invisible_ficathon reveal

[raspberryhunter]

The story I posted for invisible_ficathon was based on Loney M. Setnick's extremely cheerful work, The Pony Party, which as noble volunteers and readers may know is a nonexistent work meant to hide the extremely dangerous terror of Lemony Snicket: The Unauthorized Autobiography.

The Extremely Appropriate, Inoffensive, and Altogether Cheery Pony Party (1077 words) by raspberryhunter
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Pony Party - Loney M. Setnick, Series of Unfortunate Events - Lemony Snicket
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Additional Tags: why would you even think to look for a coded message in a fanfic, this fic is of no interest to those who are not noble, Sebald Code, Recursion, Verse Fluctuation Declaration


rymenhild's prompt said, "I know you definitely aren't writing in this fandom because you like to send coded messages. Nobody would think to leave messages for other members of an important secret organization on an Internet fanfiction board." And if they had done so, the two messages in the fic would not have revealed anything about the fate and plans of certain orphans who had left an island some time ago, and how those might intersect with a certain secret library still present underwater next to the doomed, fiery Hotel Denouement...

[Many thanks to sprocket, who performed the Herculean task of trying to beta-read without having read source until halfway through the beta job, and who valiantly counted words to make sure the Sebald Code worked out.

In other news, every person, including me, who I got to try to work out an example of Verse Fluctation Declaration while I was writing this got the wrong message, because we all seem to want to take the new words instead of the words they replaced. I was, of course, trying to work out the example in Snicket's text, and thought he was talking about pony parties instead of violet taxis. So let me just say that the message in the fic poem excerpt is not "Ponies find with parties."

Also: the comments on this story were fabulously in-character and I had a lot of fun responding to them!]

ETA: Rot-13'd, the Sebald Code message:
Ivbyrg, Xynhf, naq Fhaal unir erghearq. Zrrg hf ng cbaq ol ohearq ubgry fvgr.

The Verse Fluctuation Declaration message:
Jr'yy ohvyq va nfurf.

Comments

[morbane]

You seemed to be having immense fun in the writing of it! I loved how the ponies began to subvert their own party. "Can we talk about real stuff? Surely a normal reader would have back-buttoned by now."

(Above: expansion on actual review because Long Comments In Sebald Code, Too Hard.)

(Although looking at your other reviews, clearly not too hard for everyone! :))

[raspberryhunter]

I did have a LOT of fun writing it :) Although wow, it is hard to write in Sebald Code and the ponies' frustration with the party may have been partially authorial bleed-in from having to count so many words... I really admired primeideal's fic for making it look so easy!

Again I apologize if I made it sound like the comments had to be in Sebald Code or anything :) (And as you can see, although I tried to respond in-character, I certainly didn't go to the length of responding in code...

[morbane]

No no no. There was no Minimum Standard for Comments. I just got swept up in it, having of course just learned Sebald Code so I could decipher the fic. For my part, I'm very sorry if I conveyed resentment.

Did you have to mark every X word in red or something while you were writing it?

(I did enjoy all the VFDs in the comments, too.)

[raspberryhunter]

Oh, I know there wasn't a minimum standard! But it's easy to get swept up in it... especially a canon like Lemony Snicket, which sort of lends itself to over-the-top acting.

I actually wrote the Sebald Code part in longhand (partially also because I was writing it during choral rehearsal, ha), with little numbers on top of the "filler" words. Sprocket actually typed out the numbers to check it, which is amazing to me. She seriously deserves some kind of Best Beta award.

[thistleingrey]

HEE. The whole thing is great. Have not attempted to decode anything--brain cannot handle temporarily--but HEE.

Also, the number of nyms I recognize in the comments amuses me. Recipient is a former colleague.

[raspberryhunter]

:) I am so glad you liked it! I had a lot of doubts as to whether I was doing any justice at all to canon (which I love), so I'm really happy to hear you enjoyed it :)

Rot-13 being rather easier to decipher than either of the VFD codes, here you go:

Ivbyrg, Xynhf, naq Fhaal unir erghearq. Zrrg hf ng cbaq ol ohearq ubgry fvgr.

And the Verse Fluctuation Declaration:

Jr'yy ohvyq va nfurf.

[thistleingrey]

aha. Thanks! That is very fortuitous data to have.