Editorials 
murderbee:
I completely agree, this has to be one my fav (if not my fav) scenes from the drama!! He looked so pretty in all the scenes and the way he looks at her with his hair down and his mouth slightly open and his yearning eyes 😩
Istg this series has made me a Li Yunrui fan; I’d never realised how pretty he was before tstr 😫
I loved that the FL was able to save her man!! Aura-farming as you ride through the rain to save your partner is definitely something usually reserved for the ML.
After watching episode 23, I am pleased to announce that even Yu Cheng’an, the eunuch antagonist, was an RR man 🥹
YESSS I was so happy that even the antagonist had RR energy I loved that lol
IKR that was so good!!!! I love that they gave her the cool aura farming moment 🥰 she's so good
Honestly I liked LYR before but this show has given me a new and deep appreciation for his acting talents!! The raw emotion in his face, the yearning, he's doing amazing! And I really like how they styled him, he looks so delicate!
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.
potatocouch:
No wonder the end of the carriage scene let me down (hence why I didn't post any screenshots of it).
ElanneH:
It won't let me quote you @potatocouch but I'll defend this scene to the end of the time, because to me, he was just a need drugged out puppy, craving his owners touch. Think of Omega in heat, he couldn't help it, and she let it happen because Wanyao is a benevolent Alpha, who wanted to calm him down. I'll die on this hill :))
RE the infamous carriage scene:
@ElanneH This is how I choose to view it too, but I keep finding myself making compromises and excuses for the fact that ML keeps initiating all the intimacy while FL stares at him like a deer in headlights time and time again. Where's the assertiveness, flirtation, and boldness from the earlier episodes? Why is she so meek when it comes to her sexuality?? Genuinely, what is this?? Like, don't get me wrong, I also got the omega in heat vibes from this scene, but at the end of the day, YS is bigger than MWY, so it's hard to not feel some type of odd when he pins her down like that... not to mention the small detail that MWY has severe sexual assault PTSD and should definitely have gotten triggered from being overpowered, pinned down and forcefully kissed by a man without previous consent. Him being her pookie babygirl doesn't change that fact. Like, the math isn't mathing for me. She's shown still having a lot of trauma related to SA (with the nightmares for example), yet, when a man pins her down and forcefully kisses her, she just... takes it? Like what? Like a good woman? Idk, man, it just don't sit right with me.
The only reason this scene didn't make me physically sick (like the scene in The Princess Royal did... fml) is because they do established that 1. not only is she into it. 2. she did ultimately have complete control to put a stop to it at any point (the detail of her pushing his face away to reply to someone and him just waiting for her breathlessly to be able to continue was hot, but that's really just a silver lining).
And not to mention, the cherry on the top of my disappointment... when he's all drugged in her house and they're waiting for the doctor, as ML is stumbling towards her, FL just kinda stands there, flustered like a virginal maiden stammering about 'what are you doing?'.... felt like she was waiting for and hoping he would go for round 2. Which, again... siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh. Yes, I know she's frustrated that he isn't as honest about his feelings when he's 'lucid', but 1. She literally told him that she's not gonna pursue their romance further, so she doesn't get to pull this 'ugh, but you're dishonest' at his face later. 2. he literally fucking is honest, though... 3. Girl, get a fucking grip for god's sake, you're the FL in an RR drama, if you want your man, fucking TAKE him!!!! God knows he would love NOTHING more than for you to!
But at the end of the day (it's night, lol), I just gotta say... I'm tired of this. I'm tired of there always being one scene to ruin it all. This drama certainly does a good enough job of making the ML's advances feel like submission, but it doesn't change the fact that he's still the one to make the moves, nor does it change the fact that just because he's submissive, does not mean FL is dominant... It sometimes feels more like she's waiting for HIM to dom-up and finally dominate her properly and I can't for the life of me figure out why the fuck they would do this to her. FL, especially with all her trauma regarding her sexuality, should NOT be this meek. If anything, she should be very aggressive with it. She's the kind to cope with her trauma by inflicting it upon others and ML just so happens to not mind it being inflicted upon him (and is actually into it).
End of the day, he should've pulled her down on top of him. I am already in the process of writing a fix-it fic for this scene (ao3 is down tho, so we'll see where I'll post it), because it pissed me SO badly that I could not interact with the drama to any capacity for two days until I could calm down enough to continue, lol.
Edit: I rewatched the scene for the previously mentioned purposes, and tbh... they had it ALL right there. Him kinda leaning against her with his arms around her neck, breathless and needy... just make him kiss her then. What was the point of grabbing her wrist, pushing her to the floor, pinning her down and kissing her THEN? Nahhhh that's vile
The rest of the drama, as far as RR goes, is pretty damn peak. I'll share more thoughts later, I have a lot of feelings that are difficult to put into a handful of words. It's also nice to get to skip through so much of the drama because of the torture porn going on in the middle, yippie, I'm catching up so quickly! Yay!
(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).
You and me when it comes to seeing cute pretty things ruined by evil women 🤝
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.
Yuuuuuuuuppp- everywhere I go, I search for them 😭
Heck, throw Yang Si in the harem too. Ken Wu has always reminded me of a full-faced Leo Wu.
Help, I was telling my mum this earlier 😭😭😭 They look like fucking brothers, istg... he'd be a fine addition to the harem. An addition I'd be glad to ignore.
Are his facial expressions driving anyone else crazy?????? Cause...my GOD. The intensity in his eyes and the way his lips are parted do it for me every time.
I am gonna write a fucking 5k essay on how this ML has the most sex appeal of any ML I've ever seen and is fighting it out with Wen Chenyi for the #1 mommy boyfriend of my dreams spot. He is everything.
Here are the differences I noticed in the novel vs. drama:
He's MORE submissive in the novel???? OMFFGGGGGGGGGG- I HATE IT HERE, WHY DID THEY CHANGE THAT- FUUUUUUUCCCKCKKKKK
Noooooooo, don't make my pookie baby an aloof child!!!! 😭 iirc in the novel they're all teenagers(???), but they all seem older in the drama, so my guess is he's an older teen at worst (18-19)
Got that impression from what little I read... Wish FL had more actual female friends or allies or acquaintances, etc, because though I like Chunhua, she feels extremely secondary-character-coded and her being the only other woman aside of FL (and ig the aunt) is kinda diabolical for the sort of drama that this is.
Him being cold is quite surprising, but him looking down at ML isn't... I mean, it kinda felt throughout the drama that he always did look down on ML, even if it was subconsciously. Interesting. So overall, everyone seems to be nastier in the book 😂 A small price to pay for a FL with guts, ig.
Here’s the excerpt of the carriage scene and the real reason Yan Shang was kicked out of the carriage:
........................we were robbed. Maybe I should not start reading the novel adaptations of dramas I wanna watch before they air.... I would've been GUTTED if I read this and then did not see this unfold in the drama... God, why did they make FL SO fucking meek in the drama?
This is exquisite... God... I...
When he tried to push her away in resistance, she whispered against his lips: “Do you want everyone outside to know what we’re doing?”
ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING MEEEEEE????? AUGH.
I know they toned FL's nastiness down a lot because of censorship. From what I've noticed, FLs that are benevolent and kind get to be a bit more domineering as long as it's playful (The Blossoming Love, Moonlit Reunion) and the MLs have to still be man enough to take it (tsunderes). But if a FL is morally dubious and/or cruel, then she must be submissive to compensate for it, which I feel is where our current FL falls under. Which makes me VERY scared for our girl in Shadows of Desire.... 😬
Istg this series has made me a Li Yunrui fan; I’d never realised how pretty he was before tstr 😫
Genuinely... same. Holy shit, the wonders submission can do for a man, good GRIEF, I saw him in Parallel World before where he played a cold shy bodyguard and was like "ok, he's there ig". The styling did nothing for his pretty face (hilariously, another project where both him and Meng Ziyi were in). Then I kept seeing him in trad dramas so I never looked twice past "he looks good with white hair" (sue me), but here... WOW- I mean.... WOW... Speechless. He's gorgeous. His energy is intoxicating. He's such a solid actor... I can't believe he can somehow pull off both trad and rolereversal with such ease, I mean, he looks like this is how he just IS. Wow. I do think he might be more softspoken and gentle IRL because a lot of his roles lean more into shy/softspoken/gentle/etc, but I wouldn't know-
After watching episode 23, I am pleased to announce that even Yu Cheng’an, the eunuch antagonist, was an RR man 🥹
Fucking KNEW it!! 😂
Maybe one day we'll be lucky enough to get both done well.
I thought today was the day we would get a drama that did it all: thorough role reversal, good quality, good writing, AND good plot, but sadly, that day has not come... A shame, we shall light a candle and await the next opportunity.
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.
Oh, this tickles me so much. I'm so glad to hear that!!! 💖💖💖 And I love it even more that they're so fucking mad about it!! Yes, mald and seethe, misogynists! It's boytoy summer for uuuussss!! I'm out here enjoying the fuck out of the ML. The sexiest, most babygirl, most submissive man I've ever seen on my screen!!! I am no better than the aunt, because I also want to devour him. The tradslop girlies can keep their rapists, we'll GLADLY keep the green-forest subby nerd with murder tendencies 💞
I seriously need to refrain from looking at the comments or I’ll lose more hope in humanity 😔
I cannot stress enough the importance of not checking comment sections and of blocking people freely. Genuinely, it's a cesspool out there and it's not worth having your day ruined over some misogynist piece of shit. Protect your peace as if it were a beautiful man needing saving 😝
LilaS:
Are they going to be different from the novel? I haven't watched a single episode yet, but I remember reading the novel, and there's not a single scene where the ML comes across as dominant during their intimate moments. Sometimes, he tries to take the initiative when he gets horny, but either the FL gets scared or ends up taking the initiative herself. There's one scene where he does take the initiative, but given the context surrounding it, it makes absolute sense.
ML hasn't really come off dominant in the drama so far. He has one moment where it seemed like it was going there, but it was.... not that bad in the end? (I mean, I was fuming at the scene, but as far as those "MLs taking charge" moments go, this was pretty tame and not really like that). Dominant is a strong word, but I guess, he's a lot more assertive about their romance than one would expect him to be. But he's assertive in kinda a submissive way? Or, his assertive moments end up with him being submissive in some way... Idk, the context makes it a bit better, but I'm pretty bitter about it, and it's still not as great as it could've been (or as it was in the novel apparently. Shocker)... How he seems to be written in the novel makes a lot more sense for his character.
For the most part, he's initiated all the intimacy between them (the 17 eps I've watched). But for me rather than ML seeming too assertive, my biggest problem lies with FL being so fucking passive and meek. His level of assertiveness would've been completely fine had she met him with the rough dominance I was expecting and she should've certainly initiated more of their intimate moments.
A strand of hair fell across his cheek as he looked up at her, about to speak, when Mu Wanyao leaned forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips to his.
Yan Shisheng’s eyes widened, his head hitting the carriage wall. As he tried to retreat, Mu Wanyao pressed closer, giving him no chance to refuse. When he opened his mouth to protest, she curved her eyebrows, seizing the opportunity to brush her nose against his, teasing him with light touches.
Yan Shisheng’s body went half numb.
When he tried to push her away in resistance, she whispered against his lips: “Do you want everyone outside to know what we’re doing?”
Wanted to wait until I was more alert to read this, and now that I have my heart's broken. I can't tell you how much it pains me to know we could've gotten this, but instead got WY kicking him out of the carriage for "offending" her 😭 This is so much better in every conceivable way, and feels more in line with WY's personality.
Sweat trickled down his forehead, red gradually spreading from the corners of his eyes. The restraint of being unable to move and the secret pleasure arrived simultaneously; between ice and fire, bringing both shame and intoxication.
Can you imagine Li Yun Rui acting this out???? We were truly robbed.
Right now I read a lot of BLs are being filmed in Thailand or Singapore to get around China's censorship, and it's making me wish RR dramas could do the same so we could see the actual RR scenes from the novels.
omg, you’re right about the spoilers, I didn’t realise! Sorry, I’ve edited it so they’re hidden now.
No worries! It happens 😊 Thanks for adding them.
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.
I figured. It was sooooo delicious though. I wonder how episode 12's gonna play out in the novel. If it was this good in the drama until the end of the carriage scene, I can't imagine how intense and thoroughly RR it's gonna be in the source material.
I’m a few chapters into Shadows of Desire and I can see what you mean.
Isn't ML so annoying?! Arclei has had to hear me complain about him for weeks! He's not like what I thought at all! But maybe he'll get better as the novel goes on. I have a little bit of hope.
Yan Shang suddenly acting all “alpha” and pinning Mu Wanyao genuinely jumpscared me so much
I didn't like it at all. I was like EW, what's happening?????? This would've been the perfect opportunity for WY's protectiveness and possessiveness of YS to bubble up and boil over. Even if he initiated the kiss, they could've had her flip them over and take control. It was really disappointing.
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.
I wanna tell you to ignore them, but it's advice that's hard for me to take because it makes me soooooo furious. I wanna argue with alllllllllllllll of them! But it's pointless and better to protect our own mental health at the end of the day.
It won't let me quote you @potatocouch but I'll defend this scene to the end of the time, because to me, he was just a need drugged out puppy, craving his owners touch. Think of Omega in heat, he couldn't help it, and she let it happen because Wanyao is a benevolent Alpha, who wanted to calm him down. I'll die on this hill :))
-> regarding that carriage scene, Idk, it's all spoiler haha
I get it, and perhaps wouldn't have been so turned off by this scene if ML hadn't initiated most of the kisses and physical intimacy. So far he's pulled her into a kiss when drugged, he pressed his lips against hers "to taste a bit of alcohol" (so basically a kiss), and he pulled her into a kiss after killing the general who killed his family. I feel like I'm missing one more time, but it's taking away from the role reversal aspect. It's very traditional for men in dramas to initiate most of the kisses and physical intimacy, and that's what's happening here.
Where's the Wan Yao from the earlier episodes who kissed Yan Shang simply because she wanted to, kept forcing him to attend to her while she bathed (a woman back then who invited a man to see her in any state of undress had tits of steel. Many of us are still shy about it to this day), and walked up on him while he bathed? It's inconsistent writing to suddenly make this kind of woman get flustered whenever Yan Shang brings his face close to hers or walks toward her with heat in his eyes. It's inconsistent for her to suddenly not feel any lust for him and suddenly never act on it. What makes everything especially insidious is we know her character's not supposed to be this way. In the novel, she mostly intimates the physical intimacy.
As an omegaverse fan, I loved your comparison to an omega in heat because they can get very demanding. But an alpha who rarely initiates isn't giving alpha. They made Wan Yao's character too meek when it comes to bedroom stuff, and there's an annoying pattern of it happening with female characters, even when they're supposed to be assertive.
All women. It's beyond impressive, I agree, I've never seen this before and I think it shows how the drama portrays men, women, relationships, female gaze etc.
That's insane!!! Omg, we can't let the CCP know or they might stop it from happening again! No wonder there are so many things about the drama I feel are being done well, and the attention to detail has been great. The close up glances between WY and YS, the furtive looks and glances away, the way YS's beauty is framed...all very female gaze-y, and I'm loving it.
jay:
The raw emotion in his face, the yearning, he's doing amazing! And I really like how they styled him, he looks so delicate!
Yes to all of this! The raw emotion on his face is overwhelming sometimes. It looks like his feelings for WY are causing him physical pain. It's really good acting that we don't see every day. His styling is also impeccable!
I haven't heard of Protect the Boss before! I will definitely give it a watch. I loooove a prissy guy 🥰
Let me know what you think if you decide to watch it!
Your observation about how he even walks differently as this character blew my mind!
It's sooo cute! He has a little strut.
Arclei:
End of the day, he should've pulled her down on top of him. I am already in the process of writing a fix-it fic for this scene (ao3 is down tho, so we'll see where I'll post it),
Agree with everything, and can't wait to read!!!!
Will respond to the rest later.
I’m loving the FL so far, though!
Me too! She's very RR! Very masculine and in more than just appearance. The commitment to giving her the usual ML struggles is so fun! I also find her to be very autistic-coded which is an extra layer of fun.
I should only have read the tstr novel after I finished the drama 😭😭 It seriously breaks my heart reading it and comparing it to the drama, WHYYYY I hate the ccp so muchhhh aghgnghdjbj
I started it earlier this year and I'm so glad I didn't end up continuing it. Now I can go back to the novel and get the committed fix I needed from the drama 😂 I'm worried about my reading the SoD novel first, though... I just know the drama will end up disappointing me... 😭
Li Yunrui could have been the most perfect subbiest man to ever go down in RR history but you’re right, WE WERE ROBBED
He's still prolly the most submissive and overall RR ML I've ever seen in a full-length drama. Honestly, man even gives minidrama MLs a run for their money... I think only maybe some vertical MLs could rival him. But he's also such a non-stereotypical RR ML. I'll write a more thorough post about this at some point, but WOW.... he's something else.
The CCP literally bans women and men in media going too far out of their “designated gender roles”.
Yeah, I heard about this... 😬 It's insane the amount of shit that is censored. Even anything that slightly challenges the status quo... I often feel like the world isn't ready for uncensored Chinese media. I think they would absolute dominate everything, especially the more niche spaces that barely ever get attention (as they kinda already do, tbhh). Like the Chinese BLs are already very highly praised despite Thailand making so many of them. I think if China started doing more GLs and GB, the world would explode. But I also think this is a necessary explosion 😩 I need those uncensored mpreg matriarchy historical cdramas so bad
in the novel, Wei Shu was 14 while Wanyao was around 18-19
Ah, I figured so.
I was kicking my feet and giggling so much while reading that scene 🤭 I’m also terrified for Shadows of Desire 😬 although the tags make me feel slightly better?
The trailer looks better than the trailer for TStR looked to me... the lead actors also have a tendency to lean towards RR projects, and the stills look very promising... I'm just crossing my fingers that it's RR and also good plot-wise. I'm kinda tired of RR dramas that commit a bit more to RR but objectively suck as a story and are a slog to get through 😭 But it seems to be that dramas that commit more, suck more... can't I have a cake to my liking that's also well made??? We need to keep our expectations low (impossible) and manifest, besties...
After I got interested in LYR I watched a little of his appearances on the Running Man (a Chinese variety show) and he does seem actually seem quite similar to how he acts in the show; gentle, sweet, etc. And you’re right, I’d seen him in other dramas but he does RR SO WELL!! He should totally stay in this genre (please I’m begging 🙏)
Wait, I can't believe I called it!!! hahahahaa!!! My gut instinct just never misses 😌 Please, him starting to do more RR projects would actually fucking heal me... PLEASE, HE'S PERFECT FOR IIIITTT!!! I hope TStR awakens something in him, please, please, he's SO SO SO fucking good at it!!!!
He also doesn't have the super muscular build that's so common in actors these days. I haven't seen him shirtless, so idk if he actually is more slender than others, but in the drama, he does seem that way. In the bath scene in ep 9, he didn't appear to have too much muscle on him, and he has this slender scholarly-build that I so badly crave 😩 I like my men looking like elegant candles, please n thank you.
Also, it makes so much more sense for MWY to have a gentle, soft-spoken lover who lets her make the advances and take initiative in the intimate scenes because of her trauma. Especially when the way she deals with that trauma is taking it out on others. I just hate that just to appease the censorship, her character was completely skewed 😤
Same!!! CCP is the reason we can't have nice things... 😭😭😭😭😭 I'm seething, actually.
Thank you so much for writing that snarky comment about the comments section, that made my day! I was laughing so hard 🤣
💞💞 I'm glad to be of service 😌😌 Sadly, stupid bigoted people are in abundance and they're just not worth your time or peace because they won't change their perspective... Best to find like minded people and focus your energy on sharing the good instead of constantly dwelling on the bad
I think I give it on trying to catch up with this thread and diligently reply to everyone, me and murderbee we just went through war in TSTR comment section and I think that burned me out :)) I'm so sorry, guys, I'm a bad club member :/
But I'll just say I totally get you, guys, when you said submissive ML doesn't automatically mean dominant FL. I wish Wanyao was more forward with him, because when she is, it's beautiful. I think the bar is just so low, when a drama rises to it, even crosses it, I'm clapping like a seal.
Li YunRui for boytoy roles - always and forever.
@murderbee, Idk have you checked out 'You Have My Heart'? It's pretty decent and ML really is just the skinniest scholar :)) Looking at it, it's like you take He Simu from LBTG and Yan Shang and put them together in a mini drama :)
You’re not a bad club member for not replying to everyone immediately, dw 😂
And yeah, I watched You Have My Heart while it was airing. I loved it so much!! It made it onto my fav RR list 🤭 And now that I think about it, you’re actually right, it is like He Simu and Yan Shang in a drama together!
