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1. olrinarts Sun 11 Oct 2015 02:48PM UTC

   

   I joined back in... 2011, I wanna say? I waited four months for my invite, and this is why:

   TAGGING SYSTEMS.

   Oh, my god, I felt like I had entered the space age when I migrated here from FFN, and I've never gone back. AO3 has been a welcoming loving home, and I try to get all of my friends who write on it. It's a wonderful archive run by a wonderful organisation, and I adore it.

   Never stop being you!

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2. Melacka Sun 11 Oct 2015 03:38PM UTC

   

   I think my first contact with AO3 was from a random Harry Potter rec from another site, I was always looking for new fics and was pretty pleased to find a new archive. It took me a while to get used to it because I was mainly using livejournal and FF.net at the time. It slowly became my preferred site for all of my favourite fandoms but I was a long-time lurker before I signed up. What finally decided it for me was when I got really into The Hunger Games fandom and wanted to save my bookmarks and subscribe to incomplete works, it had been so long since I'd gotten so interested in a new fandom and it felt appropriate to finally sign up.

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3. I'm incognito mode and too lazy to log in (Guest) Sun 11 Oct 2015 03:45PM UTC

   Gods, I can barely remember how I got here. I think it involved Naruto. Or maybe it was Harry Potter. Either way, one of my favourite fanfiction writers at the time mentioned that they were moving their fanfictions here and I was like, "WTF is AO3?"
   AO3 is life, foolish Past Me. LIFE.

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4. Account Deleted Sun 11 Oct 2015 03:56PM UTC

   I found the archive because i searched for a fanfic, I was very mad at the end of episode four from penny dreadful, so I searched for a fic that continued the scene between Ethan and Dorian and I found several to choose from. I think the first couple I " shipped" was Sherlock and John, but I wouldn't be sad if they would stay friends in the series, they don't have to be a couple.

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5. sofiaottoman Sun 11 Oct 2015 04:24PM UTC

   

   The first time I came across you was through rumours on LiveJournal about a new place for fanfiction, somewhere where there would be a place for everyone. I think I also heard about the OTW around this time too, or at least something about legal advocacy and fanworks. I'm pretty sure that this was before you existed per se, so I kinda drifted away onto other things. Then there was some fandom wank around LiveJournal and journals/communities being deleted so people I followed started to move to you. I wasn't sure at first. I can't remember why - maybe because there were other websites starting up at the same time that talked of money - but one day I followed a link, read a fic, and discovered that I liked the format of your site - though the search perplexed me for a bit. Then one day, several months after that, after I kept visiting your site because it was where the people I followed posted now I decided to apply to join. I haven't looked back since.

   ETA: I think this is right, it's been a while. My profile says I joined 4 years ago, which wow! I know I lurked for a bit because fandom (or at least my fandoms) were a bit busy and wank-y, and lots of things were in the air.

   Last Edited Sun 11 Oct 2015 04:31PM UTC

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6. LeonoraChris Sun 11 Oct 2015 05:11PM UTC

   

   At first I only joined this place because I needed another place for my fics, but after that I've really grown to like it here.

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7. larrywhite (Guest) Sun 11 Oct 2015 06:28PM UTC

   I wish people would donate the same way to my friend who had leukaemia and needs money for her bone marrow transplant and hospital bill

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8. 1. larrywhite (Guest) Sun 11 Oct 2015 06:32PM UTC

      I mean who has

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9. The_Selective_Participater Sun 11 Oct 2015 07:55PM UTC

   

   I don't recall the title of the fic my friend sent me but I remember it being part of the Sherlock fandom. I looked around the site and have stuck around ever since. :)

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10. timeturners Sun 11 Oct 2015 08:08PM UTC

    

    My friend recommended Droplets to me and I searched it up and it came up on AO3 so I gave it a go and yeah. :)

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11. Certifiedyoungblood (Guest) Sun 11 Oct 2015 08:31PM UTC

    If I remember, I think I was searching for Frerard fics.... This website still hs the best frerard to date tbhhhh

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12. farawaystardust Sun 11 Oct 2015 10:52PM UTC

    

    The first story I ever read on Ao3 is this one: http://archiveofourown.org/works/3864391 called Apple Pie Life by user lilypond. I had been reading fanfiction on a different website for a while but my sister recommended Ao3 because she was "more willing to search for quality work." She also mentioned the each with which one can find a story they're really interested in thanks to the extensive tagging abilities. I am very grateful for this, too, because I can avoid stories with content that makes me uncomfortable and I can easily find stories to fit my "I really want to read a ______ story today" whims! The first story I read which I mentioned above makes my heart really happy, and I am very happy that my sister chose to share that one with me to bring me to this website. Through it, I have found the confidence to write down my own ideas! I have 4 published works and 1 WIP and I never would've started if I hadn't been so inspired and motivated by the other wonderful authors and artists on here. THANK YOU for all that you do, OTW!

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13. iCe (iCeDreams) Mon 12 Oct 2015 03:20AM UTC

    

    My first fandom ever was Ranma back in 1999 and my first ship was Ranma/Akane back when there wasn't even ship names. We wrote fanfics at the FFML and then I went from that to Avatar which had a whole lot of fics in LJ and none at the FFML where gradually FF.N gained popularity (with the occasional Mediaminer.org... Fictionpress, FicWad.. I never tried the boards though.) While following that I dipped my toes in the small tv fandoms in between. I found AO3 while reading Maiko in Avatar. One day, I just wanted to read all amnesia fics/all mpreg fics, just to see what was out there and read pairings I haven't seen before. For example, I watched Dark Angel, but I never entertained the idea of Alec/Ames White before I read Chimera and haven't even read Harry Potter past book two but fell in love with Draco/Charlie... I have no idea. All because of the tags in AO3 and because I wanted to read THEMES and not just the fandom. I ahve to thank AO3 because AO3 was what made me realize that my true love was actually Destiel and I haven't left the fandom yet.

    I followed Destiel fics here in AO3 before I even realized who Cas was. I remembered watching Supernatural Seasons 1-2 but lost interest in 3. BUT I started falling in love with it again when I started reading ABOUT Cas and Dean here. And I had to back-watch the episodes because at the time, it was already season 5 running. Truthfully, I might have not continued watching Supernatural if I did not stumble on the Dean and Cas fics. So thank you AO3 for that stumble and subsequent fall into the most amazing fandom I've ever experienced.

    Through Destiel's big bangs (when I didn't even know what big bangs were) in LJ, I finally signed up for an AO3 account (through the long lines) and realized that it was a great platform for fics. I haven't looked back since the transfer :D Thanks so much AO3... so it's actually my fandom story and my firsts with AO3 as well. :D

    Last Edited Mon 12 Oct 2015 03:23AM UTC

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14. Ak_Joker Mon 12 Oct 2015 04:11AM UTC

    

    The first time I came onto AO3 was because of Fanfiction.net's famous purge. If people aren't familiar FF.net was taking down a bunch of rated M works as well as a group of terrible people were going around harassing authors who wrote mature material and leaving hateful comments on such works. So sick and tired of it one of my favorite author's mentioned moving all her works on here. So I gave AO3 a chance and I've been hooked since then. I love this site.

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15. Account Deleted Mon 12 Oct 2015 10:47AM UTC

    loki fic

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16. TheonlyGirl Mon 12 Oct 2015 11:21AM UTC

    

    I was reading on FF.N when my favorite author jumped ship due to attempts to censor her work. So I followed her here.

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17. hungryhyena Mon 12 Oct 2015 01:32PM UTC

    

    I didn't know that No Ordinary Family had been cancelled and was looking for season 2. I found a fan made version instead that was written with each chapter an episode. The author did a pretty good job if you ask me. When I was done reading it, I looked up the show again and found out it was canceled. Then, because I'm me, I returned to Fanfiction.net to do some 'exploring' which then led to me falling down the rabbit hole that is fandom. Nearly 4 years later, here I am. Except now I've dragged my homegirls here with me and we all obsess, and sometimes fight, over fictional hot guys together. ;P

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18. BigBelliedShipWithReallyBigCannons (Guest) Mon 12 Oct 2015 01:47PM UTC

    Well, I was researching top hats for school (seriously) when I stumbled on a website with erotic stories (and top hats, go figure). That was were I was first introduced to the concept of m/m sex. It was fantastic. When I'd read anything on that page worth reading (and a whole lot that wasn't) I realized I needed more. Only, there wasn't more, so I had to branch out. Therefore, I started searching for stuff in English and stumbled on the concept of yaoi and a few relatively large databases where I felt rather well settled for a while. (Back in those days I was too embarrassed to read fanfic about live action movie and TV show characters.)

    Eventually, I'd read pretty much everything yaoi I could be bothered to read, and had to look for something else. Then I daringly moved over to Harry Potter and started reading stuff on LJ. While there I found out about FF.net and AFF.net. Neither of the pages had a great rep, but I read some of the stuff there anyway. I found that what people were saying about those pages was mostly true, (though I don't think AFF.net was as bad as FF.net), so I kind of just avoided them, unless someone recced a story that sounded interesting and even then, I was ready to back out a moment's notice. (At this point I'd moved over to Supernatural and had lost any and all shame I might once have had, to the point where my favorite place to be on the whole internet was the spnkink_meme.) Around this time I started seeing links to AO3 and I have to admit that I kind of lumped it in with FF.net and avoided it, at first.

    Then someone recced me something I just had to read, and so I reluctantly moseyed over. It was the best decision I've ever made as a fanfic reader. I love this place (though I am the very epitome of a lurker) so much, that the first thing I do whenever I see a new show or movie, is go straight here to find fic. After I've basically read everything here, I go looking for whatever kinkmemes there might be and read everything there. AO3 is one of my permanent tabs and I'm pretty sure I haven't gone a day without visiting for the last 3 years. Seriously, you're amazing. I love how easy it is to find stuff, and how much well written stuff there is on here. I also love how diverse this place is, with so many fandoms under one roof, so to speak. And the best part for me ( given my lurking nature) is the kudos button. It's nice to be able to say you like something without having to comment.

    Thank you so much for all your hard work. AO3 is a great place, and I hope it stays active for a long time. Kudos!

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19. ACatsChangingMoon Tue 13 Oct 2015 10:55AM UTC

    

    I came to AO3 by a quite convoluted way. FFNet was my first real trip in fanficland and one author I was following was publishing her chapters a day earlier on LJ than on FFNet, so of course I went to follow her there. Then she began to favour AO3 and that's how I discovered the wonderful goldmine that it is. And while I still go regularly on FFNet, I must say that the tags on AO3 are definitiviely my favourite way of looking for a fic.

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