diff --git a/backend/app/services/post_feed_service.py b/backend/app/services/post_feed_service.py
index f83d0f0..07d5b68 100644
--- a/backend/app/services/post_feed_service.py
+++ b/backend/app/services/post_feed_service.py
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@ from ..models import (
     PostAttachment,
     Source,
 )
+from ..utils.html_sanitize import sanitize_post_html
 from ..utils.text import html_to_plain, truncate_at_word
 from .gallery_service import thumbnail_url
 from .pagination import decode_cursor, encode_cursor
@@ -191,6 +192,10 @@ class PostFeedService:
         atts_map = await self._attachments_for([post.id])
         item = self._to_dict(post, artist, source, thumbs_map, atts_map)
         item["description_full"] = html_to_plain(post.description)
+        # Sanitized HTML body for faithful (semantic) rendering in the post view;
+        # detail-only (the feed list stays lightweight plain text). None when the
+        # post has no body.
+        item["description_html"] = sanitize_post_html(post.description)
         return item
 
     # --- composition helpers ---------------------------------------------
diff --git a/backend/app/utils/html_sanitize.py b/backend/app/utils/html_sanitize.py
index d660a5c..5748a5e 100644
--- a/backend/app/utils/html_sanitize.py
+++ b/backend/app/utils/html_sanitize.py
@@ -8,10 +8,23 @@ bleach is deprecated upstream and intentionally not used.
 
 import nh3
 
+# A faithful-but-safe set: enough to reproduce the SEMANTIC look of a scraped
+# post body (headings, lists, quotes, code, inline images, links, line breaks +
+# inline emphasis) without layout-injection wrappers. `div`/`span` are
+# deliberately NOT allowed — their text is preserved by nh3 and they only carry
+# source-site layout/styling we don't want to import (a test pins this).
 ALLOWED_TAGS = {
-    "p", "a", "br", "em", "strong", "b", "i", "ul", "ol", "li", "blockquote",
+    "p", "a", "br", "em", "strong", "b", "i", "u", "s",
+    "ul", "ol", "li", "blockquote",
+    "h1", "h2", "h3", "h4", "h5", "h6", "hr",
+    "pre", "code", "img", "figure", "figcaption",
 }
-ALLOWED_ATTRIBUTES = {"a": {"href", "title"}}
+ALLOWED_ATTRIBUTES = {
+    "a": {"href", "title", "target"},
+    "img": {"src", "alt", "title", "width", "height"},
+}
+# http/https for hotlinked source images today; relative URLs (e.g. a local
+# `/api/...` src once inline images are captured) pass through nh3 untouched.
 ALLOWED_URL_SCHEMES = {"http", "https"}
 
 
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/posts/PostCard.vue b/frontend/src/components/posts/PostCard.vue
index c38c6da..0a3728f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/posts/PostCard.vue
+++ b/frontend/src/components/posts/PostCard.vue
@@ -63,8 +63,16 @@
           Post {{ post.external_post_id }}
         </h3>
 
+        <!-- Faithful (semantic) body render once expanded: backend-sanitized
+             HTML (headings, lists, links, inline images). Collapsed and the
+             no-detail fallback stay plain text. -->
+        <div
+          v-if="hasDescription && descExpanded && descHtml"
+          class="fc-post-card__desc fc-post-card__desc--html"
+          v-html="descHtml"
+        />
         <p
-          v-if="hasDescription" ref="descEl"
+          v-else-if="hasDescription" ref="descEl"
           class="fc-post-card__desc"
           :class="{ 'fc-post-card__desc--clamped': !descExpanded }"
         >{{ descText }}</p>
@@ -190,6 +198,9 @@ const descEl = ref(null)
 
 const hasDescription = computed(() => !!props.post.description_plain)
 const fullDescription = computed(() => detail.value?.description_full || null)
+// Backend-sanitized HTML body (detail-only). Drives the faithful render once
+// expanded; falls back to plain text when detail isn't loaded.
+const descHtml = computed(() => detail.value?.description_html || null)
 const descText = computed(() =>
   descExpanded.value
     ? (fullDescription.value || props.post.description_plain)
@@ -219,7 +230,9 @@ onBeforeUnmount(() => { if (ro) { ro.disconnect(); ro = null } })
 
 async function toggleDesc () {
   if (!descExpanded.value) {
-    if (props.post.description_truncated && !fullDescription.value && !detail.value) {
+    // Fetch detail on first expand to get the sanitized HTML body (and the full
+    // plain text) — render the formatted body, not just the truncated preview.
+    if (!detail.value) {
       try {
         detail.value = await postsStore.getPostFull(props.post.id)
       } catch { /* render the truncated text rather than nothing */ }
@@ -369,6 +382,58 @@ function formatBytes (n) {
 @container (min-width: 800px) {
   .fc-post-card__desc--clamped { -webkit-line-clamp: 5; }
 }
+/* Faithful HTML body (expanded). Drop the plain-text pre-wrap and style the
+   semantic tags the backend sanitizer allows. :deep() pierces scoped CSS to
+   reach the v-html subtree. */
+.fc-post-card__desc--html { white-space: normal; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(p) { margin: 0 0 0.6em; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(p:last-child) { margin-bottom: 0; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h1),
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h2),
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h3),
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h4),
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h5),
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h6) {
+  margin: 0.8em 0 0.4em;
+  line-height: 1.25;
+  font-weight: 700;
+}
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h1) { font-size: 1.3rem; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h2) { font-size: 1.2rem; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h3) { font-size: 1.1rem; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h4),
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h5),
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(h6) { font-size: 1rem; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(a) {
+  color: rgb(var(--v-theme-accent));
+  text-decoration: underline;
+  word-break: break-word;
+}
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(img) {
+  max-width: 100%;
+  height: auto;
+  border-radius: 6px;
+  margin: 0.4em 0;
+}
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(ul),
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(ol) { margin: 0 0 0.6em; padding-left: 1.4em; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(li) { margin: 0.15em 0; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(blockquote) {
+  margin: 0.6em 0;
+  padding-left: 0.8em;
+  border-left: 3px solid rgb(var(--v-theme-on-surface-variant));
+  color: rgb(var(--v-theme-on-surface-variant));
+}
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(pre) {
+  background: rgba(var(--v-theme-on-surface), 0.06);
+  padding: 0.6em; border-radius: 6px; overflow-x: auto;
+}
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(code) { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.85em; }
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(hr) {
+  border: 0; border-top: 1px solid rgb(var(--v-theme-on-surface-variant));
+  margin: 0.8em 0; opacity: 0.4;
+}
+.fc-post-card__desc--html :deep(figure) { margin: 0.4em 0; }
 .fc-post-card__desc--missing {
   font-style: italic;
   color: rgb(var(--v-theme-on-surface-variant));
diff --git a/tests/test_html_sanitize.py b/tests/test_html_sanitize.py
index f6a9139..63eeeee 100644
--- a/tests/test_html_sanitize.py
+++ b/tests/test_html_sanitize.py
@@ -36,3 +36,19 @@ def test_javascript_href_dropped():
     out = sanitize_post_html('<a href="javascript:alert(1)">x</a>')
     assert "javascript:" not in out
     assert "x" in out  # text preserved, dangerous href removed
+
+
+def test_headings_lists_and_images_survive():
+    out = sanitize_post_html(
+        '<h2>Title</h2><p>x</p>'
+        '<img src="https://cdn.test/a.jpg" alt="art" width="200">'
+        '<ul><li>one</li></ul><blockquote>q</blockquote>'
+    )
+    assert "<h2>" in out
+    assert '<img' in out and 'src="https://cdn.test/a.jpg"' in out and 'alt="art"' in out
+    assert "<li>" in out and "<blockquote>" in out
+
+
+def test_image_javascript_src_dropped():
+    out = sanitize_post_html('<img src="javascript:alert(1)" alt="x">')
+    assert "javascript:" not in out
diff --git a/tests/test_post_feed_service.py b/tests/test_post_feed_service.py
index eb70f55..064b000 100644
--- a/tests/test_post_feed_service.py
+++ b/tests/test_post_feed_service.py
@@ -419,6 +419,24 @@ async def test_get_post_returns_full_description(db):
     assert len(item["description_full"]) > 280
 
 
+@pytest.mark.asyncio
+async def test_get_post_returns_sanitized_html_body(db):
+    artist = await _seed_artist(db, "alice-html")
+    src = await _seed_source(db, artist.id, "patreon", "https://p/alice-html")
+    p = await _seed_post(
+        db, src.id, external_id="HTMLBODY", post_date=datetime.now(UTC),
+        description='<h2>Heading</h2><p>body</p><script>alert(1)</script>',
+    )
+    await db.commit()
+
+    item = await PostFeedService(db).get_post(p.id)
+    # Detail carries the sanitized HTML body for faithful rendering; <script> is
+    # stripped, semantic tags survive.
+    assert item["description_html"] is not None
+    assert "<h2>" in item["description_html"]
+    assert "<script>" not in item["description_html"]
+
+
 @pytest.mark.asyncio
 async def test_get_post_unknown_returns_none(db):
     item = await PostFeedService(db).get_post(99999)