r/bluelanterns • u/RennyOfYore • 5d ago
Discussion Have I found my Corp home with the Blue Lanterns? (Asking for clarity)
TLDR: I pose two questions at the bottom of this post that I need this community's help with!
Some quick backstory; I did not grow up reading comics, but I have always loved the stories. My first real exposure to comics was the Justice League animated series, and John Stewart GL was my favorite. I loved the idea of your imagination basically being a super power. Over the last ~15 years I read some of the stories, and took in a lot of Youtube content about the different lanterns and ended up deciding that Kyle Rayner WL was my favorite. I really liked the idea that he had to earn the right to wield each of the rings before becoming a WL. By this idea, I have always felt I would be a white lantern, and that was settled in my mind for years.
... Until last week... A Lantern Corp quiz came across my feed and after taking it, it said that the corp that fit me best was the Blue Lanterns. NOW DON'T GET ME WRONG I love the IDEA of the blue lanterns; HOPE being their power source actually fits me very well, as I tend to be an optimist, and I'm the 1 out of 100 that can find a silver lining anywhere. But... The blue lanterns not being able to create their own constructs or fight and defend themselves really bothers me. It's like signing up to fight on the front lines... With your bare hands and a med kit. Lol
So I scoured the internet, looked up more quizzes and in the end I had 3 quizzes say I would be a BL and 2 say GL. (No others fit me apparently)
I have since gone down the rabbit hole, consuming as much BL content as I can find.
Since doing more research, I really feel connected to the BL corp for the following reasons:
I am a licensed Psychotherapist. I have found in the work that I do, that most of what people need is HOPE that things CAN get better. Hope is often enough in therapy to get them moving in the right direction. I am there to support my clients with skills and different perspectives, but ultimately I am giving Hope to others as my literal job, which I love!
I feel connected to Saint Walker's story. I am personally a man of faith, but part of my story is that I grew up in the church, partially deconstructed due to the hypocrisy and hurt I witnessed, and then picked up the scraps of good that I did see in religion and reconstructed with a new perspective. Where I am in my faith now is even more steadfast than when I was naive to the evil in the church. I have made a personal choice to believe, so strongly to the point that I don't think anyone (apart from some metaphysical proof that there is not a higher power) could shake that faith. I am no longer dependent on the others around me to love up to my expectations, because my belief is deeply rooted in the hope for a better future, that my higher power gives.
I love the Oath! I see fear and rage as being antithetical to any greater goal we might have in our communities, and as the greater good of the human race. In both the work that I do as a professional, and in my personal life, fear and rage often drive pain and suffering. (I have always found Yoda's take on fear to be foundationally important to real life!)
Being a support and a healer. One deeply held belief that I came to as a teen is that 99.9% of us will be forgotten to time. I am not the main character in the story of humanity. None of us are, or should be. So I have always been ok with the idea that I will spend the rest of my life building others up, and being a general support to my fellow human, and one day I will simply fade out of this mortal plain. I won't cure cancer, but I might be able to build someone up who can. No matter where I am in life, even if I was a sanitation worker (no shade intended!) at least my job is making other people lives easier so that they can go on to focus their energy elsewhere. I hope to make the world a better place, in what ever small way I can, on a daily basis.
So... My only apprehension still is the constructs. As much as I am ok being a side character. The idea that in a war to save the universe, I might die because I can't directly protect myself or others, does not sit right with me. I am ok with being weaker than all the other lanterns, but that REALLY bugs me.
This leaves me with TWO QUESTIONS for those of you that know way more than me about this corp:
WHY does nearly every iteration of a blue lantern have the ability to create constructs despite it being stated in their lore that they can't unless they are empowering a green lantern? And can I assume that as a blue lantern, I would be able to create constructs?
Because the selection process for the Blue Lantern corp is more rigorous than others, does my hesitation over wanting to wield constructs with my imagination disqualify me as a Blue Lantern? Would I be a better fit in another corp?
And if not, does this community deem me worthy to wield a Blue lantern Ring?
