Backstage - OOC Forums
General Discussion => The Speakeasy: OOG/Off-topic Discussion => Topic started by: Nmaro Makari on 27 Nov 2013, 12:05
-
Hello inspiricites!
This is a bit of a fun thread, for people to talk a little about the people alive or dead, famous or not, who inspire us when everything is bleak, make us happy when we're sad, and keep us going when times are hard.
So tell us, who inspires you?
-
Noor Inayat Khan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noor_Inayat_Khan)
[spoiler](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Noor_Inayat_Khan.jpeg)[/spoiler]
Assistant section officer in the Women's Royal Auxiliary Air Force and agent of Britain's Special Operations Executive in WWII, one of only four women in history to have earned a George Cross (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Cross). What really inspires me with her is that she was meek, shy, and a little unworldly, and yet when it came down to it she was incredibly brave and refused to give up, even when she was the last special forces radio operator left in France. In fact when the SS eventually did arrest her, she fought so fiercely that they were deeply afraid of her, keeping her restrained most times as a "precaution" for their own safety. She remained uncooperative , tried to escape twice, but was eventually executed at Dachau Concentration Camp after having consistently resisted the Nazi's demands for information. Her last words were reportedly "Liberte!" before being shot by an SS Officer. What she's taught me, is that you don't have to be a stereotypical action man to be a hero, you simply need to believe enough in your ideals to push yourself further.
Tony Benn (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oTOZM77CrMU) (Warning; contains politics!)
[spoiler](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/10/31/article-2480403-191B166E00000578-937_468x400.jpg)[/spoiler]
British Politician, veteran of WWII, longtime symbol of Left Wing politics, and probably the only person in recent political history to become more left wing after leaving office. One of the great things about Tony Benn is that he's challenged privilege from the start, being the first person in history to resign a peerage, i.e. giving up his title and power inherited from his father. Since then he's always stood by his beliefs and hasn't compromised them. On the left, there's a tendency to look back on history as a series of great mistakes, but Benn I think reminds us that history is actually one of victories against the odds, and by looking back, and learning from that we know the way forward, and can win the next fight.
-
Mary Seacole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Seacole)
[spoiler](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Seacole_photo.jpg/388px-Seacole_photo.jpg)[/spoiler]
Florence Nightingale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale) may be the most famous nurse in history, but she wasn't the only 'important' one of that time. Mary was a Jamaican woman who tried, and was refused, to go to the Crimean War to help Nightingale in the hospital. So, she left to help on her own. The small store and hotel she created to try covering her expenses didn't help, and she was left financially ruined for it, but while Nightingale was showing the science of nursing, Seacole was showing the dedication of a first responder.
-
Mary Seacole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Seacole)
[spoiler](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/Seacole_photo.jpg/388px-Seacole_photo.jpg)[/spoiler]
Florence Nightingale (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florence_Nightingale) may be the most famous nurse in history, but she wasn't the only 'important' one of that time. Mary was a Jamaican woman who tried, and was refused, to go to the Crimean War to help Nightingale in the hospital. So, she left to help on her own. The small store and hotel she created to try covering her expenses didn't help, and she was left financially ruined for it, but while Nightingale was showing the science of nursing, Seacole was showing the dedication of a first responder.
So did they actually meet?
-
They did when Mary arrived, but they spent the rest of the time miles apart.
-
Mom dukes, yo.
-
He inspires me:
[spoiler](http://topnews.in/law/files/pope-benedict-xvi_5.jpg)[/spoiler]
She inspires Odelya:
[spoiler](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Kim_Kardashian_2011.jpg)[/spoiler]
-
He inspires me:
[spoiler](http://topnews.in/law/files/pope-benedict-xvi_5.jpg)[/spoiler]
She inspires Odelya:
[spoiler](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Kim_Kardashian_2011.jpg)[/spoiler]
So, why hasn't Odelya shot lightning?
-
Fixed the links in my post.
-
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien)
[spoiler](http://cslewisjrrtolkien.classicalautographs.com/jrrtolkien/JRR-Tolkien-Sitting-Author.jpg)[/spoiler]
The name J. R. R. Tolkien should be familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in literature. Most famous for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, two novels which reshaped the fantasy genre as we know it. The word 'orc' in its current use, the idea of the graceful, ancient, benevolent elf, and many other conventional modern tropes can be traced back to Tolkien's work.
More than that, however, Tolkien did not merely write a number of stories about the world of Middle-Earth, he built the world itself. Two languages, tracts of family histories, endless notes detailing matters never published by the man himself - the sheer depth that he created is a great inspiration to me as an author.