I also got into tougher SF through Atomic Rockets! And into the furry fandom, funny enough! Freefall and Erma Felna did irreversible Things to my developing brain.
aww nice! yeah i also read erma felna, it's cool how furries and hard scifi have been entwined since the beginning. it helped me overcome the stigma against furries that was so virulently bad back then. i should re-read some time, i feel like there's probably a good bit i missed when i was a teenager.