big paste

Wow. I haven't done a paste in a long time. There is a lot to say!

AGDQ Submissions
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First... GDQ games list comes out tomorrow. The two submissions of mine that have a chance to get in are DKC 101% race and DKC2 any% race. The former of those represents easily my best and strongest submission ever. Of the 4 runners who have submitted the category, 3 of us are in the top6 on the leaderboards, and our PB times are within 35 seconds of each other. All of us specifically requested a race in our submission. The category has not been shown since 2014. This is the first time I have been seriously considered one of the "top runners" on a submission that has a real chance to get in.

Why do I consider DKC2 any% as having a chance for me? Well, 4-way races are a lot of fun. They haven't done one of this very popular game since 2015. There is new tech to show off. My estimate is the same as the 3 other submitters, and it is an estimate I am very comfortable with. The catch? The other 3 runners are v0oid, kanis, and waffle - some the greatest DKC2 runners ever in the history of ever. Even though that estimate is the same, they are a couple steps ahead of me. I'd have a lot of work to do to feel comfortable even sharing the stage with them. The committee could go either way - go with 4-way race since estimates line up, or just go with the top 3 since they're a higher tier.

So I am very nervous about this. As much as I try to fight the temptation to feel this way, I really do feel like this is the culmination of everything I've put into speedrunning over the last 4 years. If I'm not accepted to this one, I will be extremely disappointed. Worst case scenario for me is if they decide to do a solo 101% run by stew (who certainly deserves it, but if I had tried a bit harder, I know I could have beaten his time) and just a 3-way race of DKC2 any%. It seems unlikely that this will happen, but I'll be really, really sad if it does. If I don't have a game accepted, I don't feel I can justify attending. I've done the hosting thing, I've done the commentary thing, and I can't just really justify the expense and the trip if I'm not actually playing myself. It's not sour grapes, it's just reality.

Moreover, this is the last GDQ I am planning to attend out of state. With the age my kids are starting to get to and the things we want to do as a family, I just can't manage to spare the money and vacation time on myself anymore. They're growing up, and I'm growing up with them. It's bittersweet, and as much as I've loved and valued these last few years, the only way I see myself attending another GDQ is if it comes back to Denver. (please?)

Beyond that, other games I want to see:

*Final Fantasy Tactics. IT IS TIME.
*Puyo Puyo Tetris. I love this game.
*MrZeraTheMant playing anything
*Kaizo Trilogy
*Mega Man Relay.
*Super Metroid 100% Map Completion. Please not GT code.
*Metroid II. I loved Samus Returns, so seeing the original would be cool.
*SMRPG Co-op. I love this game. I love this run. I love these people. Can I have couch? (ok yeah probably not)
*Toy Story SNES. Yeah, I went there.
*Yoshi's Story All Melons. IT IS TIME.

Stream Plans
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So, if I get into AGDQ, it's one of those two things. And this is what you can expect from my stream:

DKC 101% for 47, then no reset runs to lock in consistency.
DKC2 IL grinding until I can comfortably get a 40, then no reset runs until I can consistently get a 41.

Obviously, if one of those isn't in, I won't be doing that thing.

Depending on the results (ie, if only one of those things is in) I may continue to work on SMRPG until I get sub-3. But if by some miracle I have 2 runs accepted, I likely will only be spending time on those. Or I'll just get sub-3 tonight and call it good. v0oidOk

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Another thing I'd like to do is get back to my plan to play all the Final Fantasy games on stream. I'd be resuming FF1 and then moving all the way up through FF15 (skipping 2 and 3 because I don't care).

On which point.... I'm starting to feel the itch to do another FF9 E2PG. I may make that my FF9 playthrough in the above. Or I may just do it at some random time. Just because. Look for this in 2018. Path C here we come!

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Of course, in the (likely?) event that I don't get a run in... I'll shift gears. I'll either jump straight into learning all the NES Mega Man games, or, more likely, I'll join aweglib in his quest to do the pentathlon. 5 SNES games, 100%. That means learning Link to the Past and SMW, as well as de-rusting Super Metroid and Mega Man X. Sounds awesome. When I finally make enough money to get paid out from Twitch, I'll buy an everdrive (either SNES or NES, depending on which of those two things I decide to do).

Would also give a bit more love to SMRPG and a bit more focus to the FF playthrough described above.

I may finally even suck it up and learn Banjo-Kazooie, as I hoped as long as a year ago.


Misc
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Amazing Packers game yesterday. For Davante Adams to come back after *that* hit and have the game he did? Unreal. Aaron Jones looks like a stud. Defense still worries me. But if they can get healthy there and get their O-line sorted out, Packers could be good this year.

I have way more respect for people kneeling for the National Anthem (which I don't consider to be even the tiniest bit disrespectful to the flag, country, or military) than I do for staged publicity stunts at taxpayer expense. That's all I'm willing to say about that topic, or anything else about our current political climate, publicly.