#phase three gorillaz

[maryn-jpeg55]

By the light of the plasma screen

[gorillazforgotten]

Plastic Beach displays at HMV Shibuya

[fate-motif]

i’m kinda new to gorillaz lore and fandom spaces but i need some validation on certain thoughts i have about noodle and the boogeyman from phase three

it’s possible i have holes in my understanding of what happens in phase three, but from what i can gather, after the el mañana disaster, noodle either dies or is physically dragged to hell, escapes from being imprisoned and/or enslaved by demons either entirely on her own or with minimal assistance from murdoc, who then replaces her with a literal war machine in her image which is everything noodle wishes not to be. my conclusion was that noodle was headed to point nemo not just to free 2D, but to take revenge on murdoc.

at the same time, her vengeful spirit arc has her wearing a mask.

on the other end, murdoc’s story in phase three mostly consists of him trying to escape the boogeyman, a masked demonic figure with whom he has made a deal before in the past, whether that is in a past lifetime or recently, depends on how canon you considered planned but not developed material. the boogeyman, who’s partnered with pirates murdoc has conned in the past, is determined to make murdoc pay his dues, but he’s been foiled so far every time, mostly because he has cyborg noodle by his side ready to pump the boogeyman full of lead. but the boogeyman is there. he’s always waiting.

coincidentally, when 2D is kidnapped out of beirut and shipped to plastic beach, his kidnapper is wearing the boogeyman’s mask. is it murdoc? why would he put it on? is it just to protect himself from the gas he’s using to drug 2D?

i posit that the masks and the boogeyman persona kind make a thematic reflection out of noodle and murdoc as characters.

the boogeyman is all of murdoc’s worst tendencies come back to haunt him—his paranoia, his violence, his possessiveness and his inability to own up to the things he’s done and paid for. the boogeyman only has an army because murdoc stiffed those pirates, the boogeyman wears that mask because murdoc needed to protect himself from the gas he used to kidnap 2D even when 2D might have gone voluntarily to plastic beach, he didn’t even ask him if he wanted to come.

and i think that murdoc’s logical downfall in the plastic beach arc would not have come out of the boogeyman’s direct confrontation, but at noodle’s hands. a noodle behind a mask, putting on the iron front of war machine that murdoc used for himself in cyborg noodle, and ready to use it on murdoc for what he did to her, to russel, and to 2D. and the boogeyman knew it. he was always going to win one way or the other.

unless noodle forgave him. which, i guess, she did.

sidenote am i the only one who notices the very obvious link between russel specifically being a giant and also how 2D is being kept prisoner through a giant whale because to me that makes the most sense like even in the rhinestone eyes video russel grabs and launches the whale away so it’s really weird that after all that the whale is still alive to eat 2D but that’s just me

[inner-visionz]

that’s it, that’s Plastic Beach

Hope this hasn’t been done before

[vivziepop-hazbin-over]

because im obsessed with gorillaz, id like to explain how an abused character should be written.

yes, we’re talking about murdoc. in his case, he was in a very abusive household and had no parental figured that taught him what was right and what was wrong, hence his abusive behavior. he learned that from his father. his hypersexuality came as a result of being sa’d when he was 9. hes been drinking since he was little. but hes not just this empty character whos only personality traits are mean but sexy character with a dark past who cries when jts brought up and doesnt change immediately (angel dust) and nothing else. no, we saw him change. and it was a slow process, sure, but theres a signifigant change in how he acts now compared to phase 1-3. we can see where his behaviors stemmed from and it is so well written.

this is how abused becomes the abuser should be done.

angel dust and stolas fall flat because they dont recognize their mistakes as being their fault, its always someone elses. angel dust sexually harasses people and stolas forces blitz to have sex with him so he can do his job. these are both inexcusable actions regardless of what anybody has been through, and so is murdoc’s actions. but the difference between them is murdoc recognizes what he did was wrong and knows its his fault.

this is how you should write characters who are abused. do research, make it realistic. not just ‘uwu soft sexy boy has trauma!!’

all of these three characters have done wrong, yes. no doubt about jt and all of their actions are inexcusable. in murdocs case, hes grown as a person. angel dust and stolas have not.

[cardentist]

hello gorillaz fandom

everything in this collage is canon btw (yes even the quote, it's from a russel interview in phase three <3) but the base image is a page from the gorillaz art book. it's not the same level as canonicity as the rest of it, but it Did have to be approved to be be included. so ! canon adjacent

[thunderlina]

LOST MEDIA: Gorillaz - Plastic Beach Web Games

I come to you tonight with one request: I want help in tracking down the Plastic Beach point-and-click adventure game from the Phase 3 (2010-2012) Gorillaz website.

In 2010, coinciding with the release of their third studio album, British virtual band Gorillaz gave their website a huge overhaul, including the release of several new flash games. The centerpiece was a point-and-click adventure game (untitled, usually just referred to as "Plastic Beach") in which the player was able to explore the island of Plastic Beach, similar to the games available on earlier websites where the player was able to explore Gorillaz HQ Kong Studios.

Along with this game were a few others: Escape to Plastic Beach, a three chapter long action/adventure game (the third chapter of which cost €1.50 to play, and was available both for PC and iPhones.) Just recently the developer, Matmi, hinted at trying to re-release these, but they went silent regarding it and nothing has come of it so far.

There were also two smaller Flash titles, Submatronic and Gorillaz Fishing. Not entirely sure what these two entailed but they were listed on the website and, like the adventure game and Escape are not playable via the Wayback Machine nor are they archived elsewhere.

From my research, it seems the website had some kind of DRM software that the older websites (which have been archived over at zombiehiphop.xyz) didn't, since the Plastic Beach game used full tracks from the album and EMI was worried about piracy. Before anyone suggests it like was done in other places where I've asked about this, no, the game was not released on a CD or DVD. Because of this, all four games unique to the Plastic Beach era website are lost. The iPhone port of Escape to Plastic Beach was also removed from the App Store years ago, and as such is also completely lost.

As of right now, all that still exists are low-quality videos of the adventure game in action, a few screenshots, and a handful of Flash files I've dug up from the Wayback Machine.

The loss of this game represents not just a loss for Flash preservation, but a huge loss for Gorillaz fans as it was an integral element of the story of the Plastic Beach era. Without it and much of the other content from the old website, the already incomplete story that Jamie Hewlett and the rest of the Zombie Flesh Eaters team were trying to tell lives on almost wholly through secondary accounts. While recordings exist, it is simply not the same as having access to the full experience.

I ask of you all to please consider my words and help me do something about this, instead of wallowing in hopelessness as it seems the community has been doing for oh so long now.

Thank You.

Footage of the adventure game: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUnvkZFPu1Q https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmAo_POMRHY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DW6KHLLgBss https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWIkwVDIJNQ

The handful of Flash files I dug up via the Wayback Machine: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1RKpP9o-j-4jFkdQEDN54ye5LGZIrBd_7

[funkyjunkyfangz]

for the music ask game, 4, 11 aaaand 21. go crazy hamburgerrr

4. if you were to get a non-lyrics music tattoo, what would it be? (or tell about one you already have!)

i fantasized foreeeverrr about getting bonesy (gorillaz mascot, used way more in early phases) tattoo'd on me! i think he'd make a lovely tattoo.. and i'd like the album cover for soad's first album somewhere. after reading serj tankian's memoir, i would be pretty satisfied with having this on my body.

11. what is the best live music show you've ever been to?

oh god you really know what to ask me. it's super hard to pick, all of them have been amazing. i'll have to sort by top 3.

3. the misfits with jerry only and glenn danzig. i'd only see this band with the original members in it, and i'm glad i did, holy shit. it was a blast and the stage present was great!! the pre-show ruled, suicidal tendencies.. the reverend horton heat.. agnostic front.. sighs dreamily...

2. les claypool's fearless flying frog brigade, alongside jerry harrison and adrian belew during their remain in light tour. that concert experience felt a little historical to ME. two of the talking heads playing the first half of the show (with an amazing band to back them up) and then les claypool's band performing the entirety of "pigs" by pink floyd? holy shit? that's the nerdiest thing i've ever fucking seen. it's been over a year and i'm still not over it.

will wood. i'm seeing him again in november, but as much fun i had seeing the previously mentioned artists, will wood's concert felt different in a way that made it special to me. when it's just one person humbly performing very personal work, it becomes a greater experience than the heavy stuff i usually prefer. the no phones policy that he always has enhances it for me. it feels so grounded. and i had a few funny moments during that show (i got to wave at him while waiting to use the bathroom and it was so awkward but i will never forget it)

ANYWAY that's long but cmon i can't choose just one to mention

21. what is the best album of all time?

you're killing me with this one... oh i love this question but hate to answer it. it's very objective, and i don't think you can ever give the right answer. but that makes it interesting, because someone else's "best album" is gonna be different than mine. i like hearing that. anyway, if i had to choose, i'd go through my favorites (which i already have a hard time boiling down to..).

if i had to give an actual answer that ISN'T a cop-out one, it'd either be the fragile by nine inch nails, the normal album by will wood, or california by mr. bungle. yes i am serious i think these are some of the best albums ever made. the production is top notch on all three and you can FEEL the amount of love and care put into them. they're all very different but idc. those are some of the best. but my answer is not definitive!!

[sardonic-the-writer]

weird question maybe but do you have any video essay recs?

absolutely. here are some of my favorites i can remember off the top of my head. links and summaries provided for you

gorillaz - the complete backstory (phases 1-7) — self titled productions (youtube)

it's a wonderful hour and seventeen long video that goes over nearly every piece of important lore in gorillaz history, and ive watched it about four times. if you like gorillaz, or even just want to learn more, i highly recommend this. the narration is funny, the editing even more so, and it definitely gives me a boost of creative inspiration everytime i watch it

i'm what the culture feeling (the full story of kendrick lamar vs drake) — f.d signifier (youtube)

at just under three and a half hours, this essay is great for anyone who's been into hip-hop for decades on end, or just got into it this month. it's more than just commenting on funny haha rap beef, and actually gets in to deeper meanings and the entire hip hop industry as a whole in regards to the situation. a wonderful video that i put on for background noise and ended up giving my full attention to ten minutes in. his whole channel is great as well, and I'm currently in the process of watching his video essay on dave chappelle

the failure of victorious — quenton reviews (youtube)

quenton reviews is one of my favorite video essays channels simply because of how fun and interesting he makes his videos, especially those about rewatching television shows, all without making it feel like you're just watching some guy do a five hour summary of some show. highly recommend both this video and his channel itself

a deep dive on william aftons characterization (from a veteran fnaf fan) — @miiilowo (youtube and tumblr)

i might be biased because my mutual made this, but they do an amazing job of articulating their thoughts into a concise thirty six minute video all about the rabbit man, while prodding into the themes and motifs behind everything

[dexter-peenwaggon]

trans masc cyborg

I feel like Cyborg would leave after phase three change there inter identity then join a metal band to try and get more popular then gorillaz but sadly that’s not what happened in the last cord😔

[toasty-self-shipping]

I’m getting back into my gorillaz (mainly phase 2 and three) and I forgot how fucking funny the mtv cribs video was

[overthedub]

Going into some canon x OC ship territory for All Ships Ship Week at #ficwip, starting with Annadoc! I've been insane over them since 2018 when I first started writing a multichapter fic about them in Phase 0/1 (Over the Dub). Now writing the sequel multichapter fic into Phase 2 (All Out of Song)!

Tell us why you love them:

I got into Gorillaz at a weird point in my life, which is probably the best time to get into them tbh. I'd heard their music way before I properly got into them in 2016 or so, but I fell into the hyperfixation rabbit hole when I realized they weren't just a band, but a cartoon band with lore.

I ate the lore (written by Cass Browne) up immediately. Murdoc was so ridiculously my type it made me mad lol.

Honestly, I just love writing ships that don't go out of their way to change things about the other, but they end up making each other better people anyway. That and ships that can banter and be a little mean between themselves.

I came up with Anna because I initially wondered to myself how Murdoc would handle a partner who was (seemingly) the opposite of him at first glance. It spawned like three fics lol.

Rewatch/reread your favorite moments:

Hm, I guess one of my favorite moments to write was that bit in Chapter 27 (the one I got a commission made for from @/ mamonsinon):

That and in the most recent fic, the entirety of Chapter 9 :)

Playlists:

Made a couple fic playlists for my fics here:

And here:

I am planning to make a new playlist with songs that fit them from later decades than the fics take place though!

Other Murdoc x OC ships I like:

Hailey x Murdoc (from The Dorkzilla's series The Niccals Saga)

Angel x Murdoc (art by Tchosan)

Share a prompt/idea for others to share:

Murdoc in a skimpy outfit and an OC paired with him as a classic cape-wearing vampire. It'd be a funny switch-up from what people usually draw him as.

Share a favorite headcanon:

This won't ever make it into Falling Out the Sky, but I think that even before Anna moved into Kong, Murdoc would dare her to watch horror movies thinking she'd get scared and cling to him the whole time.

Anna loves horror movies, though, and Murdoc is the one that ends up clinging to her while she watches stone-faced. They stopped watching any horror movies that feature Satanic imagery since he keeps talking over them to point out inaccuracies or laugh at inappropriate times.

Make a meme:

(Don't worry, they both think the other is hot, so it's fine)

Art commissioned by @/jankybones!

And with that, we got another blackout!

[gorillazforgotten]

Fans masquerade as Murdoc and 2-D at a DoYaThing release party

[bunnywand]

there's someone on soulseek with these fucking Massive collections of gorillaz rarities (154 songs for phase one, 168 for phase two, 186 for phase three 😵‍💫) but it's very.. ~separating the wheat from the chaff~ trying to sort out what's actually worth downloading or not 😭

[jrjeremy]

what if... Gorillaz at their most worst in which phase album-wise ((from what Ive thought about!!!))

Murdoc – Wish You Wear Ear (Song Machine, Season One: Strange Timez), originally I was gonna go for Plastic Beach but that album was already the point of where the band was at their lowest.. it's a tad tricky but Song Machine had Murdoc acting up unusual from his character, youve seen that man crawl up into a ball and cry which was from the assumption of him thinking the band left him for good, to him going absurd over portals in Kong...

If all honestly Song Machine was him being at his most strangest timez (get it..? strange... timez, heehe), I would've said for him he was at the absolute worst during his childhood if only it was composed into an album, wouldn't really want that though.. Broken was already sad enough to hear coming from him :c

Noodle – Escape To Plastic Beach (Plastic Beach), phase 3 was definitely something huge for Gorillaz that I would've just about put Plastic Beach for almost everyone in the band, for the most part though, Noodle had definitely went through a tad too much during Plastic Beach... know that Noodle is pretty as chaotic as Murdoc is but in a good way unlike Murdoc

Though in Plastic Beach.. see the lore behind the whole phase is already huge enough, but as for being separated and taken away from the people you were supposed to be with, accidentally releasing a demon that you then had to hunt down by yourself, only to then having to deal with a cyborg version of yourself that tried to attack someone close that you know aka. the exact person who built that cyborg replica of you....

Easily you can get a lot of things wrong in the lore of Plastic Beach, but there's no doubt that Noodle had a pretty big experience in Plastic Beach than the rest of the phases, if none other, a really huge impact on her too!!

2-Dee – No More Unicorns Anymore (The Now Now), alright this one is definitely obvious, never have I heard 2D sound this sad in an entire album, add on with the fact that The Now Now was entirely written by him is just heartbreaking :C

To summarise, you basically had Murdoc being thrown in jail for drugs far far away from the rest of the band, and so without Murdoc, you have the first track in The Now Now, which is Humility, upon from the music video a lot of people gotten the thought that 2D was happy because Murdoc was in jail... now see, that would've been the case, if ONLY the rest of the WHOLE album hadn't had the saddest songs you've ever gotten out of Gorillaz, andd cause of that, I've gotten the thought that Humility was 2D just having some time by himself free of charge with the rest without Murdoc because he had the thinking of "He'll be back soon" only to realise that later on it'll be a lot more longer than just soon, I have no evidence of this so it's only up to my assumption, but MIGHTY is the rest of the songs just... really real sad..

((three sections of out of topic talk about the songs in The Now Now below))

One of the songs I heard before listening to the whole album was Souk Eye, and that was the end track of the album according to the listing, I thought it was already the saddest song or at least the most heart inducing song ever made from Gorillaz, and you just never really expected these songs to come out of Gorillaz... so, that was for Souk Eye, UNTIL I for once heard the rest of the album

I HAD NEVER SEEN ANYBODY, EVER TALKED ABOUT, FIRE FLIES.

This was a song I REALLY REALLY least expected over the name of the song itself, and IT REALLY, REALLY MAKES MY HEART JUST..... FEEL WAY TOO MUCH, that's not even the only song, in fact the rest of the album has it's songs in this really... really heavy, heartfelt, heartbreaking impact, but bet on me that Fire Flies is ultimately the song that had gotten me feeling the most from the entire album, to the point it made Souk Eye look happier than a song named FIRE FLIES...

If all, Humility really felt like a break for the least expected only to be hit right in the face right after that, from how I perceive the album along with through it's lyrics, it showcases just how 2D has been feeling through for however long he had been all while Murdoc wasn't around, and these songs just show that 2D really wasn't doing well..

From the track listing, The Now Now seemed like it was... this will sound insane but representing the five stages of grief for 2D, youve already gotten denial from the start, onto the rest which in some was pretty hard to tell that you might have to feel it through the song in order to tell it's there, for such like you could probably tell there's bargaining in Kansas, then you have anger in Sorcererz which isn't necessarily supposed to be an outrage in order to know that it's anger, and then there's some songs that sort of feel more to the type of thinking back to the past like memories, those being like Idaho and Magic City... and boy did the depression stage really kick in, Fire Flies and One Percent just really touches your heart in the worst way possible, especially with the fact it's coming from our boy 2D it makes it even more worst.....

This is why I said Souk Eye sounded a lot more happier, as to it's like the very ending which leads to the last stage of grief, didn't really know what happened after The Now Now like right after Murdoc got back to the band, but Souk Eye does still touch your heart, except it's a lot more comforting than the previous two songs you've heard, no doubt it's still really sad though.. but it's also just really warming too, the songs in the album itself really just explains how this phase was the worst for 2D to had ever been

Russel – Celebrity Take Down (Gorillaz), this one's a really tough one, again could've said for Plastic Beach as all that happened to Russ was that he tried to off himself only to mutate into a huge godzilla size of himself, though in the first album.. well before the album itself, Russel wouldnt have gotten any chances to be in the band if only he wasn't kidnapped by Murdoc himself, just as bad as how 2D joined the band

Though that might not count, in the debut studio album Russel was first introduced with a ghostly friend possessing him which lasted until or before Demon Days came in, even when it didn't really seemed that bad while Dell was around taking over Russel's mind, it was definitely the most interesting version of Russel since other than the first album, you kind of have Russel not really taking in the worst in the other phases, really didn't really got anything from Russel out of Cracker Island since he was just hypnotised by a television static for the entire album

know that I haven't covered everything that was made or confirmed by Gorillaz!!! So far I'm only giving my thoughts based on the albums I've listened to, so I may not be too keen on the entire lore of Gorillaz, neither do I know much about the books too!! c:

[dynamic-swap-au-archive]

And here we have part three of the Ultimate Guide to the Gorillaz Dynamic Swap Au!

If you're unfamiliar, the full explanation for what dynaswap is can be found here: [Link]

This part will cover phase 2, as well as what we have for 3 through 5 !

The separate parts of the guide can be found in these links: Phase 0 [Link] Phase 1 [Link] Phase 2 (and onwards) [You Are Here] and Extras [Link]

Or you can see the full guide in my google doc: [Link]

Disclaimer: Please do not bother anyone who was involved with creating the au. They have asked not to be associated with it anymore and we should all respect that.

- [Main Story | Audio] ??? | A call for the Pot household [Link]

- [Main Story | Prose | Image] EXCLUSIVE: We Visited Stuart Pot in Jail [Link] - [Fanart] Street cred [Link] - [Image] Stuart Chat is now available! [Link] - [Image] bad boy loser [Link]

- [Main Story | Prose] My Loyal Subjects [Link] - [Image] Teaser [Link]

The Beginning (without the end) Of Phase 2 | Warnings: Slapstick, Addiction, Mild Sexual Content

- [Main Story | Image | Prose] Let's catch up! [Link] - [Image] Demon Daze [Link] - [Lore | Ask] Stu's new scar [Link] - [Image] Golly geepers whered u get those peepers [Link] - [Lore | Image] Stu's glass eyes [Link]

- [Main Story | Image | Prose] Stu's Prelude [Link] - [Main Story | Audio | Prose] Stu's Prelude | Audio [Link]

- [Image] 2005 [Link]

- [Image | Ask] Feel Good Inc [Link] - [Image] 'Cause I don't get sleep [Link] - [Image | Gif] it daeh [Link] - [Video | Ask] This version of dare is, Different [Link] - [Ask | Lore?] You've got to press it on you [Link]

- [Audio | Image | Video] Ring Ring | Motorola [Link] - [Image] “This is me, cuttin’ an onion.” [Link] - [Image | Ask] Real Egyptian Silk [Link] - [Image] Eat my shorts [Link] - [Lore | Image | Ask] Does Cortez exist in this AU? [Link] - [Image] Power Trip [Link]

- [Image] Close your eyes and see when there ain't no light [Link] - [Image] stupid idiot takes his medicine just as prescribed because hes a good boy [Link] - [Image | Ask] Jake Sheares Fanservice [Link] - [Image] Handsome Stuart [Link] - [Image] happy birthday to you too dickhole [Link]

- [Main Story | Image | Prose] Flight of the Bluebird [Link] - [Image] li’l bastard traveling kit [Link] - [Prose | WIP] Interview Script [Link] - [Image | Ask] Who's the most emotional? [Link]

An End And A Beginning | Warnings: Death, Kidnapping, Abuse

- [Image] WELCOME TO PLASTIC BEACH [Link] - [Main Lore | Ask] What would have been [Link] - [Image] Something brewing [Link] - [Image] Forbidden cyborg russel [Link] - [Image] Concept Art [Link] - [Image] Stu and murdoc pier life [Link] - [Image | Ask] Sleeve A [Link] - [Image] Pirate-y Stu [Link] - [Image | Lore] Demonic Radio [Link]

- [Image] DoYaThing [Link]

Piecing Together What's Left

- [Image | Lore?] A little peak at phase 4 stu [Link] - [Image] bathmeme.jpg [Link] - [Ask | Lore] Who wrote each album? [Link]

- [Ask | Image] Who will be replaced by whom phase 5? (Teaser) [Link] - [Image] Whom Indeed [Link] - [Image] Apparently noodle is visiting townsville [Link] - [Image | Ask] Tranz goes a little differently [Link] - [Image] Stu Wip [Link]

- [Ask] Will stu and murdoc ever get along? [Link] - [Ask | Image] Does stu become nicer to murdoc? [Link] - [Ask | Image] Stu looks so cute [Link] - [Ask | Image] Getting along [Link]

- [Major Lore | Image] The question of stu and murdoc's relationship [Link] - [Image] Bro C'mon. Where's my smooch? [Link] - [Major Lore | Image] Stu, murdoc's, and Several Demons' relationship [Link]

- [Image | Lore?] One last elephant in the room [Link]

- [The End] The official announcement for dynaswap's cancellation [Link] - [Ask] Boundaries for fan content going forwards [Link]