Just popping on here to wish everyone a happy and prosperous 2020.

I don't know what the future holds for this site.  I have a few episodes in the can that have never been posted, and was working on some "Best Of" episodes over the summer that are languishing half-finished on my desktop.  Whether or not I'll ever be emotionally ready to post them is the bigger question.  I still intend to run the ship bracket this year, because I know how much joy it brings people and I love to watch fandoms rally together.  When it came to fandom, Kelly was always the first person I'd run to to talk about breaking news and our latest theory.  I think I may continue to post articles here to let me keep the conversation going with her.

For now, I'm leaving you all with DJ Earworm's Decade of Pop mashup.  Checking YouTube for his year end mixes was a tradition of ours that I'm now sharing with you.  Love to you all.

I’ve never been good at things like this, and I still wake up hoping this is all a bad dream, but I know you enjoyed a good social media post for important moments. So here it goes.

I love how we can stay on the phone for hours, barely speaking but just wanting to know the other was there. I love geeking out with you over every fandom news story and ship development. I love how you want to be Suzie’s favorite auntie so much that you let her sit in the passenger’s seat of my car and lick your Starbucks cup. I love how you pick my drinks at the bar and then take care of drunk me with Cheez Its and Aaron Tveit albums. I love our yearly trips to San Diego. I love our podcasting dates. I love our inside jokes (#porklet, #dayofrest, #bugsinmystarbucks). I love your laugh. I love when you cheer for the Giants or the Sharks or the Warriors just to make me happy. I love keeping each other company during our commutes. I love our memories from college, like watching horror movies for Valentine’s Day or resting on your futon with instant mashed potatoes when I was sick or watching that Jonas Brothers concert movie over and over. I love when I text you breaking news and you call me to shout about it. I love that even when you can’t talk, you find a way to let me know what you really think about my hair (good or bad). I love spending all day with you at Disneyland acting like kids. I love all the wonderful people you brought into my life (especially you). I love when you call me CME, the Dean to your Sam, your favorite co-host. I love that even when we’re arguing, I know you’ll have my back. I love how much you love our origin story. I love your strength. I love how much you love.

I’ll miss you. I love you.

by Christina

Disney+, the upcoming streaming service from The Walt Disney Company, is one of the most anticipated things in entertainment this year.  Will you be subscribing when it launches on November 12th?  If you weren't already planning to, some of the announcements from D23 today might convince you:

It's been a pretty stressful couple weeks at work and in life, so I did the only logical thing when I arrived home this weekend.  I poured myself a glass of wine and watched the entire Descendants​ trilogy.  It took until now for me to prepare emotionally for seeing Cameron Boyce on screen after his passing, but I quickly was wrapped up in the joy and enthusiasm he brought to the role.  The movies are cheesy and fun and everything you want from a Disney Channel movie.  If you're looking for a break from the real world like I was, enjoy my top five favorite songs from the three Descendants films below (along with Disney Channel's tribute to Cameron) and share your favorite song in the comments:

Hey everyone! Sorry we haven’t been able to get it together to record lately, but we wanted you to know the winner of this year’s ship bracket is...

SANVERS!

​Congratulations!

by Christina

Update: Comments now moderated. Have fun. BE NICE. Discussions on how to streamline the Bracket or cancel next year currently ongoing. If you know of any other polling companies besides CrowdSignal, please let us know.

It's time!  Please find the champion and third place polls for the Ship Bracket below.  Polls close on May 3rd at 12:00PM.  As always, results will be hidden for the final 24 hours and the winner will be announced on the podcast.  The results will be unhidden a week after the podcast is posted.

Some admin news at the top: tomorrow the final championship round of the Ship Bracket begins at 5PM PST!  The third place poll will be running alongside.

In other news, I saw Endgame on Friday.  I've been having some difficulties working through my opinions and emotions concerning THAT ending.  Whenever I try to put together a spoiler free review of the movie, I'm unable to do so.  I'll have a bigger article addressing the whole movie this week once I figure out how I feel.  I hope you all get a chance to go and see the movie in the meantime.  No matter how you feel about the movie when you leave, I think we can all agree it's a cultural moment we're unlikely to experience again.  I was definitely riveted the entire three hours. 

​See you all tomorrow!

by Christina

Polls close at 12 PM PT on Friday. Comments are now moderated.

First, congratulations to our Final Four! I’m very curious how this round turns out. And a special shout out to my beloved Stucky (see website header), for getting the second most votes of any ship in any round!

​Due to the fact that I know there are a lot of people taking part in fandom related activities the next few weeks, please see the schedules of the next two rounds below:

Final Four: April 16 5:00PM PST to April 19 12:00PM PST
Championship: April 30 5:00PM PST to May 3 12:00PM PST