What do the contestants of the Battle for Dream Island get up to whenever they... *aren't* doing that?
They've been going through this same old charade for *years* now. The competition is all they know. Most of their thoughts are about the battle; what's up next, what to do, how to handle themselves, their teammates, their opponents, and so on, and so forth. From sunrise to sunset, that's all they could bring themselves to focus on; every other thing is secondary, and will most likely be interrupted *just* as they get really into it. That's just the way of life, the rules of the universe: all good things get ruined in order to make way for all sorts of curveballs and conundrums.
But still, that doesn't meant that they're focusing *solely* on it *all* the time. As much as they just want to get it over with, as much as they want *somebody* winning (getting the prize for themselves would be nice, but unlikely) as soon as possible, the hosts seem more than content with letting quite a while pass in-between challenges, in-between episodes. That's... understandable. Despite having sole control over their lives, making them do all sorts of humiliating and excruciating activities for the sake of winning some prize that they'll most likely never get their hands on, they at least have *some* sense of empathy, some sense of compassion towards their subjects. If they were just gonna do everything all at once, odds are they'd all collapse and die from exhaustion. Having a little (or long, whatever) break, even though it clearly has an end, was a nice little gesture.
But whenever the contestants think about it for more than 2.763 seconds, whenever they're up for elimination, they can *really* feel that time slipping away. All those precious seconds disappearing before their very eyes, their finite (presumably) time in this universe growing shorter and shorter. All around them, the world keeps on spinning, the sun keeps on shining, and the wind keeps on blowing. Just because they aren't doing anything, doesn't mean that everything else is doing the same. Each and every moment is time wasted, time not spent catching up, missing out on all sorts of things going on throughout the world and beyond. Just *think* of all the things they could be doing instead of Battling for Dream Island! They aren't even fighting for that eponymous island anymore, for crying out loud. All these years spent towards something that will likely give them little to no joy, barely any payoff! They could be out there, exploring what else life has to offer, but they're staying put here instead, being fully at the mercy of the algebralians and the mysterious, enigmatic puppet masters that are the viewers and voters. Who even are they? And where? Why do they have such an interest in their lives? Why do they want them to fight? And *why* do they allow them to do all that? What kind of sick, twisted world is this? One where they have to constantly think about their each and every action, lest they incur the wrath of people and forces that they don't even get to see?
Long story short, distractions are *very* much in demand on this side of Goiky.
The go-to for most is hanging out with whoever is available: their friends, their teammates, someone unlucky enough to be in the vicinity when the feeling of boredom strikes. They could sit down and enjoy each other's company; with an additional person by your side, you're *far* less lucky to be preyed upon by others, wanting to take out their frustration by pushing people around and generally causing all sorts of chaos. They could talk about all sorts of things: how they feel about the weather, their team (or teams, depending on the circumstances), how they've been holding up, the latest gossip and rumors, or just *whatever* comes to mind at the time. Anything can be a good enough conversation topic, if you know enough words to keep it interesting.
But because the universe is a harsh, cruel place that seeks to do nothing but crush the hopes and dreams of all those that inhabit it, even being in the presence of people you like gets tiring *eventually*. Topics run out, things stretch on for too long, and that dreadful feeling of boredom begins to seep in once again. There's also the fact that the Battle for Dream Island still looms over them, still threatening them with a *very* bad time. Discussions can thus tend towards more uncomfortable topics, such as what'll happen to them if they get eliminated, all the friends they've lost to algebralian meddling, and the *extremely* unlikely odds that they'll be able to emerge from the Battle well enough, let alone their odds of actually winning. Not exactly good. And even if they do try to ignore it, if they continue throwing distractions at it, it's not like it just goes away when they stop looking at it.
