#fangirl rainbow rowell

[snowwbazziscanon]

simon and baz in that one classroom scene - "im not the queen snow" iykyk

#carry on #baz pitch #snowbaz #basilton pitch #aufstieg und fall des außerordentlichen simon snow #simon snow #carry on rainbow rowell #wayward son rainbow rowell #fangirl rainbow rowell #rainbow rowell

[ineffable-grimm-pitch]

sitting in my freshman dorm with very limited friends and a mean roommate writing simon snow fanfiction bitch I AM cath avery

#I am a sophomore now and my roommate is far nicer #but I still sit in my dorm writing simon snow fanfiction #simon snow #snowbaz #carry on #co/ws/awtwb #the simon snow trilogy #rainbow rowell #fangirl rainbow rowell #fangirl

[notdxbya]

when i say i have "main character energy," i mean the nerdy introvert with anxiety and a general distaste for humans

#dibs.txt #bookblr #fangirl rainbow rowell #turtles all the way down #john green #sally rooney #rainbow rowell #ali hazelwood #literature #light academia aesthetic #dark acadamia aesthetic #books #bookstore #book meme #romance academia #dark academia quotes #light academia quotes #teen fiction #readers

[saintastaeroth]

Happy Birthday to Simon Snow, absolutely loved cosplaying you and I hope I can do it again in the future! Maybe I'll even find a Baz!

-

Cosplay: Simon Snow from Carry On

#Simon Snow #simon snow cosplay #carry on simon #simon snow #simon baz #simon and baz #simon snow trilogy #carry on simon snow #carry on fanart #carry on rainbow rowell #carry on #carry on cosplay #rainbow rowell carry on #fangirl rainbow rowell #rainbow rowell

[jazzythursday]

Did anyone else have the experience of reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell at the ripe age of 13 and relating to Cath because you read fanfic and had crippling social anxiety, and THEN eventually growing up to be a young adult who wrote fanfic and had crippling social anxiety, in your first year of uni and trying to finish your biggest fic yet by a specific self-imposed deadline at the expense of your finals assessments? Because boy do I have I story for yo—

I didn’t write fic when I read Fangirl for the first time—I didn’t write fic until the summer before my first year of uni, funnily enough—but seeing a character that used fictional worlds/relationships to escape the real one, who struggled in the same ways as me and didn’t so much as change by the end but grow and evolve was really special to me.

Rainbow gave me a little too much credit, maybe… I did not, unfortunately, get a Levi or a Reagan, nor do I have a spunky twin sister to reconnect with. It’s just me and my writing, my blorbos and my fandom friends—even now that I’m going through another fic deadline rush worryingly close finals in my second year, AGAIN—but I can’t help but think about how serendipitous it is that my life ended up mirroring a lot about a character that spoke to me so much as a tween.

I reread Fangirl every now and again and always, I think: oh, I feel like that. She gets it… which is maybe a little bit sad when it’s because you’re hiding in a bathroom for an hour because you’re too scared to go to the canteen, or crying because you’ve lived the whole first quarter of your life and you still don’t know how to talk to people, but even those times, being alone didn’t feel as… alone, I think, because of Fangirl.

I think about Cath when I’m on hour 6 of writing and I’m hunched over my laptop in the dark. I think about her when I put up fandom posters on my dorm room walls, or reply to fic comments, or straight up start crying because, besides fandom, I’m really lonely. (I think about her when I’m not so lonely too—when I talk to people and it goes ok, and maybe I can be person, actually).

I think about Cath when I’m scared. I think about her when I’m terrified and I just have to keep going anyway.

All that’s to say, I’m really grateful that Rainbow Rowell read so much drarry fanfiction wrote Fangirl, and I’m really grateful it was displayed at the front table of the bookstore I was in. I’m really grateful I read it, and related to it, and that I still do.

#I don’t know what this is #I listened to the fangirl audiobook because insomnia won last night and I didn’t sleep #and I got up thinking about it #jazzy rambles #rainbow rowell #fangirl book #fangirl rainbow rowell #simon and baz #carry on Simon #carry on rainbow rowell #simon snow #Cath Avery #snowbaz

[hey-hey-hey-lover]

comic thing i did based on an excerpt from Carry On, Simon (caths fanfic, not the actual one. Gets a little confusing i know.)

The quality is so low because i screensharted it off instagram. So like check it out over there if you want a better image.

#carry on rainbow rowell #fangirl rainbow rowell #baz pitch #simon snow #snowbaz #I have my reasons for why theyre dressed like that you'd understand.

[anneliese077]

I just started rereading Fangirl for like, the millionth time... And dude, I love Levi so much.

But not only him, also Reagan.

I have to stop myself from highlighting every single thing they say.

I just really love them, I love this book so so so much.

#fangirl #fangirl rainbow rowell #levi and cath

[chronically-dumb-pessimist]

i wonder if im scared of dealing with my mental health problems because none of my favorite book characters ever have... so why should i. in conclusion: reading is actually shit and for the birds. thank you for coming to my ted talk.

#reading is actually bad #tori spring #solitare #ill give you the sun #noah and jude sweetwine #achilles and patroclus #the song of achilles #fangirl rainbow rowell #cath avery #eleanor and park

[chemicalarospec]

finally picking up my Fangirl re-read again (it is DATED and I kinda love it for that) and aspec Cath tbh... "wouldn't want to kiss a stranger" and stuff. It's giving demi-ness, romantic or sexual or both. Knowing Rowell I think she'd also find just vaguely-aspec!Cath cool too.

#i thought of this post last night b4 the last one that's why they seem to hold contridictory projections of RR on aspecness #cath fangirl #rainbow rowell #fangirl rainbow rowell #cather avery #cath #fangirl book #and I can kinda personally relate to/project the 'wait why are guys attractive to me now - i wasn' t interested earlier' thing #(oh yeah i haven't made a post about that yet but I'm straighter/gayer in an aroacer way than you'll ever be xoxo) #i said this #aspec #headcanons #fangirl

[apricusapollo]

I was trying to sleep and then I randomly remembered that I own a copy of fangirl by rainbow rowell. which reminded me that I am cath, cath is me, we're the same.

#socially awkward girl who uses fanfiction to escape reality??? #me #me fr #cath is me #i am cath #also i adore levi #from what i remember he's literally husband material #fuck the master and margarita i'm gonna reread this book !!!! #fangirl rainbow rowell

[snowwbazziscanon]

Them after chapter 61

#carry on #baz pitch #snowbaz #basilton pitch #aufstieg und fall des außerordentlichen simon snow #simon snow #carry on rainbow rowell #wayward son rainbow rowell #fangirl rainbow rowell #rainbow rowell

[theenchantress36]

#fangirl rainbow rowell

[starboydreamy]

levi <3

#fangirl rainbow rowell #fangirl #rainbow rowell #levi

[saintastaeroth]

"What a ridiculous creature. Happy that I put butter on his sandwich. As if I wouldn't make the world spin backwards if I thought he'd like it better that way."

-

Cosplay: Simon Snow from Carry On

-

#simon snow carry on #carry on simon snow #simon snow cosplay #snowbaz #simon snow #carry on simon #carry on series #baz carry on #carry on rainbow rowell #rainbow rowell carry on #carry on #baz grimm pitch #simon baz #baz #fangirl rainbow rowell #rainbow rowell

[packetofsuga]

i’m rereading Fangirl by rainbow rowell and i just. forgot how much i love this book

#it’s sO #i love cath and levi so much #levi is best boy #and i adore reagan #i remember releating to cath when i first read it but like now that i’m college aged like she is i’m like. fuck #also i love baz and simon duh #fangirl #fangirl rainbow rowell #cath and levi #cath avery

[booksc8pes]

Fangirl

     Before there was Simon and Baz, there was the college freshman who wrote about them. Published before Carry On, Rainbow Rowell’s Fangirl gives us the story of Cather, her sister Wren (yes, their names are each half of Catherine), and their respective college experiences.

Cath is a perfect example of the 2010s it girl, by which I mean she is Not Like Other Girls. She wears glasses, favors oversized sweaters, has "emergency dance parties" to Kanye West songs, and is one of the most popular writers in the World Of Mages fandom, a thinly-veiled Harry Potter AU where Harry and Draco have the enemies-to-lovers arc they deserve didn’t get in the original series. What separates Cath from other characters like her is that all of these traits are not a replacement for an actual personality. 

Writing is a deep love for Cath, and it turns from a coping skill into something that she wants to do as a career. We see her grow from someone who depends on fandom and media as a means of escapism/as a crutch, but through the rest of the book we see how this has brought her the ability to make friends and romantic relationships- how fandom pushes her out into the real world, as it were, when she is ready to try. She also does not leave fandom spaces entirely- there is no polarizing of online and offline spaces or placing it as superior to the other.

Fangirl also shows how the genre has progressed since the "golden age" of YA. The explosion of YA content and fanfiction in the 2010s can be likened to the increase in the genre after the publication of Maureen Daly's Seventeenth Summer, as well as the rise of the "problem novel" in the 60s and 70s.

The thing I love the most about Fangirl is that it gives incoming college students a more nuanced idea of what their first year experience can look like, and it doesn't shy away from the isolation and challenges freshman students can feel. For me, Cath's character was something solid for me to project on when I was struggling at that age, and her success made me believe that I could find that space for myself. Through being so candid about these experiences, Rowell continues the "clear-eyed and unflinching look" at the way young adults come of age and step into the world (Cart).

Above all, Fangirl is love letter to fandom. It shows how online and fanmade spaces bring people together and creates spaces for them to feel safe expressing themselves when the real world is still too threatening to exist in. I tried to do the same with my playlist. It's not too accurate to the time, since I included some of the songs I listened to as a college freshman, but I made sure to add plenty of Kanye for those dorm room dance parties.

Take a trip back to 2013 and listen to Cath's mixtape, or check out some fandom posts in her tumblr reblogs.

Works Cited:

Cart, Michael. “The Sixties and Seventies.” Young Adult Literature: From Romance to Realism, ALA Neal-Schuman, Chicago, 2022, p. 32.

#ya lit #rainbow rowell #fangirl rainbow rowell #book review