All The Tropes

Shame If Something Happened: Difference between revisions

Page Discussion

Shame If Something Happened (view source)

Revision as of 23:11, 18 November 2022

71 bytes removed ,  1 year ago
no edit summary
VisualWikitext
(standardized section heads, fixed bad potholes, fixed and added markup, expanded insufficient examples, added example)
No edit summary
Line 64:
** Also from ''[[Discworld]]'', the kind of behavior that led to the disbanding of the Ankh-Morpork ''Guild of Fire Fighters'', who were paid per fire extinguished. "The penny really dropped after 'Charcoal Wednesday'". The guild also had people take out fire protection insurance policies, with encouragement along the lines of "that thatch roof there, would go up like a torch with one carelessly thrown match, ''know what I mean''."
*** The error, in hindsight, was paying them on commission.
** In ''[[Discworld/Jingo|Jingo]]'': the statue of General Tacticus that Vimes finds in a ruined city in the middle of the Klatchian desert. The words at the bottom read: "I can see your house from here." This was both a boast ''and'' a threat.
** Carcer in ''[[Discworld/Night Watch (Discworld)|Night Watch]]'' and his line "I can see your house from up here". Considering Sam Vimes' reaction, this ''definitely'' counts as [[And Your Little Dog, Too]].
** In ''[[Discworld/Thud|Thud!]]'': After two troll thugs working for the troll crime boss Chrysophrase tell Commander Vimes that their boss wants to see him, Vimes tells them "Well, he knows where I live," to which one of them remarks meaningfully "Yeah, he ''does''." [[Berserk Button|Not a good idea.]] Later, Chrysophrase insists to Vimes that he never gave orders to make any threats, and had the infractors... [[You Have Failed Me...|dealt with]].
*** In the same book, {{spoiler|the Low King of the Dwarfs unthinkingly snaps at Vimes "You stand here defying me with a handful of men and your wife and child not ten miles away--" and to his credit quickly realises this was a mistake, especially once he learns dwarf extremists have ''already'' targeted said wife and child once.}}
{{quote|'''Rhys''': {{spoiler|I do look forward to meeting Lady Sybil again. And your son, of course.}}
'''Vimes''': {{spoiler|Good. They're staying in a house not ten miles away.}} }}
*** Especially embarrassing for Rhys, because once he and Vimes had had a second to think, both of them realized that Rhys couldn't possibly have known where Sybil and Young Sam were unless he, *ahem*, had a spy in the Watch.
** Nanny Ogg walks right into it in ''[[Discworld/Wyrd Sisters|Wyrd Sisters]]''. When the witches find themselves on the balcony of the castle with the evil ruler they're trying to overthrow, Nanny looks into the crowd and, spotting some of her huge family starts waving and calling out to them. The Duke says "I shall remember their faces", but Nanny doesn't get the implication.
** In ''[[Discworld/The Truth|The Truth]]'', the Patrician comments that it would be a shame if something were to happen to William de Worde. It takes Drumknott a second to realise that he ''really does'' think it would be a shame if something were to happen to William de Worde.
* People like that often wander into Aziraphale's book shop in ''[[Good Omens]]''. However, once they've been bade a polite farewell, they never ever come back. Crowley also successfully subverts this trope to persuade Aziraphale to help him stop the Apocalypse, not by threatening but by pointing out how many nifty Earthly things will be lost if the world ends.
* In [[Terry Pratchett]]'s ''[[Nation]]'', one of the [[The Men in Black|Gentlemen of Last Resort]] casually mentions another character's birthplace, mother, and several other minor details. That character mentions that it felt like the start of a threat, and the fact that no actual threat followed was not comforting.
Line 177:
 
{{reflist}}
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]▼
[[Category:Characterization Tropes]]
[[Category:Stock Phrases]]
▲[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Special:MobileDiff/1990289"