#jokes aside hes b a sick cb

[owwwmyteeth]

i present to you…

MatPat casted as CB

[mirkwoodshewolf]

Daughter of Freddie Mercury; Freddie Mercury x pre-teen/teen reader pt.2

*Author’s note*

And here we go everyone, here is pt.2 of the request. Now i want to warn everyone in advance that this part is TWICE AS ANGSTY and probably the most angsty thing I will ever write.  So if anyone needs, I’ve got tissues ready for everyone and anyone who needs them. Also the POV’s change constantly throughout this part so if that bothers anyone I’m telling you in advance. 

Warnings: mentions of drugs, ANGST, some fluff, the SOB P**nt**, swearing.

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@geek-and-proud

_____________________________________________________________

I now was lying on the guest bed in Uncle Deacy's house. My hair now fully wet after just getting out of a bath. Thanks to aunt Veronica who helped to rinse out the dip and anything else that had gotten stuck to my hair, plus also to wash away the champagne smell from my skin.

I lay there on my side motionlessly with tears still dripping out of my eyes every now and them, occasionally sniffling. A soft knock and the door creaked open and I heard Uncle Deacy's voice say.

"Hey, may I come in?" I remained silent. I heard the door shut and felt a dip at the foot of the bed. Silence rang out through the room and that's when I heard Uncle Deacy say. "I've made some hot chocolate downstairs. I know how much that cheers you up."

"I'm gonna end back in the foster home." I finally muttered softly. I knew uncle Deacy's eyes were locked right at me as I heard him say in shock.

"What makes you say that?"

"Not the first time it's been that way." I bluntly stated. I felt his hand on my shoulder and finally I turned towards him and I continued, "Paul's taking him away from me. I can feel it. It happened once before with my third foster dad. The minute he met a girl he no longer wanted me. They hosted parties like that all the time, and then one day he called the foster home telling them he no longer wanted me......." I tried holding back my tears as I tried to get out. "Guess I was never meant to be a part of a family. I'll just be the black plague of this earth....."

"Bullshit!" I looked up at Uncle John and was shocked at his statement. Usually he's calm and collected, rarely does he ever snap but just now he did and I was terrified. He inhaled deeply before exhaling softly and said, "I'm sorry dear, but what you just said is absolute rubbish."

"If it is rubbish, then why hasn't anyone adopted me yet? Why do they always say they'll be there for me when eventually they always leave me?" I asked as I sat up and kept eye contact with him. He stared right back at me, his face completely stoic and I knew I had him in a box.

That was until he lifted his hand and cupped my cheek gingerly and he said to me.

"Close your eyes." I looked at him confused.

"What?"

"Just trust me love," I sighed heavily and closed them and I heard him say again, "Now I want you to forget everything you see," I felt his hand take my wrist and place it over my chest, right over my heart. "What do you feel?" I soon felt my heartbeat and I said as I opened my eyes.

"My heart." I looked up at Uncle Deacy and he said as he extended his arm.

"Come here." I allowed his arm to wrap around my shoulder and I leaned up against his chest as he held me close and moved my head over his chest allowing me to hear his heartbeat.

"Your heart?"

"Two rhythms synchronizing together to create a strong beat to a song. And you are the most important beat to this family (y/n). From day one when you came to us, you became such an important part to this crazed family, we'd be lost without you here. You belong here (y/n), and don't let what Paul or anyone else make you think otherwise."

"You really mean that?" I asked as I looked up at him hopefully.

"Of course, I never say what I don't mean. I may not always speak the most out of the other three, but when I do say something, it's always 100% true." I wrapped my arms around Uncle Deacy's neck and hugged him as tight as I could. I felt his arm wrap around me as he hugged me back with as much strength as he could all the while stroking my back. "Freddie just marches to his own rhythm. But sooner or later he will come around. He always does."

"Thanks uncle Deacy, I love you."

"I love you too poppet. Now, what do you say we head downstairs for that hot chocolate, hmm?" I nodded happily and we separated from each other and headed downstairs to grab the hot chocolate, and for the rest of the night Uncle Deacy never once let his arm down from my shoulder's always keeping me close to him in his one armed hug.

But as time continued to move on, it seemed like my dad was just getting worse. Paul's influence was really starting to affect the Freddie Mercury I first met back at the foster home, he wasn't the same he drank more, was high practically all the time and barely acknowledged my existence any more.

What's worse was that he was also starting to push away Uncle Brian, Deacy and Roger. Like when one day shortly after they had filmed the music video for uncle Deacy's song "I want to break free" with all of them dressed in drag, apparently America banned the video because of the idea and pointing the blame on dad when in reality it was Uncle Roger's idea.

I listened in on the meeting even when I knew I wasn't supposed to. I hid behind the door as I heard my dad say.

"I'm never touring in the US again. And I'm the one being blamed for it. Not you dear whose idea I believe it was to dress up in drag. Nor you, not even you who wrote the bloody thing." He said pointing out to Roger for the idea, then to Brian and finally Deacy who wrote the song. "No, crazy cross dressing Freddie. Freddie the Freak, Freddie the Fag. I'm tired of touring aren't you? Album tour album tour. I want to do something different."

"We're a band that's what bands do. Album, tour. Album, tour." I heard Uncle Brian say.

"Well I need a break, I'm sick of it." Dad snapped.

"What are you saying Freddie?" I heard Uncle Deacy say. There was silence that lingered in the room for what felt like eternity until finally my dad spoke.

"I've signed a deal, with CBS records."

"You've done what?" I heard Uncle Roger say.

"Without telling us." Uncle Brian stated.

"What kind of deal?" asked uncle Deacy.

"Look I'm not saying we won't ever record or tour again. Queen will go on. But I—I need to do something different, do you know what I mean? I-I-I need to grow. What's the song, fly away?"

"Spread my wings and fly away." Said Uncle Deacy.

"Spread my wings and fly away." My dad piped in.

"A solo album." Said Uncle Brian.

"Two actually. Back to back." Paul's voice finally spoke up.

"Another word out of you and I'll throw you out the bloody window!" uncle Roger's voice snarled.

"But that's years Freddie I mean—that'll take years."

"Ye have little faith."

"I just I don't believe this." Uncle Roger spoke up. "How much?" Silence rang throughout the room. "What did they pay you?!" Roger demanded again. Everyone including me was waiting on baited-breath to hear just how much my dad was offered. "I wanna know how much they paid you!"

"Four million dollars!" My dad yelled out.

Oh God...... I couldn't believe how much they were offering for my dad's solo career. This, this, this was—mind boggling.

"That's more than any Queen deal." Said Uncle Deacy in disbelief.

"Look the routine is killing us, I mean you all must want a break from all the arguments. Whose song gets on the album. Whose songs the single? Who wrote what? Who gets the bigger slice of the royalties, what's on the B-side all of it. You must need a break." My dad tried to reason with the guys.

"Freddie. We're a family." Uncle Brian spoke up in a low tone but dad snapped, his voice choking up.

"No we're not! We're not a family. You've got families. Children! Wives! What have I got?!"

"You've got an adoptive daughter, but clearly you're too high to even remember that she still needs you." Uncle Deacy's solemn quick wit spoke up.

"I won't compromise my vision any longer." Is he for real here? He can't be serious about this.

"Compromise? Are you joking? You were working and Heathrow before we gave you a chance!" Uncle Roger's voice spoke up.

And without me....you'd—you'd be a dentist. Drumming 12-8 times blues at the weekend at the Crown and Anchor. And you, well, you would be Dr. Brian May. Author of a fascinating dissertation on the cosmos....that no one ever reads. And Deacy, for the life of me.....nothing comes to mind." Deacy who tried to brush his pain aside said proudly but I could hear the pain in his voice.

"I studied electrical engineering. Does that meet your standard?"

"It's perfect." Tears filled my eyes as I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Dad was serious about breaking up the band and if he does, that means I'll—I'll never be able to see my uncles again.

"You just killed Queen." Uncle Roger's voice spoke up lowly and brokenheartedly.

"Oh give her a kiss one day she might wake up."

"You need us Freddie, more than you know. Think about what this will do to (y/n)."

"I don't need anyone. And never tell me how to raise my daughter. In fact—I forbid any of you for seeing her." What no! He—he can't do this to me.

I finally got the perfect family I've always dreamed about, I can't lose them now!

Not wanting to hear anymore I raced out into the backyard and raced next door hoping that mum would be there. Once I got to the front door I knocked on it repeatedly and as loud as I could but there was no answer.

"Mum please—please I need you. Everything's falling apart......I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do." I slid down the door and curled up against it and wept hysterically into my lap, hiding my head in my arms.

"(Y/n)." I sniffled and looked up to see my uncles standing before me. I stood up and hugged uncle Roger as he was the closest one and he wrapped his arms around me as I sobbed out.

"I don't want you guys to go! Please don't leave me. You promised we'd be okay. You promised!"

"We know darling, we know." I heard Uncle Brian say as his arms came around me as well. Soon Uncle Deacy joined in and I was caught in the middle of a three-way group hug. Something my uncles always did for me whenever my really bad days came up.

"You're the best family I've ever had. I don't want you guys to go."

"Oh believe us darling we don't want to leave you either. You're too important to us." Said Uncle Roger as I felt him kiss the top of my head.

"(Y/n)!!" I looked up to see Paul standing outside the front door. "Get back inside and pack up your things." He called out to me.

"No! I'm not leaving!" I cried back.

"Don't you dare talk back to me lass!"

"You're not my father! You've poisoned him you son of a bitch! You're poison Paul Prenter! A snake in the grass! A coward��"

"(Y/N)!!!" My father's voice soon roared out. He now appeared beside Paul and he proclaimed. "I order you to get inside the house and pack up your stuff! I'm your father and I know what's best for you!" My sudden confidence deflated like a balloon as I was reduced to a whimpering mess. I looked up to my uncles who all had tears in their eyes. "Now (y/n)!" I looked up at my uncles and begged to them.

"I don't wanna go please. I don't want to leave you three, I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go!" Uncle Brian cupped my face and he said.

"We know love, but I'm afraid there's nothing we can do about it."

"No please......let me stay with you guys. You've been better fathers than he has lately."

"As much as we would want to, we can't (y/n). You've been the best niece the three of us could've asked for. And know that we will always love you." He kissed the center of my forehead when I felt a rough hand take my arm and I was pulled away.

I looked up to see Paul forcing me out of my uncle's protective group hug. I thrashed and tried to fight back but he had a strong grip on me. Uncle Roger's hand still held my free one tightly until I was forced to let go due to the distance. I could see him wanting to come back for me but uncle Brian and uncle Deacy stopped him all three of them looking at me with sorrow-filled eyes.

I cried out for each of them but no matter how much I screamed, no matter how much I pleaded and begged, they didn't come back for me.

*Brian's POV*

It broke our hearts not to go running back and try to get her out of Paul's repulsive grip. Trust me Roger's not the only one who wants to beat Paul to the ground for forcing her out of our arms. But we had no legal recourse for this, had we tried to interfere; Freddie would probably try to start a legal action against us, which could lead to a restraining order against us.

Forbidding us by law to from have any contact with (y/n). I refused to do that to (y/n). She's already been through enough and I refused to put her through that situation. I watched with a broken heart along with Deacy and Roger as Paul finally shoved her into the house and Fred slammed the door shut.

*Munich 1984. My POV*

It's been about 3 weeks since we've moved to Munich, Germany. I barely came out for anything. I rarely ate, I hardly slept, hell I never responded to my dad if he tried to start some bonding time through music. I ignored him completely. He ruined my life, he took me away from the one family I finally came to love and was hardly paying attention to me because he was always either working or hosting a party downstairs.

He always thought he could make it up to me but I never gave him the time of day. I bluntly refused to even look at him, I just buried myself into my sheets and said not a word.

*Freddie's POV*

I was downstairs leaning against the stairway. Everyone else was getting high or drinking as booming music was playing. Normally I would be the life of the party but now—I was worried about (y/n). Ever since the move, she's hasn't spoken a word to me, she won't even look at me.

"Freddie c'mon your guests are waiting to see the host. They all want a little Mercury in their cup." Paul's voice spoke up as he knelt down in front of me. I placed my cigarette onto my lips and exhaled the smoke and didn't respond back. "What's wrong Freddie?"

"Did I do the right thing? For (y/n)? She won't speak to me anymore. Was I right?"

"Of course you were. She's just behaving like every other rebel teenager these days. Always throwing fits, locking themselves in their room. There's nothing to worry about. In a day or two she'll come around. Now come let's show these Germans how the people from London dance."

"I'm too tired Paul darling, I think I'll just turn in for the night." I slowly got up and walked up the stairs, feeling like utter shit. Finally I reached my room and collapsed onto it exhaling heavily before I passed out.

*3rd Person POV*

As the party continued on, Paul slipped away and got to a phone in the kitchen and pulled out a piece of paper and began dialing a phone number. He pressed the phone to his ear and plugged his other one to muffle the sound of the music as he heard the phone ring three times before it stopped.

"Mrs. Boynton, yes I would like to report a case of child neglect."

*My POV*

A few days later I was all along in the large house, Freddie had gone out to the studio to record his second album leaving me alone with all the mess of the party from the previous night, which meant leaving the drugs out onto the table.

I searched through the cabinets trying to find something to eat but there was hardly anything to eat. My stomach growled at me and that's when I heard a knock at the door. I slowly walked towards the front door but before I could even open it, social workers stormed the place and that's when I saw Mrs. Boynton.

"Mrs. Boynton?" I asked.

"(Y/n) I'm sorry to do this but we're going to have to take you back to London."

"What? Why?"

"Mrs. Boynton, just as we were told, there's puffs of cocaine lying all over the table unsupervised. And there's no sign of Mr. Mercury anywhere." One of the social workers said as they held up a back of cocaine in his hand. Mrs. Boynton looked down at me and she said.

"It would seem Freddie is unfit to take care of you anymore. We will immediately transport you back to England and back into the system."

"What no, no I can't go back there!" I cried out.

"And I'm afraid now that you are the legal adult age of 16, you will be put into a different housing. The young adult homeless facility until you are 18. I'm sorry my dear."

"No, no, no, no, no, no, you can take me to three people! Brian May, Roger Taylor or John Deacon! They're my uncles they can take care of me!" I cried out as two male social workers took me by the arm and proceeded to drag me out of the house. "Please Mrs. Boynton you can't put me in the system again! Please! Please don't do this to me!!" I was now being dragged towards a car and shoved inside.

I tried to get out but the door slammed shut on me and I couldn't open the door as it was now locked. I pounded on the window trying to get anyone's attention but no one would look at me.

It was then I saw Mrs. Boynton talking to Paul. She handed him a notice and Paul and her shook hands with each other before she walked away. I—I don't believe this. Paul's framing Freddie for all of this, and now I'm being put back into the system but this time I'm in the young homeless adult system.

Paul turned towards me and just waved at me as the car turned on and we drove away from the house.

*3rd Person POV*

For the next few weeks; Paul kept up the ruse that the reason why Freddie never saw his daughter come out was because she was still acting like a rebel teenager or telling him that she finally was coming around and just seeing the sights of Munich. Whatever he could to keep Freddie in the dark about his daughter and every time Freddie bought it.

That is until the night Mary came to see him.

It was now 1985 in the pouring rain, she had flown out to Munich to hopefully reach Freddie and see what had become of him since she and Jim Beach had been trying to phone Freddie for different various reasons.

The moment Freddie saw the love of his life, he was overjoyed to finally see her for the first time in a very long time. The two former lovers embraced each other after so long and Mary expressed her worry to Freddie but he assured her that he was fine and that he was just too busy working on the second album.

"Stay, stay here with me. I need the love of my life. And with you here, you could even help bring (y/n) out of her shell. She needs her mother." Freddie said as he stroked the side of Mary's face.

"Freddie, what about Queen? Jim told me he's been trying to contact you about Live Aid and you won't take his calls."

"What's Live Aid? And (y/n) is upstairs locked in her room, that's where she's always been ever since I moved her here."

"You haven't heard? Freddie it's the biggest concert there's ever been or ever will be for the famine in Africa. And Mrs. Boynton contacted me telling me that you were unfit to take care of her. They took her back into the system."

"Perhaps Paul thought Live Aid wasn't a good idea a distraction from my work that's what's important. And he would've told me if Mrs. Boynton had come about (y/n). Stay with me darling and everything will be alright. We can go up and see (y/n) for ourselves."

"Freddie I can't stay with you."

"Of course you can, I need you Mary."

"Freddie I'm pregnant." With that bombshell, Freddie's heart sunk like the Titanic. He stared at Mary in pure shock before his shock turned to anger as he said to her.

"How could you?"

"How could I? Freddie this has nothing to do with you!" It was then a choir of voices were heard including Paul's as soon coming in were Paul and his tag team of druggies and prostitutes.

"Freddie! Sorry we're late," when he came around and saw Mary Paul was stunned to see her. "Mary, what a pleasant surprise. Hans, everyone come in make yourselves at home." He soon said to the gang of people who soon came right on in like it was their own home. Paul walked up to Freddie and Mary as he said ashamed, "I wish you were comin to stay, I would've scrubbed the place."

"Actually I'm not staying." Mary said sadly as she walked out of the house. Freddie chased after her in the pouring rain calling out her name. He approached the cab that she had gotten into and managed to hold the door open before she could close it.

"I'm happy for you." Freddie managed to say as he now stood before the love of his life. "Truly I am. Just—I'm frightened."

"Freddie you don't need to be. Because no matter what you are loved. By me, by Brian, Deacy, Roger, your family. Our daughter. It's enough. And these people—they don't care about you. Paul doesn't care about you." It was then Mary took something out from her coat and continued, "I saw Paul throw these in the bin a few years ago shortly after you had moved us into those homes. I couldn't risk him finding them again and burning them instead." She handed the folder to Freddie and he slowly took it from Mary as she urged him once more, "You don't belong here Freddie. Come home."

"Home." Freddie muttered softly. He closed the door and that's when the taxi cab drove off leaving Freddie standing there in the pouring rain.

"Freddie? What are you doing you'll catch your death."

"Why didn't you tell me about Live Aid?" asked Freddie.

"The Africa charity gig?" asked Paul. "It would be an embarrassment I—I didn't want to waste your time." As Paul spoke, Freddie slowly opened up the manila folder and inside of it were the adoption papers for one (Y/n) (l/n).

Freddie felt this sudden rage but he contained it, for now. He held his hand up stopping Paul from speaking any further.

"You should've told me."

"Of course I did. You forgot. You're always forgetting things. Come in now and have a drink." Freddie didn't move a single muscle as he finally said.

"You're out."

"What do you mean?"

"I want you out of my life."

"Because I'm the only one left you're blaming me for everything?"

"I blame myself. For how I behaved before my real friends, my family, my daughter."

"So I'm out, just like that? After everything we've been through? Think of the photos I have. I know who you are Freddie Mercury." Freddie then turned around towards Paul and just stared at him. He walked towards Paul and thinking that he had him right where he wanted him, Paul grinned but then out of nowhere, Freddie slugged Paul right across the face sending him down to the ground with a bloody nose.

Paul looked up at Freddie in shock at the fact that he had actually hit him. Freddie turned his back on him and said.

"You know when you know you've gone rotten? Really rotten. Fruit flies. Dirty, little fruit flies. Coming to feast on what's left. Well there isn't much for you to feast on anymore. So fly off! And do what you like with your photographs and your stories. But promise me one thing. That I never see your face again, ever." With that Freddie walked away with Paul calling out to him telling him he didn't mean it and that he'd make everything better.

The following few days; Paul sold the stories and photographs to the public and soon the whole world knew about Freddie's alternate crazy life style. Freddie watched as Paul was on a television news cast show about all things regarding celebrity gossip and he confessed to everything that Freddie had done.

Freddie went back to London to try and make things right with the band, of course the three of them were reluctant but with the help of Miami it began to slowly work out. With them now officially in the line up for Live Aid that was one thing down, but Freddie had another issue at hand.

He got in contact with Mrs. Boynton who at first didn't want Freddie to talk but he managed to convince her to stay on the line and apologize for everything he had done. As the one sole person who (y/n) had left in this world throughout the system, Mrs. Boynton gave Freddie a piece of her mind while still maintaining her professionalism.

Freddie apologized repeatedly and begged her to tell him where it was the current facility where (y/n) was being kept at was located at. But repeatedly due to the amount of drugs found at the house, Mrs. Boynton didn't believe that Freddie was willing to take on the responsibility of a child, much less one like (y/n) after all that she's been through.

With a heavy heart, Freddie began to accept the fact that he may never see his little girl again. But he had at least hoped that she could at least see one final concert before she would leave his life forever.

So he gave Mrs. Boynton two tickets plus backstage passes to the Live Aid concert that he managed to somehow gain thanks to the help of Miami and Bob Geldof himself. And with that he left Mrs. Boynton's office with sorrow and told the guys that it wouldn't happen.

*My POV*

I was in my room playing my Walkman playing "I'm not in love" by 10cc when I felt a hand at my shoulder and standing over me was Mrs. Boynton. I removed my headphones and said.

"Mrs. Boynton, what are you doing here?" she sighed heavily and said.

"I may live to regret this but," she handed me a small envelope and I took it from her and opened it up to reveal two tickets as well as backstage passes that read.

LIVE AID CONCERT Sat. July 13th, 1985.

Wembley Stadium, 12pm

"Freddie came into my office the other day and gave this to me. It seems like he's turning a new leaf and wants you back." I turned away from her scoffing at the idea.

"If he had he'd never would've let Paul go as far as he did. He should've known that it was Paul's doing that I'm back here."

"I know." She said. I turned to her in shock and said.

"You knew he'd set it up?"

"Had a feeling that's the reason why he called. But I couldn't go against regulations at the time. But now.....I really think you should at least go talk to him." I looked at her in silence before looking down at the tickets.

*July 13th. Day of Live Aid. 3rd Person POV*

Queen were sitting in their trailer waiting for the knock by one of the volunteers to inform them that they were now called to the stage. Deacy was sipping on his cup of tea, Brian was fiddling with his red special tuning it to the right pitch, Freddie sat by the door trying to get his head in place, and Roger was sipping on a glass of whiskey.

They soon heard a knock at the door. Thinking it was one of the volunteers, Jim Hutton who had come along with Freddie went up to the door and opened it to reveal (y/n).

"(Y/n)?" Brian said in shock, almost not believing what he was seeing.

"Hey Uncle Brian. Been a long time." He smiled and couldn't help himself as he got up and hugged his niece for the first time in over a year. She happily hugged him back just as tight as he was hugging her.

"My, my lovey you're so big now." Roger's voice spoke up. She separated from her uncle Brian and as Roger came up to her, he playfully picked her up spinning her around as he kissed all over her face which brought out a joyous laugh from her.

"Oh Uncle Roger I've missed you so much."

"Hopefully not much more than me poppet." She smiled as she walked up to her uncle Deacon and hugged him. He kissed her temple and rocked her back and forth as she laid her head over his heart. She looked up at him and couldn't help but say.

"Did you grow a mushroom on your head or something Uncle Deacy?" John simply chuckled as he shook his head at her and said.

"Oh love I sure have missed that humor of yours." It was then (y/n) finally came face to face with Freddie.

He stood up from his seat and slowly walked out of the trailer, never once letting his eyes leave her as he awkwardly stood before her nervously fiddling with his fingers.

"Hey Freddie." She said softly.

"(Y/n).....my god darling look at you. Almost all grown up."

"Yeah. That's what happens when you ignore someone for almost a year and then allow them to get shipped back to the system." She couldn't help but say still feeling the anger and resentment towards him.

"I—I didn't think you'd come." Freddie admitted softly.

"I almost didn't." she admitted back to him. "But Mrs. Boynton managed to convince me otherwise. Queen will always still be my favorite band no matter what, so if I didn't at least come to wish any of you good luck before the show, I'd regret it forever. Plus it be a shame to waste the ticket and the pass since I knew it was sold out for months."

"I'm really glad you came darling."

"I better get to my spot less it be taken away."

"Why not watch it from the best seat with Jim?" He offered. "Jim darling," Jim walked beside Freddie and he continued, "You remember my—the girl I told you about."

"Yes, it's finally nice to meet you (y/n)." The two shook hands and (y/n) felt a connection with Jim. Unlike Paul who instantly gave her bad vibes, there was nothing but warmth and kindness coming from Jim.

"Why don't the two of you meet up with Mary and David and I will see you all after?" the two of them nodded and (y/n) and Jim walked off but not before (y/n) wished her uncles and Freddie one last good luck.

*My POV*

"So Jim—how do you know Freddie?" I asked.

"We—we're good friends lass. Your father—he found me after getting back on his feet. He really has missed you, and wishes that he was there for you more. He had no idea what Paul had done."

"Well it happened." I said. We spoke not another word on the subject and just talked about random things until we met up with Mary and her boyfriend David.

"(Y/n)." said Mary.

"Hey mum." She hugged me and I noticed the baby bump starting to form. "You're—"

"Yes, I'm pregnant. 2 months along."

"That's....amazing mum." I said.

"But know this darling, just because I'm about to have a child of my own, doesn't mean that I'll love you any less. You will always be my daughter (y/n), my first born. Nothing can ever change that." I smiled and the two of us hugged each other just as the announcers called Queen out onto the stage.

And let me just say watching that entire performance, it was like seeing the boys come back together again. It was like all that's happened this past year never happened. Queen stole the show and had punched a hole in the sky straight into the heavens.

After the show I raced backstage and I just couldn't help myself as the first person I hugged was Freddie. I wrapped my arms around his neck and wept happily into his neck. I didn't care if he was sweating up a storm, I just wanted to hug him. He immediately hugged me back and I said as I separated from him.

"You were amazing. All of you were."

"Thank you my darling." I then hugged and kissed each on of my uncles and told them what a wonderful job they had done.

After the concert, I had gone back to Garden Lodge to visit with Freddie for the night till Mrs. Boynton came to pick me up in the morning. I sipped on a cup of tea and that's when Freddie said.

"(Y/n) darling," I turned to look at him and he continued, "I—I know I've been hideous. I was neglectful.....naive....a real arsehole to you. I was no better than the other foster fathers you've had before, and I shouldn't have let Paul poison my mind the way he did."

"Freddie—"

"Please darling I need to finish this," he came up and knelt down in front of me and proceeded to say, "I feel like I shouldn't even deserve your forgiveness. But I hope these will at least show some sign that I might still have a chance." He then handed me a neatly wrapped present.

I looked at him before I took the present from his hand and unwrapped it. When I opened the box, the first thing that I saw were the legal adoption papers from the foster care. I looked at every page and every spot where it showed for a signature, there was one until I finally looked at the last page to see at the bottom a named signed.

Freddie Mercury.

I looked at him and muttered.

"Fred I—I don't know what to say....."

"All I need is an honest answer." I sighed heavily and said.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see these forms. I've been waiting for so long to see papers like these. Finally hoping that I had found the right family to take me in." He softly smiled at me with hope in his eyes as I continued, "But I can't accept this." His smile vanished. "What happened and what you had done to me really hurt me Freddie. You neglected to see that Paul was manipulating you until he got you away not only from the guys and mum, but from me too. I'm sorry I just....."

"It's fine. I—I understand." He said solemnly as he took the papers back. After a moment of silence I spoke up again.

"At least not yet." He looked at me confused. "I—I still want to be in your life Freddie Mercury. Because you've been the only real father I've ever known. But I don't think I'm ready to legally be your daughter, not until I at least see that you're ready for me. So can we—start over?" His eyes sparked back up and he said.

"Oh my darling I would like nothing else." I smiled at him and he embraced me tightly in his arms rocking me back and forth gently.

For the next year I stayed with Freddie in his house of Garden Lodge and eventually Jim moved in and the two of them grew close with each other. And no matter what anyone said, I supported them because like my mum, Jim was the love of his life.

By 1987, I was finally ready and so we had set up a court date for my to Legally become a Mercury. After going through the trials and signing any documented proof (since by this time I was an adult and no longer in the custody of the foster system anymore), I once again had my father back.

That was one of the happiest days of my life. The day I finally called Freddie Mercury my father. And he remained that way till the end, even after he died and in the decades to come he was still changing my life.

I grew up to become a writer and wrote hundreds of books based on his life and legacy. He was always my inspiration and he always would be till the end of time.

My name is (Y/n) Mercury, daughter of the Legend and God Freddie Fuckin Mercury. And that name will always stick even on my tombstone.

[lucyariablog]

3 Hidden Lessons Behind Top Podcasts to Help Yours Stand Out

Every morning, I commute to work with about 20 of my closest friends. And they all fit neatly in my pocket.

OK, so I’m really talking about podcasts. There aren’t actual tiny people in my pocket. Except for Steve, the tiny person who lives in my pocket. Obviously.

Anyway, if you’re a fan of podcasts like I am, you’ll know why I dubbed them my “friends.” Each show feels built just for you. You get to know a host or a brand’s quirks and personalities in a deeper way than you can with most other forms of content. Podcasting is intimacy that scales.

#Podcasting is intimacy that scales, says @jayacunzo. Click To Tweet

However, that personal, almost casual feel of many podcasts belies their true nature: A great show is incredibly hard to create.

Despite the difficulty in creating an addicting show, more brands are launching their own podcasts to support their marketing, including Slack, GE, eBay, HubSpot, Buffer, and venture-capital firm Andreessen Horowitz to name a few.

But marketing teams face problems in keeping their show both consistent and high quality. Just ask brands that started strong then “pod faded” like Prudential or those with endless resources and smarts who can’t seem to grasp the simplest quality issues in their sound or listener experience like McKinsey.

While there’s virtually no barrier to entry to create and share a show, there’s tremendous friction in making that show great.

A #podcast has virtually no barrier to entry, but there’s tremendous friction to make it great, says @jayacunzo Click To Tweet

Luckily, if we squint hard enough, we can see how top shows stay afloat and, more importantly, innovate. Let’s take a look at a few podcasts, each with one major productivity lesson we can learn for our own podcast process – as well as other forms of content marketing.

At the end, I’ve shared a template for a Trello board to help organize your podcast’s editorial pipeline.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT:

Podcasting Pioneers Explain Value of Audio Content and Rookie Mistakes to Avoid

How to Get in Front of the Podcasting Trend [Growth Tips and Tools]

Lesson 1: At first, format trumps talent

­This is a hard pill to swallow, especially for someone like me. (I host two shows – one for my own business about creative intuition, and one for NextView Ventures about early-stage startups.) But as my executive producer Andrew Davis likes to say, “The audience has to fall in love with the format before they can fall in love with the talent.”

#Podcast audiences have to love the format before they can fall in love with the talent, says @DrewDavisHere. Click To Tweet

In thinking about any truly big, special podcast, he’s right – there needs to be some kind of underlying plan to your show. It improves both efficiency and quality. It helps you ditch the meandering, awful intros that lose listeners. It helps you keep producing episodes when other things get in the way. And it ensures that you spend time thinking about the experience for the audience, not just the name of the guest and the size of his or her Twitter following. (Besides, if you’re in an industry that has a popular list of influencers, as I am in marketing, your listeners will be sick of the same names that appear on every single podcast or in every single blog in the industry.)

Ask yourself: What’s my show’s episode format?

Where we can learn this: The Full Monty from Scott Monty, CEO of Brain+Trust Partners

Scott Monty is the former head of social media for Ford and a well-known keynote speaker and brand strategist. He now leads the C-suite advisory group, Brain+Trust. His weekly newsletter, The Full Monty, features a companion podcast of the same name – a weekly, 15-minute show.

The hallmark of the show, aside from Scott’s golden voice, is a really tight format that helps him produce episodes with minimal time and budget while still delivering a really great product to his listeners.

Looking under the hood of his podcast, here’s Scott’s format, broken into blocks, similar to how a TV show writers’ room would view it:

A BLOCK: Intro – 60 seconds: Scott intros the show concept in about 30 to 40 seconds. Then he gives you the headlines he’ll cover in the episode in the next 20 to 30 seconds.

B BLOCK: Lead story – 4 to 5 minutes: Scott then gives one quick headline (e.g., “LinkedIn Spam”) that’s compelling enough to make you keep listening. He gives you the source of the story first, whether it’s coverage of a news event or a personal anecdote that led to a realization. He finishes this section with a clever limerick about the story.

C BLOCK: Trivia question – 30 seconds: You then hear tuba sounds and an announcer briefly introducing the trivia section. Scott delivers the question and promises the answer at the end of the show – a great tactic to help him accomplish really the No. 1 job of any good host: Get listeners to finish the episode. The tubas then transition into the next section.

D BLOCK: Page 2 – 4 to 5 minutes: The second and final large chapter of his episode is called Page 2. Scott teases a larger lesson from something that happened in the last week. For instance, when CBS Sunday Morning host Charles Osgood retired, Scott used Page 2 to talk about the cult of personality – a large topic with something both brands and individuals can learn in the era of social media, personal brands, and mini-media empires built around people. As in B Block, Scott closes with a limerick about the preceding story. He then plays a quick musical tone to move to the next section.

E BLOCK: Trivia answer – 30 seconds: Scott answers the trivia question, followed by one final tuba sound signaling the end of the trivia and end of E Block.

F BLOCK: Calls to action – 2 minutes: You hear the usual housekeeping list (got a story? can you rate us? want to subscribe?). Then, Scott points out a couple big news items from his newsletter that didn’t make the podcast, as well as the big questions they create. In doing so, he teases listeners to check out the newsletter.

G BLOCK: Outro – 30 seconds: A similar sign plays each time, culminating in him saying, “I’m Scott Monty, and I’ll see YOU … on the internet.” The announcer reminds listeners to subscribe to the newsletter. Then, the music stops, and Scott drops one inside joke about the week that was (e.g., “I’m surprised the Emmys didn’t award Best Reality Show to the Donald Trump campaign.”)

Look, I know you’re thinking, “Man, that’s a lot!” And it is. Remember, that’s just a 15-minute show. But now that Scott can predictably and consistently create a high-quality episode, he can experiment with that rundown, produce more and better shows, and ultimately help the listener fall in love with The Full Monty.

Avoid the race to the bottom of simply booking the biggest guests in your niche and meandering through an unplanned episode. Instead, find your format.

HANDPICKED RELATED CONTENT: A Crash Course in Narrative Podcasting (And Why You Should Create Them)>

Lesson 2: Time constraints are your strength (Spoiler alert: Nobody wants your 60-minute show)

The beauty of podcasting is its open-endedness, and the danger of podcasting is, well, its open-endedness. So many things prevent us from creating an episode worth finishing. One issue is the amount of stuff we pack into an episode since we never get “talker’s block.” Another is that guests who readily agree to appear often love to talk – and they can often take the interview in directions you wish they hadn’t. Lastly, we simply fall in love with the wide open creative field that is podcasting and careen around without purpose.

But just like an episode rundown puts constraints on the creative, a time target provides the necessary constraint to make you a better host/producer/writer for your show.

A time target constrains you to become a better host/producer/writer for your #podcast, says @jayacunzo. Click To Tweet

I know you love listening to your own 60-minute episode. You even hear from colleagues and others in your network that they love the show. And while drop-off data is tough to come by with this medium, look in the mirror and ask yourself: Is 60 minutes really necessary to deliver the most value to others?

If you answered yes, please call, email, or tweet me. Because, well, why don’t you just sit down a moment? We need to have a little talk …

Where we can learn this: The Way I Heard It from Mike Rowe

Mike is the host of the popular show Dirty Jobs and arguably the only podcast host whose voice is higher-karat gold than Scott Monty’s.

Mike’s show is a lot looser than Scott’s, containing fewer individual sections in the episode rundown. But Mike’s extremely tight time target makes the episodes incredibly good listening. While many of us struggle to keep an interview to less than 60 minutes or perhaps 30, Mike’s target is an eyebrow-raising 10 minutes! TEN! How can you possibly deliver value in the same time it normally takes branded shows to finish the intro music and resumes of its guests?

Well, Mike’s a pro who, yes, comes from TV, where the show rundown and time constraints are simply realities. He knows the value of maximizing every moment, and while this certainly makes the creative amazing, it also makes him way more productive than the average marketer.

Not unlike you, Mike’s a busy guy. He hosts Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. He hosts another on CNN. He narrates several more. He does commercials, most notably for Ford. All of that requires travel and preparation time. On the side, he launched a foundation focused on blue-collar workers and jobs. So naturally, he wanted to launch a podcast, that friction-filled media project.

When he can finally find time to sit in a studio, don’t you think it behooves him to record multiple episodes? Kinda hard to do that with 60-minute shows, no? With his 10-minute format, not only is he forced to deliver just the good stuff, he can knock out tons of episodes in just a couple hours’ time. Brilliant.

Lesson 3: Create recurring segments or content brands within the show

Simply by trying a bunch of potential segments or series within your show, you can see what your audience loves and redeploy those segments periodically on a repeat basis. You can even give that section a name or a musical intro. Again, we’re killing two birds with the same stone, because man, how much do you just hate birds?

The first bird to aim for is the listener experience, and the second is your productivity. The experience gets better when a listener feels that sense of intimacy, and a semi-recurring content brand helps your audience feel like they’re “in” on it. They know what to expect and eagerly anticipate these sections of your show.

The second avian adversary to address is your own productivity. When you’re pressed for time, lack material, or need to work on something else, you now have a predictable section or entire episode style to use.

Here’s what this might look like …

Where we can learn this: Reply All from Gimlet Media

Gimlet creates highly produced podcasts, including Reply All, a show that claims to be “about the internet,” but really focuses on the human condition through the lens of the web. Over time, hosts PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman have established multiple content brands within their show.

One such brand is called Yes-Yes-No. The concept is simple but addicting: The co-hosts’ boss and Gimlet CEO Alex Blumberg finds a tweet involving internet culture that he doesn’t understand, and the boys help him get it. Typically, the tweets involve multiple layers of internet meme-dom (e.g., a GIF from the presidential election but shared with someone’s comment that pulls from another internet trope). They begin the section by defining what a Yes-Yes-No is. Once listeners hear the tweet, each host and the CEO reveals whether or not they understand it. Generally, the co-hosts both say yes, while Blumberg says no – hence the name.

Bonus lesson: How to organize a podcast’s editorial pipeline

As a bonus, I wanted to share a public Trello board outlining the editorial pipeline of a story-driven podcast. Feel free to borrow, adapt, or outright steal from this – since it’s my show, I can say such things.

My podcast, Unthinkable, explores the interesting trend of everyone racing to average by following a list or best practice. How do you break from that cycle to create exceptional content instead? My thesis is that you have to trust your intuition. It won’t come from someone else’s idea or advice. I ask big, ambitious questions and want to match that concept with a big, ambitious show style.

Create exceptional things by trusting your intuition, says @jayacunzo. Click To Tweet

All of this to say: My workflow could derail. Fast! So we rely heavily on Trello to stay organized, and I wanted to take you behind the scenes in the hopes it’ll help you better turn your creative intuition into action.

Image source

You can view the board here. If you have any questions, I’d be happy to answer in the comments.

Want to hear how Jay’s three lessons work in CMI’s podcast, This Old Marketing? Subscribe to the free weekly podcast through iTunes or Stitcher.

Cover image by Joseph Kalinowski/Content Marketing Institute

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from http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/01/lessons-top-podcasts/