Anita gets it on with a girl!...sort of

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

I read a wonderful bookflog of Kiss the Dead awhile ago on Amazon, and found out that not only does Anita now have her lovers on rotation for fucking duty, but that there is GIRL on rotation! Naturally I was shocked, and decided to find out more about her.

Her name is Yiyu, which is Chinese for Black Jade, and she is often called Black Jade or simply Jade. She is a black weretiger, and was the servant/pet of one of the Harlequin before being freed by Anita, who breaks the connection between her and her vampire master which makes Yiyu her black tiger to call (because Anita has a tiger to call of every color) and I guess that's why she's put on ardeur rotation. Like Meng Die, the only other Asian woman in this series last I checked, she is described as oh so petite and fragile, but she also has a ton of badass martial arts skills. Yes, seriously. Lay the stereotypes on a little thicker why don't you LKH? However, her long abuse at the hands of her Master has left her with a "victim's mentality" and she is not only very submissive, she's also distrustful of men. So she's neither a threat to Anita in terms of power/boss-status or to her harem, how nice!

However, while she is on rotation, I still didn't know if she'd had sex with her yet. The bookflog said there'd been an orgy they were both involved in, but that doesn't necessarily mean they did anything with each other--maybe they just did the men. Finally, I found my answer. According to one review blog: "The final new reoccurring character is Yīyú (Black Jade) who is a black tiger who Anita ends up not only kissing but having sex with. Huh. It’s pretty tame for sex for Anita and she doesn’t bring Jade off with her hands or mouth, nor does Jade really touch Anita and part way through Domino joins them but it is something. " So they had sex...with no actual bodily contact and they quit with each other the second a guy gets in on it lol ok. I guess they did it metaphysically like that one time Anita did with Belle Morte...or felt JC doing it with Belle Morte through his memory, or something? Anyway, Anita, sweetie, Yiyu was RIGHT THERE with you, you really have no excuse for not getting it on the regular touchy-touchy way. But oh, I forgot--men are homophobic if they won't be "heteroflexible" but women aren't! Or at least, Anita isn't! Really! I don't agree with that standard of course, it's very obviously ridiculous and stupid and really just a way to make her men look bad if they won't fulfill her slashy fantasies, but if you're gonna hold said standard, it should at least go both ways, and if you're gonna do a girl, then actually DO her for crying out loud.

Jade also gets mentioned at the end of this great article on LGBT characters in the Anitaverse, so I am going to use that as an excuse to plug it
http://www.fangsforthefantasy.com/2012/09/gblt-characters-in-anita-blake-series.html

I agree, whoever taught the term "heteroflexible" to LKH needs to be slapped. Also, I've dug up the bookflog that let me know of Yiyu in the first place and I'll be posting a link to it soon, along with my commentary on the fail highlights, for you all to enjoy!

Comments

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

According to Behind the Name, which I've found to be a really accurate source, both Yi and Yu are used in Chinese names (doesn't say if they're Mandarin or Cantonese or what, so I'm not sure on that) and usually Chinese names are made by combining two characters, so Yiyu seems plausible/possible for a real Chinese name
http://www.behindthename.com/name/yi
http://www.behindthename.com/name/yu

The linked translation of 'yi' admittedly does NOT list 'black' as among possible meanings for the character, but I think it is. The version that means 'black' just might not be commonly used as a component of names. I'm not at all fluent in ANY Chinese language though so I'm just going on memory of seeing it listed as a word for black somewhere though.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

off-topic but AW YOUR DOG IS SO CUTE

[knitterleigh.livejournal.com]

"Based on the meanings given, I'd love for someone with that actual name to write LKH and say 'Yiyu means SUITABLE RAIN, enough with the cultural appropriation already!'"
And this is why when I use a name from a different culture, I use baby name book and fakenamegenerator.com without combining or tweaking anything. Hell I studied Japanese for two years before my first Japanese-British character made his debute. I don't know the culture well enough to do so

[klmorgan.livejournal.com]

As much as I adore Behind the Name, it's not really an accurate resource when it comes to this particular language. (And those are the Mandarin pronunciations listed, by the by.) Just because the syllable "yi" can have up to several dozen meanings (or more) depending on intonation and character, and the site only lists a handful. Same goes for any syllable in Mandarin.

I'd hardly put myself forward as someone who's fluent. But "yi" is not the sound used for "black" when indicating color or "dark." I'm tempted to go off on a rant about how naming a Chinese character Black Jade is another egregious example of bullshit orientalism and fetishizing, since it completely disregards what Mandarin names are actually like. But names have never been part of Hamilton's fingertip hold on reality, regardless.

[maladaptive.livejournal.com]

I know Yu can be jade, if only because of Bao Yu and Dai Yu from Dream of the Red Chamber... the funny thing is, Dai Yu means black jade.

Yiyu jumped out at me too because it just feels wrong, but I'm no expert. Multiple names can mean multiple things, too, so it's not like they both can't mean black jade, but wow that can be a name with implications.

[c-l-craft.livejournal.com]

I'm actually surprised that she actually put that much on page. I'd think LKH would have gone for the off screen approach and have Anita bring it up to show how ~edgy~ and how ~sexually free and SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE SPECIAL~ she is. It's still really gross that kissing another women can get written off as sex but anything besides a two pages of hard core porn is short and tame when a guy is involved. :l

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

Ditto. I reckon the only reason she didn't go off-screen for it is because it was in the midst of an orgy with a bunch of guys who soon joined/interrupted them.

And ugh, yes. Makes me so angry that apparently my sexuality is ~so sexual and adult~ that kids can't see two girls hold hands but every Disney princess kisses a guy and apparently THAT'S not too grown-up for their pure little souls to handle.

[lady-fellshot.livejournal.com]

So they had sex...with no actual bodily contact and they quit with each other the second a guy gets in on it lol ok.

Perhaps LKH thinks that kissing is sex between girls? But nothing really happens between them onscreen right? Perhaps Yiyu was recognizing yet another abuser in her life and feeding the monster until it got distracted so she could make her escape. I have a really hard time believing that anyone getting pulled into the harem these days is under the impression that Anita loves them in any meaningful way. Not when there's a designated rotation to feed the monster. The monster loves its food, but only in that said food is delectable.

Now I want a whole side story where some of the harem is plotting their escape. :P

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

Perhaps Yiyu was recognizing yet another abuser in her life and feeding the monster until it got distracted so she could make her escape

I like this idea! She's centuries-old, she knows the signs by now! She should totally lead the harem with that escape plot >3

[lady-fellshot.livejournal.com]

Aren't there several in the harem that are several centuries old and/or were under abusive masters? it seems like there should be some sort of rebellion building within the harem itself because so many of them were slaves to one master only to become servants to Anita and her ardooer instead. Maybe Damien can help distract the monster enough to give them time to escape.

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

It's Anita Blake. EVERYONE had abusive masters/former lovers/parents of some kind.

I think there's a check point all around St. Louis:

"Have you had a deeply traumatic, abusive past, preferably involving sexual abuse?"

If you say no you're not allowed into the city. If you say yes and are male, you have to report to a penis checker (9 inches or get the hell out) and iof you apss you are added to the harem of angsting lovers.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

This is sadly very likely. Seriously, tacking on the same or similar brands of trauma to everyone does not actual character depth make. I understand the supernatural world is a crapsack one but this is not only stupid and repetitive on the part of LKH, it's cheap and offensive.

[knitterleigh.livejournal.com]

I think people are missing the big issue here in regards to back story. EVERYONE has had sexual trauma. Everyone. Without question. And LKH went from nun to slut in her books. I think we are learning a little about her personal history. Most writers will put a deeply held belief in their books that all of the characters have in common ("I believe this, therefore everyone believes this. "I had this experience. therefore everyone had this experience."). Mine is that everyone is super accepting of the LGBTQIA community and hold children to be sacred.

I think there is strong evidence, based on her writing and some things she has eluded to in her blog, that she was sexually assaulted. Probably by someone who was a father figure with whom she was close.
/psych babble.

[plastraa.livejournal.com]

I love the term Anita 'freed' Yiyu. Yes, freeing someone doesn't meant what it used to mean in Anita Blake land. It just means you are now free to serve Anita without some pesky outsider interference to ruin the sexy times.

Anita is a true monster. I swear I can't see how she can be seen as anything else by this time. The were lion she has killed when he stays faithful to his wife, all her harem must be celibate but she has so many men she has to have a freaking rotation chart, the whole thing with Cynric, feeding the ardor on the police. ETC. She's not a good person or protagonist. I can't find any redeeming qualities in her at this point.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

Hahhaa, good point, definitely NOT the right word to have used!

I'm *still* wowed over Joseph (the werelion) and Cynric is...well, like you said, it's all so over the top terrible there is just literally nothing about her that makes her a hero or even decent human being. And if that was what LKH was going for, it'd be fine. But no, the way it's written is in a way that says Anita is still the good guy and she's made the right choices and this is all okay and for the best and that's...so far beyond fine I can't even.

[subtle-shades.livejournal.com]

Four points:

1.) What happened to Joseph the werelion (and his wife, brother, and sister-in-law) STILL makes me angry.

2.) Cynric.... is that the high school kid whose PTA meetings and football games she goes to? If so, WHERE ARE THIS KID'S PARENTS?

3.) Feeding on the police? Did this happen? Is this a thing? If so, WHERE ARE THE CRIMINAL CHARGES? (You can tell, I've been keeping up with this series.)

4.) Ahhahahaha! So I was writing something completely different for a Het Big Bang challenge and ended up writing a Buffy/Anita Blake crossover in which Anita grows up to be Glory the Hell-God. Some of the reviewers are private messaging me to *argue* this plot point with me. (And they're welcome to do so! I like challenging opinions. In this case, theirs will be ignored but I did listen and consider their POV before rejecting it.) This post makes me feel very vindicated in my selection of nascent hell-god.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

1) SRSLY WTF HOW ARE ANY FANS OK WITH THAT

2) Yuuuuup. Posting about him when I link up that flog today. I actually have no clue where his actual parents are. They're probably dead or were uber-terrible abusive people, knowing this 'verse.

3) I think? I'm not totally sure. One of the incidents in Kiss the Dead is Anita tasting the yummy yummy anger (because...she can feed on that now along with lust? despite that not being a Belle Morte bloodline thing at all?) of a cop, who probably had no idea what she was doing. But Plastraa says she fed the ardeur on them so maybe they mean some other instance, I'm not sure. I haven't read any of the books since NiC, just kept up through bookflogs, fan wikis, and this site, so some things I'm sketchy on. Wouldn't be surprised at all though.

4) NOOO I LOVE GLORY SOB SOB (no, it's a good fit imo, I just adore Glory and hate Anita so much I don't want to see them as the same--but that doesn't mean it doesn't work!)

[plastraa.livejournal.com]

Oh...I don't know I may have misspoken about feeding the ardeur on the cop, but in skin trade (didn't read it just a few reviews of it) she feeds on a cop's anger and rolls them? All I can remember is it annoyed me. I may have gotten it a bit wrong. I don't know. All I know is she is a creeper/rapist/monster...and that I did not get wrong. heh

[knitterleigh.livejournal.com]

In response to the Cynric issue. He was an orphan (I think. Parent-less at the very least.)

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/What happened to Joseph the werelion (and his wife, brother, and sister-in-law) STILL makes me angry./

I still don’t understand how LKH or her fans find that at all acceptable. I’m still trying to think of an example where a male protagonist ordered the execution of a woman who refused to betray her husband for him and the reader was supposed to regard him as a hero. Seriously, Joseph was practically a stranger to Anita, she only wanted to sleep with him because of the ardeur, and he was *married.* How can anybody think that Anita was right to do what she did?

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

I agree with you on all counts.

[dwg.livejournal.com]

Haha, you beat me to the fangs for the fantasy article. It popped up in my Google alerts - great read, definitely relevant to this comm's interests.

I don't think I'll ever stop rolling my eyes at the heteroflexible thing. I mean, part of me thinks this is LKH trying to be trendy but on the other hand, it's like she's going out of her way to proclaim NO HOMO! Which then goes back to my earlier irritation back in Danse Macabre (I think?) where Anita was sooo confused over why Byron didn't want to be her boyfriend because he's gay and she didn't understand how someone could be the wrong sexuality. I really just want to scream that it shouldn't matter who hooks up with who, the only person making such a big fucking deal about any of it is Anita.

Likewise, how Anita presents her lifestyle as morally superior to all those monogamous straight people fucking gets on my nerves.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

Seriously, LKH presents herself and Anita as being these super liberal open-minded types but they're...so far from it. That's what bugs me a hell of a lot. And well Anita is superior to EVERYONE, especially anything normal and mainstream, those monogamous straight people are just whitebread because of course being gay and/or poly is this weird edgy thing that only alternative weird darkity-dark people do...which is not homophobic at all, oh no.

I don't know what makes me EEP about Byron more, the fact a gay man was made to have sex with Anita (I say made not as in other characters forced him, but as in LKH makes a gay guy but still has to plunge him into the doomcrotch) or the fact he was physically stuck at fifteen. Like, he's an adult mentally by now sure, but given how Anita's guys keep getting younger and younger (which we can thus by extension assume is something LKH likes--squick) it seems like 'he's really a centuries-old vampire!' is just an excuse to get her with a guy that's too firmly on the side of jailbait for her to justify if he wasn't said centuries-old vampire.

[knitterleigh.livejournal.com]

Like, he's an adult mentally by now sure, but given how Anita's guys keep getting younger and younger (which we can thus by extension assume is something LKH likes--squick) it seems like 'he's really a centuries-old vampire!' is just an excuse to get her with a guy that's too firmly on the side of jailbait for her to justify if he wasn't said centuries-old vampire.

Mid-life crisis?

[watersheerie.livejournal.com]

LKH has some really weird views about the homosexual community and homosexuality in general. It's as if she feels that 'gay sex' is simply 'kinky sex.' Homosexuals in her universe don't really get stable relationships, instead they are over-sexualized whores with personal space issues. Asher, Byron, etc.

LKH has been steadily trying to amp up Anita's sex with the addition of psuedo-BDSM and such. Gay sex seems to simply be another way to make Anita's lifestyle and sex-life seem 'Oh So Extreme.' Notice how in Bullet, Richard finally accepts that he has homosexual leanings all along, setting up a scene for a orgy with Asher and Jean-Claude. That entire scene wasn't about homosexuals and how they really are in real life, it was all about using the idea of 'gay-sex' to produce what LKH believes to be a highly erotic scene. Cause gay sex is hot, you guys...except when it actually involves gays. See, every time two men hook up in the Anita-verse, Anita has to be there, because no one is allowed to orgasm without here. Anita is like a filter through which LKH can screen the gay sex scenes through, adding her so that it's still 'hot' in LKH's mind but she can also claim that she is being progressive and liberal by featuring the gays.

Also, let us not forget LKH's stunningly dense observation about bisexuals such as Jason. Again, she doesn't seem to view homosexuals as being on par with normal human beings with normal, stable relationships.

So I'm not surprised that Anita is dipping her toe into the lesbian pool. That's the next logical step in LKH's mind however. "How can I make Anita's sex-life more kinky...I know, she'll fuck a girl...but not really because lesbian sex is not as hot as gay-man sex."

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

It's as if she feels that 'gay sex' is simply 'kinky sex.'

I've been trying to find the right phrase for awhile to put into words the said oddness of LKH's views on gay folk, and this sums it up pretty well, thanks. Also everything else in your comment is super spot-on, +1 to you!

[watersheerie.livejournal.com]

Thanks :D

It just irks me. As someone who has gay/bi friends and relatives, I find LKH's depiction of the homosexual community to be laughable at best, and downright offensive at worse.

[aikaterini.livejournal.com]

/Cause gay sex is hot, you guys...except when it actually involves gays. See, every time two men hook up in the Anita-verse, Anita has to be there, because no one is allowed to orgasm without here. Anita is like a filter through which LKH can screen the gay sex scenes through, adding her so that it's still 'hot' in LKH's mind but she can also claim that she is being progressive and liberal by featuring the gays./

It's basically the reverse of the typical lesbian porn scene for men. Two women making out are fine as long as they’re hot and as long as a man is involved in some way or other – whether by watching them or by joining in.

[rodentfanatic.livejournal.com]

It's basically the reverse of the typical lesbian porn scene for men.

Yuuup, exactumundo.