Jenn: Find Me

Jenn blames this on me, and you know? I can accept that.

Bruce and Lex in the time before their destinies, summer heat
and summer storms, innocence and ominous little hints, and,
oh yeah, HOT SEX.

*happysigh*

*

Hope: Madonna

Thank God for other people's rec pages, or I might've *missed*
this. Jesus. Jesus.

Lana is so fucked up, but it's not in one of those easy, familiar
ways that so many of us know and love. No, it's in her own
*special* way and... gah.

Hope hits the nail on the head.

*

Rivka T: Five Things That Never Happened To Lex Luthor

Rrrrr. I love this challenge so fucking much. It makes writers do
such beautifully twisted, sexy, *fucked* up things to the
characters, and man, how happy-making is *that*?

I think my favorite is the last one of these -- a brutal little
vignette with a kicker of an ending, but all of them are
wonderful.

*

tiffany rawlins: fall far from

I don't know what it is. Something about her style just drags me back
where I don't want to go. MM. This was quite lovely. A different take
on the pilot, somehow honey-sweet and slow and gorgeous. Lex
is confused. Clark is confused. It's all got to work *somehow*.

*

Livia: Historical Challenge!Chloe and Lana

Oh, this was *lovely*. Good choice on the historical challenge thing,
and just neatly done all around. Lana's expression is not the best,
but I'm thinking that's not the fault of Livia. ;-)

The Chloe is perfect.

And Just Pie

How had I not read this yet? A wonderful, terrifyingly plausible
AU in which Clark is most certainly *not* a pimp.

*ahahaha*

*

tiffany rawlins: the telling of all this

Mmm. I've been avoiding Clex lately, but you know, sometimes I
just can't stop myself. Like when it's short, and hot, and brilliant,
and just painful enough. Rrr.

Yum.

*

Sarah T.: Protect and Serve

*snif* I love Mercy, and this was just a perfect little story for her.
Sharp, matter of fact, and full of a thousand things unsaid.

I loved this.

*

Dystocia: Four Things That Could Possibly Happen

*Christ* I love this challenge.

Four shorts that alternately made me bite my lip, shriek with
laughter, and *CENSORED*. I thought the last was the weakest --
it needed a bit *more* of something undefinable (at least, while
I'm high on painkillers), but really the whole thing was a treat
for my AU-loving soul.

*

Livia Penn: Cover for The Rules of Blue (art)

Really, everyone needs to see this cover. Because... damn. That's
just freakin' pretty. Theme, presentation, composition... it's all there
and it's all done *well*.

The only thing I can think to critique is that it's obvious she had to...
er... fudge the crotch-shot. The texture is slightly off. But... man,
that's like bitching about a restaurant when the only thing you didn't
like was the placement of the centerpieces.

Really, you're gonna dig this pic.

*

Laura Shapiro: Thank You, Ma'am

Chlana that *works*. Dude. Do I have to say any more? It's
Chlana. And it's in character. And it's *hot*.

Go *read*, people!

The Spike: But I Like It

Oh, man. I haven't even seen the episode, but this... this. *sigh*

Okay, I love it when people get stylish. I love it when writers show off.
*But* -- I only love it when those writers have heart behind what they're
doing, when the emotion is *real*.

And the Spike fills my requirements to a t. This is a strange, dreamy,
*arrhythmic* piece that nonetheless packs an incredibly powerful punch.

By the end, you know precisely which road you've been led along, and
oh, but it hurts. It's the sort of thing I almost wish made less sense,
because as it is, I can only reach out and... wish.

The perfect insanity of love.

*

Jayne Leitch: Trinity: Three Things that Didn't Happen to Lionel Luthor

Mmm, yes. I loved this -- the first and third more than the second, but it's
all quite good. Another entry in the Five Things challenge, and the only
thing liable to throw you off your stride is the voice of the mystery woman
in part two.

Personally, I find her to be a touch more proper/dated, but YMMV.

*

Bexless: Super Bullet Sneeze

Eee! Cuteness of Doom! *sigh* So few things can really make me go
DAWWWWWwwww and mean it, and baby!Clark with baby!Pete is
one of those things. I mean... can't you just *picture* the adorableness?

Doesn't it *kill* you?

*sigh*

*

Ash Jay: Make Me Happy

Oh my. This was... well. Yeah. Pretty damned close to exactly what I wanted.

Dark, vicious, nasty and *hot*. I would've liked the style to be a bit less breathless
in places, but, well, obviously that's a style choice. There are also some typos,
but not enough to worry you.

Basically? I panted my way through it. Rowr.

*

Koi: Three Fairy Tales of Smallville

Oh, man. Oh, *man*.

Another entry in the Five Things That Aren't True challenge, and this one just
rocked my *world*. God. I refuse to spoil. But it's dark and strange and marvelous,
and I'm completely in love.

*eee*

*

Livia Penn: After All

Good Jonathan stories are nearly as rare as good Pete stories. And this...
*mmm*. A beautiful little jewel, a perfect look at what it means to be Jonathan
Kent.

What it means to live in a world where greys are things to be feared, and
the smart thing to do isn't always (or ever) the right thing to do.

Wonderfully done.

*

Thamiris: Wilde Like

Gyah. This punched buttons I didn't even know I *had* until I was literally
crying with lust.

The dialogue, the innocence, the possession, the... yeah. *whirl, whirl*
What can I say? I'm a sucker for the happy, and I'm perfectly willing to go
to the S1 emotional place, no matter what.

There were a few places where I might have made cuts, but that's a style
choice. YMMV.

Livia: Chloe: Year One

Livia's my favorite fangirl. I mean, really. She takes a throwaway
nothing of an idea and creates the beginning of a *world*, different
and the same and entirely cool.

And, well.

I think this'll give some fangirls out there a grin. *g*

*

Sarah T.: Delilah

Ehehehe. A gently, quietly evil little story about what happens when the
games played aren't what you think they are.

Martha, Lionel, and the homey little chores of life. Deeeelightful.

*

Thamiris: Driving With Crocodile Shoes

Oh, *yes*. As much as I'm off my feed, as it were, when it comes to SV
fic, Tham can always bring me right back in.

This story is just the right blend of sex, thoughtfulness (and thought),
friendship, and the pain and beauty of love. And bonus: Clark's friends
are his *friends*.

Which is just the way it should be.

Mmm.

*

jessica: The Push and the Pull

I was going to leave this one, but then I saw the beta list... well.

This is a marvelous achievement -- a genuinely gentle, sweet, *schmoopy*
story that still manages to stay in character throughout.

Hunh?

Wha?

No, I have *no* idea how she did this. But she sure did leave me feeling
all warm and such. Have a quote:

They've had time to practice and Clark still kisses like someone not afraid
to colour outside the lines.

*

Hope: The Fifth Season

Oh, man. This is...

Look, you just have to read it. This story illustrates brilliantly just why I love
AUs so much, how one little change can change (or break) a world.

God. Just... wow.

Read.

Jack: No Uncommon Sentiment
 

Really, it's criminally rare to find someone in this fandom who can
write a Lionel who's neither a cardboard villain nor the embodiment of
the writer's Daddy Issues. (not that I can blame people for the latter...)

Jack walks the line neatly, producing a lovely bit of Christmas *spirit*
for the Luthors, and somehow managing to put a warm glow in my
black little heart.

*

Jenn: Bent in the Undergrowth

*SNIVEL*

Sequel to "In a Yellow Wood" and just... damn. Heartwrending. All flowing
from that one fucking 'what if,' and... DAMN.

WOOOBIIIIEEEEEEES.

Yes, well. *koff*

And *its* sequel, Perhaps the Better Claim

God, Jenn's just cruising right along in this dark little AU, and I can't help but
follow. I really don't think I'm alone.

Go on and read. Watch Lex deal -- and not -- with responsibility.

*

Lanning Cook: Persuasion

There really is nothing quite as satisfying as Clark Kent: Wicked Seductress.

Especially when he has to talk poor Lex into it.

So hot, and sweet, and angsty-good, and on top of all that?

*Plot*.

Yep, this is the long-awaited next part of Lanning's clone series, and she's
really just trucking along, isn't she? Man. I *fear* Karloff, and that's pretty
hard to do. This story is sexy, sweet, scary plotty goodness, and I wish to God
there were more just like it.

Go read.

*

Pearl-O: Customary

God, I love the way Pearl-O writes Clark. Just so young and sweet and
complicated and confused, just like he (should be).

Poor woobie. So in love.

*

Zahra: Sixteen Vestal Virgins

Bwee! There's just something happy for me about Chloe and sex, specifically,
Chloe thinking frankly about sex and getting hot under the... collar. She just
seems like the type, you know?

Or she did, before her character got beaten like a step-headed red child.

ANYway. Zahra gives me Chloe as I see her, as I love seeing her, and as I love
her. Yum.

*

Thamiris: The Continually Vibrating I

Oh, *my*.

You know, I've been chatting with various people -- and haranguing others
::waves to Caro:: -- about the ways Lex's Issues are handled in fic, and
my basic belief that happy endings aren't nearly as difficult as they're made
out to be (at least at this point in time), and generally getting frustrated.

I mean, it's not like I can't *understand* the drive to write dark fiction -- I
certainly write my share of it -- I just don't think writers always try hard
enough for the happy.

Which is a troublesome belief, as it begs the question of why *should* they,
but hey, I never claimed that I *wasn't* a romantic sap at heart.

But *this* story touches on all the prickly awkwardness of a potential
Clark/Lex romance and manages to deftly navigate that road between
angst and possibility -- and does it with humor, style, grace, and
aplomb.

All that and Thamiris' usual blisteringly hot smut and I do believe I lost
vision (and time) for a while there this morning.

Woo-ha.

Go read.

*

Sarah T.: The Figure in the Glass

AHAHAHAHAHAHAA.

BAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHHAAAA.

*CHOKE*

AHAHAHAHAHAAAAA

You know, what makes this story so fucking brilliant isn't the perfect dialogue,
the perfect characterization, or even the many killer lines that I refuse to take
out of context.

What makes it brilliant is the fact that Sarah managed to tamp down her
considerable loathing for Lana and present a story that was simply... her.

*All* her.

With the one tiny yet ever so important absence of the WB's soft-focus
Everything Lana Does Is Beautiful And Right.

This, friends and neighbors, is Lanafic done *right*.

*

Livia: Many Waters

Christ. WHY do I read fic that I know is going to break my heart into a
million little pieces?

Oh yeah, because I'm a JACKASS.

Well, it helps that it's Livia writing it. It's not *every* Slasher-Come-Lately
that can rip me up inside, and certainly not with this much style and
delicacy.

Many Waters is a post-Heat story from Lex's point of view. You remember
Lex, right? The guy who had every reason to think his love was real *and*
that he was a stupid schmuck?

Thanks to all the things that a certain farmboy and crew *neglected* to
tell him?

Yeah.

Damn.
 
 

Jack: Greenlit

Ooooh. How I do love a good creep. This one is subtle; it'll sneak up on
you and grab you by the... throat.

If you pay attention.

And the last line is a *killer*.

Rowr.

And: Seven Veils

Holy. Shit.

Holy shit.

Just... holy. Fucking. Shit.

A fucked up, wild, *terribly* visceral ride through Clark's mind in extremis. What
we do and don't want. What we know and what we think we know.

Jesus.

And: Naked Villainy

EEEEEEEEEEK. Writing the Luthor family is hard. Not for beginners, not even
for journeyman. Never mind the subtlety and *craft* it takes, you have to be
ready to *feel* them.

Both of them.

You've gotta be ready to feel everything, and share it, unflinching and raw.

Jack does all of the above, and leaves me, if not necessarily wanting more,
then definitely still trapped in the obsession. Wonderfully done.

*

Destina Fortunato: An Economy of Truth

God, God, God.

A beautifully sweet and painful exploration of love as it relates to the
meeting of two solitudes -- always alone at the end of the day, but never
entirely without hope.

Gorgeously done.

*

Laura Shapiro: Maternal Instinct

Oh, do I *ever* have a kink for well-written Martha. Martha who isn't always
as perfectly motherly as she seems?

*purrrr*

Even better.

This is a story that makes Lionel's actions in Nocturne make perfect sense, in
the most twisted, hot, and scary ways possible. The beauty of anticipation, and
the canker in the rose. Lovely.

*

Jenn: In A Yellow Wood

*BAWL*

Okay, this was just *beautiful*. Jenn takes Tempest and Vortex and one
simple question.

One simple, all-too-plausible hesitation that, God, would've changed
*everything*.

This story rocked my little world. Friendship, family, and the worth of
a single life.

And: Almost to the End of the World

Those of us who know a bit of comics canon often find ourselves wondering just
what it would take to turn the Pete Ross of today into the Vice President of the
Lex Luthor of tomorrow.

Jenn does a gorgeous job of not-quite-telling us just that, skirting around the
edges of a mind made all too careful in the world of politics, and the even harsher
world of love.

Deeply plausible and sad.

*

Jayne Leitch: Victor Victoria

The *blackest* of black humor, and the life of a woman who isn't nearly as
intelligent as she thinks she is.

It's *damned* hard to write a character as canonically... well, let's just say 'not
up to the challenge' and leave it at that -- as Victoria was without lapsing into
slapstick or fratboy humor, but Jayne succeeds admirably.

Read and be cheerfully horrified.

*

Ingrid: Lalique

Some plot developments demand fiction. Some plot developments demand
better fiction than others.

The advent of Martha's employment by Lionel? *Definitely* one of the latter.

Lalique is a story about hope, and family, and all the lies we tell ourselves to
hold the former two together. Because sometimes...

Well, sometimes it's all we have.

Hope: Needful Things

Squee!

And yes, that's exactly the sound I made upon finishing this wonderful
little story about reading the subtleties of life.

One of the best things about title challenges is when the writers actually
use the stories' original meanings in their own stories, and Hope does
just that here.

Of course, not all needful things require pain as a price...

*

Basingstoke: Psyche's Candle

Sometimes canon falls right the hell down on the job. Leaves too many
holes, you know?

There's a difference between making the audience think for itself and,
well, leaving VAST GAPING HOLES where information should be.

And the space between Vortex and Heat is pretty much a singularity at
this point.

Luckily, we have Basingstoke to step in and *show* the rest of us a
beautifully realized and just plain beautiful look and what would happen
to Lex after the events of Vortex.

How does anyone live with that much awfulness?

Bas gives us a few hints.

*

Jenn: Intent

Holy *shit*.

This was one of the best mindfucks I've ever come across, taking the cheerfully
lighthearted hash of Heat and making something darkly sexy. Sexily *dark*.

Motherfucking *A*.

Color me turned on, obsessed, and creeped the fuck out.

Wow.

Sarah T.: Defects Prove Commodities

*shiver*

A wonderfully subtle tale that takes all of the potential of those oh-so-
disturbing season two promo shots and the few Lionel/Lex scenes we've
been given and provides...

Even more potential.

Does that sound like a tease?

I don't mean it to.

You'll see what I mean when you read.

God, this story...

*shudder*

Bonus points for doing something useful with that hoary old lie about
blind people's other senses being more acute.

*

Livia Penn: Fidelity

No one should be allowed to write Lois Lane until they read Livia's fic. I'm
sorry, but that's just the way it goes. Livia *knows* Lois, and she knows how
to write the brassy bitch so that we're all reminded that she is, first and
foremost, human.

She loves, she laughs, she lusts... and in this story?

She gets a pretty damned sweet deal.

And you know what?

So does everyone else.

Lesson for the day: Stalking pays.

*

Kitty Fisher: Glitter

*sigh* The fandom of heartbreak, man.

Everything Clark doesn't understand, doesn't know how to say.

Everything Lex can bring himself to wait for.

There are a lot of ways sex can hurt.

*

Ladonna: Delayed Reactions

Um... buh?

Sooooo hot.

SOOOOO hot.

Damn hot. Real hot. HOT.

Also? Funny as *hell*. Luthor bonding. Frogs.

Leeches. Just read.

I do love a Clark who appreciates his Lex...

And: Don't Ask, Don't Tell

You know, it's really, *really* hard to portray a generally positive relationship
from an outsider's perspective without lapsing into serious Mary Sue territory.

That's why I've tended to avoid it like the plague. *g*

*This* story, however, manages to paint a highly believable Gabe Sullivan
in a highly unbelievable situation. He's a practical man with practical
concerns, but he's also a kind man, a *good* man, and a parent. Ladonna
manages to squeeze all of this in with style and finesse, and I was highly,
*highly* impressed.

The character of Lori was a bit more of the slasher's wish-fulfillment that
we're all a little too used to, but overall? Great stuff here.

AND: Bargain

What *is* it about those Alexanders?

Has there *been* a fannish Alexander I haven't fallen like a ton of bricks for?

And now we get two in one story. Like the Spike, Ladonna brings an old
favorite to Smallville to take care of a little business. The circumstances are
different this time, but the quality is still nice and high. Everybody's in
character here in this darkly... sweet look at what a man will do for love.

Some choices are easy to make.

Livia: The Off Season

One of my absolute favorite bits of canon/fanon is that Lex *knows* Clark's
secrets, or the gist of them, and has accepted and moved on. Vortex put a
definite song in my heart on that score, however ambiguously it was played.

Livia takes the conceit and runs with it here, positing a Lex who watches,
and waits -- not with malevolence, and not with some romantic ideal of
patience anyone with a brain knows that Lex could probably never muster.

The Lex here is simply himself, grieving in ways he probably doesn't even
see himself for a boy who's had to grow up too fast.

For the friend to whom he can give so little.

Beautiful story.

*

Elizabeth: an ordinary day

Why is it that the really *good* writers have to write Riftfic? Why?

Because I don't *want* to read it, but I *have* to...

*wah*

This was wonderfully done, stylish and ruthless and just *gripping*. The
Lex voice is damningly calm, utterly himself, even when we can see him
starting to crack around the edges.

All too plausible.