I've finally got all my mod-ducks in a row and have dedicated myself to starting my quest over for good. I've done it about a hundred times now with different mods and playing around, seeing which ones stick and which ones that look ridiculous or not (or ridiculously awesome). I've got the minimal amount right now with (more) realistic weather effects, night-sky, but wanted something more fantastical to look at....I found the right one that didn't look so out of place but still insane:
I love it! As others have said, this is an amazing game running it vanilla; but with the mods, this is one of the most jaw-droppingly expansive, interactive, immersive games I've played in my life. It brings it to a whole new level. I've also got a ton of wonderful sound effect additions to weather, birds, wildlife in general; on top of all the visual aspects that bring the world to life even more (rain, wind, fog, snow, blizzards, monsoons, clouds, etc.), but those are come and go (though still at a rate much higher than vanilla). Woooot! I've just started my final adventure but I'm already so enthralled. It really does feel like a new game. I've opted to go with a mostly normal character though, I didn't want my full run-through of the game to be with a modded character (and you can't tell because the screens for some reason came out a bit darker than in actuality but my characters eyes are modded to be from Naruto in his Sage/Kyuubi form for the otaku that know what that is, and then when I use certain shouts or powers I also have some modded 'aura' as well). Such an amazing thing we've done with mods and personal experiences with games; individual experiences.