diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index c387272..15d15c4 100644
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ export default async function now() {
 				}
 
 				// generic handlers expect just feedUrl string, special handlers expect config object
-				const handlerParam = ['rss', 'atom', 'json', 'mastodon', 'maloja'].includes(
+				const handlerParam = ['rss', 'atom', 'json', 'maloja'].includes(
 					item.feedType,
 				)
 					? feedUrl
@@ -109,6 +109,21 @@ export default async function now() {
 						)
 						return `${updatedOpenTag}${displayText}${closeTag}`
 					})
+
+					// replace image placeholders if image is available
+					if (latest.image) {
+						const imageId = `${item.id}-image`
+						// html image replacement
+						newNow = newNow.replace(
+							new RegExp(`(<img[^>]+src=["'])${imageId}(["'][^>]*>)`, 'gi'),
+							`$1${latest.image}$2`,
+						)
+						// markdown image replacement
+						newNow = newNow.replace(
+							new RegExp(`(!\\[[^\\]]*\\]\\()${imageId}(\\))`, 'gi'),
+							`$1${latest.image}$2`,
+						)
+					}
 				}
 			} catch (e) {
 				console.warn(`⚠️ Failed to fetch ${item.id}`, e)
diff --git a/services.js b/services.js
index 7d8c344..a52273a 100644
--- a/services.js
+++ b/services.js
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ export const services = [
 		instance: 'social.lol', // your mastodon instance
 		feedUrlTemplate: 'https://{instance}/@{userId}.rss',
 		feedType: 'mastodon',
+		showImage: false,
 	},
 	{
 		id: 'pixelfed',
@@ -90,7 +91,7 @@ export const services = [
 		userId: 'stfudonny', // your letterboxd username
 		feedUrlTemplate: 'https://letterboxd.com/{userId}/rss/',
 		feedType: 'letterboxd',
-		showImage: false,
+		showImage: true,
 	},
 	{
 		id: 'trakt-episode',
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@ export const services = [
 		userId: 'crankle', // your trakt username
 		traktId: '78e1e87b446901f7e4f0883dd4995cec', // your trakt ID
 		feedType: 'trakt-episode',
-		showImage: false,
+		showImage: true,
 	},
 	{
 		id: 'trakt-movie',
@@ -106,7 +107,7 @@ export const services = [
 		userId: 'crankle', // your trakt username
 		traktId: '78e1e87b446901f7e4f0883dd4995cec', // your trakt ID
 		feedType: 'trakt-movie',
-		showImage: false,
+		showImage: true,
 	},
 
 	// ========================================================================
diff --git a/utils.js b/utils.js
index 0a59f69..bb76488 100644
--- a/utils.js
+++ b/utils.js
@@ -78,18 +78,13 @@ export async function getAtomFeed(url) {
 }
 
 // json feed parser - grabs the latest item title
-// optionally includes images in markdown format
+// optionally includes images separately
 export async function getJsonFeedItemTitle(feedUrl, showImage = true) {
 	const res = await fetch(feedUrl)
 	const data = await res.json()
 	const post = data.items[0]
 	const { title, image, url } = post
-	const text = !showImage
-		? title
-		: image
-			? `${title} ![${title}](${image})`
-			: title
-	return { text, url }
+	return { text: title, url, image: showImage ? image : null }
 }
 
 // ========================================================================
@@ -133,7 +128,10 @@ export async function getMalojaScrobble(malojaUrl) {
 
 // mastodon rss feed parser - filters out replies (posts starting with @)
 // also replaces urls with 🔗 emoji to keep things tidy
-export async function getMastodonPost(feedUrl) {
+// extracts images from posts if available
+export async function getMastodonPost(config) {
+	const { feedUrl, showImage = false } =
+		typeof config === 'string' ? { feedUrl: config } : config
 	const res = await fetch(feedUrl)
 	const data = await res.text()
 	const dom = new JSDOM(data, { contentType: 'text/xml' })
@@ -152,6 +150,10 @@ export async function getMastodonPost(feedUrl) {
 
 		const link = item.querySelector('link')?.textContent.trim()
 
+		// extract image from description html if available
+		const imgMatch = description.match(/<img[^>]+src="([^"]+)"/)
+		const image = imgMatch ? imgMatch[1] : null
+
 		// use description as the text, stripping HTML
 		let cleanText = sanitizeHtml(description, {
 			allowedTags: [],
@@ -161,20 +163,26 @@ export async function getMastodonPost(feedUrl) {
 		// replace URLs with a link emoji
 		cleanText = cleanText.replace(/https?:\/\/\S+/g, '🔗').trim()
 
-		return { text: cleanText, url: link }
+		return { text: cleanText, url: link, image: showImage ? image : null }
 	}
 
 	// fallback to first item if no non-reply found
 	const firstItem = items[0]
 	const description = firstItem.querySelector('description')?.textContent || ''
 	const link = firstItem.querySelector('link')?.textContent.trim()
+
+	// extract image from description html if available
+	const imgMatch = description.match(/<img[^>]+src="([^"]+)"/)
+	const image = imgMatch ? imgMatch[1] : null
+
 	let cleanText = sanitizeHtml(description, {
 		allowedTags: [],
 		allowedAttributes: {},
 	})?.trim()
 	// replace URLs with link emoji
 	cleanText = cleanText.replace(/https?:\/\/\S+/g, '🔗').trim()
-	return { text: cleanText, url: link }
+
+	return { text: cleanText, url: link, image: showImage ? image : null }
 }
 
 // ========================================================================
@@ -192,16 +200,15 @@ export async function getLetterboxdActivity(config) {
 	const title = item.querySelector('title').textContent
 	const link = item.querySelector('link').textContent.trim()
 
-	let text = title
+	let image = null
 	if (showImage) {
 		// Parse CDATA content as HTML to extract image
 		const description = item.querySelector('description').textContent
 		const imgMatch = description.match(/<img[^>]+src="([^"]+)"/)
-		const image = imgMatch ? imgMatch[1] : null
-		text = image ? `${title} ![${title}](${image})` : title
+		image = imgMatch ? imgMatch[1] : null
 	}
 
-	return { text, url: link }
+	return { text: title, url: link, image }
 }
 
 // trakt episode history - requires TRAKT_SLURM variable (see readme for info)
@@ -216,10 +223,10 @@ export async function getTraktEpisode(config) {
 	const entry = dom.window.document.querySelector('entry')
 	const title = entry.querySelector('title').textContent
 	const link = entry.querySelector('link').getAttribute('href')
-	const text = !showImage
-		? title
-		: `${title} ![${title}](https://widgets.trakt.tv/users/${traktId}/watched/thumb@2x.jpg?type=episode&image_only=1)`
-	return { text, url: link }
+	const image = showImage
+		? `https://widgets.trakt.tv/users/${traktId}/watched/thumb@2x.jpg?type=episode&image_only=1`
+		: null
+	return { text: title, url: link, image }
 }
 
 // trakt movie history - requires TRAKT_SLURM variable (see readme for info)
@@ -234,10 +241,10 @@ export async function getTraktMovie(config) {
 	const entry = dom.window.document.querySelector('entry')
 	const title = entry.querySelector('title').textContent
 	const link = entry.querySelector('link').getAttribute('href')
-	const text = !showImage
-		? title
-		: `${title} ![${title}](https://widgets.trakt.tv/users/${traktId}/watched/thumb@2x.jpg?type=movie&image_only=1)`
-	return { text, url: link }
+	const image = showImage
+		? `https://widgets.trakt.tv/users/${traktId}/watched/thumb@2x.jpg?type=movie&image_only=1`
+		: null
+	return { text: title, url: link, image }
 }
 
 // ========================================================================