DJay32, and Curse of a Well-Read Man

Just a few days ago, I saw a notification from FIMFiction in my mail. I originally thought it was the doing of my pre-reader and close colleague, a human, responding to our extensive chain of PM's.

I was surprised to see that it was an entirely different user, one whose name I had not recognized. It wasn't even one of those subscriber-based messages that comes from certain authors - like that talented fellow behind the Loki-oriented crossover, "We Remember Everything".

This particular user had no activity on this site whatsoever, prior to messaging me. No favorites, no stories, nothing.

Curious, I opened the message. Inside was a short note and a link. The message made my day, but the post it linked to made my entire year.

DJay32, writer of The Rapture Logs and other prominent Fear Mythos works, had apparently been googling his stories out of boredom. He was rather surprised to find my story pop up in the results.

He read it. And his response to it can be found here:

http://blindrapture.tumblr.com/post/100653843636/the-curse-of-a-well-read-man

I could not believe what I was seeing when I first read it. Such high praise, coming from the writer that inspired me to create my own rabbit-holes, absolutely floored me.

Grab a seat, kiddo. This is a bit of a long story.

Well before I found FIMFiction (and that was way back when Day One was still in progress) I had been engrossed in the Fear Mythos. I read a shit-ton of Fear Blogs, such as Return to Slender, and thoroughly enjoyed the Fear Mythos RPG.

The Fear Mythos showed me how an ordinary person, not some billionaire with publishing deals, can create and share incredible stories with no one saying "You can't write like that." Essentially, the community opened me up to the concept of fanfiction. Their canon, their rules, and their own thoughts on how stories could be told.

Sure, Miniscule Literary was the author who introduced me to FIM. Sure, his works brought me into the fandom, piece by piece. But DJay32 - Jordan Dooling - was one of the people who renewed my imagination in a time that I feared that it fading away.

Jump ahead to a year ago. I had been locked into FIM (or more accurately, Miniscule Literary's work with the world) despite the fact that I never even touched the series.

But thank Jesus that I knew what the current generation ponies looked like before I read any of Day One.

When I finished reading Dawn of the First Day, its spiritual successor, I couldn't get it out of my mind. On an idle day, whilst rereading the story, I came across the chapter quoted in the opening sequence. To help me envision the scene, I imagined throwing poor Twilight into my own bookcase, not six feet away from my computer desk.

Strangely, I found my mind wandering as I mentally cast the unicorn into my collection of paperbacks. I began to wonder what would happen if she really WAS in my room, and we got to talking. I then questioned what would allow such a meeting to be possible.

My copy of Inkspell caught my attention at the right moment. I imagined my recital of "JUSTICE THY NAME IS BOOKCASE!" cast her into my room, and the Curse of A Well-Read Man was born.

It was a rather straightforward tale at first. Young guy discovers he's a Silvertongue by reading a Fanfiction aloud. Twilight Sparkle slams into his bookcase, and it becomes his responsibility to send the unicorn back. It closely followed the final version until the part where Lee talks to Setton about how to send her home.

Originally, Setton pulled up Day One and had Lee use its opening sequence at their gateway. It would have had the duo trying valiantly (and ultimately failing) to hide out in Equestria in a surprisingly well-stocked Bag End. It was blissfully simple...but that was the problem.

I thought that something was missing, and I was in the midst of an idle read-through of The Rapture Logs when I noticed something. The Birchman - the Mexican assassin, Knight of Xanadu, and family man - was also mentioned to be a brony.

I stared at that line for a good thirty seconds and finally said, "Son of a bitch."

This was the moment I began melding The Rapture Logs into the story

My mind then went back to a character who I had invented for the Fear Mythos, but never had the chance to use. A young man, subservient to the Fear he called Father, with a trusty eldritch companion. Originally, he would have been the main character of a Fear Blog set from the forefront of a secret war between EAT and The Blind Man. With some tinkering to his personality and a new name, Silias Aeson finally made his debut. I wrote him as a character that Lee had created, one who survived in DJay32's apocalypse without too much attention from the Fears.

Silias was the original stopping point to this crossover with the Fear Mythos, but the Muses had other plans. I wondered why Silias would be there, and why he would get involved. Which led to the use of the Peisistratos, and the formation of a larger plot line I'm not at liberty to say.

I remember looking around for any stories that crossed with Inkheart in such a manner, and finding nothing on FIMFiction. On a whim, I also looked around for any mention of the Fear Mythos.

Nothing at all. Not even Slendermane had a story in his name.

I considered this for a while. Then I reread the Rapture Logs, from top to bottom, and went into the bonus features. And there I found the fifth member of the party.

I love The Beast as a character. His evolution from eldritch terror to tragic hero touched me deeply, and continues to do so. The Christmas special where The Beast went out and delivered gifts for Santa Claus sealed it.

The Beast was welcomed into Curse's storyline with open arms.

The final story began to blossom from there. I toyed with my infantile canon, molding it slowly and surely to what I have today. A story that would've probably been as long as Day One had evolved into something much deeper, something much larger. And as I look between those early drafts and what I have now, I wonder what the hell I've gotten myself into.

Now that you know my journey to this point, let's get back to the present day.

I saw Jordan's review of Curse of A Well-Read Man, and I practically cried.

I could have taken Pinkie Pie in an endurance smiling competition. I out laughed both Mark Hamil's and Michael Keaton's portrayal of the Joker. I danced the mother-fucking jitterbug.

It's been four days since I had gotten news of that wonderful post.

For all those who have favorited Curse of A Well-Read Man, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your support. For those of you who are new here, I humbly hope that you enjoy my story as much as I enjoy writing it.

To Miniscule Literary, thank you for getting me interested in FIM, through your wonderful stories. College might make it harder to write, but I hope to see your stories grace the new users of FIMFiction.

To a human, thank you for the help you've been giving me, and I am truly proud to call my friend. You and your Obamaverse never cease to amaze me.

And for Jordan Dooling, thank you so much. With you cheering me on, I feel better than I have in years.

Stay classy, every last one of you.

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LeoneHaxor
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