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The last we saw of Loki, he had been pruned by Judge Renslayer but woke up in a world with four different versions of himself staring at him. Now, he’s trying to figure out where to go next, and in “Journey Into Mystery,” I got some of my favorite character moments for Loki and more.

**Spoilers for Loki episode 5 “Journey Into Mystery” lie within. Proceed with caution.**

This episode of Loki was interesting because it was filled with a lot of new characters all at once, and Loki having some of my favorite reactions to things. From character developments to just general reactions that Tom Hiddleston has in character, “Journey Into Mystery” is an incredible penultimate episode for the series—not only for plot but for each character, new and old, introduced to the show and the larger Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Case in point: All the Loki variants backstabbing each other over and over again and Loki quickly realizing how exhausting it—he—can be.

When it wasn’t Loki getting fights with other Lokis or getting frustrated by different versions of himself, it was Loki finally opening himself up to help. Sure, we saw a bit of this in Thor: Ragnarok when Loki was willing to help his brother and not leave him in the dust or in Infinity War when he tried to defeat Thanos on his own but this was different. It wasn’t something he second-guessed or fought about. He just accepted help or explained what he wanted to do and that was that.

He realized that Alioth was his way either back to the TVA or back to answers, he told Classic Loki and Kid Loki what he wanted to do and listened to their advice but wasn’t going to be stopped. The interesting part though is that he also wasn’t going to backstab them. He was just simply doing what he thought was best with their help or not and when they offered to get him near Alioth, he took it. He even gets a new blade (with fire) from Kid Loki and accepts it happily, something that Loki would have never done in the past.

Maybe it’s because he’s dealing with variations of himself that he’s more trusting. But even then, they clearly don’t mind betraying each other, but still our Loki is now ready to accept whatever help people are going to give him and I’m incredibly proud of him. For years, we watched as Loki constantly tried to trick people or backstab them. We watched as he hurt those closest to him without seemingly caring. This Loki? He’s different and for the better.

It’s not the only character arc I enjoyed in “Journey Into Mystery,” though. I also loved the further development of my favorite new ship: Loki/Mobius/Sylvie.

When Sylvie realizes that Loki is alive, she prunes herself to escape the TVA and Renslayer, and realizes while in this world that they can probably get to the Time-Keepers, or whoever’s pulling their strings, if they get around Alioth. But before all that, she teams up with Mobius to first escape Alioth and find Loki.

And thus my deep dive into Loki/Mobius/Sylvie shipping has begun.

The thing is: I ship Loki and Mobius, and I also ship Loki and Sylvie, so I think that, in my wisdom, I’ve now just thrown it all together in one big love fest. It also helps that the show is also sort of doing that. While Mobius is talking to Classic Loki, Kid Loki, and Alligator Loki, Sylvie and Loki are sharing a moment and trying to figure out their plans. Loki gets cold and conjures himself up a blanket and makes it big enough that he can share it with Sylvie—you know, a dream romantic move.

And just when I think, “Okay, I guess my Sylvie/Loki shipping wins. Just a little sad about it not being Mobius as well,” I am gifted yet again.

Mobius decides he’s going back to try to free some of the agents of the TVA and tell them the truth. Loki is handed a TemPad from Sylvie, and he looks to it and Mobius and decides to stay with Sylvie to help her try to get past Alioth. The group quickly realizes that Alioth isn’t something to be defeated, but rather a guard dog protecting something which Sylvie thinks is the place beyond time where the Time-Keepers live. Loki decides he also needs answers and gives the TemPad to Mobius to complete his mission.

When Mobius is about to head back to the TVA, he gives Loki his hand to shake, and Loki looks down to it before shaking his head and wrapping Mobius up in a hug. Please sear this hug onto my brain.

To make my throuple-wishing heart soar, Mobius also looks to Sylvie and tells her that she’s “his favorite.” Why can’t they just all hug and kiss each other? This is maybe the best sort of development for Loki as a character. Throughout his time in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he’s never really trusted anyone—not his family, certainly not Thor, and not any of the Avengers. He’s operated as his own agent, but now he has let two people count on him. He’s been there for Mobius trying to protect him and now he’s there for Sylvie. It’s a relationship formed by necessity, and it grew into one of appreciation and love. All three need each other in different ways and I just want another season of Loki with Loki, Sylvie, and Mobius freeing people of the TVA while in love with one another.

But with Mobius back at the TVA, Sylvie and Loki attempt to enchant Alioth. The problem though is that they need a distraction to do so. And in comes Classic Loki, even though he tried to leave and go his own way. (And this is after Kid Loki also gives our Loki a fun fire sword. A lot of people help Loki in this episode.) He uses his illusions to create a fake Asgard for Alioth to try and destroy while Loki and Sylvie work together and Loki learns that he too can enchant things like Sylvie. Literally, they’re holding hands. So I got a Mobius hug and a hand-hold in one episode. There is a Marvel God.

In the end, they succeed and a portal into this place where they think the Time-Keepers live is opened, and the end of the episode has us seeing Loki and Sylvie standing hand in hand about to head into this unknown world so who knows what the finale is going to bring us.

Anyway, here is footage of me trying to figure out how Loki is going to end:

(image: Marvel Entertainment)

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We need to talk about the Olympics and their outdated rules.

Despite her incredible 100-meter victory at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon, it was announced this week that sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson—the country’s fastest woman—would not be participating in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics.

Shortly after those trials, Richardson tested positive for THC (the main active component of marijuana). While she shouldn’t need to justify the use of a non-performance-enhancing drug that is legal in the state where she used it, she has said that it helped her cope with the recent death of her biological mother.

The positive test came with a one-month suspension, which meant Richardson was going to miss the 100-meter race (even though her suspension technically ends right before the event), although she could still qualify for relays—except USA Track & Field unveiled its official roster Tuesday evening and Richardson isn’t on it, for any event.

Let Sha’Carri race. Stop persecuting Black and Brown marijuana users. https://t.co/9SayID6Z1R

— Rep. Pramila Jayapal (@RepJayapal) July 7, 2021

Brianna McNeal won the gold medal in 100-meter hurdles in 2016, but she too will be absent from this year’s Olympic games. McNeal has been suspended for five years after missing a drug test and “tampering within the results management process.” McNeal originally submitted documentation for an unnamed medical procedure but after being pressured to release more details, she revealed to the New York Times that she had had an abortion. She says she thought her doctor got the date of her procedure wrong so she changed the date on the paperwork by one day, hence the “tampering.”

Moreover, McNeal said she faced judgmental scrutiny from World Athletics, the governing body for track and field, who she says made it clear they didn’t believe her claims that she messed up the date because she was traumatized from the procedure. (While most people do not experience abortion as a traumatic event—contrary to the popular anti-abortion narrative—McNeal says she was feeling guilt and grief because of her Christian faith.)

World Athletics didn’t believe she was affected by the procedure because she “continued to post on social media and compete in the weeks afterward.” They also “chastised” her for seeking support from a spiritual advisor rather than a psychiatrist.

“I told them, ‘Oh, really? For me, growing up in the Black community, that’s how we cope with everything — we go to church and we talk to our pastor or spiritual adviser,” McNeal told the Times. “I just feel like they have not been compassionate at all.”

On Twitter, she wrote that she sat through hearings where she “listened to white European men tell me how my experience doesn’t match with their perspective” and that “instead of being met with some sort of compassion and understanding, I was being interrogated and stigmatized.”

Stand.
I want to thank my coach @CoachBoogieJ , my training partners, my husband, and Nike @nike for sticking by my side throughout this entire process. pic.twitter.com/ixSXaywxUW

— Brianna McNeal (@Bri_Rollin) July 2, 2021

There are so many more stories like this.

Simone Biles keeps seeing the goalposts moved as her incredible feats in gymnastics are repeatedly undervalued specifically because she is so skilled.

A swim cap made especially for Black hair was banned from the Olympic games because it doesn’t follow “the natural form of the head.” In reality, the fact that traditional swim caps don’t work with a lot of Black swimmers’ hair is thought to be a major reason why Black athletes are so underrepresented in the sport. (That ban is currently being reconsidered thanks to massive backlash.)

Multiple Black women have been banned from track and field events because they have higher-than-average, naturally occurring testosterone levels. High testosterone is a major boon for male athletes, yet women are penalized for it. The science is also still out on just how much of a benefit testosterone gives athletes.

From an article at Popular Science:

One study of professional male triathletes found no relationship between testosterone levels and performance. Another, looking at professional cyclists, found the same lack of correlation. Yet another, comparing cyclists, weightlifters, and controls to each other on a cycling test, found a negative correlation between testosterone levels and performance. A study of teenage weightlifters found no relationship between boys’ testosterone levels and their performance, and a negative correlation among the girls—meaning they performed better when their testosterone was lower.

Still, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi of Namibia, South Africa’s Caster Semenya, and the U.S.’ CeCe Telfer—the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA title—have all been forced out of this year’s games because of their testosterone levels.

Oh, and the entire Nigerian women’s 4×400 relay team was disqualified for not placing cones in the right spot during trials.

Is it just me or is this feeling patterny… https://t.co/r5dtIpGERx

— Joy-Ann (Pro-Democracy) Reid 😷 (@JoyAnnReid) July 5, 2021

There are plenty of people who will respond to these stories with an argument that “rules are rules.” Sha’Carri Richardson especially is hearing that a lot. But rules change. Kim Gaucher, a Canadian basketball player, was told she could not take her three-month-old baby to the Olympic games because Tokyo banned athletes from bringing guests—including a breastfeeding baby.

The International Olympic Committee eventually said that Gaucher and other nursing parents could bring their babies—because rules change when they need to. The rules holding these women back are not rooted in science and they are outdated. Rules and laws around marijuana usage disproportionately affect Black people and people of color. Regulations around testosterone are based on unscientific, eurocentric views of gender. A swim cap was banned specifically because the people in charge of making these rules don’t understand the needs of Black athletes.

Black women have been dominating in the lead-up to the Olympics and it’s abhorrent that they are being so specifically targeted by these outdated rules.

every time i check what’s going on with the Tokyo Olympics, there’s another Black woman running faster than the speed of sound 🙌🏿 https://t.co/7bWfCAlwdJ

— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) June 28, 2021

(image: Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

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Adene Sanchez/Getty By Ashley Cobb ·July 7, 2021July 7, 2021

Vaccinations are here, restrictions have eased, and people are officially in the streets again. After a year of limited human interaction, many are ready to mingle, date and explore intimate relationships. For single people, quarantine and safety guidelines totally changed the rules for how to go about it all. COVID restrictions increased online dating activity as well as alternative methods for getting to know someone new. But now that “outside” is open again, experts predict sex is to make a major comeback. Summer 2021 has already been coined, “

The post Vaxed And Waxed? How To Prepare For And Protect Yourself During ‘The Summer Of Sex’ appeared first on Essence.

Loading the player… By D'Shonda Brown ·July 7, 2021July 7, 2021

In a conversation between Christina Granville, Gia Peppers, DJ Spinderella and DJ Kiss, the four ladies in media and entertainment redefined what it means to own and rock our truths – inside and outside of our careers. As part of this year’s ESSENCE Festival of Culture, the V103 morning show host facilitated a conversation with the panelists about what it takes to be fearless in life, entertainment and business, while being true to ourselves. These ladies are truly living their passion and living their purpose.

When asked by Granville about some of her larger obstacles in her career, Kiss noted that those moments that she once identified as obstacles were instead opportunities. In turn, people doubting her and questioning her brand served as fuel to the fire that was her career as a DJ. “That worked in my favor because when I came and tore it down, the expectation was so low,” Kiss told the panel. “When I met that expectation and rose above it, it was even more impactful.” That’s how you turn the tables around!

The Grammy award-winning Salt-N-Pepa alumna was given her flowers by Granville, and not long before she was asked about her pushed her to follow her dreams before the fame hit. “From the womb, music was in my atmosphere. Becoming a DJ was natural in that sense because I love music,” Spinderella said. Though she was still in high school when she auditioned for the girl group, she was attracted to the work ethic and drive that the members had. She continued to mention that Salt-N-Pepa were like mentors to the DJ during her younger years in the industry.

When it boils down to the importance of inspiration and staying true to oneself, Peppers, who is also the host of “More Than That With Gia Peppers,” noted the significance of fear – or the lack thereof. “We act like fear is this overwhelming scary thing that is real and most of the time, it really isn’t real,” the Black Girl Podcast podcaster explained. “I would even say embrace the fear allow it to be the motivator of why you do it. Do it anyway.”

For the full panel discussion, watch the video above.

TOPICS:  essence festival essence festival 2021 essence festival of culture

The post DJ Spinderella & DJ Kiss Share How They Embrace Purpose While Remaining True To Themselves appeared first on Essence.