elrhiarhodan

Title: If the Soul Doesn’t Sing (Just One Life) - Masterpost
Artist:

elrhiarhodan
Fandom: White Collar
Rating: R
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, June Ellington, Garrett Fowler, Reese Hughes, Matthew Keller, Mozzie, Clinton Jones, Diana Berrigan, mention of Kate Moreau, mention of Elizabeth Burke, mention of Satchmo, mention of Terrance Pratt, mention of James Bennett, original characters
Pairings: Pre-story Peter/Elizabeth, pre-story Peter/Hughes; Neal/Keller, Peter/Neal
Spoilers: Mention of canon events at the end of In the Wind (S4.16)
Warnings : Non-canon deaths of canon characters (all off-camera and pre-story): Elizabeth Burke, Satchmo, Kate Moreau, OMC
Word Count: Total ~50,000
Beta Credit:

coffeethyme4me,

sinfulslasher
Summary: Neal is an Archon, a ‘guardian angel’, who has been watching over the soul of Peter Burke for millennia. He’s learned that Peter’s soul will not be reborn into a new life, and cannot bear the thought that he will continue for eternity without Peter. So he decides to take the forbidden path: become mortal and spend the rest of his days watching over Peter and caring for him.

But he will need to make a sacrifice, and he will need to learn how to Fall.

Written for Round One of the

wc_reverse_bb. This is the long-overdue Masterpost to the story.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

STORY PARTS - ON LIVEJOURNAL

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Epilogue

I will edit to add the link when this is posted to AO3.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

AUTHOR’S NOTES

You’d think that writing an urban fantasy wouldn’t require as much research as say, a casefic, but it does. White Collar fan fiction readers are highly intelligent, very well educated, and they deserve more than handwaving at the details. But there are a few details that inevitably have to be handwaved away.

1 – The music. The music that is featured in this story is real and has great personal meaning. The piece that Neal brings Matthew is a performance of Leonard Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms, specifically Psalm 23 (The Lord is My Shepherd).

"Bernstein - Chichester Psalms - Adonai ro-i" (Watch on YouTube)

It is, I hope you agree, one of the 20th century’s finest works of sacred music. I had the opportunity to perform this work as a member of the chorale, back in the mid-1980s, and that was one of my favorite performances.

I did run into a problem using it in this story, though. Leonard Bernstein had left instructions that the soloist should only be a male countertenor or a boy alto – never a woman, because the psalm was to be heard as if sung by the boy David, himself.

I had spent hours looking for a piece of sacred music that would substitute for this and came up empty, then finally decided that it (1) didn’t matter and (2) fit into the theme of ‘the forbidden’.

The second piece of music, Vivaldi’s Gloria, or as Peter says, “The Vivaldi Gloria” is one of three settings that Antonio Vivaldi wrote for the Greater Doxology. One, RV 590, is lost, the other RV588, is a good work, but RV589 is truly one of the most magnificent pieces of music ever written.

"Vivaldi: Gloria (RV 589)" (Watch on YouTube)

There is such power in the opening and closing movements, it’s as if the world has been created just at that moment. Listen at full volume if you can – it’s truly a work that gets better the louder it’s played.

So, what about the handwaving? The Fuentiduena Chapel at the Cloisters in New York City has hosted many musical performances – but generally for the Medieval and early Renaissance eras. Its acoustics are well suited to chant and polyphony and plainsong. This setting of the Gloria was written in the early 18th century, and it would be unlikely that the Cloisters would be deemed an appropriate setting for any performance of Baroque music. Also, the chapel is small and it would be difficult to accommodate a full-sized choir and chamber orchestra.

Also, it’s a relatively short piece – about 35 minutes, start to finish – and thus unlikely to be the only piece on a program.

But the story required both the Cloisters and this particular piece of music, and I’m sort of stubborn when it comes to these things.

2 – The Layout of the Burkes’ house. Yes, yes, I know it’s impossible to see the upstairs landing from the couch, but again, chalk it up to my own stubborn nature.

3 – Frank Buttino. In Part IV, during the flashback scenes, Peter and Reese mention Frank Buttino without any further explanation. He’s not an OC that got partially written out. He’s a real person – a highly decorated FBI agent who was, in the late 1980s, anonymously outed to both his family and to the FBI, and was subsequently terminated. The FBI said that it wasn’t because he was gay, but because he lied on his application to the FBI about whether or not he was gay.

He sued for discrimination and reinstatement.

In December, 1993, the FBI agreed to settle the discrimination claim for an untold sum and Agent Buttino agreed to waive his claim for reinstatement (NYT article). But, more importantly, the FBI agreed to end its policy of discriminating against gays and lesbians. What was unusual – both then and now – is that the FBI was not subject to court ordered compliance monitoring. And even more amazing is that the FBI actually complied with the court order. The Clinton administration, which was ultimately responsible for both DOMA and DADT, actively worked to make the FBI a truly non-discriminatory agency. Sexual orientation was added to the department's list of unacceptable forms of employment discrimination -- race, color, religion, sex, national origin or disability.

The FBI we see in White Collar has come a very long way from the homophobic institution that actively discriminated against gays and lesbians until the mid-1970s and then used more subtle means to eliminate them from the ranks.

So, in the pilot, when Peter says “Don’t ask, don’t care” – he is making a completely true statement.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

KANAREK’S ARTWORK
I can’t say enough wonderful things about my incredible artist, whose talent and imagination helped bring this tale to life. It was truly a privilege to write this story for her. . Her endless generosity was both humbling and an inspiration. I would mention “could you do this …” and a little while later, something incredible would show up in my mailbox. And sometimes, something would show up without me even asking, like the incredible image at the end of the story.

I am honored to call her my friend.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Thank you to everyone who has read and commented. I will be responding to all of your lovely feedback this week.