Ever since I entered the SnK fandom I've found many unexpected things besides an amazing story: inspiration and motivation top the list. Which ironic, considering we're talking about a bunch of giants destroying humanity, eating them and -as kindly noted by Tumblr- replacing the usual sakura petals rain with... blood. But that's how things are.

I'm not sure how common it is to review fanworks. You know, people usually review the canon, be it for products or art works. However, the enthusiasm in reviews is bigger when you get to write about something that successfully amazed you, right? What I'm sharing today falls into that category.

Stimulating characters itch the creative mind. That's how fanworks are born: instead of remaining in wonder or daydream, the creative individual takes a step further and materializes those thoughts. They fill the what if's blanks and transfer characters to whole new realms or levels of interaction... yes, sex among them, surprise. 

The ways to fill those blanks are as diverse as authors and creators exist. It's wonderful, it gives birth to that sense of community produced by feedback or it simply impulses the artist's development.

In this occasion, SnK characters stimulated Vee Hoffman's mind to a point  they were taken to a new universe, creating a parenthesis in the SnK series for fans around the world and keeping them hooked to the story for its 26 chapters lenght, and even beyond that.

But is it possible to keep the characters' essense in a world where they aren't slaying titans? I say, they might not be equipped with their 3D gear for this adventure. Instead, they're going bare handed against different demons, a kind we'll all be able to relate to. 

After all, being 16 fucking sucks. In case you forgot, Eren's ready to remind it to you in 1994.

Curious already? I know. Just please bear with me for a few more lines.

So this is the story about Eren and his struggles to fit in a completely new evironment. He -of course- comes with his own load on shoulders from his own past (thanks Grisha). Trying to fit in a new place isn't easy for anyone... so, no matter how pre-programmed we are that these guys are in the army and kick titans' butts, Vee makes it so easy for us to relate to this Eren and the rest of the characters. This comes with the whole package for the teenager life: love, sexuality, drugs, sex, problems with our parents, angst, joy, parties, best friends...

Here we find the hilly love story between Eren and Levi. Who doesn't love a good love story? It can either be in the romantic sense, bromantic (is that even a word?), self-love, love and devotion for a passion or a dream. You name it. But you can't go wrong with a love story as honest as this one. No sugar coating here. The dialogues are so realistic, it's easy to find yourself in the same spot of many of the characters.

“It looks pretty clear out. Stars and shit.”

1994, Levi

...Yeah, thanks for the dose of romance.

As I was saying! I'm not putting down other love stories, but it tends to happen that when you're reading something -canon or not- you can't imagine some dialogues to be possible in real life. I'll explain myself better: I can't see myself having conversations of certain kind no matter how close to the person I am, neither I can imagine someone saying them to me... you just doubt it could happen that way, not in these times. But you keep reading because it's awesome, beautiful, disturbing, whatever... and you'd wish it could be that way.

However, Vee's skills to cover so many different characters and personalities keep everything on the grounds of the possible. It goes according to the character's ages, the decade they're living AND their original personalities in a very loyal way. That's a big plus that helps you not to get lost even if you're not within the known grounds of wounded Wall Maria.

Also I'll take the risk of stating part of the success of this story, besides its faultless redaction, is due to the crazy amount of elements you can relate to. They are so many, and it's only logical to surround ourselves with whatever clicks with us. Here's where I understand why everyone in the fandom is so interesting and awesome, each person finding a few or plenty of things in common with Isayama's characters, seeing themselves in them. That makes reality a lot less boring from that perspective.

And of course, I'm sure most readers got to live this decade to its fullest, finding themselves in a downpour of memories to keep you constantly moving your head up and down like a nodding dog in a car, paragraph after paragraph while the atmosphere unfolds. I know it was that way for me. 

This is quite interesting, because many of us didn't live the 90's as teenagers, like the characters in 1994. I'm from Venezuela. No driving to school, no prom ball, no letterman jackets. And it wasn't until past the new millenium (and the world not having ended as predicted) that I reached an age where I could be aware of more than the simple glory of waking up, eating what mommy fed me and walking across the street to play with my neighbor. But even as a child there was so much of that era to be absorbed. Visions and sounds remain printed on my memory and heart for me to eternally cherish, and many of them happen to be part of this story in particular. 

Don't worry, I'm actually going to make a point here. This isn't about the overclaimed nostalgia for the 90's, even if reblogging 90's kids posts on Tumblr is an actual guilty pleasure of mine.

Are we talking about tamagotchis or the Survey Corps, Corporal?

But it's more about the times you wished to be old enough to wear a certain type of fashion or play with the big kids around the block. Or having to change the channel because mom and dad didn't let you watch Beavis and Butthead (but they did let me watch Ren and Stimpy wtf), nor the wish to understand what was the big deal with those things called bands. 

I spent a lot of time next door with my neighbors, daughter and son were in their teens and they used to take care of me or just let me play there. The boy had a typical teenager nasty room (a lot like Eren's) and I liked to sneak into it to watch his baseball cards and appealingly grotesque band posters; so I'd kick the dirty socks off his bed and climb to it to get a closer look of the posters (then hide under it if he walked in).

Where I'm going here is the fact that memories play a huge huge role in this story. Only obvious if it's developed in a decade we got to live. But it's very easy to say "ok things take place during this year, and by those times things were this way and people wore this and listened to that. Keep that in mind since I mentioned once and let me go on with my plot". Vee doesn't leave it at that. 

With memories taking big part when it comes to build the universe presented to you in books, you imagine certain characters maybe like someone you know, or an artist. The same can happen with places and objects. I love to do that as a reader. However, many things took 1994 to a whole new level on this aspect....

So forget about the Delorian and the wacky Doctor. This time we'll travel to the past in a green Camaro, with a leather wrapped Levi in front of the wheel. 

Levi representing 1994 readers as edited by mc-jaeger (accurate as fuck)

As you guessed 1994 is an A/U (Alternative Universe) fanfic. For this reason, I was expecting to feel lost during the first chapters while I adjusted to the new environment. Except the moment Eren said "I'm home", I felt exactly the same way.

Two things made the entire story something unique from any other story I've read so far, and yes I'm even talking about canon stories/books:

The sense of atmosphere:

I don't even know if that's the right way to call it but I can't think of a different term.

In 1994 there are so many details beyond the ordinary, beyond the obvious, that take you into this world and recreate the atmosphere of a decade. And I don't mean the basics, like the name of the fic itself, and -surprisingly- not even the many movie references and the added soundtrack that fits many scenes like a glove.

Vee's redaction makes the reader extremely aware of their surroundings. For me, the fact that Armin and Eren could be in a room discussing their teenager tragedies and love life didn't stop my mind from easily wandering around an imaginary room that wasn't even described in detail, or even the sight out the window with the view of the neighborhood. Other aspects that were actually written were responsible of creating an atmosphere dense enough that it was almost tangible, and prepared your brain to live inside the same space of each scene you read.

Another example: Levi and Eren play comebacks at the Donut shop. But besides the amusement caused by Eren's poor attempts and yet another score by Levi's sharp tongue, you're still able to imagine background noises to the scene. As I imagined them talking I could also hear the constant noise of the soda refrigerator and even cars passing by outside.

“It’s free, dumbass. Just take it.”

Those are only a few examples. But as the story goes further you also go deeper into the surroundings, to a point where they complement scenes so well that characters might not be involved in dialogue yet you can understand what's going through their minds.

"It's written in first person, of course you can understand what's on their minds..." Well, I don't know, there were times in which I could understand Eren's awkward silences even more when the chapter was from Levi's point of view. It was all a matter of connecting dots, which in this case were so accurately placed that everything was like a movie playing in my head.

The characters:

I can't imagine how challenging it can be to develop a character that has been created by someone else already. I guess it's a responsibility to keep its essence intact even if they're placed in your universe. In some cases it might flow easily, because we all have that character we see ourselves in, so their placement and dynamic in this new story isn't hard to lay out if it's possible for you to see through their eyes. And that can happen with one or different characters.

But how about finding a balance that makes it believable that those are the same characters and not different ones with the same names? I have no idea but this was achieved in 1994, and once again in such a subtle way that you find yourself entirely buying the whole thing from the first moment without questioning anything. You'd say "Yup that's totally Jean, as expected from that horse face" but then realize this wasn't Isayama pulling the strings. Oops?

"Eren, are you gay? You have to give me the satisfaction of knowing I was right."

Jean Kirschtein, ladies and gentlemen...

Taking characters from such an action filled world to the average high schooler life might seem intimidating from an outer perspective. As I kept reading I could only wonder how it was possible without making you feel aware that this is a fanfic. 

The answer to this for me was Interaction.

The way each character interacts with others and with their own surroundings reminds you that Eren might not be battling titans, but his determination is still intact, and his levels of social awkwardness still keep him walking on the same tightrope when he has to face Levi. That mix of admiration and pure spoiled-brat-pride that get on Levi's nerves be it in Vee's or Isayama's universe. 

You'll find many of these jewel moments in the story. This one was illustrated by shirii

And a little big extra that I can't forget about in here...

The Readers:

So far I've taken the liberty of giving life to this post with many elements created by Vee's talented readers. They were part of what made this story so popular, with their honest feedback and devotion for this great story. It pulled more people closer and they all got involved in what I called a parenthesis for the canon series.

Feedback came in so many different forms. Fanarts are a beautiful way to show support to an author and there's plenty of pieces that give life to many different scenes of the story:

A beautiful Levi fanart by ailes-de-la-liberte. This is 100% accurate for me, at least. 

And then there's cosplay. It truly surprised me to see people cosplay Vee's versions of the characters, in many cases with the same dedication anyone would have toward any other cosplay. I read about people going to actual cons in their 1994 cosplays! They have really brought Vee's characters into flesh:

Ali and Alex R. bringing Levi and Eren's 1994 versions to life! I had the chance to interview Ali previously for this blog (Photography: Michele W.)

Or this beyond adorable Armin who casually happens to be in a room similar to the one I imagined in the story. Cosplay by: outlandishemi

Actually, some of these cosplayers have even participated in my current project The Heichou Sessions. And to be honest, I found some of them only and only through their 1994 cosplay. They were so good I approached them for this purpose. So I invite you to find out more about this project in which I interview different Levi cosplayers to know their tips and experiences to transform into this character.

“No, I’m sorry. Was I ever unclear about the fact that I dress in women’s clothing for a living?”

leviheichou-he was part of The Heichou Sessions and held an online event called Fandom Friday, dedicated to 1994. Intrigued? Read the story to find out more AND visit leviheichou-he's Tumblr. Another Fandom Friday could happen!

And I can't stop mentioning the crazy amount of references to movies and specially music that had great impact in that generation and plays important part on creating atmosphere to the story. Many scenes have a soul on their own thanks to a certain song that can give you a global idea of the moment and guides your heart through the feelings of the characters. Personally, I didn't exactly listen to any of the songs during the scenes linked to them >_< but only because I'm a desperate little animal and only wanted to keep reading, but Vee created such a good selection that once you listen to the "soundtrack" the scenes play on their own inside your head. You need to check it out, there are some serious jewels in it that will take you back...

Mixtape selected by Vee // Here you'll find a master Mixtape. But in the 1994 tag on Tumblr there's many others created by readers!

To wrap it up!

I didn't want to write so much about the plot itself since Vee explained it very well in the synopsis. These were only my thoughts and experiences as a reader. This story takes you to deeper emotional levels, deeper perspectives, that it's easy to come to love the characters as if they were... you know born from this universe.

Maybe I went in circles as I wrote this, between memories and opinions. But well, the story itself gives place to that. It's a simple love story, yet complex and real. Many characters were left unmentioned here... but trust me, they are all high quality characters that will provide you with moments of laughter and reflexion.

1994 is that mixtape you'd keep on endless repeat during a horizon chasing adventure on a long road.

I invite everyone to read it, and to anyone here who's already lived the 1994 experience, it'd be wonderful to know your own takes on this and what you thought of this review.

Any form of art born from fans is a wonderful impulse and form of expression. It doesn't matter if you have mastered the art of drawing, writing, playing an instrument or if you're just testing new waters. This is a wonderful exercise of development. How far can you actually go with something that has already been created? It's a challenging idea, and beautiful all in all if you think that you were inspired by something so much... to a point that you wanted to take it further.

So, for the moment I'll get in the green camaro again and return to the present. 1994 was a good year, thanks Vee for it.

This is the wonderful author that made this a reality and below, the contact links where you can directly thank them and enjoy other works:

Yeah... our author resembles Commander Erwin Handsome Smith. This is win win situation, what can I say.

READ 1994 HERE

VEE'S TUMBLR

1994 TAG ON TUMBLR

MORE OF HER STORIES

THE HEICHOU SESSIONS

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