Story 95: "Iolokus" by Mustang Sally and RivkaT

[wendelah1]

A few days ago, someone was talking about fic and the phrase "most famous fic in our fandom" came up. I'm not sure what story she had in mind but surely "Iolokus" has to be a contender for that title. I have seen it nominated by many people for the best fan fiction novel, not just in our own, but in any fandom. I have also seen people say they couldn't finish it because Mulder and Scully were too "out of character."

The misspelled monster that started it all. Although I'm told it promotes heteronormativity in the end, we were more going for polymorphic perversity; you'll have to judge for yourself.

Summary: Painted across the barren and desolate reaches of Texas, the shadows of the Project put additional pressure on Scully and Mulder's already fragile relationship. After a hostage crisis raises more questions about the Project's breeding program, Scully begins her own investigation, leaving Mulder to choose between saving her and saving himself. Finally, the investigation leads to tragedy and Mulder and Scully find that more questions have been asked than answered.

The title reference was to an island mentioned in Medea, to which we turned for fairly obvious reasons.

Warnings: extreme violence, including the death of children.

There are four long sections to this behemoth. My first time through this fic I hadn't much knowledge of canon, so I am curious to see what I think of it now. Thank you to sangria_lila for this excellent nomination. If there is enthusiasm to continue, I suppose we can forge through to the end or just quit with book one. It's your call.

Please leave feedback for the authors and then come back and let us know what you think. Nominations for next time are made here. Since rivkat's site is down at the moment, the link is to the wonderful Fugues Fiction Archive. Of course, the story is also available at Gossamer.

Iolokus

Edit: Since Rivkat's site is back up, here is another link to the story: Iolokus.

Comments

[aloysiavirgata.livejournal.com]

True. I take issue with some of the autopsy stuff (there's no MPD MD, why did the bodies smell of formalin when they were fresh, etc.?) But this right here is what makes everything work for me:

Where was the anger? Why wasn't he aiming it at me? I needed him to be angry so that I could be indifferent to it. His hands slid closer, brushing against my hips and I tried to stand up, but he was too close and I slumped back down without grace.

His face was buried in my neck and he was rocking me, crooning lullaby nonsense and I was so angry with him for infantilizing me. Except that I was also sobbing, without any idea how that had happened, and he had to stop being nice so that I could remember how to be strong.

[wendelah1]

Yes. This was a very powerful, emotional scene; I felt we were robbed of this kind of catharsis at the end of Emily.

[aloysiavirgata.livejournal.com]

Yes, I agree. It was so real that I could just see it. Her all stiff and pale, then just falling apart.

And whoops! I meant to write ME, not MD.

[sixpences.livejournal.com]

Oh absolutely. Any story of any length is probably going to throw up nitpicks for any reader who knows more about subject x than the author did, but I've gotten through and liked stories with far more problems than Iolokus, which were far, far inferior in the writing. That quote in particular could cover a vast multitude of authorly sins. Also it makes me want to cry more than a bit...