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Lionel recs: Luthorcest
Last day of Lionelrecs, so I'm concluding with what many folks see as the quintessential Lionel story type in this fandom: Luthorcest. Some of the earliest and most psychologically complex stories about Lionel fall into this category.
The Luthorcest stories I like tend to show incest as a logical outgrowth of the Luthor family dynamic, whether as a fucked-up attempt by Lionel or Lex to connect with each other, or a logical outgrowth of their power games. I also like the occasional hurt/comfort story in which Lionel's abuse of Lex is part of the backdrop for Clex. I don't usually like happy Luthorcest stories, because I really don't see Lionel and Lex as having that sort of relationship, but I've included a few happy Luthorcest stories in this set of recs since I know some other folks like that scenario.
Luthorcest as the Luthor family parody of love
Jane St. Clair, Insects. Post-Jitters, Lionel and Lex have a confrontation. The one who flinches first loses.
Jane St. Clair, Red. Lex doesn't belong to Victoria, he belongs to Lionel, as Lionel amply demonstrates.
Kel, Defiled. Lionel discovers Lex has been whoring himself out, and punishes him. Umm. This is very *dirtywrong* and one of the hottest things I have ever read. If you have any sort of incest kink at all, this will definitely hit it. (Also see the prequel, Jolt.
Kel, Yield . After Lionel defeats Lex in fencing, Lex must pay the penalty--but he does so willingly.
Kitty Fisher, Monkey. Brilliantly fucked up and wonderful. One of the best manipulative Lionels *ever*, and Lex is struggling and struggling against his father's web, but can't help but give in. Also? AMAZINGLY hot, at least if you love unapologetically manipulative Lionel.
Penemuel, the Unwanted series: a series of post-episode codas, all with Luthorcest themes, starting with Unwanted Alibi, in which Lex's alibi in X-ray includes some details he didn't tell Clark; continuing with Unwanted Attention, where Lionel comforts Lex, in his own way, post-Jitters; followed by Unwanted Accolade, set post-reaper; and Unwanted Alliances in which Lionel is worried about Lex's deal with Victoria, and wants reassurance that Lex is still loyal to his family, post-Shimmer.
Sarah T, And Call It Peace. There's no actual sex in this story, but it is crucial to understanding "Wilderness," so I'm including it here. Lionel has made an important discovery about Clark Kent, and in revealing it to Lex alters their relationship irrevocably. Warning: this series does *not* end happily.
Sarah T, Wilderness. The boy had done the right thing for once. He had not allowed his emotions to rule him. It was grimly, excruciatingly obvious that he had been in love with the beautiful alien--and still he'd cleaved to his father. Surely, he deserved some reward instead of this devastation, some...compensation. This story pretty much defines Luthorcest as a fucked-up attempt at love. Highly, highly recommended, but this is *not* a happy story.
Stone Princess, 3 imaginary boys . Lionel and Lucas both want Lex, but will settle for each other.
Te, See This. One of the first (possibly the first) Luthorcest stories in the fandom, and still a classic. Lex wants his father's love, but Lionel can only give him this. There's also a sequel in which Bruce Wayne sees what's going on between Lionel and Lex: Don't Look.
Thamiris, Burnt. Lex and Lionel have rituals for remembering Lillian, but Lex has found a new religion.
xoverau, Thin Line. I love this story to pieces. Lionel, dealing with rebellious teen Lex, in the aftermath of some deaths at Club Zero. I love the Lionel characterization in this piece, and bratty Lex is always fun. I especially love how close they come to understanding each other here, only to fail at the end.
Luthorcest as powergames
Aelita, No Sleep for the Wicked. Lionel is blind, but Lex can still see--and like his father, he knows how to take advantage of weakness.
Kat Reitz and Tzigane, Land of the Blind. Lex is too easily manipulated--he needs to be taught a lesson. Or so Lionel thinks.
Kitty Fisher, Ghosts. Noncon. Lionel wants to punish Lex, and control him in every way possible--but Lex has other people to turn to for help, now--like Clark, who is slowly realizing his feelings for Lex. It's hard for me to decide what is more satisfying in this story: the lovely Clex, or the way Lex gets revenge on his dad.
khohen1, Stupid. While Lionel is in Clark's body, he attempts to seduce Lex. *So* hot and dirty!wrong.
Penemuel, Brimstone and Angel Wings (Clark/Lex, Lex/Lionel). Lionel actually is the devil, and he wants Lex on his side--but Clark might have something to say about that.
Penelope-Z, Casualties. In this heartwarming Luthor tale, Lex grows up to be just like Lionel.
Luthorcest as abuse
Kat Reitz and Tzigane, Ad Astra Per Aspera . Harrowing AU in which Lionel is studying all the Smallville mutants, including Clark and Lex (who are young teens at the beginning of this story), and sexually abusing Lex and Clark as well. This is classic hurt/comfort.
Krypto-Nightingale, Filthy Questions. When Lionel learns of Lex's activities in boarding school, he metes out punishment.
Lux, Away. Warning: this is all hurt and no comfort. Young Lex, failing to live up to his father's expectations, and being punished for it.
Happy Luthorcest:
Kel, Fatherly Devotion . After a life-threatening experience, Lex turns to Lionel for comfort.
Kel, A Night in autumn. A sweet Lionel/Lex PWP.
Kel, Reversal of Fortune . In this story, Lionel and Lex had a relationship that Lionel ended, but now that Lex has the power, he is calling the shots. Not noncon, though, because in this story they both desparately want each other.
Lilli Luthor, His Father's Son. Luthorcest is multigenerational, apparently. Lex and Lionel's relationship is much warmer than Lionel and Lachlan's was.
The Luthorcest stories I like tend to show incest as a logical outgrowth of the Luthor family dynamic, whether as a fucked-up attempt by Lionel or Lex to connect with each other, or a logical outgrowth of their power games. I also like the occasional hurt/comfort story in which Lionel's abuse of Lex is part of the backdrop for Clex. I don't usually like happy Luthorcest stories, because I really don't see Lionel and Lex as having that sort of relationship, but I've included a few happy Luthorcest stories in this set of recs since I know some other folks like that scenario.
Luthorcest as the Luthor family parody of love
Jane St. Clair, Insects. Post-Jitters, Lionel and Lex have a confrontation. The one who flinches first loses.
Jane St. Clair, Red. Lex doesn't belong to Victoria, he belongs to Lionel, as Lionel amply demonstrates.
Kel, Defiled. Lionel discovers Lex has been whoring himself out, and punishes him. Umm. This is very *dirtywrong* and one of the hottest things I have ever read. If you have any sort of incest kink at all, this will definitely hit it. (Also see the prequel, Jolt.
Kel, Yield . After Lionel defeats Lex in fencing, Lex must pay the penalty--but he does so willingly.
Kitty Fisher, Monkey. Brilliantly fucked up and wonderful. One of the best manipulative Lionels *ever*, and Lex is struggling and struggling against his father's web, but can't help but give in. Also? AMAZINGLY hot, at least if you love unapologetically manipulative Lionel.
Penemuel, the Unwanted series: a series of post-episode codas, all with Luthorcest themes, starting with Unwanted Alibi, in which Lex's alibi in X-ray includes some details he didn't tell Clark; continuing with Unwanted Attention, where Lionel comforts Lex, in his own way, post-Jitters; followed by Unwanted Accolade, set post-reaper; and Unwanted Alliances in which Lionel is worried about Lex's deal with Victoria, and wants reassurance that Lex is still loyal to his family, post-Shimmer.
Sarah T, And Call It Peace. There's no actual sex in this story, but it is crucial to understanding "Wilderness," so I'm including it here. Lionel has made an important discovery about Clark Kent, and in revealing it to Lex alters their relationship irrevocably. Warning: this series does *not* end happily.
Sarah T, Wilderness. The boy had done the right thing for once. He had not allowed his emotions to rule him. It was grimly, excruciatingly obvious that he had been in love with the beautiful alien--and still he'd cleaved to his father. Surely, he deserved some reward instead of this devastation, some...compensation. This story pretty much defines Luthorcest as a fucked-up attempt at love. Highly, highly recommended, but this is *not* a happy story.
Stone Princess, 3 imaginary boys . Lionel and Lucas both want Lex, but will settle for each other.
Te, See This. One of the first (possibly the first) Luthorcest stories in the fandom, and still a classic. Lex wants his father's love, but Lionel can only give him this. There's also a sequel in which Bruce Wayne sees what's going on between Lionel and Lex: Don't Look.
Thamiris, Burnt. Lex and Lionel have rituals for remembering Lillian, but Lex has found a new religion.
xoverau, Thin Line. I love this story to pieces. Lionel, dealing with rebellious teen Lex, in the aftermath of some deaths at Club Zero. I love the Lionel characterization in this piece, and bratty Lex is always fun. I especially love how close they come to understanding each other here, only to fail at the end.
Luthorcest as powergames
Aelita, No Sleep for the Wicked. Lionel is blind, but Lex can still see--and like his father, he knows how to take advantage of weakness.
Kat Reitz and Tzigane, Land of the Blind. Lex is too easily manipulated--he needs to be taught a lesson. Or so Lionel thinks.
Kitty Fisher, Ghosts. Noncon. Lionel wants to punish Lex, and control him in every way possible--but Lex has other people to turn to for help, now--like Clark, who is slowly realizing his feelings for Lex. It's hard for me to decide what is more satisfying in this story: the lovely Clex, or the way Lex gets revenge on his dad.
khohen1, Stupid. While Lionel is in Clark's body, he attempts to seduce Lex. *So* hot and dirty!wrong.
Penemuel, Brimstone and Angel Wings (Clark/Lex, Lex/Lionel). Lionel actually is the devil, and he wants Lex on his side--but Clark might have something to say about that.
Penelope-Z, Casualties. In this heartwarming Luthor tale, Lex grows up to be just like Lionel.
Luthorcest as abuse
Kat Reitz and Tzigane, Ad Astra Per Aspera . Harrowing AU in which Lionel is studying all the Smallville mutants, including Clark and Lex (who are young teens at the beginning of this story), and sexually abusing Lex and Clark as well. This is classic hurt/comfort.
Krypto-Nightingale, Filthy Questions. When Lionel learns of Lex's activities in boarding school, he metes out punishment.
Lux, Away. Warning: this is all hurt and no comfort. Young Lex, failing to live up to his father's expectations, and being punished for it.
Happy Luthorcest:
Kel, Fatherly Devotion . After a life-threatening experience, Lex turns to Lionel for comfort.
Kel, A Night in autumn. A sweet Lionel/Lex PWP.
Kel, Reversal of Fortune . In this story, Lionel and Lex had a relationship that Lionel ended, but now that Lex has the power, he is calling the shots. Not noncon, though, because in this story they both desparately want each other.
Lilli Luthor, His Father's Son. Luthorcest is multigenerational, apparently. Lex and Lionel's relationship is much warmer than Lionel and Lachlan's was.
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i haven't read many of these, so there'll be several that are new to me. oh, i did read "See This" a while back and was so impressed by it.
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Oh, yes, I like their two long CSI AUs, too, and those are definitely hurt/comfort, too. Like you, I don't like watching Clark and Lex get hurt--and least, not in the ways that they are tortured in "Ad Astra Per Aspera"--but I think it's the comfort part of this story that draws me in, like you said. Smallville fans know Lionel has done horrible things to Lex and other people, and want to see him get his, so that's one of the draws of the story. The other, I think, is that Clark and Lex's love will triumph over any situation, even the most extreme.
I was thinking, in response to your question about the psychology of h/c, that it's interesting that these two authors are some of the few in SV writing classic hurt/comfort. But then I realized that in most of the fandoms I've read in the past five years or so, h/c is no longer really a very prominent genre. I know that in the past h/c was once one of the most common types of fanfic stories--this was certainly true of Trek and X-files and Highlander, anyway, back in the 90s when I was reading in those fandoms.
Maybe that's has changed because of the shifting patterns in fanwriting? I know that a lot of the h/c I read in those fandoms was gen rather than explicitly slash. And for me, one the pleasures of h/c when it is done well is that it puts the characters in an emotionally vulnerable place, which I think is uncommon for male characters in action/sci-fi stories. And before slash became as popular as it now is in fandom, I think h/c stories were a space where authors could explore some of the popular themes in slash (like men's feelings about each other) without specifically putting them into a sexual relationship.
These days, though, I think more authors put their energy into figuring out how to hook the two guys up rather than putting them in a dangerous situation in which one gets to take care of the other. (Though sometimes h/c scenarios still get used in first-time stories)
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>Clark and Lex's love will triumph over any situation, even the most extreme.
yes! *happy sigh* ;)
i think you're right on target with your observation about how "it puts the characters in an emotionally vulnerable place." i remember when i was a young girl, cooking up feverish fantasies about the boys in my classes -- they'd often be h/c scenarios, because otherwise i couldn't imagine access to their emotions that way. interesting. i'll think about this. the whole phenomenon of women writing from a male p.o.v. has been intriguing to me from my first exposure to slash about 3 years ago. but i've likely already yapped about that before. *g*
speaking of X-Files, the h/c angle is helpful with alex, because it opens him up and lets the character he's paired with in. yeah, that works!
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Thanks for the recs!
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And you're welcome!
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