Monday, June 30, 2025
Today was phenomenal, just outright. Any worries I had in my head about social issues or being left out have left my head entirely. It feels like I’ve made 30 new friends over the past few days and they’re all happy to just sit and talk and try to make each other laugh. A very welcoming, relaxed vibe. But after spending the past few days running around and trying to catch peoples’ runs live and shouting at the top of my lungs, it was definitely starting to catch up with me. I woke up and I felt like I’d barely gotten any sleep, and my voice was all but gone, reduced to a very deep baritone that I couldn’t pitch up if I tried. So I was very thankful today was a solid rest day.
Everybody seemed to be leaving breakfast for later in the day; felt like everybody needed a rest day after travel and several days of late nights. I found a couple of friends; we discussed some plans for the day over breakfast, and shared some laughs and nonsense together. I can’t stress enough how relaxed and welcoming everybody is here. I only had one real run I was interested in catching today, and it was early in the day. One of my friends even got to help fill in time on the livestream early in the morning with a random run; the serendipity and spontanousness of the event, the flexibility of the organizers to allow for people to showcase something they love in the moment just because they have a few minutes extra, is phenomenal.
Later in the afternoon everybody got together to go to the park for a picnic. We all brought our own food, shared it with others, and drank a bit before throwing a coconut around and generally getting up to nonsense. Couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day, either; the sun was shining, the vicious wind from the past few days was practically gone, and everybody seemed in a good mood. Plus, I had sunscreen today; no more burns. I even got to have some conversations with people I haven’t yet. All in all, I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect picnic.
After the picnic, most people went back and joined a community game/trivia night; I didn’t have the social battery to stay, but seeing 30+ people all sitting in the same room and showing genuine love and comfort with each other hit a chord with me. It’s the sort of cameradery and friendship I really strive to find, and don’t seem to see that often. Dozens of people, all from different nationalities, genders, religions… all united over the fact we get to share the thing we love with the world and celebrating each other and the history that’s gone into this yearly meetup. People (including myself) travel hundreds or thousands of miles to here for a week of getting to just play video games with each other and hang out. And frankly? That’s just fucking awesome. It brings tears to my eyes.
I know there’s a stereotype of “gamers,” but this group honestly feels like the antithesis to the toxic things you see online. Rhythm gamers, speedrunners, streamers and their communities are coming here to experience time with the people they’ve spent hundreds or even thousands of hours with over the internet, on voice chats, in text chats, or in livestreams. And I love every moment I get to spend here with everybody, meeting new people and talking with friends I’ve only known through pixels on a screen for a decade in some cases.
This is my second-ever convention I’ve been to; the first was an event I really didn’t feel super welcome at. It felt like I was following around people I know like a lost puppy for the entire thing, in a sea of thousands of people I didn’t know and was frankly too socially anxious at the time to get to know. Here… I feel like I can be myself. I’m a few years older and far less anxious than I used to be. I’m comfortable with myself, as I’ve learned who I am and what I care about. It feels natural to drift between crowds as I get to know more people, break out of my shell a bit and get to meet some really amazing people, forge new friendships. And it feels like I’m making a lot here.
I think I love it here. And I think I’m gonna do my best to come back.