#riddle solution

[undertalehuman]

i think i did it. i found an alternate solution to the 2 doors 2 guards riddle.

first, you point at the guard you want to ask your question to with one hand and at one of the doors with your other hand. then you ask, “am i pointing at you, or the correct door?”

the liar will either say “the correct door” or “neither”

the truth teller will either say “both” or “me”

[audliminal]

It's Just a Game, Right? Pt 8

Masterpost

"So I think they're using other languages," Tim says, the moment Bernard opens the door.

"Well hello to you too my beloved boyfriend," Bernard responds, kissing Tim on the cheek and pulling him into the apartment.

"Shut up," Tim says, following Bernard to the table. This is hardly the first time Tim has skipped past pleasantries like that, and Bernard seems to find it more amusing every time.

"Aw, I dunno if I can do that. I really like to talk to you," Bernard grins conspiratorially. "Plus, then I wouldn't get to tell you that you're half right."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, obviously other people noticed the comment, right?" Bernard, gestures towards the computer, where Tim can see the cryptic comment. It already has dozens of responses. "Mostly people are just freaking out about it, because this is like, our first instance of direct communication from them, but one of the people who saw it actually recognized what language it is."

"Just one?" Tim frowns.

"Yeah. It's called esperanto. I googled it and apparently it's a conlang from the late 1800s which is pretty cool. It was, like, invented to be kind of a universal language, I guess? It pulls from a lot of different languages, so that's why it looks like multiple languages."

"Huh."

"But! There's still the encoded portions to figure out, because the translation as-is doesn't really make any sense." Bernard scrolls and points to the translation that a commenter had offered. It reads To be fqzuhsx-ayccas is to be qtdkv-avnwkwkb; the veil afph-gqkduik but it is meant to igpmtwi-ocdq. Determination in the face of doubt.

"Huh," Tim studies the text, then notices something. "They've specifically encoded the verbs."

"Yep," Bernard shrugs. "I haven't tried anything for the encrypted stuff yet; figured i might as well wait for you."

"Okay, well I guess we start with the simplest? We know they've used caesar ciphers before, plus this is in response to what we did with the first caesar ciphers before, so we might as well try one of your decoder websites for that first."

"Seems reasonable," Bernard says, pulling up the website from before. He quickly copies the first word over and hits the button. "Well shit, that was quick."

"Only the first half, though." Tim mutters. "Do it to the rest of them." Bernard copies and decodes the rest. In short order, they have a the first half of each encryption decoded.

"To be gravity is to be orbit, the veil disk but it is meant to eclipse?" Bernard frowns. "That... doesn't make much more sense."

"What's up with the focus on astronomy, too."

"Oh, right, we haven't gotten that far yet. They keep referencing space stuff. There's like, a running theory about these messages being supposed to have come through a black hole?"

"Is that even possible? i thought black holes ate stuff forever."

"I dunno, I'm not really into space stuff. Besides it's like, sure there's evidence for it, and space seems to be narratively important? But the premise seems kind of contrived to me."

"You think they're doing something bigger than what everybody is seeing." Tim stares at the forum thread. If anything was going to give Bernard's theory some credence, it would be what literally just happened.

"Exactly." Bernard posted on a forum arguing that he thought the game ran deeper than people realized. And the creators, who so far hadn't interacted directly, had responded to that post, with a triple-encrypted message.

"Each shift was one further away than the last," Tim thinks rapidly. "It started with language, which could be either a part of the effort to encrypt it, or a part of the intended meaning. Possibly both. Then, they used caesar ciphers for the first layer of encryption, the same thing they used in their first post. How did they encrypt things in the second post?"

"I think I kind of mentioned it before, but the second post used a vigenere cipher. The names of the people in the first video were the keys, if I remember right."

"The first is the key to the second."

"What-"

"Take the second part and decode it with the first."

"Dude your mind is scary sometimes," Bernard laughs, but moves to do as Tim says, revealing the first encrypted word. "To be seen. That works..."

Tim starts writing down the full message, as Bernard decodes the rest. Finally, they have the full text of the message the creators intended to send.

"To be seen is to be remembered; the veil distracts but it is meant to hide. Determination in the face of doubt." Tim reads.

"Huh," Bernard says, leaning over to read it for himself. "Well, now we know what it says. Now we just need to figure out what that means."

[yuriartillery]

I nip at your heels Yet am chained to place I love wet woodland shadows And am gentle to taste

[ganondoodle]

Sorry ab the shitty English translations/localizations, it's bc they think that Americans won't get it otherwise (bc when we act stupid, we act REALLY stupid), our bad 💀

[uniquethingtastemaker]

Oh no pt2. I know why I took a break from Riddle’s Dreaming of You. Turns out, I was at an impasse. I’m at an impasse. Sometimes it goes away when you come back. Not this time. Nope, it’s a character issue, which is probably the worst problem I can have. I’ll elaborate because I need help

Slight Spoilers for Riddle’s Dream:

The first dream is totally fine. It’s perfect! I love it!

The second? That’s where the problems start cause now I have to be a bit more realistic. Usually? That’s fine. However, we just saw Riddle being all over Reader. Trying to bridge the gap is hard, but it needs to be there. I’m already bending the rules a bit (more like adding rules but there were over 3k in Riddle’s dream. Pretty sure most of those aren’t all real, so I’m just following the direction the plot already set up for me).

Regardless, my initial thought was to have this section be more cute and innocent or whatever. Now, this is the real issue. Riddle can only be a cutie if he feels safe. Anyone who watches Riddle’s second dream knows he does not feel safe. He feels insecure and it’s obvious. The solution would be to make him feel safe. However, I don’t know how to get him there. They can’t just like abandon their post and go to Riddle’s room. The card soldiers can’t function without their queen…

Hmmmm… so what I’m saying is to focus on making Riddle feel safe. That should solve my problem. Plus, it feels less daunting than what I was trying to do

Alright let’s try it

[spicynoodlehouse]

Delphini succeeds during the third task & goes back to the present with Scorpius. Things get worse then somehow get better.

Against my better judgement I wrote another fic. This time it is twisted and just a little bit too ansgty. And I lost sleep over it.

End me now. I think I like the bitch. And she makes the boys suffer so much.

[vorakh]

mm but seriously pathologic rewired my brain in how to approach a narration and the time and space it takes place in. you don't need a date to find its correspondence in your history book. you don't need to find this city on your world map. you don't need to know where the line between delusion, reality and magic is set. you don't even need to know who these people were and will be once their act is over. deal with it.

[hhimring]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien, TOLKIEN J. R. R. - Works & Related Fandoms, The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Additional Tags: Poetry, Canonical Character Death, Implied/Referenced Character Death Summary:

A short riddle.

[no-i-will-not-shut-up]

alice in borderland is so funny this guy is getting visions from the author in every single game but hes still getting obliterated

[professor-doc-emeritus]

I know this one guy who enjoys doing this singular menial labor task when they can set their own hours, only work to their personal standard, focus only on the aspects of the work they personally find fulfilling, only do the work either by themselves or exclusively with their close personal friends, only share the benefits of that work with either themselves or the people they personally care about, and quit whenever they stop enjoying it. This means that if we get rid of capitalism everyone would just sorta be cool about it and work the lithium mines.

[bumblingbabooshka]

I think that Tuvok only left the front of the ship at the start of ‘Riddles’ because he was huffy about Neelix besting him. If he’d gotten the riddle right I’m confident he would have stayed put v_v He is a sore loser and I love him for it

[zevveli]

One thing that sucks about hanging out with people who do writing and game design is that you start to understand that from the perspective of design terms like "Fair" mean something different. Like, let's play a game. I have two six-sided dice with the face arranged in the normal way 1 pip on one face opposite 6 pips, 2 across from 5, 3 across from 4, and they are both fair dice, meaning not weighted in any way. Now the game is simple, you pick any number and I roll the dice. If the number of pips showing is less than the number you chose you win, if it is the number you chose or higher than I win. The only restriction I place is that you must pick a number that makes it possible for me to win. Got it? Good. Pick your number and then click "Read More"

Okay so you probably picked 12 right? That gives you the best chance with only a 1 in 36 chance of losing? Well OOPS! You didn't catch my trick! I didn't say pips showing ON TOP, just PIPS SHOWING, which means the range of pips showing was 30 to 40 and not 2 to 12 like you thought!

So is this game fair? No, I withheld important information from you. Oh sure, maybe if you had thought about it you might have been able to deduce the information. But it's a simple dice game, why would you think "Pips showing" would mean anything other than "Pips showing on top?"

And it goes for other riddles and puzzles to. A fair riddle or puzzle has to have the rules presented clearly and without ambiguity. If there is ambiguity that ambiguity has to be such that it leads to the answer, and not creates a false solution that leads you away from the answer itself.

[yuriartillery]

We're ever loyal to the Queen Merely tol'rant of our God From thousand kisses sweetness gleaned And we crush all we find odd Our work we trade For homes new-made And for smiting plund'ring sods

[prettycdds]

{{ I have such a.... weirdly specific type that will instantly capture my fascination tbh lmao }}

[delta-piscium]

mmh and what if i rewrote an entire wip just to change the pov what then? (tears, that's what)

[riddlebanshee]

Was anyone gonna tell me I could make an image-button by stitching an <a href to the outside of an <img> tag or was I just supposed to learn that sandwich myself