This is possibly a very stupid question but I'd rather ask and be sure. Based on the timing rules currently shown I appear to have a run without pauses that comes to 9.84, and as an example, if I frame advance 16bitpanda's run it appears to end earlier than his notes state which would corroborate that. Is there some software I can use that will retain 50fps recording as opposed to 30 with vlc? I by no means doubt what has been said about the timings but I can't explain the difference. I can try to replicate it with inputs showing but as I speak any attempt to record that is killing the 50fps on bizhawk. I hope I'm not missing something very obvious.

Frame 770 for the start and frame 1262 for the blue screen. I imagine one of you who mods can sync this up with a 9.84 if need be.

I did a simple calculation with the start and end frames you gave and that does come out to a 9.84, that shouldn't be possible pauseless though as from what 8bit has tested there is no way to save 2 frames without the pause.

Being a technological Luddite I just found a way to record 50 and 60fps in OBS, so I'll make some attempts to replicate this now so that there is no uncertainty, and get back to you.

I hear what you are saying, though my vid shows 768 as no-input. I've made a number of attempts since then recording at 50fps and haven't achieved the perfect run again yet xD Not sure if any current 9.88s are recorded at 50 so perhaps replaying my vid above in sync with a 9.84 and with a 9.88 would help. I'll keep trying with a 50fps recording, no idea when I'll get it again, but I can say that 8bitbeast's original 9.88 from his youtube seems to be 493 frames to me which is just as confusing.

After some careful timing it's most likely a 9.88. The 30fps makes it really difficult but it's definitely a 9.86 or a 9.88 and it's not a 9.84. I'd recommend trying it again now that you have your OBS working. Another thing you can do is go to file > movie > record in bizhawk. This will record all of your button presses without being resource intensive on your computer. It's a good idea so that you can analyze your runs precisely.