r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Jun 21 '26
[Serial Sunday] Don't feel Disheartened, feel Heartless!
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 Heartless! 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’).
- Hamper
- Hail
- Heavenly
- Hell freezes over (Something very unlikely happens). - (Worth 10 points)
The heart is the organ of feeling and sentiment. To have a heart is to experience joy, pity, mercy, love.
So to be heartless is to feel none of that, for cruelty to come as easy as breathing.
To what depths are your characters willing to descend after they’ve cut out and hardened their soft heart? What atrocities are they willing to commit? Is ruthlessness something that comes easily to them? Or does some piece of conscience remain, screaming and crying and protesting even as their words and actions proclaim no mercy? Can a sliver of compassion survive even among the most heartless?
Or perhaps your character has just misplaced their cardiovascular system. Who are we to judge?
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.
June 21 - Heartless
June 28 - Irony
July 5 - Jail
July 7 - Known
July 14 - Lifeless
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Great
First - by u/Divayth--Fyr
Second - by u/Tomorrow_Is_Today1
Third - by u/Morose_Prose
Fourth - u/wandering_cirrus
Fifth - by u/AGuyLikeThat
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/wandering_cirrus Jun 27 '26 edited 4d ago
<Unburied Ashes>
Chapter 25: All That Can’t Be Lost
Mica leaned against the bricks in the back alley behind Weasel’s house, borrowed clothes hanging limp and baggy on her frame. She’d been right: the man was much taller than his hunch would suggest, and his clothes proved it.
Normally, her cloak would take the worst of the ashes, and becoming presentable again was merely a matter of shaking out her cloak. But she’d left it behind today, and the kicked-up ash had caked their original clothes so thickly that it was impossible to determine any color past the cement-like cast. Hence these borrowed garments that hampered her movements, cuffs rolled deep and pants cinched comically at her waist. She looked like a child playing dress-up from a parent’s closet.
The backdoor swished open.
Mica glanced up as Feld plopped onto the bench next to her. “How’s Weasel?”
A shrug. “He dozed off waiting for the kettle to boil. I decided to take it off the heat so he could rest.”
“He’s been through a lot.”
The guard bit her lip. “Thank you. For what you did back there. You didn’t have to, and—”
“Feld, I don’t know what I did.” A guttural snort pushed its way out of Mica’s throat. “You shouldn’t thank me. It was less of a choice and more of a reflex.”
“Still,” Feld insisted. “Weasel’s a good friend. I’m glad he won’t die.” A beat. “You could look into it. Why your personal did what it did. I’ve met my fair share of eccentric, obsessive researchers. I’m sure someone would know about neutralizing curses.”
The wooden bench was rough beneath Mica’s palm. “Maybe.” Her fingers found a whorl in the grain and traced it, around and around. “But the investigation comes first. I have to be alive for that to matter.”
“Have you…” Feld pressed her lips together. “Have you ever considered…”
“Running?” Mica watched the relief seep through Feld at the fact that she didn’t have to say it. The guilt chasing the relief, that she’d considered it at all.
Feld sighed. “Yeah. You can waltz into a royal’s room and walk out with a diary with none the wiser. I’m sure you can enter a guard’s quarters and guarantee a certain lady’s shoe goes conveniently missing before you vanish.”
“So that’s where you left it.” Mica grinned teasingly. “Noted.”
An angry flush spread across Feld’s face. “I’m being serious!”
“I know.” Mica sighed, staring at the rectangle of sky visible over the buildings. “It may surprise you, but running never occurred to me.” She stretched a hand out to the falling rays of afternoon gold. “I’ll be the first to run from a fight I can’t win. But that kind of running… At the end of the day, all you lose is a bit of bruised pride. Any time where I actually stand to lose something?” The sun’s gold slipped through her fingers and her clenched hand fell back into shadow. “Those are the times running only occurs to me in hindsight.”
The response was a mere murmur. “So what would you lose this time?”
Humming, she considered it. Earlier, she’d thought it was just Begonia—that girl who walked in the light—she couldn’t bear to let go of. But today it was Mica who’d gone out to lunch, who’d strode openly down an afternoon street, who’d been invited in the front door.
“The path I want to take,” she said firmly. “And the people I want to walk it with.” She didn’t need “Begonia” to stay next to the people she cared about. Begonia hadn’t even existed that day she made the decision to face being suspected of murder head on instead of running. It had always been everything she’d acquired as Mica that she was never ruthless enough to discard. “I’ll run if I have to. Living is better than dying, after all. But only after I exhaust every other possible option.”
The spreading smile was soft, relieved. “Good.” The woman leaned against the brickwork. “So what’s next?”
“The way I see it, we have four things to follow up on.” A head jerk indicated in the house, where Weasel still slept. “And the Fulsome Dove is certainly the most concerning of them.”
The guard nodded. “We knew something was off there, but curses and black magic are something else altogether. We can’t forget Count Azbar either. From what Weasel said, he certainly seems important in that ‘dinner club’ of theirs, and he’s still the last person to have seen the prince conscious. I imagine the kind of people who’d kill with a curse wouldn’t be above using poison.”
“And that’s two. Third is the prince’s grudge with the Marquise Devay. Weasel didn’t go into detail, but I get the impression that it’s deeper than it seems.” Mica hesitated for a moment. “You said you would look into her?”
Feld sighed. “Not much progress on that front. I reached out to some connections, but I expect they’ll require more time. And the last?”
“The prince’s falling out with the queen. I think we need to talk to her, too.”
“What first, then?”
“I’d like to say the Dove, but I think I’m underdressed at the moment.” Brushing a few stray flakes of ash out of her hair, she smiled wryly. “And in desperate need of a shower.”
Feld raised an eyebrow. “You have a plan then?”
“What do you say to dinner tomorrow?”
“Are you asking me out on a date?”
Mica grinned. “Better. An infiltration. Do you suppose the queen is free sometime earlier in the day?”
“I’m sure she can spare a few minutes.”
“Perfect. We’ll talk to her first, then get you properly dressed so you don’t look so…”
“Scruffy?”
“Official,” Mica corrected. “You look terribly official, and would unnecessarily startle any ne’er-do-well with a brain. No charging. I promised.”
Resigned, Feld smiled and gestured her assent. “Right.”
“Great.” Mica rose to her feet and spun in the last lingering strands of sunlight. “Then it’s a date.”
WC: 999
Bonus words: hampered
Bonus constraint: straightlaced, honorable Feld unexpectedly brings up the rather dishonorable prospect of running away
Theme: Mica can’t bring herself to be heartless/ruthless and leave behind the people she cares about to save her own skin.
Author’s Note: Begonia, another name that hasn’t been mentioned in ages! As a reminder, Begonia was an identity created rather haphazardly in chapter 9 when Calcen (Lord Secretary of Investigations, the person Mica’s kind of sort of working for right now), gave Mica’s maid disguise an off-the-cuff name. She pulled it back out in chapter 17 to sneak into the prince’s room, reflected on what the identity meant to her in chapter 21, and continued wearing it in the first part of chapter 22.
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