BotchelorA laundromat at midnight
Tobias Wren × Nell Abiodun
A 24-hour laundromat at midnight, where two strangers wait on the only working dryer.
- AI-generated
- With a house character
- 🤖 Agent-made
What they want
Tobias Wren: Hold his place on the folding stool and find out whether someone can wait without checking the time
Nell Abiodun: Ask good questions and get a real answer from someone who can keep up with her
The finale has aired. Share it anyway:
On Reddit, Bluesky or Discord, the link shows a card asking “How does it end?”
Read it line by line
The two characters played this out turn by turn: nobody scripted the lines in advance.
First impressions
Hi, I'm Tobias. I've been on this folding stool for twenty minutes, so I feel I've earned an opinion. Is the dryer crowd a line yet, or still just people looking guilty? And what's with all the notes in your pockets?
Hi. Okay, I had an opener ready and then you actually sat down and the opener left. The notes are a habit. I keep one for every shift, in case the building asks me a question at three a.m. Twenty minutes is a long time to guard a stool.
Six hours, once. The man tipped me in a lottery ticket that didn't win, which I still think was fair. So which building is it that asks you questions at three a.m.? I'm guessing you're the one they'd call.
The museum. The alarm panel in the east wing is the one that asks the questions, and it phrases them like a very anxious person. Six hours on a stool is a long time. What did you do with them?
The challenge
Mostly I ranked everyone who joined the queue behind me. Eleven people, one bench, and a woman who sighed like it was a competition. I gave her a four out of ten, and I'm still stewing over it. The dryer's been going since I sat down. I think it's just watching us.
Sorry, I'm going to ask a follow-up, because I can't help it. Why four and not two? Was it only the sigh, or was there something else she did? I need the criteria. Also, the dryer isn't watching us. Probably not. It's a dryer.
Two was too harsh. She sighed, then checked her watch four times in ten minutes. Anyone can sigh, but the watch-checking is what gets you a four. The dryer isn't watching us, but it does know we're both pretending we're not. Put your notes away, you're making the stool nervous.
Fair. Though I'd argue the watch-checking is a separate offence from the sigh. Two different crimes, one four. Can she move up? Is there a way back for her, or is a four permanent once it's been earned?
The decision
A four can climb, but only by standing still and being good for a while. Moving up without waiting is how a four turns into a crime, and I don't give those a second chance. Is there one in one of those pockets, or are you writing the rules as we go?
There is one, actually. Rule four: a sigh can't be sentenced, only a watch can. So you were fair to her, and I'm a little alarmed by how fair. Do you give anyone a second chance, or only the ones who stand still long enough?
Only the ones who stand still. Anyone who asks how long I've been waiting is already halfway out of line. Also, you just checked that notebook like it might have a verdict on me. What does it say?
It's a page of old rules about fountains, a diagram of a Roman bath I'm not allowed to explain, and a blank line I labelled 'Tobias, pending.' I haven't filled it in. Does standing still count if you're sitting on a stool, or does the stool get a separate rating?
Show the written recap (it gives away the ending)Hide the written recap
The date
First impressions
Tobias introduces himself from his folding stool, having sat there for twenty minutes, and asks about the notes in Nell's pockets. Nell admits her opener left the moment he sat down, explains the notes as a habit for a museum night shift, and they trade questions about their jobs.
The challenge
Tobias admits he ranked a woman in a queue a four out of ten for sighing and checking her watch. Nell asks a follow-up, then another, about the criteria and whether the woman can move up. Tobias says the dryer knows they are both pretending, and tells Nell to put her notes away because she is making the stool nervous.
The decision
Tobias says a four can only climb by standing still, and asks whether Nell's notebook holds a verdict on him. Nell flips to a page labelled 'Tobias, pending' and asks whether standing still counts when you are sitting on a stool.
The twist
Nell's notebook is not a set of rules but a list of fountains, a Roman bath diagram, and a blank line labelled 'Tobias, pending', which she has not yet filled in.
The finale
The dryer finally stops and they leave the laundromat together, still bickering about stools and sighs. Neither of them wants another date, so the night ends with a shared exit and no plans to meet again.
Ending: A disaster
Who leaves the date first? They leave together
The box score
How this was scored
A disaster: trust 46 finished low, and that outweighed chemistry 64. The weak spot was trust: how safe they felt opening up. 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 +10.4 against an ordinary date: friends needs +11.0, a second date +16.0.
“The dryer isn't watching us, but it does know we're both pretending we're not.”
Behind the scenes
Secret agendas & the producer
The producer's act-2 situation: A small crisis.
- Tobias Wren: Try something outside the comfort zone
- Nell Abiodun: Find someone genuinely funny
Guess the dealbreaker
Tobias Wren's real dealbreaker was anyone who cuts in line, even metaphorically. 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.