(I got this from sikhiwiki.org and other websites)
Shaheed Singhs
"Their faces glow of redness, and their eyes shine. They have strong builds. They wear full bana, and are always shasterdhari. There are Singhs and Singhnia, both wear cholas (blue) and adorn dhumallas. They have khandas on these dumallas. They come with specific purposes upon the Hukam of Akaal." - Bhai Rama Singh Ji
How to have their drishti?
40 days, you have to do 5 bania, other then your nitnem (10 bania daily), and do ardas everyday that: "Babaji kirpa karo Shaheed singha de darshan karwa dao…" Shaheed Singhs/Gupt Fauj will surely appear
Sakhis
Below are some of the narrated episodes of those who have witnessed Shaheed Singhs come to protect that which is dear to the Guru. They have been entrusted to Panthic Seva even when they are already in the next world. It is believed that these Shaheed Singhs come to the protection of GurSikhs. Gurudwaras and also to continue to pay respect wherever the Word of the Guru’s Bani is recited in complete devotion. Though they are at rest with the Akaal Purakh, they are still sent forth by the Guru to continue the work of the Guru and sent forth into the physical world in accordance with the Guru’s instructions. The following accounts are published to build faith in the Gurus so that we may not waver in our trust in Him. Shaheed Singhs are basically Pure Spirits, all of us are born with them, and they are with us at all times whenever we most need help. When we are born we start clinging to Maya and get polluted with it, to forget why we came here, we loose our great Essence of Purity we once had when we came onto this Earth. Shaheed Singhs help and guide you on the path of Sikhi, but if one does not make that effort to lead the life of a Gursikh, Shaheed Singhs will never come to their help. We only need to realise this and make a start on the path for them to help us. Sakhis
Events and stories
“Guarding Gurudwaras” There is an army of Shaheed Singhs that have been ordered by Guru Sahib to constantly protect Gurdwaras and Gursikhs. They are the special forces of Guru Sahib and completely one with him. They are very powerful and even greater than the Hindu gods who do not have as much power. The Shaheed Singhs dress in old Khalsa bana, either blue or sometimes white, and also carry many shastars. Although they usually go about in secret and cannot be seen, at times they make themselves visible. These Shaheed Singhs have been seen during the 1947 Partition, guarding Gurdwaras and at other times have helped Singhs protect Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
“Shaheed Singhs & Singhnia in the SaadhSangat” There was an incident at the second Bangor based Khalsa Camp. I was given seva in the Darbar sahib. I was standing at the back on the Darbar Sahib during a late night keertan darbar. Bhai Rama Singh Ji was sitting down quite close to me. The keertan was very Chardikala, and the sangat was mast in Waheguru Simran. The lights had been switched, but for a lamp near Guru Maharaj. Everyone was deeply engrossed in Bani. There was bibi who attended the camp. It had quite a bit of impact on her, and she was getting Biaraig in the keertan. At the side of the darbar there was a double door out to a garden area. Suddenly the closed doors flung open. Feeling the weather was not too good, I walked over and closed reclosed them. At this point, the keertan was every higher in Chardikala. The bibi had become so mast in Bani, that she was physically affected. The bibi then turned and did matah tek, and stayed in that position, and sat again in Guru ji presence, and was even more mast. The whole sangat was highly engrossed in Naam and Bani. The keertan went on till quite late and was very memorable. The next day, after Amritvela, myself and Bhai Rama Singh ji were sitting in the langar hall sharing a meal. It is possible there were other Gursikhs there as well. Bhai Sahib and I were talking about the keertan the night before. We were both agreeing it was really excellent; we felt blessed to have experienced those darbars. I asked Bhai sahib about the bibi. I said why did she matte tek in the other direction? Bhai sahib replied, ‘Did you not see them?’ I replied, ‘See who?’ Bhai sahib said, ‘The shaheed Singhs who entered the Darbar. They came to join the SadhSangat. She bowed to them.’ I became highly intrigued by this. I said, ‘Bhai sahib, tell me about them?’ He replied, ‘Its no matter really, if you did not see, then forget about it.’ I was not going to let this drop, so I began harrasing him and kept it up for a few minutes. Eventually Bhai Sahib came around, and starting talking. He said ‘They are special souls who came to listen to Bani in the SadhSangat.’ Upon detailed questioning Bhai sahib revealed, extremely reluctantly, a basic description of the shaheedan. He said, ‘Their faces glow of redness, and their eyes shine. They have strong builds. They wear full bana, (as in a blue chola), and are always shasterdhari (laden with weapons). 'There are Singhs and Singhnia, both wear cholas (blue) and adorn dhumallas. They have khandas on these dumallas. They come with specific purposes upon the Hukam of Akaal.’ I kept pressing Bhai sahib for more, but he was very relunctant and told me to just Naam aap. But I was young, and really interested, and Bhai Sahib knew he could not distract me. I asked tell me more about them. But he kept saying, forget it. ‘Eventually to stop me, he said, do you know _______ Singh in UK? They all look like that. Now let’s go to the lecture.’ I have not mentioned the Gursikhs name because he is still alive and does seva in the jatha in UK. I think most people will guess who it is anyway. When you go to rainsbhais, there is always one elder that stands out. A few weeks later, Bhai sahib and I were at a Gursikh's house in Southall. A youth had drawn a sketch, it was of a scene of 1984, showing the damaged Siri Akal Thakht Sahib. In the sky through the clouds he had drawn Shaheed Singhs coming to the Akal Thakht. The scene was amazing. Both myself and Bhai Sahib looked at it for some time. I am not sure what the inspiration was for that youth, but the picture he had drawn was amazing.
“Shaheeds answer Fateh” Bhai Soorat Singh was a Gursikh who even in 1949 used to do yatra of Hemkunt Sahib. He said, “Every year I would go from Gurdwara Gobind Dham to Hemkunt Sahib and in the evening return back. I would do the bhog of a sehaj paath there in 15 or 16 days. When I would o paath there though, I wouldn’t speak but sometimes it seemed to me that the Gurdwara Sahib was filled with Singhs and sometimes there was no one. On the day of the bhog, I finished by saying a Fateh! And to my surprise, it was answered by 16 Singhs sitting in the sangat. Five or six of them were wearing blue clothes and the rest were wearing white. All had shastars. One Singh stood and said, “Bhai Sahib, do not doubt us. We are 16 Shaheed Singhs in this Gurdwara and many others also go around here.”
“Incident at the Sarovar” Many times I would spend the night in the veranda and I would hear the keertan of Asa di Var. Once, at 3:15, I was sitting in the veranda when I saw a being riding a white lion who came and bathed in the sarovar only to straddle the lion and ride off again.
“Singh protecting the tent of a Sant” The Shaheed Singhs also stay with Gursikhs at all times. During the time of Sant Attar Singh jee, it was seen that a Singh riding a horse would circumambulate Sant jee’s tent. The tent was on the banks of the Jehlum, and the horse would go on the three sides which were faced by land, but also on the fourth side which was the river Jehlum. The rider would yell out a jaikara as well. When Sant jee was asked about this, he said that Shaheed Singhs do come and protect Gursikhs but those that can see this should not tell others.
“Guarding Singhs” Naam Abhyaasi Gursikh Subedaar Baghael Singh once told me that in Shaheedi Fauj of Guru Gobind Singh Ji is properly organised and there are several Generals in it. Bhai Bachitter Singh is one of the top most Generals in Shaheedi Fauj. Subedaar Baghael Singh told me that he personally once got darshan of Bhai Bachitter Singh Ji. Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh Ji once casually mentioned to a Singh that there are always 4 Singhs present in the Narangwal area (Bhai Sahib’s pind) to guard the Singhs there. Baba Harnaam Singh of Rampurkhera is said to have had several encounters with Shaheed Singhs.
“Shaheed Singh in the Gurudwara” At a gurdwara sahib I went to regularly, the double doors to the gurdwara main hall which faced outside would swing open by themselves sometimes. There would be no wind at all and all of a sudden, they would open. This was not during a time when there was much sangat, but just me standing there. This happened on a few occassions but did not happen after that time. Once when coming to the gurdwara sahib late at night, I was on the road in the car and looked at the gurdwara’s window. The light of the main hall was on and I noticed the outline of a Singh with round dastar and open beard walking by the window. When we came in, there was no one, and we found that everyone was asleep and no one was up at that time when I asked the next day. I’m sure I saw a Singh though.
“Ever-present” As a young child of about 3 holding my late dad’s finger and walking along one evening reciting Rehrass . . . I distinctly remember hearing hoof beats following us at the back . . . when I turned to have a look, my dad reprimanded me and said, “Dont look back. It is a Shaheed Singh Ji and he is following us because we are reciting Gurbani. At age 12 due to some financial difficulties my dad and mum had to work out station and we children were left on our own. I being the ledest was in charge. We would go upstairs to our second storey balcony and gaze far to see dad coming back every evening. One night we waited until almost midnight and dad still hadnt tunred up…suddenly we heard a neighing sound and a Shastar Dharee Singh Ji on a White Horse so tall that it reached up to the second story balcony appeared in front of us in a shining white light and we heard a voice that dad was in the local hospital in a coma due to an accident. I quickly got downstairs and cycled five miles to the local hospital and sure enough there was my dad with two broken arms after being involved in a motor accident…the surgeon wanted to shave his arms for an operation to reset the badly smashed bone and he awoke just in time to say no way . . . he healed very well without any surgery. Later my dad related to me that this particular shaheed singh was a Bhai Darshan Singh who had been martyred in a Battle with a Muslim soldier and he had been appearing regularly in our hour of need. In 1975 while in Singapore, i was on a road shoulder of a busy road waiting to cross and somehow i got so engrossed in my paath that i ddint realise i had stepped on the road and begun crossing..right in front of a speeding bus . . . suddenly i got such a strong “kick” that I went flying to the opposite side…safe and sound but shocked at a narrow escape..when i reached home . . . my dad was on the phone from Kuala Lumpur 250 miles away scolding me for being so careless . . . if not for Shaheed darshan Singh Ji he told me I would be history by now. The last thing my dad told me before he left this world in 1984 was that a very major event is about to take place in Punjab and that he was going to join the shaheed faujaan as a nimana soldier . . . he had taken a hukmnama a week before and knew his end was near . . . just four weeks later Bluestar took place. These are a few of my own personal experiences with this special aspect of “spiritual” life. as far as i know these are not “bhoots” or roohaan as we normally think of. They are special forces and they have their own rules and practises most of which are beyond our realm. Mostly they keep out of our way but on ocassion if help is warranted they do help. Thats all I caa say with conviction.
“Dastaar for a Shaheed Singh” One day a middle aged Sikh came to our house. My mom gave him a siropa (dastaar) as present but he refused and said this siropa does not belong to him as the house is being guarded by shaheed singhs, and the person whom this should go to one day will come and get it from you.
“An incident at Sri Harmandir Sahib” During a visit to Darbar Sahib, Amritsar I noticed the following things happening at Amrit Vela. The Sangat was finishing the last few minutes of Sukhmani Sahib, waiting for the doors to the cause way to be opened, when there was an instantaneous strong whirl wind accompanied by a drop in temperature, it went real icy even though moments before it was a hot and humid night. A couple of hours later, Guru Ji’s Saroop was being carried along the cause way to Darbar Sahib, again a strong wind occurred in seconds and the temperature plummeted dramatically. I noticed the pattern repeating over several days, same time, same place with the same changes. I was told the opening of the doors for the Sangat after Darbar Sahib’s Ishnan seva and Guru Sahib Ji’s arrival, are very important moments and protected by many Shaheed Singhs. The strong wind was caused by their arrival . . . and the purity of their souls was such that even the intense heat of the environment was cooled instantly by their presence.
“Present at Guru Granth Sahib Ji’s Hazoori” A Singh I know used to do Sri Japjee Sahib seva for Akhand Paths early on, he had only just taken Amrit and the roles used to be the hard ones i.e. 12-2am, 2am-4am, etc. He used to get drowsy/sleepy whilst doing the roles and used to start seeing Singhs occurring and disappearing whilst walking up the red carpet to Maharaj’s Hazoori and this used to freak him out and keep him awake. At other times he used to actually see a Singh standing next to him (whilst on the role) with full bana and barsha (spear) in hand, this also used to send a chill down his spine and he used to start reading the Path with a renewed vigour and fear. After he narrated these experiences to a few Singhs they never ocuured again. The point of narrating this is not to argue in anyway the validity of doing Sri Japji Sahib roals, but rather to emphasise the presence of Shaheed Singhs in Maharaj’s Hazoori and especially in Sri Akhand Paths.
“Clattering of hooves at Amritvela” At other times in Amrit Vela - the clattering of hooves of horses on stairs has awoken many Gursikhs. Maharaj awakes his Gursikhs himself.
“Darshan of Shaheed Singhs in a dream” Imprisoned Gursikhs have told me how they feared what dire consequences they may undergo and questioned whether Shaheed Singhs would protect them. One of them told me that he had Darshan of 3 Shaheed Singhs in a dream (all 3 were in blue bana with Shastars), on the night he was imprisoned and he never feared anything whilst in jail as he knew the Shaheed Singhs would look after him.
“Guru Gobind Singh Ji in command” 1984 attack - recently a Kathavachak who has great knowledge of the movement narrated experiences of Operation Blue Star. He said during the attack a Singh was on top of Sri Akaal Takhat Sahib and he could see Sri Guru Gobind Singh at Darshan Deori - he shouted loudly and then narrated how Maharaj went to Darbar Sahib and paid his respects and upon return gave out chole bhatoore to the Singhs in battle. Maharaj himself is present in all major battles of Sikhs and Shaheed Fauja are present also, either in human form (born again for this purpose) or spiritual form.
“The Power from Shaheed Singhs” There was a Rainsbhai Kirtan organised by the Jatha in 1998 - to commemorate the 20 years since 1978 (in Slough, UK). A lot of gifted Gursikhs were present in the Sangat and the majority of the Kirtan turned into Simran only. Some of the youth did not enjoy the Rainsbhia that much due it mostly being Simran - but a lot of the gifted Gursikhs felt that it was the Shaheed Singhs who created this atmosphere of Simran repitition.
“At the Gates of Sachkhand” Once, a Sikh I know, went into a state of mind where he almost died. He hit the gates of Sachkhand, walking through a tunnel and came to a Light. When he saw the light he saw beautiful gardens and heard Gurbani! But then he saw so many Singhs in bana. He go scared so turned around. Then a spirit asked him where he was going (this was the spirit of Baba Deep Singh) he said, ‘Bhai Sahib you have won your place here, why are you turning away! These are the gates to Sachkhand. Then why are you outside?’ The spirit of Bhanda Singh Bahadur now rises and replies ‘We have not finished our duty. We wait to fight the battles for Khalsa Raj again! When it is established we will be there fighting for it too! We will be there to witness the day Khalsa has Victory!’
“Protected from a stalker” I heard a story about a very Chardikala bibi who was coming back from the Gurdwara late at night. She saw a man standing infront of her with a knife. As she approached him he looked scared and backed off. A week later the man was caught by the police and arrested, being a murder suspect. The bibi was asked to come to the police station and identify him. She pointed him out and asked the officer if she could talk to the man. He said yes. She asked him, ‘When you saw me that night walking home alone, there was no one about, it was dark, you could have easily got away with it, so why didn’t you attack me?’ He replied, ‘Are you mad?! What about those two guys that were standing either side of you, in blue robes, holding massive swords longer than me! I didnt want to get killed! The bibi knew that she had been protected by the Shaheed Singhs.
“Protection from being left behind” This happened on the day the Panth celebrated Guru Nanak Dev Jiis Prakash Dihara. I was sitting in Darbar for about two hours listening to katha/dhadi vaars and my parents were lookin for me but I never knew that. Suddenly, I had they urge to just get up and go to my car. when I went to my car, there were my parents in the car trying to leave but couldn’t. When I sat in, my mom asked me where I had been. I replied by saying i was ‘inside, upstairs in the main hall’. She said ‘We’ve been looking for you for about half an hour and we’ve been in the car for about 1/2 hour tryin to unlock the emergency brake but couldn’t.’ Then i tried and suddenly, very easily it opened. I think that it was Maharaj who was trying not to let my parents leave without me because thats what they were going to do.
“During 1984 Delhi Anti-Sikh Riots” Sikhs were butchered across India. I heard this true story about a Sikh couple living in an isolated village outside of Punjab. The couple was young and were amritdhari. The Singhni wore a dastaar and they had a young child. The Sikh couple had an isolated farmhouse in a Hindu dominated area. When news of the assassination reached the area, and it was found out that Sikhs were being killed, some local thugs also decided it was the perfect chance to loot the farmhouse. The Singh found out about these plans from some well wishers and told his wife that they had very little time and an attack was coming. The Singh said that they should leave their farm and escape to save their lives. The Singhnee however reminded him that they had done Parkash of Sri Guru Granth Sahib on the top floor of the house and how could they run away from Guru Sahib? The Singh again repeated that there was an attack coming and said that their young child would be killed. Singhnee jee insisted again that it would be wrong to run away from Guru Sahib and let the mob disrespect Guru Sahib's saroop. The Singh in frustration then said, "Once they kill us, they will disrespect the saroop anyways so what is the point in staying? We can't save the saroop if we're dead. The best we can do is save ourselves now. There is no benefit in staying! You are being stubborn and stupid." The Singhnee replied that while she had breath in her body, she would not abandon Guru Sahib, even to save her life and while she was alive, no one could dare do any disrespect. With the mob now on its way, the Singh in frustration told his Singhnee that she could do what she wanted but he was leaving with their son. He then took the infant and escaped. Singhnee jee went to Guru Sahib's room, and did ardaas. She asked Guru Sahib for protection and for the courage to, if need be, become Shahid in this seva. She then took a kirpan and waited. When Singhnee jee saw the mob arrive, yelling and carrying weapons, ready to attack the house. She came down and stood at the door holding her unsheathed Sri Sahib. All of a sudden, the thugs in the mob began to turn around and run away, looking back in terror and then continuing to run. Singhnee jee was confused but amazed at Guru Sahib's kirpa as the mob retreated and did not return. Some days later, the Singh came back to the village to check on the fate of his wife and their property. He fully expected that his wife would be assaulted and killed and their home looted. As he was nervously walking to his home, a Hindu acquaintence stopped him and asked, "Singh, where did you gather all those Nihangs from so quickly that day???!" The Singh was confused and asked, "What do you mean?" The Hindu replied, "That day, when the mob went to attack your house, your wife came and stood in the door and she was surrounded by so many massive Nihangs who were so tall and carrying all kinds of weapons. Where did you gather all of them from so quickly?" The Singh realised that Shaheed Singhs had themselves come and protected Guru Sahib's saroop and his Singhnee's courage had been rewarded. He went home and begged for forgivness from his Singhnee and told her about how all the villagers were talking about the army of Nihangs that had protected their house.
“Guru Ji after the Battle of Chamkaur Sahib” After the Battle of Chamkaur Sahib, Guru Gobind Singh ji with only very few Sikhs went to a village. No one knew, they were Sri Dashmesh Pita, with an exception of two Sikhs brothers in whose house Guru ji stayed. One of them was devotional Sikh and other was not that much in Sikhi. Days past, slowly people began to know that Sri Dashmesh Pita is living here... So sangat started coming... One day the big brother was going for the darshan of Guru Sahib. While walking, he was thinking that if Guru Ji is so mighty, then why couldn't he defend himself and protect his sons in the battle of Chamkaur Sahib... His sons are no more alive... So how can he be a Guru ... Meanwhile he noticed a small Singh, around 4 feet in height, coming ... So he thought of waiting for him and they will go together for Guru Ji's darshab. When he looked back, the Singh grew bigger... He changed the colour of his bana from blue to white... When that Singh came close, the bigger brother asked who he was and what he was doing. The Singh replied: "I'm a Shaheed Singh". Then he told: "We are 96 crore (960 million) in number and present at Chaumkaur Sahib. We were praying and crying with our hands folded to Dashmesh Pita to let us go in battle field... Only one Shaheed Singh can finish all the Turks from this world within seconds... But Guru Ji didn't allow us. He also said every time there is a Shaheedi Pehra of 5000 Shaheed Singhs with Guru Ji.
“Tank struck during Operation Blue Star” When Indian army attacked Harmandar Sahib in June 1984, which force stopped the tank from moving? Obviously the Shaheed Singh power. It was completely struck near Baba Deep Singh Ji Shaheedi place. They had to cut and dismantle the tank piece by piece!
“Banda Singh Bahadur's 5 gifted arrows given by Guru Ji” (This story is from Suraj Prakash I believe) Guru Sahib gave 5 arrows to Gurbaksh Singh (alias Banda Singh Bahadur) and told his 96 crore army is under the command of these arrows. In his very first battle, there were around 300 manpower with Banda Singh Bahadur, out of which only around 50 were singhs, and rest 250 were looters. When the governor of the city came wih his 2000 army attacked Banda Singh Bahadur. The looters tried to run away, but Banda Singh Bahadur told them to stop. He took one of the arrows given by Guru Ji and went alone in the direction from which the army was coming from... With the arrow he marked a line on ground and stood there on his horse. The Mughals fired arrows at him with canons and arrows but none could cross the line. Then he took the arrow and put it on his bow. But he didn't released it. At that very moment Shaheed Singh army was seen coming down from sky, and started fighting the Mughal far away from where banda was standing. The singh with Banda Singh Bahadur also went in battle field but Banda Singh Bahadur stood there with the streaded bow. All the 2000 Mughals were killed but non from 300 Sikh Army was killed. Banda Singh Bahadur used these arrows every time he needed the help of Shaheed Singhs. And the way to call Shaheed Singhs was to keep arrow in bow and stretch it, till arrow is in the bow, then army of shaheeds helped him.
“Taken to Sach Khand by Shaheed Singhs” This one is of an elderly Gursikh who laid on his deathbed in the final three months of his life. For those months his sons, nephew and some family friends stayed with him reciting Gurbani for 24 hours a day (taking shifts). One the at the last moments, while reciting bani, his nephew who was deeply concentrated, noticed the room light up and Five Singhs appeared and took the elderly Gursikh.
“Saved from drugged thugs in Surrey” This instance is that of an Young Singh who had such a high jeevan and did a lot of seva. One night (11 or 12) he felt a sudden urge to visit the Gurdwara Sahib, while walking he recited bani but he was being followed by two thieves (drug addicts) who approached the Singh from behind, one of thieves grabbed the Singh's shoulder and as the Singh turned around, then let him got and the when the Singh looked back he saw both thieves running down the street screaming and falling over. The Singh realized that the Shaheeds had appeared to protect him. This happened in Surrey.

Leftist Election Depression

The 50 best K-pop singles in 2020 from someone who fell down the K-pop rabbit hole really hard this year for the first time (numbers 50-26)

So usually at the end of every year I write up something about that year's music - what hit me, what stuck with me, etc. This year, however, I hit K-pop hard for the first time, so I wanted to write up something a little more specific. Usually I post it to a personal blog that friends and family see, but it seemed like this community might enjoy seeing an end of the year list like this - I spent way too much time on it lol. I've really enjoyed reading the conversations here and on the other Kpop subreddits and I wanted to try and give back.Maybe it can spark some discussion here?
If this is against any of the sub rules, mods, let me know and I'll refrain from posting the second half tomorrow.
--

LA DI DA - EVERGLOW

If Zach Snyder directed a K-pop music video it might look and sound like this mid-year release from EVERGLOW. Slick as rain-soaked streets, produced to within an inch of its life, and peppered with bratty vocal barbs throughout, LA DI DA is a synthy bit of pop magic that hits sweet as a pixie stick and leaves you feeling just as buzzed.

Open Mind - Wonho

A rolling bassline and submerged electronics lay the foundation for this thirsty number. Wonho's vocal performance here sounds like he's daring you to make eye contact, and while his voice is by no means the most impressive in this year's crowded set of r&b-inflected dance tracks, the charisma floods out from the corners of this song just the same.

90s Love - NCT U

Less an homage and more like straight up stealing the notes of early nineties hip hop production cues, 90s Love sees NCT U showcasing the simple power hanging with your pals. That's all this track is. It's carefree, silly, and the break beat that kicks the chorus off is a shot straight to the heart of anyone who remembers arguing with their buds about whether Mario was better than Sonic. Which, to be clear, NCT U is not old enough to remember at all.

When We Disco - JYP + Sunmi

The thing about this track is that it's not really a disco track. It isn't really funky, it doesn't bring to mind bell bottoms, and it's much too mournful. Instead, you get a nostalgic bit of new wave futurepop that King JYP and Sunmi trade croons over for about four and a half minutes. Calling this disco would be like watching Inglorious Basterds and saying you'd seen a WWII movie. It's corny as hell, but the cheese on offer is delicious and even with its long, drifting outro, you'll probably want to listen to it again right when it wraps up.

Dynamite - BTS

There will be no way to account for pop music in the year 2020 without this uncharacteristic single from BTS. While most ARMYs will surely rate this track below BTS' other work, "Dynamite" is a lighthearted breath of canned, harmless air in a year when every breath felt risky. The vocal processing is definitely cranked too high, but the Bangtan Boys sound like they're having a blast, and when that line hits - "shining through the city with a little funk and soul" - you get that same feeling as when your buddy makes the dumbest joke in the world and you smile despite yourself. And though the Grammy nom here makes a cynical read of the track more available, even now it still feels freaking adorable in its earnestness.

THE BADDEST - K/DA

I hate that I like this track as much as I do. K/DA is unquestionably nothing more than stupidly effective global marketing scheme from one of the biggest video game companies in the world. And yet, Soyeon absolutely blows this track up and when the sub bass comes through midway through her first verse, I defy you to turn this off for the sake of your principles.

Red Moon - K.A.R.D.

The first minute or so of "Red Moon" is definitely a vibe, if not quite an amazing pop tune. It features some decent vocal tradeoffs between BM, J Seph, Somin, and Jiwoo, and a fun, fat synth see-sawing back and forth, but it's when the horns kick in with that "run baby run oh run baby run" vocal line when the track catches fire. From there on out, KARD's vocalists start to snarl and the straightforward melody takes on a little more dimension. The end result is a hard hitting, sweaty dance track that is worth your time.

OHIO - Crush

This sparsely arranged, piano-driven bit of power pop is a blast of pure theatrical joy. Its gorgeous and propulsive, filling the space with a flurry of tuneful improvisations while Crush unpacks a whole bunch of anxious, confessional shit. The percussion - almost entirely a constant rhythm of sticks on rims - feels immediate, like a busker you just walked past on the street. And there's the hook: instantly catchy, packed with an easy kind of feeling. Familiar, warm, and inviting.

Maria - Hwa Sa

For the title track to her debut mini album, Hwa Sa pulled no punches. Combining latin-pop chord progressions over a smooth, early 00s R&B beat, Hwa Sa shows off her expressive vocal chops. It's a feature song, meant to showcase Hwa Sa's capacity as a storyteller, a writer, a performer, and a personality - and it succeeds in virtually every way. The melody itself might not be a world changer, and the abrupt dance break is, well, abrupt, but "Maria" is built to last, just like the star who gave it to us.

Automatic - Chancellor (Babylon, Twlv, MOON, BIBI, & Jiselle)

If this was entirely in English and released on American pop radio, would people be calling it a shameless Weeknd rip off? Probably. Would they have a case? Yeah, they would. But it doesn't matter because Chancellor's vocal swagger is intoxicating over this trap groove, and the contributions from BIBI, MOON, and Jiselle stand out against the slightly cookie cutter feel of twlv and Babylon. In a year where I couldn't go anywhere, no other track out of Seoul made me want to drive at night with the windows down as much as this one. And in a scene as squeaky clean as K-pop, it's nice to get a little bit of something grimier once in a while.

Better - BoA

BoA's title track comeback is an infectious number that rides a throbbing two step all the way to the bank, and in this case, the bank is a sick-as-fuck gang vocal chorus that hits with all the nostalgic power of your favorite late 90s r&b pop princesses. BoA's restrained vocal performance works perfectly from the monotone verses through the pleading refrain. The production is sharp, sharp sharp, right down to the funky guitar licks sprinkled throughout the background on that last verse. And when she closes out with "you're better than this" you might find yourself thinking, “yeah I am,” and start getting your shit together in general.

Tiger Inside - SuperM

SuperM is by definition overblown. The so-called Avengers of K-pop have, to my ears, struggled to produce a song that could stand up to their contemporaries, especially once you take away the sheer bombast of their work. “Tiger Inside” fixed that. The dynamics of the song are dramatic, leveraging white space in the pre-choruses to deliver a shimmering, bouncing chorus that builds to a sideshow synth line and ascending vocal harmony that makes you go, "ooooooo that's nice." Also that high note at two and a half minutes, goddamn.

Oh my god - (G)I-DLE

Half lilting waltz, half DeMille-sized epic production, half early '10s bro-step, this track is a trip. Soyeon's verses here are strong as ever, but it's the gradual vocal build from Miyeon and Yuqi in the prechorus that hands off to Soojin's massive "Oh my god" that knocks this thing out of the park. It's almost silly in its ambition, but no other girl group sounded quite this big or sang with quite this much bravado in 2020.

WANNABE - ITZY

For how early they are in their discography, ITZY has already made a massive impact on the K-pop scene, and while their critics might point to samey themes in their music from single to single or to the frequency with which they go to the girl power well for their signature sounds, there's no doubt that ITZY is one charismatic set of idols. With "WANNABE", ITZY pushes out a bright, bubbly, sarcastic sound along with some fundamentally solid pop-rock songwriting that practically orders you to sing along. It might sound like kids music, but it's extremely catchy kids music, so lighten up and listen to it.

LMM - Hwa Sa

Hwa Sa's second single from her solo debut is one of the few ballads on my list. Beautiful, breathy verses give way to huge powerhouse belting against a backdrop of tinkling piano and bittersweet strings. It's emotionally raw, surprisingly vulnerable, and supremely confident. Nothing here innovates on the tried and true pop ballad formula - right down to the softshell drums that come in with finger snaps on the second verse - but Hwa Sa makes that formula absolutely sing.

Eclipse - Moon Byul

In some ways it's a pretty standard dark-ish boy group concept, but Byulie's take on it feels fresh and theatrical. The production is immaculate. Lots of white space in between rips of quick-hit percussion. It's a massive track with a massive sound but it all comes together in a gorgeous chorus that pits Moon Byul's own impressive range against a choral background and a demonic electronic field of distortion. Maybe it's not the most innovative thing ever, but very few female soloists in K-pop could do what Moon does here with this set of sounds. In a busy year for the entire MAMAMOO lineup full of huge singles from Hwa Sa, Solar, and MAMAMOO itself, Moon's work shines brightest.

To Be or Not to Be - ONEUS

There are more transitions than hooks to this track, an impressive feat given how jam packed it is with infectious vocal passages. From a slow-build lead-in to the whiplash tempo shift in the prechorus to the chugging, distorted riffs in the chorus proper, "To Be or Not to Be" is all theatrical drama, fitting to its namesake. The instrumentals are an equally eclectic blend of marching band percussion, bouncing house beats, R&B harmonies, and nu-metal rhythm guitars, and somehow the production hangs together just fine. It's a propulsive, throbbing song that works well as a cinematic bit of club escapism.

0415 - Yerin Baek

The shuffling syncopation that kicks this single off is a huge departure from Yerin's previous full length collection of songs, Every letter I sent you. Right off the bat there are shades of western dance artists and producers like The XX, MADE IN HEIGHTS, and Disclosure, and Yerin's soft-edged vocal performance, entirely in English, makes the case that her work would slide quite easily alongside those contemporaries. This track makes it clear why Yerin belongs on the global stage. Moody, claustrophobic, airy, and strangely comforting, "0415" is the kind of low-key buzz track I want on repeat under a deep pile of blankets keeping me and my insecurities warm.

Chocolate - MAX

There is probably an argument to be made for dismissing K-pop legend Max Changmin's lead solo single as a flashy bit of perfume commercial music, but you'd be an idiot to stand by that argument. MAX's charisma is off the charts all over this song, switching easily between huge belting high notes and quiet-toned spoken word. The chorus is a fun release of ascending and descending vocalizations in between MAX's shout whisper of the track's title. Imagine Suit & Tie era JT built on those wins instead of veering off into weird pseudo country music, and you'd be close to the pure pop fun of "Chocolate".'

PAPARAZZI - oceanfromtheblue

Korean R&B artist oceanfromtheblue is making Soundcloud ballads for all of your quarantine vibes, and PAPARAZZI is the best example of what he has on offer in 2020. His voice is expressive over the minimalist soundscape - the way he drags out the chorus into a single paranoid note is a stroke of genius that pulls you down with him. Like the kids say - or like the olds trying to sound like the kids say, this one's a vibe. A lush, synesthetic vibe.

Stay Tonight - Chung Ha

Chung Ha has had an absolutely bananas year, releasing three singles that occupy different spaces on the dance floor but burn it up just the same. "Stay Tonight" is her surprising tribute to the sounds and tones of vogue ballroom. A flexible, whipping beat bends back and forth around Chung Ha's powerhouse vocals, building until a sudden, sharp contraction like the breath you take when the bathroom sink's cold water hits you out of a hangover. It's sexy, catchy af, and the final instrumental bridge is an absolute space cadet passage that will have you building your own rocket ship to Mars before Elon gets there and makes it uncool.

YOU CAN'T HOLD MY HEART - MONSTA X

Unlike the glitzy, shining optimism of their countrymen BTS' all English language debut, Monsta X elected to give us a moody and minimal pop ballad complete with a trap beat and smooth, prettily harmonized vocals. The chorus is simple and catchy in exactly the ways you want sad boy anthems to be, and truth be told, the whole thing is surprisingly heartfelt right up to the final fadeout.

Love Me Harder - WOODZ

This is the kind of song you can pick up and put in your pocket, walk a while with it on a nice day, and when it's done, play it again. It bounces down the sidewalk like a rubber ball, despite its relatively heavy lyrical themes. The chorus splits into two mirrored halves, the first a nice few bars of chanting millennial pop and the second, with just the addition of a freshly syncopated beat, a bright little breakdown that hooks you back into the song's otherwise straightlaced structure.

Gunshot - K.A.R.D.

KARD has always been a unique proposition in the K-pop landscape - especially among their idol counterparts. In a field where sounds are sharply gendered, a co-ed group can have a hard time attracting the right mix of producers, writers, and executives to sustain a successful career, but that's just what KARD has been doing for years, and with “Gunshot” they push into darker territory than ever before. There's a return here to some of the tropical influences from their earliest releases and a deep dive into some bassy passages that resemble something approaching witch house. The handoffs between all four vocalists are seamless, though Jiwoo and BM stand out particularly. It's a tough little heater.

Scream - Dreamcatcher

One of the hardest hitting offerings from the K-pop machine in 2020, Scream is a syncretic marvel, mixing black metal sensibilities with psytrance, metalcore blastbeats, symphonic pop, and all the angst of a teenage theater kid who's a little too into Tolkien. Scream is majestic and artful - too well put together to be a guilty pleasure. The girls from Dreamcatcher are always looking for a new way to overwhelm, and they delivered a tidal wave here.
--
If this was a good read for folks, I'll post the next half tomorrow for New Year's Eve. If not - and that's sensible, given I'm some wordy rando you don't know - then disregard! Happy listening!

[MEGA POST] Presenting the Second Brawler of the Month: Brock! [Part 1]

Introduction

Hello everyone! Welcome to the second Brawler of the Month: Brock! The last BotM was very well received, and we are happy to continue this addition to the sub.
Like last time, we have allied ourselves with /BrockGang, and we will have another Clip Competition (Tick killing montages are especially appreciated), as well as more discussions and debates surrounding Brock.
As always, the Mod Council is happy to answer any queries or to discuss and improve on critiques.
Without any further ado, let us begin the Second Brawler of the Month: Brock!

Brock Basics

Brock has 3360 health at Level 9/10, which is the second-lowest health in the game. This makes him quite squishy, being able to be killed with two main attacks by 26 out of the 44 brawlers, which makes it difficult to win over lanes.
He has 1456 damage, which is below average. He also has a very slow reload speed of 2.1 seconds and an increased unloading speed of 0.4 seconds. His slow projectile speed, clocking in at 3000, is 75% slower than Piper’s and Colette’s.
You might wonder, how does Brock see any viability if it seems all his statistics are terrible. With a 10 tile range and a small but significant splash radius of ⅓ tile, this is his strongest advantage over many brawlers, being able to outrange and snipe them.
His super is also very useful, as it can control the field, finish off enemies and break groups of walls very efficiently.
As you can see from his base kit, Brock doesn’t seem to excel at any particular area, aside from range. He is a jack of all trades, master of none.

Main Attack

Brock’s main attack deals below-average damage, at 1456 (Power 9), with a slow projectile speed, a slow reload speed at 2.1 seconds but has a range of 10 and ⅓ tiles after splash. This allows you to outrange every brawler except:
Tick (Main attack)
Sprout (Main attack)
Nani (Main attack, full range)
1 of Spike’s needles
Rico (Main attack after bouncing off a wall)
Gene (Main Attack)
Mr P (Main Attack and Handle with Care SP)
Surge at Power 4 (Main attack and To The Max SP)
Piper’s Homemade Recipe gadget.
Brock outranges all other brawlers excluding those listed above. Notable brawlers include Colt (Both SP), Byron, Piper and Bea, all of which are fairly common in the current meta.
Brock’s splash radius can help to hit moving targets, snagging a double hit, which happens fairly often in chokes. Therefore, Brock’s best position on a map is around chokepoints.
Unlike last time where a damage table for Colette was made for her unique mechanics, for this post, this table shows how many Brock shots it takes to kill every brawler. I will bold important matchups.

Brawler Table

1 Rocket = 1456

NIL

2 Rockets = 2912

Tick Head, Mr P’s porter, Tara’s Healing Shade

3 Rockets = 4368

Mr P’s Buffed Porter, Tara’s Black Portal, Tick, Mr P’s Home Base, Brock, Piper, Bea, Barley, Crow, Spike, Byron, Nani, Colt, Rico, Dynamike, Surge, Penny’s Mortar, Pam’s Healing Turret, 8-BIT’s damage booster, Sprout, Amber, Edgar, Lou

4 Rockets = 5824

Gene, Jessie, Tara, Mr P, Penny, Leon, Max, Jessie’s Scrappy, Colette, Gale, Bo, Emz, Mortis, Shelly, Bibi, Nita, Sandy, Poco, Nita’s Bruce

5 Rockets = 7280 (Anything from here and beyond is unreasonable to expect 1 on 1, due to Brock’s slow reload speed)

Carl, Pam, Darryl, Bull, 8-BIT, Jacky

6 Rockets = 8736

Rosa, Primo

7 Rockets = 10192

Frank
As you can see, Brock at least needs a full clip to kill any brawler in the game, and really struggles against Mr P due to his porters draining his ammo away. The damage nerf from 1540 to 1456 hurt him a lot, which u/mhsamadi24 explains,
"Damage Nerf Not that many interactions were changed by this, only Tick, Carl and Mr P’s home base are able to take 1 more projectile before dying.
Actually, with his damage nerf, he can no longer 3 shot brawlers with 4480 hp. He can still 3 shot a Lou, but not a Leon, Jessie, Penny, Tara, Gene, Max and Mrp. He also can no longer 5 shot Rosa. This huge damage nerf, in my opinion, is the biggest nerf out of the 4 changes."
Moving on, here are some tips with his attack that may help out:

Due to Brock’s splash, you can corner peek from a massive range, allowing you to pressure brawlers behind walls, like throwers. If you use Incendiary, this effect stacks further. This ability sees a lot of use on open maps with chokes and some cover like Double Trouble.
You can use two ammo on one target in rapid succession to barrage them. Best case scenario, you hit two ammo for a total of 2912 damage. Worst case, you push them back a certain amount. Be careful, as overusing this will backfire when you have no ammo left for clutch situations.
Using an entire clip at close range against certain brawlers (Low DPS and low health) to function as a pseudo-shotgunner can be situationally effective. However, at higher levels, this can be punished easily, and due to the reduced damage and health, this move is a lot riskier than it previously used to.

If you find trouble aiming, I recommend reading u/Advictus’s guide on [aiming](https://www.reddit.com/BrawlStarsCompetitive/comments/iyfgke/the_indepth_comprehensive_guide_on_how_to_fully/). It does an amazing job of elaborating on the core mechanics of aiming.

Super

Brock’s super is an Area of Effect barrage of rockets that are thrown over walls, which can break walls quite efficiently. 9 rockets are launched, and the most you can hit on a brawler is 3. Targets with bigger hitboxes can be hit with 5.
The super charges with 4 main rockets, and it can recharge if you hit 5 super rockets.
It has a range of 9.8 tiles, which allows it to be used as a finisher as well as field control, due to the super lasting for around 2 seconds, both from relative safety. This is the real beauty of Brock’s super, it does so much and so much so well. Walls are broken easily, which is useful in Heist and Siege. It can finish brawlers off, useful in Bounty and it covers the entire zone in Hot Zone, as well as almost ½ of the mid in Gem Grab.
In Showdown, Brock’s super is nasty as with some prior chip damage, Brock can easily finish you off or at the very least, push you back. This is more effective in Duos, where his super can pick off an entire team as people tend to clump up, especially in the late game.
Strafing is mandatory while using the super so that you can maximize the pressure and grab kills.
Here are some tips with Brock’s super:

Aim to the right to get an extra rocket on stationary targets like the Heist safe and the IKE.
The pattern the rockets come out is the same for both sides. The pattern is Center, Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Right, Bottom Left, Top Left, Top Right, Bottom Right and Bottom Left. Use this knowledge to quickly grab a kill, and aim the super so that the brawler will be hit by the Top Left as it is the first non-Center rocket and it is the furthest from Brock (Tied with Top Right, but Top Right rocket comes later, which makes it less useful).
Use the super when you are about to fall back, giving you some distance from the enemy.
While using his super, prioritize the middle walls near the opponent's middle, then the opponent's walls at spawn. Try to never break your cover. Here are two examples of maps on what you should and shouldn’t break: [Playbox](https://imgur.com/a/Thg9cX0) and [G.G. Mortuary](https://imgur.com/a/o1jClgt). Green circles represent the walls you should break, with the number inside representing the ideal order, with 1 being the best wall to break. On the other hand, red circles represent walls you should avoid breaking at all costs. If you have to break them for some reason, the number inside tells the ideal order, with 6 being the last walls you’d want to break. If you’d like elaborations on a specific map and its walls, feel free to ask me (u/Obsidian297).
Brock’s super can be used to split up targets, by aiming it dead centre, which can help out if you have a Mortis or an Edgar on your team.
Using it near the side of somebody can group up targets.

Star Powers

Brock’s star powers help him out a lot, and if you want to push him competitively, it's highly recommended to get both of them.

Incendiary

Incendiary applies a flame on the splash radius of your attack, which lasts for 2 seconds, dealing 520 damage per second. This can be used to further pressure enemy brawlers, as well as scan grass and deal damage to stationary targets, which is what really helps out his viability in Heist.
Incendiary boosts his total damage from 1456 to 2496. It’s common in most modes to not hit a single tick of damage. However, the potential control offered from each flame is too much to give up most of the time, even if it dealt 0 damage through the course of a match. It’s similar to Balls of Fire, where it’s not the damage you are after, but the control. With its defined lanes, Siege is a great game mode for Incendiary to shine. Heist is also a viable option, as the Incendiary damage can deal all 1040 tick damage to the safe, potentially clutching games.
Optimal modes: Heist, Siege

Rocket No. 4

Rocket No. 4 (RN4 for short) increased Brock’s clip by a huge 33%.
If Brock comes out of spawn. Rarely in a match does Brock fall back for at least 8 seconds to get all of his ammo back, which is too much for how fast-paced the game is. This hurts even more once you realise that Brock loses on the control offered by Incendiary.
However, in more passive modes, where you can afford to not attack for some time, RN4 does offer an actual niche. Furthermore, if you as a player are very good at conserving ammo and seizing the best opportunities, RN4 may yield more value than Incendiary.
Optimal modes: Bounty, Solo and Duo Showdown

Gadgets

Brock’s gadgets are like Brock, versatile at a lot of roles, but not standing out at a particular role.

Rocket Laces

Rocket Laces is a pseudo-Dyna Jump, allowing you to jump over walls and water, which costs no ammo and has a knockback. Dyna Jump could be one of the best abilities due to the fact that you have on-demand mobility, but it is quite hard to use and common to mess up your jumps.
However, Rocket Laces is very easy to use and impossible to mess up because of its instantaneous deploy time.
Here are the basic uses of Rocket Laces:

Jumping over walls.
Defending in Brawl Ball and cancelling certain supers, as Rocket Laces has a knockback of ⅔ tiles with a knockback radius of 2 and ⅔ tiles.

You knew that, but what are the cool things I can do with this? Well, here’s the list:

You can cancel his super animation, by aiming your super to the TOP RIGHT. This allows you to grab the kill by spamming your main attack after jumping.
You can also fire the super on enemies in melee range, use the jump then fall back, which can be useful against the hordes of Mortis and Edgar in the current meta. You could also apply this to the flames of Incendiary. However, the payoff is less.
The damage is dealt through walls, similar to Jacky’s attack, allowing you to possibly grab a kill.
You can dive into the IKE’s zone and attack with your main attack, before jumping back, reloading and attacking again. You can get in at most 6 attacks, which with Incendiary really adds up. You can also do this in Heist too
This gadget is even more important with more dangerous attacks like Byron’s, Piper’s Homemade Recipe and Bea’s Rattling Hive as you can dodge them. You also look cool while doing it.

Overall, Brock’s Rocket Laces gives him a lot more utility than he would otherwise.
Optimal Modes: Siege, Brawl Ball

Rocket Fuel

Rocket Fuel was one of the most influential gadgets for a month and a half. Upon activating this gadget, Brock’s rocket gains a 50% damage boost, a faster projectile speed of 3500 and the ability to break walls with a radius of 2 tiles. Yes, you heard that right. A radius of 2 tiles, with a diameter of 4 tiles.
This allows Brock to open up parts of the map up far earlier and thus, gain an advantage for his team. This is especially nasty when paired up with Bea and Piper, who both have nastier gadgets which love opened up maps. Throwers are also less effective and annoying without walls. The other use of this is using this as a finisher. In fact, here is the damage table if Brock opens with the Fat Rocket™ (Fat Rocket™ refers to Rocket Fuel, in case you didn’t know).

Damage table with Fat Rocket:

1 Fat Rocket™ = 2184

Mr P’s porter

1 Fat Rocket™ and 1 regular rocket = 3640

Tick’s Head, Tara’s Healing Shade, Mr P’s buffed Porter, Tara’s Black Portal, Tick, Mr P’s Home Base, Piper, Brock, Bea, Crow, Spike, Barley, Brock, Byron, Nani

1 Fat Rocket™ and 2 regular rockets = 5096

Colt, Rico, Dynamike, Surge, Penny’s Mortar, Pam’s Healing Turret, 8-BIT’s damage booster, Sprout, Amber, Edgar, Lou, Gene, Jessie, Tara, Mr P, Penny, Leon, Max, Jessie’s Scrappy, Colette, Gale, Bo, Emz,

1 Fat Rocket™ and 3 regular rockets = 6552

Mortis, Shelly, Bibi, Nita, Sandy, Poco, Nita’s Bruce, Carl

1 Fat Rocket™ and 4 regular rockets = 8008

Pam, Darryl, Bull, 8-BIT, Jacky, Rosa

1 Fat Rocket™ and 5 regular rockets = 9464

Primo

1 Fat Rocket™ and 6 regular rockets = 10920

Frank
The brawlers in bold represent brawlers who die one rocket less, so against them, it’s worth it to use the Fat Rocket™. It is also useful as a finisher too.
Optimal Modes: Any mode with a lot of walls

Kit Viability

There are 4 kits that can be made from these 4, each with different levels of viability and use.
The worst is probably Rocket Jump and RN4, whose main niche is on open Bounty and Showdown maps, where there are sparse amounts of cover. The barrage tactic can be used here, which is shooting 2 or even 3 rockets in quick succession then jumping back.
Fat Rocket™ and RN4 is the next best, allowing you to use a Fat Rocket™ and then burst down enemies with the remaining rockets. This is why this might be the best kit in Bounty, as you can use Fat Rocket™ as a finisher and RN4 as the burst, all the while reloading, as well as the fact that many of the common Bounty brawlers are killed in one rocket less with the Fat Rocket™.
Rocket Laces and Incendiary is at a similar level of viability as the previous kit. as you can kill Edgars with this. It also helps him in both Siege and Heist, where he can dive as well as reposition easily, all the while having the control of Incendiary. It has the added advantage of being better against Edgar.
Fat Rocket™ and Incendiary is probably the best kit right now, This kit is the best in maps with chokepoints, where the Fat Rocket™ dents progression and Incendiary can help in pushing the enemy back. Brock can also open the map, to allow Piper, Bea, 8-BIT and Nani to deal damage. These compositions were infamous in the World Finals.
The easy way to find out what kit you should use by yourself is simple. For the gadgets, ask yourself whether you will face more tanks/assassins or more snipers/sharpshooters/throwers.
If the answer is the former, use Rocket Laces, as it can let you escape clutch situations easily. If the answer is the latter, use Fat Rocket™, as it can help you to beat many snipers and sharpshooters easily. It also removes the walls that throwers like to hug.
For the star powers, ask whether the mode needs active control or you can get away without constant offence. Incendiary will be your best choice if you’re in a game mode with active control, while RN4 is more suited for burst damage and close-range combat.
There might be situations where the answer is hard to get from using these questions, but for those maps, just try different kits as well as apply your intuition and experience.

Skill Cap

Brock is quite easy to pick up for most people, due to his splash radius, as well as the ability to switch between a long-range playstyle and an up-close shotgunner. However, mastering him is a lot harder than the other snipers/sharpshooters as he has a lot more going on with his kit than Piper or Bea.
A fairly hard roadblock to overcome with him landing hits on mobile targets, like Max or Mortis, which due to his slow projectile speed is almost impossible.

Playstyle

Groundwork

Brock is a versatile brawler whose main use in competitive play was filling in empty team slots, precisely due to his great kit. He fits on every team composition except Poco Double Tank but faces stiff competition. This is mainly due to Colt, 8-BIT, Bea and Piper all having superior qualities to him.
His general playstyle is sniping enemies with his rockets to quickly charge his super. He then applies pressure and area denial with said super, while breaking essential walls. Other snipers and mid-range brawlers are his general target, with tanks being notably hard to deal with due to his low damage and reload speed with Fat Rocket™ and Incendiary. He is an effective counter to turrets as well as the Heist safe and IKE turret.
In theory, Brock should be able to win almost any 1v1 due to his range and splash, abusing either of his gadgets to win crucial matchups.
In practice, Brock is too frail to deal sufficient damage and is unable to fully use his kit. Even if your Brock game is on point, the meta brawlers right now: Mr P and Edgar, match up favourably against Brock.
In the meta, he is definitely near the bottom. Some say that he is in the bottom 10, but the general consensus is that he’s bottom 15, alongside Jessie, Dynamike (Both of which have improved in the meta), Rosa, Gene and Penny.

Matchups

Good Matchups

Mid Range Brawlers:

Mid-range brawlers are at a significant disadvantage compared to other brawlers as they do not have any viable way to close the gap, which allows Brock to abuse his range and snipe them.
However, Carl is an exception that you have to watch out for, as his Flying Hook does make Brock an easy target if he does not have Rocket Laces, though you can hurt them with the burst damage of RN4.
Examples: Poco, Nita, Emz, Sandy, Shelly, Amber, Tara, Carl

Sharpshooters:

Brock has a range advantage against every sharpshooter, except Mr P. This combined with Incendiary and its splash radius, as well as the slow projectile speed, makes it very hard for many sharpshooters to do well against him. This is because Brock is able to control the lane for long periods.
There are obvious ways for them to do better, which change from brawler to brawler, but general tips against Brock are:

Strafe diagonally.
Switch lanes.

Brawlers like Colt and 8-BIT have on-demand mobility that does quite well against Brock, as his rockets become far harder to hit. Plus, they can both take out Brock quickly with their attacks.
Piper and Bea’s gadgets can handle Brock quite well. However, both are outranged by Brock. This is made worse if Brock is carrying Fat Rocket™, which kills both after 1 regular rocket.
Byron has a 10 tile range and can 2 shot Brock, which does make him a fairly solid counter to Brock. However, he dies to the Fat Rocket™ and single rocket combination.
For every sharpshooter (Aside from Mr P), Brock is quite hard to dodge. However, due to his nerfs, he is now slightly easier to handle for most sharpshooters.
Examples: Colt, Piper, 8-BIT, Bea, Rico,
Exceptions: Byron (Counter) and Mr P (Hard Counter)

Bad Matchups

Tanks:

Admittedly, tanks are very rare in the meta, but they can still be played and played well. As seen multiple times, Poco Double Tank has been commonly picked in competitive play.
In such situations, Brock’s low DPS really shows. Even if you manage to weaken a tank to the point they can be killed with a combination, Poco can easily bring the brawler back to full easily. This makes Brock bad against tanks.
As if that was not enough, tanks hit Brock quite hard, and most are capable of killing a full health Brock with 2 shots, with Rosa being the only one that takes more than two complete attacks and Darryl being able to kill Brock with one shot up-close.
Generally speaking, Brock should not be played in maps where tanks are viable. However, if you see Jacky, the most common tank not relegated to only Poco Double Tank, you can snipe her out or use Rocket Laces to escape if she gets too close.
However, do not jump behind walls as Jacky’s attack goes through walls. It may seem obvious but it happens quite often, as it keeps you safe from other brawlers you usually jump away from, like Mortis and Edgar.
Darryl, Bull and El Primo have methods of closing the gap and all have knockback, which can stun you temporarily.
Speaking of stuns, Frank is pretty much the best tank that Brock can face, mainly due to the fact that this is the only brawler which is guaranteed to take Incendiary damage. Whenever Frank wants to attack, he takes 520 damage per flame, which makes it a lot easier to wear down. If Frank uses his super, Brock can jump either off him to cancel it, or jump away, Both methods make him a lot easier to handle.
Luckily, outside of Heist, tanks are admittedly rare due to Colette, so tanks and Brock rarely face-off. Unless a tank is on dedicated defence, Brock will rarely face them.
Examples: Darryl, Bull, Primo, Rosa, Jacky
Exception: Frank

Assassins:

Assassins have high mobility and high burst damage, both things Brock has few answers for. They rarely struggle against Brock, as his burst damage takes too long to unload against a speedy assassin.
Mortis is a hard counter and can kill Brock with 3 shots, without worrying unless Brock runs RN4 and Fat Rocket™. Even then, Brock does not have the time to unload. This matchup is further tilted when you realise that if any one of Brock’s attacks misses, the interaction is immediately lost. This is why Rocket Laces is preferred when Mortis is prevalent in the map, as it gives you a guaranteed escape, especially if walls are nearby.
However, Rocket Laces only has 3 uses. Once you have used them all up, Mortis is able to kill without you hopping away.
Edgar is another hard counter. While he does get killed by Brock in 3 shots, Brock also gets killed with the same amount of Edgar’s attacks. Edgar’s super and speed boost make safe positioning around an Edgar quite hard. Brock really only has a chance against Edgar if there are walls to jump behind, which is possible to bait out.
Not only does Darryl counter Brock as he is a tank, but he also beats you with his roll. Brock does not have much counterplay against this roll, due to the brief window where you are stunned, Darryl can start to fully unload his attack.
The only assassin which you will not have issues winning lanes over is Crow. Let’s be perfectly honest though, Crow is not in a good place in the meta right now.
Examples: Mortis, Edgar, Leon, Darryl
Exception: Crow (Give the bird some slack)

Throwers:

Fat Rocket™ getting nerfed makes it so that aside from Tick and Barley, the other throwers will still have enough health to continue fighting. Sprout especially, due to the on-demand healing gadget and star power shield.
All can harass Brock with the safety of walls. However, all have dropped in the current meta due to the prevalence of Edgar, who is a thrower counter due to his jump. You could pair these two up to counter each others' weaknesses, though you are better off with a different composition altogether.
Once Edgar gets nerfed, I doubt Brock would be able to handle the increased amounts of throwers.
Examples: Sprout, Barley, Dynamike and Tick

Mr P:

That’s right, he gets his own section. That’s how hard of a counter Mr P is.
Mr P, or Mr Pickles as any Brock player would call him (No one calls him that, Obsidian - Kimchi) can beat Brock with any kit. Remember how Brock forces sharpshooters to back off due to his splash radius? Mr P has a larger splash radius, outranging Brock by ⅓ tile.
Remember how Brock’s reload is arguably his biggest weakness? Mr P’s super abuses that, by having an infinite stream of porters chasing him. They also take at least 2 hits to die, unless you get lucky with an Incendiary flame hitting. Mr P can also buff his porters to drain up to 5 ammo whenever he desires, 3 times a match!
To destroy that stream, you have to take out the home base, which dies in 3 hits, which makes Brock drain even more ammo. This is also assuming the turret is kept in a relatively open position.
If not the case, you usually have to kill Mr P first, who can take 4 hits (as opposed to the 3 pre-nerf). However, Mr P can kill Brock in 4 shots, or 3 if Brock takes even 1 porter shot.
If you are playing on a map with a lot of walls, Revolving Door might counter Brock harder than Handle With Care, as it spawns porters faster than Brock can reload. Even if Brock manages to take out one home base, charging one up on a presumably closed off map isn’t that hard for Mr P.
Brock can counterplay by using Fat Rocket™, breaking walls to make the home base less concealed. It also makes Mr P an easier kill, as it reduces the number of rockets needed to kill by 1. However, Mr P can place his turret near spawn, which can mess up positioning for the Brock, unless it’s a clean shot. Brock can attempt to switch lanes, which can help out massively. This requires coordination though and good teammates with game sense.
If it is any condolence, Mr P is not as prominent as he could be, due to Edgar and Colt countering him well. Once those two are nerfed, Brock will be in a worse spot than he already is.

Overall

Brock has a fairly split matchup against all of the brawlers. He is lucky that Mr P, Mortis, Jacky and Edgar are the only relevant counters that he has right now, as tanks are not viable and throwers lose to Edgar and Colt.
Why is he not better then, since he has methods to deal with them? This is because against high competition, his statistics put him in an uncomfortable situation. I will elaborate on this later.
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Due to the titanic size of this post, this post will be split in half. The link of part 2 will be posted soon. Hope you enjoyed it so far!

PART TWO!!: The 50 best K-pop singles in 2020 from someone who fell down the K-pop rabbit hole really hard this year for the first time (numbers 25-1)

I posted the first part of this list yesterday and it seemed like people were into it, so here's the second half, leading right up to numero uno. Again, to be clear, I'm nobody, I just like writing about music and I got super into K-pop this year so I thought I'd share with all of ya'll and hope it starts some good conversations.
So here it is, the twenty five best K-pop singles of 2020 according to some rando on the Internet who spent way too much time on this.
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25\. ONE (Lucid Dream) - Golden Child
Some of the sounds here might feel a little outdated - take for instance, that distorted Skrillex-y bass wobbling its way through the first verse - but the arrangement Golden Child puts together here stays fresh with its impeccable melodic composition that demands karaoke sing-alongs. It's been a while since I've enjoyed something in pop that's this indebted to late 2000s era dubstep, but Golden Child just executes here. As soon as Joochan's ridiculous falsetto hits and the instrumentation backs off in the chorus, there's no more use holding this track at arm's length.
24\. Monster- Red Velvet (IRENE & SEULGI)
No two people in Kpop sounded better together vocally in 2020 than Seulgi and Irene. The production on this track is complicated and baroque, but still, it's Seulgi and Irene's interplay off each other that shines brightest. It's a sexy, twisty song in a sea of bubblegum, dark and convincing in its sinister intentions.
23\. Kick It - NCT 127
Take the corny swagger of peak Bon Jovi, smash it with vintage 90s boy band vocal harmonies and a 24 hour marathon of Enter the Dragon, and you'll have arrived at something like this high energy track from the NCT 127. It's a masterful piece of pop maximalism, all swaggering bravado, even in its crooning R&B inflected bridge. If you don't like loud things, don't sign up, but for everyone else, "Kick It" is one of 2020's most iconic singles.
22\. Make A Wish (Birthday Song) - NCT U
SM struck gold with yet another strong offering from the boys of Neo Culture Technology. The whistled hook is a vicious barb that will worm its way inside your brain the moment you hear it and the acapella prechorus - "I could do this all dayyyyyyyy" - is straight fire. "Make A Wish" offers you a groove and sweeps you away for four minutes of thrilling, pitch perfect pretty boy pop.
21\. Why Do U Say (feat. MOON & ASH ISLAND) - Way Ched
Kicking off with a strong, hollow beat and some spacey, plunking notes Way Ched's production sets the stage for a gorgeous trap-influenced track where MOON and ASH ISLAND trade verses like a couple sirens out in the grimy distance. It's a sound that evokes nostalgia while sounding as futuristic as anything that SM put out this year. The rapping here is laid back and more than a little mournful. Solid example of emo pop rap here.
20\. Not Shy - ITZY
Some have complained that ITZY's brand of extreme, high energy girl power pop is too noisy or too messy to stand the test of the time - and maybe they're right. But in a year where I could barely step outside for fear of catching something that might kill my grandma, "Not Shy" is a the exact blitz of optimistic bubblegum I needed, and it stayed bouncing around in my brain for months. It's a pure, uncut shot of the will to live. Huge brass samples, charismatic, playful vocals, the exact right formula of builds and drops, "Not Shy" is like a night with Stefon in NYC - it has everything. Essential 2020 listening for anyone with a remote interest in pop music or feeling awake.
19\. God's Menu - Stray Kids
No one, and I mean no one, in Kpop swung for the fences harder on a single track than Stray Kids on "God's Menu". The opening verse is an onslaught of blasting bass and taut rapping so outrageous it dares you not to grin. The chorus, with its gunshot lead-in, keeps the energy high, and the vocal interplay between the group on the high and low ends of the scale are dynamic enough to create drama within the audio which otherwise must be totally blacked out. In less capable hands it's easy to imagine this track being practically unlistenable - a compressed mess of shouts, slaps, and drops - but here, it's pristine, pulling back and surging forward at all the right moments.
18\. Girls - NATURE
Let's get this out of the way: the English-language rhyming scheme in the chorus here isn't great, it's corny in a way that doesn't work with the ghost story atmosphere of the rest of the song. That said, those rhymes stick out only because of how superior the quality of the rest of this track is. With an enormous tropical beat, add a touch 00s era Guetta EDM production, and some haunting vocal performances against a lush backdrop of harp strings, NATURE has given us something really special here. Offering one of the year's harder hitting bridges and a stupidly catchy pre-chorus, "Girls" was an instant fav that I never took out of rotation.
17\. Who U Are - KANG DANIEL
2020 had no shortage of murky, sadboy crooning going on in the Kpop scene, and few did it better than KANG DANIEL on this thumper. This is music for the montage of a hot night that kicks off a bad relationship. With its subterranean beats and submerged soundscape, "Who U Are" is the perfect foundation for KANG's pretty voice to dance just under the surface, popping up now and then for a breath of bracing cold air.
16\. Villain - Stella Jang
The whole arrangement here kicks so much ass. There's a strong sense of irony underneath the whole track, blending sounds of cabaret, polka, anti-folk, and chamber pop as a backdrop for Stella's bright, shimmering voice to dance around questions of moral ambiguity. The production is so layered, and yet so open. The structure pivots on these repeating vocal lines that clear space for improvisational fills from the piano, the guitar, and even a triangle here and there. Blissful stuff.
15\. Misfit - NCT U
There's no question, NCT was an absolute dynamo in 2020, and while this is definitely not the consensus pick for the best of the bunch from the SM boys, "Misfit" is their most surprising and endearing release of the year. A totally unabashed homage to early 90s b-boy hip hop, "Misfit" sounds like just a whole bunch of good hearted bros being good hearted bros. It's silly, it's light, and it's a whole heap of fun. This is pre-game hype playlist stuff at its very best.
14\. EVITA! - DeVita
Even in a year where 80s New Wave revivalism had an uninterrupted string of moments, DeVita's lead single from her EP, CREME, stands out. The lyrics are exhausted in the way we all felt this year, but cool and collected in the way we all wish we had been. Along with the period perfect drum machine, DeVita serves up some funky bass lines and shrouded sax breakdowns that she sings in and out of, weaving her way through the fog machine soundscape.
13\. Sacrifice - HAN SEUNG WOO
With Sacrifice, Han Seung Woo pulls off something that very few other men in the Kpop scene were able to this year - deliver a catchy, sexy r&b single that didn't just sound like a Weekend rehash. The soaring vocal melody in the chorus is nothing short of iconic and the verses slip in and out of crooning and rapping with casual ease. The production on this track is fine, but it's really just set dressing for Han Seung Woo's magnetic voice - it's impassioned but not desperate, entrancing but not affected. A hugely impressive debut from this Victon alum.
12\. Naughty - Red Velvet (IRENE & SEULGI)
It feels a little like cheating placing this single so high on the list because, for me, I can't separate that amazing tutting video from the song itself, and my god, what a fucking video. Even so, "Naughty" is one of those songs that feels like a throwback and a look into the future at the same time. The girls' voices are perfection together over their monotone chorus. It's bouncy and clinical at the same time, like a rave in a decontamination chamber. I feel like Death Grips could sample this track and it wouldn't feel out of place.
11\. ECHO - KATIE
KATIE isn't exactly a product of the K-pop idol system - she's working here completely in the English language and her brand of trancey r&b inflected electropop is about as far from a Blackpink track a you could get, but she still deserves a place on this list among the other titans of Korean pop. "ECHO" uses KATIE's low-slung vocal performance to build out an utterly enchanting sound, accented by 90s electric guitar licks and some vocal backing tracks processed to illegibility. So yeah, if you're new to Kpop and coming from an American alt r&b angle, KATIE is a solid entry point - and if you've been stanning idol groups for years, stretch your legs a little to see if what KATIE's serving here suits you. It's gorgeous stuff.
10\. LALALILALA - April
With the lead single of their 7th mini-album, April shows off all the confidence of a veteran girl group reaching their peak. "LALALILALA" is one of those tunes that dazzles without having to do anything particularly new or innovative - it's a masterwork of pure pop execution. That sing song chorus against an overwhelming wall of shimmering synths is as addictive a listen as anything else in 2020, and the pew pew build up to the pre-chorus drop hits like a Sailor Moon transformation. This is how I wish all radio pop sounded.
9\. Mayday - VICTON
VICTON offers up my favorite opening verse in Kpop this year with a dramatic, eerie instrumental atop which they arrange a mournful set of earworm vocal lines that is so strong, the rest of the song is more or less variations on that theme. And oh my word, does that theme just work. The rap verses here are surprisingly well suited, given the sad boy power ballad sound of the track, and that chorus is chef's kiss probably my favorite single melody in 2020. And when they close the bridge out with that last, piercing high note, you might find yourself wondering defensively, like I did, who hurt these perfect boys to make them hurt me like this?
8\. Apple - GFRIEND
GFRIEND had a massive year including two hard pivots from their earlier conceptual wheelhouses. Gone is the cute, bubbly innocence they built their reputation on, and in its place with "Apple" is something decidedly witchier. The soundscape here occupies a queasy mid-tempo, midrange pitch that the girls of GFRIEND float within like ghosts in the back garden. The simple melody of the chorus' front half transitions to the drawn out spookiness of the wordless vocalizations of its back half while the synth instrumentation wheels in circles behind. A masterclass in earworm atmosphere, "Apple" is easily one of the years most interesting tracks.
7\. Mmmh - KAI
As a member of legendary third gen boy group, EXO, the hype for Kai's debut was high, and with "Mmmh", a painfully sexy example of pitch perfect pop r&b, he rose to the occasion. The approach to production here is relatively spare through the verses and bridge, putting all the focus on Kai's silky voice. Clearly Kai's confident in the effect his voice has, the chorus is mostly just him humming, but he's right to be confident because hooooo boy. My dude has whatever the vocal equivalent of bedroom eyes is on this track.
6\. Back Door - Stray Kids
Though the intensity here is somewhat less than the near-parodic heights of "God's Menu", this second lead single from Stray Kids is the more compulsively listenable tune. This track is an immediate success with its infectious bass melody and the boys' high energy rapping. They just sound like they're having a blast here and would like nothing more than for you to have a good time with them. "Back Door" is an invitation, not just to the world of Stray Kids, but to the whole sparkling world of K-pop in general, and Stray Kids sound like K-pop's great democratizers. And while you might not be able to dance or sing or rap or any of the other many talents your average K-pop idol group has mastery of, "Back Door" is here to let you know that doesn't matter. You're enough.
5\. I CAN'T STOP ME - TWICE
Given how late in the year this track dropped, the fact that it ended up in my top ten most played should give some indication of how absolutely compulsive, infectious, and addictive this lead single from Twice's second (second!) full length album in 2020 is. Like a runaway train of arpeggiating Moog synthesizers, "I CAN'T STOP ME", which must always only be typed in all caps, is a breathless, accelerating popsplosion. The brilliant rhyme scheme in the chorus and Nayeon's sky high pitch are the aural equivalent of a bag of kettle corn salted with crack. But it's the rap line after the second chorus, with Chaeyoung's "risky risky wicki wicki" kicking it off and Momo's beat switched whispers at the close, that best capture the shining personality writ large across the whole track. It's a miracle of modern sound engineering, global pop alchemy, and state-of-the-art craftsmanship that showcases how, sometimes, art really is a science, and "I CAN'T STOP ME" deserves the fucking Nobel prize.
4\. Pporappippam - Sunmi
One of the things I love about pop music in general, and Kpop in particular, is how a syncretic approach that borrows liberally from different eras, movements, and subcultures can occasionally produce something really magical. Sunmi does just that with this massive single. Building on sounds from genres as diverse as disco, 00s synthpop, hair metal, and even vaporwave, Sunmi adds pan flutes and a brass section to the mix before laying down one of 2020s most charismatic vocal performances. She's a dreamer wandering through endless romantic memories here - or maybe you're dreaming and she's wandering through yours. Either way, Pporappippam is a certified B-A-N-G-E-R that, better than anyone else in 2020, summed up this year's love affair with the sounds of the 70s and 80s.
3\. Dumhdurum - Apink
Maybe it's the influence of the glossy magazine look of the music video, but this song is how I imagine wealth would sound like if it was a three and a half minute pop song. "Dumhdurum" is Apink inviting you to their garden soiree with peacocks and champagne. An energetic, busy instrumental hook ushers you through the song while the girls' voices alternate between huge, belted notes and breathy sighs. There's an almost bored effortlessness to this song that is almost insulting, given how good it sounds, how baroque the arrangement is, and how urgent the searing synthesized melody sounds at the close. It's like the best ice cream you've ever tasted, but you're honestly too above it all to acknowledge it as anything more than what you deserve. All that from a song whose chorus is literally just the sound you make when you hum to yourself.
2\. Dream of You - Chung Ha
A lot of the songs on this list are there to make you bob your head, but on "Dream of You", Chung Ha is reaching out directly through your headphones to move your fucking body for you. Absurdly confident, brilliant in its charisma, Chung Ha is a bona fide star in every way that word matters. Chung Ha finds a million ways to drop your jaw on this track - the easy earworm of the two-part chorus, the hummable, boppable ascending and descending bass lines, the soaring breathlessness of the drop from her prechorus to that first hit of the chorus, that offer of whiskey, gin, and lingerie. It's all magic. She could do no wrong this year, and with "Dream of You", Chung Ha put virtually everyone else in her rear view mirror. Try to catch up.
1\. Kazino - BIBI
"Kazino" instantly grabbed me the first time I heard it back in the Spring, and I haven't stopped listening to it since. BIBI's trademark vocals are at once silky and gravelly, autotuned at just the right moments, and then switched over into some of the most ferocious sounding rapping from South Korea all year. It's a fearless track that walks out with the confidence of someone who couldn't even imagine a hater. The beats here are captivating and lay the perfect foundation for BIBI to apply a bewitching mix of vocal harmonies and electronic effects to make something that's both catchy as fuck and weirdly unsettling. When she sings "risk it risk it til the last dime" you get the sense she means it - she's putting a lot on the line in an industry that is still pretty conservative in its attitudes toward the kinds of performances that women should have the space to pursue, and BIBI sounds from start to finish like being out there on the edge of what may or may not fly is exactly where she thrives the most. And the risk pays off huge here with 2020's best K-pop track.
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And that's it ya'll. It was a fuckton of a good music. Happy New Year!

Debate: Are gadgets a good addition to the game?

Mortis feels awful right now. Here’s why I think that is and what should happen with him.

Hi, I’ve been pushing all my brawlers up to 600, and I’ve succeeded. I’d hardly say I’m a pro at the game, but I’ve gotten a good 3/4ths of my brawlers to rank 25 in the past and my BiBi up to rank 30. Because of the trophies changes I wanted to try and push all my brawlers up a little, and I’ve done so.
With everyone apart from Mortis.
I’m not going to claim he’s the worst brawler in the game, though honestly he feels like it ESPECIALLY without star power and gadget, since I’m not an expert. Maybe I play him too aggressive, or I play him on bad maps, but regardless in general he feels like torture to play, as it’s been quite a few months since I’ve tried actually pushing him. But even with his recent buff, at least to me, he feels neigh unplayable with randoms, at least consistently.
But why? He hasn’t been nerfed, hell he was buffed even. The last significant nerfs he got was to coiled snake, so what’s the deal?
In my opinion Mortis has been power crept to hell and back.
Mortis has changed little, and his bad matchups haven’t changed too much either. He still is obliterated by tanks, no biggie, but now? After the introductions of gadgets and balance changes? He feels like he looses to half of the squishes too.
Brawlers like Jessie, Nita, Colt, Brock, Spike, Sandy and Rico all use to be fine enough matchups. If you played them well and didn’t just rush into supers you’d be fine. But now? It feels like suicide if you try and burst down any of these brawlers if you’ve got any less than full health, and if you don’t have coiled spring or a gadget? You might as well just stand still and let them kill you.
Brawlers like Jessie Spike and Sandy have all gotten attack buffs (Sandy and Jessie do MORE DAMAGE than Mortis now may I remind you ) which make it a lot harder if you’re trying to engage from a distance instead of surprise attacking them. And if you don’t have coiled spring or one of his gadgets and try and get close you’re just asking to die.
Nita and Rico have gotten enough health and attack buffs (Rico’s recent star power buff and his gadget) to where they’re likely to survive one more attack and deal more damage to Mortis, making jumping them. And if they have their supers you may as well just pray they waste them on someone else or you’re screwed.
Colt and Brock have gotten better too, even with brocks recent nerfs he now has either better burst through his gadget or an option to push Mortis away 3 times a match. And... I everyone knows what Colts got in silver billet, but even aside from that he’s gotten faster with slick boots and does more damage. On other long range brawlers like Piper and Bryon? You’re out of luck too. Pipers gadgets help her pin you down and and remove your health either at range or up close so you have to disengage, and not only does Bryon both cripple you’re self heal and heal himself with his super, but any teammates he hits that you’re trying to attack become basically immortal unless you burst them down quick.
Healing overall has gotten recent boost too, things like barleys gadget, pams healing turret and shot, and star powers like Emz and Genes all help sustain themselves and teammates which make Mortis’ job even harder. If you’re fighting a squishy with a poco support with decapo, even if it’s a gadgetless supperless piper? You might as well throw in the towel.
Even THROWERS have gotten better against Mortis. Sprout has always been tricky if he’s got his super, tick can wal Mortis out but is potentially his best matchup if you get in and he doesn’t have super, Dyna has a faster reload, a faster charging super, AND a stunning gadget to throw at his feet to dissuade Mortis. And barely with his syrup gadget shuts Mortis down need completely if you aren’t on him in one main attack. Hell either survive an additional attack with his healing star power or burst you down with his extra damage one since you’re stuck in the syrup.
On that note it’s fairly clear that I think coiled snake is his better star power, but I also think combo spinner is far better than survival shovel. Survival shovel sounds good on paper, but in execution? At best you get two more attacks before whoever you jumped bursts you down if you couldn’t already kill them. It’s far more practical for movement if anything, but even then survival shovel actively works as an anti-synergy with coiled snake, since the bar doesn’t charge any faster at full. And with cooled snake you almost ALWAYS want a full bar. Combo spinner gives you a 4th main attack that’s instant, and even then that combined with his super is only about 6,340 damage. That SOUNDS amazing, but it’s not. You can only deal this damage 3 times a match if you have your super, and if you don’t die firsts since it takes Mortis a little to unload his swings. Keep in mind in order to engage you may have to USE a main attack, so that’s even LESS dps you have at your disposal.
Mortis’ reliance on coiled snake is so frustrating. Without it you have to use more of your main attacks or sneak up closer in order to reach an enemy brawlers, but that’s either impossible to do on maps more open or where walls have been blown up or in cases where Mortis won’t have enough ammo left after an approach. He’ll be stuck dealing half the brawlers health and then getting bursted down if you don’t have your super or gadgets left.
Not to mention his losing matchups he looses even HARDER. Shelly’s gotten buffs to her slowing star power and her health, bull has gadgets both to survive Mortis and chase him down, el primo can toss Mortis aside or mentor him off, even FRANK has gotten several health buffs. Previously you had a chance of out maneuvering him, but now with such a massive health pool it’s far harder since it’s going to take another attack or two. People talked about how Carl really took a hit with the introduction of gadgets shutting down his super, but what about Mortis? They shut down his main attack!
Edgars recent release really seals the deal for me. People compare him to el primo, but he’s far more like Mortis. He hides and waits for the perfect time to make a short ranged ambush. Except he unloads far faster, is invincible when approaching due to his jump, has more consistent self healing, and his gadget gives GUARANTEE value by simply giving him a super. AND he does more base damage!
Edgar may have to wait 30 seconds if he can’t get in to approach, but once he does if he plays it smart he’s practically always getting value, and it helps set up for his next approach even if he doesn’t get the kill. Mortis gets no such thing, even with a kill. The most he might get is his super but that doesn’t guarantee any more kills if he can’t get in in the first place. And unlike Edgar, he’s heavily reliant on his star power. Without coiled snack, how do you get in? And what does creepy harvest do? Keep you alive after you get the kills you aren’t getting anyways half the time? It’s not as if Mortis uses the health to keep fighting aside from maybe in bounty, half the time he has to disengage to reload ammo and regen his health to full, since unlike other brawlers not being at full health is detrimental to his game plan.
And if your playing Mortis without his star powers or gadgets to help cushion the blows? He’s not good anywhere except for maybe some gem grab maps and camping in solo showdown, the moment more than one person attacks you as Mortis and you don’t have your super to heal means you’re probably dead. And good luck getting said super when you can’t approach your ideal targets because they’ve all got more damage and health now. 300 more healing on your super won’t save you from anymore ammo if you’re being pelted with full clips up close. Mortis’ buff does little to nothing to fix his issues.
So? What do I think they should do to Mortis?
I think flat out damage or health buffs might work, but that’s not the main issue with him. His issue is being able to assassinate ideal targets before they do the same to him, which is very difficult to do now with all the power crept squishies.
I think Mortis needs a nerf, yes a nerf to his coiled snake, but to compensate needs buffs both to his regular attack range and his ammo recharge.
Not only is it frustrating to sit for 15 seconds on a full bar of coiled snake to approach, then only to be shut down, but when you have to use coiled snake to escape its agonizing to wait well over 3.5 seconds if you used more than one ammo bar. I think coiled snakes effectiveness and neccicity needs to be cut down, but the recharge time needs to be dramatically improve. Maybe give it a 2 second recharge rate but cut its boost in range down to 25%, and give Mortis’s main attack a 50% buff to its range. That makes him far less dependent on his star power.
That might seem OP, especially if I’m suggesting a buff to his reload speed too, but most of the time you’re relying on your attacks to get in before enemy’s brawlers can deal damage to you, because a Mortis with low health jumping in is useless. I’d be willing to compromise some of Mortis damage if it meant he had the opportunity to use more attacks for movement without it being so punishing, and maybe be able to get off one more attack or so after jumping on a brawler and using his ammo. This also helps survival shovel stand out, because then it’ll more practical in terms of approaching rather than just being a sub-par burst option in comparison to combo spinner.
Even if with all this Mortis would be Op? I wouldn’t care. I feel he desperately needs SOMETHING, and I’d rather they jump the gun a little then let him stay how he is for another year. When there’s so many better options, even now in assassins with Edgar, it just feels so sluggish to play a Brawler who’s suppose to be all about movement and quick assassinations out of the blue.
TL:DR- Mortis feels awful due to his reliance on star powers and gadgets and even then he’s been hurt badly by power creep. Gadgets, healing, and buffs to other brawlers throughout the years have hindered Mortis greatly in his ability to burst down the targets he wants. I think he needs buffs to his main attack range and reload and a nerf or rework to coiled snake so he’s not so reliant on it. He ought to be able to use his attacks to move and weave towards brawlers without being so heavily punished for it, even if it means lowering his attack damage as the pros of more overall attacks. That way he doesn’t feel like such a sitting duck if you’ve got no more gadgets or are out of a super. It’ll also help deferentiate him from Edgar as just being an assassin that springs on out of the blue as an assassin who’s more reliant on weaving towards you in order to wear you down.
What do you guys think?

Giant-Size Black Panther #1

Giant-Size Black Panther #1
Part of Black Panther Volume 2: The Seventh Generation
Last Issue

What you need to know:
Six years ago, Wakanda was nearly destroyed by Klaw, a monster made of pure sonic energy. T’Chakka, the king of Wakanda, was killed in the battle, but Klaw was defeated. T’Chakka’s son, T’Challa, has been king ever since, and he told no one that Klaw had never been destroyed at all but imprisoned in a Vibranium cell deep in the lower chambers of the palace. Klaw escaped and was defeated again, but it seems that he may yet come back, and that he even may once have been a man named Ulysses Klaw. T’Challa’s spymaster has evidence that a man named Alpheus Klaw is currently plotting against Wakanda from America, but, hunted by American authorities, mysterious mercenaries, and a determined Federal Agent by the name of Everett Ross, he has yet to make his way home. The continent of Africa seems as if it may be uniting against Wakanda. Members of the Council are hearing voices and going mad, including Nakia, T’Challa’s beloved, who is hearing the voice of her dead sister.
With all of this going on, a different battle somewhere else in the world has broken time. Shuri’s spirit has gone spinning off through the ages with Bast, the Panther god there to protect her. Armies from every era have appeared and begun fighting. T’Challa has been thrown far back into the distant past, where he has come face to face with the Ancient, perhaps the very first, Black Panther. They fought, until T’Challa’s ancient counterpart suddenly recognized him, and spoke his name…
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“I think it should be….here,” T’Challa said, holding out his arms and framing the space before him. He glanced at the Temple of Bast and back at his own position. “I don’t know precisely where the Temple stood in my day, but from the old maps I am fairly certain...the palace entrance will be here.” He was standing at the edge of a small copse of Traveler’s Palm, facing the hills in the distance. It was a warm day, sunny, and the blue sky lay endless, cloudless to the horizon. Rose moss, short grasses, and Spiderwort ran between his feet, the forest carpet cut by only a few worn paths. Without the Vibranium mound to mark the skyline, it was all rolling waves of hills, fringed with Cypress and Bulbine, and bristling with Juniper up to their peaks.
The men and women around him, all Wakandans of an ancient era, mumbled and nodded appreciatively. It seemed to T’Challa that they all understood a bit more of his language than they had let on at first. He, however, was not picking up much of theirs at all. The Old Wakandan he had learned as a child had apparently not been old enough.
He continued to move around the area, arms still held out. “Ah, here is where the Lion’s Box will be,” he said, wondering if Shuri even knew anything had happened. “The courtyard will be there, the main concourse this way,” he said, and the group followed him as he walked, “And here...is the throne.” T’Challa smiled at them as they mumbled friendly words his way again, and he felt sweat begin to bead on him in the midmorning sun. He would say it was unseasonably warm, but he didn’t know what season it was.
He spent the morning like that, leading them around the area, pointing out landmarks he knew, and the Ancient Wakandans all seemed very happy to follow him. They ate at noon, a delicious meal of meat, spiced vegetables, and roasted dates, and as T’Challa was finishing, the leader of them, who had since removed his Black Panther helmet to reveal a bearded, sullen face betrayed by the energy in his eyes, tapped him on the arm. T’Challa looked up, and the man patted his own bicep and then pointed down at T’Challa’s arm.
“Strong,” followed by a string of quick words that T’Challa did not understand. He shrugged, and the Ancient Panther tried again. “Strong...how?”
“Ah.” T’Challa held up two fingers. “First. Training,” he said, and he mimed sparring with an opponent. The Panther seemed to approve. “Two. Gift of Bastet.” He mimed digging up a plant and eating it, then flexed his own considerable biceps. He wasn’t sure how to tell them about the Vibranium mound or the way that its strange energies had altered everything that lived near it.
A young man in the back, who had apparently got some of his meaning, pretended to mash with an invisible pestle, drink from the bowl, and then act drunk. Several of the people around him laughed, but the Panther gave him a questioning look.
“No...um,” T’Challa started. They were thinking he was drinking fermented plants, sugarcane, something. The Panther clearly did not approve. “Not drink,” he said, and he mimed drinking, and then shook his head. He then very clearly pretended to take a bite. “Gift. Bastet.”
They didn’t seem to revere Bast the same way he did. It was possible she was still flourishing in Egypt at that time, or she had not fully coalesced at all and still hunted freely. Still, they knew of her. They recognized the name. They were using Panther iconography. T’Challa wanted answers.
What he got was an almost comically intense afternoon sparring session where he had to remind himself that he might accidentally end his own bloodline with a wrong kick. Four young men came at him with sharpened batons, and at first, he thought it was a joke. He put them all down with vicious nerve pinches, eventually, and the Panther seemed to find his anger over the whole thing rather funny.
In the evening, there was dancing and there was drink, and while it was not alcoholic, it was surprisingly soothing. T’Challa didn’t realize the effect was so strong until the music began to rise and a young woman who looked very much like Nakia pulled him into the dancing ring. They moved and twirled to the sound of the pounding drums and wood flutes, their motions becoming more and more in sync, until T’Challa felt he could predict the turn of her cheek, the sway of her hip. The moon rose, the fires blazed, and orchid petals and glittering, opaline dust flew through the air, coating them, making the girl’s laughing eyes sparkle like stars.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Look closely, said Bast, nudging Shuri on the shoulder with one massive paw. The lay of the land is not too different from your own. See the rolling hills? In this time, the trees covering them are called Wild Masons. The grasses grow longer here, flowers called Bibi-Tres coat the florist floor.
Shuri looked up at Bast. “Were you here, back then?”
Bast grinned, gently showing her teeth. I was with them for a time. I much preferred them to the Antlanteans. They reached for the stars, and found them. Briefly. A hint of sadness passed over her face. Later, I watched as the Ancient Wakandans discovered their temples. I was pleased when they learned how to activate them.
“I did not know any of this,” Shuri said.
“Wait. Something’s happening,” said the young man at Shuri’s side.
The landscape below them changed. The shimmering towers slowly vanished, first replaced by great mounds and craters, and then by the reclaiming forest.
“What happened?” asked Shuri. “What sort of calamity...”
A calamity of pride, said Bast stiffly. They asked too much of me and threatened to become dependent. I left them for a time, and they fought among themselves.
“Harsh lessons,” Shuri said. She had been reminded all too well, and even by Bast herself, that the Panther God would not carry her people on her back. She granted boons to those who made her swell with pride.
I returned when they destroyed my temple.
The boy whistled through his teeth (which made Shuri wonder how he did it; since they were in spirit forms). “Tough mistress, this one.”
Bast growled faintly, and he laughed cheerily. “You just remind me of someone, that’s all.”
“Are you ever going to tell us who you are?” Shuri asked.
The boy shrugged. “I’m dead.”
Yes, yes, Bast said. A path will open soon. We will go.
“But,” said Shuri, almost stopping herself when she realized she was about to argue with the Panther God. “But the meteor will come soon, won’t it?”
Yes, it will, Bast said. And we will go.
“Bast, I just--”
You are forbidden to witness it, Bast said sharply. Shuri offered no further arguments.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Hodari, Chief Spymaster of Wakanda, had been away for too long. Sent by his king on a mission to America, he had gathered valuable information, but he had nearly been captured. After hiding in a series of sheds, drainpipes, and service closest, he had finally managed to escape the country, but that had been only the beginning of his troubles.
The merchant ship on which he had secured passage had been small, her crew rough but friendly enough, but a few days ago, that had changed. In fact, the entire ship had changed. One moment, he was helping to spool steel cable on the deck, the next...he couldn’t explain it.
He was suddenly standing on a wooden deck, and the steel had been replaced with thick, fibrous rope. He turned in shock to see that the crew had been replaced with dirty men in ratty, filthy clothes, who were looking back at him with the same measure of surprise.
They came at him at once, their instant violence almost fatally surprising him, shouting in horse English that he could scarcely make out, calling him a stowaway, saying he escaped…
Their fighting ability had not matched their enthusiasm, however, and Hodari killed the lot of them with the short blades he kept on his belt. The remaining crewmen were quickly persuaded to simply go where he pointed, and they understood his English well enough to do what he said. That night, as Hodari sat eating in the Captain’s quarters, munching on salted pork and too-soft apples, he remarked on how much in stride he was taking things.
“I fear that I have traveled to the past,” he said out loud, and the truth of it struck him. He slept uneasily, not trusting the locks on his doors, and the next day he plotted his position. He was relieved to find that he was in the Atlantic heading towards Africa, but he had already worked out well enough what sort of ship this was.
He forbade the men to eat anything but the raw grain and sugar held below decks, and when they finally spotted the jagged outline of the coast, he ordered the ship run aground. He lined up the survivors, who were pale and sick with scurvy and deficiencies, with the ship cracking and sinking in the waters behind him, and killed them one by one. When the last of them revolted, Hodari smiled. The battle was pitifully short.
He killed no other person he saw, but he had to survive. He had taken none of the tainted cargo from the ship, and so at several points, he was forced to steal in order to eat. This did not particularly dent the conscience of the Spymaster of Wakanda.
He walked east, and as he did, he saw many strange things. Where he should have seen Acacia trees, he sometimes saw odd, tall, fronds. At times the insects were far too large, the rock beneath his feet unearthly colors and textures. He met creatures that he told himself were rather tall chimpanzees...who were also very far out of their habitat...that was what he told himself. He hid in the brush as huge, robotic guardians stalked the forests. He walked on barren, windswept plains unbreached by even a single root. He was awakened once by a moon that loomed twice, thrice its proper size in the sky, and he choked on the suddenly thin air, before he blacked out and awoke to a gazelle nuzzling his cheek.
When he at last spotted the dark, glittering waters of Lake Turkana, he ran for them, holding back laughter and cries of relief, and he splashed into the water at full speed, running, swimming, until he was floating freely. He drank a little, and then he hunted, catching two hares and cooking them with lemongrass and cradle-lily. He ate as he watched the stars. He awoke once to find the lake had shrunk to a small fraction of its size so that he was even beyond the floodplain. In the morning he was back on the shore.
Hodari rested for a day. He ate again and relaxed, and for once there were no more strange occurrences. He debated swimming across the lake but then watched as a massive, amphibious lizard, at least twenty meters long, breached and crashed back into the water. Hodari gathered his things and went south, making his way around the lake.
Alpheus Klaw, he said to himself, over and over. He repeated the personal details about the man, still hoping that the data drive in his pocket had survived the chaos of his journey.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
From the high vantage point of her chambers, Nakia watched the innumerable battles unfolding before the front gates of what remained of the palace. The airborne mechs had moved in closer, and they were currently firing laser cannons at a huge group of spear-armed sauropods on the ground. The lizard-men, sleek, green, and far taller than any human, were throwing their weapons with supreme accuracy, their tips sparking and chipping at the wings and cockits of the high-tech attackers. One spear hit a vital spot, and the mech exploded in a purple ball of flame, scattering twisted metal and glass in a mushroom-shaped wave that showered upon the sauropods.
She giggled as an organized wall of old Wakandan warriors moved together, bashing a sturdy battering ram against the front door. Four rams, and it had already begun to crack. She had heard the shouts from the hall, knew that W’Kabi was organizing the forces he had for the palace defense. She didn’t think he knew the true extent of what was out there. She had seen the armored elephants, apparently intelligent and piloting massive hovercraft that spewed ice and fire. W’Kabi didn’t know about the massive army of former Wakandan soldiers that was marching toward the castle, armed with weapons from 2156 and bearing the insignia of a closed, iron fist. He had not seen the shadow walkers, their pencil-thin arms and legs whipping through the air with enough force to shatter solid stone. A massive, snow-white gorilla was currently climbing (and slipping clumsily on the metallic ore walls) up the tall, west walls of the palace.
Nakia knew about all of it, because of the voice whispering in her ear. She laughed at what she saw because the voice was her sister’s, and she had so missed her little sister.
There was a great CRACK from below, and warriors began to stream into the palace. W’Kabi might be able to fend these off, but now that the doors were open, everything was going to come in. There were so many of them, enough to fill every corridor, every room, every corner inside. It was war. No one was going to escape.
Nakia tilted her head. “Hmm?” She listened, and then she burst out into peals of laughter.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Bast, will you come with me? Shuri asked. “Only--only because I enjoy your company. You were right that I must make my own path.”
They stood above the great mass of the African continent, watching as the green receded from the north, took back some ground, and receded again. Time seemed to be moving forward at a steady rate, now. Somewhere below here, Shuri knew her descendants lived farming, eating, fighting.
“What are you even trying to find?” asked the young man.
Shuri started to speak, then realized that she had not really said what she wanted. This had started as a simple exercise in meditation. She had never planned on uncovering any secrets, and certainly not on traveling through time.
“Well, I…” she said. “I wasn’t going to...but I feel that I have to now.” She looked up at Bast. “You knew before I did.”
Bast purred. I have been known to offer guidance. Do you know where to go?
“The vibranium mound,” Shuri said with confidence. Klaw originally came from the mound. His book was found beneath the palace, but near an underground arm of vibranium ore. “And not only that...when my brother and I fought him, Klaw said something. It was about the first time he attacked Wakanda. Not six years ago. Earlier.”
It came to her suddenly. “Wekesa, the Wise Cuckoo.”
“Who?” said the young man.
“Seven generations past,” Shuri said. “Wakanda was invaded. Wekesa, who had triumphed in the Feast of the Heart through trickery, was a weak-handed king who was almost toppled by foreign invaders. But Klaw is…I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head.
Perhaps you have enough already. You have a place and a time in mind, child.
“Of course,” Shuri said. “I can feel it. I want it, and it wants me to come.”
The spirit world moved in a rush, the colors of the continent below careening toward them and mixing into an earthy blur. Soon they stood in the air above the palace, but as it was in a previous century.
“What am I looking for?” Shuri said. “The invaders? They were killed at the front gates, but how will that help me? Klaw is a monster. He…” she decided to wait and see what happened.
In a blink, the scene changed. The invaders were before them, dressed in the sharp, brown attire of plundering colonizers, each of them brandishing a long rifle. The three spirits watched as the men made their final, fatal charge to the castle, all of them cut down with automatic weapon fire before even a finger touched the front doors. Another blink, and they were outside of the palace grounds, in a small forest clearing, where the bodies of the invaders were being tossed onto a raging bonfire.
“Good riddance,” the young man said, and Shuri glanced at him. He had taken the words right out of her mouth.
At the same time, there was something in the corner of her eye, a light. Shuri scanned the horizon and caught sight of it, an eerie glow surrounding the vibranium mound. It was vibrant, pulsing, and pink.
Shuri gasped. “Here? It started here?”
Bast said nothing. She gazed on as the light grew brighter, casting her eyes and whiskers with a pinkish glow.
It was so bright, Shuri began to squint. How had anyone not noticed it over all the years, over seven generations?
Your father did, Bast said. He saw it during his meditations, when it had grown to a fever pitch, when Klaw was about to emerge. Don’t blame them, she said, looking down at Shuri with understanding. You are now seeing it as I saw it.
Shuri knew better than to ask why Bast had never mentioned it to any of the previous kings or queens. “What do I do know?” she said quietly to herself. If he was born in the mound...if he has returned to the mound…
You have seen more here than you understand, Bast said.
“I was going to say,” the young man cut in. “How does she not--”
Shush. Shuri, think upon this sight. Meditate upon it. See it for what it is. When you return to your time, begin your hunt. She nuzzled Shuri’s shoulder, and Shuri looked up at her, profoundly touched by the gesture.
Her eyes welled as she said, “When I return?”
Time’s flow has begun to settle. You will return soon. The words sounded grand, excellent, and should have filled Shuri with happiness, but the worried look in Bast’s eyes chilled her emotions. Shuri’s part in this was about to end, but perhaps this had been a much larger disruption than she had guessed.
It would have to remain a guess, however, for now.
Come, Bast said to the young man. You have a date with the living.
“Really?” he asked, his face hopeful at first, then darkening. “It will be kind of embarrassing.”
Another test to pass, then. It will only be truly humiliating if you do it again. Shuri, your body will soon be where you left it.
“Goodbye,” Shuri said, and she watched as the Panther God and the boy receded into the fog.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
On the third day, the Ancient Black Panther, who had since identified himself as Z’Akka, led T’Challa out of the city and into the hills. T’Challa had been studying their language, comparing what little he knew to the words they seemed to know of his language, and making what he could of it. That morning, he had surprised the group by asking for more fruit at breakfast.
Perhaps that had been a sign that Z’Akka had been waiting for, because he had approached T’Challa directly after and told him to come. They followed a worn path into the foothills, which faded away as they climbed. Soon the soft incline gave way to a true upward hike, and the soil became thinner. They passed around boulders, and the undergrowth became thinner and hardier, while the trees became thicker and taller. By noon, both men agreed to rest (T’Challa had started to think that Z’Akka was testing his endurance), and they sat and ate dried meat and spiced root vegetables. The taste was so rich and unique that T’Challa wondered if some ingredient in their meal had been wiped out when the vibranium meteor landed. They each drained one of their water skins, and then they resumed their hike.
T’Challa was surprised to see signs of human activity this high in the hills. He saw rubble, foundations that would have been wide enough to support massive towers or sprawling complexes. He saw hunks of glittering metal, etched with unfamiliar symbols...mostly unfamiliar. He tried to stop and examine one that looked something like the Antlantean he knew, but Z’Akka pulled him away, muttering admonitions. It seemed more that he was wary of the distance or time they had left, not that such things were forbidden.
In the late afternoon, when the sun was beginning to approach the tips of the western hills, they stopped at the entrance to a cave. It was a crack in a tall face of sheer rock, which had widened over the passing eons. Symbols had been scratched into the stone itself, all around the opening, above it, and on the ground in front of it. Z’Akka pushed him forward gently, but would not approach it. Perhaps some of these symbols were warnings. T’Challa approached it and peered into the darkness, and he heard a whisper of far off wind. At least if he went in, there might be fresh air.
Dust and leaves covered the threshold, but he could see more writing was there. He brushed it away with his foot, and he stopped cold at what he saw.
T’Challa
It was written in his language. He whipped around to face Z’Akka, who merely gestured at the cave. “T’Challa. Go inside,” he said in modern Wakandan.
“Madness,” T’Challa said. “I have hit my head, and the surgeons are repairing my brain.”
Z’Akka said nothing to that. The fresh breeze and scent of soil and flowers seemed too real to dismiss. On legs that now shook slightly, T’Challa turned back to the cave, and he entered into the darkness. When he had gone far enough that the light from outside was almost gone, he took a small flashlight from his belt and turned it on. He had not wanted the ancient people to see any of his modern tools.
The walls were slightly bumpy and damp, cut and widened by attrition and moist air. T’Challa could almost taste the underground river that flowed somewhere nearby. The path wound down, and surprisingly, the air and surface dried as he descended. The slope was gentle, much easier than the path up to the cave, and he felt that he was heading directly for the heart of this great hill, this small mountain. He knew this hill. It had not been replaced by the vibranium mound but lay close to it. In his time, the heart-shaped herb grew on its slopes.
The path leveled and continued on. T’Challa felt he walked kilometers down there. He emptied another waterskin, wished he had brought along some food. In some places, wind ruffled his clothing, and he took a moment at these places to breathe it in, let the air cool his brow. At least, he heard the echo of his own footsteps, and he sensed an end was coming. Indeed, the path ended abruptly as it widened into a massive, open chamber.
It was spherical, as far as T’Challa could tell, and the floor sloped away quickly from where he stood. He stepped down onto it, and he let himself slide down the dust and pebbles to the bottom, to the center of the room. There he found his name once again. It was scratched deeply into a dome of rock that lay in the exact center of the room. Around it, concentric circles had been etched, and he saw that they radiated out behind him. Under his name was a single word: Lift.
The dome was almost as tall as he was. No ordinary man could lift it, certainly no man in this time, without the heart-shaped herb’s power. T’Challa steeled himself. It was time to get to the bottom of this. He crouched, worked his fingers under the edge of the massive rock, and he pulled with all his might.
It shifted, and he lost his grip and dropped it. The crashing sound of it coming back down was massive as it rang off of the far ceiling, and while T’Challa wiped his hands on his pant legs, dust and small rocks drifted down on his head. He pulled again, this time roaring with the strain, for there was no one to hear anyway, and this time the edge went up. He shifted his grip, got his knees into it, and he heaved up. The dome was at his chest level, and he finally twisted his wrists, got his palms under, and it threw it backward, where it boomed and rolled away into the darkness, the sound of it ringing painfully in his ears.
The dome had been partially hollowed out. In a small depression underneath it lay several small items. It felt like nothing could surprise him any longer, but what he saw still brought goosebumps to his skin and chilled his heart. The largest item was a sheet of thin metal, on which a message had been etched. T’Challa read it with quickening breath and a pounding heart.
T’Challa
I gave my all for Wakanda, and I was sent to the beginning. Was it a reward? I do not know. I do know that my appearance here is no coincidence. The monster at the heart of the mountain is tied to it, and so its power sent me as far as it could go. The meteor will come soon, and it will all begin again. I wish I had time for one more lesson with you, one more talk with your sister, one more meal with your mother. I know you defeated the monster, T’Challa, and if you are reading this, I know you are searching for answers. Some of them are here, on this data drive.
I love you with all my heart,
T’Chakka.
T’Challa read and reread the message at least a dozen times. His heart felt very small, his lungs too big to hold the little breath he had. He finally wiped his wet cheeks, and he examined the other items under the rock. There was a tiny data drive, the sort of which would have come from the small datapad fitted into the Black Panther suit. There was a long vibranium knife, the sort of which his father preferred. There was most of a Black Panther suit, the very one worn by King T’Chakka. It was well worn, with holes and singe marks, but it was folded neatly and had survived well.
T’Challa took the data drive, the message, the clothing, and his father’s knife, and all at once, he felt a great shifting around him, of light, temperature, smell, air pressure, of everything. He was back in the Council’s Chamber. He was alone. It was quiet.

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