Hello everyone! Today is the day I finally receive the 10 Year dragon badge for being an AFF member for a decade! If you told Past Me what my life trajectory would be like ten years later, she'd be in complete disbelief. So much has happened over the decade, but the one thing that has stayed constant is me logging into AFF and reading fics for hours every day. Just like my 10 Years of K-Pop blog post, this is going to be filled with word vomit as I stroll down memory lane.

So my AFF story begins with SHINee, which was one of the few groups that I followed during my first year as a K-Pop fan. There weren't as many groups back then as there are today and content wasn't as readily available to international fans as it is nowadays. Life was good and Lucifer really cemented them as a top group in the industry. And then, the first notable confirmed K-Pop dating scandal happened with Dispatch revealing that Jonghyun and actress Shin Se Kyung were in a relationship. I remember the entire fandom and the K-Pop community going in uproar because of it. I'll be honest, I was very shocked as well, since I was a young fourteen-year-old who didn't really understand dating and I naively thought that all idols were single (I basically fell for the illusion that the industry feeds to young fangirls to trap us, LOL).

So the first thing I did was Google Search if my biases were in secret relationships as well. My first five searches (Lee Kikwang, Yoon Doojoon, Lee Jinki, Kim Kibum, and Lee Junho) didn't bring up anything (to my relief, LOL). When I searched my other 2PM bias, Jang Wooyoung, I stumbled across a fanfic starring him and Kim Taeyeon. I didn't know what fanfiction was at the time, so I read it and then fell down the rabbit hole. :') So, thanks to Jonghyun's relationship, I found myself on AFF and completely in love with the world of fanfiction. (I love and miss you every day, Jonghyun <3) Soon after, I made my own account and wrote my first fanfic (which no longer exists, LOL) that starred him and Tiffany Hwang as the main pairing. I didn't ship them, to be honest, (I don't think I really understood what shipping was back then, LOL) but I didn't know what OCs were when I first joined AFF. In fact, OC stories weren't very popular back then; it was mostly Idol x Idol stories. I chose Tiffany, because she's my SNSD bias, and Jonghyun, because I liked him enough to be able to comfortably write romance with him in mind. I wrote that story for about half a year before becoming overwhelmed with school (and also realizing what I wrote was absolute trash, LOL). Even so, this story allowed me to make my first AFF friend.

Cierra, this blog post is dedicated to you! If you hadn't commented on The Triangle and showed me so much kindness when I was an AFF newbie, I honestly would've given up writing so much earlier and never thought of actually befriending others in this wonderful community. Your steadfast support and faith in me (when I had no faith in myself) and our fun wall-to-wall conversations kept me coming back to AFF, and I will always cherish the memories of those days. I know your account has been deactivated for several years now, like others who've moved on, but on the off-chance that you see this, please know that our friendship will never be forgotten. <3

Over the past ten years, AFF has gone through many changes. I remember when SHINee fics dominated the site and 2min was the most popular ship. I remember when 9PM, Super Generation, and Wonder Bang fics were all the rage. I remember when SMTown fics, featuring everyone in the company shipped together, were the stories I subbed to most. I remember when idols were troped to the moon and back (Onew getting shipped with fried chicken was the most ridiculous yet common one that I saw, LOL, since SHINee had an odd number of members). I remember the sudden explosion of EXO fics that took over the site and how I wasn't as invested in AFF (although I still logged in every day, haha), because school was becoming overwhelming and I also honestly didn't start reading EXO fics until mid-2016 (and now half of the stories I'm subbed to are EXO fics ^^;). I remember when people submitted OCs for apply fics through story comments and email. I remember when there was a karma point ranking and I was always hovering around the 2000-rank with my measly 100 points, LOL. The site has evolved so much and I'm really glad that I stayed to witness it all, especially because of the amazing friends I've made over the years.

I've met so many wonderful people on this site through so many different avenues. I've made friends through my writing contests, through commenting on my favorite fics, through people commenting on my fics, and through the apply fic community. I'd like to give a shout-out to all of you for making my AFF experience a million times more enjoyable!

cierra
Emilieee
Korekrypta
Madchen
ann1914
sooyoung2345
unqua911
petitreveur
RobinFeelAster
SkyeButterfly
pandacathy
sirius-
tbhddaeng
Susan15
JungMichan
minhoinator
LolliLovee
Jaydreamer
restless_maknae
BloodyRavens
lejeuparfait
Namlunasoo
thucthuc

Some of you are still active and some of you aren't, but I still cherish you all the same, even if we haven't spoken in a long time! I know I'm not the best at responding to PMs (this applies to my IRL friends as well and they all high-key hate me for leaving their messages unread for months, LOL), but please know that I appreciate you all and I'm so grateful to have connected with some of you outside of AFF! I'm not opposed to sharing my IRL social media, so feel free to ask for those accounts and add me if you'd like. ^^

There's no denying that AFF is much quieter now than it used to be during 2012-2016. Most graphic shops are inactive or closed. Stories don't get updated as frequently or are discontinued without a word. Comments are incredibly rare and overall social interaction has greatly decreased as people either grow out of K-Pop/fanfiction or move to other platforms. I know some people feel discouraged because of how quiet it is, especially those who write and receive no feedback from readers. The lack of engagement makes it less appealing to stay on AFF, especially since so much social interaction happens online nowadays and it's easier to move to another site that's more active or invest time and energy in other hobbies.

As someone who is both a reader and a writer, I've noticed the decreased engagement across every corner of AFF and the loop that's been occurring as a result. When there are less frequent updates due to IRL commitments, readers start to lose interest in a story. When readers lose interest, they are less likely to comment and leave feedback. When there are less comments, writers start to feel discouraged and unmotivated. When writers lose motivation, they are less likely to update, if at all, and shift their focus to other things. And so the cycle continues.

I don't place the blame entirely on silent readers. As a former silent reader, for me, it came down to time. I was reading fics during my study breaks (and when I should've been studying, LOL) and I was often binge-reading multiple chapters at a time. I thought of it as reading a book; I'd just read through the entire thing first and then express my thoughts at the end. But as a writer and a frequent commenter, I know how much even the slightest bit of feedback from readers can make all the difference. When you know someone is reading and enjoying your work, you want to share more with them. I cherish every single comment I receive, few as they are, and I've become great friends with several people who frequently comment on my work. And I've also become great friends with several authors whose work I frequently comment on and I've had multiple people tell me that they continued writing because they knew someone was waiting for an update, no matter how long it took. If you're a reader, I highly encourage you to set aside a few minutes out of your day to write a small comment on a fic you're following! You don't have to pressure yourself into writing a long essay. A sentence or two will suffice! It'll mean the world to the author and who knows? Maybe you'll make a new friend through the interaction. :)

In my ten years on AFF, I've done a lot. Not as much as I'd hoped, but definitely more than I expected. I've completed several stories, I've hosted multiple writing contests (one of which is the longest ongoing contest on AFF), and I've read thousands of fics. I even completed NaNoWriMo back in 2018 for one of my AFF stories, which I'm really proud of, considering how much I procrastinated at the beginning of the challenge, LOL. Although I still have a long way to go as a writer, I've definitely improved over the years, which I'm happy about. I'll probably never be a famous AFF author or be featured on the front page, but I'm honestly okay with that. As long as I'm having fun, which I am, that's all I really need.

Oops, this is getting really long, but then again, who knows if I'll be able to make another post like this in another ten years. That's honestly dependent on if AFF is still here in 2030. I hope it will be, because I can't imagine my life without AFF and there are still so many amazing fics on here that I haven't read. And knowing how slowly I write and update, I'll still have unfinished stories by then that I don't want to leave hanging until they're completed. There are obviously other fanfiction/writing platforms out there that other AFF users have migrated to that I could try and I'm sure I could expand my readership there. But AFF is too much of a home for me to ever leave and you can count on me always being online, no matter what.

Before I end this, I'd like to also wholeheartedly thank Jason (Nichiren) for creating AFF in the first place! You've cultivated an iconic platform for Asian/K-Pop fanfiction and I'm eternally grateful that you've continued to maintain the site for all these years. I always look forward to reading your blog posts detailing new updates to AFF, and I hope you know that all of your hard work and dedication has not gone unnoticed or unappreciated!

If you read this entire thing, thank you. I hope AFF has been as special for you as it has been for me. I would love to know what your AFF journey has been like in the comments below, since every person's experience is unique and worth sharing. :)