gdq reflections

this was my first GDQ and hopefully not my last, was pretty cool yo

the days all kinda meshed together in my mind cuz i spent a lot of it playing/teaching SMRPG

i felt kinda shitty for the first half of it because i realized i had like almost no close friends in the speedrun community and every1 was always making dinner plans and shit like that and i was stuck at hotel too shy to ever ask any1 if i could come with them along cause lol who invites themselves to other ppls plans, and just thought ok, no 1 wants to hang out with me anyway so ill spend the whole week just grinding out my runs since i can't stream anyway, ill come back to toronto emerging as a fuckin god who learned like 4 speedgames over the week

well that didnt end up happening but my factory is fuckin good now lol

ill make it to another gdq in the future but i guess itd be more worthwhile if i spend the next year working harder on my friendships in this community, i'm not really good at that and it also doesnt help that im really boring to boot

idk i think something in my head isnt wired right and i just dont know how to talk to ppl and need to relearn 28 years of social skills somehow

but regardless it was a cool week

like i said first few days were mostly a grindfest for me. since i had nothing else to do anyway i was mildly curious about some movement tech in SMRPG that i never really wanted to devote the time to learning, which was the main reason i decided i'd eventually settle for a top 5 time indiscriminate of what that time actually is. when i practiced for a few hours i realized it was actually fuckin ez and i can do it pretty consistently. so yeah i decided that week that i'm gonna go for WR or at least a 2:49 if someone gets it before me.

things happened during the week which were cool and stood out

was chillin with Bismuth when he invited me out to ihop (that was awesome thanks dude), sat down with Sami Cetin on Sunday and he was pretty much the greatest Mario Kart mentor i ever could have asked for and i shot up the leaderboards a lot just by sitting there playing while he patiently helped me learn stuff and pointed out what i should be doing differently. I spent some time with Ultimo and Hornlitz on tuesday and i learned earthbound pajama% (and as soon as I get notes for this I WILL start doing runs!), hung out with Silvite pretty often when he arrived partway thru the week, spent more time hanging out with the DKC and LTTP guys and especially the rollin deep crew later during the week, and that was pretty sick. by the time it was over and i was home i was so sad it was over that i just drank myself into not being able to do timed hits anymore LUL

oh yeah SMRPG race was sick. shoutouts to all 15 of you who joined, that was awesome.

so uh, plans for 2017? i've felt really motivated since getting 2:54 that i can really succeed in smrpg. i've never really been like, exceptionally good at anything in my life, was just always kinda above average in school and shit but never did much with it, so i always just figured i'd be kinda slightly-more-impressive-than-mediocre at everything i did, especially after i hardly got anywhere after 5 years in the competitive smash community. it's cool to have a hobby in gaming where my skills are actually respected and i've had a lot of support from ppl who genuinely wanna see me push this game to its limits. so i'm going to try to do that, i already have fun doing it so why not

other plans for 2017: i will run more games. i'm ready to start doing earthbound pajama%, i want to research a little more tech skill before i commit to doing more super mario kart stuff onstream, when i get back from g4 i'm committing to learning 1 Super Mario Land 2 level and DKC2 level offstream per day each day. once Countdown releases his kirby super star tutorial im gonna grind the fuck out of that game too, and at the end of 2017 i want to be making some progress on Super Marihour. if i ever have a stretch of a ton of time i want to commit some of it to learning SMRPG Most of the Stuff but i need more carts for that right now. also kinda thinking of just streaming dr mario 1p mode for game boy (its the only one i can play on without getting really disoriented lol it's kind of weird). additionally i would like to upgrade all my equipment to RGB and acquire 3 flashcarts by the end of the year, really wanna improve my stream tech quality right now and use the best practice tools to improve my content. my stream has been getting solid fuckin numbers lately even when im just bullshitting, and i wanna keep that. it feels great.

this is kinda going all over the place so

to EVERYONE that i hung out with or talked to at any point of the week, you're all great and it was great getting to meet so many people. if you think i forgot about meeting you, i didn't, you're awesome and GDQ was awesome. i just need to learn how to not be a shitter i guess

but here are some specific shoutouts:

Bluntbunny - still 1 of my favourite dudes in the world, i wish we had gotten to hang out more this trip. meeting you and hanging out with you at STR convinced me that the speedrun community was really cool IRL just like it is online. i love that you're a real-ass dude and chill as fuck to hang out with. thanks for introducing me to the RDC, joining it was probably one of the better decisions i've made with my career. good shit in the LTTP race :)

Boing - i'm not sure why but meeting you in person was the most surreal out of everyone LMAO probably cause we hang out in your chat all the time? you're a fuckin cool dude to hang out with even when im not preaching the gospel of smrpg. keep kickin ass at earthbound bro you got some serious potential as a runner in both games!

countdown - you are one funny motherfucker, every time I hung out with you was pure gold. nice screenwatch tech btw. thanks for inviting me out on fri and helping me ease up for the remainder of the trip, i was feeling kinda shitty about it for a while and you helped me kinda break that spell

Dan - seeing you always put a smile on my face, you're super chill. it just sux that we have to go back to being twitter shitters for a while before we can hang out in person again!

edobean - you're just one of the most fun ppl to be around that ive ever met in my life, i hope next time i go to GDQ we can hang out more outside of the practice room when youre not too busy (if there is even a time where that is a thing)! sorry i never got to teach you super jumps :( but i do have a tutorial online!

emilybrooks - you are just cool as fuck and i wish we had hung out more but i was SO happy you joined the smrpg race with the rest of us, keep on being awesome

Joe - im really happy i got to meet you, thanks for bringing me into the rollin deep crew. hanging out with all of you (especially when we went to chill in the parkin lot) at the end of the weekend made the trip for me. defying canadian stereotypes i was a bit of a mooch with you guys so if you're ever on my side of the border HMU anytime dude.

KingStrixx - the prodigy! you're one hell of a fast learner and i'm really impressed at the drive you have to improve at SMRPG. you're showing a lot of promise and i'm stoked to see what your runs will look like when you start crankin em out

lack - im not sure if you will ever read this but you were one of the ppl i was most looking forward to meeting at agdq so im glad i got to :) im sorry i missed your run after the smrpg race, agdflu too strong

mill - fuck dude it broke my heart seeing u get so sick on monday :( im glad you recovered quickly! thanks for helping me with my earlygame shit, my play has been pretty weak lately and having you there to point out the dumb shit im doing helped a ton. in 2015 you convinced me to pick up speedrunning and told me if i picked up this game you'd help me, and you've definitely been doing a lot of that, so thanks for that. you're cool as fuck and i wish we had hung out more

RPG - jesus fucking christ you are a god. there was not a dull moment any time you were around. this guy's full-rack ribs, no half-rack bull shit, he rolls deeper than the human mind can comprehend.

seancass - you are THE fuckin man dude. i prob would never have even showed up to AGDQ if you hadn't given a shit about me when i was starting out in smrpg. you and everything you did for me back then were the 1st reason i really truly believed this is a great community, and then fri/sat night chillin w/ you and the boys confirmed that for me. i had high anxieties getting into speedrunning after coming out of a completely different gaming community but you did a lot to make that easier that you prob have no idea about. you're one of the most down-to-earth and genuine ppl ive had the pleasure of meeting and i swear to god no 1 in the entire gaming world makes me laugh harder than you did locking me in joe's fuckin car and now it kills me that i have no idea when we can hang out again. you're the fuckin bomb and dont ever let anyone or anything try to tell you otherwise.

Supreme - im so glad i finally got to meet you even if we didnt get to hang out much, you're one of the sweetest people i know in the speedrunning community and it always brightens up my day when you show up in my chat so it was even better to see you in person! you're a fuckin god at DKC3 and i really admire your dedication to the game and your sick show of skills in the trilogy race (even tho i know you wanna discredit yourself you played that out like a CHAMP). thanks for just being yourself, GDQ wouldn't have been GDQ without you.

Tuki - KEEP GRINDING THOSE SUPER JUMPS, YOU WILL GET THEM! 75 is so close, you're actually so close to being able to do a run. keep up the good work and you will be getting kick-ass times in no time dude!

Twig - chillest dude. GGs in smash my dude, you're p fuckin good

V0oid - was awesome to get to meet you in person finally, i can't even remember how we became twitch friends but i'm really glad we did. RDC is fuckin hype and it was you and blunt having really great personalities and being so much fun to hang with that really made me want to join it. you're just fuckin great all around (and at donkey).




till next time y'all, off to genesis 4 for me