Story 24: "To Carthage Then I Came" by Annakovsky

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

Another weird mostly-non-MSR story nominated by me. Note the warning!

Title: To Carthage Then I Came
Author: annakovsky
Rating: R
Pairings: Mulder/Samantha, Mulder/Scully, implied Scully/Doggett
WARNINGS: INCEST, more or less. SO BE AWARE.
Summary: Clones of Mulder's sister Samantha are being terminated. Mulder tries to save them.

Comments

[wendelah1]

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.

[threeguesses.livejournal.com]

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.

[wendelah1]

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?

Have you read Tikkun Olam yet? It's pretty radical.

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.

I think I know what you mean, but this deserves more than a throw-away comment. I will ponder more about this and be back.

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

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?

I've wondered this 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!

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?

finisterre discussed this a bit during one of our earlier discussions.

http://community.livejournal.com/xf_book_club/2669.html?thread=40557#t40557

[emily-shore.livejournal.com]

I love it so much I wish I had written it.

Oh yeah. I would love to have people say "you're writing *what*?"

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...

[all-shine-on.livejournal.com]

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.

[wendelah1]

Her he tells the whole truth, the cloning, the termination. Well... nearly the whole truth. He doesn't tell her Samantha was his sister. He's not quite sure why.

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.

[all-shine-on.livejournal.com]

Ah-my apologies! I re-read this story last week when I was uploading it to my del.ici.ous and forgot that part. Hmmmm. Totally different angle on it. Why not that aspect of it all? It makes Mulder a bit more...disturbing somehow. It could be said (not sure if I'm believing it) that he doesn't tell her because he knows/wants something like this to happen? Or what other purpose could he have for keeping that part a secret? Perhaps this "Samantha" is so different from HIS Samantha that he just can't make them seem to be the same person.

[wendelah1]

It makes Mulder a bit more...disturbing somehow.

It is really disturbing. It makes my brain explode. This is good.

[memento1.livejournal.com]

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.

[wendelah1]

Yes, it was very creepy, and so sad. It is probably on my top ten favorite stories I may never read again list, right along with The Golden Year, my favorite story by prufrock's love.

[lightlack.livejournal.com]

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.