You're crying silently in front of the television. Part two of the final Harry Potter movie is playing. In hand, there's a pint of your favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor, being slowly and messily shoveled into your mouth. There are chunks of chocolate--chocolate really does make you feel better. Remus Lupin gave Harry chocolate every time a dementor attacked so that he could recover. A wave of depression hits as you think, Lupin is dead now. This is perhaps the tenth time you have watched this film and it gets you every time. Every. Single. Time. Why do you put yourself through this if all it does is make you sad? Why do we become so attached to fictional characters in our books and TV shows?
In general, people really like stories. People love getting swept away by the excitement of a plot and escaping into a new world. But then there are the 'nerds', the absolute epitome of enthusiasm for a story or idea. To quote John Green, "Nerd are allowed to love stuff--like jump-up-and-down-in-your-chair-can't-control-yourself-love it." So when coming across someone who stands by their opinion that bow ties are cool, or believes that every child should have access to a messenger owl, or thinks that Through the Wormhole is the most fascinating show on the planet, you have found one of the 'nerds'. And most of the nerds with access to the Internet are part of inter-galactic communities of fans called fandoms, where there are other nerds just like them in terms of enthusiasm for a particular story or idea.
Some fandoms are experiencing a form of 'shock', being held in a state of total anticipation. Due to this, Tumblr, a blogging site that is home to most, if not all, Internet fandoms, is buzzing with excitement. In the Harry Potter fandom, there are constant posts of the fandom's revival with the announcement of J.K. Rowling writing the screenplay for the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (a story taking place in the Potter-verse). Just this week, the Hunger Games fandom received the second movie installment of the series. This weekend, Whovians are looking forward to the season eight premiere and fiftieth anniversary of Doctor Who. Not to mention Part II of The Hobbit being released in December.
Again, why are there thousands, maybe even millions, of people all over the world that are practically obsessed with these stories? For some, it's purely the fascination of the story itself. But stories make a much larger impact than we give them credit. Stories are an escape, yes. When the world is far too much to handle, there are these little safe havens made of words or cinematography. Oh, the escape is easy to make, and we find ourselves part of a second family, a home away from home. The escape, the adventure across pages and scenes, often brings us right back to our reality. And everything is alright again.
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