A MSTing or MiSTing is a type of fan fiction based on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
In structure it is analogous to the show: the author picks a badly written piece of text -- usually a Usenet post, web page, or another fanfic -- and inserts mocking comments. These comments are attributed to one of the three main characters of the show. Often a prologue, epilogue, and intermissions are added in which the characters discuss a topic on the same theme as the original text though intermission segments are usually dropped if the MSTed work is short. There are some MSTings that do not use the MST3K cast. These are called Non-Standard MSTings.
Everything What Is Crap has a FAQ on writing MSTings in [http://www.svamcentral.org/ewic/info.html their About page] that contains guidelines and rules to writing them.
=History=
The MSTing Mine credits Eric Alfred Burns as the writer of the first three MSTings back in February 1993. They were posted to the alt.tv.mst3k newsgroup. All three were responses to a Internet troll who posted there. After that, people started posting MSTings of other works. At the end of the year, thirty-three MSTings were posted. (Twenty-nine if revised MSTings aren t counted.)
=Infamous MSTed authors=
Some fan fic writers have had several of their fics MSTed. This is a list of some of the more well known authors.
Oscar (disambiguation), a Lemon (anime) writer who loves Artemis (Sailor Moon), the cat from Sailor Moon.
Dr. Thinker, a random unspellchecked writer.
Star Ruby, a Transformers Universe fan who creates female Deceptions that are Mary Sues.
Stephen Ratliff, the writter of the Marrissa Picard stories.
*Kefka, author of a sexually explicit, graphically violent and badly out of character Sonic the Hedgehog fan fiction called A sorcerer, a demon and emeralds.
*PJ, an author whose works, usually Resident Evil and Final Fantasy have any strong female character repeatidly raped by a variety of monsters, and often ends with villians winning.
David Gonterman, a Fan_fiction#Self-Insert Gary Stu writer, author of the poorly-spelled and plothole-filled Sonic the Hedgehog fan fic Blood and Metal.
=External links=
[http://www.nancingpony.com/ The Nancing Pony] (see Nancing Pony) - MSTs of Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Harry Potter fiction.
[http://svamcentral.org/ewic/ Everything What Is Crap]
[http://www.keithpalmer.ca/msting-mine/ The MSTing Mine]
[http://indiemadnesse.sandwich.net/ifroast/ifroast.htm ImproFicRoast]
[http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/2628/elmer.htm Elmer Studios]
[http://www.dimfuture.net/elsewhere/mot.html Mystery Octagon Theater]
[http://www.quasispace.org/ Quasispace Portal Theater 3000]
[http://members.aol.com/tjats/ Science Fiction Theater 1,000,000,000]
[http://www.angelfire.com/ak/captainoftheexplorer/mst4k.html Mystery School Theater 4000]
[http://www.rpi.edu/~nebusj/sth3k/ The Amazing Colosal Episode Guide to Sonic the Hedgehog MSTings]
[http://www.angelfire.com/va/gadfly/mst3k.html Jim Gadfly s MST3K MiSTing Page] - Contains a formatter that will format text to standard specifications for MSTings