#trailblazers

[minart-was-taken]

Bnuy....

[losdiggittypdx]

[worldcleansingdragon]

the fate of the universe depending on these 5 people with combined 99 mental illnesses is kinda insane

[itsmythang]

East Tennessee State University unveils powerful new statues honoring the first 5 African American students who helped integrate the campus in the late 1950s.

Pioneers: Eugene Caruthers, Elizabeth Watkins Crawford, George L. Nichols, Mary Luellen Owens Wagner, and Clarence McKinney. Their courage and legacy now stand tall for future generations. The statues, titled “The Path” by sculptor Austen Brantley, were unveiled on October 25, 2025. History remembered and honored. 👏🏾

However, A MAGA racist gotta do what they do...Be a racist.

"It's great that they're honoring those who stood up against racist Democrats who demanded segregation. If only they would fight the same against the party who is doing it again today..."

Selective history, many segregationist officials were Dems in the South. That’s historically true. Context omission: the parties changed after the Civil Rights era & the Southern Strategy realignment. You are less interested in the actual history of the people being honored than in repackaging it for MAGA BS.

It’s exhausting how Black achievement or historic milestones so often get dismissed, rewritten, or reduced to some bad-faith political talking point instead of simply being acknowledged for what they are. people do is dto DEI BS

[quietplace26]

Psst! Hey you!

*sneaky anon pokes their head out a hole*

Me gots an idea for ya! Based off this ask of yours-

https://www.tumblr.com/quietplace26/811539454715117568/hey-hey-hey-will-you-do-more-on-preggo-furinamc

Yeah! This one! Where preggers Furina!MC has Primordial water thrown onto her, she dissovles, and ends up on the Astral Express!

Me was thinking... Yandere Astral Express crew? Hm? HMMM? Well, whatcha think?

I think... you're on to something, sneaky anon! 👀

Imagine this! The Astral Express Crew was originally NOT Yanderes for preggo Furina!MC. They genuinely wanted to help her get home, but, as the old saying goes... things can change.

This being was the fact the A.E. Crew started having second thoughts the more they heard about preggo Furina!MC's story and just Teyvat in general. Teyvat, as much as it sounded beautiful and fascinating, sounded VERY dangerous. Especially the whole thing about a 'fake sky', and this Abyss Order running around.

Then there was the whole thing with this being called the Heavenly Principles, the same being that Focalors- who was a whole other can of worms the A.E. Crew did not enjoy hearing about- wanted to trick. One does not simply trick a divine being that sounded too much like a Aeon of sorts without consequences...

What if since Focalors was dead, the Heavenly Principles would turn their attention on preggo Furina!MC and punish her instead?!

And still, there was ALSO still the issue of the fact of that mess of a fucking trial! Preggo Furina!MC had long since explain the concept of Primordial Sea water and how dangerous it was to Fontainians... which sadly also included her. And the fact was it was brought out to be used against her, and the fact someone threw it on her while she was PREGNANT was what made the A.E. Crew feel utter rage.

It was only by a complete miracle, maybe an Aeon Akivili? looking upon preggo Furina!MC, and had her appear in the safety of the Astral Express instead of fully dissolving into nothing but lifeless water...

She and her unborn baby could've died... and they both still have a chance of dying if the A.E. Crew took her back to Teyvat! No! No, no, no! They wouldn't allow it! They would not be trailblazing their way to Teyvat like they promised preggo Furina!MC!

Of course, none of the A.E. Crew doesn't tell preggo Furina!MC about this change in plans. No, they don't need too... it would be almost too easy to explain how the chances of finding Teyvat is like finding a needle in a haystack, so... how about you just stay on the Astral Express permanently, Furina!MC?

The A.E. Crew would love it if you stayed... forever.

Tagging: @platinumrosetail, @arn9tails, @bloodytea, @esthelily, @uniquecutie-puffs, @lovelyjane-stuff

[uwmspeccoll]

🎶🎺Fairytale Friday🎺🎶

Once Upon a Downbeat

Not all fairy tales begin with “once upon a time.” Some begin with a downbeat.

This week, we’re celebrating Sweethearts of Rhythm: The Story of the Greatest All-Girl Swing Band in the World, written by Marilyn Nelson and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney, published by Dial Books in New York in 2009.

This isn’t a story about glass slippers or enchanted forests; it’s about saxophones, segregated dance halls, overnight bus rides, and a group of young women who refused to let the world decide how loudly they were allowed to play. The book recounts the true story of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm, a pioneering swing band formed at the Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi. Touring across the United States in the 1930s and 1940s, this racially integrated, all-female band shattered musical and social barriers during the Jim Crow era. 

Their popularity stretched far beyond American ballrooms. Black soldiers fighting overseas during World War II wrote asking the band to bring their music abroad. In 1945, the Sweethearts became the first women of color to tour internationally with the USO, traveling to France and Germany for six months, playing swing and jazz to lift the spirits of troops far from home. Through sheer talent, grit, and joy, they proved that music could cross oceans and boundaries.

Marilyn Nelson (b. 1946), an award-winning poet and former Poet Laureate of Connecticut, is known for illuminating overlooked histories, particularly within the African American experience. Here she uses vibrant, syncopated verse that swings and pulses like the music itself. Each poem offers voice and dimension to the young women of the band, honoring not only their artistry but their ambition and resolve.

Jerry Pinkney (1939-2021), one of the most celebrated illustrators in children’s literature, earned the Caldecott Medalist, multiple Coretta Scott King Book Awards, and was a recipient of the Coretta Scott King-Virginia Hamilton Award for Lifetime Achievement. His body of work helped broaden the landscape of children’s publishing, consistently foregrounding Black history, African American folktales, and stories that expanded historical narratives. Renowned for his luminous watercolors, in this book, his illustrations shimmer with energy, skirts twirl, trumpets flash, spotlights glow, capturing both the glamour of the performance and the grit behind the scenes.

What makes this Fairytale Friday worthy? It’s a story of transformation. Young women, many of them teenagers, stepping into their talent, claiming space in a world determined to limit them. Community forged in harmony. Artistry as resistance. In a divided era, they created their own kind of magic, not with wands, but with rhythm.

For Black History Month, Sweethearts of Rhythm reminds us that fairy tales can sound like swing music. They can look like courage under stage lights. They can be found wherever people dare to play their own song, even when the world isn’t quite ready to listen.

And honestly? There’s something wonderfully magical about a band that refused to wait for permission.

-Melissa (who believes a good story, like good music, lingers long after the last note), Distinctive Collections Library Assistant 🎶

-View more Fairytale Friday posts

--View a previous post about Sweethearts of Rhythm.

[jenzaya]

Part of the reason why I ship Dan Heng/Trailblazers (Stelle & Caelus versions) so much is because they feel like the “1st male suitor” type of romance that’s fairly common in a lot of animanga-style media. They’re just so shojo-coded (melts my heart whenever I see them)! Arguably better than many of the half-baked “1st male suitor” schtick in any kind of media.