on an application for project gemini

[dontcallme_that]

Player Name: Christina
Player Journal: lollobrigida
Player Age: 33
Current Characters:

Sam Winchester - Supernatural
Caroline Forbes - The Vampire Diaries

Character Name: Special Agent Peter Burke
Canon: White Collar
Medium: TV

Character Age: 42-45 (Tim DeKay is 48, but Peter’s been married for 14 years and with the FBI for going on 16 years and they never truly state his age.)
Canon Point: 3.16 - Judgement Day - After he’s given his statement.

Why did you choose this character?:

There are countless FBI Agents that are written into TV shows and movies. They are almost all given the same sort of no-nonsense, tough as nails, but with a rough backstory that makes them something more vulnerable to the audience. Peter is the tough no-nonsense agent, but the part that makes him approachable isn’t in his past it’s in his present. He has a wonderful relationship with his wife, Elizabeth and he has a family within the agency itself. He has a reason to keep the people in his life safe and it’s not because of some unfinished task or a guy he let get away on accident. This is just his job and he does it well and at the end of the day he goes home to his wonderful wife and has a normal night. The way they write their dynamic, it’s his home life that makes him so appealing to me. It’s the normal stuff and the way that he has two strong partnerships in his life and how they both impact him.

I’ve also wanted to try and write Peter in a pan-fandom setting before, but most of the game constructs don’t really work well for a character like him. Having it set in a city, that has a real world basis is more easy to believe for his character and won’t create a huge fault line in his sanity.

Give a brief idea of how your character will react to the setting:

The pods and the science part will freak out Peter for the most part. He’s not exactly body-shy, but he’s really ‘wake-up somewhere that you didn’t fall asleep so you panic’ prone. He’s an agent so naturally, he’s going to suspect someone had planned this and he’ll want to check into a hospital to get a blood panel run. He’ll want to call his wife, and when that doesn’t work he’ll try to touch base with the local federal branch and then try to check in with Jones or Diana - to let them know and to get them to start running information for him. Of course - that won’t work, so he’ll have to go low-tech and try to do the job himself. In the back of his mind, he’ll be worried about El and he’ll try not to let his concern overshadow his work. Given his canon point, he’ll assume that this has something to do with Neal’s trial and will hope that they don’t have Neal either. He’ll treat it like a case and try to figure it out. He’ll use the law to his advantage wherever possible, but still respect it. It’s going to be a long road for him, but he’s going to do whatever he can to get back home to El.

History: http://whitecollar.wikia.com/wiki/Peter_Burke
Personality:

Peter Burke is a man who prefers to see it before he believes it. It’s always been that way and even after years beside Neal, he still sticks by what he knows. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t times where he takes things on faith until he can get that proof, but those instances are few and far between. Being an FBI Agent, Peter runs on facts - on the evidence and it’s something that has been built up around the core of who he is.

It’s so ingrained into who he is that when he first met his future wife through a case, he put her under surveillance to make sure that he could make sure she didn’t have a boyfriend. Not that he had the courage to ask her out, he was too nervous, so instead their first date was one for the storybooks as El held up a sign that informed his surveillance team that she loved Italian.. Of course, he ended up marrying her and they’ve been married since 1998. The relationship they have is one of the strongest partnerships he has in his life. He relies on her, and loves her unconditionally, even if he doesn’t always remember the little things.

While Peter is someone who loses track of the little things at the home, he makes up for it by focusing on all the little things on the job. He is detail-orientated to the point where he can pick a brunette hair off the shoulder of Neal with a casual glance. He uses this focus on the job and it’s one of the main advantages he has over the other agents. Peter picks apart the scene and finds the things that no one else looks for. He’s learned that it doesn’t matter how small the detail is, because if it is what leads you to the result you want - then it’s big enough. Having successfully caught Neal a few times, he’s proven that he can use those details to their best end results.

Where he falters with the details is his everyday life. It’s possible that the reason him and El work so well, is because she can take care of the details at home so that for once he doesn’t have to pay attention to everything. That doesn’t always work out for him, though, and he ends up on the short end of things more than once. He’s given the wrong gift and drifted off in mid-conversation because his mind is elsewhere. It’s not for a lack of concern or caring, it’s just that his mind doesn’t stop thinking about the job and thankfully El understands that. In fact, there’s a moment where Neal asks her how she knew with Peter and she says there’s a moment when you realize you love the person they are instead of the person you think they are. Though it’s a subtle push for Neal about Kate, I think it’s one of the real reasons why Peter and El work together as a couple. El sees Peter for the man he is, that he’s his job and success and that he’s going to put her first when it matters, but the job might have to cut in line every once in a while. That said, whenever El needs him, he’s going to be there.

It’s a strong point in him that he’s extremely loyal to her. Even when he has to remove his wedding band for a case, he states that he feels naked without it and he’s gone to extremes to keep his wife happy. From snooping on “odd” neighbors to dealing with her eccentric parents. He loves her and everything that she is. His loyalty also rings true on the job. He’s loyal to his team and will be there to support them in any way possible. Even if it comes down to them doing something he doesn’t agree on. It’s not that Diana or Jones getting in trouble, usually, but when they are out there sticking their necks out for him and Neal, he’s going to do the exact same for them. When he is suspended for punching Fowler, he asks Diana to go into Fowler’s office to get files from his computer. He’s not just calling her from his home to make sure she’s okay, he’s within walking distance to make sure that she’s safe. He looks out for them and to an extent he’ll extend that loyalty to those that are important to Neal too. Sara, Mozzie, and June fall under that umbrella and if they need something, Peter is going to do what he can to help.

The motivation that Peter has to do his job has shifted away from just doing a good job and having an excellent rate of success, but it’s broadened to make sure that he’s doing his job and doing the best he can for Neal. At the end of Season one, he tells him that he’s Neal’s friend and even though they have had a plethora of ups and downs, Peter can see the good in him and realizes that he’s a good asset to the team. That regardless of his history, he has someone he can trust.

That trust isn’t something that comes easily. As I mentioned, he’s a believe it when I see it person. He needs to know that the trust is worth giving, that he won’t get burned by it. His job is the one place where he figures he can easily rely on the facts and what he knows to be true, so having Caffrey in his workplace is a constant conflict of interest. He needs to be able to trust the people he works with, but he also knows that Caffrey isn’t the type of person to deal in full disclosure.

When Elizabeth is kidnapped by Keller, Peter proves his level of determination and focus in getting back to his wife and the actual event is the one thing that truly shatters the trust that he had in Neal. It is a starting point where Peter actually feels like he needs to start over with his relationship with Neal, because this time Neal crossing the line pushed the danger element into his personal life. Elizabeth (being the wife of an agent, but also the wife of an agent with a CI named Neal Caffrey) escapes from her kidnapper and Keller is captured, but it does still put Neal and Peter on uneven terms for a while and it takes a lot for Peter to once again have that same partnership with Neal again.

Over the years of working with Neal, Peter’s method of work has definitely changed. Being more open to a bit of bending the rules in the sake of keeping a cover is something he turns a blind eye to a lot more frequently. He’s been a part of countless faked identities and stalling scams. He’s trained with Mozzie to learn how to perform a clean lift, how to lock-pick, and he’s portrayed countless people in order to gain intelligence. One of the best examples is during season one, when Peter threatens someone with a warrant for information, by flashing a folded up take-out menu. It’s not illegal, but it is a misrepresentation of the truth and it’s something that Peter, three years ago, might not have tried to risk.

Even with all of the shifts in his willingness to do a bit of the wrong things to get to the right results, he still maintains control of all of the situations. He needs to know what the goal is and how he’s going to get there. He likes to be in charge and when someone else is running the plays, he’ll check in on them and there’s a good chance he’ll run his own investigation without letting the other agent know, which might be a courtesy to not undermine their investigation, but usually Peter will solve the case before that other person.

He’s got a dry sense of humor, that often is his own amusement at the small things that he can’t actually believe are going on in front of him. It’s his preference for the standards, for the things he’s used to that ground him. He prefers his old watch to a new one. He likes the same coffee cup every morning. It’s routine, but it’s also a fondness for things that he was given for a reason.

He’s a horrible flirt, mostly due to his being married and his initial shyness around strong confident women. In fact, he’s such a horrible flirt that El makes fun of him for his “moves” when he goes to flirt with a woman for a case. In fact, she’s so secure in their marriage that she coaches him and guides him in how to talk to her and how to successfully flirt with the woman.

He’s learned a lot from Neal over the years, not that he’d admit it to him, but he knows what a valuable asset he is to the team, to his team. When the time comes for Neal to be put up for a commuted sentence, it takes a lot of thought for Peter to come to his final choice and state that he truly believes that Neal deserves to be free. Not only does Peter state for the record that he believes that Neal deserves to be free, but he is the one that waved him off on the steps when he was speaking with Agent Kramer, because he knows Peter deserves better than what Kramer has set up for him. He’s pulled countless strings to reassure that Neal gets that opportunity and to know that it was all for nothing, it puts Peter at a crossroads. By waving him off, he assures Neal a chance at the freedom he believes he’s earned.

It’s a huge choice for him to make, but when he states for the record that Neal deserves to be free, he truly believes it. There’s also a sense of pride that he’s been part of assuring that he gets that freedom and when they report to him that Neal ran - Peter already knew. Once more, it’s not about the end result but about knowing the details and being able to have control over the situation that gives Peter the most reassurance in his line of work. He knew Neal’s options and he looked at the possible results and he trusts that Neal will make the right choice.

First Person Sample: http://dear-mun.dreamwidth.org/942514.html?thread=24630450#cmt24630450

Third Person Sample: http://dontcallme-that.dreamwidth.org/601.html