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Popspiracy: The Baron’s Backstory

October 3, 2022 Slanted Fish

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

Heart here, with a slightly impulsive guest post written shortly after Baronstiltskin’s takeover. With all the new lore, I decided to write up this Popspiracy (Poptropica conspiracy) about the Baron’s potential backstory. Remember: None of this is canon to Poptropica (yet?), so take this with the tiniest grain of salt.

Early Life

The Baron was born on Fairytale Island as a member of the royal family. This was confirmed in the latest Baron visit but has been theorized for a long time. At some point either before or after Baron was born, Rumpel was causing trouble for Poptropica, playing with the world around him. This annoyed the Red Queen, so she locked Rumpel away.

The Baron didn’t like the whole being part of the royal family thing, so at some point she ran away or announced her departure. Either way, the Royal family seemed fine with that, since we never see them trying to get their daughter back. They likely still have some sort of connection, considering that Thanksgiving picture we saw.

Relationship with Amelia

So the Baron left the royal family, now what? They turned their attention to the thing they loved the most: legends! Were they real or not? Only one way to find out, and that’s to go on an adventure!

The Baron started adventuring, eventually stopping at an island in danger. There she met Amelia and together they saved the island, becoming friends.

Now what caused their friendship to become sour? Those who played Monkey Wrench Island would know the serious measures she took to come first place in the race. Perhaps before, Amelia and Baron had a friendly race. Amelia won, which angered the Baron so much that she ended their friendship —throwing a literal wrench in Amelia’s plane as revenge for the event that ended their friendship.

Post-Monkey Wrench

After the events of Monkey Wrench, the Baron likely crash landed on the same island we did, or landed in the sea and washed up on the island’s shores — we won’t question things too much here.

Here, the Baron met Ack and decided to adopt the monkey as her sidekick. While stranded on Monkey Wrench, she did some thinking. Taking revenge on Amelia was not a good idea, so what now? Sure, adventuring brought her money, but were there other options?

And then it hit her. The Baron could make easy money by looting faraway islands of their stuff, and selling them to dedicated adventurers: the players! But first she needed to get off the island.

The monkeys on Monkey Wrench Island were smart enough to plan and build the Poptropica blimp, so together with Ack, they worked to build the Baron an airship.

And so, the Baron began her monthly pop-up shop on Home Island to sell her findings to the players. Soon she was offering to let players assist her on her treasure hunts with The Baron’s Crusade.

With various developments surrouding the Baron and Rumpelstiltskin of Fairytale Island since then — including Rumpel’s Challenge ending on a cliffhanger, the side-quest becoming available for all, the shenanigans with the Baron’s Rumpel obsession, going missing, and now returning as Baronstiltskin — it sure seems like Poptropica might finally tie up the loose ends of Fairytale Island.

I hope you enjoy this little theory of putting pieces together! I couldn’t stop thinking about the new lore we got, so here we are. Love how lore adds so much depth to a virtual world — it’s my favorite thing in games.

Last thing: Chapter 6 of Storm’s Calamity, my Poptropica fanfic series, is now available on Tumblr and Quotev.

Heart out!

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!

Community Creations, Survival Island

Community Creations: September 2022

October 1, 2022September 30, 2022 Spotted Dragon

Hello once again everyone! Spotted Dragon here bringing you the September recap for Community Creations. September’s theme was Survival, so be sure to check out all the featured artists!

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

Top 5 Picks

How to Survive Off Path in the Dark Woods of Fairytale Island by Dizzy Feather (Little Pear)

To kick things off, we have a super unique submission! It presents a mixture of art and literature, which really brings the handbook-style short story to life. There is a lot of creative lore included that shows great attention to detail and imagination, expanding on what Fairytale Island (not Survival Island, but still clearly survival themed!) already gives us. Love the layout! Find her in the comments and on the PHC Discord.

Survival by Megan123456

Taking a step away from sepia, this submission has such beautiful, bright colors! It makes for quite the eye-catching scene and creates wonderful atmosphere in the environment. This is especially reinforced with the snow and flame texture. The effect also interestingly contrasts the freezing cold of the forest with the intense warmth of the fire, which is definitely reminiscent of Survival Island. Find her in the comments and on the PHC Discord.

Survivor Island – The Greatest Game by krazytalez

Here we have another bit of sequential work, this one featuring Silly Chicken’s time on Survival Island. An adventure—with both the excitement and the fear—I’m sure all of our Poptropicans remember! I enjoy seeing these little snapshots into different parts of the episodic quest in this format. The night vision adds an especially cool effect! Find their Instagram here, where you can find more from this comic series.

Survival Island by Doubletheblame

Another great snapshot of Survival Island, this design really captures that feeling of uncertainty when experiencing the story. There is a simultaneous atmosphere of total isolation and constant sense of being watched. It’s especially intriguing to see Myron’s point of view in this side-by-side! The layout of the camera and the reverse shot of the villain comes across as quite cinematic. Find her DeviantArt here.

Myron Animation by tillymeowjings-arsb

Though sans-mustache, this reanimation of an earlier post shows great personality—and amazing artistic growth! Lip-syncing is a challenging skill to master on top of drawing in general. And this short little video came out so smooth! I really enjoy the style of the character and the adorable facial expressions, all paired so some fantastic audio. Find her Tumblr here.

Honorable Mentions

Looks like we not only survived this month but thrived this month, guys. 💪 These creations were to die for, as always!

October: 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 October’s theme? October’s theme is…

💙💎😢 Feeling Blue! 😢💎💙

According to the Pop Creators, Poptropica isn’t just blue… it’s cerulean. But hey, there are plenty of cool shades of blue out there, so why stick to just the one? Still, I hope all the other colors aren’t green with envy.

For this set of creations, anything blue goes. That means the color and the feeling! If you draw me a picture, I wanna see everything from cobalt to navy, to sky and baby! If you write me a short story, I better feel all the feels and start tearing up by the end.

Though I exaggerate a bit, you get the idea. Think about all your favorite Poptropicans with blue outfits, or all your favorite blue background art. Think about the saddest moments from each island, and all that blue ocean our characters have to traverse. And be sure to keep an eye out for our annual Halloween Costume Contest this month as well!

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, Tumblr, 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

Guest Posts

Pop Puzzles: What’s Missing? Round 4 🧐

September 30, 2022September 30, 2022 Slanted Fish

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

Tree Topped: You won’t be-leaf where this tree is growing.

Hello everyone, Dizzy Feather here with round four 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 begin with this PoptropiCon Island, Ep. 1 edition puzzle! You may need to click on images to view them in full.

1. Hold onto your school supplies.
B _ _ _ _ _ _ _

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, Round 2, and Round 3.

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!

Baron's Airship, Fairy Tale Island

A Remarkably Red Rumpel-ween 🎃😈✨

September 28, 2022October 3, 2022 Gentle Dolphin

Greetings, adventurers! Yes, as teased in our previous post, the Baron’s airship just docked on Home Island — unusual timing.

Previously, players were concerned about the Baron’s well-being after she twitched with excitement for a Rumpelstiltskin-inspired collection then suddenly disappeared. Now, the Baron now bears a striking resemblance to Rumpel himself! I guess he couldn’t keep up the charade much longer. Baronstiltskin invites us little adventurers to climb aboard ~~her~~ his airship. Let’s see what awaits us this spooky season!

While the ship has kept its shape, the surrounding sky is purple and sparkly, like the appearance of Rumpel’s magic. Baronstiltskin is unashamed of their new identity, and Ack has followed suit!

The Cabin of Curiosities is full of surprises this month. Let’s ease ourselves in by checking out the two free winning costumes: Candy Girl by Fast Leopard and Jester by Blue Bones! 🍭🤡

Moving to the right, we see Amelia dangling from the ceiling while Baronstiltskin is eating grapes served by Rumpel-fied Ack. The three are surrounded by a pumpkin couch, candy bags, a jack-o’-lantern lamp, a black cat clock, and a cemetery painting. Despite being an aviator-apprehending antagonist, Rumpel offers all of these Halloween furnishings for the low price of 10 credits each.

Rumpelstiltskin reveals that he possessed the Baron and gave Ack an illusionary makeover. As for why he’s doing this, he alludes to how he became trapped on Fairytale Island then says that he is inviting the Baron’s mother over for tea.

Rumpelstiltskin confirms that the Red Baron has ties to Fairytale Island’s royal family, as shown in new dialogue options presented after completing the Baron’s Crusade quest (Thanks to Dizzy Feather for the screenshots!). Accounts from Rumpel and Fairytale’s prince paint the Baron’s mother, the Red Queen, as a destructive woman obsessed with cats and conquering. Why did the queen trap Rumpelstiltskin in the first place, and how can we fix this mess?

It makes you wonder if all of this was in Fairytale’s original pitch for the Create Your Dream Island contest. The Creators mentioned that the pitch had a full storyline and intrigue, two things that felt missing when Fairytale Island first released. Since then, the sheer amount of quests, clues, and cameos relating to Fairytale Island, Rumpelstiltskin, Amelia, and the Baron seem like they’re leading up to something big.

Will we finally get some answers for last Thanksgiving’s teaser?

I predict that we’ll see a new quest that will tie all of these storylines together. It’s hard to believe that it took almost two years to wrap up Fairytale Island’s story, which is bizarre to say the least. What do you make of all of this? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Thank you for reading, and have a good day!

—Gentle Dolphin 🐬

Fan Art Features

Airships, Artistry, and Blimps in the Air

September 28, 2022September 28, 2022 Slanted Fish

Hey Poptropicans! A much anticipated Baron landing has finally made its way to Home Island… but we’ll get into that in our next update. 👀

In the meantime, let’s catch up on the fan art features from Poptropica’s Instagram stories in the past week! That first figure looks awfully sus…

Welp, we’re nearing the end of September, which means it’s almost time to wake up… for spooky season! Get ready for the PHB’s annual Halloween costume contest coming up in October! 🎃

And though Poptropica has spent the entire month ignoring their big milestone, we’ll go ahead and say it: happy 15th birthday, Poptropica. Wish we had something special to go with it in the game, but like our beloved Balloon Boy, it seems to be up in the air. 🎈

~🐠