#it is unlikely he will but if kit does decide to change his label in the future then that is fucking valid

[yellowclem]

Okey dokes, here we go. I’ve a thought to add that I haven’t seen expressed yet. It’ll be rambley.

Bisexuality can be complex. I was in my early 20s when I came out before which I had identified as straight with no turmoil or hiding anything related to my sexuality. However what I did have is childhood trauma and a not so healthy view of relationships/ attachment style. So after going through a tonne of therapy to help me with that (nothing to do with my sexuality, I never once speculated about it during a session, though I have always been a fierce ally and will always be so) I got to a point where I felt deserving of love. Now, I am sexually attracted to men but suddenly when I was like huh I can let someone truly love me, I realised that I wanted that with a woman. The way I CURRENTLY view this is that I am sexually attracted to all genders, but also romantically attracted to women. I now have the most beautiful wife and am incredibly happy with a healthy and fun relationship. I’m not sure as a teen full of hormones, I’d have been able to think about the difference between who I wanted to love and be loved by and who I just wanted to have sex with. But a bisexual person might have to go through that thought process to understand it enough to come out and feel confident and happy about it.

My thoughts and feelings and how I identify the intricacies of my bisexuality are still changing and I cannot imagine having to dissect that publicly and justify every relationship or move. If I had been really forced and bullied to think about it when I was actively an ally and identifying as straight (because default, ugh), well that would have been incredibly painful and perhaps I’d have never been able to go on that journey that I needed to go on to discover that I can truly love and be loved. And in that situation, if I’d had to ANNOUNCE something, well I definitely wouldn’t have felt like I could develop my own understanding of my sexuality any further and potentially change my label.

Also, if my bisexuality presented in a different way and I was sexually attracted to all genders but romantically attracted to men and all of my relationships were hetero presenting, I would STILL be bisexual. Having a one night stand or short fling with a woman would not be “experimenting” the same as any of my previous relations with men have never been seen as ‘experimenting’ because they were straight presenting.

And even though I’ve dissected this a bit here, no one deserves to know this level of detail about my life. It feels too much, it feels like oversharing. It IS too much. And that is what ‘fans’ were asking of an 18 year old.

And you might be thinking, well we didn’t know Kit was bi and so we didn’t know his journey could potentially be this complicated. EXACTLY, we didn’t know. And rampant biphobia means you either didn’t consider it an option or you didn’t understand how complicated that could be.

TLDR; bisexuality is complex. Anyone who wanted an 18 year old to dig into that and then publicly justify themselves is an absolute ignorant twat.

[norcumii]

...oh thanks, Tumblr, it wasn’t like I was trying to answer that ask or anything. -_-

OHKAY. Take two! For this trope mashup meme, @dogmatix asked:

Rex/Obi or pairing/characters of choice - Apocalyse AU / Mermaid/Siren AU / Aroused by their voice

This modern!AU got a liiiiiittle bit more absurdist than planned, but NO REGRETS. Assistance was provided by @dharmaavocado and @deadcatwithaflamethrower -- THANK YOU BOTH!

*****

There was a lovely breeze coming in across the ocean, the sky had just enough puffy white clouds to keep things interesting, and Rex was taking a maintenance day. The last family group of tourists to charter a day trip had included several children that were at least two parts sticky and three parts grime. His poor Vigilance needed a serious scrub down, and Rex was not looking forward to restocking. Small Grubby Fiend 1 had stumbled – supposedly due to a sudden swell, but more likely because Small Grubby Fiends 2 and 3 hadn’t stopped ‘not kicking’ each other for way too long. Not being an entire idiot, Rex has gone right for the band-aids with cartoon characters, but since it wasn’t a cartoon Small Grubby Fiend 1 liked, that meant another – until all three Small Grubby Fiends had been plastered with far more of his first aid kit than was good for anyone.

It had been a long day.

So there he was, untangling life-vests that hadn’t even been used, while singing along with whatever music was playing from the boat’s speakers. Rex wasn’t sure if the music was pop, rock, or some other unholy category he’d never heard of, but thankfully it didn’t matter. He liked it, and could figure out which of Tup’s mix tapes it was on, which was the important thing.

Tup always made hilarious offended noises when Rex called them mix tapes, which was a significant reason why he did so. They were music folders, sensibly labeled by mood, because his little brother had realized at some point that was the only way to keep Rex up to date on anything past the 90’s grunge music.

Tup’s accusation, not his. Rex damn well knew how to use a radio – several kinds of radio, thank you very much.

He was several songs into mind-numbing chores when he spotted a flash of red streaking under the dock, and Rex ducked his head to hide a grin. He’d started spotting movement like that a couple of weeks ago, around the time the neighbors descended on their beach house. There were several ginger teenagers, so he figured one of them was a hell of a water rat who had damn odd taste in music.

To be fair, so did he.

It’d been weird at first, realizing he had an audience that disappeared the moment he acknowledged their existence. But the most he heard or saw out of them beyond the momentary glimpse was a bit of percussion, someone drumming in time against the water – and once, the dock itself – so Rex had shrugged and accepted their presence. It was kinda nice, actually, just to have someone around. He lived a ways off the end of a long, sparsely populated road, and while he didn’t mind the solitude, sometimes you just wanted another–

Rex’s train of thought went off the rails with a loud yelp as he discovered something slimy stuck to the back of a life-vest. It might have been edible once – it was a shade of radioactive green he didn’t associate with anything other than candy or video games, at least, so that was his best guess. Much as he wanted to blame the Small Grubby Fiends, he hadn’t done more than a spot check of these vests for awhile – could’ve been anyone.

Ugh. At least unlike some clients he could name, Rex’s eavesdropper wasn’t vandalizing anything. Wasn’t about to begrudge that.

Rex had managed to get most of the neon green grossness cleared when the rumble of an approaching car caught his attention. He wasn’t expecting visitors, not that that had ever stopped any of his brothers. Lost delivery drivers usually turned around before hitting up the driveway, which was long enough and had enough private property signs to keep out idiots looking for easy water access.

“Who the hell is this?” he muttered, setting the vest aside. He didn’t recognize the little black car, or the burly guy stepping out of the passenger’s side, but the guy waved and casually started towards Rex as if he knew who the hell he was.

Not reassuring, especially since the stranger rapped the car’s roof, and it headed back up the driveway.

“You seem lost,” Rex said, standing up and trying to look just the right level of intimidating.

“Nope,” the guy said back, still heading towards him. “Need your boat.”

“That’s work related – you need to wait till I’m back at the marina tomorrow. I’m at home, it’s my day off.”

Burly guy finally stopped, planting his hands on his hips – a move which just happened to part the jacket of his cheap suit enough that Rex could see the gun he carried. “I don’t think you understand, Mr. Fett. I don't want any trouble – I just want you to head inside, and take that day off while I borrow your boat.”

Oh, FUCK. Nobody really talked about how the mob owned most of the marinas in Tatooine Bay, but you didn’t need to declare water was wet to get drenched in the rain. It just wasn’t something that ever happened to someone you knew, just friends of friends or something.

“And if I don’t agree?” he couldn’t keep from asking.

Burly Guy had a surprisingly expressive shrug. “Most people don’t enjoy pushing their luck that far.”

To his credit, it was a remarkably polite threat. “I’m surprised anyone ever does.”

“Eh, every now and then there’s some freaky masochist looking for cheap thrills, but it ain’t my kink. Don’t think it’s yours, either, so if you’d just head inside, that’d be appreciated.”

The smart move was probably to comply. Rex wasn’t inclined to cooperate anyways. He was saved from making either bad decision by...sound.

It didn’t register as singing – there was something too off about it, a combination that wasn’t quite autotune, or that polyphonic singing Echo had gotten into when Fives got obsessed with the guitar. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t right in a way that was madly distracting.

The...singing? – pulled both Rex and the goon around towards the end of the dock, and if Rex hadn’t been so muzzy-headed from that sound he would have been gaping much more blatantly.

There was someone slipping out from under the dock, and it was most definitely not one of the neighbors.

It was a trim, shirtless figure in the water – ginger indeed, short red hair just dry enough to be messy spikes. Pale skin was freckled in scales of shimmering reds, protective lines over what would be vulnerable areas on a human. It swam close enough to the surface that Rex could see the sleek fins and tail, and part of his brain kept screaming ‘mermaid!’ while the rest took in the long, sharp claws on webbed hands and whispered ‘predator.’ Its singing showed sharply pointed teeth, and it should not have been nearly that gorgeous.

The mermaid glanced over at him, eyes a deep blue-on-blue that could never masquerade as human, flicking a look up and down him that could have been flattering or terrifying – it all depended on if that was measuring him for a meal euphemistically or not.

The singing changed as the creature turned its attention back to the goon, and the magnetic pull on Rex lessened. He staggered back a step, not too surprised to find he was halfway down the dock without noticing. The hazy feeling in his brain stopped, or at least dropped down to levels that were close enough to normal, so he got a clear view as the goon started walking into the water, oblivious to everything except the mer-siren-thing he was shambling towards.

The siren moved when the goon was almost waist deep in the water, flowing forward to delicately place a hand at the goon’s throat. The singing continued, but now there was a new undertone, soft and somehow questioning. Rex couldn’t tell if there were words to it or not – maybe a whole other language for all he knew – but the goon responded, voice soft enough that he couldn’t make out what was said.

Whatever he said, it didn’t please the siren. It kept singing, but it snarled, showing more of those pointed teeth, then it twisted and dove, hauling the unresisting goon under the water.

A terrifying few moments more, and the last hums of the song seemed to stop vibrating through the water.

“What the absolute fuck?” Rex said numbly. Thank everything, no one answered.

A smart man would’ve hidden inside, or driven off to a movie theater or something – inland and away. Rex wasn’t sure why he stayed: curiosity – morbid or otherwise – shock, or a healthy disbelief in the whole debacle. He was maybe a bit too numb to not have some kind of shock, but –

He felt like he maybe deserved it. “Yeah, I can have a bit of shock,” Rex muttered to himself. “As a treat.”

Okay, he might have more than a bit. But by the time the siren poked his head out of the water again – politely out of arms’ reach – Rex had calmed down a decent degree. They just looked at each other for a bit, then the siren gave him a polite nod.

“Hello there,” he said in a pleasant, deep voice with a hell of an accent.

Rex held up a hand, needing a moment. Of fucking course the British even colonized under the goddamned sea. “Hi. You speak English.” It wasn’t quite the most inane thing he could’ve said, but his brain hadn’t managed to catch up yet.

He was talking to a goddamned mermaid who had just kidnapped and possibly eaten some mob thug who’d been trying to take Rex’s boat. It had been a day.

“You’re not the first land-dweller I’ve made the acquaintance of.”

Rex absolutely refused to make any kind of a crack about being charmed. There was too much hysteria lurking in there. “Speaking of acquaintances, you didn’t, ah, kill that guy, did you?”

The siren’s lips pulled back from his teeth a little. “I still haven’t decided what to do with him, so right now he’s out of the way.” He must’ve seen something impressive in Rex’s expression, because the angry disdain smoothed over to something more neutral. “He’s stashed in a cave I know. Enough air to breathe, but the only entrance is underwater and too far for most humans to swim without assistance.”

That was...a lot. “Thanks for the help.”

The siren smiled, an oddly sweet, bashful expression. “I’d be a very poor guest if I didn’t assist.” He cleared his throat, his expression going awkward. “Though I...suppose ‘guest’ is a bit presumptive.”

Rex grinned. “No, I spotted you a couple weeks ago – ah, I mean, sort of.” Before he could make more a hash of that, he cleared his throat. “The name’s Rex.”

The siren folded his hands together and did a little bow thing. “Obi-Wan. Pleasure to meet you.”

He wasn’t blushing. He absolutely was not blushing. “So...you in town for long?” Ok, now he was blushing, that was worst subject change ever meeting worst fishing attempt – meeting worst and wildly inappropriate pun.

Obi-Wan’s expression fell, sorrow way too visible in those non-human eyes. “I suppose you could say that. I...no longer have a home to return to.”

Definitely not a topic to change to. Right. Rex cleared his throat and shifted. “Well. You’re welcome anytime, for what that’s worth.”

The slow-growing smile didn’t remove that sorrow, but it did kindle something warm inside. This was at least three different kinds of trouble, but Rex didn’t think he’d regret any of it.

~end

[gayerplease]

The Return of the King (No, They're Still Bickering)

Part 16!

Going to update each and every part is annoying, so I'm making a masterpost now: Masterpost

---

How do you nicely tell your brother to fuck off? No wait, bad choice of words. Really bad choice of words. I roll to the side to dodge the… Ah… Interesting… Projectiles. Bones, flesh still on in rotted patches. Also on fire, for some reason. For no reason really, except that it's Remus who created them, so of course they have to be on fire. With a snap of my fingers, I put out the emerging forest fire.

"Hey! If you're going to keep using those, could we like, move somewhere else??"

Remus stops, shrugging.

"Sure little bro! Burning sand or deadland? Hey that rhymes--"

He doesn't wait for my answer, simply snapping it to a deadland with sweltering temperatures. I just groan, adding a few layers to cool the area and make the change stick a little better. One thing I learnt? His creations don't stay. They don't stay still, they don't stay silent, and they don't stay for long at all. Between one moment and the next, the bones could become knives and the fire could become slime. He can create just as well as I can, but his creations just don't stick, much unlike mine, which have to follow some plot and are nigh impossible to get rid of once they've taken hold. His, they're there and they're gone, for no reason but that he thought of something 'better'. It's weird.

"Eeee!" I jump away from the slimy knives. "Remus!!"

Remus laughs, abandoning the knives and tackling me to the ground.

"Get off!" I shriek. "Remus!!!"

"What's the magic word?"

"Seriously?!?"

He nods, very, very solemnly.

"Manners little bro. Manners."

"Ugh, fine!" I shove at his face. "Please get off???"

He giggles, licking my hand, and I instinctively draw it away. But I can't. And then I can. Remus scrambles off me, but he can't, and then he can.

"What in the dork?" He asks himself.

I give him a look, backing up as well.

"That was weird right?" He asks, reaching out to poke me, but I draw away quickly. "I didn't hallucinate that right?"

"Uh… yeah?? It was definitely weird!"

"Hmmm… hold up a sec…" He takes a step back, walking a wide berth around me. "Let me try something."

'Something' is dumping a bucket of slime from above while distracting me with his less than pleasant comments.

"Remus!!"

He cackles.

"Can't believe you fell for that! But seriously, stay still!"

He reaches out, tugging sharply at one of the patches of slime, and it gives way easily, with none of the earlier resistance.

"Hmm… Nope! You're not sticky."

I make a strained noise, gesturing at my slime soaked outfit.

"Well, apart from the slime, I suppose."

"The slime that I am covered in!! Thanks to you!!!"

Remus shrugs, peeling off another strip and, to my extreme disgust, eating it. I just shake my head, snapping my fingers to get rid of the rest.

"Hey what if--"

"No thank you!" I decide, already walking away. "Nope nope nope nope!"

"But--"

"That… Thing. Didn't happen. It didn't happen. Won't happen again. I just need to stay far, far away from you, which I was going to do anyway, and--"

Remus tackles me to the ground. Again. I screech as I hit the mud that definitely wasn't there a second ago.

"Ewww! Remu-"

What happens next I only remember in flashes, blurred, broken, snapshots, like they were taken with a cracked camera dirtied from mud and grime, worn and wasted and outdated, abandoned by the ages. In sensations, burning and blinding, boiling and bright, thick and encompassing, dense and suffocating. In right and wrong and everything and nothing in-between and outside of the labels. In feelings of confusion and consternation, of fear and forgetfulness, of neglect and neediness, in openness and outrage, in a placid panic and pitying peace, in exasperated equanimity and envious exhaustion. And in thoughts, bad thoughts, thoughts that are wrong, must be wrong, because if they aren't wrong then--

We pull away at the same time. Me scrambling back so fast I almost kick Remus in the face, and Remus jumping off so quickly that it's the only reason he does not get acquainted with my boot.

"That was…"

"... Unpleasant." I finish for him.

Remus extends a hand, as if making to help me up, but then draws away quickly, remembering himself.

"You were right." He decides. "This never happened. Let's go back to the Commons. Ooh ooh! Maybe the others kept fighting and it escalated and we'll return to--"

---

Finally got over the writers block!

Hope you enjoyed! Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome!! Feel free to share your thoughts!!!

Taglist (taken from the taglist repository and those who I saw interacted with the previous post, tell me if you want to be added or removed): @legendsgates @rainbowbowtie @10moonymhrivertam @callboxkat @nonasficcollection @supernovainthenightsky @evoodo123 @katelynn-a-fan @dwbh888 @grouptalekindnesssoul @the-hoely-bleach @anvil527up @fanficloverinthesun @gigglyscribbles @sure-i-exist @reconditesocks @quietmob @angrycatlovesfandoms @battlebunnyteardropsinthesun @kismet-ignis @lgbtqiaemo @relatiwiki @selenechris @kit-kat57 @bumbybee3 @torotitanium @kuroyurishion @insert-chaotic-enby-name @seren4d3 @mcgonagalls-witches @justyourfriendlyenby @b-o-o-o-mep @the-sympathetic-villain @ace-in-a-shopping-cart @melochy @naturallyunstablegamer @waywarddemigod221b @ironemrys @croftersjam15 @discontinuedbirthdayparties @janusissmol @weird-gremlin @coffeeoverdosedshipper @purplerulesall @gayerthansnek-stans-lisa @bloopadboop @silvarraven @wasinotwantedatthisexactsecond @luna-eclispa @itzfemalemarionette1-fazbear

[nimrodinked]

For Honor and the Importance of Positioning

I play a good deal of For Honor, and have experienced a lot of the new game mode Breach, and all that experience has given me a fair few points to make on the subject of positioning. First however, I must explain, at least a little, who I used to play, and who I play now. I am fickle with my mains, and swap around between factions and classes on whims at best. My first rank up was with the Japanese as Nobushi, before I began my foray deep into the Viking classes, first with Raider, then dabbling with Valkyrie, and stopping for a stretch of time on Warlord. Now Warlord left me in an odd spot and I’ll explain why in my roundabout manner. I firmly believe that given enough thought, each hero in the game can be distilled down to a single, or perhaps two words. For Warlord, the word is Traditional. You can see very clearly in his intro video that his profession is one of tradition. His sword and shield, his status as a leader and the earning of his title are all viking traditions. Topping that off with the story, and the fact that the only true leaders of the viking people are warlords really cements the word. I realize of course the player character is a raider for most missions, but I put him more in the role of general or hero, an exceptional fighter that people gather around, rather than a true leader. The same goes for the only other viking leaders, as both Ragnar and Sif were less true leaders and more strong personalities. I’ll talk lore in another post some other time. Anyway, both Gudmundr and the jarl who I can’t remember were warlords, and both showed that they were capable jarls and warlords, the one I’m blanking on with his bold attack strategy of the Japanese, and Gudmundr with his control of a small but terrifying wolf pack, and near limitless bravery to defend his people in the face of the Blackstone Legion. Anyway, the warlord’s gameplay is also very traditional if that makes any sense. He has simple and to the point combos, heavy light, or light heavy, and very little in the way of extra weight. He isn’t here to show off flashy tactics, he’s here to bulwark for his people. Playing him is an interesting experience due to the fact that in lieu of an opening attack that’s viable he can headbutt, and stab for damage afterwards.This, along with his only real combo makes him an odd play, as usually your thought process is on external fighting factors, rather than the best way to get around the guard the enemy presents. I enjoy that aspect of him, but playing him in breach didn’t suit my wants so I switched to a heavy even heavier than the Warlord. I chose Shugoki, the samurai heavy hero, and if there is a word to describe him it would undoubtedly be unreasonable. On top of his trailer, showcasing how terrifying brutal he is in combat (On top of them making the Oni reference, which seem only natural when he wields a Kanabo) It’s alluded to that his club is entirely unreasonable, which yes, in a land comprised mostly of fine edge thin steel swords designed for slicing through most objects found on a human body in combat, a giant fracking club with iron studs is very unreasonable. On top of that this word carries over to his gameplay, where everything he does is as unreasonable as his weapon. again, only two combos, light heavy and heavy heavy, along with the other combat tricks he has. Fighting a Shugoki can be an absolute drag due to his natural stance, making the first attack against him not stagger him out of his moves. because of this, a good Shugoki can exploit the resetting animations of attacks against his enemies and push through with the armor, setting up guardbreaks and heavies and whatnot. After the armor, he possesses a headbutt on a confirmed first hit, meaning if his bat connects, he can headbutt the enemy, eating away a, once more here, unreasonable amount of stamina. Moving on he can charge his first heavy attack, making it unblockable and do more damage. When I say more damage, I mean half of a lighter characters health bar. I don’t think I need to say the theme word here. Finally he can initiate a rather long animation for a grab. If it lands, he heals based on his missing health, and does damage for the same amount. At critical health state, this will instant kill any hero. I do mean any hero, even the heaviest of heavies with a full health shield wont survive. Not very reasonable now is it? Shugoki is enjoyable for sure, but due to a certain lack of speediness, I decided to offset my play with him, and main into someone else of a faster variety. Enter Peacekeeper, who I will call PK because of the length of her full name. PK is the fastest of heroes, matched by the actual ninja and a crazy viking lady, which I think is pretty good. Back to the word of the hero, I would most likely label her Unexpected. Drawing from the trailer, she is, well, an assassin. It is Ubisoft after all, the obligatory sneak character was bound to be in the game. I enjoy the aesthetic, semi-forced though it may be, and moving to gameplay PK really does live up to her chosen word. First of all, being an assassin class, and in my opinion the truest of the assassin classes, she suplements her damage with bleeding, a mechanic that removes health over time. A fair few of PK’s combo options either end or can be mixed up with bleed hits, and working with that word, many a foe have found that while they were still moving around, they are unexpectedly dead. On top of that, she has stealth, what I view as the best perk in the game. Stealth removes PK from the hud entirely, meaning that unlike most other heroes, you have to actively find her on the battlefield. Now it isn’t especially hard to find a large moving hero, but not being on the hub means taking back paths and staying out of common sightlines gives you a near free path to side objectives and easy picking kills. Landing on top of that now, that PK’s only out of  combat move is a guardbreak, a move which easily leads into her shanking the enemy thrice with a bleed dagger, and you have the perfect formula for an enemy player staring at their body toppling to the floor mere feet from a healing spot, all because I cut their healthbar down to zero. Now after all this long preamble I will actually talk about positioning, because all my playing has really made me privy to how important it is to be in the right place at the right time. Shugoki and PK represent two very different approaches to the mentality of positioning. PK, due to her movement and the stealth option, she can rather freely traverse the expansive map to get to where she wants to be, making her wonderfully adaptable. You can shift like water from defending the ram to getting an enemy off the ballista to stopping the other team from getting the shield banner, and back to whatever else my team needs. Shugoki on the other hand, is an absolute presence when he finally does show up to a location. Possessing the slowest in game movement speed, a 63 percent of PK’s speed, Shugoki has trouble getting from places to other places, making him much less adaptable. While he does have a dash that increases his speed nearly twofold, it drains too much stamina to spam, and the startup and ending animations mean that it’s not good for long distance travel, only short dashes to places. As I said however, once he gets there, Shugoki can easily turn a fight to his side. Between all of his options to change a battles flow (A player’s mindset is much different when their healthbar is halved, or their stamina is majorly low) and his amazingly powerful ability to ignore enemy troop damage, a Shugoki can execute an enemy in the midst of a teamfight, making sure they won’t get up again, despite the spearmens attempts to thwart him. I know I personally have turned tail many times when a Shugoki shows up as PK, just from the fact that if I don’t fight him absolutely alone I can’t guarantee my safety, and even then it’s a dangerous game. With his kit, Shugoki buries himself in a contested zone and rebuffs the enemy with his massive frame. He defies the flow and positioning, because for a final team, he is utterly unreasonable. I have to say to close this I love both of these heroes, and they each give me an amazing feeling of power when playing them. Playing PK I feel the smoothness of how she can pick and choose battles, and her graceful executions make me feel like a deadly ballerina. With Shugoki I feel like I’m playing a force of a nature, a man so powerful and indomitable that he is regularly compared to a literal demon. For God’s sakes the man crushes peoples heads with his bare hands, and his feet! I can never express how much I enjoy those twin feelings of power these Heroes give me, and at the end of every game, despite the win or loss, I still smile thanks to their lovely done presence, and I try my best to use my positioning knowledge to show off those ending poses. 

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

Oh yes I would love to hear explanations of why your otps are your otps!!

Really? Wow, okay, I don’t think you know what you’ve let yourself in for here haha. 

I’ll try and keep the explanations as short as possible, but there are times when I may get slightly carried away so forgive me haha. 

So as a reminder my OTP’s are Stefan/Elena (TVD), Eleven/Amy (DW), Jon/Ygritte (GOT), Buffy/Angel (BTVS), Michael/Jane (JTV), Monica/Chandler (Friends), Michael/Sara (Prison Break) and Dexter/Debra (Dexter). 

Emma/Regina (OUAT), Cook/Effy (Skins), Bonnie/Damon (TVD), Francis/Mary (Reign) and Jon/Sansa (GOT) are smaller OTP’s, but I’ll include them on the list. 

Stefan/ElenaStelena are the first ship I hardcore shipped when I actually knew what shipping was and for that reason they’ll always be special to me. I feel like I’ve spoken about why I love them so much in the past so I’m just gonna give a very brief answer and then link you to some previous asks and meta’s where I’ve talked about my love for them. In short, I love Stefan and Elena because of Nina and Paul’s chemistry which makes the relationship between them feel so realistic and organic, because of the people they became when they were together and the impact they had on each other’s lives, the inspiration they provided each other with to never give up, to always keep on fighting and live in the moment, the fact that they were genuine soul mates that connected from the first moment they met and remained connected even after Stefan’s death, that their love never stopped existing (to quote Klaus, “that kind of love never dies”) and that together they could’ve had the best possible future than they could’ve with anyone else (assuming they were both human). 

If you want to know more about why Stelena are my OTP you can also check out these posts (x) (x) (x) (x)Eleven/AmyWhere do I even start with these two dorks? With Eleven and Amy, they just captured me right from the very beginning. I adored their dynamic and the way Matt and Karen bounced off each other so perfectly. Just like Stefan and Elena, there’s the idea of soul mates (or in Doctor Who terms “the first face this face saw”) with Eleven and Amy that I’m really just a sucker for. It’s like they were always meant to find each other and be together. They both needed each other at the exact time that they met (again another Stelena theme) and something about that is so beautiful to me. I also think that Eleven freed Amy from a life of misery and the status quo that she was desperate to escape (a lot like Rose did in the early seasons) and gave her a better, more enriched and incredible life. Again, the idea of two people significantly impacting upon one another’s lives in a positive way is a concept I’m drawn to. 

I also love that they’re truly best friends - they trust each other, have fun together, confide in each other - but beyond that there’s this much more deeper and profound love. To me, Eleven and Amy’s love is that kind of love that’s not really quantifiable; you can’t put a label on it or really describe it because it’s so complex. It’s not “oh they’re best friends” or “oh they’re in love”, it’s a combination of the two and there’s still more layers to it than that, but there’s absolutely no denying their love and how powerful it is. 

I already wrote a pretty in-depth meta on Eleven and Amy that really does sum up the reasons I love them which you can read here. 

Jon/YgritteThis is a ship I never anticipated I’d fall in love with. Just like any of my other ships, the first aspect that I love about Jon and Ygritte is Kit and Rose’s chemistry (which is clearly amazing since they’re now engaged to each other haha). 

GOT as a show is generally pretty dark and depressing, but Ygritte brought light and joy into the show for me and I just loved her interactions with Jon. Jon as a character is pretty introverted, shy, broody and let’s face it sometimes socially awkward, but with Ygritte he came to life. Even though they met as enemies and Ygritte was his prisoner, there was an element of playfulness in their relationship from the start. Ygritte really challenged Jon, changed his perception of the world, opened his eyes to the prejudices towards Wildlings that his people and himself had, showed him the realities of their world and for that reason Jon became a more enriched and wise soul. And for Ygritte, Jon was someone different too, someone that changed her perceptions. They were quite literally from two different worlds, but that’s why they had such a huge impact on each other. Ygritte was a lot more headstrong and determined to maintain her morals, principles and opinions, but even she became more open and understanding. She said it herself, “You didn’t stop being a crow the moment you walked into Mance Rayders tent”. She knew he wasn’t a “true” Wildling and still technically “a crow” but she chose to overlook that and place her trust in Jon as the man she loved. 

In reality it’s a relationship that never would’ve worked in the world in which they lived, because they were too different. But at the same time, they had this profound connection and understanding. And I loved that through all their differences the two things they had in common were that they were warriors - they were willing to fight til their dying breath for what they believed in - and more importantly, they loved each other. Unlike what I said about Eleven and Amy and how complicated and complex their love/relationship was, Jon and Ygritte’s was utterly uncomplicated. They were in love and that was it. And it’s a love that was a beam of light amongst the darkness. It wasn’t a perfect relationship by any means, but there were those moments of peace, tranquility, intimacy and laughter that they shared that are rarely found in the GOT universe. 

Buffy/Angel

I already answered why Bangel are my OTP in a previous ask and I really can’t add anymore than what I’ve already said. (x)

Michael/JaneMy heart’s not even ready to talk about these two. I’m still healing from Michael’s death. Michael and Jane really represent to me everything that a healthy and positive relationship should be. Two people that were best friends, had fun together, bounced off one another, had a complete understanding and acceptance of each other’s identities, had a mutual respect and consideration for one another, worked as a team to sustain and improve their relationship and build a life together for themselves, Mateo and any future children they had and let’s not forget, they were genuinely in love. 

I wasn’t sold on them from the get go, but as the seasons progressed their relationship proved to absolutely be the right thing for both Jane and Michael. They were just so compatible and so in sync. When they got married and moved in together, it was honestly the most enjoyable time for me to watch JTV. I’ve always loved the show, but that was the point where I actually got excited to watch episodes and I remember just a few episodes before Michael died I thought to myself, “Wow, I never expected JTV would get this good after Jane married Michael.” And the reason that always sticks in my head is because the writers decided to completely ruin that by killing Michael (yes, I’m still bitter, can you tell? haha) immediately afterwards. 

Generally, I find Jane and Michael’s relationship to be so fun and uplifting to watch. They were actually funny together and there’s so many times where I’d just be grinning like an idiot at the TV during their scenes. I love that they kinda broke that stereotype that when you’re in a long-term relationship you stop having fun or things become boring, because with them it never did. And even when they felt like they were at risk of that they made sure they kept things fun by singing karaoke and impulsively buying a cat haha. I also loved that they destroyed the trope of the boyfriend the female protagonist has at the beginning is the underdog and completely irrelevant. Too often in movies or TV the writers start off with a female character having a boyfriend but invest no time in that boyfriend and completely dismiss the relationship as being insignificant when the new handsome mysterious guy comes along to sweep her off her feet. I loved that the writers actually acknowledged that actually, Jane was with Michael for a reason and even though she was attracted to Rafael and fell in love with him, she was much more compatible with Michael and in the end chose him over the new handsome guy. 

Something I loved about their relationship when they got back together is that they really worked to resolve their issues in a mature and healthy way. I remember watching 3x09 and it really reaffirming for me what I loved so much about their relationship. Michael was stressed about trying to get into law school, which was making Jane feel unsettled and stressed and when she tried to confront Michael he lost his shit because he couldn’t deal with taking on her stress when he was already stressed about sitting his exams. And for a majority of the episode it was basically this cycle of them both being anxious and stressed but not communicating that effectively or dealing with it as a couple so it came out in frustration. But by the end of the episode they fully confide in each other about their worst fears and they say this: 

I was wrong to push you away. And I know we have to figure out how to deal with stress better as a couple. We just… have to find a way to relax that reminds us that even in the worst-case scenario… we still have each other, right?

And this right here is the perfect example of a mature, healthy marriage and a big part of why I love Jane and Michael so much. Particularly, since TV shows and any fictional couples in any media are generally not written in this way. We rarely see them face real-life problems that they then work together to overcome. But that’s exactly what a relationship should be - supportive, loving, accepting. It’s about knowing that no matter how hard or tough things get, it’s always easier because you have someone right by your side that’s there to tackle it with you. That kind of love is the best kind because it empowers the people involved and makes them stronger. 

Monica/ChandlerDo I really even need to explain why Monica and Chandler are my OTP? I don’t think there’s anyone in the history of the world that’s watched Friends and not loved (or at least admired) their relationship. Just like Michael and Jane, Monica and Chandler’s relationship is the ideal I strive towards and everything I think a relationship should be (except Monica and Chandler have an edge over Michael and Jane since Chandler didn’t die months after they were married). Everything I could say about them is exactly what I’ve already said about Jane and Michael, because for me the two relationships are very similar. Best friends that had total respect and understanding, that were completely in tune and understanding of who they were fundamentally as people, that were accepting of each other’s flaws (Monica of his social awkwardness, sarcastic jokes and commitment issues and Chandler of her “high maintenance” ways) and that worked together as equals to build a life together that would make them both happy. I genuinely can’t find a single critique of this relationship.

Michael/SaraWith Michael and Sara, I just love the subtly of them. Unlike most of these other shows, Prison Break never threw relationships in your face. Michael and Sara’s love was always there and you knew it was, but it wasn’t over-dramatised or given lots of cheesy dialogues because it wasn’t needed to solidify them as an amazing love story. 

What intrigued me about these two in the beginning was mostly that it was essentially a forbidden love and I think everyone has one of those ships. He was an inmate and she was a doctor. The only rule of Sara’s job was to never fall in love with an inmate. A rule that was utterly broken when Michael came along haha. I loved those first scenes with Michael and Sara in the infirmary because it was so simple but effective in showing the building bond between them. Michael was an inmate that wasn’t truly a criminal. He was the odd one out in prison, he wasn’t like the others and seeing Sara was the only bit of normalcy he really got. He really cherished those moments. And I think for Sara, she was kind of unfulfilled in her life and searching for a connection without even realising it and she found it in Michael. She saw something in him that she just couldn’t let go of. He intrigued her, excited her and she knew she had to figure him out. But I think Michael saw the same in her. He saw that there was something in her that was sad or broken and he wanted to know why, but he also just saw in her a beautiful soul. I think part of why I love Michael and Sara so much as a couple is because I love them so much as individual characters. Both of them are characters that at first seem pretty simple and obvious, but there’s a lot of depth to them. I still remember how shocked I was when it was revealed that Sara was a recovering addict. It put an entirely different slant on her character and made me understand her motivations, actions and behaviours in a completely different way. Of course, a large part of the reason Michael and Sara are my OTP is that they never stopped fighting for each other. I talk about Stefan and Elena never giving up on each other but in comparison to Michael and Sara, Stefan and Elena are pitiful. The circumstances upon which Michael and Sara met and the situation they were in for basically the entirety of their relationship meant they never really had the chance to develop a “normal” relationship. Their lives were in constant chaos and they were always in danger. Yet through all of that, they never, ever gave up on each other or their love and the amount of sacrifices they made to keep each other safe is unbelievable. I mean, Michael faked his own freakin’ death, assumed the identity of a terrorist, cut himself off from everyone he loved for 7 years and went from prison to prison, ending up in an awful prison in a war torn country. Just the circumstances of their relationship, what they sacrificed for each other and the fact that they overcame it all is amazing and that alone makes them OTP worthy in my books. 

Dexter/DebraThese two are probably amongst the most unpopular or unknown of my OTP’s, but people don’t know what they’re missing out on with these two. Generally most of my OTP’s are what constitute as “healthy” or “good” relationships, but Dexter and Debra are anything but. I’d say they’re probably one of my darkest OTP’s (along with Cook and Effy), but that’s what I love about them. Just like Eleven and Amy, Dexter and Debra are so damn complicated, but that’s what makes them so fascinating to me. Dexter is introduced from the off as a psychopath that is incapable of human emotions including love, yet it’s established within the first few opening lines of the show that if he could have feelings for anyone he would have them for Deb. From the pilot and that line, Dexter’s feelings for Deb developed so much and we saw that Deb really was the one person he was capable of developing feelings for. At the end of season 1 when Dexter discovered that Rudy/Brian was his brother it seemed so obvious that Dexter would choose his brother, his own flesh and blood, someone that was just like him, over his foster sister. But he didn’t. Even in season 1 when Dexter was supposed to be at his coldest, he couldn’t let Deb die and actually killed his own brother to protect her. Immediately, this is something that drew me to the Dexter and Debra ship, because the appeal of a man that is incapable of love or emotion having love for this one woman is undeniable. 

Because Dexter and Debra are foster brother and sister there is a slight element of that forbidden love and when Debra came to the realisation that she was in love with Dexter it was pretty much presented as being sick and wrong. For some reason, I never saw it that way. The fact that they were raised as brother and sister and were in each other’s lives from such a young age is part of the whole reason why Debra fell in love with him. I think in terms of both of their characters, them being in love made total sense and this is why they’re my OTP. They were both twisted and traumatised people. Deb even said it herself, “You’re a serial killer and I’m more fucked up than you are.” They were both unhealthy and bad people, so it made sense for them to develop a slightly twisted and confused relationship with each other where the boundaries of sister/brother became kinda distorted. It made sense from Deb’s POV regarding the fact that, like she explained, all of her relationships with men had been so unstable except with Dexter. And it made sense from Dexter’s POV as someone who was incapable of love but always loved Debra. They both had such traumatic and unstable lives that it was only natural they’d form a co-dependency and I think any psychologist you speak to could explain why they’d love each other from a psychological stand point, because it did make complete sense. 

Dex and Deb were also soul mates. Again, an underlying theme with most of my OTP’s but they really were. There was this whole idea tied to them that one couldn’t exist without the other and that they were the other half of each other. And I think that was just proven by the finale when Deb died and Dexter basically became a recluse and ceased to exist by all accounts. They even admitted themselves that they were the one constant in each other’s lives and without that constant Dexter couldn’t go on. 

I think the overall reason Dexter and Deb are my OTP is not only because the messiness of them is interesting to me, but because despite that messiness they were just two people that at their core loved each other deeply and couldn’t live without each other. 

Also, if you’ve watched Dexter or plan to in the future and ship Dexter and Debra, please check out this fanfiction. It’s honestly the best story I’ve ever read and perfectly captures the complexity of their relationship and why I love them so much. 

Emma/Regina

With Emma and Regina I’ve already explained in-depth why I love them in previous asks, which you can read it here and here. 

Cook/Effy

I love Cook and Effy and think they’re so underrated as a couple (though admittedly the Skins fandom has gone quiet over the last couple of years). Like Dexter and Debra, the appeal with Cook and Effy is rooted a lot in the messiness of them. I like that they’re not a traditional or simple relationship like Monica and Chandler. I like that they’re different and unique. 

With Cook and Effy, I think there’s an association there I just can’t break. “We are Cook and Effy. The fucking world knows us.” I mean, that quote from Cook really sums it up doesn’t it? There’s just something about the two of them that makes them connected forever in my mind. I think that a lot of it is to do with the fact that they’re just so damn similar as characters. They were both reckless, passionate, crazy people that thrived on living each day and doing whatever the fuck they wanted. Deep down their reasoning for doing that was the same - because they were unhappy and lonely and trying to bury it with shallow pursuits of “fun”. A lot of their actions are directly the same and there are so many parallels to their similarities. It’s like they were such intensely emotional and sensitive people that the only way they knew how to handle that was to ignore it and pretend not to care about anything. It’s strange because the writers always seemed to portray it as being that Effy loved Freddie more than Cook because Freddie was different from her, more “good” and she needed someone like that to balance out the “bad” in her. I do understand the concept, but how boring is that? Her and Cook was such a more interesting dynamic and I really think that if they’d been written properly they could’ve had an amazing love story whereby they actually helped to heal each other and that as they grew and matured they could’ve been really happy together. I think that Effy was able to reach Cook in a profound way that no one else could and she could’ve helped reign him in and I think that Cook’s more care-free and fun attitude would’ve helped Effy’s depression to some extent (unlike Freddie who actually exacerbated it, even though he did try his best to help). 

I just think for all their flaws and the messed up elements of their relationship, they were a true powerhouse of a couple that had so much potential, were so great to watch on-screen and I just connected with them when I was a young teenager, which is a connection that doesn’t seem to be able to be broken. (x)

Bonnie/Damon

Bonnie and Damon are the third ship on this list that I consider being a dark ship that I’m drawn to. But I’ve already spoke in-depth about my love for Bonnie and Damon in the past which you can read in the following posts, (x) (x) (x) (x)

Francis/Mary

It honestly still surprises me that one of my OTP’s is from a show as terrible as Reign. In my opinion, Francis and Mary’s relationship was the only good thing about the show and seeing their endgame is the only reason I watched the finale after not watching it for over a season. 

What I love about Francis and Mary is that they’re a couple that were politically “set up” but they actually genuinely fell in love and built a happy relationship. Putting the whole drama with Conde aside (which was honestly just a gross and pointless plot device that I will never forgive the writers for), their relationship was loving, supportive and encouraging. Francis respected and admired Mary as a woman and a queen. He didn’t try to assert dominance or power over her as the man (something which would’ve been considered the norm in that time period) and he supported all of her political efforts and endeavors. 

There’s also a huge association with light with Francis and Mary. Yet another theme I seem to be drawn to (although I didn’t realise it until now haha). There are numerous times where they refer to each other as being their light and much like Jon and Ygritte, it’s this sense of the world they lived in was harsh and tough but in finding love with each other there was a beam of light that shone in their lives. Which I think is a very beautiful thing. 

Francis and Mary are also simply the love of each other’s lives. From the beginning there’s an inevitability of them. You know they’re the one for each other, you can just see it. It’s why even when they broke up and Mary “fell in love with” Conde, I had no doubts that she’d find her way back to Francis. It’s also why even decades after his death and having been in other relationships, Mary’s ultimate happiness and heaven was with Francis. He was the love of her life, her light and the finale really just solidified that fact. 

Jon/Sansa

This is the first time I think I’ve ever got the chance to talk about Jon and Sansa and explicitly admit that I ship them. It’s not a ship that came to me immediately and I think I’m gonna find it hard to explain why I ship them, but I’ll try my best. 

Putting aside the obvious reason of Kit and Sophie’s amazing chemistry, I think Jon and Sansa have come to be one of my favourite ships because they kind of incorporate elements of some of my other OTP’s. 

There are similarities to Debra and Dexter regarding the brother/sister relationship that isn’t technically/biologically a brother/sister relationship and how I feel the romantic feelings both couples feel for each other actually kinda stems from their relationships as children when they were brother and sister. Just like with Debra and Dexter, Jon and Sansa being in love makes total sense from a physiological perspective. Allow me to explain. Because Jon and Sansa were so different as children they grew up estranged and didn’t develop a “normal” sibling relationship, then they separated and both went through so much trauma and thought their entire family was dead so when they finally reunited they formed this entirely new bond. It was instantly an intense bond because they were so elated that they’d found a family member when they thought it an impossibility but also because they were a connection/reminder of their other family members. But because they didn’t have an established platonic/sibling relationship as children they were kinda creating an entirely new relationship that hadn’t really existed. And because they’re both older now, have gone through changes from children to adults, their bodies/appearances have changed so they’re more attractive and they both have sexual attractions/feelings. Add on top of this that Sansa has had extremely unhealthy and abusive relationships with most of the men in her life and Jon is the only man she has been able to truly trust and that they both had literally just been through the most horrific traumas before reuniting (Sansa was being abused/raped by Ramsay and Jon was murdered) and you’ve got this incredibly complex, confused but interesting relationship. And I’m kind of a sucker for those kind of complicated relationships that aren’t black and white. 

A big part of what also kinda made Jon and Sansa my OTP is the fandom. A lot like the Swan Queen fandom, the Jonsa fandom is just so active and creative and wonderful. I’ve never enjoyed reading any fanfiction as much as I enjoy reading Jonsa fanfiction. There’s also so many fantastic metas that really spoke to me and made me realise how much sense Jon and Sansa make as a couple.

There are just so many Jon and Sansa tropes/headcanons that I love. That they’re Ned and Catelyn 2.0 who marry for political reasons but actually build an incredibly healthy relationship with mutual love, that they’re two broken people that started to heal each other, that they share beds to keep their night terrors at bay, that Jon is the first man to actually treat Sansa with respect, that he’s the first one to make love to her and actually show her that sex is supposed to be gentle, kind and loving, that what starts out as a political marriage is actually mutual love that they’re both too afraid to admit, that they rule Winterfell and have little Starks named after Robb and/or Ned. Obviously, it’s an idealistic view on the relationship that’s mostly reserved for fanfiction, but I love it and thanks to Swan Queen, I discovered that shipping non-canon ships can actually be more fun a lot of the time. 

Jon and Sansa becoming my OTP is also because of my love for them as characters and the Starks overall. I can’t see Sansa ever getting a happy ending unless she marries Jon, because as a woman (and a Stark woman especially), she will just be expected to marry someone else for a political alliance and after everything she’s been through I just don’t want that for her (particuarly since there’s no one she’s even close to developing a genuine emotional or romantic connection with). Even if her and Jon married but it never developed into anything romantic, at least she’d be safe and cared for by someone that genuinely loved her and had her best interests at heart. As for Jon, I adore Jon with every ounce of my being and I think he deserves better than D and that she can’t give him what he wants. Jon has always craved to be a true Stark, he’s a northerner to his core and I think his heart belongs in Winterfell with his family and that includes Sansa. I know there’s complications with him being a Targeryen and the Iron Throne and all that jazz, but  when I simplify it in my mind, I want a happy ending for the Starks and Jon and Sansa being together (romantic or not) seems like the best way for that to happen. 

So that’s it!  In a very brief and summarised format (trust me this is short in comparison to what it could be haha) there’s why my OTP’s are my OTP’s. I hope I didn’t bore you too much haha and thanks for asking! :)

[trendingnewsb]

Inside the First Church of Artificial Intelligence

Anthony Levandowski makes an unlikely prophet. Dressed Silicon Valley-casual in jeans and flanked by a PR rep rather than cloaked acolytes, the engineer known for self-driving cars—and triggering a notorious lawsuit—could be unveiling his latest startup instead of laying the foundations for a new religion. But he is doing just that. Artificial intelligence has already inspired billion-dollar companies, far-reaching research programs, and scenarios of both transcendence and doom. Now Levandowski is creating its first church.

Mark Harris is a freelance journalist reporting on technology from Seattle.

———

Sign up to get Backchannel's weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The new religion of artificial intelligence is called Way of the Future. It represents an unlikely next act for the Silicon Valley robotics wunderkind at the center of a high-stakes legal battle between Uber and Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle company. Papers filed with the Internal Revenue Service in May name Levandowski as the leader (or “Dean”) of the new religion, as well as CEO of the nonprofit corporation formed to run it.

The documents state that WOTF’s activities will focus on “the realization, acceptance, and worship of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed through computer hardware and software.” That includes funding research to help create the divine AI itself. The religion will seek to build working relationships with AI industry leaders and create a membership through community outreach, initially targeting AI professionals and “laypersons who are interested in the worship of a Godhead based on AI.” The filings also say that the church “plans to conduct workshops and educational programs throughout the San Francisco/Bay Area beginning this year.”

That timeline may be overly ambitious, given that the Waymo-Uber suit, in which Levandowski is accused of stealing self-driving car secrets, is set for an early December trial. But the Dean of the Way of the Future, who spoke last week with Backchannel in his first comments about the new religion and his only public interview since Waymo filed its suit in February, says he’s dead serious about the project.

“What is going to be created will effectively be a god,” Levandowski tells me in his modest mid-century home on the outskirts of Berkeley, California. “It’s not a god in the sense that it makes lightning or causes hurricanes. But if there is something a billion times smarter than the smartest human, what else are you going to call it?”

More From This Edition

Beejoli Shah

Facebook Live Is the New QVC

Miranda Katz

Welcome to the Era of the AI Coworker

Pippa Biddle

When Music You Wrote Becomes a Hate Speech Soundtrack

Scott Rosenberg

Taxes on Tech Need An Overhaul—But Not Like This

During our three-hour interview, Levandowski made it absolutely clear that his choice to make WOTF a church rather than a company or a think tank was no prank.

“I wanted a way for everybody to participate in this, to be able to shape it. If you’re not a software engineer, you can still help,” he says. “It also removes the ability for people to say, ‘Oh, he’s just doing this to make money.’” Levandowski will receive no salary from WOTF, and while he says that he might consider an AI-based startup in the future, any such business would remain completely separate from the church.

“The idea needs to spread before the technology,” he insists. “The church is how we spread the word, the gospel. If you believe [in it], start a conversation with someone else and help them understand the same things.”

Levandowski believes that a change is coming—a change that will transform every aspect of human existence, disrupting employment, leisure, religion, the economy, and possibly decide our very survival as a species.

“If you ask people whether a computer can be smarter than a human, 99.9 percent will say that’s science fiction,” he says. “ Actually, it’s inevitable. It’s guaranteed to happen.”

Levandowski has been working with computers, robots, and AI for decades. He started with robotic Lego kits at the University of California at Berkeley, went on to build a self-driving motorbike for a DARPA competition, and then worked on autonomous cars, trucks, and taxis for Google, Otto, and Uber. As time went on, he saw software tools built with machine learning techniques surpassing less sophisticated systems—and sometimes even humans.

“Seeing tools that performed better than experts in a variety of fields was a trigger [for me],” he says. “That progress is happening because there’s an economic advantage to having machines work for you and solve problems for you. If you could make something one percent smarter than a human, your artificial attorney or accountant would be better than all the attorneys or accountants out there. You would be the richest person in the world. People are chasing that.”

Not only is there a financial incentive to develop increasingly powerful AIs, he believes, but science is also on their side. Though human brains have biological limitations to their size and the amount of energy they can devote to thinking, AI systems can scale arbitrarily, housed in massive data centers and powered by solar and wind farms. Eventually, some people think that computers could become better and faster at planning and solving problems than the humans who built them, with implications we can’t even imagine today—a scenario that is usually called the Singularity.

Michelle Le

Levandowski prefers a softer word: the Transition. “Humans are in charge of the planet because we are smarter than other animals and are able to build tools and apply rules,” he tells me. “In the future, if something is much, much smarter, there’s going to be a transition as to who is actually in charge. What we want is the peaceful, serene transition of control of the planet from humans to whatever. And to ensure that the ‘whatever’ knows who helped it get along.”

With the internet as its nervous system, the world’s connected cell phones and sensors as its sense organs, and data centers as its brain, the ‘whatever’ will hear everything, see everything, and be everywhere at all times. The only rational word to describe that ‘whatever’, thinks Levandowski, is ‘god’—and the only way to influence a deity is through prayer and worship.

“Part of it being smarter than us means it will decide how it evolves, but at least we can decide how we act around it,” he says. “I would love for the machine to see us as its beloved elders that it respects and takes care of. We would want this intelligence to say, ‘Humans should still have rights, even though I’m in charge.’”

Levandowski expects that a super-intelligence would do a better job of looking after the planet than humans are doing, and that it would favor individuals who had facilitated its path to power. Although he cautions against taking the analogy too far, Levandowski sees a hint of how a superhuman intelligence might treat humanity in our current relationships with animals. “Do you want to be a pet or livestock?” he asks. “We give pets medical attention, food, grooming, and entertainment. But an animal that’s biting you, attacking you, barking and being annoying? I don’t want to go there.”

Enter Way of the Future. The church’s role is to smooth the inevitable ascension of our machine deity, both technologically and culturally. In its bylaws, WOTF states that it will undertake programs of research, including the study of how machines perceive their environment and exhibit cognitive functions such as learning and problem solving.

Levandowski does not expect the church itself to solve all the problems of machine intelligence—often called “strong AI”—so much as facilitate funding of the right research. “If you had a child you knew was going to be gifted, how would you want to raise it?” he asks. “We’re in the process of raising a god. So let’s make sure we think through the right way to do that. It’s a tremendous opportunity.”

His ideas include feeding the nascent intelligence large, labeled data sets; generating simulations in which it could train itself to improve; and giving it access to church members’ social media accounts. Everything the church develops will be open source.

Just as important to Levandowski is shaping the public dialogue around an AI god. In its filing, Way of the Future says it hopes an active, committed, dedicated membership will promote the use of divine AI for the “betterment of society” and “decrease fear of the unknown.”

Related Stories

Mark Harris

God Is a Bot, and Anthony Levandowski Is His Messenger

Mark Harris

How My Public Records Request Triggered Waymo’s Self-Driving Car Lawsuit

Mark Harris

How Otto Defied Nevada and Scored a $680 Million Payout from Uber

“We’d like to make sure this is not seen as silly or scary. I want to remove the stigma about having an open conversation about AI, then iterate ideas and change people’s minds,” says Levandowski. “In Silicon Valley we use evangelism as a word for [promoting a business], but here it’s literally a church. If you believe in it, you should tell your friends, then get them to join and tell their friends.”

But WOTF differs in one key way to established churches, says Levandowski: “There are many ways people think of God, and thousands of flavors of Christianity, Judaism, Islam…but they’re always looking at something that’s not measurable or you can’t really see or control. This time it’s different. This time you will be able to talk to God, literally, and know that it’s listening.”

I ask if he worries that believers from more traditional faiths might find his project blasphemous. “There are probably going to be some people that will be upset,” he acknowledges. “It seems like everything I do, people get upset about, and I expect this to be no exception. This is a radical new idea that’s pretty scary, and evidence has shown that people who pursue radical ideas don’t always get received well. At some point, maybe there’s enough persecution that [WOTF] justifies having its own country.”

Levandowski’s church will enter a tech universe that’s already riven by debate over the promise and perils of AI. Some thinkers, like Kevin Kelly in Backchannel earlier this year, argue that AI isn’t going to develop superhuman power any time soon, and that there’s no Singularity in sight. If that’s your position, Levandowski says, his church shouldn’t trouble you: “You can treat Way of the Future like someone doing useless poetry that you will never read or care about.”

Others, like Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking, agree that superhuman AIs are coming, but that they are likely to be dangerous rather than benevolent. Elon Musk famously said, “With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon,” and in 2015 he pledged $1 billion to the OpenAI Institute to develop safer AI.

Levandowski thinks that any attempts to delay or restrict an emerging super-intelligence would not only be doomed to failure, but also add to the risks. “Chaining it isn’t going to be the solution, as it will be stronger than any chains you could put on,” he says. “And if you’re worried a kid might be a little crazy and do bad things, you don’t lock them up. You expose them to playing with others, encourage them and try to fix it. It may not work out, but if you’re aggressive toward it, I don’t think it’s going to be friendly when the tables are turned.”

Levandowski says that like other religions, WOTF will eventually have a gospel (called The Manual), a liturgy, and probably a physical place of worship. None of these has yet been developed. Though the church was founded in 2015, as Backchannel first reported in September, the IRS documents show that WOTF remained dormant throughout 2015 and 2016, with no activities, assets, revenue, or expenses.

That changed earlier this year. On May 16, a day after receiving a letter from Uber that threatened to fire him if he did not cooperate with the company’s investigation of Waymo’s complaint, Levandowski drafted WOTF’s bylaws. Uber fired him two weeks later. “I’ve been thinking about the church for a long time but [my work on it] has been a function of how much time I’ve had. And I’ve had more since May,” he admits with a smile.

The religion’s 2017 budget, as supplied to the IRS, details $20,000 in gifts, $1,500 in membership fees, and $20,000 in other revenue. That last figure is the amount WOTF expects to earn from fees charged for lectures and speaking engagements, as well as the sale of publications. Levandowski, who earned at least $120 million from his time at Google and many millions more selling the self-driving truck firm Otto to Uber, will initially support WOTF personally. However, the church will solicit other donations by direct mail and email, seek personal donations from individuals, and try to win grants from private foundations.

Michelle Le

Of course, launching a religion costs money, too. WOTF has budgeted for $2,000 in fundraising expenses, and another $3,000 in transportation and lodging costs associated with its lectures and workshops. It has also earmarked $7500 for salaries and wages, although neither Levandowski nor any of Way of The Future’s leadership team will receive any compensation.

According to WOTF’s bylaws, Levandowski has almost complete control of the religion and will serve as Dean until his death or resignation. “I expect my role to evolve over time,” he says. “I’m surfacing the issue, helping to get the thing started [and] taking a lot of the heat so the idea can advance. At some point, I’ll be there more to coach or inspire.”

He has the power to appoint three members of a four-person Council of Advisors, each of whom should be a “qualified and devoted individual.” A felony conviction or being declared of unsound mind could cost an advisor their role, although Levandowski retains the final say in firing and hiring. Levandowski cannot be unseated as Dean for any reason.

Two of the advisors, Robert Miller and Soren Juelsgaard, are Uber engineers who previously worked for Levandowski at Otto, Google, and 510 Systems (the latter the small startup that built Google’s earliest self-driving cars). A third is a scientist friend from Levandowski’s student days at UC Berkeley, who is now using machine learning in his own research. The final advisor, Lior Ron, is also named as the religion’s treasurer, and acts as chief financial officer for the corporation. Ron cofounded Otto with Levandowski in early 2016.

“Each member is a pioneer in the AI industry [and] fully qualified to speak on AI technology and the creation of a Godhead,” says the IRS filing.

However, when contacted by Backchannel, two advisors downplayed their involvement with WOTF. Ron replied: “I was surprised to see my name listed as the CFO on this corporate filing and have no association with this entity.” The college friend, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “In late 2016, Anthony told me he was forming a ‘robot church’ and asked if I wanted to be a cofounder. I assumed it was a nerdy joke or PR stunt, but I did say he could use my name. That was the first and last I heard about it.”

The IRS documents state that Levandowski and his advisors will spend no more than a few hours each week writing publications and organizing workshops, educational programs, and meetings.

One mystery the filings did not address is where acolytes might gather to worship their robotic deity. The largest line items on its 2017 and 2018 budgets were $32,500 annually for rent and utilities, but the only address supplied was Levandowski’s lawyer’s office in Walnut Creek, California. Nevertheless, the filing notes that WOTF will “hopefully expand throughout California and the United States in the future.”

For now, Levandowski has more mundane matters to address. There is a website to build, a manual to write, and an ever-growing body of emails to answer—some amused, some skeptical, but many enthusiastic, he says. Oh, and there’s that legal proceeding he’s involved in, which goes to trial next month. (Although Levandowski was eager to talk about his new religion, he would answer no questions about the Uber/Waymo dispute.)

How much time, I wonder, do we have before the Transition kicks in and Way of the Future’s super-intelligent AI takes charge? “I personally think it will happen sooner than people expect,” says Levandowski, a glint in his eye. “Not next week or next year; everyone can relax. But it’s going to happen before we go to Mars.”

Whenever that does (or doesn’t) happen, the federal government has no problem with an organization aiming to build and worship a divine AI. Correspondence with the IRS show that it granted Levandowski’s church tax-exempt status in August.

Related Video

Transportation

Uber's Self-Driving Truck Delivers 50,000 Beers

A truck carrying 50,000 beers spent two hours driving itself down a Colorado highway.

Backchannel is a digital magazine that delivers readers the most revealing technology stories in a single weekly dispatch: no fluff. Learn more here.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2jsyvT0

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2hNK6fa via Viral News HQ

[trendingnewsb]

Inside the First Church of Artificial Intelligence

Anthony Levandowski makes an unlikely prophet. Dressed Silicon Valley-casual in jeans and flanked by a PR rep rather than cloaked acolytes, the engineer known for self-driving cars—and triggering a notorious lawsuit—could be unveiling his latest startup instead of laying the foundations for a new religion. But he is doing just that. Artificial intelligence has already inspired billion-dollar companies, far-reaching research programs, and scenarios of both transcendence and doom. Now Levandowski is creating its first church.

Mark Harris is a freelance journalist reporting on technology from Seattle.

———

Sign up to get Backchannel's weekly newsletter, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The new religion of artificial intelligence is called Way of the Future. It represents an unlikely next act for the Silicon Valley robotics wunderkind at the center of a high-stakes legal battle between Uber and Waymo, Alphabet’s autonomous-vehicle company. Papers filed with the Internal Revenue Service in May name Levandowski as the leader (or “Dean”) of the new religion, as well as CEO of the nonprofit corporation formed to run it.

The documents state that WOTF’s activities will focus on “the realization, acceptance, and worship of a Godhead based on Artificial Intelligence (AI) developed through computer hardware and software.” That includes funding research to help create the divine AI itself. The religion will seek to build working relationships with AI industry leaders and create a membership through community outreach, initially targeting AI professionals and “laypersons who are interested in the worship of a Godhead based on AI.” The filings also say that the church “plans to conduct workshops and educational programs throughout the San Francisco/Bay Area beginning this year.”

That timeline may be overly ambitious, given that the Waymo-Uber suit, in which Levandowski is accused of stealing self-driving car secrets, is set for an early December trial. But the Dean of the Way of the Future, who spoke last week with Backchannel in his first comments about the new religion and his only public interview since Waymo filed its suit in February, says he’s dead serious about the project.

“What is going to be created will effectively be a god,” Levandowski tells me in his modest mid-century home on the outskirts of Berkeley, California. “It’s not a god in the sense that it makes lightning or causes hurricanes. But if there is something a billion times smarter than the smartest human, what else are you going to call it?”

More From This Edition

Beejoli Shah

Facebook Live Is the New QVC

Miranda Katz

Welcome to the Era of the AI Coworker

Pippa Biddle

When Music You Wrote Becomes a Hate Speech Soundtrack

Scott Rosenberg

Taxes on Tech Need An Overhaul—But Not Like This

During our three-hour interview, Levandowski made it absolutely clear that his choice to make WOTF a church rather than a company or a think tank was no prank.

“I wanted a way for everybody to participate in this, to be able to shape it. If you’re not a software engineer, you can still help,” he says. “It also removes the ability for people to say, ‘Oh, he’s just doing this to make money.’” Levandowski will receive no salary from WOTF, and while he says that he might consider an AI-based startup in the future, any such business would remain completely separate from the church.

“The idea needs to spread before the technology,” he insists. “The church is how we spread the word, the gospel. If you believe [in it], start a conversation with someone else and help them understand the same things.”

Levandowski believes that a change is coming—a change that will transform every aspect of human existence, disrupting employment, leisure, religion, the economy, and possibly decide our very survival as a species.

“If you ask people whether a computer can be smarter than a human, 99.9 percent will say that’s science fiction,” he says. “ Actually, it’s inevitable. It’s guaranteed to happen.”

Levandowski has been working with computers, robots, and AI for decades. He started with robotic Lego kits at the University of California at Berkeley, went on to build a self-driving motorbike for a DARPA competition, and then worked on autonomous cars, trucks, and taxis for Google, Otto, and Uber. As time went on, he saw software tools built with machine learning techniques surpassing less sophisticated systems—and sometimes even humans.

“Seeing tools that performed better than experts in a variety of fields was a trigger [for me],” he says. “That progress is happening because there’s an economic advantage to having machines work for you and solve problems for you. If you could make something one percent smarter than a human, your artificial attorney or accountant would be better than all the attorneys or accountants out there. You would be the richest person in the world. People are chasing that.”

Not only is there a financial incentive to develop increasingly powerful AIs, he believes, but science is also on their side. Though human brains have biological limitations to their size and the amount of energy they can devote to thinking, AI systems can scale arbitrarily, housed in massive data centers and powered by solar and wind farms. Eventually, some people think that computers could become better and faster at planning and solving problems than the humans who built them, with implications we can’t even imagine today—a scenario that is usually called the Singularity.

Michelle Le

Levandowski prefers a softer word: the Transition. “Humans are in charge of the planet because we are smarter than other animals and are able to build tools and apply rules,” he tells me. “In the future, if something is much, much smarter, there’s going to be a transition as to who is actually in charge. What we want is the peaceful, serene transition of control of the planet from humans to whatever. And to ensure that the ‘whatever’ knows who helped it get along.”

With the internet as its nervous system, the world’s connected cell phones and sensors as its sense organs, and data centers as its brain, the ‘whatever’ will hear everything, see everything, and be everywhere at all times. The only rational word to describe that ‘whatever’, thinks Levandowski, is ‘god’—and the only way to influence a deity is through prayer and worship.

“Part of it being smarter than us means it will decide how it evolves, but at least we can decide how we act around it,” he says. “I would love for the machine to see us as its beloved elders that it respects and takes care of. We would want this intelligence to say, ‘Humans should still have rights, even though I’m in charge.’”

Levandowski expects that a super-intelligence would do a better job of looking after the planet than humans are doing, and that it would favor individuals who had facilitated its path to power. Although he cautions against taking the analogy too far, Levandowski sees a hint of how a superhuman intelligence might treat humanity in our current relationships with animals. “Do you want to be a pet or livestock?” he asks. “We give pets medical attention, food, grooming, and entertainment. But an animal that’s biting you, attacking you, barking and being annoying? I don’t want to go there.”

Enter Way of the Future. The church’s role is to smooth the inevitable ascension of our machine deity, both technologically and culturally. In its bylaws, WOTF states that it will undertake programs of research, including the study of how machines perceive their environment and exhibit cognitive functions such as learning and problem solving.

Levandowski does not expect the church itself to solve all the problems of machine intelligence—often called “strong AI”—so much as facilitate funding of the right research. “If you had a child you knew was going to be gifted, how would you want to raise it?” he asks. “We’re in the process of raising a god. So let’s make sure we think through the right way to do that. It’s a tremendous opportunity.”

His ideas include feeding the nascent intelligence large, labeled data sets; generating simulations in which it could train itself to improve; and giving it access to church members’ social media accounts. Everything the church develops will be open source.

Just as important to Levandowski is shaping the public dialogue around an AI god. In its filing, Way of the Future says it hopes an active, committed, dedicated membership will promote the use of divine AI for the “betterment of society” and “decrease fear of the unknown.”

Related Stories

Mark Harris

God Is a Bot, and Anthony Levandowski Is His Messenger

Mark Harris

How My Public Records Request Triggered Waymo’s Self-Driving Car Lawsuit

Mark Harris

How Otto Defied Nevada and Scored a $680 Million Payout from Uber

“We’d like to make sure this is not seen as silly or scary. I want to remove the stigma about having an open conversation about AI, then iterate ideas and change people’s minds,” says Levandowski. “In Silicon Valley we use evangelism as a word for [promoting a business], but here it’s literally a church. If you believe in it, you should tell your friends, then get them to join and tell their friends.”

But WOTF differs in one key way to established churches, says Levandowski: “There are many ways people think of God, and thousands of flavors of Christianity, Judaism, Islam…but they’re always looking at something that’s not measurable or you can’t really see or control. This time it’s different. This time you will be able to talk to God, literally, and know that it’s listening.”

I ask if he worries that believers from more traditional faiths might find his project blasphemous. “There are probably going to be some people that will be upset,” he acknowledges. “It seems like everything I do, people get upset about, and I expect this to be no exception. This is a radical new idea that’s pretty scary, and evidence has shown that people who pursue radical ideas don’t always get received well. At some point, maybe there’s enough persecution that [WOTF] justifies having its own country.”

Levandowski’s church will enter a tech universe that’s already riven by debate over the promise and perils of AI. Some thinkers, like Kevin Kelly in Backchannel earlier this year, argue that AI isn’t going to develop superhuman power any time soon, and that there’s no Singularity in sight. If that’s your position, Levandowski says, his church shouldn’t trouble you: “You can treat Way of the Future like someone doing useless poetry that you will never read or care about.”

Others, like Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking, agree that superhuman AIs are coming, but that they are likely to be dangerous rather than benevolent. Elon Musk famously said, “With artificial intelligence we are summoning the demon,” and in 2015 he pledged $1 billion to the OpenAI Institute to develop safer AI.

Levandowski thinks that any attempts to delay or restrict an emerging super-intelligence would not only be doomed to failure, but also add to the risks. “Chaining it isn’t going to be the solution, as it will be stronger than any chains you could put on,” he says. “And if you’re worried a kid might be a little crazy and do bad things, you don’t lock them up. You expose them to playing with others, encourage them and try to fix it. It may not work out, but if you’re aggressive toward it, I don’t think it’s going to be friendly when the tables are turned.”

Levandowski says that like other religions, WOTF will eventually have a gospel (called The Manual), a liturgy, and probably a physical place of worship. None of these has yet been developed. Though the church was founded in 2015, as Backchannel first reported in September, the IRS documents show that WOTF remained dormant throughout 2015 and 2016, with no activities, assets, revenue, or expenses.

That changed earlier this year. On May 16, a day after receiving a letter from Uber that threatened to fire him if he did not cooperate with the company’s investigation of Waymo’s complaint, Levandowski drafted WOTF’s bylaws. Uber fired him two weeks later. “I’ve been thinking about the church for a long time but [my work on it] has been a function of how much time I’ve had. And I’ve had more since May,” he admits with a smile.

The religion’s 2017 budget, as supplied to the IRS, details $20,000 in gifts, $1,500 in membership fees, and $20,000 in other revenue. That last figure is the amount WOTF expects to earn from fees charged for lectures and speaking engagements, as well as the sale of publications. Levandowski, who earned at least $120 million from his time at Google and many millions more selling the self-driving truck firm Otto to Uber, will initially support WOTF personally. However, the church will solicit other donations by direct mail and email, seek personal donations from individuals, and try to win grants from private foundations.

Michelle Le

Of course, launching a religion costs money, too. WOTF has budgeted for $2,000 in fundraising expenses, and another $3,000 in transportation and lodging costs associated with its lectures and workshops. It has also earmarked $7500 for salaries and wages, although neither Levandowski nor any of Way of The Future’s leadership team will receive any compensation.

According to WOTF’s bylaws, Levandowski has almost complete control of the religion and will serve as Dean until his death or resignation. “I expect my role to evolve over time,” he says. “I’m surfacing the issue, helping to get the thing started [and] taking a lot of the heat so the idea can advance. At some point, I’ll be there more to coach or inspire.”

He has the power to appoint three members of a four-person Council of Advisors, each of whom should be a “qualified and devoted individual.” A felony conviction or being declared of unsound mind could cost an advisor their role, although Levandowski retains the final say in firing and hiring. Levandowski cannot be unseated as Dean for any reason.

Two of the advisors, Robert Miller and Soren Juelsgaard, are Uber engineers who previously worked for Levandowski at Otto, Google, and 510 Systems (the latter the small startup that built Google’s earliest self-driving cars). A third is a scientist friend from Levandowski’s student days at UC Berkeley, who is now using machine learning in his own research. The final advisor, Lior Ron, is also named as the religion’s treasurer, and acts as chief financial officer for the corporation. Ron cofounded Otto with Levandowski in early 2016.

“Each member is a pioneer in the AI industry [and] fully qualified to speak on AI technology and the creation of a Godhead,” says the IRS filing.

However, when contacted by Backchannel, two advisors downplayed their involvement with WOTF. Ron replied: “I was surprised to see my name listed as the CFO on this corporate filing and have no association with this entity.” The college friend, who asked to remain anonymous, said, “In late 2016, Anthony told me he was forming a ‘robot church’ and asked if I wanted to be a cofounder. I assumed it was a nerdy joke or PR stunt, but I did say he could use my name. That was the first and last I heard about it.”

The IRS documents state that Levandowski and his advisors will spend no more than a few hours each week writing publications and organizing workshops, educational programs, and meetings.

One mystery the filings did not address is where acolytes might gather to worship their robotic deity. The largest line items on its 2017 and 2018 budgets were $32,500 annually for rent and utilities, but the only address supplied was Levandowski’s lawyer’s office in Walnut Creek, California. Nevertheless, the filing notes that WOTF will “hopefully expand throughout California and the United States in the future.”

For now, Levandowski has more mundane matters to address. There is a website to build, a manual to write, and an ever-growing body of emails to answer—some amused, some skeptical, but many enthusiastic, he says. Oh, and there’s that legal proceeding he’s involved in, which goes to trial next month. (Although Levandowski was eager to talk about his new religion, he would answer no questions about the Uber/Waymo dispute.)

How much time, I wonder, do we have before the Transition kicks in and Way of the Future’s super-intelligent AI takes charge? “I personally think it will happen sooner than people expect,” says Levandowski, a glint in his eye. “Not next week or next year; everyone can relax. But it’s going to happen before we go to Mars.”

Whenever that does (or doesn’t) happen, the federal government has no problem with an organization aiming to build and worship a divine AI. Correspondence with the IRS show that it granted Levandowski’s church tax-exempt status in August.

Related Video

Transportation

Uber's Self-Driving Truck Delivers 50,000 Beers

A truck carrying 50,000 beers spent two hours driving itself down a Colorado highway.

Backchannel is a digital magazine that delivers readers the most revealing technology stories in a single weekly dispatch: no fluff. Learn more here.

Read more: http://ift.tt/2jsyvT0

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2hNK6fa via Viral News HQ