Trivia / Whateley Universe

• Dawson Casting: The stories centering on Chou Lee (Bladedancer) are often illustrated with pictures of Zhang Ziyi. The character is fifteen, the actress at least twelve years older...
• Promoted Fanboy: The interplay between the Canon writers and the fan base is a significant factor in the series' popularity and longevity.
  • When most of the Canon writers dropped out and the series seemed on the verge of collapsing, the two remaining Canon writers recruited several new members from the fanbase, reviving the site. This included canonizing a number of existing fanfics, particularly those of Pejuta, Whisper, and Ribbon.
  • Much of the canon of the series was originally explained in the site forum, and much of the wiki was originally based on such posts.
  • Two side characters, Mezzo and Ponygirl, began as entries in a fan contest.
  • Several other fan stories, vignettes, and characters have made their way into the canon, most notably the funeral of Aunghadhail, Lancer's investigation into the murder of Heyoka, and Dr. Diabolik's comment regarding the Tong of the Dark Madonna. This eventually led to the Canon writers making an explicit policy from Oct 2015 on that they would (with permission) cherry-pick suitable fan works to be added to the series.
• Technology Marches On: Most of the stories take place in 2006 or 2007. Consequentially, iPhones (which came out in June 2007) and other similar devices are considered new and exciting technology to the layperson in-story.
• Throw It In!: In "Ayla and the Birthday Brawl", when everyone was introducing themselves on the jet, the author accidentally skipped Tennyo. When this was pointed out on the forums, her reaction was "Oops. Just... uh, pretend she was having a shy-fit. Yeah." Later, when she was writing the scene from Aquerna's point of view for "Straight from the Squirrel's Mouth", she had Aquerna notice Tennyo slink back when her turn approached.
• Word of God: The authors have added multiple details not in the stories:
  • Meaningful Name: Dr. Diabolik's original name was Leonidas Diabliku, which he simplified to Diabolik when coming to the US; while Word of God states that it was not originally chosen for the ominous overtones, it turned out to be appropriate when he went rogue.
  • Military School: There's the optional military training program of the Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) at Whateley Academy.
    Word of God: It's not dedicated US Military, or even a branch. Students can sign up for credit with all of the US service branches and international students can apply their studies back to their home militaries. The JROTC corps on campus is a panoply of uniforms, Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, British, French, Etc. In fact, the only 'uniform' item is the Beret the students wear which, as the fiction of the unit is a 'multinational organization' has dispensation from both the U.N. and NATO to issue sky blue UN collation force colors.
  • Somewhere, an Equestrian Is Crying: Averted or subverted in The Bear, The Bitch and Everything (Part 2). Tansy opines that "the secret to good riding is gripping with your knees", which is apparently a hotly debated topic, according to Word of God, here:
    This is one of the most hotly debated topics in equestrian circles. The answer is...yes. If you're doing certain forms of advanced riding, dressage, steeple chase or barrel, knee gripping is something you [lose] points for because it damages your posture. But for new and inexperienced riders, as I learned, it's a great aid in maintaining your saddle because most horses are trained to SLOW DOWN when you grip them with your knees. Posture in my view is something you worry about once you've mastered staying on the horse.
  • Strong as They Need to Be: Chou Lee's powers are given to her by the Tao, and it gives her as much power as it sees fit. Word of God says nothing can stand in her way if the Tao deems it necessary. But usually it doesn't.
  • Sweet Polly Oliver: As per Word of God: Mr. Magic's son 'Artie' is actually 'Gwen'. He had an affair and she got pregnant, she broke off the affair out of concern 'about raising a child in the unstable life [he] led'. When he saw his child, "for some reason, possibly involving Gwen's tomboyish appearance, he mistook her for a boy. Seeing how elated he was in having a son, she decided to play along and—for some reason—her mother also went with the charade, both telling Mr. Magic that his daughter was a boy."

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