Yeah honestly, I'm also blaming this one on improperly deinstalled mods. It's just not enough to disable them in the modmanager sometimes, and verrifying files does not fix any of the possible issues. Deinstalling a mod is several times more dangerous than installing one. Even updating them is risky.
This is why it's so incredibly important to vet your mods and read instructions carefully. Once your game is fucked, you have to go scorched earth. Delete anything and everything. The only game "without mods" is a genuine blank slate that never had any installed.
The biggest mod handling tip I can give someone is to only get more mods if you can bear losing old runs, and to start whatever new run with all chosen mods installed at the start. Only deinstall mods if you want to delete old runs, the same goes for updating them. If you're halfway picky, installing mods can be gentle on the game, but deinstalling never is. Nonetheless, some mods can be incompatible, so don't expect installs mid-run to always be okay.
When in doubt and forced to deinstall mid run, ask the creator of a mod for instruction. Unless they've already provided said instructions -- veteran mod makers usually do. Example instructions from a weapons mod: throw all modded gear down a cliff optimally, but at minimum make sure none is equipped.
