The Shrieking Shack

Twilight chapter 5/Midnight Sun chapter 5

We're back! After a week's break, it's time to check back in with the money fandom again, now that the new Fantastic Beasts has been in theaters for nearly a month. More importantly, we've got a new pair of Twilight/Midnight Sun chapters to discuss! This week we see some of the most recognizable moments and traits of the series on display; for better and for much, much worse. Edward is finally starting to behave the way all the memes, jokes, and critics in 2005 pointed out--does it hold up? Were their assessments fair? We chat about the ins and outs of romance tropes, book marketing, and the odd intersection of pop culture and cultural critique that Twilight generated.

Slapping a pretty broad but firm content warning on this one!! This chapter sees Edward becoming the domineering, possessive leading man he's (in)famous for being. The book is obviously very corny and we keep the discussion light and fun, but there's no getting around the fact that, all discussion about presentation, context, and romantic fantasy aside, the behavior we're discussing is pretty upsetting.

We check in once more with the money fandom to see how Fantastic Beast's U.S. box offices numbers look before diving into a triple (!) helping of vampire drama. This week, Bella is free from the hospital and already back to gruffly monologuing about everything that bothers her--and this week, it's boys; both boys who aren't Edward, but perhaps Edward most of all. We've got tons of school drama, vampire council meetings, outrageous displays of vampire superspeed, and a truly shocking last minute revelation from Liz's side of the reading that turns everything about Twilight upside down. How will Edward's Boyfriend Points stack up this week?

(minor note: the third segment this week is a very funny article comparing Twilight to the new Batman movie, so naturally there's spoilers for that in case you've been waiting to catch that on streaming which I guess came out this week??)

Twilight Chapter 3/Midnight Sun Chapter 3

The money fandom is dying! We tally up Fantastic Beast 3's international box office numbers. How is it faring in the Season of Morbius? Speaking of vampires, we have some juicy character stuff to explore this week. How long will Edward's roguish charms and gatekeep-gaslight-girlboss vampire secret hiding routine stay charming, and how long can Bella successfully navigate being world-weary and wizened without tipping too far in that direction? We also have a lot of thrilling action--from Edward's Superman powers to deep dives into the lore of Meyer's vampires (and their houses that they apparently do CRIMES in).

Some housekeeping notes: new podcast art is coming! I will get it out ASAP but I have been very busy recently. Also, there's a strange sound on the recording that sounds like something wobbling that I tried my absolute best to get rid of but couldn't completely remove--if you hear a faint oscillating sound, that's what that is!

Twilight Chapter 2; Midnight Sun Chapter 2

After a brief check-in with the advent calendar of bad PR events marring the countdown to the new Fantastic Beasts film release, we head back to Forks WA to hear more of Bella's adventures! This week... well, not much actually happens, but there's a lot to talk about! Meanwhile, Edward is in Alaska whipping his car around corners and ordering exclusive burgers. We dig into some of the romantic weirdness and the unfortunate side effects of attempting to de-himbofy Edward in Midnight Sun, and grapple with some of the popular criticisms of the time as they appear in Twilight.

This week's episode is a fun surprise. :)

It's a big news week for the Shriekcast!

We've got a loooong discussion of the State of Play gameplay reveal for HP Skyrim (or, from the looks of things, HP Fable) this week to make up for the fact that we are now free agents when it comes to reading! We have a lot to discuss, from our gut reactions to the game in a vacuum and the precarious, exhausting position it has forced itself into as a AAA game based on... well, you know.

We mostly keep it fun, but there's no getting around discussing JKR's behavior and beliefs, the game's alarming presentation of things like the uhhhh goblins?? So be prepared for a more serious episode in spots. Is it stupidity? Is it malice? Does it really matter either way? As I'm sure you all know, nope, not really.

In the second half, however, we log back into our reddit account and sow the seeds of some mischief, so that we may return to them next recording to see what happens. Hey, sort of like a mechanic they showed off in that game demo...

(Oh also! Fun note: my "prediction" that there will be a quote unquote inclusive character creator is apparently real, according to a Bloomberg report from a year ago, so I might've been channeling that)

Cursed Child stage play.

We're in the big apple, baby! We took a plane/time machine into the past to see a performance of the Cursed Child in New York with the original London cast. We... had a surprising time! We dig into all of our detailed thoughts: what met our expectations, what surprised us, and what let us down. This 8th story has been a real roller coaster for us, and you might be surprised on where we end up on this one! What main character did we find ourselves hugely disappointed in? Did the effects and production dazzle us as much as the reviews said they would? Did Imogen Heap's jukebox musical score delight us as much as the Voldemort Day video did? Find out all this and more on this week's Shrieking Shack!

NOTE: This is the wackiest of warnings to give but I edited a car horn honking into the intro--so if you happen to drive while you listen to this show be aware that yes, that honk came from the podcast!!

We're taking a week off to plan our next moves, but we'll be back week after next with some Sloper Content and more!

Cursed Child reading wrap-up episode!

With our reading complete, we take some time to discuss our overall thoughts on the play before we embark on our Very Real journey to See It In Real Life! What worked? What didn't? What did other reviewers think at the time? We check in with a mix of coverage from our rogue's gallery, and then another article illuminating some of our questions about who worked on what during the writing process. This also leads us to, in real-time, stumble into a discovery that drives us mad.

(Also, if you don't want the end of The Good Place spoiled for you, we riff on that for about 3-4 minutes when it comes up at about the 45 minute mark if you want to skip ahead!)

Cursed Child act IV!

This act was a bit faster-paced than the rest, so we ended up covering it all in one long go. The boys are back in time and there seems to be no other special time turners... what could possibly get our heroes out of this jam?! The answer might surprise you. We've got Blanket Plans, Smoke Rings, Demiguise Lore (!), Voldemort Styles, and much, much, MUCH more in this extra long finale episode covering the 8th Harry Potter story! Will we end up liking the play as a whole, or has the final act of this gargantuan stage production turned us into haters?

Next week we'll be doing a post mortem on the play itself, as well as some fun third segment stuff!

Act 3 part two!

The second half of the act 3 roller coaster is aimed directly at our asses. We have a Cool Villain Reveal, flying, a comedy Cedric performance (that's the guess, at least) and a whole host of other moments so over the top it's hard not to be delighted. We discuss how strange this all feels coming off of Deathly Hallows, how different Thorne's work feels from JKR's, and how the fandom might have came to despise something so full of the kind of fan service you might expect people to hail as a victory lap.

Then we continue our descent into linguistic nightmares (play one act two part one of two etc etc) with a listicle from one of our favorite websites...