A Short and Simple Reply to the Individual who Goes by the Name of
Slash....


	It was on the morning of Wednesday, the 26th of August, that
people emailed me to tell me of a rather poor and intrinsically 
biased MSTing of my work, "Usagi is Dead" chapter 1....  I didn't
really think about it at the time, since I find MST's to be not much
more than a form of intellectual parasitism masquerading as a form 
of critical review.  A MST shall never be able to be cast in that
role, for the simple reason that the whole point of the exercise is
to ridicule not only the works of an original author, but the author
themselves, and I was to soon find that the MSTing of UID part 1 was
precisely this....  Personal opinion being exercised by an 
individual, under the pretense of critical evaluation.

	The individual involved, who likes to go by the name of 
"Slash" for their own reasons of anonymity (thus showing the patent
cowardice of their actions, not even so much as leaving an email
address with which to reply) did not, at any stage, attempt to 
evaluate the worthiness of Usagi is Dead as a text, but simply spent
the entire time ridiculing me with jokes that were, for the most 
part, fairly tired and lame....  Even going to the extent of making
fun of my email address....  Surely a sign of someone totally devoid
of their own creative abilities.  I have not seen any fanfictions
posted anywhere on the net, so I simply have to surmise that they 
are without the ability to produce something on their own merits.  
It is, therefore, easier for them to deal with a text that someone
else has kindly written for them, and that someone was me.

	The first sign of trouble comes fairly close to the start, 
where he makes a comment about the annoyance factor of the title. 
itself.  He then tells everyone that I am "welcome" to my work, as
all good MSTers do say.  It is a roundabout way of saying that the
original authors should be ashamed of what they have written, and
imposing it upon the wider community.  All MSTers mean it this way
when they write it.  This, of course, gives those not familiar with
the story that the general consensus about Usagi is Dead is that the
story, as a whole, has absolutely no worth, and is hated by 
everyone.  Considering the story has, thus far, received a 7/3 ratio
of love and hate replies, the bias of the MSTer is already palpably
obvious.  He doesn't merely wish to make fun of the story, he wishes
to destroy both it and myself.

	What follows this is a series of spelling errors, poor grammar
and intrinsically unfunny humor.  I am criticised for my own 
spelling errors and grammar/usage of language by Slash more than 
once.  I don't think I should have to take lectures from someone for
whom even a spellcheck is incapable of curing on this account, 
considering I publish all of my stories upon their first draft and
without spellchecking.  Then, as things continue, the MSTer does his
level best to create problems that really don't exist, like the 
narrative not really being descriptive enough for those who are 
reading to follow to any reasonable degree, constantly harking back
to the MSTer's own mischievous misinterpretation of the timeline of
events.  The events portrayed are as linear as they get within a 
chapter of UID, even upon reading between the inanities of Slash's
babbling, I am able to follow what is going on, and it is getting
nigh on a year since I last had anything to do with this chapter.

	Then there is the imposition of the MSTer's own view of the 
story, as a whole....  Describing how he managed to get as far as
chapter 12 before giving up.  Perhaps it has more to do with the
MSTer's inability to understand the story than anything else that he
takes this view.  But I think not.  The tone of this passage is not
one of "I don't understand this" but "Look at this crap....  He's
just SO useless as a writer".  Maybe I'm getting paranoid about the
malevolence of Slash's MST, but I really don't think so.  When the
character's are told that Usagi is Dead will be the fic they must
"endure", their only reaction is "we don't like you".  The MSTer has
strayed from critic to bias even before the true MST has started.

	But what MOST annoys me is the patent lack of anime knowledge
Slash displays.  Making a joke about people NOT knowing who 
Yuuichirou is, and then having to explain that it is Chad in the dub
sticks in my side like a thorn....  If you're going to attempt a MST
in the first place, you should have even the most BASIC knowledge of
the series the fanfic was written for.  My knowledge of the canon of
Sailormoon was not good at the time, but even I knew who the hell
Yuuichirou was.  This theme of a lack of knowledge is continued 
further along, where Slash questions the existence of animes the 
likes of Hyper Police, Maze - Bakunetsu Jikuu and Haunted Junction.
A little research, not very much, in fact, should be enough for 
Slash to soon discover exactly what these animes are and are about.
It is inexcusable for anyone who THINKS they are an anime fan NOT to
look into such things.

	Your attempt, Slash, to perform a hatchet job on both myself 
and my fics was something of a hamfisted effort.  Before criticising
anything I have written in the future, dare I suggest you cast your
own efforts into the gaze of the world and see how they are accepted
rather than standing on the sidelines with your "kewl" cynicism.  
You might find it not quite so easy to do.  You might even receive
death threats from those who do not like your work, as I have, for
no readily apparent reason or cause.  But that, as they say, is 
another story, although one often muses over the connections....

   _________
  /    @    \  		DDFA (The Right Dishonourable Mark A Page)
 / / ^   ^ \ \ 		ayanami@merlin.net.au
/</    w    \>\		Chief Propoganda Officer, Keeper of
\/           \/		the Tapes and Co-Founder of the Saitou-chan
 \___________/		Appreciation Society - Adelaide Japanese
  /_/     \_\  PU		Animation Society


Slash's MST of Usagi is Dead 1 can be found at....

http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Temple/4007/SM_MSTings/Usagi-Dead.txt