Once upon a time, an awkward, nerdy producer at CNN.com convinced her bosses it was time to jump on the geek bandwagon – but do it differently.

Instead of producing stories that included little context for the passion people have about comic books, sci-fi, cosplay and all things geeky, we would examine the “why” of nerd culture. We would report on the people and the creative obsessions that drew them together. And, so a blog was born.

Now on CNN.com, you can regularly read stories surrounding nerdy pursuits and geeky events, from webcomics to Dragon*Con. Starting in the new year, we’ll be integrating the geek beat into the Living section at large and archiving Geek Out!

Thank you for reading the blog, posting your comments and sharing your views. We will continue to explore the many sides of nerdy culture on the site. We invite you to be a part of our ongoing conversation.

My greatest appreciation,
Ann Hoevel

"The president's here!" said the captain, as the figure of James A. Garfield made an impromptu check of the soldiers. The next day the story of the chance inspection was in the paper, and the dignified gentleman's telephone was ringing off the hook.

Thus began Ed Haney’s journey as a presidential re-enactor. It was quite fortuitous he grew that beard.

Haney has been portraying President Garfield for 25 years now. He is a living historian, and began his presidential journey as a favor to the curator of the James A. Garfield National Historic Site, the museum housed in the preserved home of the 20th US president. He studied up on the president, grew a beard, rented a costume and portrayed the assassinated leader for a fundraiser organized to help fix up the house Garfield lived in from 1876-1881.

Living historians are "dedicated to the preservation of history through correct presentations of life and the preservation of our country's landmarks, cemeteries, and battlefields," according to the National Society of Living Historians. They often participate in Revolutionary and Civil War reenactments or work in living museums such as Old Fort Niagara in New York or Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia.

Haney's fateful turn as Garfield developed into an interest he couldn't shake. "The more I started reading about him, the more I was fascinated by him," he said. Newly retired, Haney joined the museum in a more substantial way as a tour guide (in the guise of Garfield) and began collecting Garfield memorabilia. (His spare room is filled with Garfield mementos, including a 38-star US flag, the type that flew while Garfield was in office.)

Haney's enthusiasm for Garfield ultimately led him away from the museum to organize a troupe of like-minded re-enactors that call themselves We Made History.

Being a living historian can be a hobby or a career: Haney and his friends work as independent contractors, scheduling educational appearances at museums, schools and civic clubs. They earn money for their portrayals, but don't depend on their fees to make a living. While some living historians choose to recreate a persona based on their own personal family history or invent a character from the past, Haney's group chose very specific and recognizable figures from American history to bring to life.

Haney, as Garfield, often works in concert with Debbie Weinkamer, who portrays First Lady Lucretia Garfield. We Made History's husband and wife team John and Marion King portray Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln. Others in the group include Linda Laronge, who portrays Eleanor Roosevelt; Dale Liikala, who portrays William H. Taft; Donald Miller as Ulysses S. Grant and Robert Hodder as Theodore Roosevelt.

The troupe strives to educate the public about the lives of past presidential families. They take their characters seriously, often identifying deeply with the former president or First Lady's traits.

Lucretia Garfield "admitted that she struggled with raising children after having a college education. She called them a 'household of barbarians,' " Weinkamer said. "I can relate to that." Like Lucretia, Weinkamer said she feels more comfortable in a library than in a parlor holding soirees for politicians.

John King, a retired third-grade teacher, shares physical traits with President Lincoln. At 6'4", "I'm the same height as him. I have a mole on my cheek like his," he said. They share a love for the outdoors and being "hand-on," King said.

King's wife, Marion, finds it amazing how she favors Mary Todd Lincoln's appearance, but sees their similarities as more than skin-deep. Both women have had health problems (Mary Todd had migraines, arthritis and possibly diabetes while Marion has survived breast cancer), had family ties to Kentucky and were strong supporters of civil rights.

Laronge, it turns out, shares a passion for aviation with Eleanor Roosevelt. "We both flew airplanes," she said. And since Roosevelt was often in the public eye in the age of television, Laronge was able to accurately mimic her mannerisms.  "I can talk like her," she said. "It really brings the character to life."

The troupe are constantly researching their characters. Their enthusiasm for the people they portray and the course of American history is obvious.

"Early on when I was [portraying President Lincoln], I overstayed my welcome a few times," said King. "It's really difficult to do a five minute or three minute presentation about Lincoln," he said, "You want to inundate [the audience] with your knowledge."

And there are times when these first-person historians play to a tough crowd, Weinkamer said. At a recent battlefield dedication in Middlecreek, Kentucky, Haney and Weinkamer were set to perform a program where Mr. and Mrs. Garfield read their letters to each other.

"We were there with Civil War re-enactors and they sort of shunned us because we weren't one hundred percent authentic," she said, admitting that maybe she didn't have a precisely historic outfit for Lucretia. "There are people who breathe, eat and sleep this, and you can get carried away," she said. "I've talked to people who feel like they've been there in a former life."

The kinds of re-enactors Haney and Weinkamer encountered in Kentucky are, "very, very serious about what they do, as we are, too," Haney said. "They get the clothing right, down to the underwear," and strive to live the way soldiers did when they do encampments, he said. "I'm just in awe," Haney said. "I'm not a re-enactor as they are, but I admire that they bring history back, too."

"They are essentially trying to go back in history and live as their forefathers," King said of Civil War re-enactors. "They'll go to reenactments representing particular divisions their relatives were actually in," he said, an appeal he understands. He's found family letters documenting that both his great-grandfathers were encamped in the same town during the war. "Is there a chance they could have said 'Hi' and 'Do you want a cup of coffee?'" King wondered.

As Abraham Lincoln, King is unique within the group. His is the only character that is also widely represented within living historian circles. By contrast, as far as they know, We Made History includes the only re-enactor of President Taft in the country. At a festival last year, King met a Daniel Boone re-enactor who pointed out he was one of only two in the country, "but that there are at least 200 Lincolns."

There's even a national Association of Lincoln Presenters, which holds an annual Lincoln convention.

But this year's presidential election has the troupe fielding questions that speculate on more than just the life stories of their favorite American leaders.

For example, how would their characters vote in this election?

Laronge is often asked about how Eleanor Roosevelt would react to the country's current state of affairs.

"Eleanor was a huge champion of civil rights," Laronge said. Having an African American man in the Oval Office "would have been important to her," Laronge said. "She would be thrilled."

Ultimately, "it's really hard for us to say," how their inspirations would vote, Weinkamer said. "We don't know how they would act in modern times."

They can, however, articulate the lessons these men and women contributed to the country's political history.

Garfield, the last of the Log Cabin Republicans, "was a fair man and he would want to listen to both sides before he made a judgment, no matter what," Haney said. "My personal opinion, if he hadn't been assassinated, he would have been one of our greats."

Lincoln's great lesson, according to King, is that anyone can become president. "Lincoln had less than one year of formal education," King said. "His father was illiterate and felt if the weather was good enough, Lincoln should be splitting logs and doing chores." His unquenchable desire to learn made all things possible, said the teacher.

I just finished "Dance with Dragons," the most recent book in the addictive and heart-wrenching series "Song of Ice and Fire," which is the basis of the thrilling and sexy HBO show "Game of Thrones."

"Winter is coming" (as they say in the series) in the Northern Hemisphere, and we'll have to get through the coldest months without any new information about our favorite characters from this series. Author George R. R. Martin hasn't announced when the next installment will come out (last time there were about seven years between books). As for TV, HBO isn't debuting Season 3 of the show until March 31.

What are we supposed to do until then?!

The internet is full of Thronie homages to the series. Here are some treats and ideas for your amusement:

1. Go shopping

Etsy is chock-full of creative, unofficial Game of Thrones merch. For instance, $115 gets you House Targaryen Converse sneakers. Ladies, if you like jewelry there's plenty of that – a model of Queen Cersei Lannister's necklace, for instance, or a bracelet with the sigils of major houses.

And this one really gets me: a set of rings that say, respectively, "My sun and stars" and "Moon of my life." Awwww! Perfect for that special Khal or dragon queen in your life, although hopefully your relationship won't begin or end like Dany and Drogo's.

Why this matters: If you haven't seen the show, you should know that there's a lot of medieval-type costuming. And each important family in this fictional world has its own sigil - such as a lion or a wolf - making for fun opportunities to proudly identify with your favorite group of characters in real life.

2. Bake cupcakes

Master bakers at Regali Kitchen in Quezon City, Philippines, made these delicious-looking cupcakes with the various sigils (magic symbols) of the houses from the series. Even more amazing, there's a video of the cupcakes used to recreate the opening credit sequence of the HBO show "Game of Thrones." (Hat tip to Laughing Squid for the reference.)

Apparently this wasn't the only "Game of Thrones" tribute the bakery ended up concocting. Here's a "white walker" cake for a couple's anniversary! Which makes you wonder: What if the Wall is edible (and "frosted")??

Why this matters: The opening sequence of the show is really cool. Once you've seen it, you will enjoy this edible parody.

3. Meow meow meow, meow meow meow

Speaking of the opening sequence, there are all kinds of variations on that now-famous song, composed by Ramin Djawadi, on YouTube. Here's a pretty fantastic metal cover. In a completely different genre, a talented violinist named Jason Yang arranged and performed this one. And for something completely different: A cat chorus meows out the song.

Why this matters: Again, once you get the opening song stuck in your head it's hard to make it stop, so why not embrace it!

4. Make a costume

Comic Con and Dragon*Con are a long way away, but we're not too far past Halloween - perhaps because of Sandy you even had to postpone your party. Pick your favorite character and dress up! I saw some really impressive costumes at Dragon*Con last month. There's a whole Facebook page devoted to fans talking about costuming. Confused about your affiliation toward particular characters? There are Facebook quizzes such as this one that can help you decide which house your personality aligns with.

Why this matters: There's a wide variety of characters in the series – the royalty, the sellswords (mercenaries), the defenders of a gigantic ice wall who are largely outlaws. Costuming opportunities abound!

5. Check out / make fan art

Earlier this year, CNN interviewed several Thronies who had made remarkable creations inspired by "Game of Thrones," and submitted them to iReport.

Why this matters: The addictive stories in the series are definitely inspirational when it comes to art, so click on the link and enjoy.

You're fumbling around in the dark, and unless you have the twisted pleasure of taking the lead, you may be gripping onto the person in front of you as the group makes its way from one room of horror-made-real into another. It is a haunted house attraction, or haunt, and you can feel it in your bones - just around the next corner, someone is going to jump out and squeeze a scream right out of you.

And your scream might just be the highlight of that person's night.

Welcome to the world of the haunt nerd, whose obsession is crafting the best scare he can as an actor or effects artist through homemade and professional haunted houses. Halloween is his Christmas, a season where screams are the gift that keep on giving.

There are a lot of screams to give, according to Hauntworld.com an unofficial haunted attraction industry website. The site estimates there are more than 1,400 for-profit attractions and amusement parks charging admission in America, 3,000 charity attractions and 10,000 "home haunters." Moreover, a recent study by horror site and cable network FEARnet reported that nearly 50 percent of Americans would decorate their home or yard for Halloween and that about 23 percent of people would be visiting haunted houses this season.

These facts add up to a lot of interest in scares by the public, which is no surprise. But who are the people behind the terror? Who are the haunt nerds?

"There is this through line of passion" between haunters and other nerds, said Michael Stephenson, director of "The American Scream," a documentary about three families behind neighborhood haunted houses.

The doc, which premiered on October 28, is set to re-air today at 5:00 pm Eastern. on the Chiller network, examines why people dedicate so much time and money annually to the business of fear.

"You watch horror to be scared and have an emotional release," said Stephenson, and the appeal of going to a haunted house is not dissimilar. But those who then choose to provide the scares are seeking to transport people out of reality for a few minutes,  just like hard-core fans of fantasy, sci-fi, comic books, etc.

And like other nerd cultures, the haunt nerds are also fairly organized and commune in forums online and at conventions. In addition to the Hauntworld site, which has an active following, home haunt websites such as GarageOfEvilNetwork.com, HauntForum.com and HauntProject.com all provide a community for haunters to trade tips to create the best scare experience. The nerds are also served by the popular HauntCast online radio, and by the TransWorld and Monsterpalooza cons, just to name two.

And, obviously, there are the costumes. Like cosplayers, "many of these haunters … share this ability to create a new sense of place and magic," said Stephenson. Unlike cosplayers, they want to use their transformative powers to scare bejeezus out of people. He called them masters of a "temporal art form" - since their efforts are essentially all for one night - who gain empowerment from creating enough of an altered reality that they can make adults and teenagers scream at the top of their lungs.

"It is the greatest joy of my life," to hear people scream at his attraction, said Robert Frey, CEO of horror director Eli Roth's Goretorium, the year-round haunt in Las Vegas that just opened last month.

"They want the adrenaline rush of being scared within a safe environment, and to be taken away from their daily routine," said Frey, and he's more than happy to provide the  experience for  patrons. According to Frey, more than 40,000 visitors have walked through since its September 27 opening.

John "Johnny Mischief" Heaukulani, who plays the character of Health Inspector at the Goretorium's fictitious Delmont Hotel & Casino, shares Frey’s love for delivering fear. Heaukulani said he experiences a build-up of anticipation and excitement right before he launches into a scare, followed by his own adrenaline rush.

"It gives me joy to see the terrified looks on all their faces," he said.

If the haunt nerd delight in causing eliciting screams sounds twisted, it is shared by well-regarded horror creators.

"We scare others for our own enjoyment and for theirs," said R.L. Stine, author of the "Goosebumps" book series, as well as the adult horror "Red Rain" and the creator of The Hub network's "Haunting Hour"
children's series.

Stine added he views it as a compliment when people get frightened by his creations - in much the same way it was a compliment when he was terrified in a New York City haunted attraction where he passed through a completely darkened corridor.

He also thinks that the emotional responses evoked by fear and humor are so closely connected that "it's funny" to scare and be scared. As someone who has written more than 110 "Goosebumps" books, he can relate to the haunt nerds.

Peter Block agrees. Producer of the "Saw" franchise and president and general manager of Fearnet, Block said he loves to scare other people, and considers it part of his "everyday job" as a dad. He also equates the motivation to scare others to the reasons behind telling a joke.

"There's nothing funnier than watching someone else get scared," he said. And whether you're telling the joke or hearing it, there is a shared relief and release as part of a social experience. He points to "America's Funniest Home Videos" as a similar example where "half the videos are about scaring people."

Stephenson emphasized that giving scares isn't some morbid exercise and that haunt nerds, especially home haunters, are actually quite committed to giving back to their community each October.

Halloween is a community holiday, he said, and the haunters are inviting a thousand strangers to come through their house or yard on one night to have fun. Likewise, he said the sharing extends to the online community of home haunt nerds, where there is no real sense of competition.

Whether they work as amateurs or professionals, haunt nerds are like most other nerd cultures in that there is a strong desire to collect. But instead of rare issues, replicas or toys, haunters collect scare stories.

Stephenson relayed the prized story from Victor Bariteau, one of the home haunters from "The American Scream" who has since gone pro with his Ghoulie Manor attraction in Taunton, Mass. Bariteau's giant "Gourdzilla" Pumpkinhead monster scared a grown man so severly he "ran backwards, fell down and did a reverse-backward crab walk all the way down the street."

Meanwhile, Heaukulani, who calls screams the "money shot" of his job, said he had a man who was "roughly 6'8” and had a macho presence" to shriek like "like a little girl."

"That was by far the best moment to date!" he said.

So although they resemble other nerdy cultures, in the October world of the haunt nerd, tricking people into being afraid is the biggest treat.

And when I dress up for Halloween at the office, I pun it up.

Halloween is a day which makes adopting a different character or persona completely socially acceptable. With that kind of freedom, wouldn't you want to be someone or something devilishly clever, at the very least?

That's my plan.

On October 31, as I cross Centennial Park Boulevard in Atlanta, Georgia, and head into the CNN headquarters, I'll have the same excited grin on my face as I always have on Halloween. I'll be exceedingly pleased and proud of the punny costume I dreamed up and put together - this year I'll go as Hell-o Kitty - and I'll barely hold back my enthusiasm when people ask what I am.

Simultaneously, I'll temper my squee with the understanding of what lies ahead: The inevitable "huh?" and "I don't get it."

One year I was particularly happy with how I'd executed the pun of a small Orange Julius. I created a Roman soldier's tunic and lappets and wore a laurel wreath crown, all in shades of orange. And I'm short, so I loved that effectively I was a mini-sized Julius Caesar. The perfect rendition of a small Orange Julius! But the majority of my coworkers guessed I was Pocahontas.

Last year I went as pumpkin pi. I created a poofy orange dress and wore a green fez (which functioned as a stem) that were covered in mathematical equations which solved pi. I even put a joke one on there: ∏≠r²  Get it? Pie are round, not square. Once again, I stumped the journalists of CNN.com. I didn't think it was that subtle.

Even my simplest costume - a witch hat, lab coat and prescription pad - left a few coworkers scratching their head. And how obvious is that one?

I'm willing to bet some of you share this unique frustration. Still, it's nothing compared to the awesomeness of a good pun Halloween costume. If you're struggling to come up with an appropriately nerdy costume for next week, Geek Out! would like to offer some inspiration:

Buzzfeed has a great post about pun costumes. Our favorite is the very Gandalf-esque "Fantasy Football," but a close second is the "Cap-sized ship."

"One night stand" requires some skills with a saw or trompe l'oeil (or a trip to the local party store) to recreate an accurate night stand, but "cereal killer" is relatively low-effort and uses props you likely already own in your kitchen.

This "Frank Einstein" costume would be a great partner outfit to anyone dressing in homage of Edison vs. Tesla. (Wearing a meme costume this year? Be sure to submit your pictures to iReport!) Of course, the classic "Freudian slip" is a perennial giggle-fest for psych majors, everywhere.

Other ideas:

"Hairy potter": Dress as a gardening "Cousin It." Cousin It was arguably the coolest monster on "The Addams Family," and this hairy beastie wearing a gardening smock will certainly command attention.

"Doctor Jones": It's pretty easy to dress up as "Indie," but don't ignore this adventurer's hard-earned academic title. Put the "doctor" back in a Doctor Jones costume by wearing scrubs, rubber gloves, a surgeon's mask, an adventurer's hat and carry a bullwhip.

"Iron Maiden": Ren Fest dress languishing in your closet? Break it out for a double-pun costume! Pair it with an "Iron Man" mask and you're instantly transformed into an "Iron Maiden." Then hum "Run to the Hills" as you mill about the Halloween party.

"B minor": Obviously the most treacherous chord of them all and perfect for a punny Halloween costume.  Add some sooty smudges, a construction worker's helmet and a head light to any bumblebee outfit. Musicians will howl with delight.

Have you created a punny Halloween costume? Tell us about it in the comments!

In the comic book series' latest issue, which went on sale Wednesday, an outraged Clark Kent quits his job at The Daily Planet after his boss berates him.

"I was taught to believe you could use words to change the course of rivers - that even the darkest secrets would fall under the harsh light of the sun," the superhero's alter ego says in a newsroom outburst. "But facts have been replaced by opinions. Information has been replaced by entertainment. Reporters have become stenographers. I can't be the only one who's sick of what passes for the news today."

In Wednesday's issue, Kent tells his editor he's been a journalist for barely five years.

But for decades, his job as a reporter at The Daily Planet has been a mainstay of Superman's story.

Word of the superhero's career move drew attention from media critics and others who've watched the newspaper industry's struggles.

"It seems very overly dramatic," said Erica Smith, a former newspaper employee who's tracked U.S. newspaper industry layoffs and buyouts on her Paper Cuts blog since 2007. "It doesn't seem to me to fit either the industry or the character."

FULL STORY

Once I get rolling, I become a constant broadcaster, excitedly telling my friends about my newest obsession, while I wave my hands around in the air for emphasis.

This excitement is called "fangirling" (or fanboying, as the case may be), and it's fairly common behavior when it comes to the nerd world. In fact, it even extends beyond nerds: Stamp collectors, vintage record experts, and doll fanatics have their moments, too. We all light up when we get a chance to talk about the thing we love. When we share our enthusiasm, we welcome another person into our inner circle.

Sometimes, though, in the midst of marathoning yet another Asian drama with impossibly good-looking leading men, I'll catch myself wondering: Is my fandom escapism? And can it go too far?

All pleasures can lead to escapism, but where do they cross over into obsession? Are you obsessive if you spend each year crafting yet another insanely detailed Final Fantasy costume to wear to Dragon Con, or are you merely nurturing your creative pursuits? Is an encyclopedic knowledge of Star Trek history a good thing, or does the need to keep it up-to-date eventually edge out the necessities of life?

If there's one sect of fandom that's all about creating worlds to escape to, it's fan fiction. Magan Cubed, who has been actively involved in the fanfic community for over a decade, said fandom is usually a harmless social networking tool. But at its worst, it can become dangerous, leading to stalking or harassment, she said.

"This tends to happen when a camp of fans become overly entitled," Cubed said, "They begin to feel that they have a say in how the source material is written, presented, cast, etcetera, and that the creative staff is wrong for not following their wishes. This often presents itself as a sense of ownership over the actors of a film or television series, and has resulted in threats against the actor and his or her loved ones, both online and in person at conventions."

In a recent example, a contingent of fans of the show "Supernatural" began calling themselves "The Silent Majority" and started a campaign to write the upcoming season as they saw fit, claiming the show's writers had betrayed the core viewership.

"This group had also sent threatening and invasive messages to members of the cast and their wives, and attempted to get cast members fired from the show," Cubed said. "Ultimately this campaign went nowhere, but it was a scary reminder of how some fans can lose sight of reality."

This sense of entitlement is typical stuff on the internet, especially in the form of seemingly endless –and ultimately harmless - rants on fan forums.

America has seen it's share of fan-turned-obsessive, as is evidenced by celebrity stalking cases. Across the globe in South Korea, there's a completely different form of over-the-top fan behavior going on.

Korean pop stars have their own special brand of stalker, called "saesaeng (pronounced 'sah-sang')." These female groups go to extremes to enter the personal lives of the idols they adore, working closely together so they can achieve success. They are often seen hovering in the background of photos of pop idols, sometimes crammed up against the windows with their faces pressed to the glass in hopes of getting a glimpse of the stars.

They have been known to work around the clock to pursue celebrities in taxis, break into their homes, and buy and sell their personal information online, including identification numbers and telephone numbers, said Bianca Gomez, who runs Korean pop culture blog Angry K-Pop Fan.

K-pop stars JYJ have been one of many bands that have been targeted by saesang fans, but they are one of the few that reacted publicly to them, causing waves of discussion in the fervent fan communities.

Unlike paparazzi, saesang have one aim only: To get as close to the idols as possible, she said.

"The extreme behaviors and acts [saesangs] exhibit make it hard to believe that their motivations are just as simple as that of any other fan," she said. Healthy fans, she said, admire their favorite idol and are dedicated to supporting them all the way.

"In Korea, [saesangs] are walking paradoxes: they cause harm and distress though they don't mean to; they love the celebrity but seek complete possession of them; and they are deemed as outcasts by their peers," Gomez said.

Shunned by the bulk of their collective fandoms, saesangs socialize in self-managed, highly organized networks, she said.

"They are assigned responsibilities and fulfill them impressively, their information-finding skills are top-notch, and their ability to stay connected with each other and keep up with the fast-paced schedules of their idols is astounding," Gomez said.

This social organization sets saesangs apart from the solitary celebrity stalker we're used to hearing about in the US, Gomez explained.

So do Korean laws concerning privacy.

"We do not have much experience in protecting privacy," Lee Jin-ki, a law professor at Sungkyunkwan University, said. South Korea, he said, is in a transitional period, changing from a group-oriented to an individual-oriented community. As such, saesangs are not arrested for invasion of privacy. They can, however, be arrested for defamation, blackmail or threat.

"Anyone can get severe punishment for insulting someone both offline and online. It's not about whether or not we have the laws, but rather about people's mindsets," Lee said.

James Turnbull, lecturer and consultant on Korean issues, says the saesang phenomenon is just another necessary tool that the Korean advertising industry uses to keep all eyes on their idols. This may be another reason authorities tend to look the other way when it comes to saesang activity, Turnbull said.

"Obsessive saesang behavior is merely a logical, albeit extreme, side-effect. And it has had a long time to develop, too. Middle-aged women, with the financial resources to be saesangs, began dominating fanclubs in the mid-2000s. We're only going to see more of it so long as illegal downloading and the current glut of music groups forces management companies to rely on endorsements for profits," Turnbull said.

Mindy Mechanic, a clinical psychologist specializing in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and an associate professor of psychology at California University, said the behavior demonstrated by saesangs is profoundly culture-bound, and must always be understood in that context.

The group dynamic among these types of fans allows a sense of anonymity when the members violate the personal boundaries of celebrities, Mechanic said. In the case of saesang fans, it's easier to forget that what they are doing is disrespectful because they are surrounded by others who will join their cause.

But if they pursue a celebrity on their own, Mechanic said, it may mean facing consequences for their actions toward the person they romanticize.

“Many stalkers, even those stalking public figures and celebrities, are mentally ill and laboring under false beliefs. However, these group fans are likely more like groupies ... acting in concert with other adoring fans and attempting to get close to or connected to their greatness," she said.

Gomez agreed.

"There's a sense of importance and identity that is fostered by not only 'connecting' with a celebrity, but by finding other fans via their involvement in these networks," she said. "In the case of sasaeng fans, the pursuit of a fandom gives them something their own lives, and the people in them, are failing to provide."

In your mind, what's the difference between a hobby, a passion, and an interest that's gone too far? Is there any difference between being a devoted fan and being an obsessed fan?

This August, "Persona 4 Arena," debuted on the U.S. market. The game features popular characters from a Japanese franchise of role-playing games that was founded by gaming company Atlus in 1996. Since its Japanese release on March 1st, the game has sold more than 128,000 units for PlayStation 3, making it the fasting selling fighting game of all time.

Persona's tremendous success as a franchise can be chalked up to a mix of well-defined characters and marketing savvy that the Japanese know how to execute with finesse.

If there's one thing most gamers excel at, it's devotion. Ever since I discovered the first "Final Fantasy," I have stood dutifully at the door of the local game store at the midnight launch, waiting to get my copy.

I fell stone cold in love with "Persona 3" first and worked backwards: The modern fantasy settings, great dialogue and character development have me hooked like a helpless fish.

The latest installment, "Persona 4 Arena," is a perfect example of the power of the Japanese franchise. By appealing to a hardcore Japanese fan base - and the American fans that carefully follow the same trends –and creating a game that features already beloved characters, Atlus is swinging for a home run. Square-Enix did the same in 2008 with "Dissidia Final Fantasy," which featured characters from every major Final Fantasy game and gave fans a chance to fight against one another. The game nailed a spot as the best selling PSP game of 2009 as a result.

However, the way franchises work in Japan is a bit different from the way they work in America. This is a key element to the reason games like "Persona 4 Arena" and "Theatrhythm Final Fantasy" have performed so well.

Patrick Galbraith, author of "Otaku Spaces" and "The Otaku Encyclopedia," said the biggest difference between media franchises in Japan and the US might be the amount of material and speed of production and distribution.

"Manga, anime and games are really everywhere, part of everyday life in Japan. In a place like Tokyo, where most of this stuff is produced and promoted, it is really easy to surround one’s self with them. It becomes the very air that people breath, part of their environment, history and lived experience," Galbraith explained.

He said that when it comes to the way the Japanese support their franchises, constant access to the material breeds an intimacy that resembles cult fandom in the U.S. - but with the object of affection changing on a regular basis. Imagine that, for example, you were really into "Star Wars," and read all the novels and comic books, watched all the cartoons, wore all the costumes that had anything to do with the "Star Wars" universe. Then imagine that devotion was easily transferable to another franchise from some other galaxy, far, far away.

"Because of this, it is really easy to get into franchises since so many points of entry exist, and it is really easy to stick with them because of the amount of material available," Galbraith said.

The way some Japanese franchises are funded is also different from the way the American model works, according to Brad Rice, Editor-in-Chief of Japanese culture website Japanator. He said when a production company prospects any new animated series, it has to gather financial resources from various groups to create a 'production committee,' which in turn funds the venture.

"Once the show is produced, it's put on a satellite/cable channel and aired at an early morning time slot such as 2:00 a.m.," Rice said. "Up until this point, the production committee has made next to no money. Ad revenues are barely there, and thus the only hope of making money back and breaking even is through DVD sales and licensing opportunities," like collectible figures, merchandise, and a small portion from overseas licensing of the show.

In contrast, Peter Yoder, vice president of consumer products in North America for Cartoon Network Enterprises, said fan favorite animated series "Ben 10" was developed very differently. Cartoon Network, which, like CNN, is owned by parent company TimeWarner, is a company that exists to produce and air content that appeals to children, Yoder said. When Cartoon Network debuts a new franchise, it is aired at a time when children are watching television - between the hours of 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. EST. In fact, new show creators and Cartoon Network programmers work together to determine a precise time for the broadcast, in order to reach a targeted audience.

Likewise, the consumer products team works with show creators early on, to identify the new show's core attributes and voice, Yoder said. It's that information that guides consumer product development. "Our focus has always been, and will continue to be, producing and airing great content that resonates with kids," he said of Cartoon Network's approach. The consumer extensions of "Ben 10," like apparel, action figures, and a video game, while successful on a global scale, are secondary.

"At the end of the day, we strive to create great product from great content, and never the other way around," Yoder said.

While new intellectual properties (IPs) can be a monstrous success if they strike the right tone with the market, Rice explains that this is not Japan's preferred approach.

"If you're a businessman, you go with the easy option and license something," Rice said.

The thing is, fans don't mind. Because of the devotion we feel when we fall in love with a franchise, we're happy to always have more of it. As a hardcore fan of the Persona series myself, I never get tired of seeing new manga, games, anime, even collectible figures from the series I enjoy.

On the other hand, the business side of it may be suffering from that same passionate fandom. Decades-old franchises like "Evangelion" still have a multitude of merchandise for sale. As Japanese companies continue to market to a passionate, yet niche crowd, newer IPs - unless they capture the Japanese imagination on a large scale, like "Bakemonogatari" - are not as thoroughly monetized.

Other mediums have this a bit easier in Japan, Rice said. Live-action television shows generally air during primetime and have better ad revenues, and the production costs are a lot lower. Books and manga are cheap to produce and publish, so it's proven to be a fertile testing ground for new ideas.

But what makes fans react so strongly to certain franchises?

Galbraith says that when it comes to the Japanese "media mix," success is all about the characters.

"The character business is nothing to sniff at. The Japanese government estimated in a 2005 report that the market for licensed merchandise based on fictional characters is 10 times that of anime itself," said Galbraith.

He explained that these characters attract, focus and hold the attention of fans, gaining momentum as they move across media platforms.

"As Marc Steinberg says in his book on Japan’s Media Mix, it is the character that organizes the experience of heterogeneous media (and material) production and consumption," Galbraith says. "Each iteration of the character moves differently – it moves the fans and is moved by them."

"By building a prolonged relationship with a particular character through a process of branding, the consumer fan seeks greater engagement across media platforms. Further, because the character has been 'environmentalized' and can be engaged 'anywhere, anytime.' It becomes an intimate presence in everyday life."

Amy and Rory couldn't travel with The Doctor forever. Not that fans suspected they could - the Doctor's past includes many companions. But now we have to wait until the special Christmas episode, possibly beyond that, to see the next stop on the epic TARDIS hitchhike.

In Saturday’s “Doctor Who” mid-season finale, “change” and “endings” were as thick as the fog that attends the sneaky, predatory weeping angels. For a show about an alien who travels through time saving Earth and thwarting evil across the universe, the message got a bit heavy-handed at times. It was almost as if executive producer Steven Moffat was trying to prepare himself, the Doctor and the audience for the inevitable.

Even Matt Smith (the eleventh man to play the Doctor) was emphasizing that theme in an interview before last month's New York City season premiere screening.

“The show is about change,” he said. “Like Steven likes to say, it can never be predictable, it can never be cozy – It’s got to feel like it’s sort of marking new territory, I think, every season.”

But why belabor the point? This is a television show that for nearly 50 years has established the fact that the characters on the show are always coming and going - including the titular main character, the Doctor (who?) Even relatively new fans (and certainly, American fans fit that bill) of the show have gleaned that time travel is a limited engagement.

That started in 1966, when the show’s original Doctor, William Hartnell, needed to retire due to health issues. The show's producers devised a clever plan to transition to a new actor, Patrick Troughton, in the main character role.

The alien nature of the Doctor provided the fix: As a species known as a Time Lord, the Doctor can regenerate instead of dying in the traditional sense. Once regenerated, the Doctor is essentially a new person: he retains memories from his previous life but has a fresh personality.

This prevents a classic Dick York/Dick Sargent quandary where a new actor is installed and no one is supposed to notice the change. Even better, when an actor takes over the Doctor’s role, they aren’t trying to mimic their predecessor’s performance, which allows them to put a unique spin on the character all while adhering to the show’s canon.

"Doctor Who" fans, or “Whovians,” are unique among television show fandoms in that each fan can point to a favorite version of the Doctor without also having overwhelming disdain for any particular actor in the role. A popular T-shirt cheekily states, “You never forget your first Doctor,” and it’s spot-on; a Whovian’s fan identity is typically established with the first incarnation of the Time Lord (or his companion) they fall in love with.

By comparison, Trekkers can debate about who their favorite captains from the many iterations of "Star Trek" were, but there generally isn’t much disagreement over which specific version of Kirk they love the most (sorry, Chris Pine).

Newer "Who" fans might have joined the party with the debonaire tenth Doctor, David Tennant, but many thirty-somethings within the fandom have a particular fondness for Tom Baker. Baker, with his iconic scarf of many colors and sandy blond afro, was the fourth Doctor and the first whose tenure received an extended run in the U.S. on PBS in the late 1970s (although selected episodes of third Doctor, Jon Pertwee, did air stateside prior to that).

For decades, “Doctor Who” targeted families and garnered solid ratings in the United Kingdom before it was suspended in 1989 due to dropping viewership. Russell T. Davies revived the series with the ninth Doctor, played with edgy fury by Christopher Eccleston, in 2005 following a 16-year absence (save for a 1996 TV movie).

Tennant’s Shakespearean flare helped establish a quirkier vibe and romantic core for the show, while Smith’s bow-tie-clad turn has transformed the show into an American pop culture staple. The current season’s September 1 premiere earned 1.6 million viewers, a series best since the show moved from Syfy to BBC America in 2009. The numbers represent a 23 percent increase in viewership from the show’s 2011 premiere, and the sixth season was the most downloaded show on iTunes in the US last year.

The Doctor’s companions, too, are expected to be swapped out with some frequency. Following the Ponds/Williams’ TARDIS retirement, the Doctor flew off with their daughter - also his wife - River Song. The comfort of seeing a familiar face helped lessen the blow for fans: River Song has crossed paths with the Time Lord many times over the last five seasons of "Doctor Who."

Certainly, Karen Gillan, the actress who played Amelia (Amy) Pond, wasn’t entirely ready for the end of this companionship.

After learning her character’s fate in this weekend’s episode, “The Angels take Manhattan,” she sank into sadness.

“I was crying for pretty much the entire two weeks we were shooting that episode. In between takes. Just, in life. Little things were setting me off. I was sensitive,” she said at San Diego Comic Con during the Doctor Who panel in July.

In a pre-panel interview, fellow companion Arthur Darvill (who played Rory Williams, Amy Pond’s husband) said he has enjoyed being one-half of the first married couple on the TARDIS as well as the longest-running modern companions.

“We're so close to it at the moment and I think it will take a few years to be able to actually realize what we've done personally, but also kind of how it is on the show," Darvill said. "Hopefully we've added something quite exciting to it."

Fans have known since March of this year that Amy and Rory would leave the Doctor's side and newcomer Jenna-Louise Coleman will end up riding shotgun in the TARDIS. Fans may remember her as the crashed spaceship survivor from the first episode of this season.

“If you look at the history of the man, he picks up hot chicks and travels around the universe for two years and then goes, ‘eh, see you later, Rose,” joked Smith. The character of Rose Tyler established the possibility of a companion who was also a love interest - she captured the heart of the tenth Doctor, who still somehow managed to end up with two more companions before his regeneration.

“Doctor Who” executive producer Caroline Skinner admitted in September that she wasn’t “quite ready” to see Gillan and Darvill leave the show. When asked about Smith’s departure, she joked, “We’re never going to lose Matt!”

“I think that everyone, including the U.S. fans, also seem to really get and love the fact that 'Doctor Who' is kind of all about change and change is its essence, and it must never stop moving because that way the show won’t really be at its full strength,” Skinner said.

And yet, there is a big change in the near future that poses a challenge beyond finding a new companion or actor for the Doctor to regenerate into. According to show lore, a Time Lord can only regenerate 13 times, and Smith is currently the eleventh incarnation.

“They’ll have to invent something then where they can keep it going because why would we want to stop making it?” said Smith. “I’ll be old news by then, so I don’t know, really, but it’s a show that isn’t afraid of change and I embrace that.”

In an age of computers, smartphones, and instant gratification, studies lead us to believe that our attention spans are the shortest they’ve ever been.

If that were completely true though, a 5,000 plus page webcomic shouldn’t be able to attract millions of fans, much less inspire them to raise a million dollars in under a week.

“Homestuck,” cartoonist Andrew Hussie’s longest and latest project, is a video game inspired saga set in the Internet age. In the story, rife with Generation Y pop culture references, teenagers unite through an online game in order to save the world.

“I like Homestuck because it is one of the first pieces of media that genuinely appeals to me as a person who grew up in a very Internet based generation,” wrote Deanna Bennett, 20, in an email responding to my Tumblr request for "Homestuck" fanatics.

“Homestuck is meant to live online. It combines a lot of Internet humor that a lot of mainstream cartoons and comics are trying to desperately to tap but are failing and missing every damn time.”

Sounds like fun, right? But choosing to read it is a big commitment—in the form of hours and hours of free time. Fans compare its length to a that of a Greek epic. It has more than 100 main characters. And instead of comic panels, its gigantic pages are a mix of still and animated images, intimidating walls of text, Flash movies with original music, and even short video games.

“Homestuck is perhaps the first modern work to make full use of the Internet as not just a distribution tool but as a fully realized artistic medium,” wrote Clark Powell, 20. “Text, music, artwork, interactive, and animation are all combined in ways that have never been attempted before. On top of that, Homestuck is a piece of work whose very narrative is something of relevance to a new generation; it is, after all, a comic about the Internet, video games, and pop culture, if it can even be called a ‘comic.’”

Recently, the convoluted comic (and Hussie’s tendency to coin his own vocabulary for the script) prompted PBS’s Idea Channel to speculate that “Homestuck” just might be “the Ulysses of the Internet.” But as host Mike Rugnetta suggests, with great effort comes an incredible reward—the psychological theory of effort justification indicates that fans who stick it out will certainly grow attached.

“Homestuck's fans are a lot like the fans of the big, weird cult classics of the last half-century,” wrote Rob, 24, a graduate student who asked that we not use his last name in order to keep his internet and academic lives separate.

“That special enthusiasm, that ‘Let me tell you about Homestuck’ gleam-in-the-eye, isn't a product of Hussie's interactions with the fanbase so much as it's the universal demeanor of people who are into something wild and crazy and mindblowing, something that feels like a whole fever-dream world you can get lost in.”

Judging by the public statistics of Hussie’s advertising campaign, around 1 million unique visitors check the site for their “Homestuck” fix every day. Some more fervent fans are even involved in the comic’s creation process, since Hussie has been known to update as many as ten times in one day, making the comic a Herculean effort even with their help. A handful of volunteers, including Powell, draw art and compose original music for the comic.

“The fact that Andrew Hussie actively encourages the fans to be involved in contributing art and music truly blends the line between creator and reader,” wrote Sangdi Chen, 21.

Fans have also created a plethora of unofficial works, including fanfiction, fanart, and cosplay ensembles based on the characters. Colorful red and orange horns, found atop the heads of Homestuck’s alien race, the Trolls, dot the crowds at anime conventions and help fans recognize one another as kindred.

Cassandra Baden, 19, said the camaraderie of fans, both online and off, helped her get through a bout of depression during her first semester of college. Being away from home made her feel overly shy, but the Homestuck community gave her confidence to come out of her shell.

“Homestuck served as a gateway of sorts to other people,” she wrote. “I could go online, log into any of the many websites and be able to find a group of people I could talk to. I was scared to bring up my problems but like I had said before, they were family and immediately lent a hand when I needed it. The more I talked to them, the more confident I was talking to strangers on campus.”

“Homestuck”’s emphasis on friendships, especially long-distance ones, is especially important to fans like 19-year-old Sierra, from Texas, who asked that we refer to her using a pseudonym, for privacy's sake.

“In Homestuck, before the game starts, none of them have met in person. But they're still as close as friends can be, and their relationships are treated with the same seriousness that other friendships get,” Sierra wrote. “Homestuck has been a mutual bonding point for me and many of my Internet friends. When I met my best friend for the first time in July, I wore a Homestuck shirt to the airport so she could pick me out of the crowd instantly.”

After three years, Homestuck is beginning to receive attention outside of its close knit community—because money talks. When Hussie told fans he aspired to create a video game based on the comic and asked them to fund it, they eagerly complied, raising $1.9 million dollars in less than a month. Fans, once sequestered, are now aware of their power as a group.

“The enthusiasm is infectious,” wrote Avi Roberts, 22. “In the past three and a half years, I’ve watched a tiny community of people swapping inside jokes and suggesting names for the characters grow into a massive fandom capable of raising a million dollars in less than a week.”

Hussie himself, however, is not surprised. His fans have a will of their own. Even if he wanted to wield more power over Homestuck, he doesn’t think he could.

“The comic itself is still under my control,” he wrote. “I still make decisions about the story the same way I always did. But Homestuck as a ‘movement’ is not under my control, and never really was.”