r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Jun 14 '26
[Serial Sunday] Lead Me to Greatness!
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 Great! 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’).
- Gore
- Grave
- Gripe
- Someone mighty falls. - (Worth 10 points)
Greatness… It was once said it is better to dare great deeds and fail than to be amongst those timid souls who know not victory nor defeat. That was said during an age of imperial glut that eventually led to one of the worst global wars in human history. Perhaps glory is not the true definition of greatness, but rather it is in spite of it. Perspective and time will be the judge long after all of us are gone.
So what is greatness in your series? Perhaps it is a dramatic clash between the villain and hero. Or maybe life is grinding down on your heroine and she must press on despite how the world treats her. Maybe they are marginalized, dismissed, oppressed; and your character has decided they have had enough and steps into the light.
There are many forms of greatness, which path shall you choose…?
By u/JKHmattox
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 14 - Great
June 21 - Heartless
June 28 - Irony
July 5 - Jail
July 7 - Known
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Foreign
First - by u/AGuyLikeThat
Second - by u/Divayth--Fyr
Third - by u/Morose_Prose
Fourth - u/MaxStickies
Fifth - by u/ZLErikson
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!
7
u/Divayth--Fyr Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 24 '26
<The Broken God>
Chapter 67: Battle of Everlasting
.
Against all expectation, Sancaurion had slept long and well. He stood now, tall upon the east watchtower, warm in the afternoon sun, gazing down at the twisting road. Mug was steaming, pipe was puffing, and doom marched up the mountain side.
A curious crow had stolen his biscuit, or the majority of it, consuming it atop a merlon nearby. The bird eyed him with glittery greed, and griped its croaking demands.
“Master your appetites! You have much, yet seek to take more. Have you not read the Tales of Fate?” The black bird leapt and soared away. Sancaurion nodded, and puffed at his pipe.
The army of the Vishar drew ever closer. He could hear the shouts of officers, the tramping of boots, and the lumbering rattle of great weapons drawn up the incline by teams of lowing cattle.
Heromil stood defiant. Everlasting. The stone had been patiently infused with stubborn durability over untold centuries. The catapults below were an exercise in futility.
And yet the mighty tower would snap like a twig at the will of the god Abagaster.
He will not come. The gods are immortal, and this makes them cautious. They do not care for much risk or uncertainty. Abagaster would hang back, granting power to the army and its mages from well behind, fearing to do more. Thus it had always been.
He fears me! Sancaurion chuckled. No god would worry over a mere mortal mage. Abagaster, Great Eagle of the Desert Winds, feared the other gods. If his hand in this brutal theft were too obvious, Menk-Liracor and mighty Ozayarin could unite against Abagaster and cast him down.
To the north hung the fading white orb of light that had appeared in the early dawn. Uldarquin had reached the Tripartite Shrine. At his signal she would pray, and offer great tribute. The other gods would come.
Drawing their attention was a terrible risk, yet he felt great confidence. Uldarquin was a clever, careful woman, with immense courage.
The first scouts crested onto the flat shelf before Heromil, and past the half-circle of unseen runes in the stone. Sancaurion paced, impatient. Victory had to be swift and decisive, lest the god gain courage.
His heart was light as death and danger approached. Gorthag had got his soup. Only a few simple, gentle words had passed between them, but Sancaurion was much heartened.
Sharp, barking orders rang out from below, and the three velets, a full thousand strong each, formed their traditional circles. Spears outward, archers within, bronze swords and axes gleaming throughout. Flocks of dark-robed mages stood apart, and behind there came a parade of siege weapons.
And there, in the middle, was a litter. An actual litter, ornate and luxurious, carried by six elves. Surely the gaudy, ridiculous thing contained the Grand Vishar, in all his tawdry glory. We invented the wheel some time ago, you pompous dunderhead.
The Vishar descended from his conveyance. Sancaurion began to mercilessly tighten the straps on his wrist-brace.
He grimaced, but welcomed the pain. Today would be the true test. The humiliation of the divara-kir was fresh in the old mage’s heart. He could hear the laughter, and feel the despair of being left blind, drained, and helpless.
That would not happen this time. Abagaster had again withdrawn his gift of power from Sancaurion, as expected, but this was home, this was Heromil, and Abagaster did not rule alone here.
“Sancaurion! Come forth, and I will show mercy! Resist at your peril!”
Sancaurion spoke only in subtle, ancient chanting.
He threw up wards, and watched the mages below do the same. The armies glowed with the favor and ward-protection of the god; the Vishar incandescent.
Rumbling forward came the great battering ram, protected by a phalanx of mages and spears, blue-tinged oxen at its sides.
“You do not dare to reply? Perhaps a knock at your door will gain your attention!”
The ram rolled on.
Sancaurion ducked behind a merlon as spells splashed against the battlement and arrows rattled on the floor behind. One catapult unleashed its stone, and then another, resounding against the stubborn walls.
With slow, majestic power, the battering ram struck the door, clanging thunder all through the depths and heights of Heromil. Even so, Sancaurion kept his focus, weaving tendrils of magic into evil, long-forgotten shapes.
Teams of shouting elves took up great ladders and stormed forward. Still the old mage chanted, twining the divara-tendrils with all his centuries of skill.
Upon the ground, the runes began to glow, pale green and eerie, and a deep, ominous hum grew in the air. The shouting stopped; the thundering ram paused.
Sancaurion the Great then stood revealed upon the battlement, face grave and impassive. His wards defied a storm of flaming bolts, ancient hands flicking aside a hail of arrows with contemptuous ease, and snapping the siege-ladders.
“I have no need of your mercy,” he said, and finished his spell with slashing flair.
Smoke billowed from the ancient runes, acrid and hideous, saturated with putrescent, roiling light. Within the flickering black clouds there came shapes, writhing and grotesque, and they uttered forth a cacophony of mangled, shrieking malevolence.
A host of demons arose, one each from the seventeen runes, horrible and proud—a menagerie of abominations unseen in ages of the world. With teeth and flame they leapt at the hated mortals in a storm of wicked abandon, rending flesh and flinging gore.
Sancaurion gazed down upon the carnage with satisfaction, loosening his wrist-brace and leaning heavily on the crenellated stone.
The velets closed ranks with remarkable discipline. The mages focused their spells on the rampaging abominations.
Flashing, shouting, whirling battle raged on, the tide turning against the invaders.
Then the air rent with a piercing scream, and vibrated with unspeakable power. Sancaurion staggered and fell to the stone floor, landing on his damaged wrist. He caught a glimpse of his doom as he fell.
A towering figure stood now upon the battlefield down below, with the head of a great eagle, emanating vibrant, incomprehensible potency.
Abagaster had come.
1000 words. Gore, grave, grip(ing) used. Sancaurion the Mighty fell, briefly.
Feedback welcome.
Chapter Index
r/DivaythStories