iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 07/10/2026

nerd haul courtesy of a few unspent powell's gift cards (cat for scale)

a top down photo of an open box of books from powell's bookstore, still wrapped in plastic. inside the box are the boxed set of a song of ice and fire, fire and blood, a knight of the seven kingdoms, and the world of ice and fire.

a close up photo of the same tuxedo cat, one leg stretched out over the cover of a world of ice and fire as he sniffs intently at the pages of fire and blood, his cheek resting on the cover of a knight of the seven kingdoms.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 15/09/2026

absolutely. but no. god no. i mean yes, of course, but no. god no. definitely recommend it. you'll regret it. 10/10 game.

a screenshot from my steam library that reads "You've played for 2316 hours. Would you recommend this game to other players?"

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 08/08/2026

happy international cat day to all silly babies

a photo of a half-grown tuxedo cat on a teal blanket looking curiously at a bright orange fox kicky toy

in the second photo he has the toy in a loose embrace and is looking over his shoulder at something off camera

in the third photo he's gripping it tightly in his front paws and kicking it with his hind legs. he's making a funny face with his tongue out.

in the last photo he's bent into a U shape, holding the toy above his head and twisting to kick it.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 02/08/2026

my creature loves a belly rub. he's kind of ridiculous about it. i consider myself extremely fortunate to have cat belly privileges.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 24/04/2026

they're the same picture dot meme

a photo of a large tuxedo cat looking at me from the top of his tower. he's got a hind leg sticking out of the front and is resting his front leg on the edge in a sort of lounging pose. he's looking at the camera with an expression of baffled disapproval.

the meme of a bunch of people holding solo cups turning to give the photographer looks that range from confusion to disgust.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 24/04/2026

if you didn't know about dreams on a pillow during the first crowdfunding drive, this is your chance to help push this project over the finish line 💜 please support him in this! launchgood.com/1948

a screenshot from an email from rasheed and the dreams on a pillow team. the header is the key art of a palestinian woman looking directly at the viewer with a serious expression, cradling a pillow to her chest, with the game's title to the right of her portrait. below it, the text reads:

Kicking off the next crowdfunding campaign tonight!

Rasheed here, and I'm thrilled to announce that our crowdfunding campaign is LIVE!

We have 45 days to raise $400,000 and continue development on our own terms, no publishers, no outside pressure.

Any contribution, no matter how small it is, will help us reach our goal.

Other than direct contribution, you can also help us immensely by sharing this campaign among your communities, be them online or local.

Once again, I look to your support to help us take our project from pre-production through full production and release

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 22/04/2026

i found out i was on this list months ago but still had to go and check. for funsies. pointing and laughing.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 19/04/2026

pov the battery in your fire alarm is dying and you're a shortass

a photo of a wooden chair with a bright red stain to the wood shoved in the corner of a room behind a door with several books stacked on the seat: the compact oxford english dictionary, the complete works of hieronymus bosch, living architecture, the country cooking of ireland, and his majesty the worm. at the top of the photo is a piece of embroidery art in a circular frame.

a photo of the top corner of the room above where the chair has been shoved with a fire alarm at the very top with the cover and battery removed. the embroidery art is at the top of the bottom third of the photo.

a large black and white tuxedo cat sitting on top of the thick stack of books, looking over his shoulder at something on the floor that's off camera. pippin on the job, not countenancing any competition in the persistent shrill noise department.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 05/04/2026

holding them gently in my hands 🥹

screenshot 1 of 4

a conversation with eskhind from caves of qud is shown. she's depicted with a red and tan sprite at the top above her name. the text reads:

Eskhind: No! Yes? I don't know.

Yes, I wish I burned it, but I wish I had given it. I wish I had never written it, or I had written it better, or I had simply confessed in person. I wish I had a harder heart.

I wish you would give it back, or burn it, or give it to her.

[highlighted text chosen]: I could give it to her.

2/4

Eskhind: Deliver it? But how do you even know who--

Mm. Never mind. My head is spinning. I think that if... the poem were to find itself in the warden's hands, that would perhaps be a good thing. Maybe.

[highlighted dialogue chosen]: No, Eskhind. Take the poem. Be brave.

3/4, a conversation with Warden Neelahind, depicted by a blue and tan sprite above her name.

Neelahind: Oh, Silfrun! I'm so happy!

I can scarcely believe she loves me, much less that... that we could be together. But it's true. Wherever we go from now on, we go together.

[highlighted answer chosen]: May your journeys favor you. Live and drink.

4/4, a conversation with Eskhind

Eskhind: Things are good. Better than I dreamed. I owe you so much for your intervention, Silfrun.

I still can't quite believe that my feelings are requited. I am at once elated and terrified. But this is good. My future is brighter now.

Thank you.

[highlighted response chosen]: May it brighten even further. Live and drink.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 03/04/2026

there are altogether too many quotable paragraphs in this must-read article but i think i can restrain myself to just this one

a screenshot from the linked aftermath article below (A Game Doesn't Need to be 'By and for Fans' by Harper Jay MacIntyre) that reads:

Characters don’t deserve anything, and I don’t think fans do either. The goal of a story cannot simply be to satiate the hunger of fanatics or to smooth out the ripples of a world. Even the most indulgent self-insert fan fiction arguably operates on higher goals than this; the writer crafts the silly tale in order to address something in their soul. You don’t write to fix a story; it ideally addresses something inside us. You don’t write because fictional characters need it. You write because you need it. You do it because there’s something in you that needs to be said.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 30/03/2026

i left it unsupervised for about twenty seconds

a photo of the large green cat mug in the post quoted below. a third of the side has broken off down to the base and the broken pieces have been gathered and placed inside.

the mug destroying tuxedo cat in question, scratching his cheek on the side of my monitor as he sits between a bunch of markers and a mostly blank spiral bound notebook.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 30/03/2026

how many licks does it take to get to the water in his human's mug

a photo of a large tuxedo cat licking the back of the photographer's hand, which is clamped over the top of an oversized green mug with a kitten on the side and text that reads "don't disturb me...i'm concentrating"

the same cat, hand, and mug, but taken at another angle because there's no such thing as too many photos of my large boy

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 28/03/2026

88 calamities, one hard fight ahead, and then the boss battle. it'll be fine. they'll be fine. juuuust fine.

a screenshot of the third page of an omenroad campaign with five heroes on the left, four of them at risk of permanently dying, and the next node highlighted to show that it's a hard fight with thrixl. beyond that are a forge node and a campfire node and then the big thrixl boss battle, where they'll be at 90 calamities. yay.

a screenshot of all the calamities that have accumulated thus far. haha i'm in danger dot meme.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 28/03/2026

i really was overdue for getting that achievement in wildermyth. nothing like a carved in stone omenroad run to knock the rust off 💀

a screenshot of the victory screen from one of wildermyth's omenroad battle maps. four of the five characters have the skull icon in the upper left corner of their portraits after having fallen in battle. only the hunter on the right was left standing.

a screenshot of the "pyrrhic victory" achievement from wildermyth: win a battle after losing three heroes to either maiming or death. 12% of players have this achievement.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 22/03/2026

don't disturb him...he's concentrating

a photo of a tuxedo cat on a messy desk looking at the camera as he rests his chin on top of a large green mug. the side of the mug has an illustrated kitten looking at a butterfly with white text that reads "don't disturb me...i'm concentrating".

a second photo of the tuxedo cat and mug, now looking away to rest his cheek on the rim. his squashy cheek is drooping over the edge a little.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 06/03/2026

i've been so deep in ck3's agot conversion mod of late that for a few minutes i was convinced "the life and suffering of sir brante" wasn't a listed game because i searched for it under "ser brante" on autopilot.

an image of nine video game covers in a three by three grid.

top row: crusader kings iii, rimworld, wildermyth
middle row: suzerain rizia, pillars of eternity, caves of qud
bottom row: against the storm, the life and suffering of sir brante, the witcher 3 wild hunt

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 15/01/2026

thinking about how i used to only play rpgs a few years ago. and laughing.

screenshot from steam of my top categories. the first three are visual novels over a red background, diplomacy over a gold background, and colony sim over a green background, with smaller labels beneath reading replay value, moddable, early access, economy, historical, and research management.

screenshot of the second half of my top categories from steam: 4x on a turquoise background, grand strategy on a red background, and city builder on a gold background, with smaller labels beneath that read base building, building, management, survival, and sandbox.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 13/01/2026

i'm still up to my ears in whiskerwood's ea release and still loving every bit of it. highly recommend it to anyone who likes both cozy games and city builders. and also was maybe a redwall kid growing up. and there's mod functionality already! cute little modded mousefits in the screenshots 🐭💜

an aerial screenshot of a fairly sizeable new colony in whiskerwood, taken a full year in at late afternoon in-game time. it's called "fuzzborough" and has a layout of two residential zones, farmland to the left, industrial work on the right, the city center and basic crafting factories in the center, and mouse amenities along the waterfront. there are plank paths laid out on the waterfront with few set down farther inland. around the edges of the screen are various unobtrusive menu options and colony information - it's a very clean and player friendly ui.

a slightly closer aerial view of the waterfront and the main residential district, taken at night. there are small lanterns along the path and several homes have "zzz"s coming from them as the little mice tuck themselves in at the end of the day. many more mice in brightly colored mousefits can be seen walking to their homes or socializing in the ocean bathhouses together.

a close up screenshot of one of the ocean bathhouses, still taken at night. there are three little mice all socializing and splashing around--one in turquoise blue sitting on the bench, two in the water facing them, one in coral red and the other in white. they're all wearing little straw hats with their ears poking out. the building to the left of the bathhouse just above it in the screenshot is a fishing dock, and adjacent to it is a specialized fishing net factory that's still under construction.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 12/01/2026

"She definitely has a spirit too vast for the confines of stone walls. Of course, we're still working out the particulars of our marriage arrangement." suzerain: rizia throuple art by hotwe over on tumblr to ring in the new year.

a portrait of vina toras in a blue dress as she kneels over axel reinhart-toras' lap in a large chesterfield sofa. she's kissing manus sazon over axel's head, and her hands are on axel's chest and manus' right hand, while manus braces himself on axel's shoulder for stability as he leans in. axel watchest them with a slight smile. there's a soft, golden hour quality to the light.

in the second portrait, vina bends over axel, still sitting astride his legs, and tilts his chin up for a kiss. her other hand is resting on manus', which is still holding axel's shoulder. manus watches with a slight smile that's just barely edging into a smirk.

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 05/01/2026

get the number of unplayed games in my unplayed games of shame category down by half before buying any more

a screenshot of three categories in my steam library. the top one is "story rich (52)", the middle one is the dynamic category "unplayed (85)", and the bottom one is "visual novels/cyoa" with the number cut out of the very tiny screenshot (it's 24).

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kate @thegladdestthing.itch.io · 30/12/2025

4 games that defined my 2025

cover art for the life and suffering of sir brante

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