Building Eternis: The Real History Behind the Fiction

Hello Fellow Shifters!

This week I want to dive a little deeper into the lore of the world of Shifters: Jessica’s Story. Allow me to guide you through some of the real history that inspired the laws of Eternis and the predjudice that resides there.

As an avid history nerd whose comfort series’ are WW2 documentaries, the foundation for the society of Eternis was obvious. The laws are heavily inspired by the Nuremberg Laws from Nazi Germany, along with the Jim Crow Laws from the Southern United States. Both systems use a combination of fear, manipulation, and propaganda to control the narrative. Shifters are seen as dangerous animals who cannot be trusted, spies that can literally be anywhere. Imagine being taught you can’t even trust the song birds singing in your yard!

One of the most obvious historic examples are the Ghettos where the Shifters are forced to live and work. Another is the SRC — the Shifter Rehabilitation Center — which draws obvious parallels with the WW2 concentration camps, specifically those where the horrific medical experiments took place. I actually had a hard time getting the tone right at first, because I couldn’t imagine being that horrible to another human being and I thought I was being too harsh. Only once I did more research I realized I was actually being too nice! 

That realization changed how I approached the story. I leaned into the darker and grittier aspects of our history and applied them to the world of Shifters. I explored the reality of what fear and propaganda can do to a society, and what it means when you’re an outsider. It’s scary, living in a world that wants you dead.

Next week I’ll leave the real world history behind and dive into the history and lore of Eternis. We’ll explore how Shifters evolved, how the gene works, and the types of animals that I chose to include. 

Stay Wild!

Allie