I know I’ve had these asks sitting in my inbox for a good while now, and I’ve decided to go ahead and answer them. Partially, I’ve been sitting on them because when I feel down I go look at my Data fairy asks to feel warm and fuzzy and to give myself daydream material :P

I adore going to Renn faires, and I have a feeling Data would get a kick out of it too. I mean, we know how much the man loves to play dress up and pretend, and I think he’d like the idea of a bunch of people getting together and all pretending to be from another time period in real life, as opposed to it all being holo images.

Data of course would want to do research. He’d read all the available literature on medieval history, as well as fantasy novels and historical fiction, and in the evenings leading up to our trip, he and I would curl up together on the couch and watch period or fantasy movies. Data would provide a running commentary on historical inaccuracies in said movies, and I would smile when I hear the indignancy in his voice that I know he’d deny if I called him out on it. Instead, I’d lean my head against his shoulder and snuggle against his laptop-warm body and listen to the velvet of his voice: “This is incorrect. Although this motion picture purports to take place in 11th century England, trebuchets were not invented until the 12th century in France. I believe this is what is called “an anachronism’.”

Data would love picking out our costumes. We’d first discuss whether to go more historical or more fantasy. Ever since I showed him the Lord of the Rings movies and we read the books together towards the beginning of our relationship, he has developed an appreciation for the complexity, grandeur, and literary influence of Tolkien’s work, plus he knows it’s my favorite. He coyly suggests going as an elven couple and watches me carefully for my response. I take one look at him, imagining him with cute, pointed elven ears and elegant, fitted fantasy clothing and feel my cheeks start to burn. Let’s just say, it doesn’t take much to sell me on the idea.

The big day itself dawns. I’m wearing my favorite, most comfortable Renn faire outfit based on Arwen’s blue and red dress from LOTR with a dark blue ground-length body and transparent white angel sleeves. I wear my hip-length hair down with a braided silver circlet acquired from a previous faire visit, and I finish it off with my elf ear extensions. All ready, I head out to the living room to find Data waiting for me.

Oh, I knew he’d be hot and I thought I’d be prepared, but it takes me a grand total of two seconds to realize I’m not prepared, not prepared at all. He’s not just hot. He’s beautiful.

He was very particular in keeping the details of his outfit a surprise to me and he looks inordinately pleased with himself at my stunned silence. His tunic is dark blue to match my dress, with a high mandarin collar that accentuates his long neck and a deep V neckline that shows off a tantalizing slice of golden chest. There’s intricate gold filigree down the chest of his top and a gold sash drawing attention to his narrow waist, and the color brings out his eyes even more than usual. There’s a white undershirt that goes down to his wrists and he’s wearing grey tights that I might have stared at just a second longer than necessary and thigh high boots.

I knew that he has control over his follicle growth, but I still can’t help staring at seeing him with long, dark, silky hair down to the middle of his back. He’s wearing ear extensions too with a circlet similar to mine, except that his is gold. His eyes and pale skin are always so beautiful, but right now they are giving him a level of ethereal otherworldliness that I’ve never seen before and that makes my heart pound and my cheeks burn.

He holds out his hand to me, eyebrows rising just slightly, and long, golden fingers curling just slightly in an invitation. “My lady, are you ready to depart?”

We transport to the faire grounds. There’s always so much to take in: brightly colored tents, hundreds of vendors selling everything from weapons to clothing to jewelry to candles, strolling minstrels, and people dressed as everything from Vikings to fairy princesses. Data, who’s never been to a Renn faire before, is clearly fascinated, and I can see him processing all the sights, sounds, and smells.

We spend the day walking through the stalls, holding hands and comparing our various finds. At a milliner stall, Data gets sucked in by an enthusiastic vendor who convinces him to try on hats and test them out in front of a mirror. He studies each one seriously as if picking the right one is a matter of life and death. He finally settles on a pretty, soft beret-like cap of a grey that matches his tights, with a long black feather stuck in it that drapes against his neck and shoulder.

For lunch, we both indulge in the Renn faire tradition of a huge turkey leg with cups of frothy root beer. We sit in the stage pavilion, listening to a Celtic folk band while we eat our turkey legs. Once the food is gone, I take the opportunity to scoot closer to Data, my arm slipping around his waist, and rest my head on his shoulder. The feather from his cap tickles my cheek. He gently puts his arm around my waist and we listen, Data occasionally leaning over to enthusiastically tell me something about the history of a particular song.

For the afternoon, there’s a tournament with knights on horseback and pages with streaming banners. We are instructed to cheer for one of the knights and watch as they crash into each other, lancing shattered as cheers resound around us. Data leans over to me. “Although I understand that such tournaments were a popular historical diversion, I am not sure I understand the full appeal. Such tournaments were often dangerous and resulted in broken bones or even the death of contestants.”

“Can’t the same be said of Parrises squares? How many bones do you think Commander Riker has broken on the Parrises squares court?”

Data’s eyebrows rise and he concedes the point. “Perhaps humans have an innate desire to create an element of danger in their lives. Perhaps the excitement that such danger provides is a necessary stimuli.”

As the afternoon creeps closer to evening, Data gets us a huge ice cream cone and we sit in the back of the pavilion again, listening to the final band and sharing the ice cream. We both go to lick the ice cream at the same time and end up bumping our noses together, which leads to a sugary peck on the lips, which leads to a deeper kiss that I reluctantly cut short. We might be tucked in the back corner of the pavilion, but it still won’t do to let myself get too carried away. We listen to the final song, then slowly head for the gate, arms and fingers twined.

We arrive back home via transporter and Data makes as if to leave and change out of his outfit, but I stop him. “Oh no you don’t. I’ve had to look at you in that sexy outfit all day long, and you’re not taking it off until I’ve been able to properly enjoy you in it.”

There’s a glitter to Data’s golden eyes, along with a rise of his eyebrows, a tilt of his head, and a tiny quirk of his lips. “It has been a highly enjoyable day. However, I am amenable to seeing if we can make it even more enjoyable.”

1. The Lord of the Rings (and the whole Middle-earth legendarium) by J.R.R. Tolkien. First off, LOTR is the single-most formative book of my life, and I’d want to share it with him for that reason alone. So much of who I am today is because of Tolkien’s stories, characters, and world. I also think Data would appreciate the gigantic scale and world-building of it; he’s an explorer at heart, and I think he’d be fascinated to explore that massively detailed fictional universe, just as much as I was. It’s also very Shakespearean in its themes and grandeur, and I think he’d appreciate that too, and I could see us having many long, wonderful conversations about the philosophy and themes of those stories. (I also have a feeling he’d love and appreciate the poetry as much as I do.)

2. Watership Down by Richard Adams. Not only is it another influential novel of my youth with amazing world-building, but it’s got so much philosophical content about the nature of humanity (explored via bunny rabbits) and society, and I think it would make for some fantastic discussions with Data after he’d read it. As a self-professed student of humanity and an all-around intelligent, observant, and thoughtful man, Data would have very interesting thoughts on it, I’m sure, and I’d love to hear them.

Data Fairy!!!

A question about both my hyperfixations at once?!? Does it get any better?!?

First off, if I were dating Data, Strange Magic would be coming out very early in the relationship. Considering I sicc Strange Magic on basically every individual I happen to talk to for more than ten minutes, it’s something I would very definitely share with my darling android boy. I mean, sharing an ice cream sundae, cuddling up on the couch with our cats on our laps, and watching Strange Magic with Data sounds like literal heaven and the perfect, most beautiful date night.

What would Data think of it?

I keep going back mentally to his quote from Data’s Day: “I am not mystified by the desire to be loved – or the need for friendship. These are things I do understand.” Strange Magic is a movie with the tagline “Everyone deserves to be loved.” It’s a movie about people who are different and “weird” but who still find love with other people who accept them just as they are, and I think Data would understand, appreciate, and perhaps even be moved by these ideas and themes. I truly think Data would find deep meaning and comfort in a movie about being wonderful and worthy of love in your uniqueness and strangeness.