When you watch a speedrun, you’re not really watching a single run.
Every speedrun has a story behind it.
But these stories aren’t always immediately obvious.
The runner, focusing on their own actions, probably won’t be able to explain too much.
The goal is for the run to be over as quickly as possible, after all.
(And thatBois is a fan of Saltin return.)
They’re both experts at finding a story.
(Most people in these communities prefer to simply go by their online handles, including Salt.)
In January of 2017, he releasedWorld Record Progression: Mike Tyson, which clocked in at 14:48.
Five years later, that video has 1.4 million views.
But even at the time, it did pretty well for Salt.
“So, I decided to make them for other games,” he says.
“Which took off like crazy.”
And Salt has inspired other people to pick up the genre, too.
Though he used to speedrun The Hobbit, he had been on a break from it since 2015.
At first he thought it was just a shame that the story wouldn’t get told.
But then he returned to speedrunning.
“[I] realised just how much the game and the community had evolved,” he says.
“There were now so many new tricks, interesting members, and impressive times.
Except, of course, himself.
“I was close [to the community],” he says.
“I was obviously interested in The Hobbit and I had some video production experience.
Making one of these videos takes a long time.
Salt says that usually it’s the research that’s the longest step.
All of that can take weeks.
But so, too, can finding the narrative.
This process also takes several weeks.”
This is the part that fascinates me.
“Not really,” he says.
“Man, every small community online deserves to be documented with this kind of enthusiasm.
Just demonstrates we are surrounded with incredible stories!”
Mkarma, creating his very first video, did not have the benefit of five years of practice.
“Script writing was almost entirely new to me,” he says.
He, too, tried to figure out what he could learn from Salt and others.
Like everything in speedrunning, though, it wasn’t a solo effort.
And doing right by that community was another big consideration while writing the script.
When he released the video, the feedback was “overwhelmingly positive,” he says.
And it was a small part of that feedback that stuck with me.
Just demonstrates we are surrounded with incredible stories!”
We are surrounded with incredible stories.
Speedrunning is lucky to have a small group of YouTubers dedicated to telling them.
