#4/4/2020 gateway aftermath

[doomonfilm]

Thoughts : WandaVision [Disney+, Episodes 1-3] (2021)

2020 may have delayed the MCU’s rollover into Phase 4 with COVID-19 and theater closings putting a huge stumbling block in front of the perpetually delayed Black Widow film, but with box office not a factor in regards to WandaVision, the powers that be have moved forward with premiering the series on the Disney+ streaming service.  With talk of the film being a setup for the incoming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (not to mention an alternate take on the infamous House of M comic story), the levels of intrigue were definitely high, and with the 3 of the scheduled 9 episodes currently streaming, there may be more questions than answers in the minds of viewers.

THE STORY THUS FAR

Episode 01 : Filmed Before a Live Studio Audience Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) settle into the town of Westview to begin the next chapter of their once troubled life.  One morning, Vision notices a heart placed on the calendar for that day, but Wanda and Vision are unsure of what the heart represents. After Vision leaves for work, Wanda’s neighbor Agnes (Kathryn Hahn) introduces herself, and immediately interjects herself into Wanda’s plans for the “special night”.  Vision, however, is reminded by his boss Mr. Hart (Fred Melamed) that he and his wife (Debra Jo Rupp) will be coming to Vision’s house for dinner, setting up two sets of alternate plans for a collision course to wackiness.

Episode 02 : Don’t Touch That Dial Wanda and Vision take part in the Westview talent show (”for the children”) as Glamour and Illusion for a magic act.  Agnes introduces Wanda to Dottie (Emma Caulfield Ford), the head lady of Westview, whose firm leadership style causes tension in the run-up to the event.  Vision attempts to integrate himself with the Neighborhood Watch, but a chewing gum-based mishap throws him for a major loop that puts both the magic act and the identities of Wanda and Vision at risk.

Episode 03 : Now in Color A surprise pregnancy forces Wanda and Vision to plan for welcoming a child into their home, but strange events begin to occur surrounding the pregnancy.  Rather than the standard 9 month period, Wanda’s pregnancy accelerates at an exponentially rapid rate that not only causes Vision stress, but impacts Wanda’s ability to control her magic.  When the pregnancy abruptly begins, Vision runs to fetch Dr. Nielsen (Randy Oglesby), but before they can return, Wanda’s neighbor and new friend Geraldine (Teyonah Parris) lends a hand.  In the aftermath, however, Geraldine shows her hand, causing even more confusion in Wanda’s world.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Emergency Awesome YouTube Channel

New Rockstars YouTube Channel

ScreenCrush YouTube Channel

These three YouTube channels are known for their timely and in-depth analysis of many properties, and they have continued this tradition by uploading episode recaps and element breakdowns for WandaVision.

THOUGHTS ON THE SHOW Stylistically, WandaVision is a bold choice for the MCU, opting to re-skin our main characters in different versions of nostalgic television eras and shows rather than building a unique look or leaning on established locations within the previously established MCU world.  As a former Nick at Nite junkie, as well as a product of the 1980s, I was very familiar with the numerous shows explicitly referenced, and the use of practical effects and single camera setup was emulated perfectly.  The adjustment of watching two of the MCU’s most powerful characters attempt to minimalize themselves within the formulaic framework of sitcom television from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s is a bit of a rough one at first, as the story seemingly is traveling in the reverse direction of our expectations, but not so far beneath the primary layer shown, there seems to be a world of intrigue bubbling in the anticipation of being discovered.

Currently, there are tons of elements that seem like Easter Eggs, but I am almost certain that they will factor in as key parts of the story in due time.  The primary bit of visual stimulus that has most people buzzing is the S.W.O.R.D. imagery, an organization similar to S.H.I.E.L.D., but with a focus on intergalactic and mystic threats rather than superheroes and governmental communication.  Much of the jewelry and flare worn by the women of the show seem to contain relevant symbolism of some sort : Agnes wears a pin that seems to have 3 characters on it (perhaps a reference to Mephisto, Wiccan and Speed?), Geraldine (aka Monica Rambeau) is introduced with a pin that looks A LOT like the dimensional gateways created by Doctor Strange’s sling ring, and Geraldine later wears a necklace with the aforementioned S.W.O.R.D. symbol (which is also seen on the toy helicopter and the uniform of the mysterious beekeeper).

It is also currently unclear who the antagonist (or possible multiple antagonists) of the story are... Agnes and Dottie have both been pegged as early candidates, with tons of speculation swirling around the possibility of Agnes being Agatha Harkness and perhaps working in league with Mephisto, Grim Reaper or Nightmare.  There is also a groundswell of viewers who wonder if Wanda is the villain of the story, which leans into the House of M theory in the sense that it has not been established if Wanda is currently cognizant of her reality or not.  This theory is also fueled by the strange behavior(s) of those who inhabit Westview : most everyone falls into a sitcom trope performance when around Wanda, but at times, people seemed to get locked into weird, uncanny valley level “glitches”, or are outright accusatory of Wanda and Vision’s intentions.

The characters (and acting) in the show is solid so far, despite the lack of context or clarity in regards to the bigger picture.

Wanda is playing an Americanized, sitcom-esque version of herself.  She still seemingly has some version of her powers, as she can manipulate objects with her mind and control time.  It is unclear how much she is in control of what we’re seeing, versus someone else being in control or there being a complete lack of control.

Vision’s tragic sacrifice, rebirth and immediate death is well documented from the events of Avengers : Infinity War, and yet, he seems to be alive, devoted to Wanda, and completely unaware of his tragic deaths.  Up to this point, he feels like a bit of a pawn in a bigger game, rather than the all-powerful and all-knowing sentient synthetic weapon that he is.

Agnes is by far the biggest mystery of the show up to this point.  The lion’s share of character theories revolve around her, her references to the Devil, darkness and her absentee husband Ralph.  She is the most present character outside of Wanda and Vision, she seems to be “in on the joke”, and her demeanor is a bit more forward than the rest of Westview’s inhabitants.  Up until episode 03, Agnes felt like she may even be in control, but the fear she shows in episode 03 only serves to blur the lines further.

If Agnes seems to be the most aware of her surroundings, then Geraldine stands in stark (no pun intended) contrast, as she more often than not expresses confusion in regards to her presence in Westview.  She has adorned the symbolism of S.W.O.R.D. on her outfit, and at one point, she has a pin that resembles a dimensional gateway (as mentioned previously).  She has also made the most jarring statement of the series so far, seemingly snapping out of the “spell” everyone seems to be under and reminding Wanda directly about the tragic loss she suffered at the hands of Ultron.

With six episodes left to go, and a seemingly direct march through the relevant eras of television before we get to the root of the matter, it is highly likely that episodes four, five and six will feature further sitcom stylings of the 1980s and 1990s, and possibly even the 2000s, before switching into a standard MCU-style narrative.  Regardless, I am now hooked, and will plan to provide a blog after the release of episodes six and nine, focusing on three episodes at a time.

THE QUESTIONS As per usual with shows of this nature, there are a ton of things going on that raise a multitude of questions...

- What’s with all of the hexagon imagery?  Are we in some sort of hive, or is the town of Westview trapped in hive-mind situation?

- Who specifically is controlling Wanda’s reality?  It seems that Wanda can control the flow of time to an extent, but it has been established numerous times she is being watched from the “outside”... is it possible she is also being watched from within the world of Westview that Wanda inhabits?  Maybe by the mailman, or by Agnes?

- How “real” is the Vision that we are seeing?  Is he some sort of recreated Vision made from whatever was salvageable after his encounter with Thanos?  Is he a manifestation of Wanda in some way, shape or form?  Is Wanda connected to a computer, and is Vision just a computer program at this point, like JARVIS?

- Who is the beekeeper from the second episode?

- What’s the story with the commercials, and how do they fit into what has been presented to us?  Stark Industries, Baron Wolfgang von Strucker and HYDRA have all been referenced in the commercials directly, and all deal with elements of time and escape.  Also, who are the two people that star in the commercial?  It’s been the same two, and the woman has appeared in all three commercials?

[mikazukikannagisjourney]

Pink Full Moon in Libra, April 7 (or 8, depending on where you are) 2020 - Plus Updates on Post-Jupiter Pluto Conjunction - Timeless

Hi all, how was the 4/4/2020 Gateway doing for you? I hope it was OK. This will be just a wordvomit update on the energies and possible aftermaths of the energetic gateways that opened up in the same time as the Jupiter-Pluto conjunction in Aquarius on April 4 (or 5), a few days ago.

If you got to join the global peace meditation on that same gateway, I pray that the energies were gentle, healing and eye-opening. But if you got tired, dizzy, really emotional, and felt like your life just couldn’t fall apart even more, well, I feel you fam, I feel you. Same here. I was participating in some group meditations a few days before that and when the portal opened I just felt really weak and tired and my old back pain issue popped up again, it’s inflamed. Talk about the body telling you things. **sigh** It’s like Dark Night of the Soul for the nth time, again. And I was like “Really? SMH” T_T It’s like opening another can of worms, it just takes so much of the happiness away (read: dementors). It also pushed me to just hide even more and ruminate and do everything I can to process the emotions away. I did all of the tools that I knew and despite still feeling icky, I am believing that things can still get better. But truth be told, if you have been doing the inner work, crummy things like these have been cyclical and have been going through our lives each time we unearth some parts and release them. The energetic portals and gateways just unclog the collective in general, and as way-showers (we can also be called frontliners, energetically) we get to face the low vibrational stuff first hand. Not all of them are ours, but are really just the collective gunk that gets released even though it feels like they are entering through our bodies and making us face the dark parts of ourselves, again (because they’re in layers and thus we have to remove them in layers too. It sucks but that’s how it works, it can’t be helped).

And fighting all the demons will take time. - Dishwalla, Angels and Devils

Yeah you might wanna listen to the track above, just to get some sort of insight if you feel called. I just love the acoustic version so it’s what I linked lol.

But kidding aside, yeah, fighting all the demons really take time, and even though it does suck big time, I’m already at a point that I had to remind myself to use the low vibes to help me heal what needs to be healed, because at this point I can’t do much with the lockdown still going on (I am about to go really, really crazy staying stagnant AF). It’s also frustrating when the entire household is just glued to the news, like THIS ISN’T A TYPHOON WHERE YOU NEED HOURLY UPDATES T_T It’s just frustrating, and everything just went downhill for me when the gateway opened. All of the anger and frustration that had almost eaten me alive for a good chunk of my life all came rushing forward. I haven’t crumbled into a crying heap yet, maybe after I post this lol but despite meditating for heccin long hours, doing more physical activities than the usual (despite the sweltering heat) and still getting no absolution of the frustration, I was really about to give in to lashing out, just to free me from the pain. I had no idea how to transmute these complex emotions (aka they’re all crumpled into one big heap of NOPE) in the fastest and most efficient way possible but I also didn’t want to vent out and trigger anger within the household (me commenting on every death toll count as fear mongering was already too much lol) so I just ended up venting my anger on leveling up in Tetris 99 because GAH I NEED TO GET SOME SORT OF CLARITY ON THINGS. It felt nice, but now each time I close my eyes I only see all of the tetraminos trying to fit snugly into the slots. Still better than getting angry and stuff.

And later will be the Pink Full Moon in Libra, so I guess it’s going to be another strong full moon since it’s the first one after the gateway opened. Since Libra is a sign that wants balance, and makes sure that everything gets balanced by hook or by crook, this is also a great time to reflect on what needs to get balanced in our lives. Because despite being all lovey-dovey and smooth and silky, Libra is still a cardinal sign that can really unleash the beast if there is a strong imbalance of some sort. It’s just a bit more flexible than Capricorn, more level-headed than Cancer, and a lot more forward-thinking than Aries. If you need to know, I have all of these in my natal chart and it’s not exactly a fun party when all the cardinal energies have not yet figured out how to have fun with everyone else.

OK after this line is a personal rant ,you can end the reading here. =)

For me, personally, I really need to balance listening on what others tell me to do, and what information I channel for myself. I guess trying hard to try to fit in by tuning in to the collective like most of the card readers elsewhere dulled my senses and I just felt my oversoul just said HECC IT and cut me out of the general collective altogether. Now I find it hard to tune in to the larger chunk of the collective since the Lion’s Gate of 2019 so I just don’t post anything collective-based in my cartomancy side blog. Now it’s mostly my own personal energetic stuff. The flipside of this is that aside from feeling the general fears and whatnot of the collective unconscious (hence my rant on feelings lol) I still find it a lot more manageable to do readings for other people or events, even thoughI have to unblock a ton just to hear the Divine realms say HI to me. T_T

And that is why standing out instead of fitting in is a strong lesson in balance for me. It sucks but it’s not like I can keep escaping my life path.

Personal ranting ends here lol

I am still feeling a bit woozy even though it’s been a few days after the energetic portal so I won’t be posting an infused photo in this post, but I’ll make a special one once my energies get stabilized again. I hope you all don’t mind.

Oh, and one last thing before I end this post. The huge energetic shifts that happened since the wildfires started in the new year, and other tectonic activities within the ring of fire region are only the beginnings of things that are about to come, so if you’re wishing that things will get back to normal, I am here to tell you that nope, not gonna happen. If anything, this is a time to update all systems and revise time-consuming protocols because honestly, calamities like these will become more common and thus streamlining methods will become more than inevitable. Self-sufficiency up to certain levels will also be even more important, as would be the de-centralization of various services and whatnot in order to bring back the power to the larger members of the populace.

But do not fear, just because the changes are annoying and inconvenient does not mean that things will eventually get suckier. Just imagine the time around the early 20th century when electricity wasn’t even a thing and then all of a sudden transmission lines were being installed in each household. Sure, there’s a risk of fire and getting electrocuted, but look at what time we’re living in now. Can’t even read this post without relying on electrical lines. You can think of it that way.

And so this ends my Full Moon message, for everyone who feels called to this. It’s also somewhat timeless so if you read this in the future and it still resonates, it just means that you were able to receive what you needed to know right now.

Thank you for walking this weird journey with me, see you on the next update, and may you grow into the person you seek.

Mikazuki

PS. If you found the information in this post to be very helpful, insightful, and of great value to you and your own personal journey, please feel free to reblog, share and heart/like, or if you feel super-generous, energetic exchanges are welcomed! Please click here and use this email address: may_chan_otaku@yahoo.com

Thank you so much and be blessed!

PSS. If you’re interested to get a personal card and energetic reading, for inquires please send an email or an anonymous ask in this page. Thank you! =)

[linhgd9]

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[biofunmy]

Neglected After Apollo, the Moon Comes Back Around

[Read all Times reporting on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. | Sign up for the weekly Science Times email.]

Everyone, it seems, wants to go the moon now.

In January, Chang’e-4, a Chinese robotic spacecraft including a small rover, became the first ever to land on the far side of the moon. India is aiming to launch Chandrayaan-2 this month, its first attempt to reach the lunar surface. Even a small Israeli nonprofit, SpaceIL, tried to send a small robotic lander there this year, but it crashed.

In the coming decades, boots worn by visitors from these and other nations could add their prints to the lunar dust. China is taking a slow and steady approach, and foresees its astronauts’ first arrival about a quarter of a century in the future. The European Space Agency has put out a concept of an international “moon village” envisioned for sometime around 2050. Russia has also described plans for sending astronauts to the moon by 2030, at last, although many doubt it can afford the cost.

In the United States, which sent 24 astronauts toward the moon from 1968 to 1972, priorities shift with the whims of Congress and presidents. But NASA in February was suddenly pushed to pick up its pace when Vice President Mike Pence announced the goal of putting Americans on the moon again by 2024, four years ahead of the previous schedule.

“NASA is highly motivated,” Jim Bridenstine, the former Oklahoma congressman and Navy pilot picked by President Trump to be the agency’s administrator, said in an interview. “We now have a very clear direction.”

For India, reaching the moon would highlight its technological advances. China would establish itself as a world power off planet. For the United States and NASA, the moon is now an obvious stop along the way to Mars.

The fascination with Earth’s celestial companion is not limited to nation-states. A bevy of companies has lined up in hopes of winning NASA contracts to deliver experiments and instruments to the moon. Blue Origin, the rocket company started by Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon, is developing a large lander that it hopes to sell to NASA for taking cargo — and astronauts — to the moon’s surface.

[Sign up to get reminders for space and astronomy events on your calendar.]

Eyes on other prizes

For three decades after the end of the Apollo program, few thought much about the moon. The United States had beaten the Soviet Union in the moon race. After Apollo 17, the last visit by NASA astronauts in 1972, the Soviets sent a few more robotic spacecraft to the moon, but they soon also lost interest in further exploration there.

NASA in those years turned its attention to building space shuttles and then the International Space Station. Its robotic explorers headed farther out, exploring Mars more intensely, as well as the asteroid belt and the solar system’s outer worlds.

Mr. Bridenstine says one of the main reasons for accelerating a return to the moon now is to reduce the chances of politicians changing their minds again. A 2024 landing would occur near the end of the second term of Mr. Trump’s presidency, if he wins re-election next year.

“I think it’s sad that we have not been back to the moon since 1972,” Mr. Bridenstine said. “There have been efforts in the past. They’ve never materialized.”

NASA has named the new moon program Artemis, after Apollo’s sister in Greek mythology. Its first mission would be a crewless test of the Space Launch System, a big rocket already in development. It is scheduled for late 2020, although many expect the launch to slip to 2021.

The second flight — the first with astronauts aboard — would zip around the moon, but not land, in 2022.

On the third flight, in 2024, astronauts would first travel to Gateway, an outpost in orbit around the moon, and from there take another spacecraft to the lunar surface, somewhere near its South Pole.

Mr. Bridenstine, echoed by other NASA officials, has repeatedly said that Artemis would take the “first woman and the next man” to the moon.

A primary impetus for a moon stampede now? The discovery that there is water there, especially ice deep within polar craters where the sun never shines.

That is a potentially invaluable source of drinking water for future astronauts visiting the moon, but also for water that can be broken down into hydrogen and oxygen.

The oxygen could provide breathable air; oxygen and hydrogen could also be used as rocket propellant. Thus, the moon, or a refueling station in orbit around the moon, could serve as a stop for spacecraft to refill their tanks before heading out into the solar system.

“If we can do it, the Gateway becomes a fuel depot,” Mr. Bridenstine said.

A key turning point in the revival of interest in the moon came in 1998 from Lunar Prospector, a small, inexpensive NASA orbiter. Alan S. Binder, a planetary scientist who worked at Lockheed Martin, conceived of Lunar Prospector as a way to follow up on hints of water ice in the shadowed craters and to demonstrate how to execute space missions at bargain basement prices.

Dr. Binder initially hoped that a charitable billionaire would pick up the tab. In the end, Lunar Prospector won a competition by NASA for low-cost missions. He remembered that many of his colleagues were not happy about that. “My community was kind of ticked off that NASA selected a lunar mission,” he said. “Part of that is that the solar system has many, many, many extremely interesting places.”

Even compared to other low-cost missions, Lunar Prospector was cheap — just $62.8 million, including the rocket that sent it into space.

And Lunar Prospector indeed discovered water — or at least one of its components, hydrogen.

In the aftermath of the loss of the space shuttle Columbia and its seven astronauts, President George W. Bush announced in January 2004 that it was time for NASA astronauts to again leave low-Earth orbit and head to the moon, with the eventual goal of going to Mars.

In 2005, NASA rolled out plans for Constellation — a fleet of new and bigger rockets, capsules and landers it planned to build. Michael Griffin, then NASA’s administrator, described them as “Apollo on steroids.”

But over the next decade, the moon ambitions flagged again.

Delays and cost overruns plagued Constellation. The administration of President Barack Obama, who was inaugurated at the dawn of the Great Recession, canceled it in 2010 and set a different course, to aim for an asteroid instead.

Then the Trump administration changed NASA’s course again. Asteroids were out, and the moon was back as NASA’s next destination.

Making moon money

As these administrations wavered, entrepreneurs had begun brainstorming possible business ventures on the moon.

In 2007, the X Prize Foundation announced a $20 million grand prize, bankrolled by Google, that would be awarded to the first private team that could put a robotic lander on the moon.

The competing teams found the challenge much more financially and technically difficult than anticipated. Even after the deadline was extended several times, the prize expired last year without a winner.

But while no company could claim the jackpot, many have not given up on the moon as a business opportunity.

The payoffs of the moon could include helium-3 mined from the lunar soil, potentially a fuel for future fusion reactors, although practical fusion reactors are still decades away.

There could be an opening for companies that would ship the ashes of loved ones to the moon as a memorial. And some private companies could carry payloads for scientific research. For instance, the far side of the moon could be ideal for optical and radio telescopes because they would not face earthly interference there.

With these potential businesses, the Lunar X Prize may turn out to be a success, even though there was no winner.

In the past, NASA would have designed and launched its own spacecraft to accomplish those tasks. The agency had started down that path with Resource Prospector, a rover that would drill a yard into the soil and extract substances like hydrogen, helium, nitrogen, carbon dioxide and water.

But last year, NASA canceled Resource Prospector, and it will instead pay commercial companies to take its payloads there. Many of the businesses are either former Google Lunar X Prize competitors or companies taking advantage of technology developed by those teams.

In that sense, this program, known as the Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, is more of a descendant of Lunar Prospector than Apollo.

Astrobotic of Pittsburgh started as one of the teams aiming to win the Lunar X Prize, but dropped out when it realized it could not make the deadline. But Astrobotic continued development, believing it would nonetheless find a profitable business delivering payloads to the moon.

It sold half of the payload space on its first lander, scheduled to launch in 2021. Then NASA announced in May it would buy the remaining space.

John Thornton, Astrobotic’s chief executive, acknowledged that lunar entrepreneurs had been overly optimistic in the past and that the size of the potential market remained uncertain.

“You’re going to have some false starts along the way,” Mr. Thornton said. “I think this is the time. This is the real one with NASA leading the way.”

He predicted that by the middle of the next decade, there would be a steady but not huge business, a few missions a year in total.

“Compared to where we’ve been, that’s a massive leap forward,” Mr. Thornton said.

The fault is not in our stars

NASA’s efforts to reach the moon by 2024 will depend on whether Congress funds them. NASA has asked for an additional $1.6 billion for the 2020 fiscal year, and Mr. Bridenstine told CNN last month that the accelerated schedule might cost a total of $20 billion to $30 billion, raising worries that the money might be diverted from other parts of NASA to pay for Artemis.

Mr. Bridenstine now says the price tag may not be as high. “I think it could be well less than $20 billion,” he said. “I say that, because a lot of our commercial partners are willing to put their own money into it.”

Without support from both Republicans and Democrats, the moon program could stumble again, he said.

“My goal is to make sure that we’re looking at a very balanced portfolio and we don’t step on any political land mines, which has been the history of the agency,” Mr. Bridenstine said. “It should be, in my opinion, bipartisan and apolitical.”

That could be a difficult task during Mr. Trump’s presidency. Few members of Congress have come out as enthusiastic supporters; some, especially Democrats in the House of Representatives, have been skeptical.

Last month, the president appeared to undercut his own administration’s plans by saying on Twitter that NASA should not be talking about going to the moon.

Mr. Bridenstine has since spoken more about Mars and emphasized how going to the moon would prepare NASA for the far more distant trip.

“I talked to him personally, and we had a good conversation,” Mr. Bridenstine said. “He wants us to talk about going to Mars, which of course is the objective. And he understands we need to go to the moon in order to get to Mars. But certainly he wants us talking about Mars, because that’s what captures the imagination of the American people and of the world.”

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