Monster High, Individuality, and the Unexpected Birth of Aeternium

What started as a school turned into a whole damn universe with politics, magic, and time paradoxes...

How Monster High Shaped My Sense of Individuality

Monster High is a fashion doll franchise and animated series created by Mattel, featuring teenage monsters navigating high school, friendship, and identity while embracing their unique quirks, flaws, and supernatural heritage. Blending gothic themes, humor, and heartfelt storytelling, it champions individuality, diversity, and self-acceptance.

I was around nine years old when I first discovered Mattel’s episodic 2D-animated Monster High series on YouTube. By the time I was ten, I had received my first Monster High doll—Frankie Stein. Over the years, Monster High became a central part of my childhood, filling my life with themed gifts: a bed set, a storage tote, multiple dolls, toy cars, clothes, and character profile books.

Monster High’s Message: Be Yourself. Be Unique. Be a Monster.

Growing up, my mother was one of the only people who actively taught me about individuality, authenticity, and embracing being “weird” as a good thing. She constantly reinforced the idea that being different wasn’t something to be ashamed of—it was something to be proud of. And I willingly accepted that message.

So when I found Monster High, it was like that same philosophy was being echoed right back to me. The franchise wasn’t just about dolls and catchy songs; it carried a deeper message that resonated with me. Songs like Fright Song and We Are Monster High weren’t just fun—they were anthems of self-acceptance. The characters weren’t afraid to be themselves, no matter how unconventional or different they were, and they encouraged others to do the same.

The world of Monster High made it clear: It doesn’t matter where you come from, what you look like, or what your quirks are—you are accepted. Whether you were a vampire, a werewolf, a sea creature, or even just a regular human (“normies,” as they called them), you belonged. That was the core of Monster High—a space where everyone was free to be themselves.

As kids, we all go through phases of trying to figure out who we are. We experiment, we second-guess, we try to fit into boxes that don’t belong to us. But having a mother who nurtured that sense of self, along with cartoons that reinforced the same message, made it easier for me to stand firm in my identity. It taught me early on that choosing myself—my real self—was always more important than shaping myself to fit into someone else’s expectations.

How Monster High Shaped Me as a Writer

When I look at all my work, one recurring theme ties everything together: identity. Every character I’ve created struggles with it—whether they’re trying to define themselves, fighting against those who seek to erase them, or dealing with rejection for simply existing as they are.

Beyond just themes, my writing embraces absurdity, genre-blending, and unconventional storytelling. That refusal to fit into a single box? That comes from many influences—cartoons, humor, and the media I consumed growing up. Monster High is a perfect example of this: a quirky, genre-bending concept that fully embraced individuality.

And that’s where the core of this essay lies—how did Monster High directly inspire my own work, Aeternium?

One day, on my usual train ride home, I found myself thinking about Monster High again, as I do every so often. I started brainstorming a fanfiction, then thought, What if I pitched my own idea to Mattel? But I didn’t want to wait. I wanted to create something now.

So, I started where Monster High did—with a school. A world of supernatural beings, an academy unlike any other. But then, I stopped myself—Monster High was about embracing individuality. What personal stamp would I put on this?

That’s when I took the concept of past, present, and future colliding into one singular world—and from that idea, Aeternium was born.

Aeternium: A World of Identity, Chaos, and the Unknown

As a kid, Monster High showed me a world where being different wasn’t just accepted—it was celebrated. That message stuck with me. And years later, it shaped Aeternium, a world I created where identity, history, and survival collide.

What is Aeternium?

Imagine a world where time broke apart. Where past, present, and future exist all at once, forcing people from different eras, technologies, and cultures to live together in a single, unstable reality.

This is Aeternium, a world born from the destruction of the Nexus, the energy that once kept time in balance. When the Nexus collapsed, history shattered, creating Evermore, the last remaining city fighting to hold civilization together.

Here, knights, alchemists, engineers, and AI constructs walk the same streets. Magic and technology blend and battle for dominance. The powerful Eternium Core keeps the world from crumbling further—but it’s barely holding on.

Why Identity is at the Heart of Aeternium

If Monster High taught me anything, it’s that identity is everything. That theme has been central to my writing ever since.

Every character in Aeternium struggles with who they are:

• Some are trapped by their past.

• Some fear the future they’re forced into.

• Some fight to define themselves in a world that refuses to let them.

This isn’t just a world of time travel gone wrong—it’s a story about survival, choice, and self-discovery in a reality that refuses to stay still.

A Peek Inside Aeternium’s Chaos

Evermore is protected by ARC (Anomaly Response Command), an organization tasked with keeping order. But tensions are rising. The Eternium Core is failing, and the Guardians, the only beings capable of stabilizing it, have vanished.

At the same time, an faction connected to ARC instead of being a branch under it, known as L.U. (Labor Unit) is challenging ARC’s rule, refusing to be controlled. The world is on the brink of another collapse, and with each passing day, the lines between hero and villain blur.

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Here on Substack, I’ll be diving deep into:

✅ Exclusive lore breakdowns – The lost history of the Nexus and its collapse.

✅ Character insights – Who controls Evermore, and who’s trying to destroy it?

✅ Worldbuilding secrets – Magic, technology, and the factions fighting for power.

This is just the surface of Aeternium. There’s so much more to explore.

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