Say It Out Loud: TwiHard Recovery Club Z-104 (WZEE-FM)

With the Twilight Renaissance upon us during an age of remakes, it was inevitable that there would be a reboot. The show is currently in its infancy, but it has caused plenty of discussion within the fandom: who’s going to play our main characters? What direction will they go with the storyline? Blue tint or no?

It’ll be months before we get any answers, but for now, we’ll ponder the possibilities of sparkly-skinned vampires in the age of TikTok.

On October 24th, we're holding a New Moon Brew 'N View at the Majestic Theater in Madison! GET TICKETS: https://majesticmadison.com/events/

Despite often being the punching bag of the internet, online fandoms are powerful, precious things. They’re spaces where people can find escapism and create friendships over a shared love of something as ridiculous as the Twilight saga. Even as adults, it’s cathartic and healing to reignite our obsession and to pay homage to our younger selves that grew up kissing Edward Cullen posters.

Fae, Kayla and Taylor, three of the administrators for the hugely popular Facebook group, Twilight Shitposting, reminisce on the past and present of the Twilight fandom. Together, we remind ourselves of why we fell in love in the first place, and how we can grow with media that is–seemingly–frozen in time.

Twilight Shitposting:
-Become a ratty and join the Facebook group here.
-Follow their Instagram here.
-Follow their Twitter here.

On October 24th, we're holding a New Moon Brew 'N View at the Majestic Theater in Madison! GET TICKETS: https://majesticmadison.com/event/brew-n-view-new-moon-twilight/

As TwiHards, we have our own jargon, discussing terms like “the blue tint” or “TITSOAK.” We talk about how the first Victoria was our favorite and sing every word when “Flightless Bird, American Mouth” comes on. But to an outsider, those references don’t land.

What happens when we challenge play-by-play commentator, Jon Arias, to watch Twilight for the first time? Can the 2008 film hold up without the nostalgia factor or is the baseball scene lackluster to fresh eyes?

Find Jon's podcast, Joncast Podcast, here.

The first three Twilight soundtracks seemingly found the sweet spot. But as we enter the final two films, it’s clear that the saga is at its peak commercial success, which pushes the producers to find hitmakers like Bruno Mars and Christina Perri for the Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 soundtrack singles.

While Mars and Perri have some of the most iconic songs of the entire saga, we question whether or not the producers can blend these pop songs with the usual angsty rock we expect from Twilight and whether or not all of the love songs on Breaking Dawn Pt. 1 are enough for our emo hearts.

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Much like Twilight, Fifty Shades of Grey spawned a renaissance for women across the globe; except instead of plastic Halloween fangs and Edward Cullen barbies selling out on shelves, it was blindfolds, human leashes and handcuffs. Even with its Mormon backbone, Twilight somehow had enough sultry moments to inspire author EL James to create the best selling erotica of all time, additionally inspiring a new wave of conversations about kink and pleasure in the mainstream. We take on the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy and its vampy origins.

In the midst of the Twilight Renaissance, we know just how saturated the internet is with quotes and memes around the widely-loved (and hated) saga. But what does this world look like to an outsider? Would someone who has never interacted with Twilight even enjoy reading it today? Can the book hold up in 2023 to fresh eyes?

We challenged Shawn Johnson, the State Capitol Bureau Chief for Wisconsin Public Radio, to take on reading the first book cover to cover to test the longevity of Twilight and determine if we can recruit even an unlikely TwiHard.