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lc-holy · 11 months ago

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Conférence Masterclass 808 (Translation)

I've taken the liberty of translating the conference that took place last year with the writing director of Miraculous (Sébastien Thibaudeau). It was only made public when someone posted a video of the conference a short while ago.

In this conference, Sébastien Thibaudeau will talk about the creation of Miraculous and his work on the series. He is joined by Chloé Paye, a new scriptwriter working on Miraculous season 6.

Sébastien talks a lot and repeats himself a bit, so the summary can be a bit confusing.

I strongly advise you to go and listen to the video if you understand French. There are a lot of details I'm going to leave out, and Sébastien is very funny.

Photo belongs to mlbfanfr on twitter.

Please be respectful in comments or tags. If you want to debate on things related to this conference, please make your own post. I apologize if there are any mistakes, I'm French and I'm not fluent in English.

-12 years ago, Sébastien arrived at Zagtoon, a studio that was just starting out and had yet to produce and broadcast any series. The producer (Jérémy Zag) and Sébastien hit it off and decided to start working together. Zag decides to give Sébastien total freedom over his projects. Sébastien then decides to put the spotlight on scriptwriters, because in this profession they are unfortunately poorly paid and never stay on the same projects.

So they produced a cartoon called Kobushi. A little-known series that did rather well, even if it didn't stay on the "Gulli" channel for long. The scriptwriters and producer were happy with the end result, as it was produced in a very short time.

Jeremy Zag then proposed another project, which he thought was quite good, but which he was unable to sell to broadcasters. At the time, the project was called "Ladybug". No one was interested, as the project was aimed more at an adult audience than a children's audience. Sébastien had to make sure that the project could be broadcast on Disney and TF1.

There was only a "trailer" also called "Ladybug" (but you'll find the video under the title Ladybug PV) animated by Toei animation. At the time, Sébastien had not yet been hired by Zagtoon. It was Jérémy Zag who convinced Toei animation to work with them (no mean feat, since Toei animation doesn't work with anyone).

So Sébastien started working with Thomas Astruc (the man who wrote and created the "Ladybug" project). At first, he didn't want to work on this project because he found it complicated. Thomas wanted to make a series for adults, but at the time, it was very complicated to make a cartoon for adults. What's more, they didn't have enough money to take on such a project. Sébastien finally agreed, but there were some changes to be made, which Thomas accepted.

-What Sébastien appreciated most in this project was the romantic comedy, the love square between the two main characters.

To meet the requirements of the cartoon industry, "Ladybug" had to be set in a neutral universe, in other words, in an imaginary country or the USA, but Zag, who loves Paris, declared that the cartoon had to be set in Paris.

In the end, Thomas Astruc's entire project was discarded, leaving only the love story between the two heroes and the city of Paris, where the story was to take place.

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-Sébastien explains how he writes Marinette's first dialogues: He says he talks a lot in real life, so he writes Marinette like him. She says out loud whatever she's thinking.

For Chat noir, he makes him tell his father's jokes. Something TF1 doesn't accept. The TV channel went so far as to refuse to validate the Bible (a collection of information on the series and episodes) until it had removed the sentence: “Chat noir makes jokes”. Sebastien has therefore removed the sentence, but will continue to make Chat noir tell jokes.

-The writing director's job is to get the producer, creator and broadcaster to agree. The series broadcast on TF1 and Disney are very different. TF1 wants series whose story can be told in a single episode, unlike Disney, which wants series whose story spans several episodes.

Sébastien and TF1 agree that Miraculous will be a series with one story per episode, a "Formula Show".

He cites the example of Dora the Explorer episodes, where every episode is the same: Dora goes on an adventure from point A to point B, she has to find 3 clues, then she meets Swiper, she sings a song to make Swiper go away, she uses the talking map to get from one place to another, then Dora manages to get to point B and the episode ends.

This episode format is used for children, to give them a reassuring framework, as they build themselves up through repetition. That's why series like Dora work so well with young children.

So Sebastien sold the Miraculous series to broadcasters as a formula show. A person gets angry, is akumatized, then marinette transforms into Ladybug then frees the person from the akumatization and… The End.

It's also for this reason that Marinette tries to confess her love for Adrien in every episode, but is unable to do so.

But he tried to go against what he had planned with TF1, by slipping little extra stories into certain episodes. Audiences were receptive to these slightly hidden stories. The TV channel even asked Sébastien if there really were hidden things in the series, but he denied everything. Thanks to the positive reception from the public, TF1 agreed to develop the characters of Marinette and Adrien and flesh out the universe a little more.

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-Once the bible is written, they have to write a script. But first Sébastien, as writing director, needs to know the mood of the series, and to do this he calls on Thomas Astruc, the series creator. Thomas is a great fan of classical painting. A single painting can tell a complex scene with lots of detail. He wants the episodes of miraculous to be like these paintings, there will be very few shots, but in a single shot a lot will happen.

-Sébastien explains that one of the things Thomas wanted to convey in the series was emotion. They didn't want to do what a lot of children's cartoons do, which is to beat the bad guys and win at the end of the episode. They wanted to tell kids that it's normal to have negative emotions. We can also become better people, learn from our mistakes and so on. It also reassures TV channels by setting up scenes that are repeated in every episode: people get angry, people akumatize then people deakumatize, end of episode...

Once the TV channels had been reassured, they set about writing a script.

-Sébastien asks Thomas to write the ending, as they're not sure the series will work. They also wondered what the aim of the series was, and what they wanted to say to the children. The two of them sat down in an office and wrote the ending, which turned out to be just the end of an arc. He even adds that now that they've written a lot more, it's important for them to write in advance so that everything is clear to them.

-The first season was written by 19 authors, from home. He found it interesting that the series was written by several different authors, even if some of them didn't quite understand the premise of the series. One episode that Sébastien particularly appreciated was written by two “autrices” (I think it's weird to say “two female authors”, so I'll use the French word): the refletkta episode, with the story of Juleka who couldn't get into the photos. (Note that all the episodes were proofread by Sébastien and Thomas).

After that, they kept a few people on to work together on the scripts for subsequent seasons.

Sébastien explains that he keeps a close eye on the production of the episodes, to make sure that everything that goes into the picture is as faithful as possible to what they've written in the script.

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-The kwamis exist thanks to Toei, who wanted funny little animals to sell plush toys. So the scriptwriters had to find a way to integrate kwamis into the story.

-(Again, Sébastien advises people to check out the Kobushi series if they can still watch it somewhere, or ask the leaker who leaked the whole of season 5 to give them the episodes (that's a joke, of course)).

-Sébastien talks about the Ikari gozen episode, which could have been a total failure because the storyboarder didn't fully understand the scenario. Sébastien asks Zag to redo the storyboard, which will add 10 weeks to the episode's deadline. The storyboarder admits that he's always done storyboards mechanically, without worrying whether the episode is good or not, whether the jokes are funny or not. Eventually, the episode was redone by the same storyboarder, resulting in the episode we all know today.

- They still have a lot to tell with Miraculous, to the point where they're wondering if they'll have enough seasons to tell everything they want to tell. Sebastien says there will be a season 6 and 7, and probably a season 8 and 9.

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- Chloé Paye met Sébastien when she was looking for an internship. She had never worked in animation, and knew nothing about Miraculous. She tells us how the scriptwriting team works. Each time, all the scriptwriters in the room have to be convinced of the script. They can sometimes spend hours on details to get everyone to agree.

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- The driving force behind the series is that there must always be a secret between Marinette and Adrien. The lovesquare can never be broken, otherwise there's no series. Sébastien knows that some people are worried about this. Will they continue the lovesquare for another 4 seasons or more? How will they evolve? Sébastien says not to worry, they know where they want to go.

-It takes them 14 to 16 months to produce an episode, but it's often much longer due to unforeseen circumstances. And they don't work on one episode at a time, but on several at the same time. One episode takes a long time because of the 3D animation.

One of the things that's complicated with Miraculous 3d animation is that they can only display 3 characters at a time on screen, whereas the series requires them to display many more characters. It's also very difficult to correct animation errors, as this takes a lot of time.

-The TV networks were very surprised by the success of miraculous. They didn't think adults and children alike would watch the series. The TV channels were a little confused because they usually make series for a specific age group, but since miraculous had people of all ages watching, they weren't sure what to do.

- Sébastien says he's very happy that miraculous inspires a lot of people to create things, like writing fanfiction, however he's not interested in it because he doesn't want to be influenced by certain fans who would love to see certain things in the series.

- Writing direction also means paying attention to how the characters speak. They all have their own way of speaking. For example, Adrien will never say "j’te parle", but rather "Je te parle".

- During the writing process, the writers sometimes act out scenes to make the dialogue more natural. This is what happened with the episode "Gang of secrets". They felt that, with the success of the show and the pressure it was generating, they needed to write something to relieve their stress. So they wrote about Marinette and the enormous pressure she was under to keep all her secrets. The final scene, in which Marinette tells Alya that she's Ladybug, came naturally when they performed it together.

#miraculous ladybug #ml writing team #Conférence Masterclass 808

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justwritingscibbles · 4 years ago

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Wilford Warfstache Commission

Heya Lovelies!

Here is my completed fluff commission for @breebrielle with her OC Nova and Wilford Warfstache.

Warnings: Mentions of blood and guns

If you’d like a Commission please first look at my Commission Rules Page. I am holding reserves for commissions until I complete a few more pieces of writing. 3 slots remain.

This week had been a disaster.

The studio was a chaotic tornado of producers and assistants and everyone in between. Papers were scattered over the ground, hurriedly being picked up by those that dropped them. Coffee stained shirts were hastily covered up with jackets and scarves. And rushed greetings were merely quick nods and glances of mild sympathy. Nova stood by the studio entrance with a look of transfixed confusion. Her morning beverage held in her left hand and the paperwork from the previous week was held tightly against her chest.

She didn’t dare take a step forward until there was a break in the rushed traffic of bodies. She caught glimpses of pale expressions and terrified eyes almost wide enough that they’d fall out. It wasn’t usual to see this many people bustling around like this. Especially since it was the end of the week. They rushed to get whatever they failed to do during the week prior done. And done quickly so they didn’t have to have overtime or pass over to the weekend. Nova sighed heavily and started to zig-zag her way through the crowd. Barely managing to hold onto her beverage and not spill it on herself while people rushed past her.

The safety of her office was only a turn away. And the sweet, quiet and none crowded room was a relieving thought. At least she could take a quick break to enjoy her drink and possibly read through the missed emails. However, Nova wasn’t so lucky. In the crowd that swarmed around her, those that noticed her, gave her a relieved look. A particularly new producer was the first to greet her. Looking on the verge of tears when she came over. Catching Nova’s elbow just before she entered her office.

“Oh, thank God. You’re late!” The Producer gasped. And Nova had a chance to peer at her watch before being dragged into the fray of running people.

“I’m five minutes early.” Nova muttered. Almost tripping over her own feet as she was pulled through the endless halls and corridors. “What’s going on?”

“Wilford…” The Producer seemed too terrified to explain herself. But Nova didn’t quite need any more information. She knew Wilford could get… trigger-happy. But even then, the Ambulance would turn up and cart the wounded person away. Or someone else was called and would take the body away if the wound did more than bleed a little. After that, people moved on and carried on working like nothing else had happened.

But this was more than a gleeful bullet to the chest. Something else has happened. And before Nova could ask again, the Producer threw open the main studio doors and Nova was met with a sight that caused her drink to drop from her hands. Blood. Torn sets and broken equipment. Body bags lined up against the wall where men in dark clothing were carrying them through the back door and into the side alley outside. Wilford sat on the stage. Head bowed and gun still in his hand. Loosely dangling from his fingers as his shoulders slowly rose and fell with gentle, deep breaths.

“He’s been like that for a while now.” The Producer whispered to Nova. She had stepped behind Nova, as if about to use her as a shield. “He…He was fine when he came in to read the scripts for the next episode. But then… I don’t know. He just pulled out his gun and killed everyone in the room.”

Nova frowned. Her stomach was churning and she felt light-headed. I’ve already been through enough this week… Why did he have to go through a slaughter on a Friday? Nova thought to herself.

Nova wasn’t a producer or a script writer. She had been hired at first as a personal assistant for one of the editors of the Studio. Eventually, she found out that the Studio was running five different shows. All cast with one man. And she ended up working for all of the editors of each show. Getting them coffee, running between their offices with manuscripts and copied notes from their partnering editor. She only met Wilford six months into her employment and Nova quickly found herself as Wilford’s right-hand girl. Not entirely sure how or why, other than that they got on very well and occasionally Nova brought donuts in for everyone. She climbed the ladder of the Studio in a matter of days. Going from getting people coffee, to giving Wilford gentle suggestions on his shows or performances. Assuring editors they wouldn’t be shot for a spelling mistake and hurrying people out of Wilford’s way when he was in that mood of his. Nova was nowhere near confident enough to get in front of a camera, or outwardly snark at Wilford for shooting someone. She was content sticking to the shadows and giving Wilford the thumbs up anytime he hit a snag on his lines.

But this was new.

Nova had never seen him kill more than his weekly quota of one employee and four contestants. This was at least four weeks’ worth of bodies. How on Earth was she going to manage this much paperwork? The Producer had disappeared sometime during Nova’s little inner thoughts. And Wilford had moved his posture so he had his gun hand resting on his knee. Finger still dangerously near the trigger. From here, Nova could see his face. He looked tired. Sorrowful, almost. And the bright pink moustache was drooped. No longer as vibrant as it was before.

“W-Wilford?” Nova risked stepping forward. The smell of gunpowder from his gun was still a rich reminder to her. She hated his guns. Hated that he carried them everywhere! They were loud. Echoing in the Studio rooms and every time it went off, Nova was left shaking and needing to hide until her breathing had calmed. She was in no position to keep her composure if he fired that gun again. The massive room reeked of it, mixing with the hard spike of blood and bile. “Wilford what happened?”

He didn’t answer. That was worrying. Usually Wilford would be happy to rant or explain why he had hurt someone.

“They’ll come back. They always do.” Was his favourite excuse. And Nova had longed since given up trying to explain that when people died, they didn’t come back. He was like a child. Never expecting people to leave for too long. And that they’d always come back to him eventually.

“Wilford…” Nova had reached him now. Her steps were shaky and she didn’t dare touch him. She was still very unsure on how to approach this situation. Instead, she moved to sit beside him. Keeping a little distance between them in case Wilford didn’t want to be touched. But he didn’t move. His trigger finger was gently stroking the side of his gun. His eyes down-cast, unseeing, but staring at a pool of blood that was spreading slowly over the timber flooring.

Nova squirmed a little. She still clutched the paperwork against her chest. It had been last month’s ratings. And they were incredibly high compared to the former months. Thinking that this news would help stir a reaction, Nova showed Wilford the papers. Explaining the praises from critics and the high reactions from audiences. It excited Nova to see his eyes move from the blood to the papers. But he gave no other reaction. Sighing inwardly, Nova bundled up the paperwork against her chest again and tried her best to sound sympathetic. Her voice shook a little.

“Is there anything I can do?” Nova asked. Maybe he needed a pick me up. A nice sugary sweetie or caramel coffee with tablespoons of sugar.

This time, Wilford did not ignore Nova. He turned his eyes to her. A distant look crossing his face as he gazed at her. “You can’t do anything. You’re not Celine.”

The words dropped like daggers. Nova knew about Celine. She’s heard stories about her from the other workers. Maddened mutterings came from Wilford at times about Celine and it wounded her to hear venom come from this man when Nova’s only intentions was to help. But it was obvious he didn’t need her right now. His mind was fixed on another. Nova tried her best to sound calm. But being in the limelight of Wilford’s gaze right now was possibly more frightening than the gun that was clenched in his hands.

“Do you want me to leave?” Nova asked and Wilford twitched. Making her recoil when his knuckles turned white around the weapon. Nova didn’t wait for him to answer. She sprinted across the studio and burst through the doors.

She ran until she was in the lobby of the building. Panting, finding it hard to breathe. Other employees hurried over, crowding her. And she tried to push their worried hands away from her. She needed space. There was no air around her. They pressed too close and when she tried to push them away, they grabbed her hand and squeezed. Their concerned voices turning to mutterings in her ears.

“Get away from her.” The voice cut through the muttering crowd like a sword. And everyone seemed to vanish the moment Darkiplier stepped towards them. Nova ignored him as he approached. Concentrating on getting deep breaths into her lungs and slow exhales through her mouth. Dark kept silent beside her. Acting as a barrier between Nova and the worried onlookers that passed. No doubt Nova’s incapability to calm Wilford was even more worrying than the countless bodies Wilford had dropped.

She had been their last hope to get him working again. And now with a friend of Wilford’s in the building, people were starting to trickle out of the main room and disappear into their offices and studios. “What are you doing here?” Nova croaked. Her throat felt dry and the shakiness in her hands had worsened. Crinkling the paper she held in her clenched fingers. But Dark’s presence was something she could concentrate on.

He rarely came to the Studio. Whether he hated the building or being around Wilford, Nova wasn’t sure. She’s never spoken to Dark for more than a few minutes during her employment. But whenever Wilford acted out and no one could get him under control, Dark was the first to be notified. During her time here, its only happened once.

“I’m the one they call to organize body collections.” Dark offered as an explanation. And Nova made sense of that. She never questioned where the men dress in black came from or who called them. She was just always happy she wasn’t the one to call them.

“I’m sorry. I know Wilford went over his quota…” Nova didn’t have an excuse this time. The only big conversation Nova had ever had with Darkiplier was about Wilford’s new body quota. It kept him from killing or wounding too many people, and it was set as a challenge for the showman. If he kept it under the quota, he was rewarded. If he went over, something of his was taken away. Wilford answered to no one. And feared no one. But there was only one person that he would nod in reluctant agreement with; and that was Darkiplier. Wilford is like a child. Nova thought to herself. And Dark is the irritated, tired parent.

“I’ll deal with him. But right now, I need to talk to you.” Dark replied. He gestured for Nova to follow him, keeping to her side until they reached a secluded, unused office nearby.

Nova glimpsed many weird looks from other workers walking past. Sneaking a look at the infamous Darkiplier before he closed the door behind him. He gestured for Nova to sit in the chair across the desk, and Dark seated himself behind the table. Suddenly, Nova got a rush of anxiety. In this instant, Darkiplier looked like a CEO about to fire her over Wilford’s mishaps. Nova hoped she wasn’t about to get a scolding. She couldn’t take that right now.

“What do you know about Celine?” Dark asked.

The question caught Nova off guard. She had been given many warnings about speaking the woman’s name in Dark’s presence. Nova didn’t understand Dark’s link to Celine other than Mr. Bim’s words of “they are…very close…”

But from what Nova could gather, Celine was dead. Or at least has been missing for many years. Wilford and Darkiplier were a confusing lot so Nova very rarely gave thought to their personal lives. Not that she knew much about them in the first place. “I know… that her and Wilford were together once.” Nova said uncertainly. She did know that Celine had loved Wilford. But at that time, Wilford… hadn’t been Wilford. Again, Nova had to remind herself she knew almost nothing of her Boss other than his business life. Only snippets of information were given to her through gossip.

If Dark had found Nova’s answer amusing or irritating, he didn’t show it. But his hands were laid out in the desk, intertwined as he leaned forward to speak. “They were lovers once, yes. But their relationship fell apart due to a bad situation. Every so often, he is reminded of that. And he changes. It is best that you shut down the Studio until he recovers from this memory.”

“Shut down the Studio?” The words blurted out of Nova’s mouth in a flurry of shock. “That would lose us so much money! And the people here would be out of work.”

“It is in everyone’s best interest and safety to shut this building down until Wilford recovers.” Dark calmly replied. “You saw him. He’s on the verge of another killing. He will most likely fire at-”

Dark cut himself off suddenly. His eyes boring into Nova as he looked her over. She was currently running her hands through her blonde hair. Ruffling it up from its neatly preened style to a mess of waves and curls. She was panicking. The whole week had been nothing but paperwork and phone calls and emails trying to smooth over the last manslaughter and rumours from other studios. She’s stepped between lawyers and furious employees. Ushering Wilford out of the building until authorities came to take away the screaming persons. But not a single scar or blemish could be spotted on her. And Dark snapped his gaze up to meet Nova’s eyes.

“Has Wilford ever shot at you?” Dark asked. And Nova, again, was caught off guard. Her worried mutterings coming to a halt to stare at Dark.

“What? N-No. I’ve never given him a reason too.” Nova responded. Suddenly very fidgety under Dark’s cool stare. Why was he staring? It was making her very uncomfortable.

“Wilford never needs a reason to shoot someone.” Dark said. Almost absently, like he was thinking over his words.

Nova didn’t respond. She didn’t like how he leaned back in the desk chair and once again, looked her over. “You’ve worked closely with Wilford for months. And he has never harmed you? Even accidentally?”

Where was he going with this? “No. He once slapped my drink out of my hand while practicing for his show. He bought me ten other drinks to make up for it.”

Nova couldn’t hold Dark’s gaze. It was like an anvil pressing down on her shoulders. Making it hard to breathe again. The silence stretched and Nova had to concentrate on anything else but Dark. She looked around the room. It was fairly empty apart from unused filing cabinets and the desk. A few shelves lined the walls with old props and a few knick-knacks forgotten by the previous owner of the office. Nova didn’t remember if anyone ever used this room while she’s worked here.

“Would you like to go get something to eat?” Dark asked abruptly. And this time, there wasn’t just a stare, but a small gasp that escaped Nova’s lips. Surely, she misheard him. After all this time of almost ignoring her, like he did with everyone else in the building. He was asking for a lunch date? Maybe not a date, but an outing no less. And Nova had no words. Gasping like a fish out of water only to then blurt out suddenly;

“Oh, um… sure?” She replied. Like a switch in her brain suddenly was flicked.

And Dark smiled. A small patient grin, but no less a smile. And Nova has never seen him smile before. This entire conversation was… so wildly strange that Nova was starting to prefer sitting next to Wilford and his gun.

“Great. Come, then. I know a quiet café near here we can go to.” Dark stood and led the way out of the office. Nova hurriedly stood and followed him. Leaving the papers on the chair in the empty office. As if transfixed into doing so. She was so shocked by the sudden offer of lunch with Dark, that she didn’t notice the lobby was almost empty of people. But Wilford stood nearby, speaking with a few of the black clothed men. Studio workers rushed here and there, trying to stay as far away from Wilford as possible.

Nova didn’t notice him look over. But Dark did. Their eyes met, and Dark merely moved closer to Nova. His hand gliding over hers, so gently she felt nothing. But Wilford’s sudden flash of rage in his eyes told the other man that he saw everything. Dark had a car waiting outside. Nothing ridiculously fancy. But a casual car Nova could have imagined The Darkiplier driving around in. He held the door open for her, still wearing that small smile as she slid inside and he closed the door behind her.

The driver was hidden behind a tinted window behind the two front seats. The interior of the vehicle was luxurious to say the least. The leather was a dark colour, soft to the touch with not even a creak as Nova buckled herself in. Dark slid in beside her on the other side of the car and the driver opened the small window as the door closed. Dark spoke softly to the driver. Giving him the name of the café and with a gentle roar of the engine, the Driver pulled away from the Studio and onto the road. There was a heavy silence in the car as they drove. Nova wasn’t entirely sure what to say. She shouldn’t be going out to lunch right now. It wasn’t even time for lunch. Not that Dark actually invited her to lunch, but to get something to eat. Nova wasn’t even that hungry! And there was so much paperwork to do, and now with Wilford’s killing spree she would have a lot more to do! She closed her eyes for a moment. Trying not to think too much on it.

Maybe getting out of the Studio till things calmed down was good. Wilford was in no way fit to discuss the matter. And Dark would probably be a better person to talk too about getting everything back on track. He wasn’t in charge of the Studio, but he still held a vote on how it was run.

Nova sighed and Dark turned his gaze back onto her. “Stop worrying about the Studio. Wilford has run that building for years before you. It’ll be ok.” Not only was he taking Nova out for some café food, but now he’s comforting her? This day was just getting weirder.

“I know. But now I’m here, and now I’m the one everyone looks at whenever Wilford does something.” Nova replied. She then thought about the rating papers. It seemed so irrelevant now. This morning she was so excited to show Wilford. And now they were empty numbers.

And with the Studio possibly being shut down for a time, those ratings would lower quickly.

“Every time someone messes up. They come to me for protection from Wilford. Like I’m some sort of shield from his bullets. Which by the way, is such a horrible thing to do! Use someone else as a shield?! These people knew what they were getting into when they were hired. It’s in their contracts. In big, bold writing! And yet they still seem so surprised when Wilford shoots someone. And then I’m the one who gets yelled at because I let him have a gun! I’d really like to see them try and hide it from Wilford. The stupid man can sniff it out! No matter where I hide it, he gets it back!” Nova took a deep breath. Her outburst had all been one big exhale in a vomit of words and gestures. She didn’t feel any better, but it helped to get it off her chest. “I’ve even put that gun in a safe and thrown it into the river. An experiment of mine to see how far Wilford would go. When I returned from the river, Wilford had the gun in his holster and the safe was in my office.” Nova didn’t expect Dark to have an answer to that. She never figured out how Wilford did it. At this point in her career, someone could say he was magic and Nova would agree. Not even a glimmer of surprise in her expression.

“And now this. A slaughter over a girl who, I’m suspecting, broke his heart or disappeared. Which means that he’s probably going to do this again. And I’m going to have to deal with it…again.” Another sigh escaped Nova’s lips and she glanced at Dark. He hadn’t moved his eyes off of her. Allowing her to spew out the rant with no interruptions or even a disapproving glare. He waited a moment. Seeming to expect more to come out of her. But when she said nothing more, Dark placed a hand on Nova’s thigh, closest to her knee.

“You do a lot for my friend. And I’m grateful for your help. But you do burden yourself with a lot of the harsh side of this business. Especially the side of things you have no control over.” Nova fidgeted as Dark removed his hand. The sudden cool touch had shocked her thoughts into a gentle hum. It was a relief.

“Thank you. Why don’t you work at the Studio? You’re help would make a huge difference.” Nova had always wanted to ask Dark this. She wasn’t even sure what he did as a job, or if he had a job. All she knew about him was that he and Wilford were friends. Or what Nova would consider friends when they only spoke when a murder had occurred. And Wilford respected Dark enough that he didn’t riddle the suited man with bullets or have him thrown out. Even when he said something that Wilford clearly didn’t agree with.

“I’m more of a background man.” Dark replied, flicking imaginary flint from his trousers. “I don’t like being in the spotlight or working under somebody else. I run my own business elsewhere. But I have to keep my friend in line, so I’m never too far-away.”

If Nova didn’t know any better; there was a hidden meaning under Dark’s words. His gaze gave nothing away, and his answer was frustratingly vague. She expected him to explain that he ran his own law firm or maybe was an underground mob boss. He was always dressed so promptly, that Nova had a few guesses to what Dark worked as. But all she truly knew, was that he could take bodies away and no police would go sniffing around the Studio. Even lawyers were terrified to get Dark involved. An advantage Nova had used many times to get someone to shut up. She didn’t like scaring people into silence. But if she wanted to keep Wilford safe from people suing him or attempting to get him thrown in jail; Nova always politely mentioned Dark as her “next in line contact”.

Nova frowned, “You know. We never interact but I do use your name a lot. You said you don’t like the Studio, but you do have a lot to do with it.”

Dark appeared to find her words amusing. The smile stretched a little and his cool gaze warmed with hidden laughter. “I do enjoy the emails I get from people sent by you. Mostly law firms that have been redirected from you. A lot of the time, they don’t seem to believe that I’m in your contacts.”

Nova shrugged. She never considered Dark to be a close contact. Even if they didn’t talk, she did a lot of shooing of people towards Darkiplier. They never contacted her again. And it was relief, that when they did need to contact her about something, it was always overly polite. “To be honest, whenever I can’t get someone to leave Wilford alone, you are the next contact I give them. Sorry that I dump that on you. But you are kinda like my Bogey-Man.” Nova truly didn’t feel guilty. It was kind of thrilling having a name in her contact list that people seemed to fear.

She never wanted to know what Dark said or did to get people to basically run, tail between their legs, away from the Studio. “Don’t be. I find them entertaining to receive.” Dark replied. The car began to slow, pulling up alongside a street of cafes and bars. “Some people are too cocky to be in this sort of business. And it is… fun to watch that pride of owning a law firm or having the money to buy the best lawyers, crack under the pressure of a few small emails.”

“That…is terrifying…” Nova muttered under her breath. And Darkiplier smiled a grin that Nova never wanted to see again.

“I was born to be a villain, Nova. And I’m far too good at it to be polite.” Dark purred. Turning his gaze to the door as his Driver pulled into the parking spot and got out. The Driver then opened Dark’s door and the man smoothly stepped out. Waiting for Nova to scoot over to his side and offer his hand to help her out.

“I might use that line for our next show. If you don’t mind of course.” Nova wanted to keep the light heartedness intact. Tension made her nervous, and she was already on edge just being around Dark. Not knowing what to say or do in his presence.

“I’d be honoured. As long as the line is used in context to its meaning.” Dark replied. His hand cold on hers as he helped her to stand. It felt strange. Like her hand wasn’t really touching him, but clearly reacting to him. Nova frowned. Unable to properly think on it as Dark removed his hand from hers and slid it down to her lower back. Guiding her into a small café. It looked no different to the countless other coffee shops Nova had been too.

It was tightly packed and smelled homely. Warm with the scents of hot beverages and tasty pastries. An older man, aged possibly around his mid-forties, smiled at Dark from across the café. Spotting him through the window, he began to hurry over to meet them. Dark held the door open for Nova. Chiming a small bell above her head as she stepped inside. The man, dressed in a black apron and comfortable white clothing, greeted them with small menus.

“Ah, Mr.Iplier, so good to see you again. It’s been a while. The usual spot?” The man asked. And Nova was surprised at how this man genuinely seemed happy to see Darkiplier.

The same business man that would arch an eyebrow and people would cower under his gaze. The man’s smile was broad and excited as Dark nodded, returning the familiarity with the waiter as they followed him through the café to the back. The booth the waiter provided sat against the wall. Brightly lit and snugly placed, Nova found herself sitting across from Dark with a menu in her hand. Hot and cold beverages lined the page, and when she flipped it over, small desserts and plates of sandwiches were displayed in elegant handwriting. All the while, the waiter chatted with Dark about the café and how their days were going. Idle talk until Dark looked down at his menu and scanned the choices.

“Are you going to have the usual serving, Mr.Iplier?” The waiter asked. His small notepad out and pen ready. Dark looked thoughtful for a moment. Glancing at Nova before smiling again and turning to the man.

“I’ll try something different; I think. But give us a moment to look it all over?” Dark asked. And the waiter nodded. Hurrying away to go about his business elsewhere.

“This is… not what I expected.” Nova murmured softly. She felt a lot better now. Seeing that the café was indeed a café and not some expensive coffee shop that served beverages in marble cups with gold spoons… though it did sound a little unrealistic now she thought about it.

“I enjoy the atmosphere here.” Dark sighed. Looking remarkably more relaxed as he looked over the menu. “It’s family owned. And the grandmother, the previous owner of this place, makes the bread served here. And the ingredients for their meals are locally produced. Ever since I had their dark roast, chocolate expresso here, I refuse to taste anything else.” Nova laughed. It was high praise coming from Darkiplier.

There was very little chatter between them as Nova looked over the short list of small meals and treats. They all sounded wonderful, and when the waiter returned, Nova still didn’t have any idea of what she wanted. “Come back to me.” Nova said softly, her eyes switching between a sandwich and a muffin on the menu. Silently saying “eenie meenie miney moe” in her head.

She briefly heard Dark order a coffee and a type of muffin for himself. The waiter tsked playfully, commenting how Darkiplier was trying to make it difficult for the servers. Mixing his traditional orders for something else would surely throw them off their day. The two chuckled good-heartedly. Giving Nova enough time to make a final decision. She read out her order, matching it with a warm beverage of her own and the waiter smiled his broad grin again.

“The special of the day, huh? It’s a newbie on the menu, so please give me some feedback on it. No one here likes too.” The waiter winked playfully and took their menus. He whisked away and gracefully weaved through the tables without looking up from his little notepad. Nova watched him go. Grinning to herself as she watched him halt by a table with a toddler, giving the parents some napkins and chuckling with the mother as she wiped up a glob of food from the toddler’s face.

“Hmm, I think our little lunch break will have to be cut short.” Darkiplier said, the strain to his voice made Nova look back around to him. His posture had stiffened. Like he was concentrating very hard on something, staring at the table and for a moment, Nova could have sworn his entire body…flickered red.

“Are you ok?” Nova asked. And Dark turned his gaze onto her, he seemed to be grinning.

“I’m surprised you can’t feel it.” He replied. And when Nova continued to look at him strangely, he chuckled softly. “Then it must only be me he went back for. I hope he hasn’t changed anything important.”

Nova blinked, a sharp pain piercing through her head as Dark’s form flickered once more. Blue this time. And as she opened her eyes, he was gone. Nova looked around the café. Nothing had changed. People chatted between themselves and sipped their drinks. Darkiplier had vanished right in front of her. Nova was so caught up in her confusion that she didn’t notice the waiter come back with two plates. A brightly coloured muffin with purple frosting on top in his left hand and a Nova’s order in the other.

“Is your date coming back?” The waiter asked. His smile a little down-trodden as he placed the plates in front of her. Nova went to reply but a man appeared behind the waiter, a big smile plastered under a finely combed pink moustache.

“Don’t worry, I would never leave a pretty lady by herself. She’ll eat my cupcake!” Wilford Warfstache replied, sliding into the booth across from Nova. The waiter smiled and said that their drinks will be right out. Wandering away like nothing had happened.

But Nova heard none of it. She stared at Wilford with her mouth hanging open. He looked totally fine. Not a hint of blood could be seen on him and his eyes sparkled their usual chocolate brown way.

“Where were we? I am horrible with conversations. The moment I leave, I forget everything that was said.” Wilford grinned, folding his hands around the cupcake in front of him. He licked his lips dramatically and lifted the treat to his mouth. Taking a ridiculously large bite out of it. Frosting and all.

“W-Where did Dark go?” Nova asked. Again, looking about the café. She saw only other customers; however, the toddler and her family had disappeared. And been replaced with a young couple sharing a plate of cookies with their coffees.

“Dark? Did he pop by? I always seem to miss the lovely man.” Wilford replied through a mouthful of purple frosting. And if Nova hadn’t known any better, she would have sworn there was a sharp bitterness to Wilford’s words.

She turned back to Wilford. Her stupefied stare now replaced with something along the lines of frustration. She was confused, and with her lack of understanding came a fresh wave of worry. She pushed it down, faintly managing to wrangle the flood of thoughts that started to make her fingers twitch and fidget with the fabric of her shirt. Wilford halted mid bite, noticing the slow build-up of Nova’s anxiety. He sighed and pulled the cupcake from his mouth. Chewing the remnants of what he bit off as he reached over and took Nova’s shaking hand.

“I’m sorry for jumping this on you…again” Wilford said, softly. Only loud enough that only she could hear him. “I know what I said this morning…hurt you. But Darkie was correct. I’m different when I remember… her. Even though I hurt you, I couldn’t let him swoon you like he always does.” Nova flinched at the venom in Wilford’s voice. It was so out of place. Hearing his kind, soft tone turn sour with a bitterness that would curdle milk.

“Swoon me?” Nova asked. She didn’t withdraw her hand from his. He was warm and the touch centred her; distracted her from spiralling. “Dark only took me out to lunch to distract me from what happened.”

Wilford barked a laugh. Making the tables closest to your booth glance over, startled by the loud noise. “Darkiplier always has an underlining agenda. I had to get him away from you before he tried something else.” Wilford’s thumb grazed over Nova’s skin. His eyes glowed a faint pink and Nova gasped softly. Sparkling like glitter in the light of the café. Startled, she drew back her hand and stared. His moustache was glimmering, almost illuminating its strands with a sprinkling light.

“But I want you to know something else as well. It will make it easier for you to… be around me.” Wilford said, his hand still on the table where Nova had left it. Open for her to return her fingers to intertwine with his. “Even if I don’t quite understand my lovely old self. I want to try to explain it to you. And that is the fun of it. I can do things, run around and change things to how I want it. I sometimes forget I have done it though. The consequences of my meddling can usually bite my lovely little behind, but I can do things. But… you already know this. You’ve guessed that I’m different.”

Nova didn’t know what to say. Part of her rejoiced; realizing that she was not in fact crazy and Wilford was indeed strange. The gun in the river now made sense. And perhaps with his influence, that all the craziness of the Studio just…worked. Because he made it work. But another part of her was too confused to accept it. To truly come to terms that Wilford had…magic? Was that what she would call it? Or did Wilford have his own word for it?

“Wait… you said… again.” Nova muttered. “You’ve…told me this before? When?”

Wilford nibbled on his lower lip. His fingers returning to wrap around his cupcake. “When you talk to Darkie, don’t you think its weird that his name is Darkiplier? Or that he wears my face? Or Bim in Studio 2 looks exactly like me but doesn’t share my name?” His question bounced around in Nova’s mind, causing a small stab of pain to shoot through her head before her eyes widened.

“You…You have told me all this before.” She whispered. Her shock squeezing her throat until she swallowed it down and looked back up at Wilford. “Why don’t I remember?”

“Because of me. I told you that sometimes I forget what I’ve changed. And a lot of times, the people around me also forget. But you’ve been working with me for years, Nova. You remember bits and pieces because you’ve has gone through it a lot. Time to you has been altered so many times that you think you’ve worked at my Studio for only a little time. But its only until your reminded, or you come across the same space again, do you actually remember what happened. That’s why you accept a name like Darkiplier so easily. Or don’t question how I keep getting back my gun. I didn’t remember until now.” He smiled to himself. “I changed Dark’s plans today, so he was out of town; and a light-bulb went off in my brain that reminded me of something very important.”

He placed his hands back on the table, palms up. Waiting for Nova to place her hands in his and then very gently, Wilford brought the back of her fingers to his lips. He locked her in placed with his gaze, the chocolate brown shimmering and transforming into a glistening pink. Nova watched him, his moustache twinkling, and she was suddenly filled with warmth. A hum of butterflies fluttered in her stomach and her chest tightened. Not from nervousness, but from a sense of comfort and a glowing sweetness that spread throughout her body. She gasped softly. Her entire body alight with this familiar weightlessness.

“What do you remember?” Wilford asked against her skin. The brush of his lips tickling her hand as she swam through the sensations.

Her mind brought visions of flowers lining her desk. Playful winks cast across the room and gentle hands running along her side. The scent of sugar and cinnamon filling her nose as she felt soft lips flutter over her cheek. Wilford’s eyes filled her vision, and she came back to the present with a soft, flustered gasp.

“I..I remember a little.” Nova replied. “You and I… at a Christmas party..?”

Wilford chuckled, his lips now leaving a more prominent kiss against her skin. “I was rough that night. I think I apologized” There was a new twinkle in his eyes. It sent hot shivers through Nova’s body.

“You were jealous.” Nova reminded him. And Wilford laughed again, playfully squeezing her hands as she smiled at him. “And there was no need to apologize…I really, really enjoyed it.” Wilford smiled broadly and lowered their hands to rest on the table. His thumb grazed over her skin in smooth, stroking patterns. The sensation reminded Nova of another memory. And it flourished under his smouldering gaze.

“I’m not going to lie, Wilford. This does confuse me a little.” Nova said. “What about… what happened this morning?” Wilford’s shimmering eyes dulled a little. He looked away. Staring over the café to the window and onto the street full of passing people.

“I don’t think I can ever forget her. But…I don’t want to forget you…again.” His fingers tightened around her hands as he spoke. “We’ll figure something out. But until then, lets finish our little date. I need to make up for lost time.” Nova chuckled, and this time brought his hands towards her to place a kiss on his fingers. And as she lowered them back down to the table; the waiter returned with their drinks. Settling them beside their intertwined fingers and smiling broadly.

“You two are just adorable. Please enjoy your date.” The waiter cooed, before wandering away. Nova couldn’t hold her smile. She removed one hand from Wilford’s and slid the drink closer to her.

“Are we going to become those obnoxiously cute couples? I’m very new to PDA, Wilford.” Nova said. A flush of memories of embarrassed cheek kisses and flustered sighs crossed her mind as Wilford winked at her.

“You’re already so sweet you make people’s teeth ache.” Wilford replied. Laughing when Nova whispered “oh no, don’t. That’s horrible” under her breath.

#Wilford Warfstache #Wilford x OC #Wilford x Nova #Original Character #not my oc #commission #commissioners character #Nova #Iplier Ego #Iplier ego commission #darkiplier #dark #dark ego #markiplier ego #markiplier character

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