Hi everyone. Here’s a video to watch when you finally get a quiet moment away from family on this nice Christmas Day. I’ve always celebrated Christmas and not any of the other ones but I’m a big fan of rituals and agreed upon celebrations so all of them are cool in my book.

Be safe and have a good new year and I’ll see you next week probably.

Feeling bad for a digital lighthouse is a new Christmas tradition.

I've actually tried to find a peaceful place to sit and enjoy the ambiance, and about 5 minutes into chilling a pack of wolves had to ruin it

the way you describe ivarstead makes me want to see a "real estate agent of skyrim" series. just going to uninhabited houses around the world and rating its features for prospective buyers.

10:52 The Emperor's ship arrives near Solitude during the Dark Brotherhood questline. You literally picked the ONE lighthouse in the game that actually signals an incoming ship, lol

One of the reasons I enjoy the house-building DLC is that it requires you to stay in a single location for an extended period of time, gathering materials, going to town for supplies, crafting. It gives a lot of opportunities to stop and absorb your surroundings. Ideally, you've also chosen a particular building site because you like how that location looks and feels.

Theres a spot between the Rift and Eastmarch just off the path. There's a giant mourning his lost mamoth friend. I always take a moment to just stand there with him before moving on. The giant won't agro you and the two of you can stand there mourhing his friend together as long as you like.

"Where should we go be quiet next?" is such an underrated question and I wish more people asked that

"GO BE QUIET IN SKYRIM!" Mom yelled at the kids playing outside. And so they did.

You are the ship the lighthouse shines for

“This lighthouse’s entire existence is fraudulent and performative, and I think in some ways I find that relatable.” 😂 12:07

I reckon the "lighthouse" is more of a beacon to warn ships not to approach because the water is shallow and they will get beached. If so, the fact we don't see any ships is a sign that it is in fact serving it's purpose.

Hey Austin, regarding the part of the video where you were staring back at the island from the top of the lighthouse and had trouble deciding why it felt weird, I think the answer is that it forces you to think about the passage of time. In your head you can visualize the past "you" down on the little lump of ground, walking around staring at rocks, and even a layer deeper, you as a person, sitting in front of your TV playing skyrim, trying to decide what to say about that rock. When you looked up at the top of the lighthouse, you were unwittingly staring back at your future self, staring down, visualizing the past. Its so interesting that in a game with a calendar system and fully realized day and night cycle with weather patterns trying their absolute best to differentiate one in-game day from all the others, looking down at a rock where you were standing earlier is really what impresses the passage of time. It makes me recall your halo multiplayer map video where you said something along the lines of the maps being playgrounds that never change. A video focusing just on the details games use to try and define artificial time passage and how effective or uncanny they are, might be a good way to flesh out the topic.

That house in Ivarstead used to belong to that guy walking around but it burned down. He is involved in 2 quests: the first one has you listen to his emotional story about losing everything, including a very important person in his life, recovering something from her corpse and bringing it back to him, causing him to have an emotional breakdown. The second one has you murder him in cold blood for the dark brotherhood.
Happy new year!

6:14 "if you stare at it for long enough, it kind of makes your brain feel a little. Weak." This guy gets it! Sometimes you just have to stop and zone out and look at a neat little waterfall

"If Mr. Rogers occasionally pointed out the mundane elements of cosmic horror that are quietly sitting all around us, waiting to be noticed."

That's what your content reminds me of in the best possible way. Cozy existential dread.

Thank you for creating these videos and sharing the things that stand out to you.

I cannot tell you how many times I came out of the college of Winterhold only to be greeted with battle music and an Ice Dragon.

expanding on the prayer bit in a more positive way- the lighthouse is sending a message but something unexpected is receiving it. it’s there to send a message to ships but it ends up messaging the player details of the world. what it intended and what it conveys ends up being totally different from each other, but nonetheless something sees it and takes something from its message. that’s not dissimilar to how prayer can comfort others or provide a sense of internal strength even if the purpose is to reach a god

That part about the lighthouse reminds me of the fact that there's no real economy in Skyrim. NPCs don't go out and buy stuff, stores never sell their wares or get new stock (without it magically appearing in their inventory). Only the player buys and sell stuff. The shops only exist to serve a singular purpose. They are not tied to the conventions or lore of Skyrim, they are only tied to the actions of the player.

I love the college because of how cozy it feels. Like it feels like people should be outside but the cold is keeping them in. Reminds me of visiting friends during winter break and we’d walk around the empty campus grounds.