>(Loving the jacket in particular. Although I thought the X-Men
>costumes of the 1990s overdid it, I do like a buckly garment on a
>well-shaped lady, me. :)
>

Belts and buckles are a delicate balance. Enough of them in the right places accentuates things nicely, but they are easy to overdo (somewhat like pouches in that regard, and one should never go full Liefeld.) Can't argue that, done right on the right lady, they are quite fetching though.

>Again, the high point of this one to me is the waistcoat. I can see
>Meiling strategizing about how she's going to get that third buckle at
>the same time when she's only got two hands. :)
>

Indeed, that top drew my attention to the picture, and somehow it looks like it could serve as the closure for some sort of light protective gear, something you just absolutely want to be sure will stay in place so you have redundant retention built into it.

>(I recognize that corsets in their "native" form are hideously
>unpleasant garments that serve no useful function, and I would never
>wish one on anybody. The purely decorative variety, however, I find
>quite... well, decorative. Not sure what that says about me.)
>

As far as I can tell, you're far from alone in that opinion (I know I share it) so whatever it says, it says about a lot of people.

>I've seen a bunch of artwork that associates Sakuya with playing
>cards—I think it may have something to do with the mechanics of the
>"Touhouvania" games, which this costume comes from (same source as
>Remilia's Really Fancy Outfit™). That, and her costume from those
>games has something of a "riverboat gambler" flavor to it, but that
>might just be me. :)
>

I wondered why that costume was so popular in the art, beyond the obvious fact of it looking good. Seems like those games must be all about making everyone a few steps fancier, though I can't complain about the results.

As far as gambling, I wouldn't want to try to play cards with Sakuya, her bluffs would bankrupt the table in very short order.

>That said, the Bloody Card seems like the sort of weapon that Sakuya
>would appreciate. It ticks the "spooky bloodletting at a distance"
>box on the form.
>

It would solve any ammunition issues she might have. Sakuya seems to have katana-space except it's for a ridiculous amount of knives, but unless some other magic is involves physical objects are finite eventually. An easily reusable/retrievable instrument of cutting folks at range seems like it would be a well received birthday present for her.

> (Also reminds me that we haven't seen G use one in
>ages. He used to, occasionally, having picked it up from Yuri during
>the Golden Age.)
>

Well I'm not sure how useful one would be against Neuroi, I guess it depends on whether their crystaline armor is vulnerable to slashing damage.

>The one that goes along with the second Sakuya pic in this set is
>pretty good, but yes, it is often an exercise in
>WTF-is-wrong-with-all-you-all looking for pics of Meiling where she's
>not a) being abused b) wildly off-model or c) both.
>

Right, this one, I like the outfit in general, and Meiling seemed happy, but she had a bit of 'video game hands' (or at least that's how I think of character art where the hands seem enlarged) going on.

This might also be me making it harder because I'm explicitly looking for alternative costumes, since I find I really enjoy this crew in fancier and/or different outfits. What can I say, they make good fashion models.

	-={(Astynax)}=- "This Space For Rent."