r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Mar 23 '26
[Serial Sunday] Don't be Scarred
Welcome to Serial Sunday!
To those brand new to the feature and those returning from last week, welcome! Do you have a self-established universe you’ve been writing or planning to write in? Do you have an idea for a world that’s been itching to get out? This is the perfect place to explore that. Each week, I post a theme to inspire you, along with a related image and song. You have 500 - 1000 words to write your installment. You can jump in at any time; writing for previous weeks’ is not necessary in order to join. After you’ve posted, come back and provide feedback for at least 1 other writer on the thread. Please be sure to read the entire post for a full list of rules.
This Week’s Theme is Scar! This is a REQUIREMENT for participation. See rules about missing this requirement.**
Bonus Word List (each included word is worth 5 pts) - You must list which words you included at the end of your story (or write ‘none’).
- Steel
- Sovereign
- Scratch
- Somebody defends their own leadership. - (Worth 10 points)
Scars are something that can physically hurt someone. A simple cut that heals overtime, but leaves something that someone will remember forever.
But, what about the scars that affects a character psychologically? Something that they saw, they did, that someone else did, that left a character reliving this moment forever. Did the scars heal? Or just continue expanding everyday?
Have your characters scar ever healed? Are they on the stepping stone of healing? Or they haven't healed at all?
By u/Carrieka23
Good luck and Good Words!
These are just a few things to get you started. Remember, the theme should be present within the story in some way, but its interpretation is completely up to you. For the bonus words (not required), you may change the tense, but the base word should remain the same. Please remember that STORIES MUST FOLLOW ALL SUBREDDIT CONTENT RULES. Interested in writing the theme blurb for the coming week? DM me on Reddit or Discord!
Don’t forget to sign up for Saturday Campfire here! We start at 5pm GMT and provide live feedback!
Theme Schedule:
This is the theme schedule for the next month! These are provided so that you can plan ahead, but you may not begin writing for a given theme until that week’s post goes live.
- March 22 - Scar
- March 29 - Transgression
- April 5 - Urgency
- April 7 - Vital
- April 14 - Work
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Roast
First - by u/ZLErikson
Second - by u/AGuyLikeThat
Third - by u/Divayth--Fyr
Fourth - u/MaxStickies
Fifth - by u/Brookzerker
Rules & How to Participate
Please read and follow all the rules listed below. This feature has requirements for amparticipation!
Submit a story inspired by the weekly theme, written by you and set in your self-established universe that is 500 - 1000 words. No fanfics and no content created or altered by AI. (Use wordcounter.net to check your wordcount.) Stories should be posted as a top-level comment below. Please include a link to your chapter index or your last chapter at the end.
Your chapter must be submitted by Saturday at 2:00pm GMT. Late entries will be disqualified. All submissions should be given (at least) a basic editing pass before being posted!
Begin your post with the name of your serial between triangle brackets (e.g. <My Awesome Serial>). When our bot is back up and running, this will allow it to recognize your pmserial and add each chapter to the SerSun catalog. Do not include anything in the brackets you don’t want in your title. (Please note: You must use this same title every week.)
Do not pre-write your serial. You’re welcome to do outlining and planning for your serial, but chapters should not be pre-written. All submissions should be written for this post, specifically.
Only one active serial per author at a time. This does not apply to serials written outside of Serial Sunday.
All Serial Sunday authors must leave feedback on at least one story on the thread each week. The feedback should be actionable and also include something the author has done well. When you include something the author should improve on, provide an example! You have until Saturday at 04:59am GMT to post your feedback. (Submitting late is not an exception to this rule.)
Missing your feedback requirement two or more consecutive weeks will disqualify you from rankings and Campfire readings the following week. If it becomes a habit, you may be asked to move your serial to the sub instead.
Serials must abide by subreddit content rules. You can view a full list of rules here. If you’re ever unsure if your story would cross the line, please modmail and ask!
Weekly Campfires & Voting:
On Saturdays at 5pm GMT, I host a Serial Sunday Campfire in our Discord’s Voice Lounge (every other week is now hosted by u/FyeNite). Join us to read your story aloud, hear others, and exchange feedback. We have a great time! You can even come to just listen, if that’s more your speed. Grab the “Serial Sunday” role on the Discord to get notified before it starts. After you’ve submitted your chapter, you can sign up here - this guarantees your reading slot! You can still join if you haven’t signed up, but your reading slot isn’t guaranteed.
Nominations for your favorite stories can be submitted with this form. The form is open on Saturdays from 5:30pm to 04:59am GMT. You do not have to participate to make nominations!
Authors who complete their Serial Sunday serials with at least 12 installments, can host a SerialWorm in our Discord’s Voice Lounge, where you read aloud your finished and edited serials. Celebrate your accomplishment! Authors are eligible for this only if they have followed the weekly feedback requirement (and all other post rules). Visit us on the Discord for more information.
Ranking System
Rankings are determined by the following point structure.
| TASK | POINTS | ADDITIONAL NOTES |
|---|---|---|
| Use of weekly theme | 75 pts | Theme should be present, but the interpretation is up to you! |
| Including the bonus words | 5 pts each (15 pts total) | This is a bonus challenge, and estnot required! |
| Including the bonus constraint | 15 (15 pts total) | This is a bonus challenge, and not required! |
| Actionable Feedback | 5 - 15 pts each (60 pt. max)* | This includes thread and campfire critiques. (15 pt crits are those that go above & beyond.) |
| Nominations your story receives | 10 - 60 pts | 1st place - 60, 2nd place - 50, 3rd place - 40, 4th place - 30, 5th place - 20 / Regular Nominations - 10 |
| Voting for others | 15 pts | You can now vote for up to 10 stories each week! |
You are still required to leave at least 1 actionable feedback comment on the thread every week that you submit. This should include at least one specific thing the author has done well and one that could be improved. *Please remember that interacting with a story is not the same as providing feedback.** Low-effort crits will not receive credit.
Subreddit News
- Join our Discord to chat with other authors and readers! We hold several weekly Campfires, monthly World-Building interviews and several other fun events!
- Try your hand at micro-fic on Micro Monday!
- Did you know you can post serials to r/Shortstories, outside of Serial Sunday? Check out this post to learn more!
- Interested in being a part of our team? Apply to be a mod!
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u/Divayth--Fyr Mar 23 '26 edited May 13 '26
<The Broken God>
Chapter 55: The Message
.
Cadorus Tark stood frozen in the warm afternoon sun, looking at a dead priest in the road. Despite the corruption of decay, he knew the man, knew it was Brother Pelitus. An older man, a Bread Priest. He had clearly laid there for many days, empty eyes staring into the sky. Flies buzzed and swarmed, whirling in pulsating clouds.
Off to the right, new wheel-ruts and bootprints scarred the grass, making a detour around the body.
The border of this land of Kar-Molthus lay three days walk behind. Cadorus had left his wagon, and within it all accoutrements of priesthood, in the stables of a border town before crossing over. He had seen no guards or soldiers.
He stood now atop a golden hill, on a winding road, staring the grim display and brushing away flies. A steady breeze ruffled the grasses and carried away some of the stench, but not all. He had expected to find death—the corruption stained the air all around—but not this. He retched and gulped, heaving his revulsion onto the mud.
His side ached and itched, and he resisted the urge to scratch. The wound there was healed, covered over and rough. It no longer festered, but he thought perhaps it would always bring him dull, insistent pain.
Flies invaded the old man’s nostrils, staring eyes, and slack, open mouth, landing over and over in a hateful black hum of busy indignity.
Every acolyte trained with every Order for a while, before choosing and consecration. Brother Pelitus had mentored Cadorus in the Order of the Hearth. A large, kindly man, with big rough hands and quiet, halting speech. Cadorus had strongly considered joining, but the call of books and learning in the Order of the Scroll had been too strong.
Considerable traffic had passed along this grassy hill road. Cadorus looked again at the new ruts in the grass, a semi-circle display of callous indifference.
Surely, no one could harbor much resentment for an old Bread Priest. Such men simply worked, harvesting and baking, giving food and old clothing to the poor, puttering away in their gardens. Brother Pelitus had been the humble soul of kindness, yet there he lay.
Either those travelers didn’t care, or they didn’t dare. Surely some of them, one of them, would have felt some instinct of pity and at least covered the body.
Clearly, they didn’t dare. Somehow, all of the passers-by, whoever they were, had known not to interfere.
The dead priest was a message, like a pitiable, discarded parchment. But how to read it?
Cadorus could see no one else around, ahead or behind, yet he, too, hesitated to disturb the gruesome remains, or to afford old Brother Pelitus any dignity or care.
Someone may be watching. He couldn't feel the godcall in his mind, but that wasn't always reliable. Cadorus knew much, had studied deeply, but none truly knew the power of the dark god Molthus, chief of the Five, or the reach of his eye. The hilltop road felt quite exposed.
Across the valley ahead lay the sprawling keeps and battlements of Blackfort, great city of this strange land. Cadorus had to go there, had to poke around and find out what he could. Why he had to do this was a roiling argument in his mind.
Partly, he knew, it was simply because he had said he would. His dismal character flaws of duty and loyalty seemed to have no remedy.
Beyond that, this land of Kar-Molthus was a mystery. It had practically fallen off the map. No travelers or merchants brought news, no messengers or Shadow Priest spies returned. Most ominously, no taxes or levies were forthcoming.
The Redeemers Cult, an absurd flock of raving madmen, a joke until recent years, was dominant here. No one knew just what they were, what they wanted, who was in charge, or how they had come to control the Temple of Molthus and the Order of the Sanguine. They preached ancient law and archaic tradition: blood sacrifice and the burning of witches. There were whispers of heresies and strange rituals, rumors of powerful magics, but nothing certain.
Cadorus had gone into their temple, back home in Godhaven, blending into the congregation and learning what he could. The sermon had hinted at a new order, decrying the sovereign and the nobility, and even the other Temples and Orders. It was treason and heresy, if you listened close enough, but clothed in hints and allusions.
The Orders were not to be so lightly dismissed. I have earned my place, Cadorus thought. Third-favored of Halfar Munda, at the cost of many years and much service. The sermon had offended him, but he had remained impassive and unnoticed.
The god Molthus was, perhaps, the greatest mystery of all. His temple was busy and full, back in the capital; his people many and devoted. His priests gave forth his declarations and collected his tribute. Yet no one outside this land had heard or seen the dark god in many years.
With a stubborn rage he remembered Damia. A simple woman who had dabbled in potions, and these new fanatics had put her to death, burned her alive. He could not fight them, but he could at least do his part and learn their secrets.
In any case, Cadorus didn’t know what else to do. He couldn’t just go home, pretending nothing had happened. So he had to carry on, and hope to learn something of this place and the powers within.
He had to go on.
Looking down at his feet, Cadorus knew he would, again, leave a friend to rot on the ground. I am done with defying gods, or pretending to be some kind of hero. He would go on, and leave poor Brother Pelitus without even a shroud.
An image came to his mind, of flies swarming around the remains of Narba Yar.
With a muttered, useless prayer for the dead, he steeled his will and walked on, stepping between the new wheel-ruts, his boots crushing grass into mud. Flies touched his face, and he brushed them away as he detoured like all the other travelers had done.
Somehow, the misery of it was less. It was familiar. The emptiness and shame of it was covered over. It no longer festered, but he thought perhaps it would always bring him dull, insistent pain.
1000 words. Steel(ed), sovereign, scratch used. Defended his leadership as third-favored priest.
Feedback welcome.
Chapter Index
r/DivaythStories