Klaus Mansfeld: A Rude Awakening

When the White Collar team encouraged Diana to write Arkham Files, the intention was to influence Azathoth's behavior. Neal and Peter had already been abducted by him and a repeat performance was a constant threat. Several months after Diana published the first story, they discovered that Rolf's brother Klaus was alive. In the next story, Diana introduced a character to represent Neal's former mentor and master art thief. Klaus called himself the Leopard, so Diana chose a saber-toothed leopard named Sornoth to represent him. When Diana portrayed Sornoth as an unthinking killing machine, her goal was to mock Klaus for what he had become since joining Ydrus.

Treats from the Chocolate Box

At last, the Chocolate Box exchange authors have been revealed, and I can share the stories I've written for this year's event.

Caravaggio in Caffrey Conversation

In canon, the artist Neal is most closely associated with is Raphael. In my stories, Caravaggio runs a close second. The Italian Baroque master is known for his dramatic use of chiaroscuro, a technique that contrasts light and dark. Chiaroscuro could be seen as a metaphor for the tension between Neal's former life and his new career at the Bureau.

I like spoilers

I confess. I like spoilers.

Shedding Skins

This week I started writing a new story for my series Tales from the Library (The Invisible Library fandom). One of the main characters is a shapeshifter. Kai appears human, but he's a dragon—complete with scales, horns, tail, and wings. He can shed his human appearance at will, and is even able to sustain a transitional stage where his eyes turn red and his skin develops a fern-like pattern hinting of scales. Sometimes the transformation occurs involuntarily. For instance, given sufficient provocation, he can become so angry his dragon characteristics involuntarily rise to the surface. Thinking about Kai's nature, I was reminded of Neal, Peter, and Henry's situation in The Musicians. They're also shedding their skins, but for them, the transformation is a mental one.

Caffrey Conversation's Travis Miller

Travis Miller, White Collar's tech expert, was first welcomed into the Caffrey Conversation family in Complications. My purpose in creating Travis was not just to add a resident geek but also to increase the team's diversity by including someone who isn't a by-the-book Bureau agent. His role has gradually expanded until now he's like one of those nifty USB hubs which can connect to a multitude of devices.

The Animals of Caffrey Conversation

For one of the stories I'm writing for the AO3 Chocolate Box exchange, I plan to include a scene set at a zoo. When I mentioned that to Silbrith, her response reminded me of how often we've included animals in the Caffrey Conversation AU. I invite you along as I reminisce about the animals we've featured so far.