Brock Forbes/Rumor Registry
Rumors
Brock Forbes has 11 Rumors written about so far.
Brock Forbes/IF-17.121
The Last Proselyte
Brock Forbes is rumored to have been the Mother Crab's last proselyte, a young avatar of her will, who was either given an immense power or became of interest to her due to already having immense power, and given a clear line of connection to her through which they enacted her bidding. It is unclear how they were chosen, but early reports of a young Forbes have described him as having been a great believer in her work.
Very few records exist of Brock Forbes during the period of servitude; many proselytes in history were recorded simply to walk into the Oldest Bay until their hair got wet and then some, never to return. No journalist has ever had the gall to ask them about their younger years, citing merely that "there was a look in his eyes" that set forth a deep unease at the thought of broaching the subject.
A Snuffed Out Firebrand
Reports of Forbes resurfacing do not name them speifically, but showcase a pattern of behavior that match a single individual with shifting physical descriptions, which suggests to researchers that this may in fact be Brock Forbes.
Years after dropping from the public radar, a figure was reportedly washed up on the Canton waterfront, draped in seaweed and fishing nets, coughing up a viscous black fluid, and porcupined with shrapnel wounds, broken blades, whaling harpoons, or other metal inserts depending on ineffectual eyewitness accounts. The figure rejected help from concerned onlookers, turned a corner, and vanished.
Afterwards, newpaper clippings and noise complaints mention a series of individuals drawing crowds and holding impassioned arguments or speeches about the Mother Crab. No inquiry was made about them at the time, as the crowds never grew to worrisome size and nobody was causing any trouble as a result. Inquiries made since the murder of the Crab Mother about the specifics of these gatherings have resulted in the same stonewalling behavior that journalists and investigators have faced asking about the murder itself, resulting in theorizing that the two are linked. It has been deemed unfeasible or even impossible to obtain further evidence towards or against the theory due to lack of witness testimony. The rule in Baltimore has stood firm: if you weren't there, they aren't going to tell you, and if you were, you'd know better than to bring it up.Brock Forbes/IF-182.43
Dimensional Anomaly Gang
Brock Forbes, Sutton Dreamy, and Parker Parra found shared connection with one another as anomalous beings on the team.
Brock and Parker share a love of abstract higher maths, particularly topology. They once explained to other Crabs that, while Brock lies on every parallel universe at once, Parker intersects this universe from outside of the multiverse, making them essentially perpendicular to one another. Nobody is sure if this is supposed to be a weird math joke or something, so they laugh just in case.
Brock and Sutton don't have too much in common, but Brock feels a particular need to make sure she's doing well, in part because she was manifested by Combs Duende who was one of their closest friends. Sutton can enjoy Brock's company, but it has not been confirmed as to whether this is because she cannot read his dreamscape at all which makes him a mystery, whether their interdimensional time share renders them immune to her self-diagnosed dream parasitism, or whether she can actually perceive Brock's psyche more clearly than anyone but his mother ever could and therefore is able to navigate all of the psychological and emotional barriers they've put up. They enjoy sitting around and zoning out together, nobody has actually confirmed if Sutton is high or sober during these chillouts.
Passing the Torch
In season 13 when the Crabs returned from The Big Leagues, they called up Jacoby Podcast from the shadows; recruiting them to the Crabs rotation. Podcast was quick to see Forbes as a mentor, both in play and outside the diamond. The two of them had similar pitching styles and Forbes was quick to explain the finer points of his plays when Podcast asked. The two fell into a comfortable routine of communication and practice, with Forbes being understanding of Podcast’s competitive nature and tendency to lay face down in the outfield when things weren’t going their way.
In season 16 after a tumultuous election, Forbes was now playing for the Boston Flowers and Podcast playing for the Ohio Worms. Forbes quickly realized just how much that relationship meant to him, and was quick to miss the firecracker of a pitcher that was Jacoby Podcast. Podcast was not receptive to attempts to reach out, with cries of being abandoned in Ohio despite reminders from other Worms that this was a regular outcome of the election. On Season 16 day 47 Forbes was able to force a reunion between the two when they played against one another in The Wormhole. The game went into extra innings, with Podcast letting up two home runs in the top of the 14th to end the game.
They refused to speak to Forbes afterwards.
After a reverb of the Flower’s rotation, Forbes was given another opportunity to pitch against his student on day 75. The game once again went into extra innings, with the Worms being shamed with 2 runs in the bottom of the 10th. This time when Podcast attempted to snub their mentor, Forbes simply applied their considerable experience in martial combat to immobilize Podcast while he talked about his feelings. It is not clear what was said in The Garden but in the weeks since the two have been seen hesitantly meeting up when not in games to practice together.
When speaking of the relationship Forbes has been quoted as saying “It’ll be nice to have a legacy that is more than betrayal.’’Brock Forbes/IF-19.222
Brock Forbes is a roughly 4’8” BLEGO© Mlinifigure© who seems to be able to change his head’s facial expression an infinite amount of times, sometimes even overlapping them, creating the eerie effect of having multiple Brock-brand faces on top of each other. However, he rarely strays from neutral, making this a rare sight for most non-Crabs.
It is unknown as to how he pitches, as he has no fingers, and very static methods of moving his limbs. Any video recorded of his pitching later converts itself into a fake stop-motion version, making the proof obsolete.
Forbes is the lead singer in Top Fifty Hit, “Am I a Man, or Am I a Mlinifigure©?”
Most information on Forbes comes from the news article “A Man Has Fallen For A Man In BLEGO© City?” An excerpt from it is as follows:Due to the informality of this article, and lack of photographic evidence thanks to Forbes’ stop-motion picture effect, the validity is unclear. Several witness reports, however, now say that both Forbes and Tosser carry matching BLEGO© wedding rings when outside of games.Local resident of the BLEGO© City district of Baltimore, Brock Forbes, has recently been seen rescuing fellow Mlinifigure© Adalberto Tosser from the frankly quite hazardous BLEGO© City River. While the two are known to be future teammates on the up and coming Blaseball team the Baltimore Crabs, the two had, according to interviews, “not fully met before this [BEEP] accident.” After Forbes rescued Tosser from the tumultuous and BLEGO© Crab filled tides, they were seen getting lunch together at a nearby diner, and possibly even—hold onto your BLEGO© pants, Baltimore—holding hands.
Brock Forbes/IF-25.39
History
Forbes is best known for topping the Forbes list of Worst Blaseball Pitchers, as well as the list of Worst Pitchers Named Forbes. They are also known to be a stoner and prophet of the Olde One, their visions often beckoning the Great Crab Reckoning, though their gift of prophecy does not seem to aid their sporting ability and as such has not been ruled against. Brock Forbes frequently switches places with an assorted number of interdimensional counterparts.
Early Career
Brock Forbes did not try out for the Baltimore Crabs, or any other blaseball team. They entered the Crabs' stadium under the influence of a "fat joint" according to eye witnesses and fell asleep in the dugout, a slumber which lasted five years.
During a game, they were handed a blaseball bat and hat by Crab Scott and in response joined the pitching line up immediately. Forbes wanders on and off the field frequently, possibly due to their drug induced state or perhaps related to their visions. They succeed in letting go of a pitch two percent of the time.
Brock selected the number 69 for themselves. When quizzed on the meaning of this number by ESPN (ExoSkeletal Player News), Brock simply chuckled and answered with "Oh, you know." They had their jersey specifically embroidered with the number turned on its side.
Season 5 Playoffs : "The Brock Game"
Brock is known for delivering an outstanding pitching from Game 2 of first round's Season 5 Playoffs, allowing only two points from the Moist Talkers after eleven innings and granting the Crabs their very first ever win in the post-season.
It is unknown exactly when Brock Forbes began sharing physical space with an unlimited number of interdimensional doubles, but it appears to have begun before Forbes' time with the Crabs.
Crabs fans tell conflicting tales of the origins of this "timeshare". Crabitat snack sellers have suggested that Forbes was a quarter short for a jumbo smoothie and a cosmic entity offered to pay the missing change in exchange for signing his blood on an interdimensional subletting agreement. Merch pilferers that live in the stadium rafters say it was because they tried asking for a refund on a jersey that was too large.
Internet forums are often ablaze with rumors that Brock's copious consumption of cannabis opened his mind to the cosmos and prepared his physical realm for occupation by other entities. Others suggest that it's the other way around, as Brock has been confirmed to suffer from chronic migraines; perhaps a mind too open has its consequences.
It is a common legend among Maryland playground children that the Mother Crab itself gave Brock this role as a vanguard for the Great Crab Reckoning; Splorts Inundated instead suggested it was an out-of-the-box strategy by Crabs coach the Clawricle. Forbes has refused to comment on any connection between their gift/curse and the Mother Crab, saying only that "that was a chapter of my life I closed long ago."
Regardless of origins, Brock Forbes has been at various times perceived as a doper prophet, a swarm of sea shells, a horseshoe crab floating in Old Bay brackish water, a part-man part-lobster, and a visitor from an alien world who knows only the sport "baseball." The only things that these entities all share are the name "Brock Forbes," team loyalty for the Baltimore Crabs, jersey number 69, and current status as a three star pitcher.Brock Forbes/IF-30.121
Both Brock and Axel Trololol are superbly chill individuals, who are very good at going with the flow. They get along superbly well whenever they are around. However, if the rumors are true about Axel being a metaphorical time bomb of amoral power-hungry sheer will, it makes more sense as to why the two of them seem so close. While the Crabs as a whole have taken on the reponsibility of being Axel's moral compass, Brock in particular would have jumped to the role with great interest, not out of a place of doing what's right, but out of the pragmatic sense of keeping an eye on a dangerous individual as the de-facto protector of the Crabs from monsters not unlike him. The two of them are good friends, enjoy one another's company, invite each other over to chill, and are fully prepared to kill the other if it comes down to it.
Brock Forbes/IF-310.40
Brock and Adalberto Tosser are roommates when they are not staying within the Crab dormitories in the Crabitat. They have the highest recorded magnitude of roommate energy in history. The have an extremely close domestic-professional relationship, are super comfortable in one another's space, know how to balance out chores responsibly, communicate their living needs proactively and respectfully, and hang around in the shared space and invite friends over without issue. Researchers have discovered that with the right equipment they can even visualize the blue thread of copacetism (much like the red thread that ties two fated lovers, the blue thread of copacetism exists entirely perpendicular to the line between two perfect roommates, at the midpoint). The two of them enjoy urban exploration, and used to invite Tillman Henderson until he started chickening out after the third time, and now invite Forrest Best who was already in all the abandoned buildings the first few times but it seemed like the polite thing to do.
Brock Forbes/IF-45.390
Soldiering Career
It is unknown where in paracausality the death of the Crab Mother lies relative to the Blaseball-Glolf Clonflict, so investigators have been unable to confirm whether Brock Forbes headed the contract between the Crab Mother and the Umpiress as her supplicator or as her supplanter. However, it has been confirmed that Brock, alongside Valentine Games and Combs Duende, were the primary representatives of the Crab Mother's might in reinforcement of the Blaseball forces, or perhaps were her might altogether. Why they were chosen or what their mission was is unknown, though Brock made for an easy choice because it is almost impossible for him to die. Wartime letters from the crustacean horde, and some account from a company of Baltimoreans deep in the outfield sandtraps, have confirmed as much regarding their participation and in particular Brock's pragmatic ruthlessness, if other Crabs had participated they may have been employed in a more defensive capacity where security measures were higher. The Baltimore Crabs were admitted to the Internet League as a result of their participation in the clonflict.
The Crab Reckoning
While no Baltimorean would betray the city's confidence regarding the murder of the Crab Mother, the Baltimore Crabs especially have to keep a unified front in the face of far greater media attention as the only good team to have ever come out of Baltimore. What little has been gleaned about the violence of that day is as follows,
- The entire city participated in the act
- The Baltimore Crabs were essential in the striking of the killing blow
- It had to be done.
Brock in particular has been the team's go-to spokesperson for facing down prodding investigators, with a propensity for stonewalling against immense pressure. Despite potentially wasting years of evidence gathering, no journalist has ever had the gall to actually ask Brock about that day once they confronted or were confronted by them, citing merely that "there was a look in [their] eyes" that set forth a deep unease at the thought of even broaching the subject. Rumors built around these interactions put Brock in the center of the Reckoning's narrative in the eyes of online conspiracy theorists, both literally (relative even to the Crab's already central role) and emotionally (as they are suspected to have once been the Crab Mother's progeny, of the closest to her, Brock may have had more to lose that day than nearly anyone in the city).
Passing the Torch
In season 13 when the Crabs returned from The Big Leagues, they called up Jacoby Podcast from the shadows; recruiting them to the Crabs rotation. Podcast was quick to see Forbes as a mentor, both in play and outside the diamond. The two of them had similar pitching styles and Forbes was quick to explain the finer points of his plays when Podcast asked. The two fell into a comfortable routine of communication and practice, with Forbes being understanding of Podcast’s competitive nature and tendency to lay face down in the outfield when things weren’t going their way.
In season 16 after a tumultuous election, Forbes was now playing for the Boston Flowers and Podcast playing for the Ohio Worms. Forbes quickly realized just how much that relationship meant to him, and was quick to miss the firecracker of a pitcher that was Jacoby Podcast. Podcast was not receptive to attempts to reach out, with cries of being abandoned in Ohio despite reminders from other Worms that this was a regular outcome of the election. On Season 16 day 47 Forbes was able to force a reunion between the two when they played against one another in The Wormhole. The game went into extra innings, with Podcast letting up two home runs in the top of the 14th to end the game.
They refused to speak to Forbes afterwards.
After a reverb of the Flower’s rotation, Forbes was given another opportunity to pitch against his student on day 75. The game once again went into extra innings, with the Worms being shamed with 2 runs in the bottom of the 10th. This time when Podcast attempted to snub their mentor, Forbes simply applied their considerable experience in martial combat to immobilize Podcast while he talked about his feelings. It is not clear what was said in The Garden but in the weeks since the two have been seen hesitantly meeting up when not in games to practice together.
When speaking of the relationship Forbes has been quoted as saying “It’ll be nice to have a legacy that is more than betrayal.’’Brock Forbes/IF-553.68
Co-captains
Brock Forbes, Kennedy Loser, and Forrest Best all co-captain the Baltimore Crabs. The general triumverate of co-captaining is that Kennedy and Forrest are the emotional pillars, here to support the team on a personal level, Kennedy and Brock are representative pillars, handling most of the on-paper team management, and Forrest and Brock are the protective pillars, doing the hands-on work against literal hostile forces that threaten the team.
Kennedy looks to Brock for support in large part because Brock is one of the few people who doesn't actually look to Kennedy for a surrogate dad, meaning that interacting with them isn't a part of the emotional labor marathon that interacting with everyone else feels like it's become for him. Brock in turn is close to Kennedy because he's become the closest thing to a compatriot to them since Combs died.
Forrest however, keeps its distance from Brock, not because of any history, but simply because Brock's interdimensional time share of infinite selves is extremely cacophonous and overwhelming to Forrest's finely attuned psychic connection to others. It is one of the few things that has ever been recorded to actually bother Forrest. The two of them do spend time together, particularly when urbexing with Adalberto Tosser, but Brock does what they can to minimize Forrest's exposure, including but not limited to getting unbelievably stoned first, which helps quiet the infinite throng of alternate selves down to a whisper. The two of them communicate often in a professional capacity by other means than face-to-face. Nobody knows what those means are, Forrest does not own a cell phone.Brock Forbes/IF-806.44
Brock Forbes is not one to open up in interviews, but, after some leg pulling by Parker Parra and Nora Perez, did allow one meeting with a UMBC research team studying bioattunement among dimensional anomalies, though they said they were mostly there to support a nervous Parker. The interview itself was never published, but inferred details recorded in the paper's explanations are paraphrased as follows.
(Due to frequent resurfacing of alternate Brocks throughout the interview, all Brocks who fronted for the session are collectively referred to as Brock.)
Brock Forbes has all their infinite alternate selves superimposed over one body. They can see and hear into every alternate dimension or history (smell tests were pending but cancelled prematurely). As long as one point in space overlaps with all Brocks, any singular Brock can move their body independently of the throng, giving Brock a theoretical two-Brock diameter sphere of influence. However, the density of superimposed alternate selves affects tangibility in a way Brock referred to as 'focusing,' explaining that unifying overlapping Brocks or bringing particularly close alternates to front for added physical presence requires discrete conscious effort. Total synchronicity results in, their word, 'hypertangibility,' which is apparently "a little more nuanced" than indestructability/inviolability. Brock agreed to a total synchronicity test, pitching a ball held by every Brock simultaneously, which ████████ ██ ██████████ ████████ ██ ██ ████ ██████ ███ ███ ███████████ ██ ███ ██████ ██████ ██████.
When asked to explain the variance behind alternate Brocks, including physiological characteristic shifts, as well as biomechanical, hypercarcinized, elemental, conglomerate, and other deviations, Brock said "nah," and refused to elaborate.
Mentally and emotionally, Brock explained that all Brocks are 'here' rather than 'there,' when asked to elaborate they referred again to focus regarding their ability to perceive alternate timelines. The Inderdimensional Time Share is an psychological coping mechanism designed across all Brocks in order to help communicate and synchronize across alternate selves (Brock referred to this headspace as 'the inifinte f███scape,' which has since become the accepted scientific nomenclature in the field[1]). Every Brock is a conscious and their own individual, though they share the same lived experience among one another. There is a stratification of alternate selves at front, creating what researchers described as "a general shimmering, with a handful of noticable translucent limbs, heads, and torsos superimposed at the ready to manifest in full." Brock explained that this phenomenon is not endemic to their condition but is a psychological byproduct of their combat and pitching experience, no other similar cases have come forth to test this explanation since. The Time Share is managed by an infinite rotating roster of Brocks in charge of algorithmic assignment and meta-discussion about the IF, with an intent of keeping a number of diversely selected alternate selves to take front at any time for the purposes of flexibility, environmental awareness, well-roundedness, and pragmatism. One Brock is in charge of focusing synchronicity to a higher degree than the others for the sake of interfacing with nonanomalous individuals in this dimension.
Brock has explained that every self is conscious about the act of being appointed to front by the Time Share, and every self is aware that mathematically speaking there is almost no chance whatsoever that they will ever front again. This results in a difficulty to open up to others or connect with them, due to feeling like all personal relationships are transient and will be handed off to someone else. Brock maintains very pragmatic, professional relationships with colleagues and teammates with an understanding that it will benefit all Brocks in the future to network as needed, but that he as an individual has trouble forming emotional bonds and attachments to others. It is not impossible, he pressed on, but simply requires far more time, effort, and pain than friendships among others seem to cost.
Brock has further explained that the migraines caused by focusing too hard or for too long are a part of why they engage in exorbant cannabis use, in further part because it lets them ease up on their focus, quiets down the cacophony of the IF, and blends the kaleidoscopic visions of other worlds into a slightly more pleasant static. Because all Brocks share their lived experience, and "are pretty unanimously chill," the headspace is largely pretty copacetic in most situations. When asked if the migraines might be induced from stress, due to the vast majority of alternate timelines being confirmed postapocalyptic lifeless wastelands (to which Brock asked very firmly "who told you that?"), or from the heartwrenching hurt of experiencing timelines where things are 'better' than here or even 'good,' Brock explained that whatever Parra explained to them beforehand should have been left at the door.
Brock has been shown to be able to take small objects (a pen, a blaseball) and unfocus them across realities, which they referred to as 'hammerspacing' them. Different physical characteristics of the object affect the amount of 'focus' needed to do so differently, including density, electromagnetic charge, volume irrespective of mass, and so on. This is corroborated with video evidence of Brock pitching, where blaseballs appear in their hand like a kaleidoscope of rotating prismatic hands coming together. When asked about dispersing a living test subject (one rat, or one volunteer researcher), Brock simply said "no," and refused to elaborate.
Brock has explained that it is nearly impossible for them to die, as they are infinite and fractal, and any grevious injury that affects the Brock at front would simply have another Brock take charge and let the wound fade into the kaleidoscope of the IF. When researchers entertained the possibility of a two-Brock diameter sphere of influence, like, say, the heat bubble of an incineration event, Forbes immediately rose from their chair and ended the session.Brock Forbes/IF-97.1
History
Brock Forbes’ haboba, Rashuana Jayed Zamir Forbes, was a well-regarded bay witch, having joined the community after she immigrated in the mid ‘90s from Omdurman, Sudan. A young child at the time, Forbes was raised by both his haboba and the bay witches which eased his adjustment to the new environment. Even the Chesapeake was its own comforting presence for Forbes, reminding him of how the White Nile ran east of his home in Omdurman. Forbes had settled into the city relatively smoothly and even started showing signs of physical carcinization earlier than most children his age.
Having not yet been diagnosed with autism at the time, Forbes had difficulty learning within the rigid confines of the United States’ education system. However, he did excel at his school’s Blittle League team, quickly earning his place as the team’s ace pitcher. He continued into junior varsity then later varsity, but stopped after high school to pursue a degree in accounting.
The next major event to follow was the Great Crab Reckoning, of which Forbes played an integral role in its success. Forbes has not spoken much on the events that occurred, but Baltimore residents consider him to be a local hero for his contributions (note the popular fan chant “Brock Our Rock.”)
Forbes performed Hajj not long after the reckoning, citing it as the catalyst for his reaffirmation of Allah and reconnection to his Sudanese heritage. Upon return from Saudi Arabia, Forbes aided in various reconstruction efforts around the city. He also worked as a volunteer at BARCS, a local rescue animal shelter. After joining the Crabs and no longer having the time to volunteer, Forbes instead would monetarily donate to the shelter on top of his annual zakat.
Appearance
Forbes has select stone crab features due to carcinization, namely along his upper torso and face. Cracks in his skin reveal a pearlescent design: a result of his proximity to the Olde One at the time of her bodily death.
Forbes stands at 5’5” while wearing his signature platform tennis shoes.
The Rock Collection
Brock Forbes is plural and the host of the Rock Collection system. Forbes has stated his relationship with his headmates is moderately co-concsious, meaning there is usually two headmates co-fronting at any time. The two most frequent co-fronters are Rafiq and Salam, having both made public appearances at various off-the-field events.
Asim Sakhr Rafiq is a post-fictive man in his mid-thirties who considers himself to be Brock’s right-hand. Close friends have described Rafiq as “compassionate albeit in a hot-headed way,” “an athletic junkie,” and “a great roommate if he would just quit drinking milk from the jug.” He would most often be seen paddle boarding or jogging on the Chesapeake boardwalk around sunrise. Rafiq shares a deep interest in splorts with Forbes but favors flootball (sloccer) and vlolleyball, deeming any of his pitching advice moot. Rafiq is known to wear Afrocentric street fashion from the ‘90s, specifically bold patterned tracksuits.
Yusra Jawhar Salam is a middle-aged hijabi woman and is considered by many to be a level-headed individual. She is well-liked amongst Forbes’ teammates, but her general reserved nature makes it difficult to get in contact with her directly. Salam is the most creative of the three, having once co-fronted to assist Forbes and teammate Sutton Dreamy in designing prayer mats to keep in the locker rooms. Her beverage of choice is cinnamon tea.
Rafiq nor Salam are seen much on the field as it is Forbes’ area of expertise, but Salam is deferred to for most press conferences. Even then, the Collection prefers to remain out of the media’s eye.
Forbes is the only headmate married to Adalberto Tosser.
Relationship to The Olde One
Forbes has always felt connected to the Olde One since his arrival in Baltimore. As a teenager, he would venture out into the bay to try and find her, even against his haboba’s wishes. Despite the risk, he always managed to return home safely.
Forbes was no prophet with regards to the reckoning despite lingering rumors. Spending countless hours by the bay simply sharpened his eye to the subtle shifts in the tide and the changing disposition of the Olde One. To Forbes, the signs of a future calamity were visible months prior to the actual event, and in his words, “spoke only grim outcomes if no one acted.”
Read here for more information regarding the rumors surrounding the Great Crab Reckoning.
Forbes’ relation to Debrah was strictly that of a caretaker or familial relation. Even though there was no religious affiliation, Forbes was deeply dedicated towards the upkeep of the Crabitat and the sanctity of the stadium. Time not spent on the field was spent working alongside janitor Yurts Trunbo to ensure that any decomposition or degradation of the stadium was well-managed.
Ascension was a particularly strenuous event on the Crabs, separating the team from their home. Forbes had made little comment on Ascension and Descension but was firm in his disavowal of the renovations made to the Crabitat in his absence. Any of Forbes’ attempts to revert the Crabitat to its original design were heavily blocked by the ILB.
Relationship with Adalberto Tosser
They are married.
Relationship with Dunn Keyes
Forbes’ introduction to the Flowers was intense and untimely, witnessing his first incineration on the mound during his debut match. Moses Mason was a deeply beloved teammate and the team’s first incineration in 10 seasons. After idly taking part in the Flowers’ memorialization process, Forbes sought to assist in the maintenance of the Memorial Bat Forest.
“He knew next to nothing about gardening, but his willingness to try was a nice change of pace,” captain Margarito Nava once noted in a post-game interview.
Forbes was taught the fundamentals of gardening from teammates Zeboriah Wilson and Dunn Keyes. In turn, Forbes adopted the role as the Flowers’ new pitching coach, assisting Keyes in improving her performance on the field.
Keyes’ relationship with Forbes extended beyond just gardening and pitching. Keyes’ Ilnstagam page offers insight into their personal lives including road trips, beach visits, and feeding peanuts to squirrels. Rafiq and Keyes have been spotted together frequenting one of Boston’s many Dlunkin’ Donuts, later corroborated by a Tlwitter thread of Keyes describing the expedition in intimate detail. Salam and Keyes have also bonded, practicing henna on Keyes’ hands. Keyes would make a point to show it off during her next game.
Keyes formed a similar yet not identical bond to Forbes’ partner, Adalberto Tosser, upon xir arrival to the team.
Trivia
- When signing autographs, Forbes opts to use his legal Sudanese name, Barakah ( بركة in Arabic.)
- Forbes is left-handed and has only mentored other left-handed pitchers.
- While in Boston, Forbes adopted a Yorkshire Terrier named Barkolomew. Keyes has shared custody.
Brock Forbes/IF-98.606
Role on the Baltimore Crabs
The Baltimore Crabs are captained primarily by Kennedy Loser with assistance from Forrest Best, but Brock Forbes is widely considered to be an under-the-table captain alongside them. While they don't tend to take the people-facing responsibilities of the role (addressing media, managing the emotional balance of the team, etc.), they handle a large part of the backstage negotiations, do most of the paperwork, represent the team for the higher-ups of the Internet League, represent the team for Baltimore, deal with the countless undisclosed threats to the Crabs or to Baltimore as a whole, and clean up messes that other Crabs might have caused.
While Kennedy tries to check in on people and include them in a deliberate fashion, and Forrest is widely attuned to the team's general vibes due to it's psychic abilities, Brock contributes to the interpersonal social balance in a far more organic way, just by being chill, being everyone's plug, and having a practically infinite tolerance for shenanigans. They are a sort of everyman to a lot of the rest of the team, connecting a little bit with every player but not forming particularly deep relationships with anyone. Brock is responsible for getting a lot of seemingly incompatible people into the same room together.
The general triumverate of co-captaining is that Kennedy and Forrest are the emotional pillars, here to support the team on a personal level, Kennedy and Brock are representative pillars, handling most of the on-paper team management, and Forrest and Brock are the protective pillars, doing the hands-on work against literal hostile forces that threaten the team.
Early Crabs Pitfalls
Brock has a very difficult time connecting emotionally with people who they don't share much lived experience with. While most the original Crabs had participated alongside the city of Baltimore in the murder of the Crab Mother (all but Nora Perez and Tillman Henderson, who both joined the team afterwards), Brock was only truly close with his wartime compatriots, Combs Duende and Valentine Games. As incinerations and swaps occurred, Brock had an especially difficult experience connecting with their new teammates, and because Combs was captain and Nora assistant captain at the time, they didn't have any responsibility to do so, so they maintained a chill-but-distant professional acquaintanceship with a growing number of now-Crabs. Nobody had a really bad opinion of them, and they would hang out with anyone, played video games or took urban exploration trips, and generally provided a chill space wherever they would be, though much of that time was a bit of a haze for them, literally.
When Nora was incinerated, Valentine and Kennedy shared the assistant captain responsibilities in large part, but needed a bit more help keeping a grounded perspective on the team, and Combs needed to lean on Brock for some support like he could have given them years before, which altogether led to Brock beginning to participate a bit more in the Crabs as a community and a family.
The Team's Anchor
When Valentine was feedbacked and Combs incinerated in short succession, Brock was affected really hard by the feeling of almost total alienation from the team. Things were dark for much of season 4, and a lot of players were reeling from the loss of their steadfast supporters and authority figures. Kennedy in particular, quickly appointed team captain with little preparation, was maladaptively piling up far too many things onto his plate at once in an attempt to keep everything under control. Channeling their rage against the Blaseball gods, Brock took this opportunity to reflect on what the past years have been like since their mother god died, and take audit of what they could be doing to help shield the Crabs from all this.
It was at this time that Brock began to really take on the protector and anchor role for the Crabs, not necessarily opening up or connecting emotionally but at the least ensuring that the support they give is reliable and consistent, resulting in generally improved pitching that got the Crabs their first postseason win and inciting the chant, "Brock's our rock." They found that deepening the connections they have to others for their own sake, even if there is still a distance between them and others, had its own benefits, as they received support in ways that they didn't know they needed, through grounding, presence, and being able to silently share a space with another person and letting that be okay. They learned quickly and finally that while it's hard to connect with someone they have no shared experience with, they can't grow any shared experiences with people if they don't try to connect regardless. There is still a distance, but those relationships are much stronger now, and they fell into their role as co-captain beautifully as a result.
Passing the Torch
In season 13 when the Crabs returned from The Big Leagues, they called up Jacoby Podcast from the shadows; recruiting them to the Crabs rotation. Podcast was quick to see Forbes as a mentor, both in play and outside the diamond. The two of them had similar pitching styles and Forbes was quick to explain the finer points of his plays when Podcast asked. The two fell into a comfortable routine of communication and practice, with Forbes being understanding of Podcast’s competitive nature and tendency to lay face down in the outfield when things weren’t going their way.
In season 16 after a tumultuous election, Forbes was now playing for the Boston Flowers and Podcast playing for the Ohio Worms. Forbes quickly realized just how much that relationship meant to him, and was quick to miss the firecracker of a pitcher that was Jacoby Podcast. Podcast was not receptive to attempts to reach out, with cries of being abandoned in Ohio despite reminders from other Worms that this was a regular outcome of the election. On Season 16 day 47 Forbes was able to force a reunion between the two when they played against one another in The Wormhole. The game went into extra innings, with Podcast letting up two home runs in the top of the 14th to end the game.
They refused to speak to Forbes afterwards.
After a reverb of the Flower’s rotation, Forbes was given another opportunity to pitch against his student on day 75. The game once again went into extra innings, with the Worms being shamed with 2 runs in the bottom of the 10th. This time when Podcast attempted to snub their mentor, Forbes simply applied their considerable experience in martial combat to immobilize Podcast while he talked about his feelings. It is not clear what was said in The Garden but in the weeks since the two have been seen hesitantly meeting up when not in games to practice together.
When speaking of the relationship Forbes has been quoted as saying “It’ll be nice to have a legacy that is more than betrayal.’’
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