STILL STUCK IN CAPSLOCK, SORRY. STILL SQUEALING. STILL HAVEN'T SEEN MY CAT IN A WHILE. AND STILL LOVING THIS STORY SO. VERY. MUCH.

"TOUCHED" IS, STRANGELY, THE SEGMENT THAT AFFECTS ME THE MOST... I THINK IT'S THE GLIMPSE INTO THE REICHENBACH'S OVERLY CONTROLLED LIFE, WHERE THERE ARE NEVER ENOUGH CUDDLES, NONE OF THE GENEROUS HUGS THAT KIDS LIKE TOM AND IZZY NEEDED, JUST DRY KISSES THAT ARE NEVER ENOUGH. AND THIS: "She knew all about this. All the ways people brushed fingers passing dinner plates, and shoulders with the hired help. Etiquette. That's all it was. She knew every ritual down to her fingertips." DUDE. DID YOU KNOW ABOUT MY FINGER FETISH? I LOVE THE USE OF FINGERS IN FICS, ESPECIALLY WHEN THEY ARE SURREPTITIOUS AND GUARDED LIKE THIS, AND THAT IZZY NOTICES THESE KINDS OF TOUCHES, THAT SHE'S AWARE OF THEM, THAT SHE'S INTERNALISED THESE RITUALS SO DEEPLY DOWN TO HER FINGERTIPS IS JUST MAKING ME CLAP WITH MAD GLEE. AND I LOVE MISS HELENA IN THIS SECTION SO MUCH - IT MAKES ME WONDER IF SHE INTENTIONALLY CROSSES THAT PROFESSIONAL LINE OR NOT, I DON'T THINK SHE DOES, ALTHOUGH SHE'S AWARE THAT SHE HAS. IT'S A REALLY TENSE MOMENT, CAPTURED IN JUST A FEW WORDS -- AND IN THIS PICTURE, SO PERFECTLY. THE ANGLES HERE ARE SO LOVELY, SUCH A CONTRAST WITH THE SWINGING ROUND-NESS OF HER PONY TAIL, WITH MISS HELENA'S ARM SO STRAIGHT AND PRECISE, AND IZZY'S TRYING SO HARD TO MIMIC THAT. ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE!!!!!

OH, I ALSO HAVE TO SAY THAT I ADORE THE VISCERAL DESCRIPTIONS HERE, OF "the curve of the wood against her back felt like polished ivory, worn smooth by thousands of hands" AND "a thin blade of disappointment in her gut." YOU'VE GOT A REAL GIFT FOR DESCRIPTION, MYSTERY AUTHOR. AND I LOVE THAT THEIR GYM BAGS AREN'T JUST NEXT TO EACH OTHER, THEY'RE "JUMBLED." OH THE PRETTY, PRETTY WORDS!

THE NEXT SECTION... OH OH OH... SO MUCH I LOVE ABOUT THIS, SO MUCH. THIS PICTURE, WITH THOSE PERFECTLY DETERMINED EYEBROWS SHOOTING DAGGERS AT ANYBODY THAT DARES TO CHALLENGE ISABELLE REICHENBACH. OMG SO SO MUCH EXPRESSION HERE!!! I THINK THIS PIECE ALSO CONTAINS MY FAVOURITE SENTENCE: "The floor came up and dismantled her." I DON'T KNOW WHY I LOVE THAT SO MUCH, BUT I DO - IT'S LIKE THE FLOOR IS THIS ACTIVE CREATURE ATTACKING HER, USING WEAPONS LIKE GRAVITY AND PANELS OF HARDWOOD TO TAKE HER DOWN. BUT IT ALSO CONTAINS MY OTHER FAVOURITE SENTENCE - "She looked magnificently angry." - AND THE GREATEST TRUTH - "Turning accident into art was the secret of it all, she had decided, because no one could be perfect all the time, least of all in dance" - WHICH IS SUCH A BETTER WAY TO PUT IT THAN SAYING THAT STELLA'S STRENGTH IS HER QUIRKYNESS. THIS FITS ISABELLE SO PERFECTLY - SHE CAN PULL OFF ANYTHING BECAUSE GOES BEYOND OWNING HER FAIL; HER FAIL BECOMES EXACTLY WHAT SHE INTENDED IN THE FIRST PLACE.

I PARTICULARLY ADORE HOW SHE TURNED THIS MOMENT OF FAILURE INTO SOMETHING BRAVE AND DARING. OH IZZY. MY HEART ALMOST STOPPED FOR YOU IN THAT MOMENT OF UNCERTAINTY, AND THEN AND THEN... MYSTERY AUTHOR, I LOVE THE SUBTLETY OF MISS HELENA'S RESPONSE. THE TENSION THERE IS PALPABLE, SO HEAVY THAT I WAS HOLDING MY BREATH, AND HAD TO GASP WHEN SHE MOVED THAT SINGLE HAND. SO VERY LOVELY!!!!

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