So This Is My First Attempt At A Rec List! It Is WinterIron And I Think I’ve Got A Decent Mix Of Short

How is Snape described in the books: a relatively complete compilation

Okay, so this is my attempt at gathering what we have regarding Severus Snape's appearance based on the HP books. It's long, since rowling loved obsessively writing about Snape's looks. It's likely I've missed something, but I hope not much. I didn't dive into what he's wearing or into his self-presentation, just his physical characteristics that are present in canon – people get stupid about that topic sometimes.

Disclaimer: body positivity/neutrality to everyone, I don't support JKR's lookism just as much as all of her other bigotry. Beauty is a deeply subjective concept, no features are objectively beautiful or ugly and none of them identify us as people. The way my imagination and your imagination recreate a picture from the identical textual description might be different.

Snape's nose is constantly described as "hooked":

○"Snape approached their table, stared down his hooked nose at the roots."

○"Snape stared down his hooked nose at Colin."

○"...as Snape swept by he looked down his hooked nose at it without comment" etc.

Altogether I found Snape's nose being called hooked 10 times in the series. There are places where we're shown it's rather big, but they aren't very definitive:

1) “Mr. Moony presents his compliments to Professor Snape, and begs him to keep his abnormally large nose out of other people’s business.” – Marauders map, so basically bullies behaving like bullies;

2) "...hatred which had, if possible, intensified last year, when Harry had helped Sirius escape right under Snape’s overlarge nose" – Harry is very mad at Snape and the phrase is clearly used figuratively, not as a direct appearance description;

3)"In the very center of the group Harry saw the dark, greasy-haired head and prominent nose of his least favorite teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Snape" – "prominent" is a broader conception while referring to size, I'd say;

4) "[Tonks'] nose swelled to a beaklike protuberance like Snape’s" – again, the size is mentioned, but not through the words "big" or "large" or "long", and the form is given more empathis.

Undoubtedly it's supposed to be on the bigger side, but it does not, in fact, seem to be "abnormally" large. Making it straight should be a crime though – how can you make anything about that man straight?..

Snape's black eyes are often described glittering or sparkling, but also empty and cold:

○"They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels"

○"Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes"

○“But why not join the feast afterward?” said Snape, his black eyes glittering in the candlelight"

○"He glanced at Snape, whose black eyes glinted, and looked quickly away."

○"He didn’t care that Snape’s face had gone rigid, the black eyes flashing dangerously."

○"Harry blinked. Snape’s eyes gleamed."

○“Don’t lie to me,” Snape hissed, his fathomless black eyes boring into Harry’s"

Snape's eyebrows aren't described in detail, we don't known if they're bushy or thin, but he does that raising one up thing:

○“Yes,” said Harry. “Who’s going to be teaching me?” Snape raised an eyebrow."

And he raises two as well:

○"Snape looked back at her, his eyebrows slightly raised"

○"Snape raised his eyebrows and his tone was sardonic as he asked, “Are you intending to let him kill you?”

Snape's skin is constantly described as sallow – about 11 times through the books. Whatever that word means. Is it like... muted and dull coloured with yellow undertones? Cool!

It's also described as pale, or white due to strong emotions:

○"An ugly flush suffused Snape’s pallid face."

○"Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs"

○"Snape’s pale face, illuminated by the flaming cabin, was suffused with hatred just as it had been before he had cursed Dumbledore."

○"As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped"

○"[Snape's face] was marble white and so still that when he spoke, it was a shock to see that anyone lived behind the blank eyes."

○"Snape’s sallow skin had gone the color of sour milk." (very poetic Harry, you should try writing poetry too)

Also idk what's an ugly flush (also: Harry saw the edge of Snape’s sallow face turn a nasty brick color, the vein in his temple pulsing more rapidly; a dull flush of color mounted the sallow cheeks as he looked at Lily), have never seen one in my life, but Snape's face canonically goes full red very quickly and this is the most important part of that meta don't forget about it folks.

His skin is described as greasy twice in the saga, but both times with not much credibility:

1) "Harry could see a vein flickering horribly on Snape’s greasy temple" – temple is the area of the face in close proximity to hair and we'll get there, although aren't Snape's "hair curtains" hiding the sides of his face, including temples? Is he wearing his it freaking braided or what? Overall, I'd say this is just another jab at his hair.

2)"Iwas watching him, his nose was touching the parchment,” said Sirius viciously. “There’ll be great grease marks all over it, they won’t be able to read a word" – Sirius can go fuck himself.

Harry does not comment that at any age there is acne or post-acne on Snape's face so I'd assume his skin isn't greasy. He has visible veins on his temples though (also no eyebags mentioned?? a crime).

Snape's lips are described as thin:

○“Now, now, Malfoy,” said Snape, though he couldn’t suppress a thin-lipped smile"

○"A muscle twitched unpleasantly at the corner of Snape’s thin mouth every time he looked at Harry"

○"The dungeon rang with the Slytherins’ laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape’s thin mouth."

Characteristics of Snape's teeth got two mentions.

○"Snape’s uneven, yellowish teeth were bared." PoA

○“Ten o’clock,” whispered Snape, with a smile that showed his yellow teeth. “Poor Gryffindor ... fourth place this year, I fear ...” HPB

(Also I've literally always hc'ed that Snape is a stress smoker, and since Voldemort came back Snape just started to destroy his enamel with fervour so it coloured up more, everyone should share my headcanons i prove them so well!!!)

Snape bares his teeth some other times ("I wouldn’t bet on that,” Harry murmured, watching Snape baring his teeth"; "It was scary: Snape’s lips were shaking, his face was white, his teeth were bared) or smiles (not pleasantly let me assure you) and most times Harry doesn't comment on it. Actually, it's hilarious how the very first time Harry saw Karkaroff he thought "his teeth were rather yellow", man, do you wanna steal Hermione parents' job? Also yellow teeth are mentioned twice for Sirius in PoA (and no one dares to not notice Gilderoy's perfect teeth, of course, he asked me to mention it). So I'd say Snape has moderately imperfect teeth like a working class kid he is, otherwise Harry would've probably commented on that as much as on Snape's hair, hence almost every time we encounter him.

(but I'm totally headcanoning high canine teeth for him, Snape deserves the privilege of having some more vampirish vibe for free)

Severus' body type and face are described as "thin":

○"He was a thin man with sallow skin, a hooked nose, and greasy, shoulder-length black hair"

○Snape was hanging upside down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs"

○"even Harry, who hated Snape, was startled at the expression twisting his thin, sallow face"

○"He had forgotten the details of Snape’s appearance in the magnitude of his crimes, forgotten how his greasy black hair hung in curtains around his thin face, how his black eyes had a dead, cold look (I fucking love that quote, have you forgotten his lesser crimes which are not looking the way you enjoy, Harry, after he committed bigger ones like murder? good god)

He isn't probably looking very thin, since that description mostly applies to his face. Rather logical, I mean he wears all those big flowy robes that make him look bigger.

Also Snape is average height like about 177 cm/5'10, he's shorter than Yaxley and Sirius, taller than "tall and slim" Narcissa, so somewhere in this range.

The fact that Severus has hunched posture is mentioned twice for a kid/teen!Snape:

○"He was on platform nine and three-quarters, and Snape stood beside him, slightly hunched, next to a thin, sallow-faced, sour-looking woman who greatly resembled him"

○"Round-shouldered yet angular, he walked in a twitchy manner that recalled a spider, his oily hair swinging about his face."

I didn't find any mentions in the books that adult!Snape had hunched posture. It is possible that, like many behaviors and habits, such as the way he speaks, moves, and perhaps writes, it had been deliberately changed by Snape himself.

His fingers are thin and long:

○Snape eyed Harry, tracing his mouth with one long, thin finger as he did so.

○Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, “Explain.” – yellow can be a way to call sallow skin; a result of working with potions (Snape having potions stained fingers is not book canon, which is a shame) or smoking. Them being thin is noted once, but that goes cohesively with his thinness overall.

The star of the show – Snape's hair, ofc. It gets more attention than James Potter's charachter development. The fact that it's greasy appears in the books minimum 17 times + it's called oily 2 times and dirty once when he's a 9yo kid. People who comment on that, except Harry in his head, are Sirius, Peter through the Map, Fred and George in DH ("Maybe he is, maybe he isn’t, but the fact remains he can move faster than Severus Snape confronted with shampoo when he wants to"), kinda Ron with grinning on Sirius' comment. Actually it's not described as greasy in "Spinners End" and "The Dark Lord Ascending" (so it might as well be your ordinary oily hair with a tad of drama from people who dislike Snape).

It's black – obviously, shoulder-length or "long", which I assume is just a variation for shoulder-length. It's often forming "curtains":

○"Snape went quiet, though his eyes still glinted malevolently through his curtain of greasy black hair."

○"Snape looked around at him, his face framed between curtains of greasy black hair."

○"A sliver of a man could be seen looking out at them, a man with long black hair parted in curtains around a sallow face and black eyes."

At the hilltop scene they're described as straggling:

○"Snape was wringing his hands: He looked a little mad, with his straggling black hair flying around him."

as opposed to being lank before:

○"His hair was lank and greasy and was flopping onto the table".

He had it poorly cut when he was a kid:

○“Definitely,” said Snape, and even with his poorly cut hair and his odd clothes, he struck an oddly impressive figure..."

So as an adult he supposedly cared enough to regularly cut his hair up to Harry's (fashionable) standard. It also doesn't look "dirty", like Harry calls internally his hair when Severus is 9.

Well, as someone with naturally oily hair, depression and neurodivent sensory issues, I can say that if your hair loosely hangs in "curtains" covering/framing your face, you're probably not doing that bad with it! There are a lot of headcanons about why Snape has greasy hair, but honestly, I don't understand why would he need an exuse? Having oily hair doesn't make you unhygienic, that's ridiculous, and there are no signs that Snape (noticeably) neglects his hygiene. Hair types exist, and some of them just need extra-spesial care to look "socially acceptable" or whatever, but people have the right to not bother about it. Whether his occupation and/or upbringing and/or mental health problems affected it – maybe to an extent, but excluding just genetics or physical well-being from it is kinda weird. Let different hair types live and be pretty.

Snape's mom was thin, sallow faced and sour looking, and Harry thinks Severus resembles her greatly; while Severus' hooked nose was inherited from Tobias – "a hook-nosed man was shouting at a cowering woman, while a small dark-haired boy cried in a corner". Harry also does think Eileen isn't pretty since she's described as a "skinny girl; ...she looked simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy brows and a long, pallid face" (so evidently that's not Harry's type aside from his prejudice to Snape. Harry's admiration towards Krum hadn't made Harry think he's attractive either. Just to remind you: "Viktor Krum was thin, dark, and sallow-skinned, with a large curved nose and thick black eyebrows. He looked like an overgrown bird of prey". Literally Snape's lost cousin).

Honestly, after going through those descriptions specifically, if I remove the evaluative vocabulary and the labels of ugly/nasty/unpleasant/etc., I don't really understand what exactly I should've found ugly? Snape is just not Harry's type of preferred visual, and on top of that they quickly developed a mutual dislike. Nevertheless, no one is obliged to transfer subjective ideas of the (author) protagonist to their own perception. Writing "ugly" after a characteristic doesn't make it "ugly".

That had been a long conclusion.

My short conclusion is that Severus Snape is a babygirl and Harry has poor taste (sorry, no hard feelings).

What do you think would have happened if Sally Jackson had decided to stand her ground and Defend Percy instead of using Gabe’s “foul mortal stench” to hide him. Like, Sally’s clear sighted (and if she isn’t I am 100% Certain she Would teach herself through whatever means necessary), she’d see the monsters coming. I think she would buy any scrap of Celestial Bronze she could get her hands on, teach herself various forms of martial arts and self-defense. She would plant cat mint in every window, because cats are also naturally Clear Sighted and Also suspicious as hell of monsters; the second any of the Neighborhood strays puff up and start growling Sally knows something is poking around where it shouldn’t be. And she gets Good at it. Like, Really Good.

And let’s say, one day, she finds three young half-bloods and an exhausted Satyr hiding in a dumpster, trying to escape a nearsighted Cyclops digging through the dumpster right next to theirs. Sally MamaBear Jackson is Not going to take that lying down. So, she gouges out the Cyclops’ eye and sends it packing, and leads these three little babies and their guardian protector up to her apartment. She lets them shower all that Dumpster Stank off, and the weeks of rough-living as they try to make their way down the coast. The two girls (whom she later learns are named Annabeth and Thalia) sleep on the pullout bed couch in the living room, and the boy (his name his Luke, and he’s So Protective if his little family) sleeps in Percy’s room on an old air matress Sally digs out of the closet. The Satyr (his name is Grover and he is So Tired, and Sally is Righteously Pissed that this Child has been sent out to take care of yet more children) sleeps curled up in the recliner after assuring Sally multiple times that he’s perfectly comfortable. The next morning Sally has a whole smorgasbord of breakfast foods ready, and these exhausted-relieved-Finally Hopeful-runaways descend upon it like a plague of locusts. Slowly, achingly slowly, they tell their story; how Annabeth is ignored by her father and downright neglected by her stepmom, how Thalia’s baby brother was Stolen from her just because he wasn’t Greek like here, how Luke’s mom doesn’t even recognize him anymore, how they are Desperate to get to Camp Halfblood: the last known safe-haven for Demigods like them. And Sally will Not Stand For This. So, she promises, on the River Styx to see them safely to Camp. And she gets them there.

And while her son, and his new friends, are tucked safely away at Camp Sally takes a jaunty little stroll on up to Olympus and absolutely REAMS these Olympians for how they treat their own children. All of them. Zeus tries to roll for intimidation and Sally laughs in his face, and she describes how she has dispatched Every. Single. Monster. That Dared to show its face on her doorstep. And she will NOT let another Monster disguised as a god mistreat these poor children any longer. Things are going to Change on Mount Olympus, or Sally Jackson herself will rip the Home of The Gods apart with her own bare hands. Don’t test her.

After that, Sally’s home becomes a safe-haven in its own right. The last boon for Demigods headed to Camp Halfblood. Where they are greeted with a smile and a warm hug, a plate full of food, and a warm bed to sleep in before the final leg of their journey.

I'm reblogging this just for that last sentence and all other fandoms and contexts I can imagine it in...

love seeing the beginnings of perseus "pay your fucking child support" jackson's crusade against the gods' parental negligence problem in ep 1 & 2 of the pjo show. the absolute KING of "my daddy gave me issues so HE'S about to HAVE issues"

Thinking about alcohol and alcohol tolerance in my lotr headcanons.

Cause like, okay weakest drinkers? Dwarves. Such a low alcohol tolerance, their drinks are like 0.5 to 0.7. The real hard hitters to them is like 1.2, and then you’re getting bold with it. During their journey, one of the dwarves offered Bilbo a sip of dwarven mead, and it was like fucking water to him, like he somehow got less drunk than he was before.

Humans, we’re humans. Just, average tolerance

Elves? Mainly wine drinkers this lot, and they have fairly high tolerance. Their beverages are usually like, 60%. In reality elves have like, average tolerance, they just have had like thousands of years to build it up.

Now Hobbits? Insane little dudes. Their drinks are actually lethal to most other species. Just as big of drinkers as they are eaters, mainly cause if they drink anything that’s not tailor made for hobbits, they will have to drink a lot to feel like anything. They have livers of steel this lot.

And orcs? Orcs don’t drink. Kay they working that none to five, they got jobs, they busy. They’re huge stoner bros, but alcohol is not their thing.

Looking for a fic

I’ve been lost in the rabbit hole for days looking for this story. It’s marvel’s, tony stark centric, I believe. I don’t remember much except that it’s set after civil war (maybe?) and Tony is BAMF, saving the world from alien all by himself. I also remember Carol Danver congratulating him on the treaty by uniting earth into one voice (type civilization 1 or something similar to it). Tony was kinda dubbed as king (or leader) of earth, something like that. Possibly Tony/Bucky pairing but I’m not too sure about that.

Hi. Does anyone know of a fic where Snape for x-reason uses the sword of Godric Gryffindor or is said to have Gryffindor traits in front of a good amount of people?

I just want chaos.

The idea of the hat considering your traits, but also the ones you most value is something I like. There are lots of opinions about Snape and the marauders and I think they are all right and wrong at the same time. All of them did a lot of shity things and some had more chances in life than others. Snape, in my opinion, had it hard but also burned many bridges with his own hands.

Ultimately I find his character more interesting, so is there any fic like this? I like Bamf!Snape. I don't mind pairings all that much but I'd rather for it not to be with Lily. It's nothing against her, simply don't really like the pairing.

Just, some people realising their own bias and misconceptions and freaking out. I can also picture Snape internaly freaking out and watching the sword/sorting hat as if it had personally insulted him (the hat probably did).

More feral Severus Snape?

Like, I already proposed a Severus that goes back in time and chooses to turn his back to the WW, but now I feel more like getting a Snape that takes a look around, realizes he's back, takes a deep breath, rolls up his sleves, cracks his neck and goes...

"Very well... Bring it on."

A bit like "Falling apart", but with a bit more crack, maybe?

He just doesn't give a fuck, he's got no more shits to give about what's going on. His goal is to have a quite, paceful and solitary life, but he concludes that, with the war going on, he won't get it.

So, he goes around with a single goal in mind. He does consider leaving Hogwarts altogether, but decides to stay just to freeload on the castle while he applies to take his OWL's and NEWT's earlier. He wants a life, after all.

The werewolf pranck? He laughed at Sirius face.

The lake incident? He blocked the levitating spell and punched Potter in the face.

Lucius trying to recruit him? Bleached Hair got a middle finger.

Slughorn trying to talk to him (a weak half-meaning attempt that was more insulting than anything)? An eyebrow raised and no words.

Detention? Ha! Sure... Who do this dumbasses think he is? (A student, Sev... They think you're a kid). He's got no time! He has a Dark Lord to stop!

And when Dumbledore wants to "speak" with him - read: Interrogate him on his latest activities that are getting him out of the castle and into the forest and Hogsmade (and all over Diagon and Knockturn Alley, plus many other places, though Albus doesn't need to know that) -, Severus speaks circles around the old man.

He's tired and angry, and can't stand people anymore, and he is going to get out of there and fix things so he won't have to ever put up with any of them again.

Everyone knows the movie Megamind, right?

I liked the trope of goofy villain who was not, in fact, good at being bad. Then he falls in love with someone and chooses to stop trying to be bad.

I also say "trying" because what the movie showed us that Megamind wasn't, in fact, bad. He was "given" that role and when he realised he couldn't escape it, he embraced it.

But what if that trope was done more seriously?

I'm not talking about Megamind specifically. It could be used for any original story or ff, but it could work.

One where a villain, and I'm talking about a real villain, one that has done some serious shit, meets someone new.

Or maybe a new group of people. This could work as a romantic trope, found family or both.

And this person or people they meet is/are... a bit strange maybe. They are not evil, not even bad, but they have an odd moral standing. They are good with some people, with those they care about, maybe they are even involved in some charities, not even to commit fraud, but because they genuinely want to help.

But they also understand that sometimes, people do awful shit, sometimes a person is forced to act and do horrible things. Sometimes people choose to step over some heads in order to reach some goal. And it is... It's not "ok", but they get it and keep on living.

And sometimes, when they feel cornered and/or with no option, they are also willing to crush some skulls themselves.

And when this villain starts hanging out with them, they start finding things they have in common and start enjoing their time togheter. Inadvertently, villain starts remembering what it was like before, how he felt, how he acted, the things that mattered before, his main, true goal and the actual reason villain is doing all he's doing, the reason they've done everything they've done.

They also find out that this new person (or people) get it too. Maybe they won't help, or maybe they will, but that's not what's important.

And without realising, villain starts relaxing around who they've met. They start talking more, they start laughing and smiling and acting more goofy.

They don't change. They still are who they are and still act the way they've always have. But, when they are with that someone, they are happier, and when they are asked to stay for lunch they do so knowing that it's ok, they are welcome, there's no ulterior motive, they are safe. When they are taken to a party or a birthday they have fun. And everyone there knows who they are and what they do. Half of them think it's justified, the other half doesn't care. And when they are asked to help with some cause, they don't mind. It's always fun when that person is around (besides, who wouldn't want to play with the pups on the animal shelter).

They are still a villain, though some people have started labeling them as a "renegade", a "rogue" or his least favorite "anti-hero". They are not. They're still a villain, they just have little... moments, reserved for a select few.

Those few keep them centered, they help villain to remember their goal and prevent them from falling pray to a futile seek for power or control. They are a villain, they just have their priorities clear.

And on the day to day, what if they started smiling more? What if they remember to thank the cashier or the waitress in a cafe? They know what it's like to work serving people who treat you like another piece of furniture in the restaurant. What if they, sometimes, give some spare change to a homless person on the street, or if they donate some old clothes from time to time? They've got no use for them.

They are a villain. Some even would say THE villain. They are not good. They just... know how it feels when you are tired or feel a bit... helpless.

They forgot, for a long time. But they remember now. They were reminded.

It's not sympathy and definitely not empathy, obviously. What are you even saying?

They are bad, ruthless, cruel...

But sometimes they remember how it was before for them and just for a moment they simply... forget that they are bad. It's nothing important.

And if it makes them just a little warm, a little content and maybe... proud, when they do it; when they see the other smile at them for being able to share whatever this is; when they make a small difference for someone they don't even know, well... That's noone business.

I want to ramble about Doctor Who. I've only seen the last one with the 15th Doctor, so I don't get references to the previous ones, but I want to talk about it!

Now, is Ruby human? Because I think most of the fandom would disagree. In the latest chapter (the Legend of Ruby), it was mentioned that it is posible to pass as a human even when someone is testing your DNA.

Also, who says the person who left Ruby at Ruby Road was actually Ruby's parent? They could be a herald.

Because it is becoming increasingly repetitive that Ruby simply doesn't die.

In the end of 73 yards, Ruby seemingly went back to the point when she broke the fae-ring, but how much of it was the ring?

Ruby said that she'd been WAITING for the woman who turned up to be herself. She waits. Who else in the series is waiting? And what if Ruby's neighbour was there to watch her?

I think it'd be interesting for Ruby to be somehow related to Sutekh or maybe be some kind of sub-creation if them.

It's like Ruby is somehow related to Sutekh being able to pass and reach this world.

Maybe what I'm saying is something that someone else already said or maybe is pure nonsense, but Ruby "died" 3 times already.

With Maestro, Ruby should've been robbed of all music, but somehow the song at her birth is ingrained in her in a way a deity can't take away from her. So maybe a mayor deity put it there?

Then Ruby gets shot and yes, she got revived by the ambulance, but it was a bit too long before they got to hack the system and get it to help Ruby.

And then she died and went back in time in a loop, but how do we know it was because of the fae-ring and not because of Ruby herself? What if the fae-ring only traped her in a specific time-space (and that's why it didn't snow) , but it was Ruby the one who couldn't die?