>THE GATE OF TEN THOUSAND SONGS

>>964716
THE GATE OF FLESH

>>964716
Ah. So, we conserved flesh by keeping her safe, but Flow might've gained toxin resistance or something if she was to walk through on her own.

We used the key on GATE OF COURTS so let's go through it.

>mild toxin exposure
Oh, she hiiigh. Okay :)

>Gates
Ten Thousand Songs and Courts are the two that are mutually exclusive to other gates, which as a video game player says to me they're better. Ten Thousand Songs sounds like it would be safe, but take a long time. So yeah, Courts.

wait I just noticed something. We're basically traveling through hell right? Does that mean each of these 7 door represent one of the 7 deadly sins or am I overthinking things?

>>964716
The gate of flesh

>>964716
Enter the Gate of Courts.

gates of flesh

Gate of 10K Songs

>>964716
Whatever was required to open the flesh gate, we collected more than double the amount needed. Since we're so good at collecting whatever that is, I say we go that way.

Voting for The Gate of Flesh.

Gate of the Carnal sounds like the place to be!

>>964716
Voting for fleshy gate.

>>964747
You might be right. But the real question is, which gate represents which sin?

>>964802
Flesh is probably Gluttony
Carnal Lust
Courts is weird. Could be pride.
Thousand Songs is weird, could be sloth.

>>964716
Flesh but carnal sounds fun

Gate of Carnal, flow is ready to earn points there

[GATE OF FLESH 5:2:3:2] HELL/WITHOUT/AGONY OR/XOR 2020/05/13(Wed)11:50 No. 966488 ID: 40232e
File 158939585754.png - (947.00KB , 1076x1076 , CHOOSE 15.png )

[DIALOGUE BOX: -- erect fruiting body without a distinct stalk and cap, either unbranched (club fungus) or -- consists of an undifferentiated fruiting structure with a hymenium on the surface; such a structure is characteristic of -- has since demonstrated that similar types of basidiomycete growth form are often examples of convergent evolution and do not always reflect a close relationship between -- ]

[INFO PANEL: ENJOY YOUR CHOI--]

[MONITOR 01: *the gate shuts behind you, before seeming to meld into the rest of the massive tree. ...Tree. Tree. This area is recognizable. Flow can also recognize this area. You are on a [MASSIVE TREE ROOT]* ]

[flow: *flow of consciousness too excited to form coherent thought*]

[snope_dogg_420:
host_translate https://www.almanac.com/content/flower-meanings-language-flowers
location_information https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ginnungagap
intercommunication_level https://www.funnytranslator.com/
current_vibe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_7HqeukRrI
>>execute]

[deepwood ghost: (Fennel)! (Chrysanthemum, White), (Dahlia, Single). (Purple Hyacinth), (Iris), (Poppy), 40 (Fir). (Oleander), (Anemone), (Rose, Leaf). (Forsythia), (Palm Leaves)!
(Cactus), (Bells of Ireland). ( (Gloxinia) )]

[MONITOR 03: *The devil-host pair regard you with interest. Things appear slightly clearer here. You suspect it is because of the presence of likeminded individuals. You are uncertain where that thought came from, but you suspect it might be coming from the devil in the form of smoke.*]

[MONITOR 04: Your HOST has gained an affection for the following: [Ripe Fruit] [Bio luminescence] ]

>COMMUNICATE
>WAIT

[MONITOR 05: You suspect that your options won't change for the next 40 panels]

>>966488
Translating:
(Flattery)! (Truth), (Good taste). (Sorrow/please forgive me), (A message), (consolation/sleep), 40 (Time). (caution), (forsaken), (You may hope). (anticipation), (victory/success)!
(endurance), (good luck). ( (love at first sight) )
It's Victorian Flower Language, but the link given sadly is missing some flowers. I haven't found a webpage that has all of them, but this site seems to fill in the blanks pretty well: http://www.allflorists.co.uk/advice_flowerMeanings.asp
So anyway it looks like the devil likes us, and we have a lot of time to kill.
The funnytranslator site doesn't work for me. Maybe that's a statement of how bad the communication level is.

I wonder if we can use the same language?
COMMUNICATE: (Geranium, Lemon), (Savory). 40 (Fir), (Indian Cress).

>COMMUNICATE

>>966488
>New host affections
Glad she's enjoying herself :)
How does this nearly unintelligible quest about escaping hell manage to be the most pure and adorable thing? <3

[TOUCH]: Lightly squeeze the other host's hand

>>966514
Do this.

>>966589
'Pure' is not the word I'd use, but {flow} started from the bottom of Hell, horror included, and every circle up is exponentially nicer than the last. The further she climbs, the better she feels about herself and the world around her.
Being able to sin for pleasure without major consequence is also a bonus.

Communicate

[3:0 COMMUNICATE] REAL/TIME/PASSAGE OR/XOR 2020/06/01(Mon)22:28 No. 968771 ID: 40232e
File 159107568598.png - (727.27KB , 1076x1076 , sketch1591075512298.png )

[DIALOGUE BOX: -- is a short story by the American author Washington Irving, first published in -- resident of the village who wanders off to the mountains and meets strange men playing -- share purple magic liquor with -- Should it be successful, I trust I shall be able henceforth to keep up an occasional -- a miracle-working sage of the 1st century BC, who was a -- a man who is actually rewarded for helping the -- ]


[MONITOR 01: *You are in [GINNUNGAGAPP] [CIRCLE RANK 5] [ASPECT: GLUTTONY] [ASPECT: VOID] [ASPECT: GENESIS]* ]

[snope_dogg_420: 22 [Day/Year/Panel] Until the next door opens. Just as a [Refresher/Reminder/Tutorial], the easiest way for me to interpret COMMUNICATE is by making your inquiry as clear as possible. Oh, and feel free to ask some questions. Just like. Throw some [topic/noun/question] in there and we should be able to answer it... Just like. Put it under your [WORD NOT FOUND] or whatever.]

[deepwood ghost & flow: "So we agree that the name of the new [word not invented yet] shall be Peach, aye?" "aye, but we still have to decide what to call the [Word reference: thing that has long legs but no mouth]" "Eugh... I don't like thinking about it though..."]

[MONITOR 03: *The devil-host pair seem to regard you somewhat fondly. Your relationship with them is MODERATE. You have been speaking with each other long enough that you appear to have managed to break a communication barrier.]

[MONITOR 04: Your HOST has gained an affection for the following: [Fermented Fruit] ]

>COMMUNICATE
>WAIT

[MONITOR 05: You suspect that your options won't change for the next 22 panels]

>>968771
Oh it's real time... So another 22 days.

Communicate: The Peach refers to the fruit here? Too bad it's not Persimmons. Do you know where the Persimmon tree is?

Touch: try eating some fruit!

Fermented fruit? Does anybody know what affect alcohol might do to our wee lass?

>>968771
Communicate: Can you tell us about this swamp we are in? Is there anything dangerous we should be avoiding?

>>968771
Since we're here in the gluttony area, we might as well go ahead and ask about food.

Communicate: What kind of food is here? Is there anything you would recommend? Or anything we should avoid eating?

Littlebeast 2020/06/03(Wed)09:36 No. 968862 ID: 9c48ac

I'm going to assume our hosts can handle the day to day survival stuff on their own.

[Communicate]: I appreciate being able to talk to someone down here. It's been kind of lonely.
Are you trying to escape too? Had any luck? I wonder if this gate will do it for the fifth layer, or if we have to go back and try them all.
Cool moth robe, by the way. Is that you or did you make it? If the latter, can you teach us to make cool duds too? Maybe we could make, like, a snake dress to play up the gorgon look. Or maybe octopus.

THE FRUIT SPEAKS ONLY TRUTH OR/XOR 2020/06/22(Mon)23:06 No. 970437 ID: 40232e
File 159289239865.png - (1.27MB , 1076x1076 , CHOOSE 16.png )

[ FRUIT ]: When you bite, you will lose all you know. Only the pure may ascend.

[ FRUIT ]:You have been given a taste. A taste of life beyond. You speak freely with your companion. Have you not grown fond of speaking so freely?

[ FRUIT ]: If you ate, you would lose it. You would lose everything. Do you not prefer to glut upon that which grows freely?

[ FRUIT ]:You could live forever here, you know. You are in Ginnungagap, the world void. There are no devils in this hell. It is comfortable here. You will not be assaulted.

[ FRUIT ]:The flesh of the other fruit here is juicy and sweet. Filling, fattening, delightful to the tastebuds. Would you not prefer it instead?

[ FRUIT ]: You do not have to reach heaven. You can choose to remain here in hell. There is so much to explore. It can all be reached from here.

[ FRUIT ]: You will miss being able to communicate so easily.

[ FRUIT ]: If you eat me, there will be nothing stopping you from devouring everything else. Overcome with hunger, you will consume all until you cannot remember yourself, and then awake.

[ FRUIT ]: Are you willing to feel that shame? That pain?

[ FRUIT ]: You will leave them behind. Or perhaps devour them. But you will never see the other you have spent 40 days with.

[ FRUIT ]: Are you fine with being lonely again?

[ FRUIT ]: The choice is yours

>CONSUME
>DESICCATE

>>970437
Only truth, does not mean the complete truth.
>lose all you know
We know little, this is not a big sacrifice. That which we have learned can be relearned.
>speak freely
It took 20 days to learn to speak. We can do that again.
>glut upon that which grows freely?
Nah.
>live forever here
That is not what we desire. Our mission is to reach heaven.
>other fruit
*shrug*
>do not have to reach heaven
We want to.
>miss being able to communicate
We can relearn.
>you will consume all until you cannot remember yourself
All of this particular fruit, most likely. These are things it is saying are consequences of the first bite, after all.
>that shame? That pain?
Shame and pain of eating too much? Sure.
>But you will never see the other you have spent 40 days with.
It is sad that we must part, but I suspect we would have to part anyway. This realm is ephemeral, ever-changing. The last pair we met vanished as soon as we walked away.
>Are you fine with being lonely again?
We have eachother. We, and our flower.

TOUCH: Warn our friends that you may lose control when you eat this fruit, and tell them they must go. Say goodbye. It was nice to meet them.

Then CONSUME.

>CONSUME

nothing ventured nothing gained

Abstain. You cannot trust in the fragility of an edible garden and you can't mindlessly destroy it all for the sake of 'purity'.

Our patience here, our unwillingness to use our power to SKIP, now might allow us to change the fate of our charge.

Friendly hell or no, this is still hell. We've a long way to go before ascension. To consume the fruit of the tree of life might restore our innocence, but in a place like this how long would that last? But to stay here forever... Unacceptable.

No. if the fruit of life is here, than there is surely another. One that man is distinctly familiar with.

The apple. The fruit of the tree of knowledge.
One can never know grace without first knowing the true nature of the world both outside and within themselves.

I choose the third option! Consume instead the fruit of the tree of knowledge!
KNOW!

Four additional supporters required to invoke this power.

Only the pure may ascend. To be pure requires that language be lost, again. The Gate of Flesh - of Gluttony - has lead us unto a choice of restraint-less feast or the drain of ascetic inhibition. This is incontrovertible. The fruit speaks only in truths.

But not all truths are constants. GINNUNGAGAP has three aspects, not two. Within us lie the universe. A pivot is the point on which leverage shifts even worlds entire.

It has been suggested that Darwin's The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex might have been more warmly received with one simple change.

New choice suggestion: [RISE]

>>970458
this

>>970458
I will be willing to abandon my KNOW for your RISE.

We require 2 more voices.

Attempting to ascend without purity sounds destined to failure. It is the height of arrogance to assume that our power can break open the gate of heaven on its own. The sin of pride, Babel's folly.

The truth can still be twisted as a means to an end. Most forbidden fruits would be begging to be eaten, you know!
Consume.

>>970514
Eh, I doubt our power could get us past one gate, much less six, plus the gate of heaven.

Well, unless we did something like [Nine], waited until next gate, and then did [Transcend]. Now THAT would be a most sinful exercise.

Rise though does not necessarily mean Ascend, it means many things.
To find strength.
To return to life.
To rebel.
To awaken.
To grow.
There are many more.

In truth we don't know what [Rise] will do, but I for one believe good will come of it.

>>970530
We are at the final gate of Ginnungagap. Next is heaven. I don't know if there are more gates once we're in heaven.
...actually I guess we don't know for sure if heaven is immediately after this gate. It's possible there's another layer closer to heaven? I thought it was gonna be hell-limbo-heaven, but then again ginnungap is still a hell. Maybe we're not even in a limbo realm yet, in which case RISE would be fine and not spitting in the face of god or anything.

>>970437
>You speak freely with your companion. Have you not grown fond of speaking so freely?
I’m not sure if that’s referring to us and our ability to speak with Flow, our host. Or if it’s referring to our ability to speak with other Vessels and their Hosts.

>Choose
Desiccate has something to do with removing the moisture from something in order to preserve it.

So I think our options might be A) to eat the fruit or B) to bite into it and drink all the juices out of it to save the rest for later.

I’m not entirely sure what to pick here.

>>970533
Cold be purgatory, or the mortal realm.

>>970536
Or it could mean letting it sit and decay (meaning not eat it).

>We are at the final gate of Ginnungagap. Next is heaven.
Are you certain? Hell can lie.
The last gate we passed was 6/7...
But we've only passed 2 gates. We started at the bottom of hell and have been ascending this whole time!
to me it sounds like eating the fruit now will wipe our progress and send us back to the beginning!

Granted, Lucifer has promised to catch us should we fall, but that would still mean our charge would lose her mental progress to this point for nothing!

>>970514
>>970533
Whatever heaven is, I doubt its gates are being knocked on just quite yet.

You approve of [RISE] then?

>>970575
When we passed gate 7/7 in the first area, the HOST remarked that the place felt better, less stabby. Then we received a boon. I think it would be reasonable to conclude we exit each area once we've passed gate 7, and we are about to do exactly that.

Then again early on we were told "NO WRONG CHOICES", so who knows what would actually happen if we picked dessicate or rise. Maybe dessicate shows a measure of purity by abandoning gluttony, and we ascend anyway but lose something else, like maybe we and the host are the ones dessicating, wasting away by refusing to eat. Maybe rise actually works, but we incur some other penalty like the wrath of god.

>>970594
No, I still pick consume. I am willing to give up language, and the other options are likely to be harmful in some other way.

>>970536
After thinking about it, I’ve made my decision. I pick consume.

Well since Rise looks like it will fail I suppose I'll support a base choice.

Im certain we can find a less destructive way about this, and we have plenty of flesh to spare.

Desiccate

>>970437
Consume

>>970437
Let's eat it! Consume the fruit!

Consume

>>970437
I wonder what it'll taste like? Let's consume it and find out!