Upstairs Neighbor Appreciation 2: Upstairs Neighborier

Hello friends, we dive into a fresh thread for a beloved game! (Thank you RAYLERS for making the previous thread.) The rules are simple:

• Highlight some writing done by the person who posted above you (quote tags can be handy!)
• Tell us all how much you love it and why! The more specific, the lovelier >:]
• Writing can be selected from any thread, whether recent or from four years ago

It's that easy! Let's do some APPRECIATIN'.

I'll go first since there's technically no "previous" person yet >:] I'd love to highlight a line from WINTERBORN's post in Rivulets!

Helene had realized after the fact that she should have given some descriptors as she had with the writer, but to late now. Instead, she sat at a table that could be seen clearly from the entrance with a copy of Interview with a Vampire on display. It couldn't be more obvious than that, under the circumstances, other than flashing her fangs at people.

Helene is written with such delightful vampiric confidence in general, but I absolutely adore this detail, to the point where Grace had to comment on it in-character too. Vampires looking for ways to subtly say "I'm a vampire!" in a way that will speak to the correct audience is a classic, and this idea is so wonderfully clever. It made me laugh out loud when I read it.

Winter does a great job of finding little sparkles of character detail in their actions rather than just their words/profiles. I'm already having a lot of fun writing with Helene just a few posts in. >:]

From Fifth gear

To someone on the ground, it might have looked like two flighted creatures fighting, and the bird was decidedly not the victor. But for all that he felt he was soaring perilously toward the sun for minutes, he endured hardly such suffering. Seconds, in the end, before Raziyya was counting down to his freedom.

On one, he was free, toes splayed and worming as if to find purchase in the air. It did not take him more than a moment to right himself, and once he did, he was headed with anxious purpose to the car. Let someone see him turn from bird to man. He'd suggest them into believing they were a fucking bird.

Whirling to his properly sweatered form, he shook off the tension literally, whipping his hands at the wrist and elbow as if they were dampened.

"Madwoman!"

I quoted the whole post because I'm weak for all of it. I love everything about Beau being one of the two most powerful vampires on the whole site, but being too scared to be thrilled by some silly flight game, especially since it's his first time doing it and it's not like he's actually an eagle form. He's rightly unsure of Raziyya's intentions especially since she just sprang it on him in the middle of the flight.

I love the way he shakes off after too, I find myself doing it every time I read it (I've reread it a lot of times). And it's not the first time he's called my crazy lady characters madwoman so that's always fond for me too. :3

From Strolls are good for the baby!!!

Empty? What the fuck, thought a woman who couldn't grasp any sense of the void within her that she presented to her friend. She wasn't empty. If anything, she was finally a whole person again.

Her hand went to her stomach, ever protective even if she couldn't sprout claws. And thank goodness she couldn't, because she finally had someone who needed her just as she was.

This is such a heartbreaking, yet surprising way to write the aftermath of an unturning. Readers may be expecting to read some regret, or some grappling with her decision. But there isn't any, or at least not to the degree we would expect. And I think that's absolutely beautiful. Hal, this pops up time and time again with all your characters but is perfectly exemplified with Asha here: they are put through the ringer but always respond in ways that feel grounded and true. I adore that Asha doesn't regret her decision and applaud your bravery and skill in sending her there.

From I am Iron Man

He would ask for reasons and maybe she didn't feel like being reasonable.

A part of her wanted to dig further and find what his exceptions would be. Find the line where this man of reason was swayed by emotion. Another part told her to stop because she was being self-serving and why the fuck did she want his, like, permission? Why was it so important he agree with her?

Maybe because she was really good at getting swept up. And he was...solid.

"If you had a time machine and could go back...would you stop your infection?"

Waylin would retort with some quip about fucking with time and how that hypothetical was flawed. If Chief Tomás dodged the question the same way she might quietly and politely pour the rest of his latte over his head.

Bree is such a wonderfully complex and well-written character, though I'd bet a whole paycheck that every Liz character has been, is, and will be both of those things and then some. This WHOLE THREAD is such a deeply fulfilling read, but I wanted to pick out this post in particular because of the variety of thoughts and feelings happening. I love that Bree is trying to balance professional curiosity and personal desire here; I love the idea that she is weighing her fox talks with Waylin against the experiences of wolf chief Dakila. And of course, last but not least, the line "politely pour the rest of his latte over his head" genuinely made me laugh out loud, as so many Bree lines do. Liz you are a POWERHOUSE, thank you for gracing us with your words :woov:

From the lies! the lies!

I’m referencing two different posts from the same thread, the first from Minnie’s first post as she answers the door.

The jar and the paint water that would absolutely stain the floor were forgotten, temporarily, as her brain moved like a panicked bird.
….

A ghost stood before her, just past the threshhold, and Minnie stared at it, brow furrowed, mouth hanging half-open. The panicked bird in her head died, disappeared, replaced by white noise, her mind and body separating, shock rendering her a breathing corpse for several long seconds.

Then much later, as Minnie passes away,

In another few minutes, if Joaquin did not take it on himself to make sure the job was done, her labored, wheezing breaths would cease altogether, and the wild bird in the cage of her chest would stop beating its wings for a few long hours.

The use of a bird as a representation of Minnie’s heart and head is so powerful. Something so simple to envision, which evokes the clearest idea of how she’s feeling. The call back as she dies is so beautifully, heartbreakingly poignant. Kiew has the most artful ability to display big, powerful emotions with small and simple phrases. I will never forget the advice she shared that went along the lines of “write small for a big impact”, I think about it in my own writing and love to find it in Kiew’s.