The Color of a Pied Piper
I love the fanfic involving Indigo!Piper. But for me, Piper seems suited for a different color entirely. Below is my argument in favor of Hartley Rathaway as a Star Sapphire.
Firstly, keep in mind that from the very first appearance of Carol Ferris as a Star Sapphire in the 1960s, the character(s) are conceived as being empowered by UNREQUITED love. In Carol's case, that would be the slippery Hal Jordan.
In the Rage of the Star Sapphires story arc in Green Lantern Corps, the gems are shown to activate people whose love ended tragically (a woman who had died with her lover while on a scientific expedition) as well as those whose romantic love has been spurned. Romance ends badly for future Star Sapphires. Even Wonder Woman (the archetypal virgin goddess Diana is the motif here) can be seen as someone who becomes the embodiment of Love by refraining from mere worldly romance.
Beginning with his terribly conditional and cold relationship with his parents, the multiple relationships which fail to develop fully, the events surrounding James' death, and even the fact that Hartley moves spasmodically from villain to hero to anti-hero without having a firm ground of self-esteem upon which to build a more integrated personality, Pied Piper has been historically depicted as a Victim of Love.
We're told that the further a Lantern is placed away from the green center of the Emotional Spectrum, the more risk that his powers will unbalance his personality. Hartley has been placed in inpatient mental health facilities repeatedly, sometimes through parental control but often with an acknowledgement that he deserves to be there. Piper himself knows that he is emotionally fragile.
Looking at the other colors at the "positive" end of the emotional spectrum:
Green: Hartley can be strong, but also brittle. Green Lantern training has been shown (notably in the Will World story arc) as profoundly punishing to one's mental health. Even fully trained Green Lanterns, e.g. Hal Jordan, can become insane in times of crisis. It's doubtful that during the War of Light, a green Power Ring would have found Hartley to be a good candidate.
Blue: This would be my second choice for Hartley, because hope underlies the inner strength to "fight the power" and care for others. Compassion is certainly a part of living self-sacrificially for the benefit of the poor. But hope is the key which prevents "compassion fatigue" because it allows the volunteer to believe that he is not just feeding one person for one day, but bringing a sense of hope and possibility into the world which will hopefully cause a chain reaction of increased awareness. Every soup kitchen volunteer is an unpaid lobbyist for Hope. Nonetheless, Hartley's vacillation between legal and extralegal methods of changing the world shows that he is not sufficiently balanced in optimism to trust that "all will be well".
Indigo: Oh yes, this is a good story to tell! Hartley Rathaway, an alien putcast within his own society, finds a community where not only is he able to serve, but in which he can find love and companionship with people of a like mind. The idea of Pied Piper as a pure soul which sometimes makes wrong decisions definitely resonates here. My reason for NOT favoring Indigo!Hartley is simply that we are not shown the commissioning of Indigos from outside their Tribe. While I don't necessarily buy it, I *LOVE* to read these stories. They touch my heart with the promise of fellowship and acceptance for all of us who don't quite feel at home on this planet.
Anyways, these are my $0.02, written down when I ought to be doing something more productive.
Firstly, keep in mind that from the very first appearance of Carol Ferris as a Star Sapphire in the 1960s, the character(s) are conceived as being empowered by UNREQUITED love. In Carol's case, that would be the slippery Hal Jordan.
In the Rage of the Star Sapphires story arc in Green Lantern Corps, the gems are shown to activate people whose love ended tragically (a woman who had died with her lover while on a scientific expedition) as well as those whose romantic love has been spurned. Romance ends badly for future Star Sapphires. Even Wonder Woman (the archetypal virgin goddess Diana is the motif here) can be seen as someone who becomes the embodiment of Love by refraining from mere worldly romance.
Beginning with his terribly conditional and cold relationship with his parents, the multiple relationships which fail to develop fully, the events surrounding James' death, and even the fact that Hartley moves spasmodically from villain to hero to anti-hero without having a firm ground of self-esteem upon which to build a more integrated personality, Pied Piper has been historically depicted as a Victim of Love.
We're told that the further a Lantern is placed away from the green center of the Emotional Spectrum, the more risk that his powers will unbalance his personality. Hartley has been placed in inpatient mental health facilities repeatedly, sometimes through parental control but often with an acknowledgement that he deserves to be there. Piper himself knows that he is emotionally fragile.
Looking at the other colors at the "positive" end of the emotional spectrum:
Green: Hartley can be strong, but also brittle. Green Lantern training has been shown (notably in the Will World story arc) as profoundly punishing to one's mental health. Even fully trained Green Lanterns, e.g. Hal Jordan, can become insane in times of crisis. It's doubtful that during the War of Light, a green Power Ring would have found Hartley to be a good candidate.
Blue: This would be my second choice for Hartley, because hope underlies the inner strength to "fight the power" and care for others. Compassion is certainly a part of living self-sacrificially for the benefit of the poor. But hope is the key which prevents "compassion fatigue" because it allows the volunteer to believe that he is not just feeding one person for one day, but bringing a sense of hope and possibility into the world which will hopefully cause a chain reaction of increased awareness. Every soup kitchen volunteer is an unpaid lobbyist for Hope. Nonetheless, Hartley's vacillation between legal and extralegal methods of changing the world shows that he is not sufficiently balanced in optimism to trust that "all will be well".
Indigo: Oh yes, this is a good story to tell! Hartley Rathaway, an alien putcast within his own society, finds a community where not only is he able to serve, but in which he can find love and companionship with people of a like mind. The idea of Pied Piper as a pure soul which sometimes makes wrong decisions definitely resonates here. My reason for NOT favoring Indigo!Hartley is simply that we are not shown the commissioning of Indigos from outside their Tribe. While I don't necessarily buy it, I *LOVE* to read these stories. They touch my heart with the promise of fellowship and acceptance for all of us who don't quite feel at home on this planet.
Anyways, these are my $0.02, written down when I ought to be doing something more productive.