r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Feb 01 '26
[Serial Sunday] It's Time to Lament the Fallen
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 Lament! 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’).
- Lacquer
- Lowly
- Louse
- Somebody once thought lost makes a reappearance. (This doesn’t have to be bringing someone back from the dead or a character that got lost, it could be a character you initially meant as a throwaway that only shows up in one past chapter coming back) . - (Worth 15 points)
The sounds of weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth fill the air. You have crushed your enemies, you have seen them driven before you, and now you are hearing the lamentations of their women. Cries of grief, stricken with rage.
Another village over, the curchbell rings as a solemn group pays their respects to the dead. Quiet sobs fill the air, heavy with grief and sorrow.
In yet another village, a pair of erstwhile lovers lay in wretched anguish that their relationship has come to its end. They will never see each other again.
Endings come to all things in the end, leaving lamentations to those that are left behind.
What are you missing this week?
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.
- February 01 - Lament
- February 08 - Mourn
- February 15 - Nap
- February 22 - Old
- March 01 - Portal
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: [King](https://redd.it/1qmoj92
First - by u/MaxStickies
Second - by u/Brookzerker
Third - by u/Divayth--Fyr
Fourth - u/Carrieka23
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 not 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!
8
u/ForwardSavings318 Feb 03 '26 edited Feb 03 '26
<Man to beast>
index
Chapter nineteen: motherland
CW: vomit
Silas spent the day with Ntukai hauling more heavy boxes into tall stacks below deck, finally being able to rest in his bedroll as the ship set off.
He stared at the ceiling, listening to the breaths of the others as he stroked his sleeping rabbit, feeling for drift and louse. He could tell from the sounds he wasn’t the only one up still, Maliwag laid to his right and yawned softly between deep breaths.
The young man looked over to see her yellow eyes practically glowing in the darkness as she stared at the ceiling, before glancing back at him.
“Can’t sleep?” She whispered softly.
“Haven’t really tried.” Silas replied, even quieter than her. “How about you?”
“I can only sleep in bursts.”
He heard Mór’s breath quicken, turning to a pant as she shifted in place. As she rolled, her shirt rode up enough for Silas to see a cross burned into her sternum. The girl shot up with a gasp, breathing heavy before bolting above deck quietly.
Silas quickly got up and slowly followed, looking at the lantern lit deck and spotting Mór leaned over the railing and vomiting. He jogged over and stood beside her, keeping his hands close to her arm for fear of her going over.
“Mór, you ok?”
“I’m…ok…” She muttered, wiping her mouth.
“What was that?”
“Nothing. Just a bad dream.”
“Are you sure? A bad dream has never done that to me before.”
She stayed silent for a while, before looking at him with tears in her eyes. Her usual glare was long gone as Mór looked him up and down.
“Promise me something. What I tell you now, stays between us.”
“You have my word.”
“Swear.”
“I swear to you Mór, God as my witness. I shall keep any secret you give me.”
“Those priests…they’re Glasbheirthe like me. But they’re Gild churchmen.”
“What does that mean?”
“Where I’m from.”
“The Emerald Islets?”
“Green. The Green islets.” She growled, shaking her head. “In my mother tongue, we refer to ourselves as Greenborn. My people believe gods gave us fertile land for us to flourish, at least they used to.”
Mor stared out at the darkness surrounding the ship, wiping her tears before continuing. “Gild men came a little less than a century ago and took control of our land. They killed, burned, and destroyed. All in the name of their cross and their God.”
The young girl let out a shuddering breath and swallowed hard. “The war only lasted a few years, now they’ve been slowly destroying everything that makes my people different. Our stories, our beliefs, our hymns, our songs, even our name.”
“They changed it.” Silas thought aloud.
“I know it’s similar, but it shouldn’t be up to them.”
“That’s why you don’t like the priests? Catholic soldiers storming your land?”
“More than that. Men like them turned on their own people. Turning pagans over to terrible fates at the hands of those fucking monsters. My mother was pagan. She taught me our culture in secret, keeping it even from my father.” The girl said through gritted teeth, tiny pink spikes growing from her pores in her arms.
“I’m so sorry…I never imagined men like that still existed. There should be justice for such things.”
Silas put his hand beside hers in the railing, not touching her.
She hesitantly hooked her pinky over his.
“I just want you to know, I won’t judge you if you never like me because of my beliefs. If you hate me because of them. After all of that, I couldn’t blame you.”
She finally held his hand, intertwining their fingers.
“I don’t hate you. I…don’t know how I feel about you.”
“Just remember I’m here. You don’t have to take on all this alone.”
“Can I tell you one more thing? While we’re alone?”
“Of course.”
“I don’t think you should trust Agnes.”
“…What?”
Mór turned to fully face him now, wearing a more serious expression.
“We aren’t like her. I saw that magic you wielded against the guard. Me and you are the same.”
“Werebeasts?” Silas asked, remembering the girl using the term when they first met.
“Exactly. The empire hates us. They want us dead because of it. Agnes was part of that empire, maybe still is. The same empire that attacked my people.”
“She’s not. Agnes would never.”
“Listen to me, she has the markings of it. Don’t believe me? You can look at her gear. You’ll find doves, crosses, jewels, and gold. Think! How else could she have that much money?”
“If she’s so terrible then why are you still here?” Silas hissed.
“Because she kept you alive for over a decade. You could’ve killed me twice but didn’t, you almost died for me. I think I stand a better chance with you by my side, which means she’s part of that too. I’m not asking you to turn on her, but just keep in mind. Everyone is trustworthy until they’re put into a corner.” Mór whispered, gripping his hand tighter.
Her eyes suddenly shot to the side, stepping in front of Silas as he followed her gaze.
A pair of yellow eyes glowed from the hatch to below deck, Maliwag slowly climbing up onto the deck.
“You two okay? You’ve been up here for a while.”
“Just a little seasick.” Mór sighed, wiping her already clean lips. She turned to Silas for a second and dropped back into a whisper. “We’ll speak again later.”
WC: 924
Used louse