#♡ㅤVERSE.ㅤMODERN.

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hello, pioneer! @cannotfly "what do you mean you don't celebrate halloween?" she sits cross-legged with a bag of early loot on her lap. this is supposed to be for the trick-or-treaters, but daddy should know better than buying their lot so early. this must be for the dikrats children.

"haven't you ever been trick-r-treating?"

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hello, pioneer! @stupiidgood "all my life i've always been poor." mismatched patches cluttering denim aren't an aesthetic choice; they're the result of hours on the farm, skidding through her knees, and emily's mother patching up her clothes as she chides her oldest child. "i keep asking god what i'm for, and he tells me, gee i'm not sure. sweep that floor, kid."

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hello, pioneer! @hiveruled "i can't use the car." D-E-N-I-E-D. how is she supposed to flaunt her learner's permit if their mother won't allow her use of the car? it's like they don't want emily to get her driver's license! "i gotta be in by ten o'clock! who do they think they are?"

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❝ i don’t get scared. i’m practically fearless. ❞ - Coraline

AUTUMN/HALLOWEEN SENTENCE STARTERS

"hey, me neither!" emily enthusiastically lies. it's not a ... conscious lie! in emily's mind, she is exponentially (that's a big word for her, actually) courageous, with a spitfire attitude that doesn't take crap from anyone. in practice, however, well. it's giving snow white running through that creepy forest.

with her hands on her hips, emily proclaims, "i'm definitely not scared," she forces a laugh and taps her foot unrhythmically in the sludge of dirt, rainwater, and wet leaves. emily wraps herself in a hug not!! because she's scared. it's just cold out, and this jacket is too light.

"i just mean — how do we know there's even anything good out here? y'know, that's worth exploring?" yeah, that's a good response.

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"oh — damn it!" the teen hisses through her teeth. she tosses the rake in kai's direction, it misses him by a solid three feet. emily stubbornly crosses her arms against her chest and shakes her head.

"nuh-uh! i'm not doing it! and if mom asks me why, i'll tell her!" emily is fully blooming into her rebellious stage. the two women of the dikrats family tiptoe a delicate balance ... and most of the time it still ends up in emily stomping off.

this is an essential time in emily's life! she's a mature young woman now, why, practically an adult! so why does their mom treat her like she's a child who can be sent out to do manual labor? again, this should really be a peter job. where is he, anyway?

"you don't know that!" the blonde scowls. "grandpa took me hunting over the summer, and i definitely scared him." yes, the old man nearly had a heart attack watching emily wave her gun around like a lunatic. "so you just watch yourself!"

Being a TYPICAL older brother, Kai only finds Emily's frustration with him all the more amusing. He continues flashing her a smug smirk, clutching the mask behind his back in the case their mother does come outside to check on them. No need to show off the evidence of his torment right away. " Too bad, too sad! Not my fault you're a klutz. Go on, woman. Those leaves ain't gunna rake themselves. " Kai chuckles, sounding like a SINISTER movie villain when he does so.

" You couldn't scare a fucking butterfly, Em. You're definitely not gunna scare me. " He'd exposed himself at a young age to horror movies sneakily of course, mom wouldn't have liked the idea of him filling his head with all that death and VIOLENCE. Emily didn't hold a candle to what he was able to deal with before becoming uncomfortable, let alone frightened.

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​❝ let’s paint pumpkins. ❞ gemma

AUTUMN/HALLOWEEN SENTENCE STARTERS

"we might as well paint 'em. my mom hid the big knives for carving." emily scoffs. which is totally bullshit, by the way, if she does say so herself. keep them out of peter's reach? sure, the kid'll try to be a sword swallower as soon as they turn their backs. but emily??? she's seventeen! she is not a baby, and is more than capable of carving a pumpkin, thank you very much.

don't ask what the bandaid around her thumb is from, that's not important.

"let me see if we have any paint! my dad had to repaint our shed this summer so ... maybe!"

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❝ aww come on! it was a prank! ❞

AUTUMN/HALLOWEEN SENTENCE STARTERS

look at emily, on her back like a turtle, leaves strewn in her hair and her neat (okay, semi-neat, if we're being truthful) autumn pile now spread across the lawn. her face burns as warm as the hue of the leaves, and if looks could kill, kai would be lying under one of the festive, decorative graves dotting their front yard.

"it wasn't funny!" she protests, angrily picking up her rake. like a mad woman, or maybe just an angry little sister, emily raises the tool and half-playfully swings it, just close enough to make kai jump back.

"look at what you made me do to my pile!" emily bemoans with a scowl. "i'm not gonna rake all that shit up again, you do it!" with a groan, she rises to her feet and dusts crumbled leaves off of her saturday core day attire.

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“You are so beautiful and so smart, and it kills me that you don't think you're good enough.” / sawyer

BARBIE (2023) PROMPTS

this is not a conversation her mama wants her to be having ... well, it's a good thing that her mama isn't here right now, isn't it? her cheeks are flushed, red and hot as a tomato in the july sun. emily swallows back a toothy grin, although the edge of her lips continue to fight a losing battle.

"oh, thank you, sawyer." she replies, a barely contained giggle beneath her words. "it's just that ... well. i don't hear that every day." the blonde dips her chin coyly.

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"um ..." uh-oh, called on her bluff! emily drums her fingers against her thighs and tilts her head thoughtfully. "i was invited to a party!" yeah, a party ... that's what other girls their age will be doing, right? not that emily would know. even if someone invites her, by some miracle, there's no way that mother dikrats will let her daughter go. she's doomed to live a boring life doing nothing and going nowhere! no boys noticing her, no cute halloween costumes, no partaking in underage drinking for the first time.

sigh. "and y'know ... you never know what could happen at a party!" emily winks obnoxiously. she doesn't know exactly either, but ... she has a pretty good idea. god oh god would emily like that to be her.

is it only for little children? she thought she's seen some older children, maybe even some closer to her age, knocking on doors while adorned in costume. what else is there to do for those who celebrate? passing out the candy doesn't seem to be as much fun. johanna has her doubts that emily would rather pass it out to others. ( she seems to be enjoying her chocolate --- oh, dear that sounds like a snub, doesn't it? johanna doesn't mean it to be! )

❝ what are adult plans? ❞ she leans in a little closer, wanting to know even if she won't find herself partaking in them either. johanna doesn't like halloween as a whole, but she can't deny that learning what other people do ( normal people ) doesn't interest her. ❝ are you passing out the candy? or is it something more interesting? ❞

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she comes off a little strong — well, no one's ever accused the dikrats children of following normal social boundaries. emily means well despite her prodding and poking, and placing another unwrapped chocolate on her tongue. her stomach is beginning to hold protest, however. ohhh, her mother was right. she's right every year, every holiday, and yet emily and her brother never listen ... which the dikrats matriarch is always eager to remind.

"trick-or-treating is for little kids. i'm not a baby." seems a little defensive coming from a supposed non-baby, but alright. "i have um ... other plans that night. adult plans." she lies through her teeth.

usually, people congratulate her for maintaining a healthy diet. no candy means a happy dentist and a delighted doctor. ( her guardian didn't mind if she said no to all food altogether. ) johanna loosely wraps her arms around herself. why does she suddenly feel bad about not having a liking for chocolate or chewy bites? ❝ not really. i just . . . it's not my favorite. ❞ her head tilts to the side. ❝ why don't you trick or treat, as well? won't you get more that way? ❞

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not one for candy?! emily is wide-eyed, baffled. "you don't like candy?" she repeats, shaking her head. as if to make up for johanna's blasphemy, she unwraps another piece and wads it in her palm. "well, i'm taking my baby brother trick-or-treating this year," emily rolls her eyes at the mention of her younger sibling, before shoving the sweet in her mouth. "but i'll make him pay the candy tax for doing it."

she can't wrap her head around it. why people watch movies about cold-blooded killers chasing innocent people around abandoned houses or why they take those killers and wear masks of their face. her stomach twists at the thought of it. trick-or-treating seems innocent enough, but johanna knows she couldn't handle the children coming to her door when there's the potential that they're costumed like that. ❝ i'm not really one for candy. ❞ or sweet things in general. she shrugs. ❝ it's just never really been important to me. i'm not the type to wear costumes and i don't fancy getting myself scared on purpose. you, um . . . are you really going when you already have so much? ❞

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if the pair were smart, they'd stand together and force the youngest of the siblings to finish all this work. instead, emily opts for brawn verses brain and smacks the ground with the edge of her rake in frustration. "that's not fair, kai!" she grumbles with a childish scowl.

"i had my chores done too until you made me screw it all up!" all this ruckus will inevitably draw their mother outside, which emily can't wait for. she hopes mama makes kai rake all by himself. she'll sit inside and laugh, laugh and stare out the window while drinking hot chocolate. that'll show him.

"just wait until i get you back. i'll scare you so bad you'll run to mom!"

@trailnapped continued from here .

A series of laughter falls from his lips as soon as Emily is down on the leaf-strewn lawn. It takes a few moments before Kai pulls away the grotesque Halloween clown mask away from his face, grinning from ear to ear as his younger sister expresses her anger towards him. What could he say? There was no way he was ever going to RESIST the chance to put a harmless scare into her, and Emily had been so laser-focused on her chore that Kai's movements went undetected until he had been looming right behind her.

" I disagree, it was pretty funny. " Kai SMUGLY smiles, hopping out of the way from the swinging rake. He glances around at the ruined pile of leaves, an assortment of different oranges, reds, yellows, and browns. " No way, I already did my chores. I ain't doing shit! " His accent slips out a little when he protests.