Madam Hooch's Broom Closet
| Website | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Madam Hooch's Broom Closet |
| Owner/Maintainer: | Anna Maria |
| Dates: | January 1, 2003 - late 2007 (last updated February 1, 2004) |
| Type: | femslash resource & recs |
| Fandom: | Harry Potter |
| URL: | geocities.com/hoochsbroomcloset (Jan-Feb 2003) panavatar.net/broomcloset/ (Feb 2003 - Feb 2004) constellography.org/mhbc/ (Feb 2004-2007) |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Madam Hooch's Broom Closet was a resource and recommendation site for Harry Potter femslash. The site's homepage stated:
- "The Harry Potter series has been fanfic'd in just about every way possible. There are thousands of sites out there featuring het, gen, and slash fics of every variety you could imagine. At Madam Hooch's Broom Closet, you'll find a sampling of the best stories the Harry Potter femmeslash fandom has to offer. There's also have some background information and resources about the HP f/f universe."[1]
History
The site was launched on January 1st, 2003 and initially hosted on GeoCities.[2] On February 7th, 2003, it moved to panavatar.net,[3] with webspace donated by lm.[4]
On February 1st, 2004, it moved to Anna Maria's new domain, constellography.org, and Anna Maria announced that the site, whose last update was on September 27th, 2003, would no longer be updated regularly:
So there's this site I started in January 2003, back when Hermione/Ginny was still considered an obscure pairing, called Madam Hooch's Broom Closet. It was mostly for Harry Potter f/f fic recs. Later I added an art gallery too. It was a lovely site, and some people liked it, and it helped spread the word about the HP f/f community.I haven't updated it in a while. Partly due to fandom drift -- I don't read HP fic anymore, so I can't exactly produce new recs -- but also because I don't think it's really needed so much now as it was a year ago. The fandom has Girls' Dormitory now, and hp_girlslash. OotP came out and brought with it Ginny/Luna fanlistings and Tonkslash communities and an entirely new genre of lesbian angst, Blackcest. MHBC was a good site, but I think it's mostly obsolete now. So I'm going to leave it up, but it's not going to be updated anymore. Not that I've been updating it regularly anyway, but still. It's official, now.[4]
In July 2006, Anna Maria announced that she would be closing constellography.org,[5] which went offline in late 2007.[6]
Femslash Resources
MHBC had a description of and links for the following pairings (as well as links for an additional 26 pairings):
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Before the release of Order of the Phoenix, there were sections for Lily/"Mrs. Lestrange" (who did not have a canonical first name at that point) and Pansy/Lavender that were later removed. The Ginny/Luna, Bellatrix/Narcissa, and Hannah/Susan sections were all added after OotP.[7]
The site also had an FAQ that defined femslash and replied to some of the most common questions about Harry Potter femslash, such as reasons for it apparent dearth in the fandom. It also addressed some of the arguments made against femslash ("But the female characters in Harry Potter have no chemistry with each other!") and gave tips about where to find femslash stories and discussions.[8] The links page listed other sites that fell into a variety of different categories: Harry Potter femmeslash, general femmeslash, Harry Potter slash, general Harry Potter fanfiction, and Harry Potter fandom. The "Harry Potter femmeslash" category linked to femslash-exclusive HP archives and communities as well as communities dedicated to a certain femslash ship.[9]
Fanfiction Recs
MHBC's fic recs were divided into two sections: "All Recs" and "The Best of the Best". There were 25 recs in total, seven of which were also listed as "The Best of the Best." Ten of the total recs and four of the "Best of the Best" stories contained Hermione/Ginny (including one Harry/Hermione/Ginny fic), while no other pairing had more than two recs. All but two recs were written before Order of the Phoenix was published.[10]
The "Best of the Best" recs included:
- If I were you and you were me by Rhoddlet (sequel to Sundress) - Hermione/Ginny, 2002
- Left Handed by Ivy Blossom - Hermione/Pansy, 2002
- Real Methods of Divination by Proserpina (queenofhell) - Lavender/Parvati, 2002
- Replacement by Kate Bolin - Harry/Hermione/Ginny, 2002
- Silence by Plumeria - Hermione/Ginny, 2002
- Speak, Desire by Audrey Thurston Hirsch - Hermione/Ginny, c. 2002
- We All Fall Down by Bec (sangredulce) - Hermione/Ginny, 2001
Fanart Gallery
The site also featured a gallery of Harry Potter femslash fanart. The gallery displayed all art submitted to the site (though it did not host it), provided that it was "femmeslashy in nature"--defined as two girls in a femmeslashy pose or an illustration for an f/f fic[11]--and rated R or lower. While it was still open for submissions, the gallery page stated:
As much as people complain that the women of Harry Potter are underdeveloped characters, no one has ever tried to argue that they aren't attractive. After all, we have a bunch of vivacious female athletes, a part-Veela, a set of twins who like to wear hot pink butterflies in their hair, and a couple of spunky redheads. And then, of course, there's Hermione, who always manages to get plenty of attention no matter what size her teeth might be.Yet, for some inexplicable reason, there is very little girl-on-girl art in the HP fandom. This is a situation that needs to be rectified as swiftly as possible.
So, get drawing. Any femmeslashy art that you submit will be posted here (with, of course, proper attributions and links to your site as applicable). New art, old art, whatever: as long as it's femmeslashy in nature and features HP characters, we want it and we'll post it. Fic illustrations are welcome, as are canon illustrations -- Hermione and Ginny in their nightgowns stumbling out of their tent at the World Cup, anyone?[12]
By the time of its closure, the gallery featured 26 pieces of fanart by nine different artists. Four of the pieces were rated R, while the rest were G to PG-13.[13]
Challenges
MHBC also posted a series of fanfiction challenge prompts from January to August 2003, starting out monthly then becoming bimonthly. The five challenges were as follows:[14]
- January 2003 - Penelope Clearwater slash (5 fics written)
- February 2003 - Madam Pince slash (3 fics written)
- March/April 2003 - Hufflepuff-on-Hufflepuff (3 fics written)
- May/June 2003 - Re-Slashing the Fat Lady (2 fics written)
- July/August 2003 - Summer of Smut (37 fics written)
The Summer of Smut challenge was more involved than the previous challenges had been. It was coordinated through the hp_girlslash LiveJournal community and required participants to sign up and claim a pairing to write, including pairings that featured new characters introduced in Order of the Phoenix. All stories were required to be NC-17 rated. See: The HP Femmeslash Summer of Smut
References
- ^ Home. (Archived 24 February 2003 by the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ anna_maria on LiveJournal. Untitled entry. 01 January 2003. (Accessed 12 February 2013.)
- ^ News. (Archived 13 March 2003 by the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ a b anna_maria on LiveJournal. Madam Hooch's Broom Closet. 01 February 2004. (Accessed 12 February 2013.)
- ^ anna_maria on LiveJournal. FYI... 13 July 2006. (Accessed 12 February 2013.)
- ^ Site available as of October 2007 but not as of January 2008.
- ^ "Femmeslash Ships", as archived 13 March 2003 & 23 October 2007 by the Wayback Machine.
- ^ A Harry Potter Femmeslash FAQ. (Archived 23 October 2007 by the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Links. (Archived 16 September 2007 by the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Recommended Stories. (Archived 13 October 2007 by the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ anna_maria at hp_girlslash. Fanart promotion & solicitation. 04 April 2003. (Accessed 17 February 2013.)
- ^ The Art Gallery. (Archived 29 April 2003 by the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ The Broom Closet Art Gallery. (Archived 11 January 2007 by the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ Challenges. (Archived 11 January 2007 by the Wayback Machine.)