To Carthage Then I Came

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Fanfiction
Title: To Carthage Then I Came
Author(s): Annakovsky
Date(s): 2008 or before
Length: 2249 words
Genre: myth-arc, sibling incest
Fandom: The X-Files
External Links: at AO3

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To Carthage Then I Came is an X-Files story by Annakovsky.

Reactions and Reviews

Mind the spoilers:

This story is unlike the others I've recced so far this month, in that it's not MSR and it's not intended to be that funny. What it is though, is awesome. It's one of the most interesting portrayals of Mulder that I've ever read, and a great AU take on life after the end of the series. The fic directly addresses the fact that finding Samantha was Mulder's central obsession for most of his life, and it's a brilliant look at how that could have played out. Even if the pairing turns you off I highly recommend that you check this out.[1]

I love this story. I wish I had written this story.[2]

...this was delightfully twisted. It falls just short of playing the situation for laughs. Mulder and his harem of Samanthas--holey moley. Very well done in a dry, cynical, disturbed way.[3]

Really, really good. Only Mulder could wind up with a picket-fence life that was so very ... not. Like Dee, I don't like warnings on my fic. The interaction between Mulder/Jill-Samantha was creepily intense, and I think the warning telegraphs the twist in this story. Readers who want to be shielded miss a lot of great fic by not taking a chance and reading something outside their comfort zone.[4]

It's good and it's different. Hurray!

I'm having trouble articulating something I find very appealing about this story, but I'll try.

Isn't it cool how it starts by building on things that make Mulder a singular character--abducted, cloned sister; life on the run; adroitness at living underground. And it ends up with a convincing picture of something very, very ordinary--a guy who step-by-step walked himself somewhere he doesn't want to be, and there's no good way out.

I think this one is really going to stick with me.

Would I rec it: Yes. Except not to anyone who loved stories where Mulder and Scully met in high school and were caught in the act by Maggie-Bill-Skinner and had lots of babies and Scully beat the snot out of Diana Fowley.[5]

I shudder to think what they would say about this fic in Haven.

When I saw the words "Pairings: Mulder/Samantha", I thought, the writer mis-typed it. She must have meant Mulder/Melissa.

The topic is extremely disturbing and I dislike the plot but it is well-written by someone who feels like a mature writer. One can argue that it is extremely OOC Mulder but the writer is offering us a "what if" scenario.

This fic has a RivkaT "feel" in it's way out scenario (but that's not a criticism). I have never heard of this writer but I am assuming that this is not her first fic.

Recommend: yes, with a warning

Personally I don't care for warnings. I like to find out for myself without being prejudiced. Happy endings are not a must for me. All I ask for is a denouement of a sort.[6]

It's good, but enjoyable isn't the word I'd use to describe it.[7]

This is an excellent story--an excellent *science fiction* story, incidentally, and probably of publishable quality (if that means anything). I would consider it creepy-sad under any circumstances. Since it was about Mulder, it tore my heart out.

My opinion on angst stands. It hurts, and it's supposed to. If it's enjoyable, there's something wrong--either with the writer or with you.

I loved the simplicity of the storytelling, the procedural description that lays out so normal a path for Mulder to take. Of course he'd set out to rescue his family. Of course his family is warped and weird and destroys him. Of course no one means anyone any harm.

The notion of an incestuous Mulder has been considered. The Gingersnaps story. There's that episode in Iolokus. And then Scully is Samantha's age. Maybe Mulder's rejection of sex is Freudian after all. ("No. I'm not a Freudian.")

All I know is I need an msr fix very fast.

Would I rec? Very carefully.[8]

What is it about Philes and T.S. Eliot?

The Holy Trinity of X-Files:

T.S. Eliot
Pink Floyd
Douglas Adam(s)

(Okay, not so sure about Pink Floyd, but you need three for a trinity.)

Anyway, it's from The Wasteland, and, according to Bartleby, refers to this line from the confessions of St. Augustine: to Carthage then I came, where a cauldron of unholy loves sang all about mine ears.

I guess I can see the part about the unholy loves.[9]

I think Prufrock's Love has turned me against Eliot permanently.[10]

I really like this story. I like it for its daring and original characterization of Fox Mulder. I have read so many stories where the characters of Mulder and Scully seem just like the show, except they seem to have wandered into a romance novel. It is so refreshing to read a story where the author clearly doesn't see that in the cards.

I can totally see this happening except for the part where Mulder doesn't tell Samantha she is his sister's clone. That just doesn't ring true to me. Mulder just wouldn't do that. But having done that, I do see the rest of the story playing out pretty much as written. Except, given a choice, since when does Mulder sleep in a bed, let alone with the woman he knows is his sister? Oh well.

This was a very well-written, unforgettable story. I love it enough to just hand-wave the whole characterization of Mulder as AU. I love it so much I wish I had written it. I love the last lines:

Samantha visibly relaxes, smiles again. "Oh," she says. "I didn't know you had a sister."

"Yeah," says Mulder. "I do." He reaches over and rescues the syrup from where the girls are threatening to spill it, and yes, he has a sister, she's everywhere. She's everywhere. [11]

I love this story too. It's heartbreaking and you're right, daringly original as well.

I love annakovsky. She writes for a lot of fandoms and it honestly seems like she can do no wrong. I can accept that Mulder would not tell his sister she's his sister mostly because the fic is so well written. And finally sleeping with Samantha? That I can see perfectly. He just... let's it happen. His behavior seems almost resigned.

What I'm interested in: this is the only fic in the entire X-files fandom (that I've seen) that has gone down the windy incest road. If you look at other fandoms, there's a lot of incest fic floating around. Fic breaks down many taboos, including that one. So... why not more in this fandom? Was the X-files just too early for that breed of radicalism?

This leads me to another (completely unrelated) point: has anyone else noticed that X-files fic written now differs greatly from that written during the original run of the show? I can’t put my finger on what it is exactly, but something important and elemental has shifted.[12]

And those last lines are about my favorite last lines of anything, anywhere. (Or at least of fanfic.)

There's something very fairy-tale-like about the idea that Mulder not only gets his wish (his sister) but he also gets a lot more of her than he wished......

I've wondered [the theme of incest] too, and I think you're right that it was just too early for it to become a major theme. This is the only story I've read that has Mulder/Samantha as a major plot point. There are a few little flirtations with the idea in the "Iolokus" series, but that is so long that there are a few flirtations with just about everything in there! [13]

I can see him not saying anything about being his sister's clone, just because she's lived so long as someone else. I wouldn't want to be the person to destroy her former life like that.[14]

But he does destroy her former life, and his as well. She leaves behind her old identity to assume the one that the Gunmen created. He doesn't tell her the most important fact of all, who she really is to him. As a consequence, Fox Mulder, the man who spent his life searching for the truth, ends up living a lie. I want to cry, just thinking about it.[15]

A brilliant, stunning example of "be careful what you wish for, because you just might get it". It's very disturbing. Too disturbing for my tastes (I don't like unhappy-endings!), but it was brilliantly crafted and creepy.[16]

It is really disturbing. It makes my brain explode. This is good.[17]

I'm not usually a fan of stories that end with M and S apart, but I liked this story so much. Primarily because it's the first piece of fanfic I've read in a long time that gave me a visceral "Whoa" response. I read it and found myself grinning a little in admiration for Annakovsky, for going down this particular path, for doing something gutsy and unusual in fic and making it work. The prose is spare and light but not empty, Mulder's increasing inability to call any of the Samanthas by any names other than Samantha is both believable and really sad, and the incest-angle manages to be sufficiently creepy without being off-putting. Thanks to this comm for pointing the story out to me.[18]

This is seriously going to stay with me for the rest of the day. It was so quietly creepy and *wow* is Mulder fucked up, which for him is saying something.[19]

*GAPES* Wow, I've read a lot of X-Files fic and have never come across anything like this. It's just wonderful and wonderfully messed-up. OH DEAR.
two thumbs up :::[20]

Creepy and awesome. I can see Mulder falling apart in just this way, unable to distinguish Samantha from the clones, even when doing so would help keep him from going (more) off the deep end.[21]

Wow, this is creepy and hauntingly gorgeous and I love it. I could see how Mulder would end up in this sort of situation. Also, I'm not sure why Mulder distinguishing them as "littlest Samantha", "medium Samantha" and "wife Samantha" in his head makes me giggle, but it does. =) [22]

Oh my god. This is so wrong. But marvelously well done.[23]

References

  1. ^ recced at Crack Van, April 2007
  2. ^ Wendy at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  3. ^ Delilah at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  4. ^ mesmerized at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  5. ^ Conundrum at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  6. ^ dee at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  7. ^ Mari at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  8. ^ EleanorS at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  9. ^ Conundrum at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  10. ^ Eleanor at Fic Talk Message Board, April 2008
  11. ^ wendelah1 at xf_book_club, April 2008
  12. ^ threeguesses at xf_book_club, April 2008
  13. ^ emily shore at xf_book_club, April 2008
  14. ^ all shine on at xf_book_club, April 2008
  15. ^ wendelah1 at xf_book_club, April 2008
  16. ^ memento1 at xf_book_club, April 2008
  17. ^ wendelah1 at xf_book_club, April 2008
  18. ^ lightlack at xf_book_club, May 2008
  19. ^ dodificus at AO3 comments, May 2010
  20. ^ ingridmatthews at AO3 comments, June 2010
  21. ^ dodificus at AO3 comments, Rivkat 2010
  22. ^ SmartIsSexy at AO3 comments, February 2013
  23. ^ libco at AO3 comments, December 2013
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