Category: Guest Posts

This is part three of a four-part extended “My Place in Poptropica” guest post series by ShinyB1rd. Catch up on part one and part two here. Enjoy!

…He will rise!

It wasn’t long before the second coming of Shiny Bird. After so much time had passed, Poptropica and its many islands had been flushed into chaos. It was bound to happen, but without a hero, who would restore peace across Poptropica? With no hero in sight, Poptropica was doomed forever.

Until. Out of nowhere. Reports of sightings of a man with a familiar face, seen traveling in a yellow blimp. The news spread like wildfire. “Could it be?…” All of Poptropica wondered. The old remembered a time of peace and prosperity, and the young were praying for a brighter future. But no one knew for sure if the sightings were true. It could all just be false rumors for all they knew… They could only hope…

Just days after the completion of Poptropolis Games Island, I logged back into Poptropica. It was inevitable. After catching a glimpse of all the new islands and content, it had been on the back of my mind for days, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Plus, my previous history with the game further fueled the fire. I hopped onto the yellow blimp, loaded the map, and set off to fresh horizons…

The Gilded Age

…With the return of our beloved champion of Poptropica, Shiny Bird, along with his dedication, works of love and restoration… Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure to officially announce to all citizens of Poptropica that peace has been restored! … May these lands prosper for another glorious age!

Transcript of Poptropica-wide televised special announcement, Year 0 of the Gilded Age

I was just wrapping up the final island: Mocktropica. A couple months had passed, and I was just about to complete all of the islands (thus far) once again. Somehow, I managed to beat the crap out of a giant robot by throwing a bunch of coins at it (spoiler? oh, too late, hehe).

Now that I’m done with everything every single island, you might be thinking “OH NO HE’S GONNA QUIT AGAIN—” Wrong. I didn’t. You see, as I was exploring new islands, I discovered this hot new thing called “common rooms.”

“BuT sHiNy,” I hear you say, “CoMmOn RoOmS hAvE BeEn A tHiNg SiNcE LiKe FoReVeR. wHaT dO yOu MeAn YoU jUsT dIsCoVeReD tHeM???”

Nonono you don’t understand, I knew they were a thing when I originally played Poptropica, but I never knew what they actually were (back then, I had a sucky internet connection that couldn’t even load up common rooms). Look: It was pretty revolutionary for me when I found out you could meet other players who share the same passion for the game (cuz let’s be real, in 2013, you weren’t gonna find anyone irl who still played or admitted that they played Poptropica).

With this new discovery, I headed to the common rooms. I settled over at the Soda Pop Shop on Early Poptropica, which was the most popular common room at the time.

As time pressed on, I continued to hang around the Early Poptropica common room, and completed new islands as they were released to the public. In the common rooms, I made a few friends, competed with some rivals, and strived to master all the head-to-head games (except for Sudoku, cuz 1) who the heck plays Sudoku? lol, and 2) I could never figure that game out… I had a little brain back then, plz don’t make fun of me, have mercy).

Of all the games though, I was most proficient at Hoops. I loved it because it was quick and intense, especially when matched up with other fierce competitors. I grew a hatred for Sky Dive, mainly because every single person asked to play Sky Dive and I eventually grew tired of it since I wanted to play other head-to-head games, but it seemed no one really wanted to play anything else.

Somewhere around this time, I also discovered the PHB. It’s not anything too exciting of a story, but one day I was just casually looking for something that had all-things Poptropica and voila! There it was: the PHB, in all its glory! I spent hours exploring this site and discovered cool things I never knew about the game.

At the same time, I realized that there existed a little community who loved the game as much as I do, and who do cool things inspired by it. The PHB was my first taste of a fandom. I didn’t think much of it at the time, but it did motivate me to continue playing the game knowing that there are people who actively express their love for Poptropica.

Something else worth mentioning is that I also created two new Poptropica characters. After a while, I sort of got tired of playing with Shiny Bird, so to combat my boredom I set off to try creating new characters. The first was Golden Rider: the fallen champion of Poptropica from an alternate universe.

“Shiny,” I hear you say. “Why do you say fallen champion?” Well, it’s a long story. In short, I had plans for her, but somewhere down the line, I was messing around with ASGs and suddenly she became a he and I didn’t know how to change it back. I got so mad that I quit playing for a while, and abandoned her entirely.

But I eventually came back to create a new girl character, where I originally planned for her to be an exact copy of Golden Rider so I could, in a sense, continue where I left off. Lo and behold, the mythical Mighty Sky was born. As time went on, I abandoned my original plan for her to be an exact copy of Golden Rider and set off to construct a unique identity for Mighty Sky. She became my favorite character, and I mainly played on that account for the rest of Poptropica’s peak years, what I call the Gilded Age…

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Hope you enjoyed part three of this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Stay tuned for the final part of the Chronicles of Shiny Bird, coming soon to the PHB.

If you haven’t already, we invite you to send in your own (and they don’t have to be as long as this one!). Please include your username and a minimum of 500 words, typed with good spelling and grammar, and divided into labeled sections. If you send in your story, we will continue to post new community MPIPs!

Interested in writing for the PHB under a different Pop-topic? Take a look at our Write for the PHB page for ideas, guidelines, and more. We’d love to hear from you!

~the Poptropica Help Blog

This is part two of a four-part extended “My Place in Poptropica” guest post series by ShinyB1rd. Catch up on part one here. Enjoy!

3 Years Later…

From the ashes

I disappeared into my bedroom, eager to toy around with my new laptop. Well, ‘new’ is an overstatement. The laptop is a first-generation, 2006 MacBook Pro. Ancient, yes, but in my eyes, it was beautiful. Besides, it was the first computer I had ever officially owned. The previous computer I used was now sitting dead in the basement.

So I popped open the laptop, set it up, and there I was, staring at the home screen. What now? Well, duh, surf the internet of course! I clicked on the blue compass of Safari and was met with the Apple home page. Ugh, this is boring; I wanna go somewhere else. But the question was: where?

Then, it hit me: little people, super powers, yellow blimp, blue screen. Poptripika! Wait no… Puptripukuh? Peptopica? Poptraupica? AH YES! I remembered. Poptropica!

I entered it in the search bar. To my surprise, the site was still up… And it looked exactly the same as it did four years ago. Uh oh, I thought. I took this as a bad sign, thinking at the time that the game hadn’t been updated in years, or worse, had been abandoned by its creators.

Despite not remembering my username and password, I decided to give it a shot, so I hit “returning player” and asked myself the age-old question: WhAt’S ThE uSeRnAmE aNd PaSsWoRd??? I thought hard, traversing deep into the forgotten depths of my memories: favorite video game character?…AH HA! Arbiter!… ugh, but what were the numbers that followed???

Then something hit me: I remembered I wrote my username and password in a sticky note the day I created the account and left it somewhere in my room… UNDER THE TISSUE BOX ON MY WARDROBE! YES! THAT’S IT!

“BuT sHiNy,” you might be thinking. “There’s no way a random sheet of paper would survive four years under a tissue box without your mom stumbling across it one day while cleaning the room, looking at it for a second and thinking, ‘you know, this looks kind of important, I think I should ask my son before throwing this away‘ …only to forget about it, and five minutes later take another look at such a seemingly insignificant sticky note and think ‘bro, the heck is this garbage lol imma throw this away.’

And to that I would say… you would be wrong. Lo and behold, I found the exact same sticky note in the exact same spot I left it four years ago under the exact same tissue box I left it under (which was basically torn to shreds by this time). I entered the username and password and my, it still works. 

The screen loaded. And I was met with some new home page. I hit “return to game” and found myself in some steampunk island: exactly where I’d left off. With my little hero still in his little steampunk outfit.

“Welcome back,” he seemed to say.

“It’s been a while,” I replied.

Soon after, I decided to check out what new islands the creators had come up with, and jumped into the blimp. The map loaded up, and—OH MY GOODNESS THAT’S A LOT OF ISLANDS. The map I now saw stretched out with pages upon pages of islands I never expected to see.

I’d thought that after so many years, the game would have died off by now, but that was not the case at all. After all this time, Poptropica maintained a healthy community/fanbase that had lasted this long. I looked to my left, and saw that there was a new island called Mocktropica open to members and was soon to be released to everyone.

Ok, I said to myself. Let’s try out one of these new islands for old times’ sake and call it a day. I scanned for an island, and one in particular caught my eye: Poptropolis Games. Sounds cool. Let’s try this! So I clicked on the island, and as the island loaded, the screen got twice as big and I saw an island majestically rise up from the sea. Oh, I wonder what this is all about?

When the island finished loading, I began to take notice of something unusual, but for a while I couldn’t pinpoint what it was. Then I realized: HOLD UP. THERE’S SOUND?!!! There was background music, and I could hear my character’s little footsteps as he walked around. It wasn’t real… It couldn’t be. I punched myself in the face to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating, and sure enough, OUCH… yup, I’m not crazy—I can still hear things. Seems like the game has done a bit of upgrading…

I took a good look around and saw ruins all around me. What is this place? I asked a few people, and they said something about how the island had ‘risen again!’ (whatever that means…) and that they ‘couldn’t wait to watch the game.’ Wait. So you’re telling me I’m just going to WATCH the game?… Well, all right, I guess...

A girl wearing a red shirt greeted me with, more or less, “Haha, losers! The Wildfires won last time!” Well good for you. I walked away, then came across this dude holding a microphone who yelled, “AH! You are just in time to represent your tri– oh wait, you don’t have one, goodbye.” Then this menu popped up that threatened me to pick a tribe or else I couldn’t play the island. If you say so.

I looked at the different tribes, cringing at some of the names. The Yellowjackets? Okay lol What else is there… hold on… I nearly choked with laughter when I saw the name Flying Squid.

Anyway, after a few looks at the different tribes, I ultimately came to my decision: the Black Flags. I chose them because 1) the name sounds sick as heck, and 2) just before this, I was hooked onto this game called “Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag.”

Okay so now that I have my tribe, what am I supposed to do? See who can cheer the loudest for their team? You know, I happen to have mine ready if you wanna hear it…

“Great! Are you ready to represent your team?” Wait hold on wha—

“Good! Now step onto the field!” WAIT. NO. I’M NOT READY FOR THIS.

Too late. I was already in the colosseum surrounded by representatives of the other tribes. At this, I legit got scared. Not because I realized that I was actually gonna play in the tournament, but because I thought I was gonna play online. You know, with real people. I tried to leave, but I couldn’t do anything because the dude with the microphone was rambling on about how the games reopened after 100 years and my mouse had become this blue circle with spinning arrow thingies that restrained me from doing anything.

Then some chick with cool armor shot an arrow up in the sky. Not just any arrow, though, an arrow that was on fire. As it came back down I was hoping that there would be some plot twist where she would miss and “OHHH THE WHOLE PLACE IS BURNING DOWN.” But no, the arrow was on target, and the torch was lit.

I knew then that the games had begun. No matter, I’ll show these amateurs how it’s done. I waited for a few minutes to gather all the confidence I could muster. When it was finally time, I took a deep breath and marched bravely towards the microphone guy. I’m ready, I told him. And off I went to compete!

45 minutes later: Aw man, I lost to the Wildfires, let’s give this another go.

Another 45 minutes later: OH COME ON. Nightcrawlers??? Ugh, one more time.

One eternity later: Crap, now I lost to the Flying Squids. This is the last time, I swear if I lose again I will lose my— *intermission*

“And the winner is…THE BLACK FLAGS!” FINALLY! LET’S GOOOOOO! After so many tries, I finally won the tournament. Despite my earlier bitter defeats, with a little persistence I finally overcame the obstacle…. A victory… A victory of a boss fight of a worthy opponent… wait a minute… Super powers… Noodlehead…. Hot dog…

I was frozen in time with nostalgia. I quickly snapped out of it. Nahhhhh, I think I’ll just stop playing now… It was fun while it lasted! I logged off, with no intentions of ever coming back… But the seed had sprouted. Something had begun stirring inside me… passion… 

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Hope you enjoyed part two of this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Stay tuned for the final half of the Chronicles of Shiny Bird, coming soon to the PHB.

If you haven’t already, we invite you to send in your own (and they don’t have to be as long as this one!). Please include your username and a minimum of 500 words, typed with good spelling and grammar, and divided into labeled sections. If you send in your story, we will continue to post new community MPIPs!

Interested in writing for the PHB under a different Pop-topic? Take a look at our Write for the PHB page for ideas, guidelines, and more. We’d love to hear from you!

~the Poptropica Help Blog

This is part one of a four-part extended “My Place in Poptropica” guest post series by ShinyB1rd, which details one Poptropica hero’s journey through the years. Enjoy!

Author’s Note

Hi everyone! I’m Shiny Bird, or just Shiny for short. Before we start, just a brief introduction: I’m a longtime Poptropican, been playing since 2009, but am new to this glorious community. In real life, I am a socially awkward, music loving, hipster wannabe who loves to write, play the French horn, and listen to music.

OK. Boring talk aside. Just so nobody gets confused, I somehow thought it would be cool and innovative to alternate writing in first and third person for this four-part MPIP story. I know, it’s weird since I’m literally writing about myself, but I was desperate to get out of writer’s block and this was how I did it, so whatever, that’s that, I’ll stop talking—ENJOY.

Prelude

Once upon a time, ten years ago in a school long forgotten… There dwelled bright, young, sophisticated little children. They all lived in harmony with one another. Everyone knew each other; they were all friends, and peace was prominent in the lands.

But lurking in the shadows was a particularly strange one. He was unusually silent; someone who separated himself from the rest; someone easy to flout.

One breezy winter, the children at the school were ordered to retreat inside the building for recess. Everyone settled comfortably inside the classroom, all except one boy. The boy thought this was going to be another boring, secluded recess. But that all soon changed.

He noticed an unusual crowd of kids gathering around a computer. Curious, he went to investigate. He saw a game. An unusual one indeed. A blue screen, little people, and what seems to be quite the adventure. Above all, there lay the majestic title: Poptropica.

The boy returned home with the name engraved in his head. Poptropica. Poptropica. Poptropica. He rushed to the computer, turned it on, and did a quick Google search. Before he knew it, he was staring at a blue screen with little people running across it, and the all too familiar word: Poptropica. He clicked on “new player,” created his Poptropican, and hopped on the yellow blimp. A story had just begun… What he didn’t know was that this story would continue to be written for more than a decade.

First Impressions

Once the game loaded, the boy was confronted with a map. There seemed to be various unique quests to choose from, each presenting a new challenge. But which one should he start with? “Spy Island” sounded interesting. There was also this new island that was coming soon with a cool name: “Astro-Knights Island.” But none of that mattered after he saw something else that sounded cooler: “Super Hero Power Island.”

Upon entering the island, he soon discovered that the island was in danger of mutant escapees from a prison that somehow didn’t get obliterated (along with the entire island) after a radioactive meteorite (that’s still pretty intact) struck it. (#Poptropica logic!)

Though a stranger to the island, he soon assumed the role of a superhero and convinced the police to let him fight criminals with literal superpowers and with a totally 100% authentic “Super Hero ID” obtained from some shady dude who owned a superhero costume store. Luckily, the criminals had -10 IQ so he dealt with them with ease. The boy hacked and slashed through each one of the challenges, and saving the island felt like a breeze.

With just over 25 minutes of experience and a one-sentence-long master class from some loner retired superhero under his belt, nothing could stop him. All the prisoners were sent back to the slammer, and the island medallion was within his grasp. But then the unthinkable happened: Ned Noodlehead claimed the medallion, and he demanded a hot dog to trade it.

The boy had met his match. All these years of training finally put to the test. A final boss battle. Typical, he thought to himself. This shouldn’t take no more than a couple minutes!

5 minutes later: Ugh, where do you find a hot dog around here?

30 minutes later: Okay this is getting ridiculous.

1 hour later: WHERE IS IT OH MY FJDHFDJKSLDS–

3 hours later: *bangs head on table*

One eternity later: OkaY. I giVe uP… i suRreNDe– “Hey, want a free hot dog?–Here have a free hot dog!” says the man standing next to a hot dog stand.

At 7 years old, simply noticing a picture of a hot dog plastered on the side of a cart was hard enough for the boy who’d just had the medallion he deserved swiped by a superhero-wannabe / comic bookstore owner. Finally, overjoyed by his victory, he did some lame dance to Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now.” In that moment, he felt something greater than joy: he had passion.

A Poptropican is Born

WAIT. He stopped himself before closing the game. In order to save his hard-earned progress, he realized, he had to create an account. So he clicked the “Save” button and got to thinking up a username. Favorite video game? HALO!… But that’s too simple… Hmmmm… Ah! My favorite character: The Arbiter! Oh wait, that’s taken…  ummm… “Arbiter213”? Perfect!

Lo and behold, a bird is born. But ladies and gentlemen, this isn’t just any bird—nonononono you don’t understand—it’s a Shiny Bird.

For the next couple of months, Shiny Bird would spend countless hours conquering each and every island that he set afoot. He traveled through time, saved the world from going bald, defeated some weirdo carrot addict in a pink bunny suit, brought peace among the seas of Skullduggery, traveled through space in a cool spaceship—et cetera, et cetera, et cetera! Peace and order would soon be spread in all of Poptropica, thanks to this adventurer.

The End…?

Shiny walks slowly out of the ruins of a steampunk island: he had once again saved the day. In fact, he’d saved all of Poptropica!

But now, he was desolate. Flooded in dismal. His glee had worn out. He had done everything he had ever wanted to do. His destiny was fulfilled. Why continue on when you have nothing left to do?

So right then, the boy said goodbye to his little hero, logged out, and shut down the computer. Shiny Bird was set down to his final resting place. He had brought peace to Poptropica. Now it was he who would be receiving it.

For now…

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Hope you enjoyed part one of this “My Place in Poptropica” story! Stay tuned for the next few parts of the Chronicles of Shiny Bird, coming soon to the PHB.

If you haven’t already, we invite you to send in your own (and they don’t have to be as long as this one!). Please include your username and a minimum of 500 words, typed with good spelling and grammar, and divided into labeled sections. If you send in your story, we will continue to post new community MPIPs!

Interested in writing for the PHB under a different Pop-topic? Take a look at our Write for the PHB page for ideas, guidelines, and more. We’d love to hear from you!

~the Poptropica Help Blog