ཐི༏ཋྀ Briar Rose ꫂ ၴႅၴ

on Archive of Our Own

[briarrosesinthornes]

MY TAKE ON THE GREEN NINJA PROPHECY BC I'M LOSING MY MIND

So remember that thing in Season 1 where everyone’s been saying “the Golden Weapons will choose the Green Ninja!!” like that was gospel. Like the lore was solid. Like fate™—Golden Weapons™—was coming down from the clouds to point at someone like “You, emo child, go save the world.”

So Morro—Master Wu’s first student—is like “bet, it’s me.”

Trains for years. Believes in the prophecy. Steps up to the Weapons like some main character moment.

…and they go ghosting the kid.

AKA. Nothing. They do not vibe.

Not even glow.

Morro: clearly i suck. time to emotionally combust and become the embodiment of vengeance <3

The Golden Weapons: this is awkward

then Lloyd—Literal child. 10 years old. Daddy issues. Emo skeleton hoodie. Clearly has only been taught how to be evil. bowl cut—walks up.

The Weapons: ✨✨🌟💚💥✨✨

Everyone: THE PROPHECY!!! IT’S HIM!!! DESTINYYYYY

But HERE’S THE THING. The whole time. The scroll existed. Like this ancient dusty document just chilling out in a vault somewhere and it says THIS:

“The Golden Weapons do not accept their bearer by destiny alone. They respond to the one whose spirit has endured hardship without surrender, whose will has known both ambition and ruin, and who rises again not for power, but for peace. The one destined to become the Green Ninja will not come from balance, but from storm. A soul once lost, who will walk through shadow before they can wield light. They must be tested—not by others, but by the weight of their own soul. Only when they have shed the need to be chosen, and instead choose their path freely, shall the Weapons awaken for them. The Green Ninja is written in the wind. But wind must calm before it can carry the world.”

EXCUSE ME??? THE WHAT NOW???

Morro wasn’t rejected. He just wasn’t ready. Lloyd wasn’t the forever-hero. He was just a placeholder.

Morro's like: “…wait a damn minute.”

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊

Lloyd: so like… the scroll said you were never actually rejected

Morro: i was emotionally rejected and that’s worse

Wu: in hindsight, I may have… accidentally gaslit an orphan

Jay: accidentally?

Kai: ACCIDENTALLY??

Zane: The prophecy was deeply symbolic.

Wu: I thought the wind thing was symbolic

Cole: yeah symbolic of Wu needing to communicate better.

Morro: i died bc of vibes. bad vibes.

Lloyd: I lost my dad bc of bad vibes.

₊✩‧₊˚౨ৎ˚₊✩‧₊

Lloyd: So technically… I was like… a temporary placeholder??

Morro: You were the emotional support Green Ninja.

Wu: In his defense, he did save the world.

Jay: THIS IS LIKE FINDING OUT THE PROPHECY WAS A METAPHOR

Kai: someone call a therapist

Zane: The real Green Ninja was the character development we made along the way

Morro: I had a destiny crisis and DIED and y’all treated it like a Tuesday

Nya: Today is Tuesday

Morro: ...

Morro: Fair

Lloyd: The prophecy was vague

Morro: The prophecy was a scam. A pyramid scheme. A riddle written by someone high on tea leaves.

Wu: 🙃 in my defense, it was poetic

Jay: YOU LET A TEN-YEAR-OLD PICK UP A SUPERNOVA

Kai: we really said “child soldier” and moved on huh

Lloyd: One question... how are you going to be the Green Ninja, yk, the one that masters L.I.F.E.™—Lightning, Ice, Fire, Earth—if you're dead?

Morro:

Morro: Lemme possess you again then.

Lloyd:

Lloyd: no. ( ｡ •̀ ⤙ •́ ｡ )

[briarrosesinthornes]

Okay, so imagine this:

Tim Drake never becomes Robin.

He doesn’t join the Batfam, doesn’t put on a cape, doesn’t swing across rooftops at thirteen.

Instead?

He grows up watching them. Documenting them.

Obsessed with the truth, with the people behind the masks—though, keeps it under wraps when he knows it's not in his place to expose such sensitive and private information.

( We love a reporter who knows what boundaries are )

So he becomes a reporter. Because of course he does.

And then his boss is like,

“Hey Tim. We’re sending you to Metropolis. Go write a feel-good piece about LexCorp’s new Superman.”

And Tim’s like: “Absolutely not.”

Also Tim: is on the train in 10 minutes with a bag full of sarcasm and trauma. “Cool. I’m gonna rip this entire operation apart.”

And THEN— Then he meets Conner Luthor / Superman 2.0

Like. The one that popped out of no where. The PR golden boy. The poster child.

This boy walks out of a press conference like a Disney prince.

Full sunshine smile. Messy black hair. Tight suit.

He’s been genetically engineered to be The Next Superman™.

He’s perfect. Like weirdly perfect. Too perfect.

And Tim IMMEDIATELY is like

“Fake. Corporate. Corperate-made boy scout.”

But then Conner looks at him and just goes:

“You’re the only person my age who hasn’t tried to ask me about my abs.”

AND TIM MALFUNCTIONS ON THE SPOT.

And then Tim asks him,

“What do you want to be?”

And Conner just stares at him and goes,

“I don’t know. No one’s ever asked me that before.”

LIKE—??!??!?! HELLO???

It’s so much worse because—

Conner? He’s not acting.

He’s sweet. Earnest. So painfully sincere it hurts.

He wants to help people. He wants to be good.

AND YET—he still gets flustered when Tim talks fast.

He still stares at him like he hangs the stars.

He flies Tim to the top of a radio tower just to watch the sunrise.

like sorry?? what do you MEAN the science experiment fell for the journalist with commitment issues and a hero complex

Cue rooftop talks.

Cue sneaking around LexCorp.

Cue Tim finding classified documents he was not supposed to see.

Cue Conner breaking through reinforced steel doors to save him.

And that’s when Tim Drake, journalist first and disaster gay second, realizes:

He’s not just in love with the story.

He’s not writing a story anymore.

He’s living one.

And the worst part?

He’s in love with the headline.

Inspired by multiple cliche love songs, love stories, and the dream I had months ago ( yes, I wrote it down )