Back with a success story!! I have successfully downgraded my OG 3DS!
I started on 9.5.0-22U and updated to 10.3.28-U using sysupdater from this thread. Got browserhax. Then I tried multiple times using Julian's safesysupdater and kept getting "FAIL can't get am:u service" so I installed homemenuhax again and then I tried and tried getting the safesysupdater to work and kept getting the infamous "pink dots". Finally, it teased me and said "hax successful" 3 times and froze. Finally it didn't freeze and all the CIA files installed with zero issue, no errors whatsoever and when it told me it would reboot and it was successful, it took like 30 seconds to reboot. But here it sits on the main home menu. All my games that I got off the eShop were wrapped but all work perfectly, Internet works, no settings crash, all good thus far I can tell.
Alas, I have to go to work and won't be off until midnight to install the cfw. Thanks for the guide though, just wanted to chime in on my success story. If anyone has an older firmware, UPDATE TO 10.3 FIRST! and keep your WiFi turned off so you won't download the new update, causing the browser not to work.
No brick. Success. 9.2.0 3DS original.