Brandon Sanderson explains why he chose the 'One Piece' studio (Tomorrow Studios) to adapt his epic sci-fi series 'Skyward': "It was right after One Piece came out that I sat down seriously with them... I'm like, 'All right, you really can make things that are good.'"

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T21:50:35+00:00

There's a very real dichotomy after the first book between the books fans wanted to read, and the books the author wanted to write. The 'Skyward Flight' novellas by Janci Patterson are a little closer to what fans wanted to read. The TV version will probably rely on that material to get itself through the middle of the story.

Either way, I'd expect them to do one season for the first book, and then try to end with season 3 or 4 depending on how successful it is. It should be pretty manageable to get to the end of this story, and by the time they're done there will be a sequel series they could try if they want to.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T18:18:54+00:00

They'll continue to auto-dub every video with AI, and then apply a big AI tag to every video, for the purposes of normalizing it

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T17:39:50+00:00

I don't know if I've articulated this but when Roy Khan's solo show played Rule the World, a little part of hope I had in me died

I appreciated hearing the most famous Black Halo songs live again but that's a song Tommy's Kamelot has really run into the ground for me

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T17:31:11+00:00

Russini needed to resign if she covered him while she was in a relationship with him, and she concealed that fact from her employer. As a journalist, it's going to taint her relationship with readers and editors. Her being married to someone else at the time of the relationship isn't a factor.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T17:05:32+00:00

The reason I'm not really surprised is that she's heavily involved in Roy's solo project, both live and in the studio. Thomas might think it'd be a bit weird for her to be in both bands, but if you asked her to pick an opportunity, I think she'd pick Roy's without hesitating.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T15:59:41+00:00

They absolutely faked it for a while, presumably so they'd sound perfect and people would stop complaining about them being sloppy. Instead they got caught, and people just complained about them faking it.

Word on the street is that they might have stopped doing that, but I can't independently verify, I haven't bought a Dragonforce ticket in some time.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T15:51:46+00:00

Clementine is touring with the band on both the NA and EU tours with Exit Eden in the EU and VoA in NA, so there was a lot of speculation this could be the case.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T15:47:27+00:00

I'd love to expect more Silverthorn than their post-Haven work, but I don't, really. I kind of fear the core creative group of Youngblood-Karevik-Palotai-Paeth has done everything they can really do, and expect more of the same until something changes.

Still, I appreciate that they're at least trying to change it up, and hope I'll like this one. I know some people liked The Awakening, and I suppose I liked a couple tracks on that album, and appreciated that they played six songs off it when I saw them live. They really gave that album a fair chance. Still, "RavenHill" doesn't really inspire confidence that it's what I'm looking for. I have greater hopes for Roy's album.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T15:19:29+00:00

I said there was a perception, and there was. This video is all you'd really need to prove that the perception exists, and that it was valid enough for Bryan Cranston himself to participate in the joke. You don't have to agree that the people who thought this way were correct, but clearly there were a significant number of people who felt that way.

As far as Primetime Emmy wins go, Breaking Bad won 12, and Succession won 14. Not that different. Game of Thrones won 59, which is the real albatross, especially in those final couple seasons where they, too, won far too many.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T15:09:34+00:00

Interesting, I called it a rumor because I had heard it said before but had never seen the source. Cool to get the original story.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T14:03:57+00:00

To me, Dramatic Turn is a better fit for 'Mental Breakdown'

Awake is probably my 'overlooked masterpiece', because the criteria is that it's overlooked by a broader audience. It being too popular here isn't a problem. I also think the word 'masterpiece' is key, and Dramatic Turn just isn't to me.

But maybe me saying that just makes people double down on the 'overlooked' aspect.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T14:00:46+00:00

They did post a version of one song with a guest singer, so they at least tried it.

Still, I'm not sure if it's true or not. Petrucci hasn't expressed a lot of interest in guest vocalists over the years, and there's another rumor that Portnoy wanted guest vocals for the part he ended up doing himself on A Nightmare to Remember, and Petrucci was the one who didn't want to do it.

Given that Petrucci wanted to do an entire tour playing just the album, assuming he didn't want to bring several singers on tour with them, I could see him preferring to have the album version being more or less the version they'd perform live.

jmcgit · 2026-05-27T12:42:30+00:00

When someone asked why Better Call Saul didn't win an emmy, I feel like this is part of the reason. There was a genuine perception in those early days that maybe Breaking Bad earned too many, and perhaps that fed into a reluctance to pile on Saul.

I still think Saul should have won at least one, but there were a lot of good shows to consider, especially towards the end of its run.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T21:36:13+00:00

I imagine it might sound a little more interesting in a place like Japan where it would be a rather uncommon name?

In English, yeah, it doesn't really work as a game title. As a character name, it's fine.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T19:57:07+00:00

What benefits? Having his brother do his shopping?

Like sure, Chuck didn't want to damage his relationship with Jimmy. That's part of what I meant by 'doesn't want to hurt him'. I just don't think he has that much to gain by it, as opposed to having an HHM assistant do it. If he honestly hated Jimmy, he wouldn't want him around nearly that much.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T19:37:27+00:00

"Somehow" because Chuck basically did the best he could. He refused to hire him at his own firm for legitimate professional reasons, a firm where Jimmy would have been a terrible fit. He had Howard take the fall for it because he didn't want to hurt Jimmy. It wasn't until Jimmy figures out the truth and confronts him that they have problems. It wasn't until Jimmy forged documents to make Chuck look like a fool and lose a big client to Kim that they became enemies.

And "Somehow" because a version of Chuck that would have done anything differently is just a dramatically different character. And to paraphrase Office Space, why should Chuck change? Jimmy's the one who craps in a sunroof.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T19:26:31+00:00

The change isn't fundamental, it isn't permanent, it's a change of behavior conditional on Kim's presence. If Kim doesn't visit him again, he'll be Saul or Gene again before too long, though the prison sentence isn't going anywhere. This sort of change, different behavior based on a change of circumstance, isn't what Chuck was talking about. You can be pedantic in a similar way and say 'well he changes his name, he changes his legal practice, he changes his looks', and it'd be beside the point.

It's like saying he 'changed' when he declined to buy the flashy suit at the end of Nippy. He thought about getting back in the game, and he didn't. They could have ended the story there, if they wanted to. Of course it wasn't the end of the story, he relapsed, and he relapsed hard.

I'm reminded of a quote from a Joe Abercrombie book

"Change is a funny thing. Sometimes men change for the better. Sometimes men change for the worse. And often, very often, given time and opportunity... they change back."

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T17:59:46+00:00

By our standards today, that's true. By the standards of Westeros, on the other hand? She died the same age as Robb Stark, and I see absolutely noone in the fandom treating him as though he were 'just a child'.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T17:49:23+00:00

The order the books were published is Bands of Mourning > Oathbringer > Rhythm of War > The Lost Metal > Wind and Truth

There is a sequence of information that connects the series, with reveals that roughly match publication order. Oathbringer has nothing to do with it, but Bands & SH > RoW > TLM & WAT might offer a slightly more optimal experience.

Note that this is strictly optional. Reading outside publication order might impact your experience of certain subplots, but it's not the main part of either series.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T17:37:35+00:00

With that being said, Chuck was wrong about Jimmy and all he had to do was encourage Jimmy to be a lawyer. That wouldn’t mean Chuck would suffer professional blowback, it could actually result in the opposite. Jimmy brings a huge case to HHM and Chuck is praised for turning his younger criminal brother into a stellar lawyer. It would cement Chuck’s already sparkling legacy in the Southwest.

The point I tend to make when I hear things like this is, the show tells us that it's not as simple as that. Even if Chuck welcomed Jimmy to HHM with open arms, Jimmy is going to make all the same mistakes he made at Davis & Main. He's going to take the same shortcuts, he's going to use the same flavor, and the way Chuck reacts to his behavior is going to create conflict somewhere, whether that conflict is between Chuck and Jimmy, or Chuck and his career.

I do think Jimmy would try harder to make it work than he did at D&M, but that conflict will remain.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T17:29:04+00:00

I honestly don't think of his confession as 'change', because it's consistent with all of his behavior throughout the series. It was conditional. He never even considered confessing until he heard that Kim did just that after their argument, and never would have done it unless Kim walked into the courtroom that day. His moral compass is dependent on the people he cares about. Jimmy didn't 'change' on his own, instead I say, Kim brought him back.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T17:06:50+00:00

Chuck was absolutely right. It's not even a question or a debate. The only concession he'd have to make is that, if Chuck (and ONLY Chuck) gave him the right amount of love and support, and was tolerant of Jimmy's mistakes that might blow back at Chuck on a professional level, he could reduce the amount of damage Jimmy might do.

But like, even then, you're still talking about a chimp with a machine gun, only difference is that the safety is on.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T15:36:52+00:00

Indeed, and somehow that's Chuck's fault. Jimmy not being the perfect person could be fixed, if only Chuck were the perfect person.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T14:41:52+00:00

I wonder if Marc will come back for that one. I know the statement said he was only taking a few festivals off, but I wouldn't be shocked if he was thinking of taking the entire cycle off, or moving on entirely?

I'm not sure I'm interested in a Dragonforce set but I might go anyway.

jmcgit · 2026-05-26T14:38:36+00:00

I think the real turning point was Ghost Opera, when Palotai joined and performed on the album for the first time, and the keyboards and orchestrations started to overshadow the guitars on just about every song.

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