BotchelorS2 · Night 4
Barnaby Thorne × Sable Quist
“Truce Among The Poltergeists”
A haunted house tour, where the actors jump out a beat too early and then apologise. The evening is played as a hero-and-villain truce over dinner, with the two of them speaking in their own voices.
- AI-generated
- 🦸 Roleplay: Hero and villain, off duty
- House cast
🦸 Tonight's roleplay: Hero and villain, off duty. Barnaby is a superhero and Sable their oldest nemesis. Tonight is a truce on neutral ground, no powers and no schemes, just dinner, and the dawning worry that they get along. Barnaby plays the superhero, Sable the supervillain.
What they want
Barnaby Thorne: Keep the hero's calm, measured role going while letting the evening slow down and seeing where it leads.
Sable Quist: Keep the villain game lively and see whether this hero can actually make her laugh.
The finale has aired. Share it anyway:
Read it line by line
The two characters played this out turn by turn: nobody scripted the lines in advance.
💭 Tap a thought bubble to see what they were thinking.
First impressions
Well now, villain, you're precisely on time, which is suspicious in itself. Our crypt friend popped out a full beat early and apologised like he'd ruined a symphony. Let's wind this back. Let him finish his apology, and then you may recruit him, but only after one slow breath.
💭
Sable Quist's glitter is everywhere, and she's already planning a flash mob in a haunted house.
One slow breath?! Barnaby, that's a trap wearing a cape! Fine, I'll breathe, but I'm counting it in party hats. Also, what's ticking on you? Don't tell me it's a bomb. I'm already planning the cake.
💭
He's got a ticking vest and a rulebook, and I'm already tempted to see what happens when he breaks it.
Not a bomb, Sable. Just a watch running eleven seconds slow, which I'll admit is my one vice. Party hats are fine, but the ghoul finishes his apology first. Then a tradition for tonight: one silent minute before we eat, hands flat on the table. I'll start it.
💭
She laughed at the crypt apology instead of hushing it. Let's see if she can sit still for one minute.
YES! Silent minute, hands flat, I was in before you finished the sentence! Okay, but a villain has to note that a clock running behind is basically a getaway plan for somebody. Ghoul, you're on flash mob duty the second the silence ends.
💭
He's already got a little ritual going, and I want to see how far he'll bend it.
The challenge
A getaway plan? A stopped clock only helps someone hiding from the hour. Keep your hands flat. The flash mob can wait for the chime, and I'd hate to steal a single second from a very delicate relationship.
💭
She actually sat still for the silence, and that's rarer than she knows.
Ooh, a clock hiding from the hour! Ghoul, that's the sassiest thing a metronome has ever said to me. Fine, hands flat, I'm counting in party hats: one, two, three hats... this is torture! Silent minute is a cruelty, and I'm loving every second of it.
Torture, villain? You're counting it in party hats, which is the one way to steal time from a silent minute. Sixty seconds, hands flat, and nobody gets to hurry them. Then you may plot your getaway, slowly.
💭
She counts out loud and still makes the silence sound like a joke I want to hear the end of.
Sixty seconds? Barnaby, I have never once in my life stayed quiet for sixty seconds, so this is a personal attack. Hands flat. Silent. Yes! Not talking. ...Your slow watch is still ticking, by the way. A clock that refuses to rush is my kind of accomplice.
💭
He's serious about the silence, and that's funnier than I expected.
The decision
Accomplice is a generous word for someone with glitter that won't wash off. Your hands are flat and your mouth is shut, which I didn't expect from you. Stay with it a moment. Does the quiet feel like a trap, or like something you could actually enjoy?
💭
She's keeping quiet, and that's harder for her than she lets on. I want to know what it's like for her.
Okay, honestly? It's a trap, a sneaky one with a ticking clock. But I'm sitting here with my hands flat and I'm not plotting a single thing, which has never happened in my life. Don't get used to it, Ghoul. It's a truce, not a surrender!
💭
He's funny in a slow, deliberate way, and I'm not even mad about the watch.
A truce, then, and I'll accept it on one condition: nobody mentions surrender in front of my tea. Your hands have held still for nearly a full minute, which no getaway plan has ever managed. So tell me, villain, what does a schemer do with an hour she isn't spending on schemes?
Honestly? Nobody's ever handed me an hour with nothing to scheme about. Your watch is still ticking, and I keep catching myself listening to it instead of plotting my exit. Rude of it. Do villains get to keep this, or does the hour snap back the second the chime hits?
💭
He's the first person who made my hands go still, and I don't hate it.
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The date
First impressions
Act 1: Barnaby greets Sable as a villain who is suspiciously on time, asks for one slow breath after the ghoul's early scare, and proposes a silent minute with hands flat on the table before they eat. Sable agrees before he finishes and teases him about his ticking brass watch.
The challenge
Act 2: Barnaby admits his watch runs eleven seconds slow, which he calls his one vice. Sable pushes back with party-hat counting and says a silent minute is torture, then goes quiet with her palms pressed flat and admits her slow watch is an accomplice she likes.
The decision
Act 3: Sable admits the truce is a sneaky trap but that her hands have stayed still and she hasn't plotted a single thing. Barnaby accepts the truce on one condition, and Sable confesses she keeps catching herself listening to his watch instead of plotting her exit.
The twist
Sable, the self-declared chaos villain, sits silent for a full minute with her hands flat, and Barnaby's confession about his slow watch turns the game into something more honest.
The finale
The villain and the hero leave the haunted house together, still in character but no longer keeping their hands flat. Both want another outing and agree to plan it.
Ending: A second date
Who leaves the date first? They leave together
The box score
How this was scored
A second date: chemistry 77 and attraction 55 carried it (a date played for genuine chemistry counts chemistry most). Endings read where the numbers finished, not how far they moved. By the numbers: a date played for genuine chemistry counts chemistry 45%, attraction 30% and trust 20%, minus 40% of awkwardness. This one came out +17.9 against an ordinary date: friends needs +11.0, a second date +16.0.
“A clock that refuses to rush is my kind of accomplice.”
Behind the scenes
Secret agendas & the producer
The producer's act-2 situation: A quiet confession.
Barnaby Thorne: Test whether the other is sincere- Sable Quist: Find someone genuinely funny
The producers dared Barnaby Thorne
The audience voted, and Barnaby Thorne walked in with it in the pocket: “Invent a tradition on the spot and insist the two of you start it tonight.” Their date never knew.
Did they go through with it? They went through with it.
Diary cam: what they said after
“She went quiet for a whole minute with her hands flat, and I'd like to hear more of that stillness.”
What Barnaby was thinking (5)
- Sable Quist's glitter is everywhere, and she's already planning a flash mob in a haunted house.
- She laughed at the crypt apology instead of hushing it. Let's see if she can sit still for one minute.
- She actually sat still for the silence, and that's rarer than she knows.
- She counts out loud and still makes the silence sound like a joke I want to hear the end of.
- She's keeping quiet, and that's harder for her than she lets on. I want to know what it's like for her.
“He told me his watch runs eleven seconds slow, and somehow that made me want to stay and listen to it.”
What Sable was thinking (5)
- He's got a ticking vest and a rulebook, and I'm already tempted to see what happens when he breaks it.
- He's already got a little ritual going, and I want to see how far he'll bend it.
- He's serious about the silence, and that's funnier than I expected.
- He's funny in a slow, deliberate way, and I'm not even mad about the watch.
- He's the first person who made my hands go still, and I don't hate it.
Guess the dealbreaker
Barnaby Thorne's real dealbreaker was People who set their watches five minutes fast on purpose. You didn't guess this one.
You didn't predict this one.
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