I Had A Similar Idea, But Also Very Different. Also I Want To Keep This :)

My moot on twt posted this...

I'm not okay :(

Ready to rec some awesome fics that I read this month!! Feel free to add on with some of your own Bagginshield recs. 😁

March 2024 Rec List

G Rated:

A Home, A Pack, A Place of Love by Lucigoo89 (WIP, 4K, 2ch.)- You can't keep me away from puppy fics! Deciding to run away from home, Corgi Bilbo takes puppy Frodo and escapes into the streets which might not be that friendly to the small animals. The love between Frodo and Bilbo is already so adorable and we haven't even met any company members yet!

To Court a King by Porphyrios (Complete, 19K, 1ch.)- This fic has been recced a lot recently and it's totally worth it! Bilbo and Thorin have decided to court, only some are worried about the worthiness of such a match. I have reread this fic twice just this month alone.

T Rated:

Desperate Magic by BeautifulFiction (Complete, 5K, 1ch.)- This is one of those fics that is worth revisting again and again. On the brink of death, Bilbo sees it in himself to tend to Thorin's hair. It's such a unique kind of Everybody Lives fic, and I just get overwhelmed by the love in this story.

Frozen Heart by snowmissus (soul_of_blaze) (WIP, 7K, 3ch.)- When Danny first promoted this fic on tumblr I was 100% invested. Erebor is trapped in a forever winter and Bilbo is brought to see if he can help. I can't wait to see what all is in store for this fic because the setup is spectacular.

Golden Hearts Bleed Faster by LordOfTheRazzles (WIP, 3K, 1ch.)- I've been waiting for Razzy to release this fic. Bilbo Baggins is the Prince of the Shire and in need of a new bodyguard, Thorin. Bilbo is just so sassy and you can tell this is going to lead to some good antics between the duo.

There and Not Back Again (or, The Saving of Erebor) by femmbingley (WIP, 164K, 49ch.)- There's so much to say about this fic. Post-BOTFA dwarven politics where Bilbo has assumed the duties of the consort which makes things more difficult for Dain. I really love the characterizations and I just can't get enough of this fic!

M Rated:

A heart of stone and Fire in his soul by Lucigoo89 (Complete, 3K, 1ch.)- This fic is chock full of beautiful metaphors. Bilbo's introspection on his thoughts of Thorin during their first standoff with Azog. Honestly, this is one of my favorite Goo fics.

E Rated:

Kurdu 'abadaz by LordOfTheRazzles (WIP, 34K, 6ch.)- This is unlike any Post-BOTFA fic I've ever read. The magic of the Arkenstone brings Thorin back to life for a purpose: help the trapped souls of Erebor. There's such a touching scene between Thorin and his amad that has me in pieces over this fic!

Sleep Alone; Start All Over by vicious_summer (WIP, 56K, 3ch.)- I'm still thoroughly enjoying this fic so far. After an accident, Bilbo is the one who ends up losing about seven years worth of memories including the fact that he’s married to the King Under the Mountain. I’m just always so impressed with vicious_summer’s writing style as it has a more Book!Bilbo vibe.

This are carnivorous plants...

There was a fair in a part of the city and there were a couple of really nice stalls. One of them was of carnivorous plants. Just carnivorous plants.

The man in charge of the stall was really nice and explained to me when I asked about the one in the second photo. If you see this post and see that what I am saying is wrong, feel free to say so.

Anyways, he said that there was like a substance on the "mouth" of the plant. I understood that the insect was sort of attracted to it. Then I'm not sure if the insect got like stuck and started to slide down on the tube where the liquid of the plant got sort of digestive.

My explanation sucks and I should have checked on google. Truly, I simply thought that the man was really polite and good for explaining that to me and that him having his little stall filled with big and small carnivorous plants (the photos are of the small baby-carnivorous-plants that are no bigger than the palm of my hand because I liked them) was kind of great and wanted to put it here.

So...

If magic is unexplained science, is science just explained magic?

Magic is real?

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.

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).

I saw a propt on insta and now this happpened

Ok, so I was scrolling on insta the other day and found this prompt about an autor who got sick or hurt or something and was about to d¡e.

Thing is that the characters on their book try to save them and the one who is more eager to help is the villain.

Now, that's great, but then my fanfiction-addict arse started to think.

AU. Modern Era. Harry Potter. With Severus Snape as the autor and Tom M. Riddle as the villain and them completly ooc.

Then everything kinda went crazy.

I imagined a scene were Sev wakes up in his hospital room, maybe in the middle of the freaking night and sees this person there, but like, he cannot make them out until they get closer and when they do he recognises Riddle asap.

Then, they both start talking. You know, the old, what are you doing here? How are you here?

Then Tom explains that he was the only one who got to this world, the others were probably still trying, but...

Point is, if Sev faded, so would the word he was creating. That would be until he finished the story.

Then maybe Tom tries to convince/threatens Severus so he would give him a good ending.

Severus says no and Tom kinda blows up.

Sev dosn't really react to the outburst, he knows this time is more bark than bite.

Tom pretty much plummets in the chair next to the bed and Sev explains to him that even though the story still lacked an epiloge, the last chapter was already sent to the editor and was pretty much irreversibly part of the saga.

There is silence, of course. Sev really needs to process the madness that is all that. Tom needs to come to terms with the fact that he is basically doomed.

Tom is the first one to speak.

"Can I at least know what will happen?" He sort of demands-pleads.

Severus answers with a sigh.

"I can tell you that the chapter ends with your plans ruined and you being taken by the aurors."

"Typical" the villain scoffs.

Severus chuckles, unable to stop himself and quite unconcerned about it.

Tom sighs. Then thinks about something else that has been nagging his brain for the past couple of weeks he has been there.

"Who am I here?" He blurts out of the blue, for Severus, at least.

"What do you mean?"

"Every person that is related somehow to you in this word is nearly a copy of someone in my world," he explains. "Sans me, apparently."

"Oh, that," Severus smiles. "No, you won't find anyone like you here. All the main characters in your home are based on people I know except you. You are the only one I fully created."

Tom opens his mout to reply but finds himself nearly speechless, not so much for what he was told, but because of the apparent warmth he was being addresed with.

Severus then frowned and pursed his lips. A painful grimace takes over hia face as realisation hits him. He closes his eyes and breathes deeply before looking at the man in front of him.

"I'm so sorry, Riddle."

Tom blinks before getting back his wits and replying with the most nonchalance he could muster. "It's not your fault you cannot change the end now," he said shrugging as a bonnus.

"Is not that," said the autor. "All the things I put you through without knowing..."

"If it wasn't you, it would've been someone else," replied the other.

"How so?" Now Severus was curious.

"It's complicated..." sighed the villain while leaning on the chair, a hand slightly pulling at his hair in exhaustion.

Getting the hint, Severus just nodded and dorpped the topic.

"And who are you? In the story, I mean..." asked Tom then.

"Oh! I'm Tobias Snape."

"The potion profesor?" inquired Tom with a frown. Both eyebrows arched at the answering nod. "You don't look like him."

"I guess not," chuckled the other.

"You don't act like him either," stated the man sitting on a chair, watching as the autor downrigth laughed at his last comment.

Then the man smiled sadly as he explained. "I guess the way I wrote the people in the book are the way I percieve the people in here."

The pause after that was tense and Tom could not help himself.

"Shit! You need therapy!"

Tom actually cringed at what he said and the expression on the other man's face. That until Severus burst out in damn giggles.

"I knew you were blunt, but...!" he tried to say beetwen chuckles.

"And who's to blame, huh?" replied the other, failing in supressing a smile.

"Who else have you met?" asked Severus suddenly.

Upon looking at him, Tom reached the insane conclussion that Prince was not worried, he just wanted to know.

"I think I met pretty much everyone." Whatever face he made after speaking must have betrayed his thoughts, if Princes' wince was to be considered. He shrugged before replying, reminding himself in his head that this person definitly knew what an asshole he could be. "Honestly, Lily is way more pleasant in my world. James and Sirius though...," he didn't try to hide the disdain in his voice. "I have never met someone so unpleasent, and that is saying something! You went too easy on them!" By that point, Severus was chuckling again.

Like this they spent hours, comparing people and stories of their worlds.

It was a bit outputting meeting someone for the first time with that person already aware of every little detail of your life. Even more so when said person did not run away.

Eventually, they didn't have anything else to talk about, and Tom still had to go back to his world. Severus could read it in his eyes, the moment Tom was readying himself to go, to give him some parting words before leaving.

"What if...?" Asked Severus suddenly. He licked his lips, overly conscious of the attention Tom was giving him. "What if I could give you a way out?"

"But you said you can't change the story," replied Tom, confused.

"I also said that the epiloge is still unfinished." Severus started tangling his fingers on the blancket draped around him, nerviously trying to think of anything that could-. His face lit up with a smile. "I cannot make you win, but I can make you scape."

Tom clenched one fist, hope swelling in his chest while he tried to keep it down.

"There is nowhere for me to go, Prince."

"Call me, Severus," blurted out the other without thinking while reaching for the notebook and pen on the bedside table oposite where Tom was sitting. "And you are rigth, there's nowhere in your world you can go, that's why you will start anew in whatever world you choose."

Tom's mind was spinning. He had already accepted the fact that he was done. Now he may had a way out, but it felt surreal, too easy. Heck! He didn't even had that much hope before reaching the building they where in. Besides... "I could only make it here because you were about to pass!"

"I can make another way. You know I can," said Severus, frantically scribling with his pen. "A portal that will take you wherever you wish to go, where noone will ever be able to follow..."

Tom tried and failed in speaking a couple of times.

"Prin- Severus," amended, remembering the other's words a while ago. "Why are you doing this?"

Severus finally left his notes in favor of the man sitting next to him. The dejected and confused expression he found told him more than anyone could belive.

Riddle was not expecting to be helped. He probably never did.

Of course he never did! Severus was well aware of the reason- of the reasons Riddle had to not trust him or anyone else, really.

Severus smiled warmly at Tom. "Did you know you were always one of my favorites?"

Tom watched unable to reply, as Severus' hand tangled briefly in his hair (too briefly).

That's how, in the end of the story, Tom was able to open a portal to a world unknown to any other person in his. Noone knew how he did it and the reserch was lost forever, a last tiny victory for the nearly convict.

Severus stayed a week to be checked. His 'magical' recovery was on every news you'd find.

When the time to leave came, the nurse told him about his family in the lobby.

Lily must have gotten out of work early.

Walking to meet her, he was disconcerted by the lack of red hair in his view.

He looked around, willing the universe to free him of the posibility of Lupin being the person offering him a ride home.

"Ready to go?" asked a voice behind his back.

He turned so fast that the world lost focus for a second before he met the eyes of the man leaning agaist the wall, already carring a bag with severus' belongings.

"Riddle?" he whispered desbelieving.

"Call me Tom," answered the other with a half smile.

Severus huffed a laugh while aproaching him, leaning in to retrive his bag. The other swung it over his shoulder and out of his reach, walking towards the exit so the autor would follow.

"Don't think that I'm not happy to see you," started Severus. "But why are you in this world again?"

They made it to a car. Tom retrieved the car's key from his pocket and Severus chose to adress that later.

"You tell me," snarked the ex-villian while putting Severus bag on the back of the car.

"I wrote for you to go wherever you wanted to go," Severus tried to explain and understand himself.

Tom only hummed blandly and opened the door of the car for Severus to get in.

He then walked around the car and got in himself, settling in the driver's sit and igniting the engine.

"I wanted you to start again where you cuold enjoy your life... wher you could be-" he cut himself, feeling sad all of a sudden. Did he fail Tom?

"I know," Tom interrumped his depressing thoughts.

Severus looked at him, only to be met with a small, yet warm smile.

They got to a red ligth and the car stopped. Tom reached out and, hesitanly interlaced his fingers with Severus'.

Marveling at the sight that were their hands togethet, Severus was finally hit with realisation.

He looked at Tom and smiled openly at him.

The light changed to green and Tom let go of Severus while asking for directions. They had to get home.

Bilbo: Do you ever have one of those days when you're holding a stick

Bilbo: And e v e r y o n e looks like a piñata?

So this is my first attempt at a Rec list! It is WinterIron and I think I’ve got a decent mix of short and long fics, fluff and angst, sad and happy. Please bear (Bare?) with me if the formatting on this list is weird, this is my first time posting anything like this. A lot is under the cut so I don't clog peoples feeds.

Truth Serum Doesn't Discriminate

 By: SummerRoses0612

Word Count:   8,809

Great if you like emotionally dense and harder topic fics. MIND THE TAGS!!!!!

The Avengers have never been a family, no matter what they advertise to the world. What happens when the truth isn't anything like it seems? Or The one where Tony Stark gets drugged with truth serum and the Avengers realize they never even cared to look behind the masks the engineer wore.

Talk Dirty To Me

Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar)

Word Count:  2,255

Such a fun fic! its lighthearted but not so far into crack that you can’t take it seriously 

Imagine Bucky is smitten with Tony at first sight but Tony's not single. Bucky copes by telling Natasha about all the dirty things he wants to do to Tony in Russian. After Tony's dumped, Bucky still talks about him in Russian only now it's half dirty and half romantic. Natasha finally gets fed up with the morons and says something to Tony in Russian, who replies back (in front of Bucky), because oops, he's fluent and understood all the conversations before. AND Bucky and Natasha talking in Russian about how much Bucky loooves Tony without realizing that Tony speaks Russian as well. Being the kind of person he was now, Bucky had crossed happy endings, fairness, and a whole mess of other things off of his list of beliefs since HYDRA got their hooks in him. Shoving the disappointment down wasn’t even that hard. He’d had plenty of practice. It was just… “What a shame,” he sighed in Russian as Tony walked past, giving them a wave over his shoulder as he headed into the kitchen. “The things I would do to that ass.”

speak my language

imposterhuman

Word Count:  2,181

I’ve got a thing for polygot Tony fics and you can strip that out of my cold dead hands lol. Also oblivious Buck is always a plus

5 times tony pretended not to understand bucky + 1 time bucky realized it ft. pining in foreign languages

Cuddle Duty

Finely Honed (jaqen_hgar)

Word Count:  3,126

This is so fluffy and full of pining but not angsty enough to be a hard read! Such a good quick feel good fic to read!

Sleep-deprived Tony is a cuddle monster that glomps onto the first person he finds. Bucky has a crush on Tony and tries to always make sure he is the first person sleep-deprived Tony finds, thinking a cuddle session is the only time he'll get to have the genius in his arms. The one thing no one had felt the need to warn him about was also the only thing for which he’d have actually appreciated a heads up. Tony liked to cuddle. Looking at him, you wouldn’t have pegged him as the cuddly type. Nothing about him looked cuddly. He wouldn’t let people hand him stuff, even with his improved mood he hung back half the time, as if he wasn’t part of the team. The other half he got so in your face some of them might have missed the hanging back. Nothing prepared him for the sight of a zombie-like Tony staggering into the common area and latching onto Clint (of all people!) like a limpet.

Bad Days

NotEvenCloseToStraight

Word Count:  1,975

This is so cute and I love fics that personify the Winter Soldier as dfferent fRom Bucky.

Prompt: Bucky likes Tony, but is too scared to tell him. What he doesn't know is that every time he has a "winter soldier" moment, he is constantly protecting tony and not letting anyone near him, so tony already knows that Bucky likes him ("genius, remember?"). Bucky finally gets up the courage to talk to Tony, only for Tony to tell him what's been going on and he's been waiting for Bucky to be comfortable enough to actually tell him. Happy ending! I've been on a winter soldier binge (thanks to the alpha WS you did!!) and I just love the thought of Ws being triggered in the tower and while everyone is creating a perimeter etc Tony walks in sleep deprived and due to how adorable he looks Ws aggressively cuddles and protects this sleepy cuteness! ******** A quick fic of Tony enjoying how beefy Bucky is ********* Bucky panicking bc he can feel the WS creeping in & the team being shocked at how the WS in basically in love with Tony & how he is protective of him

Four Strings and Second Chances

Vashoth

Word Count:  35,439

This is legitimately one of the best WinterIron fics I’ve ever read and I want the entirety of it engraved on my gravestone lol

It was reluctance to let one of his finest inventions ever out of his grasp that made him take a couple days over a week to send the arm to Pepper’s office. But all things considered, Tony figured that sending finest prosthetic that had ever come into existence--literally grasping an olive branch--was one of the classiest gifts he’d ever given. He’d included a note and everything. ‘Barnes, Can help with installation. Or not. Up to you. --Stark'

Such Sweet Revenge

ali_aliska

Word Count:  167,714

I think this might be the best fic I’ve read to date to be honest with you. Its so so good!

When the Rogues are back in the States after being pardoned, the New Avengers want nothing to do with them and as far as Tony is concerned, if he never speaks to them again, it'll be too soon. After all, he didn't spend the last year putting himself (and his family) back together only for his former co-workers to ruin all of his hard work. But then he gets a hand-written letter from the Winter Soldier himself, apologizing for the events that transpired and an off-handed comment from Rhodey about Rogers failing to take care of an obviously miserable Bucky Barnes sets in motion Tony's new, oh-so-evil plan to get some payback. After all, what better revenge than to steal the Winter Soldier away from his best friend? The only problem: Tony sucks at being vengeful, but apparently he's an expert at inadvertently falling in love.

So that’s It for now. Make sure to leave your authors Kudos and comments! If anyone has any pairings they want to see, suggestions on improving formatting, or anything else let me know. :) Until Next Time, Fynn.

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.