Woot, well done, all. Love these wee challenges! Thank you so much, Kimmi ❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

Hiya. It's not AI, it's a software program that scans images.

To help combat against underage abuse, all images on site are scanned and checked against a database of known abuse images.

Any that are flagged are checked by a person.

This isn't something any mods or admin on site are involved in - it's the company who owns lush undertaking this.

Bottom line, if you're not confident that any image you are uploading is of a person over the age of 18, don't upload it.

A huge well done to one of the site's finest writers, WannabeWordsmith. Despite having 176 stories to his name, he has only today joined with Omnium club, after publishing in his final category. I'm not sure why he took so long to write in this particular category, because my goodness, it was hot!

Worth waiting for, imo. Well done, WW. I'm off to add 10 more categories to the site to ensure you don't have an excuse to stop writing

Please report them too, so we can take care of the accounts, thanks.

Exiting hyperspace meant the usual disorientation, mixed with anticipation. Sigma-4 was the largest of the pleasure planets, each moon catering a different kink.

Course set for Nyx

Arousal spiked as she descended, traversing atmosphere, clouds, glaring neon, until docked.

Clothing forbidden, she wandered the hedonistic streets, pausing to watch a threesome. Her groan, when hands slid around her breasts, hard cock pressed into silky wetness, coalesced the crowd around them.

The watcher became the exhibit.

Thanks, I'll escalate that.

Quote by clarksex71

Congratulations! Question: are the remaining entries listed below runers up in the announcement in any particular order?

If you mean the forum post, yes, that's the order they placed.

I might have known you creative bunch would get inventive in all the best ways. There was such inventiveness and delightful storytelling going on in this comp. I really enjoyed seeing all the different tales that were spun.

A huge thanks to the person who shortlisted this one and still managed to turn it around in time, despite having a fairly full calendar. It's much appreciated, as are the input and efforts of all the other judges. Special shout out to those judging for the first time - thank you for your insights.

This was one of the closest comps we've had in terms of the top 3. Only 3 points separated them, and two of them were tied on points and so we had to go to rankings to determine the order.

But without further ado, first place goes to WannabeWordsmith with his delightfully naughty tale of a music lesson with added benefits. A solid favourite with readers here, it's not uncommon to see him shortlisted, so kudos to him for top-notch consistent quality. Not a Bum Note in sight.

A very, very close runner up is Toreador, with his magical tale, Alchemy of Art. He should feel free to PM me the address of these gardens. I feel a trip coming on.

And rounding out the top 3 is Amuse Bouche, with her truly poetic entry, O is not for Oils. Just simply beautiful writing, as always.

The full top ten is listed below. Thank you to everyone who penned a story, read, voted, commented and encouraged the authors to share their works with us.

I will be in touch with the winners over the next day or two, regarding prize monies.

A new competition will be up and running shortly, and I look forward to seeing where people's imagination takes them.

Top ten

1. Bum Notes https://www.lushstories.com/stories/seduction/bum-notes - WannabeWordsmith $150

2. Alchemy of Art ​​https://www.lushstories.com/stories/fetish/alchemy-of-art - Toreador $100

3. O is not for Oils https://www.lushstories.com/stories/group-sex/o-is-not-for-oils - AmuseBouche$50

4. The Painter https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/the-painter-3 - LuluWhimsy

5. The Score https://www.lushstories.com/stories/occupations/the-score-2 - GreyMatter

6. Still Life https://www.lushstories.com/stories/straight-sex/still-life-2 - browncoffee

7. Not So Still Life… https://www.lushstories.com/stories/bisexual/not-so-still-life-3 - lordscalpel

8. A muse by any other name https://www.lushstories.com/stories/oral-sex/a-muse-by-any-other-name-2 - Belthazor

9. Rendered https://www.lushstories.com/stories/supernatural/rendered - Obsolete_Fox

10. They call this art https://www.lushstories.com/stories/bdsm/they-call-this-art-2 - Flowercreek

It might be a browser setting, if you have media set to default open in a particular application.

Quote by undiecontrol

Thanks, Jen,

So is 8+ days the new norm for premium submissions?

No. We don't really have a normal, to be honest. It just depends on who is available to mod, whether there is a comp on, if there are issues with a story etc. Not everyone wants to mod every category, so some might take longer than others.

Quote by lynnwitt

Why are 'notifications' so very slow to respond many times?

And why do they not 'dismiss' as expected? That is, perhaps someone has left a comment. Clicking that notification (usually) opens the page of that comment. But the notification then does not disappear.

They're still temperamental. They generally work fine for me, but anecdotally, a lot of folk have issues. We're still on 2 different code bases for the site and that's generally the root of the problems, unfortunately.

Quote by undiecontrol

Hi, has the queue for stories to be moderated grown exceptionally long again? I submitted a story 8 days ago, and I've heard nothing back.

This is the longest I've ever had to wait for a response, so I'm wondering if my submission has fallen down a crack (it says it's with a mod) or whether the queue has grown longer than ever.

There are around 180 and about 60 of them are premium, so yeah, the queue is busy at the moment thanks.

Just to update, changes have been made to who is allowed to send group messages, which should help alleviate. Please continue to report any spam accounts you come across through the reporting function. Thanks

Hiya, if you're in the tab on your profile that shows you who you are following, just click the three dots to the right of their name and click unfollow.

You can follow an author from their page, or from a story that they write, so you might have clicked it by accident. If you follow someone, you will be notified when they post a story and it will automatically be added to your reading queue.

Thanks all. I have escalated this.

Hiya, it could be that the photos have been moved or deleted by the person who sent them, and it has deleted them from your mail. Might be worth checking with them to rule that out or not?

Some visual stimulation 😇

Art is everywhere. From the arc of a ballerina’s arms, to the explosion of colour in a stained glass window. From the familiar strokes of a famous painting, to that instantly-recognisable melodic strain opening a song.

Sex and art have always been intertwined. When all around us things seem to make no sense, we do well to look for the beauty in the world and in each other.

For this competition, we want you to get creative with creativity itself. Maybe dance performers get rid of pre-show jitters in a fun and physical way. Maybe someone takes up pole dancing as a new exercise regime and enjoys the benefits of additional flexibility. Or perhaps an artist and their muse act out erotic acts to really cement the visuals in the artist’s head.

As always, we invite you to choose from the vast array of categories Lush has to offer. The word limit for this competition is a healthy 5,000 words. We will accept Flash stories for this competition, but they must be 800-1000 words long. No poetry or micros, please.

This competition will run through Sunday August 9th and winners will be announced on Monday August 17th

Lush competitions bring out the best in our authors. Unfortunately, cash prizes also attract fraudsters. If we deem you to have submitted a story to the competition which uses AI for writing or editing, you will be banned from this, and all future competitions, so we would recommend keeping any working notes and drafts as you go. If you have used AI to translate, edit or enhance your work in the past, we would strongly advise against. We will treat this the same as using AI to create and you may be banned for cheating.

For more details, please visit https://www.lushstories.com/competitions/wherefore-art-thou

Squints

Oh wait, read the thread title wrong. My bad.

To be fair, you didn't actually ask a question. Just made a statement which seems to indicate you think that ability to have sex should be related to body shape?

Why don't you worry less what other people are up to and start pinpointing what it is that you want out of life.

Just to be clear, it's fine to post an excerpt/link on your blog/status update on your profile. We wouldn't go through the story moderation process to publish an excerpt from a previously published story for it to show in your stories list.

As others have mentioned, if you're a co-author, it will show on your page anyway.

Woot, thanks Kimmi, for the summer fun and well done to everyone.

❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜

Current membership details.

Quote by Imjin138

Before i finish my next story, i was wondering what the rules are concerning fantasy. I don’t want to over step or create any issues.

Hiya. Everyone must be over 16. No grooming or insinuation of attraction pre this age. No true stories are allowed in the IF category. Thanks.

75 words is about all I can manage these days, lol.

Waterfall

Water cascaded over toned, glistening skin. His fingers brushed his nipple, hands sliding up his body to rake through sodden hair. 

The dreamy expression on his face was perfect. The camera clicked, repeatedly.

“Gorgeous, Nigel. Look left now.”

They didn’t hear the car pull up, or the uniformed man climb wearily out.

The warden cast his eyes to the heavens as he picked up his megaphone. Goddam fucking influencers.

“Get out of the fountain, please.”

Didn't I suspend your ass last year?

Sakes.

A little later than planned. Someone got drunk last night and had sex in the server room. I think that's what happened.

Anyway, let's get elemental, my dear Lushees. I do like having a theme where it's open to different interpretations, and this one didn't disappoint. Lots and lots of variation, sizzling shenanigans and twisty tales. The shortlister was so impressed, they gave me a top 13 and I just went with it. If it's good enough for Taylor...

Without further ado, your winners.

In first place, it's a movie theme classic for a reason. Dronette56 takes the crown with her stormy tale, A Calm In Need Of A Storm.

Second place goes to the talented RowanThorn, with his witchy tale, Ritual.

And rounding out the top three is Mr WordyMcWordyson himself, WannabeWordsmith with his crackling eastern BDSM story, Playing With Fire.

Very well done to all the podium peeps. Before I list the full top squad, let me just say a heartfelt thanks to the shortlister and judges this time around. I know how busy people are, so taking time out to help with this means a lot.

Thank you also to those who enter the comps, or read and comment and vote. I love seeing the camaraderie in the discussions here and it's nice knowing that a lot of folk go out of their way to read as many entries as they can. I speak from experience when I say that writers are comment-hungry monsters. We can never get enough

Anyway, enough from me. Here is the full top 13, and well done again to everyone. I'll be in touch with the winners over the next day or two. A new comp will be announced shortly.

1. A Calm In Need Of A Storm by dronette56

2. Ritual by RowanThorn

3. Playing With Fire by WannabeWordsmith

4. Meet Me In The Woods... By TheShyThespian

5. Resonance by DarkSide

6. Fluid by KimmiBeGood

7. The Great Sea by GreyMatter

8. Sacred Soil by KittyLynd

9. The Choice by Shyexhibitionist

10. The Beauty Within by WXT55UK

11. River Spirit by Longing

12. Seduction: It’s Elemental, My Dear Watson. By CuriousAnnie

13. A Voyage To LushLand by MC1982

The site is ever so slightly wonky (technical term) tonight, so I'll post the results tomorrow.

The technical issues have been reported, so will hopefully be sorted soon.

Please note we may publish stories that are subsequently removed for AI usage on review. Please don't take us publishing a story as confirmation that we believe there is no AI usage.

Also, when we say AI usage, we include using it for enhancing work you may have come up with the concept of. AI will suggest changes to words, to sentence construction and add in more descriptive language. Bottom line, if you didn't write it, don't submit it.

Quote by wxt55uk

I'm very impressed with the 'Elements' competition badge. It is my second-favourite of the ones I have gained so far.

Did you design it, Jen?

Or was it one of the hundreds (possibly thousands) of people you have working for you? 😜😈

Ah, you've not been to HQ, have you?