#kane annihilation imagine

[bits-and-babs]

I am so, so sorry for what you are going through.

I'd like to request another Kane x fem!reader, with them being inside the shimmer. Some of the prompts I love are 2, 11, 23, 37, 42! Was thinking what if reader was close with a different soldier, and was growing closer as things looked bad, though you and that soldier were never anything more than two friends comforting each other in the face of the end, and Kane finally snapped?

Thank you so much for the opportunity to request! Much, much love to you.

-ˋˏ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐍-𝐄𝐘𝐄𝐃 𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 ˎˊ-

— pairing: Kane (annihilation) x F!Reader

— word count: 1k

— warnings: light dub-con elements, creepy elements, biting, choking, jealous sex, breeding kink, cream pie (yes, I know, I have an addiction, WRAP IT KIDS), reference to murder. 18+ you nasty nasties.

kane masterlist I| main masterlist |l send me an ask

It rattles against the bars of his very being, the creature that had been rearing its ugly head since the moment he stepped in here. It’s snarling, threatening to burst through its confines when he sees Vallows wrap his arms around your shoulder in a comforting squeeze.

He’s curdling, twisting into something obscene in his envy.

“Hey,” Kane calls out, voice tight. He sees you look over your shoulder, startled by the noise with these round puppy-eyes that set him alight on the inside, flames of his desire swallowing the creature whole. He crooks a finger at you, watching you approach with a nervous expression on your face as though he’s about to whip you for miss-stepping.

“Come here,” he orders, and his stomach flips when you do exactly that, footfalls stepping in time with his own as he leads the way into the overgrowth. It’s vile, the sickly greed that had enveloped him since entering The Shimmer. Things weren’t right here; reality fundamentally twisted.

You look up at him with this expectant gaze that makes his body sing for you, the threads in the fabric of his being tearing with their need for you. When you open your mouth to question his taking you aside, Kane descends on you with an animalistic groan, smothering your lips with his own and grabbing at your body with greedy hands.

He should be appalled with himself, but you’re wrapping your arms around him suddenly, pulling his body into your own and breathing his name into his mouth— not his title, his name.

The both of you stumble into the flowering overgrowth, the pink petals of the blossom flowers shimmering rainbows like an oil slick as he rips off your camo trousers, his lips brushing the collar of your khaki polo shirt when he sinks his teeth into the soft flesh of your throat.

“Kane!” You wail out his name and a pulse of something ravenous washes over Kane’s body. If he wasn’t already scrambling, he’s practically tearing your clothes off you when he tastes the iron of your blood on his tongue. Fuckfuckfuck, he needs this. He needs it. You’re not Vallows’. He can’t have you. You’re his.

He sucks on the split skin across the column of your neck, tasting more of the red blood that stains his teeth. You’re arching off the soil beneath you, pushing your breasts into his chest and whining at the sensation of pressure against your nipples.

“Fuck,” he groans loudly, the envious monster scratching in the pit of his stomach gaining some relief when you work your fingers into his dark curls and press a kiss to his lips. You’re licking your tongue into his mouth, tasting your own blood on his enamel, and Kane’s cock leaps against the zipper of his uniform.

Christ, you barely give him a moment to respond. Your fingers don’t tremble when they reach for the zipper, ripping it down and working his belt open. Not bothering to remove it from the loops, you pull the button quickly, the metal of the buckle hanging at his hip rattling as you work his clothes down his thighs.

Kane growls loudly, grabbing your hips in a bruising grip and yanking your body across the emerald grass to pull you into position. It’s like you know, your thighs hiking up over his waist. You breathe in tandem, sharing one brain as Kane works his cock inside of you with a feral hiss of your name.

��Oh- ohfuckohfuck-“ the praises spill from your lips and it blooms a vengeful pride through Kane’s chest as he brutally slams into you. It’s earth-shattering, each slap of his skin on yours causing your body to hike up the soil and away from him until Kane grabs you and spears you back down onto his cock with a particularly vicious thrust.

“Mhm- Mhm, this fu-fucking Vowels-“ Kane spits, a rasp of something unhinged playing on his voice when you flutter around his cock, pussy gushing against his length, “Could he fuck you lik-like I can? Hmm? Could he fuck you like I can?!”

You’re sobbing loudly, shaking your head quickly as he fucks you into the floor. He can’t help but laugh cruelly, noting the way you look like the antithesis of those nodding-head dogs you see on people’s dashboards because you don’t stop rocking your head left and right.

“Didn’t t-think so,” he gasps as he feels you roll your hips up to meet his, chasing the orgasm you appear to be teetering on.

“Scream my name. Fuckin’ tell him who you belong to, Angel. Come on! I’ll fucking fill you up; go on-“

You do, God, you do. It breaks you apart, shatters your being as you cum around him with a scream of his single-syllable name that bounces off the bark of the shimmering trees surrounding you.

The hoarse cry you let out has him spilling into your sopping cunt, haggard shouts of your name bleeding between your whines. He feels like he pumps you full, painting his cock with a creamy slick as he continues to thrust in and out of you at a slower pace.

Only when you both pause, Kane leaning over you on shaky arms, does reality begin to ebb back into his consciousness, your heaving chest beneath him lulling him back to the sounds of The Shimmer. Birds that sound off, the beauty of the surroundings shifting ever so slightly to reveal the horrors beneath- rotting.

His post-orgasm haze seems to shake the overwhelming jealousy ever so slightly, just enough to give him pause. Shock stills his heart, his eyes staring down at you in fear of his atypical actions.

But he finds it so hard to feel guilt when you look at him, eyes all blissed out and lids hooded.

The Green-Eyed Monster rears its ugly head once more. It couldn’t bear the concept of Vallows taking you for himself.

Kane would have to remove him from the equation.

END

[kindasleepycryptid]

Okay well that movie was a fucking wild ride

Me watching literally the first movie that popped up on american netflix in the science fiction section

literally less than 7 minutes in: oscar isaac appears

[davosmymaster]

What Oscar Isaac character would survive in the last of us do you think?

AHHHHHH I LOVE THIS QUESTION THANK YOU SO MUCH NONNIE!!!

For starters, I think Marc and Jake would definitely survive. (It could take a toll on Marc definitely, but I think that at some point he would realize morals are not useful anymore.) By association, Steven would do it too. Jake would be Dark!Joel 2.0

(In fact, @loki-hargreeves and I have been thinking about what if Marc was Joel's son. I mean, Marc is 36 and Joel 56 so it would be completely possible. Sarah would take Randall's place. It would be amazing to see father and son reconcile at some point. Lots of angst. And this is what we imagine Marc Spector (former Marc Miller) to be:

WILLIAM TELL. (The Card Counter)

I wanna believe that he for sure would do survive too. Maybe he would become an actual officer and that's his way of surviving. Maybe he will just hang around the QZ. In any case, he is a very capable man.

KANE. (Annihilation)

KANE FOR SURE. You hear me? like KANE. Especially the Kane at the end of the movie. He is a menace. I love him so much. He would make it 100%

Pre-canon Kane would join the fireflies and risk everything for a cure. I bet my right arm.

Now... Nathan Bateman (Ex-Machina)

Ohhh shittttt. This man has all the money in the world, but he didn't get all that money just by chance. He earned it because he is extremely smart and manipulative. This man would THRIVE in TLOU. He would found his own QZ or some shit. He is a natural leader despite not wanting/loving the idea of people around him. He knows what buttons to push, and he has knowledge that FEDRA wants. He is 100% surviving TLOU even if he is not fighting clickers himself

And the last character to survive is... Poe Dameron

Just because I refuse to believe he would get killed. I feel like he is a bit too enthusiastic and hopeful for TLOU torture so Im not so sure about him. Still, I wanna believe Poe would survive. Certain people would kill me if I didn't mention him here.

Other characters such as Santiago... I don't think he would survive. Maybe it is because I don't like him very much but he is too greedy for TLOU. He would get killed by raiders or FEDRA for sure.

Duke Leto... he is so far from TLOU that I can't even imagine him in the show. I'm sorry🤣🤣

Jonathan would die on outbreak day trying to protect his daughter. He also likes pancakes too much not to have them for breakfast😂😂.

Blue Jones I think he would survive for a while but eventually get killed the same way David got killed because this man is a little too deranged. He would survive if he got good business partners (don't wanna get too dark in this... but I mean... the man "owns" a few beautiful girls... David vibes in here).

I think that's all. Thank you so much for this. Had wayyy too much fun!!!

Love you

💕

[chillingcinemachronicles]

the Best Sci-Fi Movies on Netflix Right Now

Embark on an interstellar journey where the boundaries of reality dissolve, and imagination takes flight. Brace yourself for a warp-speed adventure through the cosmos with our curated selection of mind-bending science fiction wonders!

5. Annihilation (2018)

EW grade: A- (read the review)

Director: Alex Garland

Talent: Natalie Portman, Oscar Isaac, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Gina Rodriguez, Tessa Thompson, Tuva Novotny

Lights, camera, VPNaction! Elevate your movie nights with NordVPN. 🎥🔒secure your connection and Download NordVPN . Click now to unlock global cinematic thrills!

In the swamplands of Florida there sits a forcefield that formed after a meteor hit the area. Separated from regular life by a kaleidoscopic shell whose circumference continues to expand, The Shimmer, as it’s called, has claimed the lives of every man who has gone inside — except one. Biologist Lena (Natalie Portman) lost her husband Kane (Oscar Isaac) after he was presumably killed during a military operation, but when Kane returns home with his memory gone and his health failing, Lena looks for answers.

She then joins an all-female research team consisting of a physicist, a geologist, a paramedic, and a psychologist, all of whom volunteer to enter The Shimmer in what amounts to a suicide mission. While inside, the women find a gorgeous world that defies nature — but the mutations taking place within threaten to destroy the women, their team, and eventually, the world.

4. Anon (2018)

EW grade: (read the review)

Director: Andrew Niccol

Cast: Clive Owen, Amanda Seyfried, Colm Feore, Mark O���Brien,

Privacy and anonymity are luxuries afforded to no one in the 2018 British-American sci-fi thriller Anon. Clive Owen stars as Detective Sal Frieland, a troubled cop operating in a dystopia where the entire populace is implanted with an ocular device intended to record and track the movements of the people around them. The government’s transparency methods ensure that all criminal activity is caught on tape — but when a mysterious woman with no digital footprint (Amanda Seyfried) crosses paths with Sal, he realizes she might have a connection with a series of unsolved murders he’s investigating. Director Andrew Niccol tells EW “I always wanted to do a movie about privacy and the fact that there was never a war for privacy, because we already lost — we gave away our privacy without a fight, all for convenience.

3. Bird Box (2018)

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Susanne Bier

Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald, Sarah Paulson, Machine Gun Kelly

Lights, camera, VPNaction! Elevate your movie nights with NordVPN. 🎥🔒secure your connection and Download NordVPN . Click now to unlock global cinematic thrills!

Sight becomes a handicap in Bird Box, a post-apocalyptic thriller where the enemy must go unseen, or else. Sandra Bullock stars as Malorie Hayes, a woman responsible for transporting two young children down a river while wearing blindfolds, a strategy intended to help the survivors avoid seeing the entities that attacked Earth five years earlier, and who cause those who look upon them to commit suicide. Jumping between their present journey and the past events that led Malorie and the children to this point, director Susanne Bier leans into the tension of the unknown and relies on her talented but eclectic cast to do the rest. Released the same year as A Quiet Place, and possessing a somewhat similar premise, Bird Box received less attention when it first premiered, but this sci-fi horror film is a great option for fans of both genres.

2. Black Mirror: Bandersnatch (2018)

Director: David Slade

Cast: Fionn Whitehead, Will Poulter, Craig Parkinson, Tallulah Rose Haddon, Catriona Knox

As it turns out, the only thing missing from the British anthology series, Black Mirror, was options. In Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, the TV show gets a movie makeover, but with a twist: The film was shot in the style of a “choose your own adventure” novel, and viewers are able to customize their viewing experience through their scene selections. Centered around a young programmer named Stefan (Fionn Whitehead), Bandersnatch follows Stefan’s journey in developing a video game for a famous gaming company, a journey that puts Stefan under a great deal of mental and emotional stress, and results in one of ten main endings. Black Mirror is beloved for its eldritch and tech-focused content, and Bandersnatch keeps that tone alive, using the main storyline to explore themes like free will and mind control, even as the viewers’ choices drive the story forward.

Don’t Look Up (2021)

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Adam McKay

Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Jonah Hill, Meryl Streep, Timothee Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Cate Blanchett, Mark Rylance, Melanie Lynskey, Chris Evans

Lights, camera, VPNaction! Elevate your movie nights with NordVPN. 🎥🔒secure your connection and Download NordVPN . Click now to unlock global cinematic thrills!

As a comet sets its sights on Earth and prepares to wipe out human civilization, two astronomers (Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence) rush to warn the world of the impending collision — only to discover the world doesn’t really care. “Based on events that haven’t happened yet,” as the film’s trailer states, Don’t Look Up is a sci-fi satire that skewers climate deniers and government inaction in the face of scientific evidence pointing to looming catastrophe. Directed by Adam McKay (Vice, The Big Short), and featuring everyone in Hollywood from Jonah Hill and Meryl Streep to Timothee Chalamet and Ariana Grande, Don’t Look Up offers great jokes and fun cameos, but be warned: it’s not exactly light fare. Still, as far as sci-fi comedies go, this one is worth a watch — just don’t think too deeply about the implications of the film’s ending.

[jakelcckley]

we need more kane fics tbh. where are they! i want my fucked up dude to rearrange my insides!

ANON SAME!!! WE REALLY NEED MORE KANE FICS!!!! IM QUITE SAD THAT THERE'S A VERY FEW OF THEM AND I HAVE NOT FOUND ANY OTHER READER X KANE IN AO3.

For those who want to read kane fics, here's a few fics that I recently found from tumblr and some from A03. I have not read them yet, but I will later~~~! (link embedded on the title of each fics)

reader x kane list:

Mangled by @laters-gators: (r18, kane x reader) When tasked with a suicide mission, feelings for your colleague cloud your judgement. A celebration of Friday the 13th!

Ruin the Friendship by @millllenniawrites: (r18, kane x reader) Kane told Lena he had to leave a day early for the Shimmer. Without so much as a kiss goodbye, he left behind a home he wasn’t likely to come back to. And drove to you. 

Trying by @budcooper: Rated Explicit for basically porn without plot, lots of breeding/pregnancy kink, trying to conceive, slight kinda dom/sub vibes

My dear kane by @spector-marc: A love letter to Kane (gn, smut/fluff)

two ghosts by @alwritey-aphrodite: trying to remember how it feels to have a heartbeat (oneshot)

15. night swimming blurb by @alwritey-aphrodite

lena x kane list:

let nature take its course by @leiakenobi: The Shimmer showed Lena that her Kane died—or at least, the one who had life and form before the Shimmer, since it seemed unfair to think of the man she’d betrayed as hers. (AO3)

Ao3 search list

character study fic:

Assimilation by @macchiato-dreaming22: prose fanfiction character study on the Kane Double because Oscar Isaac is an amazing actor and the symbolic shit going on in that movie was a beautiful acid trip.

Heavy by mautadite: Failure suggests purpose, and if you were ever given one, beyond “find Lena”, then you have forgotten it. (AO3)

[freelancearsonist]

Soulmate prompts! 😍 #17 or #35 with Kane pls?

omg the flower one instantly jumped at me for this sweet sunshine boy and i had to write it!! thank you for sending in my love 🥺💛

#35: You get flowered tattoos wherever your soulmate receives a scar.

You’re born with a flower on your knee.

It’s not uncommon for babies to be born with the marks of their soulmate, an ever present reminder that your perfect match is out there waiting for you.

Your mother is excited to see this evidence when you’re born. Your father, however, worries over how much older than you your soulmate might be. It’s a worry many fathers have when faced with the fact that their tiny, new baby will someday be grown and taken away from them.

You meet many little boys with scars on their knees as you grow, but they’re never in exactly the same place as the little tulip that sprouted on you while you were still merely a sprout yourself.

When you’re a teenager, a decently-sized rose appears on your rib cage. You feel bad, now that you’re old enough to understand what it means. You hope that your soulmate isn’t in too much pain.

You get tiny flowers scattered all over your body over the years, and then you join the army. And then suddenly, you’re the one giving flowers instead of receiving.

You look for your soulmate in every face you meet but none of them are ever right.

And then the most handsome face you’ve ever met shows you the little peony on his forehead right on the edge of his hairline, concealed by his beautiful dark curls. The exact same spot that you have a tiny scar.

You meet Kane in the most unexpected of places: both on three month deployment in Afghanistan.

Your sergeant’s brow furrows when you show him the scar on your forehead.

“Maybe this is a weird question, but do you have a scar on your left knee from when you were little?”

Kane’s beautiful, dark brown eyes slowly light with understanding as he rolls up his trouser leg and shows you the tiny, light scar on his knee. Exactly the same place where your tulip has been since the day you were born.

“You... you have one on your ribs too, don’t you?” He gasps, a smile slowly spreading over his face.

You bite your lip at his question. “I do, but I think you should at least buy me dinner before I show you that one.”

He laughs easily at that, and then suddenly he’s wrapping you up in his strong, warm arms and burying his face in your hair.

“I’ve waited so long to meet you,” he whispers close to your ear. “But honestly, you’re way outta my league. Fate’s on my side, I guess.”

You tip your head back as you laugh, but the joyful sound is quickly silenced when his soft lips press gently to yours.

“Sorry,” he fumbles to apologize, as if kissing you was an involuntary reaction as natural as breathing.

“Don’t apologize,” you smile. “I’ve wanted to do that since I first saw you.”

This time when you kiss, it truly does feel as natural as breathing.

soulmate au prompt list

[mrs-lockley]

.

[mxrlin-writes]

also I watched Annihilation on Thursday and bOI DOMESTIC POE DAMERON I-

[redporchobserver]

Lena: Oh, my hero! Kane: Screw you. - Annihilation

[bits-and-babs]

𝐒𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 — 𝐀𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐇𝐈𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍’𝐒 𝐊𝐀𝐍𝐄

-> OCT. 12 : KNIFE PLAY

WARNINGS: 18+ MDNI. Canon setting, horror elements, blood, threatening-esque behaviour but consensual knife play, P in V sex.

WC: 1023

[Kinktober Masterlist] [Main Masterlist]

“Kane?” You whisper softly, approaching your team-mate and colleague from behind. You had woken to find that he had returned from his expedition into the woods of the shimmer last night, now sitting facing the wall as the dawn’s sunlight creeped through the house window. You’d set up camp here during the night, in need of some cover.

Kane doesn’t immediately respond, his eyes set on the wall opposite him. He’s perfectly still, cross-legged on the wood-rot floor and back still turned to you. He doesn’t even acknowledge your address, breathing even.

“Kane,” you repeat, moving to step to the side of his still body. At this angle, you can see his face. He’s staring blankly ahead of him, hands holding a knife in his lap. It’s a hunting knife- military issued. Area-X had offered it as a part of your weapon kits before entering the shimmer.

The point of the blade settles against the tip of his finger, blood pooling around the sharp edge and he twists the handle of the knife slowly, repeatedly. The sharp prick of the tip doesn’t seem to bother him, apparently absorbed in thought.

“I think I’m goin’ crazy,” he murmurs, voice so quiet you almost miss it. His eyes turn up to look at you now, through his thick eyelashes.

“What?” You question.

“… I swear I can hear your thoughts, Angel,” he mumbles, letting out a shaky breath. “I can hear everything you think, like we share a brain. How you crave food in the morning, that your wrists ache from carrying the machine guns…”

You let out a nervous laugh, shaking your head now. “Yeah, but I’m sure you were thinking the same thing, Kane-“

“I can hear… Your thoughts at night. You want me to kiss you,” he points out, so methodically and relaxed that it sends a chill down your spine. “You want me to hold a blade to your throat and fuck you, don’t you?”

For once in your life, around your best friend and colleague, you’re utterly speechless. How could he possibly know that? You’d never shared your kinks with anyone, never told even one person that you had lusted for Kane ever since joining his team!

“I-“ You stumble over your words as Kane slowly raises himself from the floor, knife handle gripped hard as he stands. You swallow weakly, watching him carefully approach you, his breathing shallow.

“Fuck, I just wish you’d told me,” he moans out now, crowding you towards the wall. You’re almost certain you can feel his body heat radiating off him. It’s when your back hits the peeling wallpaper that he finally touches you, free hand settling on your hip.

He uses the leverage to spin your body, chest and cheekbone pressed to the wall. You whimper softly, arousal pooling in your stomach as his army patent boot kicks your ankles apart, chest pressed to your back as he mouths the base of your neck with heavy kisses.

You don’t even get a word out before he presses the blade edge against the vulnerable skin of your throat, pinning the back of your head against his shoulder while pushing his heavy erection into the curve of your ass. Whimpering, you keep your breath steady as he traces the tip of the knife delicately over your throat.

“Undo your belt,” Kane orders with a whisper, the tone causing goosebumps to rise up on your skin and your hair to stand on end. You don’t keep him waiting, trembling hands reaching down to undo your belt buckle. It clinks in the quiet as you struggle to free the prong, Kane’s lips pressing delicate kisses to the curve of your neck.

Finally, you free your belt, moving quickly to undo your pants buttons. You hear Kane moan, turned on by how pliant and willing you are. Maybe it’s the adrenaline, the movement of his hips grinding up on your ass that knocks his usually Sharp-Shooter steady hand, but the blade knicks the skin just beneath your jaw.

“Ah- Fuck,” you moan out, fumbling to hold onto the wall as the sharp sting spreads across your neck, blood seeping down your throat.

“Oh shit- I’m sorry,” Kane breathes heavily, but you shake your head quickly, refusing to allow him to sink back into his kind, caring nature.

“N-No, please, again,” you moan out, pulling both your pants and underwear down at the same time and sending Kane spiralling.

“Yes, Angel, that’s it,” he growls, pressing the tip of the knife harder against the delicate skin below your collarbone so it draws blood, his other hand quick to undo his own belt. Whimpering loudly, you barely catch the sound of him undoing his zip, body jolting as he presses his hard cock against the curve of your ass.

Kane seems to note the way you lean into the edge of the blade, craving more of the sharp, splitting feeling of the knife slitting your skin.

“Want me to carve my name into your stomach?” He whispers, feeling your body tremble beneath his touch as he splays his palm across your abdomen. You nod quickly, mindlessly agreeing to anything he could possibly ask you.

“Mhmm… Yeah? Want me to claim you as mine? So whenever anyone takes your shirt off they know that you truly belong to me?“ he whispers against your throat, tongue slowly trailing up the bleeding skin and no doubt collecting the blood that seeped from the wounds he inflicted on his tongue.

“Yes,” you moan out, pushing your hips against his as the cold blade pushes up against the base of your knock. You can feel his hard cock push up against the curve of your ass again, twitching with need. You were willing to sacrifice your life at his hand, his blade just to feel him finally fuck you.

“Shit,” he groans, unable to take the anticipation any longer and slipping into your soaked pussy from behind, the two of you gasping at the intrusion. The knife balances shakily at your artery, threatening to slice through as Kane pounds into you at an earth-shattering pace.

END

@in-for-a-pennyx @hoeneey @howaboutcastiel @markywithissues @welcometostayingawake @inklore @foxilayde @syrma-sensei @ethanhoewke

[notebook-of-elle]

i saw edits of tiktok of oscar isaac as kane (annihilation) on a pool and the caption would be "he can't look that hot doing that"... and i'd be confused bc i never watched it.... well bitches i watched and wtf- i could've never imagined that scene holy shit yeah how could he look hot doing that?? my god that was terrifying how could you even focus on him during that when-........ anyways i do agree he looked fucking hot the chain, his hands omg

[moonandblossoms]

If I remember correctly, the V-force anime narrative says that only Tyson and Kane could rival each other while they were battling beside the lake. But, Max and Ray did have bit-beasts and could have arguably been stronger than Kane at that time. Is this statement contradictable?

This is a good question, indeed.

Yes, the narrative does say that only Tyson could rival Kane. Albeit, there is no denial to Max and Ray being stronger and more powerful than him because they had bit-beasts.

A player without a bit-beast will ultimately lose to a person with one if talking about a hypothetical battle scenario, where we imagine no plot or restrictions in powers unless and until they are mentioned. Specifically, when it comes to Beyblade battles, we can't simply have an assumption that a specific player will not release a bit-beast. A bit-beast wielder will simply leave a non-bit-beast wielder in dust, in a hypothetical scenario.

But here is the catch. The narrative may or may didn't consider a hypothetical scenario. Arguably, narrative and hypothesis have different considerations. Kane was capable enough to speed blitz both Max and Ray during that time, even without a bit-beast. We weren't shown, but I am telling that he was extremely capable. Speed blitzing is nothing, but you can off-guard or defeat a character by being faster than them, regardless of being stronger or weaker than them. Speed blitzing is the only possible assumption if we consider the narrative true. But this is only valid if the opponent doesn't unleash their full power before you do, in case they are far more powerful and stronger than you.

Kane is stupidly strong as a player without a bit-beast. Arguably, he is capable of defeating all players who didn't own one, because Salima has said that there hasn't been a single player who was able to counter Kane's special move except for Tyson. And, if we look at all the characters without bit-beasts, I just can't imagine a single person capable of defeating Kane, counting his own teammates too.

But, imagine the time. It was in the seventeenth episode of V-force. The characters never knew what was going to happen in the future. A narrative conveyed through the character has to be carefully considered through the exposure they had, or the time of that incident. So, we can consider all characters who appeared till the seventeenth episode of V-force would not be able to counter Kane's special move except Tyson. They all lose to it. However, look at that time and the scenario. That was not exactly a hypothetical scenario. Or, more like hypothetical yet restricted one (restriction: not using bit-beast). A lot of stronger and more professional players came out later, especially in G-Revolution. Some of them can counter Kane's final move to defeat him.

If we take some weaker or less focused characters like Aaron, Claude, Emily, Eddy, etc. all of them can defeat Kane in a hypothetical battle scenario. But, we can't argue the same if we take only raw blading skills. I guess the narrative was trying to consider only raw skills.

So what is that I am trying to tell? We never knew if the narrative was considered a hypothetical scenario. During the beginning of the Psykicks' arc, Kane would have defeated Max and Ray without using their bit-beasts, because the narrative simply puts him stronger or on par with Tyson in that arc. Kane in that arc was stronger than Max and Ray individually in the same with just raw Beyblading skills.

However, I will place my money on both of them post the cyber incident or at least from the world championships arc. I rest assured they both could have gotten far stronger than him. I can even argue on how both of them from G-Revolution individually annihilate Kane's Cyber Dragoon version.

[littlepookaharvey]

Aliens

Aliens have a funny sentiment to most and are often shown as grotesque monsters, cartoons, of whimsical creatures.  They like any other animal can capture the imagination and express fears in a more palatable way.  In some ways, aliens can help capture society’s reflection in a new package.  Ghosts can shed light onto the past, but aliens can make us look at ourselves.  Gregory Benford explains that aliens can reflect ourselves in an anthropomorphic manner (Malmgren).  The film Annihilation is an excellent example of human fears coming to life and antagonizing the characters.  

             When the Main character Lena suddenly can reconnect with her husband who has been missing things go terribly wrong.  Her husband, Kane, begins to show almost immediate signs that something is not right and is taken by the government.  At this point, Lena is interrogated by the government and taken to the environmental disaster zone where Kane disappeared.  It is here that she joins a team of four other women to enter the disaster zone.

             Each of The women carry with this their own issues that must be confronted.  Lena is guilty of being unfaithful while her husband was away, Dr. Ventress is terminally ill and guilty of sending countless men to die in the disaster zone, Anya Thorensen has substance abuse issues, Cass Sheppard is grieving the loss of a child, and Josie Radek harms herself.  Each of these women is struggling internally with something that they prefer to keep to hidden.  When the ether the disaster zone all sense of time and reality seems to disappear, and the alien that is invading the planet is nowhere to be seen.  The characters are caught in a bubble that has yet to explode. Instead, it is slowly changing its increment.  

             The disaster Zone is a whole new world recreating life and assimilating everything within itself.  The characters are also slowly becoming apart of the region, taking on characteristics of their soundings one by one.  Lena and the other find a camera with a recording of her husband and other soldiers cutting open the stomach of their fellow explorer, each looking crazed. This is just the start of the film progressing more realistically.

             Each of The women are forced to face whatever issues that they had.  Each problem is common in society.  Malmgren writes that “the anthropocentric alien may be more or less than human, but it is human nonetheless, and its humanity reflects back upon our own.”  The alien that the audience is being confronted with are issues that can be related to.  They are issues that can slowly eat away and cause slow insanity to take hold.

[yesterdanereviews]

Annihilation (2018)

Film review #307

SYNOPSIS: After a meteor hits the Earth, the surrounding area becomes surrounded by a strange barrier, and the area inside warps all living creatures. The phenomenon is termed “The Shimmer”, and is continuing to expand, seemingly without end. Lena, a biologist whose husband went into The Shimmer on a covert operation a year ago, suddenly returns with seemingly no memory of what went on in there. Lena and her husband are captured by Government officials as Lena’s husband falls ill, and she decides to join an expedition team into the anomaly to find its source, and if there is any way to save her husband...

THOUGHTS/ANALYSIS: Annihilation is a 2018 sci-fi film directed by Alex Garland. The film centres around an extraterrestrial event in which a meteor falls to Earth and its impact creates a zone in which reality becomes warped and no one who ventures returns. It is termed “The Shimmer” due to the refracted light that surrounds it, and it is relentlessly expanding. Lena’s husband Kane was sent on a mission into The Shimmer a year ago, but never returned. When he does return unexpectedly, Lena can’t get him to say much about where he has been, and when he falls ill, he is taken by Ambulance to a hospital. On the way, the ambulance is stopped by a military convoy and Lena and her now comatose husband are taken away to a facility where Lena learns about The Shimmer and her husband’s involvement. She decides to venture into The Shimmer with a group of scientists in order to find a way to save her husband. The story and the way it is told reminds me specifically of two film’s: Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Tarkovsky’s Stalker. Now, these are two films that have stood the test of time and mostly perfected this type of sci-fi psychological thriller, so Annihilation coming in to find its place in a genre which has in my view been perfected is a very difficult, if not impossible task. The similarities meant that I spent most of the film comparing it to the others, and they would always be better. The story unfolds slowly, generating an atmosphere of tension where it is difficult to distinguish reality from illusion, and it is successful in what it sets out to do. It is a little predictable, but that doesn’t detract from the atmosphere.

One of the obvious distinctions of this film is that all of the main characters are female, and the male characters are almost exclusively assigned passive roles. This certainly sets it apart from 2001 and Stalker, which barely had any female representation at all. The characters are all well defined, and are specialists in different fields including biology and psychology, which sets up a clash of disciplines between the group, and the different explanations for what they encounter. I think the film is at its strongest when it uses these different disciplines to develop the relationships between the characters.

The Shimmer is rendered as a bubble of refracted light, which is very well done, and the full spectrum of colour makes it stand out. Within The Shimmer, it is discovered that it is not just light that is being refracted, but DNA as well, causing bizarre mutations across plants and animals. The mutations are imaginative and rendered well, and while the whole concept is a bit scientifically dubious, the visuals do a good job of selling it. The climax of the film involves some kind of alien construct which mimics her every move, and Lena has to outsmart it through a confrontation which is slow paced, and accentuates the fact that it is alien through a combination of its imitation, but also a curiosity, which also reflects the film as a whole. There is not so much an intelligence behind the alien presence, and the mutations on the whole are random and divergent, so there’s a conflict between intelligence and chaos that is always at the forefront of the film. Overall, my impressions of Annihilation are that it fails to really innovate beyond other films in the genre that I have seen. and as such it doesn’t really stand out for me. The concept is explored thoroughly, and the effects really bring the alien environment to life. The female cast are strong and well defined, and offer very specific positions on things without falling into stereotypes. The film feels like it lacks much “sting” to generate much impact, and while the psychological nature of the film creates a good amount of suspense and drama, it doesn’t make too much of an impact, and the ambiguous ending feels unnecessary and a little obvious. A well executed film that unfortunately is always going to live in the shadow of films that more or less perfected the genre long ago.

[jakelcckley]

BLESSING YOUR FEED WITH THIS TIKTOK EDIT OF OSCAR ISAAC AS KANE IN ANNIHILATION

(rb tags from @einno-arko // tiktok edit from @/cl0svidz)

[jatamansi-arc]

so, the second time i watched annihilation, i have a lot of feelings about it. like a lot lot. and i’m not sure if anyone else will agree with me, but i’m gonna fucking dump all my notes here so i can come back to them here and see how i feel about them in subsequent viewings.

i really love the movie, though. i liked it the first time, but i loved it this time. so much. definitely one of my favorite movies ever. maybe actually up there with everything is illuminated with being my actual favorite.

spoilers, y’all.

the first time you watch this movie, you walk away blown away, going AAAAaaaaAAaaAHGFJ about it. the second time you watch it? they aren’t kidding when they say everything has double meanings. literally everything does. i think that’s half the reason that makes it so much fun to slowly dissect.

annihilation isn’t a story about depression, though i can see how it’d be read that way very easily. there are tons of elements that would lead you to that conclusion. rather, i’ve come to the conclusion that it’s one about the competition between our tendency for self-destruction and our capacity to forgive. it’s a love story.

the most important thing that annihilation repeatedly touches on, is really playing with philosophical and allegorical extremes and dismantling them. the question of whether something is a scientific proof or a sign of faith is posed to lena several times in the film, and the question is never answered but carefully balanced. and it’s shown time and time and time again, in sweeping scale and in minute details. for example: ventress, the pinnacle of the rational and higher thought, has a name that draws its source from a term meant to show someone’s ability to take brazen risks. she takes her notes when talking to lena with artist grade sketching pencils. ventress’ mask is good, but she is desperate dreamer who wants to see what lies beyond the shimmer before her body takes the chance from her.

all of the main characters’ names, however, were picked very specifically. 

lena: short for helena, which can be taken to mean ‘torch.’ there’s the whole thing about helen of troy eloping and causing the trojan war to bring her home, too. but more importantly, i firmly believe it’s also a play on the hela cell line.

anya: ties to anna, a prophetess of the bible, who preached of redemption and experienced deep loss early in her life.

cass: short for cassandra, another prophetess, but one who was cursed so that her words wouldn’t be heeded until it was too late. she was also connected to troy.

josie: josephine is the feminine form of joseph, and the father of jesus is the patron saint of contentful death, and is almost always displayed surrounded in his field by flowers meant to represent purity and resurrection.

kane: from o catháin, which means war like or battle. 

everyone in kane’s group had a surname that has been shared among three kinds of famous people in every instance: a scientist, a religious scholar, and an author. it was weird enough to note.

area x is in an area that’s remote and has alligators, but the thing that makes it interesting, is that bears and alligators don’t have much overlapping territory. this means if it wasn’t already a giant red fucking flag to begin with, our furry friend is a composite from the shimmer.

the shimmer may be alien or it may be biblical; the reality of it doesn’t much matter. what it does, is take the cells of the dead and dying and recycle them. when ventress talks about how a shark and alligator are clearly intermingling genetically and lena dismisses it, lena isn’t wrong, but lena’s error is that she’s not thinking broadly enough.

cass is the first one to drop the hint, right after we get lena talking about the bruise that she gets with the fight with the alligator. it’s where the tattoo would eventually be later on -- except there is a hitch. cass is also clearly skeptical of this, and it reads easily on her face, before she talks about her daughter dying of leukemia and how she died, emotionally, with her. it’s a hint that lena’s cells immediately begin to mutate once this happened. whatever the shimmer is, it takes hox genes, which are what hold the entirety of our genomes, and is trying to manipulate and recode what it can with what’s available. this isn’t evolution, but a sort of intelligent design with very limited resources and a finite understanding of what it’s doing. it’s creating immortal cell lines, though, and the hints are dropped about five thousand times over.

the man that kane and his crew kill likely had cancer. look at how prolifically his cells were mutating before he died, and his complete lack of reaction while being otherwise vivisected. what’s even more interesting is that ventress, who otherwise never gives a fucking shit about anyone, is visibly shaken for the only time in the movie. she was the one who was in charge of area x. she knew about everyone going in there. it’s much more likely she’d have an investment in knowing what happened to someone else who was ‘self-destructing’ for a similar reason to her.

once she has her answer, it’s straight back to business.

the reason the bear is tragic -- and ultimately horrific -- is because it was spliced together from bits and pieces of dna by a being that has never seen a fucking bear besides the hyperstylized one that was on kane’s chest. it wanted to build what it saw. it was curious. it looks like his tattoo; look at it closer when you get a chance.

it’s furthermore meant to represent kane’s fear. absorbing cass’ voice as its call is only meant to really drive the metaphor home, and to make josie’s decision in the next arc all the more poignant.

the symbolism behind the bear, by the by, is a lot of things. most important is the duality of the male and female. it’s one of the rare animals that represents both sexes. bears also represent a desire for answers and, again, resurrection. 

and when looking for cass, lena sees two deer, who are again another rare animal who represent both sexes and are oftentimes portents of death and a hope for a return to life after that death.

anya’s role in these scenes is important because they’re allegorical. the implication that lena’s and kane’s addiction to their careers is what kept them apart is certainly clear, and it’s not just casual happenstance that anya self-destructs in a house that’s a carbon copy of kane’s and lena’s home. anya’s death is meant to represent breaking the cycle of addiction (even if you’re terrified) and the beginning of the resurrection of kane and lena’s relationship. she was the paramedic, after all.

she’s also meant to stand in for kane here, because her words are meant to be accusatory towards lena, as if it were kane saying them about her cheating. 

“ you don’t get to ask that question, you lying bitch! you get to answer it!”

“what we know now -- what we know, is that lena is a liar.”

^ that one is really fucking important okay

who delivers the death blows against the bear is important. it’s josie. young, doe-eyed and fresh faced josie who is full of life and has dedicated her life to studying the science understanding the interactions between matter. who eventually gives her life over to the entire process, but not before saying something really important to lena:

‘imagine dying in fear. i wouldn’t like that at all.”

THAT’S GONNA BE RELEVANT HERE SHORTLY HANG ON.

by the by: lena finds out her humanity is slowly leaving her at the same table where we see kane time and time again. kane’s self-destruction is external while lena’s is internal, at least at the time. 

josie, anya and lena are not impacted in the same way that kane, vertress and other clearly sick people who have gone into the shimmer are. or, at least, not at the same pace. it makes me have the theory that lena thought kane learned that she was cheating, but kane was perhaps hiding something much worse. there could be a lot said about what guilt does to people, on both sides. they may have both been hiding things. it really twists the whole plot to an interesting angle if the reason kane was sitting, so melancholic and distant, was not because he knew about lena and daniel, but because he was angry and upset at himself for not being able to tell his wife that he may have been seriously ill. it may also be why the clone of him suddenly crashed once it’d been outside, in the real world, as well?

it further tells an interesting tale if you read that dying in the shimmer causes a far faster progression of mutation and, in a sense, almost a sort of dementia. kane may have lost himself entirely over the course of what felt like 10-12 days, knowing very little in the end other than he truly loved lena.

regardless of my theories on it, the shimmer is still literally kane’s feelings of adoration towards lena on display. if you debate me on this point i will fucking fight you.

coming back to allegory: kane’s self-immolation was meant to represent genesis and the big bang. lena’s fight with clone!lena is a battle with what’s meant to be the perils of knowledge (and forgiveness/grief, I think, honestly) and her eventual departure from what’s clearly meant to be a garden of eden metaphor. the phosphorus grenade, the second time around, is meant to be the fruit of knowledge.

it was clone!lena that survived imho, because original!lena didn’t have the tattoo by that point. clone!lena did the instant she was made. and the instant whatever lena did survive made it outside, she pulled down her sleeves.

when she’s being asked questions at the end, she literally mimics clone!kane to perfection. she even drinks the water, with the hint in the glass that two become one via the pooling on the side of the glass. it’s, furthermore, a throwback and lead-in to the next scene, serving as a reminder to the very beginning of the movie when lena talks about how cells reproduce. one becoming two, two becoming four, etc. but as one of my friends said, sometimes two need to become one first. GOOD POINT IT WAS A GOOD POINT.

in the end, it really didn’t matter which lena survived, because lena’s an unreliable narrator and ultimately lying to get exactly what she wants. if they knew the reality, they’d never let them be in a room together. the book talks about biological imperatives a lot and the movie deviates pretty strongly from it, but this was an instance where you definitely get exactly that vibe. this is adam and eve on a whole new, cosmic scale.

when she asks kane if he’s himself and he says no, he returns the favor. lena doesn’t answer the question. kane’s facial expressions are very telling, but i’m not going to tell you what they are if you didn’t see them. then we get the shimmer eyes and it makes me very happy okay.

the amount of fucking times the immortal life of henrietta lacks is referenced in this movie DRIVES ME BATTY but in a good way??