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beyondtheciouds · 5 years ago

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Vampires, Stale Scones, and Lucie Herondale

Part 3.

The trees seemed to spin in their own kaleidoscopic choreography above his eyes. Stars...or were they diamonds...dazzle him to a degree of dizziness. James is sprawled out on the ground, struggling to catch his breath. "Which way now?"

Cordelia is beside him, doing the same. Her bright hair is soaked to her scalp; dark with blood and sweat. Breathing heavy, she had sunk to her knees in a grassy knoll and James had collapsed beside her.

Cordelia's hands grip the blades of sunburnt grass. "I think we ought to go back the way we came."

James eyes her, trying to work out the best route to the tower in his head. Cortana lays in the grass beside Cordelia, still dripping wet and stained with ichor. "Are you sure you're alright Daisy?"

Cordelia nods, her head lowered as she takes deep inhales and exhales of the night air. She keeps wishing she hadn't taken that blow meant for James to the ribs. "I'll be fine, but we should get moving."

James sits up, surveying their surroundings. Trees loom all around them, wide and far. There did not seem to be a road to civilization in sight. "Shouldn't we just hunker down here for the night?"

"We will be more likely to be attacked again. Whoever sent those demons wants to keep us in this maze of trees." Cordelia says, turning her body. "Or kill us." She sits down on the grass, studying the trees for hidden trails.

James considers their plight. "I'm betting on the latter."

Three Shax demons had come out of nowhere and attacked. That brought the startling number to 5 in the span of a day.

If they stayed they would be attacked. If they leave they could be attacked.

Such is the life of a Shadowhunter.

He didn't want to think about it, but it made James feel better to have found Cordelia when he did.

Cordelia had a demon cornered against a tree, the suns dying rays glistening the sweat on her face. Cortana was raised, gold and glory against the backdrop of a sunset.

Cordelia looked beautiful, like a warrior queen.

When James thinks about her, he can still feel the feather-light touch of Cordelia's hair on his back. The feeling unnerves him, leaving him bewildered and anxious.

James smiles to himself, thinking about how she swung her sword in perfect timing to his Seraph blade; how her shoulders pressed against his, grounding him. Steadying him.

He still can't believe they fought two demons back to back like he would have with Matthew. He had been truly impressed with Cordelia's performance.

"How far did we run before the attack?" James asks, running his hands through his inky mop of curls. He pulls out several leaves, his gold eyes gleaming in the moonlight.

Cordelia glances at him over her shoulder. A long gash runs down the side of her face, the blood already congealed from the izrates he drew on her neck. Her face is pale, "Hard to say, the trees were disorienting."

Indeed they were.

***

Will paced back and forth, his arms tight with tension. The light of the Institute's receiving room flitted across his face, highlighting the panic in his eyes. Three days Lucie had been missing. Three days and Will Herondale had every eligible Shadowhunter out searching.

They all had come up empty-handed.

Now, Jamie, Matthew, and Cordelia were all missing. What in Angel's name is going on? Will thought clasping his hands together. "I'm going out there to look," he announces and stops in the middle of the room. "I will find them."

Christopher and Thomas share a knowing look, but neither opens their mouth. They had known of course where the three had gone to and were sworn to secrecy. The two of them are sitting stiffly on the sofa as if they are statues.

Sophie sweeps over to her son and ruffles his hair, a shade or two darker than her own.

Gideon and Gabriel watch their sons with skepticism written all over their faces.

With her hands on her hips, Sophie scolds her son, her voice as gentle as ever. “Tommy, what is going on? You and Kit must know.”

Thomas flinches. He can not resist his mother when she calls him that. “Ma--”

Christopher cuts him off, actually paying attention for once. “Aunty Sophie,” he starts.

Thomas’s head swivels. He stares at his cousin as though Kit has turned into a seven winged demon. When did Kit become so manipulative and sweet? Is he taking a page out of Matthew’s book?

Christopher continues talking, oblivious to Thomas. “We really do not have the slightest inclination of where our comrades disappeared to although we would like to know.”

Thomas blinks; the explanation sounds rehearsed as if Kit read a card. A card that Matthew gave him.

Sophie turns to Kit, her eyebrows raised. She opens her mouth to ask more questions but Cecily cuts her off, exasperated. “Oh, Christopher Edmund Lightwood! Your wildly absurd explanation is not believed by one in this room. Cut the celwyddau; hogwash. I taught you better than to lie to family.”

The two boys take one more look at each other and then lower their eyes, pretending to study the swirls of color in the carpet. Neither says a word.

Tessa sighs and turns towards her husband. She had been speaking with Henry who seemed to have an idea of where at least Matthew had run off to.

Henry suspected that the other two had joined Matthew on his medieval mission.

"Will," Tessa says, coming to stand beside him. "You must listen to Henry."

The sound of her voice gets Will's attention and he imagines he looks desperate. "Where are the children?"

Tessa places her hand on his arm, "Matthew mentioned Lucie being kidnapped."

Will turns so quick towards Henry that his bath chair rolls back on two wheels. Henry frowns, struggling to regain his balance.

Tessa grabs the sleeve of Henry's waistcoat to keep him from falling face-first on the expensive rug. "Really, Will?"

Henry clenches his hands in his lap as Will's voice raises several octaves. "What exactly did Matthew tell you?"

Henry blanches.

Will sighs, his face softening. "Sorry."

Henry tucks his hands under his knees, his face retaining its natural red hue. "The day before yesterday at breakfast Matt was rambling on to me about being a knight in shining armor. He was clearly obsessed with saving a damsel in distress."

Will raises his eyebrows, "What does that have to do with my daughter being kidnapped?"

Tessa rolls her eyes subtly at her husband. "Everything. Let Henry finish ti ddyn ffôl."

Will frowns but raises an eyebrow at her perfect Welsh. “Os dywedwch felly fy nghariad.”

Tessa nods at Henry to continue, her face serious.

Henry sighs, untucking his hands. "At first I thought Matt was just talking nonsense. He kept saying he was going to be the hero in Lucie's story. He'd save Princess Lucretia, then he'd marry her." Henry stopped speaking at the incredulous look forming on Will's face. “I assumed it was one of his games.”

A proposal from the wild child Fairchild would surely come sooner rather than later.

Henry reminded himself to warn Charlotte even as he tried not to laugh and continued talking at Tessa's quiet urging. "Matthew said that Lucretia had been kidnapped by the crazy Taliana and was sent to a tower. I didn't realize until I was just talking to Tessa that Lucretia is the character in The Beautiful Cordelia that Lucie uses to describe herself."

Will's eyes go wide as red creeps up his throat and into his face, "Taliana is Tatiana."

Tessa and Henry nod grimly.

"We have to find that tower," Will says. The determined tone of his voice reminds Tessa of when he was a seventeen year old. "Where would that batshit crazy woman find a tower?"

***

James and Cordelia had been walking for what seemed hours. Cordelia's feet hurt, but at least she could breathe normally again. “James? Maybe we should take a breather.”

Before they left the grassy knoll, James had drawn several more izrates on her skin. Color had returned to her face and when he put his hands on her cheeks to study the healing gash, she was stunned by the way his skin clashed with his eyes in the darkness.

Her heart pounded in her chest like the first time all over again when he touched her.

“Are you alright?” James asks, studying her with one eyebrow arched as she stops mid-step.

Cordelia nods her eyes on his and her smile light. "Yes, I just need a moment."

James’s hand is curled around the handle of the Seraph blade attached to his hip. His steps are slow, even as he closes the distance between them. Trees still loom all around like silent witnesses. “You sure?”

Cordelia nods again, her breath taken by his face, framed in darkness; gold eyes burning like twin flames. "I...I..." Kiss me, James.

"You what, Daisy? You need another izrate? Water?"

"I just want to rest a moment or two.”

"Oh. We can stop here. You can rest. Take a nap. I'll stay awake."

Rose springs to her cheeks as he laces his fingers with hers and she is grateful for the cover of night. "Maybe for a little while."

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oh-my-spn-one-shots · 8 years ago

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What Destiny Has Chosen - Waiting

Words: 2.662

Pairing: Sabriel (Sam x Gabriel)

Warnings: Bad injuries, descriptions of injuries

Summary: Gabriel waits impatiently on news of his soulmate’s wellbeing, he meets Sam’s older brother for the first time and the doctor explains everything to them.

A/N: I’m sorry I totally forgot to update this series on tumblr while I did on AO3, so I posted chapter 3 and 4 both now. I hope you enjoy it, leave some kind of feedback if you want. Love ya all and especially my amazing beta/editor @godisalwayswright who helps me with all this and luckily has a grasp on all that hospital stuff that I’m rather bad at. Thank you! It’s a rather dark chapter but I hope you guys enjoy it anyway.

What Destiny Has Chosen series:

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 5

Prequel Gabriel

Part One Part Two

A nurse comes rushing into the waiting room. "George Smith?" She calls and looks around.

Gabriel nods and steps toward her, looking at her name tag, Gabe nods at the pretty blonde. "That'd be me. How is he?" Gabe asks with a face full of worry and his stomach still clenched tightly.

"I am not allowed to tell you. I'm sorry." Jessica sighs and rubs her face. "The thing is, we are trying to contact his father but he has turned off his phone and isn't calling back either."

That makes Gabriel frown and look at the clock above the door. He's been here for nearly three hours and they still couldn't get a hold on Tom's- no. Sam's father?

"I see." He gulps. "So how can I help?"

Jessica smiles a little at his question. "Our paramedic said you mentioned a brother of his. But he didn't write down the name. Is that brother older than Tom?"

With a nod Gabriel tells her what he knows. That Jake is four years older and that the brothers were close and that 'Tom' mentioned he works at a garage.

"Thank you so much. We'll try to contact him and see what happens." With a friendly smile she leaves and Gabriel goes back to pacing. Jessica had looked worried when she thought Gabe wasn't looking. But she hid it behind a smile when they talked.

Right now the short boy just wants to get to Sam, his soulmate, and comfort him, make him feel better. All his instincts are yelling at him to not just stand here and be so useless but to help instead.

Of course his mind knows that it's better to let the doctors do their work and that he couldn't help right now anyway.

---Dean---

Dean is cooking in the kitchen, humming a Bon Jovie song to himself as he stirs the sauce for his spaghetti. Yeah sure he still had some leftover pizza but he didn't feel like it.

He has just come back from the pharmacy again but for the first time in a week, the blue eyed boy hadn't been there. A sting of disappointment settled in his chest but he was able to distract himself.

Or maybe he wasn't. The questions kept coming back. Why had the other boy not been there? Had something happened to him or was he just well again and didn't care a flying shit about Dean? And why the heck did he even care, it's not like he knew the guy.

Well at least Sammy was having a good time, he thought. His little brother had left him a note saying he was meeting with the guy from school that he just wouldn't shut up about.

Dean was happy that Sam had finally found a friend. And he hoped they'd be able to stay here for longer.

The sudden ring of his mobile phone pulled him out of his thoughts and he answered with a small smile at seeing it was Rufus, his boss. The guy was like a grumpy grandpa most of the time but he always means well.

"Heya Rufus!" He calls, sticking the phone between his shoulder and ear while cutting up some tomatoes for the sauce. "What's up?"

"Baker." Oh no, this was the older man's serious, down to business voice and Dean turned off the stove and frowned, wanting to be able to fully concentrate on what he was about to say next.

He probably missed something wrong with a car or something like that.

"Just wanted to give you the heads up. A hospital just called, asking for your number. I guess they'll call you in a minute but I just thought you should know." Dean's stomach clenched into a tight knot at the words coming through his phone.

"Did they say what they wanted?" He clears his throat. As he receives a negative answer, Dean thanks his boss and hangs up.

Something must have happened to his father. His thoughts are going a hundred miles a second and he tries to think of what could have happened. Maybe these assholes from the Mafia found out his real identity?

Dean gulps, his heart racing with worry. Then his phone rings again with the call he was expected. Clearing his throat he answers.

"Jake Baker?" He tries to sound as clueless as possible.

"Hello Mr. Baker. My name is Amy, I'm the emergency room ward clerk from Mercy Hospital." A calm voice says, coming through the speaker.

"How's my dad? What happened?" Dean asks without leaving time for Amy to explain, he's already getting his jacket and grabbing his car keys.

He had always known that someday things with his dad wouldn't work out, as obsessed as he was with their mom's killer, or what John calls him, the demon.

His thoughts have him barely listening till they come to a screeching halt at the word Tom being spoken on the other end of the line.

Dean stops dead in his tracks. Tom is his little brother's fake identity, not his dad's. He gulps and pales before talking again.

"W-what happened? Will my baby brother be okay?" He worries his lips as he waits for an answer.

"Your brother has been hit by a car. Please come by so we can discuss the details of his wellbeing, Sir." Dean nods till he remembers that the other can't see that.

"Yeah I'm on my way." With that he hangs up and rushes out to his beloved car, glad that his father didn't take it when he disappeared.

His father... Damn it, John would be mad at Dean. Watch out for Sammy. Dean can hear the words clearly in his head and shivers, feeling like he had failed.

He jumps in his car and starts the engine but for the first time in years he turns off the music before it can really start.

Dean Winchester is not in the mood for classic rock right now.

Dean floors his accelerator, speeding to the hospital, arriving there within mere minutes and rushes into the building after locking his car.

"I'm Jake Baker. Can you please tell me where my brother is? Tom Baker?" Dean is completely out of breath but he tries to stay calm as he addresses the ward clerk behind the counter who's typing away on her keyboard.

"Mr. Baker, I'm Amy, we spoke on the phone just a few minutes ago. Please go sit in the waiting area. The doctor will be out to talk to you soon. And I believe your brother's soulmate is still waiting as well." She says without really looking up.

Dean frowns in confusion but decides not to ask further. He walks to the room marked as waiting room and goes inside. His eyes look around for the 'soulmate' the ward clerk had mentioned.

He knows that his brother wouldn't have kept it from him if he had found his soulmate. Now the question was who's running around as Sammy's soulmate.

Dean's eyes land on George, he had never actually met the guy, except for briefly getting a look at him in the school's parking lot, but Sam had told him so much already that he recognised him.

"You must be George." Dean states matter of factly.

---Gabriel---

Gabriel turns to look at Jake properly, having not focused on anything in particular for the past three hours. He nods and holds out his hand. "Nice to meet you." His voice is filled with concern on Sam's behalf and for whether Jake would like him or not. But right now wasn't the time to think about that.

Jake shakes his hand. "Jake, Tommy's older brother, but you know that already, huh?" He waits for confirmation before sitting down.

"So what happened and why did you tell everybody you were soulmates?" He sounds worried and tired but also a tad curious.

Gabriel visibly gulps. "Tom was on his way to me with pizza when it happened. I heard the noise of the paramedics horn and ran out to see what had happened." The lie comes rather easy to him, it's sad in a way but with his fake life he's used to lying.

"The paramedic wouldn't have let me see him or come to the hospital with them if I hadn't said the soulmate thing." At least that wasn't a total lie.

Jake rubs his face. "I see. I'm sorry if I'm not good company right now, I just want my baby brother to be okay." The older Winchester brother sighs.

The smaller man nods and they sit in silence for a while, Gabriel barely being able to hold still, fidgeting in his seat.

"When the doctor comes to talk to you, may I listen too, please? Tom's my best friend, I'm worried about him." Just as Jake opens his mouth to reply a man in a long white coat comes walking in and looks at the only two young men in the waiting area.

"Which of you is related to Tom Baker?" He asks in a voice that means business. Immediately Jake raises to his feet and approaches the doctor.

"That'd be me. I'm his older brother Jake. But he's his soulmate so you may speak freely." He motions towards Gabriel who sighs in relief and gets up as well.

The doctor nods at them. "Alright. Please sit." He waits till they comply and continues. "I'm doctor Miller, I just performed a rather complicated surgery on Tom." He finally sits down as well, looking tired.

"Your brother will live, Mr Baker." The corners of Jake's lips curl up in a relived smile but the worry still has the upper hand.

"He's got a concussion, 4 broken ribs, his right hip is fractured and the left wrist is broken. Tom does have some internal bruising on his right lung and his liver but it isn't severe. He got lucky though, most of his inner organs haven't had any damage done to them."

Seeing the shocked look on Jake's face and the considerable paling of Gabriel he hurries up to continue and explain.

"My team and I stopped the bleeding that was caused from a split in his skin along his left temple and did what we could for his hip. We put his femur back in place with some pins and we have fixated his wrist and a cast has been put on. He's stable and sleeping now under the influence of heavy pain medication. But we're positive he'll wake up within the next 5 hours."

The doctor can see that both men in front of him are about to jump up to get to Tom's side but he holds up a hand to stop them.

"He has to stay here for at least a week and even after that he's on bed rest. Tom won't be able to walk for about three weeks. He is restricted to a wheelchair and later with crutches, he'll need to rest a lot. And come back here once a week for a month. He's not to miss those check-ups. Oh and no alcohol while his liver is recovering from the bruising. He's underage anyway but still. If there's any change about his health you need to bring him here immediately."

During all of this, the doctor looks Into Jake's eyes, he gets an honest nod in response.

"I'll make sure to remember. Can I go see him now, please?" Jake is almost begging him before looking over at Gabriel. "I mean can we see him?"

Slowly doctor Miller nods with a tiny smile. "Yeah, go see him, just be prepared for how he looks. Tom's wrapped in bandages and has a face mask to help assist his breathing. He's also attached to a monitor that is constantly recording his vitals in case they suddenly become unstable. When he wakes up, he'll be in pain so just press the call button and a nurse will come and give him some pain medication."

As the doctor notices them twitching he gets up and motions to them to follow. "Come with me, he's in room 072 of our intensive care unit."

With that he walks ahead as the others follow him and enter the room silently. The doctor excuses himself and leaves them alone.

Jake rushes to his brother's side and grabs his hand as he sits down on a chair beside the bed.

"Sammy." He mumbles so quietly Gabriel isn't sure he heard right as he approaches the bed. Still, even the thought that it is real makes his heart jump.

But then his eyes scan Sam's face and body and Gabe's happily jumping heart crumbles with worry and fears for his soulmate. Gabriel slumps down on a seat next to Jake.

"You'll be just fine. You can't miss out on school, you little nerd. There's gonna be so much you'll have to catch up on, can't have that S- Tommy, can you?" Jake adds softly, tears of concern in his eyes.

"I'll help you. Promise." Gabriel sighs and takes Sam's hand, laying his forehead on the bed beside Sam, feeling all the energy drain from him after this very long day.

Jake sighs and pulls out his phone, dialling his father's number but only reaching voice mail. He tries three more times before finally leaving a message. "Damn it Dad! Tom's been hit by a car. He's in the hospital, injured badly. Please at least call back. We need you here."

Jake hangs up and presses the heels of his hands in his eyes to refrain from breaking down right there and then.

---Sam---

Six hours later Sam wakes up from his comatose like sleep with pain soaring through every fibre of his being. He starts to hyperventilate, unsure of where he is.

Dean and George had fallen asleep a couple hours ago, being allowed to stay the night because Sam's still a minor. Now they both startled awake, George immediately reaching out and pressing the call button.

Dean meanwhile holds his brother carefully. "Calm down! Don't move, you're severely injured. Please just calm down." He pleads his younger brother as a nurse comes rushing in and takes the mask off Sam.

A coughing fit rips through Sam afterwards as he tries to breathe on his own now. His whole chest explodes with pain as his lungs expand and contract at that, pressing against his rib cage.

As the coughing stops he winces in agony and reaches out his hand, somehow the pain eases as it's gripped by another.

Everybody can see when the nurse ups the pain medication since Sam's relaxing partially, still breathing heavily.

"What happened?" His voice is barely audible and he can see the worry in his brother's and friend's eyes.

Dean clears his throat and starts explaining it all, including what the doctor had told them earlier.

Sam groans as he understands. "I'm sorry for making you worry." He then looks around and frowns. "Where's dad?" He levels a questioning gaze at his older brother who just shakes his head.

That answer is enough for the younger Winchester and he closes his eyes as he let his head sink deeper into the pillow, suddenly all tired. His brain feels numb from the medications running through his veins.

"Sleep Tommy." George says softly as he strokes his arm. "We'll be here when you wake up again."

Dean watches the scene with a brow raised. Forcing his eyes open once more, Sam looks at his friend. "Promise?" He mumbles, his eyes already about to close again but they can see him fighting it.

"Promise." George and Dean say at the same time, the word bringing a soft smile to Sam's face as he drifts off. He can feel the prickling, warm and for a change completely painless sensation of George's hand running up and down his arm. The feeling finally lulls him to sleep.

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allofbeercom · 6 years ago

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The 20 Best Movie Performances of 2017: A Year of Black, Gay, and Trans Excellence

Despite the raging fire that has swept through Hollywood since Harvey Weinstein’s monstrous behavior finally came to light, if you managed to escape to the cinema this year you may have found more hope for Hollywood’s future. As new sexual misconduct cases arise—and our memories flood with the realization that this industry we celebrate so often has victims whose artistry will never be realized because of the iniquitous systems in place to keep their voices quelled—it’s a wonder that anything actually moving, anything with a soul manages to reach the silver screen.

But 2017 flourished with performances that highlighted what it means to to be a gay man, a trans woman, a black woman, an immigrant who specializes in holistic medicine, an HIV-positive activist, a struggling mother or even a fallen Valkyrie. This week, a Los Angeles Times cover celebrating actresses calling for “a change in the way many stories are told” featured only white actresses on the cover: Margot Robbie, Diane Kruger, Saoirse Ronan, Annette Bening, Kate Winslet, and Jessica Chastain. When called out on it, Chastain responded, “It’s a sad look that there’s no WOC in this pic of us promoting our female lead films. The industry needs to become more inclusive in its storytelling.”

It’s absolutely true: there’s much work to be done in this industry for more inclusion in front of—and even more, behind��the camera. But we as an industry also need to look beyond the Chastains, the Meryl Streeps, etc. when we celebrate the actors who illuminate our spirits. With that in mind, I found a selection of twenty performances this year that bewitched me, made me cry, made me laugh, made me struggle with my own identity or simply made me want to stand up and cheer.

20. Nicole Kidman, The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Nicole Kidman’s best performance this year was in HBO’s Big Little Lies, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t also deliver in Yorgos Lanthimos’ chilly, terrifying horror film The Killing of a Sacred Deer. We’ve seen Kidman portray a mother desperate to protect her children at any costs, but never has she seemed so broken down, so utterly defeated. Kidman giving a handjob in a hospital parking lot is perhaps the darkest scene she’s ever performed.

19. Hong Chau, Downsizing

Downsizing is a horrific movie and honestly, Hong Chau deserves accolades for acting against Matt Damon in yet another role as a clueless white guy who somehow gets it right in the end. Her performance as a Vietnamese immigrant could’ve been hackneyed and offensive, but Chau brings a sentimentality and humanity to the character that the script doesn’t seem to care about that much.

18. O’Shea Jackson, Jr., Ingrid Goes West

O’Shea Jackson, Jr. can do so much with a smile. In the little-buzzed-about Ingrid Goes West, which admittedly collapses into a bit of a mess in its third act, Jackson is a breath of fresh air among a slew of characters who are absolute psychopaths. A bright spot of 2017 has been the deepening of depictions of black men we see on film, and Jackson’s cool, aloof, Batman-obsessed Venice dweller is the best part of Ingrid.

17. Salma Hayek, Beatriz at Dinner

Salma Hayek is almost unrecognizable as a working class healer who practices holistic medicine in Beatriz at Dinner. It’s some of her most moving and emotional work and it’s a shame that such a strong and confident turn from a frequently stunning actress has been lost amid some of the more flashier performances of the year.

16. Josh O’Connor, God’s Own Country

Taking cues from Brokeback Mountain, Francis Lee’s directorial debut manages to expand on what we think about gay romances. At the center of this deep, character-driven drama is Josh O’Connor depicting a farmer who’s closeted and comes to realize what he needs to sacrifice in order to have love in his life. It’s an incredibly stirring performance in one of many beautiful additions this year to the queer cinema canon.

15. Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Get Out is one of the year’s most important films—and one of its best. Years from now, we’ll look back at Jordan Peele’s movie as the beginning of an onslaught of thought-provoking horror films about the black experience in America, and at its center, Daniel Kaluuya holds it all together. Look no further than when Catherine Keener places him in “The Sunken Place,” a scene which requires all of Kaluuya’s skill as an actor as he performs against a CGI backdrop. It’s thrilling and unlike anything that’s ever been put on film before.

14. Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread

Where the hell did Vicky Krieps come from? Paul Thomas Anderson isn’t usually great at female roles, but there’s something about Krieps in Phantom Thread that makes you want to inhale her intoxicating performance.

13. Holly Hunter, The Big Sick

I’m hopeful that The Big Sick will usher in a new era of romantic comedies that depict their lovers like real human beings. Even more refreshing than Zoe Kazan and Kumail Nanjiani’s realistic romantic journey is Holly Hunter’s performance as Kazan’s mother. Often, the secondary characters in rom-coms—and especially parents—turn into ridiculous caricatures but Hunter’s character feels real and lived-in. It should be remembered as one of her finest performances.

12. Kelvin Harrison Jr., It Comes at Night

Amidst the fervor for Get Out this year, not much attention has been paid to another black horror film: It Comes at Night. The post-apocalyptic saga manages to be horrifying and thought-provoking all at once and Kelvin Harrison Jr.’s quiet, intimate performance is one we rarely see afforded to young black men on film.

11. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Despite finding Three Billboards nauseatingly tone-deaf when it comes to its depiction of race, there’s no denying Frances McDormand is a force of nature in this film. An actress of that caliber is expected to rise above the material, but it’d be nice if the material put as much into McDormand’s character as she put into the film.

10. Tessa Thompson, Thor: Ragnarok

There’s so much to love about Taika Waititi’s take on the Thor mythos, but the addition of Valkyrie—and casting her with Tessa Thompson—made it that much more magnificent. Thompson’s beer-swilling, joke-cracking, punch-throwing Valkyrie is the best part of the film. When she puts on her Valkyrie swag at the film’s conclusion and sashays down Bifröst, Asgard’s rainbow bridge, you’ll stand up and cheer and demand we get a solo Valkyrie film immediately.

9. Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World

It’s been years since Michelle Williams found a melodrama like Brokeback Mountain to truly sink her teeth into. In a perfect world, Douglas Sirk would still be alive to cast her as the lead in one of his lush dramas (or Todd Haynes would find a better way to serve her talents than he did in Wonderstruck). All the Money in the World is a magnificent drama, dizzying caper, and taut thriller but at the center of it lies Williams, who drives it forward with verve.

8. Timothée Chamalet, Call Me By Your Name

As much as Michael Stuhlbarg may be the MVP of Call Me By Your Name, the film doesn’t work without Timothée Chamalet’s performance. He absolutely lives in Elio’s body and carries the vivid Italian fantasy from the first frame to the last, which is a fucking knockout of a shot. In my review of the film, the description of Elio could double as a description of how Chamalet seduces the audience. His seduction is in his movements: how he wriggles his hips like Michael Jackson, David Bowie, or Madonna in their early ’80s videos, how he keeps his bedroom door open at night to let the moonlight suggest his intentions, how he darts around Oliver’s body during conversations like an archaeologist examining an unearthed statue.

7. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird

Laurie Metcalf’s best performance is obviously Debbie Salt in Scream 2, but seeing as how it went woefully unrecognized by the Academy, here’s hoping they celebrate her nuanced and emotional turn as the mother of a rebellious teenager in Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird.

6. James Franco, The Disaster Artist

I disliked I, Tonya, which felt tonally all over the place and at the end managed to make its subject a punchline. On the other hand, The Disaster Artist avoids those pitfalls by finding the humor in The Room director Tommy Wiseau’s absurd personality while also peeling that persona away to examine the human underneath. James Franco has never been better.

5. Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman

If Daniela Vega makes history as the first transgender woman to be nominated for the Academy Award nominee for Best Actress, it will be wholly earned. Chilean director Sebastian Lelio’s portrait of a trans woman who loses her partner and fights for the right to mourn him succeeds thanks to Vega’s bold and confident performance. More than a film that depicts the difficulty of asserting your trans identity in this world, it also shows a trans woman’s journey to finding her voice as an artist and leads to a beautiful, stirring conclusion. Vega is an actress we deserve more of.

4. Betty Gabriel, Get Out

In a year where black women have been celebrated for showing up at the ballot box to save America’s slide into moral corruption, there should be much more attention paid to Betty Gabriel’s stirring performance in Jordan Peele’s horror film Get Out. Depicting a black woman trapped in her own mind and held prisoner by white captors, there’s no character that resonates more when it comes to the erasure of black women’s voices in America—and the industry at large—than Gabriel’s, and her performance is truly the most unsettling of the film’s barrage of horrors. Naturally, she’s the one who tries to save Daniel Kaluuya’s character Chris Washington. Leave it to black women to try and save the day, as usual.

3. Michael Stuhlbarg, Call Me By Your Name

Michael Stuhlbarg has been one of my favorite actors since A Serious Man, but for most of the runtime of Call Me By Your Name you might feel like he’s being underutilized. No, that’s just because director Luca Guadagnino and screenwriter James Ivory were saving his skills until you weren’t prepared for Stuhlbarg to utterly devastate you. Much has been said about Stuhlbarg’s monologue at the conclusion of this gorgeous romance, but it’s probably all understatement. Not since Viola Davis in Doubt has a master done so much with so little.

2. Tiffany Haddish, Girls Trip

To describe how shocking it was that Tiffany Haddish didn’t get a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in Girls Trip is to be rendered speechless. Haddish’s performance was self-assured and infectious and the main reason Girls Trip was the most fun I’ve had at the movies this year. Thankfully, Haddish herself is just as endearing, and America seems to have fallen in love with her. There’ll be more performances from Haddish in the future, but now that we know how magnificent she is, there’ll probably be none as surprising and lightning-in-the-bottle as this.

1. Nahuel Pérez Biscayart, BPM (Beats Per Minute)

Robin Campillo’s BPM (Beats Per Minute) sadly didn’t make the shortlist for Best Foreign Film at the upcoming 2018 Academy Awards, which is why I will spend every chance I get next year championing the best film I saw this year. This French drama captures the story of Paris’ ACT UP activists fighting for recognition from the government in the 1990s, but it’s not just a film about how devastating the AIDS crisis was and is, it’s a film about what it means to truly crave life. Biscayart’s lively performance as passionate activist Sean Dalmazo, whose body begins to fail him, embodies this year perfectly. Despite his condition, he never stops fighting for others and for his own life. Take for instance a poignant backlit scene in a hospital room, when Biscayart’s character is given a handjob by his boyfriend. It’s a beautiful scene where Biscayart, even as a disease ravages his body, is still given a chance to experience the humanity in sexual intimacy. What a stunning thing to behold, and just one reason why Biscayart gives the most beautiful performance I saw all year.

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/the-20-best-movie-performances-of-2017-a-year-of-black-gay-and-trans-excellence/

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