Stop Making Characters With Important Historical Backstories Immortal Or Completely Changing Their Backgrounds

stop making characters with important historical backstories immortal or completely changing their backgrounds so they're "young"

charles and erik keep their original birthdates but continue to fight, argue, and age as the years go on eventually figuring out who they are and that they love each other in the early 2010s they foster children (there are so many mutants who have estranged parents)

being disturbingly powerful, they live into their early 100s, and one dies first with the other following a few years later. their children, of all various ages, must deal with the power vacuum and legacies of their foster parents. plus all the issues that come with living in the 2020s/2030s- climate crisis, current wars, rise of authoritarianism, etc.

see how easy it was to keep their backstories and let them age? see how there are new problems that naturally arise? Marvel could never

they're finally letting Clark age and for Jon to replace him, and Bruce is starting to act more like the middle aged dad he is, with Damian being his obvious successor. of course there are always going to be Classic Young Guys Bruce And Clark comics for Money Purposes, but the main timeline seems to finally be accepting that Bruce and Clark are in their 40/50s

full kudos to the writers for letting Wally, Starfire, Raven, Donna, and Victor age in the new Titans series. I hope they continue to have characters age up- they've made a lot of improvements in the last few years

stop making characters with important historical backstories immortal or completely changing their backgrounds so they're "young"

charles and erik keep their original birthdates but continue to fight, argue, and age as the years go on eventually figuring out who they are and that they love each other in the early 2010s they foster children (there are so many mutants who have estranged parents)

being disturbingly powerful, they live into their early 100s, and one dies first with the other following a few years later. their children, of all various ages, must deal with the power vacuum and legacies of their foster parents. plus all the issues that come with living in the 2020s/2030s- climate crisis, current wars, rise of authoritarianism, etc.

see how easy it was to keep their backstories and let them age? see how there are new problems that naturally arise? Marvel could never

or that wasps actually eat many other species also considered pests, like army worms, which are invasive to the southeastern US and we are so lucky that the native wasp species eat them

i've actually had neighbors of mine spray their yard for wasps and what did they get right after? an invasion of army worms that did not spread to any other yard

back in my childhood home, we had a wasp nest in our chimney so every morning before school I'd come downstairs, kill a few wasps, send a count to the family gc, then catch the bus. we lost count after 100. and still I wouldn't try to get rid of any wasps outside my house. we are in their home, their environment, the least we can do is deal with them

we shouldn't agree with erik or charles at the start. they are both pushed to extremes in their ideologies: charles looks for "cures" and only shows off "pretty" mutants, while erik believes in Homo superior and that humans are inherently evil

it is only after fighting with one another that they realize the problems with their own ideologies. charles stops looking to cure all mutants, erik realizes that humans are not a monolith. every time they compromise, their ideologies become closer and closer

eventually, as old men, they finally agree. they create genosha, a haven for mutants, but reach out to other countries and push for progress

both of them are cautionary tales: a world without compromise, without exceptions, is not realistic or kind. only time can teach this, which is why they reconcile late in their lives- the path to a safer, kinder future always lies somewhere in between extremes

so well made!

Phew. This one took, uh… a bit longer than expected due to other projects both irl and art-wise, but it’s finally here. The long-awaited domestic animal infographic! Unfortunately, I didn’t have enough space to cover every single domestic animal (I’m so sorry, reindeer and koi, my beloveds) but I tried to include as many of the “major ones” as possible.

I made this chart in response to a lot of the misunderstandings I hear concerning domestic animals, so I hope it’s helpful!

Further information I didn’t have any room to add or expand on:

🐈 “Breed” and “species” are not synonyms! Breeds are specific to domesticated animals. A Bengal Tiger is a species of tiger. A Siamese is a breed of domestic cat.

🐀 Different colors are also not what makes a breed. A breed is determined by having genetics that are unique to that breed. So a “bluenose pitbull” is not a different breed from a “rednose pitbull”, but an American Pitbull Terrier is a different breed from an American Bully! Animals that have been domesticated for longer tend to have more seperate breeds as these differing genetics have had time to develop.

🐕 It takes hundreds of generations for an animal to become domesticated. While the “domesticated fox experiment” had interesting results, there were not enough generations involved for the foxes to become truly domesticated and their differences from wild foxes were more due to epigenetics (heritable traits that do not change the DNA sequence but rather activate or deactivate parts of it; owed to the specific circumstances of its parents’ behavior and environment.)

🐎 Wild animals that are raised in human care are not domesticated, but they can be considered “tamed.” This means that they still have all their wild instincts, but are less inclined to attack or be frightened of humans. A wild animal that lives in the wild but near human settlements and is less afraid of humans is considered “habituated.” Tamed and habituated animals are not any less dangerous than wild animals, and should still be treated with the same respect. Foxes, otters, raccoons, servals, caracals, bush babies, opossums, owls, monkeys, alligators, and other wild animals can be tamed or habituated, but they have not undergone hundreds of generations of domestication, so they are not domesticated animals.

🐄 Also, as seen above, these animals have all been domesticated for a reason, be it food, transport, pest control, or otherwise, at a time when less practical options existed. There is no benefit to domesticating other species in the modern day, so if you’ve got a hankering for keeping a wild animal as a pet, instead try to find the domestic equivalent of that wild animal! There are several dog breeds that look and behave like wolves or foxes, pigeons and chickens can make great pet birds and have hundreds of colorful fancy breeds, rats can be just as intelligent and social as a small monkey (and less expensive and dangerous to boot,) and ferrets are pretty darn close to minks and otters! There’s no need to keep a wolf in a house when our ancestors have already spent 20,000+ years to make them house-compatible.

🐖 This was stated in the infographic, but I feel like I must again reiterate that domestic animals do not belong in the wild, and often become invasive when feral. Their genetics have been specifically altered in such a way that they depend on humans for optimal health. We are their habitat. This is why you only really see feral pigeons in cities, and feral cats around settlements. They are specifically adapted to live with humans, so they stay even when unwanted. However, this does not mean they should live in a way that doesn’t put their health and comfort as a top priority! If we are their world, it is our duty to make it as good as possible. Please research any pet you get before bringing them home!

reading older detective comics starts out "aw man I wish this writer worked on [insert modern series here]" and "art styles in comics have evolved so much" to "really? that's how we're treating our female characters? dear god" and "Cynthia Reynolds? she's so sweet why don't I know her from- ohh yeah nevermind"