Weird Wednesday: Urban Legends

[sherlockian-syn.livejournal.com]

Hello, everyone! I’m sherlockian_syn and this week is full of spooky themes! Today's theme is urban legends. Prompts can be related to scary stories told around the campfire (or a flashlight) that are meant to unsettle you. Is it some kind of curse? Will something (or someone) appear at a certain time on a certain day in a certain place? Go wild!

Just a few rules:
No more than five prompts in a row.
No more than three prompts in the same fandom.
Use the character's full names and fandom's full name for ease adding to the Lonely Prompts spreadsheet.
No spoilers in prompts for a month after airing, or use the spoiler cut option found here.
If your fill contains spoilers, warn and leave plenty of space, or use the above mentioned spoiler cut.

Prompts should be formatted as follows: [Use the character's full names and fandom's full name]
Fandom, Character +/ Character, Prompt

Some examples to get the ball rolling...
+ Astro, any, someone mentions a curse in passing and it puts everyone on edge
+ Stargate Atlantis, any, discussing how Atlantis was once only a legend
+ Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes (+/ any), Legend of Sleepy Hollow AU

We are now using AO3 to bookmark filled prompts. If you fill a prompt and post it to AO3 please add it to the Bite Sized Bits of Fic from 2020 collection. See further notes on this new option here.

Not feeling any of today’s prompts? Check out the just created Lonely Prompts Spreadsheet. For more recent prompts to write, you can also use LJ’s advanced search options to limit keyword results to only comments in this community.

While the Lonely Prompts Spreadsheet and LJ's advanced search options are available, bookmarking the links of prompts you like might work better for searching for in the future.


tag=urban legends

Comments

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Stargate Atlantis, Any, one of the puddlejumpers gets a reputation for having a phantom stowaway that only appears at certain times

Fill: Lorne + other pilots

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

“I swear I’ve seen it,” Toriel said.

“Not it,” Dorsey said primly. “Her. You have to be respectful of Miss Daisy.”

“Oh, she has a name now?” Teldy rolled her eyes.

“Who are we talking about?” Evan plopped down at the table and dug into his pasta.

“The ‘ghost’ who haunts Snowball.”

“Puddlejumper Seven?” Evan raised his eyebrows.

“You’ve seen her too, haven’t you?” Dorsey said.

“Not yet.” Evan shrugged one shoulder.

“Because he hasn’t flown her on a full moon,” Toriel said. “She only comes out on full moons.”

“Good thing New Lantea has five of them,” Evan said. “This ghost is named Miss Daisy?”

“Driving Miss Daisy,” Teldy drawled.

“Is she a human ghost?” Evan asked.

“Well, yeah, but we think she’s an Ancient, based on her clothes. She’s definitely not a Tau’ri,” Dorsey said. Tau’ri. He’d been with the Stargate Program at least as long as Evan.

“Is she scary?” Evan asked.

“No. She just...rides along. As long as you’re respectful and leave her seat empty and don’t let anyone sit on her or put supplies on her, your ride will be smooth,” Dorsey said.

Evan glanced at Toriel. He’d had a rough landing on his most recent ride, had to make a water landing and have some other jumpers tow him into the jumper bay.

“I’ll remember that,” Evan said.

Teldy said, “It’s all superstition, sir.”

Pilots, Evan knew, could be a very superstitious bunch. Perhaps only sailors were more superstitious.

“Says the person who always brings a canister of salt on her full moon flights,” Dorsey said.

“Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his cakehole,” Teldy said airily, and sipped some of her coffee.

Evan made a mental note. The next time he was scheduled to fly Puddlejumper Seven, he checked with the astronomers to see what the lunar cycle was, and he swung by the kitchen for a canister of salt.

And when Miss Daisy appeared, he ordered everyone to leave her seat clear.

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Any, Any, an encounter with two people who may or may not have been Men in Black

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Prodigal Son, Any, finding out during a case that the alligator in the sewer legend is unfortunately true

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Astro, ensemble, sharing a creepy story about their dorms

Fill: Dongmin + Bin, gen

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

“Haven’t you heard?” Bin asked.

Dongmin blinked. “Heard what?”

“About the ghost who haunts our dorm building.”

Dongmin cast him a sidelong glance. “There’s no such thing as ghosts.”

“I know,” Bin said. “But you’ll hear things around the building sometimes. And things will go missing. Or get moved. I just want you to be prepared.” Bin hitched his backpack higher on his shoulders and picked up the pace.

They were headed from the school to the bus stop to catch the bus to the company building for training.

“You mean the other boys will be stealing and borrowing things without permission,” Dongmin said flatly.

Bin shook his head. “Jinwoo-hyung wouldn’t allow it. Just keep an eye out. It’s an old building. Things have happened. And if you see a girl in a long white dress, with short black hair, don’t look her in the eyes.”

“Short black hair?” Dongmin snorted. “Virgin ghosts have long black hair.”

“What makes you think she’s a virgin ghost?” Bin cast him a look. “They tell us not to date for a reason.”

“Whatever.” Dongmin knew Bin was one of the senior-most trainees at the company.

Dongmin had seen Bin in action, Bin with his best friend Minhyuk, the second-most senior trainee. They were amazing dancers and singers and rappers; why they hadn’t debuted as a duo already was a mystery to everyone. Bin was probably messing with him. Bin was so popular at school. Dongmin had heard how some other boys at school, idol trainees and actors, were jealous now that Dongmin was there. Was Bin jealous too?

But Bin and Minhyuk helped Dongmin learn the choreography in dance practice that day, and Jinwoo shared some of his food with Dongmin on their dinner break.

And that night, Dongmin heard a strange noise, like shuffling footsteps, while he was lying in his bunk.

The next morning, while he was kneeling in the foyer tying his shoelaces, he thought he glimpsed a swirl of white skirts out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned to look, no one was there.

Some of his pens went missing off the kitchen table when he was trying to his homework two days later.

Minhyuk got annoyed when some of his banana milk went missing, but as it turned out, Sanha had drunk some; that was nothing supernatural.

And then one night, when Dongmin was awake long after the others had fallen asleep, he reached for one of his notebooks, and someone pushed it closer to him.

He said, “Thank you,” and looked up.

The girl with the short back hair smiled at him.

He couldn’t even scream.

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

MI5|Spooks, Any, their lead suspect is a man with a hook for a hand

Fill: Drabble

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

Lucas adjusted his binoculars as he watched the suspect the rest of Section D had dubbed ‘Captain Hook’. He barely registered the footsteps coming up behind him, knowing Tariq was bringing up the photographic equipment.

Suddenly a voice in his ear said, “Tick tock. Tick tock.”

Lucas leapt in the air and stifled a yell, before swearing at Tariq.

Tariq laughed and said, “Oh, by the way, Tinker Bell’s on her way.”

“And who exactly is Tinker Bell?” Ros asked, joining them. When neither replied, she said, “You may be the Lost Boys, but I am most certainly the crocodile!”

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

MI-5|Spooks, any, on a chase through the sewers allegedly infested by alligators

Fill:

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

“This is gross,” Jo said, wrinkling her nose. She, Lucas, and Tariq were wading along the sewer, after their fleeing mark.

“You know there are supposed to be alligators in here, too,” Tariq replied.

Jo squealed. “Where?”

“There aren’t any,” Lucas answered. “It’s just an urban myth.”

“Can you be so sure?” Tariq said. “They would say that to stop people worrying.”

Lucas snorted and they continued along, until Jo pointed, “What’s that?”

It was a corpse, face down in the sewer, with what appeared to be a massive bite in its leg.

“Still think it’s an urban myth?” Tariq asked.

Lucas peered at the leg. “Yep. That looks like the effect of a gin trap. Poor sod got trapped, shot, and the body dumped here. Which means this is all rather more complicated than we thought. We’d better find the quickest way out and let Ros know. After all,” he grinned, “we don’t know what we might be getting ourselves into if we go any further.”

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

Any, any, if you watch this video, you will die in seven days...

Minifill, Dark humour

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

"Oh, come on! It's day nine and I don't even have the sniffles! Twenty Twenty can't even do murder videos right!"

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

Hawaii Five-0, any, if you say her name she'll appear in the mirror behind you (feel free to change up the pronouns as needed)

Fill 1/3: Steve + Danny + Kono + Chin + OC (Paranormal Task Force AU)

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

“That’s an urban legend,” Kono said, booted feet propped up on the chair next to hers. “Like the Hookman, or Bigfoot.”

Danny stopped his pacing so he could properly glare at her. “You tell that to my terrified daughter.”

Kono held her hands up. “I didn’t say she was lying. Maybe one of the other kids was just playing a trick on her.”

“I saw it too,” Bethany said. She was sitting at the far end of the conference table, looking unusually subdued. “It really happened.”

“Most urban legends are rooted in a factual event,” Chin said. “It just gets altered and distorted with time and retellings. Like that old telephone game. Everyone adds an embellishment.”

Danny was still getting used to a wider world of supernatural phenomenon, and up till now that world hadn’t touched Grace at all. At least not that he was aware of. Wasn’t it enough to have to worry about pedophiles and axe murderers without having to throw in magic and possibly werewolves and the boogeyman?

“So how do we do this?” Steve asked, all business as usual. “We need to keep the encounter as controlled as possible.”

Chin consulted his laptop. “We’ll need candles. No electric light.”

“There’s a whole box in the storage room,” Kono said.

Danny’s used bookstore being their hub of operations also meant that half of his store room was dedicated to Chin’s electronic thingies and things they might need for an investigation, like salt and flashlights and fire starters and some magical potions.

“We’ll need a good-sized mirror,” Danny said. “Unless we all want to cram into the bathroom and use the little one over the sink.”

Kono laughed. “Pass. My auntie has an old mirror she’s been trying to get rid of. I’ll bring it over tonight.”

She and Chin left together, and Danny wandered back up to the front of the store. It was still two hours till closing, but he didn’t anticipate anyone coming in. Jerry had already been by that week, trolling for conspiracy theory titles, and it was Saturday. People had better things to do than look at old books.

“Is Gracie okay?” Steve asked, trailing after Danny and then leaning against the counter with his arms crossed.

“She had to sleep with the light on last night,” Danny said with a sigh. “It’ll probably take her a few days to get over feeling scared.”

He wanted to throttle whatever wise-ass kid thought it would be fun to invoke an unhappy spirit in his daughter’s presence. Grace had gone to a birthday party for one of her friends, a sleepover, and where the hell had that girl’s parents been? Danny supposed he should be glad they hadn’t busted out a Ouija board.

Steve lowered his voice. “What was Bethany doing there?”

“Bored,” Danny replied.

That was only part of it. Bethany went through moody periods, missing her family and missing her life, so sometimes she’d tag along with Grace even though Grace didn’t know about her.

“Did she try talking to the girl?” Steve asked.

“You could just ask me, you know,” Bethany replied crossly. She appeared on top of the counter, legs dangling. “And no, I didn’t. She was scary.”

“But you –” Steve started to say, but Danny make a slashing gesture at him. “I mean, you’re Five-0. We don’t get scared by that stuff.”

Danny snorted. “Speak for yourself, thank you very much. I find this stuff terrifying.”

Bethany’s lips twitched up, almost a grin.

“Come on. Let’s go to Steve’s place. He can cook dinner.”

Steve made the expected complaints about that, but Danny could tell he was secretly pleased that Danny had invited himself over.

“Cool. I can sit by the beach.”

They closed up the bookstore together, and Danny couldn’t help thinking how much they felt like a little family. Two dads and a ghost daughter. It sounded like a really bad sitcom.

*o*o*o*

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

Marvel Cinematic Universe, Peter Parker, rumors that part of his high school is haunted

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

BBC Robin Hood, any, rumors of ghostly highwaymen

Fill:

[thesmallhobbit.livejournal.com]

“Gisborne, I don’t care what the rumours are,” the Sheriff said, “you are going out tonight.”

“But sire,” Gisborne pleaded.

“Afraid of a little ghost? Oh no, you’re not using that as an excuse to stay by the fire tonight. It’s just a rumour put about by Hood to stop us catching him.”

***
“What’s this I’ve been hearing about ghostly highwaymen?” Much asked.

“Clearly it’s the sheriff’s plan to stop us going out tonight,” Alan said.

“Well, I don’t like it,” Much replied.

“You stay in the camp then, Much,” Robin said. “We’ll go by ourselves.”

***
A few hours later Guy crept into the outlaw’s camp.

Much heard him and said, “It’s okay. I’m the only one here. The others have gone out to bravely confront the ghostly highwaymen.”

“Yes,” Guy replied. “The sheriff told me to go and catch them too.”

“I wonder where the rumour started from,” Much said with a grin.

“Very odd, isn’t it?” Guy would have grinned, but he was too busy kissing Much.

[sherlockian-syn.livejournal.com]

Astro, any, someone mentions a curse in passing and it puts everyone on edge

Fill: gen

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

“You know what they say,” Manager said, dropping a coin in the fountain as they passed the statue of the turtle in the main lobby.

“What do they say?” Myungjun asked.

“If you don’t pay your respects to the long-life turtle, you’ll lose your voice before a big show,” Manager said.

Myungjun blinked. He paused, fished in his pocket for a coin, dropped it into the fountain.

Back at the dorm, he asked the other trainees about the long-life turtle.

“It’s just a silly superstition,” Minhyuk said.

“But he always puts a coin in,” Bin said, shoving at Minhyuk’s shoulder.

Minhyuk scowled at him and sulked for the rest of the night.

Myungjun watched the rest of the trainees for a while, and he noticed that whenever they headed out for a performance, every single one of them put a coin in the fountain, even Minhyuk, so he put a coin in too, because he was the newest trainee, and he wanted to make friends, fit in.

And then one day they were headed to a performance, and Minhyuk didn’t have a coin. He paused, patted himself down. The others paused, but Manager shouted for them to hurry, Minhyuk shrugged and they all dashed to the van.

In the middle of the performance that night, Minhyuk’s microphone cut out. He didn’t panic, because he was a seasoned performer even at seventeen years old, and Bin, his best friend and an even more experienced performer, picked up his rap part without missing a beat, but afterwards Minhyuk curled up in a corner backstage, trembling.

“Are you all right?” Myungjun asked.

“It was because I didn’t have a coin for the turtle,” Minhyuk said.

Myungjun put an arm around his shoulders. “It wasn’t that bad. You kept your cool. Bin helped out. You were a pro.”

“What if something goes worse next time?”

“You did your best,” Myungjun said soothingly.

They managed to get through the rest of the performance smoothly, but after that, Minhyuk always made sure he had no coins, no matter what.

One day, on his way to a small solo performance for a wedding for one of the company’s executives, Myungjun flipped a coin into the fountain - and saw the stone turtle lean up and catch it.

[sherlockian-syn.livejournal.com]

Stargate Atlantis, any, discussing how Atlantis was once only a legend

[sherlockian-syn.livejournal.com]

Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes (+/ any), Legend of Sleepy Hollow AU

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Any, Any, the call is coming from inside the house

Fill -- Trixie Belden mysteries

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27019993

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Miss Fisher's Mysteries, Phyrne Fisher, Jack Robinson + any, one of Phyrne's friends has purchased a large 'cursed' opal pendant

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Prodigal Son, any, finding a killer who is using leather made of human skin to make things (clothing, books, lamp shades, whatever your inner Ed Gein desires)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Lucifer, Lucifer, Mazikeen + any, Maze gives him a book bound in human skin as a present

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Buffyverse any, cry baby bridge is actually a demon luring in people wanting to help a baby

Fill: Buffy, Scooby Gang + Giles

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

“Crybaby bridge,” Giles said.

The Scoobies nodded.

Giles pushed his glasses further up his nose. “I’ve heard...rumors. From other students. Unusual weeping noises at night, like crying babies. I was hoping you would explore and suss out any potentially supernatural causes and, should you discover any, eliminate them.”

“Right on, Sherlock.” Xander offered him a sloppy salute.

“Right away, Captain Giles.” Willow’s salute was much neater.

Buffy just nodded and yawned. Had she been up all night snogging Angel again?

*

The next day, the entire Scooby gang shuffled into the library, yawning.

“Well?” Giles asked.

“There were baby crying noises,” Buffy said.

“So?” Giles asked.

“I did some research,” Willow said, “and we called Child Protective Services, because it sounded like a real baby, and -”

“And I don’t do diapers,” Xander said.

Willow looked quite distressed.

Giles considered. “Well, I suppose that is a rational course of action.” Eliminating the mundane explanations first was always a good idea.

Cordelia wandered into the library, buffing her nails. “Did you hear about that social worker they found on crybaby bridge with her heart ripped out?”

Giles cast Buffy a look over the top of his glasses.

Buffy groaned. “All right. Tonight. We’ll take care of it tonight.”

*

The next day, Xander had a black eye, Willow’s hair was shorter on one side, and Buffy wasn’t wearing any earrings. No accessories, Giles well knew, was a sign of a very rough night indeed.

“How bad was it?”

“A demon,” Buffy said.

“It did sound exactly like a baby crying before she stabbed it, though,” Willow said, and Xander nodded his agreement.

“I’ll make a note in my ledger,” Giles said, and that was that.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Prodigal Son, Edrisa + any, she's excited that their latest crime scene is in the 'haunted abandoned insane asylum.'

Fill: Edrisa + Malcolm + Dani (Monster Hunters 'verse)

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

“This is so exciting!” Edrisa exclaimed. “I’ve been dying to come here!”

“Inside voice,” Dani reminded her. “We’re being stealthy, remember?”

“Oh, right. Sorry.”

There was silence for almost a full sixty seconds. Dani was counting in her head.

“Dr. Kendall was employed here for almost forty years. He was really interested in the way the human brain works.”

“Experiments?” Dani asked Malcolm.

“Most likely,” Malcolm replied.

“Wonderful.”

Ferncliff Island Asylum was creepy enough without adding medical experiments into the mix. The massive building had been abandoned for almost seventy years. The glass in the barred windows was broken, the grounds were hopelessly overgrown, and the inside of the building was littered with organic debris, small animal corpses, and abandoned equipment.

“Did you know Dr. Kendall mastered the transorbital lobotomy at least ten years before Freeman? He was really innovative.”

“Is she hero-worshipping a crazy asylum doctor?” Dani asked Malcolm.

“She has eclectic interests,” Malcolm replied.

“Eclectic. Right.”

Ferncliff looked exactly like the type of place that would be crawling with ghosts, but that’s not why Dani and her team were there. Dani’s Watcher, Gil, was pretty sure something unnatural had moved in. They needed to figure out what that something was.

“Dr. Ballen was here before Kendall, and he was a real monster,” Edrisa said. Her flashlight beam moved erratically from ceiling to floor to wall. “Lots of surgeries without any pain medication or anesthesia, although to be fair, the use of anesthesia wasn’t used much at that time. Can you imagine having surgery while you were wide awake?”

“She’s going to give me nightmares,” Dani muttered. “And that’s really saying something.”

“Edrisa, what can you tell us about the building?” Malcolm asked.

Thus redirected, Edrisa filled them in on the history of Ferncliff, from the time it was built to the time it was abandoned. The stories got a little less gruesome and a lot sadder, but all things considered, Dani would take it.

They didn’t encounter any ghosts, despite Ferncliff being the perfect setting for a haunting. And they didn’t encounter anything else, either. No creature. Not even the hint of one.

It was possible Gil just wanted to get them out of the library for the day.

“You guys, this was the best day!” Edrisa enthused when they finally left Ferncliff.

Dani and Malcolm shared a grin, even though Dani was tired from slogging through the entirety of the abandoned asylum.

Maybe Edrisa’s enthusiasm wasn’t such a bad thing. Sometimes.

[hugglewolf.livejournal.com]

Kong: Skull Island, James Conrad - here the monsters everybody else believes are just fiction are actually real, but at least Kong is there too, and determined to protect his charges, which includes James, now, too.

[hugglewolf.livejournal.com]

James Bond (Daniel Craig verse); there really is a creature haunting the sewers beneath Whitehall; it’s not just a tale the old hands tell the newer staff to scare them. M, 007 and Q end up having to confront it.

[hugglewolf.livejournal.com]

Justice League, Barry West and Alfred Pennyworth; it’s late, and Alfred weaves a chilling tale for Barry about the manor while they’re wrapped in blankets and drinking hot chocolate by the fire. A tale that may or may not be true.

[hugglewolf.livejournal.com]

Battlestar Galactica (2003); William Adama and Lee Adama. She’s an old ship, and old ships always have a ghost story or two attached, but he’s not about to let anything hurt his son, spectral or otherwise.

Fill: + Starbuck

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

“That’s archaic,” Starbuck said.

Bill glanced at her. “I prefer the term traditional.”

“Does Lee know you’re doing this?” Starbuck leaned against the wall beside Lee’s door and crossed her arms over her chest, watched Bill painting the posts and lintels outside Lee’s door with the oil one of the priests had blessed.

“No,” Bill said.

“He’d probably be pissed if he knew.” Starbuck arched an eyebrow, amused.

Would she tell him? Bill didn’t think so. She was brash and bold and unafraid of conflict, but she didn’t create it for amusement’s sake - not all the time, at least. And she was a pilot, same as Lee. She had superstitions of her own.

“Unless you do it for every pilot on the ship?”

Bill said, “Not every pilot is my son.” Galactica was an old ship, and old ships had an old ghost story or two attached, but he wasn’t about to let anything hurt his son, supernatural or otherwise.

“Do you really think it will protect him?”

“It won’t hurt him.”

Starbuck stayed there, watching while Bill painted the symbols. Bill remembered the old prayer, and he murmured it to himself while he worked.

Suffer not the destroyer to come in unto my house to smite you, my son.

[hugglewolf.livejournal.com]

Star Trek (Reboot): James Kirk, Leonard McCoy, Spock. Vampires aren’t real, Kirk and Bones tell Spock; they’re just a fictional monster from Earth fiction. Until a patient on an away mission bites McCoy and suddenly they’re not so fictional after all.

[templefugate.livejournal.com]

The X-Files, Dana Scully & Fox Mulder, a vacation to Disney World ends up revolving around Mulder trying to find Walt Disney's frozen head