# a very specific question, one sentence imo the writer failed.



## SeverinR (Sep 30, 2014)

"You cannot betray your destiny."
I heard this on a comercial for a new show. (heard it many times, don't remember the show.)

I think the writer means:
"You cannot ignore your destiny", or "You cannot run away from your destiny." Ignore, flee, forsake,would be possible proclaimations.

Because to me, "You cannot betray your destiny", then I don't have to worry, if I can't betray it, I don't have to worry about it.

It is a blurb, so I don't know how it is being used in the sentence.
No definiton of betray means to forsake or ignore, it means to reveal or expose.

The way it is spoken, doesn't sound like it is a secret and if it is, who will punish the offender of betraying?

As in Princess bride, I don't think it means what you think it means.


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## Svrtnsse (Sep 30, 2014)

"You cannot betray your destiny."
To me, the way this reads is that you have some kind of duty to your destiny to fulfill it. This in turn implies that it's your choice whether to actually fulfill your destiny or not. Again, that would imply some kind of knowledge about it.

It's a bit of a weird phrasing, but I'm not sure I'd have spent much time thinking about it, if it hadn't been pointed out to me.


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## Incanus (Sep 30, 2014)

To me it comes off as a truism, and ultimately useless.

If you present it in a positive form, the same sentiment might read:  You are destined for your destiny.

Well, no duh!


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## SeverinR (Sep 30, 2014)

I think the person being told this is a witch and has some destiny to seek out.

Like I said it might fit what situation it was spoken in(it was just a teaser), but it seemed to be trying to say you must complete the destiny, which I didn't think it did.

Of course, if it is truly a destiny, it will happen no matter what you do, so do as you please.

IMo it tries to sound deep, but really isn't saying much at all.


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## Jabrosky (Sep 30, 2014)

Not that it hasn't been done before, but I for one would like to see a story that subverted this trope. Of course you can't "betray your destiny", but you can defy certain predictions of that destiny. You know, something like the oracle's foresight being mistaken or the ancient prophecy not coming true.

One idea I have toyed with is that while a fantasy world might have certain seers with greater omniscience than the general population, no one can literally see the future. The future by definition is what hasn't happened yet and so cannot be seen, so all seers can really do is survey the present and maybe reach back into the past. Of course the seers themselves would pretend otherwise and still offer prophecies and oracle services, because it's not like the laypeople they serve have any inkling how magic actually works.


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## Svrtnsse (Sep 30, 2014)

Sorry for derailing the topic, but...



Jabrosky said:


> One idea I have toyed with is that while a fantasy world might have certain seers with greater omniscience than the general population, no one can literally see the future. The future by definition is what hasn't happened yet and so cannot be seen, so all seers can really do is survey the present and maybe reach back into the past. Of course the seers themselves would pretend otherwise and still offer prophecies and oracle services, because it's not like the laypeople they serve have any inkling how magic actually works.



I'm doing something sort of similar in my setting. There are tons of gods in my world and consequently there are tons of religions - small and large. However, not all religions are devoted to gods that actually exist. Some religions will be devoted to non-existing gods and some will have non-existing gods in their pantheons. 

On the flip side, there are of course religions devoted to gods that do exist.


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## Feo Takahari (Sep 30, 2014)

As a quick guess, maybe the character is supposedly "destined" to be a villain, and the character has zero interest in being a villain. (It's a pretty common plot.)

Personally, I think _Princess Tutu_ had the best approach:



> May those who accept their fate be granted happiness. May those who defy it be granted glory.


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## wordwalker (Oct 2, 2014)

"Destiny" was a word made for blurbs-- vast implications crammed into a few syllables. A story can take it literally or any number of other paths.

SeverinR, this isn't the only time "can't" can be a problem. It might mean a thing's impossible, or only that it's unwise, that doing it is more trouble than it's worth. Consider "you can't be too careful:" does it mean "no caution is wasted (and maybe none is enough)" or "too much caution will trip you up"?


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## Bortasz (Oct 2, 2014)

This is market ploy. 

Just look ad mobile game industry. 
Names for game are nothing more than gibberish made up from the most popular tags. Any description is nothing more than marketing to increase number of downloads. There is no sense or logic behind them. And this sentence is nothing less nothing more.


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## Devor (Oct 2, 2014)

Certainly in a fantasy story, where there might even be a specific prophecy, I think a character could try to betray his or her destiny.  To betray would mean to act against it in an effort to prevent it from happening.  So "you cannot betray destiny" would mean "even if you try and prevent it now you will eventually change your mind because you cannot betray your destiny."

I actually see that being more valid than "you cannot ignore your destiny" because you can ignore anything.

That said, context is everything, and there's still a good chance it's mostly fluff.


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