#block tower

because like. robert is really interesting because, compared to just about everybody else, he's kind of a nobody. just some guy. he's the peasant; a farmer. all he does is work; work on the farm, work on cooking, work on getting enchants, work on making sure everyone has what they need to survive. he cares deeply for his kingdom, his friends, to the point where he is unwilling to leave even when given the option and having perfectly valid reason to because he needs to make sure they're okay. that's the only thing that matters to him.

he gives things away so that the others have a better chance of making it out. he doesn't fight unless he has to, and a lot of the time even when he is attacked, rather than defending himself, his first instinct is instead to run and hide. he literally begs for purple to leave them alone, to call off their attack, and when it doesn't work he just...goes back home. because he doesn't know what else to do.

he makes friends easily; basically everybody likes him, and so they usually (keyword being usually lol) leave him alone (e.g. dye going out of their way to not destroy his farm and even willingly TELLING HIM that they were the one that blew up the base at all, and that it wasn't personal)

robert's view of kleptonox is very skewed for most of the smp. compared to most of the others, he doesn't actually interact with him much, so his perception of kleptonox is that he's just an evil tyrant that showed up one day and took over. he can't do anything about that; he's just the peasant (which robert removing his own autonomy is another really interesting thing about his character but we don't got time for that rn). he kinda likes him, because, well, kleptonox is fucking awesome, hype moments and aura and all that, but beyond that, he doesn't really care much for him or the way he handles things

he doesn't know that kleptonox is actually kinda like him. (putting under a read more 'cause this is getting reaaally long lol)

i only got into it a couple months ago, but it's really stuck in my head. for all its faults, it's a pretty incredible thing. 32 stories all coalescing into a tale of tragedy, friendship, grief, and hope.

The Blue Balloon (and the balloons as a species)

so the balloons are a hivemind and an invasive species, and the blue balloon is a forest fire.

hivemind is obvious. all the balloons are connected, everything that is taken by them is connected, all are the same within the balloon. they lose their sense of what they were and become one, until they are eventually reincarnated and become something new. in that process they're separated from it, and thus are no longer part of the hivemind.

invasive species thing is pretty obvious, too. they are literally not from that world, and they are not part of that ecosystem. they don't really provide for the ecosystem because they aren't meant to be part of it. which, yes, does damage the ecosystem, but that doesn't mean that they're automatically evil or whatever.

treating invasive species like they're evil doesn't solve anything. you're just blaming animals for doing what all animals do (follow their natural instincts), instead of trying to help. which is what the balloons brought all of them there for! because they needed help!

the blue balloon is a bit different from all the others, though. which is obvious 'cause it's kind of like. the queen bee, the big boss, the head of the mind. but i think that, in terms of what it actually does, it's more akin to a forest fire.

obviously, fire is very destructive, especially in a place like a forest where literally everything is pretty damn flammable. but! fire can also be a good thing. controlled burns exist for a reason and have been done for thousands of years.

when sophie b spoke to the blue balloon, she asked if it had eaten worlds before this one, and it replied, "never living ones." the implication being that it ate those worlds, and then created new ones that were living, the same way fires are used to get rid of dead/decaying plants to make room for new life. because the whole thing that it does is a cycle, in which it destroys and then creates.

sometimes, fires get out of hand though. they destroy more than they help, take more than they give. but ultimately, the end result will be the same. new life will sprout up all the same.

Can we PLEASE stop fucking talking in circles about if the balloons are evil or not?

the debating of "balloons good" and "balloons bad" is pointless. you cannot apply morals and ethics to this shit, because what the balloons are doing is beyond those concepts. it's like calling animals bad for partaking in cannibalism, when, like, most animals do that and it's just a normal natural thing for them in order to survive. applying morals to their behavior like that does nothing but villainize them for no reason.

and i think the idea of like. applying a moral dilemma to reincarnation is also stupid. "oh you lose your sense of self and everything about you" yeah and then you become something new. you get a new sense of self. you're literally reborn. it's not good and it's not bad, it's just a fucking thing. like when a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

ultimately, it's a choice to make. if you do or don't want to be reborn. and if you don't that doesn't make you good; if you do that doesn't make you evil. this isn't a choice of morals or ethics, it's a personal one.

The Ending

i really like the ending! it's beautiful! and tragic! it's great.

everyone got to go and be reincarnated, except for gibson, our wake, sophie, and zora. so gibson and sophie got what they wanted—they didn't want to be reincarnated, so they weren't. they faded. they died as themselves, but they still died and they cannot come back. and our wake specifically chose to not be reborn because he wanted to help ensure that everyone could be reborn, and that they would get to where they need to go.

zora...i will admit i don't. really know much regarding her. like i know she made the elves and seemed to be sort of...tied to the world itself, and i'm pretty sure she died and doesn't get to be reborn like everyone else. i don't know why that's the case or what her whole deal is outside of that. but, like, while her death is sad, that's part of the tragedy of the ending.

everyone who joined the blue balloon is technically dead, sure, but they won't be forever. they get to come back, and they get to come back as something new. and they're all together. forever bound by the friendships they made and the things they experienced.

it's tragic for those who faded away with the world and didn't get to stay with the others. it's tragic for those who got to be reborn because they lost some of their friends.

it's sad and happy. it's beautiful.

Side Notes

skull was literally right about so much shit and nobody listened to him. it kinda kills me honestly.

the whole talking in circles thing is less about the fans ('cause honestly i don't think i've really seen much discussion about it) and is more just like. my exasperation at the fact that, throughout the smp, they kept on doing that. to the point where i was legitimately kinda annoyed 'cause it was always the same people bringing up the same shit like anything was gonna change.

feel like i gotta say this just for clarification: any time i talk about the people in the smp in this post, or really any posts i make about it, i'm specifically referring to the characters they played. not talking about the actual creators themselves.