😳 Just a little bit speechless (if that's not an oxymoron). Stunned. As usual, I wasn't sure if I'd written something anybody would actually like - or worse, understand.

But am very happy 😊. It was also great to see so many 'unusual' suspects in the top ten - including some late entries which have proven worthy. I hope to catch up with some of those that I missed.

A huge congratulations to all my fellow writers who dared to enter, and particularly those that I am sharing the accolades with. This was an enjoyable and challenging theme, particularly with a word length that has previously left me floundering a bit.

Thank you to all those that helped organise and run the competition (and Lush more generally), in particular Jen, her shortlister and the judges who made this possible. Can I please now go and hide in a corner?

I don't tend to do well with longer stories, but here's hoping my entry will be published sometime today - it was returned to me in the middle of the night because I'd used a word I didn't know I wasn't supposed to use - oops! Back in the queue now, and fingers crossed...

So, with 'Fabian's Folly' I offer something with a historical element, and a character with just a little bit of sass.

Hope you enjoy (assuming it gets published).

Quote by CuriousAnnie
My role model so far is a certain influential Agatha Christie story, but I don't want this to be too English (though it's set in England.) There's a bit of hard boiled Raymond Chandler style in my Aussie narrator.

Whilst, of course, our stories will be completely different, I definitely resemble this remark 😊- mine is (at least partially) set in England.

Quote by sprite
2700 words in and i just shot my main character. perhaps not the wisest of moves...

Of course, shot doesn't mean dead. It's all about misdirection innit. Just sayin'...

Quote by KimmiBeGood

Ewww, I cannot unsee that.

Hmmm - I've eaten sheeps brains, but not cluttered up with the vegetables like that. I guess I'm just a purist...

I'll echo Carlton - I'm in shock 😳! I cannot express how delighted and awed I am to have been considered worthy enough to be at the top of such a talented field. Someone very wise on this site once said that in order to win you have to 'knock it out of the park'. But I confess that I never know if I'm even close to that. Usually, I am full of self-doubt and have no idea if I've just written a pile of rubbish.

Does this mean I get a 'Competition Winner' badge 😊?

Well done to everyone who entered, to those who finished in the top ten, and to Carlton and Visioneer - it's an honour to share the podium with you.

Thank you Jen, judges, shortlister, and all those behind the scenes who work to make these competitions happen. And thank you to those who read, voted and/or commented on my emotional little story. You've helped keep my spirits up. I'm afraid I only managed to read a few this time, so apologies if I have not managed to read yours. I will try and make amends 🙄.

I was just saying to a friend that we'd never had (as far as I can remember) a comp with a 2,000 word limit and how I'd appreciate a shorter one. How's that for mind-reading... 😊

Wow! Chuffed to make the podium. It's especially rewarding with so many fabulous and diverse stories in the competition. Well done to Kat and WW for their podium places, and to the rest of the top 13 - and to all who entered. Thank you so much to Jen, the judges and everyone else involved in putting these competitions together. They are always a bit of a rollercoaster for me and I'm not sure I've got the energy to keep doing this lol 😊- we will see...

Hello peeps. I thought I'd use this forum to promote some of my stories that have disappeared into the dark mists of time, where they are unlikely to ever again see the light of day. 'What a devastating loss 😢' I hear you say (or maybe not). So, every once in a while (weekly, monthly - who knows), I aim to suggest one 'mature' story (no, not that kind of mature), one Microfiction tale, and one current offering for your reading pleasure. As ever, I'd love to know what you think and welcome feedback, either in the form of a comment, a 'like' or a 'fave' if you really like something.

So, here goes:

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/strap-on-sex/john-and-the-goddess - John and the Goddess - A strap-on story I wrote in 2022. I like to think it was one of my best that year, and it received some fabulous feedback.

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/microfiction/a-teasing-tongue - A Teasing Tongue - One of my earliest Microfiction tales - I'll let you guess what it's about 😊. It's short (of course), so why not give it a go?

https://www.lushstories.com/stories/bdsm/down-the-rabbit-hole-2 - Down the Rabbit Hole - This is my latest competition entry; a BDSM story in the 'Unleashed' contest (of course I had to plug this one! 😉). It's had some very nice comments so far - please let me know your thoughts.

Enjoy!

Quote by wxt55uk
Now it is time to read the other entries and frighten myself as I realise how good they are.

You made the top ten last time out, David 😊 - I'm sure you are in good company!

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Someone told me to read an entry called Pickle but I can't see it in the list... perhaps it was rejected or the author deleted it.

Are you sure they didn't mean 'Sprinkles'? There's an excellent one of those in there...

Unfortunately, I exceeded the new 10-word limit 😕. My attempted draft just seemed to keep on growing, despite my hopes of 4-6k story. So I apologise for the length of this tale - and, indeed, the title. I was challenged to find a one-word title; I failed. I therefore give you: If Brussels is only the Appetizer, Then What on Earth is Helions Bumpstead, and hope that at least two people will, at some point, read it 😊.

Wow! Chuffed to bits to be on the podium! So much variety in this competition - it was so difficult to know what direction to take with the theme. Well done to everyone who took part - I read most of those in the top 20 and enjoyed them all (those I didn't, I will make sure to catch up on). Thank you so much to Jen, the judges, and particularly those who had the job of shortlisting - not an enviable task on this occasion!

Quote by sprite

ShyThespian. one of my favorite things to see in a comp is when the usual heavy hitters get beaten out by new talent not that ST is new, but this is their first time in the top 3 after i think about 6 or 7 entries. i am seriously more excited about that than if i'd won a top spot, so YES! awesome job and well deserved, all 3 of you.

Thank you, Rachel - yes, 7 previous entries (managing the top ten on one occasion). It's my first comp entry for a couple of years, so maybe the break has done me good 😊

Quote by deviantsusie
I'm also delighted to see the Shy Thespian break into the top 3.. your story made me laugh with some of the euphemisms for lady parts and a proper steampunk yarn.

Thank you, Susie - it's taken a while, though I've not entered for a couple of years - maybe a break and a refresh was needed 😊

Wow! That was totally unexpected. Thrilled and chuffed to be on the podium, especially with so many talented writers around me. Huge congrats to AmuseBouche, Lupus and everyone who made the top ten. Who were the other five shortlisted? Be nice to offer them some recognition as well 😊. As others have said in the past, just successfully entering a competition like this indicates a worthy entry, even if you don't make the top ten - so well done to everyone who entered, and a big thank you to those who made this happen - moderators, shortlisters (is that a word?), judges and everyone else I've missed (Jen?).

And apologies that I haven't read many entries - when I enter a competition I do usually try to read as many as possible, but time has been a difficult commodity to manage recently. I will try and make amends 🙄

Now - big smile on face - can I go and polish my bronze medal...?

I tried reporting this as a bug as was directed here - no one seems to want to answer this one.

When I cut and paste text from Microsoft word into the Lush editor it appears as a block. All formatting is gone, lines spaces, line breaks and paragraphs have gone - it is a solid block of text. I would have thought this was a bug, but whatever, it makes submitting a story impractical. Has anyone else had this problem and does anyone know how to solve it? I have the same problem on Stories Space. Grateful for advice - no point in having a competition if I can't even copy and paste into the editor without problems. Thanks.

We no longer get a notification from the mod when a story is published. This was something that was a key part of the communication. Now - unless the mod decides to make a comment - we have no idea who has modded the story or what changes have been made. Can this please be changed?

Quote by RejectReality

Quote by adele

  1.   Are you an author?

Yes

  2.   Do you primarily use the chat rooms, forums, neither or both.

Forums  

3.   What is the main device you access Lush with? phone/tablet, lappy or PC

PC

  4.   On a scale of 1 to 5 (5 being the happiest) how happy are you with the chatroom changes?

 Don't care.  Don't use. 

5.   On a scale of 1 to 5, how happy are you with the forum changes?

2  Jump to last post links are nice.  Separation between posts is terrible.  Signatures are bare bones. 

 6.   As an author, on a scale of 1 to 5, how happy are you with the story changes?

0 Don't like the new presentation of stories, especially those with top images.

  7.   On a scale of 1 to 5, how happy are you with the general overall design changes?

0 Author features barely exist, and what's there is buggy.

  8.   Which chatroom features do you miss the most? (ex. mention vs just selecting a name, whisper,  "landing" directly into a room, room size, etc)

Don't care.  Don't use.

  9.  Which forum features do you miss the most? (ex. new format, harder to post pics, forum signature, etc.)

Signatures.  Designing my story banners is one of the things that gives me joy.  Being able to use images from galleries other than the main one in the forum.  Being able to preview before submitting a post.

10.  As an author, which story features do you miss the most? (ex. detail vs rounding stats, ability to sort, tags at end of story instead of top, etc.)

Detailed stats.  Pasting with formatting intact.  Popular lists.  Read lists.  Landscape top images.  Sorting our story lists.  Being able to find anything in our story lists ( Need search if it's going to remain paginated ).  Prominence of story badges such as RR, Famous, and Legendary.  The # of stories on the new story page.  Notification when a vote is cast.

11.  Which general features do you miss the most? (ex. black boxes, ability to customize profiles, ability to sort friends, have friends all show on 1 page, settings don't hold, becoming part of a dating site, etc.)

Ability to search by name.  Author listings sortable by # of stories ( ideally, sortable by all stat columns ) 

12. Any other comments you would like to add or if there is anything you are particularly happy with on the new site.

As things stand, I have no desire to submit anything.  The inability to paste with formatting, the shortened window for new stories due to the halved new story page, the missing popular lists providing a possibility of longer lived readership, and the inability to actually see the statistics ( which don't even agree from listing to listing ) makes it feel like working twice as hard to toss things into the void.  I get that this was a rush job by necessity, but it's hard to be patient when basically everything I enjoyed about Lush and recommended it to other people for is all but absent.

Quote by CallmeJayne

I realise you have gone to some trouble to put this together, but it really is a voice crying in the wilderness about un fait accompli.

As a Forever Gold member of this brighter, better, adult entertainment site, I hope LS continues to go from strength to strength.

Not sure if this has been mentioned before, but whenever I cut and paste into the Lush editor, it appears as a block of text. All spacing/paragraphs/line breaks gone (as well as formatting). Anyone else have this problem or know how to solve it? I'm close to giving up. Can't enter a story of more than 100 words like this - forget comps - can't edit like this. 

Quote by PJH

Not necessarily a bug but a question regarding stories. Will we get the 'view changes' option back once a story has been approved because as it is at the moment, we have no way of knowing what corrections/alterations have been made to a submitted and published story?

It would be nice to be able to see what has been changed in our work, please.

Thank you.

I suppose the only way at the moment is to make a copy of what you submit and then compare it with what appears on the site.

Quote by AngelWorthy

Quote by dlcalguy

Quote by StarBelliedBoy

Quote by adele

It seems to me that if that had been explained up front, perhaps there would be far less complaints. one week and already 13 pages of reports, some of which have already been addressed. Perhaps people would have waited a couple of weeks before complaining and just made a list to check after that.

Everything I said was simply a summary of the various site announcements over the past few months and my knowledge that coding is hard. The post at the top of this thread specifies it is only for technical issues, not feature requests and that migration is ongoing. On the first page it was suggested people note the latter down for later.

Prior to yours, I don't remember seeing any single clear explanation about the circumstances of the enforced changes. I never saw three options defined anywhere.

This is a bug report, if a somewhat meta one. Lack of communication. 

Managing expectations is very important for such a massive change, but the entire process has been done with scant regard to members - upon whom the site is entirely dependent for content. 

I know this is not the forum thread to post into. However I am just wanting to respond to your comments here. Nicola did post 3 months ago in the Site Announcement/Feedback section here in the Site Related part of the Forums. A Thread Titled "Upgrades and Changes to Lush". In that thread Nicola made it clear that Lush was going to change. She even listed some of the expected changes.

Quote by Brookell

Quote by JamesLlewellyn

I'm still not getting emails about the authors I'm following. And I know that some have published because I've seen their stories on the (very short) Front Page.

Moreover, I've received ZERO notifications that any of the 53 authors I'm following have published anything. That seems…unlikely.

Thanks.

My turn for a Me Too!  I hadn't noticed how few emails I was getting, thanks for the heads up!

Quote by Brookell

Quote by kistinspencil

Quote by adele

Quote by Jen

Hiya. The data is there, but how we manage it and access it probably falls under design features rather than bugs at the moment. Great feedback though, so we will add it to the design features list.

Re the scores, this has been noted as a bug and is being looked at. Thank you 🥰

I don't see the loss of story data as a design feature. it is valuable information to a lot of authors. We had it before, and it should still be there now, not months from now as a "new feature".

First time in four years I haven't been able to log my total reads, reads/votes/comments per story, etc. My OCD is going right through the roof. 

I have to agree with Kistin, I track my comments, views, even words written in a spreadsheet and having the data in the old site and losing it now doesn't feel like a design feature. 

A couple of other things I preferred on the old site, looking at the current Competition, the story list is only a partial list.  In fact all the old Comps are that way as well, only about 15 stories are listed and I know for a fact there were many more. My own entries are missing except for the one comp I made it in at the last minute.  That tells me the story list for the comp is probably the last 15 entries.  That really needs to be fixed.

I also would prefer the old "My stories" list.  This one takes up a lot of room for each story and is multiple pages instead of a long list.  We've also lost the ability to sort or download the stories. 

Hopefully these things are on the to-do-list as opposed to the 'someday-list'.  Thanks,

     Brooke

I've saved a story into draft but cannot get back in to edit it - I just get the wheel of death whenever I try to access the edit page. I'd love to edit, add a note and publish if possible Also, I still have to log back in every time I change page - just to access this forum is painful!! And I got a solid block of text when I pasted into the editor - without an option to view the unpublished version, so I'm not sure what I need to edit. Grateful for help! Many thanks, Jason

"This should now be fixed, Admin"

Thank you for the response Jen - It won't be a move forward if we lose those features, so good if they can be added to the list for design features. Speaking of which (I'm sure others have mentioned) - this really isn't a dating site. Seriously - please get rid of all the 'match' stuff. Bad, bad move!!

"A lot of the functionality has been changed to make friends if wanted etc. We are however working on a feature to remove it for all of those that don't want it, Admin". 

Okay, the level of detail available to authors seems to be much more basic than previously. Some questions: 

Are authors going to have the same access they previously had to their stories? At the moment I can't see my word counts, or the history of story edits (either by mods or myself) - the edit history is useful so I can see what changes have been made to to the version I pasted into the Lush publisher. 

Also - I can't easily access all my stories from one page - my 60+ stories are on 7 pages which I have to navigate across one by one to reach the oldest. Those with more stories will obviously have a longer trek. I used to do this from one scrollable page. And on that same page were those word counts, scores etc. I could also change the order of my stories, promoting those I wished to my profile page. There was also a separate page that ordered my stories by category and by series. That option also seems to have gone. 

It's not easy to identify those stories with RR and EP or those with an audio unless you directly access the story (i.e. it's not visible from the list). These stood out really clearly before. Scores and number of reads are general rather than specific. For some reason one story has dropped it's score without any additional votes.

"All of this is being looked at for development as there are some good points raised here, Admin"