Delta of Mercury by In.a.blue.bathrobe

http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5424380/1/Delta_of_Mercury
Word Count: 9,536


Official Description: Emmett contemplates Rosalie's silence, practical dreams and airplane peanuts. For the Twilight Twenty-five Challenge.

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Legna says: In.a.blue.bathrobe’s Delta of Mercury is both another complete (or it will be after Chapter 25 posts this weekend) work in her Tropic of Virgo universe and her collection of entries for The Twilight 25. For anyone who is unfamiliar, The Twilight 25 is a LiveJournal challenge in which participating authors have three months to write twenty-five one-shots or drabbles based on pre-determined one-word prompts. All participating authors use the same prompts, in any order they like.

Many of the authors I have on alert are writing for The Twilight 25, so I have read a lot of entries, and they have been wonderful. Many authors have written one-shots or drabbles within existing universes for some of their other stories, but Blue is the first author I’ve read to set all of her Twilight 25 entries within a single universe.

Delta of Mercury starts with a one-shot from Emmett’s perspective, and what an Emmett this is. He’s no clichéd, dumb jock. He’s intelligent and pragmatic and oh-so-very serious. He worries. He plans. We caught glimpses of his potential throughout Tropic of Virgo, and it is fully realized here. Although it hasn’t posted yet, I anticipate that the final chapter of Delta of Mercury will be another one-shot from Emmett’s perspective, and it will serve as the companion bookend holding together the remainder of the entries: twenty-three 100-word drabbles from Rosalie’s diary, which she has given to Emmett to read.

Readers of Tropic of Virgo will know that Rosalie rarely speaks; therein lies the cleverness of writing these drabbles from her POV. Rosalie is given her say, and in fact, we learn a great deal about her, about Jasper, about Esme…about all the characters, one hundred words at a time. In reading Rosalie’s diary, which begins when she is just a little girl and continues through the timeframe of Tropic of Virgo, we come to understand Rosalie’s reticence, and through her keen observations, we understand the other characters a little better, too.

Though the words are sparse, the drabbles are still rich in the kind of exquisite language that lovers of Tropic of Virgo will recognize: “Alice flutters between them, caught like a moth between neighboring porch lights, pulled to which boy’s pain shines the brightest at the moment.” As with Tropic of Virgo, the angst of these entries is balanced by a healthy dose of humor: “Jasper says I shouldn’t judge and must learn to embrace my feminine aesthetic. Jasper needs to embrace his less. He wore a purple bowler hat yesterday.”

I am stunned by how much story has been conveyed in so few words, and doubly stunned by the use to which Blue has put the given Twilight 25 prompts. She has somehow managed to craft a rich, complete, contiguous story out of seemingly disparate prompts. Her use of each prompt is somehow fitting yet also unexpected. And while familiarity with Tropic of Virgo might enhance a reader’s enjoyment of Delta of Mercury, it can also stand on its own.

Whether viewed as a collection of entries for The Twilight 25 or as a complete story set in the Tropic of Virgo universe, Delta of Mercury is a fantastic read, full of beautiful language and considered characterizations. I highly recommend checking it out.

Kassiah says: Oh, I treasure the day I came across blue's writing! She is fantastic and poetic and just all around wicked with words. When I saw Delta of Mercury, I was intrigued. I love the idea of the Twilight 25, and I can't imagine anyone conveying the same depth of emotion and story in 100-word drabbles than she has managed to pull off. I love this idea. More than that, I love her words:

Rosalie watched me, and when I took a breath to speak, she put a finger over my lips. She smiled a little, and tilted her head, and then leaned in and kissed me. I closed my eyes in relief, and enjoyed heaven for a few seconds, which this morning tasted faintly of coffee with cream and sugar. I pulled away a fraction when things started to get heated, trying to keep it light, but then she bit me, trapping me with her hard teeth clamped onto my bottom lip, and a bolt of lust shot straight through my entire body.

I gasped, and she let go, and I pulled away, staring at her. She knew better than to push my self control. What was she trying to do to me?

and Rosalie's PoV:

Emmett was on fire, like some Norse warrior god leading his troops with battle drums, and my skin burned every time he looked at me.
He finally touched me, the night before, like I was real, with hard hands and rough mouth, and I cried out for more.

Normally I am not one to want to read about Rosalie, but since it's blue, I had to. I am so, so glad that I did. Not to mention, the few E/B references excite me :)

Legna said everything I could and more. Whether because blue is already one of your favorite authors (she should be), you want your fix of R/Em, or you want to venture into theTwilight25 territory, I think you should check Delta of Mercury out. You won't regret it.