*taps mic* is this thang on???
never made a fic rec list before (and no one asked me for one lol) but it felt overdue! This is by no means exhaustive and I'll probably update it as I keep reading, but wanted to give out SOME flowers for all the hard work so many talented writers have put into keeping this fandom alive. in the spirit of fairness (and a challenge) I'm capping my recs at one per author (though many of the authors listed below have MULTIPLE works I would consider among my favorites)
this is gonna be the chunkiest section, so I guess that says something about my eternal optimism? idk lol I feel like in a show that fucks up an arc as thoroughly as smallville fucks up clex's, writing a future fic is fundamentally an act of hope (and madness... coming from someone who wrote one...)
----------------------Canon Compliant----------------------
All The Candles by saudades_girl (@saudades-whore): I love so many of this author's works but this one in particular lives rent free in my brain.
The first and only night Lex touched him, he'd told him he was doing something wrong – that Clark would understand that someday and hate him for it. But Clark wouldn't surrender any of it, even now. Lex in the moonlight. That satisfied, wolfish grin. No. But he does understand what Lex meant, in a way he was incapable of when he was 16: it's how he knows that what he's about to do is very wrong. (multi-chap)
no substitute by thegingerwrites (@thegingerwrites): I would read a hundred more proxy-fucking fics featuring these two. Yearner!Lex and jealous!Clark.... does something... to me.
When Clark makes it clear that he is off the market, Lex does everything he can to have him anyway. And he'll fuck half of Metropolis to do it. (~10K)
From The Man Who Has Everything by amidsizedfrog (@pussyhoundspock): This is technically a sequel and I would suggest you read part 1 first, but I guess it isn't totally necessary? Anyway, you know those fics that exist out there that make you insane because they're so good you wish you thought of them? That's this for me.
Lex is turning forty-two, Clark is considering dating men, and as if all of that isn't enough, Superman decides he isn't fighting Lex anymore. (multi-chap)
I Built You a Tower by Eileen_Blazer (@come-on-eileenie): See above about ideas so good you wish you thought of them first. I'm actually not going to provide a summary for this one. It'd ruin the fun. (~7800)
----------------------Canon Divergent----------------------
Lost in Las Vegas by KittyAugust (KittyAug): GUYS I love this one so much omg.
When Clark Kent and Lex Luthor attend Bruce Wayne’s bachelor party in Las Vegas, getting hitched was not on the cards. But it turns out waking up married to an ex-friend and current nemesis might be the best thing for both of them. (multi-chap)
Le Dormeur du Val by Pun: one of the first smallville clex fics I read actually, featuring whump!superman/clark. Kind of takes place in an au where clex became estranged in a different way than they did in the show.
Lex takes in a weary Clark. (~11,000)
Yellow by rivkat: the summary on this one doesn't really give much away so I'll try not to give much away; I'll just say this features a secretly yearning President Lex Luthor and a needlessly self-sacrificing Superman. (~6500)
Long Time Coming by BewareTheIdes15: the summary is already long and I don't need to add much besides this fic lives in my head rent free and I wish I wrote it.
“Yes, I’m in love with you,” Lex says, like he’s explaining that the Earth is round; like this is some baseline, inalienable fact that’s not irretrievably reorganizing Clark’s existence. “I’ve never seen any reason for that to be an impediment to our friendship.”
Essentially, this is a futurefic of a Smallville AU in which Clark fessed up about being an alien some time in high school and Lex got to be the unstoppable super-wingman he was always meant to be: with bonus obliviousness and long-term pining. I know my brand. I’ve fiddled with some of the timeline because as long as I’m fixing things, I might as well make them work for me, but really you don’t need to know/remember much of anything about the actual show canon. (~14,600)
even as a shadow by ForgottenFrog: I've only read this once bc I don't know if I'm emotionally stable enough to ever read it again but it Changed Me. Not only one of the best fics I've ever read, but one of the best Things I've ever read.
“Hey, you’ve reached Clark Kent. Leave me a message and I’ll talk to you soon.”
A thick lump threatened to swell in Lex’s throat and he swallowed it down.
“You wouldn’t believe this, Clark,” he said, beginning a circuit around the terrace garden, “Even if you were here to see it. For as long as my father has been dead, it's never stopped him from meddling in my life.”
The next words were hard to say out loud, even to someone who wasn’t listening.
“We have a child. A son, to be exact. Your DNA combined with mine.”
Blessing and tragedy have always walked hand in hand for Lex Luthor. (~16,400)
Don't read these at work or somewhere where you can't rub one out real quick
It Was Supposed To Be A Joke by blarfkey: BLARFKEYYYYY (@blarfkey) the queeeeeen. Listen, I don't need to even rec Marbles on Glass bc if you haven't read it yet, are you okay???? Instead, I'm gonna rec this other fic of hers which (legend has it) she cranked out in a three-day fugue state, which is insane because of how fucking good it is and has no right to be for a daddy kink fic. Legend also has it this title came about because I suggested she call it "Back Dad Ass Up" and when she almost seriously considered it, I quickly added: That one WAS a joke.
It starts off as a joke. Something stupid and silly to say to Lex when he buys Clark's textbooks or pays for pizza, to make the fact that Clark can't afford it himself a little more bearable. They laugh, Clark feels less guilty for taking Lex's money, and they move on.
The more he does it, the less funny it gets.
Until Clark has another secret to hide from Lex. (~9300)
Blessing or a Curse by hypothesistest (@cat-claw): I read this while I was home visiting my mom and I um..... wish I had a little more privacy. I'll just say that.
When Lex envisioned Clark asking to be fucked, his fantasy didn't involve a witch's curse. Reality proves to be much stranger than his imagination. (~4500)
clueless by Jamez: I've heard every one of this author's fics *hits* and while I haven't had the chance yet to fully test that hypothesis, this fic makes me feel pretty confident that's probably true.
Lex smells different today and Clark is overwhelmed. (~3600)
gonna leave you needing nobody else by infp_obsessing_over_everything (@dr-lizortecho): this one was written for Smallville Clex Week as well and once again, I read this somewhere that was not ideal for the effect it had on me (our neighborhood pool).
“You’re supposed to be developing a lede for your latest Torch article, not…” here he licks his lips, draws Clark’s attention back to the plush mouth he had sweet sweet dreams about. “Playing footsie.” (~5,000)
Under 5K, a virtue I know not of
would you still love me…? by museaway: I was introduced to this writer through Smallville Clex Week even though they've been writing Smallville Clex for a long time!!! Shamefully, this is the only thing of theirs I've read so far but it is SO good and sweet and absurd, and if you are looking for a quick fix, it's perfect.
Clark had a tendency to talk to himself when he was writing, which is why Lex initially ignored the question.
Does Your Mother Know? by SinnamonSpider: I'm a sucker for anything Martha/Lex and the writing/characterization in this fic is just so on point.
It's a balmy Saturday morning in May when Martha realizes her son is in love with Lex Luthor.
It Came Just the Same by Lanning: this is part of the Identical series (which I have still not finished!!!!) but I can't remember another Smallville clex fic making me kick my feet so much with so little.
Third part of the Identical Series. The Grinch pwns Lex Luthor; Clark and Lex each buy some clues.
if you're one of those people who doesn't read a fic until it's finished, we can't be friends. Jk, but really, we are fundamentally different people.
Tethered by coldflasher: this author (@coldflasher) has written SO many amazing fics, (especially during Smallville Clex Week so make sure you check those out on her profile) but this fic is by far my favorite and I think of it like multiple times a week. It's being updated slowly but surely and is basically a rewrite of the infamously problematic "Bound" episode of Smallville. This fic really feels like watching an episode (or three) of Smallville in the most lovely, immersive way, and the grasp the author has of the characters as well as their voices and banter is remarkable. Tethered, my beloved!!!!!!
When Lex's ill-advised one-night stand with the Metropolis Opera House’s rising star ends in a brutal, bloody murder, Clark must confront the true killer... and his feelings for Lex.
Lex Luthor fucks? Fork found in kitchen.
Lex Luthor fucks men? Clark might need a minute to process that one.
An alternate take on 4x09 Bound, because what in the pearl-clutching fuck was going on there?
This fic will contain period-typical early-2000s homophobia, internalized (by Clark) and externalized (also by Clark. And literally everybody else).
the sunshine of my lifetime by BellamyStilinski: this author, who you may know on tumblr as @clarkslex, is busy working away on finishing out her other multichap rewrite of episode 4x01 in which Lex finds Kal-El in the field instead of Lois, but *I* am pacing my floors awaiting (patiently, Nat, I SWEAR) her next update of sunshine, which basically asks: what if season 6 clex (pretty much dunzo on the friendship front) accidentally got swapped with the parallel universe versions of themselves... who are married???? This fic literally hooked into my brain and has become my roman empire. I cannot say ENOUGH for how amazing the prose is and how much care you can tell the author has for BOTH Clark and Lex.
This doesn’t change anything. They’re not really married. Even if they are in the bodies of two people who are. It’s not them. It will never be them.
And Clark isn’t about to forget everything that’s happened just because the version of Lex from this entirely different universe may have been someone Clark could love.
Someone Clark could have saved.
Last but (hopefully) not least, I'd love to recommend one of my fics that I think deserves a little more love!!!
I see you lying next to me (~15,900)
Everything has already happened. Nothing that comes next can be changed.
Confronted with the inevitable tragedy of their arc, a post-series Clark and a season 7 Lex have another chance to tell each other the truth.
Written for Smallville Clex Week 2026 - June 10th - Prompt: Time
gamechangershow
izzy806
dailybridgerton
s-u-f-j-a-n-s-t-e-v-e-n-s
andulkaphoto
pixelskylines
