#s5 white collar

[fructo]

just finished "au revoir" less than five minutes ago. i knew the ending already. ALREADY KNEW THE ENDING. yet here I am standing in the middle of the living room crying LIKE A BABY. while I hate that it ended, the last episode was done so wonderfully. i'm in awe. ensue the fanfics and the mass binge again. i'm so awful at finishing shows (my Netflix list is proof of that) but White Collar was so good. wow.

i've seen the clip with Bomer mentioning the possibility of a reboot and while I would absolutely love it (if done correctly and in a way that honors the legacy of Garson, as he did say too) I genuinely do not think I could EVER prepare for that; the possibilities are endless and after the emotional dumpster fire I went through with the last episode? my itty bitty heart could NOT handle it

Ok thanks for coming to my TEDtalk :)

[suburbonlegends]

A dynamic I wish the show brought up more is that Peter never actually catches Neal. He doesn't. Neal always lets himself be captured. His original arrest he knew full well that it was a trap laid out, and he chose to step into it. The second time he literally just sits and waits for Peter to catch up. Those aren't true captures on Peter's part. He doesn't outsmart Neal, he doesn't get the upper hand on him, all Peter does is, essentially, do what Neal wants him to, on Neal's terms.

I'm watching 3x06 with the whole "You need to hit rock bottom to change." // "When did you hit rock bottom?" // "I never said I did." interaction, and like. Yeah. Prison was a consequence Neal was originally willing to pay to get back in touch with Kate, and Peter was the means to that end. The second time, again, Neal needed Peter to get to Kate, so he enacted the C.I. relationship thing.

It's never about reformation for Neal, and Peter knows that which is why he never truly trusts Neal, but I think if the show would've leaned more into Neal having chosen all of this then it could've gotten a few layers deeper into Peter's perception of Neal.

[epsileonsaturn]

so all of Peter’s actions towards Neal in s5, especially at the end of the first episode, were Not Okay, but I think it was really fucked up how Peter used the “we’re your family” card ESPECIALLY after the whole thing with Neal’s dad. Like you confide in this guy “yeah i consider you more of a family to me than my own flesh and blood” and then he uses it against you to tell you that you’re just a criminal and oh, btw, you’re getting an entirely new handler who you don’t even know! And Peter does it all under the justification of “protecting” Neal. Not cool!

I get the complexities of the situation but I feel like people are too lenient on Peter bc the show likes to make him out as the good/right one (the copaganda is showing)

[youngshinxjunghoo]

look all I’m saying is Neal caffrey is stronger than me cause if rebecca came up to me post the reveal about her with her little bob and wanted to protect me no matter what I would’ve folded immediately esp if I had had the hellish year s5 Neal had like why’d they put him through the ringer and then deny him a psycho love interested he deserved one (maybe not the one he got but still !)

[mattbomerkorea]

White Collar season 5

[ziracona]

Finished White Collar and I’m glad they were able to give it an ending, since they got cancelled and had to do a 6 episode season for their last. But it made me so sad they didn’t have the time to do it properly.

[wallbeatjournal]

1, 3, and 6 for the rvd finale ask game!!!!

1. Who is your favorite character?

wouldn't it be wild if it wasn't archie? all this blogging and for what.

3. Which season is your favorite, and which plot of that season do you like most?

i think s5? i need to do a full-series rewatch to decide for sure but s5 really got me on the emotional layer, i felt like i was really vibing with these adult cinematic trauma flash-forward takes on our established characters and dynamics, and all of the playfulness with the very form of The TV Show itself. someone in academia will someday write some shit about how "genre itself" is a character in riverdale and that is most apparent in s5 imo. you can leave the town of riverdale but if you can't subvert your genre programming then what does it matter? also remember how archie is a dog but also a vigilante but also a soldier in a trench listening to his friends suffer the cruel whims of yet another narcissistic authority figure who might get away with it. and also he's inhaling the fumes from the mines and flipping out on his therapist and having hiram lodge nightmares STILL and

6. Which musical episode is your favorite?

i always have my updated musical episode ranking at-hand:

archie the musical. obvious reasons

(close close second) hedwig and the angry inch. this was for me. like. the way they adapted the themes/concerns of the original musical to the ongoing s4 character subplots was so loving and thoughtful. the performances were such loving and thoughtful send-ups of the 2001 movie. kj apa IS michael pitt. it was loving and it was thoughtful and stephen trask collaborated!! riverdale is queer culture and roberto was RIGHT to write the names of the gang into the list of queer pop culture icons in midnight radio. they are.

next to normal - soooo witty how they worked such extremely literal lyrics into new scenarios. like a pun in musical theater reference-making form. great performances. interesting new angle on the now-familiar rvd musical episode format. no notes

carrie - as a musical episode? unremarkable. but as an episode? iconic. has the barely-subtextual sugar daddy vs dad hirarchie loyalty triangle subplot going for it and one of my favorite archie parentification bits. and it's all played in contrast with cheryl actually setting boundaries with her mom via fire and blood. these are all major selling points for me

heathers - i'm gonna say something sooooooooooooo brave (like BRAVE brave) and it's that i don't like all camp. some camp is not good, and heathers the musical is bad camp. and i don't think rvd did anything that interesting with it as far as telling character stories or making me think differently about a dynamic/plot. i love veronica's parental divorce B plot, i love those as a rule. and i love all of the heavy-handed hairflip sound effects, this is where they first really started to pop off i think. yk?

american psycho - i'm donna tartt. and also i don't think roberto is so good at lyricism or that he has so much to say about patrick bateman that he needed to adapt this again

[operationmorewhitecollar]

Honestly, that single moment may be the high point of S5. 😭

when peter's mad at neal and when peter's the maddest he's ever been at neal and when hagen takes the bullet and when peter protects neal and when peter's hand stays on neal's shoulder...(even though he's still so mad...)

that's all.

[reiderwriter]

Hello there baby, are your parents bakers? Cause you're a cutie pie lol sorry couldn't resist the urge to flirt with my favorite writer💕How have you been? How was your day? I wish you a wonderful day and a lovely night💕

It's my first time here sending an ask but lately I've been thinking about shy!Spencer x flirty!reader, I just think is such a cute couple.

So if you're taking requests, I was thinking about early seasons Spencer completely falling for the reader and the way she's so flirty but sweet and kind, the way he'd be blushing hard at anything she says and how he'd like the way she's always touching him cause he felt cherised and desired.

It could be fluff or smut or both cause I can picture them going slow with the relationship but Spencer being eager to please her and show how much he loves everything about her.

You said about choosing a emoji, so can I be the 🐇anon?

A/N: Thanks for the request! Shy Spencer is the best because he's so dumb and silly and doesn't realize when people are attracted to him. I've said it before, but he's basically every nerdy main character in 00s romcoms that are "unattractive" because they wear glasses. I hope you enjoy the fic~♡

Warnings: mentions of case details, slight spoilers for upto s5

With a degree in law and a deep-rooted hatred of businessmen, you'd certainly found your calling in one of the FBI White Collar divisions. Putting away the sleazy bastards was easily one of the biggest perks of the job, but every coin had a second side, and yours was you actually had to interact with the cretins before you could take them down. 

You'd dealt with bribes, dinner invites, and sexual propositions more than a time or two, and had to remind yourself that kicking anyone of them clean in the balls was most likely a firing offense, if not legally off the table. 

The man in the case you were currently working - possibly Bill Hodges, possibly Daniel Brady, possibly so many more men - had been a typical white collar freak until he'd moved on to murder. And when you'd been so close to nailing his ass for fraud, too. 

You'd had no choice but to call in whatever unit it was that actually got to put bullets in the bastards, sure that you were going to be strong-armed out of months of work for the glory of taking down a spree killer. 

Instead, you got Spencer Reid, delivered freshly to your desk like a lamb to slaughter. 

“Sorry, you're the agent from the BAU?” You asked, raking your eyes across his body, smiling at his obvious discomfort with the attention. 

“Yes, Doctor Reid. I'm here for more information on the Hodges files.” 

You dusted your skirt off as you stood, moving around the desk to grab the file. You held it out to him but pulled it back when he reached for it.

“I'm sorry, you're really in the BAU?” An embarrassed look fell across his face, and you instantly felt shitty. 

“Do you want to see my credentials?” 

“No, I'm sorry, it's just - I wasn't expecting someone so…pretty?” 

The embarrassed look deepened to a flush, and you brightened at the sight. You weren't lying. He really was pretty, and you hoped your comment hadn't come off as patronizing. 

“You're adorable. Here's the file, I’ll be at your team briefing in half an hour. Spencer, right?” 

He nodded, finally waking up and taking the files as you pushed it against his chest, using the movement to step slightly closer. 

“I'll see you later then,” you trailed your look down, getting a good look at all of him before meeting his eyes again. “Save me a seat?” 

“I should… I'll, uh, go now. Thanks for the-” he stammered, pointing to the file, backing out of your space slowly, like an animal trying not to show its back to a predator. 

Unlike the long line of scumbags filling the halls and case files of your floor, Spencer was without bravado or ego. His lack of both meant that you were interested. You were very interested. 

Half an hour later, you practically sprinted to the 6th floor, bouncing up the stairs to the office where you'd take your meeting like a giddy school girl. 

“Hello, sorry, I'm not late, am I?” You asked, quietly opening the door and letting yourself in. 

“Agent Y/N, no, perfect timing, Penelope was just about to brief us on your case,” Hotch said, rising and giving your hand a firm shake. He looked around to find a seat to usher you into, but you quickly dropped yourself into the seat right beside Spencer Reid, grin deepening as he flushed and offered you an awkward yet endearing smile. 

Unconsciously, you shifted closer, shooting him your own smile before the meeting officially began, and you were forced to keep a straight, serious face. 

The entire case progressed in much the same way, with you doing everything you could to fluster Spencer Reid and him doing everything in his power to convince himself you were being friendly. 

“Spencer, do you have a phone number?” You asked after slipping out of the meeting, trailing him back to his desk. 

“Yeah, we have to keep connected for cases, so I have a phone.” 

“Great. Your number - what is it?” 

He rattled off the digital as you scribbled them down on a notepad. 

“And Hotch's number is-” 

“Oh, I won't need that. Thanks, Spencer.” You said waving as you left to slink back to your desk. You could hear him calling out behind you, confused. 

“Y/N… Y/N, we split up on cases often, if there's an incident and you need to contact us it's better to have all of the team members numbers,” he panted, jogging to catch up with your focused pace. 

“If I need to contact you, I'll take myself to Agent Garcia’s office and use her direct line,” you said, finally stopping yourself at the elevator and pressing the button. 

He caught up, and stopped abruptly next to you. 

“Oh… oh, yeah that's… that's efficient.” 

You stepped onto the elevator when it arrived, leaving Spencer hesitating whether or not to climb in himself, desperately wondering why you'd ask for his number then. 

“Goodbye, Doctor Reid,” you said, pressing the door close button and blowing him a kiss just before the doors blocked you from sight. 

To tell the truth, you'd had a lot of fun flirting with Spencer on the phone from Penelope’s office during the case. The woman was an inspiration, even if her flirting had a completely different purpose and meaning than your own. Her friendship with Derek Morgan was admirable, but you didn't want to be friends with Spencer Reid. 

“Hello, handsome, what can I do for you today?” You asked, picking up the phone and basking in the stammers that answered you down the line. 

“D-Do you need me to get Morgan for you?” He said, his voice treading lightly. 

“Unless Derek Morgan has, overnight, managed to turn into a 6’1 Doctor with a penchant for cardigans and leather satchels and an IQ of 187, then I am absolutely not looking for him. I have case details.” 

He brushed past your comment, but he kept the slight stammer through the conversation, right until you signed off. 

“Until next time, sexy.”

“Um, yeah… thanks…beautiful?” he signed off, and you guffawed in laughter even as Penelope stared wide-eyed in your direction, not believing her ears. 

“Please forgive our little test tube genius. We forgot to add flirting skills to his childhood curriculum, and now, alas, the poor thing doesn't know a damn thing.” 

He'd called back a few hours later, and you'd purred more compliments down the line, but this time with the team surrounding him as they closed in on your unsub. 

“Hello, this is beautiful speaking. How may I help you?” You giggled down the line, picking up the call after only a single ring. 

“Y/N,” he breathed, catching his breath awkwardly as he struggled to remember why it was you were needed. 

“So… um, like… Hotch has a question about the files you sent earlier. He needs Penelope to… do something as well.” 

You could almost see the awkward nod through the phone. 

“Great. Pass me over to Hotch, then, hot stuff.” 

You heard the tell-tale sound of Derek Morgan’s cackle in the background, and you couldn't help but let another giggle slip out. You were a gonner, and, hopefully, so was he. 

The case wrapped quickly after that, spree killing being a quick game of cat and mouse out of necessity. You weren't happy with three bodies, but it sure as hell was preferable to more. 

You greeted the BAU team at the jet hanger as they returned, reclaiming your fraud files for paperwork and using that simple chore as a reason to get close to Spencer again. 

“Good work out there, Doctor Reid.” 

“What, he's not hot stuff anymore now he's in front of you?” Emily Prentiss laughed, throwing her go bag onto her shoulder and trailing behind where you'd started strolling alongside Spencer. 

“Oh, he's still hot stuff. He's just hot stuff with three PhDs that just stopped a spree killer,” you said, sighing dreamily. “How do you do it?” 

“We were all there too, you know,” the other woman chuckled as you made it inside the building and to the elevator. 

“Yeah, well,” you said, taking a second to reach out and straighten out Spencer's skewed tie, smoothing his jacket and generally just touching him in whatever way you could, respectfully. 

You didn't even bother to finish your sentence, just leaning closer to his ears and whispering directly into them. 

“You're very cute when you're flustered, Doctor Reid.” 

You stepped away for a second while the rest of his team teased him, stepping to the back of the elevator to ascend to your floor while the others departed on theirs. 

They filed out one by one and you sent them off with a smile and a wave, signing in defeat as you realized there was no longer a reason for you to interact with the good doctor ever again. 

If you weren't so stupidly aware of him, you'd almost have missed the fact that Spencer didn't leave the elevator when his teammates did. He instead turned to you and, with the brightest red you'd seen on his face to date, stammered out half a sentence. 

“I.. Y/N, I was just… curious, if you, by any chance…” 

Your eyes widened in joy as you anticipated his question, silently begging him just to spit it out. 

“I was wondering, i-if you had… a boyfriend?” By the end of his sentence, even he seemed unsure of whether that was a question he should really be asking. 

You'd been throwing heart eyes at him for says, and he was asking if you were in a committed relationship. 

“No,” you said slightly breathily, as if your body were trying to expel all the anticipation it had stupidly built up. “No, I don't have a boyfriend, Spencer.”

“Great okay,” he smiled, a boyish grin if you'd ever seen one, before backtracking quickly.

“Well not great for you, great for me. Not that you can't be happy alone, I don't know how you feel about…romantic entanglements and I-I-I’m not saying that your life isn't,” he searched for the words with his hands, as of he could grasp them as a life line while he was sinking fast. “-Great without a boyfriend or anything like that, I'm just - really - pleased that position is currently… vacant?” 

“Spencer?” You said, feeling like a cat who got the cream as a smile twitched at your lips, pulling the corners up as you listened to him ramble. 

“Yes?”

“Do you want to be my boyfriend  or are you asking for a friend?” 

You'd meant the words as a joke  but he stood contemplating for a second. You pushed a hand against your mouth to suppress the childish squeal from popping out. 

“It would be a bit presumptuous to shoot straight for boyfriend, right? How about date ....partner?” 

You couldn't stop yourself from closing in on him then, practically cornering him in the elevator as the floors passed you by.

“Presumptuous would be thinking I could have a boyfriend when I've been begging you to stick your tongue down my throat with my eyes for the last half hour. I thought they taught you body language at the BAU?” 

“They teach us how to catch criminals, not how to see when someone is giving us…fuck me eyes, Y/N.” The curse left you a little dizzy - this was it, this was what you'd been trying to do all week, to get under his skin and get him to let his guard down so you could capture him. 

“Doctor Reid, I'm a little scandalized! I didn't know you swore. What a dirty mouth you have.” You reached up with both hands, letting your thumb on his lips before pretending to wipe something away at the corner of his mouth. You were in the perfect position to notice his throat bob as he swallowed.

The elevator pinged at your floor, and you left him behind you with one last swipe of your fingers at his chin. You weren't expecting him to follow, but he did.

“Y/N…please, Y/N…. Can we just…?” You relished the awkwardness in his voice as he trailed you again, a satisfied smile settling onto your face. 

You just kept walking. Or you did until you felt a large hand wrap around your wrist and pull you sideways into the nearest storage cupboard. 

You gasped as he pinned you to the wall, close not, but his eyes still hesitant on what to do next. 

“Spen-” He cut you off with his lips on yours, silencing you before you could get the final word. His lips were clumsy at first, but you felt hot under his touch  arching yourself up into him. His tongue pushed into your mouth as he found his stride, your hands tangling in his hair as you held on for dear life.

This was it. This was what you'd been waiting for. 

Reluctantly, he pulled away, both of you gasping for breath to fill your suddenly empty lungs. 

“Was that….what… you wanted?” He panted, resting his head on yours. 

There were no words. It was what you wanted but now you wanted more, needed more. You settled for a quick nod as your tongue flamed, unable to say anything helpful. 

“Good. Great…” he removed his hands from you and scratched at the back of his neck, putting a more respectful distance between the two of you as he cleared his throat. 

“I'll just-” he pointed to the door and started making his way out. You sighed again, watching him walk away down the hall, his hair a mess, his tie askew, and a whole lot of your lipstick staining his lips. 

Surely, he'd notice by the time anyone else did. If not, you'd just effectively staked your claim on Doctor Spencer Reid, and you couldn't be happier about it.  

[raayllum]

Rayla and Callum re: possession plot line + all foreshadowing (s1-s5, supplementary material)

“An assassin doesn’t decide right and wrong. Only life and death.” Rayla parroted the mantra Runaan had so often repeated. She did not know if she was reciting the words to convince the prince that his fate was sealed, or to convince herself to seal it.

(Book One: Sky novelization; 1x02, and 1x04)

“Wow. So they look identical, but they might kill you or they might save you,” Callum said. “Exactly. Just like me…” Rayla smiled.

One more, she thought. Just one more win. A human stepped into the pit. His armor, a weather-beaten but familiar silver-grey with a red collar, told a grim tale: an exile from Katolis. He’d likely fled deeper into Xadia after the battle at the Storm Spire. He was barely taller than Rayla herself, and couldn’t have been older than— —what would he look like now, she wondered? Nearly two years older, a few inches taller— The human’s sword flashed towards her. Rayla sprang away, and the crowd bellowed. [...] The human kicked dirt at her, and Rayla scraped at her eyes, angry—infuriated, even. Humans were frustrating. Humans were clever. Humans could do anything, they could be anything, they could take their own fates and change them— When she blinked her eyes back open, Rayla saw several things at once. In the pit, the human charged forward, sword aloft. And in the crowd behind him, a flash of red. A scarf. For a moment Rayla was somewhere else, far away and safe and warm, following that red scarf instead of turning her back on it— —and then the human’s fist struck her jaw. She shouted in pain. One blade rose instinctively to block another blow, but the human grabbed her wrist and twisted so hard she dropped it. Then he swept a leg under her, catching her by the heels, and before she could breathe again Rayla was on her back in the dirt, staring up at the wooden bones of the ceiling. “Rayla! Wake up, come on! We’re gonna be okay—!” The human stood over her and tapped his blade to her chest. Rayla craned her neck, looking around. The sound came back into the world, and the crowd’s cheering had turned from raucous support to mocking, shrieking laughter. Groaning, she let her head fall back to the dirt. “You win,” she said. [...]

“What was that?! You beat yourself!” Back in Redfeather’s little hovel, Rayla sat in the hammock, arms tight across her chest. Stella, who had been told to stay behind for her own safety, snuggled against her neck and cooed. Rayla fiddled with a little wooden token someone had shoved into her hands as a consolation prize for her victories in the pit. Her fingers traced a carving of a hermit crab on one side and the stark profile of a Tidebound elf on the other. “What happened? Why didn’t you keep fighting?” Rayla took a deep breath. Her ribs ached. “I got distracted.” Redfeather gave a disbelieving laugh. “Don’t they teach you to avoid that kind of thing when you become an assassin?” “That’s different,” she protested, even though her heart knew it wasn’t. It was the same problem every time. Hesitation, sympathy, distraction… all just weakness in a different mask. 

Chasing Shadows, part 2

Rayla pulled the chest back, out of reach, and pressed the curve of one blade to his neck— —and held it there. The human froze, meeting her eyes. He looked afraid. Rayla wanted to hate him, this young Neolandian boy, she wanted to hate him like she hated Viren. She could almost see Viren’s face in his: the white streaks of his hair, the sickly pallor of his skin, the bruise-like shadows beneath his eyes. Was he not the same? But what if it was true? A plague, an illness, a wound— “Life is precious. Life is valuable. We take it, but we do not take it lightly.” [...] Rayla looked at the driftwood floor. “Because I messed up. He got away with the rest.” Redfeather sighed. “You hesitated. Like in the Bone Pit.” It stung. She was right, of course. Rayla caught a glimpse of her own reflection in a glass bottle and scowled at herself: the face glowering back at her was not the face of an assassin, and it never would be. [...] Redfeather nodded. “I like you, but you’re still trying to be the person they’ll welcome back home. You’re a Ghost. You can’t be that elf ever again. You have to decide who you are going to be instead. So—who are you?” Rayla balked at her. It was an awful question. She wasn’t an assassin, she wasn’t an elf of the Silvergrove, she wasn’t anything at all, she was just— —“Rayla.” That voice again. Rayla pushed away, trying to focus on Redfeather. “I’m—” “—selfless, strong, and caring—” He persisted, as he always did, and his voice took her far, far away. 

Chasing Shadows, part 3

She has made the princes her best friends and gone on a journey to free every elf and human from such terrible fates.

Rayla's Tales of Xadia bio

[fructo]

going to D.C. next month for a concert and due to my white collar obsession (i promise i'm normal about it) i tried to schedule a tour of the FBI headquarters and they were closed for june :( WHY COULDN'T I HAVE REALIZED SOONER?

[grace-williams-xo]

I need Diana Berrigan aka Marsha Thomason aka one of the greatest lesbian characters ever made to be in the white collar reboot or I’ll lose my mind.

Also Hilarie please come back I missed you in s5 and s6 🥹 and Sharif ily too 🥹

[suburbonlegends]

Oh Peter/Neal this and Peter/Neal/Elizabeth that

Why does no one ever talk about the true OTP of White Collar

Peter/Mozzie/Elizabeth

[firebirdsdaughter]

Honestly…

… I've largely managed to hc and work through my White Collar S5 issues (by never watching them again).

And I absolutely believe that the whole bit at the end is the Neal way of saying 'do you forgive me?'

He reveals to the two people closest to him that it was a con, and how he did it, and a hint to where he is. Esp if you take away all the weird characterisation in S5/give it better motivation, it's, imo, very clear that this isn't just Neal going back to square one. This is his way of leaving the door open. There's no summons, no requirement to come. Just a hint, making it their decision if they want to bother.

Mozzie clearly did, and I am a million percent sure that familiar proud dad smile of Peter's means he does, too.

[youngshinxjunghoo]

wait okay everyone I need to know everyone’s least favorite and favorite white collar seasons. for science! (science meaning I’m curious)

like for me when I first watched I was the biggest s3 stan cause I love that brand of angst but it took me forever to get through s3 because of that 🤭 now that I’ve seen every ep an ungodly amount of times I’m more of a s2 girlie sara just makes episodes better and there’s some actually INSANE eps in that season that are so mind boggling to me I love them dearly

that being said I hate s5 rip. like hate is an exaggeration I still love the show but s5s a hard watch for me

[mattbomerkorea]

White Collar season 5