fic: A Constant Struggle, 1/2

[xparrot]

At last, not darkfic!

This is part of what I've taken to calling the Subterfuge universe, now with added comic canon to leaven the AU Smallville and JLU blend. It's the direct sequel to "According to Plan" and like that story is technically a Static Shock crossover, but this is much more a Smallville story. The SS characters are mostly there to be observers; Robert Hawkins's down-to-earth understanding makes him a convenient foil to the totally functional dysfunctionality that is the Clex in this universe.

Smallville: A Constant Struggle, 1/2 {6,610 words}
PG-13; AU futurefic, Static Shock x-over; mild Clex and V/R
Robert and his boys are invited over to family dinner with Lex Luthor and three generations of Kents.


Read it on AO3

Comments

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

Yay! This is made of awesome!
I've read other fics with Clark and Lex pretending to be enemies, but they mostly treated it as a joke. This one really goes into the meat of it, with Lex as a brilliantly convincing villain and woah, this set-up is so made for family conflict.

family dinner with Lex Luthor and three generations of Kents.
I kept waiting for Kon the whole time after reading that summary :D I have to say, his reason for arguing with Lex is very... unique. He wants to be his nemesis, too! Aww. And poor Lex, even though he's being quite the Lionel-esque ass - actually, after "According To Plan", I'm not hundred percent sure this isn't another act ^^

*goes to look for Static Shock eps on the web*

[bagheera-san.livejournal.com]

Whee! There's episodes on YouTube! Virgil is adorable :D And he's unusually smart for the leading hero of a toon show.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Eee, yes, it's a cute show. Virgil is such a nerdboy, that's why I love him. ...Well, and because he is GAY LIKE A GAY THING with Richie. Make sure you catch the 1st season ep "Sons of the Fathers," with Richie's father being racist - it's very preachy lesson-giving Very Special Episode but it's too cute for the best-friends OMGaaaaangst.

I wish more folks were writing pretend-supervillain!Lex. I've only found a handful of fics with it and yeah, usually it's a total joke. But it works so well! Lex makes rather a better villain than a hero, personality-wise, whatever his moral inclinations...

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

A few full episodes are up on Daily Motion (http://www.dailymotion.com/visited/search/static+shock/1).
-Dailymotion can show full episodes, instead of breaking it down into sections like YouTube. #^^#

[lukita.livejournal.com]

Lex must have been flashing back to him and Lionel during his entire fight with Conner. XD

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Aww, very likely...poor Lex! Not a happy time...

Aw, parents and children

[belladonnaf66.livejournal.com]

Excellent chapter, and loved seeing Lex and Connor's less than perfect relationship!

Re: Aw, parents and children

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Yeah, I love parents & kids, family relationships are too much fun. Even when they're as wacky a family as this one...

[ickaimp.livejournal.com]

When I first saw the Icon and read the title, I thought it said 'A Constant Snuggle'.

... ooops. #^^#

Very glad to see Virgil and Richie older and doing the things they love. And each other.

Robert never calls Superman 'Clark'... is it because he's not comfortable with calling The World's Greatest Hero by his given name?

Love the dynamic you have between Clark, Lex and Kon. Poor Kon, he's really torn between two worlds.
Any chance of Tim showing up? ^___^

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

*laughs* Aww, the snuggling's pretty constant, too...

Virgil/Richie are still one of my fave couples. Along with the Clex.

Robert calls Superman "Clark" in his head, I think (since the story's nominally his POV) but he doesn't address much in person, I think he is still a bit intimidated by him!

And I wish Tim could turn up! But I've never actually read the comics so I don't know him at all, couldn't do him justice! (I only know Kon from various fic, and this is AU enough in regards to him that I feel okay fudging his char...)

[terra-tenshi.livejournal.com]

Phenomenal chapter! If you really want to do Tim in this...series? have you considered getting a beta (temporary or otherwise) who has read the comics to help out? I'd been willing to volunteer and I bet you could get some people over and the_gas_station to help out if you posted asking for it.

Of course I confess that this is all in my own interest I'm absolutely DYING to see Tim/Kon interaction in this brave new world of yours. And if we drag Tim in I can hope for Bruce and Bruce is the win.

Also have you given any thought to acknowledging Match in any way? It might make for an interesting confrontation...

...okay, done babbling now. Drop me a line if you decide to take me up on that offer!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm already writing Bruce in my other Clex 'verse, definitely wouldn't be adverse to bringing him in! But Tim, even with a beta I couldn't handle him, I have no idea what his char is like. Maybe if I get into comics someday ^^; (because, y'know, I need more obsessions. Like a hole in the head!)

...Match? Erm, who now? (see, I really don't know these chars at all ^^;)

thanks for the offer, though! If ever I do get to the comics I can let you know ^_^

[terra-tenshi.livejournal.com]

Awww...oh well you can't have everything. And at least I get Bruce. [hugs Bruce despite the glaring] Yes! Read the comics I'll see if I can either find on-line scans or I'll scan some of my own and send them to you, obsession is food for the fangirl soul.

For general edification purposes Match is one of the other Superman clone/hybrids. There's some debate as to whether or not he was actually flawed or if something else was going on, a lot of it is still mystery. I do know that the first time we meet him he's apparently evil and is impersonating Kon in Young Justice while Kon is kidnapped. He's also (to my knowledge) dead but admittedly I'm a bit behind and will remain so until after my birthday.

[terra-tenshi.livejournal.com]

Oops, a friend just informed me that Match is actually Superboy's clone. [headdesk] This is what I get for buying stuff out of order I guess.

Anyway there's information about Match and Superboy's relationship here: http://www.titanstower.com/source/whoswho/superboy.html

If you feel like it look around the rest of the site, it's a good resource, especially if you're writing Superboy without having read Young Justice.

[stitcher2ficcer.livejournal.com]

Oh my god! So this is what you turn to when you're sick, eh? Family dynamics are the chicken soup for your soul? I smiled so many times through this, and there are so many things I love about it, I'm not going to try to list them. Lex's and Clark's relationships with Kon sure are different here than they are in the fics by Astolat that you had me reading a couple weeks ago. VERY interesting. Can't wait to see how you bring this to a conclusion.

Love your introductory quote, too. Not one I've seen before. Perfect for this story.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Actually I wrote this a week or two ago, J-chan was whining at me to do so...chicken soup for her soul, I guess! Family dynamics are far too much fun...

(and the quote was a lucky find, I was lost for a title so, as I often do, I looked up 'father son' quotes and that one fit too well to pass up...)

[yma2.livejournal.com]

I like this a lot! I loved the argument especially because, whilst i was reading it, I could see and sympothise with every point of view. As ever I adore your characterisation of Lex, though of course all the characters are done well. The conversation was well handled, clear but with a senseation of realism too. I'm looking forward to seeing where you are going to go with this.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed the argument...they're not fun to have, but they're fun to write. It's especially interesting in this case, I think, because while superhero vs villain is very black and white, family disagreements usually are all gray, there's no absolute right or wrong, and the only way to win is to work things out...

[dogwoodblossom.livejournal.com]

Superboy! Squee! I don't usually like fake Supervillain Lex stories, but I very much enjoy this series.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Heee, blame gnine, she demanded Kon-fic!
Aww, I like fake-villain Lex. I just haven't seen much of it! The few others I've found it's just a joke everyone's in on, and that spoils the fun of the secrecy...

[lapetite-kiki.livejournal.com]

I love stories where we see the relationship from someone else pov, and that fight scene was so intense!
I can’t wait for the next part!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm very fond of the outsider's POV, it allows for such interesting insight...

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

Great beginning! I love this Lex so very much, and the fight he has with Kon is seriously intense. (I suspect Lex may be right in thinking Kon is a bit too emotional yet to officially join in the hero business, but that could just be my natural inclination to take Lex's side in any argument. *g*) Wonderful description of the way Lex and Clark seem so different around Martha and Jonathan (especially that moment when Martha whacks Lex out of being a supervillain in her house), and the way Kon resembles both his fathers. I can't wait to see how this will all turn out! *bounces eagerly*

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

*grins* I am kinda totally in love with this Lex myself. He gets his badass villainry in and still can have an unangsty romance with Clark. Aww!

Martha whacking supervillain!Lex with a spoon is about 50% of the reason I wrote this story at all. XD

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

Just remembered something I forgot to mention when I commented earlier. In the first paragraph after the quote at the beginning, you have this sentence:

He was careful not to glance at the speedometer because he was certain that every time he did, they put on another five kilometers.

I'm pretty sure Robert, American that he is, would be thinking in miles rather than in kilometers. Or is the car foreign, and Robert's thinking in kilometers because that's the way the speedometer is marked? But he's not actually looking at the speedometer....

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Heh. The klicks are because it's about 15 years in the future, and I live with the eternal, helplessly optimistic hope that America will one day soon go metric OH PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

(this rant brought to you by the Americans for Easy World Communications Foundation. As an American myself with a (metric) ton of non-American friends, and now living abroad, it's a pain in the ass for me to have to be converting everything, be so much easier if I'd just grown up in tune with the rest of the planet!)

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

Ah, yes, I see. (Not sure I share your optimism, but I do see.)

[jakrar.livejournal.com]

Um. Sorry to be a pest *hangs head* but I was happily rereading the bit where Martha whacks Lex over the knuckles, and I found one tiny thing.

"Me? Plan something?" Lex's chuckle was more suited for an old James Bond movie than a billionaire mogul. The cold laugh he could manage when in character was a good deal more skin-crawling, but then he cut the parody short, tilted his head back to throw his face in shadow. "Nothing you should concern yourselves with," he said, all sleek danger, and it was if those gray eyes were holes, sucking in the light and warmth of the farmhouse. "Surely you heroes aren't so useless as to be unable to handle an occasional...unexpected turn of events."

You're missing an 'as' after the 'was' in 'and it was if those gray eyes were holes.' *ducks hastily*

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Wow! two different readers missed this one. You get the gold star! ^^ *off to fix*

[stitcher2ficcer.livejournal.com]

In a quick glance-over to see what you had changed and what you hadn't of the editorial suggestions I sent, I just spotted another omission, I'm afraid. In the following reference to Robert's apologies for Trina:
Busy with an urgent case in Dakota, she hadn't been able accompany him to Metropolis for the weekend.
a "to" is missing in front of "accompany."

Amazing how the mind will automatically insert those small words on reading unless one slows down to an editorial snail's pace reading rate.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

This is why neither of us should edit when we're sick as dogs. *goes off to commit ritual suicide by USB cable*

[attaccabottoni.livejournal.com]

*lets out an eardrum-shattering shriek of delight*

I was being so stressed over my thesis deadline, and seeing this reminded me how much I love your Lex and you OMG *tries not to give off obsessed stalkery vibes*. I love this universe. The thought of reading more of it makes any RL drudgework bearable.

*saves to read for later*

[issen4.livejournal.com]

Wow, this is great fun to read. I love the way you write them--Virgil is irrepressible, and the argument between Kon and Lex was drew out the tension very well. Thanks for sharing this. Off to read chapter 2!