Category: Guest Posts

Guest posts are blog posts that are written by Poptropicans who are not staff writers on the PHB team at the time of writing. Interested in contributing? Check out our “Write for the PHB” guide under the Contact tab up top.

Fanfiction, Guest Posts

Fanfic: The Witch’s Heart, Part 5/6 🧙‍♀️

Slanted Fish

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

It’s been a while, but we’re almost there! Let’s do a quick recap from where we left off: The members of the royal castle seem to be mind controlled. Together with Alouette the young witch, Pearl, and another dragon, we finally arrive at the throne room and come face to face with Rumpelstiltskin. So where will this go next? Only one way to find out…

(Missed the earlier parts of the story? Find Part 1 here!)

The WHITE DRAGON hisses at RUMPEL, clearly not happy to see him. RUMPEL looks down at the trio from his throne.

RUMPEL

I see you’re trying to play hero again. 

ALOUETTE

Says the one who decided to abuse dragons. 

RUMPEL gets up from his throne, revealing a giant crystal behind him. 

RUMPEL

I’ve been using this crystal to bring these beautiful little winged lizards to me so I can harvest their scales and use them to transform everyone on this island into my minions. That Queen won’t have things her way anymore. Once she comes back, I’ll get my revenge on her with my new army! 

RUMPEL snaps his fingers, summoning some of the mind-controlled royal guards to his side. 

RUMPEL

I said the entire island, didn’t I? Luckily for you, that includes you too… minions! Get her!

The mind-controlled royal guards charge forward to attack, but ALOUETTE quickly dodges their attacks by launching herself in the air, summoning her broom, and riding on it.

ALOUETTE

Ha! Can’t get me when I’m up here! Unless they have crossbows and throwing spears…

ALOUETTE starts attacking the guards from the sky, firing different spells at them. The guards, who only had swords and short-ranged weapons, don’t stand a chance against her.

RUMPEL watches his minions being defeated one by one, not impressed with their performance. He grabs the defeated minions and throws them out of the throne room. 

RUMPEL

Guess they were too easy for you. Maybe this will be a challenge, witchlet.

He summons three orbs that chase after ALOUETTE, all of them barely missing her. ALOUETTE starts flying towards the crystal, barely dodging all of the attacks. The WHITE DRAGON and PEARL watch the battle, scared.

ALOUETTE

Rumpel’s crystal is really, really, big. I can’t destroy it with a single spell. 

ALOUETTE fires a laser beam from her wand, damaging the crystal and leaving small cracks across it. She circles around the crystal, spreading the cracks further.

RUMPEL fires another purple blast, knocking ALOUETTE off her broom. She lands on the ground, facing RUMPEL.

RUMPEL

Still trying to play hero? You will never defeat me, not this ti—

RUMPEL is cut off by the sound of wings flapping nearby. The WHITE DRAGON flies around the crystal, firing a fireball at it and spreading the cracks further. The crystal shatters, sending smoke and crystal shards flying everywhere. ALOUETTE casts a shield spell around herself for protection.

When the smoke clears, the guards seem to return to their senses, no longer mind-controlled. However, RUMPEL is nowhere to be seen…

Crystal Caves: Untold riches await, for those who dare.

At least Fairytale Island is safe again! Rumpel may still be on the run, but if his last visit on the Baron’s airship is any indicator, maybe he isn’t the villain? Make sure to tune in when the final part of The Witch’s Heart drops on the PHB! 

The Witch’s Heart is a short story from the universe of Storm’s Calamity, which is available to read on Tumblr and Quotev. Besides these stories, I’ve also been writing other fanfics on Quotev — Subnautica fans may want to check that out, too.

Also, I’m planning another short fanfic series similar to The Witch’s Heart, diving into the origins of another character from Storm’s Calamity. Who will the lucky character be? That’s for another time… 

Heart out!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by HeartOfEnder. If you did, you might also enjoy her Pop Worlds house tour and intro of her Popsonas.

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

Pop Puzzles: What’s Missing? Round 5 Answers 🔑

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Dizzy Feather. Enjoy!

Brony: Don’t say no, here we go, off across the plain.

Hello everyone, Dizzy Feather here with the answers to round five of “What’s Missing?”, a Pop puzzle where I obscured items from in-game scenes for you to guess “what’s missing.” If you missed it, play the game on the original post before scrolling down for spoilers!

Shout-out to Meloetta Got Heart, Smart Icicle, and Young Rider for getting the majority correct, and Silver Sword for getting them all! Anyway, here are the answers:

1. Microphone
2. Pencil
3. Moon
4. Balloon Boy
5. Ice Cream
6. Laptop
7. Die
8. Bottled Drink
9. Radio
10. Trash Can

Hope you enjoyed this PoptropiCon, Ep. 2 puzzle! Stay tuned for the next one — it’ll be based on the Zomberry Hero special event!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Dizzy Feather. If you did, you might also enjoy previous rounds of “What’s Missing?”: Rounds 1, 2, 3, and 4.

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

Pop Puzzles: What’s Missing? Round 5 🧐

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Dizzy Feather. Enjoy!

Brony: Don’t say no, here we go, off across the plain.

Hello everyone, Dizzy Feather here with round five of “What’s Missing?” Here’s how the game works:

I’ll show you screenshots from Poptropica with a detail covered up, and you try to guess what the missing piece is. Leave your guesses in the comments of this post, and in about a week I’ll share the answers and shout out those who got any of them correct! A couple of rules:

  • No cheating! Don’t go in-game to the area shown to find the answers, and don’t copy someone else’s answers (best not to look before sharing yours). Not only would that be cheating others, but you’ll be taking the fun away from yourself!
  • Have fun! It’s just a game. Don’t pressure yourself to get them all.

Now that we’ve got that down, let’s start this PoptropiCon Island, Ep. 2 edition puzzle! You may need to click on images to view them in full.

1. Loud and proud. 
M _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
2. It’s the write choice.
P_ _ _ _ _ _
3. Full, new, waxing, waning, crescent.
M _ _ _
4. He hasn’t come down yet. 
B _ _ _ _ _ _  B _ _
5. It’s going to melt.
I _ _   C _ _ _ _
6. Tech that touches your legs.
L _ _ _ _ _ 
7. You’ll need one or two for certain board games. 
D _ _
8. Perfect for on the go, and you can recycle it. 
B _ _ _ _ _ _  D _ _ _ _
9. Listen to it.
R _ _ _ _
10. Don’t be a litterbug.
T _ _ _ _  C _ _

So what’s missing? Share your guesses in the comments, and if you’re right, I’ll mention you when I reveal the answers. Good luck!

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Dizzy Feather. If you did, you might also enjoy previous rounds of “What’s Missing?”: Round 1, 2, 3 and 4.

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: Bird Boy and the Dream Machine

Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Silver Sword. Enjoy!

Heya, Poptropicans, it’s Silver Sword! Been a while, huh? Last time I shared on the blog, it was in February of 2020! However, this post isn’t about me. This time, I wanna bring up a Poptropica-related theory.

At the end of the revised Monster Carnival Island, Edgar says the next destination for the carnival is Super Villain Island. The same island where four of Poptropica’s most infamous villains were being kept in sleeping chambers. Why on Earth would the carnies be heading there?

Besides the apparent subtext that Bird Boy is caged to be shipped off to the prison at Super Villain, could something else be going on?

Then it hit me: the dream machine. Even though it was partially destroyed at the end of the main island quest, it was still functional. (Spoiler: That’s actually how Zeus was able to be contained in the first place!) There could be parts left over from that machine that would be of use to Bird Boy, aka Ringmaster Raven.

And Raven would be interested because he too has a machine that can control minds. And unlike the machine on Super Villain, I don’t think the one from the circus out of commission just yet. Taken apart for travel, maybe, but not damaged like the dream machine from the prison has been. And with both machines being mind-control related, at least some pieces from each machine might fit together.

You may have convinced Bird Boy to become your friend, but he may still have his original viewpoint on the rest of Poptropica…

I hope you guys enjoyed my little Popspiracy theory. It’s not too far-fetched once you look at the evidence, and having Super Villain Island return would be divine — it’s one of my three all-time favorite islands, tied with Night Watch Island and Virus Hunter Island. 

Slash on, Poptropicans! 

– Silver Sword

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Silver Sword. If you did, you might also enjoy his My Place in Poptropica story.

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: The Baron’s Backstory, Part II

Slanted Fish

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

Heart here! Now when I wrote my Popspiracy on the Baron’s backstory, I wasn’t planning on doing a part two to the theory. However, Red October and the reveal of the Red Queen brought new lore with even more questions, so here we are. Reminder: This is all guesswork gathered from what we know — it’s not canon to Poptropica (yet?).

The Seven Systems, the Resistance, and Astro Knights?

Let’s start with the seven systems. The dark knights guarding the airship mention that the great Red Queen conquered the seven systems, but what even are they? From the Queen’s own words, they seem to be planets in outer space.

But why is there a resistance in the first place? Maybe the seven planets didn’t want to be conquered by the Queen. While conquest can introduce new languages, tools, and culture, it can also destroy the old cultures of the area being conquered. Overall, not a great thing.

Now we move onto the fun stuff — the mention of everyone’s favorite lost island, Astro-Knights. The Red Queen believes that whoever freed Rumpelstiltskin is affiliated with the Astro Knights, suggesting that she has some problems with them. Maybe the Astro Knights are defending the seven systems from being conquered. However, there’s one key piece of info worth remembering.

In Astro-Knights Island, after we gather the three “Astro Knights” (which back then were simply known as the Knights of Arturus) at the Crystal Gate, it’s revealed that the player is the fourth knight.

We also happened to be the ones who freed Rumpel in Fairytale Island. Perhaps sealing away Rumpel was the key to the Queen’s conquest of the seven systems, but since we, the player and potentially the last of the Astro Knights, freed Rumpel, that may mess with the Queen’s plans. This leads to the next question…

Why did the Queen trap Rumpel in the first place?

In my previous Popspiracy, I guessed that the Queen trapped Rumpel because he was causing trouble, but could there be another reason? 

Perhaps Rumpel has some hidden power the Queen wants to use. The royal family doesn’t seem to have any sort of magic, so the Red Queen could have trapped Rumpel on Fairytale Island not for the safety of Poptropica, but for personal gain. 

So why was Rumpel stealing happy endings, kidnapping a king, and possessing a sky pirate? For the first two, it could purely be for revenge. Rumpel is angry the Queen sealed him away, so he gives her family a taste of what happens when you take magical beings for personal gain.

However, kidnapping the Baron could be something different. The Red Queen clearly doesn’t care about the Baron, in fact seeing her as an obstacle. The Baron could be resisting the Queen’s ways. Maybe Rumpel went through a lot of trouble to kidnap the Baron with the hopes of gaining information and possibly working together to stop the Queen. 

Last time I theorized that the Baron simply didn’t like being royalty. But if the Baron resisted the Queen’s ways, that could be a reason for why she’s not royalty anymore. Maybe the Queen disowned the Baron, simply for resisting conquest. Maybe the King and the Prince of Fairytale started fearing the Queen because of such events.

What does the future hold for Fairytale Island?

With all this new info, it seems possible Fairytale Island is connected to Astro-Knights in one way or another. I theorize that as the last of the Astro Knights, the player heads to the seven systems to assist the planets in fighting back against the Queen, with potential assistance from the Baron and Rumpel. We might even get more references to this classic island… anyway, if there’s another fight in space, I’m all up for it. 

When I first started playing Poptropica, the Baron was only an antagonistic character that appeared once on Monkey Wrench and was never seen again. It makes me happy to see characters like her get more of a spotlight. For now, we can only sit back, relax, and prepare for whatever the Pop Creators are up to next…

I hope that you enjoyed this follow-up to my theory on the Baron! 

Hope you enjoyed this guest post by HeartofEnder. If you did, you might also enjoy her fanfiction series, The Witch’s Heart.

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!