White Collar Gallery

Title: Warm and Yellow in a City of Gray
Author: ursula4x 
Rating: Teen
Length: 2,850
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Peter, Neal, Satchmo
Genres: angst, drama
Warnings: references to 9-11 with realistic details
Spoilers: S1 finale, "Out of the Box"
Summary: Peter tells Neal about his role in 9-11 and about going on after tragedy

Reasons to read this: As members of the White Collar team have said, New York is as much a character in the show as the humans are. Ursula sensitively and touchingly evokes the deep emotional scars that 9-11 left on New York and New Yorkers. Without drawing disrespectful parallels between the two events, the story ties together the attack on the twin towers and Neal's loss at the end of S1 - plus the healing power of animal companions. A must read especially for Satchmo lovers (and it's a cat person telling you that). The tale could be seriously triggery for its 9-11 descriptions, yet also cathartic; if you're especially sensitive about this tragedy, right now might not be the moment to read Ursula's fine story, but read it you should, at some point.

Title: Two Hundred and Eight Weeks
Author: elandrialore
Rating: Mature
Length: 3,806
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Neal/Peter/Elizabeth, Diana/OC
Genres: Romance
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Summary: Peter likes to figure things out for himself

Reasons to read this: There's something to be said for fics that were written when the series was new, and there were only a few episode. There was very little to go on, and it was long before secrets were revealed, and elandrialore took what we were given and completely ran with it.

This is a beautiful love story with a slow build over a long period of time. The relationship between Neal, Peter, and Elizabeth changes and grows, and it's evident in the writing, how it becomes stronger. There are a lot of future OT3 fics out there now, but this one, I think, stands out as a classic and a must-read.

Title: This is the Start
Author: pocky_slash
Rating: Teen
Length: 2,088 words
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Peter/El, Neal, the Doctor (sort of)
Genres: Crossover (with Doctor Who), Crack
Warnings: None
Spoilers: Some minor spoilers for the second half of S1
Summary: In which Peter isn't all that he seems and Neal just might get his hands on that music box after all.

Reasons to read this: Because we all need a little fun in our lives. In this story, pocky_slash adapts the Doctor Who mythology to fit in with the White Collar universe, and makes it work extremely well. This fic is hilarious, but, like the best crack!fics, it also tells us a little bit about the characters, and gives new dimensions to the different relationships between them. Read this story as soon as possible -- and then bookmark it and read it again on a day when you need cheering up. :)

Title: You Ruined Everything (In the Nicest Way)
Author: jmtorres
Rating: General
Lenght: ~9500 words
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Neal, Peter, Elizabeth
Genres: AU, Drama, Backstory
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Summary: A story of missed connections, in which Peter doesn't know what to say, Neal doesn't seem to want to hear it, and Elizabethan translation proves vital.

Reasons to read this: This is an interesting alternative take on the canon dynamics between Peter, Neal, and Elizabeth. The explanation offered is not the one that fandom-at-large has adopted, but it is well-grounded in the show canon, and makes for an engaging and persuasive story.

Title: Blind/Dates
Author: Deastar
Rating: Teen
Length: 7546
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Neal/Peter, Elizabeth
Genres: Romance, Fluff, Humor
Warnings: N/A
Spoilers: N/A
Summary: Maybe if Neal meets a nice, law-abiding, reliable girl, he'll stop giving Peter heart attacks and making the entire New York law enforcement establishment so damn nervous.

Reasons to read this: This is fluffy, good-intentioned humor at its best. A fic like this is comfort food: it makes you feel good, uplifts you, and just makes you smile and go "Awwww!". The fic was written to encompass "classic slash clichés", and it does, but it's still Neal and Peter. That's the benchmark of quality fanfiction, putting characters in different situations, especially those they probably won't reach in canon, and still have it feel like the characters, without compromise, and Deastar does just that, pitch perfect.

Title: Give Us This Day
Author: Sinead
Rating: Explicit
Length: 5,185 words
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Peter/El/Neal
Genres: Romance
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Summary: Ten things about cohabitation.

Reasons to read this: A far-future fic that looks at Peter, Elizabeth and Neal in an established poly relationship, this story explores the realities of living in a poly relationship; although it's overwhelmingly a happy story, it doesn't deny that there are hardships -- difficulties in coming out to both loved ones and strangers, how to deal with hospital staff, how to deal with the implications for Peter and Neal at work. There are also lots of uplifting details too -- buying a bed, making new nicknames for each other, sharing private jokes; as with canon, this is a fic about people who are better when they are together than when they are apart. The characterisation is beautiful, and I can easily believe that this takes place 5-6 years in the future.

Title: That One Time, With That Thing
Author: lithiumdoll
Rating: General
Length: 10 800 words
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Neal, Mozzie, Kate, Peter, Jones
Genres: Pre-series, Drama, Humour
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Summary: Pre-series, ~those~ bonds, 1-0: Neal's accidentally working for the mob, Kate is probably considering a new client list, Mozzie's waiting for The Man and The Man is a little more amused than it should be.

Reasons to read this: This is a very funny, well plotted, and plausible version of how Peter might have first caught Neal. Indeed, until the show tells us otherwise, I'm choosing to believe that this is exactly how it happened.
The characterisation is note-perfect; The banter between Neal and Mozzie is amusing and Peter's reluctant fondness for Neal and his antics is plain to see. This is one of my favourite stories to re-read and it leaves me with a smile on my face every time.

Title: Love Walked In (or, five things that didn't work, and one that did)
Author: asimaiyat
Rating: General
Length: 4400
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Neal/Peter/Elizabeth, Mozzie
Genres: Romance
Warnings: None
Spoilers: None
Summary: The one where Neal tries really, really hard to impress the Burkes.

Reasons to read this: One of my favorite things about this fandom is its offering of fics that give you warm, fuzzy feelings, and Love Walked In is no exception to that. To see Neal try so hard to basically please Peter and Elizabeth into loving him is, frankly, adorable. There are lots of little details, especially when alluding to Neal's criminal history, that, to me, really bring this story to life and make it feel like a realistic part of the show.

The story also gives us a crowning moment of awesome in either Neal and Elizabeth dancing an incredibly sexy tango, or Neal offering to the do the Burkes' taxes.

Title: You Don't Know My Name
Author: china_shop
Rating: Explicit
Length: 2,900 words
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Peter/Neal [with a bit of Peter/El]
Genres: Angst
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: 1x07 Free Fall
Summary: Peter turns to him, and says slowly and deliberately, "Do I know you?"

Neal doesn't miss a beat. "Do you want to?"

Reasons to read this: White Collar is generally a happy show, and most fic tends to reflect this, but this one is a little darker, a little more bittersweet. Set during Free Fall, while Neal is free of the anklet, it explores many of the issues that arise out of the unequal power dynamics between Peter and Neal -- issues that would undoubtedly come into play should things ever develop further between them. This fic also gives a beautiful in-character portrayal of the Peter/El relationship, and leaves things open for an eventual OT3 setup in a way that feels very natural.

Title: Shelter
Author: hoosierbitch
Rating: Mature
Length: 4,800 words
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Peter/El/Neal
Genres: Hurt/comfort, Coda
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: 1x14, "Out of the Box"
Summary: The week after, Neal stays with the Burkes.

Reasons to read this: Although I've labelled this fic as "hurt/comfort", it's really so much more than that. This is about three people who love each other supporting each other through difficult times, and although they do find comfort in each other, it's clear that that comfort isn't going to erase the pain of the past. The characterisation is perfect here -- I had no trouble believing that this is exactly what happened after the events of the finale; hoosierbitch is excellent at finding the voices of each character, and at exploring the nuances of the different types of relationships between Peter, El, and Neal. Overall, this fic left me feeling, this is right.