As 2025 ended, I kept stumbling across this really wonderful reels on Instagram that kept going into the lore of The Lord of the Rings fandom. After being shown these several times and being captivated, I followed Kaia on Instagram. After a little bit more, I knew I wanted to have her as a guest and delve into Middle Earth lore.

Kaia and I talk about everything The Lord of the Rings that we can fit into one non-extended edition podcast episode! From how she got interested in this fandom to start with, to how she continued her journey and where it has taken her today.

We cover everything. From The Hobbit to The Lord of the Rings trilogy, to The Silmarillion. From the animated movies to the Peter Jackson trilogy, The Hobbit movies, Rings of Power TV series, and War of the Rohirrim.

And yes, we talk about Tom Bombadil, The Eagles (not the band), Viggo Mortensen breaking his toe, and sadly, the toxic side of the fandom.

This is a great time to learn about The Lord of the Rings, dive into some deeper lore like an audio version of Wikipedia, and learn about what challenge I'm taking in 2026 when it comes to this fandom.

You can find Kaia at:

https://www.instagram.com/kaiakayy/

https://www.tiktok.com/@kaiakays

https://www.youtube.com/@kaiakayy

https://www.threads.com/@kaiakayy

https://substack.com/@measse

https://linktr.ee/kaiakay

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 how she learned about it back then. We talk about its origins in Italy, being brought to the US, and the 4Kids Dub vs future dubs. We get an overview of the story, the characters, and what kept Lola coming back to the fandom.

We talk about the shows, the movies, the live action series on Netflix, and the newest Winx Club iteration, Winx Club: The Magic is Back.

Lola also talks about the origin of her podcast, Winx Forever Podcast. We talk about how she got started, what people can expect from it, and what the podcast has meant for her and the Winx Club fandom in general.

You can find Lola and the Winx Club Forever Podcast at:

https://www.winxforeverpodcast.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/WinxForeverNews

https://www.instagram.com/winxforeverpodcast/

https://open.spotify.com/show/5zf5Do3T1hy6wgNE6nKmVf?si=67c3430b674e4338

https://discord.gg/VPCZUYqhMJ

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 period.

What will you train? Speed? Wit? Will you give them recreation time? How often will you let them rest? And what skills will your horsegirl obtain in the course of their career? It's highly deep in strategy, frustrating with the RNG at times, and has deep lore for each character - and each character being based on a real horse that exists (or existed).

We go over a lot of what we love about the game, the lore and history, how we play, plus tips and tricks!

Go check out Umamusume: Pretty Derby, and send me your trainer code so we can be friends!

Check out this website for game information!

https://gametora.com/umamusume/training-event-helper

You can find Byuka at:

https://www.twitch.tv/byuka

You can listen to Byuka's previous episode at:

https://talesfromthefandom.libsyn.com/episode-366-byuka-talks-final-fantasy-world-building-video-games-twich-streaming-and-vtubing