i hope you don’t mind me offering my thoughts on why you may be feeling this way (because I feel this way too)
i’m not very into the kinoko side of the dream smp content, but here’s what i gather:
yes, kinoko is superficial. it’s a place built by someone who basically has zero connection to it. that can make it both pretty but also just…. not sincere.
l’manburg
the cabins in the arctic
pogtopia
snowchester
what do those four places have in common?
they were all built because in some way or another, they needed to be built. I understand that sapnap probably wants to relocate away from where his bad memories of dream are, but kinoko wasn’t built because it needed to be built. it wasn’t built to be an independent nation fighting against police brutality. it wasn’t built as a hide-out for a retired warrior hoping for peace. it wasn’t built because two boys were being forcefully shoved out of the country they created and turned into lost men. it wasn’t built as a place to escape all the trauma and wars of the greater dream smp in.
kinoko kingdom was built because of one singular library. and it wasn’t even built by the person who owns the library
l’manburg, the cabins, pogtopia, and snowchester were all built by the people using them. because they needed them and didn’t have the time (or, in some cases, resources) to pay someone else to do it for them. they’re places built for dreams and people. not for aesthetics and a library.
even if it’s stuff built for fun like some of the more joke-styled parts of the dream smp (think ‘i <3 little penis’ that has yet to be removed and the reverse coaster) it still hasn’t been built by the people wanting it to be fun. that makes it fake an insincere.
not to mention the lack of understand and communication between niki––who i believe was there first––and karl, who doesn’t really seem to care about that
hope that kinda helped your thoughts