Magpie

by Waldorph

Spock met Jim when he was 7 and Jim was 6. It has since been generally agreed that this was a mistake (or: the one where they grow up together and things are simultaneously better and worse for it).
Words: 57648 complete

Genres: Fan Fiction, Star Trek, Aliens, M M Romance

221 pages, FanFiction

First published February 12, 2012

About the author

waldorph is a fanwriter in various fandoms who often has an irreverent, humorous, yet fond take on the characters in their stories.

Reviews

[Maiko-chan [|] · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story just completely sucked me in, to the point that I am really glad I didn't have much else to do today so I could just spend time reading it, as is necessary because it's - ugh, good. There are moments in this that are really very sad, but how can you have a ST fic involving Tarsus IV and Jim's resulting trauma and not have there be any sad? It's also quite beautiful. And it convinced me I really do need a shelf for bonding stories.

Spock felt almost bad that he could not explain Jim better, but he was aware that every time he attempted to explain he ended up making Jim sound bad. He had tried it in Standard, in English, and in Vulcan, but he could not find the correct words. Could not find the word they could accept—he had a feeling that his mother would be very displeased if he told her Jim was t'hy'la.

I absolutely loved it and can't wait to read more by the author.

Spock had lived all of Jim's trauma second-hand. He had found solace in the eye of the hurricane, taking advantage of the way Jim could keep everything at bay. I know you, he thought. I do not want to know who I am without you.

The writing isn't perfect and there are some typos but it's still great.

Edit: initally didn't add this quote cuz I typed this up just before bed and clearly I shouldn't do that since I come back and remember stuff I've forgotten, but - quote:

Sybok doesn't believe in the concept of t'hy'la, has never experienced it.

Not many do, but Sarek knows how to recognize it, and thinks that Spock is not the one they should be so very concerned about.

He can see the way Jim has angled his body towards Spock, the way he keeps contact, and the way he defers to Spock every time a doctor speaks. More often than not, it is Spock who replies, who knows allergies and medical histories while Jim lays back, tired and resigned and like the child he is. It is abruptly, starkly obvious that Jim Kirk has no one else in the world but Spock.

[TT · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a 3.5 star fic for me. I had a different idea of how the book would play out, but it starts out with the two meeting as children, goes through some of their time together, then they mature into teenagers and the story stalls out there and we stay in that age bracket. The boys are about 16 and 17 each and they struggle to work out their relationship-Stonn and T'Pring play a lot into this story as Spock's support and friendships which is nice-Jim is kinda a hot mess a lot of the time in this fic-the kid needs therapy, instead he gets Spock and in the end gets his act together. I did like this well enough but not sure I could recommend it to another Sprik fan...

[Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 p

My overall mood from this fic was bittersweet. The writing was lovely but Jim was so broken it was melancholy for the most part.

[Lo-Lo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this were 4-stars, parts 2 stars.

It dragged. A lot. But there was something amongst the bittersweetness that has great potential...

Slightly too angsty at times (That's saying something coming from me...) and totally unrealistic behaviour from teenagers (but it's sci-fi and aliens, right?).

Finally, bit awkward reading about their relationship developing as kids but there are warnings - don't read if it doesn't work for you.. (I should have heeded the warnings, just sayin')