thing I might've elaborated on more if it was truly a 3 season tv show with more episodic plots thrown in and not a fic i wanted to get finished at some point in my lifetime, lol - at the start of arc 2, where Elena starts obvserving that Maeve treats Ashley like a FRIEND and not like an annoyance she is forced to deal with for blackmail reasons - and she starts inquiring more about all the time Maeve and Ashley spend together "working" - and even asks to be involved in that "work". I think she would bring that up again and assert herself to be a part of the Slate Squad, probably under the guise of handling the money as she suggests in TMDOMS. and that would result in a lotttt of bickering between her and Ashley... this sounds pretty fun now, actually. I think Maeve would manage to be at least 90% oblivious to it, and any tension she noticed she would likely chalk up to them just disliking each other as people, while Dante would be suffering the most. poor guy lmao
now this has me almost wanting to write an AU of my own fic lol (but I already have a half-written prequel and half-written sequel for it that I haven't finished, not knowing if anyone would read/like them, so, I probably shouldn't add another to that pile lmao)
Apologies, only just got around to finishing WWMD but it was great. You've painted both Elena's and Annie's grief so vividly. With Annie regretting her lack of close contact with Maeve and battling with her love, adoration and idolisation of Maeve. I think you captured Elena's denial well in the first chapter with her abruptness to Annie when talking about maeve . It's not denial in a sense that she doesn't take any action but denial in a way that she seems withdrawn to Annie . Her motions appear almost indifferent because she hasn't let herself process that this is different then when Maeve has left before and she had to shove all her stuff in the closet.They both view the other as the missing part of Maeve . Neither felt like they knew all parts of her. The moment that Elena arrived at Annie's and Annie broke down in her arms . I think I physically gasped at the parralle of Maeve and Annie . And from knowing how this scene typically plays out with Maeve I knew exactly how it would end . Elena's reassurces are so sweet and Annie pushing her away felt awfully familiar. You really nailed painting the picture of Annie and Elena both seeing each other as almost extensions of Maeve and therefore using each other as a way to be closer to her .The ending with Elena , despite the tragedy, avoked a feeling of peace . An empty kind of peace but not a hopeless one . I hope that makes sense . I've rambled to long now and I will eventually get around to reading #Queenlight . My interest has been peaked with the snippet of Madelyn you showed a while back . Madelyn and Maeves relationship is honestly just as interesting to be as Maeve and Elena's .👏👏👏
first off, no need to apologize! always nice to know people are reading my work, and even nicer when they take the time to share thoughts, so thank you very much. <3
for this fic in particular (link in case anyone missed it and wants some angsty maeveannie / maevelena / elenannie goodness) it means a lot since I knew it was gonna be somewhat of a niche appeal within the already niche audience for these characters/ships... but the idea resonated emotionally with me... so it's so nice to know it resonated with you too.
i'm especially glad elena's reaction resonated because as much as that was the POINT, and both her and annie acknowledge it in the story... i always worry about how elena comes off. because i know she's the character that people are least likely to have emotional investment in, as the most minor character in canon... and also because the way i write her, she's the sort of character who sometimes... i don't know how to put it. she's often in the unfortunate position of either being the "damsel in distress" or the "wet blanket". the "skylar white", the "niko polastri," etc etc insert relevant iteration of this character from your preferred media here. and thus, writing her, it often feels like she risks either coming off as "ovemotional and annoying" or "unfeeling and annoying". yknow? not to ME. clearly. i love her. but i'm always hyperaware that those are the risks for such a character but I really wanted to explore like... well, what if she DOES grieve "wrong"?! so what?! it's HER grief! if that makes sense. (I know i'm probably preaching to the choir here as I know you read all of TMDOMS and got to know My Version™ of Elena there but it was something I struggled with there and honestly, as much as I am proud of what i wrote and overall happy with it, with more distance from that fic i do look back and see areas where I feel I "let Elena down" so to speak and wish I could've given a better look at her POV.)
I'm also so glad you felt that "They both view the other as the missing part of Maeve . Neither felt like they knew all parts of her."... you put it so succinctly... that's soooo what i was going for, and what really drew me into this idea. which was initially just a random snippet of an idea i had a longass time ago but once i started writing it, it became so much more than the brief oneshot it was planned to be. really trying to dig into not only elena's coping which is perhaps more intuitive (annie = 'replacement' for maeve), but also annie's which is more complicated because it's like, elena is her opportunity to 'be with' maeve in a way as elena is the person who knew the most about maeve, but also the act of standing in for maeve is a way to try to interact with that love she never got to really acknowledge, and a way to cope with the grief and the immense fear/pressure that comes with the expectation from others that she must 'replace' maeve in the superhero sense.
(side note, that's something that i feel like i nudge at in a lot of my maeveannie writing, but always want to dig into more: "i could jump, but you can fucking fly" is a real nice line for the mentor character who's moving on, yknow? but in a maeveannie centric story imagine how that makes annie feel. she doesn't want to surpass maeve, she doesn't want to REPLACE maeve, it's both a weird feeling to outdo/outgrow the woman she loves, and also REALLY FUCKING SCARY! similar to how for maeve it's pretty fucking scary, at least at first, to realize her own place in the 'hierarchy of power' if you will. it's juicy!)
thank you so much for taking the time to share these thoughts, it always means a lot, but especially with fics that are less, erm, popular, by nature of their content.
i hope you like #Queenlight ... I really gotta get to work more on it, there's less of a solid outline than i normally have when i start posting a fic lmao doing this by the seat of my pants so we'll see how that works.... but yeah, the promise of maevemadelyn opportunities is helping keep me going. <3
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