Line #62 WMG/Leviathan


1	[[WMG: After the War, Tesla's Technology will be put into wide use by America.]]
2	Although it's implied that [[spoiler: Goliath didn't work]] the American Army will go through his notes and find designs for everything. Even when not fully charged, [[spoiler: Goliath's energy release destroyed an entire Frigate.]] The Americans will develop long range artillery guns for ship that purposefully do this, but with operation carefully controlled so that the lightning doesn't see their ships or troops as a better target than the enemy's. Also, with America's mixed technology, they will begin growing Flechete Bats and water creatures around [[spoiler: Tesla's remote controlled boats and their air equivalent]] in order to better control them. The [[spoiler: boats]] themselves will be used as anti-[[spoiler:Kappa]] weapons in the Leviathan equivalent of WWII. Probably as a kamikaze attack to lure [[spoiler: Kappas]] into attack zones where soldiers can safely kill them.
3
4	[[WMG: Purely Darwinist powers such as Britan, France, and Russia will quickly die out]]
5	Eventually, Clanker and Mixed powers will develop heat-seeking missiles, jets, and computers that can outdo anything a fabricated beast can. When space travel starts to be developed, satellite-based weapons and espionage techniques will quickly be able to outdo the Darwinists. Purely Darwinist powers will either be destroyed or be forced to adapt mixed technologies, like in America and Japan.
6	* Equally, Clanker powers could be forced to adapt mixed technologies in the 21st century in light of climate change. Mixed technologies would just be better for everyone.
7
8	[[WMG: The call away for the Kappas has something to do with fabricated cucumbers]]
9	* Because it is kinda obscure, especially in WWI, and it would just be cool.
10	** I see it now;
11	"Mmm...Clanker sailo-CUCUMBERS!"
12	(Every Kappa in battle slides away seeking cucumbers).
13
14	[[WMG:Ummm, as the first random guess, I predict that Alek and Deryn will get together. This isn't very original, I know.]]
15	* Would it be more of a WMG that Alek and Deryn ''don't'' get together?
16	** Dr Barlow and Volger will also hook up, and did while they were offscreen in ''Behemoth.''
17
18	* [[spoiler: Confirmed.]] Except for that second part...
19
20	[[WMG: Alek and Deryn ''won't'' get together.]]
21	* Honestly, look at the author's track record with the romance in his various books. Literature/{{Uglies}} and Literature/{{Midnighters}} being the best examples.
22	** He's had just as many successful romances as tragic ones - look at {{Peeps}} and Literature/SoYesterday. It's still up in the air.
23	** Or, they get together and are separated by politics. If Alek becomes emperor, he won't be able to ''properly'' marry Deryn and so, she either has to be his mistress or just leave as they wouldn't wish a left-handed marriage on any children they have.
24	*** Thoroughly[[spoiler:, and satisfyingly, {{Jossed}}]]
25
26	[[WMG: The outcome of the war will be entirely different than it was in real history, with more a a truce than a beatdown.]]
27	* The author notes in the Afterword that he wants the Ottoman Empire to stay together.
28	** [[spoiler:Psuedo-Confirmed, because although it is implied that the war will end quickly, no truce was implied.]]
29
30	[[WMG: WWII will be HORRIBLE. Hitler will not just use both sides' technology, but also the most forbidden of all the sciences: [[TransHuman manipulating Human DNA to create]] [[UltimateLifeForm the Übermensch]].]]
31	Considering the Nazi obsession with Transhumanism, if they would ever appear in the timeline, they would abuse Darwinism for all its' worth. Millions more there will be killed there than they were in our world. The Nazis will probably turn to Darwinist tech to try to create [[{{SuperSoldier}}Aryan Übermensch]] and will have no qualms about creating {{Eldritch Abomination}}s made from Holocaust victims.
32	* And the Pacific theatre may turn into a much longer conflict than in the real world, and a lotmore devastatingly horrific. In OTL, Imperial Japan funded a massive Darwinist program for biological weapons experimentation,: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731 Unit 731]], and even in our timeline, human dissections notwithstanding, it has already produced freakish biological super-plagues that when unleashed onto the mainland would have done a catastrophe on the American economy. Now picture a 731 armed with near-magical genetic engineering, resulting in nation-destroying super-Ebolas and a LOT of [[CombatTentacles tentacle jokes.]]
33	* World War II, if it would ever occur, would also align America from a Mixed into a Clanker nation. The war with Nazi Germany in Real Life was what soured the perception that evolution and anything tampering with genetics are evil, and in the Leviathan-verse, we could see a lot of conservative Americans protesting against the use of Darwinist organisms as "Nazi eugenics". On the other hand, the Americans acquired a massive boost in physics when the Nazis expelled a lot of Jews including UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein forcing them to emigrate to the United States... and in this timeline, such a supply of exiled Clankers would ignite an equivalent of the Manhattan Project. Genetically-engineered Übermensch versus masses of nuclear-powered power armour, anyone?
34	** And it would also become a from of delicious irony: the Clanker Germans find themselves using Darwinist manipulation in its most horrific extremes (Genetic Engineering), while the traditionally-Darwinist-alliedAmerica would find itself despising Darwinism and embracing purely mechanical technology in its most destructive (the Atom Bomb).
35	* Providing the author even decides to go that far into history.
36	** Too late on that. Thanks a freaking lot, Westerfeld.
37	*** But if Westerfeld does, the Eastern European front will literally be flowing with blood.
38	* [[spoiler:Jossed? Isn't it implied in Goliath that the Great War will have a more satisfactory conclusion and thereby prevent the Second World War from happening?]]
39	** Yes, but World War I still happened even though the new technology would alter history so thoroughly that most of the historical people born after divergence shouldn't have been born due to sheer probability (walkers instead of cars altering traffic, changes to communication altering the likelihood of parents meeting, etc.). In this reality, Hitler was born and he'll be doing what he did in real life, albeit with a change for the new technology. After that bizarre meta-theory, I personally think that World War II in the Leviathan universe will be less like the first one described in the books. Some of the nations set up as Darwinist here were in the Axis during World War II, such as Italy. Thus, I believe that a WWII in this universe would be more like mixed-tech powers. The mixed nations will probably use steampunk cyborg animals as vehicles (elephantines grown around a walker with the head being filled by a cockpit instead of a brain for example), and if Nazi Germany would ever appear, expect a lot of ''Wolfenstein''-esque awesomeness such as genetically-enginnered Übermensch piloting HumongousMecha.
40
41	[[WMG: America is... (post your speculation on what America is like in the series here)]]
42	* This troper personally vouches for some sort of isolationist {{Zeerust}} utopia. (Note: I have not read Behemoth out, so I've got no clue if there is any reference to it in the book)
43	** {{Jossed}}. As of Behemoth, America uses a mix of Clanker and Darwin technology.
44	* America shall arrive and put the beatdown on the Germany, just as the its about to overwhelm the Darwinists, just like in the real WWI.... except Germany's going to use a bucketload of secret weapons this time.
45	** But America will have it's own, and we get to see the glory of fabricated humans fighting giant mechs. At least, that's what my head canon of the post-Goliath series is.
46	** Alternatively, thanks to some secret undercover missions, anti-war yellow journalism, and Alek taking the throne, UsefulNotes/WW1 ends early and the Americans never get involved at all, except perhaps to act as mediators during the treaty negotiations.
47	*** I'm going with beat down.
48
49	[[WMG: Dr. Barlow knows Dylan likes Alek...]]
50	* But still thinks he is a guy, and so believes him to be gay. Alternatively, this is what Alek believes and it makes him a wee bit uncomfortable...
51	** [[spoiler: {{Jossed}}. They are ''completely clueless'' about this. At least until Bovril steps in...]]
52
53	[[WMG: Volger doesn't know Deryn's real secret]]
54	* Much like with Dr. Barlow, he assumed something else. In this case, like the WMG above me, he believes "Dylan" to be gay.
55	** {{Jossed}}.
56
57	[[WMG:Russia is going to have [[BearsAreBadNews bear cavalry]]]]
58	* As of Behemoth, Austria-Hungary isn't doing so well against Russia's bears
59	** Confirmed.
60
61	[[WMG: The Japanese will have kick-ass fabricated beasts.]]
62	* RealLife WWI Japan had a ship that conducted the first naval-launched air raids, so you can bet they'll have the Darwinist version of a seaplane carrier and biplanes in Goliath. And actual [[AsianFoxSpirit multi-tailed foxes]].
63	** Alternatively, they will have HumongousMecha. Because it's ''Japan.''
64	*** But, given that Japan is a total Darwinist state here, and not a Clanker state, wouldn't that just be an utter absurdity?
65	*** But since Japan had only open up to the west in the mid 1800's (which is about the same time that DNA in this world was discovered), and only became a Darwinist nation in 1902. So maybe the Japanese were "courted" by the Darwinists and Clankers who provided "samples" of their tech and after Japan chose to go Darwinist they still kept some of the Clanker machines and there's still someone working on the machines. Oh yeah, as for fabs, the Japanese could have Franchise/{{Pokemon}} and Franchise/{{Godzilla}} in their arsenal!
66	* This troper is disappointed that this may be a case of poor research, as Japan borrowed much of it's modernized government (at the time) from the newly formed German state, and went to war with another of the "Darwinist" states only ten years before (Russia, if you need a hint). Besides, Japan will be resoundingly on the Clanker side of things come WWII, so why Darwinist now?
67	** Possibly because Japan will follow OTL's path and fight along their allies, the British. After feeling cheated out of the spoils of war, they shall break out the old Clanker tech and become a Hybrid of the two, like the Americans. Besides, Italy will be allied to Germany come World War II, yet they are obviously a Darwinist Power right now.
68	* WordOfGod says that the Japanese, like the Americans, will be mixing technologies. Which makes a lot of sense when you consider that what Westerfeld has stated to like about the Japanese is how willing they are to adapt the customs and technologies of other nations to their own needs and build on them.
69	* In real life the Meiji- and Taishou-era Navy imitated the British (Darwinists)[[note]]
70	[UsefulNotes/RussoJapaneseWar Admiral Togo]] was educated in Britain and the battleships at Tsushima were built there.[[/note]], while the Army imitated the Germans (Clankers). Perhaps fierce InterserviceRivalry exists between the IJN, who use genetically engineered battleship monsters or whatever, while the Army use Clanker-style walkers and flying machines.
71	* Confirmed: The Japanese have Kappa, some of the most powerful naval fabricated beasts. They resemble crocodiles and jump up onto boats to eat all of the sailors. No Europeans except the ones on the Leviathan have seen them in action and lived.
72	* [[CombatTentacles Insert Japanese Tentacle joke here]].
73
74	[[WMG: If they're ever shown, the Australians are going to have the scariest fabricated beasts]]
75	* Think about it, [[UsefulNotes/AustralianWildlife everything]] in Australia is already trying to [[{{DeathWorld}} kill you]]. All the Aussie fabricators really have to do is to make the animals more trainable and a bit bigger if need be.
76	** Their equivalent of Britain's krakens will be resized platypodes and stingrays.
77	** [[MemeticMutation Spiders so big]] [[http://www.roflposters.com/australia-where-the-spiders-are-so-big-they-have-health-bars/500853/ they have their own health bars!]]
78	** Too bad we never see anything of the continent. Just like how Philip Reeve forgot to write it into the Mortal Engines Quartet.
79	* Australia was a dominion of the British Empire during WWI. It's likely that many of Britain's Beasties have Australian lifechains, especially given how ''Leviathan'''s creator owns a pet thylacine.
80
81	[[WMG: Doctor Barlow is a MrsRobinson.]]
82	* For Dylan or Deryn (if she's figured it out). Some of her actions in Behemoth... hoo boy...
83	** Which actions?
84	*** {{Jossed}}, I think.
85
86	[[WMG: Someday, the Clankers will invent the nuclear bomb while the Darwinists will invent a supervirus.]]
87	* Both sides would be forced into a UsefulNotes/ColdWar situation or face the absolute destruction of at least human life.
88	** And it will end with the destruction of humanity. You know, for kids!
89
90	[[WMG: WWII won't happen.]]
91	* But I doubt it, as the possibilities are too awesome...
92	** And too horrific.
93	*** I'm going with awesome. Japan and America, two hybrid nations duking it out in the Pacific?
94	* Considering how high this series is on the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism, this actually seems pretty likely to me. After all, it's made abundantly clear that all sides of this fight are at least partially to blame for the conflict and the author's already changed history to save the historical "Sick man of Europe" Ottoman Empire. It's not too out-there to think that this war might end more reasonably for the Clankers than its real-world equivalent did, which would go a long way to preventing both the rise of the Nazi party and WWII in general.
95	* On the other hand, Hitler was probably a bit insane, so it's possible that he would ''still'' somehow become a dictator. In this case, since [[spoiler: Deryn and Alex join the Zoological Society, which is sort of like an international espionage and peacekeeping corps,]] it's very likely that the two of them, Barlow, and Volger would manage to end WWII early as well, or kill Hitler before he does anything too bad, in something of a subversion of Hitler'sTimeTravelExemptionAct.
96	* An alternative theory. Going under the assumption that the political situation in Russia and East Asia doesn't change, WWII will be the Western Allies vs the USSR and it's allies. The Romanovs will still be deposed and replaced by the Bolsheviks under Lenin, either at around the same time or later than our history. Russia will plunge into civil war, countries like Poland, Finland, etc. will make bids for independence. Eventually, Stalin will rise to power (he had the connections and the determination to get rid of Trotsky). Because Wilson was unwilling to deal with Wilhelm II, as in real life, Germany will become a republic to get the best peace possible. If Russia becomes Communists early enough, they will be able to make Germany into a Communist satellite state and later turn it's attentions to China. Because of Imperial Japanese ambition, Japan will continue it's aggression in China, making the USSR to want to have a friendly Beijing. Japan will turn to England, it's ally for held. England will either turn against Japan or aid it. Political and economic problems in Europe and North America and weariness of Russia will lead to an UK/France/Poland alliance against USSR/China/Communist Germany/Republican Spain. The wild card in this theory is Japan; either it is abandoned by the UK out of fear of it's aggression, or Japan is taken on as the token evil teammate for the Allies. The US will act like it did during WWII, but Russia will most likely attack the US through Alaska, or manage to use aircraft carries like the Japanese. It all depends upon the technology level and when the Russian Revolution happens. With a very short WWI, the technological developments from those four years won't happen, they're more likely to happen later, same with many social and economic changes. So the mentality of the 1920's and the Great Depression will also happen later, but the rise of Chinese Communism under Mao may happen earlier. I am of the camp that WWII will happen more in the mid 1940's for the earliest date and the early 1950's for the latest date. A longer period of strong economic growth will get the technology to the level it should be for WWII, and the social changes should happen some time in the mid 1920's and into the 1930's. I personally think that the natural disasters of the 1930's are unavoidable and will probably exasperate the political and social issues of the day.
97
98
99	[[WMG: Russia won't have any sort of Revolution but USA will]]
100	* Because everybody and their grandma did Communist Russia. B-O-R-I-N-G. So how about USA becoming a communist country or a dictatorship?
101
102
103	[[WMG: We'll wind up in France or Russia somehow during Goliath]]
104	* C'mon. We've really only seen the naval/aeronautical power of the Darwinists so far: A real, grisly scene of trench warfare has yet to occur, and I want to see land-beasts and walkers have at it!
105	** Not to mention that the first Russian revolution took place during (and because of) World War One.
106	*** Confirmed, though Russia makes a ''very'' brief appearance, as does Japan, for that matter.
107
108	[[WMG: Deryn will die.]]
109	* Scott Westerfeld seems awfully fond of screwing his romances over, and has apparently has been quoted as saying something along the lines of "you can't have a war story without someone dying". Since Alek presumably needs to survive and inherit an empire, Deryn seems to be the most likely victim.
110	** On top of that, Deryn won't have told Alek about her being a girl. He'll find out through a doctor, or when he goes to her funeral.
111	*** [[spoiler: {{Jossed}}]]
112
113	[[WMG:Volger or Dr. Barlow will die.]]
114	* If somebody is going to die, they seem the most likely.
115	** [[spoiler: {{Jossed}}]]
116
117
118	[[WMG: In the third book, Deryn will end up with an UnwantedHarem]]
119	Read: [[LesYay Lilit]], [[SweetOnPollyOliver Alek]], [[CrackPairing Newkirk]], and some Japanese person. [[TwinThreesomeFantasy Preferably twins.]] And besides, this is ''[[RefugeinAudacity Japan]]'' were talking about here. [[TropeMaker An Unwanted harem is obligatory.]]
120	** [[spoiler: {{Jossed}}]]
121
122
123	[[WMG:Bovril and the other perspicacious loris will continue to become more and more intelligent until they are entirely sentient beings, thus breaking one of the chief rules of Darwinist fabrication.]]
124	* And so the Terminator franchise will have adorable little ferret-weasel things instead of robots? AWESOME!
125	** Eh, close enough.
126	*** Who knows what happens after the books. Thanks for nothing, Westerfeld.
127
128	[[WMG: Deryn Sharp is a relative or descendant of [[Series/{{Sharpe}} Richard Sharpe]]]]
129	* Specifically the TV movie version. In the TV movies, Richard Sharpe is a short, blond northern badass. Deryn is, of course, a blonde Scot badass. Also both the Sharp and Sharpe families are step clans of Clan Stewart: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clan_Stewart
130	** Possible relation to Anne Sharp from the Michael Crichton book Pirate Latitudes as well? I mean, admittedly she's from the 1600's, I think, but it's still plausable. She's certainly bad-ass enough to be Deryn's predicesor. Not to mention she's pretty much proto-Darwinist, considering how much sex she has...
131
132	[[WMG: UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler will make an appearance in Goliath.]]
133	* The historical Hitler fought in WWI.
134	** Running with this - it will be under his original last name, Schickelgruber, so more casual readers won't make the link. And of course, he won't have the mustache.
135	*** He ''did'' have a mustache in WWI, although it wasn't a Toothbrush mustache.
136	*** Adolf's ''father'' was once named Schicklgruber but changed it before Adolf was born. Still, since this is an alternate history, he could possibly be using the surname.
137	*** Maybe he'll have been accepted into the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna and become an artist instead of a sociopathic dictator.
138	*** [[spoiler: {{Jossed}}]]
139	----
140
141
142	[[WMG: Trotsky will make an appearance in Goliath.]]
143	* Westerfeld hinted the Leviathan will head to New York in the third book. Guess who took a tour around the U.S in the war years?
144	** [[spoiler: {{Jossed}}]]
145
146
147	[[WMG: Leviathan is the not-so-distant-past of [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Evangelion.]]]]
148	* Think about it...
149
150	[[WMG: Following the Russian Revolution the Soviet Union will become a Clanker state]]
151	Because Stalin rejected Darwinism as "bourgeois science" and sent geneticists to the gulags.
152
153	[[WMG: There will be a fanfiction of the series that features fabricated humans.]]
154	* Yeah, yeah, we all know it's illegal. But did that stop chemical warfare in the real WWI? No. Somewhere, sometime, some fan of Leviathan is going to sit down and think "we need fabricated humans". And then pormptly do it. Most likely creating [[{{SuperSoldier}} supersoldiers]], as stated above.
155	** Confirmed. This fic here; http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7496482/1/Darwins_Fist
156
157	[[WMG: The future of the Leviathan universe will be {{Cyberpunk}}.]]
158	* Cyberpunk often includes both highly advanced technology, genetic engineering, and the melding of flesh and technology.
159
160	[[WMG: A "fortified" Volger kisses Barlow on New Year's}.]]
161	* Whether or not you see Varlow as canon, or how much stock you give to Barlow's real life marriage, RuleofFunny says it must be so. Leading to some awkward discussion the next day.
162	** [[FoeYayShipping Hey, I ship Volger and Barlow, and I think this WMG is positively brilliant.]] And as to Barlow's husband... We can always arrange for him to die in the trenches, MWA HA HA!
163
164	[[WMG: This Universe's World War II...]]
165	* Will resemble some ungodly cross between ''VideoGame/RedAlert3'' (minus the Camp) and ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion''. With Stalin taking power post-Russian Revolution, he'll adapt Clanker technologies, but realize that Darwinist technology is still quite useful, and aim to make the Soviet Union into a Hybrid Power, like America and Japan. Without Nazi Germany to divert most of its resources against, Russia will start to expand its influence even further, and start butting heads with both America and Japan. Meanwhile, Japan has started to conquer East Asia, and attacks the U.S. much like in real life. Things start to escalate, and America, Russia, and Japan find themselves in a three-way war, and start combining Clanker and Darwinist tech, resulting in all three nations fielding Proto-Evas, alongside whatever else comes about from this.
166
167	[[WMG: The perspicacious loris was created to set up a spy network.]]
168	* The lorises converse with each other at every given opportunity, have a knack for learning languages on the fly, and have an ability to see the heart of important issues and problems around them. They're practically pre-computer data miners. Sure, they are somewhat entertaining, and ''can'' be helpful in a pinch. All the more reason to hand them out as gifts to the heir (somewhat) apparent of Austria-Hungary and the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire-- and presumably, they're valuable enough to give more away as diplomatic gifts. Visiting members of the London Zoological Society who were accompanied by lorises would gain valuable information in places of interest without even trying.
169
170	[[WMG: Darwin didn't discover genetic engineering, but [[Website/SCPFoundation Sarkic Flesh-crafting]]]]
171	* While on the Beagle, Darwin learned about the secrets of flesh-crafting from surviving Sarkic shamans. Researching and honing the art for the next few decades, he unveiled it publicly in the 1850s, claiming they were merely conventional scientific discoveries. As the British Empire was empowered by Sarkic biotech in the late 19th century, the Germans, Austrians and Ottomans struck deals with the Church of the Broken God allowing them to share their technology, that they may each gain an edge over their respective enemies.\
172	\

Context WMG / Leviathan