Surviving the Reset: Speedrunning <i>Spyro</i>, Trans Mundanity, and Playing in the Impasse

Abstract This article explores the relationship between everyday life and play, focusing on the mundane play practices of speedrunning. Employing autoethnographic techniques, the author analyzes her own experiences speedrunning and transitioning as case studies, drawing out the temporalities and affective dimensions of both, as well as the ways media practices and subjectivity become intertwined. To be specific, the article examines the experience of living in the impasse, which is brought on by temporal engagements, such as the reset and the grind, with videogames. Living in the impasse is characterized by prolonged waiting periods inherent to both trans life and videogame play and gives rise to negative affects like boredom, frustration, and pain. Ultimately, the author argues that these negative affects become enfolded into identity and serve as trans tools of survival.