Anecdote of the Pig, Tory Adkisson / Chemtrails Over the Country Club, Lana Del Rey / Singing in the Rain (1952), Gene Kelly & Stanley Donen / A Huguenote, on St. Bartholomew's Day, John Everett Millais / Past Lives (2023), Celine Song / Aftersun (2022), Charlotte Wells /The Ballad of Neverafter, Stephanie Garber.

🂽 Kiss your teeth, not my heart.

        Lisa Lang does everything despite.

      . Despite her father or a lack thereof. Despite her mother never truly be who she once was. And despite Lisa's own fears that she never really was born whole to begin with.

        The woes of a failed relationship plus an unwillingly motherhood and everything it passes down is what she chalks it up to. She's been dealt a real hand, and, of course, Lisa doesn't wish to solely blame her mother, but it's kind of hard to blame someone not really around. It's an easier pill to swallow whenever her mother reminds her of how different they are, and the only way to combat that is to scream until the neighbor jams a broom on the ceiling. Even as a child and a fresh twenty-five year old.

        The thing about Florence Lang is that she doesn't like to be tied down. Lisa is quite fond of everywhere they settle in, at least enough to stay in for more than a year. Flo doesn't like mac and cheese or any processed food, but Lisa wants it for every meal, all the time. Flo hates the outdoors; Lisa comes home with bugs in jars and dirt between her nails. Honestly, the chances of Lisa being Flo's daughter would be zero to none if it weren't for the beauty mark they shared on their right cheek, and their love for ballet.

        That's the only thing the two could ever agree on: ballet and takeout from the Japanese place down the street after lessons.

        Lisa doesn't really know much about her mother, nothing apart from her phone number in case of emergencies and how her hair looks tightened into a gelled bun. She's a one-dimensional being, and the chance of knowing her beyond is stripped from Lisa even when she grows to that curious age. Everything is up to speculation and sneaking onto her mother's phone, hoping to find some contact close to being her father's. All Lisa does know for sure is that for as long as she could remember, Flo loved to dance. It was her calling, she'd always say when she had a little too much whine in her system and she'd start to dance in their cramped kitchen, whisking Lisa along with her. She breathed it, practically consumed the practice. Possibly loved it more than her own daughter. Flo had done it her whole life. As a kid, all throughout school and even in college before she inevitably dropped out to do measly productions and then settle for being a simple dance teacher.

        That was the only nonnegotiable in Flo's life. No matter what would come she'd always find a way to get on that stage. No matter how tiny.

        It's there she would find small happinesses.

        Lisa would know. Whenever they'd walk home from a lesson or production, Flo'd let her hold her hand all the way back.

         Soon enough, her mother wraps Lisa into it. At first, it's just something her mother loves, so Lisa already hates it. She also hates the scratchy tutu and tight flats her mother forces her into. She expects a big fight to come. Loud voices and a threat to only give her broccoli for a week, but her mother is surprisingly calm, only softly urging to just try. Try and follow her moves.

         After the hour is up, Lisa asks for five more minute. She hops around the room, trying to convince her mother it's anything good, narrowly avoiding the gleam in her mother's eyes as she agrees. She ignores the clock as it passes five and then ten and then twenty minutes. Her mother just takes her hand and shows her another move.

        Eventually, Lisa becomes a student in one of her mother's classes. She manages to find a teacher position at a studio in San Francisco. She thinks it's the longest they've stayed somewhere. She can't even remember if anyone was told of the relation between the two. As far as anyone knew, Lisa was just another student to her mother. It didn't even register until another mom came up to Lisa cooing, "You dance just like your mother!"

         It's the first time anyone's ever compared her to her mother. It gnaws at her heart in an odd, loving way.

        That same night, Lisa has the nerve to ask her mother about her father. Lisa, only ten, bites the bullet and decides she does want to know.

        "Why," Is the curt response she gets.

        Her mother shows some more teriyaki chicken into her mouth before glancing back to the T.V. screen where sitcom reruns play. Lisa doesn't answer at first. This is the first time where fear actually grips her at her throat, and instead her plastic fork picks at her own chicken. After some time of silence, her tiny hand is enclosed by a soft, bigger one. Lisa snaps her head up to see her mother plucking the fork from her grasp, cutting the chicken up into tinier, bite-sized pieces.

        "Did someone say something to you?" Her mother questions.

         Lisa shakes her head numbly. She shrugs instead. "I just want to know if I'm like him."

         Flo stops cutting for a moment, still. Then, she stabs the prongs into a portion of chicken, handing it to Lisa. "You're nothing like him," she says matter-of-factly.

         She goes back to watching the T.V. Lisa's grip on the utensil is loose as she mulls over her mother's words. You're nothing like him, it replays like a bully on the playground. Nothing to remember him by. Nothing to know him with. A dull ache in her chest beats in place of whatever part misses her father. It's hard to miss someone you don't even know exists.

         Flo sighs, rubbing at her forward at Lisa's unusual silence. She looks down to see Lisa's fixed stare on their sofa stained with soy sauce and nail polish. She swallows thickly, trying to think of her next words

         "It's not a bad thing," she assures, glancing away. She flicks through the channels to reach some kid's cartoon. Lisa watches her, trying to see if she's lying. Flo sighs, "It's what I love about you most."

        It's enough to get it out of her head, at least for the time being. Life goes on as it always as with or without a father.

         Maybe it's all these things that lead her here. Back to Luke.

         At the end of the line, she'll recall him being there. When she arrives. All throughout her time at camp. When she was summoned to her quest and given her fate. When she came back and finally became someone according to her father. And even when they both decided that wasn't good enough.

        When he pleads to her, follow me, she does just that. Leaving the gods was easier than ever following, and following Luke is better for her than just hoping to be noticed by someone who thinks she is perpetually twelve. It's not secretive either. He doesn't lure her away. It's at this big bonfire, filled with people and flames higher than some of the campers. Lisa and Luke are huddled together like they always are, sharing a blanket to conserve warmth even though Luke runs hot, and Lisa keeps letting the blanket slip from her lab. To anyone, it's just as they always are. To Lisa, it's the same as it will always be. But then, he leans in, and she thinks maybe he's going to kiss her. Instead, he comes close to her ear and whispers the name Kronos. Names have meaning, Lisa wants to scold him and place a hand over his lips, so he can't say it again. It feels like a joke at first. A bad joke that has Lisa laughing all by herself. But then, he grasps her with severity, bringing up all the times they've thought about running away together.

         This time, he means it. He's always meant it.

         He promises he'll keep her safe. Promises this is the beginning.

         So, she goes because where else if not with him?

         On one of those nights, when Lisa is still riding that high of writing her own fate, she looks over to Luke who grin. It's exhilarated; he's feeling it too. "I'm glad you came with me," he tells her as if he's been holding it to his chest for a while.

         Lisa nods, feeling a thousand times lighter. "Me too."

        Then, Luke turns grim, and she remembers that this feeling can go away. "You won't die," he vows. Lisa suddenly remember she's on borrowed time, "You won't die. Not with me. We'll rewrite everything, and I'm starting with you."

        Lisa flushes at the declaration. It feels better than an 'I love you'. It makes her feel safe and excited for the morning. It makes it easier to push away that nagging feeling that finds home in the hearth of her heart. That hag, that oracle, whispering through her rickety esophagus to give one last warning: "You'll die before your time."

        You won't die, he promises one last time that night because he's the only one he can trust, and he wants her to know she can do the same. It's just following Luke is following her fate even to the end. He may not know this, but Lisa does innately. And she will do everything despite, so she would follow him even knowing this.

         But it's a little too early for all that.

         For now, it's just him and her.

         For now, she doesn't know anything other than what's in front of her. 

✷

Lisa Lang  ✷    Bleeding Heart

i.   "And they both sat there, grown up, yet children at heart; and it was summer, warm beautiful summer."
ii.   Plucked flower— he loves me; he loves me not.

[ ... ]

Luke Castellan   ✷   Supernova

i.   "They joined hands. So the world ended. And the next one began."
ii.   Broken bones, kissed bruises— "You missed a spot."

✷

Florence 'Flo' Lang     The World's Worst Mother
Callidora Song    Latebloomer

&&&.   
Percy Jackson       Walker Scobell
Annabeth Chase        Leah Jeffries
Grover Underwood       Aryan Simhadri
Clarisse De La Rue           Dior Goodjohn

More to be added.

✷

     ✷          All the graphics are made by me with resources I've found in various places (Pinterest, Tumblr, Google, etc). I do not any of the resources I use. The PSDs used are 'Iron Man' by 'khaleesier', "PSD Coloring 62" by 'iunmin', 'PSD 111' by 'julella' and 'PSD 102' by 'sttoneds' on Deviantart. Please do not take credit for, steal, claim these graphics in any way. If you take major inspiration from any of these graphics please PM for permission.

     ✷         Velveteen contains many difficult topics that may be difficult for readers. Watch out for blood & gore, vivid descriptions of death and violence, mental illness, PTSD, abandonment issues, neglect, and terrible family dynamics. If there is anything else that may be triggering that I did not add, please don't hesitate to tell me.

     ✷         I do not own Percy Jackson. This includes the books or live-action TV show or anything affiliated. I do however own Lisa, Florence, Callidora, their characters, and everything added by me into this book that was not previously included.

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