GDQs are wonderful. This was the first event where I didn't have a run to do (still amazed that I ever had any runs in the others at all) and so I took it upon myself to either support friends or talk to people I'd never talked to before. Talked with Prince Leaf (Flintstones runner) for a short time and he was cool, hung out with Tokyo and Fatso trying out MMX randomizers (which are 99% horrible), talked to Trog and Weables (always a pleasure), actually got to talk to Twig instead of see him for 5 seconds before everyone leaves, met Fast, talked to Bich's back during practice once, hugged Nacho, sat with Patty and Bonesaw during practice, talked to THE Brettsuzo, had a fairly lengthy conversation with Uyama (it was really good to see him around), sat on the couch and probably looked stupid during MM9, and even played arcade games with Kaneblueriver (him showing up at all still amazes me). I could go on all day with this stuff.

I really can't stress how strong our community it is. How fun and nice the people are. The only games I played were in the arcade and I was never bored for even a moment. Local friends mixed with speedrun friends and everyone had a great time and it just makes me so happy.

Looking ahead, I'll be at AGDQ. In what capacity I don't know but I'm going. My decision to just shotgun all of my remaining vacation into January paid off really well as it slots in perfectly in the middle of it so I'll have days before it starts and the week after it ends to mellow out. I have a few things to learn/practice that I could submit (Rusty obviously, Tryrush Deppy if I can get a reasonable price, Ai Senshi Nicol if I buy an everdrive, Paris Dakar Rally if I stop being lazy). I'd enjoy myself either way but there are a lot of casual things I'd like to get into immediately and I know game practice would decimate that time.

The general takeaway is I love being at the events, I love supporting them in whatever capacity and I'm really proud to call all of you my friends. I'll be streaming more in the coming months and I'll be in chats as usual.

btw can you believe that I taught pie how to play pop'n and the songs he was good at were super anime