#Jack was her uncle

[laur-rants]

A Starry-Eyed boy, who now lives amongst the stars...

First Pet Commission done: Jack, aka Starswift Unfinished Business.

This boy was a very special dog, and it was a very special privilege to get to draw him. An inspiring story, he was diagnosed with a liver shunt around a month old, and given a low prognosis for continued existence. But with a special diet and a lot of determination, that tiny puppy grew and grew and beat the odds multiple times, eventually becoming 90 lbs of lovely, happy, sweet puppy. An absolute joy to everyone who knew him, he had an instagram account and many followers rooting for his success. He was a fighter and even his registered name reflected this: Unfinished Business, because he was too young to go just yet. So full of life and vibrancy, he had one crucial message to give to the world: no matter how disabled you are, no matter your lot in life, never give up and live every day to its fullest. Jack unfortunately passed away in October, just a few months shy of two years old. He fought until the end, but his owners knew it was better to see him off, than to let him suffer. I'll spare the sad details here, but it was a hard blow on everyone who knew him. It's up to us to carry on his unfinished business, and to make the world a kinder, happier, and perhaps even a little bit of a bouncier place, than when we entered it. @starswift-borzoi

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 251

Danny is tired and annoyed. On one hand, his parents took the whole ‘so I might be slightly dead’ pretty well! Which is good! On the other, they decided to send him and his sisters to their uncle while they take care of the Guys in White and refurbish the house to be, well, him safe. Which meant a ridiculously long flight all the way to New Jersey. 

A flight he was pretty sure happened to be illegal what with the fact that neither of them were asked for their IDs or anything despite having them with them. Hm. Y’know he’s not going to question it, he’s getting a nap the moment they get to Uncle Harvey’s. 

[capquinn]

i saw this and thought of you & dad!quinn/bug 😭

LMAOOO in my head this is exactly how i imagine jack hearing quinn call baby buggy “bug” for the first time goes and him immediately being like, “wait, wait, hold on — where the hell did that even come from?” quinn, in his usual calm-but-slightly-done tone, just says, “because she’s snug as a bug,” like it’s the most obvious thing in the world and he can’t believe jack even has to ask. but of course jack, being jack, can’t let it go, unconvinced, because what tf does that even mean????? “snug as a bug? what’s so snug about a bug? that makes no sense, dude.” and quinn just sighs, gives him that long-suffering, how am i related to you? look, and says, “because the bug is in a rug. that’s literally the saying.” and then there’s this perfect beat of silence while jack just stares at him, processing, before he goes, “…oh yeah. i forgot about the rug." 😭😭

[pinkysberg]

i lie awake at night thinking about the marston daughter.

[doctorwhommm]

would you 🥺 please draw anwen (gwens daughter) as a teenager 🥺🥺 i love her to bits

*boomer voice* is this what kids look like these days?

her and her little brother hunt aliens and solve mysteries bc they look up to their mum and were raised on stories of uncle jack, uncle owen, uncle ianto and aunty tosh !! but since they don’t live in cardiff the most mysterious things they investigate are like ‘what happened to mrs smith’s missing cat’ (gwen is very glad of this)

[icedghostlatte-art]

Dragon Elf Hybrid Vlad! Goes with Elf Danny!

[bluegrasshellbard]

My design for The White Lord of Alagadda ft Dr.Willow (for a height comparison). They are quite small compared to the Lords, and Lord White likes to dress them up like a little doll.

[softquietsteadylove]

Red and Green

Gil is glowering. He's been glowering almost since they arrived. He's happy to help, of course. Jack is in the winter play, and since Sersi is also teaching at his school, they've all come to help out with last minute decorating and such. He's baked five sheet pans worth of goodies for the bake sale taking place before and after the play.

Thena is on stage, helping Jack and a few other kids with putting fake snow everywhere. She's not exactly taking part but she's good at keeping them from throwing it on each other or anywhere unnecessary.

That's not the problem. The teacher talking to her is the problem.

Gil doesn't know who he is. Ben says he thinks he's the gym teacher or something. Seems a little young--aren't gym teachers always old dudes who don't actually play sports? This guy is their age, visibly handsome, even from a distance.

"You're a natural with them," the tall, blonde stranger insists.

Thena shakes her head, "I couldn't disagree more. I am here for Jack and no one else. The little hellions can fend for themselves."

She says, and then still decisively stops two boys close to the stairs from seeing what the fake snow tastes like.

"Well, I think you're a natural." Who does this guy think he is? He was moving some larger stuff around with Ikaris all afternoon. Apparently until Thena caught his eye and lured him away.

Gil rolls his eyes as Mister Blondie pulls off the fleece he's been wearing. His t-shirt gets pulled up a little with it, just enough for the stage lighting to really emphasize the full, washboard eight pack of abs he's got.

Phastos clears his throat loudly in Ben's ear. "Ahe-hem, Mister Stoss."

"Habibi, please," Ben attempts to lean away from his husband. "It is not a sin to have eyes, my love."

Gil sneers to himself. Thena has eyes. And while she wasn't openly admiring like Ben had - no matter how briefly - he knows she's seen them. He just...knows it.

"Gil?" Ikaris walks over to him, tugging at his own t-shirt now that boxes are moved or sets are arranged, or whatever they've been doing. "Wanna give us a hand?"

"Who is that guy?" Gil points blatantly at the man still chatting Thena up while she's trying to keep an eye on Jack and his friends.

Ikaris looks and shrugs. "Teacher."

Gil shakes his head at him. If Ikaris weren't both Thena's brother and Sersi's husband, sometimes he really wonders how they would have become friends. "Thanks, helpful--I meant how did he and Thena get to talking. She doesn't usually talk...with people."

It's not his most subtle tactic. But Ikaris doesn't seem to pick up on his greenish aura. "I heard him ask her a little about what she used to play. Guess they're talkin' about college sports?"

Gil's discomfort only increases, though. Thena did play sports when they were younger. He didn't. And he knows that she misses how she used to play soccer in high school and even in the first year of college.

His eyes are glued to them as Thena smiles and even laughs faintly as she talks to Whats-His-Face.

"What?" Ikaris asks him outright (no tact at all).

Gil huffs, deciding he's done just watching things unfold. "I don't think you'd like it if he was chatting up your wife."

Ikaris makes a face. "I guess not. But he's not. And Thena's not your wife."

Gil doesn't have a defense to that. He storms off so Ikaris can't announce to all the auditorium volunteers how flushed he is. Instead, he hurries up the little stairs onto the stage. "Uh, hey."

Thena stops dead in her conversation to smile at him, "hey."

He has to give it to him, if Mister Golden is bothered at all by the interruption, he doesn't let it show. "Hey, thanks again for helping out. The school doesn't have much to offer for things like these. Volunteering really goes a long way for the kids."

Gil tries not to scoff at Mister Perfect's magnanimous speech. He offers a stiff smile and hovers closer to Thena. "Yeah--I need Thena's help with the bake sale stuff, if you'll excuse us."

Thena lets him grasp her hand and all but pull her away. She only lingers enough to point over her shoulder, "Jack is in charge."

The other kids whine, but he's still riding the high of having all his 'cool' aunts and uncles help.

"Oh," Mister Friendly laughs faintly with a bright smile (and perfect teeth). "Well, it's already snowing out. You should stay warm inside."

Gil bristles as Mister Flirtatious' hand comes dangerously close to touching Thena's shoulder. He pulls her closer to him.

"I can give you a hand," he offers.

Gil is now borderline tugging Thena with him. "Thanks, but I need to, uh, ask her opinion on some things."

He wants to get right in the guy's face and tell him that of course he knows it's already snowing. He's not going to let Thena get cold! He rushes off the stage with her and makes sure to grab her coat off the back of one of the chairs. Maybe it's a bit obvious, but he loudly shakes it out and holds it up for her to slide her arms into the sleeves.

Mister Sunshine just smiles and waves before going back to watching the kids.

Gil sniffs. "He's friendly."

"Quite." It doesn't tell him what he wants it to. Usually Thena isn't warm to people just coming up and talking to her.

"What were you guys talking about?" he asks, realizing it's too late for him to be asking in a fake-casual way. He shoves his hands in his pockets as they walk out of the auditorium and head outside.

"He introduced himself as the physical education teacher," she states factually, which at least isn't the smitten fondness he was dreading hearing from her after their interaction. "He told me Jack is doing exceedingly well in his activities."

Of course that was his in; Thena is a sucker for talking about Jack, in any way, shape or form.

"Phastos is insistent Jack learn American football, but my practices with him have been paying off," she states with her nose all the way in the air with pride.

Gil laughs. Thena is determined to get Jack so hooked on it that he calls it football instead of the American 'soccer'. "It is a little less physical than football."

They get outside and Gil shoves his hands deeper in his pockets. Maybe it was dumb for him to get Thena's coat for her and not go looking for his own.

"Gil, aren't you cold?" she asks outright.

"It's okay, I just need a hand with a few of the trays," he excuses with a smile, unlocking his car from where they stand.

"What did you need my opinion on?"

Oh, right, the blatant and bold faced lie he told in order to soothe his own jealousy. What was he thinking? Ikaris was right, Thena isn't his wife--she's not even his girlfriend. But that never really bothered him so much as when he saw Mister Model up there chatting her up...showing off his abs to her.

"Gil?"

"Uh, well," he hesitates to get out as they step out from the school doors' cover and into the light evening snow. "I guess...do you think what I made will sell well?"

It's lame--it's super lame, and embarrassing. It's a bit late, isn't it? He's made a full dozen of five different desserts. Wouldn't he have asked this before he got so far into the process? And she and Jack were there when he baked them at Ben and Phastos'!

"Of course they will," she answers honestly, though. He likes the blunt and earnest realism on her more than Ikaris. "Your baking is always amazing. I'm sure the school will make back the cost of the play and then some."

"If they make the 'then some' I think I should get to keep the profit," he mutters. Thena laughs at his joke, but butter is expensive, and he's made three dozen different shortbreads! "Here."

He hands Thena a tray of the frosted cookies, which have to be separate from the rest to keep their design integrity pristine. He carries the other three trays himself and closes his trunk.

"It's nice that Jack is excited about it."

Gil smiles, some of his earlier agitation melting away. Thena, for all her insistence that she didn't like anything to do with children, lives for Jack. She loves coming to his school events, helping with parent stuff. He knows she's lied at her job so she can attend every single soccer game he has, even when they're at 4 in the afternoon on a tuesday.

"I didn't expect him to be so happy to have all of us here."

"Well sure," Gil chuckles, breathing a little easier now that it's just them. "Jack thinks you're the coolest aunt in the world. He's bragging to his friends right now about how you were a pro soccer player and know how to use swords."

Thena rolls her eyes modestly. "I keep telling him it's an amateur fencing class."

Calling it amateur is a disservice; Gil has witnessed a little of it giving her a ride once, and she dominates in it.

"I hope he never gets tired of having us around for things like this," she admits to him quietly, maybe even sheepishly. "Even when he's a teenager."

Gil smiles even wider, because Thena is just so sweet and loving under her calm and placid exterior. "I'm sure he won't. At least not you--maybe Uncle Ikaris."

Thena laughs, and it shows off her teeth in a cute way.

Gil shifts his load to open the door for her. He really didn't need help with anything, but he doesn't need to confront what it means that he was so desperate to get her out here with him just yet.

"There you two are, people are starting to arrive!"

"Sorry, just had to keep 'em nice and cold y'know," Gil murmurs as Sersi rushes forward to take Thena's tray for her. He sighs but Ikaris has some decency and extends his hands. Gil lets him take the top tray from him. "Are you sure I'm supposed to have this much real estate?"

Sersi waves a hand. "I've run this bake sale the last three years. I am not exaggerating when I tell you two parents at most will actually bring enough. Everyone else just brings a store bought cookie platter and lets it suffice. They don't sell well and they just take it home with them after the play."

"Gil will put them all to shame."

He blushes at the confidence Thena has in him. "If it's to help the kids put this play on again next year, then fine."

Ben has his phone out, snapping pictures. "They're gonna knock people's socks off, Gil."

"Thanks guys," he sighs as he unwraps his trays upon trays.

"They certainly look great!"

Gil's blood pressure spikes again. He turns and someone has let the golden retriever with a whistle around his neck out of the auditorium. "Thanks."

"Jack's been bragging about how his uncle is the best cook on the planet. I hope I can snag one for myself before the play!"

He's just being friendly, but Gil can feel his veins tightening under his skin with every word out of this guy's mouth. He looks at Ben, who's all excited and bouncing with his phone up. "What?"

Ben points.

Gil looks up, as does Thena. There's a pretty half-assed sprig of mistletoe hanging from the decorative archway put up over the table. He looks around; none of the other ones have this. He's ready to tell Ben to stop messing around. But then the presence of Mister Smiley and the memory of him flirting with Thena resurfaces in Gil's mind.

Thena's eyes go wide but she doesn't move as he pulls her closer. He slides his hand up her cheek, letting his palm angle and hide where their faces make contact, and not too briefly. Her eyes flutter closed.

Everyone's jaws drop (except Ben's).

Gil pulls away. He's kissed her close enough to her mouth that it will look the part, but not actually on her lips. But far away from her cheek that it can't be misconstrued from her view. He smiles as her eyes open again and she blinks at him.

He's never seen Thena blush before.

"You know I wouldn't kiss you without asking," he whispers before pulling himself away from her. "But, uh, come find me after the play is done?"

"H-Hm," she squeaks out, taking a few stiff steps away, her heels clicking like a fawn's hooves as it learns to walk.

Gil goes back to setting up his bake sale spread, some renewed vigour swirling in his chest. He peeks up from the table. Mister Perky seems to have gotten the hint and has started directing parents with trays to take the other (smaller) tables. Gil is satisfied.

Ben loudly snaps a picture, practically giggling. "Habibti, you're as red as the tinsel."

"Stop it! And delete that!"

Gil chuckles to himself as Thena rushes back into the auditorium and away from the commotion he's just caused. He does hope she comes find him after, and not just because he's her ride home.

Ikaris gives him a strange look but Sersi rushes him inside too. She leans back into Gil's view to give him an enthusiastic thumbs up. He blushes, but if Sersi thinks it was the right move then maybe he's onto something.

Gil takes a seat, ready to start selling. He has to admit that maybe he owes it to Mister Chatty to save him a brownie or something. But only if he gets to kiss Thena again later.

[leonardperreault]

https://www.tumblr.com/dylan-duke/738172184183324672/nora-being-more-excited-to-see-nico-then-her-uncle

She is so cuddly to Everyone.

What would jacks reaction to this be?

"hi uncle jacky," nora says from quinns arms,

"hi nor," jack says smiling as he reaches to grab his niece,

"no," nora says leaning into quinn, "want nico," she looks back at the swiss captain as jacks face falls,

"norah eleanor," quinn hisses, "say hi to your uncle,"

"no." nora repeats. quinn looks at his middle brother,

"jack i-" but the devil center shakes his head,

"don't," he lets out a breath, "how about we go get lunch with nico and uncle lukey?" the middle hughes brother asks his niece, "how does that sound nor?" nora turns back to her uncle,

"good," jack smiles,

"amazing, how about luke comes with me, then you two go with nico?" nora frowns,

"no uncle jacky," she says, "you have carseat. nico doesn't," jack smiles looking behind his brother at nico who shakes his head in disbelief as nora reaches for her uncle,

"you're something else ms.hughes," nico says causing the little girl to giggle as she reaches up and pulls on her uncles hair,

"uncle jacky," she says continuing to giggle, as jacks face morphs into the biggest smile.

[walkman-cat]

average walk to school, 2025 version!!

jc’s a toku fan now :]

[sadlynotthevoid]

Once, I had a dream where Og!Cale had been travelling back and forth between Rain City and Little Garden. Then he had to stay on his natal world for a few years, no world hopping for a while, only to come back at Azi Dahaka trying to squash his Kuro-noona's new friend.

He was pissed off.

Just to be clear, he didn't come back alone at that time. His previous travels had been just him teleporting from his room to Little Garden, and then back again, without anyone noticing. This one, however, was not his doing. Mostly.

It's just that he got bored easily and Little Garden's games were fun. It's just that he has always been good at riddles, so beginning with games based on intelligence and deduction skills was the logic thing to do. It was that he got luck and won useful gifts. And it was that winning other kind of games becomes easier the more gifts you have. And, maybe, it was that he didn't realize exactly how well-known was himself between the people there.

Okay, so maybe not having to act the same trash role as always has taken quite a big weight of his shoulders. He felt so free that he forgot to pay attention to his reputation. Running here and there, doing whatever he wants.

(Now that was a luxury he would never indulge in his homeland. Cale could buy almost anything in Rain City, but being himself was not one of them. That was the choice he made, because the price would had been too high.)

Then, one of the residents of Little Garden had heard about him and decided to challenge him. Cale had been at the Henituse County at that time, pondering the pros and cons of healing himself. The child and the foreign god had surprised him a bit, but it was a pleasant surprise. It has been a while since he had been challenged by a kid like this.

The god, some guy that got dragged as the responsible adult— a plant-based deity, if he had to guess—, is designated as the impartial third part. They're not in Little Garden right now, so an extra pair of eyes to act as a judge is necessary. And he won't lie. "Even if I wanted, I wouldn't be able to, since I'm currently under punishment from a previous game", is what he says.

The kid— a redhead with reptilian pupils (was she a dragon?)— also offers a nice deal. Most likely because she doesn't owns a Host Master Authority, she prepared a tempting price for him: salvation from an uncoming danger.

The [salvation] she means is, in simple terms, a massive transmigration to Little Garden. Of course, it doesn't apply just to him, but to anyone of his world according Cale's conditions. (If his conditions include almost everyone who isn't responsible of the threat, and maybe some more that are, that's between him and his guests). Is not Cale's ideal method to keep his family safe, but is the avaible one. Which is good enough for him.

The punishment for Cale if he loses would be just his strongest gift. A bargain, if he says so.

Sure, he likes that gift, is one of his favorites, even. But its worth is not remotely close to his family's lives. Besides, she's not asking his whole deck of cards. 'She would have to wait too much to play with him again if he did so', is what the kid said.

Naturally, Cale accepted.

He also won, but because they were too into the game, they ended up landing on the capital. Inside giant bubbles and with blindfolds covering their eyes. And just in the middle of the Plaza. He's going to have to explain a thing or two to his family, isn't him?

It was good then, that Little Garden wasn't ruled by a noble society.— Noble what? We have demon lords and host masters. Even deities don't get a pass.— Because there's no way his trash persona survives the inquire.

Anyway, the kid kept her word and fulfilled her part of the deal right there. In a matter of seconds, the stone floor under them became grass and their surround changed.

"Space control, my element", she cleared out. Definitely a dragon, then. And one of his world, it seems.

She looked so proud that Cale didn't have the heart to tell her she has just let out two big hints about herself. She's still young, isn't her?

But it was an impressive power. The thousands of people (and maybe even more) hadn't have time to panic before being teleported to a completely different world. Although it seemed like there were some people already grasping into the situation.

However, before they could start asking questions, a little black blurr flew right into the red haired girl.

"Noona! That old white lizard is back! The Rabbit-noona and her friends are fighting him!"

...What.

"Kuro-noona!"

The red dragon stayed still, blinking at the space where his new friend had been just a moment ago.

"Wow, Noona, that red human is really fast!"

Yes, he is. After all, a great dragon like her had almost not being able to see him leave.

Bonus

Bassen, after he met with most of his family: Where is hyung-nim?

Violan: I think I saw him over the front.

Lily: *sees a bright red blurr* He left!

Deruth: What?!

Lily, wide eyed: *raises her voice* That he left!

Bassen, still looking right and left for him: when?

Lily: Just now! He was like "fwoshh". Like a lightning :D

Bonus II

Izayoi: *about to be impaled by a bastard*

Azi Dahaka, the bastard: *about to open a new hole through this brat*

Cale, falling from the sky in pure rage: —your ugly-ass paws away from my friends, scaly-branded cerberus, discount hydra fucker!

Azi Dahaka: *freezes* what?

Izayoi: *snorts*

————

So, a few things more about this dream/AU:

•Cale's deck of cards is like it sounds: a deck of [gift] cards. Bro seriously did not intended to collect so many, but he was having fun.

•If you're wondering why or how can Cale travel to Little Garden and back to home, I think it was a present a sort of big deity gave to him. I have this vague memory of twelve-ish year old Cale sitting on a bed in a milky way-looking room, a giant pink lady standing besides him. She was really cheerful.

•When he is in Little Garden, he spends a lot of time at the No Name community. So much to the point he has his own room there. The only reason he hasn't joined the community is because he still wasn't a full-time resident of that world, an therefore he has some restrictions.

•Due to those restrictions, he can't use all his acquired gifts back outside what counts like Little Garden's world. Most of them get blocked or restrained when he goes back home. The ones who doesn't are the one who lets him jump between worlds, a healing gift and one that basically works like a library. The reason of this is to avoid a big disbalance in his and other worlds.

•Before this, Cale had been on a break from world hopping. He wanted to get officially out of the heir position before going back. With his 18 birthday coming soon, he had to do it soon before someone realizes that he's tecnically still the heir. (Then Choi Han happened). He hasn't seen his friends for almost a year.

•He usually gets into games/fights alone, but he's strong point are group fights where he can help them and use the battlefield like his own scenery.

•He had a gift even since before putting a step into Little Garden, but he wasn't aware. Is not something useful for most games, specially not friendly ones. Deathly fights, however... Let's say he can touch souls, and pulling one out of its body, hence separating them, is not something you can survive. He either fails and his enemy lives, or he succeeds and his enemy dies. He only has used it to pull a soul all the way once before, and it was a possession. The owner of the body was already dead by then, sadly.

•One of his gifts can be used like a warrior legion. It looks like ghostly samurais: glowing, translucid japanese warriors with an ominous aura. He got it from a war deity. (In my dream, he used it to fight Azi Dahaka)

•The gift he used to get to Izayoi and Kuro Usagi so fast was actually an object. A magic hooverboard, basically. Though he is fast, just thought saving energy would be better.

•He and Jack-o-lantern are close buddies. They met when he was thirteen, still so young and naive, travelling around Little Garden for the best sweets. Jack managed to trick him and then teased him about it (not to be mean, he was just to easy to annoy and his face went red really fast, looking like a red panda). In reprisal, Cale kept showing up near him, eating pumpkin desserts for a whole month. Somehow, they grew found of each other in a uncle-nephew relationship. Cale calls him uncle Jack.

•After the fight with Azi Dahaka, Jin presented Cale to the newest members. He and Asuka have a weird rich-kids conversation that no one else understands where they only spoke one or two words per turn (they were comparing life experiences).

•Yo, in all of her cat learned manners, measured him, determined he was not going to harm them, and blinked twice to show approval. For everyone else it looked like she stared at him for a long minute before blinking again. For some reason, Cale feels like Hans would be found of her.

•Izayoi and him get along like a house on fire. Izayoi likes to cause chaos and Cale likes to watch the chaos. Instant friendship. Although Asuka is absolutely sure that Izayoi has a puppy crush on Cale. (Idk if he has, dream asuka was always like "I know what you're" to Izayoi. Most likely not going to happen tho. Cale sees anyone younger than him like "little sibling aged")

•Cale finally joins No Name and some people of his previous world decides to follow as well.

•Lily and Lily bounding.

•Not really important but quite funny: in my dream, because Cale kept running here and there, kicking ass and being a decent person, but forgetting to properly introduce himself, he got an embarrasing nickname. "The Crimson Knight", they say. Cale was so ashamed when he found out. It took years for him to get used to it. Lily was thrilled once she heard about it.

[azrael08]

Random Take or whatever. But I’m re-watching some supernatural episodes and I was so interested in Magda from S12E4 becoming a reoccurring character??? Like the connection she and Sam have in that episode, the fatherly & daughter bond they share about their psychic powers, that little moment she and Sam have in the ambulance where he says that she can call him for anything at anytime???? Please, it’s giving Sabriel love-child. So sad she got killed by an evil Brit in the end :(

[rottnstrwberriez]

i was talking about how horny the whf fandom is abt uncle jack to my gf, she asked for a pic and as soon as i sent her she just went ‘HE UGLY’

[margle]

BONNIE DOWN. I REPEAT. BONNIE DOWN. I spot blood on that knife and table cloth. Mrs Mac stabbed her? She killed Uncle Jack? I'm going to investigate every goddamn pixel.

[p1nkm1lkslug]

Frankie and Amy dressed as Beetlejuice and Lydia from the cartoon for Halloween😭😭

[novelmonger]

Back at the beginning of this year, I made a silly New Year's resolution to watch a movie made in the year I was born. I had a few possibilities in mind, but just the other day, I happened across a movie I saw when I was a kid and mostly forgot about, but it's been on my mind lately as I've been thinking about one of my original stories. Then what do you know? I discover that it came out the year I was born! At least according to IMdB, which only has release dates for Australia and the Netherlands, which is a different year than what it says on YouTube, where I'm watching it, but whatever, we're counting it!

It's a TV movie (I assume?) called On Our Own, about four siblings who have recently been orphaned and run away because they're afraid of being split up if they're sent to foster homes. I know it's been at least a small unconscious inspiration for my superpowered siblings story (though a much bigger inspiration for that story was Escape to Witch Mountain, since that's about orphans who have supernatural powers), so I was curious to watch it again with an adult's eyes.

So without further ado, here are some thoughts I had while watching:

How is it that this movie, which I must have seen on TV one time when I was 6 or 8 or something, maybe at my grandparents' house (or it might have been from the library or something), still feels so familiar, like a movie I grew up watching over and over again? Like, if you'd asked me before I started watching how the movie begins, I probably couldn't have told you, but as soon as the first shot of an ambulance driving through the streets came on, I was like, "YES! OF COURSE! I REMEMBER THIS!"

Wow, the acting is terrible in this XD Not just the kids, who can be somewhat excused for lack of experience, but none of the adults are that great either ^^'

Even though these siblings are two boys and two girls, while my story is about one brother and three sisters, I can definitely see an influence on my characters and how they interact. Particularly in the older two siblings, who end up kind of having to be de facto parents to their much younger siblings.

I get that this is a movie intended for kids to watch and understand, so the writing is pretty blunt, but yikes, the adults have no tact when discussing the kids' future and how they'll have to be split up, never see their dog again, etc.

When escaping the orphanage, Kate hands Mitch the suitcase, and he accidentally drops it to the ground several stories below. Then he immediately turns and says, "Okay, hand me Lori." I snorted XD

I can't put my finger on it, but there's something about the way they filmed the scenery shots of city streets and highways that just feels very low-budget. Even though they probably had to use a helicopter for some of them.

Uh...is every song on this soundtrack with vocals from Kidz Bop or something? <_<

The most unrealistic thing in this whole movie may be that Mitch can drive a stick-shift Volkswagen beetle across two states with only the very occasional issue when he's only driven in the parking lot one time before -_- (Not to mention that that tiny car has enough gas to get them as far as they go before having to get more.)

Okay, wait wait wait. They only have $9 to get them where they need to go, and Mitch comes out of the gas station with this big brown paper bag full of food that cost $8? Like...yeah, he said he didn't get Twinkies or plastic cups, but...wait, how much is that in today-dollars? *calculates* $19.32 Okaaaayyy....

Yay, obviously over-dubbed little girl who sounds completely out of place and not like it's actually Lori at all.

"Of all the turkeys in the world, how'd I get hung up with this hamster going all the way to Arizona?" - What kind of line is that??? XD

Also, like...these are police chasing the kids, right? Yet they're like, "Oh no, we only have a ZIP Code from a torn envelope [at least, that's where I'm assuming they got it from], and all we know is that there's someone they call "Uncle Jack." But we don't know what his last name is! There is absolutely no way that the police could look up public records and find out what their mother's maiden name was and see if there's somebody at that ZIP Code named Jack who also has that last name!"

Random non-sequitur moment #125: "Hey, look at this old old bottle!" *no one responds and it never goes anywhere*

Okay, like the one thing I remember from this movie is Mitch falling asleep at the wheel. Guess that made a huge impression on me, like a cautionary tale. But why did he keep driving so far until he hit a cactus??? Ever heard of brakes, kid?!

Wow, watching this as an adult really drives home how completely helpless these kids are. I'm sure when I watched this movie as a kid, Mitch and Kate seemed so old and responsible and capable. But now, watching Kate break down because they have no money and no food, and with the car crashed and not starting, all I can think is how young they all look.

This framing story with the grandma making a cake or whatever and getting the whole story told to her on the phone is completely unnecessary, but funny in a very stereotypical sort of way XD (But yikes, I don't wanna see her phone bill at the end of this!) And lol, she doesn't even take her burning cake out of the oven, just turns it down and leaves it in there!

This movie feels like its message is "As long as you're desperate, anything is excusable." Just judging from the triumphant "we're gonna make it!" music that plays every time they steal a vehicle -_- Aaaand not thirty seconds later, he runs into a conveniently placed...stick? that conveniently stabs the car and makes in unusable. Because that's a thing that often happens.

And then Travis puts a quarter in a slot machine and wins the jackpot??? What are you trying to convey to impressionable kids, movie?!

HOLEY SLICES OF BREAD, THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY! Two bullies come after the kids, trying to steal their winnings, Mitch threatens to throw a rock at them with the most unconvincing threat in the world, then they're scuffling around like these two guys couldn't take all four of them with their hands behind their backs, it's intercut jarringly with Peggy driving up in a truck full of sheep...and then out of nowhere, she pulls out a gun?!?!?

*pointing gun* "I know how to use this!" Uh...yeah, real convincing. Still, can't blame those guys for backing away slowly from the crazy lady with the wild eyes.

Oh, okay, it wasn't a real gun. I was about to get upset about gun safety when she just tossed it onto the ground at a kid's feet.

And...the car is magically fixed now? They just drive off no problem? Okay, who cares about continuity anyway?

OH MY GOODNESS LORI IS ADORABLE :3

Oh, okay, the car is not perfectly fine. But it sure took a long time for the smoking engine to become a problem again.

What a cascade of revelations one after another. Jack isn't really their uncle (so I guess it wouldn't have worked for the police to look up their mother's maiden name after all), he's got a...girlfriend? with a son, and their father is in prison. I wonder what for? Will we ever find out?

That was the most awkward little fist-fight ever. It was like...sluggish? No tension, no sense of danger. Like...oh noooo, he grabbed the carrot. Oh nooooo, he splashed some water on him. And then Travis has to be super gross and grab horse manure and throw it at him. Just...why?

"If I wasn't bleeding all over the place, I'd clean your plow!" Is that a thing people say??? XD

"Tell you the truth, it's something I've been wanting to do for quite some time." Okay, I had to play it back like three times, but I finally realized that Jack is saying he wanted to bust his girlfriend's kid's nose and throw manure at him. Uh...okay then ._.

Aha, the bus! This is the other part of the movie I actually remember, where Mitch somehow knows how to drive a whole freaking bus when he's supposedly never driven before.

Why is the guy selling bus tickets giving me such creepy vibes??? <_<

*Four children drive off in a bus* Peggy: "Oh no." Super convincing, lady.

Really? The police are too slow to catch them, even when they stop the bus so Travis can hop out and get their dog, because the policeman accidentally got into the back seat instead of the driver's seat? Literally when would that ever happen??? And then they just drive right through a stack of...banana crates? I don't even know what those were. And then he doesn't even notice there's a one-lane bridge ahead and ends up in the creek. The kid is better at this than you, Mr. Detective!

Police cars swiftly gaining on them from behind, a roadblock ahead, a freaking prop plane touches down right in front of them, and what is Mitch's response? An eyeroll.

Oh, okay, now he's crying. Poor kid has had a rough day or two.

Whoa, attack of the over-dubbed Mitch whose voice suddenly got a lot deeper!

"I'm a real strong worker, you'll see!" *Uncle Jack gives him a blank stare* A+ acting all around, fellas.

Wow. The police explain how, legally, they can't just let the kids stay with someone who's not a relative in a completely different state, but then he says, "Come to my house and have some barbecue and we'll work this out." AND THEY GO FOR IT. Did the people who wrote this script know the first thing about how laws work?

Oh, okay. They did have to go back to LA and get it worked out in the court. And Mitch and Kate had to do community service to make up for all the laws they broke.

"They must have had a pretty bad example from their alcoholic father." Okay, movie, sheesh, you don't have to yell in our ears that alcoholism is bad. We get the picture.

Why on earth did I remember the last scene so clearly? As soon as the grandma starts putting the little decorations on the cake, it was like I remembered every single word everyone said. "Because I'm a grandma!"

Huh. A weirdly long stretch of black screen after the credits are done, but the music isn't quite finished. Usually you just fade out at that point, you know.... (I'm not exaggerating when I say there's like a whole verse and chorus left after the credits where you're just staring at nothing.)

Well, all in all, this was a fun trip down memory lane. I'm glad I managed to track it down again, and see some of the ingredients in the idea soup for my own story of four siblings running away. But...it's not a very good movie, all things considered XD