Ada Potter

When I was in late elementary school at the height of the early 2010s, I was absolutely obsessed with Minecraft, the explosive game, literally and figuratively, that allows users to create their own worlds using blocks of different materials. More specifically, I was obsessed with British Minecraft YouTubers. Not the American ones, with their flat, unsophisticated accents. Just the British ones, who incessantly discussed their affinity for a “cup of tea” and used words like “rubbish” and “cheeky.”

Okay, fine, I’ll get more specific. I was particularly enamoured by the creator Stampylonghead, an illustrious, curly-haired, awkward but adorable young man who uploaded hours of content for his flagship YouTube series “Stampy’s Lovely World.” This series revolved around Stampy’s adventures within his world: expanding his house, building shops and theme park rides. All the while, Stampy was helped along by his animal sidekicks and threatened by the occasional attack from his archnemesis, Hit the Target. Stampy would prance around his Lovely World as an orange-haired feline. He began every episode by running onto the balcony of his Minecraft home with views of the water below and the magnificent hillside beyond. Stampy started every video with precisely the same intonation.

“Hello!” he would chortle in his high-pitched, adorable accent. “This … is … Stampy, and welcome … to Stampy’s Lovely World.”

Stampy would then make his way back inside his bedroom to eat his breakfast, a giant cake, before greeting his dog Barnaby, who would follow Stampy around the pixelated world for the day’s adventures. Nearly every day after school, I would come home, complete my homework and eagerly refresh my YouTube page awaiting Stampy’s next video. (Stampy recorded multiple high quality videos every week, a rate of content that in retrospect sounds very hard to pull off.) Eventually, I found my way towards American Minecraft YouTubers, but it was never the same. Their accents didn’t have the same spark to my young brain. So, I stuck to the classics I was comfortable with.

What amazed me about Stampy’s content was his boundless energy and enthusiasm. He created bouncy castles, hospitals and roller coasters, all with sharp, witty commentary and his absolutely hilarious laugh. Sometimes, he would invite his friends IBallisticSquid and his then-girlfriend Sqaishey Quack to play along. Watching them giggle their way as the sun set and attack “googlies” (Stampy’s special name for Minecraft’s famous monsters) made me feel like I was a part of their little world, away from the trials and tribulations of the elementary school playground. In his world, anything was possible. You could do literally whatever you wanted. But at the same time, Stampy would guide his character with a steady hand through thoughtfully-constructed quests that felt secure and safe, even as they were adventurous. The whole experience felt like a big hug from a close friend.

Maybe Stampy’s world was too comfortable, too isolating from the outside world. It let you forget who you were and supplant it with the thoughts and actions of another, a gifted leader who was always the best version of themselves. But at the same time, Stampy’s world gave me inspiration to think creatively about my own passions. I started my own Minecraft world in which I built houses for all my friends, a town with everything you would need and Minecraft tracks to stitch the world together. And, coming as no surprise to those who know me, I filled my shores with a copious number of lighthouses. I told my parents, with the utmost confidence, that when I grew up I would become a Minecraft YouTuber. After all, what could be better than living your best life and getting paid for it with YouTube ad revenue?

As I grew older, I slowly drifted apart from Stampy and his crew. I began to think I was a little too old for them and that my dreams of internet stardom were becoming quite silly. But thinking back, maybe I should have kept Stampy around. His boundless optimism brimmed with curiosity, experimentation and wonder: qualities sorely lacking in the grown-up but emotionally tormented world of middle school.

There is no shame in loving the world of British Minecraft YouTubers. Stampy’s Lovely World was, and still is, beautiful, timeless and shameless. The blocks of the game built temples to idealism, only attacked by the mobs of googlies that swarmed the world at nightfall.

Andy Robinson is a member of the Class of 2027.