The GDQ Experience

Year after year, event after event, I think it's fair to say the speedrunning community in general has a very strong allure. I started speedrunning in July 2013 and stopped taking it seriously in 2014, my peak took place before I even stepped foot at my first GDQ (2015). I simply lost interest and couldn't find another game that was as exhilarating as my first few months running Kingdom Hearts II: Final Mix.

Yet - I always find myself gravitating towards the speedrunning community as a whole. Of any community I've ever been a part of, the speedrunning community is simply different, there is a sense of family involved in our community. We have some of the strongest personalities, genuinely kind individuals, inspirational/motivational figures, and a place for people to belong. Although I've personally stepped away from the hobby as far as doing my own runs, I've already established from day 1 that this is where I want to be. It truly is a life changing community for a lot of people, myself included.

I have now attended AGDQ '15, '16, '17, '18, and just got home from '19 this past Saturday evening. Of all of these events, my favorites were AGDQ 2016 followed closely by (maybe even tied with) AGDQ 2018. Those two particular events were my favorites because of the strong sense of family and a place to be yourself. Just about everyone in my friend circle (and many new friends I met there) were in attendance and some of the most memorable events took place.

With that said, AGDQ 2019 was definitely not my favorite event, not even close. However, it was one of the most important GDQ's I've attended to date, and I'm so glad I changed my mind at the last minute to attend this year. My core friend circle didn't attend this year, which put an interesting spin on things. No longer was I able to roll with my main crew through the halls of the event, I was forced to branch out and make my own crew. It simply wasn't quite the same without them this year, but I knew that was how it'd be going into this, and I welcomed this (scary) change.

Part of my journey over the last two years of self-improvement, I knew that I needed to step out of my shell and meet new people and put myself out there a bit. This is much more difficult to do when you have a safe haven of friends backing you 24/7 at the event, as you don't feel the need to meet new people at every corner.

So it came to the point where every time I rolled into the main hotel, I hopped on twitter to find out what was going on, and then found a new person to sit down with and have a conversation. Whether it was about life, real talk, memes, speedrunning/casual games, food, work, and everything in between. I don't care if we had just met 2 seconds ago, I was dropping real talk that I reserve for my closest of friends, on everybody. And while often times I found myself not having a "safe haven" for short periods of in-between time as I went to meet up with various people, it was one of the most refreshing things ever to just go with the flow instead of clinging onto the same core group of 4 or 5 friends.

I'm glad I participated once again this year, and while it wasn't my favorite event, this was the year to step outside of my comfort zone and grow as a person, and it was fuckin' lit.

So without further ado, here are some personal shout-outs and honorable mentions for the homie's out there, you the real ones <3.

Ordered Alphabetically:

Ace: You dun had me over here begging to watch outlaw star everyday, and you NEVER turned that shit on. On a serious note, I'm so happy to hear you're taking advantage of your job going on hiatus for a few months and taking advantage of that free time to work on full-time streaming. I genuinely hope you find success with that, and hey, if it doesn't work out you'll be able to go back to work very soon. AGDQ 2020 you better believe is gonna be lit, hentai night is coming back, and we'll sneak a quickie 1-2 episodes of outlaw star in there (maybe).


Andi/Pirate: This was super unexpected, but you were by far my favorite person I met/talked to this year. It's so crazy to me, we're out here living a similar comfy life, just going with the flow of things and enjoying all the good things life has to offer as they come up. Playing pokemon, rollin' through DC, drinking, playing Jenga, late night taco bell, you even taught me how to use chopsticks after trying so many times with other people in the past and not figuring it out lol, and just having general real talk. So glad to have met you this year and hope to see you again at AGDQ 2020.


BB: Dude, where do I even start. Every year when me and the boys get on the discussion of attending GDQ, you always come to mind. It's always "yooo get to see my BOY B again this year". I always feel like I can come to you with anything, and you just get it. Whether its speedrunning, work, school, life, women, even anime sometimes, you always have something unique, wise, and fun to bring to the table. Truly an inspiration to me and I look up to you a lot. While we didn't get to spend too much time together this go around due to the overflow hotel separation and us being on different schedules, I'm grateful for the time we did get to chill together this year. You just keep on doing you, and I'll always support you. We've got some real talk coming up soon on discord, I'll hit you up.


Dax: It's always such a pleasure/privilege to meet up with you every year. Of all my friends, I honestly regard you as one of the most selfless people I know, literally everything you strive to accomplish revolves around the happiness of everyone around you, and that is so admirable, I'm on the road to be less selfish/self-centered right now, and you are my biggest role model in that effort. Whether its something as big as a Dax-Mas, driving people to the event on a 15+ hour drive, driving people around anywhere they want to go but can't get to at the events, loaning out stuff, letting people hang out in your hotel room, you name it, you've done it for other people. I was thinking about this the other day, random, but all I could remember was how we met in 2014 and I was like "holy shit, this man has the best radio-tier voice I've ever heard" and then asked you to record something for a school project for me lol. Going along with your selfless nature, it was so cool to hear about how you've been putting a lot of your free time into learning the basics of cooking and even getting into some much more advance stuff. To an extent it really is inspiring to the point where I want to just pick up something completely out of the blue regardless of how useful it is, and just learn/add something new to my daily grind. Glad to see you this year and looking forward to getting comf' with you at AGDQ 2020 (we bringin' hentai night back).



Dylwingo: Not only are you so ridiculously good with words and explaining things, but you're also really good at the games you run. Chilling with you watching some Harry Potter runs was such an enjoyable time for me. You should seriously consider branching out to even more games and maybe giving speedrun strat/glitch tutorials/videos a try, any community you step into would be lucky to have you. Aside from that, it was just so refreshing to see how exhilarating crash 2/harry potter made you feel, just a dude having a grand time with his games. Super chill and I like your sort of analytical-esque personality, hope to see you again next AGDQ, and meanwhile I'll cya around in various stream chats.



Earthboundian: I knew of you for quite a while now, and we've seen each other a handful of times at previous GDQ's but we had never interacted until now. Truthfully I was a bit reserved about meeting with you at past events because I wasn't sure how I felt about your strong passion for the community and friends, silly I know, but past me didn't really wanna give it a chance and get too involved. So happy to have actually sat down and had actual conversations with you this time. I think you're a really passionate and chill dude, our conversations are just straight up real and I just wanted to say, never give up on your dreams or passion. If you feel strongly about something, keep on pushing through with it, and you'll find success in life along with many friends. Looking forward to meeting up at AGDQ 2020 if you plan on attending, it'll be a good time and we should sit down and talk some more, even if it's just through twitter DM's for now. Alongside Dax, I think you're really high up there as far as selflessness goes, be proud.



Emily/Headstrong: We've known each other since fall 2013, throwback to the days of staying up until 5 am watching you do some comfy KH2 english runs before I had to get up for class. I just wanted to reiterate how grateful I am that you/Andi took me in and gave me a room to stay @ the overflow hotel, since it was so last minute I likely wouldn't have been able to go to this past event without you. Even though we have known each other for so long, I feel like I really got to know you at this event since we we're able to spend a great deal of time together rather than at past events where we would just say hello in the halls of the event space. Of any friend I watch/support doing speedruns, your runs, dedication, and patience speaks to me the most, and makes me want to incorporate a similar mindset in my everyday life. Thanks for being awesome and hope to see you at AGDQ next year (Andi has to come too!).



Ferianjay: It was kinda funny, I had seen you probably on day 1 in the casual room playing some crash 2, and I was just sitting over here wondering "hmm, whose that?". Then a day or two later I asked Dylwingo and he was like "oh that's Ferianjay", and I just about fell over in my chair "THAT'S FERIAN?" I remember ages ago seeing you around in spyro/crash chats and just being a really chill person. But it was good to finally put a name with a face! Hope to interact with you much more than in the past few years and glad to have finally met you. Also thanks for letting me play Katamari with you, super fun game to watch & play and you just brought the chill/comfy atmosphere to the room.


Jazzberry: Throwback to the days of late night Jak 1 No S+L races with you, white, and I B). Always a pleasure to meet up with you at GDQ's, I honestly feel like you're one of the most down-to-earth individuals I know, just out here getting comfortable, playing your games, and soaking it all up. Was a good ol' time watching you do/explain some Jak 1 tech/strats, and memeing at McDonalds at 1 am. Also was a good time slipping in some real talk there with you, you're a really easy person to talk to and while you may not always have something to say about it, I can always tell you're listening very closely during conversations and that is one of the greatest qualities you could have in life. Hope to see you next year, we rollin' out to Orlando to drop some phat memes :ok_hand:.


Michael/Valen: So sad we didn't get to meet up this time around :(. I had even seen you say you were heading to GDQ at one point on twitter, but it slipped my mind and I forgot to tweet at you to meet up. I know for a fact we would have had some real powerful real talk and I wish I could rewind a few days so I could chat with you. I hope you plan on going to future events so we can properly meet up. Aside from that I'm so honored to call you a friend, I don't care if you run spyro or do whatever/never even stream in the future, you're my boy and I really value what you have to say, one of the spyro communities best kept treasures.


Muttski/KRob: That young MUTT, K to the R O B. I know we only got to chill the one time, poking my head in for some FF9 practice, but I could tell immediately meeting you, you were just as I imagined, a really approachable dude that I could talk to for hours. Congrats on the successful FF9 run w/ the boys, and here's to hoping your dream of moving up to Canada becomes a reality.



Ninten: You're right up there with Andi on this list, you were in my top 3 of favorite people I met this year at AGDQ. Can't even begin to describe how grateful I am for you reaching out to me at the event to chat, that meant so much to me and was one of the biggest highlights for me this year. I would very much like to get to know you better in 2019 and chill in your stream much more. Thanks for being an excellent friend and really hoping to see you next AGDQ :ok_hand:.

Ourolen: WE FINALLY MET, AAAAAHHHHHHH. Lol, how many years have we missed each other in a row? Didn't get to chat too much, but I definitely enjoyed watching your pokemon race and yooooooooo that denim jacket you had was sick. Hope to see you again next time and we can have a longer conversation when you're not racing.


OutrageousJosh: Dude, I'm so mad at myself I took forever to meet you. Legit have been in the community forever and you're such a cool dude, and I just completely overlooked you for so long lol. Had a blast chilling with you and the Jak boys, along with hanging out in our room drinking/Jenga/going to taco bell to get a spork. Can't forget about DC too! You were the real MVP talking to all of the crazies out on the streets of DC for us. Very much looking forward to chatting with you throughout 2019, and I wish you the very best of luck on any venture you take on this year. Also bonded over some good old childish gambino, my boy Josh has good music taste.


Randompinkbunny: So sorry I didn't get back to you the first time you @'d me on twitter, but we still ended up getting to talk even for only a short while! Funny enough it was kind of a coincidence, since I had @'d you on twitter right before I was going to leave, and without reading it we just bumped right into each other lol. Glad you're doing well and I hope you're able to snag that job up in Boston! That's really what I aspire to do too, just find something that fits into my dreams/criteria, and just straight up drop everything and move to a whole new area. Best of luck and stay in touch!


Rebeldragon95: My favorite Australian Brit, dude your voice is so soothing/comfy, could listen to that sweet accent all day long. While we didn't get to spend too much time together at this event, I seriously enjoyed our conversation about attending ESA for dummies essentially. It really gave me insight on the whole process and one day I really do want to give ESA a go to see how different it is. Especially after this past GDQ experience where I stepped out of my comfort zone to branch out and speak to people I would have never given the time of day to a few years ago. Hopefully sometime in the future I'll be rollin' in to ESA so you don't have to come all the way out here to visit.


Ricky/ThaRixer: That young RICK THO. While I know you get super busy at these events, anytime I get to spend with you and just chat is truly a pleasure. Again, throwback to meeting you in 2013 during the ol' KH2 English and Jak 3 days. While we've been in and out of talking frequently and then infrequently through the past few years, its so reassuring that we can always just start up a conversation and pick up where we left off last time. I feel like we can relate so well too, albeit some of that is anxiety related, its nice to know someone else out there is also fighting the good fight to have a positive mental attitude and that we both know we can get through this together. Aside from that really digged your Jak 3 run this year, was actually the only time I stepped into the main marathon room, in order to watch your run <3. Let's keep chatting on discord DM's, I've taken in a lot of inspiration watching you grow throughout these past few years, and I'm always down to hear your struggles and help give my advice on what you can do to improve your life for the better, and vice versa. Much love, hope this isn't the last GDQ we meetup at.


Saboom: SupB00M, dude seeing you again this year was one of the biggest highlights for me and you are also in my top 3 favorite individuals that I met up with. Had a blast having real talk with you, but at the same time telling you about the story of us rollin' out to California and having a grand old time at Anime Expo. Also really wanted to thank you for inviting me out to dinner at Honey Pig that one night with the boys. At that current time I was kind of wandering around and didn't really have a crew I was rolling with, was just hoping to chat with you for a bit while I figured out what I was gonna do/not be alone. Then when I saw you with all the homies, I was set and felt like I belonged :ok_hand:. Got to meet up with my boy boom AND met whit_send, blunts, and keeto in the process. You and the boys were awesome and that dinner was one of my favorite parts of the event. Don't be a stranger though my dude, roll out to another GDQ in the future, known you since 2013 and we've only met up three times thus far lol. Much love dude, you are truly one of a kind and have inspired me more than you could know in the past 6 years to be a better me.


Sk8: SK8 M8! Dude I feel really bad, we only got to see each other twice throughout the entire week, the one time I was in a rush to get somewhere, and the other time didn't go quite as planned. Really sorry about that, but it's all good, we see each other all the time and had a fun little trip to DC on our own back in November. Not sure if you were planning on coming out to GDQ 2020 in Orlando or what the sitch was for that, but I'd love to make it up to you next time around (you're invited to hentai night, and we gonna get lit and drink *wesmart*). Grateful to have a true king that lives in driving distance to me.


Tojju: Every time I am graced with the opportunity to chat with you, I light up. You can only imagine how amazing it was to finally get a chance to meet up with you after knowing each other for so many years. And then ON TOP of all of that, we got to have a long, properly thought out, and deep conversation about life, work, attitude, and being less selfish. I don't open up to people about my whole life situation often, but if there was anyone at this event I'm glad I could share that with, it was definitely that YOUNG TOJJU :ok_hand:. Looking forward to the next GDQ if you plan on attending, if not, maybe we'll even run into each other at an RPG limit break or something along those lines. Thanks for being such a genuine friend + listening to what I had to say.


Vash: MY BOY V A S H THO. So I'mma be honest here, we initially met at AGDQ 2017 I think, when Dax brought you into the community. If I'm being honest at the very start I was thinking "whose this vash guy, he's a meme". So while we were acquaintances for the first year or so, we hardly ever talked at all. Then came around AGDQ 2018, and you came to the anime room to have some drinks with the boys, and HOLY SHIT. I was just sitting there like "I fuckin' love this guy, he's my favorite person at this event right now". That just goes to show you can't preemptively judge whether you'd get along with people and you should give everyone a chance right from the start. Straight up when we we're talking about potentially going to Vegas, I was telling the boys "We GOTTA invite Vash". You even dun made it into my personal discord, which as you know that's a high honor lol, anyone in the boya's corner is a true friend of mine that I greatly respect, and so proud to call you my boy. We gettin' lit next GDQ 100% guaranteed, bring on the vodka.


Wyatt: Yoooooooooooooooo my boy Wyatt. Can I just say how proud and hype I am for you on the whole weight loss train. If I hadn't lost my own significant amount of weight before seeing you do it, I would have most certainly gotten on the weight loss train after seeing how well you've been doing for yourself. Every year me and White get to talking about how we're hype to see our boy Wyatt because honestly you are so incredible to be around (you got some pretty solid memes too, e.g. she's not a kid anymore and dropping the phat 10 on bible black lmao). For sure see you at AGDQ 2020, hentai night and anime room are coming back dude, get ready.


Zoim: I was a little spooked at first to say hi to you early on in the week, but I knew I had to make strides this week to put myself out there and meet up with new people. So happy I did, because I thought you were such a chill person when I did. Legit, meeting you and just saying hey early on in the week gave me a ton of motivation to just keep talking to complete strangers and make as many friends at this event as possible, and I thank you for this, simply by just being a really approachable and enjoyable person to have a conversation with.


Honorable mentions:

Everyone in my personal discord: Ace, Hikage, RebelWatt, Vash, White, Neraigo, Tojimaru, Zetris. I am so lucky to have all of you there to back me up, keeping me afloat when times are tough, dropping memes and jokes on each other and we all just GET IT. The Boya's Corner is a safe haven for all of us to just be ourselves and escape the daily struggles that life brings us. Post a song, post a meme, post a reddit thread, talk about anime, women, life, games, school, work, everything is fair game. The above 8 individuals I consider to be my close family, we have an unbreakable bond and I look forward to (and will cherish) all of the years to come spending time with all of you.


DepCow: Although we just met recently, and only knew of each other for a few months, I'm honestly so hyped I got to just sit down with you and have a legit conversation. I feel that you and I are pretty similar in a lot of ways, and I really dig your analytical and chill mindset. Very much looking forward to getting to know you and watching your stream in the future.


The Jak Community: Specifically my boys (and girl) Ruh, Josh, Jazz, Emily, and anyone else rolling with us. The majority of my time spent chilling in the practice room was watching y'all do some crazy tricks and races of the Jak series, and while I haven't touched Jak 1 in a long time, it's so nice to be able to just sit down with y'all and observe how much the game(s) have changed over the past few years. Also had a good time memeing with y'all at McDonalds at 1 am for a short bit. Stay safe y'all, have a good 2019, and hope to enjoy some time with y'all at the next AGDQ.

The KH Community: It's so crazy to me how much the community has grown. Throwback to the days where it was Tack, Sonic, Riz, Biz, BB, Sarth, Myself and probably a handful of others just chilling in Tack's teamspeak server. While I haven't touched a Kingdom Hearts run since the 2.5 HD PS3 variant, it's always so reassuring that the community is still accepting of those that used to do runs and stick around for the friendships and sense of belonging that our community has to offer. It's a life changing community and I would suggest to anyone considering speedrunning to take a good long hard look at what the KH community has to offer as far as resources, friendship, and motivation goes. It's fuckin' lit, run KH games and get involved in the community y'all.

Special shoutouts: White and RebelWatt: You two are my best friends. Through all the highs and lows of life over the last couple years, going all the way back to when I was calling y'all "tournament noobs" during the first 1.5 tournament. My biggest regret here is not befriending you two sooner upon entering the community. We all have our faults, and I'm honored to call you guys my best friends. No matter what one of us does, it's so refreshing to know that after a simple apology or explanation, we just get it. Each of us is always welcome back with open arms. Whether we're watching anime, dropping memes, talking bullshit, or having genuine real talk, I feel at home with you two. Thanks for the best years of my life.