It was yet another perfectly ordinary day in the land of Goiky.
The Battle for Dream Island was still going strong, just as it had always been for the past few years, and the contestants were relishing what little time they could get before the host suddenly showed up out of nowhere once again and forced them into another cycle of pain and misery. Whenever the cameras weren't rolling, whenever there wasn't the fear of Cake at Stake, the contestants could still squeeze *some* joy out of their little lives, entertaining themselves however they could so that they could prepare themselves mentally for whatever else may lie up ahead. Even if it ultimately amounts to nothing in the end (like it always does), it still felt nice to *try*, to act as if they had some say, some capacity to act against this harsh and cruel world.
After all, what else were they gonna do with their lives? What're they supposed to do, enjoy the great, wide world that was out there? Don't be ridiculous. Anyone that's given the wider ramifications and possibilities of the universe (ie. Golf Ball and her *associate*) ultimately end up sad, miserable, and completely insufferable. Think about all the ins and outs of the world, the hows and whys of the many improbable scenarios, for any more than 2.763 seconds, and you're bound to go mad. And doing *that* on top of all the other worries one has as a contestant of the Battle for Dream Island? That's just asking for trouble. There's absolutely no incentive, none at all, to wonder about the many mysteries of the competition. No reason to ask why they've been so enthusiastic to fight over something for all these years, why they've remained that way despite nobody seemingly winning anything, why their ultimate fate rests on the hands of capricious, soulless voters that have them do the most ill-advised, incredulous nonsense the world has ever seen. Things were fine. Things were *great*. There was absolutely nothing to worry about, and that was the end of that discussion.
Coiny was one of the many, *many* contestants that subscribed to that particular line of thinking. A long-standing veteran of the Battle for Dream Island, he's gone through both the best and worst of things, endured so much so heavily, and thus developed a knowledge of all the tricks of the trade. He may not be the strongest, he may not be the smartest, and he *definitely* isn't the speediest, but at the very least he was... *okay* in all three, and plenty more. He knew full well that his odds of winning something, *anything*, weren't all too high, but he knew that the real prize is the friends he's made along the way, the interactions that he otherwise would've never had.
But there were some, especially those in his team, that... *disagreed* with that mindset. There were those that, despite all their experiences, everything they've seen unfold before their very eyes, still take this whole thing a *bit* too seriously. Those that think contestants should take a bit more initiative, should put their best foot forward, and should stop squabbling and rambling if they were to go *anywhere* in life, not just in the BFDI.
The arguments always transpired in the same way. Coiny and his team would be recovering just after one of the challenges; maybe they won, maybe they lost, maybe they were just middling. Then *she* would show up; Pin would walk on over to him, despite absolutely *nothing* pressuring her to do so, and would waste her life yelling down his neck over all the ways he and everyone else did things wrong, messed things up, and how they could fare better the next time around. He'd tell her to chill out, she'd tell him to start acting serious, they'd argue, they'd potentially rope others in, things would get ugly...
*Ugh*.
Coiny thought plenty about the day he made that great mistake: the day in which she coerced her into switching to his team. Really, what was he *thinking*? They just didn't work well together. Not even close. He was a silly goofball, and she was a dictatorial tyrant. It doesn't take someone as smart as Golf Ball to recognize that this was a recipe for disaster. Did he just want to go somewhere in life? Thought that *maybe* a taste of the other side could bring him to a more balanced standing? Well, if *this* was what it took to become this big, heroic leader, then he didn't want any part of it. That pinhead has ruined almost every single facet of his life, infected it with such a potent, atrocious rot that threatened to turn him into a total wreck. Instead of just thinking about how best to spend his time, to enjoy his day, he has to think about all these *other* things too. Was he doing alright? Was his team doing alright? How were they holding up? Were they working well together? Were they *not*? Why? Why not? How could they best address this? How could they do better going forward? This and 2,763 other questions constantly bounced around his head, giving him a migraine that only got stronger the harder he tried to ignore it.
