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#too bad they arent the most accurate but its always better than nothing
theromaboo · 11 months
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Me: *searching for sources on a thing I'm interested in about ancient Rome*
All the sources I can find: *literally always in French or German*
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Various Picrews Of My Characters
Gonna be kinda long to scroll thru just cuz of the amount of images so im putting it under a read more :)
Just in case you aren't aware. Picrew is a site that hosts artist made character makers. So none of these are my own art. Most of them have a signature on them if you want to look up the artist. If not, ask me and i can probably find the picrew link to give you.
Also as a note: none of these are 100% accurate. Theyre picrews, not my actual art so of course not every detail will be correct.
And another note: OH MY GOD PICREWS ONLY EVER HAVE STRAIGHT HAIR OPTIONS?? WHERE IS THE CURLY HAIR?? ID EVEN SETTLE FOR WAVY??? EVEN JUST SLIGHTLY FLUFFY SO I CAN MAKE ORION?? PLEASE???? But fr anything other than flat sleek hair feels like a godsend. Also good non white skin types??? Pleeeeaaaasssseeeeeee. Its so hard i need smth more than just 30 shades of pale, some non human colors, and then like 2 darker shades which both dont look good. Edit: JUST FOUND ONE THAT JUST????? DOESNT HAVE ANYTHING OTHER THAN PAPER WHITE???? Theres just no other skin options, yall im- i cant do this no more.
Young Cherry:
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She used to wear all black!! No red or pink at all when her and Sana first met, despite them being her favorite colors.
A softer look for Ai
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While she loves the pop of black, white, and gold she gives to her outfits sometimes some softer pastel colors can be a good look as well!
Wyv My Beloved:
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He's talking about dragon types :)
Au ideas:
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So i have a lot of "Bad End" Aus floating around where Ai does give in to Volo's allure of making a better world. I mean, hasn't she suffered enough? Hasn't she worked hard enough for it? In the end i think all it comes down to is Ai's familial bond with Ingo versus her romantic bond with Volo. Who managed to make a bigger impact on her after she was kicked out by Kamado? If it was Volo then i genuinely think she could be swayed to work with him to confront Arceus. In this particular version of it i think the two would strike a deal. Ai pretends to take on Volo and win. Everything continues as normal up until she fights + captures arceus. Suddenly she's giggling like a madwoman. Volo and her had done it. Arceus was hers. But the two quickly realize it isn't enough power in this sliver of Arceus to actually remake the world. But. It was enough to remake themselves. And to change some things. At this point Ai has mostly regained her memory of modern day, and she wants back. Volo wants into her time as well. It sounds so much better than the miserable place they were stuck. Ai just wants to see Orion again and show him how powerful she's become! And wants NOTHING to do with her dad ever again. So her and Volo reforge their own bodies. Volo changes almost nothing, being who he is this isn't very surprising. Ai just wants her hair color gone. The last reminder of her dad. She wants Orions hair color. Why couldn't she have gotten that to begin with? And while she's at it, Orion always had such pretty eyes. She'll look just like her big brother! (That's who she think Orion is with her not all quite there memory. . An older brother who moved out, leaving her alone with her dad. But she doesn't blame him. She would leave too if she could have.) Ai is someone full of a lot of love. She loves Orion so so So much. And she loves Volo so so So much. But in two very different ways. In this Au they arent exactly....healthy ways. She becomes obsessive. And Volo just feeds into it. He adores how dedicated she is to him. And he's dedicated to her as well. She controls Arceus, and she could beat him in battle so he respects her a LOT. Anyway, they go back to modern times, bringing a VERY concerned Ingo along with them. (Ingo knows they shouldn't be doing this. And Ai seems so... different. But he just wants to go home) When the three arrive in modern Unova Orion and Emmet are relieved but when Orion sees Ai they are.... surprised to say the least. They are greeted by basically a tiny femme version of himself...? Ai seems ecstatic, almost maniacally so, and explains to Orion what happened and introduces Volo. Orion finds something familiar in Volos appearance, but chooses to ignore it for now as more pressing matters are at hand. Orion seems concerned, even somewhat judgemental of Ais actions, but when Ai's anger quickly flares and Volo gets a very dangerous look in his eyes with his hand on a pokeball Orion backs off. Orion can clearly see how unstable Ai is but he doesn't know what to do. One false move and Ai might just remake him as well, changing him to a puppet that fits her fantasy world. Anyway yeah thats where i left off in the daydream lol. This will never be canon but its fun to think of what ifs :)
Young Orion: The teen years
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He spent a lot of time with Ai at this point in time and was starting getting serious in his fashion pursuits. Ai was dropped off at him and Aerow's parents house a lot so Orion + his parents could babysit Ai while Aerow and his wife wanted to have a date night. The barretes were placed there by Ai(they were in her hair originally, but toddler Ai knew orion liked stars and so she confidently decided they belonged on him now)
Ai Visits Oliver:
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I do have an eventual meet up for Ai, Oliver, Hime, and Wyv planned one day. Despite 3 of them being based in Unova and only one in Galar, Oliver manages to convince them to meet up in Galar if they pay for the travel expenses. (Oliver is uh... a tad loaded after becoming champion) Oliver cannot wait to brag and show them around Galar so they tell the other 3 to bring "nothing but the essentials". Oliver (after FINALLY getting to reveal their the galar champion) then takes them all on a shopping spree to get the clothes they will be wearing in Galar. Oliver manages to convince Ai to get some more dressy clothes while they are out and about.
Nova, A Messy Introduction:
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Nova is a name for another OC who i ended up scrapping. But i realized the name Nova fit my character from Violet VERY well. And i wanted to turn her appearance into an OC anyway. (yeah if u ever wonder why my OCs that are the "main" character for that game story are girly looking its cuz i think "pretty" or "cute" looking characters are more fun to play as. Whether that be male of female is fine w me but u usually get better clothing options as a girl character ofc that didnt end up mattering this time around.) Anyway, meet Nova! She is originally from Paldea but moved to Galar with her mom at the age of 7. 6 years later at the age of 13 Nova moved back to Paldea with her mom. This makes her the youngest of any main characters. She is very childlike and innocent in a lot of ways and is also very proper. The idea of being anything other than a perfect mannered kid is somewhat appalling to her. However, her idea of prefect mannered isn't always the same as everyone else's. She doesn't follow rules, she follows morals? in a way? Which 90% of the time lines up with whatever rules are in place. However if something is against the rules but the correct thing to do she won't even consider before she does it. She doesn't really think before acting as she always has her mind made up pretty early on. Very confident but not in an arrogant way. She isn't your typical middle schooler kid and isn't rude or angsty like many others end up being. She is naturally very curious and loves to do well in anything she tries. A bit of Gifted Kid Syndrome and doesn't know how to handle failure. And take all of this w a grain of salt im just brainstorming lol
Ai At A Festival In Hisui:
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She would love dressing up and always is planning her outfit to be made at the tailor's the second she hears about an upcoming event. That festival hosted at the end of the game was so much fun and it was wonderful seeing al her hard work paying off.
Bad End Ai Versus Normal Ai:
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Quite a difference if i have to say. Normal Ai is still a lil not ok after everything. But she is generally a very well adjusted adult. Just a little prone to panic attacks and could body slam you into next tuesday both physically and in a pokemon battle. Also a lot more confident after everything. But also unable to have confidence in a lot of ways? Like i said she's a lil not ok.
More Nova:
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more picrews of the bby. i think either this picrew didnt have the right skin tone for her or i was just tired and forgot to change it lol.
Unnamed Water/Ghost Trainer:
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I've drawn her a couple times but have no concrete ideas for her. I just know she has really long hair that looks kinda wet and i wanter her to have "drowned ghost" vibes.
More Wyv!:
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I literally love him so much. I wish i could draw dudes easier cuz he's such a great character and i've had so many ideas for his character recently.
Young Ai.... she's so smol...:
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Look at how small the bby is. This is an older picrew i did of her, you can tell cuz she still had blue eyes in this one instead of gold. But yeah this is young Ai before she even started dying her hair. She probably still had a pretty good relationship w her dad and was still pretty messed up over the death of her mom but wasn't an overly unhappy kid all things considered.
Another "Bad End" Ai:
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So basically, she dies after getting kicked out of Jubilfe. She at first tries to make her way to Ingo but manages to freeze to death in the snowy area after being attacked by a pokemon before reaching him. So she turns into a hisuian zoroark. And yeah basically thats it. She's a ghost now and takes her death out on everyone she can get her hands on. Eventually rumors of the banished member of the galaxy team reach Jubilife and Rei goes out to investigate. She spares him and tells him what happened, promising that when she returns to Jubilfe to take out Kamado that she would leave Rei and Laventon alone. Rei nervously thanks her and on sking legs runs back to the nearest base camp where Laventon is. Rei talks to him and they now have to figure out what to do about her. Basically i just like making Ai turn evil and want revenge on the world. She can have a little murder. As a treat :)
Brooke and Merida:
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Two of Olivers friends. They are a tft lesbian couple who specialize in water and fire types respectively. And by that i mean Brooke (the red one) owns a vaporeon as their main pokemon and Meridas (the blue one) ace is a flareon. Yeah. They think its hilarious. Both of em are pretty big gamers and are the only two Oliver would hesitantly admit are better than them at something.
Despite the fact that i could keep adding picrews forever and ever i'm going to stop here as to not make it obscenely long. Expect a part 2 :)
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ndoandou · 4 years
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Hi!! I saw your requests were open, so uh could I request an Ikevamp headcanon for Arthur, Theo, Vincent and Isaac reacting an MC who is super energetic. Like, as in she could literally dance around the mansion without having a care in the world? ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Yeah lol pls feel free to take your time with this request and have a nice day!! ༼ つ ◕◡◕ ༽つ
This is cute 😳😳
This ended up being wayyy longer than i thought it would be. Arthur's part went deeper than i thought it would be-
This is probably one of my longest headcanon/scenario, i hope you enjoy 😌
.
.
Lets say for context, MC is sweeping through the hall while humming, and as time went by her humming becomes louder. Eventually she straights up start singing while twirling and dancing around
Arthur
The first encounter with this trait of MC kind of surprised him. He wasn't expecting young lady to be this active and bright
Gets along very well with her actually
He doesn't mind her energetic personality, but sometimes in gets in the way when he is working on his stories.
He doesn't see her as "annoying" like what most people woukd describe her
He just thinks that she has so many things in her mind (in a good way) that she expresses them all at once //my mans pulling off a doctor doyle 😳
Arthur was in his room, trying to concentrate on his writing when he heard MC singing loudly outside
"I dare say, she is one active lady." Arthur said to himself as he exhaled.
Arthur got up and openned his bedroom door, revealing MC who was singing and dancing around with the broom
MC noticed arthur who was leaning on the door frame with a defeated expression
"Good afternoon to you arthur!" MC greeted him cheerfully, which then she went back to singing and dancing around
"Good afternoon to you too, dear" arthur said which MC probably didn't hear
Once he tried flirting with her but it all flew over her head
This one time MC and arthur was left alone and he tried to make a move on her
Arthur leaned over to MC's ear and whispered
MC seemed unbothered and let him lean over to her
"Seems like we're left alone, love.. would you like to have some fun?" Arthur whispered suggestively
MC was an innocent and very bright girl but she wasn't stupid
"Hm? No. Oh! Arthur can i ask you something?" MC asked unbothered by arthurs invitation
This took him by surprise
"Oh..ehm, go ahead poppet."
"Am i annoying?"
Arthur was blown away by her question.
"Annoying? No, no. That's not it, love. Why do you ask?" Arthur asked her curiously. He wasn't expecting this question from her.
"Ahahaha..! It's nothing important, its just when i lay down at night, i start realizing the unpleasant looks i get from some people whenever im doing something or saying something. I tell myself not to be annoying but i lose control of myself the next day." MC said cheerfully as if what she felt wasn't anything serious at all
Arthur felt really bad after hearing that. He realized that she was being misundertood badly.
He realized that behind that cheerfull personality, she had such deep thoughts
He wasn't expecting her to reveal her most vulnerable side to him out of everyone
He realized that the time he looked defeated arounded MC must have been in her memories
"Oh..oh dear me. I didn't know you felt that way, and im sorry if im one of those people who made you feel that way." Arthur said, with a sympathetic look on his face.
Arthur realized that MC never wanted to cause discomfort to anyone with how she is.
"Hmm i probably sounded REAL silly with what im saying, you can pretend that i never said anything, honestly!" MC said casually as she got up from her chair
"Wait! Hang on a second, poppet. Sit back down" arthur said as he gestured her to sit down, which she did
"I dont think you are annoying. You are just misunderstood, love. It seems to me that you have many going on in your mind that you express them all at once, like a big ball of energy." Arthur explained to her
MC's eyes widen
She found his explanation rather accurate
"Oh..you..you think so?" MC said taken back by the way arthur described her
"Yes, yes. I have an idea for you, poppet. If you want to learn how to express yourself better, how about you try writing all the things in your mind- in any form you want." Arthur suggested
MC's face lit up
"That sounds very fun!" MC exclaimed
"In fact, i want to do it now!" MC said as she jolted off her seat hurrying over to the door
"Oh, and thankyou very much arthur. You are the first person to understand how i feel" MC said smiling genuinely as she headed out
Arthur felt his heart skip a beat.
Without realizing, his cheeks were tinted pink
"By jove! What is this feeling?" Arthur said to himself
Surprisingly, MC was seen in the library writing away in peace most of the time, when she isn't doing her chores
If arthur was working on his own work, MC would sit next to him and start writing aswell
She would write poems
Everyone was worried if MC had fell sick because it was very unusual for her to be this quiet, but arthur just explained that she found herself a new hobby.
Mc would show arthur what she had written, and arthur woukd be blown away everytime.
Everyone got curious with what MC was writing, and when they read her poems, their brains just melted away
Even when vincent brought one of her poems to shakespeare, he became shookspeare
Everyone actually encouraged her to publish her works to the public
MC was excited with that idea, but she said she would give it a thought
Occasionally MC would be the ball of energy she was, but she settled down more
Vincent
He would find it extremely adorable!
Just combine MC and Vincent together would make them the angels of all angels
For context, vincent would be entering the mansions gate after visiting shakespeare
He noticed a dancing figure in the hallway through the window
As he entered the mansion, he could already hear MC's singing voice from the second floor
He goes upstairs and there was MC singing and dancing around with the broom
"Hello MC! You seem very energetic as always" vincent greeted with a smile
He would ask MC if she was singing a song from her time period
He would even ask her to teach him how to sing the song
Vincent isn't an energetic person, but MC's personality rubbed onto him
He would only be energetic around her as she is basically the catalyst xD
Vincent would end up dancing around with her, spinning around through the hallway, laughing and singing
The night after goofing around with MC, she was stuck in his head
He got up from his bed and went over to his art supplies.
He had the strong urge to paint her
The way she danced, sung, and laughed created a crystal clear image in his head
After spending the whole night painting, he was knocked out asleep from morning to afternoon
MC was sent by sebastian to wake him up
She recieved no answer when she knocked, which then she invited herself in
When she came in she saw a beautifully done painting of her
Feeling her heart skip a beat
For once she felt really shy instead of her energetic self
"V-vincent, its afternoon" MC shook his shoulder gently
Stirring up, vincent woke up
"Oh..good afternoon MC. Thats strange, usually you would yell at everyone to wake them up."
Being fully awake, he noticed that her cheeks were tinted red
"Whats wrong MC? You seem rather flushed" vincent asked softly
"The painting.. it's beautiful." MC said, smiling shyly
Realizing his painting was exposed in his room, he blushed into a deep shade of red.
He wasn't mentally ready for anyone ESPECIALLY her to see it
It went silent for a moment and they both avoided eye contact
Not being able to take any more of the awkward air, MC went back into character
She started giggling
"W-what are you embarrased for vincent?" MC said surpressing a laugh
"You tell me MC." Vincent said with a chuckle finally melting away from the awkward situation
Eventually they were both laughing full of joy, even everyone was wondering what was going on in vincent's room
Long story short, they are the inseperable ball of joy 😌
Theodorus
He finds it SO iritating but he can't bring himself to hate her
Despite being so annoying she still had that angelic aura that reminded him of vincent
He already finds the mansion's residents irritating (except vincent ofc) and they arent even as energetic as MC
Wont admit that he adores her at the same time
"HONDJE! For the last time, shut up!" Theodorus shouted, his head poking out of his bedroom door
He was trying to have his afternoon nap after a long day of wheeling and dealing some art.
"Dancing and singing is good for the mind and body! Would you like to join theo?" MC said ignoring his harsh tone
Looking at her with annoyance painted on his face, he glared at her then slammed his bedroom door shut
"Guess he doesn't.." MC said to herself, continuing to sing and dance around
A few hours after that theo payed vincent a visit in his room
He wanted to ask him for advice on how to deal with how loud and energetic MC is
He would have asked arthur but he would most likely give him advice on how to get into her pants
"Come in, what's bothering you?" Vincent invited him, noticing the conflicted look his brother had
Theo sighed folding his arms
"Broer, how do i get hondje to shut up? I keep yelling at her but she never stops" Theo asked, irritation clear in his voice
"Don't call her that! She's a very sweet person" Vincent scolded
"S-sorry broer.." theo appologized looking like a sad puppy
Vincent gestured theo to take a seat next to him
"Well, i understand where you are coming from. She is very energetic indeed." Vincent said
"So..how do i stop her from driving me crazy?" Theo asked
"You say you would yell at her to be quiet right? How about.. you try talking to her VERY nicely" vincent said, emphasizing the word "very"
Theo looked at his brother, confused
"Broer.. are you sure?" Theo asked
"Yes! She is someone you have to speak kindly to for her to listen. Trust your big brother!" Vincent said cheerfully
Vincent ended up teaching theo how to speak to MC the rest of the night
As expected, the next day MC was singing loudly once again
Theo was going to go shout at her but he remembered what his brother said
He gulped and exited his bedroom approaching her
MC who was singing and dancing stopped in her tracks when she noticed a figure standing behind her
She turned around greeted with theo who had a stiff expression
"Good day to you theo! How can i help you?" MC asked cheerfully
"I.. uh hond- i mean MC. C-could you please lower your voice p..please? I am- i'm trying to rest. I would v-very much appreciate y-your coopera..tion." Theo said stuttering allover the place while fidgetting
He wasn't used to being nice to people
It went silent for a bit
"Oh my! How strange, you aren't yelling at me! My appology theo, i didn't know i put you in such distress!" MC said with a guilty expression
Theo was blown away by her response as it just sounded way out of character, making him feel guilty
"O-oh! Don't worry, i appologize for always yelling at you." Theo said flailling his hands all over the place.
MC looked at him and started laughing softly
"O-oi! What are you laughing at hondje!" Theo exclaimed, his face red with embbarasment
Secretly, he felt refreshed after hearing MC laugh again
"Ahaha! My appologies, you just looked and sounded very adorable! It's..ahaha.. very unlike you theo!" MC said, laughing
Theo's brain stopped working, i mean did MC rly just call him adorable
"Whatever! Im going back to my room!" theo stomped away, face still red
"Alright, alright! Have a nice rest! MC said still giggling
Theo slammed his door shut and slumped down against the door
"Maybe.. hondje isn't that bad at all..." theo said to himself
ISAAC
Poor boy will have a mental breakdance
ESPECIALLY when hes reading or doing some cool kid stuff //p h y s i c s
Atleast she doesn't tag along with arthur and dazai...
He knows that she is a kind soul, just has too much energy >:(
He doesnt hate her of course! He just wish she would tone it down :(
Isaac was in the library reading a book when MC started humming while she sweeped the floor
The humming slowly became a string of "lalala" and soon enough she was singing
"Goodness me, MC! This isn't the first time you have distracted my concentration.." isaac said as he burried his face into the book he was reading
Considering how soft isaac's voice was generally, MC did not hear him.
Having enough of it, He shut his book close aggresively and proceeded to walk out the door, slamming the door
The sound of the door slamming alerted MC causing her to jump slightly
"That was really loud..where did isaac go?" MC asked to herself
That was when she heard the door open, revealing leonardo
"Hello leonardo! By any chance, did you come across isaac? He suddenly left and i dont know why..." MC said
Leonardo lit up a cigarrilo and spoke
"Ah yeah, by the looks of it.. you might have upsetted him by accident, cara mia. I saw him stomping through the hallway with a sour look on his face" leonardo said calmly, inhaling his cigarrilo
"W-wait what? I..upsetted him?" MC asked in disbelieve
Leonardo noticed the unsettled look on her face
"Calm down cara mia, here take a seat" leonardo said as he gestured her to take a seat in front of him
MC sat down with a conflicted look on her face
"Heres the thing cara mia- you are a very bright soul and isaac..he is a quiet kid. He finds loud noises distressing especially when he is focussing on something. In this case.. i assume you were singing loudly around him?"
This realization hit MC like a truck
"Oh no! I never meant to make him feel uncomfortable.." MC said sadly
"I need to make it up to him...but how?" Mc continued
Leonardo leaned back to his chair
"Well, as you know, isaac has a monstrous appetite. It will be his meal time in a bit. Maybe you could bring his meal to him and talk things out with him
MC's once gloomy face lit back up
"Thats a great idea! Thankyou very much leonardo!" MC said as she stood up, hurrying out of the library
When MC arrived in the kitchen, he was greeted by sebastian who was plating up some food and rouge.
"Good afternoon sebastian! Is that for isaac?" MC asked
"Indeed, why?" Sebastian asked curiously
"I will take it up to him, since i also have something to discuss with him" MC reasoned
Sebastian stared at her for a bit
"Very well." He said
As soon as sebastian finished plating things up, MC took the tray and headed to isaac's room
She took a deep breath and knocked his door
"Come in." He said calmly
MC went in and placed the tray next to him
Isaac looked up which then his face twisted into discomfort
"Oh..thankyou" he said simply
"Im sorry.." MC said sadly
Isaac's expression showed confussion
"Huh? Why are you apologizing?" He questioned
"You left earlier, because i was bothering you right?" MC questioned back
Isaacs heart melted a bit. He felt like he did something mean considering how he saddened someone who he thought would be the last person in the world to be sad
"Oh! Oh..that.." isaac exclaimed not knowing how to respond to her question
"I really am sorry. I have always been a loud and active person that sometimes i forget about the people around me. I just fall deep into my own world once i do something..." MC explained
Somehow isaac could relate to her words. He knows how it feels to be so engulfed in what you are doing that you just forget about everything else
Maybe her peronality is like his deep interest with physics..
"Dont worry about it... i kind of understand what you mean..im sorry for storming out like that" isaac said, guilt in his voice
It went awkwardly silent for a bit
"Oh! I have an idea! What if... you shout out "gravity" whenever im being too loud around you? Im 100% sure that will alert me!" MC suggested cheerfully
"P-pardon?" Isaac asked unsure if he heard her right
"I guess that was an awfull idea..." MC said as her expression dropped once again
Isaac felt really bad when he saw her sad expression
"N-no! I.. i will think about it.." isaac mumbled, which MC heard
"Really?! Thats great!" MC exclaimed
"So...are we on good terms now?" MC continued
"I suppose you could say so.." isaac said shyly
"Good, good! I will head out now, give me a shout if you need anything" MC said as she left the room
Since then MC and isaac had formed some sort of frienship. Leonardo was glad to see that isaac was finally speaking up, guess its thanks to MC that a tiny portion of her personality slightly rubbed onto him
The day came when MC was being too loud
This time, isaac was playing chess with arthur as dazai watched them
Just like always MC started singing loudly
Isaac took a sharp inhale
"GRAVITYYY" isaac shouted on top of his lung scaring arthur and dazai at the point they probably ascended to a different dimension
"Oh! Sorry isaac!" MC said
"Bloody hell, isaac! I know you came up with the concept of gravity, but what the on earth was that for?!" Arthur said with a hand on his chest that was beating fast
" i think i pooped myself" dazai said as he hurried out of the room holding his butt with his hands.
Isaac stayed quiet, not answering his question
"Back to the game please" isaac said calmly
Arthur just sighed still wondering what all of that was
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hello-yue-here · 3 years
Note
Yuetara, zukka, and maiko
yuetara
ship
1) its not one of my main ships. i dont rlly read fanfic for them but if i see a cute fanart of them ill enjoy it and i think i first started shipping it because of good fanarts for them.
2) i like yuetara because of how similar they are. theyre both women from the water tribe. they both understand the misogyny that they have faced. and they both said f sexism im gonna be a strong woman. i also love the tui and la parallel. moon spirit and ocean spirit parallel COME ON. YUE IS THE MOON. KATARA IS THE MOST POWERFUL WATERBENDER. THEY ARE THE OCEAN AND THE MOON. the push and pull they could give eachother. that dynamic ftw.
3) i guess if i didnt like something about this ship would be the fact that if i read a fic or see a fanart w yuetara then than means in that particular au i wont get any yuekka and yuekka is probably my second favorite ship. but then again if i get yuetara than i could get a plethora of other sokka ships to go with it so my sadness disappears in like two seconds. gosh shipping is hard sometimes until you remember ‘hey i have like fifty different universes in my head. all ur ships can coexist in ur brain olivia’ other than that i really see no downsides to this ship. maybe i wish it had more content. maybe if it had more content id ship it a lot more but its not one of the more popular ships so the content is kinda few n far between on my feed.
zukka:
SHIPPP
1) my boys. my babies. my loves. i watched this show for the first time when it came out on netflix and when it ended i really didnt ship anything other than kataang. i came onto tumblr to find fun atla content and one of the very first things i saw under the atla tag was zukka content. i was like oh? whats this? zukka? interesting... i was intrigued so i found a list of fic recs and i fell in love with the ship. the rest is history. its probably my number one ship because it was my very first ship here and im nostalgic
2) oh boy there is so much i like about this ship. i relate to a shit ton of characters in atla. but sokka and zuko may be the ones i relate to most. i relate to sokka because i tend to feel second best a lot to my friends. i try to stay positive but things rarely go the way i plan or hope for them too and while im happy for my friends and their achievements i oftentimes find myself thinking why cant that be me? and i see this a lot in sokka especially in sokkas master. i dont feel special a lot and idk seeing sokka feel the same way and then realizing he is special kinda helped me realize that im special too. on the flipside i relate to zuko because i have wild anger issues and difficulty dealing w my emotions a lot as well. i get broody and short tempered and insecure very often and i tend to push people away and i refuse to ask for help (the amount of teachers and adults and therapists who have told me its okay to ask for help ur not any weaker because of it is astounding. do i listen to them? .....im working on it.) and i saw a shit ton of this in zuko. book one and two zuko rarely asks for help as seen in the blue spirit and zuko alone and he pushes away uncle so many times and even when the gaang iffers to help him in i think its the chase he tells them to leave. when he finally has his redemption and joins the gaang and lets them kinda become a better person i was so happy. i want that for myself yk. seeing him finally win the agni kai and overcome his family that always told him he was nothing was such a win. my sister and i get along but when we were children we were very much like zuko and azula. it was extremely competitive all the time and there was so much toxicity and sibling drama to a concerning extent. we get along great now which im very happy about but yeah their sibling relationship hit a lil too on the nose for me. seeing as i relate to these character so much and want them ti be happy i want to live vicariously through them so seeing them together is amazing for me to project into them. i love projecting onto fictional characters and with them i can project onto BOTH so its a winwin. plus so many zukka fics are so well written and heartwarming and heartbreaking and emotional and fluffy anf UGH the talent here us astounding.
3) what do i not like about the ship? again the list is long. oops. mainly the toxic shippers. there are so many toxic zukka stans that sometimes make it hard for me to enjoy this ship but hey! thats what the block button is for:) i despise how often people infantilize zuko and completely ruin his character for the sake of making him a soft weak lil boy who needs protecting. thats just not zuko for me. and ive seen many many accounts even state that this kind of portrayal of zuko is rooted in racist stereotypes about asian men (now i am white so i personally have never experiences racism but i feel the need to bring that up because it is wrong and attention needs to be brought to it because a lot of poc fans have criticised this) and the same for sokka. some ppl rlly skew his character and make him a big strong brute and hypermasculine and once again poc fans have said that this take is rooted in racist stereotypes. again! these are just my opinions! this is my favorite ship! but i think its important to acknowledge some of the bad parts of our ships as well and be critical where criticism is needed :))
maiko
ship
1) I LOVE MAIKO. “i dont hate you” “i dont hate you too” BRUH. my little heart just burst into flames. im sorry guys but maiko is so cute. they hate everything except eachother. BRUH that is one of the cutest tropes. i shipped them the moment i saw them together onscreen and i was so happy when zukos face lit up in the finale when mai came back.
2) “i hate everything but i have a soft spot for you” TAKE MY MONEY I AM A SUCKER FOR THIS. they are so cute together. like zuko is rarely happy in a majority of atla but mai makes him happy and i- 🥺🥺 HE DESERVES IT. and mai is always so supportive of him. when hes stressing out about the war meeting she tries her best to comfort him. and zuko cares about her too. he may not be the best at showing it but oh my god hes TRYING HIS BEST. i think its a very accurate portrayal of teenage relationships because they arent perfect and they do fight but like,, every teenage relationship does that. and even after everything and how he left her in the fire nation she still had his back at boiling rock. she still risked her life against azula to save his butt.
3) the thing i hate about maiko isnt even about maiko. its about antis who think mai is toxic and that zuko deserves better. that has got to be the worst take ive ever heard. they had a fight in ember island. that is NORMAL. they are teenagers. they are not perfect. but underneath all the rough edges and things they need to work out they still care about eachother so freaking much. i genuinelt believe that neither of them would do anything to intentionally hurt the other and i think thats what matters the most. if anything mai is the best girlfriend in the entire world because zuko fucked up like,, quite a few times. he got rlly jealous and dumped her thru a letter and ppl always say that mai was toxic for being mad at him for those two things. umm she had every right to be mad at him for both of those. and while zuko is allowed to feel his emotions and be angry sometimes as well sometimes he needs to think things thru and realize that hey maybe some if this jealousy is unfounded. BUT EVEN THEN. HE RESPECTED HER FEELINGS AND DIDNT TOUCH HER WHEN SHE SAID DONT TOUCH ME. HE RESPECTED HER. so i hate toxic maiko takes because they are literally so wrong in my opinion.
again all of these are just my opinions!! feel free to agree or disagree but please be respectful!! i will respect whatever u think as well because this is all just for fun :)
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themoneybuff-blog · 6 years
Text
Thinking in bets: How to make smarter decisions
I read a lot of books. Nearly every book has some nugget of wisdom I can take from it, but its rare indeed when I read a book and feel like Ive hit the mother lode. In 2018, Ive been fortunate enough to read two books that Ill be mining for years to come. The first was Sapiens, the 2015 brief history of mankind from Yuval Noah Harari. I finished the second book yesterday: Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. Duke is a professional poker player; Thinking in Bets is her attempt to take lessons from the world of poker and apply them to making smarter decisions in all aspects of life. Thinking in bets starts with recognizing that there are exactly two things that determine how our lives turn out, Duke writes in the books introduction. Those two things? The quality of our decisions and luck. Learning to recognize the difference between the two is what thinking in bets is all about. We have complete control over the quality of our decisions but we have little (or no) control over luck. The Quality of Our Decisions The first (and greatest) variable in how our lives turn out is the quality of our decisions. People have a natural tendency to conflate the quality of a decision with the quality of its outcome. Theyre not the same thing. You can make a smart, rational choice but still get poor results. That doesnt mean you should have made a different choice; it simply means that other factors (such as luck) influenced the results. Driving home drunk, for instance, is a poor decision. Just because you make arrive home without killing yourself or anyone else does not mean you made a good choice. It merely means you got a good result. Duke gives an example from professional football. At the end of Super Bowl XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks were down by four points with 26 seconds left in the game. They had the ball with second down at the New England Patriots one-yard line. While everbody expected them to run the ball, they threw a pass. That pass was intercepted and the Seawhawks lost the game. [embedded content] Armchair quarterbacks around the world complained that this was the worst play-call in NFL history. (Ive linked to just four stories there. Theyre all brutal. You can find many more online.) Duke argues, though, that the call was fine. In fact, she believes it was a smart call. It was a quality decision. There was only a 2% chance that the ball would be intercepted. There was a high percentage chance of winning the game with a touchdown. Most importantly, if the pass was incomplete, the Seahawks would have two more plays to try again. But if the team opted to run instead? Because they only had one time-out remaining, theyd only get one more chance to score if they failed. The call wasnt bad. The result was bad. Theres a big difference between these two things, but humans generally fail to differentiate between actions and results. Duke says that poker players have a term for this logical fallacy: resulting. Resulting is assuming your decision-making is good or bad based on a small set of outcomes. If you play your cards correctly but still lose a hand, youre resulting when you focus on the outcome instead of the quality of your decisions. You cannot control outcomes; you can only control your actions. Note: As long-time readers know, I grew up Mormon. One of the songs we were taught as children has this terrific lyric: Do what is right, let the consequence follow. This has become something of a mantra for me as an adult. If I do the right thing whatever that might be in a given context then I cannot feel guilty if I get a poor result. Its my job to do my best. Beyond that, I cannot control what happens. Luck and Incomplete Information Why dont smart decisions always lead to good results? Because we dont have complete control over our lives and we dont have all of the information. Fundamentally, Duke says, results are influenced by luck. Randomness. Chance. Happenstance. She writes: We are uncomfortable with the idea that luck plays a significant role in our lives. We recognize the existence of luck, but we resist the idea that, despite our best efforts, things might not work out the way we want. It feels better to imagine the world as an orderly place, where randomness does not wreak havoc and things are perfectly predictable. Duke contrasts poker (and life) with chess. Chess is a game of complete information, a game of pure skill. Theres no luck involved. At all times, all of the pieces are available for both players to see. There are no dice rolls, nothing to randomize the game. As a result, the better player almost always wins. (When the better player doesnt win, its because of easily identifiable mistakes.) Because chess is a game of complete information, luck isnt a factor the outcome is only a matter of the quality of your decisions. In poker, however, theres a lot you dont know. What cards do your opponents hold? What cards remain in the deck? How likely are your opponents to bluff? And so on. Experienced poker players learn to think in terms of odds. With this hand, I have a 74% chance of winning. I should fold. These cards only give me a 18% chance of coming out ahead. Its because our decisions are made with incomplete information that life sometimes seems so difficult. You can do the right thing and still get poor results. You can opt not to drink on New Years Eve, for instance, but still get blindsided by somebody who did to drink and drive. You made a quality decision, but happenstance hit you upside the head anyhow. Duke cites a scene from The Princess Bride as an example of how incomplete information affects the outcomes of our decisions. Criminal mastermind Vizzini and the Dread Pirate Roberts engage in a battle of wits: [embedded content] Vizzini pours two goblets of wine, then Roberts (actually our hero, Westley, in disguise) poisons one of them with deadly ioacane powder. The challenge is for Vizzini to choose the non-poisoned goblet. Vizzini cackles with glee when Roberts/Westley downs the poison but then falls dead after drinking his own goblet. It turns out both goblets had been poisoned, but Roberts had spent the previous few years building an immunity to iocane powder. Vizzini made a quality decision based on the information he had, but he didnt have all of the information: both goblets were poisoned, and his opponent in this battle of wits was immune to the poison in the first place! Thinking in Bets Duke argues that in order to make smarter decisions, we have to embrace both the idea that theres a lot of luck in life and the reality that were swimming in uncertainty. Theres a stigma in our culture about appearing ignorant, about being unsure. Duke says that becoming comfortable with uncertainty and not knowing is a vital step to becoming a better decision-maker. Admitting that we dont know has an undeservedly bad reputation, she writes. What makes a decision great is not that it has a great outcome. A great decision is the result of a good process, and that process must include an attempt to accurately represent our own state of knowledge. That state of knowledge, in turn, is some variation of Im not sure. Duke suggests that by moving to a framework of Im not sure, were far less likely to fall into the trap of black and white thinking, of false certainty. She cites Stuart Firesteins TED talk about the pursuit of ignorance: [embedded content] We should be pursuing high-quality ignorance. Based on all of this, how then can we make smarter decisions? Duke says that we should stop thinking in terms of right and wrong. Few things are ever 0% or 100% likely to occur. Few people are ever 0% or 100% right about what they know or believe. Instead, we should think in bets. Decisions are bets on the future, Duke writes, and they arent right or wrong based on whether they turn out well on any particular iteration. An unwanted decision doesnt make our decision wrong if we thought about the alternatives and probabilities in advance and allocated our resources accordingly. Duke says that because pro poker players learn to think in terms of odds during their games, they transfer this way of thinking to everyday life. Job and relocation decisions are bets, she writes. Sales negotiations and contracts are bets. Buying a house is a bet. Ordering the chicken instead of the steak is a bet. Everything is a bet. Just as each poker bet carries a different chance of success (based on the quality of the hand, the hands of the other players, etc.), so too the bets we make in life carry different chances of success. And our personal beliefs have (or should have) varying degrees of certainty. Duke wants readers to begin thinking about their beliefs and decisions in terms of probabilities rather than in terms of black and white. Turns out I already do this to a small degree but usually for minor stuff. In fact, Ive done it several times in the past week. A few days ago, I was listening to a Big Band station on Pandora. The song Green Eyes came on. I wonder what year this is from? I thought. I listened to the vocals, to the band, to the recording quality. I think theres an 80% chance this song is from 1939 give or take two years, I thought. I looked it up. The song was released in 1941. (I listen to a lot of older music, and I play this game often.)Because its been hot in Portland lately, folks in my neighborhood have all been taking early morning walks. We all tend to follow the same two-mile loop because its easy. Ive started playing a game when I pass somebody. Okay, the dog and I passed David Hedges at the llama farm. Where will we encounter him on the top side of the loop? Ill be its between Roys house and the bottom of the hill. Its fun for me to see how accurate my guesses are. Duke believes that we should each do this sort of thing whenever we make a decision. Before we commit to a course of action, we should think about possible outcomes and how likely each of those outcomes is to occur. Lets say youve only got $200 in the bank and its a week from payday. Should you join your friends for that weekend motorcycle trip? Or should you save that cash in case something goes wrong? Or, thinking farther in the future, what outcomes are you seeking in life? What decision will improve the odds of achieving those outcomes? Or, imagine that youre trying to decide whether or not to buy a home. As you consider the possibilities, think about the probability that each possible future will occur. Dont simply cling to the outcome youre hoping for. Be objective. If the odds of success seem reasonable, then pursue your desired course of action. But if they dont, then pull the plug. Duke writes: In most of our decisions, we are not betting against another person. Rather, we are betting against all the future versions of ourselves that we are not choosing. We are constantly deciding among alternative futures: one where we go to the movies, one where we go bowling, one where we stay home. Or futures where we take a job in Des Moines, stay at our current job, or take some time away from work. Whenever we make a choice, we are betting on a potential future. Every choice carries an opportunity cost. When you choose to save for the future, for instance, youre giving up pleasure in the present. Or, if you choose to spend in the present, youre giving up future financial freedom. Final Thoughts
Tumblr media
For a long time, Ive argued that the best books about money are often not about money at all. Thinking in Bets is another example of this. While Duke uses plenty of personal finance examples, the book itself is about self-improvement. Its not a money manual. Yet the info here could have a profound impact on your financial future. Theres a lot more in this book that I havent covered in my review. (Ive really only touched on the first third of the material!) For me, the biggest takeaway comes early: Its vital to separate decision quality from results. The rest of the book explores how to improve the quality of your decisions. Among the strategies Duke advocates are these: Learn to examine your own beliefs. Be your own devils advocate. If youre certain about something, explore the opposing viewpoint. (If youre liberal, seek conservative opinions. If youre conservative, look for liberal voices.) Be skeptical of yourself and others.Build a network of trusted advisors, people who can give you feedback on your beliefs and decisions. But dont make these support groups homogeneous. Draw on people from a variety of backgrounds and belief systems. If you only associate with people who think the same way you do, you never give yourself a chance to grow, and youll never spot possible errors in your thinking. (This is like the current problems Facebook is facing with its deliberately-created echo chambers, which only serve to reinforce the way people think instead of challenging them.)When you make decisions, think of the future. Use barriers and pre-commitment to do the right thing automatically. Practice backcasting, a visualization method in which you define a desired outcome then figure out how you might get there. The book is dense dense! with ideas and information. When I finished it, I wanted to go back and read it again. Plus, I wanted to plow through the nearly 200 other works that Duke lists in her bibliography. I feel like I could spend an entire year diving deeper into this book and its related reading. But, as much as I wish it were, Thinking in Bets isnt perfect. A strong argument could be made that this material would work better as a TED talk or a 5000-word essay in The Atlantic (or on Get Rich Slowly!). The book is so packed with info that it sometimes loses its way. Theres also a lot of repetition too much repetition. Plus, it seems to lack a clear sense of organization. These quibbles aside, Thinking in Bets has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf. If I ever get around to putting together a Get Rich Slowly library (a project Ive been planning for years!), this book will be in it. I got a lot out of it. And I bet you will too. https://www.getrichslowly.org/smarter-decisions/
0 notes
themoneybuff-blog · 6 years
Text
Thinking in bets: How to make smarter decisions
I read a lot of books. Nearly every book has some nugget of wisdom I can take from it, but its rare indeed when I read a book and feel like Ive hit the mother lode. In 2018, Ive been fortunate enough to read two books that Ill be mining for years to come. The first was Sapiens, the 2015 brief history of mankind from Yuval Noah Harari. I finished the second book yesterday: Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke. Duke is a professional poker player; Thinking in Bets is her attempt to take lessons from the world of poker and apply them to making smarter decisions in all aspects of life. Thinking in bets starts with recognizing that there are exactly two things that determine how our lives turn out, Duke writes in the books introduction. Those two things? The quality of our decisions and luck. Learning to recognize the difference between the two is what thinking in bets is all about. We have complete control over the quality of our decisions but we have little (or no) control over luck. The Quality of Our Decisions The first (and greatest) variable in how our lives turn out is the quality of our decisions. People have a natural tendency to conflate the quality of a decision with the quality of its outcome. Theyre not the same thing. You can make a smart, rational choice but still get poor results. That doesnt mean you should have made a different choice; it simply means that other factors (such as luck) influenced the results. Driving home drunk, for instance, is a poor decision. Just because you make arrive home without killing yourself or anyone else does not mean you made a good choice. It merely means you got a good result. Duke gives an example from professional football. At the end of Super Bowl XLIX, the Seattle Seahawks were down by four points with 26 seconds left in the game. They had the ball with second down at the New England Patriots one-yard line. While everbody expected them to run the ball, they threw a pass. That pass was intercepted and the Seawhawks lost the game. [embedded content] Armchair quarterbacks around the world complained that this was the worst play-call in NFL history. (Ive linked to just four stories there. Theyre all brutal. You can find many more online.) Duke argues, though, that the call was fine. In fact, she believes it was a smart call. It was a quality decision. There was only a 2% chance that the ball would be intercepted. There was a high percentage chance of winning the game with a touchdown. Most importantly, if the pass was incomplete, the Seahawks would have two more plays to try again. But if the team opted to run instead? Because they only had one time-out remaining, theyd only get one more chance to score if they failed. The call wasnt bad. The result was bad. Theres a big difference between these two things, but humans generally fail to differentiate between actions and results. Duke says that poker players have a term for this logical fallacy: resulting. Resulting is assuming your decision-making is good or bad based on a small set of outcomes. If you play your cards correctly but still lose a hand, youre resulting when you focus on the outcome instead of the quality of your decisions. You cannot control outcomes; you can only control your actions. Note: As long-time readers know, I grew up Mormon. One of the songs we were taught as children has this terrific lyric: Do what is right, let the consequence follow. This has become something of a mantra for me as an adult. If I do the right thing whatever that might be in a given context then I cannot feel guilty if I get a poor result. Its my job to do my best. Beyond that, I cannot control what happens. Luck and Incomplete Information Why dont smart decisions always lead to good results? Because we dont have complete control over our lives and we dont have all of the information. Fundamentally, Duke says, results are influenced by luck. Randomness. Chance. Happenstance. She writes: We are uncomfortable with the idea that luck plays a significant role in our lives. We recognize the existence of luck, but we resist the idea that, despite our best efforts, things might not work out the way we want. It feels better to imagine the world as an orderly place, where randomness does not wreak havoc and things are perfectly predictable. Duke contrasts poker (and life) with chess. Chess is a game of complete information, a game of pure skill. Theres no luck involved. At all times, all of the pieces are available for both players to see. There are no dice rolls, nothing to randomize the game. As a result, the better player almost always wins. (When the better player doesnt win, its because of easily identifiable mistakes.) Because chess is a game of complete information, luck isnt a factor the outcome is only a matter of the quality of your decisions. In poker, however, theres a lot you dont know. What cards do your opponents hold? What cards remain in the deck? How likely are your opponents to bluff? And so on. Experienced poker players learn to think in terms of odds. With this hand, I have a 74% chance of winning. I should fold. These cards only give me a 18% chance of coming out ahead. Its because our decisions are made with incomplete information that life sometimes seems so difficult. You can do the right thing and still get poor results. You can opt not to drink on New Years Eve, for instance, but still get blindsided by somebody who did to drink and drive. You made a quality decision, but happenstance hit you upside the head anyhow. Duke cites a scene from The Princess Bride as an example of how incomplete information affects the outcomes of our decisions. Criminal mastermind Vizzini and the Dread Pirate Roberts engage in a battle of wits: [embedded content] Vizzini pours two goblets of wine, then Roberts (actually our hero, Westley, in disguise) poisons one of them with deadly ioacane powder. The challenge is for Vizzini to choose the non-poisoned goblet. Vizzini cackles with glee when Roberts/Westley downs the poison but then falls dead after drinking his own goblet. It turns out both goblets had been poisoned, but Roberts had spent the previous few years building an immunity to iocane powder. Vizzini made a quality decision based on the information he had, but he didnt have all of the information: both goblets were poisoned, and his opponent in this battle of wits was immune to the poison in the first place! Thinking in Bets Duke argues that in order to make smarter decisions, we have to embrace both the idea that theres a lot of luck in life and the reality that were swimming in uncertainty. Theres a stigma in our culture about appearing ignorant, about being unsure. Duke says that becoming comfortable with uncertainty and not knowing is a vital step to becoming a better decision-maker. Admitting that we dont know has an undeservedly bad reputation, she writes. What makes a decision great is not that it has a great outcome. A great decision is the result of a good process, and that process must include an attempt to accurately represent our own state of knowledge. That state of knowledge, in turn, is some variation of Im not sure. Duke suggests that by moving to a framework of Im not sure, were far less likely to fall into the trap of black and white thinking, of false certainty. She cites Stuart Firesteins TED talk about the pursuit of ignorance: [embedded content] We should be pursuing high-quality ignorance. Based on all of this, how then can we make smarter decisions? Duke says that we should stop thinking in terms of right and wrong. Few things are ever 0% or 100% likely to occur. Few people are ever 0% or 100% right about what they know or believe. Instead, we should think in bets. Decisions are bets on the future, Duke writes, and they arent right or wrong based on whether they turn out well on any particular iteration. An unwanted decision doesnt make our decision wrong if we thought about the alternatives and probabilities in advance and allocated our resources accordingly. Duke says that because pro poker players learn to think in terms of odds during their games, they transfer this way of thinking to everyday life. Job and relocation decisions are bets, she writes. Sales negotiations and contracts are bets. Buying a house is a bet. Ordering the chicken instead of the steak is a bet. Everything is a bet. Just as each poker bet carries a different chance of success (based on the quality of the hand, the hands of the other players, etc.), so too the bets we make in life carry different chances of success. And our personal beliefs have (or should have) varying degrees of certainty. Duke wants readers to begin thinking about their beliefs and decisions in terms of probabilities rather than in terms of black and white. Turns out I already do this to a small degree but usually for minor stuff. In fact, Ive done it several times in the past week. A few days ago, I was listening to a Big Band station on Pandora. The song Green Eyes came on. I wonder what year this is from? I thought. I listened to the vocals, to the band, to the recording quality. I think theres an 80% chance this song is from 1939 give or take two years, I thought. I looked it up. The song was released in 1941. (I listen to a lot of older music, and I play this game often.)Because its been hot in Portland lately, folks in my neighborhood have all been taking early morning walks. We all tend to follow the same two-mile loop because its easy. Ive started playing a game when I pass somebody. Okay, the dog and I passed David Hedges at the llama farm. Where will we encounter him on the top side of the loop? Ill be its between Roys house and the bottom of the hill. Its fun for me to see how accurate my guesses are. Duke believes that we should each do this sort of thing whenever we make a decision. Before we commit to a course of action, we should think about possible outcomes and how likely each of those outcomes is to occur. Lets say youve only got $200 in the bank and its a week from payday. Should you join your friends for that weekend motorcycle trip? Or should you save that cash in case something goes wrong? Or, thinking farther in the future, what outcomes are you seeking in life? What decision will improve the odds of achieving those outcomes? Or, imagine that youre trying to decide whether or not to buy a home. As you consider the possibilities, think about the probability that each possible future will occur. Dont simply cling to the outcome youre hoping for. Be objective. If the odds of success seem reasonable, then pursue your desired course of action. But if they dont, then pull the plug. Duke writes: In most of our decisions, we are not betting against another person. Rather, we are betting against all the future versions of ourselves that we are not choosing. We are constantly deciding among alternative futures: one where we go to the movies, one where we go bowling, one where we stay home. Or futures where we take a job in Des Moines, stay at our current job, or take some time away from work. Whenever we make a choice, we are betting on a potential future. Every choice carries an opportunity cost. When you choose to save for the future, for instance, youre giving up pleasure in the present. Or, if you choose to spend in the present, youre giving up future financial freedom. Final Thoughts
Tumblr media
For a long time, Ive argued that the best books about money are often not about money at all. Thinking in Bets is another example of this. While Duke uses plenty of personal finance examples, the book itself is about self-improvement. Its not a money manual. Yet the info here could have a profound impact on your financial future. Theres a lot more in this book that I havent covered in my review. (Ive really only touched on the first third of the material!) For me, the biggest takeaway comes early: Its vital to separate decision quality from results. The rest of the book explores how to improve the quality of your decisions. Among the strategies Duke advocates are these: Learn to examine your own beliefs. Be your own devils advocate. If youre certain about something, explore the opposing viewpoint. (If youre liberal, seek conservative opinions. If youre conservative, look for liberal voices.) Be skeptical of yourself and others.Build a network of trusted advisors, people who can give you feedback on your beliefs and decisions. But dont make these support groups homogeneous. Draw on people from a variety of backgrounds and belief systems. If you only associate with people who think the same way you do, you never give yourself a chance to grow, and youll never spot possible errors in your thinking. (This is like the current problems Facebook is facing with its deliberately-created echo chambers, which only serve to reinforce the way people think instead of challenging them.)When you make decisions, think of the future. Use barriers and pre-commitment to do the right thing automatically. Practice backcasting, a visualization method in which you define a desired outcome then figure out how you might get there. The book is dense dense! with ideas and information. When I finished it, I wanted to go back and read it again. Plus, I wanted to plow through the nearly 200 other works that Duke lists in her bibliography. I feel like I could spend an entire year diving deeper into this book and its related reading. But, as much as I wish it were, Thinking in Bets isnt perfect. A strong argument could be made that this material would work better as a TED talk or a 5000-word essay in The Atlantic (or on Get Rich Slowly!). The book is so packed with info that it sometimes loses its way. Theres also a lot of repetition too much repetition. Plus, it seems to lack a clear sense of organization. These quibbles aside, Thinking in Bets has earned a permanent place on my bookshelf. If I ever get around to putting together a Get Rich Slowly library (a project Ive been planning for years!), this book will be in it. I got a lot out of it. And I bet you will too. https://www.getrichslowly.org/smarter-decisions/
0 notes