YJ Runaways: Headcanons
I'm re-watching Young Justice and need to fangirl. XD So I'm bringing over a meme from deviantART whereupon we ask for outside headcanons. It was meant for fan characters but this gave me the perfect excuse to talk Runaways, and offer my own headcanons for my favorite canon cast members. Mainly angst and dark ideas I've been harboring for fan fiction.
☑ Themes
I already did an entire Journal devoted to finding YJ Runaways: Image songs, but I always imagine "Team Runaway" when listening to the following songs, sorta like their themes. The lyrics remind me so much of them, and what they had to go through.
☑ "Only the subject doesn't care!"
I headcanon that if Ed had to get into hero work, he might later in life become addicted to prescription painkillers, out of necessity.
Heroes rescue people, but they made a point of clearly showing his teleporting with other people hurts like hell! Both parties. When saving his father both of them were so crippled by pain they couldn't even stand-up—even though Red Volcano was still right there! I don't believe anyone would automatically subject themselves to that again, especially considering Ed didn't even want to be a hero, instead wanting a cure for his meta-gene.
Proof of that is what he did after rescuing his father. He didn't teleport him outside to safety; Asami carried him. Ed didn't teleport anyone else trapped inside the collapsing wing of S.T.A.R.—be they random stranger, or someone he knew on friendly terms. On the contrary, to save Neutron and a few guards (including an injured man) he walked them to find an exit:
A lot of reluctance, and I see him more of an anti-hero—anti-heroes seem to fall from grace much harder. So if he had to get into the line of work where the chance he'd teleport others would be high, he'd really need that oxycodone or morphine, like his morning coffee, to keep going...
☑ Tribal Chief
Because Shelly is a widow and I just can't see Jaime's best friend being a gang-banger, I used the idea of Tye's father being killed in the Iraq War (I realize YJ made up countries to avoid RL political conflicts, but I roll real xD) to build on his past (and Shelly's very resigned misery) in Louder Than Words. I did the math and it could fit, so I used it to give a more emotional reason as to why he wears those standard military dog tags (they're his Dad's).
☑ Long Shadow
If you've read Louder Than Words then this one isn't new either: I had to think of something to call Tye's astral projection, because dubbing it Astral Projection was too much to keep typing, too dry sounding. XD Virgil refers to it as his "Long Shadow" (a throwback to his Justice League Unlimited Ultimen counterpart's power) but there's no way that could be used with a superhero alias; it throws secret identity out the window and exposes his poor mother.
So I took the Native American beliefs of the Spirit World as Tye's reasoning for his meta-gene to give him the powers it did (opportunistic, as Dr. Dorado said). Thus, I now call the "Big Man" his Spirit.
☑ Arsenal and the Runaways
This is more like a headcanon I do not share, more or less. I know many, if not all, fans saw this as a thing, something that would likely happen if the series continued, but oddly not me. My main argument is the end of their final episode "The Hunt":
[Jeez, I just noticed the bottom of Tye's skateboard looks to have a Native American design on it!]
Arsenal is chilling, casually watching the Runaways skateboard off. He's going nowhere. They're running away again. To me, that shows they made no alliances, and I figure the kids went into hiding. They rode off into the sunset, as it were. Now, I'm not saying we wouldn't see this team-up happening, but the fact they made it visually obvious they parted ways (in reality, they were only together for, like, an hour) leaves me thinking no.
Or rather, not much. Someone asked Greg Weisman if they keep in touch, and his reply was: "Some." That is loose, almost a throw-away, considering three of the four Runaways want nothing more to do with superheroes again, but it is also minimal enough to imply there's no major Arsenal and the Runaways plot-line coming.
I headcanon it would be rookie hero Static to bring "Team Runaway" back together, likely in whatever S3 episode or two they may have dedicated to Virgil (see below).
☑ "My folks and I, we're good."
My headcanon plot for Virgil getting back together with his friends stems from that single, telling line. How many Static Shock cartoon fans went (O_o) when he said that? XD Implying Mom Jean Hawkins hadn't (YET?!?) taken a stray bullet on the job as an EMT. And the writers already showed they liked homages and throw-backs and utilizing previous DC stories (Runaways and the Invasion)...
This was a major moment in my fanfic Rise of the Runaways, if I ever freakin' get over myself and my writer's block.
☑ Weaponize the meta-gene
Does anybody remember these? Probably not. ^^; But I never gave up on the idea of a AU warrior Runaways. XD I kept saying it was for a fanfic idea, though to be honest, I never had a solid plot aside from that headcanon. However, it was based around Bart's timeline, where the Reach succeeded in invading the Earth. I had wanted to make the Runaways into something like army lieutenants; being their first successful meta-gene subjects they'd be On Mode and in charge of leading ground forces, say, as human weapons. Yes, I was making their older versions bad-guys and of the Reach.
Back in April I started digitally inking Ed, but got stuck on his Ultimen/Reach hybrid armor, because I suck at armor and hero designs. Here's what I managed, though I plan to scrap it for something more techy sci-fi, less medieval pauldron.
This was my "how can I make them bad and cool" idea, but if I were to be serious about what would have become of them had the Team never rescued the Runaways and they remained test subjects, then they'd probably be forced into action like Neutron was. Tested harder and harder until they were killed, or their meta-gene overpowered and self-destructed, like what almost happened to poor Neut.
Possibly more later...
If you're a YJ fan, I would love to hear any random thoughts, opinions, or ideas you've ever had for Virgil, Eduardo, Tye, or Sam. As a "team" or separate, don't matter. Inquiring, crazy fangirl minds wanna know!
☑ Themes
I already did an entire Journal devoted to finding YJ Runaways: Image songs, but I always imagine "Team Runaway" when listening to the following songs, sorta like their themes. The lyrics remind me so much of them, and what they had to go through.
☑ "Only the subject doesn't care!"
I headcanon that if Ed had to get into hero work, he might later in life become addicted to prescription painkillers, out of necessity.
Heroes rescue people, but they made a point of clearly showing his teleporting with other people hurts like hell! Both parties. When saving his father both of them were so crippled by pain they couldn't even stand-up—even though Red Volcano was still right there! I don't believe anyone would automatically subject themselves to that again, especially considering Ed didn't even want to be a hero, instead wanting a cure for his meta-gene.
Proof of that is what he did after rescuing his father. He didn't teleport him outside to safety; Asami carried him. Ed didn't teleport anyone else trapped inside the collapsing wing of S.T.A.R.—be they random stranger, or someone he knew on friendly terms. On the contrary, to save Neutron and a few guards (including an injured man) he walked them to find an exit:
A lot of reluctance, and I see him more of an anti-hero—anti-heroes seem to fall from grace much harder. So if he had to get into the line of work where the chance he'd teleport others would be high, he'd really need that oxycodone or morphine, like his morning coffee, to keep going...
☑ Tribal Chief
Because Shelly is a widow and I just can't see Jaime's best friend being a gang-banger, I used the idea of Tye's father being killed in the Iraq War (I realize YJ made up countries to avoid RL political conflicts, but I roll real xD) to build on his past (and Shelly's very resigned misery) in Louder Than Words. I did the math and it could fit, so I used it to give a more emotional reason as to why he wears those standard military dog tags (they're his Dad's).
☑ Long Shadow
If you've read Louder Than Words then this one isn't new either: I had to think of something to call Tye's astral projection, because dubbing it Astral Projection was too much to keep typing, too dry sounding. XD Virgil refers to it as his "Long Shadow" (a throwback to his Justice League Unlimited Ultimen counterpart's power) but there's no way that could be used with a superhero alias; it throws secret identity out the window and exposes his poor mother.
So I took the Native American beliefs of the Spirit World as Tye's reasoning for his meta-gene to give him the powers it did (opportunistic, as Dr. Dorado said). Thus, I now call the "Big Man" his Spirit.
☑ Arsenal and the Runaways
This is more like a headcanon I do not share, more or less. I know many, if not all, fans saw this as a thing, something that would likely happen if the series continued, but oddly not me. My main argument is the end of their final episode "The Hunt":
[Jeez, I just noticed the bottom of Tye's skateboard looks to have a Native American design on it!]
Arsenal is chilling, casually watching the Runaways skateboard off. He's going nowhere. They're running away again. To me, that shows they made no alliances, and I figure the kids went into hiding. They rode off into the sunset, as it were. Now, I'm not saying we wouldn't see this team-up happening, but the fact they made it visually obvious they parted ways (in reality, they were only together for, like, an hour) leaves me thinking no.
Or rather, not much. Someone asked Greg Weisman if they keep in touch, and his reply was: "Some." That is loose, almost a throw-away, considering three of the four Runaways want nothing more to do with superheroes again, but it is also minimal enough to imply there's no major Arsenal and the Runaways plot-line coming.
I headcanon it would be rookie hero Static to bring "Team Runaway" back together, likely in whatever S3 episode or two they may have dedicated to Virgil (see below).
So what do I think would happen with Arsenal? While everyone else was yearning for a Red Hood and The Outlaws team-up, I was keeping my fingers crossed the writers would keep to the stories before New 52. They had already used Rise of Arsenal by taking Roy's arm and giving him the cyborg limb; I honestly wanted Arsenal to follow continuity and join Deathstroke and Cheshire on Titans: Villains for Hire. (I think I'm one of the rare few who did enjoy those comics. It had cool intentions, but like RoA it fell short on execution.)
The reason I could see this happening is because the Villain Titans' first "mission" is to assassinate Lex Luthor. Now tell me Arsenal wouldn't jump at the chance?! And that's what his character needs to progress, a chance to face those demons constantly hanging over his head, to get that rage out. (I also like the possible conflict of him being on a team with clone-Roy's wife. XD)
☑ "My folks and I, we're good."
My headcanon plot for Virgil getting back together with his friends stems from that single, telling line. How many Static Shock cartoon fans went (O_o) when he said that? XD Implying Mom Jean Hawkins hadn't (YET?!?) taken a stray bullet on the job as an EMT. And the writers already showed they liked homages and throw-backs and utilizing previous DC stories (Runaways and the Invasion)...
This was a major moment in my fanfic Rise of the Runaways, if I ever freakin' get over myself and my writer's block.
☑ Weaponize the meta-gene
Does anybody remember these? Probably not. ^^; But I never gave up on the idea of a AU warrior Runaways. XD I kept saying it was for a fanfic idea, though to be honest, I never had a solid plot aside from that headcanon. However, it was based around Bart's timeline, where the Reach succeeded in invading the Earth. I had wanted to make the Runaways into something like army lieutenants; being their first successful meta-gene subjects they'd be On Mode and in charge of leading ground forces, say, as human weapons. Yes, I was making their older versions bad-guys and of the Reach.
Back in April I started digitally inking Ed, but got stuck on his Ultimen/Reach hybrid armor, because I suck at armor and hero designs. Here's what I managed, though I plan to scrap it for something more techy sci-fi, less medieval pauldron.
This was my "how can I make them bad and cool" idea, but if I were to be serious about what would have become of them had the Team never rescued the Runaways and they remained test subjects, then they'd probably be forced into action like Neutron was. Tested harder and harder until they were killed, or their meta-gene overpowered and self-destructed, like what almost happened to poor Neut.
Possibly more later...
If you're a YJ fan, I would love to hear any random thoughts, opinions, or ideas you've ever had for Virgil, Eduardo, Tye, or Sam. As a "team" or separate, don't matter. Inquiring, crazy fangirl minds wanna know!