#gorillaz pre phase 1

[inner-visionz]

Sherbert (2d x autistic transboy reader)

Warning: drug use, drug addiction, blood, drug mention. Plz don't read if your under 16/17

Chapter 1

I must be the master of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. I just moved here not that long ago and this is the second time I've seen a car crash right in front of me. I just want to see my dealer so I can get a few joints and go home, but I see a blue haired boy fly out of the wind shield and smack his head on the curb with a disturbing thud. I hear glass cracking underneath my boots as I run towards him. I don't know what I'm gonna do when I get to him, I'm not in the medical field but my body just instantly reacted. 

I kneel down by his head while trying to avoid shards of glass to study his injuries. It doesn't take me long to notice that he's the same boy I saw in the first crash when they put him in an ambulance. His face has bruises and cuts in a few spots and blood is flowing from his closed eyes. I hear a soft groan come from him so I put his head in my lap to give him a bit of comfort. I'm sure his head is splitting right now. I can't believe I've watched this man completely eat shit twice. He has his lips slightly parted so I can see that he's missing two front teeth. Poor man has been through hell. 

I gently put my hand on his cheek and rub his face with my thumb. He softly groans then slowly starts to open his eyes. My eyes widen in horror as I see two black voids staring up at me. 

"Wow", he mutters with a small smile.

"Dude, are you okay?" I ask in a panicked voice. 

He winces in pain as he wakes up more and starts to feel the effects of going face first into a curb. "Me head hurts..a lot, but your hands and thighs makes it feel better". 

IS THIS DENSE MOTHER FUCKER TRYING TO FLIRT WITH ME AFTER BENG THROWN OUT OF A CAR? 

I roll my eyes. "Maybe I should've just kept walking..anyway let's clean you up a bit yeah? Ya boats a mess". I don't know where the accent or slang came from. All I hear is the accent all day and I do tend to copy unintentionally. I take off my coffin shaped backpack and pull out some wet wipes then start to wipe the blood off his face. 

He tries to chuckle at my horrible accent. "Hey I was being sincere OUCH". He flinches in pain. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to", I apologize. I finish up wiping his face and my hand that I had cupped on his cheek. "Can you stand up? You need to go to the hospital". 

He relaxes a bit and slowly nods. The black eyed man tries to find his feet and stands up slowly. I put everything back in my bag and put it on my back. I stand up and look over him again. I realize I come up to his forehead in my platform boots but without them I'd probably come up to his chin. He stumbles a bit so I hold onto him as support. 

"YOU TWO ARE PERFECT!" I hear an excited and raspy voice call out to us. I look in the direction it came from and see an excited green man jump out of the wrecked car. I immediately take notice of his messed up nose and the upside down cross necklace that bounces around his neck as he comes towards us. I recognize him as the other person involved in the first crash. "Two tall and edgy people as my lead singers? Not to mention a black eyed God, the girls are gonna go crazy for him, ah your name should be 2D because you've got two dents in your head, much better than Stuart". He continues to ramble. 

The busted up man starts to stumble more against me so I sit him back down and turn my attention towards the other one. "You fucking idiot, you put this man through two serious car accidents and look at his face! What the hell are you going on about a band? He needs to see a doctor!". 

He scoffs, "Oh he's fine, look at him!" He motions towards Stuart who's wobbling even though he's sitting down cradling his head in his hands. 

I grab the man by his shirt collar and pull him to me. "Listen here you blithering cunt, you're taking him to the hospital NOW!" I yell. 

"Oi are you single by chance?" He gives me a gross chuckle, but I ignore his question. 

"NOW!"

He holds his hands up to surrender. "Fine, fine! Whatever you say". He rolls his eyes and pulls out his phone to call an ambulance. I let him go and let out an angry sigh as I walk over to Stuart. 

I kneel down in front of him and place my hand on his knee. "Hey we have an ambulance coming for you soon okay?" I say gently. 

He looks up at me with pain written all over his face. "Are..you coming with me?" He asks rather pathetically. In fact it's so pathetic I can't say no.

"Yeah, I'll come with you, my name is y/n by the way". 

"Mine is Stuart, but 2D sounds really cool too". 

—-------

At the hospital I found out the green man's name is Murdoc. He kept trying to convince me to join his band but I always protested. 

"Come on lass! Who doesn't want to be in a band?" He pleads.

"I'm not a lass", I inform him and cross my arms. 

Murdoc eyes me up and down with a questioning look, but he lets it go. "Whatever, who am I to judge, but that wasn't a no". 

I sigh in defeat. "Look I'll think about it, will that get you off my ass?" 

Murdoc beams with happiness. "I'll take it!" 

I scoff and go in to check on Stuart. The doctor said he looks okay but they wanted to keep him a bit longer to be sure. They said his eyes will stay that way forever and they gave him some pain meds for his head. Upon entering the room I notice a girl sitting beside him with choppy dark brown hair, thin eyebrows, and red lipstick on. I must have missed her when I was bickering with Murdoc. She notices me and gives me a 'what the hell are you doing here' look. I immediately know from this look that she's the girlfriend. Whatever, I'm not exactly interested in dating at the moment. 

I walk over to stand beside Stuart's bed.  "You feeling any better now?" I ask. 

"Yeah they gave me some painkillers so I'm feeling great now", he smiles at me. "Oh! Paula this is y/n she's the one that helped take care of me when we crashed". 

"He. I'm a boy", I say bluntly as I wait anxiously for their reaction. 

"Oh, you don't look like a-"

"I'm trans let's move on", I cut him off. 

He scratches his head in confusion. "Right, uh he's the one that took care of me". I'm pleasantly surprised at his quick fix to my pronouns. Both of the boys had a better reaction than I expected. They both get an extra 20 points for not being bigots in my book. 

Paula rolls her eyes. "Well whatever you call yourself, I'm his girlfriend so you can leave him to me now". 

I frown a bit in confusion at the sudden rudeness, but I'm not about to argue so I just step out and join Murdoc in the waiting room. He's the last person I want company with but I want to stick around until Stuart gets discharged. Although his girlfriend is here so I guess I could just leave him to grab my stuff and go home. I mentally sigh remembering that he asked me to come with him so no I can't just leave, but I could step out and come back. 

"Hey, I'm gonna step out for a bit. Can I see your phone so I can give you my number?" I ask Murdoc. 

"Of course I'd love to have your number", he winks at me then hands me his phone. I take his phone and put in my number then set my name as 'y/n (back up singer). I send myself a text so I'd have his number then toss his phone back. 

"Text me updates on Stuart and if he asks for me tell him I'll be back", I say as I turn my back to leave. 

"Hey wait does this mean you're in?!" He asks when he takes notice of my name in his phone. 

"Maybe" I say on my way out the door. 

—-----

I make it back to the hospital an hour and a half later after visiting my dealer. I always shove my joints or bag in a zipper pocket I made on the inside of my boots. It's a decent hiding place. 

I waltz back to the waiting room and sit beside Murdoc. "Hey, 'ow's Stuart doing?" Damn the accent came out again. Murdoc looks at me funny then gets really close to my face. Crap he knows and I can't keep a straight face when I'm buzzed. He stares intensely at me which makes me give a big goofy grin. 

He smirks. "Oh you're completely mullered aren't you?" He whispers. 

"Not completely just wee bit buzzed". 

"At least you know how to party, also your accent was terrible". He chuckles. 

"I know..it happens unintentionally, I swear I don't mean to". I ramble. 

Murdoc laughs and ruffles up my hair. "Don't get your knickers in a twist luv, it's alright". I flinch at his touch and move his hand off my head before I got used to the feeling. "Oh? Not a touchy person?" 

"No I am, it's just I'm not used to getting physical affection anymore". I look at the ground awkwardly. "Anyway, is Paula still here? I'd like to check on Stuart". 

"No, she left a bit before you came back", He answers. I nod then walk to Stuart's. I lean against the door frame as I watch him hold a hand held mirror to inspect his new facial features.

"Yeah, they're a bit off putting aren't they?" I state. 

He jumps so bad he almost drops the mirror then snaps his head towards me. "Oh, it's you," he chuckles nervously, "I think they're cool looking, and sorry about Paula earlier". 

I shrug. "It's fine, I don't care that much. She was probably just stressed because her boyfriend is in the hospital, I'd be snappy too", I reassure him with a smile. 

He smiles back at me slightly showing off his two missing teeth. It was cute in a dorky way. "Yeah probably, so Murdoc told me he convinced you to join the band?" 

"He was very convincing when it's all he'd talk about for an hour straight, besides I guess it could be fun". 

—------

About an hour later Stuart got discharged and I invited them to my flat because it wasn't far from the hospital. Stuart looked exhausted and I didn't trust that Murdoc would have a decent place for him to sleep. 

I bring them both inside then show Stuart to my bedroom. I flick on my black light to illuminate my room so Stuart could see where he's walking. My posters and my neon worm on a string wall decorations light up immediately, giving more color to the room. He takes notice of my bed half full of stuffed animals. 

"Never thought you'd have so many cute things based on how dark you dress". He states. 

"Can't be a hard ass all the time", I say as I go over to the bed and move an old, but well taken care of, light multicolored bunny stuffy from the empty side of the bed. I put it on the other side with the rest of the stuffies while making sure it was in a comfortable position. Stuart sits on the other side of the bed once the bunny is moved. I see him give me a gentle smile from the corner of my eye. He reaches out to touch it but I stop him. 

"Please don't touch him", I mumble. 

"I wasn't gonna move..him..I just wanted to see how it felt"

"I get it but please don't, look I'm autistic and that's my comfort item which means nobody is allowed to touch it", I say. 

He gives me a very confused look. "Man you got a shit pick of the draw didn't you? With you being trans and autistic I'd imagine you don't have too many friends". 

My face drops and I look away from him as I awkwardly rub my arm. 

He notices my changed mood and quickly tries to explain himself. "Oh no I just meant that people around here can be dicks. I'm sorry. Um hey my hair grows out blue and now I have no eyeballs or two front teeth so I guess I also got the shit pick so maybe we could be friends?" He rambles. 

I chuckle at his awkward attempt at making me feel better. "Yeah I'd like to be friends...you can feel his ear if you want to". 

"Are you sure?" 

I nod. "You didn't bat an eye when I said I was trans or autistic and you listened when I said dont touch him, so I think I can trust you". 

He smiles then gently puts a long floppy ear between his fingers and rubs the fabric. "He's very soft. I can see why he's comforting, does he have a name?" He asks. The fact that he calls the bunny 'he' and not 'it' makes me a bit more fond of him.

"Sherbert", I mumble a bit embarrassed. 

Stuart chuckles, "That's cute, so you mentioned that I listened to you and that's why you trust me, did other people not listen?" 

"Yeah, I've had three people over and they all purposely picked him up and moved him or pushed him on the floor. They wanted to get a reaction out of me and well they did but it wasn't what they wanted. I busted their faces then dragged them out of my flat, THEN I cried". 

He half smiles at me,"I promise I'd never be mean to Sherbert", he says softly like he's trying to comfort me. 

"Stuart I can't tell if you're being genuine or if you're secretly making fun of me" I say bluntly. 

"I don't want to break your trust luv, it's genuine and if I break that promise you can make me eat a curb again". 

I can't help but laugh. "I'll hold you to it, well I should let you get some sleep, I'll turn off the light so it doesn’t mess with your head". 

He takes one last look around and smiles warmly. "Yeah, thank you for everything today," 

"No problem, goodnight Stuart", I turn off the light and close the door behind me. I go to the living room and find Murdoc examining all of my bat and coffin decor. I take off my boots and get the joints out then I stand on the arm of my couch so I can reach the top of my bookshelf. 

"Ah so you dabble a bit too huh?" I turn my head to see Murdoc talking about my altar that has crystals, candles, a couple crystal pendulums, my tarot deck and a Loki statue. 

"Oh yeah I do some witchcraft", I say as I grab my little metal tin and put all of the joints but one in then put it back. I take off my backpack to grab my red Nokia and cigarettes then place them with the joint on the bay window. 

"Who's the statue of?" He asks. 

"That's Loki he's the god I work with slash worship", I inform him as I open up the side window and sit on the bay window. I light a cigarette and blow the smoke out. "Speaking of which, can you light his candle for me? It's the red one right in front of the statue, there's a lighter right beside it too". 

Murdoc scans my altar real quick before he finds the lighter and tries to light it. He tries to light it a few times but all that comes out is sparks. 

He starts to get frustrated, "Oi I think your lighter is dead". He says. 

I take a drag of my cigarette and shake my head as I go to him. "No that's not the problem," I put the cigarette in my mouth then take the lighter from Murdoc and light it with ease. I light the candle then smirk. "I'm so sorry I dared have someone else light your candle you fussy thing". I watch the flame get bigger and wiggle around then smile. 

"Let me see that lighter again".

I hand it to him and he lights it on the first try. "This is shit".

I chuckle and go back to where I was sitting. "He didn't want you to light his candle, I bought that lighter yesterday so I knew what the issue was", I say as I grab my phone and add Murdoc to my contacts. 

He rolls his eyes. "I guess he is a fussy thing", he mumbles then comes to me and pulls out his own pack of cigarettes, "Care if I join you?". 

I shake my head as I take a drag. "Open the other corner window and take a seat, blow your smoke out the window though. I don't want my place smelling like smoke".  

He nods and opens the window then takes a seat opposite of me. He puts a cigarette in his mouth and tries to light it but his lighter won't light. "You gotta be fucking me UGH". 

I laugh. "I guess Loki didn't like it when you called him fussy". 

"YOU called him fussy!" 

"I'm allowed to, that's how we joke", I chuckle. "Here use mine". I slide my lighter to him.

"Thanks", he says in an aggravated tone and finally lights his cigarette. "You better not make freaky shit happen when I get the band all put together", he slides my lighter back to me and takes a hit. 

"Don't fuck with me and it shouldn't be a problem", I chuckle. 

"Right", he says. 

We sit there in silence as we finish our cigarettes. 

"I was going to offer you a smoke with me after I got done smoking but I'm tired", I say as I put my cigarette out in the ashtray. 

Murdoc does the same. "Yeah I'm pretty tired myself. I'm gonna grab 2D and we'll be out", he says as he stands up and closes the window. 

"He's okay you can leave him", I say as I close mine then put away the joint I left out with the others. 

"Are you sure you're comfortable with that?"

"Yeah I trust him". 

"But you don't trust me to spend the night?" Murdoc asks.

I narrow my eyebrows at him. "I want you to look at Stuart's non-existent eyes and ask me that again". 

He scoffs. "I'm never gonna hear the end of this". He says as he makes his way out the door. 

I sigh in relief to finally have some alone time. However, I decide to enjoy it by falling asleep on the couch. 

[mudzol]

Premonition

No dialogue ehehgeh

I'm super excited for this comic bc writing it was a blast

[brickbozo]

[deactivated-deadpool-anon]

Wanted to do a little drawing based off of this

[ladyenglish]

Amelia when she found Paula and Murdoc in the bathrooms:

[k00295632]

Project: Movement.

Week 6, reading week.

Animation, Gorillaz art style study.

During week 3, I did some artist research on Jamie Hewlett's art style through his Gorillaz pieces, mostly looking at his proportions and body models to incorporate into my own art style as I don't have much experience drawing below the shoulders.

When discussing how to go about my pixelation piece with Yvonne and Paul last week, Paul went through my sketch book and saw my artist research on Jamie Hewlett's art style for the Gorillaz. He suggested I draw myself as a member of the Gorillaz.

It gave me a few ideas. For example, over the years the Gorillaz have been portrayed in a number of different art styles, each separated by their phases, I think there's currently 9 phases. My idea was to draw myself in the different art styles depicting my own different phases via my hair.

I looked at the first 4 phases' art styles, focusing on builds, shapes, and facial features, out of all the characters both noodle and Murdoc have had the most drastic changes over the phases.

Phase 1: is the most cartoony of the bunch, majority of the characters have dull dotted eyes, large rounded ears, and their face proportions scrunched. I also noticed each member of the band has main shapes in their designs, 2D; long rectangles with a short torso and long legs, Russel; rounded squares with a large torso and short legs, Noodle; Cone shapes with normal child proportions, and Murdoc; stubby rectangles.

Phase 2: Not much has changed in body builds apart from noodle being gradually aged up, now a pre teen in this phase. Differences I noticed was that the eyes were closer to the nose, and the and the mouths were lower down, now aligning with the bend of the jaw. That and 2D's eyes are more almond shaped now, no longer little dots.

Phase 3: Here the faces become wider, the eyes bigger, and the ears pointed Murdocs face shape has also become more pointed compared to the rectangular shape he started with. The 3 oldest characters also have some age lines, and Noodle is now a young adult in this phase.

Phase 4: The style begins to take a more realistic look to it, the eyes become smaller, the nose is further down from the eyes and closer to the mouth, and the ears have become smaller. The hair is also a lot more detailed now.

I roughly tried drawing my different hair styles in the different phase styles to get a sense of what I would look like. I thought the first one looked the best, I'm thinking of trying to do a proper drawing of myself in that style.

[strayzband]

ITS TIME!

the first chapter of the strayz pre-phase one fic is on ao3 :) please consider reading it if you like the au

[greywindys]

Do you mind Gorillaz attempts at 3D, and which ones were you most loved and hated? What about 2D animation? I’ll always be most soft for the 2D styles in Phase 1 and 2 and even 3, but now they hardly use it at all, likely due to finances….at least Jamie still draws them, even if it’s not them playing instruments as many would like. The animation back in Phase 6 was kinda bogged down by excessive bright colours and a lack of edge, and not everything was animated like it used to be….

I much prefer 2D animation whenever possible. Like, the way current animation looks these days feels so...sterile? Devoid of expression? Monotonous? It feels like everything is imitating the same, clean style, and it doesn't feel as personal as animation pre-2010 (or somewhere around there...whenever companies started really monetizing art/creative work). I'm by no means an expert, but I look at older cartoons and movies, you see unique art styles and individual passion. Now, I regularly get shows confused because they all look and sound the same. I rarely watch cartoons in general, but even being out of the loop growing up, I still could recognize a show if you showed me a random character. I can't say the same now. SO that's all to say that I prefer when Gorillaz utilized 2D, no matter what style Jamie choose. In fact, I kinda like that he switches it up here and there, it helps keep Gorillaz unique.

[coles-scythe]

I realized I haven't posted anything abt my Gorillaz S/I AU lore here yet. I'm still working on Phase 3 and brainstorming for Phase 4 onwards, but here's what I've got so far! (Everything after the Phase 1 section will go under a readmore bc this got REALLY long lol)

Pre-Phase 1: Jay is an American college student for graphic design studying abroad in the UK. While there, they work a part-time job at Uncle Norm's Organ Emporium where they meet Stu. They become fast friends at work, and Jay is present for D-Day. After the incident, Jay visits Stu's family to help take care of him while he's in his vegetative state whenever they have time off from their studies.

Phase 1: Jay doesn't have much involvement with the band, but does help them make some advertisements pro bono when the group is still in its very early stages. When the band starts to pick up traction and that start getting gigs, Jay and 2D still keep in contact with each other over texts and emails. At some point Jay does get to meet the others and quickly gets on good terms with Russel and Noodle, while Murdoc gets on their nerves quite easily. Their dislike of Murdoc mainly stems from his mistreatment of 2D. For Jay's personal life apart from the band, they're beginning to struggle quite badly in college, unable to meet certain deadlines, low grades, a sub-par portfolio, etc. They're at least still in contact with their adoptive siblings (Skylar and Xavier, OC F/Os) back in America, and they're still cheering them on.

Phase 1/2 Hiatus: Jay and 2D manage to stay in contact throughout Phase 1 and during 2D's stay in LA after the band splits. While 2D is in the process of moving back to Eastbourne with his parents, Jay drops of of their college classes due to their low grades. They decide to stay in the UK as they don't have the funds for move all their stuff back to America with their family, but they've also already quit their job at the organ emporium sometime during Phase 1 and have been struggling to get freelance work to make ends meet. Once 2D starts working at his father's funfair, he explains Jay's situation to his dad. Remembering that Jay was also the one to help his family out after Stu's incident, offers Jay a job at the funfair thst they eagerly take. Jay and 2D quickly grow even closer while working together again, and by the end of the hiatus the two begin dating.

Phase 2: Jay still has very little involvement with the band, if not less now thanks to dating its frontman. They help the marketing team design advertisements and help the band members during photoshoots, but that's about the extent of it. Jay dislikes being in the limelight and doesn't want to be known only as "2D's boyfriend", so they stay as anonymous as possible. Jay also grows closer with 2D's bandmates, particularly Russel. He takes them under his wing and them how to play drum set and a variety of other percussion instruments after they off-handedly mentions they were part of their middle and high schools' drum line. They also grow more accustomed to Murdoc and the two grow to be on mutually decent terms. Murdoc's mistreatment of 2D is lessened significantly than in canon, though it's largely only when Jay is present.

Phase 3: Plastic Beach is currently still my biggest WIP so far since Jay becomes 100% more involved with the band. Noodle is obviously still MIA and Cyborg Noodle is still created to replace her. And Russel is still MIA as well, but Murdoc uses Jay as a replacement instead of solely relying on a drum machine. Jay is with 2D in Beruit when he is kidnapped and is subsiquently also brought to Plastic Beach with him. Murdoc forces them to perform for the album, making any and all respect Jay had developed for him instantly went down the drain. And it somehow sinks even deeper when Jay learns the truth about Murdoc's search (or lackthereof) for Noodle and the creation of Cyborg. The two are at each others throats constantly and Jay exposes a more stubborn and argumentative side to their personality that hadn't previously been seen by either of the two. All three of them are absolutely miserable throughout the entire phase, with 2D and Jay being the only things keeping each other sane during the experience.

Everything else in Phase 3 is still a WIP, and I'm still figuring out how I want Jay to get out of Plastic Beach and how to fit them into Phase 4. The only things I have solidified in my head is that at some point Jay and 2D get separated and believe each other to be dead, and Jay is the first person to reunite with Russel back in the UK.

[demaparbatxgorillaz]

Sora and her reason to live.

[inner-visionz]

Twas the night Paula got kicked put of the band 🖤 Crow invited 2D to hang out with him on the roof while the whole thing went down

I love the difference between their thoughts

[groovyace]

"No eyes! Just two black holes. A vacant stare."

[gorillaz-girl]

neither of them like the colour green that much anymore

[sniccals]

Y'all thought this was a fuckin joke??

[ladyenglish]

Russel when he finds Murdoc and Paula in the bathrooms

Khonshu every time steven’s in control

[your-local-worrier]

1997

2D: Wow! I have a really good life! I’m happy and healthy, I have a good job that I enjoy, I have a wonderful girlfri- Murdoc: