Decided To Challenge Myself After The Makoto Edit, Struggles, Then Decided "fuck It, Close Enough" And

Decided to challenge myself after the Makoto edit, struggles, then decided "fuck it, close enough" and ended it there. Guh....

akesumi but out of context 😌

OMG YES!!!! This is perfect!!! That and maybe HaseMaru as well!

Decided to have a shot at redesigning Sumi's PT outfit!

This isn't a "fixing", just a silly design challenge!

More notes (including spoilers) after split!

I also think making her purple would just be very fun, especially given her codename! I know why she's designed the way she is, especially since Haru is already purple (but like Ann, Joker and Sophia are all already primarily red soo), and I know why shes named violet, but I think it was kind of a missed opportunity?

My main focus was I wanted to try a magician's assistant inspo to match jokers magician? look as well as making her gymnastics inspiration more obvious (I find the wraps on her shoes of her og design kinda get lost and its such a cute idea that I wanted to try and make it more obvious!)

Her name is also why I replaced the roses. They aren't exactly violet flowers, but I thought the four petal flower looked cute!

Spoiler note: I personally don't like her completely reverting to the ponytail at the end of her confidant (so much to the point I forgot it happens lmao). While I know it would have meant more resources during development, I would have preferred they gave her at least a slightly different style. I think a bun (I drew a loose low one as tight top ones always hurt my head when I did ballet ue) would be a good choice! Then she can still bring back the ribbon, honoring Kasumi, while still being practical and cute. A low ponytail or a plait could also work, i wore them for dance lessons as a kid, but I'm biased lol. At the very least, I think they should have let her keep the longer side pieces and/or her glasses to differentiate the two after her whole character arc!

Anyways, I might have a go at some of the others in the future, I just had the most ideas for sumi hehe

An addition since I realized something: It was left ambiguous on when she's talking more as Sumire as opposed to "Kasumi", but I can't help but feel like her false awakening was more Sumire showing up as opposed to her false identity.

As in her constant feelings of worthlessness and self-hatred slipping through the cracks but also her being just as kind as her sister. Her, "I am..." moment kinda adds to that due to the hesitation in her tone and struggling with saying her "name."

There's also her suddenly experiencing headaches when seeing a cognition of herself which gets killed... Almost like both her real self and fake self are warring with each other in her mind and cognition.

So I feel like "Sumire" did win out for a brief moment but reverted back to "Kasumi" due to the filter which would explain Cendrillon popping up albeit slightly reluctant/scolding. At least that's my interpretation if that makes sense.

Ok I need to get this ramble off my chest before I forget: I feel like people completely misunderstand Sumi's motivation and breaking point for her first/false awakening. Why? Well let's dive in!

I've seen people complain about it and how seems like it's all about losing her scholarship but dialogue after that awakening actually painted a different picture. I can see WHY it seemed that way but then this part happened:

She WAS upset about it but even she admitted that the school wasn't exactly wrong in this (As assholish as the VP was, he wasn't entirely wrong either sadly).

Instead, contrary to popular belief, she was more upset that she caused trouble for and dragged Maruki into this mess to begin with.

Not only that but she overheard the vice principal basically insulting her behind her back:

Now keep in mind he had a point and didn't know she was in earshot but still it was completely out of line for him to even say that, about a student who already lost her twin not too long ago no less.

On top of that not only did she feel horrible for Maruki but she also horrible for even Joker getting dragged into her mess...

She felt useless and a huge burden to everyone. A failure... Even to her deceased twin sister. Now regardless of which sister died, it had to be a massive blow to her mentally. Especially when you consider that Shujin might have aware of who she really is but still said all those things and did all this to her... Now with Sumi's overall mental state combined with the filter occasionally slipping... Little wonder she finally snapped during that awakening. It's even showcased after it too:

So while the dialogue leading up to her awakening can seem like it's all about the scholarship and losing her special treatment, it really wasn't. She really didn't care about the treatment at all as she had said previously, it's just that she feels that she's hurting and letting people like Maruki, Joker, and her sister down.

Hell, even this dialogue is less about the scholarship too! It's mostly about she's been treated and how much the school is pressuring her and how it's effecting her loved ones and it's valid! Fuck Shujin!

Now the only downside is that she's awakening as a fake, a fraud, not Sumire Yoshizawa but Kasumi Yoshizawa and that was the biggest thing she was missing hence Cendrillon's words during that one:

"So adamant... Rather than accept a life in cinders... You'd strive towards splendor-- you know the risk... Well, if those really are the shoes you've chosen... Then we'll dance to the end. Iam thou, thou art I... Accept this contract... The spell cast upon you."

Regardless though, to boot: She wasn't actually being "whiny," she was just being empathetic and felt worse about herself and this was when she was being Kasumi! It later perfectly ties into her dynamic with Maruki and why she felt empathy towards him after regaining her true self as Sumire!

She had been in his shoes and understands! She's a strong girl! She had FUCKING EMPATHY!! And that's even when she was being someone else. Her awakening as Kasumi wasn't about a dumb scholarship, it was more about her feeling like she's a burden and letting people down... Especially those she cares about like her sister, Dr. Maruki, and Joker to name examples!

i love diggers i wish silly people were real

i am 100% normal what are you talking about