Here’s a very weird list of all the foods mentioned in Carry On in order of appearence. So if you were thinking about creating a Carry On food feast here’s all you need to know! (I underlined the complete meals/ special food combinations, also please excuse any spelling mistakes, I created this in the middle of the night!) Merry December Fifth!
(Also because tomorrow is Saint Nicolas day I will be posting an extra specia gift on my side blog which will be reblogged to here, it’s a little warm up for the Christmas party I guess and I would very much like to know what you think of it and the party preperations thusfar!)
Hope you’re all having a very magicath Christmas time! Due to the fact that we can only celebrate “Christmas with Simon Snow” or “Carry On Christmas” (however you wanna call it) because of “Fangirl” I thought I might as well dedicate a post to Christmas in “Fangirl”: what they do each day, what they eat, what gifts they give to each other and also the Santa jokes Cath and her dad exchange on Christmas Eve.
The “Carry On” Christmas party is coming closer and you’ve got no idea what to make? Well, here’s a list of all the awesome things just about anyone can create! Feel free to add your ideas in the comments!
The “Obvious” One: Fanfiction
“Carry On” is just that: Rainbow Rowell’s fanfiction of the Simon Snow we know from “Fangirl”. (But it isn’t Cath’s fanfiction!) So what if Simon and Baz lived in Rainbow‘ s world (or in Cath‘s for that matter.) Or what if it was the other way around? Could you imagine them in your favourite film or TV show or in just about any alternative universe?
Once the ideas there you can write anything you want: A one-shot, an AU poem, a longer story with several chapters that you post on the days of the party (and beyond), there are no limits and no rules. If you have never written any fanfiction, don’t be afraid and just go for it! (On December 19st I will upload a post with a few tips and tricks for fanfiction writing so if you’re still unsure by that time make sure to drop by and maybe learn something new!)
The “Classic”: Playlist
If you know anything about Rainbow Rowell, you are probably aware of the fact that she LOVES playlists—if not, make sure to check them out on her Spotify! (My personal favourite is the Eleanor&Park soundtrack.) Nonetheless, playlists are a great way of sharing your favourite songs with others—the might even be Snowbaz, Simon Snow or “Carry On” related. Also: There is nothing better than being able to listen to a great, fandom made, soundtrack whilst scrolling through the #carryonchristmas Tumblr feed and enjoying not only the awesome music but also the amazing gifts posted to the Christmas party.
The “Musical” One: Song covers
Creating a playlist of your favourite “Carry On” related songs just isn’t enough? Try recording a cover of one (or all of them) then! Creating your own version of a music piece is not only a lot of fun but also a great way to give it a little twist, instead of a girl suddenly the song might be about a guy and so on. Covering a song is also a great way to show off your musical talent and also to try out new things—maybe it is just about the right time to get out that xylophone you played with as a child and see what you can do with it now.
The Popular One: Drawings/ Illustrations
There is this one scene of “Carry On” that you just can’t get out of your head? Draw it! Sketch it! Even if it’s just a curl of Simon’s luscious hair or one of Baz’s eyes or an entire scene or maybe even an entire comic strip—just let your creativity flow and most importantly, have fun whilst doing so! Don’t be intimidated by all the artists out there you think to be much better—it’s all do to practice and even then they will never have your style or see something the same way you do, a new perspective is always wanted and welcome!
The Rare One: DIYs (Do It Yourself)
For some reason, these aren’t as popular in the “Carry On” fandom or I just didn’t manage to find them yet. If you are part of one of the bigger fandoms you probably know, that there is a bazillion of DIY content you can recreate: from costumes to room décor to school utensils (f.e. the Harry Potter fandom or the Sherlock one) but in our community, there is still this giant lack. I have yet to come across a single “Simon Snow room decor” video or instructions on how to make my very own Sword of Mages pen, so if you are a crafty person please channel your innermost art concepts and enlighten us so that we can all make our own “Carry On” related things.
The “Simon” One: Recipes
“Carry On” is ALL ABOUT FOOD. (For inspiration you can always take a look at my food overview post.) So why don’t you cook or bake something, that Simon would like (let’s be real I don’t think that there is a single edible thing Simon would reject) and then share the recipe with the rest of the fandom? I, for instance, have never ever tasted scones—neither the sour cherry ones nor the plain raisin ones, because I’ve been struggling to find a good recipe, but maybe you know the one that will blow our minds? Sharing it would be an excellent gift for the Christmas party!
The “Old fashioned” One: Christmas cards
Are you a little bit old-fashioned (like me) and still enjoy sending out (Christmas) cards—and maybe even make them yourself? Then this is your time to shine! Share your self-written Christmas cards from or to the characters or instruct everyone on how to make their own (subtle or not so subtle) “Carry On” related Christmas cards. If you don’t know, what to do with them or have no one to send them to, make them anyway: You can still keep them to yourself, hang them on a rope like the British do or give them to your family. (They probably already know about your obsession and will appreciate any Christmas card as long as it contains a few personal words on the inside.)
The “Humbug instead of Humdrum”: Christmas film AUs (alternative universe)
Probably all of you have a favourite Christmas film, be it “The Grinch”, the “Night before Christmas”, “Frosty the Snowman” or “Home Alone”, but what would happen if suddenly Simon and Baz where in the universe of your favourite Christmas film? What characters would they be? How would the plot line be different from the original? You can share your ideas through fanfictions, illustrations, simple text posts in which you state your ideas or in just about anyway. I’d love to read all about “Simon the Snowman” or maybe even “Baz Home Alone”!
The “Last but not Least”: Snowflake appreciation
You don’t feel like any of these things speaks to you and don’t have any other ideas on what you could contribute but don’t want to miss out? Well, why don’t you create a Snowflake appreciation post? In it, you can thank all the awesome friends you’ve made through the fandom and promote their blogs at the same time which will surely be a great gift to them as well. Christmas is the time of spreading love and what better way is there to do so than by telling everyone how amazing your friends are and how much you love them?
I hope that this post could help you with your gift making! Don’t forget that the Christmas party will start December 23rd! I’m excited to see all the things we are going to create!
So, since to some of you, the Carry On fandom might be the first fandom you join, you might be unfamiliar with some terms and be looking for tips on how to do stuff. That’s why today I’m here to share my 12-year experience with story writing with you in order to help you to be brave enough to show your story to the world.
(Encouraging side note: Carry On is technically a fanfiction in itself and look at the response it got!)
1) Choose the setting
This could be Watford but also your high school, a bar on Jupiter or a tunnel way down under the earth. Your story can take place during Davy’s Watford time or in the near or far future: It is called fiction for a reason and that is for there are no rules and limitations! However, if you set your story in a different time and/ or place than the original, make sure to label it as an AU (short for alternative universe).
2) Figure out your plotline
This might not be a problem if you are planning to write a one-shot (a short story consisting of only one chapter) but if you want to go further than that, you probably should write down your plotline (aka a short version of everything that has happened and is going to happen) in order for every chapter (especially later in the story) to make sense.
3) Check on grammar and spelling
Once you have written your story and are satisfied with the content, make sure to check it for any mistakes. Most often, the writers themselves don’t notice them even when reading the text through again, so for this, you might want to ask a friend for help or use Grammary, my all time favourite website, that does all of this checking for you.
4) Post your story
Personally, I would choose the platform I post my story to by considering which one I myself use the most often. Even though this is a Tumblr Christmas party you don’t need to post your story on Tumblr, you can just make a short post and include a link to the first chapter. My personal favourite is Wattpad, but I’ve noticed that AO3 is widely popular around here so maybe consider posting your works there.
And that’s it, you’re done! Please don’t forget that there are only three days left until our Christmas party begins! I hope that all of you will be participating actively and I’ll try to post something every day but don’t stress about it. Even if you just post a Merry Christmas that’s more than enough!
So I’m not a Brit but Simon Snow is and since I’m trying to host a Christmas party that is literally titled “Christmas with Simon Snow” I decided that I had to do some research on British Christmas traditions before starting any of my projects because otherwise, the whole thing would be pointless. After taking notes from various sites I also remembered, that a lot of Snowflakes aren't British either and therefore I decided to share my research results on here, so that you have a quick and short sum-up of Christmas in Britain, that will help you with writing fanfiction, creating fanart and whatever else you are doing in preparation for the Christmas party!
So this post has two parts: First I will focus on general traditions and then I will talk about food because if Simon Snow is involved you can't skip the food part. Depending on where you live, some of these things may seem familiar to you.
In Britain, it is common to visit (or partake in) Nativity plays before Christmas. It's basically a retelling of the original Christmas story and even though it is very unlikely that something like this will take place at Watford or in any of the families featured in the book, I could imagine, that Simon was part of quite a few nativity plays before he started spending Christmas with the Wellbeloves. Maybe the child care homes he lived in even created their own plays to raise money for the homes to be able to afford food, clothes etc.
Another Holiday tradition is sending out Christmas cards, it's a pretty global phenomenon, so I don't think I need to elaborate on that - I just want to add, that a Christmas card can make a nice (party) gift as well. Pick a nice card, imagine yourself as one of the characters (or as yourself) and write a nice card to another character or to the fandom, then post it on Tumblr. Of course, you can do the entire thing digitally, you don't have to buy a real card, but I'd love to see some Christmas cards during the party and maybe so do you.
Carol services are yet another common tradition that is self-explanatory - for the Christmas party maybe you could record yourself singing a carol or even create your own, Carry On related, version of a carol. (Or write your own song, that would be so cool!)
The most cliché thing that I can think of talking about British Christmas is for some reason Christmas crackers. If you've never heard of them: they are basically giant bonbons that you can pull at both ends (most times it takes two to make it pop) and once the thing exploded you get a colourful (paper) party crown, a small toy or a little gift and a festive joke. (Picture below) Just imagine Snowbaz in that situation, or, for example, Nicky, Ebb and Fiona. Write about it. Sing about it. Create some funny jokes. Draw it maybe - the opportunities are endless!
One of the things Brits do, according to my research, is listening to the Queen's speech during or after Christmas dinner on Christmas day - it is even mentioned in Carry On when Penny challenges Simon to imagine listening to the Queen's speech with the Mage on Christmas day. There are definitely plenty of things that can evolve starting with the speech. As a kind commenter informed, obviously republicans donot listen to the Queen’s speech, so please be careful with that!
Talking food: The one mandatory thing seems to be Christmas cake that is eaten somewhere throughout the holiday season, for the rest, there is a general concept with plenty of options which you can see in the list below. If you are looking for some great recipes, check out this link: The Spruce Maybe you could make your own, Carry On themed, Christmas dinner?
As far as I know you can choose from the various options and create your own meal, for a Carry On reference you can also check out my Carry On food post, in which I listed all the food mentioned in Carry On including the Christmas Eve dinner of Baz’s family - they are having chestnut stuffing, turkey roast, bacon and lashings of gravy or at least, that’s what Simon tells us.
I hope you enjoyed this post and are as excited for the Christmas party as I am! If there are any mistakes, please let me know and I will correct them immediately.
So for my Christmas gift today I decided to share number three of my favourite Snowbaz songs. It’s called “LikeLikeLike” and the shared video is the official music video by Sophie Hunger, the artist who wrote the song. Originally I wanted to cover it but time flies and I wanted to share it anyway. Totally from Baz’s perspective, I can imagine him very well walking next to Simon during their truce and singing it inside his head. “I know I’m not supposed to look at you the way I look at you.”
