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inkskinned · 10 months

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at some point it's just like. do they even fucking like the thing they're asking AI to make? "oh we'll just use AI for all the scripts" "we'll just use AI for art" "no worries AI can write this book" "oh, AI could easily design this"

like... it's so clear they've never stood in the middle of an art museum and felt like crying, looking at a piece that somehow cuts into your marrow even though the artist and you are separated by space and time. they've never looked at a poem - once, twice, three times - just because the words feel like a fired gun, something too-close, clanging behind your eyes. they've never gotten to the end of the movie and had to arrive, blinking, back into their body, laughing a little because they were holding their breath without realizing.

"oh AI can mimic style" "AI can mimic emotion" "AI can mimic you and your job is almost gone, kid."

... how do i explain to you - you can make AI that does a perfect job of imitating me. you could disseminate it through the entire world and make so much money, using my works and my ideas and my everything.

and i'd still keep writing.

i don't know there's a word for it. in high school, we become aware that the way we feel about our artform is a cliche - it's like breathing. over and over, artists all feel the same thing. "i write because i need to" and "my music is how i speak" and "i make art because it's either that or i stop existing." it is such a common experience, the violence and immediacy we mean behind it is like breathing to me - comes out like a useless understatement. it's a cliche because we all feel it, not because the experience isn't actually persistent. so many of us have this ... fluttering urgency behind our ribs.

i'm not doing it for the money. for a star on the ground in some city i've never visited. i am doing it because when i was seven i started taking notebooks with me on walks. i am doing it because in second grade i wrote a poem and stood up in front of my whole class to read it out while i shook with nerves. i am doing it because i spent high school scribbling all my feelings down. i am doing it for the 16 year old me and the 18 year old me and the today-me, how we can never put the pen down. you can take me down to a subatomic layer, eviscerate me - and never find the source of it; it is of me. when i was 19 i named this blog inkskinned because i was dramatic and lonely and it felt like the only thing that was actually permanently-true about me was that this is what is inside of me, that the words come up over everything, coat everything, bloom their little twilight arias into every nook and corner and alley

"we're gonna replace you". that is okay. you think that i am writing to fill a space. that someone said JOB OPENING: Writer Needed, and i wrote to answer. you think one raindrop replaces another, and i think they're both just falling. you think art has a place, that is simply arrives on walls when it is needed, that is only ever on demand, perfect, easily requested. you see "audience spending" and "marketability" and "multi-line merch opportunity"

and i see a kid drowning. i am writing to make her a boat. i am writing because what used to be a river raft has long become a fully-rigged ship. i am writing because you can fucking rip this out of my cold dead clammy hands and i will still come back as a ghost and i will still be penning poems about it.

it isn't even love. the word we use the most i think is "passion". devotion, obsession, necessity. my favorite little fact about the magic of artists - "abracadabra" means i create as i speak. we make because it sluices out of us. because we look down and our hands are somehow already busy. because it was the first thing we knew and it is our backbone and heartbreak and everything. because we have given up well-paying jobs and a "real life" and the approval of our parents. we create because - the cliche again. it's like breathing. we create because we must.

you create because you're greedy.

#every time someones like ''AI will replace u" im like. u will have to fucking KILL ME #there is no replacement here bc i am not filling a position. i am just writing #and the writing is what i need to be doing #writeblr #this probably doesn't make sense bc its sooo frustrating i rarely speak it the way i want to #edited for the typo wrote it and then was late to a meeting lol #i love u people who mention my typos genuinely bc i don't always catch them!!!! :) it is doing me a genuine favor!!!#my friend says i should tell you ''thank you beta editors'' but i don't know what that means #i made her promise it isn't a wolf fanfiction thing. so if it IS a wolf thing she is DEAD to me (just kidding i love her)#hey PS PS PS ??? if ur reading this thinking what it's saying is ''i am financially capable of losing this'' ur reading it wrong #i write for free. i always have. i have worked 5-7 jobs at once to make ends meet.#i did not grow up with access or money. i did not grow up with connections or like some kind of excuse #i grew up and worked my fucking ASS OFF. and i STILL!!! wrote!!! on the side!!! because i didn't know how not to!!!#i do not write for money!!!! i write because i fuckken NEED TO #i could be in the fucking desert i could be in the fuckken tundra i could be in total darkness #and i would still be writing pretentious angsty poetry about it #im not in any way saying it's a good thing. i'm not in any way implying that they're NOT tryna kill us #i'm saying. you could take away our jobs and we could go hungry and we could suffer #and from that suffering (if i know us) we'd still fuckin make art.#i would LOVE to be able to make money doing this! i never have been able to. but i don't NEED to. i will find a way to make my life work #even if it means being miserable #but i will not give up this thing. for the whole world.

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nelkcats · 1 year

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Found Family

John Constantine fucked it up, Clockwork is happy with the result.

It's no secret that John Constantine sells his soul a lot, and that he's made dubious deals, it's his specialty after all. So it was no surprise when he offered his first born child to multiple entities as part of various deals, in his opinion there was no risk, it was impossible for a baby to be born because of him.

So when Clockwork witnessed a drunken Constantine offer up a newborn as payment for breaking the rules of time travel he just shrugged, he knew the British wouldn't even remember that specific deal and his job was to find the better timelines, the Flash Family sure is going to be his future headache.

Clockwork was pretty sure a child wouldn't be born anyways, the chances were too small; For once, Clockwork was wrong, he didn't know how to feel when little Daniel was born to one of Constantine's many exes, the woman seemed honestly devastated, she wanted to give the child a good life but didn't know how.

It seemed that she was about to call John, her hands trembling as she tried to remember the number, but before she could break the news the baby disappeared from her arms, vanished as multiple laughs were heard in the hospital room. The woman immediately understood and started cursing the bastard of her ex for being so stupid as multiple contracts with the idiot signature materialized in her hands.

Clockwork began to consider his options as he stood in the center of a room with all the contractors, he could fight for the baby, he was an Ancient, but what was the point? He looked at the baby, waiting for a signal to tell him what to do; the baby stopped crying and looked at his multiple watches, laughing with joy.

And then he saw it, the possibilities that before were almost zero began to show themselves, the multiple futures of the boy: celebrations, tears, laught, the painful part? Clockwork was in all of them.

Even when he didn't directly raise him he was always there, he could see that the boy loved him and he loved him back. Time made a mistake and fall in love with the concept: permanence, family, home, that baby was everything so he made his decision.

Without much trouble he fought against all the entities, many could call him a cheater but he didn't care, time was his domain.

With Daniel in his arms he carried him to his haunt, avoiding the gaze of the observants, the baby laughed as his core purred "Welcome home, Danny" he whispered watching as the blue eyes fixed on him.

It didn't take a couple of days for Clockwork to decide to break his contract, he couldn't care less about Constantine and he hated the idea that Daniel belonged to him like an object of some kind, however he couldn't destroy the damn thing until he was sure that all the other contracts were burned (and he made sure of it)

At the end of the week his baby officially belonged to him, Constantine was really an idiot for giving the precious boy in his arms to the worst people. Frostbite and Pandora approved but they were worried.

"He is a human child Clockwork, you know we don't doubt you, but he can't grow up in the realms, you can't run away from the observants and steal human food forever" Frostbite told him.

"He is officially yours, but you need to let him go until the right time" Pandora said, she knew she might be sounding harsh, but she needed to make him understand.

Clockwork was very aware, every time he pointed out a star to Danny from his screens, every time he wrapped his cape around him, every time he kissed his forehead, he knew he had to let the baby go, that the Fentons had lost a baby and would be willing to take care of him.

Hell, he knew he could take care of the child and infiltrate the damn house but how long would it be until he could hold his baby again? hug him? it was undoubtedly painful to know the future but to live in the present, having to do the things that hurt most.

So he did, leaving Daniel (Danny, he'd like to be called Danny in the future) with his star blanket wrapped around him, he kissed the boy's forehead, and placed a bright green note in his basket "His name is Daniel, take good care of him please, and take him to the moon since i couldn't do it -C.W", with one last look he sighed as he returned to the Zone

"Everything is as it should be" he said, watching Daniel with his time screens.

He didn't leave it like that, the Fentons were honestly very distracted, pretty bad parents if he was being honest but for some reason he knew Danny would love them.

So he took it upon himself to fill in the missing details: an anonymous birthday present, a hot meal, a recipe book, glowing stars, little aids that only the children noticed. Jasmine was quite grateful to him for that.

What if there were nights where Danny fell asleep with a voice singing to him? Or if the sound of the clocks calmed him down? It was his business at the end of the day.

The years passed, inevitable things happened that the master of time himself refrained from preventing (His baby had to die, fate was very cruel to return the boy to him in that way).

Clockwork congratulated himself for not speaking to the boy until he overheard the Observants talking about killing his son and panicked, eventually introducing himself and trying to stay calm while helping with "The Dark Dan Incident"

It was a tough trip, filled with many cardiac attacks and the desire to choke ghosts (but he had to remember that Danny needed those experiences, it was for the best), there were also threats towards Frostbite when he saw the rural paintings, at least both the Yeti and the Goddess kept quiet about the adoption.

He really didn't want to scare Danny by saying "Hey, your biological dad sold you to me and I owned your soul until I decided to adopt you but couldn't talk to you until now, surprise"

So he maintained his cryptic attitude towards the boy until much later (he also enjoyed being cryptic), when he nearly fainted upon realizing that Danny's core had adopted him as a mentor and father. The guy himself was embarrassed to admit it confessing asking Frostbite about it.

To explain it better he advised Danny to ask his parents about his adoption, the boy seemed confused but agreed. Clockwork wasn't surprised when the boy appeared in the tower a few hours later, teary-eyed and a familiar green note in hand.

You see, contrary to popular belief Danny was aware that he was adopted, his parents didn't try to hide it, quite proud of that fact, but whenever he asked about his biological parents they shrugged without knowing what to say.

Clockwork's request was strange so he decided to ask one more time, his parents told him again about the night they found him, when they took out a green note claiming it came with his basket; he took it in hand, the color, the letters and the writer of the note were obvious, but his parents affirmed they had no idea who C.W was.

With a thank you and a farewell he returned to the realms, the note trembling in his hand as he asked for answers. And he received them, Clocky looked heartbroken by his distrust, but he explained everything that happened from his birth to the present.

Suddenly everything made sense to Danny: the watches, the food, the gifts his parents claimed they hadn't bought, the singing; Clockwork had taken care of him the best he could, but he couldn't do much trapped under the observants control, he frowned at the last part but ended up hugging his father.

Ironically, that was also the day Danny decided to hate his biological father, John Constantine was a bastard who would only give him paperwork, and he had sold him! To multiple entities! If it wasn't for Clocky he'd be even more dead!

When Danny finally turned 18 and was officially declared Ghost King, his life became a thousand times easier and a thousand times more difficult.

On one hand he had managed to remove the observants who now worked for Walker, and he had managed to free Clocky, on the other hand, he had a thousand responsibilities fallen on his shoulders and he felt tired just thinking about it.

Declaring Clockwork his adviser was a good idea, although he always ended up pouting when he asked him if he wouldn't wish to be king in his place, Clocky was the king's father, shouldn't he be king instead? The master of time just laughed and shook his head, telling him to go back to his paperwork.

The days locked in his office with the thousands of papers in the name of John Constantine only increased his resentment towards his biological father, months in which he had to request a time out just to review a specific section.

————————

It was a normal day after a routine visit from Jazz and Dani when Danny was summoned, his pleasant evening with Clocky (and yes, he could call him dad many times but the nickname just stuck) was interrupted when he felt the summon, he gave a sigh of suffering asking his father if he would come along, he just shrugged as Danny disappeared.

On the other hand, the Justice League was tense, someone had warned about the release of Kronos in the world and Diana couldn't be more worried, they contacted Justice League Dark and they confirmed the presence of multiple gods of time being released.

It was Constantine who offered the solution to summon the Ghost king, if many of those entities were "dead" he should have control over them; And since it was rumored that he was a new king, they might have a chance to strike a deal.

The problem was that the result of the summon was a boy with Lazarus green eyes who stepped out of the circle, directing his hateful eyes towards Constantine, Danny would recognize the bastard anywhere, he had asked his dad to show him.

At first Batman assumed that the color of his eyes meant that the boy was induced by the same anger as Jason, this seemed to be reaffirmed when he spoke trying to remain calm "Why did you summon me, father?" was the boy's cold question.

Constantine seemed to be going through eight stages of duel in seconds as the League came to a standstill, Zatanna shot an incredulous look at her partner as a crown of ice and a white ring materialized on the boy, who crossed his arms.

The objects at least affirmed that this was the king they were looking for. Danny sighed and managed to calm down, this really was an unpleasant revelation, out of pettiness he cast his icy gaze at Constantine, freezing his feet to the ground.

It was then that Wonder Woman stepped forward, Batman was evaluating the entity next to her, even though he was calm his eyes remained the same, he had to reconsider his initial observations "Your Highness, we are here for a request"

"And what would that request be?" Danny questioned with boredom, once he had decided to ignore the Constantine in the room he simply put his mind in treat this as a business meeting.

"We have heard rumors about the release of Kronos along with multiple time entities, we fear that he is planning something against you or us" spoke the princess "We wanted you to confirm those suspicions and if they are true, help us stop them"

Danny frowned "His release doesn't concern you, even less if it's in my domain" he spoke seriously, he remembered that Clocky had told him that his lack of "management" by the observants could be read badly for the other realms, he knew that could include being confused for different entities, his father had many names at the end of the day.

"Your Highness, excuse the rudeness but I don't think you understand the seriousness of the matter" Diana said annoyed by the lack of reaction.

Danny just sneered "I think I totally get it, your sources are wrong, if they are free or not, they are not planning anything"

"I don't think it's your place to make such statements." Superman frowned.

"Oh really? I think it's my place to know if my dad is planning something" he let that revelation stay in the minds of the heroes, he wondered how many times they would be surprised in a day

"Sorry, I thought Constantine was your father?" Flash asked, sounding concerned.

"Constantine is my biological father, yes, however Kronos or whatever you call him is my adoptive father, he taked care of me since I was a baby" the halfa rolled his eyes.

"That's not possible, Kronos has been dead for a long time" Zatanna was worried by that new information.

"You have a God on your team and you wonder if it's possible to totally kill them? Because most of the time the answer is no" Danny shrugged.

"But he was trapped" Diana was sure of that.

"Yes, he was" Danny spoke, resentment ringing in his voice "I released him"

"Are you out of your mind!?" Green Lantern yelled, forgetting he was in front of a King "He obviously planned that, he probably plans to conquer the world!"

"Have you considered that he might be manipulating you?" questioned Batman with a soft voice.

"He's not manipulating me and he couldn't care less about the world, if he really wanted it he'd have it in seconds" Danny bristled at the calming victim tone and the sad eyes around him, honestly they were stupid, If Clocky wanted to rule the world, he would let it be instead of looking for a better future for everyone.

"Okay, everyone calm down, it's obvious that if he've been with him since he was a baby his influence has reached far, we should try to separate them and connect him with his biological father, everything will be fine son" Superman nodded.

"My son isn't going with some idiot wizard with no appreciation for his own soul" the topic of conversation in question appeared next to Danny, at the most dramatic moment possible.

Danny was about to yell at the heroes to stop treating him like a victim or a child when his dad put a hand on his shoulders, clearly trying to calm him down. He sighed and lunged at Clocky, hiding inside his cloak.

"Kronos what are you planning?" Diana spoke resentfully "manipulating a child is going too far"

"I was planning on enjoying tea at our house before some idiots decided to play being God" Clockwork rolled his eyes "And as much as it pains me to say it: Danny stopped being a child a long time ago, in case you forgot it he's a king, the king of all the dead and a god of his own"

"Is this your plan? become the King of the dead? Because you're not going to get away with it" Diana asked, suspicious.

"Do you have selective hearing? Cause I would love for dad to be king in my place but he really doesn't want to" Danny snorted "And since you're not going to treat this meeting seriously we're leaving, as much as I love the space this is really ruining it for me"

"You can not go away! You have to let us help you" Flash yelled worried.

"No, you don't have the right to decide that, so I'm going to go back home, drink my tea and make cookies with dad while you guys figure out how to thaw that bastard over there" Danny finally pointed at Constantine shivering in the cold as he looked at him in shock, Clockwork laughed at his side.

"I'd say it was nice to meet you, but it wasn't, don't expect much help from the dead, we're really not in the mood; go over tips on treating royals properly next time" Clockwork said a last goodbye and left.

Both the King and the God of time disappeared with the circle, along with the materials to perform the ritual; it seemed like they really didn't want to be contacted again

"That really didn't turn out as we expected" Billy muttered, he hadn't wanted to talk during the meeting because he didn't consider that either of the two beings was lying. They looked like father and son, just tired and fed up.

"We will have to evaluate this new threat, it is impossible that his words were completely true, Constantine, find out why that boy hates you so much" Batman ordered.

"I sold him" The hellbazer whispered.

"Sorry, what?" Zatanna stopped what she was doing.

"He hate me because I sold him" John passed his hands over his eyes "I didn't even consider this possible, I'm not supposed to have fucking kids, now it makes so much sense why she's avoiding me"

"She?" Superman asked

"Yeah, one of my exes tried to kill me, she keep yelling about me being an idiot and underestimating the consequences of my acts, I thought it was something normal, you know? I should have known better" He shrugged, the ice had melted but the cold stayed in his bones.

Batman took a deep breath, trying to calm down and not kill the man on the spot. "Who did you sell him to?"

"Many entities" Constantine bit his lip, embarrassed "could have sold him to Kronos for everything we know"

"You are a complete asshole and I understand why the boy does not want to see you" Zatanna spoke completely tired.

"So Kronos can own him for all we know? that's just awful" Diana was disgusted.

"It wasn't supposed to happen, evading contract liability is my specialty not dealing with the consequences" Constantine was stressed.

"This got much more complicated, we'll see how to break your son's contract and separate him from Kronos, maybe you can fix things after that" The dark knight spoke, he hated magic.

Billy refrained from mentioning that Kronos and the King didn't seem to be under a contract, or whatever his teammates were thinking, they looked like family, which for an orphan is pretty obvious.

But he knew that his companions wouldn't take his remarks seriously, so he just sighed in resignation. Maybe the League will remember that those two were from another dimension and royalty that they shouldn't anger, he really hopes they will remember soon.

For their part, Clockwork and Danny returned to their Tower now located next to the palace, deciding to prepare cookies for the visit of Sam & Tucker, one of the time screens was next to them, showing the League discussing the supposed problem.

Danny was quite annoyed that they were deciding things for him and calling his father bad but Clockwork brushed it off, they wouldn't get very far with the palace guards if they even managed to find a portal to the Realms, or even get to the palace itself.

"It's fine Daniel, everything is as it should be"

#danny phantom #dp x dc #dc x dp #danny fenton #clockwork #john constantine #found family #Danny is Constantine biological son #Constantine didn't realize he had a kid #He promised to a LOT of entities his first son #Clockwork was not interested on fighting with the other entities at first #But he saw a lot of futures with the kid by his side #ghost king danny #justice league dark #justice league #At first the league thought it was a good thing Danny was Constantine son #Until they saw the indifference to Constantine and his love for his adoptive parent THE FUCKING GOD OF TIME #Danny is happy #He was sad of being separated from the Fentons at first #But he is better now with his new dad #Clockwork is a good father #He understands being chained #He destroyed the other entities for Danny #just to be sure #apparently Clockwork owed Danny's soul since he was born #But he gived it back #He wanted Danny to be free #What happened between the Fentons is up to you #The League is paranoid #Billy is the only one who get what really happened

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