green and white with a... dragon - New Snowdonia's flag is the same as the real-life flag of Wales, possibly with a slightly more "modern" art style on the dragon.

the Maiden in the Ice - One of the Brother Cadfael novels by the late Edith Pargeter (writing as Ellis Peters) is entitled The Virgin in the Ice; I had misremembered it when I originally thought of using it as the title for this piece, then decided to leave it. The latter is most likely also true, but it is not an actual plot point as it is in the Cadfael novel.

Lefortovo "Lefty" Szoroda - Lefty was first created in the role that was eventually given to Dr. Saleon from Mass Effect in First Dates and Firefights. He appears here in a very similar capacity to his originally planned debut, albeit he fares rather better in this instance.

His first name, as an aside, is the name of what was the Soviet KGB's most infamous prison.

ethnicity ambiguous - As is often the case with animation productions, not many people in Avatar actually look particularly Asian even though virtually everyone is supposed to be. Azula gets closer than most, though.

Mrs. Arata is a combat veteran - Haruko Fukuda (b. 2280) served 20 years with the Greater Rigel Sector Co-Prosperity Sphere Joint Strategic Self-Defense Forces (say that five times fast), and saw action in the 2310s during the failed invasion of the outer Rigel sector by the pirate clans of the Terminus. She retired after the war with the grade of master sergeant, and returned to her ancestral village to marry innkeeper Shigeo Arata (2272-2329).

Laura doesn't know all that in detail, of course, but she knows someone who's carried a rifle in a war when she sees one.

somewhat archaic - To the 24th-century (or 25th-century, come to that) ear, the languages of Dìqiú sound like various Earth languages circa the mid-1800s. Tongyu (the language of the Earth Kingdom and the lingua franca of the whole world) is basically Victorian-era Mandarin, Kokugo (the native language of the Fire Nation) is similarly antiquated Japanese, and so forth. To Laura, Azula's speech is perfectly intelligible but sounds a bit quaint.

her mysterious benefactor - Gryphon, of course; see Weapon of Choice. Though she knew it was the right call for both of them, some part of Laura will always wonder what the arc of her life would have been like if she had gone with him instead of staying on New Snowdonia as he asked.

34 years - The United Federation of Planets Health and Safety Authority's guidelines specify that carbonite and crystallite freezing is not suitable for live suspension except in emergencies, and stipulate that such emergency treatments are to be sustained for absolutely no longer than six months.

the Guide Law - A set of six principles to which all the Girl Guides of the Crown Colonies must affirm their commitment:

1) A Guide is honest, reliable, and can be trusted.
2) A Guide is helpful and uses her time wisely.
3) A Guide faces challenges and learns from her experiences.
4) A Guide is a good friend and a sister to all other Guides.
5) A Guide is polite and considerate.
6) A Guide respects all living things and takes care of the world around her.

This is substantially unchanged from the actual Guide Law observed by Girlguiding UK.

Beowulf, the Kutune Shirka, or the Cheltariad - Works of epic literature from antiquity. Two are real, one fictional. Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon poem from the Middle Ages. The Kutune Shirka is a prose epic of northern Japan's indigenous Ainu people, chronicling the adventures of a man and his magic sword. The Cheltariad is the seminal work of mytho-history in UF-universe Salusian society, concerning the founding of the city of Saenar and the expulsion of the Sardaukar from the planet by the Empress Cheltaria. Human scholars have described it, with some justification, as the Salusian Aeneid.

he's done it to me too - Exactly when Aang would have had the opportunity to take away Azula's power to firebend, even in her own weirdly disjointed internal narrative of events, is unclear - for some time after she last saw him, she was still in full possession of that faculty, at least - but, since she still believes at this point that she's being held under his orders, she probably assumes he did it while she was unconscious.

It may say something about how highly the benders of Dìqiú prize their arts that Azula is more frightened and hurt by this discovery than she was when she thought she'd been permanently blinded.

not going to be able to leave - It can be assumed that Mairwen's and Rhian's parents were consulted, or at least notified, about this; I considered mentioning that in the montage, but c'mon, this is a Girls' Own Adventure story. You don't involve the grown-ups any more than you absolutely have to.

Rhian's relentless good cheer - This aspect of Rhian's personality probably triggered residual nostalgia somewhere in Azula, although Rhian is a lot less manic about it than Ty Lee was.

So You're Batshit - Subtitled A Survival Guide to Mental Instability, this would be published 40 years later, under Wade Wilson's byline.

a Rigellian - Like Tregonsee, one of the Second Stage Lensmen in Edward E. Smith's novels. See the cover illustration from David A. Kyle's Lensman from Rigel.

little furry ears - Salusians, naturally. Salusian expats can be found running shyam joints in spaceports all over the galaxy, even on planets like Karafuto.

I may be going mad - The irony, of course, is that Azula never thought this might be the case when it actually was.

his right arm - Yes, that's correct, Lefty Szoroda is right-handed. It' one of those underworld nicknames, like calling the big guy Tiny.

3C45932 - Who says Laura has no sense of humor?

"The Phoenix" -
You are a brick tied to me that's dragging me down
Strike a match and I'll burn you to the ground
We are the jack-o'-lanterns in July
Setting fire to the sky
Here comes this rising tide, so come on
Put on your war paint
Crosswalks and crossed hearts and hope to die
Silver clouds with grey lining

So we can take the world back from the heart-attacked
One maniac at a time, we will take it back
You know time crawls on when you're waitin' for the song to start
So dance alone to the beat of your heart

Hey young blood, doesn't it feel
Like our time is running out?
I'm gonna change you like a remix
Then I'll raise you like a phoenix
Wearing our vintage misery
No, I think it looked a little better on me
I'm gonna change you like a remix
Then I'll raise you like a phoenix

Llanfair am byth - Motto of the Regiment. Welsh: Llanfair for ever.

taser arrow - No, Mairwen isn't carrying around a stack of Green Arrow-style trick munitions; this is actually not an uncommon piece of kit among 24th-century woodsy types, including Neo-Snowdonian Guides. After all, some days you don't actually want to kill the bear, just discourage it from eating your campmates.

grab your life with both hands - If Laura had a coat of arms, this would be the motto on it.

--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.