Snowbaz

Snowbaz is the slash ship between Simon Snow and Tyrannus Basilton Grimm-Pitch from the Carry On fandom.

Canon
Simon is the main character in the novel Carry On by Rainbow Rowell. He is the ‘Chosen One’ and the ‘Mage’s Heir’, but he struggles to control his powers. He believes himself to be an orphan, and from a Normal family (which is unheard of in the wizard world) and never finds out who his parents were; however, the reader discovers parents were indeed magical and that his father is the Mage. His best friend is Penelope Bunce, and he is in a long-term relationship with Agatha at the beginning of the novel.

Baz plays the central role of both nemesis and love interest in the novel.

The two characters also make appearances as favourite characters of the titular character in Fangirl, while being the main characters in her popular fanfiction, called Carry On Simon.

There are many questions as to whether Carry On is supposed to be Cath’s fanfic or if it is simply a standalone story, and therefore whether or not Snowbaz is technically canon. Rowell, however, has put this argument to rest by saying that she was not writing through Cath’s voice, and she feels Carry On is not a fanfiction as it is its own story and not meant to be Cath’s fan fiction. In an interview with Time magazine, she said:

“They didn’t really make it into the book. The Simon Snow I was writing in Fangirl was a different Simon Snow. When I was writing as [fictional Simon Snow author] Gemma T. Leslie, I envisioned this feeling of British children’s literature and had a very traditional middle-grade voice. When I was writing Cath, it was more of what a talented teenage girl writing romantic fantasy would do. Neither of those voices are me. When I started writing my own Simon Snow, it was more what I would do with this character.”

She has also written on her website that:

“The most common question I’ve been asked is whether I’m writing as Cath or as Gemma T. Leslie … The answer is, I’m writing as me.

After I finished writing Fangirl, I kept thinking about Simon and Baz and the World of Mages … I wanted to write more about them, but I didn’t want to write the full series GTL-style. And I also didn’t want to write through Cath’s hands and brain.

I wanted to explore what I  would do with this world and these characters.

So, even though I’m writing a book that was inspired by fictional fanfiction of a fictional series …

… I think what I’m writing now is  canon .”

So though Simon and Baz are not technically canon in Fangirl (as they are only canon in Cath’s fanfiction), in the Carry On universe we can safely say that they are indeed canon.

Carry On
Throughout the book we learn through snippets of memories how Baz and Simon’s relationship has evolved over the 7 years they have known each other. The pair first met when they were chosen to be roommates, a fact Baz was unimpressed with due to Simon being the Mage’s Heir, and his family being strongly against the Mage. Simon reports that he requested to change roommate multiple times in the first few weeks, so we can presume that Simon and Baz’s hostility towards each other began instantaneously. In the beginning of the story, Simon was also suspicious that his then-girlfriend, Agatha, was cheating on him with Baz (because he saw the two of them holding hands in the Wavering Wood right before being snatched by the Humdrum). The two of them fight all the time, with Simon claiming that Baz tried to kill him multiple times, and admitting that he followed Baz around for the entirety of fifth year to see what he was up to. Simon is also (correctly) convinced that Baz is a vampire, but is unsure what to do with this knowledge.

When the story opens, however, Simon has returned to school for 8th year only to find that Baz has not turned up. He becomes convinced that Baz is plotting something, possibly a rebellion against the Mage, and spends the first 6 weeks of school desperately trying to find out where Baz is, only for him to strut in without an explanation at the end of 6 weeks.

Though Simon does not find out until later in the novel, it is revealed to the reader that Baz had been kidnapped and held in a coffin for those weeks. Soon after that, Agatha breaks up with Simon when he catches her holding Baz's handkerchief on the Ramparts one night.

During his eighth year, Simon is Visited by Baz's dead mother, Natasha Grimm-Pitch, who demands that he tell Baz to find Nicodemus and avenge her death. When Baz eventually comes back, Baz says in his POV that he's been in love with Simon since their fifth year. Simon tells Baz that his mother Visited him, and that he'll help Baz find her killer. The two work together on the mystery until Christmas Break along with Penny, Simon's best friend. Baz tells Simon that he should come to his house in Hampshire, to which Simon says that he thinks Baz is mad. Later, right before he leaves, Baz tells Simon that he was only holding Agatha's hands that day in the Wavering Wood because she had found out he was a vampire and he didn't want her to tell anyone. When Simon asks whether Baz really needed to hold her hands to do that, Baz admits that he had just done that to annoy him, to which Simon responds furiously. Baz leaves, though he's also feeling bitter about the fight. During Winter Break, Simon has a talk with Ebb, and finds out that her supposedly dead twin brother is actually Nicodemus. As soon as he finds out, he leaves Watford, and goes on a train to Hampshire, even though he could have just called Baz and told him. When Simon sees Baz at his house, he's surprised that Baz is wearing jeans, even though he admits the jeans look good on him. The two go to Baz's bedroom, and Simon tells Baz what he's learned about Nicodemus. Baz was confused that he didn't tell Penny first before coming. Simon tells Baz to call him if he learns anything new, but Baz stops him and insists he stay for dinner. After dinner, Simon and Baz do more investigating, where they find out that Baz's aunt Fiona had dated Nicodemus. The two decide to go to London to visit her and get information the next day. Simon is terrified of the wraiths in his room, so Baz allows him to sleep on the couch in his own room, and Simon confesses that he'd slept better listening to Baz breathe than he had since Winter Break started. The next day at London, Baz asks Fiona about Nicodemus, and she accidentally slips to him that he's at Covent Garden. Before Baz leaves, she notices his fancy suit, and asks him whether he's met a bloke. Baz smiles, and responds, "Something like that."

Before Simon and Baz go to Covent Garden, they visit a museum, where Baz steals "at least a half dozen" books. Then, they go to a restaurant where Simon can eat. Baz doesn't eat anything, and Simon wonders whether he didn't have a girlfriend because he'd take her on dates to the library, then insist on sitting there creepily while she ate dinner alone. Before they leave, Simon asks Baz to call him by his first name, which he does sarcastically.

When they arrive at Covent Garden, and find Nicodemus eventually. Baz tries to interrogate him, but Nicodemus taunts them both instead. They end up not getting the name of Natasha's killer, and Baz silently walks away from Covent Garden, with Simon trying to keep up. They start to drive back to Hampshire, Baz beginning to cry in the middle. Suddenly, he stops the car and gets out in the middle of a forest. Simon follows him as Baz begins to light the forest on fire. Simon tries to console him, but Baz thinks that his mother would have wanted him to be dead since he was a vampire and Natasha had killed herself after being bitten. Simon tries to get him to put out the fire, and tries to comfort him. He refuses to leave, even after Baz tells him repeatedly to go. Simon kisses Baz, just to get him to "shut up and stop talking like this". Baz pulls away from him, and puts out the fire, snapping out of his suicidal funk. Simon describes Baz as looking at him like how he always looks when he's about to attack, before Baz takes him by his shoulders and kisses him again. After they kiss for a while, Baz goes to feed, and they start driving back to Hampshire.

Once they're at Baz's house again, Baz eats dinner along with Simon (who is still hungry). After they finish eating, they talk a little bit about their kiss, and then Simon kisses Baz again. They end up kissing for the rest of the night, and when they wake up, they talk more about their relationship and their sexualities, with Baz stating that he's gay and Simon stating that he doesn't know what he is.

Fanon
Fans of the novel fangirl were interested in the pairing. Rowell eventually wrote Carry On, explaining it as her own Simon Snow fanfiction. Fans loved the pairing and were ecstatic when they got together. Some were even more so at the announcement of a sequel.

Fandom
FAN FICTION
 * Simon/Baz on FanFiction.Net

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