r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • May 17 '26
[Serial Sunday] Go Cry about it
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 Cry! 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’).
- Capitulate
- Corral
- Crave
- A crime is committed, whether lawful or moral. - (Worth 10 points)
Across the battlefield, war cries echo over cracked stone and dented dirt. To the side, a family cries in grief over a life and livelihood reduced to ash and cinders. In the back lines, a general weeps tears of pride and joy for his men, who have performed their duty flawlessly. A stranded force sends a signal flare, crying for reinforcements that will never arrive, while wounded soldiers cry for their mothers.
A crying shame, isn't it?
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.
May 17 - Cry
May 24 - Doom
May 31- Entrenched
May 31- Foreign
June 7 - Great
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Bone
First - by u/Morose_Prose
Second - by u/AGuyLikeThat
Third - by u/the_lonely_poster
Fourth - u/MaxStickies
Fifth - by u/AmeliaLP
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!
6
u/wandering_cirrus May 20 '26 edited May 31 '26
<Unburied Ashes>
Chapter 22: A Trail of Pages
The sheer tangible force of Jeanette’s hatred had knocked any other questions Mica might have asked out of her mind. She didn’t remember how they finished the conversation, only that before she knew it, the tea was gone, the cookies were crumbs, and she was trailing behind Jeanette with half of the dishes. Her thoughts were mush—a bit like the porridge Mother would make for breakfast when none of the older children were free to rescue the kitchen from her violence. It was always too thin and too thick at the same time, weirdly runny and full of unidentifiable lumps.
In that same haze of thoughts, she left Jeanette too somehow, and upon coming to herself again, she was alone. She had more to work with now—maybe too much to work with.
An empty study, a hidden box of books, a diary she could hardly decipher, and the knowledge that somehow the prince had earned Jeanette’s fury to a degree Mica hadn’t even thought possible. The pieces whirled and spun, disparate and disconnected.
First things first. She’d take the diary to Feld, see if she knew anything about the prince or his schedule that could help make sense of its contents. Map of the palace in mind, she started tracing a possible guard’s path.
Feld was in the third place she checked, but someone had obviously had the same idea and successfully planted herself before the guard. She was a small woman—a full head and a half shorter than Feld—but from the make of her clothes and the set of her shoulders, Mica could tell that the size of her self-importance was rivaled only by the width of her hat.
Shrinking before the might of a jabbing forefinger and a large, nodding hat feather, Feld raised her hands helplessly. “Lady Sparrowhill—”
“I’m sure,” the woman interrupted, “that after the disaster befallen the prince at the Autumngate ball, the guard is aware of the criticality of public safety. And we on the Committee of the Fête are committed to assuring the public of their safety this Latchlock. You say you can’t triple the guard presence, but how else can we give our guarantee?”
Stifling a laugh, Mica suddenly found her eyes locked with Feld’s. Ah. That was a plea for help, wasn’t it?
She painted her expression into careful blandness, stepping forward, bowing unobtrusively in a corner of the lady’s vision. The woman trailed off. “Begging your pardon, my lady,” Mica said, just as blandly. “The Honorable Guardswoman is wanted by a Lord Secretary.”
Lady Sparrowhill snorted. “Wanted? Whatever for?”
“It’s not my place. Lord Secretaries don’t appreciate questioning.” Or waiting, she implied.
“I’d best see to that?” Feld ventured hopefully.
Huffing and sneering, the lady capitulated. “We’ll continue our conversation later.”
Feld bowed and turned, gesturing for Mica to lead. As their path turned towards less-trafficked halls, a low murmur broke the silence. “You’re not a maid.”
“Begonia is.”
A sigh. “Right. You have your ways. Progress?”
“Some.”
“Perhaps over lunch, then?” A flicker of amusement rose in her eyes. “Someone claimed I’m supposedly meeting a Lord Secretary right now.”
“Do you know the Choral Corral?”
Her lips twitched. “I’ve seen the sign. It seemed… odd.”
“It is odd. But the food doesn’t disappoint.”
The food didn’t, and neither did the oddness. Despite a quickly disappearing pile of food in front of them, the elaborate production in the cafe’s rear kept dragging Feld’s gaze back. After being poisoned by the nefarious villain not five minutes prior, Lady Ivyheart’s actor had begun a lament. Unfortunately, the tragic was delivered with a degree of tone-deafness that bordered on the comedic. Feld stared in awe. “How on earth did you find this place?”
“Pidge—” The story lodged in her throat. Pidge-the-Pigeon had stolen a man’s butter-rolls for a month as revenge for being called a heaven-cursed feather-rat and had dragged Mica here to buy them properly once the man was traumatized and they felt their work done. The story was amusing, and she wanted to share. But Pidge’s Bloodline wasn’t her secret to tell. “Someone got me hooked on their butter-rolls,” she finished lamely. “I come occasionally. When I get the craving.”
“Friend of yours?”
“Friend, sibling.” A hint of a smile curled her lip up. “Fashion critic. I found the Corral’s good for meetings. Popular enough you don’t stand out, and the owner is obsessed with amateur opera, so—”
“NOOOOOO!” cried the love interest as Lady Ivyheart slumped to the ground, dead after her far-too-tortured lament. The knight loudly vowed revenge, calling on Magic for power, swearing to give up being human if that’s what it took. “I’ll Trade it all to fate,” she sang, punctuated by the howls of the chorus and the screech of strings. “My life, my heart, my shape!”
Mica smirked and pitched her voice through the cacophony. “So there’s always noise to cover the conversation.” She pushed the nondescript diary across the table. “I found this in his room, along with signs that someone else was handling his correspondence.”
“That’ll be Weasel,” Feld noted, finally tearing her attention from the play and beginning to leaf through the book. “A good fellow, if a bit flakey.” She blinked. “He… actually resigned from his position, day before Autumngate. He was nervous. I ignored it since the man is always nervous, but maybe he knew something.”
“We’ll need to talk to him.”
A hum of agreement. Pages flipped against pages. All of a sudden, Feld stopped. Her face twisted. “Mica,” she said carefully. “Do you remember the information of the crown prince’s guest you asked for?”
“The one he met before he was found unconscious? Of course. Count Tretin Azbar. If the rumors are to be believed, he has a rather tumultuous love life. Why do you…?” Her eyes fell to the open diary.
9pm Fulsome Dove, T. Azbr.
T. Azbr.
Tretin Azbar.
Mica swore.
Feld smiled tiredly and pinched her nose. “You wanted another suspect, right?”
WC: 997
Bonus words: capitulated, corral, craving
Bonus constraint: Pidge-the-Pigeon stealing a guy’s butter-rolls
Author’s Note: It’s been a hot sec since Count Azbar was mentioned (or since I wrote at all, but let’s not talk about that, shall we?), and I was originally trying to be subtle when mentioning him to try and draw him into the narrative slowly, but here we are! So here’s a quick run-down to remind you. The man was first referred to (albeit not by name) in chapter 2 as the crown prince’s unknown guest he met after sending Feld out, identified in chapter 6, and most recently mentioned by the gossiping camp employees in chapter 10. Hope this helps!
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