Late to comment, but anyway... That image of short and skinny Harry has stayed with me, too, and while it's been my headcanon that he grew to be about as tall as his father, I've thought that this was not taller than average height.
It's interesting to be reminded of some canon hints at his height – and people's ideas about the looks of the next-gen characters, whom I still don't know well.
I can't remember ever thinking about the Weasleys' eye colours. In general, I hardly pay attention to people's eye colours in real life either, and I find it natural to mention an eye colour in fic only when the viewpoint character is gazing lovingly in someone's eyes (and even then not the colour of the gazing character's own eyes :)).
I guess the challenge of including suitable description of appearance applies to other than smutty fic, too. Perhaps I'm a combination of bloke and woman traits in this sense, as I want to offer some material for visuals – or even more generally include the viewpoint character's sense perceptions – of (other) characters as well as of settings. It's interesting to look for a natural way to include some of these as early in the first scene as possible, so that the reader doesn't start developing different ideas (particularly not of where the characters are). In fanfic there's the problem that readers often have preconceptions of what the characters look like. That's why I think it's best not to include anything too exact about permanent features (while it's probably better not to burden the reader with too many details, and to also let the reader imagine the exact arrangement of the furniture unless it's essential for the following action). Above all, there must be a reason for the viewpoint character to pay attention to what I'm describing, and that's usually related to emotions. A strong emotion can make the character think about the look of another one's hair or even their own gaunt face or stupid outfit, even though they both know what they look like.
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It's interesting to be reminded of some canon hints at his height – and people's ideas about the looks of the next-gen characters, whom I still don't know well.
I can't remember ever thinking about the Weasleys' eye colours. In general, I hardly pay attention to people's eye colours in real life either, and I find it natural to mention an eye colour in fic only when the viewpoint character is gazing lovingly in someone's eyes (and even then not the colour of the gazing character's own eyes :)).
I guess the challenge of including suitable description of appearance applies to other than smutty fic, too. Perhaps I'm a combination of bloke and woman traits in this sense, as I want to offer some material for visuals – or even more generally include the viewpoint character's sense perceptions – of (other) characters as well as of settings. It's interesting to look for a natural way to include some of these as early in the first scene as possible, so that the reader doesn't start developing different ideas (particularly not of where the characters are). In fanfic there's the problem that readers often have preconceptions of what the characters look like. That's why I think it's best not to include anything too exact about permanent features (while it's probably better not to burden the reader with too many details, and to also let the reader imagine the exact arrangement of the furniture unless it's essential for the following action). Above all, there must be a reason for the viewpoint character to pay attention to what I'm describing, and that's usually related to emotions. A strong emotion can make the character think about the look of another one's hair or even their own gaunt face or stupid outfit, even though they both know what they look like.
Thank you for this chance for rambling!