On Sun, 7 Dec 1997, Nighthawk wrote:

I'm new here and I'm not really familiar with the lingo and acronyms.  What
the heck does MST mean?

It's a reference to Mystery Science Theater 3000, the (infamous?) cable
series wherein one human and two robots were subjected to old B-movies by
a deranged professor (a.k.a. mad scientist) who transmitted movies to the
satellite on which said human and robots were stranded. The staple of
MST3K was this little group of three silhouettes in the lower corner of
the TV screen, providing a running commentary and slamming the movie while
they watched it.

On the FFML, MST has a somewhat different meaning (of course) - but the
idea is similar. When someone MSTs a fic, they go through a similar
process in text form: a group of people (the standard is the reviewer's
"alter ego" and one or more anime characters) will be "watching" the
fanfic (which has been quoted in the "reply"), and 'interrupt' to offer
comments - frequently jokes, but also providing a conduit for the MSTer's
C&C (comments and critique/criticism).

I hope that's a satisfactory answer. :) Anyway, when you see [MST] in the
subject line, it means someone has taken the time to C&C somebody else's
fanfic in detail . . . occasionally in gory detail. n.n  Also with a sense
of humor, ten times out of nine. (That's not a typo. :)

				Tim Miller
					trmiller@mail.bcpl.lib.md.us