#nebula rose

[karma-creations]

EVERYONE SHUT UP AND LOOK AT MY METILVER KID

I haven’t decided much of their backstory yet, but I’m thinking silver found a little half-broken robot in the future and brought them back to metal like “can we keep them :D” so the two fixed them up and have been raising them ever since

Reboot likes to keep to themselves, but they get along well with others and have a great sense of humor especially. they also love tinkering; they’re constantly picking up electronics and fiddling with them, experimenting with ways to modify and improve them!

and and and. it gets better:

THATS RIGHT HAPPY POLYAMORY DAY FROM MY BABIES!!!!!

[heres-to-all-that-is-mine]

Nebula beloved (belonging to @wingedarrows )

[yewsoup]

I just liked these doodles. And also writing stupid things on Hickory's shirt every time I draw them <3

Hickory and Nebula (Top Left) belong to @wingedarrows

[wingedarrows]

Found a funky brush in csp and had to make worms on strings from it. Bonus having them toonkind worms.

Worm off the string what crimes will they commit

[the-wolf-and-moon]

NGC 2244, Rosette

[assassin1513]

🌹🖤Roses Stars Water🖤🌹

[ponydoodles]

ahhht, see? i told you, butterflies always land on the noses of those with the kindest hearts.

[linkbetweenlinksau]

Like I said, they MIGHT not make an appearance in lbl, but I wanted to design them anyways. Their individual refs will happen eventually

Now before someone asks and I know they will, oot Zelda is not here, because I cannot for the life of me figure out where she would even be. It pains me to leave her out cuz she has my fav Zelda design, but she has no connection to Time whatsoever. The version that did know Time is in an entirely different timeline, and the one in the correct timeline doesn’t know him. It’s just easier for me to leave her out. So. Yeah.

[yoan-le-grall]

[writing-for-life]

The Sandman Overture and Exiles: Omnia Mutantur, Nihil Interit

Everything Changes, Nothing Is Truly Lost—Not Even Hope

There once was a little girl (well, not a human girl) known by the name Hope Beautiful Lost Nebula, egg-daughter of Clearly who died in childbirth, sperm-daughter of Troubling World who was murdered by reavers. She is one of the most meaningful characters of the whole Sandman, so why does fandom hardly talk about her, not even those who have read the comics?

Understanding Hope, her story and her connection to Dream, is more or less understanding the entirety of The Sandman, and that's why I want to write about Hope and hope.

This contains major spoilers for Overture, Exiles and the ending of the Sandman, so if you’d rather not, this is your exit sign…

Pictures often speak louder than words, so I would like to start with these [I will add Alt text gradually, it’s a lot]…

If you haven't read Overture, you would not know that the words Dream speaks in Hell when he wins the Oldest Game are a direct mirror of Hope's words, down to repeating "I am...". It is not a sudden epiphany about how to win��it is a memory.

How much Morpheus truly remembers about the universe before the reset in Overture—it is something we cannot know for certain, and we have discussed it on here many, many times. I personally lean towards his remembering a lot more than we might think, and I've written about it in other metas before, e.g. here (super long with many tangents) or here. The narration is unreliable on this, because Desire in cat-form says in Overture that “there won’t be anything to remember”, but also that Dream will be “the only one to remember”. But whether he remembers every detail, or whether it is exactly the way Glory states in the above panel and it’s just that Hope's name is there for him when he needs it most, is secondary. What matters is that he does remember (side-note: It also matters because Dream promised her himself. And he never goes back on a promise, for better, for worse).

The above conversation with Glory is often taken as proof that there is no hope in the new universe, and by extension, the whole of the Sandman turns into a story with a hopeless ending. But in my opinion, that isn’t true. Yes, as a mortal being, Hope does not exist in the universe we are now in. But two very specific panels in Overture are directly contradicted by what happens in the later arcs of The Sandman:

The Star says here, after Hope's above statement that she is not nothing, that she is Hope, "As if saying that might ever change something." [And the Star’s tone is equally mocking than that of Lucifer Morningstar when they say, “What are you then, Dream Lord?”, but that just as an aside.]

And since Hope is killed in the very next panel (because Time pulled Dream out of that situation, so he wasn't able to protect her anymore. Who needs parents, right?), we might be inclined to believe this.

But by now, we all know that the Star is WRONG. These are not "three words that mean nothing." Once again:

And also this (I couldn’t find a gif with the bit where she says, “I will never give up hope,” but we all know she does say these words):

What else makes Dream/s prevail in Hell, what else are the dreams Morpheus speaks about here than hopes?

The Star is directly proven wrong. And so are we if we assume that Hope’s spirit doesn’t exist anymore. Because hope as a concept, hope as the thing that Morpheus remembers when he fights Lucifer/Choronzon in Hell, still exists. Even though this was said in the old universe before the reset, it DOES mean something. It DOES change something. Because Morpheus remembers.

Remembering Hope means to have hope.

And if we believe there isn’t any H/hope, we are also directly proven wrong by Time, who tells us that there will always be a universe in which Hope (the being) exists, and that there will always be one in which she doesn’t. And they, in a way, exist simultaneously. So even in a universe without Hope, her spirit, her memory, prevails. That is not a universe entirely without hope.

And that is also our tie-in to Exiles, because Morpheus and Daniel also exist simultaneously. Omnia mutantur, nihil interit—everything changes, nothing is truly lost.

Morpheus has moved on, but he still exists—in story, in memory of those who cared about him, in Daniel!Dream, in the “Soft Places” at the fray where reality and dreams meet. And it is exactly what H/hope is in the Sandman universe—it keeps on existing: In stories, in memories, in the “soft places”. Because to hope means to love, and to love means to hope.

Sometimes, you need to find hope…

Sometimes, she needs a bit of coaxing. Sometimes, hope means not to forget, so you keep going and remember what truly matters…

Sometimes, we lose her, and even Hope loses memory of who she was, but we can be reminded…

Hope might transform, but she never truly disappears in The Sandman.

On that note: I totally understand the attachment to Morpheus as a character. He is my favourite character, too. I cried buckets when I first knew what was going to happen (decades ago I dare say, and not at the end of The Kindly Ones, but during World’s End). And I think it is totally legitimate to want him to survive. Part of me does, too. It is a bit baffling to assume that people who read the story with acceptance and find meaning in it don’t care enough about Morpheus as a character to want him to survive, and that they are even a bit stupid for thinking The Sandman’s underlying message is one of hope. I don’t know many people who aren’t heartbroken in one way or another. But the story had to end the way it ended because it is not just about Morpheus and humanising him.

I often feel that by clinging to his character and person alone, we are losing sight of the deeper meaning, and we are closing our eyes to all the messages that are there, in plain sight, if we just let them speak to us:

The Sandman is not simply a story about Morpheus. He is the protagonist (even that could be argued), but he is also a vessel for the meaning and power of change, for letting go instead of clinging to what doesn’t serve us (and isn’t it ironic that by desperately wanting him to live and getting upset about the fact he doesn’t, we are doing exactly that instead of leaning into catharsis that actually has the potential to bring on change in us?).

Dream does not die because Dream cannot die. He changes. What dies is a point of view (symbolised by Morpheus). That’s it. That is the message. Omnia mutantur, nihil interit.

Hope is not gone. Not in this universe or in any other. Her spirit prevails. Because when she calls you out, when she touches you, you remember what matters:

“I’m not,” he says after thinking for a hot second, and proceeds to do exactly that regardless.

She touches him, she holds his hand, and calls him out.

She touches him, she holds his hand, and he is honest with himself, for once.

Hope touched Dream, but did she touch Desire in the same way? I already wrote about it here, and I think in certain ways, she did:

Hope prevails…

Hope is what saved the universe in the first place.

Hope is what Morpheus remembers when it matters.

Hope is what Nada finds again in A Hope in Hell after she gave up hope in Tales in the Sand.

Hope is what drives Unity and ultimately lets Rose survive.

Hope springs eternal in people like Rosemary who are willing to help and overcome their own fears. And in the TV series, that hope gets rewarded, and that’s important (I am glad they made that change).

Hope is even what drives Morpheus, but to see that, we need to take our eyes off only focusing on his having hope for himself, his having hope for his point of view (that does not serve him or anyone else, and he knows). If that’s the hope we’re looking for, we won’t find it. No, that’s not entirely true either. Because again, Dream can’t die. But the true reason is:

Morpheus is bigger than that. The story is bigger than that.

He has hope for humanity and sentient beings that are under his purview—what else are dreams but hopes? And Morpheus as the “point of view” understands that said point of view needs to make space for a better, kinder, more human (for lack of better term—human=/=man but human=with humanity) Dream to exist. And said Dream comes into existence with Daniel, but he also still contains all that was Morpheus. See it as having learned from experience and moving on with a new point of view instead of letting our hurt define us and holding on to it indefinitely. It is something we recommend in real life all the time—why can’t we find it in this story? Because it is right there, again, in plain sight: Omnia mutantur, nihil interit.

I am not saying this is how you have to see it. But I am saying that engaging with the story on this level makes it easier to come to terms with an ending that is commonly interpreted as hopeless because we can't see the forest for the trees.

Hope is hope. And she saved the universe and us. Not just once, but many times over. The new universe isn’t the hopeless, sad universe. The old one was. The new one has hope because it keeps existing. With Hope’s spirit and a Dream who has changed…

[karma-creations]

I made a shadamy kid for firecracker's universe!! basically taking the common idea of "government does a second attempt at project shadow" and making it a shadamy kid. shadow finds nebula as a baby, breaks her out, and takes her to amy because he has NO CLUE how to take care of a baby. amy and shadow (who are in a qpr!) end up raising her together :)

nebula is quite powerful, possessing shadow's chaos powers and amy's physical strength. however, she tends to compare herself to her parents a lot, thinking of herself as lesser as them despite their assurances otherwise. she wants to be a powerful hero like amy and shadow are, but her low self-esteem and fear of failure keep her from getting involved in most conflicts and using her powers to their full extent.

nebula and firecracker are good friends, despite nebula's shyness and the gap between dimensions. nebula has a crush on firecracker, but she thinks that she's too pathetic for firecracker to like her back. little does she know firecracker has had an even bigger crush on her for years!

[aquillis-main]

Damn, bro. You got the whole squad laughing....

(Well, Knuckles isn't angry. Though it's nice drawing him when he isn't angry.)

[anodetodiamonddust]

Bonus points if their dads are hunting them down and trying to convince them to join them. ❤️

[wingedarrows]

A set of ruins at the base of a mountain may hold a meeting generations in the making. A heart, a Goat, Traps and Puzzles. The Remnants hold some answers.

@megamagma - DM Myself - Nebula @rjmeta - Grills Trad - Libby @toonrevamp - Tokoh @aviaviator - Inmate @vwildmonk - Gala

[the-wolf-and-moon]

NGC 2244, Rosette

[reboothill]

(Also posted on Instagram)

My entry for @slocotion​'s DYO contest! This little guy is inspired by one of my favorite celestial objects, the Rosette Nebula! :]

I thought the idea of stacking a top hat on top of a jester cap might be a bit silly, but I ended up liking it more than I expected?

--

Design Concept

Rosette Nebula (Skull Nebula): The Nebula with a Hole in the Heart

Based on Caldwell 49, a nebula that resembles both a rose and a human skull. The “hole” in the center of the nebula gives it its iconic rose shape. The rose theme reminded me of a phantom thief, who I found similar to a jester in the sense that they were both witty figures and masters of tricks! 

I wanted them to have a look that was both snazzy like a gentleman thief and whimsical like a jester, with a repeating "star" motif to represent the open cluster (NGC 2244) within the nebula.

--

Top text transcript:

Rhódon (Greek for "rose", a flower that, in Greek mythology, came from the lifeless body of a nymph that was transformed by Chloris) is a phantom thief who loves attention and all things shiny and sparkly!

They are constantly driven by the urge to show off their skills, and the thrill of pulling off impressive heists is one of the only things that fill the hole in their heart.