I grew up with paperbacks at hand: books authored by J.K Rowling, Paulo Coelho, Rick Riordan, Nicholas Sparks, Mitch Albom, and more novelists who created legends in the world of bookworms like me. I rarely read online stories. Yes, there was Wattpad. But even Wattpad did not manage to hold me for a year unlike AFF.

I remember how I started to become a member here: Thank you to my chingu, @erikai, who encouraged me to read her favorite fic in AFF authored by @dbskgirl4ever (My Crazy, Hot Aliens I&II). I told you earlier and I will tell it again: I am rarely amazed with online stories, much less with online writers. But dbskgirl4ever changed my perspective. She proved to me that my world isn't limited to Wattpad only. So with the help of my chingu, I asked for her other recommended stories.

Until one day, I was just... addicted.

I read and read; I came to know other groups, I met fascinating authors and I discovered stories worth crying for.

It was a thing I never expected to experience. I never thought that I would enjoy my netizen life because of AFF.

There are times when I can't concentrate in my articles because I wonder if my subscribed stories have any updates yet, or if my readers commented on my stories as well.

There was NO day when I did not open my account to check for updates. Even though I am busy at school, I still find time to skim through this site and relieve my stress. AFF is my stress-reliever.

Yes, AFF provided me feels like that.

And there's more:

It gave me a chance to develop my story-telling skills. I learned that I can be flexible too and not stay put with writing news articles. Yes, I am not a perfect author. I still have lots to learn. But at the end of the day, being perfect isn't what really matters. It's the heart and soul that an author poured in her stories. Just like how AFF was made out of love and tribute to someone special. Writing... it's something that complements life's journey.

I can still remember my first username, 'WooMii'. Then I changed it to 'TwinTowers' when I started shipping Krisyeol. But even though I changed usernames, I realized that that doesn't mean your love for your idols changes too. Because even today, despite of all the other groups I'm starting to know and love, Wooyoung and 2PM still stays in my heart.

So yeah, AFF made me realize that as well.

As a writer, I remember myself being so overjoyed when my first story got 1 comment and 100 views. See how shallow my happiness is? But the fact that someone did appreciate my story, that happiness is definitely worth it. :) And I know, that from the good reviews that AFF received by us, they are much more overwhelmed as well.

Happy anniversary to AFF! May your website bonds more fan girls, authors and readers like us. May it never cease to keep on exploring the wonders of young authors and readers, and support the love of people for Asian culture.

More years to come, and more years I will surely witness!


Love,
TwinTowers