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*facepalm*
For some reason I just wrote 1500 words of the most depressing White Collar OT3 fic ever, in which Neal is incorporated in the Burkes' relationship post-anklet and everything is fine and happy until it becomes increasingly obvious that he and Elizabeth have EVERYTHING in common with each other, and nothing in common, really, with Peter. She's finally got someone to go to the theater with, and to fancy restaurants, and someone who likes to attend her galas, and someone she can cook interesting, exotic meals for! And eventually they both start to realize that they have a lot more fun without Peter along, and he's never going to be more than an anchor holding them back, so they dump him.
... I NEED PUPPIES AND KITTENS, STAT! D:
(And yet, it's tragically easy for me to see this being a very plausible outcome of the OT3. Nobody has to be a bad guy for it to work out like that, and in fact I really don't think I'm writing them that way -- if you've got two people in the relationship who have most of their interests in common and one person who shares almost none of those interests, it's all too likely that one person is going to end up being a third wheel most of the time. Which may be one reason why I don't write OT3 much ...)
ETA: And what's all the more irritating that this has suddenly become kinda-sorta OT3 headcanon is that it really annoys me when people in the fandom a) assume that Peter is a complete clod who has no appreciation of anything other than beer and sports (he's not! He likes French takeout and he can do wine talk and he knows all about Prada bags!) and b) that even if he is that way, it's a value judgment on his worthiness as a person. I hate that. And here I am basically writing that. *facepalms forever*
ETA2: On the other hand, since I haven't written the ending yet, the above ETA made me think that perhaps Peter goes and teaches himself some of these things (because he really can do that if he puts his mind to it; see the episode where he tangoes, or the one with the wine tasting) because that's what he thinks they want, and he's afraid he'll lose them otherwise. But it's clearly not making him happy, and actually they just want him the way he is. THERE, I FIXED IT. :D (Even though the other way is probably more realistic.)
... I NEED PUPPIES AND KITTENS, STAT! D:
(And yet, it's tragically easy for me to see this being a very plausible outcome of the OT3. Nobody has to be a bad guy for it to work out like that, and in fact I really don't think I'm writing them that way -- if you've got two people in the relationship who have most of their interests in common and one person who shares almost none of those interests, it's all too likely that one person is going to end up being a third wheel most of the time. Which may be one reason why I don't write OT3 much ...)
ETA: And what's all the more irritating that this has suddenly become kinda-sorta OT3 headcanon is that it really annoys me when people in the fandom a) assume that Peter is a complete clod who has no appreciation of anything other than beer and sports (he's not! He likes French takeout and he can do wine talk and he knows all about Prada bags!) and b) that even if he is that way, it's a value judgment on his worthiness as a person. I hate that. And here I am basically writing that. *facepalms forever*
ETA2: On the other hand, since I haven't written the ending yet, the above ETA made me think that perhaps Peter goes and teaches himself some of these things (because he really can do that if he puts his mind to it; see the episode where he tangoes, or the one with the wine tasting) because that's what he thinks they want, and he's afraid he'll lose them otherwise. But it's clearly not making him happy, and actually they just want him the way he is. THERE, I FIXED IT. :D (Even though the other way is probably more realistic.)
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Neal and Peter and El drift apart until, very sadly, Neal ends it. After a while, he starts dating Sara again. It doesn't really matter what happens after that because fandom murders me.
But, like you, I couldn't resist adding a happy ending. Neal rekindles his friendship with Peter and Elizabeth, and while Peter/El and Neal/Sara remain two distinct couples, they do get together occasionally to hang out and sometimes have sex.
On the subject of your story, I think that while Neal and Elizabeth share the more obvious interests, the two of them do have things in common with Peter. Peter enjoys dancing (Elizabeth mentions him smiling the entire time they took the salsa class), and he and Neal both have a passion for crime and the solving of it. Besides, Elizabeth clearly does appreciate the kind of man Peter is. She likes glamor, but she has likes the quieter, simpler things too. And Neal, I think, is learning to. Sure, he'll never lose his love for the extravagant and exotic. But people are more important to him than things. See him and Kate and their cheap wine.
I think the OT3 is actually uneven in a whole bunch of way, which ends up evening it out, if that makes sense. El and Neal have more interests in common, Peter and El have over ten years of history, and Peter and Neal have their unique intensity. There's no one person who feels useless. Or so I declare.
Man, and here I thought I didn't ship Peter/El/Neal anymore. Clearly, I still have some feelings there.
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Yeah, I think this is true. When I write them, I don't try and pretend that it's all even. But they all work in their own ways.
I would totally read that fic, btw. Like a shot. I love fics that deal with both Neal's feelings for Peter(/El) (which are really strong subtext even in canon, no matter what he says about Peter being his father) and have Neal/Sara, too. And there aren't many of them, sadly.
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I've thought about making it a big bang. I've never done a big bang before, and I'm naturally a low word count writer. But I think I could get 10,000 words out of this.
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But anyway, yeah - Neal working with Peter AND having a relationship with Peter and El has always felt terribly claustrophobic to me - like, Neal, I love you sweetie, PLEASE GO MAKE SOME FRIENDS SO YOUR LIFE ISN'T 24/7 PETER. I think it works much better for me in post-anklet fics where he has a job elsewhere than the FBI. It is certainly possible for a couple to work together (I know people who do that, in fact) but I think Peter and Neal really, really need some time apart from each other and two separate support systems, or things are going to fall apart in a rather awful way.
And while the consent issue with the anklet is something that bothers me a lot (on both sides - Neal because he can't really say no, Peter because it's such a blatant ethics violation that he'd lose his job in a heartbeat), I'd never really thought about the fact that they can never really be safe having an open relationship even after the anklet comes off, because how can they ever prove they didn't start it beforehand? Um, wow. Yeah.
So basically, tl;dr would read the hell out of that fic. :D
I think you have a good point about the inequalities and stress points all balancing when viewed as a whole, though. Any single axis of the dynamic is potentially somewhat fucked up, but when taken all together, it kinda cancels out ...
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Heh, yes. I think canon is a lot better about this than fandom is. There's Mozzie of course, and Neal and June clearly hang out, plus there's Sara at various points in cannon. But fandom is (understandably) focused on the Neal and Peter connection, and those other relationships fade away. Which leads to the fandom representation of Peter and Elizabeth being Neal's entire family, rather than members of it. (I would love more Neal based hurt/comfort stories that involved the other people he loves.
I'd never really thought about the fact that they can never really be safe having an open relationship even after the anklet comes off, because how can they ever prove they didn't start it beforehand? Um, wow. Yeah.
Once I thought about it, I couldn't unthink it, and I think it's responsible for a lot of my diminished OT3 enthusiasm. If someone were to look only at Peter's record, rather than the man himself, and see all those suspensions and citations (investigated for bribery, assaulting a fellow agent, investigated for evidence tampering), it wouldn't be a huge leap to suspect him of abusing his CI. And if Neal insists that the relationship started only after his sentence was complete, well maybe he's dismissed because as a convicted felon, obviously he would lie, or maybe his word can't trusted because Peter's clearly been coercing him for so long. The accusation just seems too terribly possible.
It would be an interesting fic to write, though I don't know what I would do with how canon has progressed since I thought it up. (It amuses me deeply, that I had this whole storyline with Sara coming to trust Neal again and their relationship slowly coming together... and in canon they had dinner and had sex, and that was that. Clearly, I was overthinking something.)
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Hm. I can definitely see the worry, and how the accusation could be made. But if there's no way to disprove the accusation that Peter (and El) were sleeping with Neal before the anklet came off....well, there's not really a way to *prove* it either. Especially when it isn't true. (I do agree that it's extremely unlikely Peter would do so before it comes off, for consent reasons.)
So the authorities could make the accusation. But then Peter says it isn't true, El says it isn't true, Neal says it isn't true...okay sure, they could all be lying - Peter and El for cause, Neal for some form of stockholm. Then Diana says it isn't true, Jones says it isn't true, June says it isn't true, Sara says it isn't true...that's a lot of people to serve as character witnesses, people who are close to the situation. (Mozzie ain't testifying for anybody. Not even Neal and El.) Granted, they are all friends of one or all of them. But then they look at Neal's anklet, where he noticeably didn't stay the night at the Burkes while on the anklet. Of course that proves nothing. But the good lawyer(s) that the 3 of them have hired make a lot of it an any inquiry. And that lawyer also points out that Peter was firmly cleared of every single charge against him, and that Neal has been working with the bureau for years now. It comes down to "well THIS looks suspicious" versus "we told you NO. Place a charge and try us (with a completely non-cooperating 'victim') or drop it." I don't think prosecutors would touch a case like this, with only circumstantial evidence, tons of hostile witnesses, and an uncooperative 'victim' who is no longer a ward of the state.
Of course, that doesn't mean that Peter keeps his job in the FBI. And I have no idea how hard it is or isn't to get fired from the FBI. But I figure the FBI has to show some cause. As this isn't 1953 anymore, living in an open polyamorous relationship is *not* cause. (Although NY state might still have some weird archaic bigamy laws on the books? Not a lawyer here.) If Peter got fired for this, he could sue.* Now whether he would is another question - there are things they don't want brought up. But his job is important to him, and I think El and Neal would tell him to do so.
Peter may not get promoted ever again. Neal probably couldn't contract with the bureau anymore. But El wouldn't be affected, and even with all of those things I think they could get through it.
Apropos of nothing, I like to call the OT3 (or OT4) pairing the "when the show moves to Showtime" ending. No, the show isn't moving to Showtime. And yes, that's really only funny in my head. I am aware.
*Edit - I should add that ENDA has not been passed, so a hell of a lot of real-life folks are fired for being LGB or T, let alone openly poly/triad. And of course an at-will state lets you be fired for any non-protected reason. But the Federal Government is different than states - harder to get fired from, and there's no reason to think that doesn't include the FBI. (Also, if we're talking actual realism, I think they show went off *that* rail in season 1.)
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I don't know. I think there'd have to be something going not quite right in their relationships with Peter before this would ever happen. I don't see the two of them just going from "happy with Peter" to "happier with each other." It doesn't make any sense at all in my head.
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... or something like that. :D
But yeah, I agree with you that a laundry list of common interests doesn't even begin to capture whatever chemistry makes people fall in love with each other.
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Still, that doesn't mean she wouldn't value what Neal brings to a relationship. Elizabeth values Peter's real love for her over romantic trappings, but that doesn't mean she wouldn't appreciate someone who is good at that kind of stuff, which Neal definitely is.
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ETA:
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Dunno, just thinking about my own relationships, and the difference between the people I share interests with and do things with in comparison with the people I fall in love with and/or want to have sex with.
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I think this is especially true in the case of OT3 fic. Some of my favorites are the one where Neal chafes a bit over having to hide, because let's be real--Peter is a fairly high-level government worker and Neal is a ex-con. That would be a high stakes relationship even if El weren't around. I bet the first time they go to dinner, Peter insists on driving to NJ. There's so much potential there for delicious dramatic feelings/angst. Especially with Neal's dependency issues and the fact that Peter seems to be blissfully unaware of how cutting some of his neverending prison jokes are.