#Stepping Off

[ireadyabooks]

Stepping Off: Read an Excerpt

Spanning three summers, Jordan Sonnenblick’s Stepping Off follows three best friends making hard choices about love, friendship, and holding on.

Jesse Dienstag's favorite sweatshirt says, "The real world isn't real." That's the slogan of the vacation-home community in Pennsylvania where his family has always spent every vacation and weekend for as long as he can remember. In the summer of 2019, as Jesse is about to enter his junior year of high school in New York City, he desperately wants to believe the slogan is true. For one thing, the two girls he loves -- equally and desperately -- are in Pennsylvania, and all the stresses and pressures of his daily life and school are in New York.

But when his parents stop talking to each other, it gets harder and harder for Jesse to maintain his dream life in Pennsylvania. And when Covid shuts New York City down in March 2020 just days after Jesse’s mother leaves his father, Jesse's worlds collide.

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#ireadya #yabooks #Stepping Off #Jordan Sonnenblick

[phantomrose96]

I've found if you're making a complicated recipe it helps a lot to identify which steps can be done ahead of time so here are some tips I use

pre-cut any vegetables: get your vegetables together and do any chopping or mincing that needs to be done

place the cutting board with your vegetables in the unplugged countertop toaster oven. vital step to minimize the number of cat paws that get in your vegetables. do not skip this step.

pre-mix sauces: identify any sauces that can be made ahead of time and mix those ingredients

put the sauce bowl in the microwave for safe keeping. we're not heating it. it just lives there. this is very important to minimize amount of cat paw in sauce. do not skip this step.

assemble any dry mixes you might need

place the dry mix in the not-turned-on oven. this helps protect the flavor by minimizing the chance of the dry mix finding new life as crime-scene toebean footprints walking away from the kitchen. do not skip this step.

#if you skipped any of the unskippable steps: clean off cat and start over #chrissy speaks

[bluerosefox]

Of Tiny Tots, Mistaken Identities, and Reunions

Seventeen year old Damian Wayne is dragged to a business deal outside of Gotham (along with his father and Drake), mostly to keep up appearances that the family does work outside of Gotham, networking, and because Damian does need to learn the ropes of the company, he decides to head outside the meeting with the Manson family to get a breather (mainly cause the Manson's were annoying him fully, it was like they were trying to suck up towards Damian and trying to push their daughter on him but at the same time he caught them almost insulting and hostile towards him before they would stop and correct themselves) when out of the blue a three year old toddler with black hair comes running over with a cheerful "Daddy!" and latches onto his leg.

Damian is stunned in place but feels frozen when he hears a voice, older and almost identical to his own but he can detect a familiarity in it, a voice he only hears in his dreams nowadays say.

"Ellie, no! That's not me Starlight! I'm so sorry dude-"

When Damian turned his head towards the voice he's meet with an near identical face, granted there were some minor differences, but very, very familiar pair of striking blue eyes staring at him. Eyes that were somehow full of life, which shouldn't be possible because the last time he saw those eyes they had been dim and milked over years ago. The speaker had become startled at the his sudden turn and the words that he had been saying had quickly died out when he too took in Damian's features.

"D...Damian?..." the name came out so soft and small that Damian almost didn't hear it but he did.

And before Damian could stop himself, he spoke a name he hadn't dared utter in years.

"Danyal."

His twin looked like he had just seen a ghost, and Damian was sure he looked the same. And given the last time they had last saw each other it was no wonder they both looked like death warmed over them for a moment.

After all... Damian had failed to protect his brother, Danyal al Ghul all those years ago on a botched mission.

His bother who... wasn't dead.

His brother who was looking like he wanted to run but was keeping himself rooted in his spot.

His brother whose eyes were glancing downwards and seemed so nervous.

His brother who knew the little girl, Ellie, still hugging his legs.

His brother who had... responded and corrected her mix up when she had called Damian 'Daddy.'

And oh, she's looking up at him and making grabby hands wanting to be picked up and she has Danyal's eyes and his nose and-

Oh... Damian.... Damian's an uncle it seems.

#danny phantom #danny fenton #dp x dc #blue rambles #crossover #writing ideas #danny phantom dc #dpxdc #dcxdp #danielle phantom #damian and danny are twins #BUT with a tiny twist #Danielle got destabilized and the only way to save her was to deage her and let her grow up naturally #Danny steps up to be her dad #its rough but he's got his friends and family to help out #Ellie is a tiny gremlin toddler that loves wandering off #her having ghost powers does not help #Danny was dropping by Sam's to give her some stuff before heading home #he didn't know there was a meeting taking place #nor that it was the Wayne's in the building #Danny died on a botched mission and was brought back by the pits but a portal whisked him away as he woke up in the waters #it spat him out on the road outside Amity and he wandered into town with his mind hazy and confused #He's later found by the Fenton's whose equipment detected the portal opening but only found Danny. #good Fenton parents? I wanna say good Fenton's in this one. #Anyways they take him in. Like a feral wet cat lol. #Danny knows going back to the League is a death sentience since he failed and felt like a failure and was holding his brother back #so he stayed away... and grew to love his life outside the League #He isn't ready to see Damian after all this time though. Not at all. But neither is Damian so its even.

[itsnotfate]

Stepping Off

The napkin had lived in Hugo's jacket for a solid two weeks. Every time he put his hand in his pocket and felt the papery folds, he was reminded of the waitress.

Kas. Or maybe it was Tash. Something like that.

Either way, the napkin had haunted him for two weeks. It was time to make a decision.

Hugo stood in front of a campus garbage can, staring at the napkin. The edges were dissolving and the pen ink was fading, but the number was still visible. He'd secretly been hoping the number would be illegible, and his decision would be made for him, but no such luck.

Hugo rarely got lucky.

Was he really going to call her? He didn't know this girl. All he knew was that she had face piercings and wore ripped jeans and looked like she could kick his ass. And she worked at a somewhat dingy bar. Not exactly his type.

Be realistic, Hugo, he told himself. He would never call her. He never called any girls, especially not girls who were a little intimidating. Besides, it had been two weeks. Would she even remember who he was? How humiliating would it be to call her and not even have her remember him? He could imagine the phone conversation, her asking him how he'd gotten her number, and who did he think he was, and he'd better delete it as soon as she hung up.

That settled it. Hugo reached out, about to toss the napkin in the trash, when another thought hit him.

She had given him her number. Would it be rude of him not to at least text? If he'd given a girl his number and she hadn't seemed immediately horrified by him, he'd want her to text. She had said he could text, hadn't she? And that way, if she didn't remember him, he could play it off with an "oops wrong number, lol."

Hugo looked back down at the napkin. He should at least text. Okay, it was decided. He'd text her. After class, though, just to be sure he was making the right decision.

XXX

Hugo only made it twenty minutes into class before he texted her. Maybe it was because the lecture was extra boring that day. After all, Hugo had already heard plenty about the Canadian government's ministry organizational structure from his parents. Or maybe it was because he actually wanted to text her.

Whatever his reasons, he found himself carefully copying the number off the napkin and into his phone. And then the process ground to a halt. What was he supposed to say? Something funny? Something cool?

He spent the next fifteen minutes trying out various options (in the Notes app, of course, so he wouldn't accidentally send something stupid.) Eventually, he settled for "Hey! This is Hugo. What's up?" which he hoped was chill, but also informative, but also not too weird.

Naturally, he instantly regretted his life choices as soon as he hit send. She really might not remember him. Maybe she gave her number to guys all the time. What if she knew another Hugo? Should he have specified that this was Hugo from the bar? It was too late, though, since he didn't dare double text. Especially because it had already been three minutes. She didn't need to know he'd been staring at his phone. Besides, even if she knew which Hugo he was (if she did know more than one Hugo), would she actually want to text him back at all?

He should've thrown out the napkin. He shouldn't have taken it in the first place. More than that, he should've left the bar instead of ordering a beer when his friend didn't show up.

The teacher was still rambling on about the difference between a minister and a director, and Hugo was seriously considering just never texting anyone ever again, when his phone buzzed.

You texted! I was starting to worry you'd lost the napkin.

Hugo let out a sigh a relief, and began carefully crafting his response.

#hugo and kas #stepping off #my writing #please don't steal

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The girls are here!!!

#dungeon meshi #maizuru #inutade #izutsumi #benichidori #hien #Was this the Kabru episode that really shows off how perceptive and fascinated by humans to be a foil to Laios"s monster obsession? #Sure was. Was the funny comic I made not yet quite relevant for where the anime is currently at? SURE WAS. #Funny comic will be next week. This week is for THE GIRLS!!! #Tade is adorable and a lot of fun to draw. I really love her friendship with Izutsumi. #speaking of...IZUTSUMI IS FINALLY HERE! #Initially I wasn't going to draw Beni and Hien but I would hate to let the few fans they have. #So here's some Beni and Hien. For all five of you Beni and Hein fans. #Makeup girls are wild because they'll be like 'I'm getting ready to go out!' and then take 60-90 min in front of the mirror. #I adore the bonus comics where Ryoto Kui does the step by steps of how characters do their makeup and hair. #I personally know very little about those things so it's cool to see how thought out it all is.

[socialistexan]

Cis women on tiktok for the past like 4 years: "I'm girly pop, I do girl math and have girl dinner after going to my girl job ✌️😜"

Dylan Mulvaney: *makes a mediocre pop song that is literally just about that*

Those same cis women:

#so many cishet women went full mask off the past couple days #swear to fucking g-d yall are like 1 and a half steps from being trad caths #if i have to hear “sanctity of womanhood” or “devine womanhood” one more fucking time #yall sound like trad wives #dylan mulvaney

[bbbbbbbbatman]

Batman when Superman tries to carry him: *angry, scowling, flips Superman off, only concedes when it's absolutely necessary*

Tim: *makes the uppy motion at Kon when he needs to reach something on a high shelf*

#tim abuses kon's powers all the time #why get a step stool when your friend has superstrength and can fly #tim jumps off of buildings during combat with no warning and forces conner to catch him #batman #bruce wayne #superman #clark kent #tim drake #superbat #red robin #kon el #conner kent #superboy #timkon #dc #dc comics #mine

[floq]

It’s been a while since i stepped on this site 0_o

Anyway, here’s a drawing loosely based on A Glitch in Time I did a while back

#I’m sorry I stepped off the face of the earth (again) #I genuinely missed it here #but life sometimes gets complicated #also agit was amazing it had me foaming at the mouth #danny phantom #dp #danny fenton #a glitch in time #dp agit #my art

[sirenetica]

Kunikuzushi, the Wanderer.

#the wanderer #wanderer #kunikuzushi #scaramouche #genshin impact #genshin wanderer #venti the bard #venti #gi venti #- #this was actually really fun to do #i drew this before we got the in game model leaks so some things are off #and also i know that the archons dont hand out the visions #but the idea was too pretty to pass up #pov: you step into mondstadt after getting your vision

[thelvadams]

the tardis watching the doctor set a new record for blowing it up:

#thirteen: steps outside to regenerate #fourteen (and donna): cause a fire before they even take off on a journey #dw spoilers #doctor who spoilers #doctor who

[chongoblog]

I think this is my favorite polka, and to accommodate for that, I added a lot of fun stuff

#mashup #if you saw that I reposted this #then no you didnt <3 #jokes aside the black hole sun segment was off by one half step and it bothered me WAY too much #weird al #anyway ill talk about about why this is my favorite polka at some point #but short version is 1) basket case is one of my favorite songs of all time #2) i got (almost) every song in the ending montage

[nerdpoe]

Dick Grayson, AKA Nightwing, was on a solo mission when he disappeared off the face of the earth.

He would be the first to admit; he'd been an idiot.

He'd had a fight with Bruce, and as a result wiped everything he could so that the Big Bat couldn't find him and interfere with his case.

He'd scrubbed everything with Barbara's help, gave Damian and Tim burner phones so that he could reach out to them, and fuckin bounced.

But he shouldn't have done that.

Because he'd lied to Barbara, to make absolutely certain Bruce wouldn't be able to find him before he was ready.

He'd gone somewhere for a mission on the entirely opposite side of the country.

And then he'd gotten shot with...some kind of gun.

He wasn't too sure.

But he didn't die.

After he pulled himself further into the forest, sure that he was going to finally meet his maker, the world...got bigger.

Dick shrunk, and could only watch in horror as his hands got pudgier and pudgier.

He was a baby.

He was a baby that couldn't even lift his head, and he could feel his memories starting to fade, seeming to be grabbed and shoved behind some sort of wall.

This tiny baby gets found by Forest Ranger Samantha Manson, a registered emergency foster parent.

So while the batfamily is salting the earth looking for Dick, he's being absolutely spoiled fucking rotten by the Manson Family; Daniel Manson, Tucker Manson, and Sam Manson.

Dick has...some memories. A few recollections.

But also the white-haired adult is floating again and waving the rattle-noise-maker, so those stupid thoughts can wait.

#i like to think that yes #the deaging can be reversed and his memories can be restored #either by reversing the deaging or growing to the age where he was deaged naturally #either way #by the time bruce finds him and tries to take him back #he really really really isn't expecting a retired us registered alien terrorist to fight him tooth and nail for his own son #which bruce gets #for all that he and dick argue he very much does love his son #and can respect this protective drive #but also #he wants his son back #so this ghost man is going to have to step the fuck off #whoops forgot to tag #dcxdp #dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc #story prompt #phanfic

[brown-spider]

Some ppl hate to see a fascist-killing couple winning 🙄

#its not like the multiverse is gonna collapse if they kill a handful of nazis GOSH step off Miguel #noirpunk #spiderverse #Spiderverse 2 #across the spiderverse #atsv #atsv art #atsv fanart #spiderverse fanart #spiderman noir #spider noir #peter benjamin parker #hobie brown #spider punk #miguel o’hara #spiderman 2099 #art #my art #cw blood #my comics

[theminecraftbee]

okay, so in a rare moment for me, there's a discourse thing i want to bring up, and that thing is. okay. so on iskall's stream there's this thing that can happen where someone brings up a criticism of his content or vault hunters. frequently it's self-evidently wrong, but sometimes it's not. and then iskall spends the next thirty minutes shadowboxing this guy, explaining himself, and completely derailed. and this is an iskall trait we all know and sigh bemusedly about, because he cares about the community and wants people to understand his intentions! he wants the community to understand his decisions!

however, it's not the community as a whole he's fighting; he is in fact, arguing with One Guy, who often doesn't represent the wider community, and who normally won't have their mind changed. hell, sometimes it's believable that they're satisfied having just managed to upset iskall, and they'll leave, no change to their mind, perfectly pleased that iskall's responding at all (that's what i firmly believe the people who poke at the 'you don't upload enough and that means you're falling off and a bad person' wound are trying to do, at least).

in the vault hunters community, we refer to this as iskall getting One Guyed, and it's typically viewed as bad, because it ends up focusing an entire moment on a single guy's negative opinion as opposed to on the larger picture. and it's an understandable thing to have happen! but it's frustrating to watch from the outside.

and so now i am looking at that cat poll. and the way everyone is still shadowboxing someone who has since apologized. and the way i would have never ever known about any of the negative comments about jellie if it weren't for fellow mcyt fans constantly putting them on my dash to dunk on them. and it's like. if you look through the notes most of them are just... normal? it's only a tiny few of people (and the pollrunner, who has since apologized) who were being dicks. it's a very, very ignorable demographic.

but. well. there was One Guy. and we had to correct them.

and folks, i don't know how to say that i almost never see "lol mcyt is cringe" type comments unless one of you puts it on my dash. both because i don't go looking through the notes of things that are likely to have them or go looking for reasons to be upset and because it's just... not that common! very frequently these days it is, in fact, One Guy!

i have almost never seen that poll on my dash without at least one instance of the One Guy. instead of being for fun, it's mostly become about explaining ourselves to someone who will not listen and will not change their minds, and treating this as a the whole of the Other Side of that poll, when most people are being... fine. they're fine! the majority of the people voting for the other side are doing it for perfectly normal reasons that don't require fighting about.

and man. let me tell you. after spending as long as i have watching vault hunters development? it can be just as frustrating to watch a fandom get One Guyed as it is to watch iskall.

#discourse #i am immediately turning notes off for this post as a heads up because i HATE discoursing but #man. i feel like i need to point this out. #sometimes you'll be happier if you go 'that was One Guy huh. better just block them and move on. i won't change their mind.' #one day this fandom will learn. #cat of the year poll #<- for those also trying to block it #also i know in many ways this is just me contributing i'm aware of my flaws #but sometimes i think this fandom needs to step back and realize it doesn't really need to fight the world. #sometimes someone says a mean thing. that sucks! you do not need to fight them for two days about it though. #and we do this with polls but also other people's innocuous comments SO MUCH. #so here i am.

[stheresya]

no asoiaf character has ever been more doomed than Lady the direwolf. with most characters you can always rationalize their fate with "oh if they had done this instead of that then things might have been different they would still be alive the war wouldn't have happened etc etc". but with Lady there is just no plausible scenario in which she doesn't end up dead by the end of agot :(

#sansa tells the truth? lady still dies because cersei was obviously not concerned with the truth #robert steps in and decides the wolf shouldn't be killed? ok. lady dies later after bob and ned are off the picture #what if we go back in time and avoid the quarrel between joffrey and arya? lady still dies in the future because cers wasn't about to have #her hostage walking around the red keep in the company of a great northern beast #rip baby girl :( #literally a baby girl like she was just a puppy :( #lady the direwolf #sansa stark #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls

[rainymoodlet]

there’s something minty going on in strangerville… ⚗️

#if anyone wants to write a detailed guide on taking gp shots i’m all down 🙃 #ts4 #ts4 gameplay #ts4 screenshots #ts4 legacy #;actaea #;actaeag1 #sim: nimphidia #sim: nano #(robot kitty) #ts4 not so berry challenge #|| #this house has taken me four days across like 18 hours fhfhf #i am in love with it absolutely omg #now i just gotta step back and take a break from it so i don’t immediately want to demolish it fhfhf #nimphidia is so cute she’s bubbly and bright and loves being colorful and mischievous #but she will also smile at you while she takes off your legs to study what you’d do if you had to crawl out of a collapsing building yknow? #just for the ~science~ of it all #and i love that about her fhfhf baby mad scientist in a frutiger aero world #she’s going to end up with specimens floating in tubes and a crush on a certain ferryman of souls so lets gooOOOO #i love you all i hope you’re doing well mwah 😘 #another day off wasted to the sims brain bug fjfhfh #oh this is based off of monsanto’s house of tomorrow btw!!