fahye: ([wc] count your blessings)
Fahye ([personal profile] fahye) wrote2010-01-02 06:26 pm

White Collar (shameless pimping)

I love being on holidays, I have time to pour into really pointless and entertaining things like shoving the current SHOW OF MY HEART down your throat.

Wait! Don't run! There will be pictures, and also I will talk about bondage.





Right, first things first.



This is Agent Peter Burke, who works for the White Collar Crime unit of the FBI in New York City. Peter is badass and competent and a terrible driver and has a weakness for smart, pretty people.



Such as his wife, Elizabeth. El is basically amazing. That is all you need to know about her. Oh, and she runs an event planning agency or something, which is occasionally useful for plot reasons.



It is impossible not to ship the Burkes with the strength of a thousand suns. They understand each other and love each other deeply, and El finds the fact that Peter PUT HER UNDER SURVEILLANCE WHEN THEY STARTED DATING (just to make sure that she wasn't seeing anyone else, you understand) to be endearing and romantic. Peter can be a bit of a bastard. El can be a cunning little schemer. THEY ARE PERFECT <333



And this is their pet felon. His name is Neal Caffrey.



Neal is, in essence, the most adorable person on the planet. He is also a con man, art forger, conterfeiter, general criminal mastermind, etc.

PLOT TIME: Peter chased Neal for three years before catching him and putting him in prison for four. The pilot basically covers the setup of the show, which is: Neal breaks out of prison four months before he's due to be released anyway, Peter catches him again pretty much immediately (because Peter is BADASS. I will repeat this until you understand how true it is.) and then instead of going back to prison for ANOTHER four years, Neal proposes that he be released into Peter's custody with a tracking anklet, and become a consultant for the FBI, what with his vast experience in the field.



Ergo: TOGETHER, THEY FIGHT CRIME. (It is a procedural. Mostly.) The relationship between Neal and Peter is not one of Cop and Criminal; it's a relationship between two people who have known each other inside-out for seven years. They both had to become experts in the other. And they admire each other hugely and have all this history but they don't quite trust each other, and Neal thinks Peter needs to relax and Peter thinks Neal is an incorrigible person who needs to be whacked on the nose with newspaper occasionally. Figuratively speaking. (Or not.)



But there is this particular smile that Peter gets whenever Neal does something ridiculous and impressive. GUH. There are also the seven million smiles that Neal shoots at Peter for no reason at all.





El, who describes Neal as the man she competed with for three years, adopts him into her heart as soon as they meet. (Aw, honey, you brought home a ridiculously good-looking felon! LET'S KEEP HIM.) Neal thinks El is awesome. Together, they wreak havoc on Peter's nerves. And Fahye acquires yet another OT3.

THINGS TO LOVE ABOUT THIS SHOW:

1) Neal's clothing. Just. All of it. dlskdhksjdskdlas





2) The supporting cast!



Agent Lauren Cruz, who is almost as badass as Peter, and hero-worships him in an 'omg I admire your work!' kind of way. Cruz is great.



Agent Jones, who we don't see as much as Cruz, but whom we like anyway.



Mozzie, Neal's one connection to his criminal past, who helps him with information-gathering on the shadier side of the law. Moz is good fun.



Plus there's Kate, Neal's ex-girlfriend, about whose personality we know nothing at all, so I find it hard to care much about her. There's a whole subplot about Neal trying to track her down, blah blah, whatever, I will start to care when I find a reason to think about her as something other than 'that girl who looks weirdly similar to Elizabeth'.

3) Absolutely everything to do with Neal & Peter's dynamic.



Aside from all the smiling and touching and long looks and waving of hands and TRUST ISSUES, there's a bewildering and delicious overtone of kink to it, in that Peter basically assumes responsibility for and ownership over Neal. And they talk about it. A lot. Peter can literally restrict Neal's movements (his tracking anklet allows him to move only within a two-mile radius, when he's alone), and he spends huge amounts of time giving Neal orders. And Neal spends huge amounts of time doing what he's told and proving how brilliant he is and making puppy-faces like SEE, SEE, I DID GOOD, PAT ME ON THE HEAD NOW PLEASE.







Personally I have a HUGE kink for control and giving people orders, and a lesser one for possession and physical marks of possession (tracking anklet!), and unsurprisingly there is a LOT of kinky fic in the fandom already.



In order to better demonstrate exactly what I mean about Neal and Peter's dynamic, I refer you to this fanvid, which is PERFECT. And it's to 'Fever' by Adam Lambert and if you can come out of it not wanting to see the show, then there is no hope for you. It contains footage from all seven episodes that so far exist, but I don't think there is anything that would really be plot-spoiling devoid of context. Besides, you do not watch this show for the plots. They are occasionally quite entertaining, but they are mostly an excuse for Peter and Neal to run around New York being awesome. (The scripts are very good, though -- warm and funny and human and full of delightful dialogue.)

There is also, um, this screencap:



I rest my case.

4) NEAL CAFFREY'S WONDERFUL FACE.







(this scene made [livejournal.com profile] lizardspots and I pause in our simultaneous watching so we could capslock NEEEEEEAL at each other for a while)

And now I will just throw screencaps at you! until you submit to the inevitable!

Enjoy.











"Now say, I'll be back."
"NO."



[identity profile] strawbarry-gurl.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 08:07 am (UTC)(link)
I think every fiber of my being just agreed with your every word
ext_21673: ([wc] smoke and mirror lockdown)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:12 am (UTC)(link)
EXCELLENT

[identity profile] fireflower314.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 08:13 am (UTC)(link)
I've been hoping someone would put together a good intro to this show that I can use to make people watch, and this fits the bill perfectly! :D I need new episodes to start airing again NOWWWW, forget this whole waiting thing.
ext_21673: ([jek] maybe I'll let you watch)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:12 am (UTC)(link)
Feel free to link this anywhere you like :D The more people we can entice into the fandom the better, right?
ext_1770: @ _jems_ (fandom: wc a blue ribbon on my brain)

[identity profile] oxoniensis.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 09:03 am (UTC)(link)
But there is this particular smile that Peter gets whenever Neal does something ridiculous and impressive.

I cracked up when Peter watched Neal jump out of the judge's office - he looks so PROUD and amused! <333

This show just makes me happy. Incredibly happy.
ext_21673: ([bones] a single life shared)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:15 am (UTC)(link)
YES. It is the ultimate happy-maker.

[identity profile] polaris-starz.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:10 am (UTC)(link)
I love this show with the fire of a thousand suns. I OT3 them SO HARD.

(In the one screenshot where Peter is looking at Neal's ass, his hair is doing this flippy thing that I kind of adore.)
ext_21673: ([stxi] all the things we gain)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:17 am (UTC)(link)
Damn, seems like I'm mainly preaching to the choir :) Oh well. There can't really be too many pictures of Matt Bomer making adorable faces, can there?
Edited 2010-01-02 10:27 (UTC)
exbentley: (LAUGHTER)

[personal profile] exbentley 2010-01-02 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
THIS, THIS, ALL OF THIS!
ext_21673: ([stt] and now some legal jargon)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:20 am (UTC)(link)
SPREAD THE WORD, MY FRIENDS

[identity profile] not-in-denial.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:41 am (UTC)(link)
FTR, the boy was looking over my shoulder at your entry and is now basically tugging at me going "DADDDYYYYY LET'S WATCH IT I LIKE THE HOT MAN I NEARLY JIZZED MY PANTS".

And yet, when I suggested this show to him a while ago, he had no interest.

Personally I find the story/crime/etc VERY weak in White Collar. I watch it entirely for the sexay.

If you ever have questions pertaining to kink or D/s and how it can work in three-person configurations, do let me know. I haz first hand knowledge on these things. :D

[Edit] Okay, I am less thanking you for this entry now and more cursing you because the boy WON'T SHUT UP now.
Edited 2010-01-02 10:43 (UTC)
ext_21673: ([wc] ashes ashes we all fall down)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:49 am (UTC)(link)
I -- I cannot imagine anybody actually watches it for the plot.

And omg YES, feel free to talk at me as much as you like about D/s and possession kinks in this context, because Peter and El's relationship seems to be a very even one on the surface and then you find out that he investigated her life for a while and he is VERY protective of her and, well, Peter has some deep-seated control issues. But when it comes to Neal, everything just gets dialled up ten notches because of how much Neal enjoys being chased, and caught, and known, and how much he revels in holding Peter's attention.

[identity profile] lo0o0ony-lauren.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 12:06 pm (UTC)(link)
I think I am going to have to watch this show.
ext_21673: ([fs] straight on 'til morning)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 12:16 pm (UTC)(link)
\o/\o/\o/\o/\o/\o/

I mean, um, hi Loz. I approve of your decision.
aurora: (Default)

[personal profile] aurora 2010-01-02 01:05 pm (UTC)(link)
THIS POST IS FANTASTIC. AND VERY VERY TRUE.


Dammit, I need to get myself a WCollar icon asap.
ext_23722: (Default)

[identity profile] ariastar.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 02:46 pm (UTC)(link)
I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH OMG, and I think I may need to link this post. <333
ext_21673: ([deadwood] if ye break faith)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Yesss link away!

[identity profile] ficsoreal.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 03:39 pm (UTC)(link)
This is an absolutely fabulous pimping post! Thank you so much for pointing out that Peter can be kind of a BASTARD and he has control issues. A lot of the fic I've been reading lately reduces him to harmless and easy going.

Peter does Not go easy. More dominant!Peter, fandom. He stalked his wife! He stalked Neal. Peter is affectionate, smart and secretly crazy.
ext_21673: (Default)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:47 pm (UTC)(link)
It's one of my favourite things about them -- that while Neal is the criminal, he is also a much nicer person.

This photo!

[identity profile] ficsoreal.livejournal.com 2010-01-03 03:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Image (http://photobucket.com)

Someone needs to get on their knees NOW.

[identity profile] jk-rockin.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 03:41 pm (UTC)(link)
OH DAMN. You are, as it happens, not the first to point out this show to me! I must get on it.
ext_21673: ([avatar] game set & match)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Indeed you must :D
sophistry: (Default)

[personal profile] sophistry 2010-01-02 04:25 pm (UTC)(link)
IS THAT KELLY KAPOWSKI
ext_21673: ([wc] blamed it on the other guy)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
*post-IMDB visit*

If by that you mean Tiffani Thiessen, then YES.

[identity profile] areyoumymemmy.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Fahye, this post and show are indeed MADE OF AWESOME, but you neglected to mention that Agent Cruz is, in fact, WENDY WATSON from the Middleman!

In my secret pre-canon history, she ended up leaving the Middleman after a couple of fun-filled years to work for the FBI, but she still rooms with Lacey, only now their sublet is legal, and Bossman still helps her out on cases.

ext_21673: ([other] whosoever has the will)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
I have never watched that show! But I love it when TV gives us such delightful chances for blurred canon boundaries.

[identity profile] miraielle.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:05 pm (UTC)(link)
WHAT. THAT PICTURE. THE FIRST ONE. Their OT3, it is practically canon!

Basically, I also love this show, and I am pretty sure that it is going Interesting Places of which we have not yet conceived. Or maybe have, BUT ONLY IN OUR WILDEST DREAMS. Whee!
ext_21673: ([wc] count your blessings)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-02 10:52 pm (UTC)(link)
That is an OFFICIAL PROMO PICTURE. How can we not ship them??

I am impatient for the zomg cliffhanger!! to be resolved so that we can go on with a) finding out the many new ways in which Peter is awesome, and b) maybe getting to know Kate better.

[identity profile] 10pmpacifictime.livejournal.com 2010-01-07 11:59 pm (UTC)(link)
I cam over here looking for information on "Miss the Train Before" and now I have a new television show obsession. *sigh*
ext_21673: ([mer] spellbound and unchildproofed)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-01-08 12:09 am (UTC)(link)
:D Glad to be of service! I feel terrible about how long MTTB is taking me, but it IS all planned out in its lengthy plotly glory, and just requires my brain to deign to shift back into Merlin mode.

[identity profile] 10pmpacifictime.livejournal.com 2010-01-08 12:43 am (UTC)(link)
That's ok. As someone currently trying to write to a theme and a deadline, I completely understand the way the brain wants to write everything that isn't what you actually need to do. I'll just keep checking back.
ext_80109: (BSG: Starbuck: nothing but the rain)

[identity profile] be-themoon.livejournal.com 2010-01-19 03:06 pm (UTC)(link)
the fact that I just started watching this is CLEARLY your fault. (although. NEALLLLLL.)

[identity profile] monicaop.livejournal.com 2010-03-27 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
I love you, like really, really, really!!!

This is perfect!!! Can I link it in my journal??

I know some of my friends watch this show, but this will drive them to it like flies to the honey...

I agree with you in everything... specially Neal looks... I mean I only discovered this tv series last week and I have read... mostly all the fanfic that I found to my liking in... FF.net, Archive of Our Own and some LJ communities... I read to much I think and I had no desire to read any of the... oh like.. 30 books I have that I haven't read lately ;).

So yeah, permit for the post will rock :D, I'm adding a new White collar mood theme to my lj so this will fit perfectly as my first related post.

Hugs!!! Be well, Monica
ext_21673: ([wc] ashes ashes we all fall down)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-03-27 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
Certainly, you're welcome to link it! I made it to entice more people to watch the show, so I hope some of your friends like it enough to give it a try.

[identity profile] pestshingowrite.livejournal.com 2010-06-09 02:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Just discovered this show (andthefinaleOMG0_0) so I'm desperately searching for mood themes and icons and I randomly find this lovely picspam. This post makes me go YES, YES to everything said here! <3 <3 <3 (with much flaily happiness)

And you're right, there's something magical about the power dynamic between Peter and Neal, and despite near illegal antics, Neal always wants to be reassured, "We're good right? Right Peter?" at the end of the day.

El and Peter are wonderful together. And El and Neal are adorable together. They need to gain up on Peter more often. (And the flowers Neal sent her as a goodbye. I was ;_; during that scene.)

And Diana showed up again! I had figured she was gone for good- Whee, that made me happy!

LOL at all these pics. Especially the one with Lauren, Neal, and Jones. Lauren is so sarcastic, Neal feels like he's getting picked on, and Jones is amused by the whole thing. (I want episodes and back story for each side character!)

Sorry for random spamming of you, but I love this post! (Know any White Collar mood themes?)
ext_21673: ([wc] don't take a picture)

[identity profile] fahye.livejournal.com 2010-06-09 10:45 pm (UTC)(link)
Hmm, I don't know any mood themes, sorry! I guess just keep poking the main WC communities.