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BZPower shirt-maker extraordinaire Brappy Hour recently kicked off the BZP T-Shirt Contest 2024! You have until the end of May to design a Metru Nui themed shirt and submit it in the blog entry. If your design is picked - you get a free shirt! I'm trying not to think about the fact that we've been making these shirts so long we've now celebrated the tenth and twentieth anniversaries of Metru Nui, but that just goes to show how awesome BZPower's members are. I can't wait to see the designs you all come up with!View the full article

Stinkfly Built for the Ben 10 Collab, for the tip of the legs I used olive green Pteranodon heads (removing the printed details first). 04/04/2024

Welcome to May! With Star Wars Day almost here, it only seemed right to kick off the month with a Star Wars raffle. (And not at all because that's what we usually give away!) Run-don't-walk over to the 2024 Member Raffle #5 and enter yourself for a chance to win LEGO Star Wars buildable figure 75525 Baze Malbus. This iconic character from Rogue One will make a great addition to someone's collection - if the Force is with you, maybe it will be yours!View the full article

Here’s my entry. I’ve been toying with this design on-and-off for a few days. Originally I had a much more elaborate idea in mind, with a whole bunch of different hands, vines, claws, etc. coming out of the Kanoka segments to represent the many different enemies seen during the 2004/2005 story arc. That ended up looking far too cluttered, so I decided to just keep Vakama and Makuta’s hands and put in the Vahi to make it a tribute to Time Trap specifically. The Metru Nui arc arguably started and finished with the Vahi, so I felt like it was a fitting inclusion to represent that period of the storyline.

This completes the Toa Motu! This was a very fun project to work on, and its very satisfying to see it finished. I will follow up with some outdoor group shots - but first, Toa Rakau: The others: Poraru, Kyrehx, Hiko, Arai, Rewa

IC: Lutenus (Outskirts of Atero, Training Ground) - Eye See You The Glatorian’s head snaps to gaze down on Mard and Ahmoa, cyber-eye looming over them, as if looking straight through them. His smile said ‘OK, I believe you,’ but his eye said ‘you ####ing liars’. “Kind of you to say, but there’s no need for…” But then, his voice trails off, and his smile fades, replaced by tiredness and confusion. “For… for… for…” The eye loses focus on the two Agori and the aperture begins opening and closing rapidly while making noises it probably shouldn’t be making. “For your ah, ‘pity bet’, as it were.” He finishes, and suddenly its as if nothing strange happened at all, and he begins to walk away. But then… “Well, we should be going - oh!” As he pretends to only now suddenly remember, he stops and turns back to the training ground proprietors. “I never asked. Who was that Iron Glatorian you were with, earlier? I believe I vaguely remember them from somewhere…” He did not, of course, but moving his gaze towards the horizon while holding his chin in his left hand in thought may convince them he did. @Techn0geist @oncertainty IC: Vraek (Tajun Arena, Hotel Reception) - No Reservations About a Reservation Though she had briefly entertained notions of letting Jeizmel stay with her at her lodgings in Tajun, Vraek knew this couldn’t be so. Her room at the arena’s hotel would be a one-Glatorian sized room - if Metus knew what was good for him that was, as bookings for people who weren’t named Strakk or Gelu were under his jurisdiction. Or at least, Strakk was. Gelu had quit and taken up a disreputable mercenary profession. Which left the position of Iconox’s Second Glatorian open… not that Vraek cared about that sort of thing. She didn’t. Didn’t at all. Catching a brief glance of what she assumed was just a sleeping vagrant and not the recently murdered body of Tajun’s Atero councilor, she enters the arena building. Vraek walks up the counter and dings the bell. Reserved or not, she refused to spend the night in Scarabax’s Delight. Again. @a goose IC: Taldrix (Bone Hunter Stronghold, the Tower) - Be Aware of His Stinger Tail! She was beginning to doubt that the Ghost respected anything, much less his own people- Wait… four eyes… were… could the Zesk… the Sand Tribe… what?! Taldrix wants to look to see if there was a stinger tail or a scar where a tail would be on the Ghost’s waist, but there’s no way for her to do that without looking like she was checking out his- “No sir, I believe that’s everything. I’ll continue to monitor the Aula Agoria and report on her condition.” @a goose IC: Xyde (Iron Canyon, Cave) - Bat Cave “I’ll take third.” Xyde trudges into the cave alongside the others. It didn’t seem any more inviting than the valley itself, but it was a shelter - in the same vein that a dagger was a scalpel. They imagine that this is the sort of place that Ash Agori were expected to live in and swap stories about any recently ‘defiled’ graves. What was it with people demanding that their belongings be buried alongside them? They were DEAD. Did they think they’d be able to take their prized possessions with them into that undiscovered country, from which no traveler returns? Hopefully, the people of Ferrum hadn’t been summoned to that place just yet… @Nato G @~Xemnas~ @a goose @oncertainty @Burnmad

so as you might have seen from my previous post, I have been making so-called hybrid editions/builds of the alpha team. basically, this is me taking my favorite set for each hero and adding in some design elements from the other sets depicting said character. stormer was one of the harder ones to do, as with most heroes, my favorite designs for him were brain attack (2013) and breakout (2012). I might need to beef up his arms a little so he can do war crimes the main design issue for stormer was integrating the multi-missiles into his back. I did this by cutting a piece the visor is blue-tacked on. (parts cut,3) now here’s the photodump Photo on 03-05-2024 at 7.28 PM498×720 67.9 KB Photo on 03-05-2024 at 7.28 PM #2552×720 76.7 KB action pose Photo on 03-05-2024 at 7.30 PM535×648 72.3 KB a look at the gearbox and missile system Photo on 03-05-2024 at 7.30 PM #2518×674 73.9 KB missiles up and ready Photo on 03-05-2024 at 7.30 PM #3578×530 63.7 KB a closer look at the illegal leg construction sorry for the bad photos I took them at night

some guy made them both as concept sets on flickir https://www.flickr.com/photos/149398523@N07/51846737851/in/photolist-2mZw5Ri-8gz9Na-8SuLQC-ZsJyXt-8gz9u4-8gCqeS-2dqRZ2f-8gCpPQ-2mZr6j3-2mZzq1D-jCqoGP-8KR8yt-XjiNwX-2m4ohLm-8gz9o8-2mZr68r-ZosXEo-2mZzpFF-2oNWpLJ-8gCq23-2ohJpxj-2oGY36w-b3hMgg-2oor6qS-2mfX2yC-2mZr5XX-2nnwfNb-2odJzxi-2aivMfJ-QC9z9N-2oYanFB-nYhE96-8djSU6-bcqtur-bswyqT-amZUQA-ek56xr-nWMe75-KQShQu-ofzFMU-8vTrNs-2bXYU4h-2aivN5Q-amZUQW-9YJEtW-2bXYUpY-2nzoess-cZCMFA-7MMpjz-8dBjfQ https://www.flickr.com/photos/149398523@N07/51846802893/in/photolist-2mZwqbH-2mZw5Ri-8gz9Na-8SuLQC-ZsJyXt-8gz9u4-8gCqeS-2dqRZ2f-8gCpPQ-2mZr6j3-2mZzq1D-jCqoGP-8KR8yt-XjiNwX-2m4ohLm-8gz9o8-2mZr68r-ZosXEo-2mZzpFF-2oNWpLJ-8gCq23-2ohJpxj-2oGY36w-b3hMgg-2oor6qS-2mfX2yC-2mZr5XX-2nnwfNb-2odJzxi-2aivMfJ-QC9z9N-2oYanFB-nYhE96-8djSU6-bcqtur-bswyqT-amZUQA-ek56xr-nWMe75-KQShQu-ofzFMU-8vTrNs-2bXYU4h-2aivN5Q-amZUQW-9YJEtW-2bXYUpY-2nzoess-cZCMFA-7MMpjz

Marvelous May! We May-de it! 🌈❤️

You beat me to the punch on a dark Bionicle horror story. Excellent work so far; it's hard to describe the sense of dread I felt about the prospect of permanently sealing off Metru-Nui. I'm also enjoying the characters. I'm sure nothing bad will happen to them! Keep up the good work, will definitely be keeping an eye on this one.

It's the 20th anniversary of the Metru Nui saga's beginning. So this years theme is the entire Metru Nui saga! Toa Metru, Hordika, Vahki, Dark Hunters. Not just characters, locations, items, or even vehicles! Rules: Your design must be a simple design, one color, and must be medium sized. Your design must also be black on a clear white background. This makes it easier for the screen printing process. You may post your entries in this thread, and have until the end of May to submit your design. The Prize: The maker of the winning design will receive a free T-Shirt! ADDITIONAL INFO: The winning design will be chosen through a voting process of the members of BZP. Colors will be suggested and chosen by the members as well. Feel free to ask any questions if needed. That's all for now. Have fun, and good luck!

Jokes aside, this was an excellent first chapter. It feels the most like the aftermath of a real war set in the BIONICLE universe, unlike the battles against the Rahi or even something like the Toa-Dark Hunter War, that always felt fun and kid-friendly. Your writing really captures the futility of it. On the surface, it reads kind of like the typical "grimdark" fiction that non-fans probably think BIONICLE fanfics are like, but this is actually well-written and feels like an ideal version of trope. The characters are grounded and relatable. And the cliffhanger ending I did not see coming. I am excited for the next chapter.

Prologue – Dying Of The Light From the notes of Chronicler Crisda. Deep down, everyone’s afraid of the dark. It’s a powerful, primal thing, an instinct born long before any of us were created. In the dark, anything could be waiting. A ravenous rahi, a roving Rahkshi, Karzahni or Irnakk or Tren Krom or any one of the other nightmares of legend. But now we know there’s nothing waiting for us in the dark. Nothing at all. And somehow, that makes it even more frightening. Two years have passed since everything changed. Two years since the Turaga of Metru Nui sent the universe’s greatest Toa heroes to Karda Nui to reawaken the Great Spirit, a mission from which they never returned. Two years since the day that the stars formed the shape of the Kanohi Kraahkan and Makuta Teridax proclaimed his dominion over creation. Two years since war and strife wracked our universe. Two years since the terrible earthquake, and the even more terrifying stillness that followed it. Two years since the lightstones started to die. It started small, at first. Old stones fizzling out, as they sometimes did. But then newer stones started to die as well. Even the fresh ones dug out of the mines seemed dimmer. And then, within only a few weeks, there were no functioning lightstones left to be found. We could still hook them up to the city’s generators and charge them that way, but whatever had once empowered them naturally no longer worked. Soon, the same thing started to happen to our heatstones. And it wasn’t just Metru Nui. Boats began to arrive, ferrying Matoran, Turaga, and Toa from shores far afield, where the dark and cold had rendered entire lands unliveable. I myself was among them. Only the heat of the Great Furnace and the lifegiving light of Twin Suns still shining high overhead had kept Metru Nui from meeting the same fate. The city welcomed the refugees with open arms, of course. More Matoran meant more workers to help keep the city functioning enough for us all to continue surviving. More Turaga meant more wisdom to aid in navigating our new situation. More Toa meant more protectors. However, we soon learned of one land that our fellow Matoran had been unable to leave. Though those who sailed past or docked to resupply said its streets remained busy and its foundries still spewed smoke, Xia hadn’t sent a single ship our way. A team of Toa were sent to meet with the Toa of Xia and arrange the relocation of their Matoran, but of the six who departed, only three returned. The tidings they brought were grim: the Vortixx of Xia had slain their city’s Toa team and taken the Matoran as slaves, forcing them to work the power plants to keep their city alive. And when they’d learned of new Toa in their midst, the Vortixx had promptly tried to kill them as well. Debate raged for days, but the decision was never in doubt. The last fifty Toa in existence departed for Xia, intent on liberating the trapped Matoran. Weeks passed, and a lone boat limped back to Metru Nui, bearing four injured Toa and a few dozen rescued Matoran. Their report on the situation in Xia was a dire one. Embroiled in a battle to liberate the Matoran, the Toa had found themselves caught in an unexpected crossfire. From the South had come the Dark Hunters, intent on taking the city’s technology and power for themselves. And from the East had come the Skakdi hordes, seemingly motivated by nothing more than a defiant desire to end their lives fighting in the universe’s last great war, instead of dying quietly in the dark. We waited for our Toa to return. We prayed to our absent Great Spirit. Some even offered prayers to Makuta Teridax. Neither god answered us. A few brave Matoran even boarded a boat and set sail for Xia. They didn’t return either. And still, the rest of us waited. And waited. More than a year passed before the Toa finally came home, but the world they found was not the one they had left behind. And the world they made was not one any of us expected.

IC: Selamat - Iron Canyon Cave Selamat nodded as Tueris spoke. "I can take the first watch as well," he said. Better now than later; he was already on-edge with adrenaline, and when that subsided would come the crash. OOC: @a goose

idk I think with OP around there is no way we could possibly forget about it lol

At the suggestion of Master Inika, I’ve edited another map of the Matoran Universe, this time to depict the known territories of the various canon Makuta. The original suggestion was to do a colour-coded map, but that ended up looking very cluttered, so I decided to go for a simpler style. According to Greg Farshtey, there were once 100 Makuta, and only a handful of them are covered by canon. Even so, based on the amount of territory controlled by the Makuta we do know of, it seems like a lot of the unknown Makuta probably didn’t have regions, or controlled islands so minor they weren’t even worth putting on the map. Starting from the top, our main man Teridax was the assigned Makuta of Metru Nui, while the Brotherhood’s alleged best fighter, Icarax, took over Karzahni. Krika was originally assigned to the north part of the northern continent, and later expanded his territory to include Zakaz after Spiriah’s fall from grace. Sharing the Northern Continent was Gorast, who is specified to have ruled the lower region known as the Tren Krom peninsula. Based on this division, it seems like at least one more Makuta must have had a claim to part of the Northern Continent. Tridax ruled Nynrah, biker bro Antroz ruled Xia, and Vamprah was responsible for Odina (I guess he sucked at his job, since he clearly never did anything about the Dark Hunters). I feel like Greg only vaguely glanced at the map when he decided on Chirox’s territory, since his region includes two completely disconnected islands that are nowhere near each other (one in the hand, one in the leg). He controls Keetongu’s and Tobduk’s homelands (the latter being better known by its current name, Visorak). (I realised after posting that I'd also made a mistake here myself, drawing a line to the wrong island). Chirox-but-with-a-better-colourscheme Mutran controlled the “central part of the Southern Continent”, which is probably intended to refer to Voya Nui. Prior to being deposed, Miserix was the Makuta of Destral. As far as we know, no other Makuta formally claimed that title after Miserix was imprisoned. Bitil is said to have controlled the west chain of the southern islands. However, the map claims that no one has explored further than Artidax, so Bitil’s territory likely ends there. It’s worth noting here that while Spiriah was formerly the Makuta of Zakaz, some pages on BS01 say that he also controlled Artidax. However, there seems to be no citation for this, and since he’s in exile I’ve left him off the map entirely. Finally, a couple of Makuta we don’t have canon appearances for: Kojol was the Makuta of Artakha, prior to raiding the place and getting assassinated by the Order Of Mata Nui, while the Makuta of Stelt is exactly what it says on the tin. This leaves a number of locations unclaimed. Given the way most territories have been divided up, there would have been at least one more Makuta for the Northern continent, and potentially two or three more dividing up the Southern. The large island above Keetongu’s homeland may have had a Makuta (unless it was also included in Chirox’s territory). The small island between Nynrah and Odina could also have had a Makuta (unless it fell into Tridax or Vamprah’s territories). The two islands up near Stelt and Xia (Nocturn’s homeland?) would have likely had at least one Makuta assigned to them, possibly two. I’m less sure about the other side of the map, since we have no information to confirm if the Makuta had any major presence at all in that entire arm. There are also a whole bunch of other islands out there that don’t appear on the map but are mentioned in-story, some of which would have likely had Makuta overseers as well. Let me know if there's anything I've missed, or if you have any suggestions. I'd also love to hear if anyone's assigned territories to their own fanon Makuta.

Consider this to be an addendum to my recent topic about the BIONICLE Dream. I tried my best to make that topic normal and not too depressing (and I will leave to you how successful I was). Since BIONICLE has ended (and by that I mean since 2010; G2 barely registered for me as an event), BIONICLE itself, the time from when I got my first set in 2003 to 2010, feels like my own personal "time before time." On one hand, it does feel like time existed as a BIONICLE fan, and even that BIONICLE is what made me aware of time. Before 2003 (when I was seven years old), my memories are emotional but do not take place in any particular order. After 2003, it feels much more structured, like each years builds up to the next. When someone says 2005, for example, even in a context related to a movie or something else from pop culture or current events, my first thought is Web of Shadows (along with Revenge of the Sith). I do remember, post-2010, each year feeling much less meaningful or distinct. I had learned to almost need a new wave of BIONICLE sets and lore to feel like a year has properly passed, as weird as that is to admit. I still feel that way now. I do suppose that those years, from ages 7 to 14, it is probably normal to feel that way about the passage of time, I just find it interesting how perfectly it synced up with BIONICLE. I recall from the MNOG behind-the-scenes documentary, the game designers knew that the kids into BIONICLE were not necessarily the popular kids, and that's why they chose the weirdos of each village (Taipu, the Onu-Matoran who liked sunlight; Tamaru, the Le-Matoran afraid of heights, etc.) to be the heroes of the day. In the case of characters like Kopeke, it feels sometimes like the Chronicler's Company was intentionally coded to be in some way neurodivergent, which might be why they resonated with us so much. Toa Matoro feels very similar, I always found it profound that he thought of himself and others too thought of him as "just a translator" before 2007. I have heard people who weren't raised with BIONICLE say it's just plastic toys and give me a side eye for my huge collection, and I suppose from a strictly reductionist sense they are correct, but from watching videos like the first BIONICLE pitch video (on Christian Faber's YouTube channel Quest for Future Creativity) it really does seem to be that BIONICLE was crafted as if it were a legitimate form of genuine modern mythology as opposed to trinkets to keep kids occupied. Perhaps it is only because I was an introspective child and feel somewhat cheated by public school and the world, but BIONICLE feels much more like it was building up to something gratifying than anything else that was going on during my upbringing. Maybe this is a common feeling, or maybe I am just losing it. I guess that is what I meant my BIONICLE being my own personal "time before time." I've also been binging Code Lyoko lately, which might explain my wistful escapism. Maybe I will make another blog entry about that show, which is also a powerful source of nostalgia (though not as much as BIONICLE).

I relate so, so much to this lol. Pretty much everything 2001-2010, I always have Bonkle associated with any memories from that time period. Isn't it crazy what an impact a random Lego toyline had on so many people?

With any luck, it might be easier to sort that out soon. Things have been a little quiet for a while. On that point, real life has took precedence for me for a bit. I'll be working on getting caught up throughout the week. There are posts I already know for sure are on my list, but if there's something I'm forgetting as the days go on then let me know!

We do really need a dope "Where are they now?" segment. Like what did these people do with their lives?

I remember your name, though no real details about you. It's certainly weird logging in here, seeing a name like Black Six in the four active users present, and then 60 or so "guests" who are probably all bots crawling over the corpse of the site, trying to absorb information for targeted ads. (What are they gonna sell to us anyways, with the franchise dead?) It's crazy that the site doesn't ever seem to fully die. Every time I visit, there are a few people present, often people who were very prominent in the community once. I wonder, are they posting, or sitting watch as moderators, or are they hanging around PMing each other? Or are they just locked into a habit of hanging out where they always have, attracted even more strongly to the site than I am, who only pops in a few times a year? All the same, it's comforting to see familiar names hanging out on here. It'll be a sad day when the site truly goes dark. I just wish all the threads from before the Dataclysm were still accessible-- there'd be a lot more to do here.

almost 16 years since I joined this site as a kid. it was a major part of my life for so long. to say that my time and the people I met here was instrumental to my development would be an understatement. so many friendships came and went, even a relationship started and ended here, and the drama - so much drama. all the arguments, bullying right-wing bigots, carving out an identity and (infamous) reputation through so many different phases and identity crises. Laughin'Man, Scythey, Ryuujin, Serein, Heck - I changed so much from the time I started here till I faded away that it feels like I was five different people, and there's a little bit of every one that's made me who I am today. shout out to the 3 people who might see this and think, "hey, I remember him". and to the handful of people who joined after I left who are reading this and thinking "who's this weird old guy?" just remember when you're pushing 30 the people, places, and things that got you there.