Carry On: The Rise and Fall of Simon Snow

Simon Snow and his companions made their first appearance in Rainbow Rowell’s 2013 young-adult novel Fangirl. The title refers to protagonist Cath Avery, who pours her creativity and writing skills into a novel-length fanfiction about the fictional Simon Snow book series by Gemma T. Leslie. During Cath’s freshman year of college, she contends with social anxiety, her twin sister’s alcoholism, her father’s mental illness, her absent mother’s reappearance, and her growing feelings for her roommate’s ex-boyfriend. Writing helps Cath grapple with these circumstances and “come to terms with her life” (Nordling, Em. “Finding Your Real Life OTP: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell.” Reactor, 2013). Fangirl was praised for its “true-to-geek-life” presentation of fandom culture and Rowell’s understanding that “fandom is so much more than escapism—it is, whether conscious or unconsciously—a way for folks to interact with their surroundings” (Nordling). Simon Snow may be a fictional character, but telling his story helps Cath rise to real challenges.

Simon’s debut as an embedded fiction in a novel about fandom is fitting because his story takes inspiration from real-life fanfiction. In the author’s note for Carry On, Rowell explains that her Simon Snow trilogy is neither Cath’s writing nor the fictitious Gemma T. Leslie’s series. Rather, Carry On represents Rowell’s homage to Chosen One narratives she’s read and loved. She describes Simon as “an amalgam and descendant of a hundred other fictional Chosen Ones” (521). In particular, readers familiar with J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series will find parallels between Simon and Harry. However, some aspects of Simon’s characterization more closely resemble fanfiction portrayals of Harry than Rowling’s version. This is especially evident in Simon’s relationship with Baz. In Fangirl, Cath explores “Snowbaz,” the term for the romantic pairing of Simon Snow and his nemesis Baz Pitch. This pairing becomes canon in Carry On. “Snowbaz” resembles “Drarry,” which refers to a putative relationship between Harry Potter and his rival Draco Malfoy, a popular dynamic in fanfiction. Both couplings bring together rivals with seemingly opposed principles and priorities. Like Draco, Baz is the heir of a powerful and wealthy family with a long history of influence in the magical world, and his relatives pressure him to act against his school’s headmaster and the Chosen One. In addition to the enemies-to-lovers arc, Carry On contains a number of other romantic tropes familiar to fanfiction readers: Simon and Baz are forced to share a room, Baz spends much of the book pining for Simon in secret, and their relationship develops at a slow burn until their dramatic first kiss. Through its exploration of fanfiction tropes, Carry On celebrates the fans who create new stories and new possibilities for their favorite characters.