Webcomic / Deer Me

"But which is more entertaining: peaceful moments of happiness...or moments of conflict?"

Deer Me is a webcomic by Sheryl Schopfer, about three anthropomorphic animal roommates and their Slice of Life experiences. The main cast consists of Viana Doesulen, the hotblooded masked doe working at a Bath & Body Works clone; Thomas Millwood, freelance artist and sane-ish resident; and Velvet Hairyson, a horse who’s desired by just about every male she meets. And that's just the beginning.

It was originally at Comic Genesis, but can now be read at http://comic.deerme.net/

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Deer Me provides examples of:

• Abhorrent Admirer: In one of the comics convention arcs, Wombat Wonder creator Jared Raul is revealed to be one of these towards Velvet, although Viana sets him straight. When he tries to get in touch with her again much later, Velvet sets him up with Rasha.
• Almost Kiss: Thomas and Viana in an early Ship Tease moment, that is cut short by Thomas rushing to meet his date.
  • This occurs again in a 2013 strip where Viana and Thomas come close to kiss. But they are then interrupted by Viana's alarm clock, revealing that it was All Just a Dream-much to Viana's annoyance.
• Ambiguously Gay: Viana's poodle employer Cory Carniche, especially when he tells Thomas, "Pity you're straight" (although he immediately covers it up). The creator later confirmed his orientation.
• Animal Stereotypes: Deconstructed big time with Everett, a rat. Apart from poor dieting, his wife Lila finds everything about him wonderful.
• Art Shift: In September 2007, the comic officially began to use color in each strip that came after it. In February 2017 the comic resumed going back to its black and white print before returning once again to color in June of that year.
• Beer Goggles: Subverted and then defied in one strip. Even with beer goggles in effect, Aaron still finds Viana "kinda mean".
• Belligerent Sexual Tension: The dynamic between Viana and Thomas was loaded with this for the longest time, given her temperament and his tendency to antagonize her. It has since cooled.
• Berserk Button: Viana has several, but particular ones tend to be sexist jerks and calling her a "yobo". She's not fond of spiders, either.
• Big Ball of Violence: A common result of aggravating Viana. Two occasions were censored in this manner, to "extreme violence" and to "keep [the] comic family friendly".
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: From time to time, the webcomic presented the comedic life of the creator and her interactions with the characters. There were also times where the character acknowledged their fictional status. However, this trope decreased as the comic went on.
• Bullying a Dragon: Thomas and Velvet are well aware of what Viana will do if they antagonize her. Yet it never stops them. Same goes for the sexist jerkasses that give her crap.
• Chick Magnet/Mr. Fanservice: Thomas gradually grew into this role as the series went on.
  • Despite his lack of success with Velvet, Jared Raul later became one of sorts due to his fanbase and cute mannerisms.
• Children Are a Waste: Viana quite emphatically does not want to have kids ever, in one strip giving her biological clock the Ring-Ring-CRUNCH!! treatment.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: James can be this at times, given his eccentric artist persona.
  • Same goes to Velvet, minus the artist persona factor.
• Comically Missing the Point: The trio receive a letter from someone condemning their webcomic as stupid. Velvet, however, is overjoyed that someone wrote in at all. Viana and Thomas have no idea if she's being serious.
• Crowd Song: Parodied with a group of parents on the day the kids go back to school
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Anyone who challenges or confronts Viana will lose. There's a reason the local gym has a "Don't annoy the masked doe" rule.
• Dada Comics: Viana's favorite comic is Jared Raul's strip, "Wombat Wonder", concerning a wombat that doesn't do anything aside from maybe saying one word in the final panel. One strip is jokingly said to have jumped the shark, when the wombat says the word "yobo", a word Viana doesn't take too kindly to hearing.
• Death Glare: Given her usual temperament, is it surprising Viana is prone to these?
• Disproportionate Retribution: When James and Velvet give a dog a bad haircut at work, Blair (who runs the dog shelter) reacts by locking the duo in kennels after giving off a Death Glare.
• Does Not Like Men: Viana was like this early in the comic, thanks to the constant sexist jerkasses she dealt with. Lampshaded in an earlier strip, when she passes Thomas and Aaron in the middle of a rant against men.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: When Thomas loses his antlers, he tries to act in a stereotypically macho manner, from wearing a shirt reading "MANLY MAN" to declaring that he scratches himself in public.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: It varies, but it's generally played straight or subverted with Viana, whose usual response to Jerkass (male) characters is to beat them up. At times, it's the punchline, such as in the Big Ball of Violence examples. Other times, the characters (usually Thomas, or even Velvet, proving she'll tackle women, too) openly criticize her for tying them in a pretzel knot.
  • It's also shown that in the case of Thomas, he sometimes teases/antagonizes her because it's a way he can express his attraction to her (similar to the common saying about boys teasing a girl they like).
• Drives Like Crazy: Viana really does not like driving. Two strips revealed that she sees the the driver's seat as a spiked torture device, and the road as a narrow path threatened by falling rocks.
• Dude Magnet/Ms. Fanservice: Velvet attracts the attention of just about every secondary guy in the webcomic. Viana once had Velvet accompany her to the pool, to ensure no overcrowding for a summer swim.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: As discussed in Postmodernism below, the webcomic started out as a self-aware gag series that sometimes involved the author and her husband as characters. This is somewhat jarring when compared to the later, more (serious) story-driven direction Deer Me would take.
• Enfante Terrible: Viana's niece Jenni who appears for one story arc to terrorize Thomas and others. That is, before being victimized by Velvet who finds her adorable and dresses her up in lace, scaring the daylights out of her.
• Expressive Shirt: Thomas sometimes wears a smiley face shirt that reflects his mood
• Fangirl: For all of her usual hostility towards just about everyone, Viana is obsessed with Jared Raul, the creator and artist of Wombat Wonder, to the point of glomping him.
• Freudian Trio: Viana (Id), Thomas (Superego), and Velvet (Ego)
• Furry Confusion: There are non-anthropomorphic dogs in a work that also features canine cast members. Also, when Velvet attempts to pounce on her roommates, she notes that her failure at it is probably why horses aren't predators.
  Viana: {regarding her boss and the dog he adopts} Wow, some people and their pets look like each other over time, but you two match immediately.
• Furry Reminder: In one Christmas strip, a brightly glowing Christmas tree entrances Viana and Thomas. Velvet lampshades this with an Aside Glance.
• Green-Eyed Deer: From time to time, Thomas and Viana swap this role. As seen with Viana when Rasha pinched Thomas in the shower, and with Thomas when Viana fawned over Wombat Wonder artist Jared Raul.
• Handicapped Badass: Alicia Muis. Though she`s in a wheelchair she`s as energetic as any kid can be. She once managed to run over a bullies foot repeatedly with her wheelchair off panel in a short amount of time.
• Happily Married: Thondy and Woola Ramson, a sheep couple whose occasional displays of affections disgust Viana. This also definitely applies to James and Blair Keene.
• Hypocritical Humor: Particularly notable during the story arc where Viana and Thomas criticize Velvet for having an obsessive collection of shoes, only for Viana's Wombat Wonder collection to become (once again) apparent, and Thomas to be revealed to have an equally obsessive collection of pens.
• Interspecies Romance: Played for Laughs with Velvet and her various dates, but played straight with James and Blaire Keene (a skunk and rabbit couple). And Rasha Zwi and Jared Raul (a gazelle and wolf couple), as well.
• Irony: Viana, who loathes typically girly stuff, works in a Bath & Body Works clone. One strip further explores it.
  Rasha: It's weird comparing you to your roommates. Velvet is an advice columnist. Thomas is an artist. They don't generally deal with people face-to-face, but are social animals. You're the one who regularly deals with people in person, and you hate people.
  Viana: They'd hate people, too, if they worked with the public face-to-face everyday.
  {This is followed by a customer trying to get a full refund on an almost empty bottle of shampoo.}
• Jaw Drop: Thomas has a rather mournful one when his antlers fall off.
• Jerkass: There's the otter who fights with Viana at the first comic convention shown in the webcomic. In his second appearance, all of the otter's dialogue consists of insults and criticisms toward everyone, resulting in him getting booted out by everyone who tries to offer him a ride.
  • Thomas' now ex-girlfriend, Rasha Zwi, had such moments, as well. It eventually led to him breaking up with her.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Viana, as well as Velvet on occasion
• The Lad-ette: Arguably Viana, considering her contempt for anyone or anything that'd make her seem girly, and her tendency to fight and beat up others
• Magic Realism: The webcomic is a pretty mundane narrative for the most part. Then you get to the story arc with Viana's wicked niece, who has a demon and magical powers.
• Nightmare Face: Some of Viana's angry faces can be this.
• Noodle Incident: In one strip, a panicky James tells Blair to tell any cops that he doesn't "know anything about the shoe polish, rope, and the Jell-O statue of the mayor". And Thomas soon tells Blair he saw James on the news again.
• Only Sane Man: Thomas usually assumes this role out of the three main characters, but he too is Not So Above It All.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: When Viana is unusually quiet and sullen, rather than angry and confrontational, during the "Viana is Mopey" arc, her friends start to worry.
• Opposites Attract: The trope becomes rather blatant between Viana and Thomas, given the former's aggression and the latter's usual cool head.
  • Also turns out to be the reason James didn't hook up with Velvet during the "Crushed Velvet" storyline. He became interested in Blair, who often plays the Straight Woman to his shenanigans, and found Velvet to be so similar that it felt like "dating himself".
• Pair the Spares: After Thomas dumps her, Velvet sets up Rasha with Jared. They seem to hit it off quite well, since they became engaged and later married.
• Postmodernism: The webcomic started out very self-aware, with the characters acknowledging that they're in a comic and addressing the fourth wall. Sometimes, it would even go onto the other side of the fourth wall, such as the example described in You Do Not Want To Know below. However, as the webcomic became more story-oriented, these elements gradually faded.
• Punny Name: Several characters, such as Viana Doesulen and her sheep friend, Woola Ramson
• Puppy-Dog Eyes: Viana has mastered the use of the "Doe Eyes" to the point that anyone else trying it on her will fail. Devan and Alicia tried this out when the doe babysat for them, hurting their eyes in the process.
• Rage Against the Author: Here and there, Sheryl does something to agitate Viana-such as saying "yobo", or making Viana look stereotypically girly-to the point of threatening her with bodily harm.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Viana gives an epic one towards the aforementioned Jerkass otter when he finally pushes her too far.
  Viana: As for you, you irritating, whiny, obnoxious, annoying, overbearing, selfish, self-centered, arrogant, and rude jerk, start appreciating when people do you favors or get used to being left on the side of the road! And don't try to give me attitude! I have more attitude just deciding whether I want syrup or jam on my pancakes!
• Ring-Ring-CRUNCH!: Parodied with Viana smashing an alarm clock reading "BIOLOGICAL CLOCK".
• Rousseau Was Right: Briefly explored in one strip. Viana vents to Velvet about how people only seem to care about themselves. A passer-by then rushes to Viana to return her glove, which gets her to reconsider.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: Explored and ultimately deconstructed in one story arc. Velvet and Rasha give Viana a makeover, to make her attractive by their standards. She naturally isn't pleased, but Thomas becomes more openly attracted to her. Despite this, Viana returns to her usual look, and admits to Woola she doesn't like the idea of Thomas being interested only because she dresses a certain way.
• Shipper on Deck: Velvet tries every so often to be this for Thomas and Viana. This is lampshaded in one of the later "Dog Daze" plot arc strips, when Velvet notes that not all of her matchmaking efforts have panned out, gesturing towards Thomas and Viana. Velvet also later pairs Rasha with Jared Raul, when he tries to rekindle with her once again. However, she later wonders if she should stop trying, given Thomas and Viana's initial inability to achieve a Relationship Upgrade.
  • After Viana finds out about Rasha broke up with Thomas, Velvet finally puts her foot down and tells Thomas to ask her out. He agrees and sets off to find her. Unfortunately, the final shot of that scene has Viana making out with Aaron.
• Shout-Out: For a couple of strips, there are references to Sin City. The author briefly freaks out when her husband briefly looks like Kevin.
  • The punchline of one Wombat Wonder strip has the titular wombat channeling Michigan J. Frog.
  • Woola once partakes in a familiar motorcycle escapist fantasy.
  • One of the dog adoption scenes shows a more anthropomorphized version of a familiar orange cat adopting an Odie-like dog. Although considering how Garfield tends to treat Odie...
• Springtime for Hitler: In the Babysitting Horror story arc, Vianna lets her friends kids watch a disturbing horror movie with her after being tricked into babysitting them (as she thinks this will guarantee getting her out of any future babysitting tasks). However, Devan and Alicia end up enjoying the narmy film while Vianna ends up being scared and traumatized after the viewing (and ends up watching the kids again at the end of the arc).
• Tempting Fate: During one strip, Velvet wonders if Thomas' antlers are supposed to fall off during a season of disuse. Thomas snootily says that, while it may happen to wild animals, it won't happen to him as a "civilized cartoon person". Cue the aforementioned, mournful Jaw Drop.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl: Viana and Velvet, respectively
• Ungrateful Bastard: The Jerkass otter chews out Thomas when the latter comes back after Viana left him at a rest stop, prompting Thomas to kick him out again. The process repeats itself when he travels with Jared Raul.
• UST: Thomas and Viana, full stop. It was finally resolved in October 2019, when Aaron gets Thomas to reveal his secret art project of and feelings for Viana.
• Verbal Backspace: When Thomas announces he's moving out, Viana immediately rises and declares he can't leave because she needs him. Viana then realizes what she just said, and hurriedly adds, "toooo...offset the cost of rent here". Of course, Velvet observes this with a smirk.
• Visual Pun: On the webcomic's first anniversary, Viana says that they'll take the time to read fan letters, and asks Velvet for the first one. Velvet produces a capital letter A with a fan blade.
• We Want Our Jerk Back!: Humorously discussed during the "Viana is Mopey" arc where Thomas and Velvet question if Viana not screaming and threatening them with violence is a bad thing. She eventually returns to her usual self.
• What Does He See in Her?: One had to wonder why Thomas ever dated Rasha, considering how much of a Jerkass she was towards him, and how little they had in common. Eventually, Thomas dumped her after getting fed up with her Jerkass tendencies.
• When She Smiles: Parodied on occasion with Viana, such as when she questions why Thomas wants to involve her in his hobbies rather than Rasha.
• Will They or Won't They?: Viana and Thomas' situation in the webcomic, to a T. It's clear the attraction is mutual, but they initially think the other wouldn't be interested. (And, in Thomas' case, he fears Viana would clobber him, if he tried anything.) The "Pouncing" story arc comes close to resolving this with a heavy bout of Ship Tease, but the moment is killed by Rasha. Eventually, Aaron himself prompts Thomas to resolve the matter once and for all.
• Woman Scorned: Remember how the local gym has a "Don't annoy the masked doe" rule?
• Yaoi Fangirl: Velvet once blackmails Viana into letting her pretty the doe up again by threatening to make her Wombat Wonder Slash Fic public knowledge. Schopfer also illustrated a non-canon picture of Thomas and Aaron making out for the Facebook Kiss-In, with Viana dreamily admiring the scene.
• You Do Not Want To Know: Parodied with a "really terrible tree" that Thomas recalls from one of his family's Christmases, which is always censored due to "excessive pathos" and assurances that it's best unseen. Then it cuts to the creator's husband criticizing her for cheating the readers by not showing them this horrid tree. She shows him in a room we can't see, and he quickly agrees that she should not show anyone that tree.

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