This is the run - https://www.speedrun.com/twa/run/ylowq4xy

It shows on my profile, but not the game's leaderboard. Halp?

i noticed that your run doesnt have the "graphic setting" variable set to anything while the other runner has it set to "high"

Yup, another case of default variable value that hide runs. Tell the mods to remove the default from the "High" graphic setting.

Why is that a thing?

Default variable values means that the value is automatically selected when people submitting runs, and it can be useful for common variable values. Alternatively, you can reorder the values so that the first one will be initially selected, without a default option.

The real culprit here is the fact that default values are filtered by default, and not just automatically selected when submitting runs. Several people (including me at first) have missed this behaviour. I think this option is mostly designed for subcategories, not regular variables, to automatically highlight a certain subcategory on the leaderboard.

I have suggested in the past to split the two behaviours (automatic value selection and automatic leaderboard filtering) into two separate options in the settings.