#fun with decoding and encoding

[tagitables]

Keep writing, bit by bit :)

[prime-factorizer]

Would you use your powers of factorisation to crack public security keys?

No, cause I don't know enough about that kind of stuff to do anything with that information and I don't think I know anyone who does that I can trust with that information

[bobthecoolrock]

hey bob

could you do a lil mrrp mrrp meow for me? :3

{1 114 361 779, 2 704 227 505, 2 040 057 993}

[nebulastarss]

Giggling and kicking my feet as I unnecessarily encode the entire alphabet for a 5th time in the name of fanfiction

[thegreatyin]

actually to elaborate because it's vital characterization: by "the scientist doesn't know how to flirt" i mean "the scientist's idea of a love poem is writing the entire thing in periodic table notations instead of anything remotely normal". what does the silverer see in him

how's the love triangle going

delicious (SMEN pun not intended) so far!!! the scientist doesn't know how to flirt and the scoundrel is too busy being full of itself to even pick up on the fact that its patron is dating its roommate/fake marriage fiance. at this point it's a comedy of errors as to how long we can keep this up before it all clicks in their stupid little mind

[anouchard]

Okie dokie, solution time!

Ya know, just in case anyone has been wondering what all the funky codes meant.

1. The ciphers: these were mainly encoded using ROT[insert days left in countdown here]. Most people figured this out - congrats if you did! The exceptions were the extra codes (ROT18, because why not?*), the fake-out solution post code (ROT160, because of the "apologies for the deception" reference), the FINAL final code (ROT30, for episode 30), and the code for when we had 24 hours remaining (ROT24, because a shift of one felt FAR too easy). 24 was a fun one - the hidden song was 24 Hours, released quite recently by my friend Chloe (we shared a day job a while back, and she really is doing AMAZINGLY well!).

2. The songs themselves: these were (almost) all from the 'Tunes To Blackmail Your Boss To' playlist. The exceptions were the two Gorillaz tracks, which were both referenced with timestamps for ...

3. A laugh: the Italics in the raw ciphers, when all put together, spelt out "guess who gets the last ...", with the final clue of the 'Clint Eastwood' intro filling in the (hopefully obvious, by this point) "laugh"! This was perhaps my favourite moment to record, and I also enjoyed the ambiguity and malleability of the chosen phrase (which *may* come in to play should we ever return to this). After all ... does she really?

Right, that should be everything! Let me know if you have any questions, and thank you so much for playing along - It's been really grand (and fun!) seeing all your theories, puzzling-outs, joy, and occasional confusion.

Until the next time, then ... 🥰

*Edit: I know people were pretty stumped by the final two lines of the EA code! Once decoded, all you had to do was Google the first line to get to 'Feel Good', and then use the second line as a timestamp. Infuriating, I know - it really was as simple as cutting the Gordian Knot. 😁

[suppermariobroth]

In 2019, an activity called "Mario Secret Message Fun Decoding" was posted on Nintendo of America's official activity site. The top image presents an encoded answer to the following question:

Oh no! Undodog undid Cat Mario’s homework! What will Cat Mario do now?

The bottom image shows the key to decoding the top image. The answer is provided in an image linked here to avoid spoiling the solution.

Main Blog | Twitter | Patreon | Small Findings | Source

[fir-fireweed]

hi! i loved viatica and just finished reading canata, and I'm so excited for how this story will play out! congrats on the update, and i apologize that your inbox must be full to bursting with everyone being so excited from the tellus reveal. i can't blame them, though the noise i made upon seeing him was somewhere between a squeal of glee and a choked sob for my baby. sorry if this gets a little incoherent by the by, i had a surgery yesterday and the medicine makes one a little loopy.

right, but my question. is there any encryption going on with messages and things? does the resistenza use ciphers? does the military? if there is who would be in charge of that, and can we help encode/decode letters? spy stuff is just so fun to me, and ciphers aren't language. They're math. math is FUN if hard. i understand if the answer is no, it's a lot! but i figured i would ask. thank you for writing such wonderful things, and i hope you take care!

It’s still pretty full, lol. I keep my work email inbox very clean and sorted so this one is making my eye twitch. 🥴

I did imagine the Resistenza messages would be coded in some way, but I didn’t give it much thought beyond that. 🤔 I’ll play around with the idea. It would actually play into some of the things happening in Chapter 5.

Thank you so much for your kind words, and for reading both my stories! I hope your surgery went well and you’ve recovered! I have a procedure tomorrow I’ve been a little anxious over so wish me luck! 🙏🏻

[hp-hcs]

not requested, but i've been working on this for a while, and i'm actually quite pleased with how it turned out. i've never written in this style before, but it was actually really fun. hopefully its comprehensible, to some degree 🤷‍♂️

June — riddle brothers & gn! flint! reader

“Collected documents” style of writing.

Basically the boyos are just having a hell of a month

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

[Meeting of the "Junior Death Eaters", June 12th, 1997, 18:23, Malfoy Manor, as transcribed in verbatim by CARROW, Alecto.]

PARTIES IN ATTENDANCE:

BERKSHIRE, Lorenzo

CARROW, Alecto

CRABBE, Vincent

FLINT, Y/N

GOYLE, Gregory Jr.

MALFOY, Draco

MALFOY, Narcissa

NOTT, Theodore Jr.

PARKINSON, Pansy

RIDDLE, Mattheo

RIDDLE, Thomas III

VOLDEMORT, Lord

ZABINI, Blaise

ABSENT:

BULSTRODE, Millicent [Deserter]

FLINT, Marcus [PKIA]

WARRINGTON, Cassius [On Assignment]

[Audio recording begins.]

[Silence, approx. 0:07]

VOLDEMORT: I apologize for the… unanticipated loss of your father, Crabbe.

CRABBE: Tha- thank you, uh, my Lord.

VOLDEMORT: Accidents do happen, of course. Losses are an ineluctable part of war. Now then, moving on.

[CRABBE slouches]

VOLDEMORT: You all must be… curious as to why I’ve called this… unscheduled meeting. I received a… rather rude letter from Mr. Harry Potter himself.

[Crosstalk, unintelligible for approx. 0:12]

MALFOY, N.: Silence, children. My- my Lord, please. Go ahead.

VOLDEMORT: Thank you, Narcissa. As I was saying… [paper crinkling] this letter is clearly encoded. Who believes themselves capable of decoding this? Do so, and I may… reward you with a chance to move up in my ranks.

[Crosstalk, clamor for approx. 0:21]

VOLDEMORT: Silence! Y/N, do you believe yourself capable?

[NOTT and RIDDLE, M. whisper, indistinct for approx. 0:02]

FLINT: Yes, my Lord.

VOLDEMORT: Very well. Next order of busin- [interrupted by the arrival of PETTIGREW, Peter]

PETTIGREW: M-my Lord- Severus wishes to s-speak with you.

[VOLDEMORT stands]

VOLDEMORT: Meeting adjourned. Narcissa, with me. Pettigrew, report.

[Unintelligible for approx. 0:06 as VOLDEMORT, MALFOY, N., and PETTIGREW leave]

[Silence for approx. 0:38]

CARROW: Are there any questions?

[All parties shake their heads]

CARROW: Alrighty then. You all know your assignments… Power to those who aid the Dark Lord and stand in his good stead.

ALL “Junior Death Eaters”: So mote it be.

[Transcript ends.]

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

𝐿𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝑅𝒾𝒹𝒹𝓁𝑒

𝑀𝒶𝓁𝒻𝑜𝓎 𝑀𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇

𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓉𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓇𝑒, 𝐸𝓃𝑔𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹

𝟣𝟣 𝒥𝓊𝓃𝑒, 𝟣𝟫𝟫𝟩

– 𝒽𝑒𝓎, 𝒪𝓁𝒹 𝐹𝑅𝐼𝐸𝒩𝒟!

𝓂𝓇. 𝒟𝒜𝓇𝓀 𝓁𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒮𝒾𝓇, 𝓁𝑜𝑜𝓀, 𝒾’𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝑅𝐼𝓉𝓉𝐸𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝐿𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝒜𝓈𝓀 𝐼𝒻 𝒴𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝒸𝓀𝒾𝒩𝑔 𝓊𝓅 𝒜𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓁𝒻𝑜𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇. 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒, 𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝒯 𝓎𝑜𝒰 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝑅𝒾𝒹𝒹𝓁𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒? 𝒾 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃, 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃. 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓁𝒻𝑜𝓎𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒢𝒾𝓉𝓈, 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝐿𝓁𝓎. 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝒷𝓃𝑜𝓍𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓇𝒾𝒸𝒽-𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓊𝓂𝓃𝒮 𝑜𝒩 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑅𝑜𝒩𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓇𝒾𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓊𝐿𝒪𝓊𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒮𝒾𝑜𝒩. 𝒾 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒, 𝒶𝓁𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓂𝒶𝓃.

𝓍𝑜𝓍𝑜,

𝒽𝒫

𝒪𝒽, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎: 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒 ‘𝓋𝑜𝓁𝒹𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓉’ 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝓅𝒾𝒹. 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝓊𝒸𝓀 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝒾 𝑔𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓈.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

𝐿𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝑅𝒾𝒹𝒹𝓁𝑒

𝑀𝒶𝓁𝒻𝑜𝓎 𝑀𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇

𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓉𝓈𝒽𝒾𝓇𝑒, 𝐸𝓃𝑔𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹

𝟣𝟣 𝒥𝓊𝓃𝑒, 𝟣𝟫𝟫𝟩

– 𝒽𝑒𝓎, 𝒪𝓁𝒹 𝐹𝑅𝐼𝐸𝒩𝒟!

𝓂𝓇. 𝒟𝒜𝓇𝓀 𝓁𝑜𝓇𝒹 𝒮𝒾𝓇, 𝐿𝑜𝑜𝓀, 𝒾’𝓋𝑒 𝓌𝑅𝐼𝓉𝓉𝐸𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓁𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝑜 𝒜𝓈𝓀 𝐼𝒻 𝒴𝑜𝓊’𝓇𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓈𝒽𝒶𝒸𝓀𝒾𝒩𝑔 𝓊𝓅 𝒜𝓉 𝓂𝒶𝓁𝒻𝑜𝓎 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝑜𝓇. 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒, 𝒟𝑜𝓃’𝒯 𝓎𝑜𝒰 𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓁𝓁 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑜𝓁𝒹 𝑅𝒾𝒹𝒹𝓁𝑒 𝓅𝓁𝒶𝒸𝑒? 𝒾 𝓂𝑒𝒶𝓃, 𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝑜𝓃. 𝒶𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝒶𝓁𝒻𝑜𝓎𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓈𝓊𝒸𝒽 𝒢𝒾𝓉𝓈, 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝐿𝓁𝓎. 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓈𝑒𝑒𝓂 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝑜𝒻 𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓈𝑒 𝑜𝒷𝓃𝑜𝓍𝒾𝑜𝓊𝓈 𝓇𝒾𝒸𝒽-𝓅𝑒𝑜𝓅𝓁𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓊𝓂𝓃𝒮 𝑜𝒩 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒻𝑅𝑜𝒩𝓉 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝒾𝓇 𝓇𝒾𝒹𝒾𝒸𝓊𝐿𝒪𝓊𝓈 𝓂𝒶𝓃𝒮𝒾𝑜𝒩. 𝒾 𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒, 𝒶𝓁𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁 𝒷𝒶𝒹 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓎𝑜𝓊, 𝓂𝒶𝓃.

𝓍𝑜𝓍𝑜,

𝒽𝒫

𝒪𝒽, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒷𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓎: 𝑔𝓇𝒶𝓃𝑔𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒𝒶𝓈𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒶𝑔𝓇𝑒𝑒 𝓌𝒾𝓉𝒽 𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓃𝒶𝓂𝑒 ‘𝓋𝑜𝓁𝒹𝑒𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓉’ 𝒾𝓈 𝓈𝓉𝓊𝓅𝒾𝒹. 𝒷𝑒𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓁𝓊𝒸𝓀 𝓃𝑒𝓍𝓉 𝓉𝒾𝓂𝑒, 𝒾 𝑔𝓊𝑒𝓈𝓈.

o, friend, da, s, l, ri, e, a, i, y, n, a, d, t, u, r, g, l, k, column, s, n, r, n, lo, s, n, p, o

columnar code maybe?

3 6 4 2 5 1

f r i e n d

y o u r s o

n s r i n d

a n g e r a

d p l a n s

t o k i l l

your sons r in danger a d plans to kill

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

My Lord,

Enclosed is the letter we discussed earlier. I would recommend you take action immediately.

Regards,

Y/N Flint

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

American Airlines BOARDING PASS

PASSENGER NAME:

FLINT / Y/N

FROM:

LONDON

TO: DATE: DEPARTS:

NEW YORK 13JUN 0415 AM

GATE BOARDING TIME SEAT

𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝟑 B12 0345 AM 27E

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

American Airlines BOARDING PASS

PASSENGER NAME:

RIDDLE / THOMAS

FROM:

LONDON

TO: DATE: DEPARTS:

NEW YORK 13JUN 0415 AM

GATE BOARDING TIME SEAT

𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝟑 B12 0345 AM 27D

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

American Airlines BOARDING PASS

PASSENGER NAME:

RIDDLE / MATTHEO

FROM:

LONDON

TO: DATE: DEPARTS:

NEW YORK 13JUN 0415 AM

GATE BOARDING TIME SEAT

𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏 𝟑 B12 0345 AM 27F

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Passport 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵

Surname/Nom (1)

FLINT

Given names/Prénoms (2)

Y/N

Nationality/Nationalité (3)

BRITISH CITIZEN

Date of birth/Date de naissance (4) Children/Enfants (5)

11 MAR /MARS 80 0

Sex/Sexe (6) Place of birth/Lieu de naissance (7)

X EXETER

Date of issue/Date de délivrance (8) Authority/Autorité (9)

06 APR /AVR 95 UNITED KINGDOM

Date of expiry/Date d’expiration (10)

05 APR /AVR 05

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Passport 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵

Surname/Nom (1)

RIDDLE III

Given names/Prénoms (2)

THOMAS

Nationality/Nationalité (3)

BRITISH CITIZEN

Date of birth/Date de naissance (4) Children/Enfants (5)

31 DEC /DEC 78 0

Sex/Sexe (6) Place of birth/Lieu de naissance (7)

M LITTLE HANGLETON

Date of issue/Date de délivrance (8) Authority/Autorité (9)

31 JUL /JUIL 91 UNITED KINGDOM

Date of expiry/Date d’expiration (10)

30 JUL /JUIL 01

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Passport 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵

Surname/Nom (1)

RIDDLE

Given names/Prénoms (2)

MATTHEO

Nationality/Nationalité (3)

BRITISH CITIZEN

Date of birth/Date de naissance (4) Children/Enfants (5)

29 DEC /DEC 79 0

Sex/Sexe (6) Place of birth/Lieu de naissance (7)

M LEEDS

Date of issue/Date de délivrance (8) Authority/Autorité (9)

01 AUG /AOUT 91 UNITED KINGDOM

Date of expiry/Date d’expiration (10)

31 JUL /JUIL 01

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

PERIODIC TENANCY AGREEMENT

THIS LEASE AGREEMENT made effective the 14th day of 𝒥𝓊𝓃𝑒, 1997

between

𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓀 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒾𝒶𝓂𝓈

(the “Landlord”)

and

𝒯𝒽𝑜𝓂𝒶𝓈 𝑅𝒾𝒹𝒹𝓁𝑒

(the “Tenant”)

WHEREAS the Landlord owns the property located at 𝒫𝒶𝓇𝓀𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌 𝒜𝓅𝒶𝓇𝓉𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈, 𝟣𝟣𝟤𝟩 𝒲. 𝐿𝒾𝓃𝒸𝑜𝓁𝓃 𝒮𝓉., 𝒜𝓅𝓉. 𝟤𝟢𝟥𝐻 (“the Premises”), and the Tenant wishes to rent the Premises from the Landlord for a periodic term. The Landlord does hereby lease to the Tenant the Premises “as is” for a primary term of one month commencing on the 16th day of 𝒥𝓊𝓃𝑒.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

7-ELEVEᑎ

131 20TH AVE

NEW YORK NY 20851

STORE #: 518

2 MARLBORO RED ‘25 13.40T

1 CHERRY DR PEPPER 2.75T

2 HARIBO GOLDBEARS 3.98T

1 FOLDING POCKET KNIFE 7.99T

SUBTOTAL 28.12

TAX 1.68

TOTAL DUE 29.80

VISA 29.80

*** TRANSACTION APPROVED ***

THANK YOU FOR SHOPPING WITH US!

T#58 0P18 TRN4617 06/14/1997 22:56:51

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

𝐹𝓇𝒾𝑒𝓃𝒹𝓈,

𝒲𝑒𝓁𝒸𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓉𝑜 𝒫𝒶𝓇𝓀𝓋𝒾𝑒𝓌! 𝑀𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝓊𝓈𝒷𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊𝓇 𝓃𝑒𝓌 𝓃𝑒𝒾𝑔𝒽𝒷𝑜𝓇𝓈 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝒸𝓇𝑜𝓈𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝒶𝓁𝓁 (𝟤𝟢𝟦𝐻) 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝐿𝒪𝒱𝐸 𝓉𝑜 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝒹𝒾𝓃𝓃𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓉 𝓈𝑜𝓂𝑒 𝓅𝑜𝒾𝓃𝓉. 𝐼 𝓇𝒶𝓃 𝒾𝓃𝓉𝑜 𝒴/𝒩 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓃𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒶𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓌𝑒𝓇𝑒 𝓁𝑒𝒶𝓋𝒾𝓃𝑔, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝑔𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓂 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒸𝑜𝑜𝓀𝒾𝑒𝓈 𝓂𝓎 𝒽𝓊𝒷𝒷𝓎, 𝒟𝒶𝓋𝒾𝒹, 𝓂𝒶𝒹𝑒. 𝐻𝑜𝓅𝑒𝒻𝓊𝓁𝓁𝓎 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎’𝓇𝑒 𝑔𝑜𝑜𝒹!

– 𝒥𝑜𝒽𝓃 & 𝒟𝒶𝓋𝒾𝒹 𝒮𝒸𝑜𝓉𝓉

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Cousins –

I regret to inform you both that Grandfather Al has sadly passed as of yesterday. If at all possible, we’d much appreciate your presence back home in London for the funerary services. Sending you my condolences.

Regards,

D.M.

[my-deer-friend]

Play along: Amrev codebreaker!

While browsing through some primary materials reading up about John Laurens’ mission to France as special minister to the court of Versailles, I came across a letter that he wrote to the president of the Continental Congress on 9 April 1781 that included a coded message using a numerical cipher. 

I took a shot at deciphering it – here’s the process I followed, and you can play along too!

1. The first step, of course, was to determine which specific encryption was being used. After a bit of digging, I came across the immensely useful United States diplomatic codes and ciphers, 1775-1938 by Ralph E Weber. He explains that the cipher in question was “prepared on separate encode and decode sheets, the latter contained 660 printed numbers, with usually 600 words, syllables, and letters of the alphabet scattered randomly throughout the sheet.” So, for example, the word “congress” is “143”, the syllable “el” is “593” and the letter “r” is “215”. This cipher was an updated and improved version of the one used by Benjamin Tallmadge, and Weber explains that Laurens was the first one to use it. Weber also handily provides the decode table in an appendix. 

2. The second step was to design an efficient way to decode the hundreds of numbers Laurens used in his letter, and the obvious answer was my good friend the spreadsheet. I transferred the table from the book to Google Sheets, which was mildly tedious but hugely time-saving later on.

3. Now the fun part! I typed out the numbers from Laurens’ letter, and then used a simple LOOKUP formula to match the number to the decoded text.

The cipher also includes two nuances - an underscore beneath the word means a plural, and an overscore denotes adding an “e” - so I marked these in the cells with pink and green highlights respectively.

4. The final step was correcting a few errors in my table, refining the decoding (some numbers have various iterations to save space, such as 103 which can be any one of “ec/eck/ek” depending on which syllable is needed), and extracting the final text. 

It all reads very smoothly, with the singular exception of “ght-f-t”, which is the way Laurens rendered the word “gift”. The obvious explanation for this mangle is that he mis-wrote 340 (ght) instead of 170 (gi).

That’s definitely 340, 304, 196 which decodes as “ght-f-t”.

While it seems like a strange error to make, bear in mind that the encoding sheet (the one Laurens was using to change plaintext into numbers) would have been listed in alphabetical order to make finding the numbers easier (while the person at the other end has the sheet in numerical order, to reverse the process just as easily). And when we sort alphabetically, we can see that 340 and 170 are right next to each other:

A simple slip to make for someone writing coded letters late at night in low candlelight.

If you want to play along:

Here’s the code/decode spreadsheet. 

And here is the transcribed text (underlines for plurals, asterisk for added “e”). I've given the solution under the cut!

I have employed the most unremitting efforts to obtain a prompt and favorable decision relative to the object of my mission_ 381, 304, 543, 437, 366, 377, 276, 75, 75, 226, 269, 385, 426, 377, 17, 465, 197, 481, 428, 593, 381, 355, 153, 278*, 428, 333, 70, 18, 405, 184, 226, 291, 197, 376, 524, 330, 446, 362, 449, 143 The Count de Vergennes communicated to me yesterday his most Christian Majesty's determination to guarantee 381, 59, 594, 18, 9, 205, 330, 497, 254, 401, 376, 503, 306, 503, 467, 428, 226, 236, 330, 278*, 245, 205, 506, 99, 376, 381, 381, 256, 184, 90, 340, 304, 196 ...and the value of the military effects which may be furnished from the Royal Arsenal, 418, 330, 497, 428, 197, 380, 377, 196, 376, 45, 278, 245, 205 I shall use my utmost endeavours to procure an immediate 467, 208, 491, 18, 278*, 9, 205, 45, 278, 42, 381, 230, 215, 355, 18, 237, 330, 497*, 215, 167, 290, 377, 376, 341, 278, 182, 302, 75, 376, 59, 594, and shall renew my solicitations for the 357, 34, 197, 18, 203, 291, 491, 481, 484, 34, 325, 89, 113, 392, 197, 269, 336, 458, 278*, 97, 18, 245, 205 may not be 126, 21, 215, 497, 376, 341, 296, 75, 477, 226, 103, 196, 481, 278*, 483, 215, 553, 75*, 18, 238, 377, 59, 374, 478, the providing this article I fear will be attended with great difficulties and delays as all the 476, 490, 481, 36, 228, 351, 392, 226, 197, 18, 237, are remote from the sea, and there are no 441, 420, 50, 563, 503, 197, 18, 377, 59, 278, suitable to our purposes. The cargo of the Marquis de la Fayette will I hope arrive safe under the convoy of the Alliance_ 481, 341, 78, 465, 75, 426, 408, 596, 115, 76, 376, 174, 196*, 291, 103, 197, 75, 75, 184, 226, 197, 281, 5, 171, 278*, 428, 593, 381, 355, 492, 194, 236, 376, 45, 574, 408, 504, 366, 381, 506, 197, 197, 193, 213, 75, 197, 199, 291, 377, 197 The Marquis de Castries has engaged to make immediate arrangements for the safe transportation of the pecuniary and the other succours destined for the United States_ 481, 350, 215, 167, 450, 196, 376, 34, 381, 75, 473, 376, 76*, 458, 278*, 72, 208, 449, 577, 114, 89, 405, 486, 497, 197, 113, 126, 34, 361, 376, 269, 278*, 277, 291, 104, 381, 113, 278*, 401, 230, 408, 550, 552, 342, 291

Have fun!

I have employed the most unremitting efforts to obtain a prompt and favorable decision relative to the object of my mission_ after many discussions, difficulties and delays with the details of which it is needless to trouble congress.

The Count de Vergennes communicated to me yesterday his most Christian Majesty's determination to guarantee a loan of ten millions to be opened in Holland in addition to the six millions granted as a gracious gift.

...and the value of the military effects which may be furnished from the Royal Arsenal are to be deducted from the six million.

I shall use my utmost endeavours to procure an immediate advance of the ten millions from the treasury of France to be replaced by the proposed loan,

and shall renew my solicitations for the supplies of the ordinance and military stores on credit that the present of six millions may not be absorbed by thousands objects and the purchase of necessary clothing

the providing this article I fear will be attended with great difficulties and delays as all the wool and manufactories of France are remote from the sea, and there are no

public magazines of cloth suitable to our purposes.

The cargo of the Marquis de la Fayette will I hope arrive safe under the convoy of the Alliance_ and by satisfying our immediate necessities prevent the delays above-mentioned from having any disagreeable consequences

The Marquis de Castries has engaged to make immediate arrangements for the safe transportation of the pecuniary and the other succours destined for the United States_ and has repeatedly assured me that the naval superiority which will be established on the American coast the ensuing campaign

[salivacitrus]

decoding perfect love's encoded messages

perfect love's code contains secret messages in a few different ciphers/codes. these messages are from the perspectives of milo's three forms, as well as text in plain english from eris. this post lists and decodes all these messages.

this is applicable to version 1.0 of the game. if there's any more added in future updates, i'll update this post.

the lines with scrambled letters are in caesar cipher, with the letter shifts varying between lines. these lines are from the perspective of pre milo.

the lines with strings of double digit numbers are in nihilist cipher, with alphabet abcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyz and keyword manipulation. these lines are from the perspective of manipulation milo.

the lines with strings of dots and dashes are in morse code. these lines are from the perspective of violence milo.

the lines in plain english are from the perspective of eris.

each encoded message has its decoded form directly below it in italics. decoded lines may be adjusted for readability.

script.rpy, lines 1-4. these lines are placed at the very beginning of the script's code, and are meant to hint at which codes are used for the encoded messages.

Oh my dear, it's such a Lowly sight, to be loved Indefinately without a clear Mind. The Middle child is crying he wants to be hAppy, the youNgest wants to be just lIke them in every way, the oldest wants to Protect with an Undying wish and the LAsT Is the type that ONly cares for themselves. It's cynical. He hurts and for what? What does he reMORSE over? Let's have some fun, shall we?

script.rpy, lines 7-10. these lines are placed right after the previously mentioned lines.

U vgef imzfqp eayazq fa omdq rad yq, eayqazq fa xahq yq. I just wanted someone* to care for me, someone to love me. 56 63 57 55 66 57 46 35 89 67 78 64 56 36 48 68 58 60 63 35 77 39 85 48 74 65 54 58 77 77 42 44 58 48 67 48 83 26 75 78 87 56 85 I will be just like them in every form and in every way. .. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / .--. .-. --- - . -.-. - / - .... . -- / - --- / - .... .. -. -.- / --- - .... . .-. .-- .. ... . / .. ... / ..-. --- --- .-.. .. ... .... .-.-.- I will protect them, to think otherwise is foolish. Milo will love you, he has no choice.

*originally says "somone" when decoded. i assume this was a typo, so i changed it.

script.rpy, lines 90-93. these lines are placed after the setup for default configurations, and before the script code for the main menu.

X'b hd wpeen iwtn rwdht bt. I'm so happy they chose me. 76 34 48 78 46 87 46 43 98 46 68 47 43 55 56 48 68 70 55 24 55 57 67 67 76 53 48 35 48 68 55 24 55 57 67 67 76 32 44 48 66 66 65 53 55 67 49 46 66 44 47 58 77 69 42 43 77 58 78 56 56 44 55 They are my god, a thing* I cannot reach. I cannot fail for a second or I am nothing. .. / .--- ..- ... - / .-- .- -. - . -.. / - --- / -... . / ..- ... . ..-. ..- .-.. / .- -. -.. / .--. .-. --- ...- . / .. / -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. / -.. --- / ... --- -- . - .... .. -. --. .-.-.- / .. / .-- .- -. - . -.. / - --- / -- .- -.- . / ... ..- .-. . / -.-- --- ..- / -.-. --- ..- .-.. -.. / -. . ...- . .-. / .... ..- .-. - .-.-.- I just wanted to be useful and prove I could do something. I wanted to make sure you could never hurt. It's unfortunate that you chose him.

*originally says "think" when decoded. i assume this was a typo, so i changed it.

script.rpy, lines 7675-7676. these lines are placed after the househusband ending.

.. .----. .-.. .-.. / -... . / -.-. .- --. . -.. / .... . .-. . / .-- .. - .... / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- I'll be caged here with you. Strange, even as a clipped bird you aren't the one who is in a cage.

script.rpy, lines 7929-7930. these lines are placed after the walls ending.

67 42 48 35 78 60 45 45 77 68 57 44 76 26 65 39 59 76 62 25 78 35 67 87 76 34 57 57 57 66 65 53 98 58 79 57 63 42 55 48 86 60 85 45 89 56 88 56 47 22 75 68 59 66 85 45 89 35 77 58 64 26 57 55 66 67 55 62 59 78 68 78 64 65 48 75 50 87 85 55 67 48 67 55 56 56 76 68 56 79 73 65 78 69 Please don't hate me, I'll do anything for you. I'll give you my heart if you ask me, I'll give you my everything, just for you. What you thought was a failure was a success. Some things perhaps are better not seen.

script.rpy, lines 8162-8163. these lines are placed after the marriage ending.

56 54 66 68 59 89 66 53 59 68 78 87 76 34 48 76 46 99 85 45 89 66 49 87 47 33 64 48 79 89 46 53 87 48 67 65 56 44 48 48 78 78 75 35 88 76 68 66 46 26 75 45 80 76 75 34 55 68 86 48 55 22 84 39 79 68 74 22 76 39 66 44 74 36 67 57 50 56 44 34 78 68 57 48 74 Isn't it pretty, the way your eye glitters in mine? Isn't it wonderful that we have the same mark on each other? As long as we get to match forever more, it does not matter how you mark me.

script.rpy, lines 8355-8356. these lines are placed after the cannibal ending.

.. - / - .- ... - . ... / --. --- --- -.. --..-- / . ...- . .-. -.-- - .... .. -. --. / .. / -- .- -.- . / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- / .. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / . ...- . -. / .-.. . - / -- . / .-. .. .--. / -- . / - --- / ... .... .-. . -.. ... / .. ..-. / -.-- --- ..- / -.. . ... .. .-. . -.. / .- / - .- ... - . / --- ..-. / -- . .-.-.- It tastes good, everything I make you. I will even let you* rip me to shreds if you desired a taste of me. How noble of you. Do not worry, if I desire a taste of you, you will know.

*originally says "me" when decoded. i assume this was a typo, so i changed it.

script.rpy, lines 8537-8538. these lines are placed after the doll ending.

56 55 76 57 69 89 42 54 68 45 57 48 84 26 75 39 80 88 55 44 66 68 57 48 64 22 66 78 87 56 85 54 It's not as if he were using them anyways. The joints don't seem to work as well as they used to? That's too bad.

script.rpy, lines 8705-8706. these lines are placed after the killer ending.

- .... . -.-- / -.. . ... . .-. ...- . / .. - / -- --- .-. . / - .... .- -. / .- -. -.-- - .... .. -. --. .-.-.- They deserve it more than anything. It's a strange joy to watch others hurt. You understand, right?

script.rpy, lines 9192-9193. these lines are placed after the burning ending.

67 42 48 35 78 60 55 25 68 38 58 77 43 42 64 45 69 87 85 45 89 48 47 64 47 44 76 39 49 69 75 22 75 55 86 57 76 34 54 48 77 60 55 56 87 68 45 76 86 45 78 57 50 60 45 26 58 48 78 85 43 54 44 55 66 66 65 53 98 58 79 44 65 25 48 75 50 87 85 55 67 48 67 55 55 22 76 35 66 97 42 65 87 36 49 48 65 32 67 66 89 79 76 Please, I did it all for you. I cleansed it all with fire, just as you needed. It was all for you, and everything has always been for you. Oh? Just for me? You shouldn't have my love.

script.rpy, lines 9421-9422. these lines are placed after the kidnapping ending.

-.. --- . ... / .. - / .... ..- .-. - / -- -.-- / .-.. --- ...- . ..--.. / -... ..- - / - .... .. ... / . -..- .- -.-. - .-.. -.-- / .-- .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- / .-- .- -. - . -.. .-.-.- .-.-.- .-.-.- .- -. -.. / .. / .-- .. .-.. .-.. / --. .. ...- . / -.-- --- ..- / .-- .... .- - / -.-- --- ..- / .--. .-.. . .- ... . .-.-.- Does it hurt, my love? But this exactly what you wanted... and I will give you what you please. Aha... is that what you were worried about? Do not worry, my love. This little thing could never hurt me in the slightest.

sprite.rpy, lines 205-208. these lines are placed between the file location specifications for some true ending assets and character sprites.

A oadd twugew ozsl A zsnw lg sfv escw lzwe zshhq. I will become what I have to and make them happy. 88 46 53 73 88 82 46 70 79 74 84 74 50 60 76 44 96 83 79 46 68 64 63 64 50 47 82 64 65 66 75 60 76 44 76 84 48 66 86 54 57 106 66 38 77 55 63 83 70 27 86 63 75 92 59 68 59 74 83 66 58 47 64 73 88 83* When they look at me with disdain, I can't help but cry. I did something wrong, didn't I? .-- .... . -. / - .... . -.-- / -.-- . .-.. .-.. / .- - / -- . --..-- / .. / -.-. .- -. .----. - / .... . .-.. .--. / -... ..- - / ..-. .-.. .. -. -.-. .... .-.-.- / - .... . / -.-. --- .-.. .-.. .- .-. / - .... . -.-- / .... .- ...- . / --- -. / -- . / .. ... / - --- --- / ... - .-. --- -. --. .-.-.- When they yell at me, I can't help but flinch. The collar they have on me is too strong. So meek and malleable - it's been a while since you found someone with such a lack of spine.

*this line uses alphabet zebrascdfghiklmnopqtuvwxy instead of abcdefghiklmnopqrstuvwxyz, and is the only one to do so. i assume this was a consistency error.

sprite.rpy, lines 1640-1643. these lines are placed between the file location specifications for character sprites and background images.

U'y eaddk rad xaawuzs mf kag rday mrmd, U'y eaddk ftmf kag tmp fa emhq yq. Oagxpz'f U tmhq nqqz efdazsqd? Bxqmeq paz'f xqmhq yq. I'm sorry for looking at you from afar, I'm sorry that you had to save me. Couldn't I have been stronger? Please don't leave me. 55 45 85 37 69 90 62 25 68 47 45 84 47 23 48 39 68 56 64 65 88 47 58 66 54 63 57 68 58 79 76 55 98 58 79 57 84 22 76 57 69 89 54 35 77 46 46 48 53 45 75 39 How could I have been anything without you? I was nothing before. .. / .-- .- -. - / - .... . -- / -- --- .-. . / - .... .- -. / .- -. -.-- - .... .. -. --. --..-- / .-- .... -.-- / -.-. .- -. .----. - / - .... . -.-- / ... . . / - .... .- - ..--.. / .-- --- -. .----. - / .. / -.. . ... - .-. --- -.-- / . ...- . .-. -.-- - .... .. -. --. / . ...- . -. / -- -.-- ... . .-.. ..-. / ..-. --- .-. / - .... . -- ..--.. I want them more than anything, why can't they see that? Won't I destroy everything, even myself, for them? But HE was the one who was seeking you. HE was the one who wanted to be with you.

sprite.rpy, lines 2655-2658. these lines are placed between the file location specifications for some true ending assets and code for image transforms.

Sjsb hvciuv W ybck kvoh mci rwr hc as, W kwzz ghwzz zcjs mci psqoigs mci aors as kvczs. Even though I know what you did to me, I will still love you because you made me whole. 56 54 56 58 80 76 45 44 88 47 45 84 47 53 78 57 46 97 42 65 55 45 78 48 74 63 56 35 79 68 46 55 78 55 48 65 47 I shouldn't have run away after what he told me. .. / ... .... --- ..- .-.. -.. / .... .- ...- . / -... . . -. / ... - .-. --- -. --. . .-. --..-- / .. .----. -- / ... --- / .-- . .- -.- .-.-.- / .. / -.. --- -. .----. - / -.. . ... . .-. ...- . / - --- / -... . / .-- .. - .... / -.-- --- ..- .-.-.- I should have been stronger, I'm so weak. I don't deserve to be with you. So really... isn't it just his fault?

that is all that i could find.

[zitrontorte]

NSOTF Ad Secret

The NSOTF website has fun little in-lore "ads" that pop up in the Promoted box under the series cover page and the link to the latest chapter. Most of them have thumbnails of talents from one of the Big Three agencies and link, accordingly, to the webpages of those agencies.

One of them is completely blank.

(The NSOTF homepage with a blank ad.)

Let's see where it goes.

Clicking the ad brings you to nsotf.com/h/, which is apparently a page with nothing on it.

Hitting ctrl+a or clicking and dragging over the top of the page reveals a string of characters. These are illegible, so I searched "text decoder" and found this website:

www.dcode.fr/cipher-identifier. Pasting the text into the box and hitting the "ANALYZE" button gives a set of likely encodings.

Here, the only option in the list that comes up with anything is ASCII85 Encoding, so I click that.

Now all that's left is to hit "DECRYPT". The website already pasted the text in the input box for me.

A message in plain English appears on the left side of the page. It says:

Do you think everyone's already forgotten about me? … I'll bet they have. My replacement's already shining on that stage, after all…. It's as if I wasn't ever there. But I was, wasn't I? I was there, right? My existence- it surely was worth something, wasn't it…? …. You agree, don't you, M?

Frankly I have no idea who could have said this. It can't have been Tech--at least, not the Tech we know now, who seems to have entirely moved on from the idol business. And it doesn't sound like her. If anything, it sounds like Shine, who has never been on a stage and therefore does not have a replacement for the job she never had.

I can't think of anyone with a "replacement" except for Roll's brother, Rock, but Honey never actually replaced him because Roll didn't agree to the fake-twin-contract deal. He shouldn't even know that his agency tried to replace him with another Len. And he was never onstage anyway.

It sounds like this is coming from an idol who disappeared from the public eye and who was either part of a group (and had their slot in the group replaced after they left) or had some kind of persona (that got adopted by someone else after they left). I can't think of a group so far that had one of its members replaced. As for personas, it could be Magical Mirai or Snow Miku, but every Miku in either of those shows is her own character--it's not like they kept putting Snow Miku in the same recolored V2 costume forever.

And who could "M" be? Momo or Mimi, Shine's classmates? Muresu, the Minase Kou from O-Len's show (who I had to dig through the comic to find)? Mikuo? Miku????

Conclusion? Idk. I bet neither the speaker nor M have even been mentioned in the comic yet and I'm just grasping at straws. Fun monologue, though.

[token-omnisexual]

Book of Bill Spoilers Under the Cut

Okay so the new alphabet or substitution cipher, the one that spells the lobsters name or fords tattoo or the patients in the theraprism

I almost have it thanks to this page and the text that makes up stans tattoo

On this page

Right here the top is Stan’s tattoo and the bottom in the name of the smile dip mascot

Here’s what I have so far, as far as I could find, not all letters appear in the book

The crosses out word on top is the lobsters name (possibly Daryll?)

I found letters that make up bills name first because they would be easiest and then saw that two of them made up the first word for the smile dip mascot, the the only options to finish the word were t and s, thankfully I guessed t first because that led me to guess the rest of the phrase that makes up fords tattoo

And shit looking back at it, that symbol is not m, it is supposed to be f

I’ll update this later if I find more

Edit: I have finished

I now realize I forgot to add this page with code at the bottom, I also should’ve taken a closer look at it because some of the letters are not encoded, so I could’ve gotten t easier I suppose

Here is the full decoded alphabet (from the letters I found, still five missing) and yes his name was daryll

Speaking of names, decoding them is what helped me find the rest of the letters so here they are.

I got g from spheremonger, j from Jessica, and y and m from Mr Silly

Finally we have this (the message at the bottom of the SSSTAANLLLLLLLLLEEEEE page) which gives us x

Please let me know if you find any more letters or phrases I missed in the book, I looked online and the other new decoding cipher has been entirely cracked so I won’t be doing that one. It was a lot of fun to crack this especially since I hadn’t seen anyone else do it yet.

I also have no idea what to call this cipher so leave suggestions in the notes

Will edit if there are any updates

[radiojamming]

My ass fell down the Sherlock Holmes tree A G A I N and I am currently hitting every branch on the way down so literally anything you know about sending telegrams is useful information to me. Do they need stamps. How long do they take. Do I have to say Stop after every sentence or is that just a comprehension convention. IS IT A MORSE CODE THING

I AM REVVING MY ENGINES ABOUT THIS ASK AHHH LET'S GO

Telegrams did not need stamps. They were usually sent from one telegram office to another and were distributed outward by dedicated telegram couriers from that company. Most of the time, this system was faster than the mail.

Which is to say--THEY ARE SPEED. At telegraphy's height in the early 20th century, you could easily send a message across an entire country in a day. Telegram messages would get relayed up and down lines from office to office, sometimes passing through places like railroad stations, before arriving at the office closest to the recipient. Transatlantic messages shot across undersea cables in record time! It was bonkers! It's probably Samuel Morse's first message in his code (he didn't invent the telegraph, but the code's important) was: "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT"

So the STOP thing is funky. There's a myth that people used it because telegraph companies provided the word for free in place of paying for punctuation, but that's probably not true. What is true is that the STOP really started showing up in telegrams during World War I. In this case, the STOP separated sentences clearly so messages wouldn't get misinterpreted and potentially cause things like horrible war disasters if someone read something incorrectly. Supposedly, the public caught onto using STOP and continued using it long after it was no longer necessary. It became a style of convention! It was en vogue!

(An aside is that one of the alternatives to STOP was using the numeral 30 in place of a period. This practice, as far as I'm aware, comes from newspapers using 30 to signal to the typesetter that they were at the end of a column. You can still find clippings of old newspapers that use this method! And sometimes you find telegrams using the same system!)

You, as the sender, would also pay by letter. This is why telegrams sound to us like these choppy, informal messages that are very easy to make fun of. If I remember correctly, the average length of an American telegram was about 11-12 letters. Very few people had the means to send long, flowery telegrams to each other or observe strict grammar rules. It was a whole lot easier to send the word NO than to say "I cannot come to your party, Geraldine, for I have a strong disdain for you as a person". It's also fun to look at some telegrams to see an early form of our text messaging acronyms. Some of them are so short that they're nonsensical to us.

So why send a telegram that says NO, anyway? Why not send a letter or, better yet, call the person? Because at the peak of telegraphy, both of those latter things are expensive and not always reliable. A rural farmer might not have the funds to make a long distance call, or straight-up doesn't have a telephone line! And what if their letter gets lost in the mail? What if the message is urgent? This is partially why a critical announcement of something like thee Armistice herself is delivered via telegram rather than someone calling and saying, "Yippee! The war's over!" Say it in tiny words and say it faster!

To date (and what I love to say to the kids I teach at the museum), sending a telegram is faster than sending a text message. If I sent the word NO through a telegraph line, it's already at its next stop the second I send it. If you texted the same word, you'd have to open the message prompt, type out the letters, send it, encode it, bounce it from a tower to a satellite and back down to another tower, have it go to the recipient's phone, decode it, and wait for them to open the prompt to read it. My NO is already there. :) (Now, I grant, it's going to take longer to get it on paper and sent through a courier to someone else, but if I work at a place like a railroad station and I'm sending a message to another station, then it's faster!)

Depending on the year you're looking for, there are a few different ways to send the telegram itself. There are telegraphic typewriters! Punch cards! Punch ribbons! Some guy wearing headphones and using a pencil! Someone else standing on a post and wildly waving flags around! A thing called a wigwag! Endless options!

[voidscarredadjudicator]

Hey I was wondering, how do you translate the inkling language in your fic? I wasn't able to figure it out😭

I put a guide in the ending author's note on chapter 12, but I don't blame you if it got lost in all the text; I yapped so much I hit the character limit 💀

But to answer your question, it's a shift cipher, aka Caesar cipher. Basically you shift each letter in a sentence down the alphabet, with the key being the number of letters. So a shift of 1 would turn every A into a B, every B into a C, and so on. There's plenty of websites that do it for you, and this is the one I used in the process of editing. Just make sure you set it to decode rather than encode, then you can just slap the scrambled text into the box on the left and change the shift number until what you get is legible.

The shift number changes depending on who's speaking to reflect different accents/dialects, so look out for that. Have fun!

[circusfreakster]

you should use cryptii for encoding and decoding stuff

it’s super useful and has a shit ton of codes

it’s really fun I use it a lot

-somebody that you used to know

I do! And I use cache sleuth