X Never Marks the Spot

I have spent the last few months trapped behind one of the worst writing blocks it's been my misfortune to encounter. Am finally, finally feeling like I might be chipping my way through it - hopefully to really get going on my help_haiti fics (omg I am so sorry, I have not forgotten, I swear! orz). In the meantime I am latching on like a leech to the slightest bit of inspiration that comes my way, and the latest Identical story seems to have stirred up my Clex fangirl (not difficult, she's never deeply buried.)

So, here's a new story in the Subterfuge universe, my fluffy future fic AU (and this addition rates a feather-tucked-into-a-cottonball on the Lint Scale of WAFF.)

Smallville: The Best Laid Schemes {~9,000 words}
PG; Subterfuge 'verse; Clex + Conner, h/c, fluff
Even the best superheroes and -villains can't cover every contingency; sometimes things just go awry.

(posted on AO3 like all the cool kids are doing, feel free to comment here or there. Or both! You know me, any feedback is appreciated and admired and cherished like a dragon with her gold.)

Next week we (hopefully) will return you to your regularly scheduled fic. For now - gratuitous Clex h/c, set in late second season. If I had been watching the show back then, this is just the sort of fic I would've been writing: slash angst-fluff, pretty much, exploring an issue about Clark's secrets (and in fact most superhero secret identities) that's been bothering me.

Warnings for a bit of good old fashioned Lex!torture in the beginning, and generally woobie!Lex. Also the Kents are perhaps not very nice here, which wasn't my intent, but how it worked out. Hopefully in an IC way, but still. (And may I say *sigh* that being an asshole is in character for SV's Jonathan...)

Smallville: The Right of Truth (1/2)
R, Clex, h/c; second season
Lex is kidnapped and it's Clark to the rescue as usual, but he might not be ready for all he finds.

Read it on AO3

Thanks to gnine for the quick beta!

Smallville: All the Difference, 9/? {2,625 words}
PG-13, Clark/Lex, futurefic, AU (in a manner of speaking)
Lex Luthor wakes up in his own bed in his own penthouse, infinitely far from all he knows. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor wakes up in his own bed in his own penthouse, just as far from home...

( Part 9: In which Lex goes in without a safety net, and encounters the trouble one would expect. )

I'm recovering from a cold (*cough* *snort* *sniffle* *whiiiine*), wrote this sick from a fever-conceived idea. So it's pretty rough; I might polish it later, not sure I'm going to bother. Smallville, not really Clex, alien invasion futurefic AU. Sort of dark, sort of post-apocalyptic, plenty weird, and so Lex-apologist your head will spin.

...Almost everyone, raising their eyes to the skies, realized the world was ended either way.

And that's all she wrote! Well, of this. There will be more of others. Er. (I'm also vaguely tempted to do a follow-up to this, as the PG-13-ness of the resolution might frustrate...and the rest of the season might well frustrate even more, depending how it goes...but we'll see.)

I have to say thanks for the great reception this fic has gotten, I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed all the comments. I wrote "Contingencies" out of a dissatisfaction with the way the series has taken the Clark-Lex relationship, however predestined; it seems I'm not alone in my sentiments. Whether or not the end is what you expected, I hope it doesn't disappoint!

Smallville: Contingencies, 7/7 {5,922 words}
PG-13; Clark/Lex; 6th season; angst, drama, h/c
Lex, forced to his last resort, comes to the Kent home, and Clark must rise to the occasion, as he finds himself questioning his assumptions about his dying enemy.

Read it on AO3

I need to start posting this now, before the final eps of the season blow it completely out of the water. Hopefully I'll finish it before they start airing...hope no one minds a bit of fic spamming in the next couple weeks.

This is about my favorite non-futurefic SV scenario, which I've been wanting to try my hand at, though this...got a bit out of hand. It's the classic 'Lex turns up at the Kent farmhouse in dire straits', given a 6th season twist. This is not quite the story I was intending to write. I have a feeling it needs a warning, but I'm not exactly sure for what. Let's see: it's dark, it's angsty, it's sappy, and it may go shamelessly over the top in any of these directions. I can promise a light at the end of the tunnel, but it's going to be a long tunnel.

Major spoilers for the entire series, especially "Solitude" and "Vessel"/"Zod," and all of 6th season aired thus far.

Smallville: Contingencies, 1/7 {5,957 words}
PG-13; Clark/Lex; 6th season; angst, drama, h/c
Lex, forced to his last resort, comes to the Kent home. And Clark must rise to the occasion, as he finds himself questioning his assumptions about his dying enemy.

Read it on AO3

I dashed this off in all of an hour; gnine was going through "Justice" looking for shots for her latest art, made a comment about Oliver and Clark; I retorted with something I've been saying about Clark for a while, then realized it was a fic waiting to happen.

Smallville: Looks Like a Billion Bucks {1,387 words}
PG-13, Clex, 6th season, silly
Clark has a significant revelation about certain moneyed acquaintances.

Read it on AO3

But wait, there's more! My apologies for the delay in posting, hope folks are still interested? ^_^
Before this story proceeds any further, I must disclaim: I know very little or nothing whatsoever about economics, business theory, the stock market, architecture, zoning regs, computer mainframes, quantum physics, or in fact most of the things Lex Luthor is an expert in, making much of the plotty bits of this story an exercise in pure bullshit. Viva la technobabble!

I have to say I love writing Lex's POV, getting to use whatever wonderfully esoteric English vocabulary I can sweep up from the far dusty corners of my brain. I am very fond of my language, wacky as it is. Thanks as always to gnine for riding herd on my linguistic stampedes.

Smallville: All the Difference, 6/? {3,419 words}
PG-13, Clark/Lex, futurefic, AU (in a manner of speaking)
Lex Luthor wakes up in his own bed in his own penthouse, infinitely far from all he knows. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor wakes up in his own bed in his own penthouse, just as far from home...

( Part 6: In which Lex is too busy lighting candles to bother cursing the darkness, or the Batman. )

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

SV 6x16, "Promise" - no spoilers, but Oh Em Gee, I love Lionel, puppet master extraordinaire. Dance on his strings, boys and girls. Hah. (This is why I like villains. Everyone is miserable - and making me miserable watching them - except Lionel, who's snug as a spider in its web...)

gnine's been ill, but felt well enough to beta tonight (thanks hon!), so here you go. Don't know about you but after that ep, I need the pick-me-up. Man, I want me some 6th season reconciliation!Clex...

Smallville: All the Difference, 5/? {3,631 words}
PG-13, Clark/Lex, futurefic, AU (in a manner of speaking)
Lex Luthor wakes up in his own bed in his own penthouse, infinitely far from all he knows. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor wakes up in his own bed in his own penthouse, just as far from home...

( Part 5: In which Lex is surprised by brandy and pad thai, and Clark comes home. )