Kalira

The Crochet Pile - May 2026

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 12:29:12 GMT

I definitely did not winnow down the pile this month. Oopsies?

Finished this month: 2
Finished from The Pile: 2

Added to The Pile: 6

So I did finish two things from the Pile, but I didn't finish any of the new things I started.

Three of them are things intended to solve a problem/fill a needed niche for myself.

( finished from the Pile )

Moving on to things started this month. . .

( niche-filling things for myself )

( new projects not for myself )

Hopefully I'll be able to finish a few of the new things (and/or old ones!) this upcoming month; also, perhaps, specifically the . . . now-two items I'm looking at for my own personal problem-solving? The water tray mat is kind of important (if not an emergency; there's not been any real problem thus far) and I'd like to more easily be able to use (and add to/refine out) the magpie deck.

So here's the state of The Pile currently:

Active WIPs: 23
(Subset that are market batches: 12)
Hibernating: 3

Total projects (complete, WIPs, everything): 155

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History (Found and Lost) - (Renaud's Family)

Sun, 31 May 2026 20:11:03 GMT

Written for getyourwordsout Yahtzee, my eighth roll, which I'm scoring as Three of a Kind; the prompt: flaky

Title: History (Found and Lost)
Featuring: Renaud, Jacques
Rating: T
Wordcount: 1,265 words

After a museum trip Julian has something to show his Grand-Sire, and some questions to ask; Renaud is happy to indulge him . . . but maybe not in everything. (No, little darling, we shall not be pulling a museum heist. This time.)

Fluff.

Series/world overview.

( Not History (Found and Lost) )

After the first two in this set I felt a bit odd not having Julian in this one, but I'd already had most of it written alongside Not Read, so. . .

Renaud is, still, the focus for the roll, and I think it works as such even with his being less forward in one of them. And I've used the roll as an excuse to poke into this world with some slightly longer pieces and found out more things about it in the process, which is great!

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Not Ready - (Renaud's Family)

Sun, 31 May 2026 09:44:35 GMT

Written for getyourwordsout Yahtzee, my eighth roll, which I'm scoring as Three of a Kind; the prompt: anxious

Title: Not Ready
Featuring: Renaud, Julian, Sylvester
Rating: T
Wordcount: 1,065 words

It's time for Sylvester's introduction to the Court his Grand-Sire oversees . . . or perhaps, faced with such a large outing before so many new eyes, he's not quite ready.

Hurt/comfort.

Series/world overview.

( Not Ready )

More focusing on Julian, surprisingly! Perhaps he's simply finally got more to say to me. He might not be as squishily indulgent or prone to doting as Renaud, and he's very poised and a little reserved, but he adores his Childer (and his Sire).

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AO3 numerical meme

Fri, 22 May 2026 08:10:44 GMT

Been on my to-do list since I saw it and thought it looked fun a couple months ago *coughs* snagged from vialethe.

1 - Most Hits
Excluding minific collections (C&C, for example, has nearing 800 minifics/'chapters') for fairness, it's A Father's Perspective (ATLA; Zuko/Sokka), as it has been for years and as it probably will be for years to come if not ever; which I never expected but? So it is?

2 - Second Most Kudos
Excluding minific collections, that would be Warmth (ATLA; Zuko/Sokka) as my top three all are and also continues to surprise me.

3 - Third Most Comments
Again excluding minific collections, it is . . . Lone Cub (Naruto; SakuOro & bb!Kakashi); I am really fond of this one, though it was unexpectedly rough to write - while the featured whump is very different (Tick Paralysis; based off canine symptoms rather than human), it is a bit similar to a speed-run of my autoimmune disease (and from bb!Kakashi's outside POV).

4 - Fourth Most Bookmarks
Excluding minific collections, this is actually Lone Cub again! (Almost a third of them are private bookmarks.)

5 - Fifth Most Words
Excluding minific collections . . . this is also Lone Cub. (14,935 words, if you wondered.)

6 - Fic With Second Fewest Words (That's Not a Drabble)
. . .well if I include 3SFs (posted solo) that's Flowers,
On Reflection (Alice in Wonderland) - if I don't . . . Hidden (SK8; Adam/Tadashi), which I just posted a couple weeks ago! Off a random bit of inspiration, not a challenge or anything.

7 - Seventh Most Common Relationship
Kei/Sho, with 50 works (and Kei & Sho is at place #2 with 83 works).

8 - Eighth Drabble Posted
On AO3 . . . I think I only have drabbles that were ported over from other places years before (and backdated); in general . . . requires some sketchy reviewing. (It looks like probably Barred (HP; Severus/Harry) which is no longer on the internet anywhere. Posted in November 2009, as were a number of others for that ship and another.)

9 - Ninth Most Common Character
Senju Tobirama (with 94 works) who is half of one of my top OTPs (and is a major player in the era I write most frequently in the fandom that will probably top my list on AO3 forever at this point).

10 - Tenth Mature and/or Explicit Fic
Blooded (Moon Child; Kei & Sho) which is Mature for blood and trauma.

11 - Eleventh Most Recent Completed Fic
In Family (Naruto; SakuOro, MinaKushi, Kakashi) which was posted only a couple weeks ago on May 5th.

Twelfth Most Recent Story in Your Sixth Most Common Tag
Ah, now I have a maths word problem! Sixth most common tag is Angst (with 151; if I select it and see all the subtags rolled into that) (it would be Family if I did the easy route and the sidebar); twelfth most recent story with that tag is (excluding minific collections) Secret Unbelieved (Oresama; Miyavi/Shiini/Fujiko), which is a fandom which hasn't even been canonised by AO3 yet, and this was the first work in it.

Favorite Title That Isn't from a Poem or Song or Shakespeare or The West Wing
. . .not sure I have any titles chosen from most of those actually. (Song title/line perhaps, if only due to The Cape of Storms and Kagen no Tsuki which is of course centred on the song.) Out of a long list of titles I can't even remember most of them to think 'favourite' . . . but I'm quite fond of Like That (Moon Child; Kei/Sho) partly because . . . I use the phrase for those two (ship or not) so frequently; they are just Like That.

Which is a fun note to end on, as well!

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Kalira does 100ships!

Tue, 19 May 2026 09:16:41 GMT

Some folks in the getyourwordsout Discord were talking about multishipping and how to decide on/think of ships for challenges like. . .

First I'd ever heard of 100ships! And I'm such a multishipper - and a fandom-hopper - and I love a good open prompt event; it sounded immediately fun and . . . a challenge but a very doable one for me. And maybe I'll use it as an excuse to finally write for some ships I've been wanting to give a try!

So here's my table, and I have something started for one prompt at the moment (which ship to start with chosen by the extremely scientific "ship featured in the fic that someone first commented on on AO3 after I decided to do this" method).

#01 – Adamant Unyielding Moon Child Kei/Sho	#02 – Snow	#03 – Lion	#04 – Spark	#05 – Amber
#06 – Lust	#07 – Bronze	#08 – Mint	#09 – Arctic	#10 – Black
#11 – Moonlight	#12 – Sunlight	#13 – Blue	#14 – Navy	#15 – Tea
#16 – Neon	#17 – Twilight	#18 – Blush	#19 – Wine	#20 – Nude
#21 – Rhythm	#22 – Brown	#23 – Linen	#24 – Ember	#25 – Thistle
#26 – Cherry	#27 – Orange	#28 – Vanilla	#29 – Bone	#30 – Harlequin
#31 – Cadet	#32 – Chocolate	#33 – Peach	#34 – Lead	#35 – Cream
#36 – Sand	#37 – White	#38 – Crimson	#39 – Pink	#40 – Ocean
#41 – Dove	#42 – Platinum	#43 – Yellow	#44 – Earth	#45 – Midnight
#46 – Pearl	#47 – Frostbite	#48 – Pumpkin	#49 – Electric	#50 – Purple
#51 – Coral	#52 – Salt	#53 – Crow	#54 – Rainbow	#55 – Cloud
#56 – Flame	#57 – Red	#58 – Ash	#59 – Rose	#60 – Slate
#61 – Green	#62 – Ruby	#63 – Olive	#64 – Lipstick	#65 – Spice
#66 – Grey	#67 – Denim	#68 – Rust	#69 – Flirt	#70 – Sunset
#71 – Sable	#72 – Desert	#73 – Jade	#74 – Sage	#75 – Buff
#76 – Jet	#77 – Plum	#78 – Leather	#79 – Liberty	#80 – Metal
#81 – Sepia	#82 – Lavender	#83 – Scarlet	#84 – Crystal	#85 – Chestnut
#86 – Shadow	#87 – Lemon	#88 – Mystic	#89 – Silver	#90 – Coffee
#91 – Seafoam	#92 – Lime	#93 – Punch	#94 – Pickle	#95 – Champagne
#96 – Copper	#97 – Bittersweet	#98 – Honey	#99 – Candy	#100 – Gold

Watch this space!

. . .and feel free to suggest ships to me for it, because I've got a lot to go!

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Sire's Hands - (Renaud's Family)

Tue, 19 May 2026 05:33:06 GMT

Written for getyourwordsout Yahtzee, my eighth roll, which I'm scoring as Three of a Kind; the prompt: nurturing

Title: Sire's Hands
Featuring: Renaud/Julian
Rating: T
Wordcount: 725 words

Julian may be a fully mature vampire - Sire in his own right to two Childer he adores - but even he wants, needs his Sire to coddle him sometimes. Just for a little while.

Fluffy, mild hurt/comfort, blood-sharing, fade-to-black.

Series/world primer.

( Sire's Hands )

This is both the longest piece I've written for this verse (by far; unsurprising as most of it has been for 3SFs) and only the second to focus on Julian himself so much; I have written one 3SF that did similarly, and it was also Julian needing his Sire, though with rather more distress.

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Renaud's Family - Primer

Mon, 18 May 2026 08:10:32 GMT

This is not a masterlist - all the works, which currently are all small, are under the series tag - but a bit of background for the world of Renaud and his beloved family. I may expand on it later, but I wanted to get a start put together.

Renaud and his family are, of course, vampires. They live in a 'traditional' Court (common in their world, though not all vampires are part of one), location as yet unspecified. Renaud is the Master of it, a position he handles well but with little fuss.

Principal characters:

Renaud
Series namer, of course - all I've written in this world centres on Renaud or his family.
His Sire has appeared occasionally, thus far without a name, and was . . . suboptimal.
Renaud's family consists of one Childe of his own, Julian, and two Grand-Childer, Sylvester and Jacques, all of whom live with him.
Renaud is the oldest of their Court by far (the next oldest member is a few centuries younger, currently). Renaud remembers songs and history and perhaps even languages that no one else does, perhaps forgotten entirely by time. Occasionally they haunt him, but he's generally a happy person, looking to the present more than the past.

Renaud is laid-back and unflappable - he's too old to get worked up about nonsense, and too old and strong to let anyone else's working up bother him. He dotes on his Childe and if anything almost more on his Grand-Childer, who adore him in turn. Though he takes his position as Master seriously, he finds the politics of the Court (and the council) tiresome, and feels there's no point to being Master if he can't act as he pleases (which he always does).

( the rest of Renaud's family )

~

Sylvester and Jacques call one another brothers - but not like that. ;) The entire family are somewhat traditionally incestuous; while it's not required of Childer to please their Sire (or elder generations) in any sense (and Renaud's Sire likely didn't bed him or reject him) it's neither particularly uncommon or common in their world. The youngsters especially love playing with their Grand-Sire.

It's uncommon for any of them to sleep alone - Renaud almost never, and Sylvester and Jacques usually either share with one another, or go together to their Grand-Sire's bed, or one to their Sire's and one to their Grand-Sire's, etc. Julian may be the one who sleeps alone the most, but only because he chooses to do so.

~

( Other Characters )

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Renaud's Family - 3 Sentence Ficathon 2026

Mon, 18 May 2026 06:57:47 GMT

I did bring my fun vampire family back for the 2026 3SF, though I wrote a few fewer this time! 12 across the ficathon this year.

As before, day and date noted, otherwise precisely as they were collected in the original roundup posts.

General primer for this verse here.

Day 4 - January 20th

( Put Away (Original - Renaud's Family; Sylvester, Jacques, Francois, fuck it) )

Day 5 - January 21st

( Come Back (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, gardens) )

Day 8 - January 24th

( Grand-Sire (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Sylvester, you're my family) )

Day 9 - January 25th

( Late? Perish the Thought (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, 'You're late.' 'I didn't want to come.') )

( Project Time (Original - Renaud's Family; Sylvester, Jacques, Matching sweaters.) )

( Throb (Original - Renaud's Family; Sylvester, Jacques, consensual blood drinking) )

Day 11 - January 27th

( Special Days (Original - Renaud's Family; Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, the anniversary of a death) )

( Morning Worries (Original - Renaud's Family; Sylvester, Jacques, misunderstanding) )

Day 13 - January 29th

( Last Moments - First Moments (Original - Renaud's Family; Julian & Jacques, vampire turning) )

( Wake Up Call (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Sylvester, Jacques, Hatching plans) )

Day 18 - February 5th

( Too Far (Original - Renaud's Family; Sylvester, 'I would do anything for you' / 'Really? Would you stop?') )

Day 19 - February 8th

( Comfort (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Sylvester, struggling for breath) )

And that was all for this year's round with this family!

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Renaud's Family - 3 Sentence Ficathon 2025

Mon, 18 May 2026 06:32:59 GMT

General primer for this verse here.

I made up Renaud and his Grand-Childe Sylvester (. . .I love him, but if I'd known I would perhaps have chosen a different name for him) for one 3SF . . . and then I brought Sylvester back, along with his Sire, Julian, and gave him a brother in another a few days later, and then. . .

Yeah, they got a series tag the day after that. XD I've untagged all the 3SF roundup posts here, though they are of course on my 3SF comm under the same tag, but I'd like to be able to easily find this series here, as I have written more things with them and may in future, which are currently only here on DW, so . . . a small roundup post of the 3SFs I wrote across the entire 2025 ficathon. I'll do another for the 2026 ficathon, etc.

Across the 2025 3SF I wrote 33 of these for Renaud's Family. Noted here are day and date, and otherwise exactly copied from my usual roundups, original notes included, in the order I wrote them.

Day 1 - January 10th

( Meeting Adjourned (original - Renaud's Family, 'same time next year?') )

Day 4 - January 13th

( Sires and Siblings (original - Renaud's Family), brother doesn't mean 'my father's son') )

Day 5 - January 14th

( Mistaken History (original - Renaud's Family, the historical record) )

( Snow Day (original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Sylvester, Julian, first snow) )

( Worries (original - Renaud's Family; Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, library) )

( Death Outmatched (original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, you’ll be the death of me) )

Day 6 - January 15th

( Maudlin Memories (original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, I am not a vessel for your good intent) )

( Safety and Shield (original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Jacques, ) )

( Less Than Appreciable (original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, bathe in the blood of our enemies) )

( Icy Beach (original - Renaud's Family; Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, winter beach) )

( Ancient Tongues (original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Sylvester, They're fluent in so many languages they forget which one they're using.) )

Day 8 - January 17th

( Dressing Down (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, 'YOU DID WHAT?!?') )

( Presents and Indulgences (Original - Renaud's family; Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, )

( Pleasure and Praise (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud/Julian, body worship (or general affection lavished on someone's body)) )

( Sleepy and Coddled (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Jacques, Sleepy) )

Day 9 - January 18th

( Ancient and Strange (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, Eerie, fog-shrouded ruins.) )

Day 10 - January 19th

( Family Support (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, I'm much too young to feel this damn old) )

( Good Reason (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, its too late in the night for this) )

( Warnings Unwanted (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud/Sylvester/Jacques, Julian, I tried to warn you.) )

Day 11 - January 20th

( Literary Devastation (Original - Renaud's Family; Sylvester, Jacques, bad ending) )

( Shared Warmth (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Sylvester, Jacques, cozy) )

Day 12 - January 21st

( Forever (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Jaques, Sleepy conversation.) )

( Confidence (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, The prettiest in-crowd that you had ever seen / Ribbons in our hair, and our eyes gleamed mean) )

( Not the Point (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, ) )

Day 13 - January 22nd

( Overtired (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Jacques, The night's too long.) )

( Summer Nights (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, The night's not long enough.) )

( In Play (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, kissing the other in the middle of a fight) x2 )

Day 18 - January 28th

( Better Than (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, his Sire, 'don’t cry, dear' (derogatory)) )

( New Comfort (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, 'don’t cry, dear' (sincere)) )

Day 19 - January 29th

( (Should Be) Interruption (Original - Renaud's Family; Julian, Sylvester, Jacques, reading) )

Day 21 - February 2nd

( Cool Memories and Warm Moments (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Sylvester, Every once in a while I think of you.) )

Day 25 - February 6th

( Settling In (Original - Renaud's Family; Renaud, Julian, get comfy) )

And that was it for the first 3SF that sparked them for me!

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The Crochet Pile - April 2026

Mon, 04 May 2026 10:00:07 GMT

. . .well I intended to do this on the first again, and I'll be tackling the contents as if I had, but Things Happened and it's been a bit of a bumpy start to the month.

But I did get a good bit done on the Pile and crochet in general in April, despite some rough times!

Also, before I get into it - the miniature roses I made for the lovely nurse at my neurologist's office? I dropped by the office to leave them, asked the receptionist if she was in that day (yes, but with a patient, I'm sorry, is it okay if I take a message?) and I told receptionist that actually I just brought this for her, and handed her the box and little card. Receptionist nearly teared up telling me thanks it was so sweet and the box wasn't even for her. ^^; She went to leave it on the nurse's desk, and I figured I might or might not ever know how she took them (which is what I figured beforehand anyway).

She called me, just after the end of the workday. ^.^ She was really touched and it turns out the week had been really rough for her, so it was extra nice timing maybe. She told me everyone at the office got a little pink bucket (the miniature hardware store style Lowe's does XD) for Valentine's Day with chocolate in it and hers was hanging above her desk but she wasn't sure what to do with it, and the bouquet fit perfectly so now the flowers are hanging just above her desk. ^.^

I'm super glad she liked them and I'm glad I wrestled with my own nerves enough to give them to her.

*claps*

On to the Pile!

Finished this month: 5 projects
Finished from The Pile: 3 projects

Added to The Pile: 1 project

Not bad, right?

So I started and finished two projects, and finished three from the Pile.

New ones were a practise for holding yarn double, because I was wondering if it was workable for a part of an amigurumi; I made a ball with my favourite cotton yarn held double (first time I've crocheted anything held double and now those words are losing meaning). It worked but I didn't love it, and the gaps are rather large for amigurumi but I certainly couldn't use a smaller hook - it was a struggle as it was!

( The ball's kind of fun though! )

I also made a mobius fidget toy! There was a lot of ??? and some trust the process, trust the process but it worked out! This totally looks like everything is intentional, right? XD

( mobius fidget )

I also started a bath set, to go along with a make-your-own-bath-bombs kit I bought, as part of a birthday present for a friend - naturally, as I have a friend (and my brother) with a birthday this month, another in June, another in August . . . this friend's birthday is in October. XP

( bath set )

I finished the damn dish scrubby!

. . .'30 minutes to work up' yeah I disbelieved it before, but now? HA. I did the last bit less than half the other night while watching a Britcom with a friend, though. And the finish? Yeah I had to fudge it because there was no way the pattern's way would have been possible! (Supposed to stitch through the top and bottom edges - it's crocheted as a tube - and then pull them tight like a drawstring in the middle. Yeah right! I could barely force that yarn through itself as a stitch at all, but I did that to pull the ends in to the middle and then just . . . stitched across the middle in wagon wheel style spokes.)

It remains to be seen how I like it as a scrubby, I haven't actually tried it yet.

I also made a lot of roses! Fifteen, to be exact, which finishes off a dozen of two different colours.

( roses )

I think 30 roses is about the limit of this vase, too! XD

That's all right; these are for marketable stuff anyway, I've just had them in the vase on my table in the meantime because . . . why not?

I want to make some other roses for myself though, maybe in red, purple, black? Maybe ace colours? Maybe even try using my similar weight chenille yarn to make really velvety rose petals and then cotton for the calyx and stem?

(Oh, I dyed some more yarn last month also - while trying not to think about some Big Stresses - and while I have yet to wind all of it, I now have purple (two shades, one warm and one cool) and grey (dark and light) in my favourite cotton! Also a darker green, specifically for roses, though it came out with a smidge more blue than I'd like.)

Also perhaps I'll make six more pink roses, at least, to bring that up to a full dozen. XP (And maybe some more yellow ones - I only made three of those, as a gift - from the bright yellow I dyed . . . orange, similarly . . . pale blue? Dark blue? Black? ;) I do like making the roses, and I think they're pretty - maybe they'll even sell, eventually. XP)

So as always lots of plans - though perhaps I'll indulge and actually work on/finish something for myself again before my birthday later this month. . .

Here's the state of The Pile currently:

Active WIPs: 22
(Subset that are market batches: 12)
Hibernating: 3

Total projects (complete, WIPs, everything): 149

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The Crochet Pile - March 2026

Wed, 01 Apr 2026 20:56:41 GMT

Well, breaking even on The Pile is better than last month's adding to it, I suppose?

Which is to say, I did add something to The Pile but I also finished something from it. And hey, also started and finished a couple things!

Finished this month: 3 projects
Finished from The Pile: 1 project

Added to The Pile: 1 project

Struck from The Pile: 3 projects

Struck from are things that were hibernating that I have now declared abandoned - one is a pouch I no longer like the look of; one is an amigurumi with a really terrible pattern (like, missing chunks I had to extrapolate or freehand); one is a shirt which has been waiting to be frogged and I finally did (I worked enough of it to be able to tell I wouldn't like the way the neckline felt).

One of the things I started and finished is the one I mentioned in my last Crochet Pile update that I'd be starting soon, that had a deadline of that Friday - I did finish it in time, but my car refused to start Friday morning so . . . that item is still sitting in a paper masu waiting for me to deliver it to its recipient. This Friday. >.>;

I mentioned it was to be a thank-you present for the excellent nurse who has been fighting my insurance and specialty pharmacy for me and keeping a close eye on my case. I made her a miniature bouquet of roses!

They're all separate roses, just tied together with that ribbon, and mini! Waiting with the masu I folded for them and the thank you card.

I hope she likes them! I'm a little anxious about taking them to her. ^^;

While I was working on that, I decided to try something Tricky - and it turned out to be the fiddliest thing I have crocheted thus far.

An aroace rose!

Incredibly fiddly, doing this with embroidery floss . . . and I gave it a longer stem than any of my mini roses thus far.

It now lives in a tiny vase at my friend mad_madam_m's house!
(I did have her in mind when I made it; I imagine eventually she'll probably get tired of random crochet presents, but-)

The other thing I finished was a long-term project that shouldn't have taken so long, only I kept putting it aside to work on other things. You know how it goes. *sighs*

However! Finished the final one in the set of five washcloths for my kitchen!

( Kitchen Projects and Upcoming )

Active WIPs: 21
(Subset that are market batches: 14)
Hibernating: 3

Total projects (complete, WIPs, everything): 146

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Poetry - Koji

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 11:14:26 GMT

An original poem!

Written for one of my getyourwordsout yahtzee prompts: manqué
(adj. having failed to become what one might have been; unfulfilled. e.g.: "a starlet manqué")

I started writing this one without knowing what it was about; then I started crying. "Oh. It's about that." (Why is it always about grief?)

Koji

Stillness
Such bright promise
What could have been, now lost
Bright eyes, soft paws, insistent cries
Koji
Wonder cut short in tragedy
Fought hard, yet unyielding
A tiny life
Faded

~

When I adopted my cat Dora in 2022 (she'll be four years old in one week) I actually adopted two kittens; Dora who was 11 weeks old, and Koji who was 8 weeks old. He had a course of precautionary antibiotics to finish out (his littermate had gotten sick at the shelter, so they were 'just in case') but was healthy.

I spent that first week watching him closely, but aware antibiotics are rough on the system; I hoped once he finished them all would be well, and he was energetic and generally healthy. Then I spent two weeks fighting desperately to get him to eat, anything; he had subcutaneous fluids and several other meds and high-calorie gel and. . .

Nothing was quite enough. If he'd been older he might have been able to make it - but there was nothing wrong with him, either. He just . . . faded.

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GYWO Yahtzee 2026 Roundup! - Roll 1

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 06:22:21 GMT

I gave it a miss last year, but I did really enjoy playing getyourwordsout's Yahtzee the year before, and I've been Struggling with writing this year (mainly because of meatspace bullshit, to be honest) and decided to give it a shot again.

Finished writing for my first roll of prompts, which I scored as a Full House ;) (2/3 split on moods in the works; I chose angst/regret and fluff/playful) and also gave myself a bonus challenge and wrote each story with a different type of ship - gen, slash, femmeslash, het, poly.

Passion
Fandom: Moon Child
Ship: Kei & Sho
Rating: T
Wordcount: 725
Prompt: duende
Mood: fluff/playful
Summary:

Sho has always had big dreams, big plans, and Kei can't wait to see him realise them - or. . .

~

Cold and CLear
Fandom: Torchwood
Ship: Jack/Ianto
Rating: T
Wordcount: 1.3k
Prompt: apricity
Mood: angst/regret
Summary:

New tears and new trauma, but as always, Torchwood will pull themselves together in the aftermath.

~

Fiery
Fandom: Mouretsu Pirates
Ship: Jenny/Lynn
Rating: T
Wordcount: 1k
Prompt: peppery
Mood: fluff/playful
Summary:

Coolly calculating or fiery and untamed, Jenny Dolittle and her plans are too much for her competitors to handle, or even measure up to.

~

Chosen Course
Fandom: Hellboy
Ship: Nuada/Nuala
Rating: T
Wordcount: 1k
Prompt: bitter
Mood: angst/regret
Summary:

The Children of the Earth are dying, hidden and slow, a bitter knowledge that twists Nuala's heart, given a sharper edge by her longing for the other half of her soul, the one who had championed another course they might take and been lost for it - but it is too late, one way or another, now; all they may do is walk the paths they have chosen, to whatever end.

~

Inopportune
Fandom: Boys Over Flowers
Ship: Yi Jung/Woo Bin/Ga Eul
Rating: T
Wordcount: 1.2k
Prompt: inconsiderate
Mood: fluff/playful
Summary:

While Ga Eul doesn't mind - and never has - providing a listening ear and gentle advice to her best friend, she could wish that Jan Di's timing was a little less. . .

~

I do already have my next roll of prompts, and I'm trying to write poetry for this one. . .

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The Crochet Pile - February 2026

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 18:54:02 GMT

Aaand February was far less successful at smallening - in fact I did the opposite.

Finished this month: 1 project
Finished from The Pile: 0 projects

Added to The Pile: 1 project

And I'm about to be adding another new project today! (One with a loose deadline of this Friday, however.)

I made a quick one-evening project - a cat bed fitted to the top of a tall bookcase that stands beside their cat tree. I had been trying to keep them off it, but eventually I decided they (Dora, specifically) were more likely to get hurt trying to leap up there with it partially blocked (and knowing I'd be upset) than if I just allowed it.

It does have an inset light inside which has an outer piece on the top however, as well as the cord for that, so a bed to cover those to keep them a little less accessible to curious paws, seemed not unwise.

Climbed up the stepladder to take some measurements, then grabbed some of the cheaper blanket yarn I have.

They love it up there, of course; highest spot (they're allowed/can reach) in the house!

(The bookcase is almost 2m tall.)

So that wasn't much of a detour, really! Unfortunately, I haven't crocheted much in the latter half or more of the month - due mainly to medical issues. (My IV medication, which I get every 4 weeks, was delayed through some absolutely nonsense fuckery with insurance and a new specialty pharmacy - which I was forced into changing to - that is horrible at everything. So it was 11 days late - I went to stay with a friend because I was in such poor shape before it came to infusion time.)

Before that mess, though, I did work some more on my blanket - this isn't the most up-to-date, I've worked on it since, but gives a better idea of the size I'm going for, perhaps!

And the one project I added to my Pile is another flower net market bag, this one in my favourite cotton, which is a size up - and only a single colour. I'll be making a few tweaks to this one as well, mainly in the top/handles but a couple minor things elsewhere. I finally picked it up again yesterday after a bit of a lull due to feeling crummy, and added nine rows of netting; it's not halfway done yet (especially considering the handles), but looking good!

( next-up project and medical nonsense )

Anyway! The Pile hasn't smallened, has in fact biggened again in February, but we'll see how things go from here!

So at current numbers:

Active WIPs: 21
(Subset that are market batches: 14)
Hibernating: 6

Total projects (complete, WIPs, everything): 143

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The Crochet Pile - January 2026 wrap-up

Sun, 01 Feb 2026 06:37:48 GMT

I got a good start on smallening the Pile in January!

I did also finish off several things that were easy/short finishes, so probably I won't have another month with quite so many finished up!

Finished this month: 9 projects
Finished from The Pile: 4 projects

I also struck 1 item from The Pile . . . it was something technically hanging around waiting for the last bit of detail - non-crochet work. From last February. And frankly I just decided I didn't give enough of a damn to want to do that at all actually, so I dropped it from even hibernating.

. . .and next month I think I'll note down what the projects are, too, because I knocked myself off count and had to recalculate a couple times early on, and now I'm trying to remember what all I finished and confusing myself.

Anyway! I finished a shijimi bag, which literally just needed the handles stitched on (mentioned that talking about another project), a wash cloth with words (LOVE IS LOVE), a project making gigantic fish toys which are the most flingable things I've ever crocheted, and a cat stitch practise swatch.

( two of the finished from Pile projects )

I also started and finished . . . well I threw together a chain for a fidget pendant (traded for/bought it at a holiday market I had a table at in December); a literal crochet chain. XD It's heavy and I don't have any necklace chains long enough and heavy-duty enough for it; I used some black cotton. Technically a project, but . . . not much of one.

Also started and finished a net market bag, and what amounts to a kitchen washcloth/scrubby. I was having a very upset time - got a bad news phone call literally the moment I parked at the library to go in for a yarn crafting hangout - and decided I was too stressed and preoccupied to work on what I had planned to while I was there, but of course I did go in anyway, so. . . I had a skein of the red cotton I'm using to make a set of washcloths for my kitchen - however . . . I distractedly used a 3.5mm hook, the smallest one I had with me. The set is being made with a 5.5mm hook. I realised on the second or third row, but decided to go with it anyway. Made a quite tight, thickly-worked piece, nubby because it's moss stitch, just worked super snugly. So an accidental but technically a new project.

I did also start this!

I'm not calling it a new project because I had one in hibernation that was . . . this blanket.

( more blanket details )

So at current numbers:

Active WIPs: 20
(Subset that are market batches: 14)
Hibernating: 6

Total projects (complete, WIPs, everything): 141

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Crochet - 'Sakura' Market Bag (Finished!)

Sun, 25 Jan 2026 01:25:32 GMT

I picked up the project again the next day and found the mesh part surprisingly easy and quick to work up! It was also easy on the hands, which was nice.

. . .the handles took two more days, and were much less easy on the hands. I did tweak them and those tweaks certainly didn't make it any easier - I increased them from ch80 to ch100 for each handle, and for two of the three rows I changed from sc to hdc. I'm glad I made the changes!

Unfortunately, I think I need to restructure the handles entirely to make them comfortably usable for me. With a chain base, it's too tight - it doesn't stretch at the same rate as the rest of the handle, meaning the weight that you carry feels like it's being supported entirely by that narrow chain. Not super comfy. Perhaps instead do a strap of short rows (*sighs*) and stitch it onto each side, the same way I do with shijimi bags.

Still, while it might not be kept for my use, I am pleased with it in the main! And I have ideas for how to tweak one that I'd like better to use myself, if I do.

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Crochet - 'Sakura' Market Bag

Thu, 22 Jan 2026 00:51:26 GMT

So I've finished two things from The Pile, time to reward myself by starting something new, right? >.>

( the finished projects )

Today's project!

Shortly after I catalogued all the yarn that my friend (and her husband, but really, I knew before he was talking about the couple of hours in the yarn store who picked it out XD even if she's not a fiber-crafter herself) gifted me recently - a lot!!! - I had a Thought for one of the skeins, but I made myself wait until I'd finished at least one WIP on Ravelry.

Picked one of those colour-changing DK skeins (the darker one, which is a perfectly fine colourway but maybe not one I'd have chosen myself, a bit beigey) to use trying a market bag of the mesh style, but with a pretty design on the base - a design that requires a fair bit of front post stitches, which I hate post stitches - so some more practise ought to help me get better at them. (And it has, already, so, woo!)

I'm taking a pause now - possibly into tomorrow XP - 15 rounds in and getting into The Boring Bit (that is, the bajillion chains that will make up the mesh sides), and perhaps to play on the threesentenceficathon more!

Also, while I was working on the (unfamiliar, tricky) base, I took photos every round; it was neat to see it grow! Here's some of them:

( flower base progression )

It's pretty! . . .but it is absolutely not a sakura blossom. >.>;

It's this pattern, though I've actually been using the video tutorial by a friend of the pattern designer (shockingly, because I hate videos for instructions, but her style is good and I need just a little better idea than the written pattern to get started every round).

And technically speaking I won't count it as adding to The Pile until/unless I do a count check and it's still in progress - so I just have to finish it before the end of the month. ;)

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The Crochet Pile - January 2026

Mon, 19 Jan 2026 04:07:02 GMT

So I learned to crochet a bit over a year ago! (Picked it up on December 30th 2024, with many thanks due to my friend Rath (navigatorsghost around various internetlands) who cheerfully answered at least half a dozen plaintive wait what do I do here and other confusions on that first day alone.

I crocheted many things last year (so, so many - perhaps I'll make a bit of an overview to show off here later, because I'm quite proud of some of it), and I even did three little markets! (where I sold a number of things, yay!) . . . but I also amassed a solid chunk of open projects on Ravelry and WIPs in general.

(Sidenote, please look me up on Ravelry if you like! I'm Limmiel there and I am . . . on it more often than DW honestly, though not much in social areas partly because no one I hooked up with there is very active. XD)

Anyway! I had loosely intended to already, but I took inspiration from a pterribledinosaurdrawings update and comic to actually set a goal to smallen that Pile (metaphorical, mostly; they aren't all stashed in the same place, and a number of the open Ravelry projects are batches of [thing] for marketable stock), and in service of that, I set up a spreadsheet to track some things.

So as of January 10th (when I set it up; I went and removed a couple projects I went 'ehh nope' on before I set up the spreadsheet) my numbers look like:

Active WIPs: 23
(Subset that are market batches: 14)
Hibernating: 8

Total projects (complete, WIPs, everything): 138

I'll probably try and update once a month (probably on the last/first day of month) with updates on those numbers, how many things I finished in a month, if and how many from The Pile have been finished . . . how many things I added to The Pile. . . >.>

And here is one of my most recent projects, which I am quite pleased with!

Mini rose:

It's crocheted with embroidery floss and a 2mm hook, and is about 8cm tall. (And I did a fair bit of design work to refine the rose, though I started with someone's pattern for the petals before I did a bunch of tweaks, designed my own calyx, and figured out a stem.)

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3SF roundups and such!

Sat, 17 Jan 2026 10:43:29 GMT

The threesentenceficathon opens today and I am excited!

. . .slight change however - I'll be doing my roundup posts as always, but not here. I'll be posting them over on kalira_3sf, which I've spent the last two weeks or so setting up, including copying over all my prior roundups. The ones here remain, but only tagged with Three Sentence Ficathon.

It was getting difficult to find anything else on my journal, especially fandom-related, with the posts yes but the clog in the tags especially, which made it less than attractive to do anything else here.

I'll probably do a stats post here at the end of the ficathon and whatnot at least, though.

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GYWO Iron Chef Challenge - Sun (Masterlist)

Mon, 07 Jul 2025 04:26:16 GMT

So three weeks ago I asked for a prompt for this challenge (the challenge is to use the same prompt in multiple ways for multiple stories) getyourwordsout is running and got: Sun.

(My first thought: so how many of my vampires can I write for this?) (I did write several. >.>)

I wrote seven stories and I've posted them daily this week! (Monday-Sunday)

( Monday - Morning Light (Bel Air) )

( Tuesday - Little Sun (Moon Child) )

( Wednesday - Goodbye (Kagen no Tsuki) )

( Thursday - New Light (Requiem et Reminiscence) )

( Friday - In (Out) of Sun (Underworld) )

( Saturday - Aesthetic (Vampire's Love) )

( Sunday - Sundown (Moon Saga Yoshitsune Hiden) )

I might have a little overlap in moods XP but I got seven stories done for the prompt! I'm pleased with that. ^.^

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Proposal (Renaud's Family minific)

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 02:53:12 GMT

I signed up for getyourwordsout's microfiction dice challenge and got "75 words" as my challenge.

Decided on a peek back at Renaud's Family, my vampires who were born on the threesentenceficathon earlier this year. General primer on the verse here.

Proposal

Featuring: Renaud, Sylvester, Amalia
Rating: G
Wordcount: 75

‟What precisely are you suggesting, Amalia?” Renaud asked, arching a brow and running his fingers through his Grand-Childe’s hair.

Sylvester sighed without waking, formless shifting nestling his cheek closer in Renaud’s lap, and he purred quietly to soothe the youngster.

Amalia raised her hands, palms up. ‟Merely that you are one of our eldest . . . and least likely to bow without good reason,” she paused, with a wry smile, ‟any reason. We could use your aid.”

~

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Three Sentence Fics Between Ficathons Roundup! February 28th 2025

Sat, 01 Mar 2025 04:41:44 GMT

I've been considering doing one of these over the past couple weeks of medical nonsense, and here I finally am; maybe I'll have a little more luck with words today with 3SFs.

( A Touch Beyond (Labyrinth; Sarah, the Labyrinth makes you less human) )

( Commonplace Connection (Moon Child; Kei & Sho, wet hair) )

( Every Time (Kagen no Tsuki; Adam/Mizuki, I would choose you every time) )

( Hollow (Kagen no Tsuki; Tomoki, an empty song) )

( Worship (Vampire's Love; Eito/Ichito, When I'm down on my knees, you're how I pray) )

( Unmuted (Captain Harlock; Kei/Yattaran, 'you're still on comms') )

( Uncowed (Moon Child; Son Tin-Chen, Sho, Kei, 'Am I supposed to be scared now?') )

( Heart and Soul (Oresama; Miyavi/Shiini/Fujiko, what i love about my lovers) )

( Delayed Reaction (Vampire's Love; Eito/Ichito, trembling reaction) )

( Heart's Truth (Bel Air ~Kuuhaku no Shunkan no Naka de~ de l'image; (Léon/)Devereaux, Mirabelle, doubt) )

. . .and tomorrow . . . we'll see, I may want to come back for another of these.

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2025 Three Sentence Ficathon Complete! Stats time?

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 13:15:20 GMT

I haven't done this kind of roundup (stats, rather) before, but I was curious. . .

I wrote a total of 350 fills this year! That's a record for me - prior years. . .

2018-2019 round: 275
2020 round: 240
2021 round: 47
2022 round: 157
2023 round: 186
2024 round: 214

(2018-2019 crossed over a very bad time medically for me, a lot of which I was in the hospital for - the 3SF was perfect for small bits of playtime writing and distracting myself. 2021 I hit burnout really hard for only the second time - do not recommend - and had to drop off the ficathon after 5 days.)

Also, since I'm doing getyourwordsout, this year I have a wordcount total as well! Which is 44,182 - an average of 126 words per 3SF, evidently!

And wrote for 42 fandoms! (If we count everything original as one instead of I believe it was three different worlds; only one being an actual project.)

Fandoms:

By far the busiest fandom this year was Moon Child with 88!

My top five:

Moon Child: 88
Vampire's Love: 41
Original: 36
-33 of which were for Renaud's Family, a new vampire family focused 'verse! I came up with it for one 3SF and then, er. . .
Kagen no Tsuki: 30

(and then there was a tie so-)

Ai no Kotodama: 11
Bel Air ~Kuuhaku no Shunkan no Naka de~ de l'image: 11
Kamisama Kiss: 11
Requiem et Reminiscence: 11

( More fandom numbers. . . )

Only 8 of those were for fandom-specific prompts - all the others were either straight-up "any" prompts or still wildcards, e.g. "any fandom with a high-technology setting".

I have some more AO3 collections to start of these as well, it seems. . . (I usually say it might be worthy of collecting them on AO3 when I have 10 or more for a ship/fandom/theme.) Though I'm currently working through posting my Kagen no Tsuki and Vampire's Love ones, a day (and a 3SF to each) at a time, and I think I'll stick to no more than two updating daily!

Now to decide what to do with my row of open tabs of prompts and prompt posts. . .

~Kalira

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2025 Three Sentence Ficathon Roundup! Day 28~

Mon, 10 Feb 2025 12:06:00 GMT

We're at the end of the threesentenceficathon tonight! . . .I usually don't fill/write any between rounds, but perhaps I'll indulge in a day of 3SF playtime every so often this time? (Perhaps soon, given I have some Medical Nonsense Recovery Time upcoming. . .)

( Premonition (Hellboy; Nuala, Nuada, while the earth remains) )

( Changed (Moon Child; Son, Sho, crystalline) )

( Forked Path (Kagen no Tsuki; Adam/Mizuki, out of this world) )

( Chocolate-Covered Apologies (Vampire's Love; Eito/Ichito, chocolate) )

( Never to Come (Requiem et Reminiscence; Rei/Maria/Ryuichi, time together) )

( Time's Up (Boys Over Flowers; Yi Jung/Woo Bin/Ga Eul, time together) )

( Busy Hands (Mary Stayed Out All Night; Jung In/Mu Gyul/Mary, time together) )

( Missing You Already (Oresama; Miyavi/Shini/Fujiko, time together) )

( Two of Three (Oresama; Miyavi/Shini/Fujiko, sleeping arrangements) )

( Time? (Oresama; Miyavi/Shini/Fujiko, 20 years later) )

( Mate and Family (Sex Pistols; Yonekuni/Shiro, Kunimasa/Noririn, having children) )

( A Question of. . . (Kagen no Tsuki; Hotaru, Masaki, (Adam/Mizuki)) )

( Ever Forgiven (Moon Child; Kei & Sho, unconditional love) )

( Shared Warmth (Oresama; Miyavi/Shini/Fujiko, the peace between midnight and dawn) )

( Quiet Corner (Kagen no Tsuki; Adam/Mizuki, resting in the in-between) )

( Lingering Goodbye (Ai no Kotodama; Ootani Shinya/Tachibana Miyako, when you've said goodbye a dozen times already, but this time you really are going to make it out the door) )

( Conviction and Comfort (Moon Child; Kei & Sho, one phone call away) )

( Memory Alone (Kamisama Kiss; Tomoe/Akura Ou, treasured memories) )

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2025 Three Sentence Ficathon Roundup! Day 27~

Sun, 09 Feb 2025 13:13:13 GMT

( Memories Undimmed (Vampire's Love; Eito(/Josephine), Things that I thought I had put far behind) )

( Unshaded Mirror (Moon Child; Kei/Sho, the sight of one's own blood) )

( Envious Eyes (Oresama; Kaori, Miyavi/Shini/Fujiko, Outsider POV) )

( Everything (Moon Child; Kei/Sho, I will not have you tainted by my pain) )

( Satiation (Vampire's Love; Eito/Ichito, satisfaction) x2 )

( Final Goodbye (Kagen no Tsuki; Adam/Mizuki, Tomoki/Mizuki, Masaki, one last kiss) )

( Forbidden (Bel Air ~Kuuhaku no Shunkan no Naka de~ de l'image; Mirabelle, Léon, never again) )

( Discovery (Vampire's Love; Eito & Ichito, leave a tender moment alone) )

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