swagata

I started rewatching trying to give this drama another chance after seeing multiple anniversary post. What i feel from ur comment is that you haven't read novel. That's ok. Now let's talk about ur comment on drama.

Wu so wei is toxic? Yes. When he tried to seduce chi cheng the objective was clear that he thinks that yue yue left him because of chi cheng and chi cheng is deliberately rage baiting him. Also, he did had some male ego. Why i should pursue him? I will set traps and let him pursue me and it will look like he is pursuing me on his own. I just never understood one point . Did chi cheng knew that wu so wei is actually trying to get close to him intentionally. Because it looks like he is. Afterall i think both knew that they are playing mind games with each other. But still they never said anything instead they fell in love. After discovering truth I guess he didn't disclosed this because he was already in love with chi cheng just didn't realised it. Also he didn't wanted to see him with yue yue because according to him she didn't deserve him. The fact remains same till the end just with small change. Earlier both yue yue and chi cheng was wrong now only yue yue was wrong.

He took advantage of chi cheng for his business. Yes. Earlier when he thought that chi cheng was concious of what he is doing. He didn't bothered about integrity. Later in art installation company he was not taking advantage. He genuinely considered chi cheng as his partner. But considering his stingy nature and the constant desperation to be big( because of people looking down on him) it's understandable why u felt that way.

Actually him lying and playing innocent card is 50:50 true. He did lied. Instead of confronting. Because he thought if chi cheng is wrong then his wrong deeds will be forgiven. Kinda i did u wrong and u did me wrong. We are equal now. So let's forget and forgive and be together. But sometimes he was actually innocent. His emotions was genuine.

Not sure which assumption part u are referring here in context of chi cheng. So no comments.

Wu so wei has to be annoying and toxic. Because emotional manipulation and mind games comes under toxicity only. He is not dumb. But he is enough smart to know how to set traps.

It's ok to feel that way about a character. Because at one point when this show was airing I gave up because of the same exact reason. I was truly not able to understand when and how these characters fell in love. The intensity of their love. And when did the actual genuine feelings started developing in the process of revenge and what all actions are truly genuine. What story shows u is the revenge arc which again is covered by playfulness with little bit of their character and emotional stand with each other. That's why it becomes hard to understand the character and their position.

I would say if u love rom com then only u can watch this otherwise u can't expect deep emotional bond with the characters and story here. It's a light hearted drama rather than emotional heavy drama.

That's what. I don't like to compare series much unless it's complete necessary. But u see I have a habit of reading novel after drama starts airing. When i read RL i was like wait RL is so toxic but why can't I feel it in series. Later i understood because they have made toxic themes as comic scenes. That's why I was not able to connect with the characters of RL. Plus acting of Tian and Ziyu is not good for me( imo, my pov). Some series like to cover toxic themes with comedy. But that also has to be done properly. Last i see this well handled script in movie "Maa Behen".

I actually understand that Double Helix is not well written. Plus series actually never showed how obsessed yichen also was with lufeng. Sensitive topics actually should come with redemption arc. But i can feel toxicity, feel good acting from Ayden's side, good chemistry, good music , cinematography. Double Helix explores nothing new that u have not seen in other toxic Bl. But the level of comments i am seeing regarding that they haven't expected this much toxicity and all. I was like seriously??? U can be taken aback by the level of toxicity and the way things are handled. There is nothing new in people going back to the person who hurted him. ( Eg- kinnporche, To my shore, my stand in, meet you at the blossom) And these are recently made dramas. But can u blame a toxic bl to be toxic? I don't get the logic behind this.

🤷

Let it be. I am too old to take part in these discussions. I mean I only question the morality if the show romanticise it. Or no one literally no one pointed it out that it's wrong. Like in case of RL setting comic bg in serious themes and not addressing it.

I can rant about this whole day. But I have better things to do in my life than getting myself into fan wars. I am still here because i am not over this drama and I am still trying to say goodbye.

Fr. I am seeing this everywhere " he is psycho", " he is toxic" ofcourse he is. This is toxic bl marketed as one. Ml is marketed as toxic. None of his actions was ever romanticised in the show.

The only thing I can agree on is yichen going back to lufeng without any strong redemption arc or jail time before happy ending. That part should have been handled properly. But atleast show did showed that lufeng is sick and needs therapy before happy ending is the attempt on that. Considering its divert from novel which is good. Also bipolar disorder is manageable not curable with treatment but drama shows otherwise. But show did tried to attempt to address that just little bit poorly.

My genuine doubt comes from the fact that why nobody in RL said this that ok chi cheng literally throwed his ex partners for gang raped once someone betray him, showing multiple Convo around chi cheng and his friends sharing partners once they are bored, saying "spoils of war" and giving a human for that before even asking that person, emotional manipulation, mind games of Chi cheng and wu so wei, wang shuo violent relationship with chi cheng. None of these were ever addressed in RL and if not addressed always made it sound comic whenever there is reference to sharing partners. Like it's nothing. Just because chi cheng relationship was not that toxic towards wu so wei. It was ok for chi cheng to force other people for rape/ sex and never do character development on that part. It shows me hypocrisy.

Again again not defending or cancelling out lufeng's actions with mental sickness. Just pointing it out filtration of these issues in one drama but not in another.

Also one thing to be noted. None of the characters here are green flag. If lufeng is toxic then yichen is also. Forgetting that and reducing yichen to just victim is one side of the story.

Same here

Whats new? U being encountered a person who says rape can't happen between people who are married/ in relationship??? I see that everyday. Coming from a country where marital rape is not a crime. This kind of comments is not new to me. That clearly shows lack of awareness in society regarding this topic.

Accountability yes. Say it louder. It would be best if lufeng would have gone to jail then authors gave a relatively Happy ending( together or seprated). That's why I said this show never let u breathe and give time to characters to let go and then decide whether u truly want them after individualistic growth and healing.

Xiao chen is spineless??? Nahh. He is toxic.just in diff way.

To my shore hits different because fan xiao redemption and his jail serving part and letting go of you shulang. U know that script was written by a person who understand the depth. Here. I just know that this work depicts " as long as there is love u can have heavy topics but still go back" ( FYI- in novel, lufeng never was portrayed as sick so if even mental sickness can't make me understand one action i.e. Rape u know the flaw in writing)

NC is not main driving factor here for me to watch story. Mine was clearly this series portrayed toxicity sooo well that I just never want to encounter a lover like lufeng or yichen. Period.

But NC scenes specially in this series is good. When they were in School days. Their kisses were soft. Then after separation I can see passion and love in touch and kisses. In black flag era( not rape scenes, it would be inhumane for me to analyse that) but one time when yichen also gave in. That time lufeng's kisses were passionate, possessive, obsession, dominance, claiming a person , sense of missing a person was there. I felt it. In hospital treatment scenes, yichen's kisses were assuring that he is there for lufeng. So tender.

So if u give me that level of NC scenes where a character's feeling is out and it changes the relationship of the two i don't mind it.( Eg- that black flag era intimate scene, it was clear that lufeng's deep kisses and his calling xiao chen...xiao chen in yearning made yichen also let down his guard. That time he was willing to forgive, changing dynamic through intimacy) Yes then bring it on. Make acting and chemistry and story of that level.

We are adults here. So i have long past the stage where NC means lust, sex, desire. I came to the stage of understanding how a touch can express feelings of what's inside the characters heart.

And agreed. If one likes toxic dramas doesn't mean u can watch anything. Because story needs to touch ur heart to stay with u right? Otherwise we drama lovers don't watch a story for fun. We look for story which connects with us.stays with us. So subjective matter.

This is going to be long.

Let's be honest here. Now a days almost 80-90percent dramas have NC scenes. While i will not completely agree with u but I don't disagree. If there is no truth in this then I don't know why actors in their promotion or fan meet kiss each other and why lots of clips with NC scenes were posted on insta or yt shots.

But what I would say to u is that not all BL watchers are here for NC scenes. Some really want a good plot and acting. Otherwise dramas like Peach lover, My Stubborn, Playboy would be highest rated dramas of all the time. But u see we have dramas like ticket to heaven, when oranges fall, to my shore also being popular( who has good storyline).

While i don't disagree with the fact that writing is bad. Because u can't just throw sensitive and serious issues like SA, kidnapping, abandonment,homophobic, bipolar disorder and handle it poorly. But we need to acknowledge one fact that in this show atleast they acknowledged that if lufeng would not be having mental sickness and underwent treatment( different from source material i.e. novel) people will not accept it.
Somewhere, i think it has to do with the fact that source material is old and was written long back when the idea of consent was not loud and love wins all idea was popular no matter the toxicity.

The acting part is true. Ayden is a very good actor. The only actor whose feelings I was able to see in series whether morally correct or not separate thing. But i can see his emotions in acting is what matters to me.

The fact that u literally enjoyed "To my shore" because there despite toxicity is well handled. Not that fan xiao is less toxic. Also "to my shore" gives cooling off period to both characters and viewers to let go of each other, grow as an individual and then take informed and well awared decision to go back. It feels complete and valid whereas " Double Helix" never give their characters and the viewers the time to breathe and heal. Adding mixed feelings.

Now coming to the fact whether this is a good toxic show or not. I would say yes. It is. Imo. Because despite everything I was truly taken aback by the factor that a character can be this toxic. And still u feel for him for his school days/ younger version. Majority of credit goes to Ayden because he was able to show u the exact sunshine smile boy who has hope in love. Story kept telling that rape and imprisonment is wrong with cinematography and props. I think this story actually traumatised me in a way that i am still in dilemma about how i should feel about this drama.

Now last thing. I watched this drama because I love emotional turmoil. I exactly like the drama which gives me a complete roller coaster ride. Having characters that are grey. Like Fan xiao.Like Lufeng ( he was rapist but even before that he was just a boy in love in school time before their first time).

Liking a drama is a subjective thing. Like i don't like revenged love but it's a massive hit.

And isn't exactly we need to do in a drama? Where characters are more than one label. But seriously since day 1 here either in reviews or comments analysing each character and understanding the characters pain means romanticisation of rape. 🥲. I am just glad that someone also feels exactly the same as me.

Ikr. This is what I am saying since day 1. That I know the series is toxic bl. It is marketed like that. Lufeng is marketed like toxic ml. We need to expect his black flag actions in series. It comes down to the fact that how story handles SA, and whether show is not romanticising these acts. That's what we can expect. Again happy and sad ending depends on how series deal with characters and story but story already said that lufeng is sick and he needs treatment and even before that he suffered by loosing yichen again and again because of whatever reasons. His toxicity is visible and loud so everyone pointed it out.

But yichen???? His toxicity is silent. Imagine a person who never gives u preference. No priority. No communication. Ghosting. U never know where u stand with this person. U never know when he can leave without saying which was shown in series. But did anyone pointed out that?? I don't understand his sacrifices and his responsibilities. Because if he truly cared about people around him he would see that he is hurting not only him but lufeng also because of his choices. But did anyone pointed out that? Continuous on and off relationship. Imbalance in emotional efforts and actions in a relationship always hurt the person who is ready to give in all. Lufeng hurted by yichen's abandonment. And he later became the version of himself which no one expected.

I don't understand is it only me who think wait yichen is also toxic? And he is not simply a victim? Wait lufeng is also the person who loved deeply and ready to fight? And not simply a perpetrator? Because i get it lufeng's action is no where near to yichen's toxicity. But for god sake even yichen is toxic.

I will not want a partner like both lufeng and yichen in real life. Both loved each other and both hurt each other. Simple.

In ep13, why zhang hailou can't understand that southern archives is a secret organisation and to not let outsiders in. Didn't he not learnt his lesson even after loosing haixia??

I did tried long back. But then life happened and I forgot it completely. Same with When destiny brings the demon- long for fish. I actually watched that drama for almost 26-27 ep then again went busy with life.

Sometimes I feel MDL is useful in terms of the fact that now i don't need to utilise my memory to remember how many ep i have completed of which drama 😅.

But splendid match is relatively good this year imo.

No argument here. Because I agree. I feel it more for xianxia. Not a single good xianxia these past 3 years when I am huge xianxia fan.

Liking drama is subjective. But I agree with u on POJ and TFJ. Even though i am a girl I still didn't liked POJ.

Maybe for me Nanyang Mystery is different. I recently finished very toxic drama and I need some time to cool off with same emotional turmoil so here this drama worked for me. It also depends on the factor of mental state of viewer while watching drama.

I also checked out the shared universe or sequels of this drama and tbh the production quality in this drama is actually much better maybe because this is 2026 drama and those are old drama?

Yes

In ep7, zhang haixia what possessed him? His demeanor got completely changed. He looks like a monster. And the gap between zhang hailou and zhang haixia is widening both wanting to save each other but doing things independently.

Ding yu xi what an acting. His acting improved so much from love game in eastern fantasy.

But why he wanted to die? Even zhang salty didn't had anything to hold on. Both are having names that contain "hai" so both are parted from their family or lost their family is what my belief is( as mentioned when they named zhang haijou). If i just ignore zhang hailou personality all he has is zhang haixia and their shifu. Same like haixia. So does that mean zhang hailou didn't mean that much to him as he meant to hailou? Or did something that bad happened in past in xiacheng that he has no will to live or go back whatsoever. And just save his only person whom he truly care i e. Zhang hailou with his life?

In ep3, it hurts me every time zhang haixia says zhang hailou to go back alone or investigate alone. They were together all these years and suddenly now they have to part ways whenever any physical labour required. Haixia don't want to be burden and hold back hailou. Hailou can't leave him. He has guilt that because of him haixia legs are in this condition. But the way hailou always says i will not go to xiacheng without u and instead keep investigating case by being close to haixia shows that they are each other's family. My heart breaks whenever I see haixia having a sense of crying whenever he is left alone in investigation.

I wonder what hiaxia is thinking. Why he don't want back to xiacheng. Because that's where both hailou and haixia met and their hometown. I wonder what and how things will take turn when they will know that their master is in deep trouble and they have lost lot of their southern archives fellow partners.

Why I didn't watched this series before. It's soo good

Does hai xia legs ever get cured?