Gathered friends, welcome to yet another post by the Le-Koro Band!

This week we talked with a vocal and artistic star who has had her harmony added to many songs in the Le-Koro Band catalogue, BlueRoseKatie! One of the first songs she added her voice to was “Cult of Shadow” from Ide’s Journey: Act 1, wherein our listener protagonist was welcomed into the reclusive, but kind Shadow Tribe in the remote, icy tunnels of the mountains of Makuta’s Spine:

Katie talked with us about collaborating in art, making music, the power of writing fanfiction, and just following your passions wherever they lead.

So, gathered friends, and honored guest…

When were you first introduced to the world of BIONICLE^®? What was your first set?

I actually started, rather than with any sets, by getting the first four Chronicles books secondhand — at this point I don’t remember where or when! A while later I bought the seventh book in the Metru Nui arc, Web of Shadows and was very confused! But my first set was the Metru Nui Accessory Kit bucket 8715 (ultimate creatures accessory tub) with the Vahi inside, and I tended to try to recreate characters with no instructions. As you can imagine with not much experience, that didn’t go so well, so I stuck with drawing and tracing the book covers.

That seems like the start of your artistic endeavors! Did that interest in art draw you (ba dum tsh) to absorb the other Bionicle media too once they came out, like the comics, games, and movies, or was that after Bionicle ended?

I got into Bionicle overall at the very end of the run, but starting from the beginning of the material — so as the series ended, I lost track of it to a degree after moving around and getting into other interests. One of my IRL friends who was into it was a reason I never fully forgot the story, but we had other shared interests, and I still couldn’t find the copies of the books I had for quite a while. However, this interest reawakened fully when G2 came out. I took one look at the Lego Club Magazine spread about the island of Okoto and went “hey, wait a second, this isn’t what I remember!” From then on, I re-read what I had, went searching for sets, and started making G1 fanart — and later fanfiction. My first sets I started collecting around then were the Toa Nuva and Bohrok.

Wow! Kind of a late bloom, but your artistic skills certainly have flourished. How has your art evolved over time, do you think?

For one thing, I’ve shifted from more traditional art tools to mostly digital art and pencil sketches now — most of what I consider my best work is done in GIMP, an open-source image editing software. I took the time to work on fundamentals — lighting, proportion, and realistic poses — and applied it to both my human Bionicle designs and artwork based more directly on the set and movie designs. It has gotten a lot more time-consuming and detailed as I improve, which means I don’t get as much done as I used to, but what I do finish I’m usually quite happy with. One thing that hasn’t changed is the characters I draw most often – Gali and Takua.

Moving back around to the books, it sounds like the stories emotionally resonated with you enough to draw from them for years. What are some moments from Bionicle that have stuck with you, and why? 

Some moments that have stuck with me over the years tend to be the twists and changes in the story — Takua becoming Takanuva, the reveal of the Toa Hordika, and the beginning of Ignition with the soon-to-be Toa Inika learning the universe is dying. I think it’s because I feel like I’m finding out these secrets and new sides of the characters along with them. And then, of course, there are quieter moments — collecting the Chronicler’s Company in MNOG, the Toa Metru exploring Mata Nui for the first time, and the little nod to Hewkii and Macku’s “swimming lessons” during the Bohrok Animations. The story came through in so many different formats — the movies, the games, the books, and the comics, and it feels like a retelling every time, in the best of ways.

Those sure are powerful moments. And to your point of retelling, it encourages the reader to tell their own stories, “…for that is the way of the Bionicle.”

On that note, I wanted to talk a bit about your extensive Archive of Our Own (AO3) Collection! What drew you to start reading fanfiction? What’s one of your favorite stories (not necessarily Bionicle related)?

I started reading fanfiction before I joined Ao3 (previously on DeviantArt and once or twice on Fanfiction.net) but the combined extra time and need for a creative outlet during the pandemic was what drew me to Ao3. The first fandom I went through and read as much as I could from was the Tron movies (which I still do love), but I found and read Bionicle fic not long afterward. It’s hard to pick a favorite fic out of everything, but I can definitely say favorite genres to read — canon divergent alternate universes (AUs), missing scenes, and fluff, with or without shipping involved. An example might be the “Bionicle Visions” series by Toa_Arania on Ao3, which is technically a canon compliant alternate universe but establishes a lot of new characters alongside alternate versions of familiar ones.

There is a large part of many fandoms that avoid fanfiction, either because they fear it is not written very well, or it might have elements they dislike. Thus, they avoid it entirely, preferring to read only the “canon” media. Why do you read Bionicle fanfiction, and what would you say to folks who don’t engage with fanfiction?

I read Bionicle fanfiction because I enjoy the world and characters, and I want to see how other authors have interpreted it! For me, playing around in the sandbox of the Bionicle universe via writing is my way of continuing the legend and enjoying it — like how MOCers like to create new versions of characters with different parts or fan artists draw them in their own style. It won’t keep me from watching the movies or rereading the books, but sometimes I have the itch to do something different with the beloved franchise. For those who don’t read fanfic — that’s valid, but keep in mind it’s just another way to express love for the series, another method of creation.

Well said! A great amount of the active members of this community feel that writing fanfiction is yet another act of breathing life into a fandom through telling more stories. This is especially important with Bionicle, reinforced by its Philosophy (“Now it’s time for you to make new legends…”), the express purpose being sparking imaginative conversation and creative engagement throughout the community.

With your experience reading fanfiction, and your experience of how different communities create to engage with fans, is there a particular way of writing you found encourages engagement, a choice of social media that works to promote it, or a particular site that you’ve found more fiction than not? Is there any work of fiction or actions by an author that you’ve found definitely discourages engagement with its subject matter?

Overall, my choice in platforms remains Archive of Our Own, both for the extensive filtering system and for the intention of protecting/preserving content — it feels as if it has the most Bionicle fanfiction on it, even if there may be some on Fanfiction.net that don’t overlap with it. But when it comes to trying to get engagement, the main tips I have are to be open and friendly with other fans, interact in events (and on other people’s stories), and be willing to take a chance on reading stories you might not immediately be sold on. Sometimes the best gems are hidden in strange premises! And as a writer, don’t hold your chapters ransom for interaction or be rude to readers or other writers. Most of that is just fandom etiquette, but being friendly and polite gets you a long way.

Now, pivoting to your actual voice, how did you like singing in “Cult of Shadow” and working with the band on “Ide’s Journey,” both as a work of creative fiction, and as music? What was your favorite part of engaging creatively with others on the project?

Singing for Cult of Shadow was such a fun experience!! The band is a very nice and welcoming community, and I learned a lot from the time I spent on this project—and I love the story we’re working on here! My favorite part is getting to know the songs inside and out — before Good in the World released, it was stuck in my head for weeks. A lot of work goes into getting the atmosphere of these tracks right, and I appreciate everyone who’s a part of that. I’ve made some great friends!

Do you think you’d collaborate with the Le-Koro Band again? Bring them into one of your own projects?

Definitely! I’ve had plenty of project ideas that would require some of the skills I’ve been learning while I’m in this community — so I’d be happy to work with them on something like that!

Thanks again for sharing your creativity with us! What’s next for you, individually?

Right now, I’m working on a job hunt with the skills I’ve developed as a game designer or technical writer through my time at college — but it’s been quite the long journey so far. Hopefully I get a breakthrough at some point soon! But for now, I’ve gotten to be around family more since I don’t have schoolwork or a job to take the majority of my time.

Sounds like a familiar story, especially nowadays. We wish you the best, Katie!

If you’re interested in reading some of her stories or those she recommends, check out her Ao3 page: (https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluerosekatie/profile)
For her beautiful artwork, see her deviantart: (https://www.deviantart.com/bluerosekatie)
And her animations and other content, check out her YouTube channel: (https://www.youtube.com/@bluerosekatie)
Until next time, go make some legends!

If you’d like to join the band, follow the linktree below (https://linktr.ee/lekoroband), and feel free to reach out to chat in the comments, or wherever you find us!
Tune in next time for another single release and the next episode of “Tree Talks!”

–Sanso