AI KURU: An Anthology of Weird Fiction Horror and Art in the World of BIONICLE
LINK TO FILE (PDF)
Update 10/8/24: Now also posted as a series on AO3!
aikuru adj. Unknown, obscure, foggy, dark. A Matoric word...
This is a collection of eighteen original short stories and associated artwork set within the world and universe of BIONICLE (a property of LEGO), taken from the Art & Writing section of this blog.
If you are not familiar with the lore of this world, the characters, settings, and themes of these stories will be obscure to you, although perhaps not entirely incomprehensible...
Many of these stories feature beings called Matoran: the biomechanical worker-beings of a vast, artificial world. The Matoran were designed as automatons by their creators (an enigmatic group known only as the “Great Beings”) but later evolved by unknown means to become self-aware and self-actualizing while still keeping to their original programming as maintainers of the world. Alongside Matoran are the Toa—powerful elemental warriors who are sworn to serve and protect—as well as the Turaga, elders who guide and govern the Matoran (and who were formerly Toa themselves). An array of other creatures and species are present as well, with their own special characteristics and functions in keeping the great Machine of the World running.
Many of these stories explore themes related to the emergence of self-actualization, culture, and emotional complexity amongst the Matoran and the other beings they share the universe with. A similar theme of these stories is “forbidden knowledge”, dealing with cases where the creatures of BIONICLE gain some knowledge about the nature of their world and are forced to grapple with it, sometimes with disastrous results. Themes of death, loss, change, companionship, betrayal, curiosity, obsession, and the weariness of duty may also be found.
Some stories are set within specific moments of the larger BIONICLE narrative, both past and future, and feature established characters and settings from the lore, while others feature entirely original characters and settings.
The final story in the anthology is different. It is not set within the artificial world of the Matoran, but instead on the world of the “Great Beings” themselves, called Spherus Magna—a planet which was shattered and then remade by the machine-world of the Matoran (which took the form of a planetoid-sized robot). The story is set long after the conclusion of the story of BIONICLE proper, in a time when the inhabitants of Spherus Magna have moved on from the destruction of the past in many ways, but remain nevertheless fascinated by the mysteries buried beneath the surface of their world . . . with some even attempting to unearth those mysteries, for better or worse.
I hope that you enjoy these works, and that, through these stories and the accompanying art, you too may glimpse the way that is called BIONICLE.
I've created a new Mahiki for Timak! Much closer to the original Great Mahiki design, but with some of the classic Timak features you know and love. Now people will hopefully stop mistaking them for the GSR...
Instead of 3D printing this time, I made this out of an actual mahiki piece and carved it. Turned out pretty good I think!
The next batch of masks will be announced as soon as I can - it’s mostly brickfair leftovers with however many extra things I can complete before sunday. I’ve just been busy cleaning up the workstation and putting things away.
Still getting through the mask pics, but I got some sweet loot this year!
The bohrok minis are from @redstarforge, the kraahkan is by @socketballmasks, and the ruru is by Ziontyro. I also got quite a few masks from KhingK that I didn’t include in this pick because I’m still cleaning the print lines from them. from The customs community for bionicle has really been picking up over the last couple years, and this was definitely the largest selection of creators I’ve seen yet!
Custom parts for @suddenlyoranges‘ “Sockets” character. Oranges wanted the limbs and mask to have a gradient of yellow and transparent blue, with some clear space between the colors so that the colors didn’t mix into a green in the middle. To accomplish this, I relied on transparent yellow Tamiya paint at the clear ends of the cast parts. I honestly wasn’t sure it would work aesthetically, but it has a striking, otherworldly effect!
You may have already seen it on instagram or twitter, but I’ve managed to finally get a working color match for old purple. Waiting for more dye to come in, then I can use this mix in bulk batches.
New Build! The water toa of team Prisma.
Her weapon is a spear that can also function as shears, a shovel, or an oar. She’s one of a team of six that I’ve built to showcase simple custom masks used to keep a theme together.
Gold and blue seems to be the theme for this week. That last on on the bottom there is actually a KhingK design which was resin printed, then cast in a mold by @socketballmasks. It’s pretty fantastic that you can get stuff of such a high quality nowadays, even a couple of years ago print quality for stuff like this was way too low/expensive to make stuff like the runes look good.
N I G H T M A R E . T A H U
.
“Plagued by visions of death and destruction, this corrupted Toa warrior has succumbed to the vile evil of The Makuta. Unable to sleep, unable to feel, this fallen hero is doomed to forever wander the night, striking terror into the hearts of any that crosses his path.”
.
My latest custom! This figure is 90% 3D printed, is fully articulated, and features light-up eyes and chainsaw sword.
.
I’m kidding; this thing is straight up haunted. It just showed up one night and won’t leave. HELP.
.
.
.
#bionicle #bioniclecustom #custombionicle #bonk #bioniclemoc #bioniclemocs #tahu #bioniclecommunity #bioniclephotography #nightmare #scary #haunted #spooky #halloween #creepy #spoopy #spookyart #edensandersart #creativemechanics
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGS-11aDUbC/?igshid=r997x309kswf
Flashback to all the custom Bionicle figures I customized and auctioned off within the last couple years. Gooood times…
.
.
.
.
#bionicle #lego #customlego #bioniclecustom #actionfigure #customfigure #customtoy #customminifigure #miniature #minaturepainting #painting #minimodel #modelpainting #bioniclemoc #bioniclemocs #edensandersart #creativemechanics #modelpaint #lego #bonk #kanohi
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCWgcfpjWqy/?igshid=wxbys3mkopra
Flashback to some custom Bionicle masks I painted and auctioned off. I should get back into this again…
.
.
.
#customkanohi #bionicle #kanohi #masks #bioniclemasks #bioniclemoc #bioniclecustom #lego #legobionicle #legos #robot #mini #miniatures #cusrommini #diy #miniaturepainting #edensandersart #crestivemechanics #avohkii
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCTucHhjHy6/?igshid=sopt6t4ybbnp
