Bruce/Lex (DC/Smallville)

[lexalot.livejournal.com]

Title: Parallel/Paradox
Author: Lexalot
Spoilers: All Seasons
Email: lexalot@livejournal.com

Parallel/Paradox:
The Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor Story
By: Lexalot

A story is precisely what the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor is. There can be no alternate universe for a Smallville where Bruce Wayne comes to the infamous little Kansas town, because the moment he enters the picture, it is a turn right off the page that is the Smallville Universe. The reason for this is possibly the most intriguing thing about Bruce and Lex, because by all indications, or rather the lack thereof, there is no Bruce. That is not a cryptic statement meant in philosophical rhetoric or an abstract concept adapted from a Matrix line, but a literal truth. For a ship that has amassed a sizable following within the Smallville fandom, it is half based on a character who has yet to be referenced or acknowledged on the show in any way.

The Best Thing That Never Happened

Perhaps the greatest Smallville slash pairing to be born completely independent of the show's canon is Bruce/Lex. Similarly, Bruce Wayne would have to be the most popular guest star to never appear on the show. Smallville creators and producers, Al Gough and Miles Millar, have mentioned their hopes of having Bruce Wayne as a cameo on the series since the first season wrapped, talking of their dream that Bruce was Lex's boarding school classmate. They further mentioned that the Batman movie (then in the early stages of pre-production) could tangle them in red tape and prevent such a cameo. It seemed there would be only one contemporary screen portrayal of the character allowed, and as the Batman movie evolved to fruition, the cameo appearance of Lex's young acquaintance became almost mythical in lieu of the canonical.

The talk of a guest appearance for DC's other flagship superhero inspired an enthusiastic following to adopt Bruce into the Smallville Universe, and when his character fell into Smallville limbo, many fans lent him a home in their fan fiction, giving him a kind of honorary Smallville crossover status. Another point worth noting about his pseudo-casting is that at the time, Bruce Wayne did not have a face to go with his name. The most recent actors to play the part were either undesirable in the role or did not mix with the fresh blood that was bringing comic superheroes to a new generation of audiences with more youthful and modernized visions. That makes for another interesting twist as it gives Bruce the unique distinction of being a favored character who not only never appeared on the show but was also never assigned an official person for his depiction. It was not until this year when Christian Bale was cast as Bruce Wayne in the aforementioned new Batman movie, now titled Batman Begins, that fans had a fitting actor to associate with the character. Subsequently, Bale became the unofficial Bruce Wayne of the Smallville fandom.

Bruce's absence from the show leaves the specific dynamics of any relationship he would have with Lex up to the imagination. Since the nature of their association and details of their history are left open, these things change from story to story, based on fannish interpretation. This unique trait of Brex fan fiction affords its writers a great deal of flexibility in their preferences as to character motivations, and it affords its readers a great deal of variety in their options as to character interaction. With the nuances of the Bruce/Lex relationship in the Smallville universe so undefined, their dynamics are based not on pre-existing chemistry and tension but established definition of their individual characters and the perceived potential for that chemistry and tension when brought together.

The preferred background for Bruce's fanon leap into Smallville has its logical foundation in a single episode of the series. In "Redux", a second season storyline where Lex's former dean turns up as Clark's new principal, Excelsior Preparatory School was introduced into canon as Lex's boarding school. The upscale prep school was the perfect venue for a young Lex Luthor to meet and befriend a young Bruce Wayne, especially since this was clearly a possibility and most probably the intention of Gough and Miles. Insinuations are made in "Redux" and throughout the series suggesting that Lex was at the height of his teenage angst and rebellion during his stay at Excelsior. The allure begins with the premise that nothing speaks to such a troubled youth as Smallville's Lex Luthor like a kindred spirit.

Like Speaks to Like

As teenagers, Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor could have gravitated to one another for any number of reasons. Speaking in terms of slash, there is plenty of fuel to feed their attraction. Lex is suave and sly but his baldness and infamous father have alienated him via a reputation for being a freak, a brat, or both. His unique appearance has its advantages. For instance, it would make him stand out from the ordinary and uniform personalities to which Bruce would be utterly indifferent. To Bruce, Lex would seem his emotional equivalent; the physical expression of a way Bruce views himself. Lex would look the way Bruce feels. Conversely, by all outward appearances, Bruce would seem the way Lex wants to feel. Bruce's devastatingly good looks and his talent for using those charms are what earned him his reputation as a playboy, and Lex could become enamored with him as anyone else would be, but Bruce would strike a few extra chords of endearment with Lex, leading directly to Lex's heart.

On the surface, it would appear that Bruce Wayne has the ideal life, one that anybody would covet, especially a teenage malcontent like Lex Luthor. Once that illusion is peeled back, however, as soon as Lex were to get behind that painted exterior, it would show that Bruce is just as discontent as Lex with as many psychological scars and issues, if not more. Lex would discover that Bruce is much more of a riddle than a cliche. Bruce's quiet mystique is a large part of his allure, and as illustrated by Lex's obsession with Clark on Smallville, there is nothing more irresistible to Lex Luthor than a mystery, and Bruce Wayne is not only a total enigma, but he could qualify as the ultimate match for Lex. Their lifestyles are not dissimilar as they come from common backgrounds of inherited wealth built on corporate empires. Not only is Bruce Lex's social equal, but he is Lex's intellectual equal as well. As much as Bruce complements Lex, Bruce also challenges him. This is part of the infinite appeal of their dynamic. For every inch of one another that they parallel, there is an inch where they run askew. For every instant of their attraction, there is one where they repel.

At the same time that Bruce and Lex could understand each other better than anyone else, in many important ways, they would understand each other the least. While they are so very similar, they are also incredibly and irreconcilably different. Both of them tragically lost two beloved family members at young ages. Bruce witnessed the murder of his parents as they were shot by a thug in Gotham's Crime Alley, after which he was never the same. Lex witnessed the smothering of his baby brother Julian by his mother's hand and later came the devastating blow of his mother's death. Then, as Bruce grew up with a supportive father figure who consoled and encouraged him, Lex was raised by a tyrannical father who has constantly subjected him to many forms of mental abuse. This is evidenced in several episodes of Smallville such as "Asylum" and "Memoria", proving that Lionel Luthor has never given his son the support or care for which Lex has always starved. Despite Lex's want of family, it seems he will always lack what he requires to be complete, and since he has been alienated his whole life, he will desperately seek love. Due to Bruce's particular lack of family, he does not strive to gain or find love, and subsequently, he lives in self-imposed isolation with the knowledge that he will forever be incomplete. Lex rejects his ominous destiny and rages against the demons that plague him while Bruce accepts that he is fated to serve the ghosts that haunt him. For every way they compare, they contrast just as remarkably.

Darkness Calls

The greatest similarity and conversely the greatest difference between Bruce and Lex is the darkness inside them. In the comics and movies, Bruce's dark side often takes him to the proverbial place where angels (and other superheroes) fear to tread. Bruce sometimes goes so far with his alter ego that his psychological stability comes into question. When the line blurs, it seems that he belongs in Arkham Asylum with those he puts there. In the history of Batman, Bruce has been forced to see a psychiatrist on several occasions. On Smallville, Lex's dark side often emerges in more accidental and incidental forms. In "Insurgence", Lex inadvertently invites trouble through underhanded means as he sinks to his father's level of corporate sabotage. In "Dichotic", Lex loses his temper when he gets a parking ticket and he is forced to attend anger management classes. Then, in "Shattered", we learn of a psychotic break from reality that Lex suffered while at Excelsior. On the show, Lex has also been in psychotherapy and once was committed to Belle Reve, a psychiatric institution. Bruce and Lex's dark sides are always just beneath the surface, ready to emerge, and their sanity skates a razor thin line from which they can quickly deviate.

Any balance they have lies within their imbalance. As a pair, they level and upset one another in a single measure. The balance inside them is delicate, easily lost, and inherently unstable. This makes any possible intimate dynamic between them twice as volatile. They have to struggle to maintain their own equilibrium. For all the reasons of their similarities, it is much less plausible that they would ever truly be happy, especially together. They are both doomed to suffer insufferable existences. The damage that condemnation does to them individually would take a severe toll on their abilities to function independently and to carry on healthy relationships with other people. Essentially, their darkness can be considered their greatest weakness. Therein, they each have the classic tragic flaw of any hero who has the potential to lose their way; they have the ability to cause their own downfall. The faults they have in common can easily become their undoing.

Bruce and Lex are both capable of destroying themselves. Working within the timeframe of Smallville, they are equally at odds with their self-destructive natures. Following DC canon into the future, however, Bruce's self-destruction will remain internalized whereas Lex's perpetual destructive tendencies will eventually go external. Lex will become the enemy of the world's greatest hero. Bruce will become the hero barely distinguishable from his enemies. Though their shared worlds of darkness would most likely be what unites them, the forked paths they follow through the terrible dark would inevitably be what divides them. They are a pair made to be torn apart by the very things that brought them together.

The Road to Brex

The most common unions in Smallville and DC fandoms are Clark Kent and Lex Luthor (Clex) and Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson (Brick). Since this means that Lex and Bruce are separate halves of the two DC slash power couples, it actually makes for another thing they have in common that connects them and simultaneously puts them at odds. They each seem to have a better half in their other pairings, a light to balance their dark, but the distinctive and profound kinship they would have with each other is unmatched as it is unlike any connection either of them could have with any other partner.

The first pairing I ever read or wrote in online fandom was Clark/Lex, but I was very soon seduced by the power of the Bruce/Lex dynamic and began to ship them rather quickly. Some people have trouble envisioning Bruce Wayne in any type of relationship, much less one where emotion is involved because he is so solitary and detached. In the early beginnings of my encounter with Smallville fandom, I felt strange about slashing Bruce for this reason. As I thought about it and read more fic, it became apparent to me that Lex searching for love in Bruce, a man who needs no one and puts his heroic duties above all else, is a classic heartbreaking scenario. Then, over time, it began to make more sense to me. When it came to Bruce allowing someone into his life, I realized that on any previous occasion that he has done so (Dick Grayson and Selina Kyle, for example), it was because he shared a common bond with them. This was an important key to unlocking pieces of the Brex puzzle. Thus, you have the foundation for an engaging tempestuous relationship.

Simply stated, I love Bruce/Lex for all of its depth. I love how Brex juxtaposes portraits of tragic humanity. I love how Brex is a yin and a yang of the same color, which is invariably gray. I love everything about it. I love many kinds of Brex stories and scenarios, and that is part of the fun in being a Brex shipper for me. I have been enchanted with them because of the things that I have discussed here as well as so much more I cannot begin to cover or articulate, at least not intelligently. I enjoy experimenting with their chemistry in as many ways as possible. The dynamics that drive their relationship are unrestricted and can be whatever one desires, whether its business or pleasure, sex or love, unrequited or mutual, wild-child or hurt-comfort, or any other slash concept. As with any pairing, it only depends on you and your perception of the characters which road you take. A wonder of the Brex is that it can cater to practically any preference, and there are plenty of paths to explore that exploit their parallel and paradoxical sides.

My favorite personal forays into writing Bruce and Lex were a pastfic series and a futurefic series (all parts can be found on my Fiction Master List). The Excelsior Series was written as my vision of Bruce and Lex in boarding school together, and its finale covers the events described in the Smallville episode, "Shattered". The Heaven and Hell Series was written before Excelsior as my vision of Bruce and Lex in adulthood as their relationship evolves, growing more unsteady as they mature into their own dark corners.

My most highly recommended fanfic centered around Bruce and Lex's slash relationship is goth_clark's Business Proposition, the first installment in the Smallville-based Possession Series with crossover guest star Bruce Wayne, taking place before Smallville. The second installment, I Am Yours, adds Clark Kent into the picture and demonstrates how intense and wonderfully complex things can be when the Brex relationship affects and coincides with other ships in the Smallville or DC Universe. Other fics I would suggest from my early reading that helped add the taste for Brex to my slash palate are these two delicious stories, the first one playing off my favorite slash triangle, Clark/Lex/Bruce, and the second delivering straight and steamy Bruce/Lex; AlexisBroken's The Other and debc's Lost in Dark Passages.

Most notably, there is one fan vid that is a truly amazing feat, and it is the definitive look at the intricacies of a Brex relationship. If pictures are worth a thousand words, then I would have to say the most compelling case for Bruce/Lex is made in mkitty_03's vid, Something I Can Never Have, set to the song by Nine Inch Nails. It is a recent gem and has grown quite popular due to its beautifully composed imagery and story-telling. It is as engrossing as it is convincing, and it wonderfully illustrates a ship that is at present a tapestry of canon and fanon.

The slash combination of Bruce and Lex is an angst-ridden formula for disaster. However, while they are not built for a fairytale ending, their pairing is unique enough in its mixture of sames and opposites that it is not necessarily built for a dead-end rift either. With a majority of slashers pairing Lex with Clark and Bruce with Dick, Bruce/Lex not only makes the Clex-Brick world more complicated and interesting, but also provides a plausible and multifaceted alternative to the traditional duos. The beauty of their pairing lies in a paradox like so much else about them; in more ways than one, we can have our cake and eat it too.