At the risk of having the last word ... well it is my birthday this week.

I had found when I started using the new message system and a friend was online, that I could not tell they were responding and, when they did reply, the message didn't automatically appear without refreshing the screen. Today both those were obvious, meaning the system has the functionality of other real time messaging systems I have enjoyed using (plus of course off line messaging is improved too.)

Great job then, this now, for me, is a significant improvement over the old BBs/email system on Lush1.

And thanks, I have now worked out how to prevent send on Enter, so SBB need not reply to that part on my last email to him.

Also WW, I do think that on collaborative writing that the functionality of google docs (I am a recent covert to this, God knows why, despite Tam telling me ages ago, I have stuck to Lush email to share collaborative drafts of stories) is so good that that is the best place to preserve conversations and text on story ideas. It is also way easier for version control than cutting and pasting from Lush email to Word documents and having two people writing at the same time.

Thanks to you all for your birthday wishes on Annie and Annie's birthday. So cool that this day is shared and I am sure your son is perfectly safe in our hands, JustPassingThrough. Welcome to the thirties, Annie, at 33, I am a full ten percent older... and I think life's next big events have caught up with me.

Love and thanks to you all. 😘

Viscous

Maybe, maybe, maybe. I have started, but need to get more done between distractions. Love the theme. Happy Birthday Annie. 🎂

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Morning Rumpies

Life's taken a big bite out of lil Kimmi's booty. Fortunately, I have plenty of booty to spare 😳

Mom's become unrecognizable in physical appearance. No words. And now Dad's having trouble. Very tough months ahead and my imaginary friends have ghosted me, so no scribbles to distract me.

I'll take a hot chocolate to go and wish you all a great week! Love y'all ❤️

Oh Kimmi, hugs my love. Been there with grandparents and it is so hard. You have my total love and support.

Slapping some dollars on the bar (Australian of course.) Have a drink on the two Annies, me and the Naughty One.

One thing I miss about the old Lush is the birthday notes. For those who this has passed by, it is Happy Birthday this 23rd for your two favourite Annies. She's younger, I have the better arse, no that isn't right, no one has a better arse than the naughty one. Thirty-three for me, and oh my God, dinner out was divine.

I am also trying to get a competition story done. A certain young man seems determined to distract me. He discovered balloons this week and it is love at first sight. Take care, summer is fading and autumn is upon us.

Morning all, and a Happy Australia Day to you.

I will take a glass of bubbles, and no I don't mean sparkling water.

Congrats to all those Rump Regulars who entered the competition, especially to those who were in the top ten and honourable mention list for the first time.

My thanks to the many of you who read and enjoyed my competition story. I am thrilled with how it has been received; I might have set some sort of record for alliteration 😇

Well done to all who entered this competition, fabulous stories as always outside the top ten. Congratulations to those who also made the top ten, especially those for whom this is their first time.

Thanks to all who organized, judged, read and commented.

Huge congratulations to Saucy, Jake and Violet for topping me (whoops that doesn't sound right,) three simply excellent stories on the podium. Especially Violet, knowing how close to the wire this went for you.

Morning all, TGIF.

Just popping in to grab a jam doughnut or do I have to call it a jelly donut around these parts. And I will take a coffee either takeaway or takeout depending on the answer to my doughnut question.

Those interested in either me speaking proper, or me mangling the language could read my competition story Sarah's Secret Santa: The Minnesota Minx and note that when spoken by someone from the North it is ass but down under speakers say arse. Fortunately SBB is an understanding moderator.

Having a wet and humid summer, "only" 25 degrees C expected in Sydney for the weekend. Oh and I learnt that snow blowers (stop that tittering,) are an essential household item for some who visit this fine establishment.

Quote by MissPixel

Assorted bipeds and those that are passing.

It's been some time since I ventured out of Stall Three to discuss security obligations and boundaries with Terance. I have to say the place is even more downtrodden than I remember. Oh well, nothing several hours of paw cleaning won't cure.

To the point of my risking the fleas, fungi, and flatulence: the human I allow to feed and pamper me is ticking over 3.885 years tomorrow. As I'm sure you know, she's not the most engaging or forthcoming sort -- truth told, she actually does hide behind curtains when available -- so gave no notice here of this early year bump in her timeline. Which is fine for her, but now I'll have to put up with her mopping about all day, eating dill pickles, drinking brown beer, and forgetting my salmon treats. That, obviously, will never do. I just mean the last part, of course. The other stuff is pretty day to day normal.

So, in the name of my personal Jones, I'm here to ask any of the semi-coherents draped about the place to wish her a happy something or other. Tell her she'd be at her sexual prime, if she had one. Tell her the gray hair I pointed out at her temple is sexy, really it is. Tell her you'll buy her whatever she's drinking and pay her back next week. Whatever. She's pretty gullible.

That's it, then. Back to the Stall and my decom.

My dear MissPixel,

When I enter 3.885 into the online cat/human age converter (I know, I know, who knew,) I don't get a whole number, rather 36.26. But your a perspicacious pussy (alliteration's awesome, mostly MissPixel - I so shall be returning to this subject soon magnificent moggie) so I defer to your wisdom and wish your provider of salmon treats a happy birthday. And cat claws shall be sheathed when you find out who's the prettiest pussy in your residence.

Now returning to alliteration MissPixel, you can never have enough; I refer you to my competition story Sara's Secret Santa: the Minnesota Minx Or so I thought:

Terance -- almost forgot! Your Annie Arachnid blow-up doll finally arrived. Stop by anytime, you leggy perv.

Annie Arachnid!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A blow-up doll; that's is malfeasance, moggie. On behalf of all Rump regular, awesome Annies; that's the Naughty one and me in case you were wondering (and obviously by contrast I must be the good one,) a name change is demanded.

Quote by Venus18

Bloody Hot

So true, a scorcher today

Happy New Year to you all.

Of late, I have been a little tardy (wonder why) and the first of the first is almost done and dusted.

I may have a competition story this time around, it is quite close, and of course being a down under seasonal Christmas story it is set is summer and features bikinis, Wicked Weasel to be precise, a well known, slightly risqué, Australian brand.

Take care, a beer would be a good way to end the day, it has been hot and humid down under of late.

Merry Christmas to you all, a hotter than expected day here so we abandoned the Omicron advice to eat outside for the sake of the little ones.

A lovely family lunch and I am now relaxing (well almost sleeping,) contemplating how to write the second half my competition story; you know me I cant resist writing a seasonal Christmas story set in the summer. I didn't quite manage to get one finished for the last competition so my consecutive streak of 17 came to an end, but this time I am more hopeful I can find the time to get 3500 words done.

Take care, best wishes to you and your families and friends.

Morning all, been a little too distracted (wonder why,) to drop into bars of late. Congratulations to the regulars and irregulars here on their competition results.

Lol, the first time in three years I haven't entered a competition (my consecutive streak is over at 18.) Suffering withdrawal symptoms, the comps not the lack of alcohol, well, on second thoughts, that too.

So thrilled for you Kimmi, first EP and podium is a testament to your writing craft.

I will take a coffee as it is not yet 10am where I am and way to early for anything else.

Congratulations to Tam, WW and Kimmi (and especially you, Kimmi, on your first well deserved podium.)

And the rest of the top ten, ( a special call out to LilCoffeeluvr111 for what I thought was a stunningly good introduction to her writing) and the many fabulous stories outside the top ten.

First time in three years I have not entered a competition, missed it actually. I so want to find the time, next time.

Echuca, Victoria.

My friend, 

Quote by simplyjohn

Quote by NicolasBelvoir

If you look up your follows, under your profile, you will see that it now says:

"Following allows you to see when other users upload new photos." 

So this is just more confirmation of what Susie and other Lush authors are saying. Lush is now mainly a site for chatting and swapping porn pics. With some stories addedFo on.

That is not new as you imply. That has been the description from day one.

Last night I was on Lush and a messaged flashed across my screen and the vanished with no record on my notifications; Verity had published a story. Oh joy, and yet that was short-lived, for Luca and Susie had published without a notification. 

I love Lush, want to be able to advocate for it, but please give me something to work with. The timetable for when these developments will happen would help enormously. The goodwill is huge, please don't squander it, John. 

Annie

Makes note to self ... total focus on Dasiy's nips. 

I am like Meg, it can be done but so far there is always a little contact down under which pushes me over the top. 

Just like you, Annie, smart, sexy and intelligent ... and blessed with an adorable derrière. Oh and you write like a goddess too.   

Evening all, another weekend done and dusted. Spring has well and truly sprung, and you know who is contemplating sleeping a little more of an evening (I hope.) All is good. 

Distractions Jake is this distracting enough Well this is my excuse for not making much progress on a competition story. 

Catch you all soon,  

Quote by Jen

Hey gang. Some new stuff rolled out today. The word count and white space issues have hopefully been fixed and if you look at any of your stories, there is a section at the bottom with some additional ratings info.

Series order should also be fixed.

Let me know if there are any issues thanks.

Ps. Re the ratings, they're different from before because they're not manipulated at the moment to disregard outliers every 20 votes. We can look at how we want scores/popular story picks etc to be shown once we get more into the design element.

Oh now that was interesting, Jen, my ratings I think have changed a little from original Lush and indeed the occasional 1 has emerged. I did like getting a little more detail on ratings. The one thing (she says immodestly) that I think could be added is that the competition winning stories should be flagged as such so a new reader sees that instantly. 

Just on the word count, being a notorious use every word allowed kind of writer, some of the word counts have changed. My Punctuation Matters: The Comma micro which was submitted and approved at 100 words, now says it is 103 words. And the Jim Steinman Didn’t Have a Yogurt Kink micro now say an eyewatering 108 words. 

Quote by Lilly

Boom, got our fort built now we can hide in the fort with our raisin launchers. Flick! Now all we need is Jeff to aim at!

Crouching behind the pram and launching a volley of raisins  

FLICK FLICK FLICK 

"Surely your supposed to set a better example than that, mama."

FLICK FLICK FLICK

"You cant speak yet"

I'll take a morning coffee. 

Flick ... 

Boom 💥

Direct hit ... 

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

At least raisin-flicking season seems over, I guess. I guess it comes with Fall, eh?

Quote by AngelWorthy

 The blossom tree out the front has already lost all the blossoms. Sad really, but was nice to see the blossoms for about 3 weeks. 😇

I think this means that raisin-flicking season isn't over down under  ... and yes we too have lost our blossoms, but the azaleas still look gorgeous. And even more momentously it seems I can do double quotes, far easier in Lush Mark 2.

Take care all, I am off to bed. 

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Sorry to hear, Kat! Big hug! I'm in the same boat with my son since his fiance left. This parenting thing's not for pussies, is it? Hope things settle down soon.

Spring in the air, flowers are blooming, and summer is around the corner. Now we just have to get out of lockdown and a young man needs to learn that nights are for sleeping. I will have a coffee, and then another and another to keep me awake.

Thanks James for the story list, I am so missing the notifications. Pass the raisins I feel like some flicking fun. Be good and if you cant be good, be careful.  

Thanks 😋 my first posting was an epic fail, I am now thinking it must of had a capitalized .PNG. Done it properly now, Boom 👌

🎂🎁 Happy Birthday, hope you had a great day, Rachel. 🎁 🎂

Quote by StarBelliedBoy

Quote by JamesLlewellyn                           

Which is why we need an INSTRUCTION MANUAL!!!!!!

Instead, we're all thrashing around, trying to figure out stuff that should be explained.

Does anyone know how to offer a friend invitation? One of my friends sent me an email (not though here) saying I blocked her. I checked, and she's no longer listed among my friends, and when I try to PM her, I'm told to cease and desist, that she's blocked me!

Anyone have any ideas?

I have no more information than you, but when faced with new and unfamiliar technology I start compulsively pressing all the buttons to see what they do. This is how I was able to enter IT with no directly relevant qualifications, and also why I should never be allowed near a nuclear reactor.

AngelWorthy's advice is very sound, by the way. There have been issues with blocking not working, so possibly it's gone the other way for you?

This explains a lot SBB, no wonder we keep you away from the big smoke. Mind you the chances of finding a nuclear reactor down under are close to zero, unless of course that is a euphemism. 

Now I will have a second glass of champagne, and sit quietly in the corner, wondering if you know who is going to beat his all time record and sleep for more than two hours. 

Charge my tab to Jake, well charge everything to Jake; by the way, his competition stories are fabulous but do read Daniella and A Perfect Place to Hyde (from a safe distance you can ask if it is autobiographical. ) Giggles, another glass of champers this Tuesday evening. 

Quote by Jen

Hiya, it's still buggy I'm afraid, but I've done some testing and it seems to be if you've saved something as a draft first. It then doesn't seem to take things out of draft and put them into the queue.

I've tried it with two stories. The first I just submitted. You can see on your stories list that it awaiting moderation - first screenshot.

The second, I saved as a draft, then tried to edit and submit. It's still in my unpublished list - second screenshot.

If you've tried to submit something and it's still in your unpublished list, maybe try submitting it as new and see if that works.

I do appreciate it's frustrating, but the IT guys have been working flat out to try and sort issues.

I found on the Blue site that this was what happened to me. I saved and edited a poem and then submitted it from my unpublished list and got a message that it had been successfully submitted. When it wasn't published days later, I asked and it wasn't in the awaiting moderation queue. 

Resubmitted a few times from the unpublished queue and talked the mod through what I was doing, but without success. 

But when I deleted the first version and submitted it as new rather than saving it as unpublished, it immediately turned up in the queue. Overall the submission form and process are clear and easy to use, should work well when this bug is fixed. 

Quote by Jaymal

Quote by techgoddess

Congrats to Jake, Jeff, and Jen for the podium wins on the last comp! Cheers!!

Congrats to the rest of the top ten as well. I'm delighted to see my story placed in the top ten. I appreciate all of the peeps who read my story. 

Jake can buy my drink, (Salute, my friend). But I'm buying drinks for all those who entered and didn't get a nod. Putting yourself out there by writing stories for a competition takes a lot of courage. And when I say put all those drinks on my tab...as usual, I mean on James' tab (thanks...you da bear!).

Life has been a rollercoaster lately. I have been unable to write a damn thing. But Nikki lilcoffeeluvr111  nudged me right out of my funk.  I submitted a microfiction piece today and I am working on editing more of Amazing Grace. I hope to be able to submit the next part before I head back up north for my grandson's bday party. After my trip, I should be around more. Unless things continue to spiral for my youngest. A mama's work is never done!

Feels like a good time for a glass of Moscato!

So both you and James have me footing the bill for tonight's party? Tell me - how high a tab am I allowed to run up in here??? I know what a bunch of lushes Lushies are. 

Thanks for the congrats, Kat, AND for emptying my virtual wallet. What's your poison then?  

Yes since you are shouting, Jake, I will break my 9 month alcohol drought, for a glass of your finest champagne. 

I see there was an earlier discussion on here about sleeping (or the lack of.) Seems that if you want to sleep you shouldn't have a baby. Don't mind me I will just sip my champers and fall asleep until closing time. And maybe work out how to change my signature block so my story links work on Lush2.

So well done, congratulations to Jaymal, Ensorceled and Jen and the others in the Top 10. A shout out to Henke for his first Top 10 for a brilliantly conceived and executed story. And to Violet and the other Annie for their tentacles (makes memo to self; must include more tentacles.) Such a great competition with so much excellent writing outside the top ten. Thanks to all those who read commented organised and judged this. Looking forward to the MEGA competition. 

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

Folks, listen up! I have an important announcement!

Curious Annie has just had a baby boy! That's one reason she has been missing from LushLand for so long: she's been pregnant and busy with more important things.

So, in honour (note the spelling, Jake) of Annie and son, I'm giving everyone a Dixie cup of champers, on the house. And if you want more, then the usual Rumps' Special applies - One drink for the price of two! Such a deal!

Thanks, James, for letting everyone know and I am sure you will all understand if I seem to just flit in and out of Lush. And apologies in advance for the stories I am struggling to find the time to read, I’ve being saying for the last fortnight, must start with reading Susie, Jake, Tam and Curvy’s latest and I haven’t managed them or any others.

While pregnancy has ended 😇 it wasn’t quite the way I expected. An emergency Caesarean, earlier in the week. He got stuck, which given he emerged at over 4 kilos may not be altogether surprising I suppose. Home from hospital this weekend, and all is good with baby, though mamma is sore and very tired; though in more positive news the birth and blood transfusion gave me an idea for a horror story 😊

Let me shout you all another drink to toast the new-born. Real champagne too. I was expecting that after 9 months off the booze, I would join you, but pain medications have put paid to that.  Happy to PM with anyone about my little one, but I won’t be posting much in the forum on baby matters. I hear that sigh of relief.

There are a handful of friends here who have my eternal gratitude for their support, particularly during the first trimester, my experience from hell. Susie especially has been telling me since February that I will forget the bad parts and that it is so worth it. And she is totally right, though I am still not yet convinced I know why second children exist.