Title: Not Your Princess
Fandom: Smallville
Content notes: References to violence and abusive situations on par with the show. General spoilers for Lex's character arc for Seasons 1-3, specific spoilers for Episode 1.01 in the cover art and concept summary.
Note: In the song lyrics (not this post): explicit language, misogynistic language.
Fanmixer notes: This is for both the Old Friends challenge at fan_flashworks and the Genderbend challenge at waywardmixes. For me, Lex and Clark's friendship *was* the show, and a huge influence on Lex's character arc.

Alexander "Lex" Luthor

Helena "Lena" Luthor

When Smallville opens, Lex Luthor is the dissolute, hard-partying son of Metropolis businessman Lionel Luthor and heir-apparent to the LuthorCorp empire. Lex is a mess, in no small part thanks to his father's abusive narcissism and pathological need to control his son. Lex is sent to Smallville to take over the fertilizer plant there as a last-ditch effort to get him to show any interest in business whatsoever. While driving waaaay too fast on one of Smallville's country roads, Lex loses control of his car and skids into a boy standing at the railing of the bridge. That boy is Clark Kent, high school student and someday Superman. Clark not only survives the crash unscathed; he pulls Lex from the water and saves his life. Lex takes the near-death experience to heart, and, braced by the Kents' morals, begins to stand up to his father's more deplorable business practices. He and Clark become friends, although it's obvious to Lex very quickly that Clark is lying to him about what happened at the accident.

Lena was never raised to be Lionel's heir; his rampant misogyny led him to push her toward marrying an appropriate man. Lena's rebellion, much like Lex's, involved a great deal of drugs, alcohol, and sex with people Lionel wouldn't even want to talk to. Lena comes to Smallville to throw a house party at the Luthor Mansion there, and loses control of her car, skidding into Clark at the bridge railing. Lena takes the near-death experience to heart. With Clark's urging -- and the Kents' support -- she begins standing up to her father in ways that actually matter. She takes over the fertilizer plant, starts her own company, and starts to maneuver her way out of her father's control. Lionel doesn't just sit back and watch this happen. For the first time, he considers that Lena might be the heir he's always wanted -- but she's clearly too emotional and unprepared for the back-stabbing world of business. So he consistently undermines her, manipulates her desire to be loved and accepted by her family, and sabotages her reputation in Smallville. All in the name of making her stronger, of course. It doesn't help that not even the Kents can forget that she's a Luthor. Clark's father doesn't trust her, and Lionel's schemes make that worse. Clark is lying to her, and it's more and more obvious that Clark will never trust her, either. Gradually, Lena is convinced that her last name will always define her; no matter what she does, she will always be a Luthor. The best she can do is obliterate Lionel's influence on her life. Since she can't do that the 'right' way, she'll use every under-handed, back-stabbing trick she's ever learned from her father. Maybe even murder. It's nothing she ever wanted, but nothing she's done has ever been able to get her what she wants. Maybe if she kills Lionel, she can at least be free of him.

Daddy's Little Girl (Jesse McCartney) Stick the key in the ignition and light it up Have a taste of what it's like to be old enough Move your body baby let me see you work it Looking at you make me wanna blow a circuit	Diamond Dogs (Beck) Crawling down the alley on your hands and your knee I'm sure you're not protected for it's plain to see The diamond dogs are poachers and they hide behind trees	Hanging on a Curtain (Morphine) Hanging on a curtain, swinging like a clock Big hand on the seven, little hand on top You said you like to hear me talk You told me not to stop

Maybe, This Time
(OK Go)

You've spent your entire life quick-tongued and always right
Hasn't being right just let you down
Right just lets you down

Hero (Nickelback) I can hear heaven But heaven don't hear me And they say that a hero can save us I'm not gonna stand here and wait

Short Skirt/Long Jacket (Cake) I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity Who uses a machete to cut through red tape With fingernails that shine like justice And a voice that is dark like tinted glass

Boadicea (Mason/Roisin Murphy) As the hunter is hunted down She slays her enemies on sacred ground The bloody battles have left their scars yet she will fight the good fight though it breaks her heart

The House Wins (Ok Go) Fingers blistered from the nightly scratching at the window Which won't open far enough to let air in The house wins Oh the house always wins

The World Is Not Enough (Garbage) If we can't have it all Then nobody will The world is not enough But it is such a perfect place to start

Plans Are Just Coincidence
(The Limousines)

our plans, they may as well
be just coincidence
and I don't ask why
I don't ask why
I just let go

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