Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, it’s Slanted Fish with a few bits of news, most relating to the new Home Island in one way or another. Let’s pop in and see!

First, the countlessly redesigned Home Island has now rolled out its latest update to all players, so you can find it the next time you log in.

Comparison: Home Island 2020 (top) vs 2021 (bottom), by Capax infini

In case you missed it, check out our Home Island Guide for the lowdown on the side-quest featuring Xavier the self-statue-stealer!

There’s something else new to this Home update, though: carts on the side. Left of the new store building, you’ll find either a pet cart (which takes you to the pet shop interface) or Herc’s snack truck manned by Aeolus, keeper of the winds, who apparently owes Zeus money. Accepting the god’s offer of a bite will take you to Mythology Island.

You’ve seen Adventure Outfitters, the rebranded store building, but it’s not just about the treasure chest aesthetic on the outside. It’s going to get a shiny new interior too! Check out the sneak peeks from the Creators’ Blog (peep the ice skull from the old Pathfinders tribe common room, as well as displays of the reversible octopus and more):

Plus, it’s the start of another week, which means another store rotation! In addition to stuff featured last week, we have a new Prom Princess costume and several more suit-ups. The Creators also really emphasized that tons of stuff is available for non-members this time (11 out of 14 costumes!), which is quite the improvement from before.

Last but not least, this past Monday, March 8 was International Women’s Day! To celebrate, the Pop Creators posted a tribute to our girl Amelia, whom you might know from Home Island (one of the constants in all its remodels). She’s based on a real life icon: Amelia Earhart, the first female to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean back in 1932.

In 1932, Amelia flew the ocean blue; in 2015, she landed on Home Island green.

We have Amelia be the first person everyone meets in Poptropica because she was a true adventurer! She was smart, capable, brave, and willing to try things no one had ever done before.
Poptropica Creators’ Blog (read more)

Of course, Amelia is far from the only woman worth celebrating in Poptropica! Here are a few pieces of fan art from the community of various iconic, female-identifying Poptropicans:

Considering the world’s male-dominated past (and sometimes present), it’s especially important to highlight the achievements and capabilities of women. For all the girls out there, you’re capable of greatness! Let us all take notice, regardless of our gender. 💃🏽💪

That’s it for this post. Share your thoughts in the comments and on the PHC. As always, keep on popping on!

~🐠

Guest Posts, My Dream Island

My Dream Island: Opposites Island by Noisy Snowball 🦋

March 9, 2021March 10, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Noisy Snowball (Inking 5). Enjoy!

Hey there! This is Noisy Snowball talking! This is my first guest post, and I’m super excited to share my dream island idea!

First, here’s how I got my idea: One day I was in online school, thinking about stuff. I had the concept of the butterfly effect on my mind, and Poptropica in my brain as well. The butterfly effect is the idea that a small change can result in larger differences later.

Anyway, I had a thought. Why not make an island using the butterfly effect as the main gimmick? It was perfect! I started writing as soon as I could. I call it: Opposites Island!

Plot

The player starts at what seems to be the ending of the island. You’ve managed to stop a scientist who was going to steal a dimensional travel machine. However, before everyone can celebrate, a portal sucks you away…

You wake up in a destroyed version of the island you just saved, and after walking, you spot another version of yourself! This other version of you says that the villain has managed to steal the device — while causing a lot of destruction, which didn’t happen in the original dimension. You agree to help this version of yourself stop the villain.

Soon you both notice that there are two versions of the villain, who seem to have teamed up, are switching between dimensions. Now, you and your double must solve puzzles and platforms to stop the villains!

Plane to See: Sometimes a simple machine isn’t too simple.

Near the end of the island, there would be a final boss fight, where you and your double must stop the teamed-up villains. Afterwards, both versions of the villain would be captured, both you and your double would get a medal, and you would say goodbye to your double.

The double trouble gimmick

The main gimmick with this island is that both versions of you would act in opposite of each other. For example, if you pushed a box to the right on the not-destroyed island, the box would be instead on the left for the destroyed island. Everything would be in reverse, and you would have to use that as an advantage to solve puzzles.

Do Not Enter: Why doesn’t anybody ever pay attention to the signs?

This island would really show how a simple choice can really change things, and how to look at things and imagine how things could have gone differently. That’s the butterfly effect!

That wraps up my dream island concept! This is Noisy Snowball, guest writer, signing off!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Noisy Snowball (Inking 5). If you did, you might also enjoy other posts in our My Dream Island series, such as the winning, upcoming Secret of the Jade Scarab Island by Girl Power/Lyndsey. And consider sharing yours!

The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you! 📰✨

Guest Posts, Popspiracy Theories

Popspiracy: What happens to Poptropica villains after “the end”? 🦹‍♂️

March 7, 2021March 5, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by White Fox. Enjoy!

Hi! I am White Fox, and this is my first time writing on the Poptropica Help Blog. I want to write about the Poptropica villains—more specifically, what happens to them after you defeat them at the end of an island adventure?

Whatever happened to the Binary Bard, for example, after he had to give up the princess? Did he just float around in space? Enjoy my theories, and do share yours in the comments!

Dr. Hare meets space aliens?

You destroy his Rabbot, and he flies off to space. Then what? Well, he happens to land on Pewter Moon.

He runs into the aliens, thinking they know him because he is such a popular villain (blah, blah, blah)… but they don’t recognize him. One alien tells Hare to talk to their boss. The alien boss freaks out, and accuses the mighty Dr. Hare of being the Binary Bard in disguise. The who-what now?

Hare steals a spaceship (because that is his specialty) and takes off to another galaxy. The door to the next universe closes behind him, and he is stuck on the roof of an obsidian castle.

Binary Bard in a Hare-y situation

You defeat him, take the princess, take the medallion, ya go home. Right? Well, you never actually got rid of the Binary Bard…

When you had to defeat him, he was in a robot suit. After you destroyed his robot suit, he became weak. That ball on his robot was his power force. Too bad he didn’t have someone to help him repair it…

Turns out, being a genius, Dr. Hare could help! Can you believe the guy was watching you solve the problem on the door and fight the Bard? He went inside and saw another weak, evil villain (ahem, that is, a weak villain… Dr. Hare wasn’t weak. *cough* as if *cough*). The Bard told him he could have half of the universe if he helped him.

So, after the robot suit was repaired, and they were just about to split their kingship, poof! They ended up at Erewhon Prison for Super Villains. No one quite knows how they got captured and sent there, but most are glad it happened.

El Mustachio Grande’s gang’s got his back

This Wild West villain was a handful, but eventually you got him back in prison. Thing is, as soon as you take the medallion and ride on outta this island, the trouble begins…

You got him in the iron pen, but what about his gang, y’all? They broke in here once. Y’all were warned, right? The gangster said, and I quote: “Nothing can stop the Grande Gang!”

Well, the guard was on his lunch break, the Marshal was outta town, and Mustachio had his smoke bombs (and real ones, because that is how he is). So he dropped the smoke signal for: “Get your tushes on your horses and get down here!” The gang broke him out of prison and headed straight for the train, ready to ambush it again.

Lucky for the regular people, your trusty sidekick Annie Oakley was ridin’ on the train, right down to Dos Cactos. (Oh, I’m sorry, Oakley… I mean the superior friend Annie Oakley. Please put down your spud gun!) Anyway, she managed to shoot them down, but they rode away before she could call the Marshal (you) on ’em.

Heading for the casino in Dos Cactos, the gang happened to run into some lost cattle. Since the gang is not as nice as you are, they didn’t really try to herd them back to the ranch. Once they got to the casino, they were challenged to a shooting contest. They shot down all the targets against everyone. Then they had to face off against Annie Oakley—and no one’s a match for Oakley!

They did not bother her again. She turned them in, but the Pop Police decided they’d better be sent to Erewhon Prison.

Black Widow’s revenge

The Black Widow was a relentless, ruthless villain whose specialty was stealing art and selling it for money.

You were trying to stop her at the same time when a friend-who-you-thought-was-a-traitor-who-turned-out-to-be-a-friend will beg you to stop her before she destroys a million dollars worth of art. Oof. Tough crowd. Well, when you team up, everyone assumes she is done for. You knocked her out. The end. But do you really ever stop her?

Apparently, she hasn’t had her revenge quite yet. Since you have left the island, she plans to get back at the curator for ruining her plans. Her disguise won’t work anymore. But if she could just learn the secrets of where all the art is…

She managed to customize from the assistant curator. Now she looked just like him! In her disguise, she talked to the curator to find out where the art was. But being a smart old lady, the curator noticed something suspicious. She told the Black Widow that she had forgotten what a painting was called and pointed to “The Starry Night,” by Vincent van Gogh. The Black Widow didn’t know the names of art! She just knew how much she could sell it for! She was caught and sent to Erewhon.

That’s all for this post! Share in the comments your theories, plus what villains you would like to hear about next.

Peace,
White Fox

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by White Fox. If you did, you might also enjoy another Popspiracy guest post that looks at the reverse side: Speculations on Villain Backstories.

Home Island, Store

Current mood: cloudy with a chance of reversible octopus 🌥

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, it’s Slanted Fish here with a store update!

Not all of the items are pictured below, as most are already familiar from previous store rotations. But we also have a few new things in the mix:

In pranks, there’s a new Leprechaun Wand, which pairs well with the returning Leprechaun costume for St. Patrick’s Day this month. 🍀

Among the miscellaneous items, we find a new toy: the Reversible Octopus. It’s a handheld item, and when you press space bar, it flips to one of its two modes, angry red or happy yellow! 🐙

And in honor of Wild West being our Island Flash-back this month, I present to you my Poptropica pet kitty: El Mustachio Venti.

And in powers, you can now find Mood Clouds, which also comes in two modes: cheery white or melancholic gray. Whichever cloud you pick, it follows you above your head. (There’s me with a floating cloud on the new SpongeBob Island — stay tuned for that update!)

Also, over on Home Island (the snowy version), I discovered a stage with arcade games. Talking to the character standing by will allow you to choose to go to the actual arcade, although the Blast-off Arcade is still on Home Island. But perhaps this is being tested for the new Home Island, which doesn’t have the arcade building? 🤔

Anyway, you unfortunately don’t get to play “Tight Shot” and “Rumble Quake” (which seem to be art from PoptropiCon), and “Bot Breaker” comes from American Girl: Courtney’s Island, a former ad space. Just the usual arcade games in the arcade!

That’s it for this post. Keep on popping on, Poptropicans! ✌️

~🐠

Arabian Nights Island, Guest Posts

Different POV: The Sultan is exposed 👳🏽‍♂️

March 3, 2021February 23, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Emu, who will be offering a different point of view on a Poptropica story: who is the real villain in Arabian Nights Island? ‘Cause that Sultan is looking real suspicious. Enjoy!

Welcome to my first DPOV (or “deepawv” in my Southern accent)! This series takes a look at Poptropica plots and characters from a less heard of, non-traditional, different point of view.

Today we’ll be looking at Arabian Nights, a Poptropica tale where (spoilers) Samhal the genie and Scheherazade the princess-turned-thief are often thought of as the villains. But now, let’s turn the tables!

He’s just a poor mixed up s̶o̶u̶l̶ er, genie.

We’re going to look more closely at the Sultan. Now, I know many Pop fans have confirmed that the Sultan is a bad man, but oh, he’s a BAD bad man. Let’s get started. 🧐 Remember this diary entry from Scheherazade before she ran away from home?

So, after reading that, you can obviously tell that the Sultan has a HUGE greed problem. 😂 He has quite the obsession problem also. Plus I gotta say, it’s pretty shady of him to let his daughter get almost kidnapped while he was caught up with finding out the name of a little green man.

Plus… HIS. POOR. WIFE. She must’ve gone through so much! She looks sooooo done with this in the family portraits! We never find out what happened to her, but I mean it’s reasonable to assume she just left! Sad.

Don’t hate me for what I’m about to say.

Here’s my take—get ready for it—I don’t think Samhal is bad. Are you glaring at that sentence? I get it, but here’s why I think the opposite.

The Sultan was an insanely greedy, self-centered, inconsiderate man, and I do believe that he bribed Samhal into dealing with him. Of course, by nature of his being, the genie did have no choice. We will never know what Samhal was like before the Sultan obsessed over tracking down this genie, and put his family on the line just to grow wealthy with his help. Besides, I think it’s pretty sad that even after the Sultan’s wife probably left, he still wasn’t scared of losing his daughter.