"Captain Kirk, It's Dinnertime!"

Despite knowing that some people do go to the extremes when it comes to a devotion to a favorite show or media figure, I was still wide-eyed and gaping like a fish to the religious-like zeal bestowed upon “Star Trek.” I was waiting for them to interview the person who has cardboard cut-outs of the cast who is treated like their family. I actually know a Trekkie, and he was willing to share about his parasocial relationship. His name is Data (name changed to satisfy alter ego) and these are his thoughts:
“I didn't miss an episode [of Star Trek- The Next Generation]. At that point I was in 7th grade, heavily interested in space travel and I dreamed of designing spacecraft. Call it an ego trip or a dream, but I felt I was going to help develop warp drive. I wanted to command my own ship, so at first I connected with Kirk, but he was too spontaneous. Picard I related with even more because he was very structured and stuck to his guns, but was merciful in a heartbeat. For a young man without a father, Picard was my role model. It wasn't until a few years ago when I was diagnosed with OCD, (obsessive compulsive disorder) that I started to relate more and more with Data. I noticed that we had much in common, both very logic oriented individuals and how I felt very different from everyone else. We both wanted to be normal. Then there was the irony. Data throughout all the episodes "longed" in his artificial, non-emotion way, to be more human and to have emotions, and many times I was the opposite—I just wanted to rid myself of them. Maybe this was unhealthy, but I tried my hardest to emulate him. I also really related with Spock because his kind chose to discipline themselves against their emotion. I cried when the original crew was contacted to return to starbase for decommission and when the Enterprise-D (Picard's ship) was destroyed.”
For Data, it’s evident that his “relationship” gratified many aspects of his life, from his love of spacecraft to coping with his disorder.