#Give an X

[invisibleicewands]

We, the undersigned, come together as creatives and artists, recognising the immense power held within each voice, especially those often underrepresented in our society. 

Art and creativity shapes and reflects the diverse experiences of our communities. It’s vital that politics does too, and that everyone’s voice is heard in our democracy. 

But in Britain today, as many as 8 million people are not registered to vote at their current address. Turnout of younger voters has been falling considerably.  New rules requiring photo ID risk excluding hundreds of thousands of citizens, and disproportionately affecting poorer people, those with disabilities and people from minority ethnic backgrounds.

We, the undersigned, stand united in our belief that participation in elections is not just a right, but a profound responsibility—one that should extend to everyone, at the heart of a vibrant democracy. 

That is why we urge you to join us in registering to vote for the upcoming local elections before the deadline of 23:59 on Tuesday 16 April, at https://qrco.de/giveanx. Remember, you are also eligible to register if you are a qualifying EU or Commonwealth citizen. 

We join hands with the young people leading the Give an X campaign in emphasising the importance of young people shaping the future, and we urge each and every citizen to claim their seat at the table.

Voting is not just casting a ballot; it is narrating the stories of our communities and painting a vision of a better tomorrow. In the face of huge challenges nationally and globally, that has never been more important.

Let’s all of us write the next chapter together. We Give an X – will you?

Signed,

Michael Sheen - Actor

Paapa Essiedu - Actor

Meera Syal CBE - Actor and writer

Armando Iannucci - OBE Writer, director, producer and performer

Amelia Dimoldenberg - Comedian and presenter

Billy Bragg - Singer and songwriter

Samuel West - Actor and director

Sharon Gaffka - TV personality

Es Devlin CBE - Artist and designer

Ahir Shah - Comedian

Ralf Little - Actor and writer

Sir Stephen Frears - Director

Misan Harriman - Photographer and Chair of the Southbank Centre

Mei Mac - Actor

Sally Lindsay - Actor

Siobhán McSweeney - Actor and presenter

Sir Alistair Spalding CBE - Artistic Director, Sadler's Wells

Alice Aedy - CEO, Earthrise

David Lan CBE - Writer, producer and director

Georgia Harrison - TV personality

Timothy Sheader - Artistic Director, Donmar Warehouse

Henny Finch - Executive Director, Donmar Warehouse

Paule Constable - Lighting designer and Associate Director of the National Theatre

Daniel Lismore - Sculptor and designer

Luke McQueen - Comedian

Elliot Levey - Actor

Joseph Henry - Architect

Charlie Condou - Actor

Seeta Indani - Dancer and actor

Ania Magliano - Comedian

John O'Farrell - Author and scriptwriter

Emily Berrington - Actor

Rebecca Hendin - Illustrator

Jack Guinness - Writer and founder of The Queer Bible

Michael French - Head of Games London

Joseph Zeal-Henry - Director, Sound Advice

Sacha Lord - Co-founder of The Warehouse Project & Parklife festival Sam Evans - Musical Director

Estelle van Warmelo - Director

Bernard Donoghue OBE - CEO, Association of Leading Visitor Attractions

Stephen Skeet - Director of Impact, Volunteering Matters

Kayleigh Wainwright - Director of Youth Sector Innovation, UK Youth

Joe Bailey - CEO, Brighten the Corners/Out Loud Music

Jack Gamble - Director, Campaign for the Arts

Mete Coban MBE - CEO, My Life My Say

Lauren Kay-Lambert - Co Managing Director, Shape History

Sami Gichki - Co-Chair of the #iWill Movement

#Michael Sheen #Give an X

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

the fact that shakespeare was a playwright is sometimes so funny to me. just the concept of the "greatest writer of the English language" being a random 450-year-old entertainer, a 16th cent pop cultural sensation (thanks in large part to puns & dirty jokes & verbiage & a long-running appeal to commoners). and his work was made to be watched not read, but in the classroom teachers just hand us his scripts and say "that's literature"

just...imagine it's 2450 A.D. and English Lit students are regularly going into 100k debt writing postdoc theses on The Simpsons screenplays. the original animation hasn't even been preserved, it's literally just scripts and the occasional SDH subtitles.txt. they've been republished more times than the Bible

#due to the Great Data Decay academics write viciously argumentative articles on which episodes aired in what order #at conferences professors have known to engage in physically violent altercations whilst debating the air date number of household viewers #90% of the couch gags have been lost and there is a billion dollar trade in counterfeit “lost copies” #serious note: i'll be honest i always assumed it was english imperialism that made shakespeare so inescapable in the 19th/20th cent #like his writing should have become obscure at the same level of his contemporaries #but british imperialists needed an ENGLISH LANGUAGE (and BRITISH) writer to venerate #and shakespeare wrote so many damn things that there was a humongous body of work just sitting there waiting to be culturally exploited... #i know it didn't happen like this but i imagine a English Parliament House Committee Member For The Education Of The Masses or something #cartoonishly stumbling over a dusty cobwebbed crate labelled the Complete Works of Shakespeare #and going 'Eureka! this shall make excellent propoganda for fabricating a national identity in a time of great social unrest. #it will be a cornerstone of our elitist educational institutions for centuries to come! long live our decaying empire!' #'what good fortune that this used to be accessible and entertaining to mainstream illiterate audience members... #..but now we can strip that away and make it a difficult & alienating foundation of a Classical Education! just like the latin language :)' #anyway maybe there's no such thing as the 'greatest writer of x language' in ANY language? #maybe there are just different styles and yes levels of expertise and skill but also a high degree of subjectivity #and variance in the way that we as individuals and members of different cultures/time periods experience any work of media #and that's okay! and should be acknowledged!!! and allow us to give ourselves permission to broaden our horizons #and explore the stories of marginalized/underappreciated creators #instead of worshiping the List of Top 10 Best (aka Most Famous) Whatevers Of All Time/A Certain Time Period #anyways things are famous for a reason and that reason has little to do with innate “value” #and much more to do with how it plays into the interests of powerful institutions motivated to influence our shared cultural narratives #so i'm not saying 'stop teaching shakespeare'. but like...maybe classrooms should stop using it as busy work that (by accident or designs) #happens to alienate a large number of students who could otherwise be engaging critically with works that feel more relevant to their world #(by merit of not being 4 centuries old or lacking necessary historical context or requiring untaught translation skills) #and yeah...MAYBE our educational institutions could spend less time/money on shakespeare critical analysis and more on... #...any of thousands of underfunded areas of literary research i literally (pun!) don't know where to begin #oh and p.s. the modern publishing world is in shambles and it would be neat if schoolwork could include modern works? #beautiful complicated socially relevant works of literature are published every year. it's not just the 'classics' that have value #and actually modern publications are probably an easier way for students to learn the basics. since lesson plans don't have to include the #important historical/cultural context many teens need for 20+ year old media (which is older than their entire lived experience fyi)

[milkymolle]

i'm over 2 weeks late but happy 20th anniversary to the Most Important comic book cover of all time. here is my homage

#art #xmen #x-men #nightcrawler #wolverine #logurt #james logan howlett #nudity #i guess. #today is my birthday actually so consider giving me a little kiss on the cheek #suggestive

[c-tepx]

soooo to laios chilchuck is roughly the size of his dogs. huh. i am so normal about this.

#dungeon meshi #laios touden #chilchuck tims #dunmeshi #dunmeshi laios #chilaios #dunmeshi chilchuck #laios x chilchuck #giving the new meaning to the size difference trope #like. damn. #if divorced middle aged man why so baby shaped #little meow meow and I do mean little

[alyakthedorklord]

Bruce Wayne, sitting in a cute eco-friendly cafe while on a video call with Tim: Oh Noooo, are you sure there’s no way the board of directors will let us get rid of this old decrepit Wayne Factory building that is unsafe for our workers and also for the surrounding environment?

CEO Tim, with equal gravitas: No, I’m afraid they just won’t budge. It technically meets legal requirements on paper, and we can’t prove that the chemicals affecting the local ecosystem that have no other possible source are from the out-of-date drainage system… they’re saying it would cost too much to fix the place up too, which is ridiculous, because we’re us, but our hands are tied…

Bruce, full Brucie himbo mode: Oh I just feel so SAD for all the sweet fluffy animals and the pretty flowers and especially our hard workers dealing with such unsafe conditions… I think I’ll give them all a nice short vacation this weekend, so the ENTIRE PLACE will be EMPTY and SHUT DOWN from FRIDAY TO TUESDAY, the SECURITY SYSTEM WILL BE DOWN because it’s just so GLITCHY, I’m sure nothing will happen to the ENVIRONMENTAL STAIN ON OUR COMPANIES NAME THAT WILL BE COMPLETELY ABANDONED FROM FRIDAY TO TUESDAY- Timmy do you think I’m being too subtle?

Tim, snickering: no no you’re doing great Bruce I’m sure they’ve got it

Poison Ivy, on a date the next table over: ( ‘-‘)-☕️

Harley, through tears of repressed laughter: so… we doing anythin’ this weekend?

#you know they would #at least once #it’s called delegation #dc comcis #brucie wayne #bruce wayne #harley x ivy #poison ivy #harley quinzel #tim drake #batfam #gotta give the girls enrichment #what do you mean dc doesn’t stand for disregard canon

[mydairpercabeth]

Show only fans calling Percabeth Smartwater is the cutest thing ive seen all week

#anything beats annacy #or annercy #its forever percabeth though #but smartwater is cute #percabeth #smartwater #percy jackson #annabeth chase #percy x annabeth #its giving 2010s tumblr #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson the lightning thief #pjo tv #pjo #pjo tv show #percy series

[konigsblog]

headlocks 'nd simon riley

; getting fucked in a headlock

tw: headlock, power difference (?) female reader.

it's simon riley's thing to fuck you in a headlock. that turns him on and his tip leaking and drooling all over his brute abdomen.

when you're spoon fucking, he wraps a strong, muscular arm around your neck, muscles flexing as he holds, making sure you're restrained and bound while you take his girthy cock, feeling him slide deep inside your gummy walls. your pussy throbs and clenches around his shaft, eyes rolled back and your jaw hanging open, pleasure dripping from your little cunt.

“look at ya’... whiney’ slag.”

he spits, muttering his harsh and hurtful words into your ear while tightening the already firm grip he has on your neck. you cry softly, body shaking with euphoria and stress as you attempt to breathe. you drag your nails along his upper arm, moaning out to catch your breath while he slams and pounds into you, knocking the wind from your lungs with his aggressive pace.

“keep takin’ it all, lovie. tha’s my girl-- thereee we go... attagirrrllll...”

he chokes you tightly, holding you firmly while you sob out due to your air restriction. simon absolutely adores the power dynamics between you two, how easily he's able to shut you up with a nice, firm fucking.

only when you're gasping desperately will he free you, before grasping your neck firmly, a large hand choking you, fucking you deeper while you whine and choke.

#orla speaks #mfmfmfmfmmf :( #give. it. to. me #simon riley smut #simon ghost riley x reader #simon riley x reader #simon riley #simon riley x you #ghost x female reader #ghost x you #ghost x reader #mw2 ghost #cod ghost

[sanjisblackasswife]

Gojo’s body irl:

argue with ur mammy about it.

#TimikosGojo #he also gives the vibes he’d always feel naturally cold. #mf will touch the back of ur neck knowing you’ll shrivel up KSJSJKSKSKS #jujutsu gojo #gojo saturo #gojo satoru #jjk gojo #gojo x reader #gojo headcanons #gojo #jjk headcanons #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu satoru

[wispscribbles]

I love your ghost design. I wanna squeeze him :⁠^⁠)

If no hug then why hug-shaped???

#thank youuuu! squeeze that mentally unstable adult man! he needs it! #ask #anon ask #ghostsoap #soapghost #my art #cod fanart #simon ghost riley #john soap mactavish #soap x ghost #doodle #fav hc about ghost is that he is so incredibly touch starved and everyone just assumes he hates touch #but Soap is so touchy he keeps forgetting not to hug and pat and lean on Ghost #and each time Ghost is like ‘what is happening to me?? why do I want to melt rn??? I think I’m in love???’ #outwardly he is a stone wall as usual #until Soap actually remembers to give Ghost space bc he thinks that’s what he wants #and Ghost has to finally be the one to reach out and ask for touch #and Soap is the happiest camper #from then on they are stuck together with glue #this all has nothing to do with your ask I’m sorry #I’ve got ghoap on the brain I can’t help it #complete side note: I have many asks in my inbox and I’m so happy y’all write!! just pls bear with me bc I am very slow to respond

[nerdpoe]

Danny is about to be kidnapped in Gotham This is not a good time.

He's studying for the SAT, he's already been kidnapped by Vlad like, four times that week and it was a fucking Tuesday, he forgot his wallet at his new apartment, locked himself out of said new apartment (he could phase through the door but that wasn't the point), he's just been informed that the grant he applied for was denied so he needs to ask his mom and dad for college funds when he'd already told them he had it covered, and just...it was shit.

It had been shit. The entire week had been awful and annoying and he was ready to either murder everyone on the planet or go find a corner to cry in for the next three days.

So when the band of wild goons working for whatever villain of the week pulled up and tried to kidnap him, he snapped.

He used them to vent.

Shouted about how terrible his day had been, how terrible his week had been, how he'd already been kidnapped by his creepy godfather who was way too into him, how college funding was shit and the grant system was rigged, and how he'd have to call a locksmith or break down the door to his own apartment if he wanted to go to bed-all of it. He unloaded all of his frustration.

The goons actually backed off.

One of them gave him an awkward side hug and told him it'd get better.

Danny wasn't paying attention to his surrounding. He doesn't realize that the whole thing was livestreamed.

So when he gets home to his apartment later that day, his door is opened for him by the vigilante Spoiler before he can even turn intangible.

She brought over BatBurger and kidnapped Bruce Wayne, Gotham's bumbling Prince, to talk about college grants.

#dpxdc #dcxdp #dp x dc #dc x dp #phanfic #story prompt #steph watched the livestream and felt GREAT SYMPATHY #so she actually did trick bruce into coming with her and breaking into an apartment as bruce wayne instead of batman #told him it was an important job #he clued in that it wasn't crime related after she told him to stay put so she could get food #sure fuck it he'll give this rando kid a grant #he'll pay for the whole thing education is important #literally no one looks into the whole “i've already been kidnapped four times this week” thing #cuz everyone gets kidnapped in gotham #well almost no one looks into it #jack and maddie fenton do when they see the clip #vlad learns the hard way not to piss off the people who design weapons specifically meant for you

[ikiprian]

Ghost Kitchen (brought to you by criminal entrepreneur, Red Hood)

Danny’s got the easiest job in Gotham.

He works as a fry cook at a shoddily-run, independent burger joint. Hardly anyone comes in, despite prices being criminally low, and portions insanely large, and while the manager looks like the average tough-as-nails ex-con, he lets Danny mess around in the kitchen whenever the place is empty. (Which is often. This place has to be the city’s hidden gem or something!)

Mr. Manager’s the only one ever there with Danny, except for sometimes when his buddies come over to smoke and play cards. Danny would find it shady, except part of his job is not to ask questions. Literally, he was told during the interview.

(It was a weird interview. Why would they need to hire someone who’s been in a gunfight before? Like, he has, but Gotham’s idea of “hirable qualities” is so bizarre.)

So instead he whips up some killer burgers with the frozen ingredients, and basks in the praise as the guys tell him he shouldn’t have, he does too much for this joint, ain’t that friendly!

Now, Danny’s a chef on the newer side. As a teen he’d preferred the look of Nasty Burger over anything with Michelin stars, and he only really took up cooking after Jazz moved out for college. But just like ecto-exposure used to turn the groceries sentient, Danny’s low-level ecto signature imbues all his food with something historically haunted Gothamites just love! And Danny’s never been one to half-ass a job when it makes people happy.

With fresher produce, real meat, Danny’s sure he can take his dishes to the next level. It takes a couple months of badgering, but his manager finally agrees to contact the mysterious store owner, who keeps the place going, despite profits Danny knows have to be in the red.

Danny spends the morning prepping. He pours his heart into his food, eager to impress. The big boss will be here soon, and he wants to prove that despite the dangerous location, this place has real potential!

It isn’t until the Red Hood shows up that Danny realizes he’s been working for a money laundering scheme.

#ecto has a weird effect on them actually. a lot like how danielle drinks ecto to keep her stable #ecto has positive health benefits for gothamites! it boosts their immune system gives them a little more energy makes them less irritable #silly hc but i think its fun #also danny just. thought it was a normal ass interview. the person who hired him was heavily hinting at the criminal element of his job the #whole time. danny just kept thinking man i cant believe all interviews are like this in gotham. every one of the #m asks if im okay lying to cops. i am but its weird i never got asked this in amity #dpxdc #dcxdp #dc x dp #dp x dc #dead on main #ghost kitchen au #danny fenton #jason todd #kipwrite

[antirepurp]

top 10 most ominous tweets in recent memory

#soda offers you a can #does this mean we have less frequent releases to give devs more time to work on the games?? #a return to the 2000s era where lore carried over from game to game??? #do the unhinged sonic youtubers get whatever it is they want from their funny little animal game???? #find out next time on sonic x

[catsharky]

Presenting: King Sidon, his wife Queen Yona and his boyfriend Link.

Yona is very supportive of everything except Sidon forgetting his ceremony cues.

(I had an atrocious week and TotK has been coming in clutch for keeping me sane.)

#totk spoilers #loz totk #sidlink #link x sidon #totk yona #totk link #totk sidon #tears of the kingdom #I love Yona I adore her design oh my god #If I were to create a Zelda-sona it'd basically just be her with different clothes so I'm contractually obligated to love her #But Nintendo trying to give Sidon a case of the not-gays with her is hilarious #The man greets his fiancée like a coworker and then turns around to explode with adoration over Link in the same breath #This is either a Lavender Marriage or a case of 'every royal Zora finds Link irresistible'. I like both but prefer the former #Like. Yona meets Zelda once things are settled and gets all flustered and tongue tied #and neither Sidon or Link have any idea what's going on because they share 1 braincell #which is used exclusively for fighting really good #sharky art #zelda comic

[pseudophan]

anthony is dead: the funeral roast (paid content)

#daniel howell #amazingphil #dan and phil #phan #smosh #anthony padilla #mine #my content #hi sorry i can't get a hold of the person who shared this clip with me so i don't feel comfortable posting it in full #however i'm not a good enough person to Not Gif It #so here u go here's a bit of it in gif form lol #i'm going to sleep i'm sure by the time i wake up the full video will be up #oh also oh my god this clip gives me such super amazing project vibes i almost cried #ok. anyway. it's 8:20am. im drunk still. goodnight im finally going to bed x

[inkskinned]

hey btw if you're in the USA at  2:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 4, they're testing the emergency broadcast system. your phone is probably going to make a really loud noise, even if it's on silent. there's a backup date on the 11th if they need to postpone it.

if you're not in a safe situation and have an extra phone, you should turn that phone completely off beforehand.

additionally, if you're like me, and are easily startled; i recommend treating it like a party. have a countdown or something. be surrounded by your loved ones. take the actions you personally need to take to make yourself safe.

i have already seen mockery towards any person who feels nervous about this. for the record, it completely, completely valid to have "emergency broadcast sounds" be an anxiety trigger. do not let other people make fun of you for that. emergency sounds are legitimately engineered to make us take action; those of us with high levels of anxiety and/or neurodivergence are already pre-disposed to have a Bad Time. sometimes it is best to acknowledge that the situation will be triggering for some, and to prepare for that; rather than just saying "well that's stupid, it's just a test."

"loud scary sound time" isn't like, my favorite thing, but we can at least try to prevent some additional anxiety by preparing for it. maybe get yourself a cake? noise cancelling headphones? the new hozier album? whatever helps. love u, hope you're okay. we are gonna ride it out together.

#watching ppl go from being like ''support neurodivergent ppl~~!" #to being like ''if this is going to give u a panic attack ur fuckken stupid'' #like..... gets me #yeah man. i know im going to be triggered by it . in the old fashioned term. it is GOING to give me a panic attack. it's pretty much certai #and i shouldn't have to tell u about what i have survived for you to be okay with that. #you can just trust that i ALSO don't want me to react to it. i'm not gonna be having a FUN time. #dismissing that bc you think it's stupid.... like is the whole problem. #these sounds are workshopped by entire teams of people to get you to pay attention and move quickly. #they arent meant to be fun and exciting. #OBVIOUSLY it's gonna set ppl off. #but yeah there's something so fuckken demeaning about ppl being like. well that trigger isn't valid bc u haven't undergone X #dude i have ptsd bc i was abused as a child. like plain and simple. the fact im 30 and afraid of the dark tells you how bad it was. #i shouldn't have to ask u for permission to be mentally ill. #the reason it's a fucking disorder and not a fucking choice is that I DO NOT CONTROL IT. #like how is it any different from when ppl are like ''oh public speaking isn't that scary'' like FOR YOU #for YOU this isn't scary. now if i could fucking eat my own amygdala...

[thekaiserroll]

Hug

It's nearly impossible to have a quiet and peaceful day with the crew, like the strawhats. Nami is mostly used to the noise on Going Merry but one day she gets fed up with Zoro and Sanji arguing. Not only are they extremely loud, but they've also already broken way too many things during their fights.

She decides that If they want to act like brats, then she's going to treat them as such. So she makes them apologize and hug each other in silence for an hour. None of them are happy about this punishment, but Nami threatened to raise Zoro's debt, and Sanji couldn't say no to her. It could be worse.

It's awkward enough for them to not incite any fight for a long time and Nami is quite proud of herself. She knows it won't last forever but at least now she knows how to handle them. It inevitably happens again. And again. And again.

Much to her surprise, those fights became more and more frequent. And what's even weirder is that she could see the way both Zoro and Sanji occasionally glanced at her to make sure she was nearby. It's almost as if they wanted someone to make them hug each other. As if they needed an excuse.... these idiots.

Soon, they don't even need Nami's help. When they aren't busy training, cooking or fighting, they cuddle together. Sometimes Luffy or Chopper would join them, but most of the crew knew it was their time.

After two years spent separately, they became extremely clingy. It's no surprise when they start sleeping in the same bed. What is surprising is that despite them behaving like a lovey-dovey couple, those oblivious idiots are STILL unaware of each other's feelings.

#It's almost 3 am and I'm a little tired #I really hope that what I wrote here is somewhat coherent #It's another idea that's been stuck in my head #I wanted to make a comic about this but I never have the time #so for now all I can give you are these notes and a quick sketch #and as always if there's already a fic like that please let me know I would love to check it out #sanji x zoro #sanji #roronoa zoro #zosan #one piece