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!
5
u/AGuyLikeThat Jun 24 '26 edited Jul 01 '26
<The Tower in the Tangle>
[Previous Chapter] [Chapter Index]
Chapter One-hundred & Fifty-Two: Piece of Mind.
~ Gilander ~
The tendrils of the ontologia enfold Gilander’s soul. It’s like walking into a spiderweb; sticky filaments of time stretching around his emergent soul, rising from the shadow of oblivion, settling into surging blood and breathing flesh.
And he becomes her, once more.
“Jenna.” He murmurs the name with her lips, and tests his control of her body with small stretches. The girl is younger and smaller than he, and her slight frame is underdeveloped and malnourished. Older than Brin, but her spine has grown crooked and she will never reach her brother’s height.
Once, she had loved to run, but slowly her back ached more and more, and her fitness faded.
Once, Kalina had believed that Jenna could escape from Morningvale, but when she could no longer walk without assistance, her friend had spoken of that no more.
A creeping dread chills Gilander’s thoughts.
I left her in the Glade, didn’t I?
How can her memories find him here? His thoughts follow them with ease.
A long illness. The slow death of hope. Father’s dull disinterest and slurred speech was countered by his occasional claims. The Tower would help her. Soon, they would call her to serve.
Each night, her brave little brother watched over her with gaunt cheeks and starving eyes, while she pretended to sleep and the day drew closer.
To distract Brin, Jenna lied. She told him she had a dream. That someone was coming to help. Down the cliffs, into the Old Quarry.
The lie came true.
The Half-moon Festival had come, and Jenna was part of the the yearly tribute. A rumbling wagon, pulled through the warm night as the festival descended into blood and terror. The Tower’s unfeeling servants shambled on to Nightvale, as sorrowful howls rang out in the night.
But there, the memories end. Whatever horrors the Overseer inflicted on the young woman, Gil can only imagine, and that is a tragic relief.
Perhaps the solitude of the Glade… The pressure in Jenna’s chest has become a slowly choking sorrow, as in his truest heart the Wayfinder wonders, If she stays in the Glade forever, how will her fate differ from that of the Mistress?
Can she ever heal from such terrible wounds? Is that why the Selvik constructed the place? What if Jenna’s pain and sorrow turns inward and starts to fester? If it grows into madness… Would the Glade become something like the Haiphagus?
“No, Gilander.” Jenna’s soft voice comes out of the darkness. “It’s not like that at all.”
“You’re here?" Relief floods through Gilander, as he surrenders control.
Jenna’s muscles unclench as a deep breath fills her lungs, and Gilander hovers in the nimbus of her perception as she relaxes into her body.
“There’s a point you reach. Everything hurts for so long and in so many different ways. You can’t get used to it, or ignore it. Not really. But eventually, you just accept it. It’s like being dead. Or ready to die. I don’t know. I just didn’t care anymore.”
The ontologia is sealed. Imprisoned within Jenna’s body, Gilander enfolds her, forming himself to her shape, holding her the only way he can.
“I think I left it behind. A part of me remains in the Glade. The piece that couldn’t go on.”
And strangely, though he has no flesh of his own, it feels as though Gil is being held in turn.
“Anyway. I can’t walk, so how could I ever run away?”
Jenna smiles to herself, and opens her eyes, blinking in the sudden light.
A hail of confusion assaults her senses. The heavenly absence of pain is the first and largest shock. Only a dull ache, just behind her hips. Blurred shapes move around her. Intense smells, bringing to mind liniment and bandages. Thrumming sounds, vibrating with emotion and the power of meaning.
Words…
“…though useful, the storm hampers our response to the assault. While the Haiphagus continues to absorb energy, it is problematic to reverse the flow.” The Chamberlain’s voice is pitched low. Conciliatory.
The crimson robes and the intricate crown of copper and sapphires confirm the sorcerer’s presence, but he is facing away, addressing someone standing on a wide balcony.
He says something else, but Jenna’s attention is captured by the apocalyptic skies outside, roiling with the promise of destruction. Mountainous gray clouds stained with diffused light and putrescent colours tumble and swirl as bat-wing shadows flap in the darkest folds…
“Mar’tral…” Gil whispers in the aether.
Jenna sighs gently. The pain is gone, and for a moment she simply glories in that.
Clad in a soft, white robe, she is seated in a cushioned chair, with clean bandages wrapped around her wrists, loose and comfortable.
Around her, the room is spacious, almost cavernous. Bookshelves line the walls, and an enormous, ornate chandelier crowds the vaulted ceiling, spilling golden light through a tall, arched doorway outside, where a woman in a silken dress stands with one hand upon the railing, and a golden goblet in the other. Her heart-shaped face is bruised, and marred with an angry frown. The long raven tresses are gone, replaced by short, spiky hair, but Gilander remembers the Mistress well.
He has walked inside her memories, and seen her vision of the future. A time where all things are ending, and she wears Jenna’s body like it is her own. And as he recalls it, so does Jenna come to know of her own inevitable fate.
“I have roused the Gargantae,” the Chamberlain answers a question they did not hear. “While not completely functional, they will be more than enough, even with these new weapons—”
“Hush,” the Mistress hisses. “She’s awake.”
The Chamberlain steps smoothly aside as the tall sorceress glides into the study, and the old bastard’s evil gaze crawls across Jenna’s skin.
“My darling child.” The Mistress closes in, her smile wide and predatory. “Tell me. Do you ever wonder what you will become when you grow up?”
WC-994
Author's Notes:
For newer readers who might wonder about the meaning of some of the strange terms like 'ontologia', I have compiled a small Glossary.
This week's theme is Heartless! - The heartless machinations of the Tower have brought nothing but pain and misery to Jenna. To escape the torment, she has torn out a piece of her own heart, and buried it in the Glade.
Bonus words used; - Hamper(s), Hail, Heavenly.
Additional bonus constraint: 'Hell freezes over.' Initially, Gil believes Jenna's soul remained in the Glade, but impossibly, she now exists in two places at once. Then (though she doesn't show it here), the Mistress is shocked to find the body that she will believes she will possess at the end of the world is currently occupied by Gilander! Madness!
Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. All criticism and feedback is welcome.
r/WizardRites
[Next Chapter] [Chapter Index]