#xingsi x yongjie

[heretherebedork]

I love the return of the darling couples. Absolutely adore. @absolutebl they came back sweet as cotton candy.

[absolutebl]

Hi ABL! I was wondering if you have recs for bl couples where a younger seme/top aggressively pursues an older, initially-unwilling uke/bottom?

I realized this trope was my absolute JAM when I fell hard and fast for Wei Zhiyuan x Wei Qian, Sun Boxiang x Lu Zhigang, and Yongjie x Xingsi. Bonus points for age gap, stepbrothers trope or the older uke being endlessly indulgent?

I mainly watch China and Taiwan bls, so I’ll love anything from there. I’ll take recs from other countries too, they might become my first foray into non-mandarin bls

I know this is a somewhat specific request so thank you sm if you manage to come up with anything! I really appreciate all the work you put into this blog ☺️💜

Oooo MY FAVORITE!!!

Hyung Romances! (wrap-up post)

I call these hyung romances because that's like noona romances but gay.

Specifically you said:

younger seme aggressively pursues an older initially-unwilling uke

I am utter TRASH for this! YES PLEASE!

Minato’s Laundromat

Japan 2022 GaGa 

AKA Minato Coin Laundry AKA Wash My Heart! AKA Minato Shouji Koin Randorii AKA Minato Shouji Coin Laundry

Younger seme older uke, very clearly yaoi derived dynamic, 10 year age gap. I love this show so much. This is by far the best long running example that really dwells on this trope, Shin is very much the aggressor also very much still a high school kid. Minato is very much NOT. 

Old Fashion Cupcake 

Japan 2022 Viki & GaGa 

Also from Japan, another 10 year gap, and a flipping genius version. This time both parties are older, so there’s less of a stigma around the age gap, but there is stigma about the one being the other’s boss. 

This show had me from the moment they broke the egg yolk with the chopsticks in the opening credits for episode one. It’s about a younger man with a long cherished crush on his boss (ten years older and going through a mid life crisis) who decides to save and seduce said man with pancakes. It’s wholesome, comforting, sexy, and a very necessary narrative about still having hope, interests, and openness to affection at any age. It’s coming of age/queerness packaged in a subtle critique of expectations around masculinity and love and loneliness... and it’s beautiful. Full review. 

Lovely Writer

Thailand 2021 YouTube 

Sib is quite a bit younger than Gene and defines aggressive pursuer. Gene is out of university and established in his career, Sib is still in college.

Thailand criticizes itself and the BL industry while simultaneously giving us classic seme/uke with great chemistry in a one-two punch of “we love it, but are we supposed to? and must we think this hard, yet enjoy it SO MUCH?” This show won’t appeal or make sense to those who don’t already have at least some Thai BL watching experience. What Lovely Writer does, at heart, is reexamine Thai BL has done to queerness, but in a very gentle way that has more to do with Thai BL growing up than any actual queer authenticity. It’s not parody or pastiche, but it is self reflective and trying to correct for some chronic mistakes. Whether it is ultimately successful in this matter is going to depend on the watcher’s relationship to BL and queer identity. But that’s what makes this show beautiful, interesting, and thought provoking. And I, for one, applaud the effort even if I didn’t personally connect to the characters.

Oxygen

Thailand 2020 YouTube 

Thailand’s first real stab at this dynamic as a main couple and it so worked for me. There are many who find this BL too slow and wooden, but I loved it. 

I think of this as a paragon of Thailand’s softer BL style, since Oxygen uses every BL trope in the playbook for one of the gentlest lowest angst BLs ever made. This one showcases how far Thailand is moving BL from its yaoi roots, and is a prime example of the sweet “new BL” model for which Thailand is the main advocate (Korea is liking it a lot these days too, tho). My first watch along. 

SOTUS

Thailand 2016 YouTube 

Guess who started this trope in Thailand? Yeah, sometimes I forget too. But they are not just classic sunshine/tsunder but classic younger/older. Just not by much.

This is the BL that launched a hundred BLs. No literally, it was SOTUS’s international success that pretty much built the Thai BL industry into the juggernaut it is today. People have baggage around SOTUS, I have nostalgia. Trigger warning on bully hazing. Review here. 

En of Love: Tossera 

Thailand 2020 YouTube 

Younger boy wants to court older boy and does and… that’s it. No really that’s the WHOLE STORY. There is actually no angst, drama, or, indeed plot. But are they the softest bois ever to BL as a main couple? Yes they are.

*pulp warning*

Private Lessons

Korea 2020 GaGa 

A BL short from Strongberry that I love, it's age gap and teacher/student (catnip por moi). The chemistry is slightly off though, but stil I do love this one for the dynamic. Certainly worth watching especially if this is your trope since it's like 8 minutes long and very stylish.

MingKit MarkKit

2 Moons (VERY side dish) YouTube 2 Moons 2 YouTube (major side dish) Gen Y (leads) Gen Y 2 (sides again in LTR) 

Thailand’s premier version of this dynamic I just lumped them all into one category. Only in 2 Moons 2 are they played by different actors, otherwise it is all KimCop, and who can complain about that? If you want to watch specifically for this dynamic than go for Gen Y. Trash watch here. 

SIDE DISH CORNER

Not Me (DanYok)

DanYok is an age gap, but it isn’t really the point or the plot of their romantic arc

Don’t Say No (LeonPob) 

Leon and Pob qualify. That’s all I have to say about that. 

HIStory 3: the BL that shall not be named (BoXiang & ZhiGang)

Also appear in HIStory 4: Close to You

The side characters in H3:MODC (and cameos in H4) BoXiang & ZhiGang have a huge age gap, 12 years, and it is a big deal for their relationship. When they start out BoXiang is a desperate himbo high school kid and ZhiGang is a small business owner. BoXiang’s friends tease him more for his lust over such a much older man than for being gay. 

Bonus on this one, there is some very high (and it's Taiwan so) very well done heat. That said, the main couple will, in fact, wreck your psyche for life. Proceed with caution.

THE THAI PULPS

You’re My Sky (SanAei)

Side could (and only good part of this show) SanAei are a classic uni age gap pairing. San is a bit of a spoiled rich kid jock who identifies the older nerd character as HIS and is just like, MINE. That’s MY elder gay. 

Brothers (KhunKaow) 

This is not a good show, but side couple Khun & Kaow are great in it. Khun is in university and Kaow has a small baking business.

Top Secret Together and Love By Chance both have sub plots of high school boys pursuing college ones, but the one didn’t go anywhere and the other went very very bad, so yeah… no. Although I would personally LOVE to see this done well. 

BONUS POINTS ROUND

Stepbrothers trope

HIStory 4: Close to You (sides)

YongJie is quite a bit younger than XingSi, not sure on the specifics but he’s in middle school when XingSi is in high school and still in college when XingSi has his own business.

Addicted has the stepbrothers trope but not the age gap.

Older uke being endlessly indulgent

Future

Thailand 2023 YouTube 

Based on a y-novel by Faddest (En of Love) about an engineering student and a dentist (shocker). This is just a soft sweet cotton candy fluff piece about a younger boy who pursues an older boy and then manufactures silly gay drama. Nothing wrong with that. But I don’t think this style of BL really appeals to a very large market share. Will I rewatch it? Sure. Will anyone else? Nope.

If you want your endlessly indulgent older gay, this is the you crack, they made if for you.

*pulp warning*

Manner of Death

Thailand 2021 WeTV

It’s not really relevant to the story, but Tan is younger. Not only that, he’s Bun’s friends younger brother. Bun is very indulgent, but in a grown up way.

I like MoD a lot but I’m conflicted over it being actual BL. It’s a great gay romantic suspense, although the mystery element is its weakness. MaxTul, the Kings of chemistry, are, of course, perfect and perfectly cast, but their romance thread is more a distraction than an addition. Still, I could watch them make-out the phonebook. Watch along here. 

Seven Days

Japan 2015 grey 

AKA Seven Days: Monday-Thursday AND Seven Days: Friday-Sunday Japan

Seryou kinda counts as the pursuer, but the dynamic is very very weak in this one. Still the way he asks to use Yuzuru’s first name (so CHEEKY) and the way he says “senpai” in SUCH a cute way makes me so happy. And Yuzuru is NOTHING is not indulgent, it kinda defines his character. I mean he just LETS him call him by his FIRST name... right away.

Never doubt my ability to recommend this show. One of the best live action yaois ever made, with perfectly structured angst, fantastic characters and acting, and no problematic tropes (rare in Japanese BL). The leads have excellent chemistry although it’s low heat there’s still some really cute mutual kisses. 

Just Taiwan

HIStory 2: Crossing the Line

2018 Viki 

Seme uke is VERY weak with this one but the younger character is certainly the pursuer. It’s SO GOOD. 

Lin Pei Yu directs this is a sports romance (volleyball) with a good boy/bad boy pairing, and mu favorite of the HIStory franchise. There is no clear seme/uke. Ostensibly it's high school set but Taiwan doesn't care about age appropriate actors. It's a very soft sweet romance with some ridiculously easily overcome conflict. There's great kisses but it's medium heat. The side dishes are the stepbrother trope but they’re very tame, and there’s no other triggers. It's not just my favorite of the franchise, it’s one of my favorite BLs with a perfect happy ending.

Kiseki: Dear to Me

2023 Gaga

The mains are a major age gap, but I always forget because they def don't look it. Also, Taiwan, so very weak seme/uke. Still there is age gap, he's in high school and our gangster is out of college and in the workplace.

The plot is totally ridiculous and slightly unhinged, but that’s normal for Taiwan. It involves all the tropes under a very casual framework of gay mafia gangs + food = love. Absolutely every character is queer. There’s a gum-ball machine of cameos, elder gay rep, great chemistry from all pairs, and a KILLER side couple. As a result Kiseki is a poster child for Taiwanese BL, and I happen to love Taiwanese BL. Bonus? They also managed to END IT WELL, which we cannot expect from Taiwan.

(Triggers for knife play, child abuse, lingering trauma.)

Unknown

2024 YouTube

Unknown is a wonderful BL with a pitch perfect portrayal of long term pining, age gap, and the stepbrothers trope. The acting and chemistry are ON POINT (especially from the leads) which made the resulting characters very believable. When it dwells in intimate family drama, it's stunning. It's slightly less successful when it leaves the home and goes gritty. Still, those are mere quibbles. This is an excellent show, one of Taiwan' s best.

As you see above I mostly had to take you to Japan and Thailand for this one. Considering your preferences try Japan first, it's closer in DNA to Taiwanese stuff, but it won't go as high heat. If you want the heat, you'll need to try the Thai stuff (or the ones from Taiwan you haven't seen). I would start with Lovely Writer.

Okay I think I have given you enough and, unless I miss my guess, I may have tempted you to try some Japanese BL.

Comes to the weirder (and weird hair) side. We have pancakes.

Yeah I think you should watch Old Fashion Cupcake.

EVERYONE SHOULD WATCH OLD FASHION CUPCAKE!!!

(source)

This post dated May 2024, not responsible for hyungs that sling after that date.

[moonstruck-me]

A lot of things can't be had both ways. I'm not greedy.

[caprice33]

Only You - completed!

And I FINALLY learned how to use the link key. Feel so silly I messed up for so long. You guys are so nice not to point out the dumbness.

Tis true - the ChengRen and XiSing/Yong Jie adventure is complete & up. The fix-it story for HIStory 4 that would not let go!

Please enjoy. Leave comments and let me know what you think. Thanks!

[konaizumi]

One of the reasons I'm so frustrated with how they're handling the xingsi x yongjie storyline (besides the obvious) is how much potential it had to be a genuinely interesting story that explored issues of love vs obsession and healthy relationships.

Like yongjie is, on his own, an interesting character, and they really could've gone more in depth and tried to explore his mental health issues and why he has chosen to cling to xingsi. He could've had a whole arc where he realizes that he doesn't actually understand xingsi and that he's been projecting a lot. (having in depth knowledge of surface level information about a person and making logical conclusions does not mean you understand that person)

Yongjie could actually grow as a person as he has to relearn both xingsi and himself and learn how to love someone selflessly. Like yeah, I think no matter what, their relationship is going start from an unhealthy place, but like the individual growth they could both go through as yongjie learns how to love other people and xingsi learns how to love and value himself.

Also, yongjie has a fun dynamic within the group, i thought his interactions with muren and li cheng were pretty cute and funny, and i could've enjoyed them if they weren't overshadowed but all the shit he did and they way they've decided to gloss over everything. Like, if his interactions were more motivated by jealousy bc he also wants to be that close to xingsi rather than possessiveness and not wanting others to be that close to xingsi, it would've been cute.

Just like, this relationship could've been so fun, the character development so rich and fulfilling and sending out a good, healing message about healthy relationships and self love. And I think the characters/actors have good chemistry, but that preview for next ep tho is just fucked up.

[heretherebedork]

Oh, hey, wasn't expecting YongJie and XingSi here to show us what it means to be in a longterm couple and how they slowly make it work and figure out how to live together... but welcome!

But, also, how does this conversation lead to Liang literally cutting off all contact with Wynn? Poor Wynn.

[heretherebedork]

I feel like I'm going to get whiplash from watching H4, frankly.

LiChen and MuRen as soft and awkward and caring, two men discovering that their sexuality and romantic interest isn't as straightforward as they thought (lol, straight) and growing closer as they move from friendship to love. There's humor, there's lots of awkwardness, there's LiChen being an idiot... it's all good fun.

Xingsi and YongJie are fucked up and broken and involve internalized homophobia, sexual assault, manipulation, abuse and a generally horrifying concept about someone who sees himself as the villain in a story where the villain is actually the one he thinks he wronged. It's a horror story about someone so distrusting of himself that he can't see how much someone is hurting him.

And you go back and forth between these two plots. Between a couple of friends learning that friendship can lead to love and a pair of stepbrothers discovering how deeply someone can be hurt if he believes that he made the mistake and can't see past that tree to the rest of the forest.

[moonstruck-me]

[heretherebedork]

Xingsi, darling, he is exactly that kind of person. You can be okay with that, fine, but ihe is exactly the kind of person that would have kidnapped you if he'd thought you'd still smile at him.

[heretherebedork]

"I can be the best boyfriend because I'm already part of the family" is maybe... maybe not the positive argument you thought it would be, YongJie?

Also, child, your boyfriend asked you to wait! Stop ignoring everything Xingsi says just because you think you know better.

[heretherebedork]

*scream in chaotic trash*. No more nice couples, let's make this interesting. Love Set +XingSi/YongJie.

I do love chaos trash!

Love Set

Most romantic moment?

When Xingsi is trying to teach YongJie how to do dirty talk. I mean... sexiest or most romantic? Both. Both. Definitely both. Look, the end is sweet as sugar but this moment is absolutely perfect and really shows how their dynamic will work going forward.

What do you think their love languages are?

Is obsession a love language? YongJie's love language is definitely quality time. He just wants to be with XingSi at all times and never, ever apart. XingSi's love language is, to me, acts of service. He likes to take care and to be taken care of, to make sure everything goes well.

What kind of dates do they go on?

Very careful ones? Literally anything. Actually, since YongJie mostly just wants XingSi to himself, I foresee a lot of movies that they don't watch and a lot of very private corner booths in restaurants that are darkly lit and also LOTS of spa weekends.

Favorite kiss and/or hug.

It's gotta be the piggyback of joy when XingSi agrees to date YongJie. I know, I know, but that moment is just SO good. I love it so much. Absolutely one of the definitive, if not the definitive moment, for my love of this couple.

BL Pairing ask meme!

[heretherebedork]

Favorite toxic pairing?

Mine is Mistuo x Mistuo

Okay, honestly, I don't tend to love toxic pairings.

But can I just go with Yongjie/Xingsi. Because holy fuck stepbrothers that were raised together, as brothers, with Xingsi as nearly a parental figure.

I honestly ended up loving them anyway. What a relationship.

Hmmm, other toxic relationships I actually enjoyed?

TumTar.

... Oh, hey, look, stepbrothers! Also, love that is given but not returned? Ugh, I love it. I was SO sad that LBC2 erased them. Were they toxic and not great? Yep! But I loved them anyway.

Other toxic pairings... (Hi, I never choose just one)

I think those are the two I enjoy the most, honestly. And I think they're toxic enough for this to count? I have no idea. I enjoy certain types of fictional dysfunction in a relationship but I also really only enjoy them if they're accompanied by the fictional people enjoying them as well.

[konaizumi]

One of the things that bothers me about xingsi x yongjie is that they don’t match up well as a couple. Like yes, the rape and manipulation has completely turned me off this couple and would overpower everything even if they were a good couple, but yongjie just doesn’t fit xingsi’s needs. They’ve tried to set up this narrative of xingsi needs someone who can confidently stand beside him and come out to his father, and yongjie is ready and willing to do this, ergo, he is a good match. But xingsi needs more than that, he needs someone who will love him selflessly. He needs someone to support him, someone who can give him courage, someone who can make him feel safe. Because xingsi is scared. He’s scared of the world and his sexuality and that he may never have the chance to be happy. He wasn’t even out to his two best friends, though it perhaps understood by all 3 that they knew even if they never talked about it--but the point is that he needs someone who provides security.

And that’s why yongjie isn’t right for xingsi. Because xingsi needs selfless love but yongjie only knows how to love selfishly. The entire time he’s just assumed he knows how xingsi feels and that xingsi does actually like him, even if he’s not aware of it himself. His actions are always centered around getting what he wants, not building up an equal relationship. It’s always ‘how do i make him mine’ and not ‘how do i become his partner.’ It’s a very childish form of love and it shows that he lacks understanding of xingsi, despite the narrative trying to convince us otherwise. Him saying ‘i decided my birthday present would be you’ probably best encapsulates everything i’ve said. And, like I said, xingsi needs safety and comfort but yongjie got him drunk and raped him--a severe violation of his person. It made him feel extremely unsafe and he completely lost confidence in himself, worried about whether it was his fault for what happened or if he influenced his brother (which is obviously bs). Yongjie is literally causing xingsi to experience and feel all his worst fears about his sexuality.

And what does Yongjie do immediately afterward? He goes after xingsi without realizing the kind of reaction xingsi is having. Then, after xingsi makes him leave, rather than reflecting on his actions and trying to understand xingsi, he makes xingsi think he’s going to commit suicide (which i think we can all agree is not an okay thing to do) to scare xingsi back to him. Then he tries to justify his actions with the whole ‘i did it because i love you’ bs. And i know part of it is his own mental health issues that make it hard for him to understand other people and that’s why he doesn’t quite understand xingsi’s reaction, but rather than having xingsi try to explain, the writers have xingsi start to sympathize with his rapist.

Quite frankly, I don’t know how they’re going to try to salvage this relationship at this point. Especially bc they’re not really romanticizing the rape, like they kinda are but they’re also treating it like a severely traumatic experience for xingsi so i’m not sure how they’ll come back from it. Going forward from here, the only narrative the only narrative I think I could accept is yongjie realizing the impact of his actions and how he had misunderstood xingsi, then after a time skip (minimum length of 1 year, preferrably longer) during which yongjie learns how to love people in a healthy, consensual way, and xingsi learns to love himself and not accept any bs, they then are able to start a healthy relationship. I wouldn’t love it, but I could accept it.

But that doesn’t seem to be the way the narrative is going. I think they’re tailoring it to be this: xingsi is scared. Scared of society, scared of himself, scared no one will ever love him enough, that he will never be enough. Finding out yongjie loves him is shocking for multiple reasons and he runs away bc he is scared. But yongjie proves to him how much he loves him and the sheer depths of yongjie’s “unconditional” love (pls mark the sarcasm) will eventually get through to him and reassure him and chase away his insecurities.

Bleh. It’s a shame bc this story and the characters actually had a lot of potential, adn like, the story above sounds good on paper if they had just focused more on yongjie providing a steady sense of comfort and love, even while dealing with his own mental health, rather than yongjie selfishly taking until xingsi gives in. There’s also some meta here on negative conceptions of mental illness but I’m not gonna get into that. Anyways, in conclusion, unless yongjie is able to go through an immense self journey and understand and make up for his wrongs, i just can’t root for this couple.

[konaizumi]

I just can’t quite get into yongjie x xingsi bc it felt like xingsi really only saw him as a brother til this point and they didn’t really have much romantic chemistry? Like I just never felt like xingsi saw him in a romantic light—he tried, but he always gave off ‘big brother concerned for little brother’ vibes to me.

Then now he’s in love with yongjie but it felt sudden and out of place and I can’t really tell when or how his feelings changed.

Also, I wished they had shown us the cuter, more lighthearted side of yongjie sooner, I might’ve like him more.

[caprice33]

Chapters: 1/7 Fandom: HIStory4 - 近距離愛上你 | HIStory4: Close to You (TV) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Teng Muren/Xiao Licheng, Fu Yongjie/Ye Xingsi, x - Relationship Characters: Teng Muren, Xiao Licheng, Ye Xingsi, Fu Yongjie Additional Tags: established relationships - Freeform, Affection, Kidnapping, Hurt/Comfort, Therapy, Threats, Happy Childhood, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Manipulation, Friendship, Loyalty, Trust, Healing, Camping, Consensual Sex, playfulness, Public Display of Affection, men kissing, Men Crying, Cuddling, Men making love, Step-Sibling Incest, Graphic Violence Summary:

It’s been four years since MUSE Weddings' sales team managers Teng MuRen and Xiao LiCheng went from co-workers to roommates to lovers. Four years since MUSE Creative Director Ye Xingsi was forced out of the closet, accepting his younger, dysfunctional stepbrother Fu Yong Jie as his lover ... the brother who raped him. Life is pretty good ... so why isn’t everyone happy?

[heretherebedork]

Rate the following BL (1-5 then why):

HIStory 4: Close to You

HIStory 3: Crossing the Line

Brothers the Series

Love by Chance

Addicted: Heroin

HIStory 4: Close to You: OVerall? 3/5... Muren/Lichen is 5/5 and Yongjie/Xingsi is 2/5 so it kinda evens out. Yes, Y/X has amazing chemistry but that STORY no thanks, lol. L/M is one of my favorite pairings ever. Just LOOK AT THEM. Love them so much. If they/’d had their own show... I’d be there and never, ever stop rewatching.

HIStory 3: Crossing the Line: 3/5? Eh. Look, I get it. But, honestly, for me? Doesn’t do it. I never fell in love and can rewatch the bits I like enough to rewatch in under an hour. It’s not bad, I have rewatched it, but I don’t have much of emotional connection to it.

Brothers the Series: 2.5/5 This is a show that should have been cut in half in length and would have been so, so much better. But they gave me my favorite ghost-ship threesome AND KaowKhun so I suppose I can’t be TOO angry at it. But it’s getting season 2 and I don’t... I don’t get that at all. Why?

Love by Chance: 3/5 because AePete and TinCan are two of my favorites pairing but KengklaTechno can burn in a goddamn dumpster fire  I love AePete SO much, no denial. It’s so, so good and adorable and fluffy, one of the best pairings imho. I love them so much.

Addicted: Heroin: 5/5 It’s so good. It’s one of the best examples of what it is and does the pairing so, so well and the sweetness and the fluff and it’s just so good. Yes, the ending got cut off but it’s AMAZING regardless and you can pretend it’s one of the Thai BLs that didn’t get a second season that everyone still loves. Definitely watch this, okay?