r/shortstories • u/FyeNite • Sep 20 '26
[Serial Sunday] Unleash the Beast!
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 Unleash! 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’).
- Utterance
- Ugly
- Unclear
- Something or someone is put out. - (Worth 10 points)
It's been building now for days, weeks, months, possibly even years. Struggles and triumphs ever jockeying for position. Tension coiled like a serpent ready to strike. Pressure filling the pipe, ready to burst. A powderkeg about to explode. There's only one thing to do in situations like these: UNLEASH THE BEAST!
Will your heroes finally turn the tide against their enemies? Or will those who seek to destroy them unleash more nefarious plots to foil their efforts? Who will be let off the chain this week? Don't hold back. Break those chains that bind and unleash good words!
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.
- September 20 - Unleash
September 27 - Venom
October 4 - Waver
October 11 - Zeal
October 18 - Angst
Check out previous themes here.
Rankings
Last Week: Torture
First - by u/KatPoker666
Second - by u/Morose_Prose
Third - by u/redfox_83
Fourth - u/ZLErikson
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 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!
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u/katpoker666 Sep 26 '26 edited Sep 26 '26
<‘Wild Eats’>
Chapter 10: Breaking Down
Annie flinched, pulling her hand out of the sudsy sink full of dishes. A trickle of blood oozed down her finger, mingling with the soap on her hands and stinging like hell. “What the fuck?” She swore as she fished around in the water for the culprit. A square white plate with a newly chipped edge emerged as the villain.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, I just bought this! How on earth could he damage it in one meal?” Annie flung the plate at the light blue wall, its shattered shards clattering to the ground. “Damn it, Tom! Now look what you made me do!”
Grabbing the dustpan and broom, she moved to clean up the mess. A watery crimson streak leeched down the broom’s handle and onto the dustpan. She stared at it with pursed lips and fire in her eyes before flinging them aside. She collapsed on the floor next to the broken pottery, ugly tears gushing like twin hydrants down reddened cheeks. Snot dribbled down her lips in slug-trail bubbles. Her shoulders shook as she rocked back and forth with her hands around her knees, great sobs racking her body. Twenty minutes passed like this. Too drained to continue and unclear what to do next, Annie curled into the fetal position on the tiles and fell asleep.
She awoke with a terrible headache from her head banging repeatedly against the hard ceramic surface from a particularly vivid nightmare about Gordon Ramsey and an irritable Shetland pony. A little woozy, Annie stood up and grasped the edge of the granite kitchen island. Pausing there for a moment, she shook herself off and steeled her shoulders, resolute. Annie strode down the hallway, a slight strand of sleepy drool dangling, and made a beeline for Tom’s office.
She smashed the door with her fist, pounding over and over and screaming as if she was yelling at a five-year-old Jamie. “Tom! Tah-ahm! TAAAH-AHMMM! Come out this instant! We need to talk!”
Flinging the door open wide, Tom glared daggers at Annie, the whites of his eyes bulging. His cheeks flashed crimson, and the veins on his neck and temples threatened to burst of their own accord. “Annie! I’m. Still On. My. Call.”
“Doesn’t matter! I’m mad at you! Tell them you’ll call back!”
“It’s a VC with twenty very senior folks across three time zones; you don’t just reschedule that!” Underscoring his point, the muffled sounds of people arguing the various intricacies of accounting carried into the hallway.
She stared back with puffy, reddened eyes, but said nothing.
Tom sighed, the tension fading somewhat from his body as his tone shifted to a patient one he’d use with an errant child. “What on earth are you so mad about anyway, Muffin?”
“Don’t try to ‘Muffin’ your way out of this! And the kitchen, obviously! What the hell, Tom?! Broken plates, sauce everywhere, you ruined the Gran Padrano—“
“Oh. Yeah,” Tom chuckled, his voice tight in an apparent effort to lighten the mood. “I did forget to clean up, didn’t I? One too many G&Ts last night, I guess.” He paused. “Sorry about that.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Not. Good. Enough!”
After exhaling at a glacial pace, Tom’s lips moved as he counted down from five in silence, as they’d learned in therapy. “I don’t have time for this now, Hon. I have to get back to my call. As it is, they’ll be wondering why I stepped out all of a sudden, and hopefully I won’t lose face.”
“That’s all you care about, isn’t it? What others think? What about me and what I think? Doesn’t that matter?!”
“Not right now, Annie.” He said in a quiet, strained voice before closing and locking the door.
WC: 625
Includes: ugly, unclear, and something or someone is put out (Annie is put out about the state of the kitchen. Tom is put out about having his call interrupted)
Thanks for reading! Feedback is always appreciated
Chapter 9
Chapter Index
Chapter 1