I'm sorry I misunderstood! I think we may actually be on the same page. If I take the story as a whole (it's a big whole!) I think the characterizations are believable. Some scenes I find it hard to accept the characterization, and one scene in particular always stands out to me as the scene where my brain went "NO" :). (I don't want to say which scene it was in case people read this before they've read the story, but it involved Scully, about whom I am very picky (incidentally, there was a *very* similar scene in the film Alien Resurrection, and when I saw it I jumped in my seat and went "Iolokus!" (probably pronouncing it entirely wrong--I say "Eye-oh-low-kus").)
On my first read through (years ago, although I wasn't yet in fandom when it was published), I found these "difficult" scenes quite jarring and hard to take, but I continued to read because I was drawn in. I think I've read the whole story (including Syadiloh--do we count that?) two or three times, but I've read bits and pieces of the whole many times, and I think as time's gone on I am more able to accept the characterizations.
But I digress, as usual.
One thing I notice reading back through fics that I've enjoyed in the past is that I'm a reader who is easily seduced by pretty language and beautiful writing. Some of my favorite fics don't stand up to repeated rereads, despite being well-written and enjoyable to read, because for me a big part of fanfiction reading (as opposed to novel reading--I do a lot of that, too) is the emotional connection with characters that I already know well, and if the story doesn't resonate with those characters I think there's something missing.
Iolokus is a different kettle of fish. I can accept its flaws, I think, as a part of the whole, and I've never really felt so swept along in the writing (1) (as opposed to the story) that I'm not rational about it.
(1) And I'm not disparaging the writing, which I think is excellent, if not perhaps poetic.
Also, the Mooselet is my favorite Original Character, ever.
no subject
On my first read through (years ago, although I wasn't yet in fandom when it was published), I found these "difficult" scenes quite jarring and hard to take, but I continued to read because I was drawn in. I think I've read the whole story (including Syadiloh--do we count that?) two or three times, but I've read bits and pieces of the whole many times, and I think as time's gone on I am more able to accept the characterizations.
But I digress, as usual.
One thing I notice reading back through fics that I've enjoyed in the past is that I'm a reader who is easily seduced by pretty language and beautiful writing. Some of my favorite fics don't stand up to repeated rereads, despite being well-written and enjoyable to read, because for me a big part of fanfiction reading (as opposed to novel reading--I do a lot of that, too) is the emotional connection with characters that I already know well, and if the story doesn't resonate with those characters I think there's something missing.
Iolokus is a different kettle of fish. I can accept its flaws, I think, as a part of the whole, and I've never really felt so swept along in the writing (1) (as opposed to the story) that I'm not rational about it.
(1) And I'm not disparaging the writing, which I think is excellent, if not perhaps poetic.
Also, the Mooselet is my favorite Original Character, ever.