Fanart, Fanfiction and Fangirling

It's that time of the year again, time for Greg Sanders to wear silly outfits to celebrate Lunar New Year. This year featuring a not-so-impressed Nick Stokes too.

( Year of the Snake )

Challenge #6

In your own space, share a favourite piece of original canon (a show, a specific TV episode, a storyline, a book or series, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much. . Post your answer to today’s challenge in your own space and leave a comment in this post saying you did it. Include a link to your post if you feel comfortable doing so.



This is just a small detail, something that was probably meant as a comic relief moment, but I think it explains a lot about the character. I'm referring to when we find out that Greg Sanders (CSI: Crime Scene Investigation) had his first time when he was 22. In episode 05x05 "Swap Meet", he gives a bunch of used condoms to the new DNA tech, Mia, and tells her "It's like being back in college". Only for Mia to reply that Sara told her Greg had his first time when he was 22. Greg's face falls and he quickly changes the subject.

Especially in the first seasons, Greg was the loud, slightly crazy guy, who would flirt with anyone and know everything about sex and fetishes. But here we find out that maybe he wasn't always like that. If we put this piece of information together with the knowledge that he had to wear awful braces for 4 years when he was a teenager, and the fact his mother never let him play any sports in school for fear of him getting hurt (which is revealed later in the series) we get a good idea of how he must have spent his formative years.

All these little bits of canon convinced me that Greg desperately wanted to belong when he was younger, he wanted to be one of the popular kids, to have sex and relationships, but he had to wait until he was already a young adult to finally experience that. So, to compensate, he did the only thing he could: he researched. He seems to have an encyclopedic knowledge about sex, the kind one gathers from books rather than direct experience. Maybe he read a lot about sex or watched porn so he would be ready for his first time and his partner wouldn't think he was a loser for still being a virgin. And even after years, he still wants people to think he's cool, so he flirts and acts cocky and sure of himself, but, deep down, he's still an insecure teenager who just wants to belong.

I know I'm probably reading waaay too much into such a small and unimportant scene (projecting? Who? Me?), but I like when authors give us such tiny, seemingly insignificant details, that make a lot of sense as part of the bigger picture.

(Can I also mention this particular scene inspired one of my fics? Yes, I can and I will: Twenty-Two, Nick/Greg, rated Explicit/NC-17).

I'm still a little sore after yesterday's dentist appointment, but one thing drastically improved my day: Eric Szmanda shared my "Year of the Tiger" fanart on Instagram and liked my "Year of the Rabbit" one! I almost had a heart attack when I got the notifications. He's sharing some fanart today, so it's not just me, and I'm perfectly aware that all his recent Instagram activity is linked to his comeback in CSI: Vegas, so I know I'm not "special", but damn, it was such a nice surprise. Which brought along the eternal question: "What would he think if he saw the slashy fanart?" Cue panic. I mean, he probably wouldn't care, I only drew two very tame Nick/Greg pics and I'm sure he has seen worse (I mean, he's friends with Dita von Teese and recently hosted one of her shows), but I decided to archive those two pics just in case.

So, that was today's highlight. And a few days ago I found out he's going to appear on the CSI: Vegas episode that airs on the 30th of March, which is just a few days after my birthday. Perfect timing!