r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Aug 09 '26
[Serial Sunday] Openness is the Best way to Become Close
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 Open! 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’).
- Opal
- Ornery
- Ogle
- A box is opened and a secret is kept. - (Worth 10 points)
f you need a blurb for Open.
What’s in the box? Just open it and see…
It’s probably Chekov’s wife’s head, but it could be anything.
How is your serial coming along? Are you looking for an inciting incident? You could open up some old wounds that kick off a spiral into tragedy, or force them from comfort on a path to put things right.
Do you need to open up new plot threads, or are you ready to open up your characters for some real development as they push towards a conclusion? Are they open to change, or have your conniving characters just opened up for business?
Or maybe it’s open season for the bad guys. Whatever you choose, I look forward to opening reddit and reading the results!
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 BSTand 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.
August 09 - Open
August 16 - Prose
August 23 - Quality
August 30 - Rebellion
September 6 - Stratagem
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Noxious
First - by u/Divayth--Fyr
Second - by u/KatPoker666
Third - by u/AGuyLikeThat
Fourth - u/wandering_cirrus
Fifth - by u/Morose_Prose
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 BST. 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 BST 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 BST, 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 BST. 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 Aug 11 '26 edited Aug 14 '26
<The Broken God>
Chapter 75: Containment
.
Durash stood by the flat rock, watching the old mage gesturing, shaking his head, and muttering disjointed fragments of arguments with himself.
“Are you well, Sancaurion?”
“Hmm?” He jumped a bit, apparently forgetting she was there. “Oh. Yes, quite well. A bit mad, I think. Yes, I have gone mad, yet otherwise I am fine. Yourself?”
“Oh, I’m fine.”
“The world has turned upside-down a few times lately. But I will survive. I generally do. I just cannot seem to comprehend it. A drop of godsblood? It is mad, is it not?”
“I don’t know. I don’t know what they’re made of.”
“No one does. I certainly don’t. They take physical form, and abandon it at will, yet they remain what they are. But a god struck by iron? I do not believe such a thing has ever happened before. I search my long memory and cannot find any hint.”
“We can’t leave it laying there. Not for long.”
“True. I wish to examine it, measure it, test it, but I do not know how to handle the thing. Touching it would almost certainly be disastrous. I am sure I will think of something eventually.”
“Better be soon.”
Sancaurion looked a question. Durash simply pointed to Kolobor in the bright sky, as it imperceptibly chased the larger moon Great Unser along their stately course.
“Oh! Twinshadow! The storms! How could I have missed that?”
“Well, you were busy with the world turning upside-down, and fighting gods and all that.”
“Yes. Yes, I suppose I was.” He gazed at the moons and tapped his fingers together in sequence. “Five days, possibly six, before the storms begin. If you note Great Unser’s distance from the path of the sun, it becomes clear. The calculation is rather simple, with the correct…” He went on for some time.
Of course, Durash thought. He forgot about Twinshadow, but now he lectures me on it.
“What should we tell the others?” she interrupted. “About the godsblood.”
“Nothing, for now. We have much to discuss, and this would be a distraction. And what could we tell them? I have no useful knowledge as yet." He stood up. "However, if you will pardon me for a moment, I believe I have a notion.”
Sancaurion walked with surprising vigor into his tower, leaving Durash unsure whether to follow.
She looked toward the door of Heromil. Inside were the mage's libraries, stacked and crowded with his immense, fascinating collection of books, scrolls, and arcane instruments. An impossibly long life of learning and wisdom, beyond anything she could imagine. It had inspired wonder when she first saw it, but now… now there was a bitterness.
In the huts of the Allmothers lay small boxes of books, precious and hidden from the guards. The low, careful voices of the Guldums had muttered their secret lessons, the babdum learners keeping notes on soft clay, to be quickly destroyed if discovered.
The old mage with his lofty speech and superior attitude grated on her, made her feel small. The fact that he did know more than she did—more than anyone in the world, probably—only made it worse. Not everyone had a chance for such an education.
And there he came, walking quickly back out, his aches forgotten in his excited state. He carried a clear-topped, ornate box and a shard of crystal.
“It should work! I believe it will! Are you familiar with eldivic crystal? Vilthiri glass, it is sometimes called.”
“I have–”
“It is a most curious substance. Liquid or solid, not by heat but by magic. Shaped in a curve, it has the peculiar property of focusing magic in one direction, while blocking or reflecting it in the other. I have acquired a great deal of the stuff, over time. Immensely useful in enchanting. Found in the southern rainlands.”
“Yes, I know. That's where I lived.”
“Of course. In any case, I believe it is the best tool for moving the godsblood. This infusion chamber is constructed of it as well, and should serve to store the thing.”
He strode past her, toward the droplet.
“Sancaurion! Wait!”
“Hmm?” He turned, displaying an imperiously raised eyebrown.
“This thing is giving off intense magic, right?”
“Obviously.”
“Well, aren’t you a bit sensitive to that? Elves generally are, aren’t they?”
“Compared to less– to other peoples, yes. We are attuned to magic, and thus it has greater effect on us. Humans resist many spells, to some degree, as do your–”
“Then don’t you think I’d better go get the thing? Wouldn’t that make more sense?”
“Ah. Well. Yes, I suppose. If you like.”
If I like. As if I am merely fetching it. Not that I had a smarter idea than Sancaurion the Great. Of course not.
She snatched the box from his hand, and he pulled away. Glaring, he handed over the shard as well.
"Stubborn old vehkark," she muttered as she stomped over to the droplet. Weird waves of wrongness and power emanated from it.
Well, I hope this works.
She scooped up the little droplet with the shard of eldivic crystal. It appeared as a dark green opal, but was soft, and seemed to stick a little. She opened the box, and with eyes closed she snapped the lid shut.
Nothing disastrous happened. Well, he was right again.
The crawling sensation on her arms subsided quickly as she walked back to the old mage and handed him the box.
“Marvelous.” Sancaurion ogled the thing, his featureless white eyes somehow conveying his excited interest. “I shall place it in the upper library. Let us join the others now.”
“Fine.”
“We must discuss the future. What we hope to do. What may come. I am most interested to hear your views, Durash Arn. You have experience of the world that I sorely lack, and a practical mind.”
Ornery and patronizing half the time, then out he comes with something like that. And he means it, too.
Shaking her head, she dutifully followed the Torikarsh of legend inside for tea.
997 words. Opal, ornery ogle(d) used. Box opened, secret kept.
Feedback welcome.
Chapter Index
r/DivaythStories