White Collar

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Fandom
Name: White Collar
Abbreviation(s): WC
Creator: Jeff Eastin
Date(s): October 2009-2014
Medium: television
Country of Origin: US
External Links: Official USA Network series page, epguides, IMDb
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Canon

White Collar is a cop show on the USA Network that aired between 2009-2014.

The premise echoes both cop (particularly buddy cop) and caper tropes: a federal agent in the White Collar division of the FBI (Peter Burke, played by Tim DeKay) teams up with a con artist (Neal Caffrey, played by Matt Bomer) whom he once sent to prison. Neal's talents as a thief, forger and con man help Peter catch white-collar criminals.

Prominently featured in the show is Elizabeth Burke (Tiffani Thiessen). She is involved in some of her husband's cases, and has a genial relationship with Neal. Mozzie (Willie Garson) is Neal's old confidant and partner. Peter's subordinates at the FBI, who gradually got more screen time as the show aired include Agent Lauren Cruz (Natalie Morales), Agent Clinton Jones (Sharif Atkins) and Agent Diana Berrigan (Marsha Thomason).

Diana Berrigan is an out lesbian agent who appeared in the pilot and was referred to by Peter as his "probie". She did not appear in subsequent first season episodes until the finale (Marsha Thomason had a prior acting commitment). As of season two, Thomason returned as a regular cast member, and Diana became a full-fledged agent, essentially replacing the character of Lauren Cruz who left after the first season.

Fandom

The original ads for the show gave every indication that it would be popular among fans, to the point that multiple people nominated the show for the annual Yuletide rare-fandoms gift-exchange challenge based solely on the ads.

Livejournal communities were also formed in advance of the show's first airing. Within a day of the pilot's airing, fanfic, icons, and wallpapers were being posted to various places.

Before the second episode aired, the fandom had its own section on fanfiction.net, and at least two vids had been made.

Neal is the character that is the center for most fan's enjoyment of the show. Most of the popular ships are Neal pairings, and in crossovers, he is the fandom Little Black Dress.

White Collar is a fandom with a larger representation of threesome stories than most fandoms can claim. The Elizabeth/Neal/Peter ship is very popular along with the main slash pairing of Peter/Neal. There are also numerous fanworks featuring other pairings and a large amount of gen fic as well.

Neal has had three canon het relationships which after the canon ship of Peter/Elizabeth are the most common het ships in fic. Neal/Kate and Neal/Sara are both popular and Neal/Alex, shown in canon as a much less serious relationship, has a small amount of fannish interest.

Since the show introduces fans to Neal and Peter after they have known each other for years and sets a time limit on Neal's obligations to work with Peter, works speculating about their backstory are popular, as are works exploring the futurefic possibilities of the characters' lives.

The canon relationship between Peter and Neal contains subtext some fans have interpreted as part of a D/s dynamic. Kink fic featuring a BDSM relationship between Peter and Neal, or among Elizabeth, Peter, and Neal, is common in the fandom.

Unlike in many fandoms where kink dynamics often have to be written into the characters' relationships without much overt canon support, some White Collar fans interpret canon elements like Neal's ankle monitor, or scenes where Peter exercises control over Neal's behavior, and transform the subtext into overt depictions of a kinky relationship in much the same way slash is often based on existing subtext in the source text.[1] Just like the show itself, many fanworks that are not labeled as kinky or containing D/s elements can be interpreted by readers in that way. It is possible that some fans are developing kink goggles in the way some fans have slash goggles.

The similarity in format between the show and Leverage have led to several crossovers. Crossovers with other shows, either set in New York or dealing with similar themes are also popular. As of September 2023 crossovers with Batman - All Media Types are the most popular on Ao3 with 1,450 works. [2]More information about this crossover can be found under White Collar x DC.

White Collar hurt/comfort fics are almost entirely hurt-Neal stories.

Communities & Forums

Discussion

Fanworks

Fanfiction Archives

Fanworks

Notable Fanart

"Neil Caffrey," graphite drawing by Joey Rodrigues

Fanfiction

Notable Vids

Meta/Further Reading

Rec Lists

References & Notes

  1. ^ Isagel. Watching White Collar 1x07..., posted 5 Dec 2009. (accessed 26 Feb 2010)
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Weekly Roundup posts on White Collar, accessed March 22, 2010
  4. ^ I'm basing that "first vid" thing on the fact that it was posted six days after the premiere, and was the only one I'd seen. If I'm wrong, someone please correct this! Arduinna
  5. ^ Both "Rock Star" by Talitha and "Just a Gigolo" by Luxbella were published on youtube on October 29, 2009. Nora Charles
  6. ^ Popularity based on del.icio.us stats as of 10 March 2010. Mona
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