Content Warning: chronic illness, disability, grief (mention of pet loss), medical context
Welcome Back to the Den
The lights are a little warmer this week.
The floors are louder with paws.
There’s a presence here you’ve probably felt before—
but this time?
She’s taking center stage.
Right where she belongs.
If You’re New Here…
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.
Occasional chronic illness advocate, author, and creator.
Luna’s Mama. (My favorite title of all.)
Medically interesting enough to make half my providers sigh when they open my chart.
(I sigh too. Then I ask for coffee.)
I live in a haunted meat suit with a deeply suspicious warranty, spend a lot of time in Bed Jail™, and I am almost never alone-
Because two years ago, a very special dog found me.
Meet Luna
Her name is Luna.
But I call her Luna Bean, Lulu, Butt-Butt, Butter Bean-
and Rumpus.
Service dog.
Medical alert.
Professional problem notifier.
Part guardian. Part shadow. Part-
“Mama, sit down before I make you.”
And if I pretend I didn’t hear her?
She escalates.
Cattle Dog side-eye locked and loaded.
Stance firm. Judgment immediate.
“Mumther. We are not negotiating your poor decision-making skills today.”
She’s a sassy little spirit guide.
And when you are a stubborn Cryptid who ignores every red flag your body throws at you?
That’s exactly what you need.
A spirit guide with teeth.
With grit.
With just enough sunlight to keep you moving through the darkness.
(Luna has requested editorial control. We are allowing it.)
🐾 Luna Note:
Hi. Yes. It is me. Luna Bean!
I am the reason we are all here.
You’re welcome.
Also- if she tells you she “almost didn’t need help”?
That is a lie. I saw everything.
This Week Is Different
This week marks her second Adoptiversary.
May 11th, 2024 → May 11th, 2026.
And if you ask me?
That makes this less of a blog…
And more of a celebration.
She Chose All of Us
Luna didn’t just choose me.
She chose us.
There’s M&M-
My partner, my best friend, the one who gives 90% when I only have 10.
Also her:
• Belly rub dealer
• Sweater curator
• Bandana stylist
• Nighttime victim of Bed Hog Crimes (confirmed)
There’s the Yard Yeti—
My little brother (even if he’s taller than all of us), her best friend, her personal ball-launching machine.
The one who calls out “Lulus!” and gets full-body joy in return. Every time.
The most tail wags.
The most bork.
The most boing.
And there was Bear.
Her first teacher.
Her first best friend.
The one who showed her how to be a dog.
How to love a family.
How to stay.
You can still see him in her.
In the way she handles his toys- gentle, like they still belong to him.
In the way she took over his bed- not like it was hers, but like it was entrusted to her.
🐾 Luna Note:
He taught me important things.
Like where the good naps are.
And how to stay close without being asked.
I think he’d like how I’m doing.
I’m taking care of her.
What This Week Is Really About
This week isn’t just about how I found Luna.
It’s about how she became who she is.
How she learned to read a body even I don’t fully understand.
How she adapts faster than I do- more often than I’d like to admit.
She notices things I don’t always feel yet.
And sometimes? That difference matters.
How we went from:
“Why is this dog acting like she’s possessed?”
to:
“Oh. This is what it means to be taken care of.”
It’s about the moments that built her.
And the ones where she quietly, steadily, stubbornly- gave pieces of my life back to me.
🐾 Luna Note:
She says I “learned her body.”
Correction:
I learned her patterns.
The face she makes before things go wrong.
The way she gets quiet.
The way she pushes when she should stop.
It’s my job to interrupt that.
Frequently.
Mama says that I’m the stubborn one.
Mama should look in the mirror and see where I got it from.
Come Closer
Returning cryptids, you already know:
This Den doesn’t ask you to be anything other than what you are.
New cryptids?
Come a little closer.
Mind the tail. She will step on you and then act like it was your fault.
The Lunatic Café is open.
And for the next week-
You’re not just visiting the Den.
You’re stepping into Luna’s story.
There will be dog fur involved.
Wear it like a badge of honor.
🐾 Wyrm Workbench: Writing Update
And because no celebration in this Den happens without ink on our hands-
It’s Monday. That means we talk words.
And this week?
The words showed up.
Not quietly, either- more like they kicked the door in and said, “We’re doing this now.”
Between:
• Spring cleaning
• Garden prep
• Adoptiversary chaos (the good kind)
I’ve written almost 10,000 words.
Yeah. I’m counting that.
And I’m saying it out loud because it matters.
Blog words are real words.
They hold weight.
They hold truth.
And if they reach someone who needed them?
That makes them real enough for me.
And honestly?
They make me just as happy as my novels.
🐾 Luna Note:
She wrote 10,000 words.
I supervised.
Extensively.
This included:
• sitting on her feet
• dramatic sighing
• enforcing hydration
• being perfect
• reminding her that sour candies are not a meal
You’re welcome.
Current Projects
• Where Marigolds Grow → ~11k words (plot hole defeated, for now)
• Addie Unwritten → holding at 21k (we are giving her grace)
• Bloom (Poetry Collection) → being reformatted and prepared for republication
Next step: ordering an author proof copy.
Which feels… huge.
And a little surreal.
Why I Keep Writing
Because of the people I love.
Because of:
• Aunt Lise
• My father (yes, we’re acknowledging it, as weird as it sounds to say out loud)
• His wife
• M&M
• The Yard Yeti
They are the reason the words keep coming.
Because writing is proof.
Proof that I’m still here.
Despite the pain.
Despite the chaos.
Despite everything my body tries to take.
Because I want to show them that this is who I am.
This is what I do.
This is what I’m passionate about-
even when it hurts.
Even when all I can do is sit here and write.
Even if it takes hours.
Even if I have to stop, rest, walk away-
Or do it from bed.
Or from an iPad.
Or start a post one day, and finish it two days later.
Little wins matter.
A Tiny, Dangerous Idea
I might write a children’s book about Luna.
Because honestly?
She deserves one.
She saves my life daily.
She makes my life better daily.
Alerting to migraines, muscle spasms, seizures.
And M&M’s nephew Damien would probably love it.
And something about mailing a story across the world that says:
“Here is a dog who helps people stay”-
One he loves seeing on video call?
That feels important.
🐾 Luna Note:
If you are reading this-
You are part of the Den now.
That means I am also looking out for you.
Do not test me.
Drink your water.
Eat real food.
Do not be like Mama. She thinks coffee is a meal.
It is not. I checked.
And get some rest.
Rest is not a reward. It is a requirement.
🌙 Love You. Now Say It Back.
And this week-
Say it to the ones who stay.
The ones who notice before you do.
The ones who move closer when something isn’t right.
The ones who don’t need words to understand you.
Just presence.
Just proximity.
Just you.
Because once upon a time, we had names for beings like that.
Guardians.
Companions.
Something softer. Something older.
Different words.
Same meaning.
You are not alone.
This Week Belongs to Luna
For the dog who found me.
For the Service Dingo™ who refuses to let me fall apart unattended.
For the piece of my life that arrived quietly-
And changed everything anyway.
And if you stay with us?
You’ll see the moments that made her-
The training, the chaos, the quiet miracles, and the stubborn little ways she keeps me here.
If you’d like to join the celebration, I’ve made her a wishlist for friends and family who want to send love in ball or chew toy form- but nothing is ever expected.
If she can hunt down and open her own Easter eggs,
I’m pretty sure she can handle presents her mamas wrap for her.
(Thank you notes, with pawprints will of course be sent if you include your address!)
Stay soft.
Stay stubborn.
Stay.
We mean it.
-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
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