Subject: A coded message for you to play with.
Author:
Posted on: 2014-03-10 12:50:00 UTC
Hidden somewhere in this message is a second, coded or cyphered message. Can YOU find it? It’s hidden in plain sight.
The ROT13’d points below are not the code in question; they are clues, in order of how much they tell you.
Serdhrapl nanylfvf jvyy uryc.
Frr erprag guernq.
Ivrj fbhepr.
G vf zber pbzzba guna R.
Svefg jbeq: Vg.
Have fun!
hS
This is what I've got so far:
IT ██N █E █UITE H█RT TO RENTER █ █ESS█SE TOUN TO SHOHST █I█TEEN LETTERS TH█T IS UHI THIS TE█ST IS █UITE S█R███LET O█ █ORSE H██IN█ SI█STEEN ███IL██LE UOULT █E E█SIER █OHT THEN UE UOULT NOT H██E THE S██SE █ TOU█LE S██SE INTI██TES █ █EULL STO█ SO TH█T THE █ESS█SE ██N █E RE█T STR█IT █RO█ THE TE█ST IN THIS ██SE THE █ESS█SE H█S █EEN ██TE LON█ER TH█N IEU █IT E█S█E█T IN ORTER TO █LLOU █RE█UENSI █N█LISIS TO █E EUSE█EUL TH█T IS █LSO UHI IT H█S NOT █EEN REURITTEN TO ██OIT THE █ISSIN█ LETTERS OTHERUISE IT UEULT █E █ ██SE O█ █EUTTIN█ IN R█NTO█ LETTERS █NT HO█IN█ SO█ETHIN█ █ITTET UE TO NOT U█NT TO TO TH█T I HO█E IEU H██E █LL ENSHOIET TRIIN█ TO █RE██ THIS █OTE THE █EST U█I TO █ON█EI IOR █SHIE█E█ENT IS TO RES█ONT IN █INT H██E █OHN HUINESORON █S UE URITE LI█E THIS I█ UE UISH NOT TO URITE THE LOST LETTERS IT IS R█THER █ ██IN
It can be quite hard to render a message down to just fifteen letters. That is why this text is quite scrambled. Of course having sixteen available would be easier but then we would not have the space. A double space indicated a full stop to the message can be read straight from the text. In this case the message has been made longer than you might expect in order to allow frequency analysis to be useful. That is also why it has not been rewritten to avoid the missing letters. Otherwise it would be a case of putting in random letters and hoping something fitted. We do not want to do that. I hope you have all enjoyed trying to break this note. The best way to convey your accomplishment is to respond in kind. Have fun. Huinesoron. PS. We write like this if we with not to write the lost letters. It is rather a pain.
Thanks Huinesoron!
This was a lot of fun!
Or rather, the red herring was that I expected this to be another hint to something mysterious, and it turned out not to be. Darn. I was expecting something tied into that mysterious graph from a while back(which Huinesoron appears to have discreetly removed from Photobucket, in the hopes that no one would notice), or some other foreshadowing or information for a strange and unknown event.
Not to diminish your accomplishment, Time Engineer. You did a great job! Alone of all the Boarders, you have revealed the secrets of the mysterious message, proving truly that you are worthy of becoming the next Decryption Lord! Your powers of uncovering truth from mystery shall rock the sky and send the very ocean scuttling for cover! (dramatic music)
Okay, maybe that was a little much in the "don't think I'm being belittling" department.
I had to update it or something, so it ended up with a new filename. Here it is:
No wait dangit wrong file
Ahem. Ignore that. Here it is:
hS
I've spent the last thirty minutes staring at this, including the new thing-which-is-definitely-not-a-hint. I even went back and read all the deductions people made last time you put this up. (In May!) The only conclusion that I've come to is that you are sadistic and happy about it.
Gah. *hits something*
-Aila
Just when I had it all nice and sorted that I knew what was going on, you step in and throw it all for a loop!
See, I thought that the Trousers of Time was the event you were referencing to when you first posted that image. See, what made me think that was that each of the different symbols were completely separate organizations, and in the blue box, we see the symbol for the Paladins, the alternate future for the PPC. But at the time, it was not an separate organization, it was the same one, just evolved over time. So, when the Trousers of Time happened, the Paladins could truly be considered separate!
Now this thing comes out! War propaganda? Posters preparing for the defense of canon? Well, this is completely against what I was thinking! Now they are organized... into... factions...
Wait a minute...
The invasion of the EPC. It's been hinted at in other stories, including one where some spies found their way through to our sector of the multiverse. Now the EPC is coming through, but they face several fordable foes, including the PPC. Now, they are uniting with other Suvian organizations, especially the Mary Sue Factories, which can mass-produce Sues and Stus to fight. They find the city of Sparklee, the ultimate Suetopia, and gets them to lend assistance. So the respecters of canon have to unite against the Suevian front, and push them back into the Pit from whence they came!
...No. No, there's more then that. There is somebody involved, somebody specifically. At the very top of the graph, it says "Respect for Character." We could take that to mean, in order of respect for original characterization, however, I think there's something more. I think that means, respect for a specific character. Somebody special, somebody important. The personification of Canon itself?
Further, access to...something. Something, or, someone. Could it be those who are allowed to interact with our Personification of Canon? Or is it a place, with important information? However, why are the OFUs (which, by the way, thank you for clearing up what the heck that smiley face was supposed to mean) the most restricted, with only the EPC to be argued for more restricted?
...You have given me a lot to think about. Especially if the EPC is getting involved. If it is, I need to get my Dark!Jumper stories out soon, as he has some plans for the EPC. In fact... I don't have the time now, but at some point in the semi-near future, I may want to slam out some early drafts of those stories and send them to you, Huinesoron, so I can see how they fit with this story you have, and how I can change it so it better fits your ideas. If I do, I Pinkie Promise that I won't share a word of what's going to happen. Trust me, no brony would dream of breaking a Pinkie Promise. The consequences are rather severe.
I'm seeing the Mary Sue Factories involved in this, definitely, but considering all of the other buildup involving Selene's escape from the Psychs, and the occasional mentions of an Ispace war involving multiple trans-dimensional organizations, I'm thinking it's not an EPC invasion. It might involve them in some capacity, since that cactus-with-a-sword symbol at the bottom left looks very similar to the symbol for their Department of Arrests, but I'm guessing the real heavy hitters here will be Ispace and their allies.
See, Ispace is sort of like the Department of Elf Protection we used to have, except where ours kept any elves or elf-like creatures save from being afflicted by Sues or maligned by inaccurate descriptions of their character and culture, Ispace is just trying to keep any elves or elf-like creatures(or Eoelc, as I've just now decided to abbreviate it) from being harmed in any way whatsoever. The problem here is that a lot of Mary Sues are Eoelcs, or take on an Eoelc-inian appearance to be more speshul.
Ispace started out as a similar organization to the PPC, at least in theory, protecting not a specific canon but anything in the multiverse that they see as "elven". They believe that if elves are allowed to be damaged and defamed, eventually there will be no more Eoelc of any sort, and that a universe without any elven influence is a universe that is about to fall apart on a cultural level. They're a very specific kind of crazy and dogmatic.
I think that they may have met up with the League of Mary Sue Factories, or at least as many of them as can be gathered under one banner, and negotiated with their leader, nominally the Venomous Tentacula but quite possibly someone who would be less rash and more receptive to their propositions. While the goals and modus operandi of the two organizations are very different, Ispace hates the PPC and the OFUs for oppressing the diversity of Eoelcs by killing Mary Sues and preventing Mary Sues from being born, respectively, and the League hates the entire Canon Protection Initiative for destroying and discrediting their product, and the PPC in particular for warding off their numerous attempts to establish a firm foothold in the multiverse. The Biohazard symbol probably means that they'll be getting supplies from the Flower who took over after PPC Bioengineering was jettisoned during the Reorganization, the mysterious Horsetail. That's the logo of his restructured "BioInc". I've seen him referenced here before, but to my knowledge he has never made an appearance in a story. The Horsetail would have reason to work with Ispace and the League, in part because they'd be one of his company's most interesting and lucrative customers in years, but also because they lost one of their biggest trading partners when the PPC excised them.
Now, the Selene part. Dafydd's been world-hopping recently, and while he's shown up back at the PPC at least once, another time we see him is when he travels to the multiverse of the TCDA. It took a lot of exchange to confirm this, but evidently, Dafydd and Selene's TCDA counterpart broke her out of her cell and took her out of Headquarters, and then exposed her to a device that allowed her to recover at least a portion of her sanity. It's possible that Dafydd was just going to the first multiverse that had the technology to repair the mind of his former partner and old friend, but now that I know the book surrounded by three shapes represents the PPC, that book-with-shapes next to it is starting to look a lot like a gear, isn't it? Dafydd's family and associates have known about Ispace for a while now,, though they hyperbolically refer to it as the "anti-PPC", and Dafydd may be attempting to set up some sort of resistance to it. It is possible that Dafydd, being both an elf and Huinesoron's former self-insert(he's had three or four now; it's crazy), may have been involved with Ispace in the past, but it is more likely that he's heard of it during his travels through the multiverse and knows what the group is capable of.(Of note: Ispace has as of now made confirmed contact with at least one of Huinesoron's other self-inserts. If this starts going meta and ties into the Message, it will officially be one of the most unexpected reacharounds I've seen here, but it probably won't, considering the circumstances, and I'm getting off-topic.) My personal theory is that he's planning on rallying the TCDA and any other vestiges of canon he can find to stand up against it when it finally decides to invade in force. This will, in all likelihood, include several alternate versions of the PPC. The white dog in the Restricted Access box may indicate that we're getting the Mirror DIS in on this, too, since several members of their organization were last seen rebelling against the tyrannical leaders of the Mirror Multiverse and fleeing to some ill-documented corner of the main multiverse, which should be fun. Selene may be an important part of Dafydd's plan, though he could just as likely have broken her out for more sentimental reasons, like a desire to fight off another threat to canon together with his first partner, or a guilt for leaving her in her cell all alone and insane while he's safe in the unpublished haven that he retreated to post-resurrection.
I can't see any sort of symbol that would represent the Neo Abduction Schemers Treaty of Youth, though. Maybe the pink crown with wings. NASTY would almost certainly be involved here in some capacity. They're trans-dimensional fangirls with access to giant robots and the ability to hijack portal devices, which they've used to sneak their members into HQ before, occasionally in large numbers. Judging by their name, they'd also have some sort of stake in wanting to get rid of the PPC, so that they can capture canon characters and locations to have them all for themselves, though several parts of that motive are admittedly largely speculation at this point. They'd make very good soldiers for Ispace's alliance, too: they're motivated enough to have broken into HQ before, they've got giant robots, which are always an advantage, and they most likely do not contain a large number of Eoelcs, so Ispace might see them either as expendable or as people who are capable of operating on their own without Ispace needing to be around to ensure that there aren't any unwarranted elf deaths.
As for what the "Character" and "Access" section mean, I think it might just be how they treat characters and how they bring in employees and/or interact with the outside world. The PPC is restrictive, in that it will only recruit characters from within badfics they encounter or those who fall through plotholes, in small numbers at a time, the TCDA is a little more restrictive in that they limit that to only canons containing steampunk or published before the 1940s or so, and the OFUs hardly ever take on any new staff at all.
To take on the second definition, neither the PPC nor the TCDA want anyone to know that they exist, but the news sometimes gets out anyway, and the OFUs are isolated from pretty much everyone until they bring in a new class or something nasty invades the campus. Meanwhile, BioInc down there would recruit or do business with anyone in the multiverse, since they're a business and would be primarily concerned with profit, and the League would still do business with plenty of people, but they wouldn't advertise broadly, in part because the PPC might step on their salad again and in part because their product is much more specific and refined than the sorts of things BioInc would put out. There are only so many uses for a Sue.
The one major hole in my idea is the fact that the Department of Arrests is all the way down at the bottom, since they'd have more recruits than the PPC, what with the entire Mirror Multiverse being devoted to the production of Mary Sues. Then again, it's possible that this relates to activities within our multiverse, in which case it is entirely justified. People from our multiverse would need to be willing and able to cross time and space to join a Suvian organization for them to pick up recruits or customers from the main multiverse, and those three factors rarely converge.
Respect for Character would not necessarily mean that there was a specific character, and since that's a subtitle to "Respect for Canon", and the bottom of the canon-respect list contains the League of Mary Sue Factories, I'd say that's pretty much locked. Besides, we've dealt with Agents trying to do something pertaining to the murkily defined "power of all of canon" before. It didn't turn out so well, and I mean that from a storytelling standpoint. The people involved mostly came out alive, but it was an unsatisfying story that didn't really take the most of its potential.
So, yeah, it looks to me like it's shaping up to be PPC, alternate-PPCs, and OFUs against forces of uncanon hailing from across the omniverse. Bring it on. If I can see some Agents from the Magical Girl PPC AU fighting off a fangirl-driven giant robot on the deck of a steampunk battleship to rescue it from the dogmatic elves that captured from the protectors of the Victorian era, I will go out very happy.
People keep coming up with interesting theories that I could steal bits of be inspired by.
And three things, since that's a lot of words to go unrewarded:
-'Restricted' and 'Freedom of Access' are to do with to what extent the organisations want non-canonical people to be able to access the canons. Left of centre wants to restrict that in some way, with the further left being more restrictions - the PPC wants to stop badfic characters, while the OFUs try to restrict any access that hasn't gone through them. On the centre-line we have the 'anyone can come in if they don't mess with [our particular concern]'. Anything right of centre is actively encouraging access - whether it be making Mary-Sues and sending them in (the Factories), or more benign forms of access. The horizontal axis was a secondary consideration when making the chart - the vertical access was considered more important. So the TDCA has probably been pushed to the left a bit, in order to keep it lower down than the OFUs. (Honestly, the OFUs, PPC, and TCDA should be overlapping - but that would look ugly)
-Secondly, I think you overestimate NASTY. They're focussed on a single character, were defeated by one person, and have never reappeared. They're actually in the story, but as a minor player - so I'm afraid they're not on the chart.
-Finally, this:
hS
I mean, they were only in one story, and they never appeared again. The Eminence crew don't even really have any claim to fame, other than their leaders being three Overpowered!Sues who apparently "took out" Neyna, Rosie, and Dafydd offscreen, and occasionally ending stories by taking Sues out of their fics and into the starship instead of by killing them. It's certainly a hook for something to happen, but I wouldn't see them as being a more potent presence than the trans-dimensional fangirls with giant robots and plenty of opportunity for development of motive and exploration of methods. Plus, NASTY could serve as a set of Psycho Rangers to KittyEden's Sue Slayers, if they're still getting involved in this, as a permutation of the wild, semi-Suvian Squees that the Sue Slayers often fight.
I'm not sure where you got the idea that NASTY was only focused on one character, though, and the only reason that they were able to be fought back so easily(and it took considerably more than one person to do so, by the way) was because there weren't very many of them. Actually, their one confirmed appearance ends with Dann and WyldeHorse beating one of their robots and then Dann just leaving before anyone deals with the rest of them. It's just said that Dann had to help with cleaning up the broken robot's parts, and not even whether or not the fangirls fled after he knocked out the robot or anything to explain why the reinforcement NASTY troops just stopped being around. There's just not anything else there. From what we have, it looks as though the fangirls ran through the halls, the robot stayed back to beat up Dann, it was defeated, and Dann left before seeing how the rest of the fight would turn out. It's not really his affair, true, but that seems almost irresponsible.
You know, Neo? That was, like, their thing.
hS
I think "Neo" there means something more along the lines of the modern shorthand, a.k.a. "the new version, better than the (insert relevant object here) that came before". Because, you know, they're Suvian-derived fangirls, and have all of the egotistic self-importance that fangirls create amplified to titanic levels.
I'm not sure why you thought it had just been Neo as in Keanu Reeves Neo, other than because Tessa is from the Matrix continuum and she was helped beat the first wave of NASTYs, and that's a very tenuous link. There's nothing to support that NASTY was a Matrix-themed group. In fact, several of the NASTY members were explicitly idenified as "anime fangirls", and there was never a Matrix anime. There was a direct-to-video animated movie based on the Matrix, but that's not the same thing.
That was Tess, not Tessa! They're not the same person! (swipes at the other miscellaneous typos in the previous post) The one time when I decide it'd be okay not to proof-read... well, no, it's happened far more often than once.
There's Tess, obviously, and this:
Zim led the way back into the armory itself. It might have been a large room, but it was crammed with weapon racks. The racks each had a sign on top. There was a Star Wars rack, a few Matrix racks, a Star Trek rack, and so on. As they walked, Zim began to talk.
"We have weapons for every major fandom, and bunches of generic weapons that can fit into smaller canons. We've got hand to hand weapons, ranged weapons, bombs, missiles, and even a few large weapons. We can equip an agent to go into almost any fandom, disguised as almost anything. Want to be a Matrix rebel? We have the stuff. Want to be a Jedi? Same deal. You said you were going into Lord of the Rings? What were you thinking of going as?"
The giant robot sounds a lot like the things in the Matrix sequels, too. If an author with a known sci-fi bent keeps referring to The Matrix, and uses the word 'n/Neo', it seems a pretty safe bet that's what he was aiming for.
I'm also not certain, reading over it, that the later fangirls are meant to be NASTYs. Makes-Things says "We've been found" - and the two sets of fangirls we see come through portals never have the term 'NASTY' applied to them. The latter set is the one specifically highlighted as 'anime fangirls'. It could well be that NASTY posted the coordinates on the internet. ;)
hS
1/ NASTY are in the story already, as a bit part.
2/ The only reason they don't have an emblem on the chart is because I can't come up with a good design.
3/ NASTY are boring. They're just... generic fangirls-with-portals. There is nothing to distinguish them from the fangirl horde attacking the Lonely Mountain at the end of the original Ispace. Shifter, though? Shifter's interesting. She's on a mission to rescue Mary-Sues - but along the way, most of her crew have developed character of their own. They aren't 'Sues any more - they just use the name.
She's also more interesting from a historical perspective. I was here when Yukai na Itazura showed up, claiming to be a Very Oldbie under an alias, and presented the idea. It's an anti-PPC story which was cowritten with members of the PPC (and features the only surviving Artemis-written appearance of Black and Irvine). I always wanted to see how the story was going to go; since that never happened, I'm giving them a minor role in mine.
hS
A question regarding the first: are there any trans-dimensional groups you've come across that you didn't want to include in this upcoming event? I'm just curious. I see you have representatives of canon sources, every in-universe party that has ever interacted with the PPC in a major way, and evidently a large number of less prominent players. Was there anything that you looked over and thought "Nah, that won't work"?
The second is a good point. Since they've not really been defined or explored, there's not very much to draw from to make a symbol out of. That makes sense.
I suppose we have reversed ideas on this, then. Nothing wrong with that. I see NASTY as fully capable of expanding in a number of directions, in part because "an organized group of fangirls caught up in the fictional multiverse" is such a broad concept, and in part because they have the opportunity and potential to become a PPC enemy that isn't either a force derived from the PPC or some sort of dark inverse of PPC principles. They've got portals, yes, so they're still a little derivative, but how else are they going to pass from world to world? By being tossed?
...Actually... (scribbles frantically in a Word document)
The Eminence crew, on the other hand, I see as the pinnacle of generic advancements. "The PPC hunts Sues, so what if there were Sues that rescued other Sues from being hunted? And they could be a team, and be exiled from the world, because if they come back they'll be hunted down, but they'll also be super-mysterious and a huge enough threat to be able to bring down the best Agents all by themselves without the audience seeing, and it'll be so rad!" Yawn. What do they intend to do other than going around and being a mild nuisance? You say they "aren't Sues any more", but they seem to be just as small-minded and paint-by-numbers as any Sue might be. They're just not Sues in the same sense that the delicate and beautiful secret half-sister of Elrond who falls in love with Samwise and makes it rain in Mordor for the first time in centuries is. The three leaders we see have multiple personality traits, true, and their interactions with one another are far less annoying than those between a typical Sue and her disciples, but I don't see any distinction that makes them more important than some random aberration that managed to dodge the God-Mod Agents sent to get rid of her would be if said aberration had the resourcefulness to survive.
It might be a good concept, if it was explored and elaborated upon(What happens to the Sues they rescue? Are there other roving bands of independent Sues? What has been the Canon Protection Initiative's response to the independent Sues other than "omigosh omigosh it's her, we can't beat her on our own!"), and I'm not going to disparage the historical significance of Ashes to Glory, but I just don't think the Eminence crew's significance is so huge that it would make other groups look pointless by comparison. Again, though, just a difference of opinions. There's nothing wrong with either view.
In theory, everyone is probably involved: there's a low-key war going on across the Multiverse, with enough sides that everyone has an opinion. It would be hard to stay totally out of it, even if your role is to be invited to join a team and say 'nah, not interested'.
But are there groups I don't plan on using? Sure, lots. Many of the ones on the Chart, in fact - the FTPD may make a brief showing, but they won't do anything. Partly that's because they're canon characters, and partly just that I don't need them for the story.
hS
The one I've been conspicuously ignoring: ACMSES. Less because they're not interesting, more because I can't be bothered with the hassle of coordinating them. Also, I don't really understand their methods and goals.
hS
If they want to write how their organization fits into this epic battle for canon, then they can. If they want to pretend it never happened for them, fine, so be it. All we would need is some ground rules and a way of communication, if they want to participate. However, it would be completely up to them as to the degree they want to be involved.
Now, if you excuse me, I have to get back to work and slamming out some rough drafts for Jumper's stories. Marvin and Printworthy are great, and they are likely to help out in any way they can, but if I don't get Jumper out soon, he's going to miss this multiversal war. And we can't have a multiversal traveler miss the war for the multiverse itself!
There was some talk about a crossover a while back, but their methods and structures were different enough from ours despite the surface-level similarities that we eventually decided to leave each other's universes alone, or at least that's the explanation for it based on what I've been able to pick up. That and the fact that I don't think they're not really organized in any traditional way, which might have been what Huinesoron was talking about with "coordinating" them. There are a few loosely connected locations that they appear to frequent on occasion, but no real inter-connectivity, and to involve them in anything could easily necessitate bringing together several disparate sub-groups before negotiations were even started.
So, anything that is done in this event wouldn't affect them in any way, unless they decide to have it affect them for laughs, because the universes don't co-exist. Likewise, if they decide to go through with what from brief inspection of their archives looks to be a project to clone Cthulhu, we won't have to deal with the after-affects of a newborn Great Old One who is aware of the existence of the multiverse. That's a very bad idea, really, teaching one those sorts of things. It's like tutoring Vanamonde in sorcery. Nothing good is going to come of it.
As I said, if they want to have this affect them, then they totally can. It's the multiverse after all, there is a possibility of their sector being part of the invasion of all reality. However, there is also a strong possibility of their sector being missed by the hordes of Uncanon, thus having it pass right by them, without a one the wiser. Still, if we want to just let them be, then fine, let's leave them be. Just an idea, that's all.
Wait, you mean giving Gtuhanai the Key to Canon was a bad idea? Oh boy... Welp, better gather the flitter ponies and bunker down for The Smooze's return
Mutually uncanon is mutually uncanon, though. They, in all likelihood, wouldn't even notice, because, out-of-universe, there are dozens of Sue-hunting groups and fics and characters, and hardly any of them exist in the same continuity as any others. There are just different rules for each one. And since it's mutually uncanon, they wouldn't necessarily be checking up on us, since they have their own scenarios to set up and problems to deal with that don't overlap with ours.
Well, the good news is that, since the Key to Canon was created as a Doctor Who rip-off, the version of the Snooze that manifests because of it will actually be the S'müz, from the quintessential Doctor Whooves fic "Time Lords and Terror"! All we need to do is find some sort of absorptive source or containment field for psychokinetic energy, and it will be much easier to real with! I'll get the SCP-148, and you track down the Ghostbusters!
I know how to use the words "effect" and "affect", I swear! It was just a typo! It wasn't my fault! NOOOO! (backs away from the advancing hordes of Grammar-trons)
... or even if it won't, I can show you this chap:
They call him General Dandy.
hS
Going by my theory above, General Dandy would be a member of one of the alternate PPCs, probably encountered either by Dafydd's rounds through the multiverse or through some Cascade-related shenanigans. In fact, he could be the TCDA's Captain Dandy equivalent, seeing that the few Flowers we know about are referred to with loftier titles, such a "Sir Mallorn" for the Bonsai Mallorn.
The Cascade bit is a little less likely, but seeing how the Cascade created plothole tunnels cutting through reality in one universe that Captain Dandy and his Weeds decided to explore for the purpose of warding off foes and mapping the tunnels, it would probably create the same or similar effects if it was set off in another universe. There might be any number of Captain Dandies lost in the web of cracks spidering through the PPC's world.
Look at his right leaf, the cactus with the sword is desplayed clearly. The EPC will be involved, and while hS is likely to focus on ISPACE, as you mentioned, I hope there is some focus on the actions of tje EPC. There has been some build up for a while of the EPC invading the 'main' multiverse, and I hope it is not shoved to the side for a bunch of insane pointy-eared bastards. That said, hopefully this event won't be for a good while yet, because I just do not have the time to write out my mirror!Jumper stories right now, which explore the EPC in a little greater depth then we have managed to see thus far.
That said, I do like your theory. It sounds the most complete and logical of all of the theories, and is most likely the closest to what is going to happen. The only thing I would like to bring up are the pink city with Gondor's tree on it. I will put money down that the pink city is the city of Sparklee from the PPC musical (especially since hS added it after I thought the crown with wings was Sparklee) but the question is, how? How are they important enough to warrant a symbol on the graph? NASTY is involved, yet plays such a minor role that they don't have their symbol on the chart. So what do they do, other then send in troops? Well, the city already has a Mary Sue Factory, and is somewhat of a haven for Sues and their defenders as is, so perhaps Sparklee is the main base of operations for the Mary Sue faction. The capitol of the Marizu, if you will.
Whatever this event is, I am very much looking forward to seeing how it all works out. Who knows, if hS wants to get meta on us, perhaps he could bring the Protectorate of Plort. That may be interesting. Or beyond stupid. Whatever it is, I am looking forward to seeing how this mystery plot unravels.
I'm sure that there will be some important EPC business at some point, but if we play the full invasion card when there are already a half-dozen other groups invading, it won't be nearly as significant. Sending in some Tiger Lily-loyalist DIS members and a number of Department of Arrests Agents, perhaps led by this mirror Captain Dandy, to aid Ispace's attacks would help development for a later event without depleting all of the buildup. Maybe there would be a few EPC troops brought in after somebody finds out a way into the mirror multiverse to serve as backup for Ispace, and when everything goes pear-shaped, one of the EPC group's leaders can make a move to capture some of the uncanon alliance's resources for their planned invasion in the future, using the information that they've gathered from helping Ispace to better assess the strengths and weaknesses of the forces accessible to their mirror counterparts.
Wait, there was a PPC musical? When? I tried looking both it and Sparklee up on the wiki and the Board's search bar just now, and I couldn't find anything more conclusive than "that sure was around at some point". Do you have a link?
Anyway, yes, I do. It's towards the bottom of the complete list of PPC fiction, just so you know. Anyway, here you go:
http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=ekwy&keyword=PPC:+The+Musical&filter=all
And if hS doesn't mind, could you please explain to the less cryptologically-minded of us how you solved the puzzle?
To be honest, the reason that it took so long was that I was looking for multi-character combinations that would make a single letter. It didn't occur to me that it would be one number/letter to one letter, so I started by looking for hex code patterns. After several hours of this not working, I tried other letter multiples and then gave up in disgust.
Then,this morning I got the information that each letter was tied to a specific character. With this knowledge, and some fancy typing in MS Excel, I was able to make a spreadsheet that would turn each coded character into its real value, and see how that would fit with the other letters in real time, as soon as I found it.
I started with I and T, and then found the grouping of 10 letters with an I as the 3rd letter. This gave me 10 letters in total that I knew, and adding in 0 as the space gave me 11 out of 16. From there it was a simple matter of looking at the words and seeing what letters should fit where.
Thats pretty much it.
And the conclusion we can draw from this is that this method of hiding a message takes several hours to create, and several days to break - and so, is generally less than useful.
Of course, there are other options.
hS
Is what use were the five clues in ROT13?
Frequency analysis will help. - that is, the letters are in roughly the same proportions as in English. This was actually a clue that it was a plain old substitution cipher.
See recent thread. - this thread. I was hinting at how to find the message.
View source. - And now I'm just telling you how to find the message.
T is more common than E. - This is further information regarding frequency analysis. In English, E is the most common letter, with T second. I was highlighting that they were the other way round here.
First word: It. - Well, it's the first word, and includes the most common letter. That means that '0' - far and away the most common symbol - must be a non-letter; its distribution looks suspiciously space-like. With that, and the suggestion above that E is probably second most common, you can put together this:
IT ??? ?E ??ITE ???T T? ?E?TE? ? ?E????E T??? T? ?????T ?I?TEE? ?ETTE?? T??T I? ??I T?I? TE??T I? ??ITE ???????ET ?? ????E ???I?? ?I??TEE? ???I????E ????T ?E E??IE? ???T T?E? ?E ????T ??T ???E T?E ????E ? T????E ????E I?TI??TE? ? ?E??? ?T?? ?? T??T T?E ?E????E ??? ?E ?E?T ?T??IT ???? T?E TE??T I? T?I? ???E T?E ?E????E ??? ?EE? ??TE ????E? T??? IE? ?IT E???E?T I? ??TE? T? ????? ??E??E??I ????I?I? T? ?E E??E?E?? T??T I? ???? ??I IT ??? ??T ?EE? ?E??ITTE? T? ???IT T?E ?I??I?? ?ETTE?? ?T?E??I?E IT ?E??T ?E ? ???E ?? ?E?TTI?? I? ???T?? ?ETTE?? ??T ???I?? ???ET?I?? ?ITTET ?E T? ??T ???T T? T? T??T I ???E IE? ???E ??? E????IET T?II?? T? ??E?? T?I? ??TE T?E ?E?T ??I T? ????EI I?? ???IE?E?E?T I? T? ?E????T I? ?I?T ???E ???? ??I?E????? ?? ?E ??ITE ?I?E T?I? I? ?E ?I?? ??T T? ??ITE T?E ???T ?ETTE?? IT I? ??T?E? ? ??I?
The next step is probably either the 1-letter words (which can only be I or A - and we know I!), or the 'T?E' near the end, which looks suspiciously like 'the'. So that's:
IT ?A? ?E ??ITE HA?T T? ?E?TE? A ?E??A?E T??? T? ?H?H?T ?I?TEE? ?ETTE?? THAT I? ?HI THI? TE??T I? ??ITE ???A???ET ?? ????E HA?I?? ?I??TEE? A?AI?A??E ????T ?E EA?IE? ??HT THE? ?E ????T ??T HA?E THE ??A?E A T????E ??A?E I?TI?ATE? A ?E??? ?T?? ?? THAT THE ?E??A?E ?A? ?E ?EAT ?T?AIT ???? THE TE??T I? THI? ?A?E THE ?E??A?E HA? ?EE? ?ATE ????E? THA? IE? ?IT E???E?T I? ??TE? T? A???? ??E??E??I A?A?I?I? T? ?E E??E?E?? THAT I? A??? ?HI IT HA? ??T ?EE? ?E??ITTE? T? A??IT THE ?I??I?? ?ETTE?? ?THE??I?E IT ?E??T ?E A ?A?E ?? ?E?TTI?? I? ?A?T?? ?ETTE?? A?T H??I?? ???ETHI?? ?ITTET ?E T? ??T ?A?T T? T? THAT I H??E IE? HA?E A?? E??H?IET T?II?? T? ??EA? THI? ??TE THE ?E?T ?AI T? ????EI I?? A?HIE?E?E?T I? T? ?E????T I? ?I?T HA?E ??H? H?I?E????? ?? ?E ??ITE ?I?E THI? I? ?E ?I?H ??T T? ??ITE THE ???T ?ETTE?? IT I? ?ATHE? A ?AI?
And that's before I said my name was in there.
Of course, it requires you to guess (or assume) that there's a 1:1 letter:symbol correspondence...
hS
It seems I got confused as to what the clues were pointing towards. Thanks for the explanation.
One tip to be getting on with: the letters U and W have been merged. I arbitrarily decided to write them both as W, which may help with certain parts - such as the part after my name.
hS
B and P.
And thanks! Once I had your name and the number of characters to a letter it wasn't too difficult, just time consuming. I'm just about 3/4 of the way there
I've been trying to figure it out using Hex code values, but are there only letters or is there punctuation and stuff?
If you look at it when you're replying to the post it looks different to normal, as in there aren't any spaces. It seems too obvious a mistake to just be that so I can only assume it has something to do with the code.
Trying to work out if the five lines of nonsense are written in Ceasar Cypher, but so far I haven't had any luck and besides Pigpen (which it obviously isn't) I can't think of any Cypher's at the moment.
It was stated that the five gibberish lines are in ROT13. I'll post the translation here. Remember that they are hints.
Frequency analysis will help.
See recent thread.
View source.
T is more common than E.
First word: It.
Got the clues already, and after much searching and counting I've found the post it references, now I've got to work out what MLP has to do with anything.
Looking at the source there's an abnormally high frequency of color changes, with the following exadecimal codes:
5e0-619-0b2-06f-5e2-041-ce0-ea0-c29-e2c-010-82d-d1d-20e-af9-0ea-0d4-a4d-e03-53e-229-072-ee2-cd0-0e4-1e0-5d0-f45-0e4-5d0-e26-de0-5d0-6f5-e20-d6c-18b-72e-00a-306-acd-204-135-960-d56-de2-290-131-571-b72-0fa-f7e-0b2-021-d52-c0b-a4e-0e4-290-f20-faf-7e0-9ae-041-320-e42-0db-1d2-001-0ea-fb7-20d-b1d-205-9e5-61e-2d0-103-2f7-70d-eab-0da-0e4-1e0-e42-082-dd1-d20-619-0b2-0c2-1e0-dec-15e-03c-a80-e42-0e2-6de-005-90e-45d-061-d20-e42-082-dd1-d20-41d-0b2-290-81e-207-a96-2c0-e41-905-2f0-85e-026-db2-6e0-590-ace-2c0-ea0-177-af0-3c2-6f2-9d5-019-175-d5d-0ea-0b2-02f-d23-2f7-00e-41e-05d-017-da0-f45-05e-041-d09-ae0-b22-90c-2fc-5ee-290-ea0-13a-5e0-e42-085-dd5-960-72e-e2c-d00-ae4-2cf-5d2-05e-0f2-f7e-0b2-010-61d-20a-30b-2fe-e59-605-90c-19e-a80-72e-e2c-d01-9e0-4ab-596-0da-82e-459-603-5ee-2e0-0f2-0ea-09a-e0f-19e-0ea-0ea-0e4-1e0-050-4ab-205-2f0-413-201-770-29d-4a5-2e0-ec5-596-0ea-0bc-216-0e4-5d0-6ae-200-e42-0b2-de0-f15-0ea-06a-932-505-ac0-1d4-523-282-9e0-5d0-ea0-c2d-ba9-e05-906-59e-004-132-03a-490-04f-592-dac-a90-0bd-00f-20f-c5e-207-562-0e4-5d0-530-f20-f5d-409-ae0-ea0-fc5-e20-e42-07a-de0-72e-e2c-d00-5e0-5d0-c1e-42c-010-b15-900
Each one should be a letter. And that's where I'm stuck, as I can't reconduct the first two to "i" and "t".
It was going to take me way too long to extract that from the source while also trying to do my job.
-Phobos
I have way too free time lately. Luckily, that should be solved soon.
Still can't crack the code, though (also because I'm not sure I understand what Huinesoron meant with his hint)
If you're looking at it as groups of three characters, don't - that's a technical requirement, not a code one.
I can give more clues, but of the three I've got in mind, one is either obvious or a major spoiler, one is just a major spoiler unless you'd figured it out, and the last is a... is the term 'crib'?
hS
A quick clue - they're split into clusters of 3 because (for instance) the colour codes translate color=ABC as #0A0B0C. So they come out as black, making them rather more hidden. No further significance to the three-length.
hS
I so did.
hS
And I think I'm craking it.
