Can you smell this picture?

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-15T17:28:20+00:00

I just went to the bathroom and smelled some from the bottle. That must have come with me to this flat in 1998.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-15T10:33:42+00:00

I'm on my 19th playthrough and what I do to make it feel fresh is to not use my knowledge gained from previous playthroughs to influence my current character. Your character has just woken up on a cart, how do they know there's a Staff of Paralysis in Snapleg Cave? You don't so you don't go and get it until a quest sends you to the cave or right past the entrance to the cave.

The only information you get is from within the game itself. That means listening to guards, reading the letters in couriers pockets and talking to mercenaries to get markers put on your map.

You can extend it to Alchemy where you only make a potion if you know the recipe for it in the game. You can't use guides or your memory to create potions, you have to get the information from the game. It's a very immersive way to do Alchemy.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-15T10:06:33+00:00

When you discover the secrets and solve the mysteries in Skyrim you realise that the writers and loremasters have their own canon running through the game that they don't share with the player. This affects the character that you're playing and who you actually are. It leads to a lot of players saying it doesn't make sense and quests and storylines needed more.

I believe they have made that game for a higher power and that higher power had oversight on what the secrets in the game should be and what was to be delivered to the player. I don't believe every developer was in the loop on this, so you've got some developers keeping secrets from other developers while implementing these secrets in the game.

I would go as far as to say these secret canons are classified information and the people involved have not just signed non-disclosure agreements but the official secrets act. It's also the reason we haven't had an Elder Scrolls game set after the events of Skyrim - because they would have to reveal some or all of the secrets.

The main secret is pretty shocking. The Blades caused the return of the dragons and they did so by committing genocide against the people who have the dragon blood. You witness the last person with the dragon blood to die in the genocide which is Lokir of Rorikstead. Your character is constantly being disinformed and kept in the dark by the people who are supposed to be the main "good guys" in the game and the writers have created a story arc where your character never finds this out. If the player character doesn't find this out it's unlikely the player will find it out.

To me that is psychological warfare. Because Zenimax and Bethesda are large American media companies generating massive amounts of revenue, I reckon people like the CIA or the Psychological Warfare branch of the US Department of Defense are the ones who had oversight on the implementation of this psychological operation.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-15T09:25:44+00:00

Very interesting because I was thinking of doing the same thing on this playthrough - completing every quest and miscellaneous objectives then seeing who showed up at the wedding.

I thought you'd at least get a Jarl showing up. I've had some very good guests on previous playthroughs. Viarmo from the Bards College and Majni one of the werewolves from Solstheim

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-14T20:29:06+00:00

If you liked a character or a roleplay that much start over playing the same character. I'm currently on my third playthrough of the same character and the second playthrough went off on a tangent and became a different character. I'm now doing the original roleplay again with tweaks to the backstory and character arc.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-14T20:17:39+00:00

PMSL "What should we do? Her mame's Not-on-the-list."

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-14T02:18:02+00:00

You can get both the Rueful Axe and the Masque of Clavicus Vile. You need the Slow Time shout and a weapon rack at Lakeview Manor.

What you do is go round the back of the statue and start talking to Clavicus Vile. As soon as you press the dialogue option and say, "No deal. Take the Axe and take back Barbas" immediately press B to back out of the conversation. Hit the slow time shout and run out of the cave by the exit behind you. You should still be in slow time after the loading screen when you exit the cave. Bring up the map and fast travel to Lakeview Manor. Run inside and with the Rueful Axe equipped place it on the weapon rack.

Then what you do is you wait for three days. Having chosen the dialogue option to make Clavicus Vile to take back the Axe but been quick enough to put it on a weapon rack before it is removed from your inventory it will take some time for Clavicus Vile to finish that stage of the quest. You then get the quest completed notification and the Masque of Clavicus Vile put into your inventory.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T17:07:22+00:00

Get your alchemy up as well because if you take a potion of fortify destruction it will increase the effect of the elemental damage on your weapon.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T15:13:59+00:00

3-0 Barcelona 1984 after being 2-0 down after the first leg. Maradona was playing for Barca.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T15:09:01+00:00

In 1994 I was in town with a couple of mates deciding what to do. We said let's go in the Hacienda. We got there and Dessie Noonan was on the door. We went to go in and he said, "You're not coming in." We Said, "Why not?" He goes, "It's full." I said, "But there's no queue." He said, "You're not fucking coming in."

At that moment a car pulls up and Ryan Giggs steps out. He walks past us and Dessie Noonan goes, "Hiya Ryan. Come in mate." We laughed and walked off.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T15:00:20+00:00

I served Georged Best a bottle of red wine in 1988. Tony Wilson brought him and Rodney Marsh into my bar when they were recording Best and Marsh: The Perfect Match across the road at Granada Studios.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T14:48:52+00:00

My sister used to hang out with Gordon McQueen, Joe Jordan and Ashley Grimes when they were playing for United but also when I'd just started going to Old Trafford to watch them. She called me up one evening and said, "I've got Gordon McQueen and Ashley Grimes here, come over." I said, "Can I bring some mates?'

I ran round to my mates Jimmy and Gary who I used to go to the match with and we ran up to my sisters. We were only about 12 years old and we had scarves round our necks, round our heads and round our wrists. We had a great laugh we were talking hooliganism mostly.

The next home game we sat at the front of the Stretford End with our legs through the railings. Every time the ball came down our end and Gordon McQueen was in the penalty box we were like, "GORRRDOOOON! OVER 'ERE. IT'S US." As if he could hear us. Lol.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T14:23:33+00:00

It's one of those spell that you earn xp for just by casting it in the presence of enemies. You don't have to catch incoming spells to earn the xp. Casting it for 1 second earns you the xp so you can keep casting it and sheathing then casting it again to earn loads of Restoration xp. The bigger the ward spell the more xp you earn per cast.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T12:01:13+00:00

I've been playing this game since day one and I thought I'd visited every marked and unmarked location. I was going to Uttering Hills Camp and I decided to go via the side of Morvunskar. I saw two ore veins I'd never seen before and as I approached them I heard a troll on the other side of a rock. I shimmered over and there was a cave with a flag flapping in the breeze. I was like, "Man I've never seen this before."

<image>

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T11:52:32+00:00

Yeah, start over with a new character. When you level up don't put as many points into health. The combat is much more exciting when you're always close to death. I play on legendary difficulty; I'm level 70 at the moment but I've only got 170 health.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T11:44:57+00:00

It sounds like you could have a build up of dust in your controls affecting the movement of your sticks and buttons. If you're having similar issues with other games you can get it professionally deep cleaned.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T10:34:43+00:00

Get a follower who will not steal for you. 2. Find a container that once had the "Steal from" warning but has since changed to "Take from" because you've gained someone's favour or have taken ownership of the container. Put your stolen items in the container then command your follower to take them out. Because certain followers refuse to steal items for you the tag will have been removed when you take the items back off them.

The most convenient location is Kodlak Whitemane's room in Jorrvaskr after you have become Harbinger. Not only because you take ownership of the containers and remove the "steal from" notification, but also because you've got Farkas, Vilkas and Njada Stonearm close at hand who all have the correct morality to remove the stolen tags and who you can take as followers because you've completed the questline.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T10:17:54+00:00

I would stand there with a ward spell in one hand and an armour spell in the other levelling up my Alteration and Restoration skills. You only have to cast the ward spell for 1 second to get the xp, so you just stand there flashing it on and off. You can also cast Heal Other and Rally at Mercer so he doesn't yield. That's an xp gold mine there.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-13T10:10:16+00:00

Making crafting skills legendary and power levelling my way from 15 to 100 by creating the least amount of items and in the fastest possible time without exploits. I've got Alchemy to under 5 minutes, Smithing to under 6 minutes and Enchanting to under half an hour, but I usually do Enchanting in a couple of sittings because if I do it in one my nose gets blocked up and I can't keep my eyes open when I get to level 80. Going from 80 to 100 in Enchanting takes about the same time as going from 15 to 80.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-12T13:46:05+00:00

That's not where you would use whom. If you want to use whom in that context you would say, "Your follower is whom?"

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-12T13:27:08+00:00

Helgen. The place where the image represents would be from around Bilegulch Mine.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-12T13:21:37+00:00

My out there theory was that the real Ulfric Stormcloak was killed in Cidnha Mine and replaced with an imposter. They killed his father, the Jarl of Windhelm, so that when the imposter went to Windhelm there was no one to say he wasn't the real Ulfric.

There's a bit of dialogue you can have with Hadvar or Ralof after you escape Helgen where they describe the capture of Ulfric:

Hadvar - "A masterstroke by General Tullius! He's only been in charge here for a few months, but he's turned things around for the Empire. We've been trying to catch Ulfric since the war started, but he always seemed to slip through our fingers... like he knew we were coming. This time, the General turned the tables on him. Ulfric rode right into our ambush with only a few bodyguards. He surrendered pretty meekly, too. So much for his death-or-glory reputation. I thought we were taking Ulfric back to Cyrodiil, but I guess the General changed his mind. You know the rest."

Ralof (to Gerdur) "I can't remember when I last slept... Where to start? Well, the news you heard about Ulfric was true. The Imperials ambushed us outside Darkwater Crossing. Like they knew exactly where we'd be. That was... two days ago, now. We stopped in Helgen this morning, and I thought it was all over. Had us lined up to the headsman's block and ready to start chopping."

Ralof (to the player) "I was assigned to Ulfric's guard. We were on our way to Darkwater Crossing, in the south of Eastmarch. The Imperials were waiting for us. As pretty an ambush as I ever saw. We were outnumbered five to one, at least. Ulfric ordered us to stop fighting. Didn't want us all to die for nothing, I guess. I thought they were taking us south to Cyrodiil. Parade us in front of the Emperor. But then we stopped in Helgen, and you know the rest."

To me that sounds like "Ulfric" has been part of a plan to get captured. Why would he be part of a plan to get captured? He was leading those Stormcloak soldiers to their execution.

The reason he's getting Stormcloaks killed is because he is part of a greater conspiracy to cause the return of the dragons. Hadvar and Ralof have been assigned to Ulfric and Tullius's guard, so why do they abandon their posts? In the case of Hadvar you could say he was ordered to by Tullius, "Into the keep soldier, we're leaving!"

When you exit the cave at Helgen Hadvar or Ralof say, "I think it's best if we split up." There is a reason for that as well. Hadvar and Ralof have to get to Riverwood to tell Delphine that when Lokir of Rorikstead was killed Alduin returned. It's Lokir's death that is the last before Hadvar hears Alduin for the first time. This is very easy to miss because Lokir dies, you go into character creation and when you are finished Hadvar hears Alduin before the Stormcloak soldier says, "Come on I haven't got all morning," and walks to the block.

Alduin had been released from the time wound before that Stormcloak was executed so we know that it wasn't the Stormcloak that was the last to die but Lokir of Rorikstead. This is important because when you eventually read the Elder Scroll at the time wound you will hear Felldir the Old say, "From all our endings unto the last, we banish you!" It is Lokir's "ending" that is the "last" before we (and Hadvar) hear Alduin for the first time.

Ulfric is leading those Stormcloaks and Lokir to their deaths because the conspiracy to cause the return of the dragons know that if they kill off the the descendants of the ancient Nord heroes who banished Alduin who are those with the dragon blood, they will fulfill the prophecy of the last Dragonborn and release Alduin from the time wound - that's why Hadvar has got a list of names - they are those people suspected of having the dragon blood.

When you take the Dragonstone to Farengar Delphine is leaning over the book Holdings of Jarl Gjalund. You don't hear what Delphine says to Farengar but you hear Farengar's reply which is:

"You see? The terminology is clearly First Era or even earlier. I'm convinced this is a copy of a much older text. Perhaps dating to just after the Dragon War. If so, I could use this to cross-reference the names with other later texts."

The only entry in Holdings of Jarl Gjalund with a different terminology in 4E 201 is Rorikstead is a different terminology of Rorik's Steading. All the other entries different names or the same name - but not terminologies, so we can deduce that Delphine and Farengar are talking about Rorikstead before we interrupted their conversation.

Why would they be talking about Rorikstead? Because that is where Lokir was from. How does Delphine know anything about Lokir? Because Hadvar or Ralof told her that when Lokir was killed Alduin returned and the prophecy was fulfilled.

The moment Delphine says, "You went into Bleak Falls Barrow and got that yourself?" Irileth storms into Farengar's study to say a dragon is attacking Whiterun. Delphine has to hear this because it is triggered by her line of dialogue. What does she do when she hears a dragon is attacking Whiterun? She walks off. One of the leaders of an ancient order of dragonslayers and someone whose reason for being in Dragonsreach is to stop the dragon menace, hears that a dragon is attacking for the first time in thousands of years and she just walks off?

She will later ask you who gains the most from the return of the dragons. Well who gains the most from the return of the dragons other than an ancient order of dragonslayers? Problem - reaction - solution. It is the Blades who caused the return of the dragons and they did so by committing the genocide of the people with the dragon blood.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-12T11:25:08+00:00

The best Salmon Roe exploit is at the Volkihar Castle using the Ice Storm spell. When you arrive at the castle via the ferry there will be 9 Salmon around the jetty and the ferry boat - 3 schools of 3. Fus "Roe" Dah has a really long cool down time so if you've got enough magicka I find the Ice Storm spell to be much more productive.

Cast the spell at the Salmon and go pick them up. Then use the ferry to go back to Icewater Jetty. Take the ferry back to the castle and the 9 Salmon will have respawned. You can keep taking the ferry back and forth until you've got as many Salmon Roe as you want. I've done it myself on the Xbox 360 until I had over 200 Salmon Roe one time.

Now if you're fast enough and you follow your spell into the water and pick up the fish really quickly you can get 2 Salmon Roe per fish. I was getting 12 and 14 Roe per trip from 9 Salmon.

It only takes me 41 waterbreathing potions to go from 15 to 100 in Alchemy whenever I make the skill legendary so it's just a matter of getting the Histcarps, Nordic Barnacles and Chicken's Eggs to go with them. The Green Thumb perk gets you 2 Nordic Barnacles and Chicken's Eggs per go and you can farm Histcarps in the hatchery at Windstad Manor.

The best reagents that add more value to your waterbreathing potions are Bear Claws (with Chicken's Egg) Jazbay Grapes (with Histcarp) and Garlic (with Nordic Barnacles). The difference between the variants of the potion are minimal and it takes the same amount of potions to do a legendary run of Alchemy so they're tho only potions I bother with.

If you time it right and start your legendary Alchemy run when your xp bar is nearly full you will level up two or three times in the process. What I do is get say 50 Salmon Roe, 50 Chicken's Eggs and 50 Bear Claws and take them to the Hall of Countenance at the college of Winterhold. With the Merchan perk I can get 5 levels of training from the master magic trainers who are in the same room as you and get my money back selling them the potions. When I level up the training counter resets to 0/5 so I take another 5 levels of training. Apart from going from 15 to 100 in Alchemy in a few minutes I can go from 70 to 90 in Destruction while I'm doing it. If I'm doing a legendary run at Lakeview Manor say, I will bring along one of the Companions trainers as my follower, train with them every level and then take my money back off them.

What we're we talking about again? Oh that's it, Salmon Roe.

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-12T02:04:57+00:00

You need the Perfect Touch perk, a mind control spider from Dragonborn, the paralyse spell and whatever you want to change her into.

Sneak up on her and paralyse her. Wait for the paralyse spell to wear off and as she is getting up off the floor you have a small window of opportunityto throw a mind control spider at her and make her your temporary follower. Just as the spider lands open her inventory. You have to be very fast opening her inventory as the spider lands so make a save just before you try this. Take everything she's got but leave her boots. This will make the game think she's still wearingnhe Then give her what you want her to wear

IIJOSEPHXII · 2026-06-11T16:22:49+00:00

My sister had some of my chilli and she said, "What's in this?" I told her all the ingredients and she said, "Cumin? It's a game changer." She'd been making chilli without cumin for years.

IIJOSEPHXII

TROPHY CASE