Voltron Legendary Defender!!!

DEAR EDUCATIONALLY NEGLECTED HOMESCHOOLERS

I’ve gathered some resources and tips and tricks on self-educating after educational neglect. This is only what I did and what I know helped me. I’m about to graduate college with honors after having no education past the age of 9. I wouldn’t be here without the following. Everything is free, and at/well above the standard for education in the US.

The holy grail: Khan Academy. Nearly every course you could take is available here, in order and by grade level. Their open-source free courses rival some of the college classes I’ve taken. This is your most solid resource.

For inattentive types: Crash Course offers a variety of courses that are snappy, entertaining, and extremely rewarding. They work for my ADHD brain. They also have college prep advice, which is essential if you’re looking to go to higher education with no classroom experience.

To catch up on your reading: There are certain books that you may have read had you gone to school that you’ve missed out on. This list is the most well-rounded and can fill you in on both children’s books and classic novels that are essential or at least extremely helpful to be familiar with. You can find a majority of these easily at a local library (and some for free in PDF form online low key). There are a few higher level classics in here that I’d highly recommend. If it doesn’t work for you, I’d always recommend asking your local librarian.

*BE AWARE* The book list I recommend suggests you read Harry Potter books, and given their transphobic author you may or may not want to read them. If you choose to, I’d highly recommend buying the books secondhand or borrowing from a library to avoid financially supporting a living author with dangerous and damaging views.

TEST, TEST, TEST: Again, Khan Academy is your go-to for this. I don’t personally like standardized testing, but going through SAT and ACT courses was the best way I found to really reveal my gaps so that I could supplement.

Finally: As much as you can, enjoy the process. Education can be thrilling and teach you so much about yourself, and help shape your view of the world. It can get frustrating, but I’d like to encourage you that everyone can learn. No pace is the perfect pace, and your learning style is the right learning style for you. In teaching yourself, be patient, be kind, and indulge in the subjects you really enjoy without neglecting others. You are your teacher. Give yourself what others chose not to.

Crash Course

Courses - Crash Course

If you’re ever put in charge of a national economy, there are a few things you should try to avoid. Before you laugh, just remember, you COU

Khan Academy

Khan Academy | Free Online Courses, Lessons & Practice

Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Aca

Discovery

100 Books to Read Before You Die

It's morbid, but have you ever wondered what books to read before you die? Start with this list of 100 must-read books.

Thank you so so so much for saying this!!! It means so much to people who are both religious and lgbtqa 🏳️‍🌈. This is just what what so many people, either lgbt or religious, need to desperately hear. To know that it is okay and that loving the same gender does not mean you don’t love God or that God doesn’t love you. This is perfect.

A sign

If you’re lgbtq+ and not wanting to be rejected by your religion/faith this is your sign. I’m not the first to say this but I have a deep need to say this publicly. But as someone with unwavering faith in God, it pains me so deep inside that lgbtq+ people are rejected by their religions and families on a religious basis. I don’t care if you don’t have any faith rn but I know that the things I’ve had to go through as a Black &Mexican bisexual woman in this world, God didn’t make it just easier but my faith brought peace in my life and in a world like this people need peace inside. A lot of lgbtq+ people are turned off by the idea of having a religion. (Having a faith and being hardcore religious aren’t the same thing) but I just want to say that being lgbtq+ and bringing love and acceptance into other people’s lives means your already a better follower of God than any super religious person that teaches hate. God is Love in many many faiths and that’s all that matters. You’re not a sinner. You’re not a disgrace. You’re a beautiful human who’s here to love any and everybody. Stand tall and stay proud!

Keep the Jedi Out of It

With input from @atagotiak (Tia), @gelpenss (Gel), and @thisarenotarealblog (Doc).

Standard initial premise: Clones take over the Republic after Fox kills Palpatine.

Fun AU Twist: in order to keep people from trying to fuck over the Jedi, and also as a backup because they trust the Jedi to at least try to save them after the initial hubbub goes down, and also as a bit of a vindication for those who don't like their Jedi... the clones arrest all the Jedi and just keep them in the brigs etc. until they figure out how to break the news to the galaxy that Palpatine was a bigger problem than previously anticipated.

"Why did the Jedi not stop you?" "Great question! We arrested them." "...all of them?" "Yes." "On what grounds?" "On 'they would have stopped us from killing the Chancellor' grounds."

"The Jedi couldn't stop you from arresting them?" "We just kind of told them 'here, hold this' and then put the force cuffs on. It was really easy, actually, they trust us way too much, it's kinda scary. A few of them passed out without the Force to keep them awake and the medics got pissed they hadn't been sleeping." "...you're saying you did this for their own good?" "No, we did it so we could kill the Chancellor."

Tia:

Anakin would def be upset. What would the other jedi be like? Mostly exasperated? I imagine a few would be like “well I guess I’m stuck here. I’m gonna have a nap”

Doc:

Obiwan finds a corner he likes and conks out in 5 minutes with the power of long experience

Gel:

At least one or more of the Jedi is like. WEIRDLY zen about it. Like “yeah if he arrested me there’s DEFINITELY a good reason and they’ll all tell me eventually”

Like the reason O66 worked in large part was that the Jedi trusted the clones, which means that you could easily argue that without even murder-of-said-Jedi on the mind, it would be even easier to just. Trick them.

Rex was uncomfortable about arresting Anakin for "Palpatine's his friend and he'll hate me" reasons so Kix just arrested both of them himself. They don't tell Anakin what's going on even when he grills Rex in their shared cell. Anakin's under the impression this is a 'you haven't been taking care of yourself' medic arrest.

Ahsoka had to share a cell with Yularen and they played cards because Ahsoka wanted to work on her Sabacc-without-Force-Cheating skills.

Some of the arrested Jedi have tea parties with the clones who arrested them. Mostly I'm imagining this as being Mundi. Bacara is off handling Various Things and the shinies put in place to guard Ki-Adi while the Coruscant problem is handled just sit down and have some tea with him while he teaches them Jedi philosophy, because Mundi strikes me as very "grandpa tells you stories to try and relate to the youth and he's not great at it but he sure is trying to be a good grandpa, and he's a bit out of the loop but he's putting in the effort, he got you some of those Pokey-mans you like for the holidays and everything."

"It's been three days, are you going to tell me why this was all necessary?" "Chancellor's a Sith Lord." "WHAT?" "It's fine, Fox killed him, but we couldn't have the Jedi stopping us, or like... getting accused of organizing it. So we just arrested, uh... everyone over the age of three?"

Tia:

Im just imagining Depa in a cell, sometime before the assassination is done: Grey: yeah so we’re killing Palpatine, for uh. Reasons. Depa: well I feel like I should disapprove, but….

Gel:

Anakin is spinning conspiracies about mind control because why else would they do this and the clones are just like. 😬“well yes but actually no”

Cody: No hard feelings but we do need Fox to do the plan. Chancellor's evil. Obi-Wan, not at all convincingly, especially after the explanation: Oh no... the Chancellor... whatever shall I do... Cody: ...do I even need to put you in cuffs? Obi-Wan: For the sake of protocol, yes.

Doc:

Ponds: we're going to kill the chancellor Mace, who got pressured to give the chancellor access to a 10-year old: legally, I cannot endorse this.

"We arrested the Jedi." "...and they LET you?" "Yeah, they assumed it was for a plan, which it was, but they assumed it was 'we're being watched by Separatists, play along' reasons and not, you know, killing the Chancellor."

Bly: General Secura, you're under arrest. Aayla: Wh--On what charges? Bly: Uh.... it's a sex thing? Aayla: ..............sure, why not.

Monnk: General Fisto, you're under arrest. Kit: Why? Monnk: ....reasons. Kit: ........yeah, okay.

Nobody even bothers to tell Shaak Ti, she's so far away that she can't do anything and really they just. Don't tell her she has a long-distance call coming in.

The only Jedi that don't just get arrested with zero fuss are the ones that are in active battle zones far enough away that it's not worth the deaths that would follow, Anakin, and 'I don't trust clones' types like Krell.

And the ones in-Temple, which is admittedly a lot, but we're going to ignore that and say the clones just triggered a reactive shut-down protocol that had metal going over windows and stuff.

LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK

My favorite flower! It represents a lot of beautiful things, my favorite being "Return of Happiness".

Lily of the valley (=｀ω´=)☘️ You can grab wallpaper HERE!

Fanart for the story Safe Passage  from @whisperingdarknessfanfic

made by the the awesome artist @inky-axolotl

I love the language of flowers!!!

flower language in Pokemon

These are only a few recent examples, feel free to add to it! Pretty much any scene where recognizable, real world flowers are drawn in detail, they’re typically chosen to convey a meaning.

Sweet pea: goodbye Grace (Serena’s mother) watches her daughter set off on her journey.

Baby’s breath: everlasting love, purity of heart, innocence

Satoshi (Ash) returns home at the end of XY, after Serena conveys her feelings, to these blooming outside his home…

Anemone: anticipation, forsaken Espurr waited patiently for the old woman it played with, anticipating her return, too young to understand why she could not return…

Marguerite: secret love, faith

After developing feelings for a doctor who saved her, Musashi (Jessie) was prepared to leave her old life behind for a chance to attain her dream of a stable, married life… upon realizing he loved another and choosing to rescue her friends, she took her leave with unspoken feelings.

Anisodontea: until today, today is the final day. [identified by may3104!]

After a series of misunderstandings, Satoshi accidentally knocks down the flowers Iris wears, and crushes them–with the journey over, the friends only have a little bit longer to travel together and this incident causes them to part ways a little sooner than intended. These flowers also play a role in the resolution.

I LOVE these and am so happy to have found them again! These are all such positive messages that need to be spread!! Reblog!!

Source

“Image Credit: Carol Rossetti

When Brazilian graphic designer Carol Rossetti began posting colorful illustrations of women and their stories to Facebook, she had no idea how popular they would become. 

Thousands of shares throughout the world later, the appeal of Rosetti’s work is clear. Much like the street art phenomenon Stop Telling Women To Smile, Rossetti’s empowering images are the kind you want to post on every street corner, as both a reminder and affirmation of women’s bodily autonomy. 

“It has always bothered me, the world’s attempts to control women’s bodies, behavior and identities,” Rossetti told Mic via email. “It’s a kind of oppression so deeply entangled in our culture that most people don’t even see it’s there, and how cruel it can be.”

Rossetti’s illustrations touch upon an impressive range of intersectional topics, including LGBTQ identity, body image, ageism, racism, sexism and ableism. Some characters are based on the experiences of friends or her own life, while others draw inspiration from the stories many women have shared across the Internet. 

“I see those situations I portray every day,” she wrote. “I lived some of them myself.”

Despite quickly garnering thousands of enthusiastic comments and shares on Facebook, the project started as something personal — so personal, in fact, that Rossetti is still figuring out what to call it. For now, the images reside in albums simply titled “WOMEN in english!“ or ”Mujeres en español!“ which is fitting: Rossetti’s illustrations encompass a vast set of experiences that together create a powerful picture of both women’s identity and oppression.

One of the most interesting aspects of the project is the way it has struck such a global chord. Rossetti originally wrote the text of the illustrations in Portuguese, and then worked with an Australian woman to translate them to English. A group of Israeli feminists also took it upon themselves to create versions of the illustrations in Hebrew. Now, more people have reached out to Rossetti through Facebook and offered to translate her work into even more languages. Next on the docket? Spanish, Russian, German and Lithuanian.

It’s an inspiring show of global solidarity, but the message of Rossetti’s art is clear in any language. Above all, her images celebrate being true to oneself, respecting others and questioning what society tells us is acceptable or beautiful.

“I can’t change the world by myself,” Rossetti said. “But I’d love to know that my work made people review their privileges and be more open to understanding and respecting one another.””

From the site: All images courtesy Carol Rossetti and used with permission. You can find more illustrations, as well as more languages, on her Facebook page.

So, I kinda love rendering armor now.