is there a type of quasi-OCR already done that i can leverage to just recognize exact characters which are always rendered identically like this or do i need to get my paws dirty in the python mines
no conventional OCR does not work on this at all
several hours later here's a writeup on how i did:
https://www.tumblr.com/maplesynth/742691202686730240
spoilers, i didn't recover the whole JPEG. but about half of it is intelligible
i've also posted it on my non-tumblr blog now: https://maple.pet/blog/solving-a-base64-mystery-nobody-asked-for
now i just need to sample the whole fuckin base64 alphabet