This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 80%. (I'm a bot)

The Japanese government has drawn up a draft package of measures designed to reverse the country's falling birthrate.
The government plans to secure funding for the measures by reviewing fiscal spending and other means.
The draft says the government will remove the limit on household income in providing child-rearing allowances to parents.
The draft says the government will study ways to increase financial support for childbirth further.
The government will also draw up measures to ease the financial burden in receiving higher education.
The government says the package will increase the annual budget of the Children and Families Agency by about 50 percent from the current level of nearly 5 trillion yen.

Summary Source FAQ Feedback Top keywords: government^#1 plan^#2 fiscal^#3 year^#4 children^#5
Post found in /worldnews.
NOTICE: This thread is for discussing the submission topic. Please do not discuss the concept of the autotldr bot here.

At the very end of my year-end review, my manager told me that my job was being downgraded from a JG20 to a JG15. Since my salary falls outside of the pay band for the new job grade, I received a lump sum payment for the "merit increase" rather than an increase to my base salary. My bonus potential didn't change even though I would be bonused on a smaller base.
Some background: My experience is in Category Development and I took a lateral into my current role in January 2021 because it was going to be a new hybrid position of both sales and category development - there were two vacancies in the company calling on the same account so this position was taking on the workload of two positions. There has been turnover at this account since 2021 and in December 2021, the new/current buyer decided they didn't want a sales person also doing category development. Accordingly, my responsibilities changed with that account, but to make up for it, I took on additional accounts and supported my colleagues and broader team with category development responsibilities. I have created countless reports and dashboards for my local, regional, and zone teams that fall outside of the scope of work for a JG15 account manager. For the past two years I have been rated as "Fully Meets Expectations" for a JG20 during year-end reviews, including this year. I was also a finalist for a JG25 position which I am undoubtedly qualified for.
Fast forward to today, I have taken the matter up with HR because I do not understand why my job would be downgraded. They told me that this typically happens when there are vacancies and that all jobs are constantly being evaluated. This was not performance based, but since my job has shifted into more of an account manager role and, given the volume of my account, a JG15 (which is what both positions were prior to becoming hybrid) was more aligned with internal structuring. After speaking with HR it was clear that I was the only person impacted across the company.
After speaking with my mentor, they suggested I contact an employment attorney. Since they gave me a lump sum, they're taking care of me this year, they have just limited my future earnings. Do I (34 yo, white male) have any ground to stand on or should I just lick my wounds and look for another job?

I want to note that while this is mostly feedback this is just my opinion and Observations after hundreds of hours of gameplay and am writing this is in the hopes the game improves and is not to bash on the game. Most of the feedback might seem negative simply due to the fact these are things I would like to be changed in the game and things the Devs could improve upon to make the game more successful in the future.
Matchmaking
Alot of players seem to complain about poor matchmaking but I think one of the biggest issues with matchmaking is the punishment for simply playing with friends. This has a lot of issues and overall, I think the players that complain about playing against "stacks" are generally coping a little bit or have been unlucky and got against a group of good players that whether they were stacked or not simply are just better players and thus end up winning the game. I think the penalty right now set in place from a lot of the whining of these players during earlier months of the game has really turned off players from either trying the game or continuing to play the game. generally, the majority of casual players don't want to play games alone and end up getting penalized. in my opinion a 5 stack of lower Elo players should not be penalized, and "stacking" is really only an issue when its higher-level players that are doing this but in my experience most of the higher-level players either currently don't play or they play solo or duo as they find it to be too easy to play as a group as 5 people. another reason this is a negative experience is it limits the ability for veteran players to not play with new players they might bring in or for streamers / content creators to do viewer games as the inflation will simply make the games unfun for these players and create frustration for them while also generally being boring for the players they are against since the games are pretty one sided. my solution to this would be to have very minor Elo inflation for playing with friends and if possible have it increase with the amount of higher Elo players you have. I think this system should also favor majority of the group if you have 4 new players with 1 vet player, they should generally be against players closer to the 4 new players then the vet player for example, or vice versa if you have 4 vet players with 1 new player the system should side more towards the veteran players Elo range when matchmaking. Another thing with match making I see is a lot of people complaining about the Elo of players that are in their game you have to understand that the api websites are not 100% accurate and that complaining about these issues especially with a smaller player base isn't going to do anything nor is it going to fix the games you get. I think a lot of players also don't seem to understand you aren't supposed to win every game and if the system is working perfectly and you are at the place you are supposed to be you will have a 50%-win loss. Now I do Also Understand not every game is winnable and this is where it gets frustating especially combined with the things in the next section about afk and draft dodging.
​
AFK / Dodging
I think there seems to be a larger amount of dodging recently since I guess there is no penalty for doing so this should be changed there is a point to be made where it happens due to internet occasionally or the lobby breaks and everyone gets set to the main menu but deliberately dodging in draft for some reason someone picks something you don't like or you didn't win the 50-50 so you leave and immediately queue up again should not be possible and should carry some type of penalty my expectations for this would be as follows, first offense - 1 minute, second offense 5 minutes - third offense - 10, 4th - 15 minutes, 5th - 60 minutes. and these penalties should not reset till 3-7 days after your last offense this is something that I think should be in place and would help start more games and faster there have been times I've been in queue over 30 minutes due to constant lobby dodging and this is on NA east the most populated server I can't imagine how long it could be on an alternative server with a longer queue time.
Now I'll talk about afk since there seems to be a resurgence in the community talking about players leaving games and afking now this should never be encouraged and in my opinion the penalty for leaving a game should ramp up faster than what it currently does the first or second time it happens I get it sometimes people have issues with the game or internet and I'm ok with it being like 10 minutes then 15 minutes sure but the 3rd offense needs to seriously ramp up quicker to 1 hour in my opinion and then 4th should be 4 hours and then 12 until finally the 6th offense should be a 24 hour penalty. these penalties should not reset for anything less than 7 days after the last offense's penalty ended. Im usually against anything longer then 24 hours penalty however if it seems to be a chronic problem for specific players then they should have further action taken against them with something like a 2-week suspension but that is more for the moderation team to handle and not something that can be automated like a penalty system. I also think the general appearance of afks is slightly blown out of proportion in my games I've played and seen generally an afk happens less often than some people make it out to seem where they say its every other game I think it's usually that it's only the more memorable games in recent memory due to a lot of matches being kind of one sided and forgettable as opposed to someone leaving or a well-balanced back and forth match. Another thing to note with afks I think if you dc in a match let's say for 5 minutes then return and play then next 15 you can still sometimes be hit with a penalty in this situation you should not be penalized in my opinion since there are multiple reasons it might've taken so long to return I'm not sure the threshold on how long you should have to be back in the game to not get penalized after returning but something like this would be nice in my opinion.
Toxicity
I usually have chat turned off in game but always here about players complaining about meeting toxic individuals and things like that personally I think some feedback on reports working would go along way I also think if a player has been reported enough for this, they should simply be chat muted with a minor suspension something like 3–7-day suspension with chat perms removed for 2-4weeks or something. If someone is only having an issue with typing, then just remove the typing from them there is no real reason to permanently remove them from the game just remove that players access to being toxic. I also think the above systems afking and dodging breed into frustration that increase the toxicity that occurs and a touch up on those system might reduce the amount of regular toxicity you see in games for the people that it does occur for.
​
Gameplay
Personally I really enjoy the gameplay of pred and have been having a good time playing it but some of the major feedback I have related to the gameplay loop is the inconsistency in the game, for example Gideon ult has to do 1 hit of dmg before being cancelable which in my opinion is a design flaw with the ability, or another one being the hit box on most abilities being larger than actual target indicator you see on the ground Shinbi q or Gideon q are great examples of this and would like thing to be better fleshed out so it doesn't feel like you are being hit by abilities that visually aren't even close to you. Another issue I have with the core gameplay is that inhibitors don't shoot on respawn I understand this is to shorten game times but simply make them respawn and do 25% dmg or have half hp or something it feels really bad to defend long enough for them to respawn for them to simply do nothing personally I think this is just a really weird decision and should be changed. The next thing about gameplay I'm going to talk about is warding which really has very minor effects on the game the ability to simply not have enough due to them being time locked and not gold locked I think is really bad especially with how small radius of a radius they provide this might have to do with the small size of the map but personally I find wards to be incredibly underwhelming and not super rewarding to place, I also think warding something like a white camp or a red buff should reveal the timer without having to walk all the way up to the camp which might help the benefits of them a little more even with the small radius. I think wards also have a lot of visual clutter on the mini map which can make it difficult to see things on it such as player pictures ect. I would propose a system more similar to smite where it lights an area in blue on the map that is revealed by the ward as opposed to the eye that clutters things like the camp timers you do have and player icons. The next major issue I have with gameplay is the lack of movement penalty when walking backwards this really makes no sense logically and feels really bad when playing against it there's no reason someone should be able to actively look at me while walking away at the same speed there needs to be some downside this is also weird considering there is a side strafe penalty which adds again to the inconsistency of the game. The last major thing I will bring up here is the hero icons for when players are behind you personally this is a really bad addition to the game and think it should be removed the identifying factor to someone being behind you is the mini map and takes a lot of the situational awareness out of the game when there is just an icon on your screen alerting you usually even to better effectiveness then wards do which just really weakens the ability to get a good flank on someone and really lowers the skill ceiling of the game
​
Heros / Balance
A major issue I have is the simplicity of almost every hero in the game, there seems to be a very large lack of advanced mechanics and high skill ceilings on almost every character in the game I think the fact most heroes have a low skill floor is good however combined with a low ceiling causes a lack of skill expression and generally makes the kits less enjoyable to play more than a few times each. I would love to see more skill expressive kits that allow more outplay potential without feeling so dumbed down to the point it feels like no matter the engage you will always use your abilities the same way. Hopefully this will improve with more characters, but every character added since early access has been released has been very easy to play and has at least 1 auto locking ability which is the next thing about the heroes I will talk about. Personally, I feel there is way too many auto hit abilities in the game as previously stated every character since EA launch has had at least 1 if not multiple auto hit abilities and this drastically dumbs the game down and lowers the skill expression and, in my opinion, has turned off a lot of players to the game I hope this is something that is moved away from heavily and is only currently in the game due to wanting a lower ceiling on most characters when going into launch in the future. Next I think auto attack penalties should be higher it is very frustrating to never really be able to comfortably walk away from auto attacks in this game especially with the amount of slows and cc in the game combined with the weak penalty and then on top of that lack of backwards movement penalty that should also be applied when walking at players. As for general hero / item balancing I think it is pretty good and currently am really enjoying the most recent ttk changes and think the game is going in the right direction in that front, I also think almost every character is viable currently which is also really positive for the state of overall game balance. I think part of this also comes from the previously mentioned low skill floors and low ceilings for most characters but overall is something I enjoy with the game with a couple outliers here or there so good job to the balance team there. this opinion is always changing however and perhaps the more into this current patch we go I might think differently.
​
Map
The map is very poorly designed personally I think the map is slightly too small and has a lack of verticality this is due to the way the map is shaped currently the map is very flat with the appearance of being vertical due to the map being in a V-shape which makes it mostly implied verticality and not actual verticality which shrinks the length of the map and cause a lot of weird slopes like in the side lanes that slope upwards. another issue with the map is the lack of variety specifically the jungle camps are the same for example really makes the game a little boring none of them are interesting or have special attacks etc. all are melee with slight color differences that you wouldn't even notice if someone didn't tell you. please add some personality to camps and things or the bosses like make the fang too pit a nest instead of just rock for example. I like the outside camps in the side lanes those are nice and one of the things I would like to stay the same.
​
Things I Would Like to See in the Future
Lastly, I'm going to just list things I would personally like to see added in the future and order them accordingly.

1. Progression systems, this would encourage retention and increase the reason to play the game beyond just the gameplay which is overall positive can only go so far without a reason this is one of the biggest downfalls of the game right now and is the biggest factor in my opinion to the lower base.
2. Alternative Game mode, the current game mode is meant to be competitive and this lacks reason for casual players to want to play it and combined with some of the above issues drives players away in my opinion an alternative game mode like arena or joust from smite would help significantly with retention and provide a more casual experience for players Aswell as give players the ability to play like a 15 minute game as opposed to the 30 minutes or so the default mode is
3. More heroes, I know this one is obvious, but the current rate is incredibly slow Personally i think the first year or so of launch this should be a priority then slowed down the longer the game is out but think that realistically the current pace should be increased at least with the original paragon heroes.
4. Art, pretty self-explanatory more skins more cosmetics ect. this adds reasons to play as well as adds more flair to the game.
5. actual custom lobbies, the current custom game system is just a way to queue 5v5 against other players I'd like to see actual lobbies in the future since this would help with things like competitive leagues, scrims, viewer games ect. I would also like the practice map to be playable here as well and have custom options like start the game max level 100000 gold start ect.
6. Some type of ranked mode, another one self-explanatory solo duo queue only 5v5 on the competitive map drafting and character swapping ect.
7. Console, and better controller layout as someone that use to play smite on controller for 4 years the current controller layout / options is atrocious and hope it gets improved upon the reasoning this isn't addressed above is because controller v2 is on the roadmap for season 2 so I will hold any feedback till there is more information on that before console. I also have console this low because I think since it is the largest influx of players theoretically it should be last after the rest of the game is in place to retain the most players during this period.

IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS OR WANT MORE ELABORATION ON ANY OF THESE ASK AND I WILL RESPOND WHEN I HAVE THE TIME

So we’ve been looking for a house for a while, we’ve been trying to use FHA since we make more than the limited amount of a conventional loan right now. We finally found the perfect little house that was FHA approved, was listed for 139,950, we offered 140,000 but asked for 6% in seller costs (our loan lady informed us to do it this way)
the house itself has been on and off the market, pending and not pending multiple times for over 130 days.. They declined our offer after waiting the full 3 days given through the contract to make a decision and we were pretty bummed out.
We kept looking at other houses and eventually decided to ask our realtor if there was any way we could counter our original offer on that other house. we asked for about 4% in seller credit instead for the same offer price and are putting money towards the closing costs, our realtor reached out to their realtor and asked if they could verbally ask the sellers if that would be an option because they have been very picky with every person that has given them an offer. the sellers agreed to it verbally so our realtor wrote up the contract that night, that was almost exactly 3 days ago again and they still haven’t signed the contract even though they verbally agreed to our second offer. We love his house and really want it and i’m worried they’re gonna pull the same thing and just not approve our offer for some reason since they’re taking so long and i’m just not sure what to do from here, my realtor has been staying in touch with their realtor but no updates yet. Has anyone else dealt with anything similar?

Hi all,
Still new and processing the fun complexity of ck3. I have read a lot about developement and economy but am failing to find an answer to the following:
Do counties 1 sea zone away (example leinester in ireland to dyfed in wales) connect in terms of influence bleed? Like if I own dyfed and Leinester(or somerset or Devon) will Dyfed (assuming it has highest development) increase development growth in LeinesteSomerset/Devon?
If not, is this development bleed island specific? I can't find where but I do recall there being some interaction there.
Thank you for any clarity you can provide! Trying to move my capital and decide where to focus development as my ruler works towards taking back the land that he and his ancestors were chased from (rp of course).

Hi All, just wanted to get some input on strategy for retiring early.
I’m currently 28 years old and have a lofty goal of retiring by the age of 40. My current annual gross is around 260K and should be rising soon if my promo goes through. 200K of that is base salary and the remainder is RSU based. All our expenses are based on base salary alone so RSUs are typically gravy that we either reinvest or use a little to pay for a piece of furniture we’ve been wanting, etc.
At the moment, I am maxing out my company offered 401K which represents around 10% of my annual pre-tax income. Each month I also have 10% going into zero cost index funds (80% domestic and 20% international). And then an additional 10% going into a ~4% interest savings account.
Currently have around 100K in 401K, 50K in index funds, 15K in savings, and 10K sitting in crypto.
I own a house with around a $3,700 mortgage and pay $4,000 each month. We bought the house two years ago for 700K and have 638K remaining on the mortgage at 3.375%.
My wife and I maintain zero credit card debt month to month and own our two cars outright making the mortgage our only line of debt.
I’m trying to figure out the best next steps to make with additional funds. Mentally I want to delete the mortgage as soon as possible but at 3.375% it doesn’t make much sense when even savings accounts are returning over 4%. However, having an additional 4000 a month sounds enticing and gives an amazing amount of freedom.
The other option I have considered is getting into the residential or commercial rental space to create an additional revenue stream.
Curious what opinions are or other things I am not thinking of or can improve on. I read through the community faqs and think the only thing I have not explored is a back door Roth to increase tax benefits.
I just want to say that I am incredibly blessed already and am extremely happy with my current lifestyle so I’m looking for how to get to a point where I can enjoy that without needing to slave away at a desk.

As we all spend a lot of time in Quantum doing nothing I have been thinking about how to build game play into it. CR has said he doesn't want any loading screens in his game and I am all for that, however there is about the same amount of activity currently as with a loading screen. Namely, none. Of course with larger ships you can get out of your seat and walk around but I'd like to focus on the game play opportunities of flight itself.
Here are some suggestions for improving the Quantum Jump experience.

1. Your ship should have a navigation computer. Depending on its capacity will determine how many jump route legs you can fly in one shot. So a single seat fighter for example can plot a route but has to stop after each leg (like we do now). A higher capacity nav computer will let you fly multiple points in one jump so you don't have to stop after each leg, it just changes course at each waypoint. You can also adjust certain parameters. For example you can tell it to avoid areas of known pirates, or you can have it fly closer to planets so you can pickup on comm traffic on your way by.
   
2. You should be able to change your route in mid flight.
   
3. Quantum Speed should be variable. Right now when you press GO on the Quantum Jump it will accelerate, hit cruise and decelerate automatically where the same trip will take exactly the same amount of time each time. I propose that when you activate the QD your throttle control becomes a quantum power control. It will have a "safe" cruise power setting indicated and an ability to exceed this if you want to. You can adjust this as the journey progresses, so if you decide you need to get to a location faster you can increase speed mid journey. Exceeding recommended power limits will cause increased wear on the drive. As the drive wear increases you are more likely to damage or even burn it out. The engineer can monitor certain parameters of the drive and can even do maintenance to remove some of the wear.
   
4. Quantum speed should also be affected by mass. Right now your speed in quantum is based entirely on what drive you have equipped. So ships of different sizes will go exactly the same speeds if equipped with the same drive, even if loaded with cargo. What I propose is to use the mass of the vessel as a factor in speed. More mass requires more power for a particular speed. If your power plant runs short on energy you can shut down systems to free up more power. Since weapons have mass in some safe areas cargo haulers can choose to leave their weapons at home. This will get you a faster speed for the same power setting (and less wear on your QD). This provides opportunities for stripping down a ship and making a fast blockade runner. It also allows cargo missions to move a certain amount of cargo in a certain amount of time. Ship configuration can make a difference. How much fuel can make a difference as it has mass also. (a racer might take the minimum required)
   

Together these improvements allow intersystem races and other game play opportunities. For example you might plot a route to pass near a comm station to gather the latest messages. Then, upon reading those messages you see a new cargo just popped up for the first to arrive. You change course mid flight and boost your power levels to increase speed as much as you can. You also dump half your hydrogen fuel to get your weight down and get the maximum speed out of your ship. Your engineer starts monitoring the drive performance closely...
To me that is fun.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to your constructive comments.

“I’m sorry; we’re going to astral travel to a flea market?” Charlotte asked incredulously as she watched Genevieve and I set up a meditation circle under the shade of a towering old willow tree in my cemetery. “What if we want to buy something? How will we bring it back?”
“We’re not going there to shop, Lottie. Samantha’s finally had a vision about Emrys,” Genevieve explained.
The Veil between the Physical and Astral Planes is exceptionally weak in my cemetery, especially at night and on hallowed days. When I sleep there, my subconscious mind is highly receptive to all manner of revelations from the Spirit World. When I saw a Blood Moon rise on the night of May fifth, the same night as a penumbral eclipse, I knew that my dreams would be prophetic.
“I had a dream about him last Friday,” I expounded. “He’s at some sort of otherworldly marketplace, one that’s not connected to the Crypto Chthonic Cuniculi, so it’s mostly inaccessible to the Ophion Occult Order. In my dream, Emrys invited us to come and speak with him while we were lucid. He drew a sigil for me, the same one I’ve drawn in the middle of the mediation circle. He said that all I’d have to do is toss an Undying Rose – the earthly effigy of the rose Persephone used to steal a drop of his blood – into the sigil and it will become an astral portal to where he is.”
I held up the deep purple rose that I had cut from its bush earlier that day. I don’t know for certain where the roses came from, but my best guess is that they were made by the same Occultist who hallowed my cemetery to Persephone; Artaxerxes Crow. They have some connection to Emrys as well, since the only other time I saw someone else use one was when his avatar was summoned into the Physical Plane on Halloween 2020.
Knowing that Emrys wouldn’t dare to set foot in a place that was sacred to the Goddess who was ultimately responsible for his cosmic defeat, I gently tossed the rose into the middle of the sigil.
“He invited all of us?” Charlotte asked with an incredulous raising of her eyebrow.
“He said me and my coven. If he had just meant me or me and Genevieve he would have said that,” I replied. “You and Elam are coming too. I want as many eyes on this place as possible so that we don’t miss anything. We may not get an opportunity like this again.”
“And this is safe? Visiting some random flea market between worlds?” Charlotte asked.
“Samantha and I have visited the Underworld and come back no problem,” Genevieve reminded her. “So long as we’re bound to our bodies and Elam is bound to Samantha, we can come back anytime. Don’t worry; this is going to be a blast! Adventures like these are the best part of being a Witch.”
“The only reason you were able to go to the Underworld is because Samantha’s cemetery came with an astral portal in the back,” Charlotte countered, gesticulating in the general direction of the archway that was still partially visible behind the light spring foliage. “Other than that, when have any of us ever done anything useful with our astral projection? This is still a physical place, right? We don’t have any of our physical senses available to us when we astral project, and I get extremely disoriented trying to navigate the mortal plane with clairvoyance alone.”
“It is a physical place, but one saturated with astral energy and full of occultists and occult artifacts. It will be extremely illuminated to our clairvoyance,” I assured her. “Elam will also be there to guide us. As a ghost, he’s much more practiced at traversing the mortal plane in an astral form.”
Charlotte folded her arms over her chest and turned to look at Elam, who was leaning up against the willow tree as he waited for us.
“I don’t suppose you could go and scout the place out for us ahead of time?” she asked.
“I can’t go too far from Samantha, and definitely not across planes,” he said with a shake of his head. “But Eve’s right. Your astral bodies will be in no danger, and you can return here in an instant whenever you want.”
“But what about Emrys? Didn’t that book Leon gave you say that he’s some sort of soul-flayer?” Charlotte asked me.
“It did,” I admitted. “Keep in mind though, that book was written by his enemies. I want to hear his side of things before this conflict of theirs spirals out of control.”
“Any update from Chamberlin about that?” Elam asked.
“Yeah, he said that after he failed to purify the Sigil Sand, Ivy’s onboard with negotiating some kind of truce with Emrys,” I replied. “The Grand Adderman’s still reticent, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s running out of options. I need to find out if Emrys will agree to peace talks.”
“Um, I get that, but I’m still kind of hung up on him potentially flaying our souls,” Charlotte reiterated.
“If Emrys and the Ophion Occult Order go to all-out war, there’ll be a lot of collateral damage and innocent souls caught in the crossfire,” Genevieve told her, gently grabbing hold of her and looking her straight in the eye. “Samantha, Elam, and I are doing this because if there’s any chance we can put an end to this before it starts, then it’s our responsibility to try. You don’t have to come with us, Lottie, but you’re still a member of our coven. Samantha and I would both feel a lot better with you there to help us.”
“Arghhh! All right, fine! I’ll come with you,” Charlotte gave in, plopping her butt down on the edge of the meditation circle. “If we’re holding hands, that will help keep our astral bodies together too, right?”
“I believe it should, yes,” I smiled at her, sitting down and reaching out for her hand.
Genevieve lit the incense and her bong filled with the entheogenic Delphi Dream, before sitting down to join us. She took a hit from the bong before passing it to me, and then to Charlotte before setting it aside out of the circle.
“Start with taking a deep breath, completely filling the lungs, and holding it for five heartbeats,” she guided us as she took hold of each of our hands. “Exhale completely, and wait five more heartbeats before breathing in again. Eyes closed, in through the nose, out through the mouth. Focus on the astral energies flowing through you with each breath, gently aligning each chakra until those energies are enough to lift you up and out of your body.”
In unison with one another, the three of us slowly breathed in and out, ignoring the material world around us and focusing upon the task at hand. Eve was first, as usual, and because we were all holding hands, Charlotte and I felt her eagerly tugging us up to speed us along.
I opened my eyes, and beheld the dull and muted Physical Plane through my clairvoyance, everything outshined by the radiant forms of my coven mates. I noted that Genevieve had eschewed her normal skyclad form when astral projecting and instead wore a cloak like Charlotte and I.
“Are you worried this place might have a no shirt, no shoes, no souls, no service policy?” I teased her.
“I just don’t want to risk a confrontation over it. I realize how important this is,” she answered. “Though I’m not actually wearing shoes, now that you mention it.”
“Christ, look at the sigil Samantha drew!” Charlotte said, pointing down at the meditation circle beneath us. The sigil wasn’t just glowing but flowing as well, churning the Aether around it in a misty, spectral vortex. “It’s an astral portal, isn’t it?”
“Oh yeah. It’s not stable, though. Good for one trip only,” Genevieve said with a delighted smile. “And Lottie, since we’re Neopagan Witches, try not to swear by Christ, okay?”
“Jesus!” she swore, both in defiance and in genuine annoyance.
“Elam! Elam, come join the circle! I don’t want to take any chances of severing our bond,” I instructed, letting go of Charlotte’s hand and waving him in between us.
Faithful Familiar that he was, he obeyed without hesitation. Despite my concerns, I think that he probably could have stayed behind if he had wanted. The fact that he was willing to follow me to an unknown otherworld without complaint really made me appreciate how devoted he was to me.
“We step in together on the count of three, got it?” I instructed, each of them nodding clearly in response. “One. Two. Three!”
We all extended our right feet into the vortex together, and the instant we did we were swept away, falling out of our own world and tumbling between the cracks of countless others. They weren’t real, I don’t think. At least, not as real as our world. They were potential realities, or realities that could have been once but now can never be, or fantasies that are so persistent in the minds of real people that in some sense or another, they become real themselves. I only saw glimmers of them, glimmers in nebulas made of primeval chaos and uttermost void.
It was outside of time, that place we travelled through, or at least we had no sense of it there. Our souls were haphazardly spat out upon a surreal landscape of earth, sea, and fire. Hilly plains of volcanic ash, incandescent calderas of lava and bubbling hot springs all intermeshed in a chaotic mosaic that didn’t seem to abide by any laws of geology or geography that I was familiar with. A strong but slow wind pushed fractal formations of dark silver clouds through a pale silver sky, illuminated by a single white orb which could have been either a bright moon or a faint sun.
While our spectral feet left no trace upon the ash we now stood upon, our presence nonetheless elicited a response from some of the local fauna. We were just able to catch a glimpse of some kind of shimmering scarabs burrowing themselves into the ash to escape the four otherworldly ghosts that had invaded their territory.
“Holy shit,” Charlotte murmured as we all gazed out upon the strange world we had found ourselves on. “This really isn’t on the Astral Plane. This is a real planet. This a real, alien planet! This is unbelievable!”
Genevieve glided over to one of the bubbling pools and peered into it, looking for any more signs of life.
“There’s some kind of bluish-grey algae growing on the rocks down there, and I think I can make out some small arthropods too. This planet’s alive!” she announced with glee, smiling and looking up at the alien sky.
Conjuring an astral approximation of my staff, I plunged it into a small mound of ash beside me. I watched curiously as the scarabs shot out in all directions, moving too quickly for me to get a good look at them, before scurrying back into the surrounding ash.
“These bugs can sense our presence,” I remarked. “How and why would clairvoyance evolve in insects on this world, and why would their first instinct be to flee?”
“Samantha!” Elam called out. “I think I found the Flea Market.”
We all gathered around him and looked where he was pointing. On a distant dune, we beheld the moulted carapace of a colossal insect, gleaming a brilliant, lustrous gold in the broken white light.
“That’s impossible!” Charlotte claimed. “That thing must be hundreds of meters long! No insect, no animal period could ever get that big on the Physical Plane!”
“It could be the Incarnation of some kind of Titan,” Genevieve suggested. “But… it’s dead. I can tell that even from here. It’s dead. It’s the corpse of a dead god, and now it’s being used as a swap meet with a punny name. Either whatever killed it just abandoned it, or…”
“Or is running the place,” I finished for her. “Well, we should see if we can find Emrys.”
In an instant, the world moved around us until we were at the entrance to the Flea Market. The colossal carapace was hollow inside, of course, and had been filled with a bustling city that looked like it had been created in the most ad hoc manner possible. There wasn’t a single straight street to be seen, and they converged with one another at random intervals. Stalls and buildings varied wildly in both design and materials, all imported from a plethora of different cultures across the planes.
Enormous shards of luminous glass levitated above the throng like a thousand Swords of Damocles, any or all of them seeming capable of succumbing to gravity at any moment. In the very center of the moulted husk dangled a great spiralling chrysalis or hive woven of iridescent silk, its function not being immediately apparent to me.
There must have been thousands of people there, and hundreds of merchants hawking their wares. Most of those who looked human still seemed a little off, like they were members of ethnicities that didn’t exist in our world. Some of the beings were near-human in appearance, many seemingly some kind of Fey or Seelie folk. There was even a small handful of people that weren’t remotely human at all.
The only thing they all had in common was that none were native to this world.
“Most of these people are here in person, aren’t they?” Charlotte asked.
“It would’ve been quite a feat for them to have built all of this while astral projecting,” Genevieve agreed.
“But if this place isn’t connected to the Cuniculi, then how did they get here?” Charlotte asked. “We’re on another planet, maybe even in another dimension. If getting here is beyond the Ooo’s abilities, then what sort of ungodly reality benders decided to turn it into a Flea Market?”
“Ladies, gentlemen, and any beings either too ancient and alien or too modern and alienated to settle on one or the other, come bear witness to one of the most astounding and atrocious abominations on this or any other world!” a fast-paced male voice rang out over the din of the crowd.
We turned to see a short, skinny, old-timey sort of carnival barker standing on a literal soap box, placed next to a large object draped in a black tarp.
“For the paltry price of a single three-headed coin, you can peer beneath the veil and behold with your own unbelieving eyes the mangled and mutilated monstrosity that lurks beneath!” the carnival barker continued. “But I must warn you, it is not possible to truly understand what dwells underneath without seeing it first! I cannot guarantee that you will still retain your sanity or will to live after witnessing the proverbial Mountains of Madness, for this low creature is truly like no other and serves only as a grim testament to the cruel sadism of the Lord Above! Anyone plagued by even the faintest lingering doubt as to their spiritual fortitude should not dare to even contemplate what might lie before me! But, for those brave, noble few who are truly dauntless of heart and incorrigible of spirit, I am proud to share with you this rare, unfathomable, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness sublime –”
The carnival barker was interrupted by a man yanking the sheet off the object beside him, revealing it to be a mirror.
“Whelp, that was a hell of an Im14andthisisdeep post, eh?” Charlotte mused.
Genevieve and I, however, were far too stunned to be amused; not by the mirror, but by the man who had unveiled it.
“It’s him, Lottie. That’s Emrys,” Genevieve whispered.
We had only seen him briefly once before, more than two-and-a-half years ago, but he was far from what anyone would call forgettable. He was tall and gaunt, with literal blue blood flowing beneath translucent skin. His long, receding hair and regal beard were pitch black, and dark miasma wafted from his eyes, nose, and mouth. He was dressed in dark sable robes with three overlapping Ouroboros’s tattooed on his forehead, with a pair of ophidian pupils lying in the spaces between them.
What stood out the most to us were the six silver Ouroboros chains bound around his wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. These were the chains the Ophion Occult Order had made to limit the power of his physical avatar, and it seemed he had not yet found a way to free himself from them.
“Are you still here?” Emrys asked in exasperation, tossing the veil back at the carnival barker in disdain.
“…Possibly,” the strange man replied evasively. “But not definitively, for purely legalistic reasons.”
“I believe Mathom-meister was quite clear when he said that your rather pitiful chicanery wasn’t welcomed here,” Emrys reminded him.
“And who is he to judge chicanery from cutthroat, capitalistic competition? Should not the Flea Market be a free market?” the charlatan demanded. “And while we’re on the topic of commerce, I don’t suppose you have enough three-headed coins to pay for all the poor souls you have so discourteously exposed to my exhibit against their will? I’d hate to have to start shaking people down to get my due.”
“Hard to believe your own circus threw you out,” Emrys said with a sardonic eye roll as he tossed him a small medallion. “You get one coin. Take it and get out of my sight.”
The charlatan flipped the coin in the air thrice, presumably to confirm it actually had three heads. Satisfied with its impossible dimensions, he shoved it into his pocket.
“It will cover the trolley ride home, at least,” he acquiesced, stepping off his soap box and turning to face his looking glass. “A shame though you can’t see the genius in my little avant-garde performance piece here, Emmy. Even I know that the monster in the mirror is often the hardest to recognize.”
As the man reached to pick up his mirror, his reflection’s arms shot through the glass and grabbed him by the wrists, pulling him in. Emrys immediately tried to chase after him, but bounced off the glass as if there was nothing supernatural about it at all.
“Bastard!” he cursed under his breath, before turning towards us and giving us a small apologetic smile. “I’m sorry you had to see that rather pathetic display. Unfortunately, the few meeting places I know of that are relatively safe from any Ophionic incursion also attract their fair share of other annoying miscreants.”
“If it didn’t attract a little bit of everything, it wouldn’t be a Flea Market, would it?” I asked rhetorically. “Thank you, Emrys, for inviting us. I’ve never been anywhere like this before.”
“And thank you for accepting. Samantha, Genevieve, it’s a pleasure to see you again, and a relief that you have not fallen under the auspices of the Ophion Occult Order,” he said with a gentle bow. “Elam, I remember you as well. Valiant but not reckless, you remained atop Pendragon Hill during my battle with the Darlings until your mistress was well out of harm’s way, and then you got the hell out of dodge yourself. Samantha couldn’t hope for a better Familiar. And Charlotte, any Witch that Samantha deemed worthy to induct into her coven is obviously someone whose acquaintance I am pleased to make. Welcome, all of you, to Mathom-meister’s Flea Market!”
“So this is where you’ve been hiding out the past two years?” Genevieve asked.
“Oh no. Far too Cosmopolitan for my tastes,” Emrys replied. “No, this is just a friendly place to meet those I consider friends – or potential friends, at least. I’d offer to show you around, but I know it’s difficult for you to astral travel for prolonged periods. Come with me to Mathom-meister’s house where we can talk freely, and we’ll discuss the situation with the Order.”
I gave him a small, single nod in response, and gestured with my staff that he should lead the way. He responded by pointing upwards, then vanished into his shadow form. When we looked up, we saw him waving at us from a balcony atop the great silken chrysalis.
We exchanged hesitant glances with one another, but ultimately followed him into the strange structure, moving from the ground to the balcony in an instant by will alone.
“How would an incarnate being get up here if they couldn’t fly or teleport?” Charlotte asked as she peered over the balcony’s teetering edge.
As though answering a summons, a humanoid creature apparated beside her in a flash of dark vapours. The hunched-back entity stood over six-and-a-half feet tall, and was clad in golden-brown erudite robes. Its squid-like skin was of a similar colour, and its entire face was a single gaping orifice that held a wispy, glowing orb in the center of its skull which I immediately recognized as its soul. A pair of long, fanged tentacles lined with pores and tendrils hung down from its head like a long, forked beard, and the seven digits shared by its two hands all bore wicked-looking talons, as did its two-toed, digitigrade feet.
“Not fly or teleport? What sort of pedestrian house guests do you think I entertain here?” the being asked wryly, its voice seeming to come from nowhere in particular.
Charlotte instinctively backed away from the creature and into the protective fold of our coven, but Emrys was quick to hold up his hand to plead for calm.
“Please, there’s no need for alarm. This is our host, Mathom-meister. He’s the only reason any of this is here in the first place,” Emrys informed us. “A year or two ago a companion of his unfortunately became one of the Darling Twin’s victims, and when he heard of my vendetta with them, he tracked me down; which is no small feat, I assure you.”
“It is for us. My people are a race of Planeswalkers. Traversing the many worlds of Creation is second nature to us,” Mathom-meister explained.
“I’ve… I’ve heard of your people, I think,” I said, softly and unsurely. “A friend of mine had an encounter with an artifact that gave her a vision of a race of strange and powerful sorcerers slaying their own god. I take it you’re the ones who slayed this Scarab Titan as well? That’s, that’s…”
“Horrifying, yes. That’s the idea,” he nodded. “You have nothing to worry about, young Witch. My people have no special interest in your world. This is purely personal. My friend is dead, and I want his murderers brought to justice; a goal which Emrys and I happen to have in common.”
“Feel free to share this information with the Ophion Occult Order, Samantha,” Emrys said. “I’d very much like for the Darling Twins to know what’s hunting them. Mathom-meister, please excuse me while I take my guests inside. We do have pressing business to discuss and their time is limited.”
The squid-cyclopes bowed gracefully, and my coven and I quickly scurried after Emrys as he led us inside through a towering hallway and into a large chamber that had been appointed as a living space.
I had thought that Emrys would want to speak with us alone, which was why I was surprised to see a young woman sitting cross-legged on a spongey yet chitinous object that I will for the sake of my sanity call a bean bag chair. Like Emrys, she was pale and blue-blooded, her choppy hair as black as coal. She wore a black robe and heavy black eyeliner, but these could not conceal the fact that she too had thin wisps of miasma emanating from her eyes.
“Is that your… daughter?” Charlotte asked, as baffled by her presence as any of us. The woman smiled warmly at the question.
“In a way. I was dead, and Emrys gave me new life. Now a part of the Outer Primordial Darkness he represents lives in me too,” she said serenely.
Hovering above her left palm were three small bluish-green orbs, lazily going around in a circle. They were translucent and held something inside them that I couldn’t make out, but the orbs themselves appeared to be melting and solidifying by the woman’s will.
“You’re Petra, aren’t you?” I asked as I cautiously approached her. “Chamberlin had mentioned that Emrys had taken an acolyte. I’m Samantha, and this is Genevieve, Elam, and Charlotte.”
“I know. The whole reason we’re here is to speak with you,” she nodded.
“The Ophion Occult Order calls me a soul-flayer, and I’m sure you were all wondering exactly what that meant before you came here,” Emrys said, standing proudly behind his acolyte. “Well, this is it. The Darkness Beyond is now a part of her, and a part of her now lives within the Darkness Beyond. She is not unchanged from what she was before, but neither has what she was been lost.”
“My interpretation of the term ‘soul-flaying’ was the complete removal of a person’s consciousness from their astral and physical bodies to be subsumed by your Darkness,” I countered. “They told me that what you’ve done with Petra here is just the limit of your power while you’re bound in their chains. Are you telling me that if your chains were broken, you wouldn’t be able to do any worse than this?”
“On my physical avatar? No. So long as my astral form remains chained and bound with the World Serpent, I cannot cleave a conscious mind from its astral substrate,” Emrys assured me.
“But that is your ultimate goal, isn’t it? Breaking the chains the Ophion Occult Order put on you is just a stepping stone to breaking the ones the gods bound you with?” Genevieve asked. “You’ve allied yourself with a literal god slayer. Do you expect us to believe that his people’s abilities aren’t something you intend to put to your own ends?”
“I don’t have an ultimate goal so much as I have a fundamental principle of opposing tyranny,” he claimed. “When I was a mere man, thousands of years ago, I was a tyrant. I believed that might made right so unquestionably that when my might began to fail me, the only thing I could think to do was to try everything in my power to restore it. This quest eventually led to me becoming one with the Darkness Beyond, which gave me not only the might I coveted but the wisdom I didn’t know I needed. It gave me perspective. It made me stronger than any human alive at that point but still let me realize how insignificant I was. It was humbling, and enlightening, and filled me both with remorse over my past actions and an impetus to use my newfound gifts to rectify them. I tried to overthrow the gods themselves which, in hindsight, was overly ambitious. I not only failed but had my soul devoured by the World Serpent, where it still resides to this day.
“I am not eager to bring the wrath of the gods down upon me once again. No, for now, I will be content to end the tyranny of the Ophion Occult Order. This is the message I’d like you to relay to them. If the Grand Adderman agrees to unbind my chains and step down from his post, I will spare his life. If he declines, I want the rest of the Order to know that I will show mercy to any who sides with me over him. I am willing to allow the Order to exist so long as it agrees to become more decentralized, democratic, and accountable. They will have to forfeit certain artifacts and individuals in their possession over to me, chief among them the Darling Twins, but I am willing to negotiate. If they aren’t, then I will overthrow the Grand Adderman by whatever means necessary and see the Order scattered to the four winds. It is entirely up to them whether or not the conflict between us escalates to full-on war. Have I made myself clear, Samantha?”
“I think so,” I said as I pensively considered everything he had said. “Why should they trust you to keep your word once your chains are broken? For that matter, why should we?”
He took a moment to consider his response, eyeing me over as though he was trying to divine something that would win over my trust.
“Samantha, you made a pact with Persephone to get your Spirit Familiar there; one where she swore by the River Styx. Is that correct?” he asked.
“It is,” I nodded.
“And in the years since, has Persephone ever broken that pact she swore to?” he asked.
“No, she hasn’t,” I replied.
“I may not be an Old God, but so long as my astral form remains bound by their chains, they have power over me,” he said. “Samantha Sumner, Hedge Witch of Harrowick Woods, I swear on the River Styx that I have spoken no lies to you today. I swear by the River Styx that I will abide by any Covenant that I and the Ophion Occult Order agree to in good faith and fair dealing that they do not break first. I swear by the River Styx that when my chains are broken, I will give you no cause to fear me or regret your trust in me.”
I gave a questioning glance to Genevieve, and then Elam, both of whom nodded in the affirmative.
“All right. An oath sworn on the River Styx is good enough for me. I’ll deliver your terms to Seneca Chamberlin,” I agreed. “I’m very grateful for the trust and respect you’ve shown for me and my coven, Emrys, though I can’t say I quite understand it. Out of all the guests that were there on the Hallow’s Eve you were summoned, why did Evie and I stand out to you?”
“The Ophion Occult Order deemed you worthy of inclusion in their cult, an offer you rejected on principle. You cheated Persephone, but you did it not to gain immortality for yourself but to save your friend from hell. You came here, thinking I could very well tear your souls asunder, but did so because you believed it was your duty to prevent needless suffering,” Emrys answered. “You are extraordinary in your craft, courage, and conscience, the latter of which especially stood out among the degenerates at that party. I do apologize if I frightened you at that event. I was a bit… irritable, given the circumstances. I’m glad we were able to meet again under more pleasant conditions.”
“So am I, Emrys,” I nodded. “I’m not sure exactly what this means or how relevant it is, but Seneca wanted me to tell you that he’s able to offer you the Dream Demon Red Ruck as a sacrifice.”
“Pffft. Tell him it’s hardly a sacrifice if I’m getting rid of a boogie man for him,” he scoffed. “In fact, now that you mention it, Ruck’s one egregore that might be of more use to me alive.”
I wanted to ask him what he meant by that, but we were suddenly interrupted by the rapid pounding of a gong somewhere down below. It seemed to be an alarm of some kind, as we could hear the panicked shouting and frantic racing of people either battening down or forsaking the Flea Market altogether.
Mathom-meister apparated into the middle of the room, his facial tentacles reflexively raised in a defensive position.
“Were you outside the market?” he demanded of us.
“The portal we came through deposited us a few miles outside of the market, yes,” I admitted.
“Damn,” Emrys cursed softly, though he sounded more frustrated than angry. “Meister, it’s not their fault. I knew they weren’t experienced Planeswalkers, I could have – ”
“It doesn’t matter!” Mathom-meister interjected. “They need to leave, now!”
“Why, what’s going on?” Genevieve demanded.
“The scarabs are swarming,” Petra explained. “Don’t feel bad; it happens often enough that they’re prepared for it.”
I wanted to press for more details, but I could hear the humming of a vast winged swarm steadily encroaching upon us.
“Don’t worry. Once you leave the swarm will disperse… eventually,” Emrys told us. “We’ve said all that need be said for now. Return home, and I’ll reach out to you again shortly, Samantha.”
Again, I wanted to object, but the swarm outside was growing louder and louder, and it occurred to me that we might not be completely safe from a biblical swarm of insects that could not only sense but evidently sought out souls.
This occurred to Charlotte as well, as she was the first of us to vanish and awaken back in her body. We could all feel the weight of her reembodied soul tugging on us to return with her. Genevieve immediately grabbed hold of my right hand and Elam my left, both of them refusing to leave before I did.
I spared one final glance at Emrys, lamenting that we couldn’t have had more time.
“I’ll relay everything you said to the Order. I’ll make sure they know you’re willing to negotiate a truce,” I vowed.
He gave me a gracious nod, and just as we heard the swarm start to pelt the exterior of the market, I forced my physical eyes open and was back in my body, still safely under a willow tree in my cemetery.
I immediately looked beside me to Genevieve, and saw that she was awake as well, and then around me for Elam, who seemed to be suffering a bit of spectral whiplash from being pulled back with me so suddenly, but was otherwise all right. Sighing with relief, I turned lastly to Charlotte, and saw that she was looking down at the mediation circle in dreaded horror.
Following her gaze, I saw that the Undying Rose was gone – spent, perhaps, in exchange for our passage – and in its place was the inert, and hopefully dead, body of one of the shimmering scarabs.

I had automatic payments on and it went through and I just saw today it got reversed/ does this mean I’m gonna be late on my payment ?

Hi all, as the discussion on real estate high prices goes on I wanted to detail how homes are taxed in Switzerland (where I live).
As you probably know Switzerland has the 2nd highest income pro capita in the world and is a small country with not much usable land for buildings. This would call for super-high real estate prices, in reality this is not so, even in the hot area like zürich 700 a$ rent a week will get you a very nice 2 br flat close to everything (and bus / train service in CH is second to none).
This has to to do with a lot of measures introduced to curb speculation.
First instead of the flat 15% flat CGT tax, we have a degressive one - if you sell after 1 year is 100%, after 2 years 95% and so on (it varies around Switzerland regions). But the gist of it - you cannot buy for flipping as all your gains will be wiped out.
Second your home and any holiday home generates a "self-income" - an amount of income, more or less the same value as renting the property, which is added to you real income (even if you live in it). This way the gearing from deducting mortgage interests get nullified by the "self-income". Note that if you rent out the property this self-income falls out (as you will have to pay taxes on the renting income anyway). This is made to discourage leaving flats empty.
Third buying is limited to CH national or residents, with a special category for overseas investors (basically as a foreigner you can buy a 2M$ Holiday Chalet in Davos but not a 600K residential flat in Basel). There is a bit of difference there as in Australia absentee owners are heavily penalized, while in CH once you buy it (even if you leave CH after a few years) there is no land tax surcharge at all. Commecial Property has no "no-foreign" rule.
The result of this is basically a more or less "flat" increase in real estate value. It did appreciate in real terms a bit over the years - real estate index for Australia went from 100 to 183 (+83%) in the last 10 years, the swiss one from 150 to 190 (+26%). The SMI (Swiss Exchange index) went up 34% in the same time, making it a better investment than real estate.
Maybe Australia should do the same - introducing progressive CGT over 10 years, and introducing self-rent for every property which is not the principal residence.

Hi guys, I am recommending everyone to a gifted hacker, reliable and trusted. She is competent, and provides excellent services. She is very affordable and charges way less,
Contact her legitimatehacker441 AT GMAIL DOT COM
Text +1 (240) 621-0422
Telegram +1 (240) 621-0422
Whatsapp +1 (602) 730-5295
Many services she can render include: Social Media Hack( Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, Viber etc.), GPS Location Tracking, Recovering of lost bitcoin/ bitcoin account, Incoming calls Restriction, Intercepting and Retrieving Instant Messages, Grade Hacking, Credit Score Increase, USSD Control Commands, WhatsApp Spy, Viber Spy, Facebook/Messenger Spy, Skype Spy, Hacking into Databases of all kinds, Calendar Monitoring, Internet Usage Monitoring, Remotely Accessing SMS, Game Hacking and Cracking, Key Logging, Remote Email Spying, and more. Also Colleges/University upgrades, mobile phone hack and provider, Clearing criminal record, clear your bank debt and mortgage, retrieve deleted files, private investigator, crypto currency wallet hijack, erase leaked sex tape of all kinds. What made me had trust in her was her offer of total Refund of any displeasing services but i didn't have to use that Choice.
Contact her legitimatehacker441 AT GMAIL DOT COM
Text +1 (240) 621-0422
Telegram +1 (240) 621-0422
Whatsapp +1 (602) 730-5295

Hello all, and happy Pride month!
This year we will be rerunning our Liberation Dionysia!
The Liberation Dionysia is a time to honor deities that are seen as patrons of Queer people (or as Queer themselves), the gains made by the Queer Liberation movement, and the fight that continues today. Here is last year's announcement, gallery, & winners.
Share stories of Queer deities, your art and poetry of them, or depicting how they have supported you. The ritual category is more open, for rituals we may not have but may be interested in using. Please one submissions per category per person, except for rituals, which are unlimited.
Only rule is, anything submitted to prior Dionysias (Lesser, Greater, Autumnal, or Liberation) is ineligible. Show us something new!
The Five Categories:

• Art: Can be physical or digital!
• Poetry: Could be standard poetry, or songs, or hymns and prayers! (If you sing your song, it will be considered Performance!)
• Myth: A myth, retold or new. Can be in any format (play or prose).
• Performance: Dance, drag, or song!
• Ritual: This category will not be voted upon due to its personal nature - this is to submit wedding ceremonies, recognition/dedication/baptism ceremonies, or even just Queer rituals or spells you may have. We'd also love to see your Queer altars! As this isn't voted upon, there can be unlimited submissions by the same individual.

Please email all submissions to [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])
The deadline for submissions is June 30th, Anywhere on Earth!
In addition to the contest, we will also be doing movie nights on our discord, AMAs, & a symposium or a workshop or two! More details to follow! If you are near Massachusetts, there will be a group marching in North Shore Pride on June 24th (More info here!)
~~~ Our Partners: ~~~
Cincinnati Friends of Dionysus (Reach out to u/Fabianzzz if curious for more info!)
Temple of Dionysus
Hellenic Herald
~~~ FAQ ~~~

• What is a Dionysia?
  • A Dionysia is a Dionysian festival where art (usually literary and dramatic, though increasingly not so) is created. Today, there is the Dionysia Ta Astika, in the Spring, and the Rural Dionysia, in the Fall, both on Tumblr.
• What if I’m not Queer?
  • No worries! Simply standing with us is standing up for us. But, if you have penned a wedding ritual, or even a renaming ceremony or a consecration for yourself after coming to Paganism, that has a value to us.
• How Queer do the submissions need to be?
  • There are no hard limits! The Queerer the better, but if you have something you think fits, please submit!
• What if I’m not a Dionysian, or even a Hellenist?
  • Though this is taking a leaf from the branch of Dionysian Hellenic tradition, it is open to all. If you have a prayer to Hindu deities for tolerance, a story of Queer Celtic deities or a non-religious ritual for self love after transition, by all means share!

This was my story i was able to get someone who helped me get some info and access to call logs and even phone conversations, whatsapp, facebook, text messages, that I needed for proof of his secretive affair. The first time we spoke, we had a very long phone consultation in which he gave me all my options that he could think of to resolve my case, and he even recommended I tried other options before requesting for his services. I decided to hire him and I am glad I did. They are also expert with recover of scam funds and investment funds
Many services he can render include: Social Media Hack( Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, Viber etc.), GPS Location Tracking, Recovering of lost bitcoin/ bitcoin account, Incoming calls Restriction, Intercepting and Retrieving Instant Messages, Grade Hacking, Credit Score Increase, USSD Control Commands, WhatsApp Spy, Viber Spy, Facebook/Messenger Spy, Skype Spy, Hacking into Databases of all kinds, Calendar Monitoring, Internet Usage Monitoring, Remotely Accessing SMS, Game Hacking and Cracking, Key Logging, Remote Email Spying, and more. Also Colleges/University upgrades, mobile phone hack and provider, Clearing criminal record, clear your bank debt and mortgage, retrieve deleted files, private investigator, crypto currency wallet hijack, erase leaked sex tape of all kinds. To all loyal partners out there if you have a dishonest or suspicious partner don't hesitate to contact.
Contact him darkdantehackingagency AT GMAIL DOT COM

I found this amazing male hacker. he helped me cleared my doubts and was extremely helpful so if you are in need of a hacker that is knowledgeable, reliable, efficient and actually knows what his doing, i'll advice you contact this hacker, he listens and was very understanding. His skills are extraordinary, he also provided a friend of mine with phone monitoring hack which helped her get through her divorce. They are also expert with recover of scam funds and investment funds.
Many services he can render include: Social Media Hack( Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, Viber etc.), GPS Location Tracking, Recovering of lost bitcoin/ bitcoin account, Incoming calls Restriction, Intercepting and Retrieving Instant Messages, Grade Hacking, Credit Score Increase, USSD Control Commands, WhatsApp Spy, Viber Spy, Facebook/Messenger Spy, Skype Spy, Hacking into Databases of all kinds, Calendar Monitoring, Internet Usage Monitoring, Remotely Accessing SMS, Game Hacking and Cracking, Key Logging, Remote Email Spying, and more. Also Colleges/University upgrades, mobile phone hack and provider, Clearing criminal record, clear your bank debt and mortgage, retrieve deleted files, private investigator, crypto currency wallet hijack, erase leaked sex tape of all kinds. He also sell email extractor, bulk google voice, turbo mailer, bulk emails and any hacking app. What made me had trust in him was his offer of total Refund of any displeasing services but i didn't have to use that Choice.
Contact him darkdantehackingagency AT GMAIL DOT COM

If you know the name Trumpeto Woodwynd please don’t read…
Now that the party is gone, I’m In a party of 4-6 (depends on peoples availability) plus our DM. We just finished mines of phandelver and are all lvl 6. I asked if I could try DM a one shot with the same group (my character has to leave the group for a session anyways). He said yes. So this will be my first time DM.
Session will start at the mines because that’s where we left off, on the journey back the party will come across a strange tavern in the woods called the sleepy Tavern which sells sleepy ale which gives you a good night sleep, here’s hoping they drink it. Here they meet the original DMs character who joins the party. They Go to bed, wake up with a temporary +2 skill points.
What they don’t know is it’s not real, it’s a dream/nightmare that the Druid is having (Also a safety net for me incase I kill some of them) .They go outside and see the trees are dying, dead animals laying about, mostly squirrels and rabbits, then on their journey they will come across a strange entrance or should an earthquake erupt and create a crevasse that they fall into? Dex save for landing? Anyways they enter an old dungeon filled with monsters and puzzles to get through.
Every time the Druid gets hurt everyone will make a con save with disadvantage except the Druid who gets advantage, if they beat the Druid score, off to another room irl and say, you wake up in the sleepy tavern to Druid grunting or shaking or a kick or something like that, if they try to wake the Druid, he can’t be woke.
I’ve 4 puzzles planned and 4 battles, if the party starts to go down or time is running out I’ll cut it short and Druid will hear in his head “run”, he’ll get chased down a hall to an alter with a floating wooden ring which I’m assuming he’ll attempt to grab, he’ll see the ring dodge his hand and go right onto his finger and grow roots into his knuckle, everything fades black, enter scene Druid2 with a dim light around him who tells him what the ring is, talks about him being the chosen one, promised one, to save all naturekind.
While talking to Druid2 he will be making con saves increasingly more difficult deciding when he wakes during the conversation, kind of like how you don’t remember much of dreams when you wake up. But he wakes up with the ring still on his finger.
Any suggestions you have about the mission would be awesome, haven’t really prepared much, plan to blue script most of it so far because it’ll probably go off the rails knowing the party.
As for the item I’m thinking a ring of shape shifting, 3 charges, renews at sunrise. Has carvings of a salmon, a pigeon, and a bunny. Can turn into any CR0 animal, but I feel this is too weak for late game, I want it to be a ring that will grow with him hence the roots growing into his knuckle, feed off his energy. Renews after long rest maybe? And would it make sense after lvl 10 CR0.5, lvl 15 CR1, lvl 20 CR2?
Also Druids background is nature scientist man, that’s it…

I am recommending everyone to a very trusted, reliable and gifted hacker. She is competent, and provides excellent services. She is very affordable and charges way less,
Contact her legitimatehacker441 AT GMAIL DOT COM
Text +1 (240) 621-0422
Telegram +1 (240) 621-0422
Whatsapp +1 (602) 730-5295
Many services she can render include: Social Media Hack( Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, Viber etc.), GPS Location Tracking, Recovering of lost bitcoin/ bitcoin account, Incoming calls Restriction, Intercepting and Retrieving Instant Messages, Grade Hacking, Credit Score Increase, USSD Control Commands, WhatsApp Spy, Viber Spy, Facebook/Messenger Spy, Skype Spy, Hacking into Databases of all kinds, Calendar Monitoring, Internet Usage Monitoring, Remotely Accessing SMS, Game Hacking and Cracking, Key Logging, Remote Email Spying, and more. Also Colleges/University upgrades, mobile phone hack and provider, Clearing criminal record, clear your bank debt and mortgage, retrieve deleted files, private investigator, crypto currency wallet hijack, erase leaked sex tape of all kinds. What made me had trust in her was her offer of total Refund of any displeasing services but i didn't have to use that Choice.
Contact her legitimatehacker441 AT GMAIL DOT COM
Text +1 (240) 621-0422
Telegram +1 (240) 621-0422
Whatsapp +1 (602) 730-5295

Hi there , are you in need of a highly skilled and experienced system hacker? He helped me retrieve my deleted files, text messages and call logs. He can as well control devices remotely and lots more. What got me most was his offer of a total refund within 24 hours of any unsatisfactory services but i didn’t have to use that option because He got the job done! He is very affordable and charges way less, contact
darkdantehackingagency AT GMAIL DOT COM
Many services she can render include: Social Media Hack( Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, Viber etc.), GPS Location Tracking, Recovering of lost bitcoin/ bitcoin account, Incoming calls Restriction, Intercepting and Retrieving Instant Messages, Grade Hacking, Credit Score Increase, USSD Control Commands, WhatsApp Spy, Viber Spy, Facebook/Messenger Spy, Skype Spy, Hacking into Databases of all kinds, Calendar Monitoring, Internet Usage Monitoring, Remotely Accessing SMS, Game Hacking and Cracking, Key Logging, Remote Email Spying, and more. Also Colleges/University upgrades, mobile phone hack and provider, Clearing criminal record, clear your bank debt and mortgage, retrieve deleted files, private investigator, crypto currency wallet hijack, erase leaked sex tape of all kinds. What made me had trust in her was her offer of total Refund of any displeasing services but i didn't have to use that Choice.

I found this amazing male hacker. he helped me cleared my doubts and was extremely helpful so if you are in need of a hacker that is knowledgeable, reliable, efficient and actually knows what his doing, i'll advice you contact this hacker, he listens and was very understanding. His skills are extraordinary, he also provided a friend of mine with phone monitoring hack which helped her get through her divorce. They are also expert with recover of scam funds and investment funds.
Many services he can render include: Social Media Hack( Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, Viber etc.), GPS Location Tracking, Recovering of lost bitcoin/ bitcoin account, Incoming calls Restriction, Intercepting and Retrieving Instant Messages, Grade Hacking, Credit Score Increase, USSD Control Commands, WhatsApp Spy, Viber Spy, Facebook/Messenger Spy, Skype Spy, Hacking into Databases of all kinds, Calendar Monitoring, Internet Usage Monitoring, Remotely Accessing SMS, Game Hacking and Cracking, Key Logging, Remote Email Spying, and more. Also Colleges/University upgrades, mobile phone hack and provider, Clearing criminal record, clear your bank debt and mortgage, retrieve deleted files, private investigator, crypto currency wallet hijack, erase leaked sex tape of all kinds. He also sell email extractor, bulk google voice, turbo mailer, bulk emails and any hacking app. What made me had trust in him was his offer of total Refund of any displeasing services but i didn't have to use that Choice.
Contact him darkdantehackingagency AT GMAIL DOT COM

This was my story i was able to get someone who helped me get some info and access to call logs and even phone conversations, whatsapp, facebook, text messages, that I needed for proof of his secretive affair. The first time we spoke, we had a very long phone consultation in which he gave me all my options that he could think of to resolve my case, and he even recommended I tried other options before requesting for his services. I decided to hire him and I am glad I did. They are also expert with recover of scam funds and investment funds
Many services he can render include: Social Media Hack( Snapchat, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook/Messenger, Twitter, Viber etc.), GPS Location Tracking, Recovering of lost bitcoin/ bitcoin account, Incoming calls Restriction, Intercepting and Retrieving Instant Messages, Grade Hacking, Credit Score Increase, USSD Control Commands, WhatsApp Spy, Viber Spy, Facebook/Messenger Spy, Skype Spy, Hacking into Databases of all kinds, Calendar Monitoring, Internet Usage Monitoring, Remotely Accessing SMS, Game Hacking and Cracking, Key Logging, Remote Email Spying, and more. Also Colleges/University upgrades, mobile phone hack and provider, Clearing criminal record, clear your bank debt and mortgage, retrieve deleted files, private investigator, crypto currency wallet hijack, erase leaked sex tape of all kinds. To all loyal partners out there if you have a dishonest or suspicious partner don't hesitate to contact.
Contact him darkdantehackingagency AT GMAIL DOT COM