The moment I walked through the door of fandom, kpop, and AFF... let's be honest. I didn't think I would stay. 

April 5, 2009-2014

Happy Birthday AFF! It's been 5 years and though I've been here for only 3 of them, you are just as imprtant to me as those beyond. 

April 5th is the birthdate of AFF.

I'm grateful. //LOL am I doing a good job making this sound sentimental otl// I honestly also don't remember a lot of dates, but that should be just around it((:

 

Gahh it's already been 3 years since I've joined... so many things happened in those 3 years.. 

[My Journey]

I remember my first touch of fanfiction. The feels I endured and my steps to Asianfanfics. It honestly wasn't something too big.. but I'd still like to state it for the sake of wanting to do something for AFF's birthday. 

It was posted somewhere around June of 2010 on facebook. I would soon be running into my first year of true adolescence; 7th grade. [I know so young OTL] It wasn't AFF, but Winglin. My friend, Rachel, whom I won't speak full name for privacy reasons, posted into our Kpop centered group a link to a Taemin centered fanfiction. I didn't know her a lot personally, but I was aware of her existence and that I would be going to the same school as her next year. Either way, I still clicked on that link. The link that started it all. 

She said she didn't know if anyone in that group read fanfiction, but if they did then they should read this. I didn't even know of the existence of this so called fanfiction​ at the time. Let alone I was new to this concept of kpop. I joined the kpop train on May 25, 2010. The anniversary of SHINee- which was a total coincidence, but that's another tale to be told. And so I read that story. I wasn't that big of a fan of reading. It was something I despised, detested so much.

Books didn't appeal to me, but fanfiction did. 

I grew hooked. It was called 'I'm a NERD, but he loves me...' and yeah /laughs/ it is corny of a first story, but it gave me a great first impression. 

It was on Winglin​. 

I started searching for more stories. I didn't know of Asianfanfics of this time. I accessed the site through my DSi in order to read off the computer. I remember reading through that one website for over a couple months. I remember my mom asking me what I was doing with my DSi, since she knew I didn't use it a lot those days. 
"I'm reading." I remember saying that. Where I was; the living room. I remember my mom's reaction too. It seemed like a miracle. I was reading. I was actually reading. For fun. It was rare [lol].

I also remembered reading it when I was on my way to Disneyland, when friends came over, before I slept, when I woke up, the various stories I read on that site.. and though Winglin was a great site, it wasn't eye catching. It was difficult. I had to find stories manually and the site was hard to scroll through. I read all the stories I was interested in, and soon enough there were none left. 

I moved on. My one year relationship with Winglin was well spent and worth remembering. I searched Google for another similar site that held kpop fanfiction and had it more organized. Upon first link was Asianfanfics. I didn't pay much attention to it first and went back to Winglin, but after awhile.. I gave AFF a shot. 

And that was when the journey started. 

I probably found the site over two months or so earlier before making a count. So you can technically call me a member since July 2011 and not September 2011 [lol]. I scrolled through the site and found SHINee stories I liked. [I loves SHINee so much back then. I was fan crazy.] I read them. I remember writing down which chapter I was on and which story. I grew fed up of having to search for those stories so often, so I finally made an account. Thus Bloody_Vampire_JL7 was made. All over the place [no really].

Account number 58556. That was who I was on AFF. 

There were no bookmarks nor anything fancy yet done to AFF. It was just a straightforward site. Find, read, save, write down your chapter, the story, etc. It was tedious but I loved it nonetheless. The stories were awesome.

 

AFF was the gateway to many things really. It is the reason I love the loves of my life; Infinite. 

AFF helped me find Infinite.

It was a dbskgirl4ever story. When all her stories were open and exposed to the world. When all of her stories were there and not deleted like now. When she was still free as a writer. [How do I know this? I read all her stories. All.] At this point of time, it was around February of 2011. I didn't have much to do. I wanted more SHINee stories and I searched through the vampire tag. [I loved and still do love vampire stories- but not Twilight or that type of stuff] As a fan, I didn't know there were more groups other than SHINee. I really didn't and I laugh so much at my old naive self. It was her story 'Nothing's Over'. Yeah that one vampire quadrupolgy. [Yeah that's not a word but basically it was a 4 storied series.] It was the second installment too. An Infinite story. I remember it like it's written on the back of my hand.

"Who are these cute boys holding a surfing board?" I thought to myself. How come I've never seen them before?

I found out it was the second installment and went to the first one- 'Before the Dawn.' I wanted to get to know them more, so I watched their music videos. BTD, Nothing's Over, She's Back, Come Back Again.. all that were out. 

I read it despite knowing the members well. I read it as a reader not knowing these idols I would soon call my angels. Oh Sungyeol.. he's so sweet.

I loved that story a lot, I read the second installment. And from that point, there was no third and fourth. Not yet at least. 

I ended up reading all the stories she had later on. Not only that, but I even became an Infinite fan. You see the day after I found her story 'Nothing's Over', Be Mine Dance Ver. MV came out. Literally. June 31, 2011. That was also the day I was an official Infinite fan. 

The day after their MV release, I pushed SHINee back. The day after, I literally shoved all SHINee feelings aside. I didn't feel anything for them anymore. It was numb. Which is shocking considering I was so fan crazy over them for so long. How did my heart change so fast? At this point I knew I fell for Infinite. 

 

Through AFF, I was introduced to much much more groups. I fell in love with all of them. I read a lot of stories, and I subscribed to a lot of them. AFF was the open gate to my growing kpop knowledge. It is the reason I am who I am now.

 

Not only has AFF expanded my fandoms and helped me find my true love, but it also helped me make friends.

Wow.. there are so many friends I made on this site. There are so many people that I can actually relate to.

AFF is my second family. Whenever I'm down, it's there to support me.. whenever I'm bored, it's also there to help me not to be. It's funny. I thank all of those of whom I befriended. 

I wrote and posted my first true story last year. I finally grew the courage to post something rather than writing it and keeping it to myself. Ever since then, I have so many stories posted out for the world to see.. even though it's not all too good. [-and a lot of them are unfinished otl] 

I thank Asianfanfics. Without it, I wouldn't have the courage to reveal my writing. Without AFF, I honestly wouldn't even be writing. I wouldn't be who I am today. 

Thank you, Asianfanfics. Thank you for always being there for me, thank you for always existing. You're like my safe haven; my home. And I wouldn't have it any other way. It also means this; Thank you Nichiren. You've made a base that many people grew dependent on. We practically live our lives on here. 

I hope to be with this site for the longest time. 

I am an AFF Pioneer and I'm glad to be one. 

I love you AFF. You mean a lot to me.

Thank you for the journey. It is a journey worth walking and I hope to walk on it till the end. 

 

The moment I walked through the door of fandom, kpop, and AFF... let's be honest. I didn't think I would stay...

but I did...

and it was well worth it. 

Happy Birthday((: //throws hugs and kisses and hearts<3//