Fandom Portals just hit 50 episodes, and the celebration episode feels exactly like what the show has grown into over the last year. It is heartfelt, a little nerdy, very honest, and deeply in love with the way movies can help people make sense of their own lives. What started as a solo project about fandoms in general has become a steady weekly ritual where two friends use film as a springboard to talk about growth, vulnerability, and the weird comfort of crying at a movie on your couch.
How Fandom Portals Found Its Voice
When host Aaron launched Fandom Portals, it was originally a one man show. Episodes focused on community submitted fandoms, with Aaron diving into why people latch onto certain stories and worlds. Over time, one fandom rose above the rest for him. Film had always been his personal touchstone, the medium that tied together his love of story, teaching, and self reflection.
That focus slowly shifted the show from a broad fandom podcast into something more specific. Each episode started to revolve around a single movie and the life lessons tucked between its scenes. It was still geeky and fun, but the heart of the show became this simple idea. Movies can teach you about yourself, if you give them the space to.
The turning point came when Aaron brought in his friend Brash. At first he was a guest, then a recurring presence, and eventually the natural choice for a full time co host. The way they describe it on the 50th episode feels like a TV character who starts as a guest star and quietly becomes part of the main cast. That shift unlocked the format the show has now. Two friends talking, disagreeing, laughing and opening up about why certain films hit them where they live.
Movies As A Mirror For Personal Growth
From the start of the milestone episode, Aaron frames Fandom Portals as a podcast about how fandoms and film can help you learn and grow. It is not just about rankings or hot takes. It is about looking at why a movie sticks with you long after the credits roll.
In the 50th, that idea is front and center. Listeners hear the hosts talk openly about things a lot of people wrestle with but rarely say out loud. Taking compliments without flinching. Feeling guilty about screen time. The awkwardness of trying to be “tough” and realizing that armor is just making everything heavier.
One community question asks what habit or mindset has actually made their everyday lives better. Aaron talks about sleep and diet, but the bigger shift is self acceptance. Learning to be kinder to himself, to stop treating his inner voice like a full time critic, has been a slow but meaningful change.
The two of them circle back again and again to vulnerability. They talk about how they used to avoid “sad” movies or anything that might make them cry, and how that wall eventually cracked. Now, tears during a film feel less like a failure and more like a pressure valve finally opening. That emotional honesty might be the clearest thread through all 50 episodes.
A Film Club That Feels Like A Group Chat
If there is a third main character in Fandom Portals, it is the community. The 50th episode is built around listener questions and birthday messages pulled from Threads, Instagram, and email. The show exists in conversation with the people who tune in every week.
In this celebration episode, listeners ask about growth, mindset, and who is most likely to cry during an episode. Friends of the show send in warm messages about how relaxed and welcoming their guest spots felt. Collaborators like screenwriter Jeremy, Avatar discussion partner Luke, and past guest Tia all pop up to congratulate the team and share what the podcast has meant to them.
The gratitude flows in both directions. Aaron and Brash keep coming back to how rare it is for a podcast to even reach 50 episodes. They acknowledge the unglamorous side of the work, from prep to editing, but make it clear that community is the fuel that keeps them going. The polls on social, the DMs about how an episode landed, the shared love (or shared frustration) over a particular movie all help turn the show from a monologue into a conversation.
There is also a tangible “thank you” built into the episode. Fandom Portals partners with Geek Freaks Network and Paramount to give away copies of The Smurfs on Blu ray to listeners who follow the show on Instagram and share a post to their stories. It is a small but fitting example of how the podcast tries to give something back to the people who have supported it.
Fifty Movies In, Still Surprised
Part of the fun of this milestone is listening to the hosts look back at their own Letterboxd style ranking board and realize where their opinions have shifted. Some films grew in their estimation. Others shrank once nostalgia was stripped away.
For Brash, Forrest Gump was the biggest surprise. He remembered it as a solid classic, something he thought he would rate around a three. Rewatching it for the show and then breaking it down with Aaron changed that. The movie hit harder as an adult who has lived through more of life. Themes of devotion, grief, and the messy humanity of characters like Jenny and Lieutenant Dan landed differently now. By the end of the episode, he had it at four and a half stars and counted it among the standouts of their run so far.
Other titles pushed them outside their comfort zones in good ways. Phantom of the Opera, which Aaron had never seen before, turned into a full on obsession for weeks after they covered it. New Mutants, written off by many as a bomb, offered more emotional resonance than expected when they watched it through the lens of young people wrestling with trauma. Even oddities like the Ewoks adventure scratched that soft spot for practical effects and old school fantasy that both hosts share.
They are equally honest about movies that did not hold up. Dragonheart’s dragon still rules, but some of the rest landed with a thud on rewatch. That willingness to revisit childhood favorites and adjust their scores is part of what keeps the show from getting stuck in nostalgia.
What Comes After A Milestone
The 50th is not just a victory lap. It is also a preview of where Fandom Portals is headed next. Aaron and Brash talk about their upcoming theme arc, “Failure Isnt Final,” which will center on box office and critical flops that still have something meaningful to say. The plan is to look past the headlines and ask what lessons can be pulled from movies that aimed high, stumbled, and yet may resonate more now than they did during their theatrical runs. Films like Eragon are on deck, and Brash is already bracing himself to find something positive to say beyond “do not adapt a beloved book like this again.”
That fits neatly with the spirit of the show so far. Fandom Portals is not really interested in “perfect” movies. It is interested in honest ones, and in what happens when two people sit down to talk about how those stories echo against their own experiences.
The episode closes on gratitude. Gratitude for guests, for listeners who vote in polls and send in questions, for the simple comfort of knowing a friend is watching the same movie on the other side of town. It feels less like an endpoint and more like the end of one chapter.
Fifty episodes in, Fandom Portals has found its rhythm. It is a film podcast where feelings are allowed, tangents are welcome, and community is part of the cast. If this milestone episode is any indication, the next fifty will only dig deeper into what the show already does best.
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