fic: go directly to Hell, do not pass go do not collect $200

[xparrot]

I said it before, that I fell for Kaiba because he reminds me of Lex. Brilliant and deeply disturbed, casualties of their sadistic fathers' damage and their own ambitions. Kaiba is the more culpable of the two, having chosen his path rather than being born into it; ironic that he's the one to eventually rise above his darkness, while Lex is ultimately damned. Maybe it's because Lex is destiny's puppet victim, while Kaiba has always forged his own. Or maybe Lex just needs someone to shatter his heart.

Anyway. They're obviously a match made in some dark and deliciously twisted place.

I might've futzed with the YGO timeline; the story is set in the spring of '95, with Lex at 15 and Kaiba at 14 (for anyone flummoxed by imaging the real with the animated, please follow praiseofshadows's lead and picture Kaiba as played by Gackt). The idea is that Gozaburo sent Seto to an American boarding school for a semester to practice his English; Seto took the opportunity to learn some other valuable life skills from the school's expert. I'm not confident of the characterizations of either one of them, but hell, they're just kids here. Seriously fucked up kids.

Exchange Student {9,795 words}
NC-17 (Warnings for underaged sex and references to child abuse), Lex Luthor/Seto Kaiba
Sometimes broken edges can almost fit together. Lex meets a boy one semester at Excelsior.

Read it on AO3

Comments

[somnia-lustre.livejournal.com]

Amazing! I loved how you kept both of them in character, but also showed where they have room to grow before they become the charcters from their respective canons. I find it amusing that even though Lex appears to be the more balanced of the two, it's Kaiba who ends up having a more balanced outcome. Like winning over his adopoted Father eventually became enough for Kaiba (after Yami knocked some sense into him), yet Luthor will always be surrounded by conflict.

Kudos for the situation of the crossover, you took one that might have been a bit more difficult, but that made the most sense.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you found them in char.

I think the biggest difference between Kaiba & Lex, ulitmately, is that Kaiba has people there for him. Mokuba always, and later Yami shattering his heart (I write manga!Kaiba pretty strictly), and Yugi-tachi still does try to reach out to him pretty constantly, even if he slaps their hands away. It helps that his ultimate goal is altruistic but that isn't enough on its own, as Death-T proves. While as Lex reaches out time and again and no one ever reaches back. As late as 6th season SV, Lex could still be saved, if Clark tried, but he doesn't...(and hence my issues with the series. grrr...!)