#we know he created that backstory for stewy

[stewykablooey]

do you think arian Knew that stewy was going to be gay, or was that just something he himself brought to the character? either way, it's just so funny to know his one version of a businessman is the gayest one possible. and I know interviewers have asked him about kendall and stewy's relationship before, but I wish they could've asked him just about stewy's sexuality in general, like I feel like his relationship with the roys is one of the least interesting parts of stewy as a character. he's so fascinating, like I want to know all the little things about that character that I feel like arian has definitely thought about, which is probably why he's such a well-lived character.

arian had originally auditioned to play lawrence yee, and when they asked him back to read for stewy instead, he said he didn’t really change much about his performance. but i also think stewy was always meant to be a little 👀 considering what we’ve seen from the original scripts Plus yes i absolutely agree and think a lot of this was arians work in bringing so much to the character. even with the extra lines in the script that suggest this or that, stewy in the scripts falls completely short of stewy on screen and that’s all arian

[kestrelmarr]

I don’t know if this has been done before

But I was getting very annoyed at the knee-jerk anti-arguments, so I decided to do a little research. And I gotta say, I did not start this journey as a 2Nu shipper, but I sure as fuck ended as one. Frankly, the more I dug into the canon backstory of the band, the more ridiculous the anti-2Nu arguments seemed to become. The gist of them seems to boil down to this: 

1) 2Nu is pedophilia (AKA, “ew, he’s too old for her!”)

2) 2Nu is incest. (AKA, “he practically raised her/he’s like her older brother!”)

3) 2Nu will never be canon, “the creators have already said so, so knock it off!”

 To which I reply-

1a) Noodle is legally an adult from mid-Phase 3 on, period. If Jamie Hewlett wanted to, he could have kept her a little girl, you can do that with cartoon characters, you know? There’s no rule you have to physically age them. Stewie Griffin has been a one-year-old baby for 20 years. Conversely, the male members of the band do not appear to have aged much at all. Murdoc is supposed to be 54 years old, and he looks fucking great for his age, aside from being a pickle. However yes, I will agree that shipping Phase 1 or 2 2Nu is pedophilia, but shipping them now is definitely not.   

1b) A twelve year age difference is not the catastrophe you all seem to imagine it is. It’s more common than you think for people to date outside their own ages, especially when they’re in their 20s, 30s, and above. If it seems gross to you, honestly that just indicates to me that you’re just... really young.  

2a) 2D was an active drug addict with brain damage for most of Phase 1 and 2. He could not “raise” Noodle. For fuck’s sake, he looked catatonic half the time back then. If anyone raised Noodle, it was Russel. 

 2b) Chronologically, the band spends more time apart than they do together. I know, I checked. Please see the chronological break-down of pertinent events in the canon Gorillaz timeline I have provided below (because I put a lot of time into it), but the gist of it boils down to: from 1998 - 2020, Noodle and 2D spend less than 10 years together, the longest stretch of continuous time being during phase 1 (5 years.) Coincidentally, this is also the time when 2D is *the most fucked up* from drugs and being brain damaged by Murdoc. After the ‘El Manana’ incident, they are separated for 9 years (from 2006 -2015), which means that 2D sees Noodle last when she is 16 and then not again until she’s 25. 

And finally, 

3) It’s shipping. It doesn’t matter that it’s never going to be canon- THAT IS WHAT SHIPPING IS FOR. So that we can create the content that we know we’ll never get from the source. I’m willing to bet that 90% of ships will never and have never been canon. And no, it doesn’t “upset them,” because at the end of the day, they’re not freakin’ real. Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett are real, however, and they chose to age Noodle into an adult, and then put 2D and her into various promo pictures together being adorable, and ships have been founded on WAAYYY WAY less, let me tell you. 

Anyways, here’s the timeline. I’d say feel free to use it to beat 2Nu antis down with canon facts, but we all know they probably won’t listen, anyways. 

Phase 1 (1998-2003) Noodle starting age (born 10/31/90, age 8) 2D starting age (born 05/23/78, age 20)

1997: Murdoc gives Stu Pot 2 dents in his head, puts him in a coma/wakes him up/convinces him to join his band.

1998: Kong Studios. Russel joins the boys/Paula Cracker gets kicked out/Noodle arrives via FedEx crate.

2000:EP Tomorrow Comes Today is released.

2001: Debut album Gorillaz is released. Toured Europe and Asia.

2002: Toured North America. Took a break for six months in LA at the end of tour to engage in talks for a film project.

2003:"Everyone was too concentrated on doing drugs and hanging out with celebrities." Murdoc tries to kill 2D. Gorillaz break up. 

First hiatus: duration 1.5 years. 

Time together during phase 1: 5 years. Ending ages: 13 and 25

Phase 2 (2003-2006)

2003: 2D works at his dad's fun fair in Eastbourne/ Russel stays in LA/Murdoc goes to Tijuana/Noodle goes to Japan.

2004: Noodle gets her memory back, goes back to Kong Studios, starts recording Demon Dayz. Band reunites in late 2004.

2005: Demon Dayz is released.

2006: Noodle goes missing after the windmill island in the El Manana video is shot down. When they can't find her in the wreckage, Gorillaz go their separate ways  

Second hiatus : duration 2 years. 

Time together during phase 2: 1.75 years. Ending ages: 16 and 28.

Phase 3 (2006-2012)

2006-2008: Murdoc went on a bender around the world and creates Cyborg Noodle/2D on retreat in Beirut/Russel's whereabouts unknown.

2008: Murdoc burns down Kong Studios and cashes in on insurance money, buys Plastic Beach, kidnaps 2D to force him to write album/Russel starts swimming to Plastic Beach.

2010: Welcome to Plastic Beach is released.

2010-2011: Noodle is found on a ship and rescued from pirates by Russel (now giant from consuming toxic waste and trash). They continue to Plastic Beach, defeat the Black Cloud pirates and destroy malfunctioning Cyborg Noodle.

2011: Band is separated after the battle of Plastic Beach due to several outside factors. 

(2012: Video for Do Ya Thing shows the band living together at Wobble Street, but this was deemed non-canon because it contradicted events as told in Rise of the Ogre and thus is not included in this timeline)

Time together during Phase 3- NA. Ending ages: 21 and 33.

Phase 4 (2012-2018)

2012-2015 Murdoc: escapes Plastic Beach but is caught by EMI and thrown in Dungeon Abbey until he agrees to make a new album, moves to West London.

2012-2015 2D: eaten by a whale and stranded on Guadalupe Island, spends time there on vacation before reuniting with Murdoc in West London.

2012-2015 Russel: separated from Noodle, captured by NK, eventually shrinks back to normal due to malnutrition and rejoins Murdoc and 2D in West London

2012-2015 Noodle: washes up in Japan, spends time working as a pearl diver, accidentally releases a demon, spends years tracking demon and kills it in criminal underground Tokyo. Rejoins the band in West London.

2016: Band is all in one place together for the first time since 2006, spends the year recording.

2017: Humanz is released, world tour, Demon Dayz Festival is held in Margate, England.

2018: Murdoc is arrested.

Time together during Phase 4: 2 years. Ending ages: 28 and 40.

Phase 5 (2018-2019)

2018: Ace joins the band as Murdoc's replacement. The Now Now is released, and the band goes on tour again.

early 2019: Noodle embarks on a journey to Patagonia to see if 2D’s soul has been stolen by El Mierda.

late 2019: Murdoc gets out of prison and meets Noodle in Patagonia after she discovers the truth about El Mierda and Murdoc’s prison sentence, promises to be a better man and rejoins the band for the last leg of the tour.  

Time together: less than one year.

Phase 6 (2019- current)

September of 2019 the band was on hiatus the whole month in separate locations, in preparation for the release of the  Song Machine.

Ending/Current ages: 29 and 41.

Total amount of time spent together between 1998 and 2020: Less than ten years.

backstory source #1

backstory video source for phases 1-4

backstory video source for phases 4+5