LAST EDITED ON Sep-18-20 AT 01:30 AM (EDT)
 
>I did see another that looks to be absolutely identical
>to the original, but somehow I trust it less than one where I can see the cut
>corners.

Yeah, that's the one where I'm pretty sure the pictures are just stolen from a listing for the real Japanese one.

>Sadly for my taste, the black dress seems to be a limited edition that
>didn't get cut-rate knock-off love.

I'm tempted to make that version her wedding dress, just to poke fun at the traditions. "Vampire women always wear black at their weddings. It symbolizes the purity and all-embracing protection of the night."

>You aren't kidding about that shipping though, estimated arival window
>is a month wide, starting a month from now (insert 'slow boat from
>China' joke here.)

With that kind of lead time, I almost think they only make one when someone orders it.

>That seems deeply unfair.

Much about various characters' treatment by various fan artists is unfair, and not just in Touhou, but once again it's a function of how much of it there is.

Oh yeah, she's also Chinese, so, well, we know how they and the Japanese get along. In some of the meaner ones, none of the other characters can even remember Meiling's name. They just call her "China".

>Chalk up another rescue for the EPU shelter.

In fairness, my "improved" version is herself informed by other fan interpretations that are more generous. They're not all out to get her, but it seems like there are a lot who are.

(And don't even get me started on the one doujin I stumbled across with Psycho Flan brutally dismembering repeated iterations of Patchouli's devil-girl familiar, Koakuma. God damn it, you assholes, I blacklisted guro for a fucking reason, tag your shit.)

>So I have seen precisely one episode of anything JoJo, and in that
>brief exposure it was quite clear that no blood relation of Dio Brando
>(or, indeed, Dio himself) could be a worthwhile human being. Setting
>Sakuya as his daughter is the act of someone who hates her, hates
>everyone in the same time zone as her, or both.

Heh, well, in some of them that's why "estranged", and in others, she is in fact a terrible human being. The gamut, it is wide.

>>* I mean they're right, SDM is the source of the
>>disturbance affecting the local area, but as I read the synopsis, the
>>playable characters have no evidence of this until after they've
>>broken into the place and beaten up most of the staff, which is not
>>how due process is meant to work, modern-day American policing
>>notwithstanding.
>
>That is some top quality murder-hoboing right there. Most of the D&D
>groups I've been involved with would approve at least.

One of them is a witch with no sense of proportion, and the other is a mercenary shrine maiden.* Neither one really goes in for moderation. I've seen versions of them that are tolerable, even likeable, but the way they go about their business in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil is... yeah.

--G.
* As in, she's so poor and her shrine is so ill-traveled that she'll take basically any job in exchange for donations. In some doujins, any. Job. Yeah. Sigh.
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