Family Celebrations | Dim sum | Welcoming the Fire Horse
Content Notes
This post includes:
• Discussions of cultural appropriation and racism toward Asian food and traditions
• Mentions of grief and pet loss
• References to chronic illness, disability, and medication
• Ancestral remembrance and death
• Firm boundaries around cultural disrespect
🏮 Welcome back to the Den.
The lights are low. The rules are flexible. Nobody here expects you to be brave on command.
This is The Crippled Cryptid.
A soft-lit corner of the internet where disability, chronic illness, service dogs, and everyday survival exist without apology.
If you’re new here, hi. I’m Sky.
Professional cryptid.
Unwilling amateur cyborg.
Occasionally, a chronic illness and disability advocate.
Medically interesting enough to make half my providers sigh when they open my chart. I sigh too.
I live in a haunted meat suit with a deeply suspicious warranty, spend a lot of time in Bed Jail™, and am almost never alone thanks to my medical alert service dog, Luna.
Part guardian. Part shadow. Part “excuse me, Mama. Sit your ass down, right now.” Followed by a much sterner, “Mumther, it is Chinese New Year we are not debating your poor decision-making skills.” 🐾
Then there’s M&M.
My constant. My Player 2. The one who gives the 90% when I only have 10. Garden gremlin. Best friend. Maker of rice.
Returning cryptids, welcome home.
We celebrate family around here; whether you’re blood or not.
New cryptids, pull up a chair.
🌙 The Lunatic Café is open. The Den is big enough for all of us.
🏮 On today’s menu: Lunar New Year, Celebrated with Care.
This post is not a guide, a how-to, or a claim of expertise. It’s a reflection on learning, honoring, and celebrating with intention as guests.
A quick note on wording: I use Lunar New Year when speaking broadly about the season across cultures, and Chinese New Year when referring specifically to Chinese traditions and celebrations. I’ve been listening to Asian creators on this, and I try to follow the guidance shared by the communities who live these traditions every day.
However, if there is something that you see that you think I can do better, I am 100% open and willing to listen and learn. This has always been a space for learning.
And it will remain that way. If you see something I’m doing wrong, call me out on it. We do not want to keep allowing misinformation to spread in the year 2026, we’re better than that.
⚠️ A Note on Cultural Respect ⚠️
This space celebrates curiosity, learning, and care.
M&M and I honor Asian food, traditions, and cultures not as trends, but as living heritage.
We aim to use proper names, learn histories, and approach every experience with intention.
Sneering, mockery, or cultural bullying will be removed. Instantly.
So will anyone who is found doing these things. It will not be tolerated.
This space is meant for love and care, not bullying and hatred. Remember, we are guests here.
Lanterns stay lit here because we protect them.
Respect doesn’t make celebration smaller. It makes it brighter.
🏮 🏮 🏮
Why Me? Or: Cultural Appreciation, Not Confusion
I know what some of you might be wondering. Why am I talking about Chinese New Year?
No, I’m not Chinese or Chinese American. As far as family history goes, and that history has gaps the size of Illinois potholes, the kind with their own zipcodes, I’m mostly German, with Native ancestry and French-Canadian roots mixed in. My mom used to joke that I was a Heinz 57, and honestly, she still might not be wrong. Until we have my Ancestry DNA test results, we won’t know for sure.
The reason this matters to me is personal and layered. It’s also a story for another day. One I promise to tell.
M&M has Iroquois and Metis ancestry, which many scholars believe traces back to ancient migrations from Asia. That connection isn’t neat or simple, but it’s meaningful. Honoring Asian traditions with care, curiosity, and respect feels important to us. Thanks to her Aunt Lise, we’re learning how to do so properly and respectfully.
More than that, this aligns with how I was raised. Learning about other cultures, their food, their history, and their traditions is how prejudice gets dismantled instead of reinforced.
My grandfather always taught me to try everything at least once. You were allowed not to like something, but never to mock it.
Curiosity is a bridge.
Respect is the price of crossing it.
🏮 🏮 🏮
🏮 Cultural Respect, Not a Trend 🏮
Before we talk about markets, meals, or menus, I need to be very clear.
Lately, especially in the U.S.A, where we live currently, Asian creators have been forced to explain, again, why their cultural foods are not “gross,” “weird,” or “stinky.” Foods are mislabeled, whitewashed, mocked, and then magically redeemed when a white creator presents them as something new.
Names disappear.
History disappears. Suddenly it’s “trendy.”
That’s wrong.
Here, you will not find me using whitewashed names or pretending discovery where there is none. If we know a dish’s name, we use it. If we don’t, we learn.
If you grew up calling something by a different name, learning the original isn’t a failure. It’s growth.
We are not reinventing the wheel. We are not uncovering hidden gems. These foods and traditions have existed for thousands of years. Longer than the country that I have lived in my entire life has existed.
We are guests in these spaces. Grateful ones.
Yet, still, people choose to sneer and mock… and because of them, we become unwelcome in these spaces. Rightfully so.
When we explore Mitsuwa or H-Mart, we do so with intention. We listen to creators who grew up with these traditions. We correct ourselves when we get something wrong.
This isn’t aesthetic tourism.
It isn’t a trend.
It’s respect, practiced deliberately.
If I’ve named something incorrectly, I’m open to being corrected with care. Learning is part of respect. Hostility is not.
Remember that the next time you want to make Shoyu Tamago (Japanese Soy Marinated Eggs) or Mayak Gyeran (Korean Marinated “drug eggs”). They aren’t “Courtney Cook’s eggs.” There is a culture behind it, and a reason behind the name that it has.
By erasing the name, we’re erasing the culture.
By erasing the culture, we erase the purpose behind the reason why they had to learn how to preserve food in this way to begin with.
Lanterns stay lit here because we protect them.
🏮 🏮 🏮
Internet Teachers, Comfort Food, and Rice Discourse
One of our favorite TikTok creators is Jeremy Kim, affectionately known as the “pretty Mulan man.” He dresses as Mulan, jokes about Shang, and reminds people to wash their rice. If that’s not modern folklore, I don’t know what is.
And he is just one of many. If you want to learn about Lunar New Year, listen first to the people who live it. Asian creators aren’t “sources.” They’re storytellers of their own inheritance.
We love Chinese food.
We love Japanese food.
We love Korean food.
We love learning about the culture, and we enjoy learning how to make it at home.
Appreciation doesn’t require a passport.
Just intention.
And truly, wash your damn rice.
🏮 🏮 🏮
Lunar New Year Basics (Cryptid Edition)
Lunar New Year begins on February 17, 2026, ushering in the Year of the Fire Horse, also called the Red Horse.
Quick Facts
• Date: February 17, 2026 (Tuesday)
• Zodiac Animal: Horse (Fire Horse)
• Celebration Period: New Year festivities begin February 17 and culminate with the Lantern Festival on March 3, 2026
Why the Fire Horse Matters
Fire Horse years occur once every 60 years.
The Horse symbolizes freedom, movement, independence, and stamina. Fire brings momentum, transformation, and bold creation.
In some East Asian traditions, particularly Japanese folklore, Fire Horse years were once framed as dangerous, especially for strong-willed women. Modern interpretations reclaim this as power, resilience, and unapologetic autonomy.
Big energy. Big change. Maybe a little chaos.
🏮 🏮 🏮
Traditions That Make the World Glow
At its heart, Lunar New Year is about family.
• Reunion dinners
• Honoring ancestors
• Red decorations for luck and protection
• Fireworks, dragon dances, and lion dances
• Red envelopes (hongbao), traditionally given by elders to younger family members as blessings
The season culminates in the Lantern Festival, when lanterns glow, riddles are shared, and wishes are written with hope.
I’ll probably be watching from home, likely from Bed Jail™, under Luna’s sunflower-daisy supervision. But someday, I want to stand beneath that light myself.
A trip to China during the Chinese New Year with M&M and Aunt Lise forever has a spot on my bucket list, and no one will ever take that dream away from me. You will have to pry it from my cold, anemic fingers. Okay?
🏮 🏮 🏮
Honoring Ancestors and Inviting Luck
Homes are cleaned to sweep away old misfortune. Offerings are made. Names are spoken. Candles burn low while tea steam curls into the air.
Luck isn’t magic.
It’s continuity.
We cook comfort food. We wear red. We remember Bear. We honor the versions of ourselves that survived long enough to make it here.
The lantern stays lit because someone lit it before us.
🏮 🏮 🏮
Even the Fire Horse Needs Fresh Air
(A Note from Future Sky!)
Before the chopping boards came out and the prep work began, we took advantage of something rare and generous: 57 degrees in February. If you didn’t know, this is something that’s practically unheard of in Illinois… and maybe even a little scary to some people.
It was warm. Not summer-warm. Not reckless-warm. Just enough to make your shoulders drop without you realizing they were tense.
Luna got outside time before kitchen supervision mode kicked in.
Ball throws.
Sun on fur.
That sharp little sparkle in her one blue eye and one brown eye that says, “Yes. This is correct. This is how the day should begin.”
For a moment, it felt like early spring testing the waters.
The air was soft. The light was kind. I wasn’t in Bed Jail™. And the Fire Horse energy felt less like chaos and more like movement.
We came inside with pink cheeks and muddy paws and the kind of quiet happiness that only exists when your body cooperates just long enough to let you feel alive in it.
Later, the clouds rolled in.
And then the rain…
Abundance before the feast.
Blessing before the lanterns.
🏮 🏮 🏮
How the Cryptid Household Celebrates
We celebrated from home, because that’s what we do best. After all, I’m still on Keppra, and we’re going through a lot right now.
But that’s okay. We’re homebodies. And you know what? We love it that way.
Dinner looked like this:
🧧 Tempura chicken with sweet-and-sour sauce (Because the Yard Yeti has the palate of a chicken nugget kid, and you know what? That’s okay, we love him anyways.)
🧧 Tempura shrimp
🧧 Pork, Scallop, and Shrimp Shumai
🧧 Pork and Green Onion Steamed Bao
🧧 Savory Crab Rangoons
The egg rolls, Xiaolongbao, shrimp noodle rolls, and veggie stir fry have been lovingly rescheduled for a future feast.
Crab rangoons remain non-negotiable. They must not be sweet.
We also grabbed a box of mooncakes at Costco. Traditionally Mid-Autumn Festival fare, but this is the only window I get to buy them here and gremlin brains said yes.
We had botan rice candy, chocolate coins, and Pocky.
The rice candy was not our favorite but, the mooncakes were nice!
🏮 🏮 🏮
The Cryptid’s Chinese New Year Menu
(Menu subject to chronic illness, grocery store vibes, and Luna’s supervision.)
Starters
🧧 Mystery vegetable soup
🧧 Botan Rice Candy
Main Dishes
🧧 Tempura Chicken
🧧 Tempura Shrimp
🧧 Chow Mein
🧧 Pork, Scallop & Shrimp Shumai
🧧 Pork and Green Onion Steamed Bao
🧧 Savory Crab Rangoons
Rescheduled for a Future Feast
🧧 Egg Rolls
🧧 Shrimp Noodle Rolls
🧧 Xiaolongbao
🧧 Veggie Stir Fry
Drinks
🧧 Jasmine Tea
Special Guests
🧧 Luna the Service Dog
🧧 Aunt Lise via FaceTime
🏮 🏮 🏮
Every cryptid has a year written somewhere in the stars.
The Cryptid Zodiac Roll Call
Sky– Year of the Pig (Wood Pig)
Born February 23, 1995
Pigs are associated with generosity, creativity, compassion, and comfort. Wood Pigs are known for resilience, kindness, and stubborn hope. Builders of warm worlds. Lovers of snacks.
Honestly, when getting ready to do the Zodiacs, I can’t say that I was expecting mine to turn out the way that it did. But I like to think that I’m resilient. I have a bracelet around my cane that says resilience so seeing that word pop up here didn’t surprise me nearly as much as I thought it would.
As for being kind and stubborn, I am both of those things and Luna and M&M will both agree. I do think that I’m creative though.
M&M– Year of the Rooster (Water Rooster)
Born August 4, 1993
Roosters are observant, loyal, protective, and steady. Water Roosters carry emotional depth and quiet strength. The ones who keep the lanterns lit.
This describes M&M perfectly. She is loyal, protective and steady- she keeps not only the lanterns lit but the home warm and kind, even on the days when everything feels cold and dim. She is my constant and my warm soft place to land.
BJ (The Yard Yeti)- Year of the Snake (Metal Snake)
Born December 5, 2001
Snakes are thoughtful, intuitive, strategic, and private. Metal Snakes are determined, opinionated, and surprisingly deep. You know what, all of these things sound like they fit him perfectly. Chicken nugget kid palate and all.
Luna– Year of the Rabbit (Wood Rabbit)
Born October 11, 2023
Rabbits symbolize gentleness, vigilance, compassion, and luck. Wood Rabbits are nurturing, intuitive, and deeply bonded. Yes, yes, and yes. Luna is all these things, and I think that’s why she wound up being the perfect service dog. She is gentle and vigilant while remaining compassionate.
She can be a stubborn pain in the ass but, I think that’s exactly what I need sometimes, and that’s why I tell you constantly that she is a sassy little spirit guide. But I’m the one who taught her how to be that way. She earned her zodiac.
Bear– Best Guess: Year of the Snake (Water Snake)
Estimated birth: October 2013
Water Snakes are wise, calm, observant, and deeply loyal. Quiet protectors. Old souls.
He wore beautiful red. He still belongs at the table.
Candles will be lit in his honor.
Even the Service Dog Celebrates
Luna will wear red.
For luck. For love. And because Bear did.
Pets are family.
They belong at the table.
She’ll get her own vet-approved dinner of chicken and steamed veggies, plus a few extra ball throws and salmon treats.
🏮 🏮 🏮
🏮✨ Post-Dinner Cryptid Update ✨🏮
Because plans are living things. And sometimes they politely bow out.
A few dishes didn’t make it to the table after all. The egg rolls, the Xiaolongbao, the shrimp noodle rolls, and the chow mein veggie stir fry have been officially rescheduled for a future feast.
And honestly? That was the right call.
The spread we did have was abundant in the way that makes you laugh halfway through plating because you realize you may have planned like you were feeding a small village.
No one went hungry. Not even remotely.
And then, unexpectedly, it rained.
Soft. Brief. Almost ceremonial.
We looked it up, because we are who we are. Rain on Lunar New Year is said to symbolize abundance and good fortune. Prosperity falling from the sky. A blessing you didn’t ask for but received anyway.
The universe really leaned in.
M&M absolutely crushed the crab rangoons. The filling was perfect. The folds held. The green onion ratio? Elite.
Thank you to Matthew, the Compass, for bringing the tempura shrimp from Costco. Golden. Crispy. Exactly what they needed to be.
Thank you to the Yard Yeti for helping with tackling cleanup and for trying the mooncakes with us. The pineapple surprised him. The jasmine ended up being his favorite. M&M loved the pineapple and custard. I remain steadfast in my jasmine loyalty.
The table was full.
The sink was full.
The fridge is extremely full. (Am I mad that there are leftovers? No, the joy is abundant.)
And somehow, so are we.
Lanterns stayed lit.
No matter what this year brings, my hope is simple: more time, more warmth, more light.
Maybe this is the year the fire burns again.
The year that I can write again.
The year M&M finally gets the novel she wants from me.
Even the rain showed up this year. I’m choosing to take that as a promise.
Walk gently into the new year, cryptids.
Lanterns stay lit because we choose to protect them.
Love you. Now say it back.
-Sky
© The Crippled Cryptid
Disability, honesty, and a little chaos.
🔗 https://linktr.ee/skylanarissa
There’s never pressure to donate. Reading, sharing, or simply staying is more than enough.
If you’d like to support the long, slow work of staying alive, stable, and mobile:
💜 https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-skys-journey-to-health-and-mobility
Leave a comment