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flowersfromautumn · 2 months

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come back, be here

5 times Buck hated his name and 1 time he didn’t mind it so much.

tw: use of explicit language. nothing else major i don’t think? like slight mention of parental neglect from bucks parents and mentions of daniel as well as the fire truck incident but other than that i think it’s okay.

Margaret Buckley gave birth to a son on the 19th of August 1991, five years after she thought her family was complete.

For the first two weeks of his life, Buck didn’t have a name. Simply known as “the baby”, almost as though his parents were already trying to separate themselves from his existence.

It was a six year old Daniel who gave him his name, after Margaret and Philip didn’t care enough to decide.

He was christened Evan Daniel Buckley on the 4th of September that same year.

Two weeks later, his older brother was gone, and with him, his mothers perceived warmth and his fathers everlasting patience. With him, any hope Buck ever could’ve had of his parents love. His name, his face, his existence was a reminder of the son they loved but still lost and the son they never wanted but were stuck with.

Eight years later he lost his sister- and the only positive influence in his life- for the first time to university. Three years later he lost her again to marriage.

It was around then his parents stopped calling him his name. Or any name at all.

It was around then that he became a ghost in his home.

It was around then he stopped liking his name.

Stephanie was the best thing to happen to him in Peru. The bartending gig was sweet, yeah, but Stephanie? She was a firecracker full of late nights and early mornings and bottomless Margaritas. Her laugh made Buck think he understood love for the first time.

So when she revealed she’d found a job in Poland that she was going to take, he was fully prepared to start packing before she’d even finished her sentence.

It was when she sent him a small smile with pity shining in her dark eyes that he knew. They weren’t on the same page. Probably weren’t even in the same book.

“Evan.” She began, in a way that made him feel like he was eleven all over again, standing in the kitchen while his mum explains that her and Philip are really busy and can’t make his baseball match and why are you being so selfish? “This has been fun. You’re a great guy, but you’re not someone I’m wanting long-term.”

And wasn’t that the very crux of the matter? He was never someone anyone wanted “long-term”. He hadn’t spoken to his own parents since he left home two years ago without a second glance, hadn’t talked to Maddie since she moved to Boston with Doug (the unanswered postcards didn’t count).

Long-term was, apparently, fantasy for him.

“Take care, Evan.” Steph said, right as she closed the door behind him for the last time.

It was then that he decided he needed a new name. A new life.

His feet landed on the tarmac of LAX Airport at 3pm the next day as he disembarked the plane. He took a deep, steadying breath as a warm breath ruffled his hair and hoped that, if he was lucky, this would be his very last beginning.

It took him 6 months to decide to enrol in the LAFD training academy, and by that time he’d almost burnt through his savings (LA was fucking expensive), but as he clicked ‘submit’ on his online application, he felt a sense of accomplishment that he’d never truly allowed himself to feel.

There were two other Evan’s in his class at the Academy, and by the end of day one Firefighter Zimmerman (their trainer) was already tired of the confusion.

It was at the start of day two, on the 12th of February 2013, that he was christened for the second time at the age of twenty-two.

As though Firefighter Zimmerman literally lifted bricks off of his back, Buck’s shoulders slackened and his chest loosened as the tension left along with his name.

Buck.

Yeah. Yeah, he could get used to that.

Abby was his first real love. She had sunshine in her smile and made Buck think he could find the secret to happiness in her eyes if he stared at them long enough. She wasn’t his usual type and maybe that was the secret? Buck couldn’t remember ever being this content. Buck, who’d never felt like he truly deserved the life he was living, was constantly waiting for the catch. For the other shoe to drop.

Which is why, of course, it did- so fast and so hard that it uprooted his entire life along with it.

“I bought a plane ticket to go to Dublin.” There was an excited smile on her face and an ease about her that Buck had never seen before. It reminded him of how much he still didn’t know about her.

Buck’s entire mind screeched to a halt, freezing as the meaning settled. “Dublin as in…Dublin, Ireland?”

“Yes, Dublin, Ireland. I’m gonna go…for a while, probably.”

The meaning behind her words settled, his muscles tensing as his mind screamed at him. No. Not her.

“But, Evan—” It was then he should’ve known, because Abby never called him that, she knew what it meant for him, knew that it wasn’t him, not really. That Evan hadn’t been him in a long time. “Evan, me going away? Doesn’t have to mean the end. I’ve…I’ve just got to do this. I need to know who I am…without serving other people.”

And Buck had understood. He had. He’d promised. He’d waited. He’d put up with five minute phone conversations separated by whole weeks of silence that Abby blamed on her shitty cell service, he’d put up with getting updates with the rest of the world through Instagram and Facebook.

And then, Buck eventually stopped understanding, lost hope. Broke his promise and stopped waiting.

His love for Abby could only stretch him so far before it was self-destructive. And he was over being self-destructive.

And he was so over his name.

Ali was the next girl to give him hope. It took him a while to ease the ache in his heart after Abby, but every time she laughed a crack healed, every time the sun shone through her dark hair it felt as though she’d placed a band-aid over every wound. Even after almost dying pinned under a fire engine, with only a small inkling of hope of ever doing the job he loved again, she still had the power to make him smile.

Ali made him feel the most him since Abby.

Then history repeated itself, as it tended to do, and it all came crashing down.

He wasn’t quite sure how the conversation started, how his smile turned into indignation and the crinkles around her dark eyes transformed to tears, but her voice was soft like a melody as she was pleading and his heart clenched as though her fist was squeezing it.

“It’s not like I didn’t know you were in a dangerous line of work. When I met you, y’know, ten stories up a collapsing high rise—”

“—Exactly!” He interrupted, his voice louder, angrier than he intended, not quite understanding what this meant for them. For him. He didn’t like the way she flinched at his tone.

“That was one day, one day of my life, Evan.” His name made his heart stutter to a stop, as though shocking it into a standstill. “It’s every day of yours. I’m just…starting to really understand what that means.”

It’s when he saw fear in her eyes where he used to see his future that he knew how this would end. She could’ve watched him die. She couldn’t watch him die again.

He watched her leave and felt every crack she’d healed break open again.

After Eddie is shot— after Buck watches him get shot— it takes a while for his mind to understand that everything’s okay. Even when Eddie is up and talking, and smiling at him with that smile that makes his eyes sparkle and makes Buck’s heart skip a beat in a way he’d never taken the time to analyse, his mind takes a minute to catch up.

Buck still feels the blood on him, sometimes. Can feel the phantom splatter of it as it landed on his face, sometimes stares at the shirt he was wearing that he really should throw out but somehow can’t find it in himself because it’s stained with Eddie’s blood, and don’t you understand?

The day Eddie’s due to be discharged, the man asks Buck to sit.

A million things run through his head as he perches himself awkwardly next to Eddie on the stiff hospital bed, turning to face the man and desperately trying not to nervously chew his lower lip (he’s mostly successful).

“You might’ve noticed I almost died. Again.” It was the exhaustion in his voice that made Buck desperately want to reassure him, tell him he never would’ve died, that Buck wouldn’t’ve let him, but— he didn’t because he couldn’t lie to Eddie and because Buck almost did. He just stood there, when he was shot. Probably would’ve stood there a lot longer hadn’t it been for Captain Metha. Probably would’ve been shot himself because his body refused to process that Eddie had been shot. Right in front of him. “Yeah, I’ve had a lot of close calls,” Eddie continued, “This one wasn’t even my closest—”

“—Eddie.”

“Just let me finish.” Eddie pleaded. “After the last time—” The well. “When the well collapsed on top of me—”

“—Which you survived.” Buck interrupted again. Couldn’t help himself. Needed to reassure Eddie— reassure himself— that Eddie was still here, still breathing.

Eddie huffed, nodding before continuing, “After that, it, uh, got me thinking. What would happen to Christopher if I hadn’t? So…I went to my attorney and changed my will. Someday, if I, uh, didn’t make it, Christopher would be taken care of. By you.”

What?

“What?”

“It’s in my will that if I die you become Christopher’s legal guardian.” Eddie stated again, firmly, eyes never leaving Buck’s. Buck squirmed, his mind working overdrive.

“I mean, h-how-how does that even work, don’t you need my consent?”

“My attorney said you could refuse.” Eddie said placatingly.

“But you knew I wouldn’t.”

“But I knew you wouldn’t.” Eddie repeated, smiling smugly, nudging Buck’s knee gently, playfully, with his own.

“But-but he has grandparents. Other family?”

Eddie laughed sarcastically, as though the very idea was ludicrous. “After Shannon died they all tried to guilt me into giving Christopher to them. It’s…not what I wanted then and it’s not what I want now.”

“I-if it came to that, wouldn’t they fight for him?”

Eddie shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe. Probably.” He nodded placatingly, before pausing to look Buck in the eyes seriously. “But no one will ever fight for my son as hard as you. And that is what I want for him.”

“You said you did this last year. Why are you just telling me now?”

“Because, Evan.” Eddie sighed, and instead of the oldness he was expecting, Buck felt his heart fill with warmth at the sound of his name coming from Eddie’s lips in such a way. Almost…loving? “You came in here the other day and you said you thought it would’ve been better if it’d been you who’d been shot. You act like you’re expendable…” Eddie sighs, before raising his hand and placing it over Buck’s, intertwining their fingers. Buck’s heart did somersaults in his chest. “But you’re wrong.”

fin.

andie notes: i published this on ao3 too if you’d like to check it out on there instead! here’s the link:

#evan buckley #buck and eddie #buddie #9 1 1 fanfiction #9 1 1 buddie #eddie diaz #5 + 1 fic #5+1 things #buck buckley #buckley diaz family #buddie fanfic #buddie fandom #buddie fluff #hurt/comfort #Spotify

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dduane · 9 months

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Software testing again

@petermorwood and I have a lot of decade-or-so old video that for a long time now I've been wanting to find a way to improve, as most of it's just too awful to share. So I went hunting for solutions.

At the same time, a lot of software that I've historically used for processing still images no longer works with the new versions of Corel PhotoPaint or Adobe Photoshop, so I've had to go looking for replacements for these plugins / extensions as well. One of them was called Buzz 3.0. It employed a so-called-"sieving algorithm" that was good for producing watercolor-like effects—as in this image of a gentleman watching football at the back bar of the Brasserie Federal restaurant in Zürich HB.

...Now as it happens, after a lot of digging around I discovered that the company responsible for Buzz had sold their algorithm technology to a company called Topaz Labs. So I went over there and did some research, and discovered that they'd incorporated the Buzz algorithm into a newer platform-ish app called Topaz Studio 2.

I then also discovered that they had an add-on app for the platform that does image stabilization, jitter correction and upscaling, and I'm experimenting with that now.

Check out this original video (circa 2013 or thereabouts). Link only, as I don't think Tumblr will let me add two videos to one post. ...It comes from Titisee, which is a little spa town in the mountains of the Black Forest. When he first saw this video (taken with an early Nokia camera phone), Peter immediately christened the souvenir shop in question "Cuckoo Clock Hell". No argument.

Here, though, is the same video after Topaz's app had a word with it. (Sound up if you insist. The ticking alone is bad enough. I say nothing about the chiming and cuckooing.)

This is a first attempt, but it's not at all bad for a test run. (I mean, the subject matter's still a touch freaky, but at least it's not jumping around as much.) The lighting changes and color-temperature shifts had to be managed in Lightworks, as the Topaz app wasn't designed for that: but whatever.

...Anyway, experimentation continues. Cuckoo clocks are easy. We'll see how this does with video of our cats. :)

#video #software #cuckoo clock hell

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thewales-family · 9 months

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Special post ahead of Prince George of Wales's 10th birthday (1/4) : from 2013 to 2015.

•Prince George's first appearance on July 23rd 2013, after his birth at St Mary's Hospital on July 22nd 2013, in London.

•First official portrait with his parents The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and their dog Lupo, on August 19th 2013, at Bucklebury Manor in Berkshire, England.

•Christening on October 23rd 2013, at St James's Palace in London.

•First Royal Tour to New Zealand and Australia in April 2014.

•First birthday on July 22nd 2014 at the Natural History Museum in London.

•First official portrait for Christmas, on December 13th 2014, at Kensington Palace in London.

•Meeting his little sister, on May 2nd 2015, Princess Charlotte, after her birth at St Mary's Hospital in London.

•First official portrait with his little sister Princess Charlotte, on June 6th 2015, at Amner Hall in Norfolk, England.

•Princess Charlotte's christening on July 5th 2015, at the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the Sandringham Estate, in King's Lynn, England.

•Prince George's first stamp on the occasion of Queen Elizabeth II's 90th birthday in 2016, at Windsor Castle in Windsor, England.

📷 (2, 3 ,5, 6 & 8) : Michael Middleton, Jason Bell, John Stillwell, Ed Lane Fox, The Duchess of Cambridge/Kensington Palace.

(10) : Ranald Mackechnie/The Royal Family & Royal Mail.

#prince george #british royal family #england #2023 #july 2023 #10th birthday #prince george's 10th birthday #birthday 2023 #2013 #2014 #2015 #official portraits #the wales #my edit

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grandmaster-anne · 9 months

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23 October 2013 Christening of Prince George Alexander Louis of Cambridge

#prince george #christening #my gifs #queue

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cocomuffy · 7 months

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i try not to speak of devlish things but like... what is this robin lineup in teen titans go?

like. obviously the robin from ttg was here, but like..????? tim drake??? carrie kelley??? whoever the frick the dude next to her was???

like i thought that the second one on the left was Jason, but apparently the wiki says it's "60's robin"? which is still dick?!?!??!

okay so apparently there is evidence that these two:

are the same guy.

and...

what?!

like, by all means, sure, have a retro robin, but shouldn't this be someone else??!?!?!

and since we have tim, then it can't be jason.

it also cant be jason because (and im not kidding this is an actual shot from the show. episode 33: sidekick at 3:36)

he's literally dead.

so like... why is he here.

and why carrie kelley!?!??!!

am i just crazy, because literally. let me run you the facts.

im not doing any carrie kelley erasure, but like...

the main continuity robin as of current and at the time??? damian wayne??? isnt here??? and like they could have just fully gone a little funky with the timelines and had dick, jason, tim, and damian, but that would make too much sense, it seems. because you have to pick carrie kelly, who, to my knowledge, wouldn't be robin at this point?!??!

like, carrie has like twenty other mantles at this point, she wouldn't have been robin for a while when tim joined i think. and like... i guess it makes sense but at the same time you're joking me. look at these dates.

okay so damian wayne was christened as robin in 2009.

and this episode had its original airdate in 2014.

that's 5 years, and the show was made in 2013, which meant that this had to be premade.

they intentionally left damian out?!?!?! even though he's like-- a really good robin?!?! a really good partner?!?!? even if he doesn't get along with everyone all the time?!?!?

i decided to watch a portion of the episode again and phoo boy i am reminded how much i dont like this show.

okay but here's the conclusions from today's meeting:

thank you for coming to my ted talk

#im rambling #i hate this show #teen titans go #rant post #tim drake #carrie kelly #i screwed up her name and im sorry #this is not a carrie kelley hate #dick grayson #jason todd #i cant take this

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world-of-wales · 4 months

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HAPPY 42ND BIRTHDAY TO HRH THE PRINCESS OF WALES, CATHERINE ELIZABETH ♡

Catherine Elizabeth (nee. Middleton) was born to Michael and Carole Middleton at the Royal Berkshire Hospital, Reading, on 9 January 1982. She was christened when she was six months old at the parish church of St. Andrew’s Bradfield in Berkshire on 20 June.

Catherine studied in nursery school in Amman during her family's time in Jordan. After moving back to the UK, she joined St. Andrew’s School, from where she went on to study in Marlborough College in Wiltshire, studying Chemistry, Biology, and Art at A-level.

The Princess undertook a gap year gap year studying at British Institute in Florence, working with Raleigh International programme in Chile, and crewing on Round the World Challenge boats in the Solent. In 2001, she enrolled in the University of St. Andrew’s where she met William for the first time to study Art history.

Cat and William fell in love during their time at uni, and married at Westminster Abbey on 29 APRIL 2011 at Westminster Abbey. The couple have three adorable cupcakes Prince George (b.2013), Princess Charlotte (b.2015) and Prince Louis (b.2018). The family of five divide time between their official residence, Kensington Palace and their two private residences - Amner Hall & Adelaide Cottage.

Upon her wedding, Catherine became HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, The Countess of Strathearn and Lady Carrickfergus. She received the titles of the Duchess of Cornwall & The Duchess of Rothesay upon King Charles's accession to the throne. William and her were made The Prince and Princess of Wales by him on 9 September 2022.

As well as undertaking royal duties in support of The King, both in the UK and overseas, The Princess devotes her time to supporting a number of charitable causes and organisations with some of her key areas of interest being Early Childhood Development, Children's Mental Health, Visual Arts and Sports among others.

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je55icarose · 2 years

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CP's 2013 games rewatch

Hope to see you back on the pitch queen!

Cp vs Netherlands pt 1

USWNT VS NETHERLANDS (3-1) APRIL 9, 2013

#christen press #cp23 #uswnt #cpth throwback games #cponthepitch #cponthepitch2013 #christen annemarie press #year: 2013

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astrophysicist-guitar-god · 1 year

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'Freddie Mercury felt like a god. Then he started behaving like one,' by the man who signed Queen

By NORMAN J SHEFFIELD, Founder of Trident Studios where Queen first recorded // PUBLISHED: 17:00 EDT, 20 July 2013 | UPDATED: 17:16 EDT, 20 July 2013 (x)

NORMAN J SHEFFIELD on the amazing story of how one of Britain's best loved rock bands made it big

Freddie Mercury used to say there was no question in his mind that Queen would be a success

I was sitting in my office one day in 1971 when I got a call from my brother Barry down in the studio.

‘Norman, come down and have a listen to something,’ he said.

John Anthony, Trident’s A&R man, had discovered a band called Smile.

At the start, the lead guitarist was an astrophysics student from Imperial College called Brian May, the bassist and singer was an art student called Tim Staffell, and the drummer was a biology student called Roger Taylor.

It turned out that they’d now reshaped the band.

Staffell had been replaced by this little Indian-looking guy with a big, operatic voice and they had a new bass player.

John had asked for their demo. It was raw but there was definitely something there. I’d opened Trident Studios in 1968 in Soho.

Its cutting-edge facilities and happening vibe were attracting the greatest talents of the era, from The Beatles and Elton John to David Bowie and Marc Bolan.

The four guys who came into my office a couple of weeks later were an intriguing mix of characters.

Roger Taylor was a really good-looking kid, with long blond hair and charm. Brian May was tall with a mane of curls and a little introverted but clearly very intelligent. The bass player, John Deacon, was also quiet. I could tell right away that the fourth member was going to be high maintenance.

His real name was Farokh Bulsara. He was born in Zanzibar and educated in India. The family had immigrated to England when he was a teenager. He’d gone to Ealing Art College to study art and graphic design. He was also a gifted singer and pianist.

When he joined the band, he immediately gave himself a more rock ’n’ roll name: Freddie Mercury.

He was charming, acted a bit shy and reserved at times and spoke in quite a posh, mannered voice. When he relaxed he had a very sharp sense of humour and spoke at a hundred miles an hour.

Queen turned out to be every bit as good - and demanding - as we'd anticipated. Things had to be one hundred per cent right, otherwise they wouldn't be happy

They’d rightly decided to ditch Smile as their name. I nearly choked on my coffee when I heard their new one: Queen. The world wasn’t as enlightened then as it is today.

We were worried that it would be a real turn-off, especially given the band’s look. Freddie apparently had a girlfriend but we were pretty certain he was gay.

But the name wasn’t up for negotiation. I agreed to offer the Queenies, as we christened them, a loose kind of arrangement. There were times when the studio was ‘dark’, usually at 2am. So we said: ‘We’ll give you this downtime in the studio to see what you can do.’

They turned out to be every bit as good – and demanding – as we’d anticipated. Things had to be one hundred per cent right, otherwise they wouldn’t be happy. They’d spend days and nights working on the harmonies.

Arguments would start about the tiniest little detail. They’d start screaming, shouting and chucking things. Sometimes it would blow over in a few minutes, but at other times they would stew on it, not talking to each other for a day or two. They’d always sort it out, however. It wasn’t personal, it was about the work.

The more adulation Freddie received on stage, the harder he became to work with offstage

Freddie used to say there was no question in his mind that Queen would be a success.

‘There was never a doubt, darling, never,’ he’d say with an imperious wave of his hand.

The title of their first album was simply Queen.

Another suggestion had been Dearie Me, Freddie’s catchphrase, which was quite funny but the band were a hard enough sell as it was.

They spent ages arguing about the album sleeve. The front cover was a single image of Freddie on stage, with two spotlights in the background.

For the back cover the boys put together a collage of snaps of themselves.

Freddie had driven everyone to distraction fretting over whether he looked ‘gorgeous enough’ in them.

By the end of the year they were on the road with Mott the Hoople, but Queen were getting more encores and bigger cheers than the headliners.

They were due to go to Australia for a gig when Brian suddenly developed a really high fever. His arm had swollen up to the size of a football and doctors diagnosed gangrene.

At one point it was touch and go whether he would lose it. Luckily the crisis eased and he was allowed to fly.

However, the gig was a disaster. The local DJ introducing them had clearly taken against them because he introduced them as ‘stuck-up Pommies’. When they got on stage, the crowd turned against them, too.

The boys were mightily relieved when they got on a plane back to London. For some bizarre reason, the British press had been tipped off that Her Majesty the Queen was arriving at Heathrow. So when they saw four knackered musicians emerging through Customs, they weren’t too happy.

On their first tour of America, Brian’s health was deteriorating. Our worst fears were confirmed when doctors announced he had hepatitis.

The rest of the tour had to be cancelled. It was a disaster, professionally and personally. Then, when they came back to London in August, he had to have an emergency operation for an ulcer.

The opening track on A Night At The Opera attacked their management

But on October 11, 1974, EMI put out Killer Queen, from their third album, Sheer Heart Attack.

Within weeks it had given the boys the thing they’d most wanted – a No. 1 single.

As Queen hit the road again, this time as a headline act in their own right, it was clear they were on the verge of major success.

But the more adulation Freddie received on stage, the harder he became to work with offstage.

The tour came to an end at the famous Rainbow Theatre in London. The day before the gig, Freddie was being even more pedantic than usual.

‘Oh, stop being such a tart, Freddie,’ Brian said.

Freddie was outraged. He tossed back his head, waved his arms and stormed off in a strop.

When it was time for the soundcheck, Brian turned the mic on.

‘Freddiepoos, where are you?’ he shouted.

Freddie appeared immediately with a face like thunder. He flounced on stage, gave Brian a vicious look and then just got on with it. That’s what they always did.

In 1975 they went to Japan and found 3,000 fans waiting for them, all chanting the band’s name. It was like Beatlemania. Freddie had finally found the acclaim he’d craved all his life. He felt like a god. Unfortunately, he soon started behaving like one, too.

The more successful they became, the more agitated Queen had grown about money. One of the most heated rows came when John got married. In the run-up to the wedding he announced he wanted me to spring £10,000 (about £90,000 in 2013 values) for him to buy a house. I didn’t react too well.

Then Freddie demanded a grand piano. When I turned him down, he banged his fist on my desk. ‘I have to get a grand piano,’ he said.

Norman J Sheffield: By the time I realised things were badly wrong it was too late

I wasn’t being mean. We knew there was a huge amount of money due to come flooding our way from Queen’s success. I explained that some of it was already coming in but the vast majority of it hadn’t arrived yet.

‘But we’re stars. We’re selling millions of records,’ Freddie said.

‘And I’m still living in the same flat I’ve been in for the past three years.’

The amount of money we’d invested in the band was huge.

We’d advanced them equipment and salaries right at the beginning and had continued to pour money into them for four years.

The fact the band owed Trident close to £200,000 (£1.75 million today) didn’t seem to register with Freddie.

I can remember the conversation.

‘The money will come in December,’ I said. ‘So wait.’

Then came a phrase he would make famous around the world in years to come, although no one would have known where it was born.

Freddie stamped his feet and raised his voice: ‘No, I am not prepared to wait any longer. I want it all. I want it now.’

By late 1975 I was hearing that they were making all sorts of derogatory comments about Trident.

Then I heard a track from A Night At The Opera called Death On Two Legs. The opening two lines summed up what was to come.

‘You suck my blood like a leech/you break the law and you breach’, then, ‘Do you feel like suicide?’ it went on, ‘I think that you should’. It was some kind of nasty hate mail from Freddie to me.

Soon Bohemian Rhapsody roared to the top of the UK charts and stayed there for nine weeks. A bittersweet moment, it came as news was beginning to leak that we had split from Queen.

We should have talked more. And I should have been more attentive to their feelings. By the time I realised things were badly wrong, it was too late.

In March 1977 the company settled with the band for the sale of all of its future rights, the rights to the old albums and the settlement of the management debt.

Freddie’s dream finally came true and he became a very wealthy man. When he died, no one was sadder than me. He may have been a monster to deal with, but he was also a genius.

I did see him once, in the years following our fallout, in 1986, when I took the family to their Knebworth concert. He was friendly, as if the rows of the past were forgotten. It turned out to be their last live concert, which meant I was at their first and last.

Years later, after his death, I went to the Freddie Mercury Memorial Concert at Wembley, where I saw the three remaining members being photographed.

John Deacon pointed at me and said: ‘And if it hadn’t been for that man we wouldn’t be here.’

Brian and Roger looked at me and nodded. That gesture went a long way towards exorcising the ghosts of the past.

(Extracted from ‘Life On Two Legs: Set The Record Straight’ by Norman J Sheffield, out now and online from Amazon and in bookshops priced £14.95 for paperback, £7.49 for Kindle.

A limited-edition hardback is also available at £24.95. For more images, visit facebook.com/lifeontwolegs)

#Brian May #Freddie Mercury #Roger Taylor #John Deacon #Queen #Queen: Academia #Dearie Me #Freddie's auction #Freddie's art!#Dearie Me discourse

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