Vestigy

Fanfiction
Title:	Vestigy
Author(s):	Lisby
Date(s):
Length:
Genre(s):
Fandom(s):	The X-Files
Relationship(s):
External Links:	On IOHO Part 1 & Part 2
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Vestigy is an X-Files story by Lisby.

Reactions and Reviews

Unknown Date

(XF, NC17) This was one of the first things I ever read, and yet when I'm in a post-col mood, it's one of the pieces I turn to again and again. Just in case there's some lucky soul out there who has never read this, a summary: Skinner is surviving, just barely, in a post-apocalyptic community. Only a shivering horror remains where memories once were -- until he meets someone familiar...

This presents one of the most complete realizations of a post-col world I've ever seen, peopled by oddly familiar strangers. It is startlingly original, wonderfully well-written and dark in all the best ways. There is a sequel, Trillobiography, which continues the story but it is not yet finished. Join me in nagging her to write more.

1999

Three weeks ago, a novel entitled "Vestigy" was posted to this newsgroup. I am a little disappointed to see that there has been zero public discussion of this story so far. But perhaps other readers, like myself, have preferred to take their time navigating their way through the dense, wonderful jungle of Lisby's prose. God knows that reading a story as ambitious as this demands more attention and care than your average MSR potboiler. It's a difficult story that doesn't go easy on its audience, whether intellectually or emotionally. Is it worth the effort? Hell yes.

It's always dangerous to make predictions -- especially in a field in which my own position is still that of a somewhat bemused outsider -- but I'm willing to bet that, within the year, "Vestigy" will be numbered among the half-dozen or so works of XF fanfic that truly deserve to be called classics of the genre, right up there with "Oklahoma" and "Sound of Windchimes" and the others.

This story blew me away. I have never been so jealous of another author in the fanfic world. I mean, God. I can't even imagine conceiving such a project, much less carrying it out on the level that Lisby has done here. "Vestigy" is a post- Colonization fic that dares to push its ideas as far as they can possibly go. Every paragraph teems with inspiration and imagination and invention, with remarkable linguistic games and a few moments that left me reeling. I've never read a fanfic which managed to sustain such a high level of creativity and energy over its entire length. Which means that "Vestigy" is sometimes exhausting but always exhilarating. It makes your brain tingle. It begs to be read aloud and savored.

Enough. I run the risk of repeating myself. I have never recommended a work of fanfic on the newsgroup before. I'm doing it now. You owe it to yourself to read Lisby's "Vestigy" at http://home.earthlink.net/~iwonder/vestigy.htm, if only to see what fanfic is really capable of doing on an imaginative level. And maybe to put the drive of envy and competition and admiration back into your veins. That's what it does for me.

I have to agree with this post. I am, admittedly, NOT a fan of post-colonization fic, but after becoming acquainted with Lisby and the rest of her work, I read Vestigy. It is definitely one of the best pieces of fiction I have ever read. I was hooked from the first chapter. There is one particular character we see 'return' in Vestigy that brought an interesting twist to the story. Without spoiling anything, I will just say that Lisby brought this character back to life for me in such a way that it has changed the way I look at his character *on the show*, it was that profound. This piece is complex and leaves the reader guessing all the way through. I *highly* recommend it to anyone.

I too lurk but am more than happy to come out of hiding to second Alec's recommendation of Lisby's "Vestigy." It is a brilliant and creative work,

and I wrote to Lisby wanting to know just who she was to put that stark and thrilling vision in my head. No funny mushrooms required, but--wow!--what a trip.

I'd like to add my voice to the chorus of Vestigy supporters as well. It was, quite simply and without hyperbole, one of the finest things I've every read. Anywhere. Fanfic, novels, anything. Richly layered, I get something new from it every time I go back. It made me gasp, it made me wince, it made me laugh out loud. At a few points it almost made me physically ill. It choked me, more than once, with the sheer depth of its humanity. It's about the best and the worse inside us.

It's also not easy, in addition to the basic labyrinth of the story and the storytelling, some of the things it hints at are horrifying to contemplate. (An irony given the recent discussion of torture in fic. Boys and Girls, make no mistake, this work is, at some level about pain and torture, but even more it's about to use the authors words "a refiner's forge". Gratitous character tortute is made even more repugnant and repulsive when seen in the harsh light Vestigy casts.) You have to work for this story. Nothing comes easy. But by God it's worth the price.

I'm frankly not suprized there's been no disscussion, It's too difficult for alot of folks. They's rather keep to the safe ground of cozy MSR post-eps. Thats fine, this wasn't written for them anyway.

But I'm glad to see there are some who've been as affected by the work as I have.

That gives me hope.

Now, as for all of you who did love it, care to join me in a mass plea for a sequel?

I too lurk but am more than happy to come out of hiding to second Alec's recommendation of Lisby's "Vestigy." It is a brilliant and creative work, and I wrote to Lisby wanting to know just who she was to put that stark and thrilling vision in my head. No funny mushrooms required, but--wow!--what a trip.

... it can be assumed that Hawkeyed was implying that this lack of public discussion was an indicator of public/critical failure and that the cause of this public/critical failure was the low level of reading comprehension in this community.

In plain language, we were all too dumb to "get it," and that's why no one was raving about it.

And *that's* a big pile of horseshit I don't subscribe to or appreciate. There is *no* piece and I can guarantee you, there will never BE a piece posted to this newsgroup that will be too brilliant for the majority of readers to "get." (Believe me, Kafka, Joyce and Beckett ain't coming back from the dead to start posting XFFanfic, I can assure anyone of this.)

And I still say there is a nasty tendency these days to blame the readers for these "feedback" droughts, when perhaps looking a bit closer to home might be an avenue worth investigating for ALL authors, myself included who thinks they are being slighted or ignored "unfairly."

That's all.

...astonishingly inventive, unpredictable and well-written. Don't necessarily agree with the turns the characters take (although I love her Skinner) but Lisby makes me believe them.

Vestigy by Lisby for sheer originality and a story that was in my dreams for *weeks* afterwards.