smallville
Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar! by Julad
"They're only stupid sea monkeys," Pete said. "Sam says they're not real monkeys anyway."
"They are so!"
"They're baby prawns, Sam says," Pete insisted. "We should just eat them now."
"I'm not hungry," Clark said, but then reconsidered. "Maybe they'll wake up if we put them in the microwave?"
This is one of the sweetest and funniest Clark/Pete friend fics ever. Pete as a boy is hilarious, and their relationship is selfish and kind and everything in between.
Do You Take Sugar? by Wendi
What the hell had he done wrong? His leg bouncing under the table, Wally plucked up another sugar packet, tearing off the corner and dumping the contents into his cup before he proceeded to shred the paper into tiny, symbolic pieces. Oh yes, Wally as a sugar packet. All full of energy and little sweet particles and dumped out into the kind of liquid heat that dissolved poor schmucks like him...
This is one of my favourite het series, Wendi's Chloe and Wally (The Flash) stories. This is only one story in a whole bunch, hosted at Chapel of Love. The stories with the Pixie Stix are absolutely adorable, and I like the little Lex and Clark cameos. Also, the Fab Five storyline? Brilliant.
Cumulus by Kat Reitz & Tzigane
Lex laughed, and since Clark hadn't heard that noise in months, it was good to hear even when it was startled and more than a little bitter. Then Lex shifted backwards, resting on his elbows as if he didn't care that he was getting dirty. As if he wasn't going to run his clothes off to the dry cleaner's as soon as he went back to the mansion.
So sweet and gentle, a slow passage of getting to know one another again, after Lex's plane crash and Clark's running away. Clark tries to make things up to Lex, and does a fair job of it.
Conflicts of Interest by Rageprufrock
Conner's dad had turned out most of the lights in the room and left one of the spotlights he had lined up along the ceiling trained on where Conner and Geoffrey were seated. Lex stood backlit against the white, hands casually in his pockets, smiling almost pleasantly at them.
"Dad, Dad," Conner tried, "you still love me right?"
"Of course I do," Lex said in a way that did not make Conner feel more assured at all.
"Weasel," Geoffrey hissed.
I absolutely adore this story. I've read a couple Lex-and-child fics, but Connerfic is most definitely the best. Conner is brilliant and adorable, and so much his father's son - Rageprufrock is just amazing, writing a story which is hilarious and sweet, and at times so heartbreaking. Her characterization of Lex is wonderful; I love how he is nothing like his father, smart and caring and always amused. The sequel, Visiting Hours, is more Conner-centric, and more distressing, but still, so good, because Conner grows on you like the most wonderful kind of mold. An absolute must-read.
Five things That Aren't True by Basingstoke
He hides his face against his knees. He's sitting in the bath. He's not touching anything. Ever. He's not touching anything ever again. Not ever...
Five Things stories are always amazing, when an author is able to create a completely different universe in next to no words, and do it well. This is done very, very well.
How To Be Grieved by Rageprufrock
I'm just not very good at it yet, you see. Your mom told me it would come naturally. She told me I was already good at everything else, so I'd be good at holding you, too.
But your mom said other things which...haven't come true.
I usually don't like first person pov stories, but this one's written really well - the insight into Lex's mind is just perfect, the way it's a little bit broken, but he's trying so hard to make things right and to not remember and not forget.
Low Men In Yellow Coats by Zahra
"There are going to be cookies when this is over, right?" Lex will suffer a lot of indignities for a plate of Mrs. Kent's sugar cookies with the green sprinkles.
Zahra writes the best get-together fics. This one is so absolutely adorable, I love it every time I read it.
Inevitability by Zahra
In the millisecond before Clark opens his eyes, Lex counts a thousand heartbeats and lives one hundred lives.
Brilliant. Honest and hurtful and this is just the way Lex is, isn't it, and Zahra makes you believe it, no matter how much you don't want to, because it's the truth we're all trying to hide from.
Landscape by Jenn
This Lex knows things about her that he doesn't want, and it's hard to push it back, lock it down in the deepest part of his mind, but he manages, somehow. It's the danger, the AI says, and he can hear that voice now. His body will be yours, and with time, his mind as well.
Shit. Shit. This is what I love about Jenn, the way that she is brilliant with suspense and drama, the way that her stories always leave me, literally, gasping for air. I become enveloped in the story, so tense from finding out happens next, and so emotionally involved. There's so much heartbreak and hurt, but it's written so well, you can't stop. And god but I can't wait for the next part, even though I have an exam to write in 19 hours, and seven more after that.
Man Vs. Machine by Zahra
"Not all things made in America blow up on the road."
"No, sometimes they drop large amounts of barbed wire in the middle of road to eliminate the competition instead."
"That was a complete accident."
"Sure it was. Tell that to the Porsche people."
Mmm so sexy. I love this Lex, hilarious and hot and witty and wanting so bad, he's funny and so young and Clark's just not as innocent as he would have Lex believe.
Mercy by Koi
Much later Lex looked back and realized that that was when the world changed.
When the pronouns changed.
When he accepted it.
This story hurt. Bad. I didn't expect it to play out the way it did, and it wrenched my heart out. But it was so good. Koi writes an amazingly believable plot, and makes you almost believe, almost want to believe, because the alternative hurts too fucking much.
No Darker Than Yours by RivkaT
"Did it hurt?" Lex asked, dreamily. His fingertip traced the puckered circle, and only the last dregs of Bruce's training kept him from panting, or fleeing.
"With all you've done, I'm surprised you haven't been shot yourself," he said severely.
Lex smiled, slow and secretive. "I have been. I want to know if it hurt you."
"Of course it did."
"Of course," Lex repeated, and stroked his fingers down to where Bruce's shirt opened, then began rebuttoning it.
This story is unafraid to go to dark places. Lex and Clark aren't friends, aren't lovers, but they're still everything to one another. Bruce gets involved in more ways than one, and Lex makes it clear he isn't happy about it. Things happen, hurtful things, but RivkaT handles it masterfully, and it takes a whole lot of pain for everyone to open their eyes.
Omiai by Rose Emily
Crime magnate and evil CEO, plotting Clark's dissection and/or induction into the ranks of American organized evil.
And the way Lex had looked in the tight grey sweater this morning.
Clark was hard-put to say which terrified him more.
Wow, what a wonderful AU, so many touches of domesticity, very sweet, but not without its own conflicts. The premise behind the story's rather interesting, although I'm not fond of Martha in this one. But definitely worth the read.
Reconcilable Differences by Shalott
Luthor's doctors were a lot less with the comforting bedside manners and a lot more with the cool scientific interest. It took a week before Kon stopped expecting to get dissected and started hoping, unwillingly. Maybe Luthor's plan was to find a cure, then make a deal-he'd fix Kon if Kon would promise to work for him or something. And Kon for one would have zero problems shaking hands on that and walking away after. Walking. God.
Meanwhile he had to deal with Mercy as a physical therapist. Her idea of a gentle workout was to make him do a couple hundred pull-ups, no TK allowed, and Kon had no idea how, but she could freaking tell when he was cheating. After that it was bench-pressing, and free weights, and some pilates yoga crap that he made the mistake of saying was for girls, after which her eyes got narrow and she twisted him into a pretzel and made him stay that way for half an hour.
I can't for the life of me remember how I got linked to this fic, but this story is on par with Conflicts of Interest, but woefully shorter. This is a wonderful Kon-El story, with a dash of DC's Tim Drake (Robin) thrown in (this story was actually what led me into the Kon/Tim genre). Lex is so real, and so absolutely wonderful, and he and Kon are the best characters in this story. This Lex Luthor hasn't made up with Clark yet, isn't necessarily a good guy - but he loves Kon so fiercely, and is willing to do anything for him. It's an absolutely beautiful story, and Kon and Tim and the rest of the Titans wreak havoc in Lex's penthouse, Lex and Clark try to make things work, and Kon gets to play matchmaker.
Shattered by Dolimir
But even the compass won't help him find his way home this time. Lionel has made sure that he'll never have a safe haven or a refuge from the world.
So short, you can't even decide not to read it. Just a little tiny snippet into Lex's brain, and the last two paragraphs are the best.
Six Days by Zahra
Clark had thought about bringing Lex something else, but his mom would kill him if he made off with any of her prize-winning tulips; and Clark really doesn't see Lex as a tulip kind of guy. Besides, tulips remind Clark of Victoria and he doesn't want any sort of nasty word association happening in Lex's head. Skanky ho.
Clark will have to thank Pete for expanding his vocabulary at some point.
This is so adorably cute. Really short and sweet and just the sort of thing to cheer you up; Clark's perfect.
Somewhere I Have Never Travelled by Jenn
Bruce has always made Clark want to do really stupid, alpha-male things, like grunt and ask how much he bench-presses, but Bruce, he knows, can pretty much bench-press the average cow. Clark's seen Bruce's home gym. In other words, Clark's officially out of his league in human terms these days.
Despite the lightness of the quote, this story is beautifully crafted and frighteningly complex - an introduction you just didn't expect and a crisis that turns everything on its head. Though the Somewhere-verse has grown rather significantly, this is still my favourite story in the series, because it was the first, and it was the sweetest. I love this Lex, and I love this blossoming relationship. Jenn goes and rains on my parade with the sequels, completely breaking my heart, but in this, the original story, Lex is still doing the right thing. Plus, Jenn writes an absolutely wicked Lois, and having Bruce thrown in there is fun.
The Identical Series by Lanning Cook
"What do you think you're doing?"
Lex nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice in his ear. He whirled toward the sound to find Clark at his side, glaring at him as if he were the lunatic. "Where did you come from?"
"My house. You remember my house? Where there's heat and food and nobody trying to kill you?"
Lex looked him up and down, bewildered. Clark wasn't even out of breath. How had he found him so quickly? Lex snorted and collected himself. Hell, how had Clark ever found him? "Do you want your socks back?"
The Identical Series is one of my favourite Smallville stories, because Lanning writes a beautiful plot and endearing relationships, and the best OC characters, and cricket references. This is how it should have happened, when Lex ended up at the Kents' doorstep.
The Lent Effect by Carlanesses
"Pete, tell me you can't do this anymore."
Pete was kind of squirmy and twitchy, but his eyes weren't bugging out like Clark knew his were.
"I'm doing okay, man. Punching bags are a good thing."
"The one time I punched one, my fist got stuck in it and I ripped it off the ceiling trying to get free."
"That's how the one in the gym got shredded last year? I thought it was a meteor-rock dog or something." Pete looked at him with a mix of pity and awe. "Man, you can't touch anything, can you?"
Basically, a ridiculous, sexy romp. And I mean romp. The plot is hilarious, the voices are perfect, and the sex, well, yummy indeed.
The Lionel In Winter by Ciel
"Check...um, what about Lucas' people?"
"Lucas' people, as you put it, are pockmarked, speak no English, and go armed even to the bathroom. If he brings any - and even he has to have better sense than that - I can't imagine what they'd want for Christmas and I don't want to try."
"Right."
This is the most hilarious christmas-family-get-together story. I love Arielle, who is absolutely hilarious, and I'm not normally fond of OC. Lex and Clark are adorable, as are the Kents, and the way Lionel deals with Lucas is perfect.
Three Impossible Things by Jenn
"It's still funny to me." Lex hits the gas just for the fun of revving the engine, and it reminds Clark of the twenty-one year old he met years and years before--still getting his kicks from things that probably he should have outgrown, like the color purple and fast cars and pretty girls in clubs and long nights on the roof of his apartment, mapping the stars with the tips of outstretched fingers, sharing the myths from a dozen different civilizations between them.
It's--a warm thought, wiping away the afternoon effortlessly and Clark atches dusk approaching with something like pleasure.
I can't remember the first Smallville fanfic I ever read, but I can remember the one which hit me the hardest, and the one which I still remember the most. There are two lines in this story, in the climax, ones I still remember, having read this who know how long ago. Jenn still drives that response from me. The story hurts, and it burns, but you learn to forgive because everything's inevitable.
Tied To The Wrist by Tharmiris
Not that it matters or anything. Not that he really cares, like this is a date and he's fifteen with maybe a thing, a crush, a crushing thing for the local lord of the manor guy. Because that's Paleolithic and now is practically grown- up if you squint a little, medium-sized man on campus, not to mention the sideline as Saving Man or Fly-Guy or...Okay, not sure on the official title but the point is he's not editor in chief of Geekhood for Dummies anymore, maybe not somebody but blocks from nobody.
I love this clumsy Clark, this sweet, geeky grown-up boy who's terrified of screwing things up with Lex, who's still sort of angry but not really. And I absolutely love the Chloe in this story, who's Clark's secret-keeper, because she can't have everything she wants.
When a Strawberry is Pushed into a Mountain by Tharmiris
Never trust a calendar. Calendars, like poems and people, left a lot unsaid. Leaping over details, they championed Christmas and Thanksgiving, so that only living the days explained their mood. Clark had learned that Mondays were turtle days with heavy shells and slow steps, while Saturdays were sleeper days with a mellow start and a big finish. Fridays were the best, shorthand for weekend fun that stretched ahead like the road to Candyland.
Thamiris has a beautiful way with words, and this story is full of lovely prose, and a sweet relationship between Clark and Lex. Not to mention that the sex is delicious, positively smouldering.
Your Next Bold Move by Madelyn
Lex was in an odd mood.
"Why aren't you sitting down?" Lex asked, sipping his drink. He gestured at the sofa.
"Blood," Clark pointed out shortly, knowing full well Lex had registered every drop on his cape the moment he'd landed on the balcony.
"Billionaire," Lex replied, equally succinct.
Clark sighed and settled down on the sofa, trying to control the fall of the cape in order to minimize the damage.
Hot, delicious, and devious. Just the way the Luthor mind works. But seriously, this was hilarious and endearing, all blended together wonderfully. When Lex puts his mind to something, how can even Superman get away?