I rececently was directed to this very disturbing post on the PhoenixSong.net forum. The insinuations are nasty enough that I decided I needed to respond directly. I am not a member of that forum so I couldn’t respond there. Hopefully the people involved in that discussion will notice this. Here’s the post:
The Harry Potter Lexicon essay (or should I say, shameless piece of H/Hr propaganda, since an essay is only an essay if you also bring in a few points that contradict your views) called Partners and Friends is written by Penny Linsenmayer. If you check out the names of the website’s staff, you’ll see that Penny Linsenmayer is also in charge of email and project managment, and that she’s the most likely to see any emails that are sent to the Lexicon first.
My question: Do we think it is a coincidence that Angua’s essay hasn’t been put up yet?
First of all, just to be clear, the essay that is being attacked is this one by Penny about Harry and Hermione.
Penny’s essay was written long before she came on staff. I chose the essay a year ago to be included in the Lexicon. The reason I chose it was because Rowling had made a number of comments suggesting that romance would be more a part of the books. With that in mind, I decided that essays that were canon-based and which discussed the various “shipping” points of view would be a good addtion to the Lexicon. Penny’s was the first one that came across my inbox. I don’t pay the slightest attention to the whole shipping thing, so I published it without realizing that people were going to get all upset. I started getting email from people who were shocked that I would publish a shipping essay, although I think what they were most shocked about was that I had published a shipping essay didn’t agree with their particular ship. I wrote them all back and suggested that they write and submit an essay of their own about a different ship. To date I have yet to receive any essays in return. I would love to have a nice set of essays, covering all reasonable ships, bus so far I haven’t gotten them.
I have no record of an essay submitted by anyone named Angua about any topic at all. However, it is possible that she did submit one and it’s lost in my email. You see, earlier this year I realized that I just couldn’t handle the influx of email and submissions and so I took Penny on board to help with that. She started working on staff about three months ago. She does help me manage projects, but she doesn’t act as a filter, controlling what gets to me. I get all the same email she does. She just answers it for me and tracks projects that I choose to pursue.
If you know Penny, you know that she is as fair and impartial as anyone could be. She would never, ever block an essay simply because the topic didn’t agree with one she’d written. I can honestly say that she would actually CHAMPION an essay which presented good, canon-based arguements. She appreciates different points of view very much. Penny does not deserve to be criticized for any of this. If you don’t like the choice of essays on the Lexicon, the only person to be angry with is me–I’m the one who does the choosing.
In case you’re wondering, I do have my own prediction about which “ships” are likely to be correct. I would imagine that others on my staff do as well. The only one that I know of for sure is Penny because of her essay. The rest of us have never discussed that topic and I honestly have no idea how anyone else stands on the shipping issue. I don’t use my own personal opinion to choose essays, I can assure you, since my prediction is NOT Harry and Hermione. I wouldn’t have revealed that except that I think it’s important to set the record straight.
No, I’m not going to tell you who I do think belongs with whom, although some of you who heard me speak at ConventionAlley may have an idea of who I think is best suited for Harry.
Angua, if you’re out there, please email me. And if anyone knows these people on PhoenixSong.net, please ask them to read this note.