The end is nigh! The First Seal is opening. Yggdrasil’s roots have been chewed through.

Based on social media comments and memes running rampant, the bankruptcy announcement by Hostess and plans to sell off its products, specifically Twinkies, gave off an impression of a pending apocalypse. In reality, it is more a fun topic to complain about, and the goodies are unlikely to disappear for long, if at all.

Still, there is all this hubbub over snacks many folks do not really readily consume. I mean, seriously, how many people do you know that actually eat Twinkies, or Ho Hos or Ding Dongs, often?

But it is more than that. The Twinkie name has been a staple of America for as long as most people alive in the United States can remember; its first incarnation was about 1930.

The Twinkie has an ineffable quality of American style in it. Look to some of my favorite Twinkie greats:

The deep-fried Twinkie. “Something magical occurs when the pastry hits the hot oil. The creamy white vegetable shortening filling liquefies, impregnating the sponge cake with its luscious vanilla flavor. … The cake itself softens and warms, nearly melting, contrasting with the crisp, deep-fried crust in a buttery and suave way,” according to The New York Times 2002 article “Fry That Twinkie, but Hold the Chips.”

Such an eloquent description for something not “good” for you. The song “Golden Brown” by The Stranglers comes to mind as a proper theme for such a delectable.

Next in Twinkie treats we have the Twinkie-wiener. Popularized in an underground, cult-sense by the Weird Al Yankovich film “UHF,” the simple combination of a Twinkie as a bun and a nice hotdog inside sounds so strange you cannot help but wonder how tasty it might be.

The use of a Twinkie to explain psychokinetic energy levels and coming biblical-proportion risk by Dr. Egon Spengler, as potrayed by Harold Ramis, in one of the most classic sci-fi movies in history, “Ghostbusters.”

Perpetuating the myth of the super-long shelf-life of Twinkies comes the movie “Wall-E,” where a cockroach — another things thought of to be all that would be left if a nuclear holocaust occurred — enjoys the snack often.

The odd, yet highly meaningful and understandable quest by Tallahassee, as portrayed by Woody Harrelson, for some factor of a life no longer available in the zombie survival rules-offering film “Zombieland.”

The spongy, cream-filled treat, along with the rest of the assets of Hostess, will be auctioned to the highest bidder. The legacy of the Twinkie name is likely to live on, despite the comical laments raging across the Internet because, well, it remains profitable.

Hostess sales sat around $2.5 billion, and made some 500 million Twinkies annually before the recent shutdown, according to CNN Money. Alongside the rest of the products, it is very unlikely Twinkies will go the way of the dodo.

Granted, Hostess had filed for bankruptcy before, and had been struggling for years, but for all intensive purposes it appears like a case of mismanagement. The lines of communication between workers, or unions, and the big bosses were not harmonious, and had not been as sweet as some of their products.

Another factor, though one I see as less influential as some might have you believe, are the pushes to get sugary treats off the market in place of healthy things.

All the healthy living movements can do all they please, but it is unlikely to stop some company from swooping in to buy up and put Twinkies back on the market. Sugary treats will never stop being a solid selling point because folks across the world like sweets. No healthy food option will ever quite be able to replace the sensations brought on with those sugar highs.

I even heard a rumor about C. Dean Metropoulos & Co., owners of Pabst Blue Ribbon, considering a bid for the Twinkie brand. Imagine the glorious combination of ordering a PBR and Twinkie combo at the bar. Yum.

Liquidation of Hostess might not even be an issue, as negotiations remain under way until Wednesday, as the bankruptcy judge asked mediation continue a while longer. Hostess seems to hold all the cards, so it appears up to the unions to decide whether to fold and return to manning the snack production. 

In the end, and the end is unlikely to be near, we can still enjoy our unhealthy delights years down the road, based on my examination. There might be a few months where the products are away, maybe even a year, but summer-time snacking of deep-fried Twinkies shouldn’t be a challenge for 2014, and we can always put the shelf-life myth to the test for summer 2013 deep-fried Twinkie delicacies.