Welcome back to the weekly discussion, now on Mondays (for my convenience)! You can find past discussions here. We intend for these discussions to be ongoing so, please, join in at any time! We ask you, as usual, to keep the rules in mind.

RULES

1. Be respectful. With discussion of mods come strong opinions about said mods! Try to be mindful of your fellow community members.
2. Debate maturely. You may find yourself in disagreement with or correcting others, but be nice! If everyone keeps a good attitude, we'll be better able to help each other discover awesome mods.
3. Keep the discussion relevant. When these threads stay consistent, they do a much better job of serving their purposes of dialogue on and reference for the topic at hand. Please read the topic description and do your best to keep the conversation on track!
4. Provide links to the mods you discuss. People like when they can easily find what you're talking about, and are all the more likely to take a look if you give them a source! Information about what the mod does, why it fits the list, and its benefits and drawbacks are all also good things to help inform those not in the know.

TOPIC

In completing the main quest, the Blades are a faction that the Dragonborn inevitably must deal with. Their leader, Delphine, is arguably one of the game's most controversial characters, and the quest she gives to you kill Paarthurnax was one of modders' first targets for change. With their base of Sky Haven Temple and the Dragonborn as their charge, the Blades are quite core to the world of Skyrim! There's a lot there, so there's a lot we can augment.

• Paarthurnax - Quest Expansion: I think we all knew this was bound to show up here! One of the latest (and, arguably, greatest) additions to the Paarthurnax-sparing arsenal, this mod is a great option for those looking to give themselves better options in the classic dilemma.
• Esbern Voice Consistency Fix: Did you notice this issue when you first played through the main quest? I can't say I did, but for those… eagle-eared? I imagine it would be tough to unhear. Unlike our first shout-out, which uses splicing, this uses the rather hotly debated ElevenLabs voicing method to replace lines recorded by a second, uncredited voice actor. I figure, if it bothers me in my next playthrough, I'll probably run it, but if not I'll be fine without.
• Blades Armors and Weapons Retexture: The original Blades armour honestly sticks out like a sore thumb to me among the Skyrim armory. Although vanilla is really more visually consistent than a significant amount of retextures, the game's armour is one of the places where differences in game artists' renditions is more obvious, and I feel that the Blades armour fits in worst with the rest of the aesthetic. Confession: I also simply don't love the textures. Thank goodness, then, for this! We love series of armour retextures that unify aesthetics. With one great artist at the helm, things are sure to look good.