I have cry, and never have felt better after. I don’t think I have ever found a movie that feel so much like a blanquet, so sweet and cozy, and so full of love
yes, I use generative AI as part of my creative process
no, I don't use generative AI as part of my creative process
Voting ended onDec 29, 2025
I should probably define what falls under the umbrella of generative AI here but I kinda don't feel like it, but like. using an image generator to make references. brainstorming by talking with chatgpt. generating images of characters as inspiration. all that kinda jazz counts. as of course does full-on using genAI to make your stuff.
remember that your vote is anonymous, so you don't have to out yourself on one side or the other when you share. I'm just curious what the spread is actually like when there's some anonymity. if you're wondering my own opinion it's in my original tags, but I'm attempting not to be judgemental in this accompanying text.
Happy Halloween! This year, let me tell you about the Not Deer -- and why it is, in fact, just a deer
You've probably seen it if you've been on the internet at all these past couple years. "Something" pretending to be a white-tailed deer, allegedly haunting the Appalachian Mountains. You can always tell, because there's something just a little -- or very -- off about it. Usually seen on grainy, nighttime trail camera images.
But the reality is, these behaviors, looks, and quirks all have an explanation. I'd like to demystify deer for both sides here -- they're far more complex than many people give them credit for, and far weirder, naturally, than anyone wants to admit.
So, here's some normal deer behaviors/appearances that have become "not deer" tropes:
Standing/walking on hind legs
You've probably seen this one. Whitetails do this all the time, mostly when they're duking it out with their front hooves or reaching for leaves/apples/acorns/etc. This is also a common rutting (breeding) behavior for bucks like this, which will rub their antlers and faces on branches to mark them.
Pale eyes
(source)
Yes, whitetails can have naturally pale or blue eyes, especially if they have leucism (a lack of melanin). It's a rare, but normal gene, which can be more pronounced in inbred populations. (Alternatively, blindness or cataracts can cause the eyes to turn blue or milky.)
Long necks and legs
Deer have long necks, some longer than others, which they extend when they're watching something. Like people, there's variation in their proportions. This also goes for other "not deer" features, like eyes being "too far apart" or "too close together."
Age is also a factor. This one in particular is an older, "teenage" fawn, which is why its face is small and round while its neck is awkwardly long.
Prolonged eye contact, standing completely still
Yes, I've seen this called a "not deer" thing. What these guys are known for doing in the middle of the road.
This is a defense mechanism. The deer is watching you because you're a predator, and it's trying not to be seen.
Growling, hissing, screaming
I can understand this one a little better. Usually, a buck will grunt during the rut to tend to does and show off his prowess. There's various sounds he can make, including growling or clicking noises. However, rarely, any deer might growl in aggression or as a defense. This is scary, not because it's secretly a monster, but because it's about to beat you up with its antlers or sharp little hooves.
As for hissing, whitetails will blow air sharply through their noses when alarmed to alert nearby herd members of danger. This sound might also seem similar to a scream from far away. (Bucks will "snort wheeze" during rut, as well, but it's far softer.)
Eating bones, carrion, or live birds
Deer need calcium to produce antlers or milk, thus will chew on bones from various animals, including other deer and, in one study, humans (TW for human remains). They'll also occasionally feed on carcasses, eggs, and live birds/rodents if it's a lean winter (or just for extra protein). Many ungulates do this, including domestic cattle and horses!
Now, sometimes a deer doesn't act or look right, and it is a cause for concern because it's ill or injured. Here are some abnormal behaviors and appearances, and what might cause them (TW for sick, emaciated deer):
Swollen face or body
(source)
Swelling in the muzzle may be caused by bacterial infections or issues with the teeth. Other causes of swelling include abscesses, like the one on this doe's side, internal injuries, or trauma.
This deer in particular may also have chronic wasting disease (CWD), which is an always-fatal degenerative disease that attacks the deer's brain.
Lack of fear
This could either be due to habituation to humans or illness. Don't approach a "friendly" deer, and don't give it food, especially if it exhibits any of the following symptoms.
Excessive salivation, weakness, emaciation
(source)
These are signs of severe illness, like chronic wasting disease (CWD) as seen here, or rabies, which is transmissible to people and extremely dangerous. This is not a cryptid, this is an animal that needs help -- call wildlife services if you see one like it!
Listlessness, lack of balance, running in circles
Potentially due to a vehicle collision, but also symptoms of CWD and especially rabies. Either way, call wildlife services.
If you got this far, thank you for reading! If anyone wants to add a trope I missed, feel free. Hopefully it helps normalize some very cool, if not freaky, aspects of these animals.
Here’s an ANIMORPHS animation pitch I made last summer! Created it for a lot of different personal and professional reasons, but now I’m happy to share!
there’s been a really bizarre trend in the past couple years of TERFS/radfems getting pissed off about biology posts. posts about the bilateral gyandromorph cardinal (one half male, one half female), posts about older hens beginning to crow and act like roosters, posts about animals being animals. and it’s hilarious because they interpret these posts as some kind of agenda. no! these are animals not choosing any gender identity or sexuality but being born into bodies they have no control over. weird how that happens in nature huh
Do you want to hear about white-throated sparrows?!
Of course you do, they’re fantastic. They come in two models, one with tan head stripes and one with white head stripes. But the gene that controls stripe color also has a bunch of other effects! It’s a supergene!
To briefly sum up a grueling amount of fieldwork by people who were probably not getting paid nearly enough, basically the tan-stripes are nurturers and the white-stripes are fighters, across both males and females. White-stripes chase away intruders more, tan-stripes bring more food to the nest. Tan-stripe females bring more bugs to their chicks than white-stripes, white-stripe females are more aggressive and sing more.
There is a reason Jordan Peterson picked lobsters, not sparrows, to get all MRA about, because the sparrow ladies are ALL about the tan-striped males. Sexy nurturing tan-stripe males are immediately grabbed up by the more aggressive white-stripe females (who are also dead sexy if you’re a sparrow.) Then the remaining birds pair off, so you get tan and white couples reproducing in virtually all cases—nurturing male with aggressive female, hyper-aggressive male with hyper-nurturing female.*
And this is good!** Because it turns out that they can have a tough time if they don’t mate across stripes—white x white sparrows often come out undersized if they come out at all. There was some cool recent genetic sequencing and one particular chromosome is way funky, inverted, and scrambled in the white-stripes. So now every white-stripe has a funky chromosome and a normal one, and every tan-stripe has two normal ones.***
This is all really unique and means that white-throated sparrows effectively have four sexes, because they now only reproduce with a member of the opposite stripe and sex chromosome, and their offspring may be any one of the four sexes. The stripes have essentially become a second sex chromosome.
The geneticists involved think the funky chromosome probably showed up as a weird import from somebody gettin’ jiggy with another sparrow species. Presumably this created a hypersexy female whose white head stripes brought all the boys to the yard, and very unusually, that bred true.
Is that cool or what?!
*No word on whether there is a resulting sparrow tradwife media genre.
**Leaving aside the impact on the emotional health of the non-sexy sparrows.
**A population solely of tan-stripes can reproduce safely, they’re just not that into each other.
I reblogged this a minute ago but I’m going to reblog it again, because I want to add another non-binary bird species: the ruff.
First of all, look at it.
That’s a male ruff, specifically. You can see how they get their name. The females don’t have that fancy collar. They just look like sandpipers, which is what they are.
Like other sandpipers, these are wading birds, but they live in wet meadows and marshes instead of by the seashore. During the breeding season they gather together and the males hold territories, called leks, in which they display to attract females.
At least, some of them do.
Some male ruffs do not display in leks. They have plainer, often white, neck ruffs, and they sort of wander around the display grounds courting the females wherever. The interesting thing is that the territorial males tolerate this. Research suggests it’s because females are more interested in a display ground that has both kinds of males. The ladies like variety, it seems.
But it gets even more complicated. In 2006, a third male form was discovered. This form is extremely rare, and doesn’t have male display plumage at all. It looks just like a female ruff in the field. The other birds, however, can tell the difference, judging by their behavior. These female mimics travel with other males when the sexes split for the winter, and during homosexual mountings (which are common, as they are in many other animals), they often top.
What’s really interesting about these ‘cryptic males’, or faeders, is that they are apparently super sexy. Seriously. Females and males both prefer mating with them. And it’s believed that, like the satellite males, the presence of a faeder attracts more females to the area, which benefits all three forms.
And the thing about these forms is they are fundamentally different from one another. The plumage and behavior differences last throughout a bird’s life, and are determined by genetics. They are functionally three different genders - one of which shows natural intersex characteristics. All three can breed with females, and females are more interested in breeding when all three are present. They know that diversity is the good shit. Which makes them much, much smarter than TERFs.
Good morning and happy pride, bird lovers! Please enjoy these funky facts and feel free to send in your favorite bird sex and/or gender facts this month!
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