#Ml Chinese influence?

[familyagrestefanblog]

ML Meta Theory: Chinese legend “Butterfly Lovers”

I just realized that I never got around to talk about the Chinese legend 梁山伯與祝英臺 (Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai) - or the title its mostly referred to in English: Butterfly Lovers – and that I think its quite possible that this tragic tale is the reason why the Butterfly Miraculous specifically is the villain in Miraculous and Marientte’s and Adrien’s love story, even though Butterflies aren’t exactly that special of animals in Chinese cultures.

(Statue: Liangzhu Culture Park)

Disclaimer: As per usual, I’m of no country of the Asien continent and I also have no family roots there I’m taking this from. I’m one person who is very interested in culture and literature and research is all I can do in this regard at the moment.

So if my post contains false information, misrepresentations or other points, please let me now.

Butterfly Lovers was selected as one of China's Four Great Folktales by the "Folklore Movement" in the 1920s and I’ve gotta be honest, this is such a spot on “civilian Ml-Love-Square” way for a romantic couple to tragically never reach each other and then die in the end, I would find it surprising if it didn’t at least have SOME influence on the show.

Cause the Love Square WOULD

Zhu Yingtai is the ninth child and only daughter of the wealthy Zhu family of Shangyu, Zhejiang. Although women are traditionally discouraged from taking up scholarly pursuits, Zhu manages to convince her father to allow her to attend classes in disguise as a man. During her journey to Hangzhou, she meets Liang Shanbo, a scholar from Kuaiji. They chat and feel a strong affinity for each other at their first meeting. Hence, they gather some soil as incense and take an oath of fraternity in the pavilion of a wooden bridge.

They study together for the next three years in school and Zhu gradually falls in love with Liang. Although Liang equals Zhu in their studies, he is still a bookworm and fails to notice the feminine characteristics exhibited by his classmate.

One day, Zhu receives a letter from her father, asking her to return home as soon as possible. Zhu has no choice but to pack her belongings immediately and bid Liang farewell. However, in her heart, she has already confessed her love for Liang and is determined to be with him for all eternity. Before her departure, she reveals her true identity to the headmaster's wife and asks her to pass a jade pendant to Liang as a betrothal gift.

Liang accompanies his "sworn brother" for 18 miles to see her off. During the journey, Zhu hints to Liang that she is actually a woman. For example, she compares them to a pair of mandarin ducks (a symbol of lovers in Chinese culture), but Liang does not catch her hints and does not even have the slightest suspicion that his companion is a woman in disguise. Zhu finally comes up with an idea and tells Liang that she will act as a matchmaker for him and Zhu's "sister". Before they part, Zhu reminds Liang to visit her residence later so he can propose to marry her "sister". Liang and Zhu reluctantly part ways at the Changting pavilion.

Months later, when Liang visits Zhu, he discovers that she is actually a woman. They are devoted to and passionate about each other and they make a vow to the effect of "till death do us part". The joy of their reunion is short-lived as Zhu's parents have already arranged for her to marry a wealthy merchant, Ma Wencai. Liang is heartbroken when he hears the news and his health gradually deteriorates until he becomes critically ill. He dies in office later as a county magistrate.

On the day of Zhu's marriage to Ma, strong winds prevent the wedding procession from escorting the bride beyond Liang's grave, which lies along the journey. Zhu leaves the procession to pay her respects at Liang's grave. She descends in bitter despair and begs for the grave to open up. Suddenly, the grave opens with a clap of thunder. Without further hesitation, Zhu throws herself into the grave to join Liang. Their spirits emerge in the form of a pair of butterflies and fly away together, never to be separated again.

The Love Square WOULD!

Switch their roles out at several points and you do have a pretty strong Love-square tragic love story and I simply found that way too fitting to be a mere coincidence.

Again, it’s one of China's Four Great Folktales and the Butterfly has always seemed like an odd choice for the villain of this show, which does intergrade a lot of references in the narrative and characters to for example the Chinese numbers and the Zodiac system, their meanings and relations (Post here)

So this doesn’t seem that far-fetched at all, and in my opinion it just FEELS extremely right for Le Papillion’s/ Hawkmoth’s role in the show without making him culturally inappropriate since Gabriel is a white man, terrorist and child abuser. He, as the villain, is the narrative manifestation of “Butterfly Lovers” but without having him as an actual PERSON be its embodiment.

[jacquesthepigeon]

I have personally seen cases where kids grow up as complete strangers to their heritage especially as is the case with my own cousin in California but that involved multiple factors

1) My aunt was isolated and practically estranged from boricua communities. There is a large latino population in California, yes, but it’s mostly Mexican, not a problem, but it’s drastically different from boricua culture. I cannot describe to you how sad it was to see her express relief at being around her people during holidays for the first time in over a decade.

2) Assimilation and shame was heavily encouraged. My aunt’s MIL, from Mexico, went as far as having her name legally changed to its English equivalent. Over the years since my aunt’s move to the states, there have been multiple incidents where she drastically exaggerated the state of the country and our living conditions (all way before the infrastructure, particularly electricity services, got noticeably Bad) based on sensationalist news articles. It got to the point where she called all of us “idiots” for staying.

Bringing it back to ML

According to a 2019 census, there were 71,500 parisians who reported being born in China, a figure that doesn’t account for descendants of chinese immigrants. That is a far cry from leaving Sabine isolated from her culture. She has ample resources to find and participate in a community of fellow chinese immigrants within the city.

In regards to assimilation and shame, just look at her fucking design and hobbies holy shit. It clearly doesn’t apply to her. As for her english (french?) name, it is a fairly common practice for people from various asian countries to adopt an english name. I’ve seen multiple explanations for this ranging from confucian self naming practices being influenced by exposure to western cultures all the way to workplace culture and convenience. In Sabine’s case, because her chinese name is so similar to her western name, I imagine it’s simply a matter of avoiding the headache of constantly correcting people on the spelling and pronunciation of her chinese name. It sucks that it’s something so many immigrants and even tourists have to do to be addressed respectfully but that’s also worth exploring within the narrative.

Which brings me to why it’s important that we recognize the crew’s intentions and POV when discussing how these characters and dynamics are written. They’re not considering any of these and countless other factors that affect how immigrants and their children interact with their own heritage. They want to be praised and lauded for being “inclusive” and “diverse” simply for commodifying a cultural aesthetic. They have no real concern for the people they’re profiting from or their lives and complexities.

So let’s assume for a moment that despite not being affected by any of the factors that I mentioned influenced my own aunt’s lack of educating my cousin about her culture, that’s still an issue that should be addressed specifically in regards to Sabine’s decisions in raising Marinette rather than pushing the blame onto Marinette for “not expressing interest” and learning on her own. The last few times my cousin has come to visit, we do our best to accommodate her and make her as comfortable as possible but when she inevitably lets it show that she is uncomfortable and would prefer to step away from the situation, my aunt has the nerve to shame her for not liking or participating in her culture. I assure you, my aunt was the only one blaming my cousin as we were all silently judging my aunt as she’s obviously the one responsible for it getting to this point, as we have been doing ever since we knew she wasn’t teaching my cousin spanish. So assuming this is the case with Sabine and Marinette, where Sabine had the means to teach Marinette at the very least the basics, and now Sabine is somewhat resentful of Marinette not figuring it out on her own, that is something that definitely needs to be addressed with close attention and care.

But they won’t.

Sabine is not a chinese immigrant in the interest of other chinese immigrants

Marinette is not a white-passing diaspora child in the interest of other white-passing diaspora children

There is no diversity or representation in this show that isn’t meant to turn them into props to make white men look better, be they fictional or real

That is the issue, not the existence of borderline caricature-esque immigrants or white-passing POC in the real world possibly getting representation. It’s not about them, never has been.

[silviakundera]

with the conclusion of Snowfall...

why do i enjoy Republican Era chinese dramas so much?

aesthetics! there is this blend of 1920-30s western fashion influences and traditional chinese garb & architecture that just pleases my eyes.

everyone looks very depressed & dangerous & sexy

chaotic period of transition - no matter if you're in the 1910's, 20's, 30's some absolutely wild historical shit was going down

cars and guns and gloves and swords. rotary phones!

dancing & drinking in night clubs, in glamorous pockets amid the violence & instability outside; a lil touch of mask of the red death vibes

end of empire themes, as a country tries to find its way after the end of the last imperial dynasty

there's those gangster, mob boss vibes from american and british dramas set in the 1920s, except everything is cranked up x100 because of general lawlessness; central government and law & order was a paper thin veneer over warlords

the start of WW2 from an entirely different perspective than the common narratives that I was exposed to growing up in the US (which is 99% stories about the european stage)

sino-japanese war / war of resistance material like Hidden Blade is fucking badass ok 🤷

in a time of resistance to occupation, colonizers encroaching, warlords fighting over cities, brewing civil war.... there are many different options of protagonists and unlikely "heroes" who are picking their battles and discovering what they are willing to fight for

Beautiful 👏 women 👏 in heels 👏and 👏 slinky 👏dresses 👏

Lots of revenge narratives. I love an over-the-top, bloodthirsty & destructive revenge narrative

Depending on the genre, there might be little or heavy politcal /patriotic discourse. But tbh none of the rah rah patriotism stuff distracts me much, because all the american and british produced stuff set around WW2 has rah rah patriotism & propaganda in it, so I just consider that part of the essential genre vibes. It's just another country's version. (Of course, others will have less patience when it becomes heavy-handed. YMMV.)

Dark & Gritty

Hidden Blade (film) - a masterpiece, if you enjoy dark WW2 spy films that play with narrative style and challenge the viewer to follow the story as it's woven. Had to review detailed historical context for the years in question, to be ready to consume. But worth it. I've watched it 3 times. 💀

Heroes (2024) - the very beginning era of this genre/the transition into repulican period. rocks fall, everyone dies. Primarily a tragic wuxia & pre-republican fusion. Excellent enough that I didn't mind the bleak storyline. 💀

Detective-ing

Miss S - adaption of 1920s Australian mystery procedural Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, staring Vengo! ML actor of Snowfall

Checkmate - Agatha Christie stories adapted to the setting & time period, plus bromance. I watched half the episodes w my brother, as we are both huge agatha christie fans. It was fun if you can be chill about adaption changes.

My Roommate is A Detective - for mystery & bromance lovers. Same actor duo as Checkmate.

Detective L - don't know much about this one tbh

Romance arc, with a somewhat happy ending for the 2 leads

Provoke - Gorgeous, glamorous, vibes vibes vibes all day long. Revenge and romance. ❤

Fall in Love - sons & daughters of warlords and their supporters get sexy and dangerous and decide even joining the civil war is better than the prior generation's bullshit. This is an objectively bad drama that I really enjoyed anyway (it helps that I skipped every scene for the 2nd and 3rd couples). This one turns v propaganda heavy at the end, if that bothers you. ❤

Arsenal Military Academy - military training hijinks w a side of cross dressing romance. Xu Kai and Bai Lu! It's soliders and japanese invasion et al, so be prepared for the standard patriotism. Comedy & drama. HE for the FL/ML but expect character death in this subject matter. ❤

Rookie Agent Rogue - Late 1930s spy drama with small romance side-plot. Expect the standard wartime patriotism, like with Arsenal Military Academy. The draw is the lead actress, the FL from Princess Agents, Minglan, Legend of Shen Li. HE for the FL/ML but expect character death in this subject matter. ❤

City of Streamer - Older woman seduces younger man who is the son of her revenge target. Melodrama with people serving looks. ❤

War of Faith* - Young man just wants to join the banking industry and have a subtextually gay relationship with his mentor in peace, but there's a civil war going on. Protagonist would like to be excluded from this political narrative, but ultimately is forced to pick a side. ❤🌈 *(Is it censored gay romance? No, not based on a gay novel. So not officially! But some viewers felt there was a subtextual romance storyline #shenlai ; YMMV. The happy ending is Untamed-esque; implied only)

many, many pulpy mini-dramas about revenge! warlords! ladies with pistols! (Miss Mystery, First Marriage, Maid's Revenge, etc)

Also... (happy ending not guaranteed)

Siege in Fog

Love in Flames of War

Couple of Mirrors - censored F/F 🌈

Stand by Me - censored m/m 🌈

Killer and Healer - censored m/m 🌈

Winter Begonia - censored m/m 🌈

[imthepunchlord]

One thing that has really interested me as of late has been the development of the Miraculous Shanghai special. Looking at all the old promo art, it seems to have changed a lot. For starters, it was originally called "The Chinese Legend" and was seemingly going to have Master Fu in it

(Makes me wonder if it was initially going to relate to the Order of the Guardians in some way since it doesn't give a clear location)

Also, it seems that there was going to be what appears to be a spirit dragon that looks like it would've played a major role with how often it appears in promo art

On top of that, when I went to the Wiki to get those images, I found these

And I honestly don't know what to say about them other than that the New York special influence was strong.

I could definitely see that the Shanghai Special was potentially more about the Order and Fu. Makes sense given it's related to China. And if it potentially would've been an exploration on Fu, his origins, and on the Order.

Which makes me wonder what the earlier plan was, especially as it doesn't feel like they really had sentimonsters planned from the start, and I don't know about you guys, but I didn't like Fu's origins. So I wonder if they had something else in mind and made changes. As with most of ML's concepts, those ideas were probably better.

As I do think the Chinese Special should've been the place to reveal and introduce the Zodiac Miraculous and where they came from (as it didn't make Fu look good having 16-17 Miraculous and gave out the very two HM wanted), that dragon could've been a protector of them, seeking a worthy Guardian to take on the Zodiac. Could even be the dragon kwami spiritually manifested. Which a whole Zodiac of powerful Miraculous sealed away makes more sense than the Prodigious that just has you transforming into 8 animals, which you can't even control unless you're virtuous. Very dangerous indeed.

Or that dragon it could've been a rare instance of just seeing another magical creature, work off Thomas' older claim that there was other magic out there than just Miraculous.

As for the heroes, I am kinda glad they didn't make it in. I don't like those designs. I can roll with the idea that every country/state/city could have their own hero, but they really do just roll out too much.

Speaking of Specials, I remember that, supposedly, that we were going to see the Turtle's power in the Christmas Special, and hearing that Chris Master was the original Christmas Special, I wonder if that was originally where we were supposed to see Carapace for the first time, and Nino was going to be the first temporary hero to be seen. And that would've been his time to really shine. Though it also could've been our first intro to Jade, seeing what Turtle could do in a fight, and potentially Chat's way of meeting Fu (though as Jade instead), and maybe that's the point where Fu's like, ok, I really am too old for this, you guys do temp heroes.

Either option sounds better than what we got in canon.

[rubykgrant]

No, it is actually hilarious how many things my super hero kids had in common with Miraculous stuff, but this was all from like 15-16 years ago, ML didn't exist yet, there is absolutely no way anybody involved with ML ever saw any of my scribbles (because it all just lived in notebooks in my room), there was no influence involved at ALL, in either direction. It really is a "I'd have four nickels, which isn't a lot, but it's weird that it happened 4 times" situation-

-A girl who is half Chinese, and is interested in fashion design (ENTIRELY different personalities though; Min is very confident in an easy-going way, cheerful and likes having fun, but not at all concerned with being awkward. she was always the "cute girl" of the group, and when I started to expand more with my concepts for character designs, I decided she has a chubby body-type. her powers are all connected to music and sound, and she uses her fashion skills to design the hero outfits for all her friends)

-A pretty-boy "prince charming" type who actually lives a pretty miserable life, has a dad who is evil, and his name begins with the letter A (the actual influence for the dad for my boy Andrew was actually Professor Tomoe from Sailor Moon, though I've decided to switch it up in recent years; he's got an evil science mom now, and the dad is the dead parent. lots of dudes being evil over their dead wives, time for some Women's Wrongs and dead husbands who are remembered fondly but have horrors committed in their names. Equality)

-Two sisters named Cloe and Zoe (slightly different spelling. I'll be honest, I got the idea from reading One Minute Mysteries, and a story had two twin girls named Cloe and Zoe, and I thought that was neat, so I kept it in my head for like 3 or 4 years, then finally used it for my own characters. My girls are twin red-heads, with opposite powers, one being a magic-user and the other being a knight with an enchanted sword)

-A "love square". No, I'm not kidding... though, I'd hope mine is slightly less annoying??? (two characters, Lisa and Andrew, have known each other since they were kids, and used to be at odds; good-goody boy and rebellious girl. When they start getting super powers, Lisa's friends become heroes, while Andrew and his friends become villains. they're not "evil", just brats/jerks/punks who have some angst to work through. Lisa as Supernova and Andrew as Geoshock clash a few times... but there is also some of that "rivals" attraction going on. at school, Lisa and Andrew have discovered they kinda get along now, and start dating... they find out about the identities, and break up. THEN, they all realize the real problems are people who have been manipulating them all, so the hero kids and villain kids join together, Lisa and Andrew work things out, happily ever after~)

[princess-of-the-corner]

Little rant about the location of the Miraculous Guardians' temple in Tibet... And of how NONSENSICAL it is, for three reasons:

First of all, the Order has strong Chinese influences... But historically Tibet isn't China. It was a separate civilization, with its own culture, language, and writing system of INDIAN derivation (considering how many peoples adopted the Chinese writing system, it's a pretty big deal), that at one point even posed an exhistential threat to the Tang Dynasty. The only thing Tibetan temples have in common with SOME Chinese temples is that they're from (different schools of) Mahayana Buddhism... And that would lead in the second reason for nonsense.

Songshan, or Mount Song. The mountain range where we can find Shaolin Temple, the center of Chan Buddhism and where Chinese martial arts originate from. And to top it off, Chinese astrological mythology consider Songshan "the centre of Heaven and Earth". We already have a location in China that would be PERFECT to hide the temple where the Miraculous are held... If it wasn't for the third reason.

The Chinese Miraculous Box uses the Wuxing for the Fox, Butterfly, Bee, Peacock, and Turtle Miraculous... And the Wuxing is a TAOIST concept. Not Buddhist, Taoist. A different philosophy/religion (I don't know nowhere near enough of it to claim it's either or both) from Buddhism. Meaning the Order of the Guardians is fundamentally incompatible with the Tibetan location.

A better location could be either the Wudang Mountains, location of various important Taoist temples, or the Bayan Har Mountains, from which flows the Yellow River in whose basin, according to legend, at one point ruled the Yellow Emperor, mythical creator of many principles of Taoism. But instead Astruc went for Tibet, because many legends have sages with mystical powers living there and because China CURRENTLY controls the place. Talk about creative lazyness...

Sorry for the rant, but Miraculous Ladybug has such an enormous potential wasted by the creative lazyness, arrogance, and immaturity of one man, and after stumbling on the Wikipedia page about the Wudang mountains I had to vent.

This is all quite fascinating actually. But yeah ML just kinda yoinks the vibes

[myrawjcsmicasereports]

 Inhibition of EIF4E Downregulates VEGFA and CCND1 Expression to Suppress Ovarian Cancer Tumor Progression by Jing Wang in Journal of Clinical Case Reports Medical Images and Health Sciences

Abstract

This study investigates the role of EIF4E in ovarian cancer and its influence on the expression of VEGFA and CCND1. Differential expression analysis of VEGFA, CCND1, and EIF4E was conducted using SKOV3 cells in ovarian cancer patients and controls. Correlations between EIF4E and VEGFA/CCND1 were assessed, and three-dimensional cell culture experiments were performed. Comparisons of EIF4E, VEGFA, and CCND1 mRNA and protein expression between the EIF4E inhibitor 4EGI-1-treated group and controls were carried out through RT-PCR and Western blot. Our findings demonstrate elevated expression of EIF4E, VEGFA, and CCND1 in ovarian cancer patients, with positive correlations. The inhibition of EIF4E by 4EGI-1 led to decreased SKOV3 cell clustering and reduced mRNA and protein levels of VEGFA and CCND1. These results suggest that EIF4E plays a crucial role in ovarian cancer and its inhibition may modulate VEGFA and CCND1 expression, underscoring EIF4E as a potential therapeutic target for ovarian cancer treatment.

Keywords: Ovarian cancer; Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E; Vascular endothelial growth factor A; Cyclin D1

Introduction

Ovarian cancer ranks high among gynecological malignancies in terms of mortality, necessitating innovative therapeutic strategies [1]. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) plays a pivotal role in angiogenesis, influencing endothelial cell proliferation, migration, vascular permeability, and apoptosis regulation [2, 3]. While anti-VEGF therapies are prominent in malignancy treatment [4], the significance of cyclin D1 (CCND1) amplification in cancers, including ovarian, cannot be overlooked, as it disrupts the cell cycle, fostering tumorigenesis [5, 6]. Eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4E (EIF4E), central to translation initiation, correlates with poor prognoses in various cancers due to its dysregulated expression and activation, particularly in driving translation of growth-promoting genes like VEGF [7, 8]. Remarkably, elevated EIF4E protein levels have been observed in ovarian cancer tissue, suggesting a potential role in enhancing CCND1 translation, thereby facilitating cell cycle progression and proliferation [9]. Hence, a novel conjecture emerges: by modulating EIF4E expression, a dual impact on VEGF and CCND1 expression might be achieved. This approach introduces an innovative perspective to impede the onset and progression of ovarian cancer, distinct from existing literature, and potentially offering a unique therapeutic avenue.

Materials and Methods

Cell Culture

Human ovarian serous carcinoma cell line SKOV3 (obtained from the Cell Resource Center, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences) was cultured in DMEM medium containing 10% fetal bovine serum. Cells were maintained at 37°C with 5% CO2 in a cell culture incubator and subcultured every 2-3 days.

Three-Dimensional Spheroid Culture

SKOV3 cells were prepared as single-cell suspensions and adjusted to a concentration of 5×10^5 cells/mL. A volume of 0.5 mL of single-cell suspension was added to Corning Ultra-Low Attachment 24-well microplates and cultured at 37°C with 5% CO2 for 24 hours. Subsequently, 0.5 mL of culture medium or 0.5 mL of EIF4E inhibitor 4EGI-1 (Selleck, 40 μM) was added. After 48 hours, images were captured randomly from five different fields—upper, lower, left, right, and center—using an inverted phase-contrast microscope. The experiment was repeated three times.

GEPIA Online Analysis

The GEPIA online analysis tool (http://gepia.cancer-pku.cn/index.html) was utilized to assess the expression of VEGFA, CCND1, and EIF4E in ovarian cancer tumor samples from TCGA and normal samples from GTEx. Additionally, Pearson correlation coefficient analysis was employed to determine the correlation between VEGF and CCND1 with EIF4E.

RT-PCR

RT-PCR was employed to assess the mRNA expression levels of EIF4E, VEGF, and CCND1 in treatment and control group samples. Total RNA was extracted using the RNA extraction kit from Vazyme, followed by reverse transcription to obtain cDNA using their reverse transcription kit. Amplification was carried out using SYBR qPCR Master Mix as per the recommended conditions from Vazyme. GAPDH was used as an internal reference, and the primer sequences for PCR are shown in Table 1.

Amplification was carried out under the following conditions: an initial denaturation step at 95°C for 60 seconds, followed by cycling conditions of denaturation at 95°C for 10 seconds, annealing at 60°C for 30 seconds, repeated for a total of 40 cycles. Melting curves were determined under the corresponding conditions. Each sample was subjected to triplicate experiments. The reference gene GAPDH was used for normalization. The relative expression levels of the target genes were calculated using the 2-ΔΔCt method.

Western Blot

Western Blot technique was employed to assess the protein expression levels of EIF4E, VEGF, and CCND1 in the treatment and control groups. Initially, cell samples collected using RIPA lysis buffer were lysed, and the total protein concentration was determined using the BCA assay kit (Shanghai Biyuntian Biotechnology, Product No.: P0012S). Based on the detected concentration, 20 μg of total protein was loaded per well. Electrophoresis was carried out using 5% stacking gel and 10% separating gel. Subsequently, the following primary antibodies were used for immune reactions: rabbit anti-human polyclonal antibody against phospho-EIF4E (Beijing Boao Sen Biotechnology, Product No.: bs-2446R, dilution 1:1000), mouse anti-human monoclonal antibody against EIF4E (Wuhan Sanying Biotechnology, Product No.: 66655-1-Ig, dilution 1:5000), mouse anti-human monoclonal antibody against VEGFA (Wuhan Sanying Biotechnology, Product No.: 66828-1-Ig, dilution 1:1000), mouse anti-human monoclonal antibody against CCND1 (Wuhan Sanying Biotechnology, Product No.: 60186-1-Ig, dilution 1:5000), and mouse anti-human monoclonal antibody against GAPDH (Shanghai Biyuntian Biotechnology, Product No.: AF0006, dilution 1:1000). Subsequently, secondary antibodies conjugated with horseradish peroxidase (Shanghai Biyuntian Biotechnology, Product No.: A0216, dilution 1:1000) were used for immune reactions. Finally, super-sensitive ECL chemiluminescence reagent (Shanghai Biyuntian Biotechnology, Product No.: P0018S) was employed for visualization, and the ChemiDocTM Imaging System (Bio-Rad Laboratories, USA) was used for image analysis.

Statistical Analysis

GraphPad software was used for statistical analysis. Data were presented as (x ± s) and analyzed using the t-test for quantitative data. Pearson correlation analysis was performed for assessing correlations. A significance level of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results

3D Cell Culture of SKOV3 Cells and Inhibitory Effect of 4EGI-1 on Aggregation

In this experiment, SKOV3 cells were subjected to 3D cell culture, and the impact of the EIF4E inhibitor 4EGI-1 on ovarian cancer cell aggregation was investigated. As depicted in Figure 1, compared to the control group (Figure 1A), the diameter of the SKOV3 cell spheres significantly decreased in the treatment group (Figure 1B) when exposed to 4EGI-1 under identical culture conditions. This observation indicates that inhibiting EIF4E expression effectively suppresses tumor aggregation.

Expression and Correlation Analysis of VEGFA, CCND1, and EIF4E in Ovarian Cancer Samples

To investigate the expression of VEGFA, CCND1, and EIF4E in ovarian cancer, we utilized the GEPIA online analysis tool and employed the Pearson correlation analysis method to compare expression differences between tumor and normal groups. As depicted in Figures 2A-C, the results indicate significantly elevated expression levels of VEGFA, CCND1, and EIF4E in the tumor group compared to the normal control group. Notably, the expression differences of VEGFA and CCND1 were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Furthermore, the correlation analysis revealed a positive correlation between VEGFA and CCND1 with EIF4E (Figures 2D-E), and this correlation exhibited significant statistical differences (p < 0.001). These findings suggest a potential pivotal role of VEGFA, CCND1, and EIF4E in the initiation and progression of ovarian cancer, indicating the presence of intricate interrelationships among them.

EIF4E, VEGFA, and CCND1 mRNA Expression in SKOV3 Cells

To investigate the function of EIF4E in SKOV3 cells, we conducted RT-PCR experiments comparing EIF4E inhibition group with the control group. As illustrated in Figure 3, treatment with 4EGI-1 significantly reduced EIF4E expression (0.58±0.09 vs. control, p < 0.01). Concurrently, mRNA expression of VEGFA (0.76±0.15 vs. control, p < 0.05) and CCND1 (0.81±0.11 vs. control, p < 0.05) also displayed a substantial decrease. These findings underscore the significant impact of EIF4E inhibition on the expression of VEGFA and CCND1, indicating statistically significant differences.

Protein Expression Profiles in SKOV3 Cells with EIF4E Inhibition and Control Group

Protein expression of EIF4E, VEGFA, and CCND1 was assessed using Western Blot in the 4EGI-1 treatment group and the control group. As presented in Figure 4, the expression of p-EIF4E was significantly lower in the 4EGI-1 treatment group compared to the control group (0.33±0.14 vs. control, p < 0.001). Simultaneously, the expression of VEGFA (0.53±0.18 vs. control, p < 0.01) and CCND1 (0.44±0.16 vs. control, p < 0.001) in the 4EGI-1 treatment group exhibited a marked reduction compared to the control group.

Discussion

EIF4E is a post-transcriptional modification factor that plays a pivotal role in protein synthesis. Recent studies have underscored its critical involvement in various cancers [10]. In the context of ovarian cancer research, elevated EIF4E expression has been observed in late-stage ovarian cancer tissues, with low EIF4E expression correlating to higher survival rates [9]. Suppression of EIF4E expression or function has been shown to inhibit ovarian cancer cell proliferation, invasion, and promote apoptosis. Various compounds and drugs that inhibit EIF4E have been identified, rendering them potential candidates for ovarian cancer treatment [11]. Based on the progressing understanding of EIF4E's role in ovarian cancer, inhibiting EIF4E has emerged as a novel therapeutic avenue for the disease. 4EGI-1, a cap-dependent translation small molecule inhibitor, has been suggested to disrupt the formation of the eIF4E complex [12]. In this study, our analysis of public databases revealed elevated EIF4E expression in ovarian cancer patients compared to normal controls. Furthermore, through treatment with 4EGI-1 in the SKOV3 ovarian cancer cell line, we observed a capacity for 4EGI-1 to inhibit SKOV3 cell spheroid formation. Concurrently, results from PCR and Western Blot analyses demonstrated effective EIF4E inhibition by 4EGI-1. Collectively, 4EGI-1 effectively suppresses EIF4E expression and may exert its effects on ovarian cancer therapy by modulating EIF4E.

Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) is a protein that stimulates angiogenesis and increases vascular permeability, playing a crucial role in tumor growth and metastasis [13]. In ovarian cancer, excessive release of VEGF by tumor cells leads to increased angiogenesis, forming a new vascular network to provide nutrients and oxygen to tumor cells. The formation of new blood vessels enables tumor growth, proliferation, and facilitates tumor cell dissemination into the bloodstream, contributing to distant metastasis [14]. As a significant member of the VEGF family, VEGFA has been extensively studied, and it has been reported that VEGFA expression is notably higher in ovarian cancer tumors [15], consistent with our public database analysis. Furthermore, elevated EIF4E levels have been associated with increased malignant tumor VEGF mRNA translation [16]. Through the use of the EIF4E inhibitor 4EGI-1 in ovarian cancer cell lines, we observed a downregulation in both mRNA and protein expression levels of VEGFA. This suggests that EIF4E inhibition might affect ovarian cancer cell angiogenesis capability through downregulation of VEGF expression.

Cyclin D1 (CCND1) is a cell cycle regulatory protein that participates in controlling cell entry into the S phase and the cell division process. In ovarian cancer, overexpression of CCND1 is associated with increased tumor proliferation activity and poor prognosis [17]. Elevated CCND1 levels promote cell cycle progression, leading to uncontrolled cell proliferation [18]. Additionally, CCND1 can activate cell cycle-related signaling pathways, promoting cancer cell growth and invasion capabilities [19]. Studies have shown that CCND1 gene expression is significantly higher in ovarian cancer tissues compared to normal ovarian tissues [20], potentially promoting proliferation and cell cycle progression through enhanced cyclin D1 translation [9]. Our public database analysis results confirm these observations. Furthermore, treatment with the EIF4E inhibitor 4EGI-1 in ovarian cancer cell lines resulted in varying degrees of downregulation in CCND1 mRNA and protein levels. This indicates that EIF4E inhibition might affect ovarian cancer cell proliferation and cell cycle progression through regulation of CCND1 expression.

In conclusion, overexpression of EIF4E appears to be closely associated with the clinical and pathological characteristics of ovarian cancer patients. In various tumors, EIF4E is significantly correlated with VEGF and cyclin D1, suggesting its role in the regulation of protein translation related to angiogenesis and growth [9, 21]. The correlation analysis results in our study further confirmed the positive correlation among EIF4E, VEGFA, and CCND1 in ovarian cancer. Simultaneous inhibition of EIF4E also led to downregulation of VEGFA and CCND1 expression, validating their interconnectedness. Thus, targeted therapy against EIF4E may prove to be an effective strategy for treating ovarian cancer. However, further research and clinical trials are necessary to assess the safety and efficacy of targeted EIF4E therapy, offering more effective treatment options for ovarian cancer patients.

Acknowledgments:

Funding: This study was supported by the Joint Project of Southwest Medical University and the Affiliated Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital of Southwest Medical University (Grant No. 2020XYLH-043).

Conflict of Interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

[pocketvenuslux]

Since I've been doing some throwback lingerie reviews, here's a review of Ex Idolo's Thirty Three, a typical Western-style oud that was released in 2013, right at the peak of the rose-oud craze in niche fragrance. It was the first fragrance released by this UK house, helmed by a self-taught Canadian, Matthew Zhuk.

Thirty Three was one of the first rose-ouds I tried. Even though I kind of imprinted on it in this way, I eventually came to find it to be a largely unremarkable take on the rose-oud trend. At the time, there were so many rose-forward fragrances shaded in with a defanged oud darkness absent any suggestion of the barnyard, of the ripe blue cheese, the creamy skank and more difficult notes that came with more challenging ouds like Dusita's discontinued Oudh Infini. To Thirty Three's credit, it did have a curious and unusual, almost piercing note in its opening and it definitely lacked the scratchy, raspy texture that was so common in many of the cheaper ouds being released at the time. Overall, I found it to be on par with the smooth, velvety and imminently wearable Kilian ouds, although Thirty Three was more affordable - now much more so given that a Kilian oud currently retails for $565/50 ml.

Recently, I saw Thirty Three on sale at Etiket and a pang of nostalgia came over me. 2013 was a different time for niche perfume, a brief window in perfume history when unusual scents and creativity were returning to the market and becoming more readily available, but multinational conglomerates had not yet gobbled up the landscape. It was also a moment when erudite perfume criticism could be easily found on personal blogs and vlogging influencers were still years away.

Alas, that time is over, but now I have Thirty Three to remind me of those heady, exciting years. What does that time smell like to me?

Thirty Three opens with a giant whoosh of plush, jammy roses and tangy mandarin. The latter becomes more astringent and candied until it is sharpened into a high pitched wood polish that, if you read the fragrance copy, is what I think is meant to be "Damascus steel." There is also a hint of that familiar, slightly plasticky smoky darkness that is coded "oud." Thirty Three is described as using "a significant amount of wild-harvested Chinese oud oil" including a "vintage oud" aged 33 years. Honestly, if this is the case, I'm not smelling it. Given that Thirty Three continues to be widely distributed over a decade and two bottle re-designs later, I would imagine suppliers for Thirty Three's ouds as well as the formula have changed over the years while the back story remains the same.

Up close, the scent feels a little discordant. There's velvety rose petals, the bracing varnish, sweet patchouli and "oud". Yet from afar, say twelve inches away, it all somehow works, particularly as the scent develops and softens up.

Overall, a scent very much of its time and sort of a personal collector's item for me. I don't see myself wearing this regularly but I'm glad to own this one for the memories alone.

[taldigi]

If you can save the pre-canon characters and Kagami, then you can definitely save Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

Also, which do you think is worse, Miraculous or Shugo Chara?

rrrgh ok like

tldr: ML by a long shot.

So like, preface: I watched the anime like, 10-ish years ago and only read the first.. 2 books.

Shugo has Amu/Ikuto have the age diff thing (OBJECTIVELY why? This was an author choice when they absolutely could have been the same age or at least closer in age. Ikuto could have still been taller than Amu-- but 11 is WAY too young for ANY romance arc in general and SEVERAL characters fall into it. They literally didn't have to, as nothing story-wise is impacted by this) and also the incest thing with Utau was BAD (but sadly I've seen worse & she does eventually get over it and at LEAST Ikuto IS outwardly uncomfortable with it vs more modern takes on it where the bother is either clueless or lowkey into it. Not justification BUT still credit where it's due.).

There is a lot I like about SC in terms of how the Magical Girl/Magic system works. I like the Charas & what they represent and the Character Changes & the narrative of finding yourself and becoming the person you want to be and being happy. I like it being magical girls vs a giant corporation that is using the charas to obtain ultimate power. Also theming like said organization being called Easter and how Amu & Ikuto's power artifacts are two items that are like.. so intertwined with each other (a lock and key respectively)

That kinda stuff appeals to me. Good idea, not a great execution. I'd love to see a "Shugo Chara Remix" of sorts where a lot of the weird stuff worked out of it and maybe a better focus on story and character building.

That being said, the overall story and supporting cast never appealed to me and I fell off it when the story wasn't about Amu or Ikuto or Easter. I never grew to like the side characters and I felt it wasn't adventurous enough. But otherwise it was.. inoffensive? It's very average shoujo for it's time. I know it's one of the earlier takes & a pre-madoka magica magical girl story.. so it's not as influenced by it- which is somethin' I appreciate.

but ML has a lot of outright terrible writing, design, and people behind it. While, again, ML has ideas i like- where SC simply failed, ML tried to reinvent it and went the extra mile to infuse as much french hatred as possible into it.

ML has a lot of sexism, racism, and nationalistic issues. A big point is the appropriation of Chinese mysticism- and it's not even in a fun way like Xaolin Showdown (and iirc Omi was literally yellow) Sabine is a literal caricature, "ideal chinese wife" for TA's self-insert, Marinette needs to be taught her family's language by a rich white boy, and all of her asian traits have been washed out for blue eyes and a whitewashed design ( and don't character design me when other asian characters in the show are explicitly designed differently). and ddddd ont get me STARTED on the native american bullshit that shit was SO fucked and NOBODY talks about it anymore.

The Kwami are great and I think they're a naturally better take on the Charas from SC- at least, initially. Later development and shit like "true forms" and them being their own separate creatures that are subjugated on the regular by everyone (including the mains) is not a great take.. esp when a huge point the show AND THE FANDOM is obsessed with is this idea that "Adrien is trapped and hates it" and then turns around and is like "Well, the Kwami are happy with marinette or their holders so they're okay with being trapped and unable to say no to their owners". It is a huge yikes for me.

I think the precanon take- where they are born from wishes someone makes and has an innate connection to that person & their personality is way more intimate and interesting rather than the "miraculous" iteration. If there is one thing i HATE is when the magical companions are treated like accessories or tools by the heroes (t's an issue i have with pokemon as of late, as the series seems to be putting a backseat on pokemon to focus on the human characters) and Miraculous does that a LOT. Kuro Neko was a huge deciding factor in terms of how I feel about ML, since they not only demolished Plagg's character, but Adrien's as well- by establishing that Adrien does not give a fuck about Plagg and would gladly use him as an emotional "fuck you" to LB- a huge blow considering that Plagg has been consistently the only person to give a consistent fuck about Adrien, despite how often Adrien pushes him around.

Characters in ML are genuinely unlikable, too. I elaborated on it before with Adrien- but Alya is bad too. She's terrible to Marinette. Nino is bad, because of how he acted in Rocketear and the episode where he Akumatizes someone on purpose & targets Gabriel. Marinette is bad too, she's a mix Mary-Sue and Anti-Sue in all the worst ways. The worst part is that they could be better, they are close to being good. Their bases as characters are good. But their writing destroys them.

...and it all boils down to writing. You can have the most interesting characters and the most amazing worldbuilding and the most lovely art style and animaiton- but if the story is bad, then it's not going to be fun to watch. And while SC does stumble in that direction, ML goes full tilt, yelling "HOW MANY EPISODES CAN WE HAVE JIGGLE PHYSICS ON MARINETTES BOOBS BEFORE ANYONE NOTICES" the entire way while the camera slowly zooms in on Ladybug's inflating ass. (and I wish I was joking, but it's true. Ladybug's butt is bigger than Marinette's and one of these characters is wearing a skintight suit.)

Oh yeah, and ML's character design sucks. Objectively. Literally everyone is worse off than precanon. Marinette looks worse- the flats and pink pants look terrible! Adrien looks Worse, his model is weirdly contrasted to his kinda baby-face and his color scheme is frustrating and childish. Chloe looks worse, both in comparison to Melody and her white outfit. Alya looks worse, as she lost a lot of her charm and cuteness to some.. weird hipster vibe. The Kwami lost a TON of cuteness and look way more alien then they need to be-- All of the characters are abrasive to my design sensibilities... Except maybe Alix I like the snake thing going on. A shame they made her a fuckin' Alice in wonderland reference instead of something interesting.

so yeah, ML by a long shot.

[myromancedramas]

My Master Lists

Hi welcome to my little blog :,) Here are my recommendation lists! I try to keep these updated but I'm not always punctual, forgive me. Let me know if you have any questions or trouble with the links!

My main is @softandorsweet <3

currently rewatching: Doom at your service

just finished: Love for Love's Sake

MY TOP 5 FAVORITES (see google doc list for plot descriptions and my full list of recommendations)

Romance Kdramas

DOOM: AT YOUR SERVICE (TW death, terminal illness, parent death, themes of su*cide)

TWENTY-FIVE TWENTY-ONE (TW anti-fatness, mild bullying, themes of depression)

HOMETOWN CHA-CHA-CHA (TW anti-fatness, themes of su*cide, ensemble character death)

YUMI'S CELLS (1 & 2) (TW anti-fatness)

 LOVE FOR LOVE’S SAKE (BL) (TW homophobia, su*cidal ideation, shown su*cide, death, blood)

Romance Thrillers Kdramas

VINCENZO (TW multiple characters death, murder, gun violence, homophobia, torture)

W: BETWEEN TWO WORLDS (TW themes of & su*cide, gun violence, parent death, homophobia, sexism, anti-fatness)

HEALER (TW parent death, murder, childhood abuse, kidnapping, themes of su*cide)

WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING (TW childhood trauma, parent death, so much anti-fatness, homophobia, sexism, main character death, murder, slipping someone a drug, themes of & shown attempted su*cide, gun violence)

HAPPINESS (TW self h*rm, murder, zombies basically so lots of blood, classism, gun violence)

Thai Romance Dramas

NOT ME (BL) (TW physical altercations, gun violence, arson, kidnapping, commentary on ableism, racism, capitalism and more)

BAD BUDDY (BL) (TW physical altercations, blood, family violence, gun violence, unwanted public outing) 

MY SCHOOL PRESIDENT (BL) (TW mild manipulation, shove, slap, punch, homophobia, non con photo taking, unwanted public outing)

KINNPORSCHE (BL) (TW gun violence, murder, torture, kidnapping, mafia altercations, physical altercations, under the influence sex scene, dubious consent) 

THE ECLIPSE (BL) (TW homophobia, minimal physical altercations, outing someone)

Japanese Romance Dramas

MY LOVE MIX-UP (BL) (TW homophobia)

ALICE IN BORDERLAND (TW shown death, su*cide, extreme violence, sexual assault, severe psychological trauma)

CHERRY MAGIC (BL) (TW age gap)

SEVEN DAYS (BL) (TW cheating)

ONLY JUST MARRIED (TW fake marriage, unrequited love)

Taiwanese Romance Dramas

ABOUT YOUTH (BL) (TW family stress)

WE BEST LOVE (BL) (TW blackmail, dubious consent, manipulation, non con kiss, violence)

MY TOOTH YOUR LOVE (BL) (TW trauma, parent death, physical abuse, family abuse)

HISTORY 3: TRAPPED (BL) (TW gun violence, kidnapping, gun violence, blood)

BE LOVED IN HOUSE: I DO (BL) (TW manipulation)

Chinese Romance Dramas

PUT YOUR HEAD ON MY SHOULDER (TW anti-fatness) 

i wanted to include any warnings i noticed while watching these shows, as to reduce any harm to anyone taking my recommendations! these are still my favorite shows and have as many nuanced positives as nuanced negatives!

key: FL = female lead, ML = male lead, TW = trigger warning

message about south korean dramas: i think so many of us are drawn to kdramas for their depth and analysis of different forms of oppression and traumas. however, kdramas are lacking so much in so many ways thus the TWs. i recently found out that studio dragon, the largest production company in south korea is a monopoly company (bought out all smaller independent businesses and now has total control over most production in south korea). studio dragon alone has produced vincenzo, hometown cha cha cha, happiness, twenty-five twenty-one, yumis cells, my roommate is a gumiho, doom at your service, true beauty, start-up, tale of the nine tailed, flower of evil, it’s okay to not be okay, hi bye mama, my holo love, love alarm, hotel del luna, because this is my first life and way way more. plus they just signed with Netflix in the last year or two, and will only be continuing to expand. if you regularly watch kdramas there’s not much we can do, expect support the dramas that have become more inclusive. knowledge is power and having perspectives on why studio dragon is not perfect is more beneficial than living in the dark.

[laresearchette]

Saturday, April 22, 2023 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: A PINCH OF PORTUGAL (W Network) 8:00pm

AMAZON PRIME CANADA NASHA ONEFC: ONE FIGHT NIGHT 9

CRAVE TV DIAN FOSSEY: SECRETS IN THE MIST (Season 1) WILD AUSTRALIA (Season 1)

NETFLIX CANADA ADA TWIST, SCIENTIST (Season 4) STOWAWAY

IIHF WORLD MEN'S UNDER 18 CHAMPIONSHIP (TSN3) 1:00pm: Norway vs. USA

NBA BASKETBALL (SN360) 1:00pm: 76ers vs. Nets - Game #4 (SN360) 3:30pm: Suns vs. Lakers - Game #4 (TSN/TSN5) 7:30pm: Bucks vs. Heat - Game #3 (TSN/TSN4/TSN5) 10:00pm: Grizzlies vs. Lakers - Game #3

MLB BASEBALL (SN1) 1:00pm: Jays vs. Yankees (TSN2) 4:00pm: Red Sox vs. Tigers (SN Now) 7:00pm: Astros vs. Atlanta

NHL HOCKEY (CBC/SNWest) 4:00pm: Knights vs. Jets - Game #3 (CBC/SNOntario) 6:45pm: Leafs vs. Lightning - Game #3 (City/SN1) 8:00pm: Devils vs. Rangers - Game #3 (SN/SN Now) 10:10pm: Avalanche vs. Kraken - Game #3

NLL LACROSSE (TSN3) 6:00pm: Riptide vs. Thunderbirds

TRUE STORY (Global) 8:00pm: An in-depth look at the relationship between Indigenous people and settlers, offering an important lens into Indigenous history on the land that is now Canada, including Turtle Island's creation story and the important role women play in society.

BAD INFLUENCE (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm: A single mom is happy that her daughter is finally making friends at her new school. Soon she learns that these students follow a dubious and dangerous moral code.

MLS SOCCER (TSN4) 7:30pm: Philadelphia vs. Toronto FC (TSN3) 10:30pm: Seattle vs. Minnesota

STREAMS FLOW FROM A RIVER (Super Channel Fuse) 8:00pm: A freak snowstorm traps a dysfunctional Chinese-Canadian family together in their rural Albertan hometown, forcing them to confront the events that tore them all apart a decade earlier.

ALL ABOARD FOR LOVE (Super Channel House & Home) 8:00pm: As Alison prepares for new ocean adventures, business executive Joel navigates his way into her heart and they become co-captains for life.

THE BANSHEES OF INISHERIN (Crave) 9:00pm: On a remote Irish island, Pádraic is devastated when his buddy, Colm, suddenly puts an end to their lifelong friendship. With help from his sister and a troubled islander, Pádraic sets out to repair the damaged relationship by any means necessary.

ONE YEAR OFF (Starz Canada) 9:00pm: A lovelorn woman and her friends are drawn to the West Indies when a colleague inherits a beachfront property.

[kc-drama-fanatic]

Fireworks of My Heart (2023)

Genre: Action, Medical, Romance

Main Actors: Yang Yang, Wang Chu Ran, Wang Yan Lin, Wei Da Xun

Plot: Reunited after 10 years apart, highschool sweethearts-turned-exes Song Yan (chief of a firefighter detachment) and Xu Qin (doctor at a large hospital) reunite, now often thrown together by work. Neither are particularly happy to see each other after the sad ending of their previous relationship -influenced by Xu Qin's wealthy family's wishes- and have much resentment and old issues to work through.

Relationship: The romantic relationship between the two leads was interesting enough. I appreciated how realistically they handled their past/current problems, but I did not like how the FL acted, even though I understood it to a certain extent. The brother/sister relationship between the actors was just weird and I did not like literally any of that plotline at all, nevermind the mother/daughter relationship. I hated that mother with a burning passion, though she was an interesting enough character. The side romances and the bromance between the ML and his friends were honestly my favourite relationships of them all. (6.5/10)

Characters: The fire squad and the medical squad were the most interesting characters despite having minor roles, in my opinion. Everyone was well-acted, I suppose, since they made me have such strong reactions, but this isn't a drama to watch if you want fun, 3D characters. (5/10)

Favourite Quote/Scene: -

Final Thoughts: I'm not a big fan of exes-to-lovers/second chance romances but I gave it a shot because of Yang Yang. Honestly, it was fairly boring and I had to force myself to watch episodes at times. The Chinese propaganda was strong in this one, as well. I hated the mother, got the ick from the brother, and often didn't like the FL. (6.5/10)

[annueh29s2ndrecipeblog]

Burmese-Styled Pork Curry(Myannmar)

2.5cm/1-in piece fresh gingerroot, crushed

8 dried chillies, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes

2 lemongrass stalks, finely chopped

15ml/1 tbsp. Chopped galangal

15ml/1 tbsp. shrimp paste

30 ml/2 tbsp.

5 ml/1 Tsp. granulated sugar

15 ml/1 Tbsp. fish sauce

Fresh red chilies, to serve

French (green) beans, to serve

(1) In a mortar, pound the ginger, chillies, lemongrass and galangal into a coarse paste with a pestle, then add the shrimp paste and brown sugar to produce a dark, grainy purée.

(2) Cut the pork into large chunks and place in a wok, or a large pan. Add the curry purée and stir well to make sure the meat is well coated.

(3) Cook the pork over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until the meat has changed color and rendered some of its fat, and the curry paste had begun to release its aroma.

(4)Stir in the water, turmeric and soy sauce into the meat in the pan. Simmer gently for about 40 minutes, until the meat is tender. The pan does not need to be covered.

(5) Add the shallots, garlic, tamarind juice, sugar and fish sauce. If you're using concentrated tamarind pulp, stir until dissolved. Garnish with fresh chilies and serve with french beans.

Info: The cuisine of Burma/Myanmar is influenced by its two neighbors China and India. Soy sauce and noodles being obviously Chinese and Curries being from India. The curries made in Burma/Myanmar happento be much lighter than the Indian Curries

[pigagainstsuicidism]

Well historical materialist-style communists (henceforth histcoms) of any stripe and anarchists are unfortunately probably always going to have some heavy tension between them, if the theory of prefiguration is correct. There's a lot of aspects to this cultural rift. One has to do with their relationships to abuse.

Prefiguring Abuse

Council communists have a pretty varied relationship to anarchists, and historically both revolutionary traditions influenced each other greatly. There's heavy tension in virtue of how each tradition began, and how they developed very different relationships to historical figures.

Much like the split between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks started from a high profile mobbing/abuse case (the Bauman affair), the anarchists and the histcoms started from one as well. The now widely undisputed case of Marx and Engels abusing several members of their organization left its mark on the communist movement.

From that abuse of power arose two different approaches to tradition, one of uncritical celebration and one of critical engagement and inspiration. Histcoms now go by 'Marxist' whereas ancoms tend to just be ancoms, not 'Proudhonists' or 'Bakuninists' or 'Malatestites' or 'Kropotkinists.' Histcoms do more than just pay homage to their contributors, they celebrate them uncritically, without really feeling the weight of such an act upon their victims.

The mobbing and abuse was conducive to the anarchist tradition to follow a different route from the histcoms. Since whatever fallibilities and wrongdoings of the Jura federation, of specific anarchist figures, etc. would be amplified if these figures were celebrated, it was important not to emphasize and glorify any figure. How would the victims of Bakunin's anti-semitism feel seeing him celebrated while their ideas were dismissed by his peers, left to decay undocumented?

Glorification and Dogmatism

So the rather strange fact that despite ancoms heeding historical materialism plenty, there's so much tension between council communists and ancoms can be partially explained. Namely, it can be explained by the cultures that came out of perpetrating and invisibilizing the abuse, and out of being subjected to the abuse.

A lot of council communists it's spoken to do acknowledge the historical record around the various abuse cases in the First International, but it really does sort of just stop at acknowledgment and not really critically engaging with it. But the theory of prefiguration demands of us that we think very critically about how certain elements of our traditions can "snowball," and so an important part of analyzing our conditions is analyzing significant elements of the past and their causal relationship with our present conditions. This being an paradigmatic component of anarchism does make it easier to avoid dogmatism.

A Caveat

Anyway, all of this does need to be caveated with the immense complexity and diversity of these movements. Plenty of council communists were very tight with their anarchist communist neighboring movements. Even Leninists and anarchist communists impact each other heavily sometimes, as we saw in the early Chinese revolution where MLs and ancoms heavily influenced each other before all of the anarchists were exiled to Hong Kong, and ML strategies and ideas influenced how anarchism expressed itself in Hong Kong and anarchism heavily influenced how the Mao era played out (in particular, with many of the successes of the early era of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution).

Furthermore, many anarchists are plenty dogmatic. Anyone vulnerable who's been in enough anarchist spaces has been abused and mobbed out of them plenty, and whether or not it's true that it's harder to get away with just paying lipservice to the culture of being cognizant of power dynamics and abuse in anarchism, abuse culture is more powerful than any tradition.

A Specific Example: The United Front

Histcoms had a famously varied respond to the United Front. Leon Trotsky, at the same time as anarchists Armando Borghi and Errico Malatesta as well as more broadly the Italian Syndicalist Union, pushed for the United Front. The revolutionary socialists would work with rank and file reformist socialists against fascism, and while resisting would show the folly of the reformists who always prepared to betray the working class. They would resist fascism and radicalize the working class simultaneously.

Meanwhile, Stalin went with the Popular Front strategy of class collaboration, and the Italian left rejected both (with Bordiga writing plenty critical on both the United Front and the Popular Front).

Today, you can find with some effort leftcoms who disagree with rejecting the United Front, Trotskyists who disagree with accepting the United Front. But without any persuasion, ancoms have a fairly diverse set of lines, with perhaps the most typical line being that the United Front was a failure, but cannot be compared to the disaster of either the Popular Front or rejecting all alliances altogether.

For that reason, contemporary especifismo traditions (for example) deploy a variety of strategies that have been developing for a century now from the United Front, all with their own conditions, strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. It is possible, it would seem, to honor the fallen contributors to your history without being loyal to them.

These two different approaches, one that tends towards glorified adherence to one's past contributors and one that tends towards honoring without glorifying, towards critical engagement, is a significant source of discord between the two traditions.

Random Thoughts on Marxists

This is gonna be me just rambling about things I saw on marxist spaces. I'll be focusing on experiences I had with council communists (CC) and Left communists (LC)

Dogmatism

Ok, I wanna be honest, this is just a vibe I got. If u had to ask me for tangible evidence, I'd be 🤷‍♂️

Is just a feelin I got of "this is the way to go cause Dude in 1924 said so". It feels very restricting, takin away the potential that human imagination has in socialist movements

It felt like "this is the way! Oh ure more keen on this idea? Let me see what Dude said in '32...mmm sorry! Can't do it!"

But maybe is just me! I'm the type of kid to ask why a 100 times! Did I ask why a 100 times? Not really I was a shy kid, but in my mind I did it so it counts

On Anarchy

Idk the hate coming from Marxists towards anarchists! And I'm not even talking about MLs, I'm talking about marxists/communists that have more in common with bakunin that with lenin!

Like, I remember a CC (council communist) talking about an anarchist revolt (in a hypothetical communist revolution) on the same terms of a counter revolution by reactionaries!!

Or how a CC insta page made fun of an anarchist comparing Lenin to Lasalle (socialist that though that socialism could be achieved by takin control of the state. Marx didn't like him) and being something like "anarchist critique of lenin is bad!"

And I was like "Bro, half the memes u posted are just you sayin that lenin and lasalle are the same!!"

Another thing that I notice is this mentality off "if a marxist said X, that's good, if an anarchist said the same thing, then bad!"

I heard ppl talk about Marxists sayin that the "dictator of the proletariat" is the revolution itself and I was like "ok, that feels like anarchism but with some marx sprinkles in it!"

The end goal is the same, the way of achieving it is the same, the anti-authoritarian sentiment is the same BUT we ain't anarchists! No no no, we're total opposite actually!!

On Ukraine

Since the beginning of the invasion, I heard so many shit takes from the left. When I heard em from MLs I was like "shit take? Yes, but I wasn't expecting something else from yall" But from the left communists?

They can only chant "no war but class war" wich is nice, don't get me wrong, but is...just bs

They always go against the MLs cause they're not good enough on examining the world, that MLs are just too blinded by propaganda, how MLs don't have a grip on the world, and then the only solution they give is "the Russians and ukranians soldiers should go against their generals and politicians (to achieve socialism)"

In what world will this happen? Defenetly not in this one!! How distant can you be from the real world to say that ukranian soldiers just have to go and fight their politicians!

I'd be like telling someone's who's house is burning down to go and beat the cops that arrived at the scene cause they're class traitors! They are, but saving the house from the flames maybe takes the priority!!

I'm not a patriotic person. I never was. So my thinking doesn't come from "we must save our country!" type of sentiment. It comes from a "This is my house, the street where I used to walk my dog, the bar where I used to go and chill with friends"

Idk how to end this ramble...if u read it all, damn, ure one cool person. If u have something to say, be nice about it. Have a good day!!

[ballerinacorgi]

Decided to post them individually;;; Princess Justice for the world.

Also...

Fun Fact: You see these little charms on her chest?

Because Adrien always believed in her, the charm he made for her remained as an important object for her! huhuhu cos im cheesy like that

Support me in other media or buy me a ko-fi!

[isolatedbubble]

Romance in MXTX, Priest, and SHL

MXTX: Flower, Wine and Dreamworld

The romance in MXTX's works is like flower that grows in ice and snow; colorful, bright and hopelessly romantic, blossoms in misery and hardships.

It features a distinct "us against the world" mindset, depicting love as the only constant in the world. It's an eternal "dreamworld" detached from worldly matters, the perfect escapism as well as a source of strengths in the face of cruel reality.

Both MDZS and TGCF are a critique of mob mentality.

The contrast between CQL and MDZS is very interesting. While the former ends with LWJ taking charge, and therefore changing the world for the better, the novel ends with wangxian isolating themselves from grand politics and focusing more on helping individuals as recluse. It has an essentially pessimistic attitude towards the morality & intelligence of the collective. 

TGCF takes a slightly more optimistic approach, featuring the crowd being courageous under the right circumstances. However, both works share a similar undertone: putting one’s absolute faith in the collective is dangerous, whereas unconditional trust and devotion can be only found in one-to-one connection

MXTX herself compares MDZS and TGCF to 花间一壶酒 (A cup of wine among flowers), MDZS being the wine and TGCF being flower. She also compares MDZS to 风雪夜归人, the person returning home from snow and wind, and TGCF to 红泥小火炉, a small red furnace.

Priest: Breezing Wind and Burning Iron

The romance in priest's works is more complicated. It's the most gentle in its normal state, when it is rational and collected, in which case it's like the breezing wind, soothing, sweet and light-hearted. It gives the individuals more incentive to achieve their individual and/or societal vision, as well as more reason to value their own lives & well-being.

In Faraway Wanderers, the most distinct feature of WenZhou relationship is how in naturally sync they are, and how comfortable & smooth their dynamic is. They both have past burden, but it doesn’t matter, because they bring simple joy, understanding and happiness in each other’s lives.

In Sha Po Lang and The Guardian, the ML’s lingering love for the MC motivates them to become better version of themselves, to care about others, and to form a holistic vision about bettering society. 

In The Defective, Lin Jingheng(MC) explicitly said that Lu Bixing(ML) is the only meaning in his life. He had little incentive to care about his own life after his revenge plan fell apart. LBX helped him reconnect with his inner idealism, and gave him a reason value his life.

When the passion and fiery energy manifests itself, however, the romance is like burning iron, blood and fire. It isn’t actually toxic or unhealthy, but it's not pure and innocent either; in this case, it strives for something deeper and more intense, never content with the past or the present. The sheer intensity of relationship is like a double-edged sword, walking the fine line between unconditional devotion and dangerous obsession. 

SHL: Spring Water and Healing Open Wounds

The romance in SHL is like "spring water"; it's warm, gentle, nurturing. It breaks through the boundary between individuals to bring the couple closer to each other, taking them back to a utopia of their childhood dream, away from social pressure and responsibility. The theme central to their relationship is “salvation”: how love is able to bring people back to integrity.

Both drama wkx and drama zzs have lots of regret about their past sins and wrongdoings. Four Seasons Manor is essentially a metaphor for purity, acceptance and the safety of childhood home. How to make drama wkx open up and accept this safe harbor as his home is one of the most significant plot-lines of the show.

SHL couple is way more emotionally vulnerable and expressive. A significant part of SHL arc is healing the wounds in an open and honest way. They cuddle and confide in each other way more often, talk about their shameful past and even cry about their regrets in front of one another, which is very rare among MXTX/Priest works.

The heat of the relationship sometimes gets too hot and even burns; in other words, there are constant miscommunications, conflicts and misunderstandings in the relationship. However, they can never let each other go, because it's the only source of warmth left for them in their hopeless lives filled with regrets and guilt.

Similarities and Differences

*Note that this is not a SHL/TYK comparison. TYK is kind of an “unorthodox” priest novel; you will know what I mean if you have read 3+ of her works. 

Relationship Dynamic & Narrative:  

In MXTX’s works, the concept of “romance” itself is divined; and the characters are illustration of the ideal of “undying love”. People are made for one another, to complete one another. Her works use colorful symbolism (silver butterflies, the emperor’s smile, the 3 thousand lanterns, etc.) to depict this romanticized ideal of love. 

For MXTX, the romanticization of “destined love” is one of the most recurring themes of her novels. Therefore, the readers look at their relationship through rose-color glasses. Obsession is usually framed in a jolly & romantic light, and doesn’t feature much tension or stress, and has less negative or unhealthy undertone. 

In most of priest’s works and SHL, soulmates are not born but made, so they have to figure out how their relationship works step by step. Therefore the narrative is less of a “rosy picture”. 

Priest has a habit of using derogatory terms to describe relationships that are mostly healthy, but somewhat “bloody” and edgy, full of excessive passion and obsession. The most common phrase is “爱生忧怖”, a Buddhist term meaning “love results in worry and fear”. 

SHL obviously has to be more subtle in expressing love. That said, drama WenZhou are way more emotionally vulnerable and expressive than their novel counterparts, as well as most Priest & MXTX characters. They have a dramatic falling out once in a while, even towards the end. They barely fit the Chinese definition of Zhiji (to know me/to understand one another), but are “lovers” who are buried deep in their passion instead. 

Past, Future and Evolvement: 

In SHL, characters are encouraged to treasure past impressions that are thrown in figurative “wrappings”, whose luster is derived from age-old experiences (Psychological Types, Carl Jung). In other words, they are encouraged to root their love in a shared past, a Utopia of innocence. 

The contrast between The Defective and Word of Honor is very interesting to observe. Both involve long separation, and the suffering and personality changes hat comes from it.   SHL narrative frames their innocent childhood as something to cling to and return to. Drama WKX is encouraged to accept his identity as Four Seasons Manor disciple because it was part of his childhood past. This is a significant part of drama WenZhou relationship.

In The Defective, the narrative doesn't encourage the couple to dwell on the past that much. On the contrary, the all-knowing AI explicitly discouraged the MC from “comparing past to present”. They are advised to accept changes, however painful it might be, and build a better, more equal dynamic out of it, evolving from one-sided pandering to fighting side-by-side.  

In Priest’s novels, the characters rarely return to something in the past, but look into the future. Change is usually framed as inherently beneficial, albeit usually painful and rocky, the implication being that you need to constantly strive for something better.  

Sha Po Lang is a good example of this, with Gu Yun’s changing attitude towards Chang Geng after he as he matures, gradually showing his intelligence in politics. CG starts referring to GY as Zixi instead of YiFu is also a sign of this change---to see him as equal rather than a parental figure & protector.

The Defective is even more obvious in this regard, with both parties uncomfortable with the change initially, but gradually adjusting to the changes during their 16-year separation. The ML also stops calling MC by his surname “Lin”, as a sign of viewing him as equal. 

In MXTX’s works, change in personality or relationship dynamic is neither framed as painful or good. It just happens. It’s a natural flow that take place when it does. Their relationships are rarely challenged by change. They are objectively at a better place compared to their past, but it’s merely the result of a series of events rather than a deliberate choice or struggle.  

WangXian’s relationship naturally changes over time after WWX’s rebirth, but neither of them really struggles with the change. 

Xie Lian doesn’t even recognize Hua Cheng as the someone from his past, so they start out as friends getting to know each other. 

Salvation and Changing one another: 

Priest herself stated in an interview that she doesn’t believe in the concept of salvation, since people have the inner capacity to be their own savior. Therefore, priest characters usually don’t actively try to change their partner’s morals or personality. Some might be willingly influenced by their partner, but there’s rarely an element of moral condemnation. Even when there is a conflict between different values, the options are 1) to reconcile them by choosing the middle ground 2) to maintain their independence and tackle it with nuance 3) to break up.

On surface level, Mo Du/Silent Reading is about Luo Wenzhou being Fei Du’s salvation. However, as LWZ pointed out himself, Fei Du would’ve been a good person at heart with or without his influence. 

In The Defective, when Lu Bixing mistakenly thought Lin Jingheng stayed in the Eighth Galaxy against his own wishes because of their relationship, and that their priorities are irreconcilable, he even thought about breaking up. Of course he was not serious about it, but this showcased that he would never try to change LJH’s convictions. 

In SHL, however, the concept of salvation is central to the theme. Some find it strange that SHL make drama zzs the more “moral” one of the two, despite his action being more objectively questionable. In fact, the only reason he get framed as more “moral” is that he admitted his fault sooner, and therefore could guide drama wkx’s path back to salvation: to recognize the goodness in people, make peace with external world, to clear his name in Jianghu, and to follow due process with his revenge plan to avoid collateral damages. 

“I tried to change you, but you end up changing me”, said drama ZZS. This relationship dynamic is never present in any of priest’s works I’ve read. Priest characters don’t *try* to change one another. 

Does MXTX believe in salvation? Hard to tell. One could argue that Hua Cheng would have be way more amoral and even immoral if it hadn’t been for XL. This is complicated and is a topic for another time.

However, it is certain that MXTX MCs don’t condemn each other morally. “The orthodox one defending their unorthodox partner in front of the world” is a common wuxia trope, but the way MXTX novels approach it is very different from SHL. 

HuaLian never had a serious falling out about being on different sides. Even when they disagree, they respect each other and love each other exactly the way they are. Hua Cheng didn’t approve of Xie Lian saving Mu Qing, but he didn’t interfere with Xie Lian’s decision. Xie Lian feels responsible for helping Shi Qingxuan in Blackwater arc, but he is perfectly fine with HC helping He Xuan keep secrets. In several cases where they have different values, they are able to make it work with ease.

LWJ never *morally* condemned WWX for his action, and never once objected to WWX practicing demonic cultivation after his rebirth. In fact, LWJ never objected to WWX’s morals; in their previous life he was worried about his safety, and struggled with what to do about certain situations due to his family background, but difference in morality is not an issue for them. 

The “righteous” one does not feel the need to guide their unorthodox partner or to be their salvation with regards to integrity. 

*The similarity & differences part is a bit messy and some points are not fleshed-out. Sorry about that. 

**I don’t claim to have the right interpretation. The lens by which we see different styles of romance is ultimately subjective.