The season demands it. I must advertise this epic again. For every classic has to return year after year... now I just need to turn this epic into a classic...

Bio: Christmas Time has fallen on the Matoran of Mata-Nui, and for once the holiday can be celebrated in peace, as the Toa Nuva have defeated all foes. The Toa Santa arrives as legends said, and he planned to bring each Matoran a special present. However, his journey is cut short when an evil Rahi known as the Grinch shows up and steals his essence.

With no Toa Santa, the Matoran's unity is on the brink of destruction. Even worst, the Grinch runs loose, stealing the essence of all who feel the touch of its blade. Even the Toa Nuva cannot stand against it for long. Now, Kapura and his two Po-Matoran friends, Tunaka and Huaju, can save the day. They must find three stones and summon the Toa Santa before Christmas Day, or else the Matoran's unity shall shatter!

Any further reading may lead to spoilers, so beware, all ye who have not yet read it.

Thoughts: Well, for starters, this is a classic cliche'. Ever watched TV shows with "So-And-So saves Christmas". This was my version of "Kapura Saves Christmas". I tried to use many of the traditions of the season in this epic. Mind you... marketing traditions. This has very little to do with the whole religious meaning of the holiday, and focuses more on the family/friends aspect. But I've includes such details as Christmas trees, flying Mahi (yes, Mahi) and a chubby Toa that goes "Ho ho ho." Plus, at one point, Kapura wears a Santa hat. Hey, it looked good in the cover pict I made.

This story is fairly well written. It surely is better than my first few epics, but the grammar may not be up to scratch (just reread it this year, and I caught numerous spelling mistakes). Plus, some of the descriptions are repetitive and sometimes wacky. Ahg, it turns out I actually have learning some things in AP English... who knew?

The Grinch was an interesting character. First of all, he was based of this swamp MOC I made when I first got a Toa... the MOC sucked, but it had a claw and a chainsaw blade. The name has nothing to do with Dr. Seuse's (sp?) character, besides that it wants to get rid of Christmas (or the Toa Santa). The Grinch was just this massive Rahi, with unimaginable powers. I always have fun writing battles against things that just don't die, and the Grinch was one of them. On the bright side, and following traditional Bionicle methods, the Grinch did not die from brutal strikes from it's foes (Kopaka wishes) but in a unique, "he so deserved that!", way. On the bad side, it's constant revivals got lame and repetitive. That was before I even knew what the Rule of Three meant, so I'm sure the Grinch got frozen like 7 times. :annoyed2:

Not to say that I didn't have some ingenious plans interwoven in the story. The Grinch's demise was rather ingenious, if I do say so myself. Plus, Kapura's last "trick" came from something I placed in the story near the beginning... following the techniques in the "Harry Potter" series. And I spent the last chapter tying up the loose ends of the stories... mostly questions I had from the review topic.

The characterizations were numerous too. The Toa Nuva were fun to write about, and I think this is my best epic depicting them (after all, TD mostly involved the Toa Mata). Strangely enough, the heroic Toa was Kopaka... and I'm not big fan of Kopaka, but he was the likely one to avoid death until the very end. The other Toa (Tahu, Gali, Pohatu) had only a short time to show their characters, with Lewa and Onua lasting a bit longer. I liked some of Lewa's treespeech, which was rapid and consistent, but understandable. But, yeah, Lewa only lasted like 3 chapters, so...

The Matoran were fun too. This was the epic where I took Kapura for all he was worth. I was worried at first for choosing him- after all, his aloofness was something new for me to write about. I thought I did rather well at applying Kapura's odd logic to his adventuring. I also included my two famous Po-Matoran characters: Tunaka, who I borrowed from Time Disruption; and Huaju, who I reused for Kulagi's Kanoka. They provided most of the comic relief for the story, as well as a reality check at times. They represented the majority of the Matoran, who were too timid to take up the challenge, but still tried their best.

All in all, this isn't my best story. The plot is very amazing and all, but the descriptions are sometimes bland and the grammar is often off. The worst part of it, though, was the alternate ending I added a year after I finished writing it. It was supposed to make a point at how important the victory was, as it depicted what would happen if Kapura lost in the end. But, in all truth, it was a marketing gimmick to try and get some new reviewers to read the story.

And, in the end, that's what this is too.

Anyway, I highly advice you to read it (or any of my other work... don't worry, I'm very biased. ). I think it's actually an interesting holiday story, and it'll bring you back to the good old days of Mata-Nui. Plus, it exibits enough of the Bionicle morals that it certainly fits in this forum. Plus, it's only 12 chapters long... easily read in a hour or two... and take some good breaks, to add up the suspense.

Review A Bionicle Christmas. And happy holidays, whatever you celebrate.