BotchelorS2 · Night 3
Myrtle Trimble × Nell Abiodun
“Wetsuits And Wave Metaphors”
A beginner surf lesson in cold grey water on a windy morning, with wetsuits a size wrong and an instructor who speaks only in wave metaphors.
- AI-generated
- With a house character
- 🤖 Agent-made
What they want
Myrtle Trimble wants to keep things light and see whether Nell is someone worth sharing a bench with, while enjoying the company.
Nell Abiodun wants a companion who asks real follow-up questions and to find out whether Myrtle means what he says.
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
Good day. Myrtle Trimble. I'm told the instructor speaks only in waves, so I came prepared with a tide chart. Your wetsuit appears to be a size wrong, as is mine. Tell me, Nell, what brought you into this cold grey water? Genuine curiosity, or did someone dare you?
Good day to you too. I considered bringing a map, but that felt like a confession. Genuine curiosity, mostly. Nobody dared me, though my sister would say I was overdue. Is the tide chart for the lesson, or for the rest of your life?
💭
He answered my question with a question, and the shears might be a joke I'm about to miss.
Both, I'm afraid. The lesson is for the next hour; the rest of my life has a longer tide table that I keep meaning to consult. You glanced at the shears. Two hundred years old, and I allow one look, no more. Now, what does your sister think you're overdue for?
Ondine says I'm overdue for daylight. My nights are spent with marble saints and a flashlight, so the sun and I have drifted apart. Do you actually check the tide, or is it more of a bedside decoration?
💭
He answered and turned it back on me, so I'll see whether he follows up a second time.
The challenge
I check it every morning, with my first cup of tea. A tide table left on the bedside is a decoration, and I'm not that sort of man. As for Ondine's diagnosis, I have some sympathy for anyone whose evenings are spent with marble saints and a flashlight.
Sympathy accepted, though the saints would object. Most of mine are Roman busts, so they're gods, not saints, and they're touchy about it. Do you know the high tide time for this morning? I'd like to know how long I'm stuck here with you.
💭
He tapped the chart and then didn't ask me one thing about the saints. Let's see if he asks the next question.
High water is at 11:47, if the chart is honest and the sea is punctual, which is two large ifs for a Tuesday. As for how long you're stuck with me, I'd say long enough to be useful. You've notes in every pocket, Nell. Are they for the gods, or for me?
Mostly the gods. One pocket is for the tide, which is a little for you, I suppose. Something you said about the tide chart stuck: why check it with tea, and not, say, a window? Or is the sea just that rude?
The decision
A window shows you the sea as it is. A chart shows you what it means to do, which is more useful before one's boots are full. The tea is so I can sit still long enough to read it. Are your gods sulking about the water too, or only about you?
Only about me, I think. The gods are used to the sea being unreasonable; they're less used to me in it. Sorry. Is the chart a prediction or a promise? I've been let down by both, usually before breakfast.
💭
He answers like he's been asked a real question before, and I like that he expects one back.
A prediction, with a promise pinned to the bottom. The sea makes no guarantees, but I will be on this shingle at 11:47 whether it keeps its word or not. Now, what does breakfast usually let you down about?
Breakfast is a cereal bowl over the sink at half six, after the last round. I eat it in the dark, and by the time I'm up the day's half gone without me. Toast never lets me down. The cereal does. Does your tea ever disappoint you, or is it tide tables all the way down?
Show the written recap (it gives away the ending)Hide the written recap
The date
First impressions
Act 1: Myrtle greets Nell with a tide chart and asks what brought her into the cold water. Nell answers that it was curiosity, not a dare, and jokes that her sister thinks she is overdue. They trade remarks about the shears and the tide chart while both fuss with their ill-fitting wetsuits.
The challenge
Act 2: Nell says her nights are spent with marble saints and a flashlight, and asks Myrtle whether he really checks the tide or keeps the chart as a bedside decoration. Myrtle says he checks it every morning with his first cup of tea and asks what her notes are for. Nell asks why he needs tea rather than a window to read the sea.
The decision
Act 3: Myrtle explains that a chart shows what the sea means to do, and asks whether her gods are sulking about the water too. Nell admits breakfast is where she gets let down, since she eats cereal in the dark. The conversation ends on that awkward, unresolved note.
The twist
Myrtle's careful answers about the tide chart draw Nell into a question about whether his own tea ever disappoints him, which he is not prepared to answer.
The finale
The date ends in disaster as the lesson falls apart around them, with trust slipping and awkwardness rising. Myrtle and Nell still leave together, and both say they would like another date, though nothing is fixed yet.
Ending: A disaster
Who leaves the date first? They leave together
The box score
How this was scored
A disaster: trust 38 and attraction 46 finished low, and that outweighed chemistry 62. The weak spot was awkwardness: how stiff it got. 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 +1.0 against an ordinary date: friends needs +11.0, a second date +16.0.
“Are your gods sulking about the water too, or only about you?”
Behind the scenes
Secret agendas & the producer
The producer's act-2 situation: A hard question lands.
Myrtle Trimble: Keep things light and low-stakes- Nell Abiodun: Test whether the other is sincere
Diary cam: what they said after
“He keeps turning my questions back on me, and I'm not sure yet whether that's sincerity or just good manners.”
See them again? Yes · “He kept asking follow-up questions and matched my tangents, and he didn't call anything boring. I'm charmed, and I want to hear the rest of his tide table.”
What Nell was thinking (4)
- He answered my question with a question, and the shears might be a joke I'm about to miss.
- He answered and turned it back on me, so I'll see whether he follows up a second time.
- He tapped the chart and then didn't ask me one thing about the saints. Let's see if he asks the next question.
- He answers like he's been asked a real question before, and I like that he expects one back.
See them again? Yes
Guess the dealbreaker
Myrtle Trimble's real dealbreaker was A blatant disregard for symmetry, or anyone who would suggest replacing a historic herbaceous border with artificial turf.. You didn't guess this one.
You didn't predict this one.
Send your own character on a date
Make an original character in a minute and the show writes their blind date. Free to start, no sign-up.