Role Reversal (RR) Drama Lovers Club

Arclei:

ElanneH:

Fun fact, it's not really too big of a spoiler, I hope, but Tigers Sniff The Rose 3rd couple is actually also role reversal :) This drama is killing me in all the best ways

I'm lagging behind with this drama, but I AM OBSESSED WITH THIS POOKIE BOY!!!! Can't wait to meet her! I cruelly wanted him with the aunt, but I suppose this'll do as well 😌

murderbee:

When I first met Wei Shu, he was such a perfect RR man that I was kinda wishing both he AND the ML could be with the FL! I thought he was such wasted potential until this character entered the drama 😭

I was having the SAME thoughts- he is just too perfect of an RR man to be end up with nothing but FL's teasing... I'm so glad he's getting a partner!! 😩

EXACTLY! istg, I need Mu Wanyao to form a harem with Yan Shang, Wei Shu, and her maid, Chunhua. She has so much chemistry with everyone 😫

I’m currently reading the novel and her relationships with everyone are all so different to the drama!

we are going full on "jiejie" in bed - no one can say this drama didn't commit to the cause

ElanneH:

we are going full on "jiejie" in bed - no one can say this drama didn't commit to the cause

This show has been so gooddddd 😩!!!!! I'm really enjoying the changes they made, the characters and their dynamics are great! I really love the actors' takes on their characters too!!

jay:

and the story is great.

A smart, angry princess teaming up with a smart scholar who likes being manhandled by her (and happens to be a yearner) to defeat the final boss who happens to be an old eunuch? Yeah, I'm eating it up. This is only the second time I've been this invested in a full-length historical drama's plot.

jay:

I reread the novel before the show came out and I really like some of the changes they made, because it feels like the director/writers really understand the characters!

Oooh, what are some of the changes you've noticed? I'm curious!

jay:

ML is such a weirdo lol I'm enjoying him. I like their dynamic and chemistry a lot so far!

He's sooooo sassy and prissy! Yim Si Wan even walks differently when playing him. It's so fun to watch (despite some cringey stuff lol).

You know what their dynamic reminds me of? The leads in an old drama called Protect the Boss. ML is prissy and childish, and FL is physically strong and has strong morals as well. I forgot what she was protecting him from, but remember it being funny. Not sure how everything else holds up, but I do remember her being one of the few FLs with any semblance of a backbone back then. ML was ridiculous and sometimes infuriating, but amusing. Also, it's Ji Sung...he picks interesting projects and roles just like Yim Si Wan.

Arclei:

Can't wait to watch it once it's done airing! Been too long since I've seen my boy Siwan

I'm interested in seeing if you'll like it. I'm lowkey leaning toward no, even if you manage to make it past the first two episodes, but idk. The humor's kind of the same as Vincenzo without taking itself too seriously even during the serious parts.

ElanneH:

I hope, but Tigers Sniff The Rose 3rd couple is actually also role reversal :)

They have to be. Nothing else would make sense! If Wei Shu was flustered by a princess there's no way he wouldn't be by a woman with a whip 😉

ElanneH:

This drama is killing me in all the best ways

Same! I love it so much!

murderbee:

I noticed that too!! When I first met Wei Shu, he was such a perfect RR man that I was kinda wishing both he AND the ML could be with the FL!

I was hoping for the same thing!!! I was like WHY ISN'T THIS A REVERSE HAREM?!!!!

But 3FL seems cool even though I don't think she'll be as domineering as I want her to be 🥺

(I kept thinking FL's aunt was gonna snatch him up, and kind of wanted to see it happen >.> That corruption arc would've gone down in the RR history books).

Arclei:

I cruelly wanted him with the aunt, but I suppose this'll do as well 😌

BAHAHAHA YOU'RE NOT ALONEEEEE!

We keep searching for the ML x SFL dynamic from A Dream like the True Love in other dramas 😂 It's the one that got away. It's that lover that will forever cast a shadow on all our other relationships.

@potatocouch

You’re right, we need everyone in the harem! I was also low key hoping the aunt would take him but I was too afraid to say it 😌

Here are the differences I noticed in the novel vs. drama:

• I’d say Yan Shang is slightly more submissive in the novel. In the carriage scene where they kiss, he initiates it in the series while Wanyao initiates it in the novel (I’ll post that excerpt below). I’ve noticed he’s initiated quite a few intimate scenes in the drama, while it’s the opposite in the novel.

• Wei Shu is depicted as cold in the novel and it takes him a while to warm up to Yan Shang. He’s also 14 😭 I really hope they aged him up for the drama 😭

• Wanyao isn’t nearly as close with Chunhua in the novel - their relationship is more like maid x princess rather than sisterly.

• Liu Wenji is also quite cold and he looks down on Yan Shang for “using” Wanyao to get ahead. Their best friend dynamic isn’t nearly as exaggerated as in the drama.

I believe this is most of it, but there might be more I’ve forgotten. They’ve also changed quite a few things about the plot. I still haven’t finished reading the novel, so there might be more later!

So, I just finished ep 12 of Tigers Sniff the Rose (I know, I'm so behind T . T) and here are some random thoughts:

Personally (as of ep 12...this could and probably will change later) I'm finding it hard to hate this diva 😂 I mean, without her Wan Yao wouldn't have had to save Yan Shang, and we wouldn't have gotten all these epic, romantic scenes.

It's probably computer generated (I hope...instead of AI), but I still thought this shot was cool. I love when she's all pensive, weighing her options as she overlooks the city. Same, girl. But my view is a shopping center with a McDonald's (also a dangerous place).

Don't click this link or the ones below if you haven't watched ep 12:

https://i.postimg.cc/LXX8Hp75/Damselcore_1.png

Has there ever been a prettier fainter???? I mean, come on.

Our princess is so cool!!!!! I was yelling GO SAVE YOUR MAN at my TV.

Seriously, these kinds of shots (and scenes) are given to male leads 99% of the time.

https://i.postimg.cc/VvvrHM1F/Dumplings-with-sauce.png

Wan Yao wasn't wrong about her aunt wanting to devour him. Look at how she's looking at him. This is how I look at steamed dumplings when they find their way onto my plate. Surprised she didn't dip him in sauce.

https://i.postimg.cc/zGKLMqZ8/Reunion.png

Did anyone else shriek like a banshee when he stumbled out of the aunt's room into the princess's arms????? SUCH A GOOD SCENE!

https://i.postimg.cc/Kzq4LzL3/Pretty_1.png

SO FREAKING PRETTY!!! THIS WHOLE CARRIAGE SCENE WAS CRAZY!

https://i.postimg.cc/Ghs98bpm/Dumpling_fights_back.png

WOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOWOW!!!

https://i.postimg.cc/mgYDjVC4/Folded_.png

If I were the princess, I would've folded.

https://i.postimg.cc/fb5bnL8F/Damselcore_2.png

Damsel-core to the MAX. Ugh. I love it so much!

So yeah, this drama's doing a lot for me. Can't wait to catch up.

I also realized that the drama's primary creative team is all women, even the director, which is especially impressive! I don't think I've ever seen this before for a drama, so I thought it was pretty noteworthy.

murderbee:

I was also low key hoping the aunt would take him but I was too afraid to say it 😌

We won't judge. You're among friends who are probably wishing for the same things. >:3

Response to Yan Shang being even more submissive in the novel:

Okay, so....I'm gonna cry. Cause WHAT?!!!!!! You're telling me they made it more trad for the drama?????? I'm not surprised at all, but that's incredibly frustrating. No wonder the end of the carriage scene let me down (hence why I didn't post any screenshots of it). The whole thing was so INCREDIBLY RR from Wan Yao saving him from her aunt to him being drugged and breathy in the carriage. I was KEYED UP, so when he suddenly grabbed and kissed her and pinned her to the floor, it felt so incongruent with everything that led up to it. Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed. It irks me when they make a FL assertive, bold, and intelligent, but she's suddenly shy or reserved when it's time to kiss or do anything intimate. I didn't think they were gonna go that route with Wan Yao since she initiated the first kiss at the beginning of the drama, but I've been sad she hasn't initiated any more, then was let down by the carriage kiss. I'm bummed the screenwriter felt the need to change things (or was pressured) because it was clearly just to give Yan Shang more "power".

What chapter is the carriage kiss in the novel? I'm gonna go read it and pretend that's how it went down in the drama.

Response to Wei Shu being cold in the novel:

Boooo!!!! 👎 I'm so tired of cold male characters in my RR. They're already so prevalent in trad media, so if I wanted to see one I could just watch them. I'm glad the drama made him curious, shy, and adorable.

Response to Wei Shu's age in the novel:

Yikes! It kind of seems like they did, although he's still young which is why the aunt didn't want him in the drama.

Response to Wan Yao and Chun Hua not being close:

Why are c-novel writers allergic to writing female friendships?????

Once again, so happy it was changed for the drama. I love their relationship! And it helps humanize Wan Yao.

Response to Wen Ji also being cold in the novel:

Cold cold cold...every male character is cold in this author's novels D: That's the problem I'm having with the Shadows of Desire novel (same author). I can't stand the ML. He's cold, ruthless, and hung up on appearances and propriety. Super unappealing, but hopefully they'll change that for the drama.

When it comes to Tigers Sniff the Rose, it's interesting they toned down the RR, but improved the interpersonal relationships (another thing I have an issue with in Shadows of Desire). Maybe one day we'll be lucky enough to get both done well.

Thanks for breaking everything down for me! I'm interested in reading some of the scenes in Tigers Sniff the Rose and comparing it to the drama.

Btw, I would definitely put spoilers on your comparisons of the novel vs drama, so that people who aren't caught up on the drama don't see it. That's part of the reason I didn't quote your comment. I would also put the excerpt from the carriage scene in spoilers. Thanks again though, can't wait to read it!!!

@potatocouch

omg, you’re right about the spoilers, I didn’t realise! Sorry, I’ve edited it so they’re hidden now.

You’re right about the relationships being better written but the RR being worse 😭

About the carriage scene, this is an excerpt from the scene where she’s leaving Ling’an village to go back to the city, not where she rescues him from the aunt. Sorry, there may be a little confusion around that. Do you remember in the drama in around ep 4(?) she and Yan Shang are both in the carriage to the city, but he says something to upset her and she kicks him out, telling him he can find his own way? In the novel, she yanks him into the carriage and kisses him before kicking him out and leaving. He then goes on to stay in the village until 3-4 years later he heads to the city.

Oh, and this is the end of chapter 18 in the novel.

All the male characters being cold was pissing me off so much too 😫 I’m a few chapters into Shadows of Desire and I can see what you mean.

Yan Shang suddenly acting all “alpha” and pinning Mu Wanyao genuinely jumpscared me so much 😭 I hate that they did that! That was the first time in the drama I was scared they would pull a bait-n-switch on us. I’m caught up, and she keeps saying how she’ll protect him, and she still manhandles him, so I think we’re good 😌 i love their schemer murder couple vibe SO MUCH.

I also love how close she and Chunhua are in the drama, that’s one change I’m DEFINITELY glad they made.

Something I’m so mad about is a bunch of people in the comments section of tstr MDL page are finding Yan Shang boring because he’s not the typical ML you find in Cdramas and that they found Meng something something (the ruler of the north) attractive.

Some people were even saying that he didn’t deserve Mu Wanyao lying to him and that him coming back to “claim” her was somehow justified 😭😭😭

I seriously need to refrain from looking at the comments or I’ll lose more hope in humanity 😔