whitecollar_rec | Entries tagged with type:het

pipilj.livejournal.com

Title: Glimses4
Author: SandraS
Spoilers: Upto season four
Characters: Neal, Peter, Mozzie, Elizabeth, and other WC characters.
Pairings: just background canon ones
Warning: none
Summary: collection of short - sometimes very short - episode-tags for Season 4

Why rec'd? A collection of lovely drabbles - some time fluffy, insightful and Character study.

Glimses4

sholio

Title: Rescue
Author:

china_shop
Spoilers: Big ones for 5x13!
Characters: Neal, Kate
Pairings: Neal/Kate
Warning: none
Summary: Neal gets a surprise.

Why rec'd? It's pretty much impossible to talk about this short fic without spoiling either the fic or the end of the season, but this is a lovely and unexpected outcome to the season cliffhanger!

sholio

Title: Let's Play Ball
Author: TheSongbird341
Spoilers: none
Characters: Elizabeth, Peter
Pairings: Elizabeth/Peter
Warning: None
Summary: Baseball was one of those things that had grown on her over time... like Peter had.

Why rec'd? This is a really sweet look at the give and take that can happen in a relationship, when Peter's love of baseball makes El take a second look at a game she's always hated.

elrhiarhodan

Title: “When All These Things Become Clear”
Author:

anodyneer
Spoilers: None
Characters: Peter Burke, Neal Caffrey, Elizabeth Burke, Sara Ellis
Pairings: Peter/Elizabeth, Neal/Sara
Warning: None
Summary: The future holds many things for four old friends, and a day on the beach becomes a look into the past as Peter and Neal confront the truth about their friendship and what they've meant to each other. (Far future fic)
Why rec'd? This is

anodyneer’s first piece of White Collar fan fiction and it is exquisite. While it deserves a recommendation because it hits two of my favorite tropes (Neal as artist and Peter and Neal into the far future), it is also rec’d because of the beautiful writing, the flawless pacing, the feelings it brings forth. The author has found all of the characters’ voices almost effortlessly. It should not be missed.

sholio

Title: Wish You Were Here (Also on DW)
Author:

veleda_k
Spoilers: 4x16
Characters: Neal, Sara
Pairings: Neal/Sara
Warning: None
Summary: More than one, less than 700. And a sonnet. (Spoiler for 4x16) Sara sends Neal postcards from London. (Note: image heavy)

Why rec'd? This was made for a prompt I left at the Neal/Sara Thing-a-thon, and it is lovely. It's difficult to rec in too much detail without season four spoilers, but basically, this is a lovely, perfectly in character look at Neal and Sara's relationship post-season-four, using a mix of text and images. It's quiet and understated, funny and sweet, and perfectly them. (Peter and Mozzie also cameo.)

love-82.livejournal.com

Title: The Most Interesting Thing About Neal Caffrey
Author:

lionessvalenti
Spoilers: Through season 3
Characters: Peter, Neal, Elizabeth, Sara, Mozzie
Pairings: Neal/Sara
Warning: None
Summary: As the one year anniversary of the fall that resulted in a broken back approaches, Neal rekindles his relationship with Sara.

Why rec'd? This story will really pull you in. It is beautifully well written, touching and funny. I love how realistically it deals with Neal's injury. It doesn't shy away from some of the more unpleasant aspects of daily living with a disability. But even though it is about Neal having a disability that does not consume the story. It is about the characters and their relationships and how they are all dealing and living with this new reality. That is another thing I love, how all the characters react. They all reacted the way I feel they would in a situation like this. All of the characters are so well drawn and the characterizations are excellent.

Link to story: http://archiveofourown.org/works/512043/chapters/902679#main

*The author has added a couple more stories and made this into a series. Here is the link to the main post: http://archiveofourown.org/series/26432

veleda-k.livejournal.com

Title: Penelope Weaving
Author:

florastuart
Spoilers: Through season one
Characters: Kate, Fowler, Neal, Keller, Peter, Mozzie, Adler
Pairings: Kate/Neal
Warning: Some violence
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 78,000
Summary: She’s never liked chess, and this is chess played in the dark and blindfolded, and all the pieces are broken glass. Kate’s POV of season 1.
Why rec'd? It's epic length Kate fic! How often are you going to find that? It's incredible what this fic does for Kate as a character. It turns her into such a person, a complex woman with strengths and flaws. The relationships that

florastuart crafts are fascinating and multi-faceted.

florastuart weaves a story that makes sense of canon and takes Kate far beyond what the series gave her. It's a wonderfully rewarding read, even knowing how it all has to end.

veleda-k.livejournal.com

Title: The Ties that Bind
Author: Sahiya
Spoilers: Early season 4.
Characters: Sara, Neal, Peter, El, Mozzie
Pairings: Sara/Neal, Peter/El
Warning: None
Rating: PG-13/Mature
Word Count: 53,469
Summary: How Sara Ellis became part of Neal Caffrey's family.
Why rec'd? It's hurt/comfort! It's a romance! It's a case fic! It's over 50,000 words of awesome. This story is engaging and touching, with a wonderful Sara POV and fantastic character interaction. Sahiya really examines what makes Sara tick, and in doing so, shows the reader a lot about the other characters as well. A fantastic, meaty, moving story.

veleda-k.livejournal.com

Title: Girl on the Side
Author: Lionessvalenti
Spoilers: Mild ones for season two
Characters: Sara, Neal, Peter, El
Pairings: Sara/Neal, Peter/El/Neal
Warning: None
Summary: Girl meets boy. Boy is in relationship with two other people. Girl and boy try to make it work.
Why rec'd?: This is one of my favorite fics in the fandom. It's a wonderful polyamory story, one that isn't afraid to address the possible mess and complications. But it's a happy story, full of good people who love each other and want everyone to be happy. Lionessvalenti does an excellent job of giving both ships the time and attention they deserve, and neither ever feels like they're getting the short end of the stick. The charming, sweet rapport between Sara and Neal goes well with the familiar intimacy of Peter/El/Neal. And to top it off, the story has a really well done Sara POV that nicely examines her as a character.

(Mods, any chance we could get a "genre:romance" tag?)

sholio

Title: Living Proof
Author:

Deastar
Spoilers: none (AU)
Characters: Peter, Neal, also a bit of Elizabeth
Pairings: Peter/Neal, Peter/Elizabeth, Neal/OMCs
Rating: NC-17
Warning: Non-con/rape, sex between a minor and adult(s) (not Peter/Neal, however)
Summary: Peter is a vice cop. Neal is a teenage prostitute who works in Peter's beat. AU.

Why rec'd? You may note from the warnings and summary that this is not my usual sort of reccing fare. "Teen hooker AU" is not my usual sort of reading fare, either.

But this story is really, really good. I think what makes it work for me is that the author is acutely aware of, and careful with, the power dynamics in their situation. This story doesn't romanticize prostitution (as the author's notes say, this story is not "Pretty Woman"), and it's more of a subversion of the teen-hooker AU story type than a straightforward angstfest. Peter is completely believable as a young (early 20s) vice cop who wants to break Neal out of his downward spiral while still maintaining a professional distance between them, and Neal is also believable as a runaway teenager who's so messed up at this point that he doesn't believe any adult would want anything from him other than sex. Without giving away plot spoilers, I'll just say that the story avoids most of the usual tropes that make this kind of AU generally not work for me, and made me love the characters even more than I already do.

(Also, this icon is awesomely appropriate! *g*)

frith_in_thorns

Title: Pretty With a Pistol
Author:

veleda_k
Spoilers: Set pre-series, but possibly character spoilers from later?
Characters: Kate, Neal, Mozzie
Pairings: Kate/Neal
Warning: Some violence
Summary: In which Neal's in trouble, Mozzie plays getaway driver, a truce is reached, and Kate gets to be a big damn hero. Set pre-series.

Why rec'd? I really love this look at Kate, and the characterisation for her, especially the slightly-wary alliance/friendship with Mozzie she has here, and the care both of them have for Neal.

veleda-k.livejournal.com

ETA: It would probably help if I included the link, wouldn't it? Fixed.

Title: Dustland Fairytale
Artist:

sholio
Spoilers: Through the end of season 2
Characters: Neal, Kate, Peter, Fowler, Adler
Pairings: Neal/Kate
Warning: None
Summary: The story of Neal, Kate and Adler.
Why rec'd?: This vid is beautiful and heartbreaking. It's the story of of Neal and Kate, yes, but it's even more about how Neal saw their story. Even more, Sholio shows us that it's not just their story. Peter, Adler, and others weave themselves into the narrative, their presence inescapable.

If you like Neal/Kate, then this is a real treat because there's not much out there for them. If you're not a Neal/Kate fan, then this vid will make you buy the relationship. No, really, there are comments that say exactly that.

But I think the part the hits me hardest is the ending.

( Cut for spoilers )

sholio

Title: Ancient World AU (see below for links to individual stories)
Author:

nefhiriel
Spoilers: none
Characters: Neal, Peter, Elizabeth (Mozzie also appears in at least one of the stories)
Pairings: gen with approximately canon levels of Peter/Elizabeth
Warning: themes of slavery; some stories contain violence
Summary: See below

Why rec'd? I'm reccing these all together because this is a series, although the stories stand alone, so you can start with any of them. In very approximate internal chronological order (not the order in which the stories were written):

Impulse
Worth*
Precaution
Vigilance
Circumvention

*- first story written, might be the best one to start with

This is a world that vaguely resembles Ancient Rome (but isn't, quite) in which Peter is a soldier and a somewhat iconoclastic patrician; his wife Elizabeth purchases slave!Neal after she sees Neal's owner abusing him. Slave AUs are not normally my cup of tea, but this series is one of my favorite things in the fandom anyway -- the characters are very much themselves, and their world is very real-feeling, with a tangible sense of history and culture. It's impossible not to fall in love with the characters and their slowly growing friendship all over again. Peter and Elizabeth are perfectly cast as aristocrats who have no patience with the usual excesses and abuses of their class, while Neal is the captured and enslaved thief who continues scheming to escape even while slowly being won over by Elizabeth's kindness and Peter's sense of fair play and honor. The writing is excellent, and all the characters' best traits (their loyalty, their courage, their capacity to love) shine through.

sholio

Title: Spitfire
Author:

attackfish
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke (also with Mozzie, Elizabeth, Kate, Sara)
Pairing: mostly focused on Peter and Neal, but also with Neal/Kate, Neal/Sara
Spoilers: up to 3x10
Warnings: none
Summary: Neal has more than one secret he's keeping from Peter, but as Peter draws closer to one, he draws closer to all of them. Dragon!Neal AU.

Why Rec'd? This is amaaaaaaazing. I read it and then I had to run over here and insta!rec it.

attackfish takes the most perfect, original idea about dragons ever, and wraps it up in the entirety of season 1-3 canon, compressed into a story that is only about 2500 words long, funny and sweet and heartbreaking by turns, and ends up in such a perfect post-Countdown place that I wish this could somehow be canon (except it can't, because Neal's not really a dragon; bummer).

sholio

Title: I Gotta Feeling
Song: "I Gotta Feeling" by the Black-Eyed Peas
Artist:

kahesha (kahesha-vids on DW)
Spoilers: Through 2x08
Characters: Everyone
Pairings: Gen plus canon het pairings
Warning: None
Summary: general & upbeat overview video for White Collar, season 1&2.

Why rec'd?: This vid was one of the reasons why I started watching the show - it just made the whole thing look like so much fun. :D And I still love it now that I've seen the show! Adorable gag-reel footage is mixed with fun/happy/exciting show footage to make a delightful tribute to the show that is fun to watch over and over.

veleda-k.livejournal.com

Title: Something Comfortable
Author:

sahiya
Spoilers: None except that Sara and Neal are together. Does that count?
Characters: Sara, Neal, Peter
Pairings: Sara/Neal
Warning: None
Rating: G
Word Count: 3800
Summary: Sara considers herself competent in any number of areas - including two forms of martial arts, three languages, and the circumvention of the most common high-end security systems - but she's never been good with vulnerability. In fact, one might say she's allergic to it.
Why rec'd? This is my favorite Neal/Sara fic, and one of my favorite White Collar fics in general. It's a sweet, domestic fic starring a character who doesn't do domestic. The Sara voice in this fic is perfect, and it's a wonderful look at Sara's character and her developing relationship with Neal.

sahiya gives us a chance to see how Neal and Sara interact when both of their defenses are a little bit down.

Mods, could we get a tag for "rating:G," please?

isoldam.livejournal.com

Title: Never Leave A Trace
Author: sam_storyteller
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, Elizabeth Burke, Matthew Keller
Pairings: Peter/Neal/El established
Rating: R
Warning: Violence; triggery language
Summary: Neal Caffrey can steal souls. Peter Burke has two shadows. Everything's normal...except when it isn't.
Why rec'd?: Sam is an amazing author, and this story is one of his best. Here he uses magic realism to produce an exciting, original story that is completely different from anything else I've read in the fandom.