#but if i were you

[theromaboo]

There is one part in Agrippina: The Most Extraordinary Woman of the Roman World that I really dislike.

So I get to the part where Britannicus dies. I'm wondering what the book would say about it. I know Emma Southon used Anthony Barrett's biography of Agrippina, and he argued in favour of death by natural causes (he was also the person who said that Britannicus' body darkening after death was a sign that he died of tetanoid epilepsy). So I was interested to see what she would say about it.

And then I get to it, and I'm very very disappointed.

There is, of course, always a question hanging over any imperial murder: was it really murder? Some people have tried to argue that Britannicus really did die of epilepsy because his body turned dark after death, a sign of death by tetanoid epilepsy, and epilepsy was not uncommon in the Julio-Claudian family tree. Those arguments, however, tend to overlook the fact that tetanoid epilepsy is a model for inducing seizures in rats, not an actual form of epilepsy.

What.

WHAT!?

The main problem is in the last sentence. Where it is said that tetanoid epilepsy is "a model for inducing seizures in rats and not an actual form of epilepsy."

That is completely wrong, but I understand where the confusion probably came from. I've done some googling and it appears that there is a tetanus toxin model of epilepsy. So I'm assuming that there was a mix-up here. When you hear tetanoid, you think of tetanus.

Tetanoid epilepsy is a very very outdated term. It was already obsolete at least 20 years before Anthony Barrett used it, so I'm wondering why he used it at all. But, a long time ago, tetanoid epilepsy was considered an "actual form of epilepsy." It's just that nowadays we use different words to describe what used to be described as tetanoid epilepsy.

I don't like how the argument was so quickly dismissed because of a mix-up. Yes, there are some pretty solid counterarguments against Anthony Barrett, but this one is not one of them.

I'm planning to maybe talk to Emma Southon on Twitter (I mean X) about this. She has her username at the back of the book.

Anyway, I just want you guys to know about this because I'd feel sad and blame myself if any of you read this book and got misinformed about Britannicus.

[soaptaculart]

Postcanon Farcille indulgence

[great-and-small]

Apparently the local university’s undergraduate entomology course sends students to catch insect specimens at the same place I like to go birdwatching, which explains why I saw three enormous frat looking dudes with tiny bug nets and overheard one emphatically say “bro BRO I told you we already have enough lepidopterans”

[sylvies-kablooie]

i do unironically think the best artists of our generation are posting to get 20 notes and 3 reblogs btw. that fanfic with like 45 kudos is some of the best stuff ever written. those OCs you carry around have some of the richest backstories and worldbuilding someone has ever seen. please do not think that reaching only a few people when you post means your art isn't worth celebrating.

[bookwyrminspiration]

I can behave normally around books

[ottosbigtop]

I think we as a society should bring back brotps. I think we should be weirder about characters being friends the same way people are weird about ships. Make those two characters who interacted once or twice besties. Make it difficult for them to get rid of each other even if they want to. Go nuts

[beepboopappreciation]

Is this anything

[bakedbeanchan]

random fire nation diplomat #492 will never understand the complex and fucked up relationship between the water siblings like I do 🙄

[beaft]

a small child came into the café today and asked to buy a chocolate truffle. he tapped a credit card on the reader and it did not go through, mainly because it was not a credit card but in fact a junior cinema pass. i gently explained he couldn't use that to buy things in shops and he looked so gutted that i was like "...but just this once you can have it for free, don't tell my boss though" he said thank you and walked out with his truffle and as he went i heard him chuckling to himself and saying "yes..... yes!!!!!" like the sickos comic

[lesbianralzarek]

"life doesnt get better, you just get stronger" does NOT include ages 11-17. life does in fact just get better from there. those years are dogshit. like, you do get stronger but its mostly just a factor of not being 11-17 anymore. positive thinking helps but it doesnt fix whatevers going on at 15, you have to brute force through that one raw

[eonars]

Last summer I was on a very expedited acid come up at a music festival and my entirely unaware mother thousands of miles away was at costco and texted me incredulous at how they already had halloween stuff out for sale in the summer but all I saw was a message preview of a giant 10 foot tall skeleton with glowing eyes and "can u believe it??"

[doom-dreaming]

"when i was your age, i was working three jobs to help support my family" and "when i was in college i was sleeping on a mattress on the floor and living off of soup"

YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE HAD TO DO THAT. NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO DO THAT. I DON'T KNOW HOW TO EXPLAIN TO YOU THAT THIS ISN'T A CHARACTER-BUILDING LESSON, IT'S JUST BAD

[dameronalone]

oh gee discord should I try adding numbers? should I try that???? should I try adding numbers to the end of my username so that it's individualized and only mine???? should I try adding numbers??????????

[goldiipond]

if there's anything i've learned from the current state of social media it's that this is one of the worst possible notifications you can receive upon opening an app

[fanaticalthings]

Bruce Wayne except he texts like an ominous boomer

wdym you can't tell if he's threatening them?

Based on this post by @mysterycitrus :)

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Bonus:

Happy birthday, Tim 🥰

[christadeguchi]

"i would know her by reformed body alone... i would know her in death"

also... there's official art