The only significant difference is whether "kill it with fire" is meant metaphorically or literally.

>I'm fairly certain the number of times in her adult life Sakuya has
>been fumbling for words can be counted on one hand. Possibly one
>clumsy shop teacher's hand.

And most of them have been Remilia's fault! Except for the one that was Meiling's.

>Heh, we all know this is precisely what she did, but this sort of
>reply could have a very different interpretation to an unknowing
>observer. Makes me recall the mob inspired SDM artwork and contemplate
>Remilia making offers people can't refuse.

"I understand. You found paradise in Gallia. You had a good trade, you made a good living. The witches protected you. You didn't need a friend like me. Now you come and you say 'Countess Scarlet, give me justice.' But you don't ask with respect. You don't offer friendship. You don't even think to call me Diable Écarlate. You come into my house on the day my little sister is to be married and you ask me to do murder for money."

>Under the circumstances, I'd say Flandre handled that river about as
>well as any vampire, probably better than most in fact. I expect
>Remilia would get a bit... dramatic if she heard the whole story
>though.

Probably just a little, yes. I mean, she'd be proud as hell, but also mortified.

>This generates two thoughts. First, that he has no way of knowing the
>relationship between Meiling and Sakuya and so he'd have no way to
>realize that his relief might be a bit understated. Second, that in a
>full, no holds barred throw down Meiling might actually be the least
>dangerous lady in the household.

The first is undoubtedly true; the second, debatable. I mean, it's a stock trope in Embodiment of Scarlet Devil fan works, because she's only the stage-3 boss, which means that in gameplay terms she's far weaker than the characters she's ostensibly protecting--which makes it unclear why they have her in the first place, and that in turn leads to a lot of fan interpretations where Remilia keeps her around as a joke, or owes her a favor for some long-ago service, or just lets her hang around out of pity.

I don't buy into that, but at the same time, I do have to acknowledge that, even if she's not the weakest inhabitant of our Scarlet Devil Mansion, she is probably the least lethal. After living so long for blood revenge and then choosing to do without it when the moment came, she's the most reluctant of the four to escalate to lethal force if the situation calls for it. Not that she absolutely won't, but she'll try harder to avoid it than the others. (That makes Remi, Flan, and Sakuya sound kind of bloodthirsty (as it were) by comparison, but I hope you see what I mean.)

>This might just be the most on-the-nose color scheme for a vampire's
>car I've seen in recent memory. Someone should give the car a little
>bat hood ornament for good measure. ;)

The Duesenberg 8-cylinder badge is an eagle:

I could see some particularly skillful artisan crafting a subtle replacement for it, under the puckish supervision of, say, Flan.

>This sequence definitely made me wince a bit. Not because it was
>poorly done, just in sympathy for pretty much everyone involved. It
>was fairly obvious observing from the outside that Mme. Serreau took
>no pride in this story and didn't intend it as any sort of boast, but
>it was also obvious that Remilia had clearly reached the end of her
>considerable patience for the day (for reasons both obvious here and
>made obvious later.)

Mm, she'll probably feel bad about it later, once her head is clearer. Actually, you can see she kind of felt bad about it at the time, but was too preoccupied to show it other than by asking Sakuya to make sure Mme. Serreau got home all right.

>I had to chuckle that Falndre is more concerned with Remilia scolding
>her than actually fighting a Neuroi. It makes sense, her first
>encounter with one she ate the thing because it had annoyed
>her, but it's still a bit funny to see her priorities here.

Hell, she wants a chance to fight another Neuroi. Preferably a series of them! But in a more formal setting, when Remilia has had more time to accustom herself to the idea. :)

--G.
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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
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