Please tell us who you are! How would you describe yourself as a gamer? I'm Stefanie; most people call me Stef. I'm trans (she/her) and have been out for over four years now. I like to work on video game console mods and do freelance illustration work when I'm not at my day job, burried in spreadsheets. I see myself as a sort of variety gamer. I like to dabble in games I think are visually interesting, especially pixel-based games or ones that use painterly 3D models.

What initially sparked your interest in gaming? What kind of games did you play growing up? My parents got me a Genesis back when I was a kid. While I didn't really get into many of the generally recommended titles, I played Sonic 2, and I've been playing games ever since. My favorite kinds were platformers, but I branched out a little to Zelda and Pokemon, thanks to elementary school friends, and eventually Kingdom Hearts. 

What games are you currently speedrunning? How did you decide to run the games you do? My two primary speedrun games are Lunistice and Celeste, although I'm taking a break from both at the moment. Both games fit the platforming style I enjoy. Lunistice was a lot of fun, and I'd love to see more people play it. I got Celeste early on in my transition (what a shocker), and while I got stuck pretty quick and stopped playing for a year or two, I eventually made it a game I'd set up time goals versus just attempting PBs. Started at one hour, then gradually dropped by five minute intervals until I hit a time even lower than my perceived lowest target.

What motivates you to push your limits in speedrunning? Is it personal satisfaction, competition, or something else? I like the sense of accomplishment, especially for things that I initially struggled with. To my detriment, I can be a bit of a perfectionist and overly hard on myself. I have a hard time getting into things I don't immediately "click" with, so for the things I stick with and see my improvement, it leaves a strong positive impact. 

How do you handle setbacks or failures in speedrunning? What keeps you motivated to continue improving? I mentioned before that I'm overly hard on myself in general, and that applies to speedrunning too. It's something I'm actively trying to work on, especially because the ways I'm critical of myself I'd never push onto others. It helps to take breaks and revisit something with a clear mind.

How do you feel when you get a PB? Or get better at a difficult part in your games? I think it depends on the game. For games that feel difficult but fair, I enjoy the challenge and want to proceed. For games that feel hard for the sake of it, then it's more a sense of relief to have cleared it (but still dreading doing it again for further PB attempts).

What advice would you give someone just starting out in speedrunning? Give yourself the space to take regular breaks from runs. Just grinding out times can work, but it can really take the fun out of the experience (ask me how I know, lol). It also helps to seek out communities around the games you enjoy. Not only will you meet others with similar interests, you'll meet people that want to and everyone to succeed and will encourage you to do your best.