Aya and Flounder

“Let’s stay on this miserable planet, together!”

Lapis Lazuli

Dear Aya, 

Lapis Lazuli said this in season one, and it was one of the many times that I felt connected to the character from Steven Universe. Lapis has always been my spirit character (as much as Marceline the Vampire Queen) and perhaps more. 

One of the most significant parts of Lapis’ story line is that she was trapped in a mirror for a thousand years until Steven released her. The idea seemed substantial to the current predicament I find myself in, where I feel trapped in the cycle of sleeping but only for three to four hours—the lasting side effect of fatigue and insomnia since I recovered from Covid. 

I wanted to write today because it felt right somehow like I needed to clear my head, and instead of complaining (which I wish to do so badly), I thought about writing a blog post in our shared diary. I did get some good advice from your mom about diet changes and adding B12 to supplement the effect and hopefully fight back against fatigue. My ultimate hope, which was never great, is to get back to the regular sleep I was getting, as irregular as it has always been.

What captured me to use the screenshot here was that you encouraged me to reach out to my cousin about possibly missing out on being his best man at his wedding. I did not end up that way, but the point of this was that if I feel like Lapis, you always seem to be my Steven. You always encourage me to pursue and never give up hope on anything. So, “let’s stay on this miserable planet, together!” As Lapis would say, truthfully, even with all that is going on, I am lucky to be able to function with limited sleep, and it has come with a lot of practice and lots of coffee.  

Tag. YOU’re It. 

Flounder

Dear Flounder,

I feel flattered you feel me capable of breaking you out of a mirror 😅 🪞 and I will be your Steven any day. Steven had just the naïveté to do for Lapis what no one else could, just go with the flow. That in and of itself, that raw curiosity, liberated Lapis from the doings of one preceding him.

Stepping out of Steven, I suppose I saw myself reflected back at me when I would hear or see you going through your mirror milestone. In ways inconceivable, your actions amalgamated with others, kept you in the mirror. It never occurred to me that being in the mirror was a problem until I realized I wanted out.

B12 = Marmite, seaweed, red meat and Eggs (try to avoid supplements).

I still remember how you seemed honoured to be best man. Best man tells. And you did. Truthfully, you have been kept in the mirror too long. Giving up on what you want and forfeiting that which propels you will just make the mirror falsely appealing.

The mirror is to reflect. To live is to stay on this miserable planet, together.

You’ve got this,

Aya