There may or may not be a chance to explore this in-story, but the intent is that Patchy's sojourn in the Great Library happens in parallel with her native timeline, so when we see her here, it's the summer of Yuan Zheng 139 (that is, the 139th year of Avatar Kyoshi's very long lifetime).

>that's assuming Patchy was
>staying up to date on current events at all I suppose.

When she's in the zone, Patchouli sometimes has trouble staying up to date with current events at the other end of the table, let alone outside the library.

>Then there's the other side of that interaction, if G is acquainted
>with, or at least informed about, Wan Shi Tong, and thus what it might
>mean for him to tread lightly around Patchy.

They've never met, but anyone who hangs with Korra for any appreciable length of time ends up hearing all about Wan Shi Tong. :)

>> "I see." Marisa frowned thoughtfully. "You called Gryph 'the future count'
>> before."
>
>After the forum conversation in the teaser thread, seeing this got a
>grin from me. I'm curious if this exchange was planned from the start,
>or included for the sake of those who don't peruse the forums
>regularly?

>The Vampire Hello appears again, though I believe with a small
>addition this time? I know the original source didn't have 'go safely'
>and I don't recall Remilia adding that when she ran the line past G
>the first time, so I expect it is an attempt to be a little less
>ominous.

"Welcome to my house! Enter freely and of your own will!" He made no motion of stepping to meet me, but stood like a statue, as though his gesture of welcome had fixed him into stone. The instant, however, that I had stepped over the threshold, he moved impulsively forward, and holding out his hand grasped mine with a strength which made me wince, an effect which was not lessened by the fact that it seemed as cold as ice—more like the hand of a dead than a living man. Again he said:—

"Welcome to my house. Come freely. Go safely; and leave something of the happiness you bring!" The strength of the handshake was so much akin to that which I had noticed in the driver, whose face I had not seen, that for a moment I doubted if it were not the same person to whom I was speaking; so to make sure, I said interrogatively:—

"Count Dracula?" He bowed in a courtly way as he replied:—

"I am Dracula; and I bid you welcome, Mr. Harker, to my house."

Without it, "leave something of the happiness you bring" would be kind of a non sequitur.

>I'm curious if Marisa is really that perceptive about the
>interpersonal situation, or if she's just indulging in a bit of
>lightly bawdy humor to try get a rise out of G and/or Remilia?

She's just being comically salacious. (Later on, she may realize how unintentionally right she was, which should be amusing. :)

>Vampire groupies and wannabes don't surprise me, but I am a little
>surprised there'd be many in an alternate version of the 1940s. I had
>figured that sort of subculture was a bit more of a modern
>development. The scene goes on to provide a few potential reasons of
>course, but I can't fault Remilia for being a little surprised by it.

I don't think they have quite the same subtext behind them here as modern IRL vampire fandom, for the most part, but given the intense-but-suppressed kinkiness of Victorian society, I assume there were Dracula fetishists within about 20 minutes of the book's publication. :)

>> "A Liberion hedge witch, a shrine maiden from Fusō, and a faeblood puppeteer.
>> What an assortment, particularly in this era. You do gather them about you,
>> don't you, mieux aimé?"
>
>I'd expect a vampire to have sharp senses, but for Remilia to pick up
>on Alice that quickly seems almost uncanny. Is there some magic sense
>at work here, or are the puppets some sort of obvious tell to someone
>with the right knowledge?

Keep in mind, Remilia's parents were what we would now call paranormal investigators, and though she makes light of herself in what she calls her extended childhood during their lifetimes, she did learn some of their trade. To someone with that sort of background and a vampire's sensitivity to magic, the fae folk of the Britannic Isles are pretty distinctive.

>"Good day, Admiral."
>
>I do hope Sugita's staff didn't have too much trouble defrosting him
>after this exchange.

>> Gryphon shrugged. "What would getting mad accomplish? I'm not going to pick a
>> fight with the entire Imperial Fusōnese Navy."
>> "Why not? It's always worked for me," Reimu pointed out.
>
>I feel like there's a bit of entertaining back story here, even if, as
>seems likely, she doesn't mean it literally.

Pondering the exact background behind the remark gives me the pleasant image of Reimu explaining why she can't go anywhere near Yokosuka, to the tune of the episode of WKRP in Cincinnati where the crew at the radio station are getting ready to go to Mexico for some urgent reason I've forgotten, and Dr. Johnny Fever reveals that he can't go with them because he's wanted there.

"It was a minor misunderstanding one night with 145 Mexican cops. I thought they were soldiers..."

>> Her curious look changing to a scowl, Hōrai Doll produced a tiny broadsword
>> from somewhere and held the fairy off at swordpoint.
>
>Well, that reaction doesn't leave room for misinterpretation. Hōrai
>clearly takes a dim view of drunken sailors.

>> Remilia beamed. "Excellent. Should you need anything of us in the meantime,
>> you can find us at the Allied Forces base at Château Saint-Ulrich in
>> Ribeauvillé. We're joining the war effort, and I expect we shall be stationed
>> there for the foreseeable future."
>
>This sparks a curiosity, at what point exactly does the irregularity
>at Saint-Ulrich cause LeMay reach his limit and have an aneurysm?

General LeMay has resigned himself to the way the Gallians do things. It's their country, after all, even if they do run it in the most slapdash and irresponsible way he can think of. :)

>I do wonder, given her somewhat severe
>seeming personality so far, if Patchy will get off on the wrong foot
>when she encounters, well, any of the rest of the cast at this point.

>Also, it seems years desiccating in a library in the desert haven't
>left Patchy in the best of health.

No indeed. It seems that just because you can go for literally decades without food, water, or sleep, doesn't necessarily mean you should.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.