Project Sunshine

Tag Team Match!

here's part 2!

in which pomni accepts jax's self-invitation to sleep over in her room. wow. i wonder what could possibly happen

Funny bunny escape AU

Rated: M

No archive warnings apply

Roughly 70k words

Slow burn, angst, fluff, hurt/comfort, limes

—

She came out in her swimsuit.

Lying to himself about his feelings for her was one thing, convincing himself he wasn't attracted to her was another story.

She wore a brown triangle bikini top with puka shell accents, paired with a pair of board shorts. Her hair was tied in a knot, and her sunglasses rested on her head. He was trying so hard not to stare at her— her anything really, her chest, her lips, the curve of her waist, her belly button ring that had a dangling purple stone. Her entire being was a magnet to his eyes. It wasn’t just that he didn’t want to be caught, he didn’t like the burning feeling it gave him, that made him want to crawl out of his skin. He didn’t like to think of what it meant, it only confused him then made him angry for not understanding it. For not being able to compartmentalize his feelings towards her. Whatever they were, they were far too complex for him to break down and deliberately misattribute them to some other cause, belief perseverance at its finest. So, he tossed them into the ignore pile.

“You're sure you don't wanna go?” she asked eagerly.

She had been pleading with him for days about this. He wasn't exactly enthralled by the idea. Swimming meant other people would be seeing his body and he didn't exactly like the skin he was in. Wearing a shirt to the lake would only announce that to his friends-not-friends. He may as well write ‘insecure’ on his forehead.

There was also the added fact that it would require being in front of her in her string bikini top while they swam, and he would have to not look at her without being too obvious that he was trying not to look at her because looking at her made his insides feeling boiling hot lava and caused his mouth to go dry and turned his stomach in knots and made his brain play a dial tone and— it was just too much.

-

They had a good thing going on but

WHY WERE THEY RUNNING SO FAST SLOWDOWN

~Your voices

Their voices~

~all wonderfully wacky voices~

...Yet no one could hear your cries

MEME ver:

to be honest... i'm not interesed in do the OVA 9...

The thing about the TADC finale is that a cynical part of me feels like most people aren't going to get the message.

Yes, the finale clearly showed that even the worst of you deserve empathy. But, not a lot of people are going to see that intrapersonally. Most are going to see that interpersonally, especially people who's going to excuse Jax's behavior because of her backstory.

So what's wrong with the interpersonal lens?

The Interpersonal Lens

Viewing the message of empathy in the context of the show in the interpersonal lens is a double-edged blade.

One one hand, interpersonally viewing that Jax at her worst still deserve empathy puts the responsibility of giving empathy on her victims. But the finale didn't put this responsibility on Gangle, Zooble, or Ragatha. The writing even helped them be make peace with the guilt and regret they had because they had done everything they could for Jax at the extent that she would let them.

On the other hand, Jax couldn't give herself the empathy she needed to let go of her inner turmoil. So Pomni did. But that's because Jax hadn't hurt her as much as she had hurt others yet. Everyone has their limits.

Through viewing the message through interpersonal lens, the message is found lacking. It's only the half of it, mainly what Pomni was able to do.

To complete this message, it must also be done through the intrapersonal lens.

The Intrapersonal Lens

The message that even the worst of you deserved empathy is only complete through the intrapersonal lens. With Jax's flashbacks, she had so many chances to reach out. She had so many chances to talk to someone who would be willing to support and listen. But she didn't because she couldn't let go of her own self-perceived and perceived notions that made her cling to the familiarity of isolation than the terror of being known.

Jax's tragedy is a cautionary tale. That even the worst of you deserve empathy, but the most likely and the most important person who can give it to you is yourself.

Give yourself the empathy before it's too late. Even if you don't think you deserve other's kindness, you deserve your own.

Movie Date... kinda

I redrew this picture of the cast as the characters