#so excited for this one!

[theside-b]

the individual posters for FIRST NOTE OF LOVE premiering august 12!

[alunimoon]

Glazing another batch 🖌️

[noisilyeclecticmilkshake]

Nothing but Sleep. (1)

pt. 2

“Come on Whumpee, you know we have a big day today. We’ve been planning this all week.”

Caretaker was attempting to gently pull the covers off of Whumpee, but they just groaned and death rolled into another layer of sheets. They were always like this, early to bed, late to rise. Their dreamwalk ability meant their mind was drawn to sleep, and, after one night out with Sidekick, they had found it was also extra-sensitive to not getting enough sleep, something they cursed Sidekick for when they had to go to work the next day. It also meant getting them up for breakfast required 12 workers and a bulldozer. Or, if you happened to have one on hand, Sidekick did pretty well too, so Caretaker went to get her.

“Okay, Whumpee, you have ‘till I count to three, then I’m rolling you out like a sleeping bag!” Sidekick was the very opposite of Whumpee in regards to sleep, she would party ‘till midnight and still be up to make breakfast for everyone the next morning. She also seemed to have no sympathy for Whumpee’s sleeping plight.

“One” Sidekick grabbed the edge of the blanket Whumpee was sleeping in.

“Two.” Her superstrength meant this would not be an issue. Whumpee had to know this, but maybe they thought Sidekick was bluffing.

“Three!” Sidekick was not bluffing.

Whumpee fell out of their cozy blanket burrito with a flop, but awake. “Ohh. Whyyyy? Why can you never wake me up normal?”

“Because you sleep like a dead brick, my very beloved friend.” Sidekick was beaming a smile and Caretaker just laughed, his ability to see auras meant the room was split in half with a purple discontentment and a light orange excitement. 

“I love you guys. Never change.” And Caretaker watched their auras even out a bit, each color adopting a pinkish tint, embarrassed. “Come on. It’s breakfast time, get dressed Whumpee, and don’t even think about getting back in bed. 

“UGH! Fine.” And Whumpee got up. It was a big day after all, they were going with Hero to scope out Villain’s base. 

-

“We’re going over the plan one more time.” Hero had everything planned, even managed to get a blueprint, it was spread out on the table in front of them, covered with marks and notations, a testament to the overtime hours they had put in preparing through the week.

“Whumpee?” 

Whumpee was holding the largest size energy drink they could steal out of Sidekick’s room. It was something they rarely drank on account of thoroughly enjoying sleep, but everyone had put in extra hours and it was getting to Whumpee a bit.

“I stay outside, radio for any trouble I see entering or exiting the base.” It was perfect for them, they could fight, defend themself if need be, but they didn’t have a combat-useful power like Sidekick or Hero.

“Sidekick?” 

“Break down that door! Subdue anyone in our way!” It was said with the cheerful imposition of pacifist.

“Gently.” It was more a warning than a statement, judging by Hero’s tone.

“Yes, Yes. Of course. Gently superstrength subdue anyone in our way.”

“Good, and you’re not breaking down any doors. We don’t want to give Villain a reason to go after anyone, so far we’ve stayed off his radar. Hopefully it can stay that way. I am going to portal myself, Sidekick, and Caretaker inside the building. Remember, this is a recon mission, if we see anyone, we take note, and make plans to go back, we do not engage. There aren’t enough of us to do anything other than what we plan. Understood?”

“Yes.” The team said it in unison. They had heard too many stories of too many groups destroyed trying to save people they were unprepared for, how the captive got team members caught, and, against some particularly bad villains, killed. They even heard mention of minions pretending to be hostages and prisoners, not that anyone would ever not fall for it, you just can’t assume that kind of thing. Not without a ‘what if’ for the rest of your life.

“Caretaker?” Hero’s voice was the same, even, demanding tone it always was in mission mode, but now with a tinge of grimness.

“I am going to be on the lookout for auras. Stop us from running into the Villain’s people.”

“Okay. Let’s go.”

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Expertise can't help you here.

[why-animals-do-the-thing]

The Exotic Animal Photo Reference Repository is live!

You can find it at: https://www.animal-photo-references.com!

Here's how this repository works: all photos were taken by me, a human, at zoos, aquariums, sanctuaries, and other facilities with animals in human care. There is no AI involved in the photo editing or creation and there never will be. Right now there's 56 species on the site; my catalog has over 300 and I will be uploading the rest of them as fast as I can.

Artists creating derivative or transformative works (without AI) have blanket permission to use these references. Yes, even for work you're going to sell.

All other usage/reproduction requires permission, but assume I'm friendly and please do ask! That's educators, researchers, the media, people who need images for a school presentation, etc. This is just to retain copyright/control in case they're scraped/reused unethically - it doesn't meant I don't want folk to have access! So please do reach out via the contact form on the repository website, I don't bite and I'm most likely going to say yes.

Please don't repost the repository photos to your own blogs: I've created @animalphotorefs as a dedicated blog to share photos from the site, and of course I'll reblog a lot of it here! That again just helps with retaining copyright and sourcing of the images. If you really want to repost some for a specific purpose, please just ask me first!

Also, folks, this project has no funding. It's just me and my camera.

There will never be a paywall on the site - I believe resources like this absolutely must be free for everyone to access. So please, please, please support the repository if you use it. Want sneak peeks at photos, cute videos I take, or to help choose what I photograph and what gets posted first? You can do that through Patreon (and there's a free trial on the most interactive tier!) If you'd like to just drop a tip, I've also set up a Ko-Fi.

I can't wait to hear what everyone thinks of the repository.

To whet your thirst for cute photos, here's an Indian rhinoceros contemplating a goose.

[auckie]

https://x.com/MorePerfectUS/status/1765391777580912958?s=20

PLEASE GD IF YOU LOVE AND WANT TRAINS

[vvenuspng]

💥📣 BLITZO SUX

[hansoeii]

Ghosts! 👻

[notherpuppet]

@/coma_0423’s cursed cat alastor will bring you happiness ♥️

Lulu scolds the cat

[vitreouspositive]

THE FISTBUMP STILL LIVES!!! but through... exchanging blows...

[akanemnon]

Despite everything, it's still you.

FIRST - PREVIOUS - NEXT

MASTERPOST (for the full series / FAQ / reference sheets)

[floweroflaurelin]

Rise of the Shadow Lady!!! 🩷🖤

[doctorsiren]

The books reveal that Ford is actually a secret partier

(Available as a print on my Etsy Shop)

(wips under cut)

[hira492]

I LOVE HIM WITH ALL MY LIFE

[o0kawaii0o]

On a break, what are they talking about?

[paintedcrows]

Holiday Classics

Been thinking about Ford watching the 70s Animated Lord of the Rings Movies... (companion comic to this post!)