Plague of Good Fortune: Difference between revisions

** And then there's ''Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen''. Poor Stuffy Pete. You should ''know better'' than to wander into Greenwich Village in late November and expect not to be force-fed by the deranged inheritors of old money!

* Literary example: [[Genre Savvy|Rincewind]] in Terry Pratchett's ''[[Discworld]]'' books, who "knows" that this applies to him (and it [[Cosmic Plaything|often does]]).

** While Sam Vimes thinks in one novel that the string of good luck he's had come his way the last few years (marriage to a good woman, massive wealth, a revitalized City Watch, a son) can't possibly last, and sooner or later the bill's gonna come due. {{spoiler|It hasn't. Yet.}}

*** Of course, he had forty years or so of bad luck to make up for by the time things started to go his way.

* This is [[Older Than Feudalism]]: [[The Histories|Herodotus]] tells the story of the Greek king Polycrates who had such good luck that he threw a cherished ring in the ocean to try and balance things out, hoping to dodge whatever doom the gods had in store for him. The ring was eaten by a fish, the fish captured by a fisherman, and the ring returned to the king. This sealed his fate--he lost everything.

* This actually does happen to [[The Deptford Mice|The Deptford Histories]] star Thomas Stubbs a.k.a. Thomas Triton. In the words of the fortune teller Simoon;

* [[Ciaphas Cain]] (HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!!!) may qualify too. He frequently tries to keep himself safe and sound above all else, but this usually through good (or, on his part, bad) luck makes him look even more heroic and boosts his reputation even further, putting him in even more dangerous situations. Needless to say, that is the absolute opposite of what he is stiving for.

* Every time [[Honor Harrington]] gets a new satchel of medals, promotions, and fabulous cash prizes heaped on her, her first reaction is deep embarrassment at her own perceived unworthiness for them. Her second is darkly ruminating upon the possible political motives behind them.