Month: December 2021

Billie Joe Armstrong is probably one of my favourite singers. He is known as the lead singer for the American rock band “Green Day” and has lots of fans.

 

One reason I’m a fan of him is probably because of the great music he puts out. He founded his band back in 1985 with his co-star Mike Dirnt, and they still make music together presently, along with their drummer, Tré Cool.

I feel Billie has really captivating vocals. The meanings behind his songs are always something different than writing something cool, along with the strange, yet original, sounds. His voice really ties it altogether.

In one of his songs, specifically, it’s written about his father’s passing. Billie Joe’s father died of esophageal cancer when Billie was ten, back in 1982 (https://www.popbuzz.com/music/artists/green-day/news/wake-me-up-when-september-ends-meme-meaning/). The song has a line that references this; “like my father’s come to pass, 20 years has gone so fast”. This song is called, “Wake me up when September ends”.

Over a decade after his father’s passing, Billie Joe married his current wife after years of previous girlfriends. Her name is Adrienne Nesser, and they had two kids together, one named “Joey” (nickname) and one named Jakob.

 

A few years after his sons were born, Billie Joe was arrested for drunk driving (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/green-day-frontman-arrested-180927/). This happened on January 5^th, 2003. He was bailed out and was reportedly very cooperative with authorities.

Billie Joe has had problems with drinking previously, and said in an interview that he has “been trying to get sober since 1997” (https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/billie-joe-armstrong-the-rolling-stone-interview-94267/). He struggled with substance abuse, specifically prescription for anxiety and insomnia, along with alcohol. He stated 2011-2013 was rough and had to cancel tours to work on himself and focus on his personal problems.

 

Moving away from Billie’s struggles, he has also had experience in filmography. He has had a few cameos as himself and documentaries done, along with being featured on The Voice for five episodes as himself.

 

Getting into some more normal and standard things, Billie Joe Armstrong was born on February 17^th, 1972. He is 1.7m (5’57) and has a net worth of 75 million dollars.

Billie Joe has expressed that he is bisexual, and has a song released called “Coming Clean” on his album Dookie with Green Day, and has expressed this also in an LGBTQ+ magazine called “Advocate”.

I feel this is a really good thing because when people who may question themselves look up to someone who was also in that position. It can be a good feeling on comfort to know their idols went through the same thing, and can find a lot of good in the people who “create a path” for them.

 

Also, he is related to Neil Armstrong. Just thought I’d mention.

 

All citing’s throughout.

Lots of what I write about online is about drawing (at least on here), but I  do have other published pieces that aren’t about it, and lots of private journals full of all my ideas.

I’m the type of person that, when I’m planning something intricate, I detail everything, make it all clear to not only myself, but other people, and if I’m dealing with multiple things, I make sure I can differentiate them while still making them look the same.

I don’t like expressing a lot of my ideas, especially online where lots of people can see (along with people who steal art/literature/photography and show it as their own), though, I enjoy getting feedback that isn’t “This looks great! I wish I could do that, too”. I like a lot of rough criticism, feedback on what to do better, how to fix mistakes, etc., and it’s fun to get that from friends in person and from people online, but it’s hard to get attention online, nevermind the fact that most people seeing it don’t give feedback.

I like keeping my ideas to myself, and to solve the problem of thinking it’s too cliché, too simple, not enough detail, not original, too much detail, all of the above, I like to look at different things online, get some more ideas and twist them to work in what I imagine, while also making it completely separate and having the mindset to say “This is too much”, or “This is too little”.

When writing a story, it’s good to think about major characters, reoccurring characters, minor characters, scenes, appearances, if you’re writing it without illustrations, I find it good to draw out what I want, and write it out in detail so I get the image people should see. I work on reoccurring characters first, as they’re the ones that come up most. It’s important to have depth to a lot of major characters, with fleshed out, logical backstories, appearances, why they do what they do, etc.

When coming up with something evil, it’s good to come up with a reason as to why that person or thing wants to cause harm to others, or want’s to get what they want no matter what. If you’re fleshing out a design, I find it important to think about their motives, why they look that way, the practicality if they have to do a lot of things. When thinking of someone evil, it’s important that they have a correct motive that, to them, makes sense to hurt other people to get what they want. Shallow people exist, and it’s good to give them weaknesses, and to have no logic behind their thoughts.

For example: say a villain is hurting people to get what they want, and they realize that they are committing murder, yet they still do it because they have rose-tinted glasses on and don’t realize what they want causes other people harm, or they don’t realize they’ve made a mistake; that their goals are unattainable. They don’t have any logic to what they’re are doing because they can’t see their pain or what they’re causing. They have a mindset simply focused on attaining the unattainable, and they can’t get out of that mindset.

Or maybe they’re just pure evil, I dunno.

As for a hero, I find it good to have a big dynamic. Say it’s like the Avengers; they save millions of people from things that want to destroy everything, but they ruin cities and places in the making of that safety. It’s a character dynamic even though it applies to all of them.

In terms of a hero, it’s good to have irony. Like an egotistical person who cares a lot about their peers, or a mad character who just wants the best for everyone. Having irony in characters is a good thing because it makes them more human. Instead of everything being perfect, there are effects to actions. There are bad actions, not only good ones. There can be bad things that happen to those people. They can have revelations, they can think. They aren’t supposed to be one-dimensional.

Think of your favourite game/movie/book character. Were they static the entire thing, or did they change throughout and have different thoughts? They probably did. Having dynamic characters with actual thoughts, real emotions, expression, and different issues I feel is the best way to make a good characters that people can get attached to.

Minor characters can really bring a story together. It’s like the people you walk past on the street. They aren’t too noticeable, and you don’t remember everything about them, but they bring in atmosphere like NPC’s in game or something. Minor characters can also be people in movies who have only a few lines, or they can be reoccurring just to bring the story full circle. Having people appear more than once in a story is normal, just like seeing someone one day and then another.

As for settings, I may have to write another blog about that because that’s a whole other conversation.

For more info/inspiration, Click Here.

There were burning embers all around him, flying in crazy directions as flames from fire surrounded the area, lighting up Nibelheim in the worst way possible.

It was horrible; a man that Cloud thought he could trust, and how he got so excited when he mentioned his hometown, now burning it into a million ashes before his very eyes.

The buildings: houses, stores, monuments, everything, were all on fire, and Cloud could do nothing.

He looked up, though he couldn’t see much through the smoke, rising flames, and his shaggy, raggedy hair, and saw the person responsible for his recent “troubles”.

To his dismay, in front of him, stood the man that started this reckless fire.

A menace. He looked down at his companion and glared sharply, letting out a small, nearly silent hum of satisfaction as he could see his work in his peripherals. His intent on torturing the poor soul known as Cloud Strife was off to a good start.

His long hair blew in the wind that stimulated the fires even more, the extensive strands flying crazy as they were almost the length down to his feet, the silver hue and healthiness of his hair making it shine as the fire reflected off of it.

His piercing green eyes seemed to glow lowly as the flames illuminated them, his already thin pupils contracted into sharp lines as he squinted at the male below.

He gripped his katana harshly, keeping in mind the eight-foot-long blade near the ground as he shifted it a bit in his firmly grasped hand. The reflective metal shined brightly in the fire, revealing the detailing on the blade, and making the Masemune look brand new even though he had had it for years.

He wasn’t like Angeal; didn’t care about the wear, tear, and rust of things over time and with use.

His unnecessary tenfolds of belts had their buckles shining along with everything else, along with the many that accompanied it on his long overcoat. You wouldn’t even be able to tell they were all worn in and covered in grime from his several years as a proper member of SOLDIER.

He didn’t say anything and didn’t need to. He just stared, on and on, with his intimidating and frightful glare, smiling like a one-winged devil in the fire. It was an absolutely terrifying sight to see, especially since Cloud knew he could be slaughtered at any given moment.

He tried to stand up, managing barely, and couldn’t even grasp his heavy sword without the help of the ground stabilizing it. He knew there was no use trying to fight Sephiroth in the condition he was in.

He was tired, burnt, bloody, sad, mad; everything you can possibly imagine watching someone you trust burn your hometown down to the ground and having absolutely no clue how to help the people, along with dealing with a, now, sociopathic killer who has not one drop of pity left in his body.

Cloud stood, petrified as Sephiroth looked down at him. Even with the distance between the two, you can tell the silver-haired male towered over him.

Sephiroth smiled. He didn’t know exactly why, but this scene he started reminded him of the many times himself and Genesis would train.

It was always near the Mako reactors, it seemed. He thought perhaps Genesis liked having a session in a more dangerously located place, even if it was only all simulated to help on-coming First Class SOLDIERs.

Though he loved the thought of being a hero, Genesis always seemed to be getting injured more than better at fighting, especially when he went against the only person better than him; Sephiroth.

He would preach about the thought of being a savior, and recite lines from the LOVELESS acts continuously, as if he was fueled by them.

Those were the better times in Sephiroth’s life. He thought about how Genesis, nearly, insisted that they were monsters. The Jenova cells and countless experiments and how they made them “inhuman”.

It all made sense now, as Sephiroth brought himself back to the surface, looking on into the fire as if there was something past it besides burning buildings. The entire rant about them being monsters was right, and if this town was indeed burning, he had not one thing wrong in his analysis.