#ti 11

[what-breaks-my-heart]

So there’s a DotA 2 tournament, The Internationational 11, literally the biggest DotA 2 tournament of the year equivalent to the world cup of DotA 2 hosted by Valve the game developer themselves, ongoing right now and this is the first time the tournament is hosted with live crowd (last year’s tournament was hosted in person without crowd), but 4 of 5 players of one of the strongest teams from China this year just caught covid earlier this week so the 4 of them have to play in the quarantine facility while the sole remaining member is playing on stage by himself in front of the crowd and it would have looked weird so Valve actually placed these teddy bears at the players’ booth, complete with headset, face mask, and mini jersey of the team.

This is both sad (because the team is handicapped) and adorable at the same time.

[etrangersvoyageant]

A salute to Matu

As far as I know there isn’t much interest in dota on tumblr and that’s fine. Back in the days that I played the game, there was little to nothing about the game. However seeing I want this blog to be a bit more personal, I’ll write about it now, because it was one of the main things on my mind this weekend.

So, this weekend was the conclusion of the 11th International. It was the biggest tournament of the scene for years due to its big prize pool, mostly funded by its players and fans. And one of my favourite players retired. His name Lasse Urpalainen, better known as Matumbaman. He played for 7 years and won the tournament once – back in 2017 with Liquid.

This year he returned to the organization he won with and there are many stories involved with this and I’ll spare you all of them apart for one. Thing is Matu was the one of my favourite players for the humor and insanity he displayed on his streams before becoming pro and then becoming and being a professional for the next 7.

It was this year’s international he wanted his last tournament to be and that was quite a challenge as Liquid first had to get through the Last Chance Qualifier, an onsite tournament giving out 2 more tickets. Secret took the first, Liquid the second.

After finishing second in the group stage, they lost the first round in the upper bracket and had to claw themselves through the lower bracket. At times, the opponents were tough and games could go either way. Still, they made it to the final day, which is an impressive feat, where they met Secret again, who beat them. One match too short if you ask me, I would have liked Matu’s last game to be the finals, but it wasn’t meant to be. The 2 finalists were both strong teams.

And that’s how it ends. It’s only fitting he ends his career at the organization with which he won the biggest prizes. Yes, his teammates are different now, but they too deserve praise. Micke played out of his mind this TI and Boxi carried games. Zai didn’t have the best tournament, but still had clutch moments and Insania is a solid leader, which he showed plenty of times this month.

I’m not a sentimental person. In the days ahead of finals weekend, players were interviewed. Matu spoke about his reasons for retiring. He said he was tired. Seeing him play these past weeks was fun, he’s still a great player, but if you feel you’re done, you’re done. I wouldn’t want to force someone to do something against their will. I wish him and his former team all the best.

[isolationaroundus]

Damn is it gonna be a 3-0 wipe?! It has only happened once before in TI. Tundra is playing so confident they seem unstoppable.

[ritmos-eternos]

Ayer no estabas, hoy no estas y mañana seguramente te seguiré esperando.

Papittafritta

[turtleblogatlast]

I think a lot about Leo’s tendency to push his way into the spotlight despite clearly being a natural in the shadows. Hell, you could argue that his worst moments are when he’s forcing himself onstage, and his best are when he does things no one notices until it’s already been done.

[medicalunprofessional]

wunderbar !

[ink-ghoul]

do you think that 'lag' is something that physically hurts the player?

like a headache or something?

[demonslayedher]

The end of this season kinda had good timing so that I can have my brain back while doing a much of research trips. I won't be very responsive, but I'll still be chilling out on Tumblr here or there with randomness and updating the GiyuShino fic when I have nights back at home (and I'll go put up Chapter 5 soon if my brain doesn't give out). Sword Fic will have to wait another month or so.

[many-gay-magpies]

god what really gets me about dead boy detectives and what i think i love so much about the show and the relationships in it is that like. the romantic and sexual relationships aren't portrayed as being more unique or important than the platonic relationships. they're all just RELATIONSHIPS.

charles and crystal's attraction to each other and eventual hookup isn't this big end-all be-all relationship that shatter charles and edwin's friendship and draws charles' attention away from edwin; it's just a THING that happens. they're just two people that care about each other and happen to also be attracted to each other, and a hook-up happens, then they decide that neither of them are in the right place for it and it's nothing awful. crystal kisses charles, but it isn't some big spectacle of her declaring her love for him; it's just her saying goodbye and that she cares about him, like her hugs with niko and jenny and her handshake with edwin.

edwin realizes he loves charles romantically and tells him, and charles says he doesn't really love edwin romantically BACK, but it's okay, because they still love each other so much in so many other ways that this one tiny difference could never change them—and it doesn't!! they're still just as close, still care for each other just as much, still SHOW that care for each other just as much. their relationship didn't completely end because edwin loved charles in a way charles couldn't reciprocate, but at the same time it isn't "solved" by edwin getting over it, because there's nothing TO solve. it's just another type of love, added to everything that already exists between them. and they have LITERALLY FOREVER to figure out what it means.

the relationships between edwin & niko, crystal & niko, and crystal & edwin aren't given any less weight for being solely platonic, just as charles & crystal's relationship and edwin's feelings for charles aren't given (that much) MORE weight for being romantic. crystal and charles' conflict in the closet is about EDWIN, about how they're BOTH his friend and BOTH want to get him back; it has very little to do with the feelings between THEM, romantic or otherwise. similarly, the weight of charles' and edwin's relationship isn't diminished in the LEAST by charles not reciprocating the romantic side of his feelings (or SAYING he doesn't reciprocate, at least—we can all argue about the legitimacy of that in the notes).

i'm sure there are more examples than this, as well as probably some examples that CONTRADICT this, but like... by and large, it feels like dead boy detectives is a show where all the relationships are given equal weight regardless of platonic, sexual, romantic, or familial status, and as someone on both the asexual and aromantic spectrums who has struggled time and time again with shows casting out the importance of all other relationships in favor of prioritizing romance, that is INCREDIBLY refreshing to see.

[klaus-littlestwolf]

11th Doctor Board

Doctor Who Moodboard

[thedawningofthehour]

Splints right after escaping from Draxum's lab:

"Oof, I think we're safe now boys. Big Mama said the city was under New York, so I guess we're in New York. I've been here a few times. It's been...years, but we'll figure it out together alright?"

'squints towards Lower Manhattan'

"Looks like they finally tore down those ugly towers."

[isolationaroundus]

Dota 2 TI 11 finals and chill =')

[how-much-for-a-whump]

WHUMPTOBER day 11:

Prompt: "Captivity"

Medcezir 34. Bölüm

[lavendorii]

pokemon conflict is like "blasted team rocket! they're trying to steal pikachu again!" and digimon conflict is like "and then jetmon hit the second tower"

[cada-sonrisa-que-finjas]

No voy a desmantelar quién soy ante los ojos de nadie, a su juicio dejaré que, puede que sea un fango de demonios o un nido de ángeles.

-Galimatías🥀

[f1nns1deblog]

"people keep calling me short so here’s proof I’m tall.

ignore the rope"

(this pic is a cropped version of #3 from the 6/23/23 battlepass post)