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I've been on Lush a little over a year. Compared to other similar websites, I've found the Admin and the Moderators on here to be exceptional. Always helpful, responsive and engaged.
Thanks dad!
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nicola
Over 90 days ago
Admin
Fluid Female
United Kingdom
Forum
Matriarch
We had a huge number of submissions towards the end of 2020, and January followed suit.
A sterling effort was made to clear the queue by our team of story moderators, in particular: Laura, Saucymh, FirstBlush, WannabeWordsmith, Sprite, Curvygalore, el_henke, Stormdog, she and Gillianleeeza.
But someone went way beyond the call of duty and processed a whopping 163 submissions. Yay!
That's enough of a clue as to who I'm talking about.
Congratulations on your $100 prize Tamara.
A huge thank you for the hours you've put in for the good of our community Tam!
Please check your inbox concerning the prize.
Give a big yay for Tam folks!
A sterling effort was made to clear the queue by our team of story moderators, in particular: Laura, Saucymh, FirstBlush, WannabeWordsmith, Sprite, Curvygalore, el_henke, Stormdog, she and Gillianleeeza.
But someone went way beyond the call of duty and processed a whopping 163 submissions. Yay!
That's enough of a clue as to who I'm talking about.
Congratulations on your $100 prize Tamara.
A huge thank you for the hours you've put in for the good of our community Tam!
Please check your inbox concerning the prize.
Give a big yay for Tam folks!
Matriarch
Valentine Poetry Competition
Valentine's Day and indeed the week leading up, is recognized as a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
Valentine Week Calendar
February is the month of love and time to celebrate the spirit of togetherness with your loved ones.
To milk it all commercially, I mean, so people can celebrate the entire week beforehand, "Valentine's Week" was created (probably by florists and chocolate vendors).
In the spirit of love, these designated special days make up the Valentine’s Week schedule:
7 Feb – Rose Day
8 Feb – Propose Day
9 Feb – Chocolate Day
10 Feb – Teddy Day
11 Feb – Promise Day
12 Feb – Hug Day
13 Feb – Kiss Day
14 Feb – Valentine’s Day
Competition Theme
The theme for this poetry competition is simple - Valentine poetry, using any of the above days for inspiration, or anything you can think up with "love" as the underlying theme.
Poems should be longer than a Haiku (俳句) - at least a few verses long, and not the equivalent length of a poetic "War and Peace"! Consider your audience and what you think they'd typically like to read, word count wise.
Full competition and prize details may found here >>
Valentine's Day and indeed the week leading up, is recognized as a significant cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many regions of the world.
Valentine Week Calendar
February is the month of love and time to celebrate the spirit of togetherness with your loved ones.
To milk it all commercially, I mean, so people can celebrate the entire week beforehand, "Valentine's Week" was created (probably by florists and chocolate vendors).
In the spirit of love, these designated special days make up the Valentine’s Week schedule:
7 Feb – Rose Day
8 Feb – Propose Day
9 Feb – Chocolate Day
10 Feb – Teddy Day
11 Feb – Promise Day
12 Feb – Hug Day
13 Feb – Kiss Day
14 Feb – Valentine’s Day
Competition Theme
The theme for this poetry competition is simple - Valentine poetry, using any of the above days for inspiration, or anything you can think up with "love" as the underlying theme.
Poems should be longer than a Haiku (俳句) - at least a few verses long, and not the equivalent length of a poetic "War and Peace"! Consider your audience and what you think they'd typically like to read, word count wise.
Full competition and prize details may found here >>
Matriarch
Hi everybody. I hope you are all well and in good spirits.
Just popping in to let you know our new "Valentine Poetry" competition is now live.
I know the bar is full of romantics, so dip your quills and get your thinking caps on!
https://www.lushstories.com/competitions/valentine-poetry.aspx
Just popping in to let you know our new "Valentine Poetry" competition is now live.
I know the bar is full of romantics, so dip your quills and get your thinking caps on!
https://www.lushstories.com/competitions/valentine-poetry.aspx
Matriarch
Thanks VioletSand!
Will that only squish the height though, not do it proportionally?
I don't know how far he's got down his to-do list, but as a priority, Gav is meant to be working on chat room improvements for those on mobiles in particular.
My personal preference is integrating a ready made new chat service like "Discord" with all the bells and whistles like voice chat, but I think that is some way away.
Will that only squish the height though, not do it proportionally?
I don't know how far he's got down his to-do list, but as a priority, Gav is meant to be working on chat room improvements for those on mobiles in particular.
My personal preference is integrating a ready made new chat service like "Discord" with all the bells and whistles like voice chat, but I think that is some way away.
Matriarch
December was a frenetic month on the site. I don't remember one ever being so busy.
So many of the moderating team across the entire site stepped up, making sure the chat rooms, groups and story sides ran smoothly.
It was indeed a heart-warming communal effort
The queue has sat at over 50 for the last few months, and it has taken a sterling effort to keep it under 100.
The following story mods processed over half the stories between them in December - el_henke, curvygalore, sprite, Saucymh, tams_back_yay and FirstBlush.
But the person who smashed it out of the park, processing a whopping 159 stories, was WSCLG.
Incredible job Rupert!
I'll be in touch regarding your $100 prize.
Please show some appreciation for all our hard working mods, and in particular WSCLG for going beyond the call of duty.
So many of the moderating team across the entire site stepped up, making sure the chat rooms, groups and story sides ran smoothly.
It was indeed a heart-warming communal effort
The queue has sat at over 50 for the last few months, and it has taken a sterling effort to keep it under 100.
The following story mods processed over half the stories between them in December - el_henke, curvygalore, sprite, Saucymh, tams_back_yay and FirstBlush.
But the person who smashed it out of the park, processing a whopping 159 stories, was WSCLG.
Incredible job Rupert!
I'll be in touch regarding your $100 prize.
Please show some appreciation for all our hard working mods, and in particular WSCLG for going beyond the call of duty.
Matriarch
We've received a lot of negativity and flak over the results of this competition.
I'd like to point out that despite criticism, the shortlisted selections aligned very closely with the membership vote.
8 out of the 10 shortlisted, were in the Top 10 based on # votes / average score alone.
I am not going to enter into any more discussions regarding the competition shortlisting and judging process.
I spend an awful lot of time thinking them up, getting them going, promoting them, reading / shortlisting stories / coordinating people to help out etc., and on top of that, foot the bill for the prizes.
If it becomes a chore and no fun to run them, I'll simply stop.
I'd like to point out that despite criticism, the shortlisted selections aligned very closely with the membership vote.
8 out of the 10 shortlisted, were in the Top 10 based on # votes / average score alone.
I am not going to enter into any more discussions regarding the competition shortlisting and judging process.
I spend an awful lot of time thinking them up, getting them going, promoting them, reading / shortlisting stories / coordinating people to help out etc., and on top of that, foot the bill for the prizes.
If it becomes a chore and no fun to run them, I'll simply stop.
Matriarch
I try and give my brain a bit of a workout with my morning coffee trying to finish The Guardian's Quick Crossword. Generally takes well under 10 minutes.
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick/15816#21-across
It's pretty easy (today's one below - spoiler alert!):
If I'm in the mood, I'll do their cryptic one on the weekend.
Any other crossword fans on site?
If yes, which one do you do and roughly how long does it take?
https://www.theguardian.com/crosswords/quick/15816#21-across
It's pretty easy (today's one below - spoiler alert!):
If I'm in the mood, I'll do their cryptic one on the weekend.
Any other crossword fans on site?
If yes, which one do you do and roughly how long does it take?
Matriarch
Quote by Wilful
They will curse their names that they were not there on this day. There was nary a flacid penis or dry vagina to be seen. Holy buckets, this was a bloodbath! There were a lot of excellent stories in this one. The standard of writing around here is definitely fierce.
Congratulations to all who won, placed and entered.
While the judges regroup, let the rest of us lick our wounds and prepare for the next challenge. Victory!
Yours amongst others were very hard to omit!
Matriarch
Quote by Cat_getsthecream
Please will you restore my original post, and respond to the concerns raised. Removingy post does not solve anything. The above 'Standard' respone does not address the fact that the following requirement was not met by several entrants. I am sorry. I am not breaking any rules here.
Competition Theme
For this competition, imagine you are granted one wish (from Santa, a genie or alien!) and 24 hours in which it happens.
Why have a theme request if it isn't to be followed. Please reply to this post with due regard.
Thank you.
Catherine.
Paid writers write to the brief.
"What would be your ultimate sexual fantasy if you had a whole day to fulfill it? What sort of debauchery can you conjure up in your mind's eye?"
The rest were given as examples as explained in other's posts.
Perhaps my explanation could have been clearer, for which I apologize.
I'd be interested to hear your arguments for stories in the Top 10 which you felt didn't meet the brief. But not so in a public forum. It's more than a little disrespectful to the winners. Kind of like voting down other entrants' stories.
Matriarch
Omitting excellent stories from the Top 10 for this competition was probably the hardest part of it for me. There were so many which could have made the shortlist. It would have been unfair of me to ask the judges to read the Top 30, so some very tough decisions had to be made.
We will most likely be handing out 15 - 20 RR's as a result! Our policy is the Top 3 will automatically be given an EP, and others in the Top 10 will be voted on by the EP panel should they be put up for the award.
There was a nice mix of "established" writers in here, and it was also lovely to see some new names amongst the places. A shout out to fillelapine and StarBelliedBoy for your excellent entries.
Here's the verdict from our panel of judges (which contains a mix of Senior Moderators, established writers and site contributors):
1st Place ($150): Arabella And The Author, by tams_back_yay.
2nd Place ($100):The Ghost of Fucks That Never Were, by Jaymal.
3rd Place ($50):When The Cat's Away, by Saucymh.
Rounding out a star-studded Top 10:
24 hours from Tulse Hill, by deviantsusie.
A Little Christmas Magic, by fillelapine.
New Life, by Piquet.
Satan Invades The Vatican, by StarBelliedBoy.
A Night On The Town, by DarkSide.
Birthday Bukkake Bonanza, by naughtyannie.
Don't Deliver Me From Evil, by vanessa26.
Congratulations to Tamara, Jake and Mags. I'll be in touch regarding your prizes.
Well done to those who made it into a tough Top 10, and a big thank you to everyone else who spent their time writing for this competition.
We will be setting up a new comp in the next week or so.
Cheers,
Nicola
We will most likely be handing out 15 - 20 RR's as a result! Our policy is the Top 3 will automatically be given an EP, and others in the Top 10 will be voted on by the EP panel should they be put up for the award.
There was a nice mix of "established" writers in here, and it was also lovely to see some new names amongst the places. A shout out to fillelapine and StarBelliedBoy for your excellent entries.
Here's the verdict from our panel of judges (which contains a mix of Senior Moderators, established writers and site contributors):
1st Place ($150): Arabella And The Author, by tams_back_yay.
2nd Place ($100):The Ghost of Fucks That Never Were, by Jaymal.
3rd Place ($50):When The Cat's Away, by Saucymh.
Rounding out a star-studded Top 10:
24 hours from Tulse Hill, by deviantsusie.
A Little Christmas Magic, by fillelapine.
New Life, by Piquet.
Satan Invades The Vatican, by StarBelliedBoy.
A Night On The Town, by DarkSide.
Birthday Bukkake Bonanza, by naughtyannie.
Don't Deliver Me From Evil, by vanessa26.
Congratulations to Tamara, Jake and Mags. I'll be in touch regarding your prizes.
Well done to those who made it into a tough Top 10, and a big thank you to everyone else who spent their time writing for this competition.
We will be setting up a new comp in the next week or so.
Cheers,
Nicola
Matriarch
Quote by MadMartigan
I must echo this.
I will typically refrain from giving a score to a competitor if it isn’t a five. And tbh, the scores on this site are inflated AF.
Too much stock is put into a raw score here.
Number of views aren’t any better either. This place is too clicky for story popularity and genres liked.
I wholeheartedly agree with your eloquent synopsis.
You meant “cliquey”?
It’s why we read as many entries as we can.
The way you say “This place” makes me think there’s a better place. Please PM me the details and I’ll start hanging out there
Matriarch
Quote by GrushaVashnadze
Even without your kind intervention, Nicola, would such subterfuge by contestants actually be worth the trouble? Both of the following comp entries of mine received straight "5" scores (c. 30 or 40 of them each) - and neither made it into the top ten. Apparently, therefore, public scores are of limited relevance, and the judges have other more important criteria. Am I right?
Metamorphoses
And There Came Two Angels to Sodom
Partly right.
I can never easily find the thread where I explain the process in detail (on my iPad so will check later as I’m sure it must be stickied or should have been!).
There are so many 5’s handed out, that when I pull up the competition data, sometimes a couple of 2, 3 or 4 votes knock down someone’s average to 4.85 for example.
When either myself or a Senior Moderator does the shortlisting, we read the lot if we have the time, or more often in my case, I’ll use the Top 20-30 from the raw output.
One story which is a certain Top 10 (I’m still going through them), was voted down by 3 other competition writers, and it was enough to knock the story out of the Top 30.
If I’d taken the approach that our only real competitor takes, that story would have been placed nowhere.
Due to these kind of underhanded tactics, and the effect of friend spamming, I go through all the votes first, pull those from other entrants, and run the query again. Then I read as many as possible to combat the effect friend voting has.
Ultimately we want the best stories to win / rank. Yes, any shortlister’s opinion will be subjective, but we have so much experience, the best stories usually (not always!) rise to the top.
In a competition run last year, a lovely diligent helper read all the competition stories and shortlisted them for me. The eventual winner was outside the Top 25 based on average score alone. That’s why human intervention is so important.
So getting a perfect score of 5 doesn’t mean you’ll be in the Top 10 even. There are close to double that number with an average score of 5 for this competition.
I hope that clears things up!
EDIT: I knew I'd stickied this somewhere!
Updated: https://forum.lushstories.com/yaf_postst67174_The-Competition-Judging-Process.aspx
Matriarch
I'm putting the shortlist together over the next few days for the judges.
A reminder to those contestants who deliberately try and gain an advantage by voting down other entrants' stories:
I can see who's voted on every story on the site, and which vote they have given out.
I remove all such malicious voting on stories and the people responsible get filed away in my memory banks as conniving bad sports!
A reminder to those contestants who deliberately try and gain an advantage by voting down other entrants' stories:
I can see who's voted on every story on the site, and which vote they have given out.
I remove all such malicious voting on stories and the people responsible get filed away in my memory banks as conniving bad sports!
