lavabending

[lavabending]

so I think marvel owes us a prequel series that actually shows agatha and rio’s relationship because there is so much I feel that we didn’t get to see and it would make a GREAT prequel series. also, kathryn and aubrey’s chemistry is just too good to waste

[lavabending]

i looooove characters who are sacrificial lamb coded. characters who have never lived for themselves. characters born to be a tool, a weapon, a sacrifice, all of the above. a character raised by the heroes to save the world, at any expense, even their own health, even their own life. a character raised by the villains to end the world, at any expense, even their own health, even their own life. characters who are denied personhood so they can be used as tools instead. characters who never even had a chance to be people because they were shaped into something else from the moment they were born. characters who were born to die.

[lavabending]

A while back I made a series called “Ubercute” which is bascially painted chibi art. I did a bunch fo the HTTYD dragons!  Here is Hookfang!

[lavabending]

[lavabending]

Official artwork for the new starter pokemon in Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet 

[lavabending]

today my mom and i met a colobus monkey at the zoo who posed for pictures and then my mom held out her phone to show him the pictures of himself. he was looking at the phone screen for like a full minute i wish i could like understand what was going on in his head

[lavabending]

#sisters

[lavabending]

I feel like book piracy has become so normalized now and its honestly so ugly and disappointing. Like I totally understand that some people in other countries have straight up no library access but for people in the US/UK?? saying that pubs are their 'free trial' without even trying to use a library??? I truly think younger readers using them don't realize how badly it could fuck an author over

i think book piracy comes down to people not understanding the differences between the film industry and the book industry. i don’t fully understand the film industry bc it’s not my focus, but i do know that pirating movies or shows is not going to directly impact the actors and/or the little people behind the movie or show. (if someone wants to elaborate on how, please do! i’m not really sure.)

however, pirating books is going to directly impact authors, not publishers or CEOs or any other bigwigs. an author is paid thus: they sign a contract for a certain amount of money, say, $100,000 for a two-book deal. that means that each book will be (technically) worth $50,000. depending on the contract, a check will be written for $25,000 upon the author turning in the version of the manuscript that the editor bought. that check will go to the author’s agent, who will take their 15% commission, which will be $3,750. then, the agent will send the remaining $21,250 to the author, minus taxes. with that same scenario, a check with the remaining $25,000 will be written upon the author turning in the final copy of the manuscript, aka the version that will go to the printer, and the process repeats (the check is sent to the agent, the agent takes their 15%, the author gets the remaining $21,250, minus taxes). 

that’s not where this story ends, though: in every contract is a thorough section detailing royalties, aka how much the author will receive per sale of a copy of their book in the book’s entire lifespan. if an agent is good, this will be one of their most important areas they focus on during negotiations. it’s imperative that people know that royalties can make or break an author’s career. it’s better to have larger royalties than a larger advance, bc an advance is only once, whereas royalties will continue as long as the book continues to sell (hardcover, paperback, audiobook, ebook, etc). the higher the author’s advance, the more pressure there is for the author to break even, aka for the author to make back the $50,000 spent on that first book. in a worst case scenario, if an author doesn’t earn back their advance (a big turn of phrase in publishing), they could have book 2 canceled, or they could possibly never be able to sell another book to a publisher again due to a poor sales record. in that case, it’s likely the author will have to re-debut under a pen name so the publisher backing them can treat them like a debut author. or, you’ll see an author’s first printings tank between book 1 and 2 or book 2 and 3 etc etc. for instance, Enchantee by Gita Trelease had a first hardcover printing of 175,000 copies (which is big for a debut!), while book 2 of that series, Everything That Burns, has a first hardcover printing of 75,000 copies. now, i can’t see the sales numbers, but it seems likely a lack of sales is the culprit here. 

so when people say that pirating books will directly influence whether or not your favorite author gets to publish more books, they really mean it. it won’t affect the publisher (who has massive protections in place) nearly as much as it will affect the author (who doesn’t have those same protections), and it could mean that your favorite author never gets to finish that series you love or can never publish another book again. in conclusion, don’t pirate books, kids. 

[lavabending]

are you worried

About what? But yeah

[lavabending]

Hen: Welcome to the “fuck Kasta” support group, where we gather to collectively say “fuck you” to that murderous snake and plot his ultimate demise.

Hen: But first, a few words from our newest member.

Zahru, sweating: I may have misunderstood -

[lavabending]

Sujaya Dasgupta and Jessie Mei Li 

being dorks in the Shadow and Bone bloopers

[lavabending]

#married

[lavabending]

SHADOW AND BONE: SHOW ME WHO YOU ARE ALINA STARKOV AND ALEKSANDER MOROZOVA

[lavabending]

My Sun Summoner.

[lavabending]

KIT YOUNG as JESPER FAHEY

+

SHADOW AND BONE: Season 1

[lavabending]

Alina Starkov & The Darkling Show Me Who You Are | Shadow and Bone

[lavabending]

Ruin and Rising, Leigh Bardugo (2014) - Shadow and Bone, Netflix (2021)