Elfreida: var. of Elfreda. Anglo-Saxon. Original: Ælfþryð, meaning 'elf strength'. Fell into disuse after the norman conquest; rediscovered in the late 19th century. A varient because, whilst writing it down, I accidentally misspelled it thinking of Frieda (still misspelt it).

Not my first OC - my first is still in my head since she started a very long time ago with my first watching the Fellowship of the Ring when I was about 8, shortly after moving here (to New Zealand from England). Her name is, rather unoriginally, Elizabeth. A counterpoint to my sister's 'Sarah'. In my head, that eventually got changed to the 'human version' of Elihynna, pronounced ellih-hee-ANNA. Or ENNA as the proper way of saying it. Meaning: 'to be impermanent, but in so being more beautiful'. She's a half elf, half Gallifreyan in love with Harry Potter -

Well, you get the idea. The imagination of an 8-year-old - bit embarrassing to write it down now, truth be told. Still I've always wondered...probably better in my head. All the stories I've thought up for her over the years; all the details and the moments. And, oh, the franchises! I poured all my own imperfection into a mirror where she was everything I would want be: sassy, clever, powerful, always off on adventures. Then when I got older, more well-read, and started writing stories that weren't just copying what my sister was doing, I started challenging her. Twisting her limits. Changing her hair.

I made her real, in other words.

I've never written for her. Wrote a prototype introduction to the lore I invented joining everything up, but not more than that and that was years ago. Always had them (the characters) act out the scenes in my head. Talked to myself a fair bit when I was little; did the lines myself when I got lonely or bored or full of energy. Think mum and dad thought I was round the bend. Honestly? I think I was possibly a strange child...but I don't really care.

There was one other: Jazeirra. Sounded like a cross between Jadzia (Dax, DS9) and Jaheira (Baldur's Gate) long before I knew properly what Al Jazeera was. I still had to look it up - it's an Arabic news network out of Qatar. Where I got it from, god only knows, but it stuck and became the name for my OC of the Star Trek universe. Mixed history of human and Vulcan, she follows a path I might actually right through the series', ending up with the one and only Commander Data.

All of this, however, is, naturally, fanfiction. The product of an incurable-romantic (on paper), slightly mad (everyone else seemes to get it?), possibly a bit romantically odd (not asexual by any theoretical means, but I have doubts), now biologist (and ever since I was 5 wanting to be a vet and requesting three in a herd so that two of them could be the pair that mated with each other...)

Is this a confession? I suppose it is of sorts. It's 4:13am, Saturday 7th September 2013 (sorry about not going to bed earlier, Jack :/

Anyway, Elfreida was a Derbyshire lass I thought up in the first weeks of year 13 (NCEA) three years ago for the English Creative Writing internal assessment. The assessment was to write (or so I chose) the first chapter of a story. I aced the assessment (then again for anyone with any imagination at all and a passable knowledge of the mother tongue, it's not hard) and the character stuck with me. Haltingly, I began to write for her. I stopped in the end - got stuck and stopped writing altogether for ages. Still have a bit to go on, though. And I always remember her when I log in ;)

I may or may not complete her story. I may or may not get around to accessing the HDD of my old computer. But she remains, ever, my first Original Character.

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in the rain. Time to die." - Roy Batty Blade Runner

"IT GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN, LIFE...SPEAKING METAPHORICALLY, OF COURSE." - Death Hogfather

I've come to the conclusion that there are only three foodstuffs that I'd sell out the world for:

1) Oranges

2) White chocolate

3) Paris blend earl grey tea

"I may be on the side of the angels. But don't think for a second that I am one of them." - Sherlock Holmes BBC Series 2, The Reichenbach Fall

"Everything has its time and everything dies." - The Doctor Doctor Who Series 1, 2005, The End of the World

"You know what the definition of a hero is? Someone who gets other people killed." - Zoe Serenity

"This is the captain. We have a...little problem with our engine sequence, so we may experience some slight turbulence and then...explode." - Malcolm Reynolds Serenity

"Psychic, though? That sounds like something out of science fiction."

"We live in a space ship, dear."

- Zoe and Wash Firefly, Objects in Space

"Your heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky...where is my disadvantage?"

"You lack conviction."

- Coulson and Loki Avengers

Felis catus is your taxonomic nomenclature,
An endothermic quadruped, carnivorous by nature;
Your visual, olfactory, and auditory senses
Contribute to your hunting skills and natural defenses.

I find myself intrigued by your subvocal oscillations,
A singular development of cat communications
That obviates your basic hedonistic predilection
For a rhythmic stroking of your fur to demonstrate affection.

A tail is quite essential for your acrobatic talents;
You would not be so agile if you lacked its counterbalance.
And when not being utilized to aid in locomotion,
It often serves to illustrate the state of your emotion.

O Spot, the complex levels of behavior you display
Connote a fairly well-developed cognitive array.
And though you are not sentient and do not comprehend,
I nonetheless consider you a true and valued friend.

- Data The Next Generation (1st appearance: Schisms)

"You see, Baldrick, in order to prevent war in Europe, two superblocs developed: us, the French and the Russians on one side, and the Germans and Austro-Hungary on the other. The idea was to have two vast opposing armies, each acting as the other's deterrent. That way there could never be a war."

"But, this is a sort of a war, isn't it, sir?"

"Yes, that's right. You see, there was one tiny flaw in the plan."

"What was that, sir?"

"It was bollocks."

- Baldrick and Blackadder Blackadder Goes Forth, Goodbyeee

"How are you feeling, Darling?"

"Ahm... not all that good, Blackadder. Rather hoped I'd get through the whole show. Go back to work at Pratt and Sons, keep wicket for the Croydon Gentlemen, marry Doris... Made a note in my diary on the way here. Simply says: Bugger."

- Blackadder and Captain Darling about to be sent over the top of the treches Blackadder Goes Forth, Goodbyeee

THE MEN OF THE ANKH-MORPORK CITY WATCH:

Corporal Carrot (technically a dwarf)

Lance-Constable Detritus (a troll)

Lance-Constable Angua (a woman...most of the time)

Corporal 'Nobby' Nobbs (disqualified from the human race for shoving)

"...and then Jack chopped down the last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological vandalism to to the theft, enticement and trespass charges...Which just proves that you can get away with anything if you're a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions." Susan Sto Helit Hogfather

"I was a drunk. You have to be richer than I was to be an alcoholic." Sam Vimes The Fifth Elephant

Autocondimentor: someone who will put certainly salt and probably pepper on any meal you put in front of them whatever it is and regardless of how much it's got already and regardless of how it tastes. Behavioral psychiatrists working for fast-food outlets around the universe have saved billions of whatever the local currency is by noting the autocondimenting phenomenon and advising their employers to leave seasoning out in the first place.

This is really true. - Terry Pratchett, found in the footnotes of Reaper Man

The Recognition Species Concept is a concept of species definition, according to which a species is a set of organisms that recognize one another as potential mates: they have a shared mate recognition system. According to this, anything that is recognised as a potential mate is necessarily considered the same species.

(this is fine until one considers the consequences of a Kakapo (native New Zealand parrot) recognising a potential mate in the photographer's green jumper)