Originally Posted by
Ascended
I think there's a lot of layers to Maxima's thing with Clark. On the surface, just the pure chemical reaction, she's attracted to him; he's strong as hell and good looking and from her point of view, exotic and probably more than a little taboo. And looking deeper I think Clark represents a different path for Almerac in Maxima's mind. Not a full blown 180 change from the old ways, but a method of ruling that doesn't require so much effort to just remain in your position.
Memory might be off here, but Almeraci culture ensures that the noble families (and everyone else) are always scheming, plotting, and trying to climb the social ladder by pulling others down. Makes the throne pretty hard to hold onto, makes life hard to live. But those are the values that prove one's strength and worthiness right? How else can you know if your empress deserves the throne than by trying to take her off it?
Except here's this Kryptonian from the ass end of nowhere, who is merciful and kind and selfless, and *still* the strongest son of a bitch you're ever gonna meet; a guy who has the strength to never bow down before anyone but who makes the choice to bend his knee in service of those less powerful....and the universe adores him for it. It goes against everything Maxima was raised to believe, but the proof that it works is right in front of her and he's giving Mongol, the warlord of warlords, the middle finger. How can a man be so weak but so powerful at the same time? Exotic, right?
I think Max likely questioned her people's customs before discovering Clark. Maybe only subconsciously and she'd never voice these thoughts for fear of it making her look weak if she's truly aware of them. How much more efficient and powerful could the empire be, if Maxima didn't have to spend so much of her time keeping the jackals at bay? Almerac is an empire in decline, and following the tried and true customs and traditions isn't getting them anywhere, which is why she's so willing to buck the suitor-warlords presented to her and why she's so hell-bent on figuring out what makes earth love and follow Superman.
He's new blood. Not just another Almeraci but someone with different genetic potential to add to the royal line. His ideas aren't necessarily the best, Max would never be so selfless as Clark and if she was, where would that martyrdom spirit leave Almerac without her to guide it? But his people love him, and he's willing to bend. A consort who isn't trying to kill her in her sleep but who has the strength to watch her back is probably the kind of whimsy young Almeraci girls read about in their scandalous romance novels, only to soon realize it's a fairy tale. And if he gets the peasants on her side too? That's hawt.
I think there's a lot of reasons Max zero'd in on Clark, and a lot of it is rationalizing a irrational attraction to someone utterly strange and compelling. A Zone criminal like Zod or Xa-Du? She'd never be able to trust them. They're too ambitious, too much like Max herself and all of Almeraci culture. Sure, Zod or someone would make for the perfect traditional consort, but that's boring and Max can point to the empire's decline as an excuse to forgo such a union. Clark's got them good genes, so the breeding program is happy and their heir will be uber powerful. He's got weird, different ideas that, somehow, inspire loyalty so Max can say she's trying to do right by her people and build a stronger Almerac. He scares despots like Brainiac and Mongol, and will help ensure the empire's security.
I think that's the real crux of it; Max is just straight up attracted to the guy (and he's a beefcake so who can blame her?) but she can justify her thirst with sound, cold politics and use the empire's current status as an excuse to pick such a unusual consort. And all of that just feeds into itself, building up Max's desire. And when he tells her "no"? That's a word Maxima probably doesn't hear often, and we always want what we can't have and she just kinda falls into this spiral of obsession.
And after spending time on earth with the League (originally just to win Clark over), she starts to see what he sees, starts to understand, if not fully agree, with the way we view leadership. Which probably just makes her want him more, unlocking that one layer of Clark makes her hungry to figure out the rest of this crazy, exotic, beautiful son of a bitch who proves a whole empire's worth of culture and tradition wrong.