Unlucky Wednesday

[ohmanishipit.livejournal.com]

Hey, hopefully everyone is having a lucky Wednesday! I’m ohmanishipit and the theme today is unluck. Prompts can have your characters breaking a mirrors and walking under ladders, or maybe they already have their bad luck. Just have fun cursing all your characters with unluckiness.

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...
+ Any, any, trying to contain your bad luck by knocking on wood everywhere you go
+ Code Lyoko, ensemble, it seemed like they were cursed to have a Xana attack every few days
+ Gravity falls, Stanley Pines, even after getting kicked out, somehow his luck had gotten worse

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 2016 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=unluck

Comments

[ohmanishipit.livejournal.com]

Any, any, trying to contain your bad luck by knocking on wood everywhere you go

[ohmanishipit.livejournal.com]

Code Lyoko, ensemble, it seemed like they were cursed to have a Xana attack every few days

[ohmanishipit.livejournal.com]

Gravity falls, Stanley Pines, even after getting kicked out, somehow his luck had gotten worse

Fill, Timestuck AU

[healyg.livejournal.com]

Stan stared at the little girl sitting beside him in the Stanmobile. She was fiddling with a funny-looking tape measure. “So,” said Stan, “what was your name was again?”

“It’s Mabel!” answered the little girl. “Pay more attention, Grunkle Stan.”

“Yeah, about that,” said Stan. “Is ‘Grunkle’ some kinda weird future slang? For like, a gangster?”

“It stands for ‘Great-Uncle’,” said Mabel. “You came up with it.”

“Right,” said Stan. “Time travel.”

Mabel sighed. “We need someone to fix this tape measure. Someone smart.”

That meant Ford. Well, if it got Mabel off his back… “I might know a guy.”

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

Any, any, A character blames their situation on "bad luck" rather than admit they screwed up.

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

Avengers, any. Someone is convinced that the reason their mission went pear-shaped is because they forgot their good luck charm. (Bonus points if it's Budapest!)

Fill: Natasha + Clint, You and I remember Budapest very differently.

[ohmanishipit.livejournal.com]

God damnit, Clint quietly struggled against the ropes. It was useless and he knew Nat was fighting her way to him. But he couldn't just do nothing.
He glanced up from his struggles, admiring the chaos around him. She must be destroying a legion with the way the guards around him were running frantically and yelling into their earpieces. He couldn’t tell what they were saying, of course. They’d taken his hearing aid along with every other piece of equipment he had, so all he could hear currently was a lot of muffled roaring.
How had they gotten into this? It was only meant to be in and out, simple, get the guy, take him back to shield, interrogate him and in a few weeks come back and tear down the whole operation inside out.
It was only when Natasha burst into the room, taking down the last few panicking bad guys, did he remember. His goddamn socks. He’d forgotten to wear his lucky socks.
She finished off the last guy, walking over to Clint, breathing heavily, wiping her hands on her thighs, smearing the blood on her gloves onto her pants.
He nodded to her, feeling a bit useless for having been tied up and unable to help. What could he say, Hungarians tied a mean knot.
She said something, it looked something like, ‘what happened, are you good?’ but he’d never been the best at reading lips so he just shrugged.
She cut him loose and he signed, ‘hearing aid gone, but I’m not hurt. You?’
He waited till she signed back that she was fine, before he glanced around, moving over to where they put his stuff.
He picked up his bow first, checking if it was bent. He remembered watching some dolt try to break a metal bow over his knee. Satisfied with its condition he slung it over his back, along with his quiver. Then he pushed aside the few small knives and guns he’d had tucked away that they’d grabbed as they searched him. Under the pile was two crushed earpieces. He frowned and turned to Natasha.
‘This really hasn’t been the best day,’ he signed.
‘I don’t know, I kinda had fun,’ she signed back then leaned on the table tiredly, looking at the remains of his broken hearing aids.
He frowned at her, signing, ‘you wouldn’t say that if you’d been the one tied up all day.’
But she was only half paying attention as she rummaged into one of her pockets, pulling out two replacement hearing aids, they were also a communication device linked up with their pilot as well.
He turned them on and put them in, and Nat spoke, “Sounds kinky,” she smirked at him and he looked at her in confusion until he realized she was answering his last statement.
“I know what went wrong,” he offered. She hummed in question, prompting him to go on. “I didn’t wear my lucky socks.”
She raised her eyebrows, “really,” she said flatly, “that’s why you got tied up and I had to fight through about a hundred guards, not because, I don’t know… you were reckless and got spotted?”
“The same thing happened in Puerto Madryn!” he argued back, “I forgot those damn socks and look where it got us.”
“Or maybe, you have an off day, forget your socks and forget the mission too,” she suggested.
He rolled his eyes, “can we just get out of here? You didn’t kill the guy we need did you?” He asked.
“No,” she answered, picking up one of the guys on the floor and carrying him fireman style.
“Then allow me,” he said, drawing a green tipped arrow and notching it, Natasha stepped back as he did. He fired at the ceiling and acid exploded out of the tip, burning a hole in the roof.
Clint touched a finger to his earpiece.
“Could you come get us out now?” he asked pilot tiredly. “Let’s get home, I’m tired of Budapest.”

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Fullmetal Alchemist, Edward Elric+Greelin+Darius+Heinkel, Just can't catch a break while on the run

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Rizzoli & Isles, Any+Any, hitting nothing but red lights on the way to work when _____ is running late

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

Lucifer (tv), Dan Espinoza(+any), Since Lucifer came into their lives, Chloe's luck's getting better while Dan's is going downhill

[evil-little-dog.livejournal.com]

MCU, Tony Stark+Any,
If it weren't for bad luck
I'd have no luck at all
Gloom, despair, and agony on me

[vanillafluffy.livejournal.com]

Justified, Boyd Crowder. He's never believed that old superstition, but the way things are going, he's starting to wonder.

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Mass Effect or Star Trek, author's choice, how can one touch wood for luck if their usual environment is entirely made of metal?

Fill: Mass Effect

[mancalledtrue.livejournal.com]

"You're getting fidgety, quarian. What's the problem?"

"Oh, Wrex! Ummm... keelah, this is embarrassing..."

"Just spit it out."

"Well... Have you ever heard the expression 'knock on wood'?"

"Here and there."

"On the Fleet, you can find little bits of wood in the right places, but... umm... They don't have any on the Normandy. I didn't expect them to, this is a top-grade ship, but..."

"Didn't expect you to be superstitious."

"I'm not! It's just... well, I got into the habit back on the Citadel, where they actually have trees."

"You wanna hear how they handle it back on Tuchanka?"

"All right."

(knock, knock)

"Knock on metal."

"...huh?"

"We don't have many trees on Tuchanka. The ones we do have tend to be covered in barbs or poisonous. So we got into the habit of knocking on whatever's nearby if we use that phrase. Knock on rock, knock on plastic, knock on Krogan... That last one tends to lead to fights."

"Oh..."

(footsteps, beat, knock, knock)

"Knock metal... keelah, that actually works."

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Any superhero fandom, author's choice, with all the mayhem and general destruction in their day-to-day lives, a few mirrors get smashed along the way. *Character* stopped counting the years of bad luck after fifty-six.

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

A Town Called Eureka, ensemble, Jack's investigating a number of very unlucky events recently, when it turns out that one of the scientists has been trying to generate luck, not realising that bad luck is also a kind of luck that is generated by their gizmo

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Tortall, Kel +/ any, Kel doesn't believe in luck, but maybe she's been cursed?

[classics-lover.livejournal.com]

Any (please no Supernatural), any, they believe they've been cursed, but really their luck has turned bad* because luck affects everything you do


Yes, this is the plot of the Thieves Guild questline in Skyrim

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Any, Any,

I guess it'll always be the same
I'm the only one to blame
Why oh why am I unlucky in love

Fill 1/2: Stargate Multiverse, Band AU

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

Cam came awake when someone knocked on his door. Not loudly, but he was a bit of a light sleeper. The best thing about being the only male in the band was that he had the most private quarters on the bus.

Cam stumbled for the door, inched it open, squinted at the light on the other side. Vala, Hailey, Amelia, and Grace had still been partying backstage with some fans when John and Cam had slipped out to attempt to have some fun alone.

And then everything had gone sideways, and Walter and Richard wouldn’t tell them anything, and now John was standing on the other side of Cam’s door, still wearing Cam’s t-shirt, shivering and look unexpectedly small and vulnerable and miserable.

“You came back,” Cam said stupidly.

John nodded, swallowed hard.

“Is Jennifer all right?”

John shrugged. “Rodney wouldn’t let me see her, so…”

Cam frowned. “What? Why?”

“Everyone’s pretty pissed off about the whole cancer thing.” John darted a glance at Cam, wet his lips. “Rodney asked if I was keeping any more secrets from him, said he’d walk away from the band if I didn’t tell him, so I told him how I felt, and now he -”

John’s expression crumpled, and while Cam was also pretty pissed about the ‘cancer thing’, he liked John a lot, and seeing John this upset was heartbreaking. Cam opened the door wider, tugged John into his arms. John buried his face against Cam’s shoulder, shaking with silent sobs. Cam felt his sleep shirt grow damp with tears, and he held John tightly, saying nothing.

Eventually John pulled back, sniffling. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have woken you up. I didn’t know where else to go.”

“Here,” Cam said. “Here is the right place for you right now.” He stepped back, guided John back into his bunk. John sank down on the edge of Cam’s bed, stared at his hands.

Cam knelt, unlaced John’s shoes and tugged them off, set them aside, peeled off his socks and set them inside the shoes so they wouldn’t get lost.

“I guess it’ll always be the same between me and Rodney,” John said. “He really does hate me. And it’s all my fault. If I’d just been honest with him…” He peered at Cam from beneath wet, spiky lashes. “When I told him how long I’ve been in love with him - since freshman year - he was so angry, because I’d never told him then, because I had so many chances when I could have, and I didn’t.”

“You kinda told him every night.” Cam wrapped his arm around John’s shoulders and squeezed. “In pretty much every love song.”

John laughed, the sound broken a little hysterical. “It’s true, isn’t it?”

Cam sang, high and sweet like he hadn’t since church choir when he was a boy, “I said from the start that you could take it or leave it -”

John joined in. “I prefer that you keep it.”

Together they sang, “Don’t let go.”

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Stargate Atlantis, Rodney McKay,

You gotta nasty disposition
No one really knows the reason why
You gotta bad, bad reputation
Gonna hang down your head and cry

You got bad, bad luck

Fill: (also some SG-1), college!AU

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

“ - One of the smartest men on the planet, Rodney!”

He ducked his head, hunched his shoulders. “I know.” Ordinarily, Rodney would be pleased at receiving such a compliment from Dr. Carter, but she wasn’t well pleased with him at the moment.

“You knew there was a question about what you were doing, and you put your life and other people’s lives at risk.”

“But -”

“You shut down three-quarters of the city’s power grid for an entire night.”

Rodney lifted his head. “Well, five-sixths. It’s not an exact science.”

Carter threw her hands up. “Give your ego a rest for one second. You could have died, Rodney. Do you understand that?” She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. “You’re not infallible. You’re incredibly fragile. And you’re not replaceable.”

Rodney stared at her. “Does that mean you like me?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Carter snapped. “Now get out there and apologize to Radek and Caldwell and Landry.”

Radek, Rodney’s lab partner, was probably well into cups of vodka and swearing up a storm in Czech at a nearby bar. Caldwell, the head of campus security, probably had shackles and a cat o’ nine tails waiting for Rodney. And Landry, the university provost? Probably wanted Rodney’s head on a platter. He’d probably even get his pretty med student daughter, Carolyn, to dance around with said platter for good measure.

“Yes ma’am,” Rodney mumbled and ducked out of Carter’s office.

To his vast surprise, Radek was waiting outside, and judging by his grimly amused expression, he’d heard every word Carter had said.

“I - about Project Arcturus -”

Radek nodded. “I understand.”

“So you know I -”

“Me too.” Radek clapped Rodney on the shoulder. “Now come on. Let us go get some drinks and put this day behind us. Evan says he will meet us at The Square.”

Evan was getting his masters in geophysics. He wasn’t quite on Radek and Rodney’s level, but he was bright enough, and a sociable guy, and Rodney could stand his company once in a while.

“Hang on,” Rodney said, “I want to take a stab at that math problem Carter put up.” He dug in his pockets for a piece chalk and rounded the corner.

Radek rolled his eyes. “No. It’ll take forever. I want to drink and talk to pretty boys and girls, Rodney.”

But Rodney dragged Radek toward Carter’s classroom - and saw a massive crowd milling around the blackboard. Heads turned, and Rodney heard the whispers - Arcturus, black-out, three-fourths of the city - but he kept his chin up.

“Who solved it?” Kusanagi asked.

“Not Rodney,” Branton said.

Ambrose snickered. “Yeah. Anyone who managed to blow up half the lab and knock out three quarters of the city -”

Rodney stared. “Someone solved it?”

Someone had. The solution was neat, elegant. The solver had handwriting Rodney didn’t recognize, though that didn’t mean much. The solver hadn’t left a name or signature or anything.

“Yes, Rodney,” Esposito said. “Or are you blind as well as stupid?”

Rodney was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them. But he didn’t protest the insult.

Hewston said, subdued, “Maybe Collins solved it.”

Collins. In the hospital, comatose, recovering from massive burns.

Rodney swallowed hard.

“Let’s go, Radek.”

Radek nodded, and together they left campus. What Rodney wanted, more than anything, was to go home to his crappy dorm room, curl up, and cry. What he was going to do instead was go out and get spectacularly drunk.

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Any, Any, "Most of us regard good luck as our right, and bad luck as a betrayal of that right." (William Feather)

[brumeier.livejournal.com]

Stargate Atlantis, John Sheppard, the good luck token he never goes offworld without.

Fill: season one

[nagi-schwarz.livejournal.com]

“What is that?” Rodney asked.

John paused. “What?”

“That thing you’re about to put into your tac vest.” Rodney gestured.

John looked hesitant for a moment, but then he held out the object for Rodney to see. It was a lump of grey metal with blue streaks in it. It looked Ancient, to the say the least. “It’s my good luck charm.”

Rodney snorted. “Good luck charm? I’d heard you - you zoomies could be superstitious, but really?”

“Never go offworld without it,” John said.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know. A friend gave it to me. It’s just a - a thing. Sometimes I use it as a paperweight. At my desk. Well, I did before.”

Paper was a rare thing on Atlantis. Rodney was sure the entire expedition would fail if the laptops and datapads died.

“Does it do anything?”

“It, uh, it kept my hands warm when we were in the desert,” John said, and there was a lot of history in that sentence. Rodney knew John had been stationed in Afghanistan before McMurdo. He must have gotten the thing from a fellow soldier.

“He said it never felt warm to him, but it always felt warm to me. And - it lights up.” John held it out, and it began to glow blue.

Ancient blue.

Rodney stared. “Where did your friend say he found this?”

“Traded for it at a local bazaar or something. Thought it was - it was space rock,” John said. “It was his good luck charm before - before. And then he gave it to me. Said it’d keep me safe. Always bring me home.”

Rodney was often socially oblivious, but sometimes even he could read between the lines. The charm hadn’t brought his friend home.

“It’s why I sat in the chair, in Antarctica,” John said. “The design thingie on the back of the chair - it’s made of the same stuff. I was curious. I wondered, if I could make this light up, if the chair would light up too.” He ducked his head. “If you look really closely at the Ancient chair in Antarctica, there’s a piece that’s -”

“Broken off,” Rodney said, realization dawning. “I noticed that. We assumed because it was so old it must have just been damaged over time, but -”

John held up his good luck charm and shrugged. “Yeah. So -”

“So when you sat in the chair, you knew you might be able to make it work?”

John wet his lips. “I wasn’t sure. I mean, I always told myself that I’d just found the button on it and he hadn’t, or something. The way my hand shaped was more ideal or - whatever. The thought that I might be able to make something warm my hands or light up with my mind was a little too much. I didn’t want anyone to think I was...weird.”

(Later, when Rodney learned just how different John was from ordinary people, he’d appreciate just how much the thought of being noticed for his difference scared John.)

“As soon as you realized what it was, you should have turned it over for study,” Rodney said.

John curled his hand over the stone protectively. “It’s my good luck charm. I figured, once I knew what it was, it was just part of the chair that made it glow so users knew it was on. Like an LED or light bulb. An Ancient night light isn’t a big deal.” And he tucked it into his vest.

“Let me study it later,” Rodney insisted.

John rolled his eyes. “Fine. Later.”

Only he never got to it later, because they went offworld, and an alien bug tried to suck the life out of John, and whatever that stone was, it wasn’t a charm, and it sure as hell wasn’t lucky. The only reason the entire jumper made it back in one piece was science and good timing.

(Much, much later, Rodney would start to believe that maybe John’s little Ancient night light paperweight good luck charm was something more powerful than any of them knew.)

[withasmile87.livejournal.com]

RPF, Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Sometimes Harry swore they'd never catch a break from bad luck.

[withasmile87.livejournal.com]

Scream(TV), Emma Duval, Emma wants to leave Lakewood because she considers it unlucky.

[withasmile87.livejournal.com]

Doctor Who, Nine/Rose Tyler, Rose explains to the doctor her theory on bad luck.

[withasmile87.livejournal.com]

any, any, a black cat crossed their path on the drive to work.

[withasmile87.livejournal.com]

any, any, reading a book on how to get rid of bad luck.

[drabblewriter.livejournal.com]

any, any reincarnated or long-lived character, some people have bad days; I have bad lives