Jackafur Sets New Record at AGDQ 2015

Mephisto Mori/ January 7, 2015/ Video Games/ 1 comments

Jackafur is a fixture of the Speedrunning community. He’s run a number of games from the notorious Doom to the quirky lesser known N64 platformer, Mischief Makers. His skill, colorful personality, and emotion make him a pleasure to watch.

After a grueling year of grinding, he set the world records in two categories for Mischief Makers. Late September, 2014 he got the Any % (54:45) record. After months more of attrition he clocked the record for the 100% category in at 1:10:36. Neither record will be as memorable as the one he set tonight during the live stream of AGDQ – he proposed to his girlfriend, Kittyrawr.

At 5:09 CST, Jackafur was on pace to finish Mischief Maker at around the passable hour and twelve minute mark when he put the controller down. With the credits rolling, but more game to be played, he began to speak. There was a shakiness in his voice, one born of emotion, as he began to address his fellow runners in the room and the 120,000 viewers on Twitch.

“Last year I was in a really bad place emotionally,” Jackafur started to address the community at large.

The year has been rough for him. It was a year of personal struggles off stream and world records races on. A tumultuous time punctuated by the fact that he could’ve missed AGDQ – the Superbowl of Speedrunners. His fans banded together and donated to get him to DC for the event. And the community stood behind him through his strife.

“You guys picked me up on my feet. But one person keeps me on them,” he said getting down on one knee and producing a small box from his pocket. Kittyrawr was visibly stunned as he turned to the couch.

There’s a lot of ugliness around the hobby. Anyone who’s spent time on XBL or /v/ can attest to that. I’ve witnessed video game violence (unjustly) blamed for mass shootings. I’m as tired of Gamergate as everyone else. And I absolutely understand the desire to take gasoline to your tower after an hour of League of Legends chat.

Watching Jackafur’s proposal to Kittyrawr tonight was beautiful. I don’t know either of them personally. But I felt for them because they’re gamers. I’ve been through my share of bad years and had to escape into games to get by. This was something more though. It gave me a sense of hope in general that extended beyond games.

Video games do so much more good than toxic MMO communities or mainstream media portray. AGDQ is physical proof that games can make the world a better place. They bring us together, pick us up when we’re down, and fight fucking cancer.

Oh, and Kitty? She said yes. As if watching Jackafur’s World Record Run with her right next to him, would leave any doubt.

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  1. Pingback: AGDQ 2015 Smashes 1 Million Dollar Target « Winsomnia

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