White Collar × DC

White Collar x DC (WCDC) refers to the crossover fandom between the 2009-2014 television series White Collar and the multimedia DC Comics series. Despite often being referred to as a crossover involving DC, the fandom is almost exclusively focused on the Batfamily⁠ fandom—and specifically the blue-eyed and black-haired characters Dick Grayson (most popular), Jason Todd, and Tim Drake⁠—without focus on the wider shared universe of DC.
Unlike other crossover fandoms such as SuperWhoLock and Rise of the Brave Tangled Dragons, WCDC is more of a fusion crossover, almost always based on the premise that "Neal Caffrey" is an alias for one of Batman's protégés.
==Fandom==
===Popularity===
As of January 2023, there are over 1,300 fics on AO3 tagged with both White Collar and a DC fandom.filter, 1,311 on 11 Jan 2023, The concept has existed on AO3 since 2010The Embarrassment of Riches Heist by Betty (28 May 2010). but popularity surged in 2020. A tag for Dick Grayson as Neal Caffrey appeared in 2016, but there were few occurrences.Seven Years Running... by Quinis (18 Dec 2016). nashequilibrium identifies the fandom as beginning in summer 2020,I believe I found the fandom in summer 2021, at which point there were around 300 fics. I think it was helped when TheWitchBoy, who was already popular in Batman fandom, posted a crossover at the start of WC/DC 2021 (here, with over 2,000 kudos). —Sobqjmv sphinx (talk) a few months into the COVID-19 lockdowns, but spiking in August 2021, when White Collar/DC Week began.Cowardly and Superstitious Lots: A Statistical Analysis of White Collar and Batman Crossover Fics on AO3 Chapter 1: Fun With Timelines: When Did This Crossover Get Popular? by nashequilibrium (17 Dec 2021).White Collar/DC Week 2021 collection, with 233 works.
===Engagement===
Particularly appealing to some fic writers was the high level of engagement present in the fandom's height. Nearly seventy works (0.05%) have over a hundred commentsfilter and more than 370 (28%) have over a thousand kudos.filter While it's difficult to calculate an average, it's safe to assume that these statistics are uncommonly higher than most fandoms. Destinationtoast found in 2014 that 90% of works have 14 or fewer comments and the same percentage have 97 or fewer kudos.AO3 WORD COUNTS, DATES, AND POPULARITY METRICS
===Tropes===
*A Batfamily member is Neal Caffrey, usually one of the Robin boys 
*Oblivious Peter Burke and subversions, involving multiple Bats acting as Neal, sometimes within the same week 
*Bat!Neal is usually undercover to investigate League of Assassins involvement in the FBI
*Most fics involve an identity reveal, clues leading up to one, or its aftermath
===Shipping===
The following ships seem to appear most frequently: 
*Elizabeth Burke/Peter Burke
*Dick Grayson/Wally West
*Jason Todd/Roy Harper
*Neal Caffrey/Jason Todd
*Tim Drake/Conner Kent
*Tim Drake/Conner Kent/Jason Todd
==Discussion==
See also "Cowardly and Superstitious Lots: A Statistical Analysis of White Collar and Batman Crossover Fics on AO3" "archived by nashequilibrium (17 December 2021). 
*AO3 Tagging System
*Second degree fandom
==Events and Projects== 
White Collar DC Week
*https://whitecollar-dc-week.tumblr.com/ [active 2021]
*https://whitecollardcweek.tumblr.com/ [active 2022-4]
===2021===
* on the whitecollar-dc-week tumblr
*https://archiveofourown.org/collections/whitecollardcweek2021
*https://archiveofourown.org/tags/White%20Collar%20DC%20Week%202021
<!-https://web.archive.org/web/20230319232816/https://archiveofourown.org/works/34447978 -- a 2021 fic by TheWitchBoy has the bingo card used for prompts -->
===2022===
* 
*https://archiveofourown.org/collections/white_collar_dc_22
*https://archiveofourown.org/tags/White%20Collar%20DC%20Week%202022
===2023===
* https://archiveofourown.org/tags/White%20Collar%20DC%20Week%202023/works
===Discord Servers:===
* Undercover Bats
* Birdwatchers -- "a Batfam-oriented Discord Server with a Dedicated DC/White Collar Community" a WCDC fic by TheWitchBoy
==Example Fanworks==
===Fan art===
* alt link
===Fanfiction===
*Found by Blueseabird2, Dick Grayson as Neal Caffrey (16 Dec, 2021)
*What Makes a Gothamite by Dragonfly_Dream, Dick Grayson as Neal Caffrey (25 Jun—25 Dec, 2022)
*These Roots Run Deep by RandomReader13, Dick Grayson as Neal Caffrey (12 Aug, 2021)
*from fedora to red hood by impravidus, Jason Todd as Neal Caffrey (22 Apr, 2021)
*that feel when people from your secret real life come to your sorta secret fake life by impravidus, Tim Drake as Neal Caffrey (17 Jan—6 Feb, 2021)
==Fan Communities and Archives==
*Batman and White Collar crossovers on FanFiction.Net (FFN)
* White Collar/DC Week on Tumblr
* Tags on Archive of Our Own: White Collar DC Week 2021, White Collar DC Week 2022, White Collar DC Week 2023
* on Twitter
* Undercover Bats on Discord
==References==
Category:CrossoverCategory:White CollarCategory:BatmanCategory:Glossary