Stop tellin people ipo is a cat it’s not fair to them . she ain’t
" you literally fricken hate her. how does it feel to hate a literal sunshine perfect cat that has never done anything wrong in her life. spreading misinformation?? and for what... "
❛ you’re lucky you got away with only a scratch. ❜ @ taro
" you'll find i'm pretty durable. "
taro let out a little huff, pulling their hood back over their head. vigilante-ing was weird. it was fun, or at least it wasn't boring...but more often than not it was just them sitting, invisible, in a corner watching people do their thing until they got the opportunity to maybe attack...or way preferably, just delivering what they learn to someone who actually knows how to fight.
but then when it involved any other person in a cowl, it was like asking for it to end in a fight. taro could pack a pretty hard punch, and sure they had the light powers but...
" ...but i'm fine. i'm used to scratches. are you okay? "
they were asking the fricken batman if he was okay. that felt a little off, should they just go? maybe it was better if they go- taro looked around, then back at the other. they could wait a little bit...
okay here's a very very rambly thing on my umbrax / ultraviolet lantern canon and also about my critiques about the actual canon etc etc.
okay this is going to be my ramble that is just my thoughts. i.e., i'm going through the comic and grabbing the stuff from the actual comic and going to talk about it because i'm insane. i will make a much better and more understandable post later. this is more so that there is at least a post describing it beyond the very vague sentence or two in my carrd.
starting off here's some things i'm going to talk about in no particular order:
umbrax
ultraviolet lantern corp
the allegory of a cave
the fourth world / the source [specifically the source wall]
analogous evolution (kinda)
justice league 2018
cosmic entities logistics
okay so let me start out with some context here. i had no idea what umbrax was, i was already kinda planning to tie the lanterns in some way to taro have a talk with my some of my wonderful mutuals who made the connection way before i did [shoutout to m for saying that hey it would make sense if taro's light powers had some connection to the lantern stuff; shoutout to quarters for being that last push for me to actually go crazy go stupid]. i vaguely knew about the ultraviolet corp's existence from something, funny enough, ic where taro asked about all of the colours and got a mini explanation about all of them, including ultraviolet! i was a little curious, but mostly just slid it into the back of my mind.
i really started to look into it when i was expanding upon a rework of taro's dc verse involving, specifically, the fourth world. since, now, that is a huge part of how and why they exist! apokolips, their influence. it got me back into looking into the lantern connection, into possible concepts i could use or play with. and thus...i found the thing that has a total of like 6 appearances, and i read all of the issues that mention or involve the corp and the entity of umbrax itself and i was left. super disappointed!! i don't really like :') the original concept. i think it's boring and doesn't have the potential it very well could go into when expanding on an idea of something like unseen light. so. lets start with just a run through of specific things that make me go OH!!! from the comic itself.
okay so first of all the idea of unseen forces is really interesting at it's basis. also this idea of inherent knowledge, or this expectation that comes upon someone just by laying their eyes on it. there's very little explanation for why this happens, it simply is. it's as if seeing something that is not meant to be seen is inherent to the mind to go--this has to be hidden, this has to be sealed. it's something of the phrase, some things are better left unsaid(or in this case, unseen). also this idea of total destruction is like oh god!! this is a threat, but we don't really know it's nature beyond that. i like umbrax's introduction. i like how they introduce it, it's a very like. cosmic thing!! which makes sense, because it is, and even when we see it later; it's not a person or something that even seems conscious. it's represented by this ... planet, that just sorta appears. i think that's at a concept, really fascinating. in my mind it's like this looming shadow that's ever present, unseen, but always there. like a thing that lingers in your peripheral but when you try to look directly at it, it's not there.
so here's where i get kinda :/ !! like i get where they're coming from with this, and the idea of it could be neat. this idea that umbrax is something that is unseen, it's those unseen emotions ... but ultimately it just comes across as it's negative emotions on a whole which-- granted!!! i'm still learning lantern lore. i don't know all of it. but that feels like it's already been done. when they introduced umbrax, it feels more like a force that is distant, but ultimately held within everyone in the same way everyone has a shadow. and it would make sense given the whole ... umbrax name, umbra. shadow.
i'll talk about this more later when i get into analogous evolution, but there is an immediate something i really like that i lean into heavily with my canon of what umbrax is. that is this idea of umbrax being similar to the entities of the other lantern corps ... but not being the same. but again, i'll get into this later, i'm just going in order of what shows up in the comic.
SO. just gonna send these first.
OKAY here's what i like. i really like the idea that this thing--umbrax--has it's origin in the source, specifically the source wall. and this is where i really start to diverge from what's canon and start to just kinda hyperfixate on a couple details and go crazy with just that.
for starters. umbrax being born from a literal splurge of anti-life breaking off a fragment of the source wall. that's the basic concept i got from this and kinda go with when it comes to how it exists. and then we tie in the allegory of the cave and the name of it being umbrax and we're getting somewhere!! i'll expand on this in a second (this is a rambly post, i'm so sorry jIODSFJIOSDF there's a lot to talk about)
there also being an idea that, like a plague or a dark shadow, umbrax traverses through planets and literally spreads ... seemingly something akin to anti-life. which would make sense!! especially if it were connected or born from a fragment of the source, or the wall.
it is the idea that umbrax itself is unseen, it literally can't be seen through the visible light spectrum because it's ... literally not in that spectrum, it's ultraviolet. it's invisible!! it's the shadow--the umbra--of the fragment that it can be visualized through. that shadow being created by the source--the light as it's sometimes called--being directed at the fragment of the source wall ... and creating the visual of the umbra, umbrax. umbrax itself probably looks different or can't even be comprehended, but through the light of the source, it can be visualized in one way or another. i would say the actual fragment of the source wall is this thing. which is literally no bigger than someone's hand.
this thing is umbrax! or at least, it's shadow is the visual of umbrax, and umbrax itself is ... either inside the fragment, it is the fragment, or exists manifested against it. either way, this is the closest thing to physical we will get to umbrax.
it is sentient in the way that ... sentience is what makes sense to the mind, to something that goes on and consumes, but doesn't exactly feel as it doesn't have feelings. rather than taking the idea that umbrax is this unseen feeling sorta thing, it's ... okay here's the way i see it! and we're gonna get into the analogous evolution part. more metaphorically but it works nonetheless.
( also huge note. i'm still learning lantern lore, so some of this might be inaccurate or vague </3 i'm still learning and reading BUT!!! )
umbrax is meant to be represented by ultraviolet. ultraviolet is not. even a colour. like yes there's the idea of ultraviolet as a colour ... but ultraviolet is a WHOLE ANOTHER LIGHT SPECTRUM. it's a same category to visual light. visible, ultraviolet, infrared, x-ray, gamma, etc etc. these are categories. they are similar, but in my mind as reference to the lanterns they are whole other categories. in my mind, umbrax and something like ... ion. resemble each other from an outside view, but that is all the resemblance they actually have. they aren't born from the same thing; not inherently. they aren't related in anyway except for visual. they share similar potential, but they aren't the same thing in the same way ion and adara are.
it's that way that the "ultraviolet lantern corp" isn't actually a lantern corp. it's looks like a lantern corp, it shares similar traits, but it isn't actually something that is even related to connected to the rest of them. it isn't visible light. it's a whole another thing. it is mentioned in the same breath as something like the green lanterns not out of accuracy, but out of it being the closest thing that resembles it.
now this is also important to remember and think about. some of this doesn't even matter. FJIODSJFIOSDJOIFSDJOF LIKE!!!! these are logistical things that make me insane but ultimately, it doesn't matter. :') kinda. to an extent. i think it's fascinating LMAO
it's also something to be said that in canon, umbrax isn't born from the source wall being fragmented, the brief break in the source wall only reveals what was already there. in a way that still sorta applies. i think umbrax, in my canon, existed at all times; but it could only be released from the source wall when the fragment was broken off. sent through space--out of the fourth world--to become a drifting shadow that may influence the universe wherever it casted it's shadow.
i don't know :) i think it's interesting. also the idea of the allegory of the cave tying into it in a loose sort of fashion but nonetheless in a way that makes me pretty insane. i.e., umbrax literally being the shadow that draws people in to watch while not being able to comprehend what is actually being casted. the idea that umbrax isn't exactly intentionally doing anything, it's simply that it being casted upon the walls drives the human mind to it's own lulling of security. that it may manipulated to drive people to madness.
it's also this idea that i don't think that ... umbrax is sentient in the same way people are. i don't think it intentionally does. anything, not right now. it's that idea of emptiness, or of the unseen! in the way that the emotional electromagnetic spectrum is ... emotional; umbrax, ultraviolet--that doesn't have the same property as corps do because they aren't. emotional. it's unemotional.
which ties into taro. in that taro is literally meant to be a ... sorta contain for umbrax :') because taro is emotionless, they aren't sentient, they're literally this stable thing that can act as the new "seal" for umbrax. how did that exactly happen? well that ties into apokolips and gets into another hell rant that i don't know if i should get into because this is already 1,700 words jFOIDSJDIOGDG BUT!!!! basically, you took that original fragment of the source wall, you found it, you cut it into a buncha little pieces, and put those pieces into each attempt.
this is actually why taro is still connected to all of the deceased attempts. because they're all linked together by umbrax. it's in that way that the "ultraviolet lantern corp" exists. in a way, taro and the rest of the attempts are the corp. not in the same way that the green lantern corp is, but it's close enough in visual that the comparison still works in it's own way. taro is sorta the :') sole member of the ultraviolet corp, because they're the only one that's still alive.
also this should be said that given this is the case, the actual EVENTS OF JUSTICE LEAGUE 2018 INVOLVING UMBRAX / ULTRAVIOLET ISN'T APART OF MY CANON ... because if it were it really wouldn't work and make sense LMAO. but i take the concept as if the events never happened. which is pretty much fine for most people since prime earth really is a hit or miss sorta thing :') i like the concepts, i'm taking the concepts, and i'm ignoring the plot.
that being said.
this is really cool and i love the idea that umbrax is there and always is there, it's just waiting for the light to shine and reveal itself. it's that umbrax exists and is always sort of present...it just takes the right light to shine and see it. it's why it connects to taro so well in that ... taro is literally a manipulator of light. they are the fire to shine upon the action to create the shadow--to create umbrax as a visible. it's !! i don't know :) it's really fascinating. there's no intention to umbrax, umbrax simply exists and by it's existence there is shadow, there is the emotionless that drives people to madness.
i think that's something that kinda makes me go. i like the idea of umbrax encouraging the "unseen emotions" or whatever that the comic was trying to push ... but i don't like the execution in that. the reasoning behind it--in my opinion--should be due to the fact that people are emotional. and their emotions react to umbrax in rage, in sorrow, in these negative emotions that drive them to acting out of control in one way or another.
this is also why taro is the only attempt to live ... taro was the only attempt that didn't have emotion. ultimately, anything that contains umbrax has to be emotionless, has to lack sentience, has to lack conscious thought, to be able to properly contain it. otherwise, umbrax being comprehended will cause it to falter, to fail, and to spread it's shadow wider.
the only part of the panel above that i don't like is the last bubble of "and earth just joined its ranks!" but that's just because in my opinion i think :) it's already there, it's just waiting to have a light to shine over it, to cast it's shadow.
but anyway. summary. umbrax is like the entities of the lantern corps. but it isn't one. and ultraviolet corp resembles a lantern corp, but isn't one. umbrax was born from a fragment of the source wall breaking off. that fragment's shadow is the visual representation of umbrax. the fragment was found by apokolips. stuff happened. i didn't talk about the deo in this post this post isn't about the deo. a fragment got of that initial source wall piece got put into every attempt they tried to make a weapon with faux lantern ring powers. and then all of them died. except for one. and that one, is this fricken rat:
who by the way doesn't even know because they literally can't feel anything and as i've mentioned before in this post, emotions are most vulnerable to umbrax, and those that can't feel anything. are perfect containers for umbrax.
anyway. pats taro. this thing is so full of anti-life entity. i need to stop writing. i hope you enjoyed this rant. if you got to the bottom. ily :) i hope your brain did not turn into soup while reading this. i promise it makes sense. kinda.
HEADCANON QUESTION!!! does taro have a group of lanterns they prefer? blue? star sapphires? and if they could have been any other lantern, which would be most fitting to them?
hard to say!! taro's had most experience with green lanterns, and on a whole they see them as a sort of mixed bag. they seem the most stable of the lanterns that they've seen which is...good. but instability or unpredictability is also very important and appealing to taro since they might be able to better gather More information from the lantern corps they know nothing about and can't yet predict. i think i can probably say that blue would likely be taro's least favourite or one they prefer the least. just because it seems like that stability is so much so that it overrides anything interesting they could learn beyond the surface level.
unironically, i think orange would probably be the most fitting if they were an actual lantern. either orange or red. red gets more into the whole—taro having 401 very angry very vengeful spirits possessing them 24/7, so it's less of Taro having the ring and more of Them having the ring through them...but orange is definitely more fitting for taro themself, given their constant unending need for knowledge. they need it, and it will be there's even if it takes years upon years.
but also!! i need to learn more about the other rings on a whole :) it is interesting to think about. for now though, they're stuck with the local sleepy umbrax is their systems making them the one(1) ultraviolet lantern. it would be just a little silly for them to make fake rings out of light though...they probably would do that, if for no other reason than to try and make people think they really are a lantern.
so far i've only really gotten to do it once, but there is something very interesting about writing something like umbrax. so far it's only really come up explicitly in discord; and has been implied once or twice on threads over here on tumblr but-- this is gonna be rambly, somewhat the nature of something like umbrax, so forgive me if none of this makes sense.
umbrax is described in the comic as being pretty explicitly bad. there's only one indication that it isn't bad, which is when john had realized that "hidden emotions" could be taken as more than just the negative that overtake and consume--to put it simply.
in the context of the comic, it separates umbrax from the invisible light spectrum. which i guess makes sense in reference to something like the other lantern entities; where obviously they aren't literally those emotions.
...that being said...i do think umbrax is a little different but not in the way that it completely is all invisible light but it is...invisible light, and invisible light is umbrax. and i think apart of the assumption can be made because it is stated--even in canon--to be related to the source wall. off course i will make anything about the fourth world, but it in my rework of umbrax it is a conception produced by the fragment of the source wall; broken off.
by no means is umbrax exactly a new god, no, it's not. it is more like ... a reflection--or rather a cast of the source, of the source wall, of what makes a new god a concept. i like comparing umbrax to an actual shadow because it's the only way it makes sense in the way that it is supposed to be "invisible light." the entity itself is ultraviolet--the shadow is just...what people see. the cast is reflecting whatever the ultraviolet light is beaming onto to cause that cast to be made.
the comic itself shows umbrax as having very little characterization of its own, which i think makes sense!! i think it works better for it to not have a characterization beyond it being a cast. that doesn't mean i don't think it has a ... mind of it's own. its just not in a way that i can properly express. it's not a person, but it isn't not? umbrax acts however it does when it is casting. it is in a constant state of change, of forward momentum, of cyclical existence.
this is not always negative, but most often it's cast is shown to be negative. why? well, that comes from the fact that umbrax does not understand life, it doesn't understand emotions--more importantly--and it doesn't understand that what it could be doing could hurt people. nor does it necessarily care because it doesn't have any reference on what caring is. it will reflect and change and constantly be a shifting canvas of something that is and thinks and feels...
this is part of the reason why taro works ... so well as a sort of shell, or container for umbrax. taro's lack of sentience, their lack of true feeling; all of it, it makes it so the only thing umbrax can cast upon, is an empty nothing.
that being said, umbrax isn't ... blind? and it does know that it's trapped, in one way or another. and it does know that the thing it's trapped inside doesn't feel anything. taro is almost a peaceful container for a thing that has no perception for what 'peace' aside from that it is the opposite to what it experienced before it was sealed, before it was split up and placed into these attempts--then centered into one. it doesn't dislike it's current state, nor does it like it; it just, sleeps.
that is the state of umbrax a majority of the time, a majority of interactions umbrax is asleep. it is sealed in a state inside a thing that it, for the most part, cannot effect.
in the situation where it is able to effect taro, it is still stuck inside taro, it can't just get out--at least not right now--but it almost sort of acts like a possession; in a way. and the way it acts is almost more childish than how taro actually does act. it's expressive, it's full of feeling because it's taking and clawing at everything around it; drawing it all out and experiencing it all.
it doesn't have a frame for reference on the possible negatives because why would it care to, why would it have any idea on how to care to. it's also a matter of thinking about umbrax in reference to it "being" ultraviolet light; just as uv light is umbrax--it's already around, it's already there. it's one thing the comic does a decent job with--showing that umbrax has always been there, it was just a matter of it "arriving" and being conscious enough to take hold.
honestly one of my biggest gripes with how this whole 'motivation' is written with umbrax is like ... why does it want "earth to join its ranks" when that counters the idea that it is already there? yes there's the whole separation of umbrax and ultraviolet light and the emotion that is actually there...but for me the motivation of an entity like umbrax doesn't really make sense for it to want to spread and conquer or whatever in that way.
a way to make that sort of work, is the idea that it was just casting onto sinestro. sinestro lead the ultraviolet lanterns in that comic, it's clear that he is "in control" in one way or another. umbrax casting most prominently his motivations makes sense in the context of my own umbrax retcons to make a little more sense on why it was being executed the way it was.
it's also interesting writing out those scenarios where it does sort of 'take over' while it's awake or waking up because-- it doesn't need taro to be actually functioning or online to do so. in fact, umbrax being awake is actively detrimental to taro's function. every circuit loses its power, every single aspect of code stops running and their database turns off; yet they still move.
this was actually one of the aspects that caused the other attempts to die--or more specifically caused 394, to die. 394 was virtually identical to taro aside from the fact that 394 had emotions, it had sentience. it was a vulnerability that made the stress of umbrax's influence too much to handle; which caused it one day, in combination with other factors, to cease its function.
its just. head in my hands. umbrax is like a child. its new, in the context of other fourth world related things, it is new even in the context of other cosmic related things, especially things like the lantern corps. it resembles things that we already know, but it really isn't any of it. but it's able to recognize and cast onto those things we do recognize to try and experience and express those things, those aspects. in doing so, it is detrimental to most people because the main thing someone feels when faced with something like umbrax, in any form, is negative emotions. something akin to how anti-life is often represented. hopelessness, desperation, fear, driven to anger and disregard.
its an interesting parallel to think about when taro and umbrax are similar, in a way. taro mimics, they parrot, they adapt to others to better suit being around different people. umbrax casts, it reflects, it causes others to change so that it can experience. in a way its the same but terribly opposite.
