The Many Folds of Origami

Neal's connection to the art of paper-folding can be traced back to the flashback episode "Forging Bonds" where when he and Alex communicated via origami flowers. In "Bad Judgment," Kate left Neal an origami message in a bouquet of flowers at her father's grave. When Neal stole a painting in the first season episode "The Portrait," he replaced it with an origami butterfly.

Why Neal plays the Hospital Game

One of the recurring elements in the Caffrey Conversation AU is something I call the Hospital Game. As far as I know it’s original to our series, but I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that other stories have something similar. My version was inspired by a specific episode of White Collar, common themes of fan fiction, and my own experience. Each of those inspirations brought with it a reason that Neal plays the game. However, I wasn’t always consciously aware of those reasons, instead relying on an instinct of “that feels like something Neal would do.” Let’s take a walk down memory lane to explore why I had Neal play hide and seek when he’s in a hospital.

The Power of Two

If there's a magic number for White Collar, it has to be two. The series is based on the strong relationship between Neal and Peter. Almost as important is Neal's friendship with Mozzie. In canon, much of the tension arises from Neal being pulled back and forth between his two friends.

Neal’s first days on the job

At the end of my story Choirboy Caffrey and at the start of By the Book, Neal is making the adjustment to a job in what could be the ultimate bureaucracy: a government agency. It’s a big change from his prior experience. In many ways his adjustment to working for the FBI in our AU mirrors what we saw in canon, with the challenges of being accepted and trusted by his peers, but I threw in a few extra elements.

The Arkham Round Table

Penna and I often compare working on the Caffrey Conversation AU to the team experience of screenwriters on a TV series. Many times we feel as if the characters are participating in our conversations. With the Arkham Round Table, I've extended the concept to the story itself.

Happy 50th Anniversary to Star Trek!

As I wallow in a Star Trek marathon this weekend, I’m also pondering the White Collar canon and Caffrey Conversation AU connections to the series.

When You Have to Take Down a Friend

In Raphael's Dragon, I pay tribute to one of the classic canon scenes of White Collar. In "Countdown" (Season 3, Episode 10), Peter suspects Neal stole the U-boat treasure. He calls on his former mentor Phillip Kramer for help, and Kramer warns him how it will hurt to arrest Neal. He says that Peter won't be slapping handcuffs on a criminal but on a friend. In Kramer's view, it's only a matter of time till Neal returns to his old ways.

Neal’s milestones box

At the end of Caffrey Flashback, Neal receives an item left to him by Byron. It’s something Silbrith and I refer to as a milestones box. In our stories, Neal uses it to store mementoes of his successes or of significant moments in his life. In a reference back to canon, Neal uses origami to represent those milestones, and Silbrith has been collecting amazing examples of origami for her Pinterest boards.

When I wrote the chapter introducing that milestones box, I shared with Silbrith how it was based on something in my own life, and she encouraged me to explain its origins in my chapter notes. However, I never got around to describing those origins, partly because I wasn’t ready to share the story with a wider audience. But now I am.