Tales from the Fandom

Lola Valentine of Winx Forever Podcast joins me for the final episode of 2025! We're talking all about the Winx Club Fandom!

This is a first for the podcast, as I knew nothing about the Winx Club show(s) and movies and only had knowledge via people who cosplayed certain characters. Lola is gracious and gives me (and you listening) a great background into Winx Club, which started in 2004!

Lola talks about the original Winx Club series, a 4Kids production back in 2004. We talk about how Lola was definitely the target audience for the show, and...

Twitch streamer and fellow Hyrule Gaming Group member Byuka returns to the podcast as we talk about the world wide release of the Umamusume: Pretty Derby game.

After nearly a year and a half, Byuka comes back to the podcast as we talk about an app/game that has taken over our lives. Japanese horse girl racing game, Umamusume: Pretty Derby, released world wide earlier this year. A game that has been in Asia for several years, Umamusume providers the player a chance to train and race their favorite horse girl over the course of a 3 year...

Real life friend, 7x podcast guest, and multi-award winning author Eden Royce joins me from England as we get to catch up, talk her latest works, and more!

We start things off by talking about her latest book, Psychopomp & Circumstance. It's her first published work geared towards adults. Billed as a historical southern gothic fantasy, we talk about how this book came about. From her writing process for adults vs children, the themes of the books, the characters, and the setting. I won an ARC, so I was able to read it a few months ago and...

After following them for quite some time, I am joined by the wonderful FreakazoidCosplay (aka Ashley) for a great discussion about some of their favorite fandoms.

We first kick things off with the dual superhero powers, DC and Marvel. Ashley talks about how they first got their start with DC - from the animated series and movies, to the most recent slate, the comics, and much more. We're talking about what their favorites are, their favorite characters, and how it was growing up in a Marvel household. Which leads directly into how they finally got into Marvel...

Central Florida creator Sarah aka SpiritDaySarah returns to the podcast after 18 months. I always enjoy seeing what Sarah is doing and creating and am glad to welcome her back.

For this episode, Sarah had something special to talk about. While we still remain in the realm of content creation, cosplaying, and bounding, Sarah discusses what it is like doing all that while pregnant.

Sarah goes over 5 tips to help creators who are or may become pregnant in the future and advice on how she's had to adapt and pivot her content over the past several...

It's always fun bonding with people over shared interests. For Olivia and I, it was Star Wars and The Bad Batch series. It was a pleasure getting to have Olivia join me on the podcast to talk about this, and so much more!

We start things off by by getting into Marvel and The X-Men fandom. Olivia talks about some of her favorite movies/shows that exist in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and what keeps her coming back for more. We talk about some of her favorites (one of her favorite movies may surprise you!) and then...

We have another international guest joining us, as Anshie Shinohara joins me from Germany! After stumbling across her Aerith cosplays on Instagram, I'm happy to welcome her to the podcast.

Anshie and I start off with the only topic we could start with, Final Fantasy 7. Anshie talks about how she first got into the video game, back in the original Playstation days. We talk about what kept her coming back to that franchise, her experiences beyond 7, and then returning to the game with Remake and Rebirth. We cover who her favorite characters are, her thoughts on the...

I'm excited to have the Angel of Hell's Kitchen, Alli, join me from Philadelphia for this latest episode of the podcast! We get to talk about some wonderful fandoms and her work.

Alli and I kick things off by talking about The Hunger Games franchise. We cover both the movies and books (including Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes and The Sunrise on the Reaping). Alli discusses some of the differences between them, and why she loves and revists the series often. We talk about favorite characters, favorite movies, and more. We also explore the idea of potential...

We go to Germany for this episode, as Yuliya aka Yuliya.Crafts joins me to talk about her past, present, and future with fandom.

Raised in the Ukraine in the post-Soviet era, we refelect on Yuliya's first interactions with fandom. Mostly exposed to work from Japan, she didn't get into some of her current fandoms until the age of 20. We talk about the movies and shows she watched then, and what her fandom experiences were like. 

We talk about fandoms that she's presently into, like Star Wars, Doctor Who, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and DC m...

Twitch streamer Joey Vogt joins me from the great, untapped land that is Ohio for this latest episode of the podcast.

Joey and I are both part of the Hyrule Gaming Group stream team, so I've had the pleasure of watching his Twitch streams and get to know him a bit more. Now, he gets to join me and share what he loves.

We kick things off by talking about Game of Thrones. This show was not in Joey's wheelhouse to start with, as he wasn't so much a fantasy fan. That show changed his...

Natalie aka OhThatNatalie on socials joins from Canada as we get to talk about a number of her passions.

While we start off strong with talk of tiramisu, we dive into one of our main topics - Books! Natalie talks about how she got back into reading, fanfiction, and what books she is drawn to now. She gives several recommendations (see links below), and we talk openly about how she shares her very personal reactions to some of the books she's read on her Instagram page. She talks about how she decides which books sit on shelves...

Nearly 3 years to the day, Vicki aka Vicksipixiecosplay returns to the podcast! After we previously had technical difficulties on her first episode where we had to cut things short, this time, we are fully technical and now you've got a full episode!

We kick things off by talking about Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice. We specifically focus on the 2005 movie version. Vicki talks about why she enjoys P&P as much as she does, and why this version is the one she gravitates towards. We talk about some of her favorite characters, who she identifies with, and...

Sky is the latest person from the Central Florida area to join us as a guest. As some I've been following for quite a while, I was very excited to get to talk with her!

We're covering some great fandom topics. We start off with talking about the music she grew up with. From Alt. Rock, Emo, and Screamo, to focusing on My Chemical Romance, we cover what Sky enjoyed and still enjoys to this day. We talk a bit about the MCR lore, along with the album she'd recommend people listen to if they're first getting...

Cam aka CamCammeii returns after 3 1/2 years as we catch up, talk about some of the newer fandoms she's into, and talk about her growth and changes within the past years.

We first kick things off by acknowledging that Cam is the designer behind the new Tales from the Fandom logo, as of 3 1/2 years ago. So a little piece of Cam lives on in each episode promo you see on the social media side of things.

Cam and I revisit Genshin Impact and talk about its impact (pun intended) on her video game playing. From her...

Every guest has their own special story on how they get to be on this podcast. For Farah aka FarahsFantasyland, she'd been on the list and then up and moved from Florida to the Pacific Northwest! We finally mastered the timezones, calendars, and got together to get this episode to your ears.

I had stumbled across Farah through someone sharing her Disney content to their stories. I enjoyed the creativity and energy that Farah brought, and now here we are. We kick things off by talking about just that - Disney. From her origins in the Disney...

A long time coming, I am pleased to have Ariel aka AriNicoCosplay join me on the podcast to talk with her about her favorite fandoms.

We split the episode in half. The first half we cover the first anime. Ariel and I talk about our anime origins, with hers being with Toonami and staying up late to catch some of the anime series presented on the Cartoon Network. We do deeper dives into two of her current favorites, Dorohedoro and The Apothecary Diaries.

From there, we step into the world of cosplay. If you've followed...

Sometimes you just stumble across someone's social media and are like "I want to talk to them on the podcast". Today, that someone is Catrina Dennis, aka OhCatrina, on their socials. Catrina joins me to talk about a number of fandom topics!

We kick things off by talking about Star Wars - but, this time is unlike any other. As we start with their daily post asking for an Asajj Ventress show. Catrina and I talk about this character that has seen growth across multiple shows and even appeared in books and video games. You'll learn why...

Another new guest joins the podcast, as Hylia.Lynx joins me to talk about some of her favorite fandoms.

We start things off by talking about one of the long running anime fandoms, Pokemon! Lynx and I talk about her entry into the world of Pokemon. Was it the anime? The card game? The video games? The movies? You'll get to hear about it here! We talk about some of her favorite experiences with Pokemon across the spectrum, including a few stories about her journey as a Pokemon master with Pokemon Go.

Lynx stories continue...

The final episode of June is awesome. Pun fully intended, as Lorenzo aka TeamAwesome418 rounds out this month and joins me while he was on vacation to record this episode! We're talking DC, Marvel, Cosplay, and more in this episode!

We kick things off with the DC side of things. Lorenzo talks about how he got into DC through the animated shows and movies. We talked about his love of Superman, along with Batman, and Static Shock. We bounce around between the animated shows and movies, to some of the more recent movies and discuss the upcoming...

Anne returns from the Philippines after 3 years as we catch up and talk about some fandoms old and new.

Anne and I get to catch up a bit and jump right into one of the older fandoms that we both love, Tabletop Roleplaying Games. Anne talks about some of her favorite games, including playing Dungeons & Dragons in Critical Role's Exandria setting, the Power Rangers RPG, Dresden Files, and Vampire: The Masquerade. We talk about her continued role as running and hosting streamed actual play games on Twitch channel through all of this.

From there, we...

Sometimes I just stumble across people and love what they do and create. This is the case with Cailin aka Cailin.in.Character on socials. I loved her Midnight Spider cosplay, started following her, and got to know more of what she's into from what she shared. Now, you get to hear about some of her favorite fandoms!

We kick the first half of the episode off talking about DC and Marvel. With DC, we start off by talking about how Cailin got into DC via the DC Animated Universe (hello Justice League!). She talks about her...

Brittany aka BajanPrincessBrittany returns to the podcast to kick off Year 9 of Tales from the Fandom. Brittany said "I've got a great idea to talk about" and here we are. What are we talking about in this episode? Astrology!

You may have seen from time to time, that I happen to share a lot of Sagittarius memes to my stories. I do love when I find the memes that match up to how I feel about my birth timeframe. Well, it so happens that Brittany is also a Sagittarian!

So, we talk about astrology. From...

Today, June 6th, 2025, is the 9 year anniversary of this podcast!

534 episodes, 15 countries, and so many fandoms talked about. Everything from big to niche fandoms. We've helped promote Kickstarters, movie releases, book releases, and so much more.

For this episode, returning guest Briona aka StitchesandSpells joins me to be guest host of the podcast. She talks to me about the origins of the podcast, the number of different guest and fandoms I've had on, and more.

We also talk about the community I try to strive for and being authentic to the audience who...

Regina Famatigan returns as we're talking about the upcoming sequel movie, Skye Hoshi 2, from Pure Magic Pictures!

I'm excited to have Regina back as during our original episode to promote the first Skye Hoshi movie, I said I hoped her character would return for a bigger part in a sequel. Now, here we are!

Regina talks about her experience with the release of the original movie, taking it on tour at conventions, and even the release of the movie in the Philippines and how much it meant to her.

We then talk about...

Actress Olivia Roldan returns to talk all about the upcoming release of Skye Hoshi 2!

We talk about her experiences with the release of Skye Hoshi, the convention tour, and when she found out that a sequel would be coming. 

Olivia talks about the experiences of coming back for the sequel, what people can expect, and much more.

We also talk about some of the other work she's done with Pure Magic Pictures, and what else she's doing!

You can find Pure Magic Pictures at:

https://puremagic.pictures/

h...

Actor, Writer, and Director, Kalani Hubbard of Pure Magic Pictures returns to the podcast to talk about Skye Hoshi 2, releasing this summer!

That's right! After the success of Skye Hoshi: Anime Girl two years ago, a sequel was made and here we are getting to talk about it.

Kalani talks about the original Skye Hoshi, its release and convention tour. 

We then talk about how Skye Hoshi 2 came about. From the decision to move forward with a sequel, some of the plot, actors and characters returning. 

All this, plus some of th...

I was very excited when Alexis said yes to being a guest on the podcast. I really enjoyed the work she shared on Instagram and looked forward to getting to know her better. Now, you get that same chance.

We've got a great conversation that spans "the big 3" (as dubbed by me), Disney, Marvel, and Star Wars.

We start off with Disney, throwing it all the way back to when the Disney channel was a pay TV channel. Alexis talks about some of her first experiences with Disney, like "The Wonderful World of Disney", the...

It's been nearly 8 years since Samantha aka LiliAvacyn has been on the podcast. A lot has changed since their first episode, and now they're back for a second one!

Samantha talks about this year being their 20 year convention anniversary. We talk about how conventions have changed over time, from experiences, to guests, panels, and overall fun.

One of the topics that Samantha wanted to talk about was cosplay and their adjustments to cosplay and conventions with a disability. You'll hear how Samantha has adapted cosplays to include their wheelchair, wheelchairs and the convention spaces, and...

Luna aka Lunatricxx on her socials joins me from the Philippines to talk about some of their favorite fandoms.

We start off by talking about some of their favorite music genres. From Punk to Alternative, to Rock, and subgenre's like Divorced Dad Rock. Luna goes into detail about some of her favorite bands and musicians, the concerts she's been or planning to go to, and some of the recommendations she would make for those interested in their kind of music.

Then, we jump to Marvel. We talk about Marvel Rivals, their character choices in the...

Threads has been a wonderful place to get to know people and their fandoms. I stumbled across Rebecca, aka TheQueen0fSarcasm, as she was live threading her way through Star Trek episodes. After reading her thoughts, I knew I had to ask her to be a guest.

We're talking all about Star Trek on this episode. From her first experience with the shows and movies, to her favorite characters, to which series she loves the most. We boldly go through as much Star Trek as we can fit into one episode, including some of the upcoming shows.<...

I love when people reach out to ask to be guests. Especially someone that puts the fan in fandom. Katie of Fandemonium Design joins me to talk about some of her favorite fandoms, plus her Fandom art and design work!

Katie says that her fandoms find her. As we talk about the different fandoms, you'll hear how these fandoms found Katie, and why she latched onto them.

The first one we talk about is Dr. Who. Katie talks about how she first stumbled into Dr. Who and what kept her watching. We talk about her...

The latest episode is here and our latest guest, DischaPoppy, joins us from Shanghai, China. Through the powers of timezones and scheduling, I'm happy to have Poppy on the podcast.

Originally from Indonesia, Poppy talks about growing up without anything Disney (which is surprising if you see her account now!). We talk about how she grew up with Japanese anime/movies on her TV, and how she didn't experience Disney until much later in life. Poppy talks about what Disney shows/movies she does like, along with recounting her first visit to a Disney theme park.

Our first guest from Italy, Valeria aka "The Lady and the Bow" on social media, joins me!

I had stumbled across Valeria's account on Threads, where she mentioned she loved The Lord of the Rings & The Hobbit. That's usually enough for me. I popped over to her Instagram account and found beautiful and inspired photography, cool looks, and I knew I had to follow for more. After really enjoying her content, I asked her to be a guest, and here she is!

We have a wide ranging conversation that goes across a number of topics...

After having been on their podcast twice last year, it seemed only fitting that I started gathering the crew of Fine Beats and Cheeses to come on to mine. The first one who took the plunge is Lynne Streeter Childress.

We kick things off by talking about TV Mysteries. We cover a lot of the spectrum - from Columbo, Matlock, and Murder, She Wrote to newer shows like Elsbeth, Poker Face, and Matlock (there's a new one!) Lynne talks about how these shows, "old white people solving crimes", attracted her to them, her memories of them, and...

I stumbled across Sasha aka JewishComicsQueen on Threads when she put out a request to be a guest on more podcasts. I was glad when she said yes, and here we are! We're talking about Jewish representation within the Marvel movies and TV series. Note - this was recorded prior to Captain America: Brave New World's release.

We range far and wide with the Marvel movies and shows that we discuss. From pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe, to the current status of the MCU, and what possibly to expect in the future.

Topics that are talked about...

I've been following Gina aka Ginamidala on Instagram for quite some time and I was excited that she said yes to being a guest. Not just because of her cosplay work, but also because she published her first book, Guide, and I wanted to talk about that too!

We split the episode in half. For the first half, Gina and I talk about art and cosplay. With art, Gina talks about her beginnings with art in school, and progressing from there. She talks about all the different art forms she's done and which ones she prefers. We...

It's always nice when people reach out and ask to be guests on the podcast. Shad, host of The Sidequest Hustle Podcast, did just that, and here we are!

Shad kicks things off with a conversation about anime. Being that we're close in age, we cover a number of classic animes that started off on Toonami, and discuss watching anime at all hours of night. We talk about Gundam, as well as getting his personal Top 5 Anime, and his Top 5 anime that he'd recommend to others. We also talk about what kind of anime he prefers...

Joy aka Joylenny KawaiiWorld on Instagram joins me to talk about two of her favorite things - Anime and Cosplay.

We start things off by talking about anime. Joy talks about growing up in the Dominican Republic and watching her first anime series there. Once she moved to the US, she got more immersed in anime. We're talking everything from Dragonball to One Piece. Joy talks about the kinds of anime that she likes, how many episodes she gives an anime before deciding to continue or not, and what anime she recommends.

On the flip...

Shaunie aka ShaucatCosplay joins me to talk about a few of my favorite fandoms!

We start off by talking about one of my favorite things growing up as a kid. For the first time in 500+ episodes, we talk Scooby Doo! Shaunie talks to me about how she first got into Scooby Doo. From the original series, to the animated movies, and the multitude of different shows they've made, we cover as much as possible. From her favorite characters, to some of the underrated works. There are no red herrings here!

Then, we segue that into...

Morgan aka CosbunnyCosplay joins me to talk all about Cosplay and the fandoms that she represents through her work.

We start off by exploring how and why Morgan got interested in Cosplay. Morgan takes us through her beginnings with her first character she cosplayed as, to the skills she had at the time.

As she gets more interested and involved with cosplay, Morgan shares the different skills and abilities she picks up and learns about. Everything from sewing and armor, to prop making, and magnets.

We talk about what drives her decision to...