fandomhigh | Cryptozoology, Monday period 2

"Today's creature is a 'not deer'." Jon grimaced, but it was hardly the cryptid's fault its name brought unpleasant memories. "If it exists, it's in the Appalachian Mountains, predominantly in Tennessee. As the name suggests...or as it doesn't, I suppose, it's described as looking like a deer from a distance, until you realize that something is off. Its eyes are said to be on the front of its face rather than the side, more like a predator. Some accounts give it multiple pairs of eyes, but most claim only two. It may have additional joints or be double-jointed, and its limbs are longer than a typical deer. It's aggressive and has no fear of humans."

He shook his head. "Which you would think meant we had plenty of pictures of them, but you would be wrong. Despite them being unafraid to approach and only dangerous if threatened, we have no conclusive pictures of them. People have apparently been chased up trees by them, and yet still not thought to snap a picture."

So yeah. Take that as you would.

"Leading theories involve deformed or mutated deer, a deer with chronic wasting disease, which would make its movements difficult and its behavior odd, or, strangely enough, a kangaroo. I am not entirely certain why people think a kangaroo would be mistaken for a deer or would be wandering the Appalachian Mountains in the first place, but there you go. So, let's discuss."

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Deer, weird deer, diseased deer, alien, or...kangaroo, apparently.

Feel free to draw a picture of what you think it would look like.

"I don't disbelieve anything that people say they see in the Appalachians," Illyana replied bluntly as she sketched something with long, spindly legs that were all wrong. "There's a reason I stuck to the interstate when I was hitchhiking through there."

"Do not get off the road."

Jon nodded and tried not to look too closely at that sketch. "So you think it is likely dangerous, whatever it is."

"The thing to keep in mind about the Appalachians is that they're old," Yana answered as she doodled. "--and they have what Loch Ness lacks, which is viable undisturbed habitat. Wouldn't be the first time someone opened up a mineshaft at one point on to something that should have stayed underground."

She gave a little shrug. "And even if they aren't real, it's an easy area to get lost. Not going out at night is a good idea in general."

"Yes, I...I'm familiar with people setting loose things they shouldn't," Jon said. "But also with getting lost, which is, as you say, reason enough to be careful. I should like to hear your thoughts about the not-deer, though. Plausible doesn't necessarily mean real, after all."

"If I had to rank the not-deer on the sliding scale of 'reality,' the they're definitely plausible, even possible, but probable as their own 'thing' and not just a sick deer?" she mused. "--Given that they're still discovering new species of bats and frogs, sure, I'd place a bet on probable. Not a big bet unless it was in a universe that had magic or mutation being common, but I'd still put five dollars on that wager."

Jon nodded. "Right. A world without magic would be much less likely to have them, I suppose."

“The musical culture is most interesting, but for sure. I’ve heard it is very terrifying to be in the woods there at night.”

"I didn't hear too much local music on my trip, but what I did hear, I liked," Illyana admitted. "I'm more of a Cats Laughing or Lila Cheney fan."

"But I've discovered one constant metric for how safe you are in the woods -- if all the sounds stop; the birds, the bugs, everything goes quiet, then you're in very real danger."

“That makes a lot of sense!” Billie said. “And I am unfamiliar with Lila Cheney, but I will most definitely check their music out!”

Cryptozoology, Monday period 2

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