2005 Golden Os FAQ Version 5.1* This document is a detailed guide to the Golden Orgasms, the annual fanfic awards of ASCEM. It draws heavily upon the main ASCEM FAQ's appendices for basic information like character codes and story descriptors. ASC* FAQs can be found at: http://www.trekiverse.us/FAQs/ Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction and History In 1997, the group alt.startrek.creative.erotica was created, moving the former alt.sex.fetish.startrek into the alt.startrek.creative hierarchy. (ASCE was later replaced with ASCEM, a moderated version.) As ASC had it's ASC Awards for stories staring in 1995, the new group felt it would be wise for ASCE to have it's own awards. So Ruth Gifford started the Golden Orgasms, now often referred to simply as the Golden Os. The intention of the Golden Os is to recognize those stories which have had the most impact on the readers in the calender year designated. The Golden Os have been run under several Coordinators, starting with Ruth for the 1997 Awards. For the 1998 Awards, Ned Fox ran them. He started out the 1999 Awards, but unfortunately could not finish it, resulting in the ad-hoc Gang of Four finishing that Awards period. From 2000 to 2002, Mary Ellen ran the awards. In 2003, in absence of anyone stepping up, Stephen Ratliff, the ASC Awards founder and long time Golden Os Tech Support stepped up. In 2004 JM ran the awards. This year Stephen once again finds himself back at the table. Section 2: Key Personnel The Golden Os takes many people to run. These are this year's job holders: Awards Coordinator: Stephen Ratliff Stephen handles most issues during the awards. If it's not his job, he knows who's it is. SoS FAQ Maintainer: AcidQueen Picking up this job from j.juls, AQ is only the second to hold this vital job of collecting the list of stories posted. Categorizer: Cait N. Cait provided the inital categorization of stories based on the codes given by the authors and collected by AQ. She also assisted in the correction of those categories. Tech Support: Stephen Ratliff This is where Stephen always is. He takes care of the nuts and bolts. Vote Counters: Stephen & Cait Section 3: Schedule The schedule of the 2005 Golden Os is still somewhat up in the air. Please check this regularly for updates. Normally the Awards run in February. However due to conflicts and replacement hiring difficulties, we have been forced to delay the running. The check balloting ran until May 20th. Due to the Memorial Day Weekend, voting has been scheduled to start on May 30th. The following is the tentative voting schedule: Voting Period 1: May 30th - June 13th Comprising Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, Miscellaneous, and Combined Categories Voting Period 2: June 6th - 20th Comprising Next Generation and Voyager Categories Voting Period 3: June 13th - 27th Comprising Original Series Categories Voting Period 4: June 20th - 4th Comprising Overall Categories including ones for each series A full list of categories for this year as of the time of this posting (with size splits in progress) will be listed later in this FAQ. Section 4: Eligibility and Categorization All stories posted to ASCEM in a calender year are eligible to win, and categorized unless the author orders their removal during check balloting. (Unlike the ASC Awards, the Golden Os do not provide a list but not compete option) Stories are categorized based on the codes provided by the author. Occasionally the codes will be incorrect. That is what the Check ballot phase is for. If you find your story is incorrectly categorized during that period (up to 48 hours before the voting period begins) you may request a correction. The buck stops at the Coordinator, however. The Categories are done based on the at least 5 stories by at least 2 authors rule (referred to as the 5x2 rule) Authors are encouraged to use a 2x4 to make sure their favorite category meets this rule. If a category has 20-25 stories in it, story size may be used to split the category. Sometimes categories may be judged to be too similar, (having almost the same stories in it) which will result in two categories being combined. A story may fit in many categories, of which there are several levels. Top Level There are Stories, there are poems/filks ... these are the top level categories. One or the other fits. There is also an author and new author category. Series (Level 2) Every story/poem/filk/author fits in a series. It's either TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT, or MIS. Relationship (Level 3) Stories on ASCEM generally fit into several different types of mutually exclusive categories for each set of codes given. a) There is the Het category, which is for the m/f pairing. b) Slash covers the m/m and f/f codes. (It should be noted that often m/m and f/f are additionally broken out as well in a level 3.5 category) c) Then there is Group, which is codes involving more than a pair. (See Ruling b) d) Single is codes involving just one character. e) Friendship, stories coded with an & are indicated as this. Pairings (Level 4) This is perhaps the most complex level, the meat of the Awards. a) If there is a code that fits the 5x2 rule, there is a category for it. b) In addition, if there is a character who has enough stories coded with his name and a character of a particular sex, excluding any previously coded stories for that code in part a. c) any time a Level 3 category is split into Level 4 categories below it, there will be an Other category for any stories that met the Level 3 category but didn't have a Level 4. Size Splits In the event that categories have 20-25 stories, size splits may occur based on the size of the saved posts. The following are the size ranges: Vignette under 12K Short 12-28K Short Story 28-50K Novelette 50-100K Novella 100-210K Novel 200K-1MB Epic Over 1MB Where there are not enough stories to fill a category, groups shall be combined in a catch-all category as follows: Vignette + Short = Short Vignette + Short + Short Story = Short Story Short Story + Novelette = Short Story Novelette + Novella = Novella Novelette + Novella + Novel = Novel Novella + Novel = Novel If there aren't 5x2 stories of Epic length, the stories will be placed in the next largest-sized story group without effecting the category name. It should be noted that while splits of categories do occur based on size, it's possible due to subcategories dropping out at each level for some stories to win awards with different names. For instance, a 7K K/S Challenge Story may end up in: Challenge Short Story K/S Short TOS Vignette Rulings: Several rulings have been made regarding categorization over the years, that should be taken into account during categorization. a) Any story that was erroneously left out in the year prior for a category may be made part of that category the next year, if the staff is notified of the error and that category exists that year. b) A group story that is all of the same sex may be classified as a slash story, but may only be classified as a het story if the sexes are evenly divisible. c) If a story fits in a pairing category such as: K/S or K/f, then it is NOT added to Other Het or Other Slash unless it contains a separate pairing that doesn't fit into a pairing category d) Ships are considered female. e) Fruit is considered female. f) Generally a weapon is considered female ... unless given a male name. Section 5: Voting This year registration will be required, in order to prevent vote stuffing. Voting will occur in 2 week long periods. All voting will be done via a web page off of the Golden Os website at: http://www.trekiverse.us/GoldenOs/ Votes consist of your first, second, and third choice. Unlike prior years, once an id submits a vote, a corrective vote will not be possible. Make your selections carefully. An optional comment field is also provided. Comments will be anonymous but posted to the group unless you put your name in the comment field. Votes are tallied based on 3 points for first, 2 points for second, and a single point for a third place vote. The Golden Os Coordinator has the authority to disallow votes if he believes there is ballot stuffing. Points are tallied at the end of the awards period. First, Second and Third place will be announced. If there is a tie for first or second, second or third may not be given. Should a work or author be found to have competed in a category that it does not fit in, the Golden Os Coordinator reserves the right to disqualify it. The newsgroup will be informed in this case. The Coordinator also reserves the right to disqualify a work/author for ballot stuffing or otherwise interfering with the operation of the website. A contact Tech Support link will be provided for voting problems. Section 6: Credits This FAQ is based on Datalaur's FAQs from 1999-2004, and was rewritten at the last minute by Stephen for 2005.