Neal: I Know A Guy

Neal: I know a guy

Mozzie: [enters stage left]

me when emmett and elle from the legally blonde musical

thinking about the WC - Star Trek crossover and wondering... Who's your favorite ST captain? And what do you think that captain would think of Peter, of Neal, and of Mozzie?

*vibrating with excitement* OK SO

My favorite captain has always been Captain Picard. I just love TNG with all of my heart, and Patrick Stewart's performance is incredible. He's the perfect blend of strong morals, a genteel and kind nature, as well as being flexible and open to things that challenge his world view. Also, the way he fights for people's--and artificial intelligence--rights has stuck with me since childhood. (measure of a man my beloved <3)

That being said, I think Picard would get along well with Peter, and vice versa. Peter is a nerd in every universe, and so is Picard, so they can strike up conversations on a myriad of topics--archaeology being one of them. Peter would definitely find it a great opportunity to learn from one of the greats; and I think Picard would see in him the qualities that make Peter a great captain and admire him for his close nit bond with his crew, something that took him too long to cultivate in his captaincy. Their personalities and world views are pretty on par, so I feel like it would be a good match. That being said, Picard is definitely more reserved as a rule, so I can see Peter staying in "Captain mode" the whole time, and squashing his instinct to fanboy really hard LOL.

Neal, on the other hand, is an interesting one. Obviously, Picard would raise his eyebrows at having a criminal running around freely on board a starship, considering it a security breach waiting to happen. But of course, Neal dials up the charms; and Peter sings his praises, saying he's an invaluable member of the crew who's been helpful on many missions. Picard would see by the results and Neal's actions the kind of man he really is and ultimately judge him based on that, as he is a believer that people can change. Also, Neal wins him over by his interest in the arts--theater, music, art, literature, etc--which Picard is a huge sucker for hehehe.

Ah, Mozzie...😂. Picard has dealt with his fair share of eccentric characters over the years, so it's not like he would be put off by Mozzie's character. But he definitely would find it fascinating how Mozzie's brain works, his conspiracy theories and evident paranoia, wondering how and where they picked up this guy. Peter admits he still can't figure Mozzie out lol. However, eventually Picard would get tired of Mozzie nattering on and on about one thing or another, and politely excuse himself, feeling quite worn about from that exchange LOL. As for Moz, he'd find their conversation riveting and admit Picard is the least offensive Starfleet personnel he's encountered, leaving Peter to be offended by that comment 😂.

Ahhhh, thanks so much for this ask! This was a lot of fun to think about!

What makes White Collar hold up so much better than other police procedurals:

It was part of the "pretty happy shows with gorgeous ensemble casts and a charismatic weird guy" USA network era but it somehow used that to be about stuff that is so REAL

What is justice? Is our system fair? Can you be a criminal and still be a good man? Can you be a good man and still work for the system?

The bad guys are rich assholes, and people defrauding families out of their homes, and unethical pharmaceutical companies. People manipulating energy supply out of greed resulting in blackouts which are showing *harming a dog,* aka how to show something is monstrous in a pg show written by a white person. Class exists in this universe in more ways than having a cardboard concept of a "rich guy."

The bad guys include police, FBI agents, prison staff, judges, senators. Those people cause real harm, obstruct justice, plant evidence, kill people. It's shown how the system protects them and harms regular people.

The harm that causes the main character to go from wanting to be part of the system, to subverting and working against it, is him finding out about an act of police corruption, brutality, and murder--and what's more, that if he became a cop, that's what he could become.

The harm that causes the main character to be outside the white picket fence is that the system failed his family after that act. What happened to Neal's mom? Why did nobody besides Helen step in? They had to check in with US Marshals, did nobody notice this kid didn't have an adult fit to parent?

So Neal turns to found family. And let's be real, heavily polyamory coded found family at that. But he keeps chasing the idea of a girl who will be everything. But he's got all this attachment trauma so he never does. But because found family is real family, even the people who freaking played the characters are still connected a decade later

The true enemies to lovers

Watching something (ahem White Collar) again now that I speak English and don't have to rely on the translation is wild. Wdym Peter makes offhand jokes like "Diana doesn't like bulges" when talking about a bulletproof vest without even missing a beat