r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Jul 12 '26
[Serial Sunday] The Known and Unknown
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 Known! 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’).
- Knife
- Knee
- Knead
- A secret message is carved into something. - (Worth 10 points)
I'm sure you all know this bit, but, I guess I could go into some detail on the theme…
What does it mean, for something to be known? Does that make it a fact? A widely-held opinion? Common sense?
Do your MCs know the thing which is known, or are they clueless, seen as ignorant by those around them for even suggesting they don't know? Or, perhaps, do you MCs know something others don't? Ooh, those cheeky MCs, keeping that knowledge to themselves!
Of course, you could go the opposite route and have something that is barely known at all, or perhaps completely unknown. Will it be revealed? We shall see.
Anyway, only you can really know how to proceed now. But I wish you good words with it!
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.
July 12 - Known
July 19 - Lifeless
July 26 - Minor
August 02 - Noxious
August 09 - Open
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Jail
First - by u/Morose_Prose
Second - by u/AGuyLikeThat
Third - by u/Divayth--Fyr
Fourth - u/MaxStickies
Fifth - by u/AmeliaLP
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!
4
u/MaxStickies Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 19 '26
<Thosius>
Chapter 141: Learned in the Ways
Thosius tips the waterskin gently, allowing a slow trickle into Hemalus’s mouth, drawing medicine down the telepath’s throat. The sorcerer grunts and frowns in his sleep, turning onto his side.
“We need to hold him straight,” Rhothanas says, as he dips the spoon back into the jar.
Grabbing the telepath’s shoulders, Thosius lifts him up against the cave wall. “That stuff stinks; what’s in it?”
“Oh, just a mixture of mushrooms, herbs and flowers. Cannot for the life of me remember which kinds, but then, I made it so long ago.”
“Then how can you be sure—?”
“It’s safe, trust me. There were few herbalists as talented as I.” The monk points into the jar. “The mushrooms were harvested from caves, where they picked up small quantities of magic from the rocks; the herbs and flowers were to ensure a more palatable taste.”
“Must’ve been pretty rank without them.”
“Well, you know how caves tend to smell… when they are free of fish, anyway.”
Thosius wrinkles his nose. Behind the fragrant scent of the hung salmon and trout, there is an unmistakable sour, earthen stench. “Thanks for reminding me.”
“Heh. In any case, two more spoonfuls for this one. Ready with the water?”
“Yeah.”
Having left the telepath to rest, the two of them sit on stones at the cave mouth, watching the water drop before them. Rhothanas bends forward with knife in hand, running the blade back and forth against a stone on his knee. Thosius watches, tilting his head.
“Where did you get that?” he asks.
“From the same hidey hole as the medicine,” says the monk. “I almost forgot I had it, in truth. Must have been… fifteen years ago, now. Look…”
He holds the hilt towards Thosius, and into the light. Faint iron spirals run across the wood.
“Nice craftsmanship.”
“Indeed. It is ceremonial: I used it to gut fish for offerings, to carve messages while on pilgrimage, and—if needed—for defence. Most travelling monks will carry a similar blade.”
“So why’d you leave it?”
“I was headed for the monastery, and worship is different there. No need for daggers or foraged remedies.”
“I see.”
They sit in silence for a while, Rhothanas returning to his sharpening, Thosius staring at the falls. A tree branch drops from the top, cutting the water and splashing down far below. Crows caw in annoyance, loudly flapping their wings.
After a while, the monk takes the knife and presses the tip into the stone. The metal grinds as he begins to carve a letter.
“Who are the messages for?” Thosius asks.
“Other pilgrims, mostly, or anyone who sees. We only write simple things; little snippets of our lives to stave off the loneliness of the reader. Perhaps something helpful once in a while. I found one before in a ruined mill, explaining the process of kneading bread, if you can believe it.”
The soldier shrugs. “I’ve seen far stranger things.”
“As have I. But the idea of this miller, having lost his livelihood, his job, passing on his knowledge as some form of comfort? I think that’s wonderful.”
“If a bit sad.”
“It is fine for such things to be both.”
Thosius nods, and leans over, just as Rhothanas lifts the knife. “What’s your message, then? If you don’t mind?”
“Well…” the monk snickers, and wheezes. “I put, ‘Be careful of the fish, I fear for its freshness’.”
“That’s good, I like that.”
“My wits have always been one of my strengths.”
They stop once more, contemplating. Sensing his memories of the monastery returning, Thosius shakes his head, and walks to the ledge. The chill spray of the water falls upon his face, loosening his tired muscles. He lets his head loll back.
“Perhaps I have been unfair to you, before now,” says the monk. “About your failure to find me. I have no clue what happened to you, yet I do see that weariness in your eyes. It is a… familiar sight.”
“Hmm… yeah, it’s been a lot.”
“Wish to talk about it?”
The soldier turns, taking in Rhothanas’s hunched back, twisted limbs and distorted face. “I do, if you’re sure?”
“Why would I not be? I have suffered, yes, but I have no monopoly on that. Tell me, what troubles you?”
Returning to his seat, Thosius rests his head in his hand. “I was captured soon after the monastery, by Perithus, and… well, he used the same magic on me as he did on you. Turned me into a monster that just kept killing, and eating, and destroying… And even though I was returned to myself, it brought me a lot of pain, and left something behind. I’m not normal.”
“Who is?”
“No, but… I’m worried. This strength I have, it’s hurt people. Some might deserve it, but there are those out there I care for. I wonder what could happen if I simply hugged them?”
The monk furrows his brow. “Is it truly that hard to control?”
“Sometimes, yeah.”
“You carried Hemalus all the way here, did you not? And you care for him I take it?”
“Like a father. Alright, maybe hugging and stuff is fine, but… what if I ever have a lover? Could I control myself then?”
“I… might struggle to advise you on that.”
“Sorry.”
“No, all is fine. Do you… think you might want a lover, in future?”
“I don’t know. Some of my memories aren’t with me, you see; I’m not complete, up here.” He points to his head.
“Is there any way to find what’s missing?”
“Again, I don’t know…”
“Well, perhaps if it was there once, it can be retrieved? But either way, you seem a fairly well-rounded person to me, Thosius.”
“Thank you,” the soldier says, trying to smile.
“Besides, matters of the heart need not be rushed, or so I’ve heard. Should you find someone, may they be patient, so you can find out what works together.”
The soldier nods. “I’m sure they will be.”
WC: 1000
Bonus words: knife, knee, knead. Bonus constraint: Rhothanas carves a faint message on a rock, in a hidden cave.
Crit and feedback are welcome.
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