Quote by Seeker4

Good luck to those entering. I am probably not unless something hits me.

Smacks you with a banana skin

Did that help?

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

Let's see … we're supposed to simulate sex with the intention of having sex, but not supposed to simulate writing, but instead actually write.

Got it.

I'll have to thumb through the categories and find something … stimulating for simulating … something unusual and unexpected …

Sounds like fun!

EPd

As Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality become more mainstream and realistic, many entertain the theory that we exist in a computer-generated simulation. That a computer is writing our plot, and that some people may not even be real.

This competition should feature your characters in some sort of simulation, virtual or augmented reality. Maybe they find out their entire life has been a voyeuristic simulation and now are trying to get out of it. Perhaps they create a sim to work out real-life problems such as science experiments, or even to plan a bank heist. Or maybe they use a simulation to unwind, to experience a life they don’t have, or to be intimate with someone they cannot have in reality.

We welcome erotic thrillers, love stories, or hardcore fucking, and as always, we encourage you to look through the genres for additional inspiration. Get wild. Get weird. It is a fantasy, after all. The max word count for this competition is a generous 5,000 words. We will accept flash stories, but please, no micros or poetry.

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.

This competition will run through Nov 30th, and the results will be announced on Dec 14th.

Full details here

Welcome welcome

People are apparently pretending they're shy. I'd always recommend finding some favourite authors and interacting with their stories or reaching out, or getting to know folks in the chatrooms, or join some groups where you might meet like-minded individuals.

If we can help with anything, just holler 😘

Have fun ❤️

Quote by simplyjohn

https://www.lushstories.com/legal/acceptable-use-policy

'Your account shall be terminated immediately and we may report you to the relevant authority if your behaviour on our website consists of any of the following:

Anything illegal and contrary to the laws of England, Wales and Ireland, including (but not limited to!) the promotion, suggestion or allusion to u n de ra ge sex, r ap e or any non consensual acts, hard drugs or any other kind of illegal activity.'

Drug use in fictional stories is fine, so long as it's consensual. Trying to sell them, discussing them or promoting them on site isn't allowed.

Quote by TammyTrueheart

The issue I have is that I can't upload a second story while I have one waiting to be reviewed. I have 16 stories in my series, followed by a 30-story series and a 19-story series. Even a 2-week delay amounts to years. As an author, we drive traffic to the website, and I would expect better turnaround times.

Premium authors get quicker turnaround, so consider supporting the site by doing that.

The reason we have a one at a time policy is to save us having to manually return loads of chapters because we had to send one back for an issue. This way makes sure nothing is published out of order, and and issues we come across can be addressed in future chapters before submission.

Hey, it's currently about 2-3 days for premium, and about 10-14 days for non premium.

They're not really delays at the moment, just turnaround times. The queue is mostly settled for now, although pretty constant.

I'm just in to have a drink in memory of Carl. I was going to get served from the bar, but I'll take one out of David's bottle, lest he drinks the whole flippin lot and we need to carry him out of here, desperately trying to stop him singing.

Cheers ❤️

That's sad news. He'll be missed. He's been a big part of this site for many years, and I know he's been a great friend to many on here.

Thanks for letting us know, James, and yeah, let's raise a glass to Carl ❤️

Ah okay. Yeah, it'll be because he has the link via the PM. The misc folder is a kind of holding place. It's where everything sits that you upload to the site (if you don't specify) and although no-one can scroll through it like a public album, they will be able to see certain photos, if they have access another way.

When you upload a pic straight into a PM, it goes to the misc album, so when the person clicks on it in the PM, that's where they will see it.

Quote by darkroot50

That's a good suggestion Jen. The reason i asked was that I trade pictures with a friend on Lush. I'll see that he's liked a picture (I get notified that he's liked it), and it is always in the miscellaneous album. I move them to a private album. So how is he seeing the media in the miscellaneous album if I haven't granted him access? Or if I have granted access how do I see that?

When you say 'trade' what do you mean?

If you've just uploaded something to your misc album, no-one should be able to see it. If you've posted it somewhere though, PM, forum, group etc, or made it available to the public gallery, then they will.

Hiya. Picture uploads go into your misc folder, which isn't public, it's private. It just doesn't have a lock symbol on it. I don't think there is any way to change the default folder, although you could upload to your media first, pick the folder, then share by DM from there.

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