🏝️ Poptropica Help Blog 🗺️

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the October recap for Community Creations! October’s theme was Ghosts & Ghouls, so be sure to check out all the featured artists (not in any order)!

No clue what’s going on? Go see our intro post.

Top 5 Picks

Ghost of a Rose by Midnightoilstudios

The violin from Ghost Story Island is definitely a memorable scene from Poptropica and fits our theme for obvious reasons. The soft approach to coloring in this work gives it an appropriately haunting appearance too. I can almost feel that fog! I love seeing these recognizable ghostly characters portrayed in this style. Find her DeviantArt here.

Daphne Dreadnaught by Criaha

A cool redraw of an older drawing, this design definitely fits the spooky season. Daphne Dreadnaught is such a fun character to see fan art for too. I love the subtle glow to the net and the different colored ghostly hands. And I know drawing hands is quite the feat! Find her Twitter here.

Ghost Story by Miss Eligon

Oooh, another Spook Central Mini Quest inspired submission! Again, that glow effect and the different colors of the ghosts give this scene great spooky atmosphere. I love how everything projects from the center of the design, creating a good sense of movement for the viewer’s eye. Wonderfully wicked work! Find her Twitter here.

Ghoul Costume by Comical Rock (Shiny Noodle)

Costumes are obviously a great approach for celebrating Halloween, and I love this dark design. What can I say, maybe I’m just a sucker for goth fits? Plus, the mask would come in handy today. Perhaps the outfit is not directly spectral, but it most certainly fits a ghoulish theme. Perhaps is may even be a good submission for Poptropica’s monthly costume contest! Though it’s too late for October’s Halloween winners, there’s always next month to participate. Find the artist commonly in the comments.

Grieving by Lucky Joker

Wouldn’t you know it, Ghost Story is not the only ghoulish island Poptropica has to offer! Made for Poptober Day 31 (ghost) last year, this work still holds up today. Vampire’s Curse certainly falls under the spooky island category, and the hazy image of Annabelle here plays into its haunting theme. I love the lighting and emotion that this submission has to offer. Find his Instagram here.

Honorable Mentions

No specific honorable mentions this month, but that’s okay! Too busy trick-or-treating I assume! If you haven’t already, be sure to check out the winners of the PHB’s annual Halloween Costume Contest for even more grim work from the community.

November: How Do I Participate?

Community Creations is a cool series for anyone in the Poptropica community to join in on. To sum up what it’s about, it’s basically a chance to show off your artwork, creepy fan-fics, Pop clubhouses, costumes, and anything else that pops into your mind.

If we really like the piece you submit, we will feature it here on the PHB! As long as it relates to that month’s theme. So what is November’s theme? November’s theme is…

🍬 Sweet & Sour! 🍭

Maybe I’m still coming off my sugar high from all that Halloween candy, or maybe I’m just looking forward to Thanksgiving already. But either way, food is on my mind. But candied treats are not the only things that sweet and sour could refer to! Maybe you’ll spin the theme to feature a sweet hero and sour villain, or something similar, instead.

Go totally sweet or go totally sour, the choice is yours. Maybe you’ll candify your favorite Poptropicans, or make a candy inspired outfit in-game? Maybe bake a tasty treat based on Poptropica IRL, or write a story about a sweet and sour Poptropica feast! You could even take some inspo from the recent Candy Crazed event.

Submit: Comment below with a link to whatever you’ve created, email it to the PHB team on our Contact page, OR share it with me (SydVC aka Spotted Dragon) on DeviantArt, Twitter, or Discord.
Results: Next month, I will feature 5 submissions that stood out to me the most as well as some honorable mentions.
Limitations: Just make sure you relate to both the theme and Poptropica (and nothing NSFW or otherwise inappropriate).
Due Date: I will take any entries before the end of this month. Submit as many things as you’d like!

I will be sure to let you know I have seen your creation. While quality counts, I’m mainly looking for something to simply catch my eye, so don’t be afraid to join in!

So what are you waiting for? Go make something awesome!

~SD

Contests

Hello, Hallowinners of the PHB’s 13th Costume Contest 🎃🏅

October 31, 2021October 30, 2021 Slanted Fish

Happy Halloween, Poptropicans! 🎃🍬

The day of candy collecting (and consumption) is upon us, and we’re here with some (eye) candy of our own: announcing the winners of this year’s 13th Annual Poptropica Help Blog Halloween Costume Contest!

Our theme this year was Grim & Whimsical. After going through everyone’s frightening and fabulous ‘fits, we’ve narrowed it down to a grand prize winner for each category! Behold:

💀 Grand Grim 💀

Wow, what a bewitching masterpiece! From the wild hair to the creepy grin and frayed skirt, this unkempt witch goblin creature just screams for your attention. We can’t tell if they’re friend or foe, but that may be their beauty. Will this cursed one curse you or cure you?

Congrats to Jean of Pop for bagging a second grand prize title (the first being in our 2019 Halloween contest)! And now for our next category…

🎭 Whimsical Winner 🎭

Now that’s whimsical! This anthropomorphized fruit just looks so happy with its toothy smile and summer shades. Plus, what a clever use of the Colorizer to create the color tones, with scales for texture, and the Elf Queen’s leafy wings. Hilarious and healthy, and we’re here for it.

Congrats, Brave Fox! Both Hallowinners will be getting a 1-month membership from the PHB, and their outstanding outfits will be immortalized on our Costumes page. Enjoy!

💀 Honorable Mentions 🎭

Hold on, there’s more! We received so many amazing entries that we just had to show you more, and that’s what Honorable Mentions are for. Take a look at these delightfully Grim getups embracing the dark side:

And on the flip side, find these fascinating Whimsical wonders embodying the spirit of sugar, spice, and everything nice:

Whether you gave your Popsona a glow-up or simply watched from the shadows, thanks for joining us in our spooky season shenanigans! You can browse even more fang-tastic costumes in the comments of the costume post, as well as on our Costumes Look Book for more stylish sensations from over a decade of past Halloweens.

🎃 Happy Halloween, queens and jellybeans! 🎃

— 🦇 the Poptropica HORROR Blog 🦇 —

Fan Art Features, Social Media

Spooky shorts and story imports 👻😈

October 30, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! We’ve got spooky short clips, villain fan art, and the biggest horror of all: Poptropica going down? Pop in to see what’s up!

Throughout Red October, we’ve been seeing lots of quick video clips of scary moments from Poptropica, especially from old islands. Now in the latest Pop Creators’ Blog post, you can see them in one place!

And in case you can’t access the embedded TikTok clips (as the service is not available in all regions), you can also find the Spookiest Moments series as YouTube shorts on Poptropica’s channel. The collection includes Virus Hunter in general, carnies transforming on Monster Carnival, Fiona’s voice in Ghost Story, the Jersey Devil from Cryptids, and (not on the Creators’ Blog) Squid Game in Poptropica. Chillsssssss.

👻 Craving more? See the PHB’s review on Scariest Poptropica Moments! 👻

In addition to haunted highlight reels, the Pop Creators have also been featuring fan art on their Instagram stories! The latest batch includes lots of pink hair, grinning villains, and even a horse turned human:

Happy Halloween from the Poptropica Creators

Earlier this weekend, some Poptropicans noticed that Poptropica was down for maintenance. But worry not! As of this writing, the site is now back up with no notable changes. Could this be a sign of Mission Atlantis coming really soon? Time will tell!

That’s all for this update. Stay tuned for our Halloween contest winners to be announced very soon, and have a happy Halloweekend! 🎃👻

~🐠

Mission Atlantis Island, Social Media

Dune us dirty: Mission Atlantis to be members only ⌛️🏝

October 29, 2021October 29, 2021 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! An old island is bubbling up, and in the meantime, tweets from sandy places are coming to surface. Let’s pop in for a look.

Earlier this month, Poptropica announced that they’ve been working on bringing Mission Atlantis Island back, and this week they dropped more details on the Creators’ Blog!

Sadly, they’re not just krilling us with the puns, but also with the news that this returning adventure will be for members only, unlike before. It’s still unclear whether we’ll be seeing the full island or just an episode, as other episodic islands on Haxe so far have only been released with Episode 1. Whatever the case, though, it’s coming soon — how soon? Again, the water’s murky on this one.

Here’s an open secret, though: everyone can currently play all three episodes of Mission Atlantis on the Poptropica mobile app! And for a primer on what awaits you above and below the seas, you can fish out our handy Mission Atlantis Island Guide.

It’s looking much more dry over on Poptropica Twitter, though. The Creators recently pulled out a pic of the desert from Arabian Nights Island and compared it with Dune, the recent sci-fi film.

Gonna tell our kids this was Dune idc pic.twitter.com/j7FW6YDfyz
— Official Poptropica (@Poptropica) October 27, 2021

They’ve also been retweeting posts from Poptropica fans, such as this cluster of chalkboard doodles including one celebrity bunny…

CELEBRITY SIGHTING: Dr. Hare 👀 https://t.co/rwzYEDP4em
— Official Poptropica (@Poptropica) October 27, 2021

…as well as a college student unashamedly playing Poptropica, because why not work hard and play hard?

college: book smarts
poptropica: street smarts https://t.co/gZuP2YB3vt
— Official Poptropica (@Poptropica) October 27, 2021

That wraps up this little update! When do you think Mission Atlantis will make its big splash? Do you prefer Dune or Arabian Nights? Thanks for popping by, and see you in the next one!

~🐠

Counterfeit Island, PHB Specials, Super Villain Island

Interpreting the Main Four’s dreams, pt. 3: Black Widow 🖌

October 28, 2021October 28, 2021 Purple Paw

Hello and welcome to a third dream interpretation! (If you haven’t already, you can check out the previous installments in this series here and here.)

In this post, I’ll be exploring the dream world of the crafty art thief Black Widow. Let’s pop into it!

Overall, there’s not a ton of material to work with in this dream. While the player enters stolen paintings and cleans up graffiti, the Black Widow herself mostly stands around and watches. The setting isn’t particularly interesting either, seeing as she spends a good deal of her waking life inside art museums; it’s likely just a reflection of her life and isn’t meant to represent anything.

With that being said, this dream isn’t useless. Not at all. For one thing, it gives us a new look into Black Widow’s shining personality, something we didn’t get to see much of in Counterfeit Island alone.

Her dream suggests that she’s a bold, fierce villain with a fiery temper and a disregard for hesitation, as shown when she chases and attacks you with nothing but her own two fists! (In a dream, attacking someone might represent confrontation against a threat or a defensive attitude.) And when she’s called out for her villainy, Black Widow refuses to listen and keeps focusing on her goals–traits she might share with the Binary Bard.

Another key part of this dream is the destruction of Black Widow’s own portrait. Dreams about any sort of damage and destruction could represent a number of things: guilt, failed expectations, hopelessness, or, most interestingly, a ruined relationship.

Remind you of anything?

The Strange Man (also known as the Brown Recluse) fits this interpretation perfectly. Throughout the happenings of Counterfeit Island, the Strange Man works as Black Widow’s right-hand man; until for reasons best known to herself, Black Widow betrays him, leaving him tied to a chair alongside the player in her underground lair. The Strange Man proceeds to side with the player and ends the Black Widow’s art-stealing career once and for all.

Could it be that Black Widow’s reflecting on this dismissal? From what I can tell, her betraying the Strange Man was entirely unprovoked, but then again, they don’t call her the Black Widow for nothing…

Looking closer at Black Widow’s attack, a final point I’ll bring up is her chasing the player to reach them, which could represent an attempt to be in control or get ahold of something.

Here’s what I’ve gathered based off of these hints: Black Widow is missing her right-hand man, but is trying to act as though she isn’t, hence the defensiveness suggested by her attacking the player. After all, she’s a solitary being akin to the spider she’s named for; she uses someone for what she needs them for and then lets them go. She’s the opposite of loyal.

But why? Pretending to trust someone only to betray them will only turn them against her, as shown when her entire villainous career slips down the drain thanks to the Strange Man. Wouldn’t it be more useful to have kept her servant instead of creating another enemy? The confrontation against a threat also suggested by her attack could add to this. As for trying to assert control over a situation, well, maybe she’s just frustrated that she’s hopelessly trapped inside a cryotube in Erewhon Prison instead of out resurrecting her art-stealing life. 🕷️

That’s it for today, everyone. I’ll see you for my next but possibly not last post in this series, highlighting the Binary Bard and his spectacular dream! Pop on,

~💜