Newcomb Notes

she/her; writer of fantasy and fascinated with folk tales

[newcombnotes]

Looking for my work? I've got several stories (fan fic and original works) on AO3.

I've also got one novel on Amazon available as a physical book and ebook. A Tale of Two Tricksters is an urban fantasy about Jenn, a djinn who doesn't know she has magic, and a smooth-talking man named Luke who knows more than he says. (Look for a sequel to this book out as soon as I can manage it.)

[newcombnotes]

Update! Pride and Pettiness is live!

This is the sequel to A Tale of Two Tricksters. If you like gods and Creatures in a modern setting, a main character who is just trying to figure out how to be a human, and a wizard who is too smart to be this dumb, you might like it. Check it out!

[luna-azzurra]

The two wolves inside every writer: "this is genuinely the best thing i have ever written. i am gifted. i am changed. this paragraph alone justifies my entire existence on this planet." and then five minutes later, same paragraph: "who wrote this. who allowed this. this reads like a golden retriever trying to describe grief. i need to lie down and reconsider everything." both wolves are always wrong. the paragraph is fine. you need a snack.

[malevolentcafe]

Happy pride to black trans people in particular I know it can be tough out here with how often the image of what and who counts as always seems to never consider us

[ymutate]

Ivan Pokidyshev, Born in 1993 in Saint Petersburg, Russia

A receding sea (Fragment) 2026

Oil on canvas

pokidyshev_art

[homunculus-argument]

"I learned a lot from making this" is artist talk for "making this sucked ass and I'm not entirely happy with the result."

[english-history-trip]

Ring set with a wolf's tooth, 14th century

Gems have long been considered by all peoples as somehow magical because of their brilliance of colour and hardness, but other materials, such as teeth, also had magical properties.

This ring has the hoop engraved with two inscriptions, providing double the power; one a magic formula, the other a biblical phrase. The magical charm: ‘BURO + BERTO + BERNETO’ is to protect against toothache; the tooth set in the bezel may well have been expected to contribute to the prophylactic power of the words. The biblical phrase 'CONSUMMATUM + EST' are the last words Christ spoke on the Cross, and were used as a charm to calm storms.

As this ring is large, it is probably it belonged to a man, and as storms would endanger the wearer only when at sea, it has been suggested that a travelling merchant who undertook many sea voyages might be a possible candidate for ownership.

[despazito]

[churrotowns]

since it’s pride month, throwback to this beautiful cover and this wholesome interaction between two icons

[ceruleanheaven]

month starting on a monday we have no excuse guys lets get to work and lock the fuck in

[ceruleanheaven]

yk its actually very chic and avant garde to start on tuesday the second

[ceruleanheaven]

many claim theres nothing more subversive and revolutionary than starting on wednesday the third

[ceruleanheaven]

there are simply no words in the english language that can describe starting on thursday the fourth. thats how iconic it is

[ceruleanheaven]

choosing to start on friday the fifth. i just think its very inspiring

[the-punforgiven]

I'm just saying, if you're going to worldbuild magic being a "raw, primal force, akin to and interweaving with nature itself" you gotta explain to me why animals don't use it

[the-punforgiven]

I know the normal answer is "they just aren't smart enough for it" but idk I've seen enough media where a character uses a spell in a moment of brain-off panic ilI feel like animals could probably stumble into a spell or two like, accidentally

[the-punforgiven]

Also how funny would it be to see a completely normal regular bear cast magic missile outta nowhere

[the-punforgiven]

Also there is no way ravens wouldn't figure out spells, tbh

They're smart fuckin birds, I believe in them

Either through observing or just figuring shit out ravens could 100% learn how to cast spells I'm sure of it

[the-punforgiven]

Dogs can also cast Magic Missile but every time they do the projectile is shaped like a bone or a stick and they chase after it

[rathayibacter]

group of wizards who ask this in-universe, and after extensive study learn to their surprise that animals are casting spells all the time, just that their magic is so fundamental as to be unrecognizable to humans. turns out the only reason acorns grow on trees is because squirrels keep wishing for them.

[thatquietkid108]

When a species becomes extinct humans have to figure out what kind of magic they were doing to keep the ecosystem from becoming out of balance

[luna-azzurra]

Writers say "i'm not writing right now" like that means anything. You are always writing. You are writing at dinner. You are writing while someone talks to you about their holiday. You are writing in the queue at the post office.

Not writing it down is not the same as not writing. The writing happens first. The document is just where it lands eventually if you're lucky.

[timrousbeastie]

[enchantedbook]

“The Swan Princess” illustrated by Boris Zvorykin (1920) for the fairytale by Alexander Pushkin.

[microsff]

"You have improved," the swordmaster said.

"Thanks to my new sword," said the student.

The swordmaster studied the blade and frowned. "This is enchanted?"

"You know about cursed swords that whisper that you should kill?"

"Yes?"

"This tells me I'm loved and valid."

"Ah. Well. It's not wrong."

[victusinveritas]

Meet Pando, not a forest but a single tree. Every trunk of the Quaking Aspen is genetically identical & connected by a single 80,000 year old root system, making it one of the largest and oldest living entities on Earth!

[foone]

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to walk through the body of a God?

[carmelia-rose]

@derinthescarletpescatarian

[thebibliosphere]

Every so often I catch a glimpse of the book drama going on over on the Insta/Threads sphere of the Internet, and it makes me so glad I’m considered too Tumblrina to sit at their tables.

What do you mean an author is railing against people using libraries/the Libby app because it’s “free” (it’s not. you as the author get money from the library purchasing the digital lending license) and meanwhile their book is on Amazon for free to try and get readers??? Hello????

[thebibliosphere]

“But if people read it for free they might like it want to buy the rest of my work!”

You mean like how people read books at libraries, and end up buying them if they like them?

“That’s not the same 😡”

Correct! Because again, libraries pay us. You putting your books up on Amazon for free means you get nothing.

[thebookewyrme]

I am staring directly into the camera like I’m on the Office in Librarian. Libraries are literally an author’s best friend. We get books to people they never would have known about otherwise, & create Fans out of disinterested bystanders. And! Libraries are often paying MORE for a book than the average user, at least for digital editions, because it is expected that the library will lend it to more people, so theoretically we need to pay more to compensate the authors! (This is not I think how it works in practice, it more often just benefits the digital lending company instead of the actual author but. Greed is ever thus). Also, in some countries (sadly not the US, boo hiss) authors get paid for every checkout of a book. So, you can literally get royalties on those “free” books. (Also, they’re not free, they’re paid for with tax dollars for the good of everyone). How some fool can think temporary freeness on Amazon Kindle is superior to libraries I cannot fathom. Like, how does this person even manage to function in the real world?

Anyway. Authors. Love your librarians. We love you and seek only to help you get more readers so you can write more books. We have a symbiotic relationship, each needs the other.

[thebibliosphere]

#I thought if you were self pubed#you basically couldn't get into the library#sounds like being mad at a club#that won't let them in

Just saw this in my notes and thought I'd reply. You can't get into libraries if you only use Amazon, but platforms like Draft2Digital, Ingram and Kobo Writing Life make it possible for self-pub authors to have their work made available to libraries across the global network.

You're sometimes more likely to get picked up by libraries if you list yourself as having a publisher, but as a self-pub author you can do that by registering as an LLC (which for me was $250 back in 2020, I don't know what it is now) and then listing the name you used as the publisher. But even that's becoming an unnecessary step with how prominent self-pub has become.

Really at this stage, this person is shooting themselves in the foot by opting to remain an Amazon exclusive author and being a twit about it on main, but that's their hill. They can die on it.

[flintjames]

First picture of my Peggy Carter cosplay from last week’s Romics! I am so happy with my new version of this cosplay  I had to remake the famous “We Can Do It!” poster - I already did a fanart of Peggy months ago, so …!