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.

Warning for mild spoilers for Caffrey Conversation stories.

Naturally we include the canon animals in our stories. Peter and El have Satchmo. June has Bugsy. Mozzie has Percy. In "By the Book" I included a cat named Charlotte, who I think of as our first animal guest star. When Silbrith introduced us to Peter's parents, they had a dog named Barclay, and we learned that the Burkes had other dogs and a cat when Peter was growing up. Henry had a dog named Lulu when he was a child, and recently adopted Splash. In "Caffrey Disclosure" we learn that Travis had dogs growing up, and he's fondly tolerant of Satchmo stepping on him.

Writing scenes where our favorite characters interact with animals gives us the opportunity to explore a softer side of their lives. Animals are a perfect focus for fluffy scenes, and they also ensure that our characters experience unconditional love.

We expanded on that by giving Neal and others animal nicknames. Neal is Baby Bear and Lion Cub, Angela is Funny Bunny, Henry is Tiger and Tickle Bug, June is Junebug, El is Honeybee, Peter is Pluto (the dog, not the planet), and Neal's grandmother is Bluebird. These nicknames are mostly tied to childhood events, and have resulted in tales about our characters as adorable children. An interesting variation on the use of animal nicknames is villain Klaus as the Leopard. When Silbrith and I see photos of baby leopards, it triggers conversations of whether there's a softer side of Klaus that we can appeal to.

The nicknames have also opened up opportunities for jokes. When stargazing, Peter can tease "Baby Bear" Neal about the Ursa Minor constellation. Silbrith included a "three bears" con in "The Woman in Blue," and gives Neal a close encounter with a bear in "The Dreamer."

We've also included stuffed animals as a way to explore the soft side of our characters. In canon this was done with Mozzie's teddy bear, Mozart. I've given Neal a stuffed animal puppy that was returned to him in "Caffrey Disclosure." Silbrith gave Sara a giraffe named Gypsy. The stories behind those animals are sweet, and the characters share those stories only with people they trust -- as you'll see in upcoming scenes of "The Musicians" by Silbrith.

The first time I recall using birds in a story was in "Caffrey Flashback" when Tricia posed as a bird watcher. We expanded on that in other stories, making Tricia an avid birder and environmentalist, which became an element that helped win Mozzie over. Mozzie is a naturalist, interested not only in birds, but also passionate about bees. Silbrith took the canon scene of Mozzie in a beekeeper suit and turned bees into an ongoing passion, resulting in Neal and friends making an animated film about bees and damselflies. Mozzie's girlfriend Janet shares those interests, and loves butterflies, dragonflies, frogs, and more; she is a costume designer inspired by nature. I think of these animal instances as reflections of our own interests outside of writing -- especially for Silbrith. These elements of wildlife and the outdoors are largely due to her influence.

Silbrith also came up with the snake code names for members of the criminal organization Ydrus. Not all of our animals are good guys, after all.

Meanwhile, the novel I'm writing included seals as first. Next a duckling insisted that she needed a role. Then she needed a friend, so I added a swan. Then as a villain became more real to me, she needed a cat. I'm sensing a trend here...