xf_book_club | Rerun Request: "To Carthage Then I Came" by Annakovsky

Entry tags:

Rerun Request: "To Carthage Then I Came" by Annakovsky

Thanks to all who voted in my poll re: story reruns. Although the turn-out was low, the trend seemed clear enough: the vast majority of voting members were fine with reruns. If you feel differently, now is your time to let us know. I'll leave the poll open until I figure out how to close it. Ahem.

Originally suggested by

emily_shore, we first discussed "To Carthage Then I Came" April 19, 2008. Most recently,

maybe_amanda nominated it. In her words: "It's short. It's haunting. It raises a lot of questions. It gives us very few answers."

To Carthage Then I Came

The link is to

annakovsky's journal, so leave her a comment or send her a PM, then come back and let us know what you think. As always, suggestions for next time are welcomed at the nomination post.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

ACQUIESCE

actually i do have something to say re: the "why doesn't he (at least) tell the elder samantha?" issue. someone suggested in the last post that perhaps it was because samantha 3 was so different from the samantha he knew? i just can't see that though. it's fox mulder -- he's so bloody-minded that any samantha is samantha. the author does a great job of showing that single-bloody-mindedness as well.

i'm sorta unwilling to delve into what it means about mulder that he wouldn't tell his clone sister that she is in fact his sister but i'm fascinated and in love with the idea. i agree that it is a bit ooc but i was not put off by the issue at all.

it's fox mulder -- he's so bloody-minded that any samantha is samantha. the author does a great job of showing that single-bloody-mindedness as well.

Which is why one is forced to wonder if on some level he must have known it would, or even wanted this to happen.

i agree that it is a bit ooc but i was not put off by the issue at all.

By not put off, I assume you mean you didn't find the story offensive. I didn't either but this story still feels like a tragedy to me.

In some way I guess this story merely is the examination of obsession. When the object of his life's searching becomes, very literally, the only thing in his life.

Oooh, I remember this story--in fact I reread it recently.

I really like the way Scully is "used" in this story, even though she's not actually in it ("my wife Dana" and then "my sister"). I always wondered if there was some kind of link between Scully and Samantha (in the early seasons of the show I had a whole conspiracy theory about this worked out, but it's been a while), so thought the kind of transposition Mulder does of them in his mind is interesting.

I also like the way this fic plays with a fic cliche--Mulder as this happy, suburban family man, and turns it OMG HORRIBLY WRONG. Not at all an inaccurate observation of him, I think ("He wonders if all this time, he's wanted this."), but definitely disturbing.

Highly disturbing idea for a story and definitely a disturbing read. I am going to go re-read some of my favorite sappy MSR stories now to try and forget that I read this.

I will give the author credit for her creativity, but this story is simply not to be liking and I find it very OOC for Mulder (not to mention disturbing, as I already said).

ooc how?

I think it's highly OOC for Mulder to sleep with someone he believes to be his sister, or a clone of his sister. Maybe that is just IMHO, though. Because I am a hopeless romantic and think Mulder is completely, irrevocably in love with Scully and wouldn't want anyone else.

I'm not reading it again right now (have re-read it a couple of times, when for some reason I'm in the mood), but what I remember of this story, apart from the fact that it was tightly written was that it was probably so disturbing because it was horribly plausible. I'm not even sure why--I don't quite get Mulder's motivations on the whole not telling them thing--but it just works in context, and fuck, it's disturbing.

Also, a beautiful story. Prose wise, I mean. The ending phrase just kills me--it could work very well for just canon Mulder, too.

oh.

words. gone. not doing justice.

wow.

the last line. every line. maybe not quite 'my' mulder, but way, way too close to 'my' mulder. that's what it always is, i think, with fanfic horror. it's not that the characters are 'your' characters. but that they could be. they're so close already, if you tilt your head and hold your breath they just...line...right...up.

oh my god, this fic. *goes off to hyperventilate*

ETA:

wendelah1 what's the general policy/preference on swearing in this comm. because my honest response to this story was a rather Detective Mannersian, 'holy banking bleep'. and it's not as though swearing is really all that communicative in the typical sense. no one in the comm is going to benefit from my potty mouth. but i was thinking how at that moment, pretending i really wanted to say anything else was kind of selling the story short.

There is no policy regarding swearing. Use your best judgment. Or should we do another poll?

Well, I love this story, which is why I nominated it (I had no idea it had been discussed before). It's very tightly written - I don't think there's word out of place - and terrifically balanced. Also, very clever. Very very clever.

Plausible? I think so. I mean, in as much as there might be dozens of SamanthaClones running around out there.

Yeah, I'm kind of surprised at the reactions to this story. I mean, it is definitely very disturbing and painful to read but that in no way negates how beautiful the story is -- and it is beautiful for all the reasons you mentioned -- and it might be my favorite thing I've read in this fandom.

It is a beautifully written story, for all of the reasons mentioned; however, for me, its language and powerful story-telling in no way mitigate how painful it was to read.

For me at least, it isn't even the incest that hurts the most, it's the lies. Fox Mulder, the man who has spent his life in pursuit of the truth, is reduced to living a lie. What makes it out of character to me is that my version of Fox Mulder is a good man, a man who might lie to avoid hurting someone, but who wouldn't lie for no good reason, or to get his sister in bed.

a man who might lie to avoid hurting someone, but who wouldn't lie for no good reason, or to get his sister in bed.

I'm kind of starting to wonder whether or not he's lying to protect himself. I can think of good, solid reasons why not to (and why it doesn't make sense to) lie to protect the Samanthas or Scully, but that just leaves me with him.

What a great piece of writing. I appreciated it better when I reread, but I don't plan to read it often. Because it burns.

Mulder's paranoia always correlated with actual real-X-File-life threats, so we don't think of him as, well, warped. But this story--so starkly told, like a cautionary folk tale or a classic tragedy--displays the incest nightmare that for all we know is one from which he actually woke up sweating.

The conclusion eerily displaces Scully from wife to sister. She's the new Samantha, as impossible to possess as the old had been. And for all we know, or for all canon tells us, Mulder had sex just once with her too. And was punished for it.

This is a fic to visit, not to live in.

FCTIC was discussed at Fic_Talk. Not here, I don't think, though Wendy can tell us.

Um, that should be TCTIC. I was just telling someone that acronyms are fusing my brain.

We did discuss it here, just a long time ago, in the first year of the community. I posted a link to it up in the body, but here is one just for you: CLICK ME! There are a few of us from back in the day who are still hanging in here. You know, I'd forgotten we discussed it at fictalk. Maybe I said something brilliant there that I can cannibalize.

It looks like some of us were scratching our heads and wondering why there wasn't more incest fic in the XF fandom.

Mulder's paranoia always correlated with actual real-X-File-life threats, so we don't think of him as, well, warped.

Actually, I do kind of think of him as warped. But I think I know what you mean.

But this story--so starkly told, like a cautionary folk tale or a classic tragedy--displays the incest nightmare that for all we know is one from which he actually woke up sweating.

I think my first reaction to finishing this story was to burst into tears. I don't think I did much better this time around. I was obsessing about the ending all day at work. It does feel like a tragedy, doesn't it?

The conclusion eerily displaces Scully from wife to sister.

Yes, and right from the beginning, she's just as lost to him as Samantha ever was. He's been on the run for years. Years. Before the story even begins. Alone, no contact with anyone from his past, not even Scully, except through those PO Boxes.

This is a fic to visit, not to live in.

Amen to that.

This is embarrassing. Guess I should actually read the words you actually write.

About the incest thing. Nobody mentioned it on the first go-round, but I'm thinking by now most of us have read 1,000,009's Gingersnaps for Oedipus. Also brilliant.

This is a fic to visit, not to live in.

This expresses exactly what I feel about it. Even thinking about the story to write up my comment above brought it all back, just how... well, disturbed I was the first time I read it.

I recently discovered this community while searching for xf fanfic...I just wanted to say thank you for a rec like this one. The story was haunting, unsettling, and right on the edge of plausibility. It wasn't much of a stretch for me to imagine this happening (not that it would have ever happened on the show ;-)). This is what I love about The X-Files: the fact that the characters have so many layers and so much depth that it's possible for writers to create these alternate realities for them and leave it up to the audience to connect the dots. To say "yes, I can see the potential for this" or "no way" and then move on.

I haven't read fanfic since...ooo, I'd say 2004, or so....but this story reminded me of how great it can be (even though I am a die-hard shipper, hahaha). I can't wait to go back through the recs in this com....I'm sure I've missed some wonderful stories over the years! :-)

KT

I haven't read fanfic since...ooo, I'd say 2004, or so....but this story reminded me of how great it can be (even though I am a die-hard shipper, hahaha). I can't wait to go back through the recs in this com....I'm sure I've missed some wonderful stories over the years! :-)

Welcome KT! I hope you enjoy the community. Come back anytime. You can leave comments on any entry, they all get emailed to me, as well as to whoever made them.

This is just my cup of tea...not to make me sound too twisted or anything. I love the concise writing. I often find myself too impatient to read many of the longer stories here. *shrug* I was delighted to see this story because I am a big fan of

annakovsky's stories in The Office fandom.

I'm a bit surprised at the negative reaction to this story in this community. I guess it is too difficult for many to imagine a Mulder not in love/infatuated with Scully. Or maybe it was just too disturbing. I personally love it for both of these aspects; isn't that the point of fanfiction-to explore new avenues outside of canon?

I don't know how to explain my feelings towards this story. Like certain books I've read-it's certainly not going to be one I cherish and re-read multiple times, but it has infiltrated my consciousness and will stay with me in a chilling, thought provoking way, for a long, long time.

Edited 2010-06-27 05:16 (UTC)

She's a very talented writer. I guess I'm not seeing the negative reactions here as being to the story so much as to the idea of Mulder being in a defacto marriage with his sister. For me, it was also disturbing to think of him being on the on the run for years, separated from Scully and William.

I think it is a very memorable story, too. I'm glad you found it and found us.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Rerun Request: "To Carthage Then I Came" by Annakovsky

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject