by Tuesday PopeIt’s an average sunny day during the current apocalypse; the weather is nice as an extra fuck you to a world in quarantine, someone’s microphone cuts out on zoom and you miss some crucial information, and the door dash guy still can’t find your apartment (which is poorly labeled to be fair). As you settle in for your 50th day crossing animals, you hear it. You ignore it at first, assuming it’s the cooped up kids next door thumping the walls, but it gets louder and louder. Walking outside to inspect, you see it; a sparkling zombie with a chiseled jaw line and perfect hair. As you shield your eyes, you hear it moan “Edward” just before the squeals of soccer moms, preteens, and murder hornets overcome you.
It’s back and more bedazzled than ever before.
Today in a surprise twist that is becoming an all too familiar occurrence in 2020, Stephanie Meyer emerged from her Mormon house wife slumber to announce she’s publishing a new book. New is a technicality here because ‘Midnight Sun’, the book in question, is anything but. Twilight, a series of teen romance stories, graced the world in 2005 after author Stephanie Meyer had a dream about a sparkling man in a field. By the time the first movie was set to release in 2008, the series was inescapable. You either were Team Edward, Team Jacob, or Team Van that almost hit Bella. Everyone and their mom had strong opinions for or against the book and how it would change literature. While this cultural storm of vampires playing baseball in the rain and screaming teenagers raged outside, Stephanie Meyer was working on another book that would be a retelling of Twilight from Edward’s point of view.
Set to be titled ‘Midnight Sun’, the book was shelved indefinitely after tragedy struck. Someone leaked the entire thing. Fans rushed to devour the leak or print it out to read in the school lunch room. Meyer was, understandably, extremely upset. While down, she wasn’t out and went on to publish ‘The Host’ that same year with a movie adaptation following in 2013; the tagline for this series being the oxymoron “a science fiction book for people who hate science fiction.” While she had said there were plans for sequels to the series, nothing ever came from it and Stephanie Meyer faded from the public, children would never know the struggle of a world inflicted with sexy vampires, werewolves, and Mary sues.
That was until April 2020. A countdown appeared on Meyer’s website and the Twi-hards came out of the woodwork trying to figure out just what could be coming. Many hoped for ‘Midnight Sun’, some speculated a new story in The Host series, and others were too busy dusting off their old shirts and posters. During the biggest Star Wars celebration of the year, the countdown hit zero and it was confirmed, ‘Midnight Sun’ would finally see the light and sparkle into a world stricken by a pandemic.
I could don my old Twilight Sucks regalia, but honestly I’m happy for the Twilight fans. They have something to look forward to and that’s a hope I wouldn’t want to take from them in these uncertain times. I also have to give major props to Stephanie Meyer for actually finishing a project she started. As an artist, I can recognize this as a huge accomplishment. I can’t say I’ll be here to review it as the series just isn’t for me, but it’ll be interesting to see how this story will deviate from the leaked manuscript if at all and to see where the franchise will go from here. New merch is a certainty, but will there be a new movie? Will a new round of Twilight fans be born? Will Covid 19 kill us all? Find out on the next episode.
