Good work ditching the Grammarly app. It made my not-very-old Mac so slow as to be nearly unusable, even when I wasn’t using it or editing. Uninstalled it and everything returned to normal. I still have the Grammarly Safari plug-in, and that mostly works okay.

Quote by kistinspencil

Maria Schneider. She was not informed of the scene (which was not in the script) until moments before and director Bertolucci insisted it not be simulated. She suffered for years after and died at 58.

Yikes, serious scumbaggery at work there. I have not seen Last Tango and didn’t realize I was echoing it when I wrote Island Pleasures last year. At least no one was assaulted in the making of my version.

As for Saltburn, I’ve now seen it, and it wasn’t as weird as I expected.

Quote by Magical_felix

could have bladed his ear or just poured some ketchup on it. Haven't y'all ever seen wrestling?

“Could have” is a long fucking way from “did.”

Quote by RowanThorn

Anyone who claims it was staged cannot possibly begin to fathom how hard it would be to clip a person’s ear.

Seems like a disenfranchised young white male obsessed with guns looking to make a name for himself.

That was my first thought too. At 150 yards you are either shooting to kill, or shooting to miss. Unless you are a colossally skilled sniper, you are not shooting to graze an ear. And FWIW, Crooks was regarded by members of the local gun club as a lousy shot. He is not the guy you would send in if this was your desired outcome.

Quote by WellMadeMale

This wasn't a Sirhan Sirhan style of murder attempt. This was an uber staged secret service special, made for TV and slow motion replays.

No matter how massively this may have benefited the Trump campaign, and how iconically it was photographed, there is not currently any real evidence that it was staged. The fact that Trump is pretty much guaranteed a win now does not establish that the shooting was staged. Sorry.

What our political climate really does not need more of is the bandying of bold conspiracy hypotheses (many of which don’t deserve the label “theory”), based merely on an (often shadowy) beneficiary of a particular event - but without any actual evidence. This is happening increasingly on both sides of the political divide.

Agreed, Bill, this is not a good thing. No matter how I feel about Trump or any other President, for the stability of the Republic I don't want to see them getting shot. I guess we'll learn more about the identity of the shooter in the next couple of days.

Maybe if it isn't too big, and it's well warmed and lubed. The idea of someone else shoving a cold plastic object in my ass does not appeal, isn't a particular turn-on, though I'd do it if she really wanted. Nevertheless, pegging IS a major element of my Dirty Talk contest entry: No-Dating Policy.

What I'd rather have in there is a warm, pulsing actual human cock. Now that does sound enjoyable.

A girlfriend and I once had fun feeling each other up in the back of the family station wagon at a drive-in, but there were a lot of people around and we drove somewhere more secluded to finish the job and fuck.

But in my imagination, spy movies are great for getting busy in the back row: Summer Cockbuster.

Wow, incredible to have that many stories in the Famous category, and now one Legendary. Fantastic work.

I have very, very far to go, with just two ... er, "half-famous?" stories above 15k, and two more now past 10k ("local celebrity," maybe?). Several more approaching 10k, including one at 9997 right now ... anyone wanna give Handy Men a nudge?

My newest story, No-Dating Policy, is my entry in the Dirty Talk competition. My coworker Sherrie has been flirting with me for months, but I daren't act on it because of my employer's strict no-dating policy among coworkers. But when she (yes, she, maybe a surprise to those familiar with my work) quits the company, for one precious night she is fair game. So might be her intriguing friend Terri, but that's (literally) another story.

Per contest rules (all entries must be at least 50% enquoted) there's lots of increasingly dirty talk, cu(l)minating in some very spicy sex. And, since this is an office romance, I couldn't resist throwing in a few dozen Easter-egg references to office supplies and equipment.

I hope you enjoy. Please read, Like, Favorite or comment as you see fit.

Quote by techgoddess

Now that The Last Dance - Part Two is published, I can focus on getting my comp story ready to submit.

Isn't that always the way? Scrambling to finish a story not only for the sake of getting it published, but to get it out of the way so we can focus on the next one?

Quote by joe71

That is on pause for the moment, however, while I polish my Dirty Talk competition entry, which will be entitled "No-Dating Policy."

Done! No-Dating Policy. Now to get back to work on Midlife Renewal.

I’m in! No-Dating Policy. 58% dialogue.

Quote by techgoddess

🤣🤣🤣 I thought the same thing at first!

At first?! Every damn time I scroll through the forum, my eyes see "A Question About Titties."

That sounds intriguing, Purdy. I think we are all kinda curious how mermaid sex actually works.

Quote by Darlene69

This is so exciting for me. I can't wait to share a recent conversation with my sex therapist. Thanks for this opportunity!

Ooh, that could be fun! We have had an entry where the protagonist give a filthy confession to a priest, but a sex therapist conversation promises to be a lot more interactive.

Quote by Seeker4

My series on Lush rarely start out as series.

Most of mine have, but Summer Cockbuster - the very first story I published here - is an exception. I ended up stretching it out to seven stories before forcing it to a logical conclusion.

I also have had several competition entries where readers suggested subsequent chapters. Not officially declared a series yet, but Dick Job and Pork By Northwest (interestingly, my only two Recommended Reads) bookend a 16-year Horny Federal Agent epic that I intend to eventually flesh out as a full series.

After I do all the other stuff I just mentioned above. I'm sure that's years away. Ultimately, all this hobby writing is a lot of work.

And a hot story your Dirty Talk entry is, WBWS! I felt like I was in Paris again. But better!

The past few months, I've been working on getting more chapters of my Midlife Renewal series out. Given the balance between my busy personal life and the considerable number of hours I spend on each story, I'm lucky to get a story published every two months, but I continue working on it. The next chapter is mostly drafted, and I've got clear outlines written of the next three chapters after that.

That is on pause for the moment, however, while I polish my Dirty Talk competition entry, which will be entitled "No-Dating Policy." I started a few days ago with a never-published draft that was several years old ... and about 5000 words. The first full cutting of the fat chopped it nicely down to 3300 words, the second round to 2800, and a few more editing passes eased it below the 2000 word limit.

Like a good sword, it's getting better the more time I spend sharpening it. As I found with my entry in last year's Free Spirit comp, the length limit forces me consider the meaning, flow and impact of every single word. I have it down to 1700 words now, a buffer which may allow me to squeeze in even more spicy dialogue, should I dream it up. The end result should be a better, more competition-worthy story.

My rule for competition entries is not to submit until I can make a full pass through every word of the text without finding even one word I feel the need to change. That's still a few passes (and days) away,I think.

I just have so many series in my head that I can't keep them all going at once. Right now I'm focused on new chapters of Midlife Renewal. I think It's a Date will pick up when that winds down. Then, I'm hoping to revisit Becoming A Man, the first series I published. That one reached its logical conclusion, but I'd like to spiff it up with cover images and fill in a couple new intervening chapters.

Two of my series, Keith and Kate and Dating Daphne, each have only two chapters published, but at least three more each that are fully drafted. But as fellow writers know, that first draft is only 10-20% of the work. Maybe when I get the above two series fully fleshed, I'll polish these up and get them out.

One that I really did leave hanging fairly indefinitely is Contagion, a series that I whipped out in April-June 2020 at the height of the Pandemic, culminating in a six-way all-holes-balled orgy as pent-up energy from the lockdown was released. I intended to pick up the following morning with several more chapters, but never got around to it. I still intend to pick it up again if/when we have another lockdown.

Quote by ABG

If a woman has nice full lips,it looks hot. The lips are a sexy visual!!

Yes! Love full lips! The fact than some women are now having labioplasty to get them removed leaves me puzzled and sad.

I've never gone after another guy (although I would love to), but I have had sex with the same woman two (or three) times in one night, and sloppy seconds (or thirds) is kind of fun. Don't even comprehend the "just nasty" comment on Page One.

A doll might be fun, although I'd rather be with a real person. Also, that is not what "bisexual" means.

Hairy is great for me! I’m fine with well trimmed or a small landing strip too, but for me there’s gotta be something.

I came of age in an era when only little girls were bald down there. I understand most guys have moved past this, but I can’t deprogram my libido. To my subconscious, shaved ones still seem prepubescent and are an instant, boner-shrinking turnoff. At least a little bit of real-woman hair is a must.

Quote by AvidlyCurious

Nope. The cap is part of the challenge.

Agreed, and the mods couldn’t make exceptions in holding everyone to the same standard.

In the case of my Free Spirit entry last year, chopping those last two hundred words forced me to rethink how I was saying things and even rearrange a few things to streamline the flow. The result, despite some hard work, was a significantly better story.

One trick I’ve done a couple of times so far is to actually shift descriptive/explanatory text into dialogue. Like having a character say, “Ooh, that little black dress looks painted on!” instead of a long paragraph describing what that character was wearing.

Also, question for the mods: if it’s in quotes, does internal monologue count? Example:

“What’s she up to this time?” I asked myself.

I think it’s a good idea to become at least a little attached to your character, so that as you said, they develop real personalities and quirks rather than being bland cardboard cutouts.

As far as falling in love with them … well, I don’t know, why not? They are your fantasies. Of course you are going to develop some characters that come close to your ideal. I haven’t done so, but I can think of several characters in my stories I could fall in love with.

If you can’t let them go after a story is finished, then the solution seems obvious: a series!

Quote by Carnevil9

Sorry, I'm a relative newbie here, and this is my first competition. But I don't see how the stories are scored. Number of likes? Number of favorites? Number or views? Some combination? Thanks!

The Score you see with each story is a count of the number of Likes and Favorites combined.

But the competition itself is decided by human judges, not tied to the numeric score.

Quote by WellMadeMale

Dude had a bad night. It's reported he had a head cold.

A "bad night?" That's what you say about someone who has mental illness or the early stages of dementia. We can't afford a President who has "bad nights" when he's 81, and plans to remain in office until he's 86. God help us all.

A cold explains his hoarse throat; it does not explain a total inability to speak coherent thoughts and sentences. But your sentiment is the dominant one emerging from the party machinery and the media they control, so ...

Looks like these fucktards who run the party are going to "run this train into the wall," as Rowan put it. And Trump will win. Humanity is doomed.

I think 90% of sex between new partners (possible exception being Bill’s “accident,” which is hot AF by the way) is planned by one or the other. In most cases, if you think it was unplanned, that just means it was unplanned by you.

Couldn’t agree more, Rowan. You do what you can technically, but at some point what’s more important is real parenting and instilling the right values in your kids.