When I read the below Author's Note I wrote when I first started this, its funny to think how passionately against some of the normal conventions of fanfiction I was (and in some ways still am). I felt it is time to somewhat update my bio, as originally (with only one work I was working on or considering) it seemed more a Thesis Statement than just a description of who I am and what I'm doing on this site.

Since starting my first ever fic in September of last year (2019), finishing it, and starting the sequel, I've grown, let's say, from a staunch advocate for completely Original Content in the World of Ice and Fire, to someone that will promote and fervently search for like minds, but also much more understanding of the reasons why people decide to read works like ours.

As stated below, I'm no "shipper" I'm no Self Insert "fix-it" guy. I'm no "Domeric Bolton was awesome" or "Ashara Dayne is perfect" or "Sansa is a dirty #*&" or anything like that guy. But I love that there ARE people who do that, who write that, and that's what we're all here for. I'm here because I have this ultimate passion about an idea I had. The whole Harwin Snow/Aegon Velaryon fleshing out a line from Fire and Blood about Jacaerys Velaryon and Sarah Snow "definitely not" getting married, in the eyes of an apologist maester, to mean "they definitely DID" get married, and the story goes from there.

I also loved reading all the different locales in A World of Ice and Fire, and felt they were so poorly represented in Martin's Canon work that there was room for a writer or writers to flesh out these places with new exciting stories that feel like the books and the show, which we all LOVE, but with different characters, different problems, different relationships, and all together different stories that all feel the same.

Aegon Velaryon is inspired by many character's we all love and can't stop writing and reading about. He is the hero from humble beginnings, ice and fire lineage, with a strong sense of honor, great fighting skills, a face that attracts women, and a tragic orphan backstory (he also has a canine like side-kick sometimes too). Aegon Velaryon is much like Jon Snow.

But originally, he was only meant to mirror, in some ways, the journey of Jon, but through the lens of such a different locale, and though a familiar sounding tale and backstory, and altogether different one as well.

If you're reading this, you must be bored, lol, but I appreciate it more than you know. Less than a year into this world, I'm no veteran or seasoned writer/reader in any sense, but I've come to understand more of what this site and this "realm" is about. Its a place where we can all be as geeky as we truly want to be without (much) hate or disdain for wanting to do what WE want to do. I've lived a whole third of a life (33, hopefully I live that long) as a mostly stereotypical American White Male. I work in Construction. I play and played football (check out the A7FL, the league I play in on YouTube and Twitch). I have a family of five (soon to be six with another baby boy coming in September) married to the love of my life (that kind of hates when I write lol) with parents, aunts, uncles, and other family members that could truly care less about anything like what I write and read on this site.

That being said, being here, I have a place to be me. I have people to bs with about Sothoryos, or Westeros, or whatever, and that feeling you get when you open your email and someone has Followed or Favorited or Commented on (except you DickWadd, lol) something I worked hard on, believe is awesome, and shared with the world is such a gratifying boost to my ego and self confidence as a writer, I can't wait to post something else.

I've also (since the below post) started to read others' works too, focusing less on being a selfish "stat" guy on my own work, and really becoming part of the community. And what I've found is that everyone on here, in their own way, is AWESOME!

Somewhere deep inside me is the balled up negativity, almost siding with G.R.R. Martin on some of his takes on Fanfiction. There's the subtle anger that comes from seeing 400 follows on a Sansa/Sandor ship fic and thinking, "WHY CAN'T I EVEN GET 100 on SOTHORYOS?!" or the jealousy of fics with 1,000 follows and faves, or people that get hundreds of comments when the readers begin discussions on their work.

But at the end of the day. I'm proud I've what I've put out there and I love when people give it a shot and like what they read.

So if you've read this, or Sothoryos, or Leng, thank you so much. If you've written on this site, if you've commented and faved a work you like to give that feeling to another writer, thank you. Below is an earlier me talking. Its funny to read in retrospect, but I'm going to leave it up almost as a timeline of my journey here.

Thanks again! You're awesome.

Words from the Author: Sothoryos
Thank you for clicking and if you continue to read past the first couple of pages, thank you even more. This is an original story within the world of Westeros. In the traditional sense, this is not a fanfiction. Martin's masterpiece needs little help from me, or anyone for that matter, so there is no Sansa Sandor love story. No Robb Stark surviving the Red Wedding. No Jon Snow smut or Ashara Dayne in any role.
Though the events in Westeros, Essos, Beyond the Wall, and the open oceans are detailed in full throughout the amassed works of this world, there are so many single sentences from A World of Ice and Fire, or even Fire and Blood that could be fleshed out into works as long, detailed, and decadent as any of Martin's works, if in the hands of the right author. There are also locales, peoples, and mysteries Martin himself could never hope to even scratch the surface of. There's decades of work left in the main series, Dunk and Egg, and Fire and Blood, not to mention the seasons and seasons worth of Bloodmoon and The Dance of Dragons shows we all hope come to fruition, so there is little hope that anything other than these will ever come into the light.
So without retconning anything canon, without presuming I have anything better to add to George's own words, I am continuing the illustration with the original character known as Harwin Snow, a product of a forbidden love from the Dance, whose highborn true lineage forces him into the role of a low born harbor rat.
After years climbing the ladder of a prospective merchant seaman, he sets sail on his maiden voyage as a captain of his own ship.
He's shipwrecked and washes ashore on the northern coast of Sothoryos. In 151 AC, little and less is known of the continent. All that has been documented comes from Eustace Hightower's brief stay after turning back from Alissa Farman's west of Westeros voyage and the stories from Nymeria's journeys and unsuccessful settlements before the conquest.
So he, we, and everyone will discover Sothoryos for the first time together. Thank you for your contribution to this journey. Please comment with your feedback.

Further Information about the Author:

If you've read this far, again, thank you. My need for fellowship and like minded people brought me to this page only a few months ago as I searched to fill the void left from the Game of Thrones finale. I delved deep into Martin's books, banging out The Dunk and Egg novellas, The World of Ice and Fire, Fire and Blood, as well as the Main books with an addicts fervor, never satisfied, still wanting more.

I searched for more things written by George, or anyone for that matter, stumbling on short works like Rogues and The Queen (or whatever the Dance of Dragons short is called) only to find myself still wanting.

I've written all my life, but never fanfiction. I've mostly created original works, but tapping in to an existing universe like this one felt mandatory. As said above, George will NEVER finish everything that can be done. He may never even finish what he wants to get done. This is not a G.R.R.M. trashing take, this is the honest truth. The amount of perfection written into his works takes more than the time we have given him, so for anyone to expect him to finish all he's planned is a little crazy.

That being said, there's so much to do in this world. I wanted to do my thing.

I may end up one day writing the new MCU style origin to the X-Men, but for now, I'm going to focus on finishing the many adventures of Harwin Snow.

Thanks again for reading.

Cory