(The images and text in this post are copyrighted and registered with the Library of Congress.)

(EDIT: A link to the first part of Chapter 1 has been added below.)

Years ago, a young warrior named Casion vanished from her homeworld of Breva without a trace. It has been too long. As a Headhunter, Kaia knows the case is cold. But she is still determined to find her.

Following the arrest of a notorious slave-trader, a new lead drops unexpectedly into her lap. Pursuing it means she will go it alone, undercover, into a dangerous area of space.

But a Brevian sold there was fighting in a pit, in the bottom of an asteroid – filled with escaped prisoners.

-=Prologue=-

The box was thick metal, and too small for Casion to stand up in. Her breath froze in the air as she peered out of the bars at its front. It was pitch black, wherever she was. The scent of death and blood turned her stomach, and wailing echoed in her ears. It came from the other boxes stacked around and on top of her, just like they had been in the hold of that ship. 

Because of the noise, Casion couldn’t hear anything that might tell her where she was, “quiet!” She shouted. No one understood her language. But they understood her tone. The air went silent and Casion pressed herself as far as she could against the front of her cage and listened into the distance. After a few seconds she was sure steps were coming their way, two sets of bipedal feet, lighter, most likely both women. 

“I'm glad to be able to offer you first pick.”

A woman laughed, "you are privileged, Darling, aren’t you?”  

Hello Anon, I’m glad you enjoy!

About your question:

First of all, no, it’s not legal to simply grab pictures from the internet and use them on your blog. This is the same for photographs, drawings / fan art, videos, text, etc. Even if you credit the original poster (op), even if you put a source, and even if you’re using just a tiny portion of the original picture as is often the case with aesthetics. Pay attention to the copyright, otherwise you’re liable to get sued.

There are, however, several good alternatives to simply reposting other peoples’ works.

Ask their permission. Simple as that. If you find works on social media like tumblr, twitter, instagram, etc., it is often fairly easy to just message the op, tell them what you’re planning on using their picture for and ask whether they would be fine with it. Most of the time artists are extremely happy about the exposure and readily allow you to use their work. Don’t forget to give credit and / or link the op‘s profile.

Use your own content. Another very simple method to avoid copyright issues. Of course it isn’t always easy, it takes time and effort, and then again your work could be reposted without your consent. Therefore, always watermark your own pictures / art (I do the same with mine, too).

Use license free photos only. There are millions of photos online that have generously been provided for everyone to use freely - so-called creative commons. Some photos can be used for commercial purposes, some only for editorial purposes (like blogging, when you’re not making money off of the picture) - so pay attention to the photo signatures. For my blog I use these kinds of images only, or make my own.

My favourite free image sites are:

- unsplash.com

- pixabay.com

- snappygoat.com

but there are many more online. These three however are the best for my purposes, and especially unsplash has great hipster, grunge and aesthetic pics.

Another alternative are stock photo sites (shutterstock and such) - there, however, you will have to pay a mothly / annual amount of money in order to use their pictures, the cost depending on the kind of license you wish to purchase. I’m not a huge fan of stock photo sites for the simple reason that they often only provide very straightforward pictures (often used in memes, too) which are difficult to make aesthetics with.

Something I want to address separately are GIFs. I use lots of GIFs to illustrate my diary blog and mood posts - this is legal. Most GIFs fall into the category of Fair Use (which is to be said with caution, though) - that means you are allowed to use copyrighted material to a certain extent, mainly for educational purposes, for review, parody or satire. I, for example, used a Johnny Depp GIF taken from the film Ed Wood to hyperbolically illustrate my frustration. This could count as satire. Also, nobody would watch a 5 second GIF instead of the whole film - the creators won’t lose any money because of me.

GENERALLY:  If you find a picture online and are not sure who the op is, see no way to find out who the op is, don’t know whether the image is licensed / copyrighted, or whether or not you have the right license for it - DON’T POST IT. That’s the only way you’ll be fully protected from getting sued.

Well, that‘s all I know about the matter. If anybody knows more, finds mistakes, or wants to add anything - PLEASE do so!

Hope this helps you, and have fun making aesthetics and everything.