#then the endpieces come apart and you can see the cloth backing there that is *supposed* to hold the signatures together?

[july-19th-club]

went down to get some norbond (repair glue) at work today and on my coworker in Young Adult's cataloging cart there was. a young adult novel by cs pacat. already falling apart at the spine of course because the state of bookbinding today is abysmal and is the reason i go through ezbind So Fast just trying to preemptively reinforce every single thing that comes across my desk but ANYWAY. like. i have got to find out how mellowed down this novel is compared to her usual fare. like. some YA novels contain some racy bits for sure but i dont think the general pacat content could possibly be distilled into teen-friendly material and retain literally any of its x-ratedness. like. almost interested in finding out what a non-horny book by this woman would be like but also im sure i wouldnt enjoy it as much. like that would just be. a book. which is fine and i'm sure it's not bad! but i dont read pacat to read a book. i read her to read A...Book.....

[silvertalkzones]

The Vampire Cats of Silvertree Lane

Chapter 13

The dark colored she-wolf extended one two-inch long, dagger-like claw directly at Beth’s nose, and then beyond, pointing that she should move out of the way. Beth gasped and did as told as the she-wolf moved past her to growl at the grey male werewolf. Beth was pretty sure that this darker colored she-wolf was her friend Brittany, but she looked around the kitchen area just to be sure. Finding only Brittany’s ripped clothing, Beth’s thoughts were caught in the dis-reality of this surreal experience sought something mundane and soothing. “Oh, I know where she got that top!” Beth’s thoughts were interrupted by a scream-howl that made her heart jump in her chest.

The two were-wolves were now engaged in a furious battle. To Beth, it looked like a swirling mass of claws, huge teeth, furry tales and the occasional glimpse of wolf-dick (well, how could you not notice?). The beings were viciously shaking the room. Beth did not want to stick around to see what happened, so she ran into the bedroom which led to the backdoor. She opened it up into the yard, leapt the fence and not knowing what else to do, ran back to her apartment.

She opened the door, turned around and bolted it, then moved the bookcase to barricade it. She drew all the curtains and sat on her couch to try to plan how best to pass out.

Chapter 14

It could have been a few minutes or a few hours later, Beth couldn’t tell. She had fainted on the endpiece of her couch near her door and was awakened now by a knock on the door. “Who.. who is it?” she stammered.

“It’s me, Brittany!” came the voice like an urgent whisper. Beth was hesitant to open the door, but felt some guilt for leaving her friend back there and was worried that she might be hurt. She opened the door to find Brittany there, fully clothed, and anxious to come in.

Beth looked her up and down and asked, “Are you okay?” Such was her priority, instead of most people’s standard reaction of “what the fuck just happened?” Brittany nodded her head, and went to give Beth a hug. Beth hugged her back and inspected her body for... well, bite marks. Finding none, Beth looked into her friend’s eyes and said, “What the fuck just happened??”

“Sit down, Beth,” said Brittany. “We need to talk.” As Beth began to sit, she startled at the sound of another knock on the door.

“Don’t open that!” she screamed.

“It’s okay,” said Brittany and opened the door only a few inches to look outside. From Beth’s vantage, nothing happened when Brittany closed the door again.

That’s why she jumped when Jax’s voice came from behind her, “Yeah, we definitely need to talk.” The blonde cat jumped up on the end of the couch. “I’m going to take human form so it’s easier to talk in your tongue.” In a moment, he seemed to blur, looking as if she wasn’t wearing her glasses. Black smoke seemed to come from his pores until it enshrouded him. It grew man-shaped, and sucked back into the form of a blonde, blue-eyed, bearded nude man, sitting cross-legged on the end of Beth’s couch.

Both of the girls gazed at Jax, looking at him up and down in admiration. “Girl,” said Brittany as she sat at the end of the couch, “you gotta tell me where you hanging out to find friends like these!”

“Oh god,” said Beth, “this isn’t going to turn into some vampire / werewolf love triangle Twilight thing is it?”

“Knock it off!” shouted Jax. “You watch way too much television! And quit trying to look at my dick! Brittany, tell me what happened.“

Brittany began. “Well, as you may have guessed, Beth, I’m a werewolf.”

“But you’re in human form, in full control,” said Beth in confusion.

“We can change at will. It’s only involuntary during my time of the month,” said Brittany.

“You mean,” asked Beth wide-eyed, “you become a wolf during your period? Oh my god, your PMS must be fucking crazy!”

“During the full moon, Beth,” said Brittany crossly. The “duh” was implicit in her tone.

“Oh, right,” said Beth. “Sorry. Still, your PMS must be crazy.”

“Beth!” shouted Jax and Brittany at the same time.

“You guys,” said Beth, “you are asking an awful lot of me, okay? So just cut me some slack!” She could bark back like an angry chihuahua, but was always ready to bite.

“Yeah,” said Jax backing down, “I get that.”

“For the record, whose PMS ain’t crazy?” asked Brittany.

“Just wait for your Own Personal Summers,” said Beth. “Those ain’t no walk in the park!”

“Can we focus?” asked Jax.

“I was just continuing,” continued Brittany. “I practice safe were-wolvism. We live in peace. You have nothing to fear from us. But when we got to that man, Mr. Muggin’s house, I knew right away he was a Stray.”

“A Stray?” asked Beth.

“A wolf that was bitten by a were-wolf and became a were-human,” said Brittany. “We neuter all strays,” she continued ominously giving no ambiguity to what she meant by “neuter.”

“Yeah,” said Jax.”Well that’s a problem. You see, he was a descendant of Michicanniqua’s line and we needed him alive to close the portal to Calla.”

“Oh shit!” said Brittany. “The portal to Calla is open? Here?” The dawning realization of what all that meant hit her. “Does he have any other blood line here?” she asked Beth.

“How would I know?” said Beth.

“You could sense something about him, right?” she asked. Beth nodded. “You recognized him though... from where?”

Beth said, “He wanders the neighborhood.”

“Does he look at everyone who passes by?” asked Brittany.

“Yes,” said Beth.

“Then he’s the last one on this plane,” said Jax.

“We’re fucked,” said Brittany simply.

“There’s one other option,” said Jax turning to Beth.

“What’s that?” asked both.

“We gotta get in bed with the Mayans,” said Jax. “It’s time to get 14th century on these guys. We’re bringing it to them this time.”

Beth gulped.