Life

If a Sloth and a Kitten Had a Lovechild...

Two of the Internet’s favorite animals are sloths and kittens — but what happens when you combine the two of them into one creature? The answer can be found on the Slittens Tumblr, which features — you guessed it — kittens with sloth faces graphed onto their own via Photoshop. But you guys? I don’t know. I can’t figure out if it’s cute…or if it’s horrifying. I have a lot of feels, and I don’t really know what to do with them. Care to help me sort them out?

The brainchild of Australian creative strategist and web designer Rachael Aslett, Slittens doesn’t appear to be entirely new; its first entry dates back to July 6, 2014. It’s just now started to take off, though — and understandably so. It’s exactly the sort of thing the Internet loves: A little bit adorable, a little bit creepy, chock full of Photoshop skillz, and ripe to go viral. If you’re curious to see what your own cat would look like if it had a lovechild with Kristen Bell’s favorite animal, you can even submit a photo of your own for remixing (not going to lie: I’m kind of tempted to do it with one of my own cats. Or both of them. Boy, wouldn’t that be an adventure?).

But as Bored Panda points out, perhaps even better than the images themselves is the correspondence between Aslett and the Slitten Tumblr followers. Some have contacted Aslett to tell her about the effect her creations are having on the universe:

Others simply wish to express their appreciation for her work:

And some seem to be seeking some sort of ultimate truth, their world rocked by these strange, half-cat, half-sloth hybrids:

I kind of understand that last commenter; the more I look at the slittens, the more confused I get. At first, I thought, “Oh! Cute!” Then I thought, "But I think I’m super creeped out.” Now I’ve circled back around to, “But maybe they’re cute after all?”…and something tells me I’m just going to keep going round and round, bouncing back and forth between each extreme, all the while unable to tear myself away from these bizarrely adorable (or adorably bizarre) beasts. Such is the way, is it not? Head on over to Slittens to see the whole collection thus far, and follow Aslett on Twitter here.

This isn’t the first time Aslett has unleashed something equal parts amazing and ridiculous on the Internet, by the way; her Cats That Look Like Pin Up Girls Tumblr has also had a long and happy life, pairing old-school pinup illustrations with cats in matching poses. It’s magical, so go check it out. You won’t regret it.

Images: Slittens/Tumblr