MidnightRose Artist
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midnightrose838.bsky.social
MidnightRose Artist
@midnightrose838.bsky.social
1.4K followers 160 following 6.4K posts
Artist & writer of brightdark fantasy that focuses on unconditional platonic love. I like dragon bonds, & gentle yet defiant MCs.

midnightroseart.com
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midnightrose838.bsky.social
#WIPSnips Not a correct use, & from a WIP I'm not sure I'll ever publish, but I finally found the word.
("He" is Rider, for anyone who wonders)

He turned to face the blue, blue east . . . and that deep crystal blueness seemed once more to shimmer in that way that beckoned to him, . . .
He turned to face the blue, blue east . . . and that deep crystal blueness seemed once more to shimmer in that way that beckoned to him, that told him there was something for him in the east, perhaps farther than his feet might ever walk, perhaps farther than even wings could fly, but nonetheless there, calling to him, ever calling to him.
November 23, 2025 at 1:49 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#WritingCommunity In memory of the happy times on discord, I’m hosting a Saturday #snippetshare
Optional theme “weakness”

🚫Please use the blur function, &/or a warning if your snippet isn’t tame/child safe (occasional swear words are okay)

There is memory of death in mine, but no gore.
“Did you rescue everybody?” Lelliddy who was still with him asked. Lawcket thought about how to answer that question. He had done nothing for the king's soldiers, and three of them were dead or dying in the house. He didn't know if any of those were still alive. His heart clenched at the thought of going back into that house. Somehow all the horrors he'd seen and the places he'd been had only made him weaker, and a part of him knew better than to fight through his weakness. It was part of who he was, part of how he cared and related to the needs of others.
November 22, 2025 at 4:07 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#WritingCommunity
Sorry for tagging this #WritingQ but I'm very confused as to how to this reply to the question "What does your MC base their identity on? What would happen if it were taken away?" is offensive?

Can anyone explain what I did wrong?
Lawcket bases his identity on compassion, on his feeling loved & choosing to love others. He feels he has been built by the love of his parents, of his whole family, & of the dragon who’s the reason he got home when he got lost as an 8 year old. I’m not sure it can be taken away, & if it somehow were I’m not sure what he’d be, any more than he is. All I can say is he’d be utterly devastated.
November 20, 2025 at 5:15 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
I can't put love to words, but I'll try, & maybe borrow from my characters.

In Lawcket's words, "love is to care about someone else's happiness."

Part of this is quoted from a conversation I've been having on x/twitter. I'm not sure of a brief way to give context.
To me, love is our greatest strength, and our greatest weakness. The reason we fall, and the reason we get back up. The reason we struggle to survive, and the reason we're willing to die. Love is both the most selfless and the most selfish thing in all the world. To truly love is to give one’s heart to another creature, expecting nothing in return. Yet the deepest love is always mutual. Love has the power to break us, and the power to heal us. Love is the reason we exist.
November 20, 2025 at 5:04 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
I'm happy to talk spoilers if you want.😊 I just try to refrain if not asked.

This is probably the best "mostly spoiler free" thing I've put together.
Blood's Power: Broken is also free in ebook from many stores, so if you're super interested, and have reading time, I can offer a link.
Writing of a list of things featured in Blood's Power: Broken, over a starry night background Sorry for not having the words for the list. I will try to get them if I post this in the future. & if anyone can't read them in the image I will get them if asked as soon as I have time.
November 16, 2025 at 6:50 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#NovemberThrills
I think Rider, Song, & Furgo count as a trio.🥰
It started with a solitary man raising a baby dragon bonded to a child who needs rescuing.

(& don't anyone dare even say the word "romance" I mean that seriously.😡)
#NovemberThrills 15 ) I think Rider, Song, & Furgo count as a trio.🥰 It started with a solitary man raising a baby dragon bonded to a child who needs rescuing. (& don't anyone dare even say the word "romance" I mean that seriously.😡)
November 16, 2025 at 5:19 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
That at least means a lot to me.🫂 It makes me feel less crazy.

This is what they told me.
Hey MidnightRose, Some members have expressed concern regarding some of the snippets you've shared lately, particularly your latest one, as it seems to give off the vibe of an inappropriate romantic relationship between adults and minors. The admins request that you take it down and not post similar content in future, which will result in a ban from the server if you do. MidnightRose — Yesterday at 12:38 PM Thank you for the warning. I never intended it to be read that way, (Song & Rider's bond is completely platonic in nature, being a found family parent child bond) I've craved a place to share snippets that's tame & free of major romantic content, but I can except this place can't be that for me.
November 16, 2025 at 5:11 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
Apparently I mis-stepped & got completely banned from the Christian discord I was enjoying. Some of the members have been very kind to me, I don’t want to create tension between groups, but I am saddened.

Mostly I’m hurt because it was presumably about this snippet. It’s very painful to me that-1/?
Rider and Song often sat together on the shores of the lake, sunning themselves after cooling off in the water. One of these times, Song took Rider's arm his lap, not to fiddle with the scar in his palm, but to rub gentle circles around a rash spot, on the top of Rider's hand, where the skin was covered in a greenish scab. He suspected the blemish was caused by an insect bite, remembering when Rider had gently rubbed a very similar spot on his wrist. Rider's hands had as many more tiny scrapes and blemishes on them than Song's did, as Song's hands had from the perfect unblemished smooth they had once been. Song shied away from the abstract memory before it became something no longer harmless. “Why do they get like this?” he asked softly, his finger stilling over the greenish, yellowish scab. Rider glanced down. “The insects leave behind poison, and sometimes it makes the surface of the skin get minorly infected very easily. It also makes the skin vulnerable to getting irritated by certain plants.” After a pause, Rider said, “I bet it's much more unpleasant for you than it is for me.” “You don't seem to mind anything,” Song said, brushing away the barest thought of the far worse things that he knew Rider would say he didn't mind. “I usually don't,” Rider said. “My body is used to dealing with these things and so doesn't notice much. “I suspect you mind minor scrapes and the like less than you used to. The damage from bug bites still lasts much longer on you than on me.” Song looked up at Rider. “Do you mean they'll get less bad and start getting better faster, the longer I live here?” “I hope so. Either that or you're simply more sensitive than I am, which is certainly possible.” Song looked down at Rider's hand again. “Your hands have so many more bites and scrapes than mine. That doesn't make sense if they really get better faster on you.” His voice was barely sulky. (this is more than the screenshot, the rest in next screenshot) “You don't seem to mind anything,” Song said, brushing away the barest thought of the far worse things that he knew Rider would say he didn't mind. “I usually don't,” Rider said. “My body is used to dealing with these things and so doesn't notice much. “I suspect you mind minor scrapes and the like less than you used to. The damage from bug bites still lasts much longer on you than on me.” Song looked up at Rider. “Do you mean they'll get less bad and start getting better faster, the longer I live here?” “I hope so. Either that or you're simply more sensitive than I am, which is certainly possible.” Song looked down at Rider's hand again. “Your hands have so many more bites and scrapes than mine. That doesn't make sense if they really get better faster on you.” His voice was barely sulky. Rider turned Song, pulling him into his lap as he pulled his own legs up from hanging over the water. “My hands do more than yours,” he said, pulling Song against him, and kissing Song's forehead. “But it's okay. I'm happy now. You're a kid, and you're more sensitive than I am. I'm not even doing enough to be hard on me. I promise that's true now. And I promise I'm happy.”
November 15, 2025 at 9:52 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#Novmemeber
I thought asking people to vote on who should get to be the antagonist, (since Lawcket's story doesn't really have an antag) would be cheating, so I did 3.

Anyone want to guess who they are. Pretty good hints in alt text.
(these are digital with a stupid mouse that won't draw straight)
A drawing of a slightly overweight king sitting on a throne. (digitally done in under 60 seconds with a mouse) A drawing of a man with a sword & a helmet with a plume on it, standing by a horse (digitally done in under 60 seconds with a mouse) A drawing of a child throwing a large fruit at the ground (digitally done in under 60 seconds with a mouse)
November 15, 2025 at 6:11 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
- he gives up even his service to magic to help a baby dragon rescue the child it's bonded to.
If that's not the motivation of love, I don't know what is?

I think this snippet from the end of Bound By Heart gives a hint into the depth of Rider's love when he gives himself completely.
He opened the door, and there, sitting on the bed, was the boy who was Furgo's Love. In his servant's disguise Rider had glimpsed the prince a few times– But not until that moment did he see the vulnerable child who had been denied every piece of true life, denied what the least of creation deserved, and yet was still simply a vulnerable child with not a clue where to look– not a clue who he was. Disgust at himself for having loved the prince simply for Furgo's sake– though to Rider he was no prince– tore through Rider's entire being. Not that Furgo didn't deserve his love, but that no failure could be more abominable than to love for another's sake the one he now loved for a sake so indescribable that it could neither be called his, nor could it even be called the sake of the one he loved– for it was a sake so much purer, completely undefined by anything but love. Every fear Rider had ever had for himself, every pain he had dreamed possible, was melted when compared to the love which tore his heart with something far more deadly than thorns. He would die any death for this child, would suffer anything even dreamed, more gladly than he would receive any joy. It would not just be worth the price a thousand times over, it would be light as golden as the sun. And yet to die, even for this child, without rescuing him– to lose living for him by dying for him, was a sorrow death could never before have been, a sorrow so deep it could never have words.
November 14, 2025 at 11:19 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#Lovember

Rider: "Power of love? Love isn't about power."😕

That sad "love heals all" is a direct quote from him . . . & then there's the snippet from Bound By Heart, which is more question than belief (Rider often can't bring himself to believe in creation) but it still says a lot about him.
(a snippet from Named By Love, my found family rescue story) “You can't. Please– you can't leave me. I can't bear to see you die. I'd rather–” “Shush child. You needn't see. Remember, I will always love you. Remember– love heals all. I won't leave you, ever.” King. I never thought King could mean something so, he thought, reflecting on the vision which still flowed in his blood, frail blood which could so easily be spilled, blood which might be shed as though he were of no significance– Yet blood which was all of his spirit and all that he loved– all of his mortal care and longing. He felt so fragile, so vulnerable, yet he knew his very mortal frailness was somehow part of who he was, of his freewill– a blessing so sacred it could hardly be thought. He felt that his own blood, mortal and created as it was, was somehow as sacred as the blood of the King of his vision. Your blood spilled as freely as mine may be spilled. King. How could I have never known that King meant other and more than a corruption? How could I have not believed that your giving your blood to be completely ours, as lesser as we are, is what makes you our King? Rider's blood tingled as he stretched his arm out to the snow, kneeling on the rock of the cave. A sad smile stretched his cold dry lips, even as weakness moaned through his bones. What if to be willingly frail is the very same thing as power? What if only we who will give our blood have power at all? What if what we think is power isn't power at all? What if there is power in love that outweighs all else?
November 14, 2025 at 11:09 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#WIPSnips
The people in Lawcket's story don't actually have 7 day weeks, but I use the word anyways because it's a character novel.

“I told you, I was tied to a horse a week ago. And I don't feel like I'm riding well,” Lawcket said miserably, still looking at his hands.
Landroy smiled. . .
“You ride well for one who's never ridden before,” the horse-man said, turning in his saddle and looking over his shoulder as he brought his beast to a walk in front of Dawn. After a few moments of wordless riding in which the horses sneezed and blew, stretching their necks toward the ground, Landroy asked. “Is there any chance you learned to ride a donkey as a child? I struggle to believe you've never been on a beast before.” Lawcket looked at his hands on the pommel of the saddle. I've ridden a dragon, but that's not like this. Flying is nothing like the rhythm of a horse's trot. It's so much smoother. Looccup is so much wider too. But there was no way he was saying that he had ridden a dragon, no way that he was mentioning anything about Looccup. He didn't want, either, to mention the times he had sat on Bunny, the donkey his father's teem had sometimes borrowed from a friend to help drag their wagon. The deal was good for everyone, since the people Bunny belonged to lived in the middle of the town unlike Lawcket's family, and couldn't let her roam lest she be stolen, so it was good for her getting to go out and forage with the wood cutters. Of course it's not like I did anything more than climb on her while she was standing. “I told you, I was tied to a horse a week ago. And I don't feel like I'm riding well,” Lawcket said miserably, still looking at his hands. Landroy smiled. “If I said your riding was passable I'd be talking you up. But still, you ride very well given your experience. You might ride well enough to pass as my son before I'm finished with you.” Lawcket wondered if the man actually had a son. He probably did. Lots of people had sons.
November 14, 2025 at 10:58 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
- I kind of hate sharing something so poorly edited here, but I eventually decided to tell with as little details as thought I could get away with. I still tried to do it as much through the MC's POV as possible, which did keep the word count amazingly high & in a way "shows" Lawcket's - 2/3
They bound him and took him to the public judgment square. There they accused him both of having made his wealth from thieving, and of attempted murder. Yet Lawcket refused to speak, fighting for one hope only, that he might by some chance not be recognized by anyone who would volunteer who he was to the king's men. It wasn't like defending himself would even help– They knew they were falsely and cruelly accusing him. It wasn't likely many people had ever fought for their life with as much concern as he had taken not to harm his captures– and yet they accused him of attempting murder. It wouldn't have been murder if he had killed protecting himself. Still they publicly beat him, and condemned him to some fate he didn't understand enough to know what was. Perhaps it was his pain– far greater in his heart than in his body– which made him so uncomprehending. Or perhaps it was that they spoke in terms he had never known. Perhaps a combination, but he understood little other than that he had just lost his family and made himself as good as dead. How he wanted a way to make up– a way to give back the happiness he took from the world– from his family, and from his Looccup.
November 14, 2025 at 6:22 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
- seems almost to come before their love for each other. This really shows in Lawcket's parents having emotional conflicts when they disagree on how to treat their children.

Screenshot is taken from a part of current attempt for the blurb.
(a screenshot taken from a part of my current attempt for the blurb of Lawcket's story) Told from many points of view, this is a story not of morals but of individuals struggling to protect what they care about in a broken world, and of one child who would rather suffer anything than inflict harm on another creature. It is a story of many loves and many sorrows, that focuses strongly on family bonds, on the innocent affection of animals and children, and the bittersweet struggle of love that can never be perfect yet can never give up.
November 14, 2025 at 2:41 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#AwesomeCharacters

Rider has strangely enough lost his temper a handful of time. As much as he claims to be cold & uncaring, he gets very upset when he thinks others have been hurt because of him.

But what angers him above all else is any attempt to enslave or use other beings, whether or not- 1/2
But THIS, This Was an Abomination beyond Thinking. Before him, cradled in a table that had been built to hold it, was a perfect globe, burning with a brightness eyes could hardly look upon, like the brightness of the sun. Wisps of pink and white burned upward from within it, in their vain attempt to break free, to escape from their prison. Men had captured magic, not any magic, but magic that lived as distinct persons, spirits of magic, if they should be called spirits. Suddenly Rider knew everything. This was why the dragons could not defend themselves against the atrocities of humans, because humans had captured the spirits of their magic, the flilient. Anger burned through Rider's soul. Anger that such a thing could ever have been done, and in that anger he acted. He stopped for a moment to warn the baby dragons to get back. He didn't know if what he was about to do would hurt them. The only lives he respected at that moment, were those of the dragons to whom the captured flilient were naturally bonded. He stepped forward, and raised his hand high above the table on which the prison of unbreakable magic-glass rested, calling to himself all the magic in the vicinity. He didn't care if he set the whole palace to flames, and killed everyone within it, himself including. He felt at that moment as though it were for this purpose that he existed in the world, for this purpose that he had been born and lived, for this purpose that every wrong he had endured had been done to him, for this purpose that he had been brought here.
November 14, 2025 at 2:04 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#AwesomeCharacters

Hurting helpless creatures is the surest way to make Lawcket angry.
He's quick to defend any creature hurt in his sight, no matter if it means making himself the victim of the abusers.

He'll also lash out when he's accused of not caring.
(Alt text included in snippet)
“Your dragon was looking at your sister like a hunting cat.” Mesellah's face was aflame, her eyes wide with anger that made Lawcket speechless, as she carried Lelliddy back across the garden. Lawcket stood, unable to move, and barely managed to swallow over the lump in his throat. He wanted to protest, to say it wasn't true, but he couldn't even open his mouth. “Come in, you devil of a child,” Mesellah ordered harshly, carrying the screaming toddler past Lawcket and into the house. Lawcket felt heat rise in his face and spread over his whole body. For a moment longer he couldn't move. Then he bolted for the house. “That's a lie.” Mesellah turned to him, her expression twisted with disgust. “I didn't expect to hear that. I thought you cared about your sister more than this.” She paused for a moment. “My heart is still hammering in my chest so hard it hurts, and here you are protesting that your carelessness about your sister's life doesn't matter.” That was more than Lawcket could take. He turned and fled the house barely managing to refrain from slamming the door, knowing his family couldn't afford having to fix broken doors. He didn't even seek Looccup. Right now, he couldn't bear even her company. She would be just a reminder of what he was upset about, even though it wasn't one hair her fault. All he wanted at the moment was to not even exist. He simply ran, volting himself over the garden fence, and continuing to run until he found himself alone surrounded in nothing but trees. He vaguely remembered Mesellah screaming his name, as he landed from fence, but he'd barely noticed in the heat of his desperation to get away. Too out of breath to cry, Lawcket simply walked to a tree and wrapped his arms around it, leaning into the rough barked trunk. I can't even think. What am I going to do? He remembered that it wasn't that long ago that he wouldn't have been able to run like he'd just done.
November 14, 2025 at 12:01 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
The first sentence of Named By Love breaks a rule I never even knew when I started it, & I just realized I'm not sure what counts as the first sentence for either of my other published books.

This is *before* chapter 1.
The opening of the poem in the beginning of my villain redemption story 'Blood's Power: Broken' BLOOD MY FREEDOM WON, BLOOD MY HANDS HAD SHED Of shame I've been made free through my own greatest folly, my spirit born again upon this side of death.
November 13, 2025 at 5:38 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#WIPSnips This is probably the most unedited instance, but also the sweetest.🥹

“If I had given you a hug would that have made you not sad?” he asked in a voice thick with mixed affection and regret.
Lawcket cried into his Dad's shoulder, tears he couldn't stop wetting his Dad's shirt.
. . .
Tears pricked Aisferk's eyes, at the warmth that flooded his heart with both guilt and affection, and he picked up his boy and hugged him. “If I had given you a hug would that have made you not sad?” he asked in a voice thick with mixed affection and regret. Lawcket cried into his Dad's shoulder, tears he couldn't stop wetting his Dad's shirt. “I love you, Daddy,” he said, his words muffled both by his crying and by the fact that he was talking into Aisferk's shirt, but the father knew his boy's words.
November 12, 2025 at 7:07 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#NovemberThrills 12)

“I will tell you nothing you do not have a right to know,” Rider said with cold fierceness, as shivers ran through his blood.
#NovemberThrills 12) “I will tell you nothing you do not have a right to know,” Rider said with cold fierceness, as shivers ran through his blood.
November 12, 2025 at 4:29 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
I love that outlook towards fate!❤️

Rider doesn't give a care whether fate exists, (plenty of cruelly unfair things do exist, fate hardly seems worse) but he too is more than ready to defy fate if he must, & believes that every creature can defy what they choose to.

Sorry for sharing so much.
Tears pricked like bitter shards of ice in Rider's eyes, as he looked into the cold clouds above. Can I accept your power when it might take even my choice from me? Was it possible that a creature with a will of its own could be created by someone else? Was it possible for a creature to defy its very maker? If it is not, then behold I dare to be the impossible, and dare also to believe that any can be the impossible, if they dare to choose. And if you would have me as your creation, behold me as myself. I will be unmade by you before I let my will be lost.
November 11, 2025 at 11:07 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#NovemberThrills This is the first I joined in this month, & it's from a book I'm not publishing.😢

“Call me what you please, it matters not to me. If you cared about my wishes, you would not treat me as you treat me.”
#NovemberThrills 11) This is the first I joined in this month, & it's from a book I'm not publishing.😢 “Call me what you please, it matters not to me. If you cared about my wishes, you would not treat me as you treat me.”
November 11, 2025 at 7:35 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#NovemberWorldbuilders

Rider's ethics/morals put simply:
"no creature has any right to infringe on the freewill of another, & anyone who doesn't value freewill above life is a coward"

Not a direct quote, but those thoughts are present in his POV.

(snippet is unedited- 1/3
“Excuse me,” Dawn said, “but it was from us that you were rescued from slavery in the murderous kingdom of Gillindore. Unless that was what you wanted, to serve evil and make all the world slaves under you, just as you are a slave under the Murderous One.” “You are the one who wishes to use me. You are the ones who try to make use of others for your own purposes, and think yourselves justified because you say those purposes are good. But I say that each person has the right to choose for themselves what they consider good to them, and that none has the right to force another, apart from his will, no matter his purpose.” Rider's voice was angry, yet somehow not hateful. “So you confess yourself that you do not hold to good against evil, that you see good and evil as the same?” There was a hint in Dawn's tone that suggested some amount of honesty. “I did not say so,” Rider said, “though by your standard of good and evil, perhaps I do not consider myself to have a right to judge good and evil. Who is to say what is good or evil for another?” “Enough of this small talk, we already know that we cannot trust you. Let us get to the point. “We have come to question you about what happened with yourself and that wild dragon of yours, because you couldn't be polite enough to return to us. If you answer us and comply with our wishes, we wish you no harm and consider it a regret that we where forced to use force to gain contact with you.” “I will tell you nothing you do not have a right to know,” Rider said with cold fierceness, as shivers ran through his blood.
November 11, 2025 at 5:37 PM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
- They aren't any better, but 1 is with a charcoal chunk I saved from a campfire awhile back.)
For whatever reason trying to take my time at the beginning didn't help at all.

I'm so embarrassed I messed up the charcoal chunk one so badly.😭
I'm so embarrassed to share this, but it's supposed to be a picture of a child & a dragon, done in 60 seconds with a chunk of charcoal saved from a campfire. My 2nd attempt at drawing Lawcket & Looccup in 60 seconds.
November 10, 2025 at 4:21 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
#Novmemeber

After seeing everyone else's I'm embarrassed, but I tried anyways.😳
I got done faster than I expected but couldn't fix the mistakes.

I haven't drawn on paper in forever, & I'm very slow. I promise I'd do a lot better with time.
This is charcoal pencil.

2 other attempts below.- 1/2⬇️
A child with a dragon's nose close to his face, drawn in 60s seconds with charcoal pencil. I got done faster than I expected but couldn't fix the mistakes.
November 10, 2025 at 4:17 AM
midnightrose838.bsky.social
Song has 2 relationships, neither of which are romantic.

He panics at the idea of either Rider or Furgo being hurt.
Without Furgo he would never have even longed for freedom.

Named By Love is literally about him finding love & freedom, & hopefully safety, because of his friend rescuing him.
The cover for 'Named By Love' showing a child & a scarlet feather-dragon with a background of vegetation. An art piece of Rider carrying Song, with shady forest vibes.
November 9, 2025 at 9:53 PM