#and i need him near his old buddies and i need cedric there too

[madridcampeon]

boyyyyyyyyy i miss my nt .... so damn much 

[twilightdruig]

help?

pairing : george weasley x fem!reader

summary : “hi i’m your neighbor and while i know we’ve never spoken but you’re a single parent of two and my sister recently died leaving me to raise her infant and i have no idea what i’m doing, help?” au

warnings : swearing , mentions of character deaths , fluff , au where george lives alone with his two children in a cottage near the burrow , au where fred and cedric live.

words : 2.6k

a/n : this is my first fic so it’s probably gonna be shit (as you can probably tell i’m not good with titles either) but yeah hope you enjoy :> and i might do a little part 2 on this soon

holly l/n was loved by multiple. a sweet hufflepuff student who was favored by all the teachers and students. her sister, y/n was a scary and intimidating gryffindor who hung out in the library.

ever since the battle of hogwarts death eaters have been imprisoned in azkaban. but, that didn’t mean all harm was gone.

now here y/n l/n was, standing in the heat of the summer, her nephew connor l/n mourning the death of a family member.

the service was beautiful. a few hogwarts students came including luna lovegood and neville longbottom and professor sprout and professor flitwick decided to pay their respects. headmistress mcgonagall sent her condolences through a letter as well.

conner wasn’t old enough to go to hogwarts yet. there was no one else for holly to leave connor with. her husband, ronan died during the war, all connor’s grandparents died and the only appointed godparents were holly’s best friend cedric diggory and her sister y/n.

cedric diggory was now teaching first year flying at hogwarts and is married to cho chang.

y/n was currently doing nothing with her life. she wanted to live alone in a cottage, reading, stitching, picking apples and getting drunk on fruity cocktails. but now? she had to take care of her sister’s spoiled son.

y/n hated children more than she hated the people in her own hogwarts house. more so, she didn’t know how to take care of them.

she had to enroll her nephew in hogwarts, teach him basic life skills and other stuff like that. there goes her life goal on being that cool stoner aunt that hates love and children.

—

“shit, connor!” y/n exclaimed as her 3 year old nephew accidentally ate a ton tongue toffee made by the joke shop in diagon alley owned by the weasleys.

“sorry aunty y/n”

she was never close to the weasleys. all of them, stereotypical gryffindors, loud and chaotic and always the main characters.

the only thing she knew about them is that one of the twins live next to her. y/n didn’t know how to shrink his tongue and thought it was quite the convenience that he lives next door. he was a single dad with two daughters, maybe he could help her control her nephew and technically her adopted son, now.

she sighed. “put on your coat, we’re visiting our neighbors, ok con?” the little boy nodded in response

—

went the small cottage came into view, there were two little girls picking flowers on the front yard and a tall red-headed man on the porch watching them.

“hey! weasley!” she yelled with a small smile as she approached the small gate.

“l/n? what are you doing here?” george asked

y/n gestured to her nephew who was holding his now 3 foot long tongue. “he accidentally ate one of your products and i’m not entirely sure how to fix it”

“right, right” he laughed “come on, connor right? i’ll reverse that”

y/n felt a tug at her oversized cardigan. she looked down to see two identical ginger twins.

“hi there!” one smiled.

“hello!” y/n tried to sound as nice as possible. looking back at her teenage years she remembered laughing at kids who fell of their brooms their brooms when she’d watch first year flying. she remembered laughing at seamus finnigan when something blew up in his face. or when she’d laugh at any kid accidentally getting hurt.

“these are for you! they’re pretty just like you” the other twin exclaimed.

“i’m charlotte and she’s billie” charlotte giggled.

“how do u know our daddy?” billie asked

“oh! um, we went to school together and i live just next door” y/n replied

“do you know our uncle freddie?”

“i know all your uncles and your aunt ginny, aunt hermione and uncle harry. they were all famous when we were in school”

“wow!” they both exclaimed

george and connor came back out. “look aunty y/n! my tongue’s normal again!”

“aunty?” george questioned. “holly. she died quite recently.”

“oh! i’m so sorry. i heard about her. yeah. i believe mum sent some flowers for the service”

“yeah we received them”

“i’ll see you around?” george inquired

“yeah, yeah. and i might need some parenting advice? you knew how i was back at hogwarts”

“i am flattered, dear l/n”

“oh hush. and they get along.” she pointed to the three children running around.

“they do. and yes, i would love to help you tame that little rascal” george laughed.

“thank you, george. really.”

“i’m just next door, yeah?”

“yeah” y/n smiled “come on, connor. we’re going home. but we’ll definitely be seeing these lovely ladies soon.”

“bye pretty lady!” y/n heard two young voices call after her

“daddy, who was she?”

“is she gonna be our new mommy?”

—

george and y/n had been hanging out for the past weeks. he had given her advice on taking care of connor and how to deal with children. they also spent time talking about family and their time back at hogwarts. she was told about the attack of death eaters at one of his brothers’ wedding and how his daughters were named after his brothers bill and charlie.

a knock at y/n’s door interrupted her reading.

“oi, l/n!” she heard a familiar voice on the other side of the door.

“weasley” she muttered.

connor recognized george’s voice and the twins’ giggles, he decided he would take matters into his own little hands. connor knew how stubborn his aunt was at the young age of seven.

“hi billie! hi charlotte! hi uncle george!” the little boy squealed.

“hey there, con!” george ruffled his hair while billie and charlotte ran over to y/n.

connor and the twins were two years apart. connor was going to hogwarts the next year. no doubt would he be trouble to professor mcgonagall but everyone knew they were always her favorites.

“aunty y/n! uncle george brought cookies!” connor yelled excitedly. y/n was never the type to bake or cook. she did try to but it always ended in almost burning the house down. she usually fed connor fruits or store bought food.

“you didn’t have to” y/n responded while taking the plastic box.

“oh yes i did” he teased “i heard you’ve been starving this poor little fellow”

“daddy didn’t bake those cookies” charlotte stated “grandma did” billie continued

“oh” she smirked at george then turned to the twins “tell your grandma i say thanks!”

“uncle george! i wanna show you something outside! the twins can come too!”

“connor, what are you gonna show them?” y/n grumbled.

“your paintings! they’re amazing” her nephew jumped.

“paintings, eh?” george smiled “okay, let’s go, champ. see those paintings of your aunt.” the two scurried outside, two redheaded girls following after.

y/n groaned and fell back into the couch, finishing her book.

—

it’s been a few days since george and the twins came with cooking to y/n and connor’s cottage. she wanted to throw connor a little surprise birthday party.

connor has loved the twins and george so much, he thinks of them as blood relatives. y/n decided to call up cedric and cho to look after connor while she’d do some errands.

the two arrived exactly on time as y/n was preparing to go out. she had on a simple cardigan and loose denim pants.

“ced! cho! hi, how are you guys?” y/n greeted as she saw her old friends apparate into the cottage.

“hi y/n!” cho greeted “hey nerd” cedric snickered.

she sent cedric a small glare before connor jumped at the two.

“uncle ceddy! aunty cho! you’re here” he shouted.

“yeah buddy! your aunt’s gonna run some errands and visit your uncle georgie?” cedric winked at y/n. she had been owling cedric about george and how he’s been helping her with connor.

“are you going out with uncle george?” connor asked, eyes twinkling.

“i don’t know, actually. i might check him out next door.”

“george weasley?” cho teased.

“yes, cho,” y/n rolled her eyes “but on that note, i have to go”

“bye, connor! behave okay?” she crouched down and squished his cheeks.

“bye, ced! cho!” her voice faded when she dashed out the door.

—

y/n passed george’s cottage to see if he actually might want to come with her and do errands.

she was standing outside the small gate, hesitating. ‘maybe he was busy’ ‘he wouldn’t want to do errands with me’ ‘maybe he would if i told him it was for connor’s birthday’ she thought. y/n didn’t know why she was overthinking her choices. the first time she was standing right outside the gate she bursted in and demanded george to fix whatever happened to her nephew. now, she was nervous. her palms were sweaty and clammy.

she pushed herself in and walked to the front porch. she knocked a few times and was met with a head of messy brown hair.

“hermione?!” she squealed

“y/n!” hermione jumped to hug her old friend.

there were overlapping voices in the background and when they pulled away she was met with multiple mops of ginger hair, a head of blonde hair and another with black hair behind hermione.

“l/n?” ginny weasley asked, quite shocked what she would be doing outside george’s door.

“oh! did i interrupt something? i am so sorry!” she said feeling a bit nervous.

“oh! you must be the dearest y/n george keeps talking about!” an old woman she thought was mrs. weasley approached her from behind her children.

“hi there!” y/n said feeling a little embarrassed she might’ve barged in on a family reunion.

“ah! l/n? i have heard of your family! muggle-borns right?” arthur weasley joined his wife.

“uh, yeah!” she pursed her lips “i am so so sorry i interrupted! i should go. tell george i’ll swing by next time”

“oh it’s absolutely alright, dear” molly reassured her.

“george! there’s a really pretty girl! get your arse out here!” fred yelled to george who was probably inside the house.

“is she here?” charlotte and billie ran to the door.

“hi girls! tell you dad i was here yeah? say i’ll come by next time” most of the weasleys came back in. she took it as her time to go on with her day.

“oi! y/n! wait up” the voice she recognized as george’s called after her.

“george, hey”

“where’r you off to?” george pointed to the small bag that was swung over her shoulder.

“errands. connor’s birthday is coming up so i thought i’d prepare something for him. first birthday without his mum, you know”

“his birthday’s coming up?” george looked as excited as a child on christmas morning.

“yeah. why?” she smiled

“you’re talking to one of the best party planners there is. you also did talk to another one of them… i think”

“fred?”

“oh yeah”

“i wanted to ask if you wanted to come but seeing as to your family is in your house… i’m gonna take a wild guess and say you aren’t available right now” she giggled.

“maybe if you went another day” he said sympathetically. george really wanted to go and prepare connor’s party with her. he treated him like his own and boy did he remind him of how fun it was to be a kid. he loved his aunt so much it was adorable.

“george. seriously, it’s okay. spend time with your family” she laughed.

“yeah, yeah. i’ll see you when you get back” he waved.

—

connor’s small birthday gathering was in full swing. y/n became acquainted with george’s siblings. bill, charlie, percy (whom she was actually friends with back in hogwarts), fred, ron and ginny. hermione was a very good friend of hers and so was harry. she recognized fleur from that day in the cottage as beauxbatons triwizard champion.

connor had quite a bunch of guests for his birthday. cedric, cho, luna, neville, fred, percy, ron, harry, hermione, bill and fleur and their little victorie. of course, billie and charlotte helped george and y/n fix up the party. mr. and mrs. weasley sent a small cake for connor when they heard about y/n not knowing asingle thing about cooking.

fred offered to take care of the twins and connor while george and y/n ran off somewhere. the two found themselves near a small creek. y/n explained how the cottage was where she’d go off exploring and the only person who knew was holly. she was overjoyed when her sister got the cottage she used as a hideaway.

george was surprised when there were lights and blankets and everything. the soft sounds of running water was calming.

the two were pretty intoxicated when they sat down; stumbled onto the picnic blanket. y/n was sober enough to not spill her deepest darkest secrets. george on the other hand…

“have i ever told you how pretty you are?” george mumbled next to her. y/n only snickered and blushed.

“um, can i hold your hand?” he continued, taking a look at the girl next to him.

“sure” she winked.

“you know” he started again “i actually fancied you a bit back in school”

“yeah?” she rolled over to her side “i wonder… what did you like about me?”

“i don’t even know. my heart just felt so full with you. still does, right now, holding your hand, under the stars by a stream.” he had this glint in his eye when he looks at her.

“hey,” she brushed some hair out of his face “these past few months have been great. and you’re a huge help with connor. you know i’ll always be there for you, right?”

“yeah darling,” he yawned “yeah”

“wait, george!” she sat up “no. don’t fall asleep!”

“fuck” she groaned before falling back down on the blanket.

“i think i love you” she whispered.

—

morning rolled around and they were still lying somewhere in the forest behind the cottage. some childish chatter and laughs were heard from where they were still sleeping soundly.

until, a red ant bit y/n and george’s intertwined hands. “ah shit!” y/n woke up from the bite. her yell also woke up the sleeping man next to her “what?! what happened?” he jumped.

“oh. did i wake you up?” she asked.

“no. it’s honestly no worries” he said “but i do have a killer headache”

“an ant bit me” she muttered, wanting to scratch it.

“hey, no don’t scratch! i’ve had a lot if experience with insect bites” he explained “want me to kiss it better?” he teased.

“oh, ha-ha” she rolled her eyes but blushed.

“we should probably head back” he checked his watch while standing up.

—

“ah! there the lovebirds are!” fred exclaimed.

everyone was cleaning up from last night. there were children running around while chasing balloons and each other.

“yeah,” george started “we, um, fell asleep”

“sure ya did” this time ron teased the two.

“i’m gonna clean up here,” y/n offered “you guys should go home. you know, get some rest”

cedric gasped “y/n l/n! are you kicking us out?” he said in mock offense.

“technically, yeah. i doubt connor got any sleep”

“maybe we should,” fleur said with her accent “victorie was very excited for the party she is very worn out”

george snuck behind y/n “i think i love you too” he muttered under his breath. he wasn’t sure if she heard it. she did.

“i’ll see you later, y/n!” he yelled “come on, princesses, we’re going home. we’ll see connor and y/n later”

connor and the twins hugged while y/n said thank you’s to all the guests.

maybe it wasn’t such a bad decision to ask for help.

[supercharged-nostalgia-blog]

A Friend Indeed

Cedric is 65 years old and Sofia is 36. She's now the Queen of Enchancia, happily married to King Hugo, and has two children. Cedric expects his dear friend to live her life, but he never expected her to visit! Rated G (they're intergenerational buddies, so please, no shipping!) The aging sorcerer sighed deeply, poring over a thick book on potions as the pewter cauldron beside him bubbled cheerfully. Had it really been this long since the coronation and the royal wedding? Time, he felt, was slipping away as quick as fish in a river, and so many wonderful things had happened year after year. He was there for the wedding ceremony, grinning at the blushing Sofia and wiping away her tears as he whispered blessings to the new couple, making certain the new king, Hugo, would take care of her. Merlin forbid he would break her heart, lest Cedric curse him. And then there were the sweet faces of the children Queen Sofia had borne. What were their names again? Ah yes, Roland III and Lily. Gosh, Rollie, as Sofia called him, looked an awful lot like Cedric's old friend, and acted like it too; and darling Lily took after her mother perfectly. Cedric smiled to himself, brushing away strands of silver-white hair from his face, which now had a slight increase of age lines. And he had let his hair grow longer, down to his hips, though he kept them braided, for he was a rather tidy man and had better things to worry about than fuss over hair. He had just conjured up a kettle full of water, with a teacup and sugar pot standing nearby, figuring he'd take a little break from his afternoon duties, when a knock was heard on his workshop door. "Huh, wonder who that is?" he mused. He approached the door, half expecting one of the children to be there, asking for help as they sometimes did. Or sometimes it was King Hugo, asking him for favors Cedric used to detest, but now didn't mind so much. What he wasn't expecting was Queen Sofia's bright and beautiful face, beaming at her dearest friend. "Oh! Your Majesty!" he cried in astonishment. Sofia smiled, letting herself in. "Hi, Mister Cedric! Just Sofia will do, thank you," she said, spying the whistling tea kettle. "Having tea today?" "Mhm," Cedric hummed, closing the door and rushing over to the kettle, pouring steaming hot water over the tea leaves in his cup. "Would you like a cup, Sofia?" "I'd love one!" she exclaimed happily, before her eyebrows furrowed in concern. She reached over to gently guide Cedric's hands, which were trembling just a little. "Oh, be careful, Mister Cedric, i don't want you to burn yourself." Cedric looked at her with a grateful smile. How could she be so sweet, so kind and so patient? He couldn't have asked for a better friend. "I'm getting so old, Sofia," he moaned with a rueful chuckle, arranging tea cakes on a plate. "My mind is still sharp as a sword, but my body can barely keep up." "You know you can always ask one of us for help if you need it," Sofia reminded him. Cedric nodded. "Thank you, Sofia, i really do appreciate that. I remember when you were much younger, you'd always come to me for help." The old sorcerer smiled as he looked at her. "You remember?" "Oh, i do indeed!" Sofia laughed, taking a sip of her tea. "And i remember when we first met. You were so grumpy back then!" "'That flower trick was ah-mazin!'" Cedric chirped in a near-perfect imitation of Sofia's little girl voice, making the young queen giggle in delight. "But in all seriousness," he added, "I'm so glad you chose to be my friend, Sofia. No one had ever done that for me in my whole life." "I'm so happy you're my friend, too, Mister Cedric," she replied. She set a tender hand over the sorcerer's gloved one, gently squeezing it. He squeezed her hand back. "I can't believe you still come up here," he marveled. "Well, a queen needs to take a break from her duties, doesn't she?" Sofia said with a knowing look in her big blue eyes. "Oh, very true," Cedric agreed. "Speaking of which," said Sofia, "I've been having an issue with swamp pixies raiding the royal gardens. Could you teach me how to make a repellant? Hugo and I tried bribing them with cake, but it didn't work." Cedric tutted, shaking his head. "Oh my, that is a problem," he murmured thoughtfully, pulling a book off the shelf. "But I'm sure there's something." Then, his chestnut eyes glowed as he got an idea. "Perhaps you'd like to bring the children up here before we begin? It'd be a great way to teach them magic!" "Ooh, that sounds wonderful, Mister Cedric!" Sofia exclaimed. "I'll be right back!" Cedric couldn't stop himself from smiling. Sofia had grown, but she hadn't forgotten her dear old friend and teacher. After all, as the saying goes, "A friend in need is a friend indeed".

[jwgammuto]

The Good, The Bad, and the WTF for Monday Night Raw 4/22/19

We’re officially on the road to Money In The Bank, typically one of the more anticipated and entertaining shows on the WWE calendar. Should we be excited? Only one way to find out and that’s with The Good, The Bad, and the WTF: Bray’s Clues Edition.

The Good: We’re going to get AJ Styles vs Seth Rollins at MITB for the Universal Title. Getting there ate up a little too much of this show for my liking but you can’t hate the result. Also a fun fact, MITB is up against the Game of Thrones series finale on May 19th and I suspect this matchup is a direct result of that. Not that everyone watches both or that you can’t watch either at your leisure because of how 2019 TV works but I find this an odd choice regardless. But all that said, this should be MOTY type stuff and no matter what the rest of the card is, this is a great start.

Styles vs Joe vs Mysterio. Great match with an insane ending. Really showcased how great Styles can be without making the other two guys look terrible. Maybe best Styles Clash ever? One against Nakamura is springing to mind but that’s about the only comparison I can come up with.

Miz vs McIntyre vs Whatever the hell Vintage Corbin is. BAD COLE! God he’s the worst. This was another good match, just a hair less entertaining than the previous triple threat. Miz looked great and had a couple of near falls that almost had me convinced he’d pull it off and even though I shouldn’t be I was fairly shocked that Corbin got the win here. McIntyre seemed like the logical choice. Not sure what they’re waiting for with Drew but Corbin continues to get the cheapest heat possible and that’s who he is and it works.

Cesaro vs Cedric Alexander. Two new toys for the red brand and I dig it. Solid match that ended with Alexander looking like he might die from a vicious uppercut. My lone disappointment was a lack of Lumbar Checks because I need them all. Alexander showed off some impressive strength here against arguably the strongest guy on the roster. Can’t be mad at any of this. Fresh and great. Ok that’s not true. New entrance for Cesaro please. Give the guy some originality again now that The Bar is done.

Teaser for the USOs vs The Revival. This is literally the only reason I wanted Jimmy and Jey on Raw. Give it to us immediately. Welcome to the Revival Reformatory!

Lacey Evans continues to shine on the mic and in this feud with Becky 2 Moves. I do still like Lynch but I think the edge is gone a bit and having two belts and being on both shows is starting to expose her a bit. While Becky throwing Alicia Fox around was fun for a spell, the real highlight here comes when Evans slides into the ring delivers two Women’s Rights, the first of which wasn’t sold terribly well but Lynch made up for it the second time. Really made it look like she got her bell rung. I don’t know what to expect from this match at MITB but I’m hopeful. The feud is building nicely thanks to Evans delivering on every level with her character.

Robert Roode and his GLORIOUS lip sweater vs Ricochet. First and foremost, thank god Roode is finally a full blown heel. Long overdue. This guy is a star when he’s allowed to be a dick. He cuts a solid promo about Gable being dead weight and moves right along. This was also a damn good match with some great back and forth that ended with a sick Glorious DDT (thank you Jake). Right guy won here and we get a fresh take on a performer who has been buried too long.

The Bad: The opening segment. What a predictable and overused slog of a template. 1/3 of the men’s roster  come out to say three lines and make their claim against Rollins. It’s been done to death and it took up 20% of the show time. Just give me something original. I love most of the competitors here and loved the idea of triple threats to decide who was going to get a shot but this can be done in about 100 different ways and they just used the same old same old. Also Triple H, who historically forgets nothing, seems awfully Buddy Buddy with a guy who was nicknamed the Kingslayer just a couple years ago. He doesn’t have to be Vince. But he doesn’t have to be Teddy Long either. Bleh.

The fourth name change for the War Raiders under the WWE banner. They are now the Viking Raiders, which is only mildly better. Notice how the fans no longer chant WAR!? Thanks a lot, Vince. That was one of the most fun things about these guys. On a bright note, they absolutely destroyed The La Tolteca Experience so that was fun.

Styles vs Corbin in the main event. It certainly wasn’t awful and given how they’ve booked Baron it probably shouldn’t have surprised me if he won. But thankfully he didn’t and that was the predictably right call. This wasn’t anything special though and maybe it should have been given how most of the ring work for the rest of the show was pretty damn good.

Just gonna put this out there. It’s time for Sami Zayn to do something. This mic work is brilliant and all but it’s getting stale. It’s the same act in every city. It’s quickly becoming Evans’ catwalk. Sami is a great performer in the ring. Someone come to the fans’ rescue soon.

The WTF: Naomi vs Billie Kay. This marks the third singles match The IIconics have lost since winning the tag titles. There was no point in putting the titles on them if you’re going to make them a joke who can’t beat anybody. This lesson was clearly marked by how they booked Dash and Dawson after they gave them the titles. I know Royce and Kay aren’t world beaters and are still raw in the ring, but it doesn’t take much effort to write a cheap win. This does very little for Naomi and damages the rep of the women’s tag titles even further. Just bad.

Finally. The Firefly Funhouse. I honestly don’t even know where to begin. This is like if Steve from Blues Clues was on heroin. Oh wait. He was. Well this is worse than that. The internet is strangely divided on this. Wyatt looks slimmer and a bit revamped and this angle is certainly right in his wheelhouse of creepy but I find myself wondering what’s the best case scenario? He’s psychotic Mr Rogers/Pee Wee and it’s hilarious? Is the King of Cartoons coming? A talking plush chair? It’s certainly original it just also very well may go sideways and be utterly and ridiculously bad. The Meth Den of Horrors match is clearly Bray at his worst. I’m not certain this won’t be worse. What if he ends up with another god awful talk show segment, that WWE never gets right anymore? It’ll be him and his puppets interviewing Bobby Lashley. No thank you. This is what we’re getting so we obviously have to give it a chance but the odds of it being in this column permanently are extremely high. Prove me wrong, Mr Wyatt.

This show had very little that was mediocre. There was a stark gap between what worked and what was head scratching. But we did get some hope in a lot of ways so I can’t be mad. The Firefly FunHouse really sucked all the air out of the show for me. Maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy the main event as much as I wanted to. 3.25 Hogan Belt Whips because MUSTACHE, Styles/Rollins, and the Lady of the WWE nearly made me forget about Pee Wyatt’s den of potential molestation.

[zeroviraluniverse-blog]

5 Things You Might Not Know About Ansel Adams

Visit Now - http://zeroviral.com/5-things-you-might-not-know-about-ansel-adams/

5 Things You Might Not Know About Ansel Adams

You probably know Ansel Adams—who was born on February 20, 1902—as the man who helped promote the National Park Service through his magnificent photographs. But there was a lot more to the shutterbug than his iconic, black-and-white vistas. Here are five lesser-known facts about the celebrated photographer.

1. AN EARTHQUAKE LED TO HIS DISTINCTIVE NOSE.

Adams was a four-year-old tot when the 1906 San Francisco earthquake struck his hometown. Although the boy managed to escape injury during the quake itself, an aftershock threw him face-first into a garden wall, breaking his nose. According to a 1979 interview with TIME, Adams said that doctors told his parents that it would be best to fix the nose when the boy matured. He joked, “But of course I never did mature, so I still have the nose.” The nose became Adams’ most striking physical feature. His buddy Cedric Wright liked to refer to Adams’ honker as his “earthquake nose.”

2. HE ALMOST BECAME A PIANIST.

Adams was an energetic, inattentive student, and that trait coupled with a possible case of dyslexia earned him the heave-ho from private schools. It was clear, however, that he was a sharp boy—when motivated.

When Adams was just 12 years old, he taught himself to play the piano and read music, and he quickly showed a great aptitude for it. For nearly a dozen years, Adams focused intensely on his piano training. He was still playful—he would end performances by jumping up and sitting on his piano—but he took his musical education seriously. Adams ultimately devoted over a decade to his study, but he eventually came to the realization that his hands simply weren’t big enough for him to become a professional concert pianist. He decided to leave the keys for the camera after meeting photographer Paul Strand, much to his family’s dismay.

3. HE HELPED CREATE A NATIONAL PARK.

If you’ve ever enjoyed Kings Canyon National Park in California, tip your cap to Adams. In the 1930s Adams took a series of photographs that eventually became the book Sierra Nevada: The John Muir Trail. When Adams sent a copy to Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, the cabinet member showed it to Franklin Roosevelt. The photographs so delighted FDR that he wouldn’t give the book back to Ickes. Adams sent Ickes a replacement copy, and FDR kept his with him in the White House.

After a few years, Ickes, Adams, and the Sierra Club successfully convinced Roosevelt to make Kings Canyon a national park in 1940. Roosevelt’s designation specifically provided that the park be left totally undeveloped and roadless, so the only way FDR himself would ever experience it was through Adams’ lenses.

4. HE WELCOMED COMMERCIAL ASSIGNMENTS.

While many of his contemporary fine art photographers shunned commercial assignments as crass or materialistic, Adams went out of his way to find paying gigs. If a company needed a camera for hire, Adams would generally show up, and as a result, he had some unlikely clients. According to The Ansel Adams Gallery, he snapped shots for everyone from IBM to AT&T to women’s colleges to a dried fruit company. All of this commercial print work dismayed Adams’s mentor Alfred Stieglitz and even worried Adams when he couldn’t find time to work on his own projects. It did, however, keep the lights on.

5. HE AND GEORGIA O’KEEFFE WERE FRIENDS.

Adams and legendary painter O’Keeffe were pals and occasional traveling buddies who found common ground despite their very different artistic approaches. They met through their mutual friend/mentor Stieglitz—who eventually became O’Keeffe’s husband—and became friends who traveled throughout the Southwest together during the 1930s. O’Keeffe would paint while Adams took photographs.

These journeys together led to some of the artists’ best-known work, like Adams’ portrait of O’Keeffe and a wrangler named Orville Cox, and while both artists revered nature and the American Southwest, Adams considered O’Keeffe the master when it came to capturing the area. 

“The Southwest is O’Keeffe’s land,” he wrote. “No one else has extracted from it such a style and color, or has revealed the essential forms so beautifully as she has in her paintings.”

The two remained close throughout their lives. Adams would visit O’Keeffe’s ranch, and the two wrote to each other until Adams’ death in 1984.

Dan Bell

A Cartographer Is Mapping All of the UK’s National Parks, J.R.R. Tolkien-Style

Peak District National Park

Dan Bell

Cartographer Dan Bell makes national parks into fantasy lands. Bell, who lives near Lake District National Park in England, is currently on a mission to draw every national park in the UK in the style of the maps in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, Kottke.org reports.

The project began in September 2017, when Bell posted his own hand-drawn version of a Middle Earth map online. He received such a positive response that he decided to apply the fantasy style to real world locations. He has completed 11 out of the UK’s 15 parks so far. Once he finishes, he hopes to tackle the U.S. National Park system, too. (He already has Yellowstone National Park down.)

Bell has done various other maps in the same style, including ones for London and Game of Thrones’s Westeros, and he commissions, in case you have your own special locale that could use the Tolkien treatment. Check out a few of his park maps below.

You can buy prints of the maps here.

[h/t Kottke.org]

All images by Dan Bell

iStock

The Simple Optical Illusion That Makes an Image Look Like It’s Drawing Itself

iStock

Artist James Nolan Gandy invents robot arms that sketch intricate mathematical shapes with pen and paper. When viewed in real time, the effect is impressive. But it becomes even more so when the videos are sped up in a timelapse. If you look closely in the video below, the illustration appears to materialize faster than the robot can put the design to paper. Gizmodo recently explained how the illusion works to make it look like parts of the sketch are forming before the machine has time to draw them.

The optical illusion isn’t an example of tricky image editing: It’s the result of something called the wagon wheel effect. You can observe this in a car wheel accelerating down the highway or in propeller blades lifting up a helicopter. If an object makes enough rotations per second, it can appear to slow down, move backwards, or even stand still.

This is especially apparent on film. Every “moving image” we see on a screen is an illusion caused by the brain filling in the gaps between a sequence of still images. In the case of the timelapse video below, the camera captured the right amount of images, in the right order, to depict the pen as moving more slowly than it did in real life. But unlike the pen, the drawing formed throughout the video isn’t subject to the wagon-wheel effect, so it still appears to move at full speed. This difference makes it look like the sketch is drawing itself, no pen required.

Gandy frequently shares behind-the-scenes videos of his mechanical art on his Instagram page. You can check out some of his non-timelapse clips like the one below to better understand how his machines work, then visit his website to browse and purchase the art made by his ‘bots.

And if you think his stuff is impressive, make sure to explore some of the incredible art robots have made in the past.

[h/t Gizmodo]

More from mental floss studios

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[thereshegoesuniverse-blog]

Dragon Prince Chapter 2

Buzz! Buzz! My phone goes off:

Mom: When are you picking up Tommy?

I glance at my boss who was purchasing something at a convenient store and lean against my cab.

Me: I’m with a client, maybe in an hour or two. Tell him how much I miss him

I lock my phone and slide it inside my pocket. Wren leaves the store with several bags.

 “Ready?” I ask. He nods, putting the bags into the trunk.

 “Where’s your hotel? I’ll drop you off before picking my son up,” I say. Wren scratches the back of his neck nervously.

 “I haven’t actually booked one…everything was full when I flew down, the trip was spontaneous, um is it alright if I stay with you?” Wren asks. I think it over. A stranger at my condo. A handsome stranger, but still a stranger. There was something about his eyes that told me I can trust him.

 “Sure,” I answer. My mom is not going to like this.

 “You have a son?” Wren asks curiously. I nod my head and reach to my sun visor and show him a picture of the 3-year-old.

 “I had him pretty young, right after high school,” I sigh.

 “I’m sure his father adores him,” Wren says eyeing the picture.

 “If he cared enough, yeah, he would have. Tommy is really smart for a 3-year-old,” I murmur. Wren pats my shoulder. I flinch forgetting Wren was sitting shotgun since the last two destinations.

 “Sorry,” He apologizes. I give him a sad smile shaking my head.

The drive to Harlem wasn’t longer than 30 minutes.

 “Wait here,” I tell Wren knowing my mom so well. She would scare him off. I approach the door and my mom opens it before I can knock. Tommy reaches for me and I take him into my arms. He’s groggy, but awake enough to know I’m there.

 “Who is that?” My mom questions pointing at Wren, “Is that your boyfriend?” I glance back at Wren blushing.

 “That’s my client, he’s going to be staying with us since everything was booked in the city,” I reply indifferently. My mom eyes me. She always made assumptions even when they were illogical.

 “Did you even ask Tommy if it was okay?” She asks. I mentally roll my eyes. The boy was bright, but innocent enough to not mind visitors, unlike my mother.

 “I’ll ask him later, thanks for taking care of him, mom,” I state closing the interrogation down. I kiss her on the cheek and walk away. By the time we reach the car Tommy is fully awake and excited to learn about the stranger in the car.

 “Who are you? Are you my new daddy?” Tommy asks as soon as we start driving. I start coughing up the water I was drinking. Wren pats my back.

 “Are you okay, mommy?” Tommy asks oblivious to the real reason I started coughing up in the first place.

 “I’m Wren, your mommy’s friend. What’s your name?” Wren says dodging the toddler’s question.

 “My name is Thomas Cedric Roxas and I’m 3 years old,” Tommy says proudly, “But everyone calls me Tommy.” I chuckle at my son’s antics. They chatter including me in the conversation every now and then.

 By the time we reach our condo Tommy pouts.

 “Is Wren going to leave now?” Tommy tugs on my arm.

 “Is it okay for Wren to stay with us for a while?” I ask Tommy placing him on the ground. He jumps up and down nodding then tackles Wren who carries him inside.

 “Sorry, I thought it would be just us today,” I apologize for the state of the condo. It wasn’t exactly a mess, but not exactly super clean either.

 “It’s okay, I’m the one intruding,” Wren says putting Tommy down. Tommy runs to his room.

 “TOMMY what do you want for dinner!” I holler. Wren laughs.

 “Sketti!” Tommy hollers back. I remove my coat and hand it on a chair.

 “What is ‘sketti’? Need help cooking that?” Wren asks tilting his head slightly. I swear hanging around my son for so long I forget people use the real name for things.

 “Tommy forgets the name of some foods so he makes up what he thinks it’s called. In this case it’s spaghetti, it kind of just stuck ever since,” I chuckle, “you can help if you want.” Wren steps into the kitchen and struggles rolling up his sleeves. I help him, blushing again at the spark that ripples through my fingertips. Wren looks at me and smiles as if he knew the effect he had on me. I take my hands back and turn back to the task of dinner. Tommy comes out of his room moments later in his house clothes and sits near the kitchen table with his crayons and papers. He scribbles his art in full focus with his tongue sticking out.

 “How was your day, buddy?” I ask as I prepare each item to be cooked.

 “It was awesooome! Lola made lumpia and we watched sharks on the Discovery channel! And then Andi came over and we played outside!” Tommy exclaims flailing his arms to detail his story.

 “What did you guys play?” I ask. My mom always spoiled him, but never too much.

 “We played dragons and princesses! I let Andi be a dragon today too,” Tommy says. From the corner of my eye I see Wren look over panicked, but then relaxes within a split second. When I’m finished chopping, I help Wren with the meatballs.

 “Girls can be dragons too, Tommy,” I state feeding into his imagination.

 “I knoooow,” Tommy stresses the last syllable of the word.

 “You know, Tommy, dragons were girls at first and then one day a boy dragon was born and that’s when dragons started being boys,” Wren says, “The first boy made the queen of the dragons really happy.” I can’t tell if he’s joking or serious, but Tommy buys it. He jumps up from the table scattering the crayons everywhere.

 “Tommy…” I say sternly. He apologizes and picks up the crayons.

 “Can you tell me more about the dragons, Wren?” Tommy pleads.

 “After dinner, okay?” Wren says and Tommy leaps with joy.

 “He’s into that sort of stuff about magic and creatures,” I murmur to Wren,” my mom tells him stories.” We both glance at Tommy who is busy scribbling again.

 “It’s not wrong for him to believe in that stuff,” Wren smiles.

 “I know,” I reply now shuffling through the pantry for the right pots. When I finally reach them I slip and they fall slightly forward and miss my hand completely. I watch the pots nearly knock me out in slow motion until Wren catches both pots with one hand and me with his other. I let out a shaky breath at the close call.

 “Whoa,” I whisper, “thanks.” Wren nods and puts the pots down first before putting me down. The clang shakes Tommy who is covering his ears from the loud sounds. I embrace my son and try my best to calm him down. His removes his hands from his ears and I kiss him on the head.

 “I’m sorry, baby,” I murmur. Tommy nuzzles his face into my hug then lets go to resume coloring.

 “Is he okay?” Wren asks grazing my arm resting on the counter.

 “Yeah,” I reply finishing the action I was trying to complete earlier. I place the pots on the stove and pour water into one then adding the noodles. The second pot I pour some sauce and the meatballs.

 “He was born a premature so his ears are very sensitive,” I explain.

 “What happened?” Wren asks with genuine concern. After lighting the stove, I walk into the living room to grab a photo album. Wren takes the book and starts to flip through it. The first picture is of Tommy in the hospital incubator attached to many wires.

 “Its..It was kind of my fault, when I heard news that his father got seriously injured in war, I wouldn’t relax or eat or drink much…”I admit, my voice cracks, “I almost put him in danger because of that asshole…” Wren pulls me into a tight embrace.

 “Hey, he’s okay now and you take really good care of him,” Wren murmurs. I nod my head trying to stop my crying before Tommy sees.

 “Mommy, look what I drew,” Tommy says. Wren and I turn around to see the paper Tommy is holding up that had stick figures surrounded by dragons and fairies.

 “Come here,” I call my son over and give him another hug and kisses.

 “Mommyyyy,” Tommy giggles and escapes my grasp. He takes Wren’s hand and pulls him to his room. I wave at Wren as my son involves him in his games.