MitMii

A Dog and a Plane feels like the first time Jojo truly let himself commit to making a BL. I’ve mentioned before how obsessed I am with Jojo’s preoccupation with the antagonism between romance and sluttery, between respectability and non-conformity, for queer life. It’s a magically compelling tension in his frenemy series, but the presence of that tension has often sucked the fairytale quality out of his BLs, which is kind of a necessary part of the genre. He often invested his character pairing developments with the more idealistic elements while placing the skepticism in the plotting and subtext, casting an ironic tone on the whole series and leaving any close viewer to question whether their meant to actually have faith in the characters’ love or their ability to persist beyond the ending within such a cynically depicted world.

In ADAAP, Jojo found a new approach. Each character carried the tensions within themselves and only seemed to calibrate their balance rather than developing from sex and cynicism—>to—>love and optimism as have been his previous arcs. They’re horny from start to finish (and stop spying on them while they try to bang!), and they’re also equal parts sincere and joking. This is a classic romcom dynamic but it’s a style Jojo hasn’t been able to embrace in his BLs until now, partly out of the sense of audience and genres expectations based on what I’ve heard and read in his interviews. The shape of Toto’s devotion is not a traditional BL seme, towering over his uke with romantic declarations pouring out, nor is he a tsundere. He’s rough and vulgar, and that brings out the hornier proclivities of Kanit, who had repressed himself as he strove for a more proper partner. The side pair meanwhile plays out multiple porn plots in their scenes, from public bathrooms to plumbers. Sex and love go hand-in-hand here, and they can be teasing and affectionate at once.

The commentary doesn’t stay vacuum-sealed away from the characters, either. The class, colorism, and regional issues are built into the plot, their romantic ups-and-downs, and even their words of affection for each other. Instead of disrupting the love, allowing the characters to acknowledge the disparities (rather than sticking them in the background for just the audience to pick apart in the visual language or social dynamics) eliminates the dramatic irony. In THK, the characters weren’t able to delve into what it meant that they chose a white male cop named fucking Christ to compromise with while the darker-skinned butch mother-figure named Lilith was presumably killed. That’s not a bad thing, but it creates a dynamic where the audience must necessarily view their perspective and the meaning they make from it as distinct from the characters’ views. Toto and Kanit make jokes about their skin and struggle to make their different financial situations and class expectations work in their relationship. They’re as aware of the social issues at play as we are. Akki and Veha understand the issues with the military draft and the strain it puts on their relationship. We can trust in this bumpier realistic version of love Jojo gives us instead of seeing it as a happy-ending contrasted against a world that’s more convoluted.

And I personally needed to see this bumpier version of love for my queer life. The type of coupling, with porn references or care-taking swiftly turning into a chance for foreplay (or the other way around) reflected experiences in my own relationships more than the fluffier side of BL—and let it be known that I view fluffy fantasy as a style choice not a referendum on queer representation. And the prevalence of financial discussions was also too real in a good way. Some of the best romance writers, in my opinion, understand that love isn’t separate from financial decisions, and in our current world, it’s much more often the fortifying of one’s bank account and career visions that allows romance a foundation to be built upon, interdependent and interlocking. And bless the casting! Who better to offer all of this than TayNew, whose series as a pair have had a near fixation on career lives and adult sexuality?

"Let's take this inside"

How can a heart be that tiny? It's just big enough to pump blood through my body. As for love... I already gave every last bit to you... center of my universe.

In which Fo-ye continues to shower Wu-ye with compliments in the most inopportune moments, and Wu-ye has to decide whether to retort or just accept the backhanded compliment

Fo-ye calling Wu-ye adorable

Let me mess up your hair, little boy. Mom, stop it. Give it to me. Who calls my son ‘little boy’? Little boy. Stop it.