notacowfest

[notacowfest]

authors of our first round of fics have been revealed!!

[notacowfest]

our first round of fics are live! happy reading!!

[notacowfest]

the first batch of fics go live tomorrow at noon! get your fics submitted to the collection before then to be included in the first round of fics!

[notacowfest]

Hey! I have a few questions about the new batch deadline setup. Say I post a story for the second reveal. If there are already revealed stories in the collection, how is posting a new unrevealed fic going to work? Will the process of claiming be the same? Will fics from the previous batch be available while new stuff is hidden, or will the whole collection be hidden? Will only the new fics be anonymous? I like the anonymous author reveals and would hate to accidentally post un-anoned and early

so, first of all: full disclosure that i've never done this set-up for a prompt fest before, so everything is going to work in theory & if i end up needing to change the methodology on the fly, i'll keep everyone posted! i understand wanting to keep claims anonymous while you're still working on your fills, and wanting already revealed fics to remain revealed, etc.

that all said, this is what an approved work in the collection looks like on my end as the moderator right now, when all works are still unrevealed and anonymous.

as you can see, i can toggle fics to be revealed & de-anoned even at this point in time! i plan on going through and doing this for the individual fics that are ready to be first revealed & then de-anoned for each of the deadlines, only toggling everything to be revealed & de-anoned on the last september deadlines. the only thing we really lose in this set-up is that the fics won't all be revealed simultaneously, as it'll take me a minute to do the toggling for the individual fics.

it's slightly less efficient than the native ao3 systems, but i think it should preserve the fun of fics being revealed on anon & then having author reveals come a few days later! and it won't affected already revealed fics!!

[notacowfest]

hi, i was wondering if it’s too late to claim a prompt now? :)

it's never too late!! especially with the extended timeline for the fest via the new monthly deadlines, if you claim a prompt & get your fill for it submitted to the collection before any of the 'fics go live' dates (june 20, july 18, august 22, & september 19 all at noon central), you will be included in those fic drops. if you find a prompt that catches your eye, please claim it & go nuts!!

[notacowfest]

I have a question…if we have prompts from claims from previous rounds can those be submitted as well? 🙃

absolutely! the second prompt in the fest ('a little less for a lot more' — a space for fic inspired by prompts from previous years of the fest!) is a free prompt specifically for fills from previous years.

since either claiming that prompt, the general free space prompt, or submitting to the collection without a prompt won't link back to the original prompt from 2023 or 2024, i'd personally suggest putting the original prompt in your fic description if you want people to get an idea of what it was. but if you have another way of going about that in mind, go for it! i'd just love to see fills for some older prompts!!

[notacowfest]

not a cow fest 2025 — an update on our deadline!

we're a day early on the final final results of our poll, but it looks like we have an answer on how most of us want to move forward! originally, fics were due on wednesday, june 18th, so that everything could be ready for fics to be revealed on friday, june 20th, with authors revealed on monday, june 23rd.

this will still be the first deadline & fic reveal period of the fest! everyone who's been hard at work on their fics and prompt fills can still see that hard work shared when originally planned — i am personally super excited to see what everyone has ready to go in two weeks, and i know that so many others are just as hyped!! as long as you get your fic submitted to the collection prior to 12pm central on friday, june 20th, it will be part of this first drop of the fest.

a lot of the fun of participating in a fic fest is the anticipation of sharing and reading new fic on the day of fic & author reveals — so, taking the results of the poll into account, we will also have three more deadlines for fic reveals throughout the rest of the off-season.

new upcoming schedule:

Fics due: June 18, 2025 July 16, 2025 August 20, 2025 September 17, 2025

Fics go live: June 20, 2025 July 18, 2025 August 22, 2025 September 19, 2025

Authors revealed: June 23, 2025 July 21, 2025 August 25, 2025 September 22, 2025.

this is our first time changing things up this way so if anyone has any questions, i'll be here to answer them to the best of my abilities. and like with last year's fest, following the last drop of fics before the regular season starts in october, the collection will remain open for people to submit prompt fills until prompting & sign-ups open for next year's fest in spring 2026!

happy writing!!

[notacowfest]

hello everyone! this is the third year of this fest and every year that i've run it, we've had a nice and late end to the season. i've played around with when fics are due each year & i think we're still looking for the perfect landing spot — currently, fics are due in a little less than a month on wednesday june 18th.

with the season ending, i want to take this time to get everyone's temperature on how we're feeling about that current deadline.

[notacowfest]

is it too late to participate?

it's never too late to participate!! please do!!!

with the way prompt challenges work on AO3, signing up means leaving prompts & the sign-up/prompting period is over; however, we are not beholden to AO3's rules. absolutely anyone can still claim a prompt and participate that way, all the way up until the deadline! the two free space prompts at the start of the collection give an easy way for anyone who finds us late to have a shortcut to participate even if none of the other existing prompts spark inspiration for them.

I am also pretty sure that if you get inspiration for a stars fic that doesn't fit any of the existing prompts (and you don't want to claim either of the free space prompts), you can still post it to the collection by typing 'notacow2025' in the spot where AO3 prompts you to post to a challenge or collection. no prompt needed!!

[notacowfest]

hello! when can we start uploading our fics? i'm a little over eager and have already finished a claim. so excited to see everyone's works!! i love getting ahead of myself, but can we keep claiming more prompts until the deadline for posting?

thanks for putting this all together!! <3

I meant to go in and toggle the collection from closed to open when prompting/sign-ups ended, so thank you for reminding me — you can start uploading them now! the fest is moderated so it might take a minute for collection works to go from (0) to (1) after you post something to the collection, but you're good to go.

also, you can absolutely keep claiming prompts right up until the deadline!!

technically, AO3 only counts people as being signed up for prompt memes if they've left prompts but I'm not remotely strict about that. people who missed the prompting/sign-up period can claim prompts if they find one that sparks some inspiration for them (or even just claim the free space prompts if they have a fic idea they'd like included in the fest) & they can do that all the way through to june 18. I'm so excited to hear that you're excited!!

[notacowfest]

last twelve hours to sign-up!

[notacowfest]

prompts people were inclined to leave after yesterday's game against winnipeg .................... you can find it and the rest of the fest's prompts here! remember that there's one week left to sign up!!

[notacowfest]

sign-ups are closing soon!

we have a little over a week before signups close on March 21 — if you've been thinking about participating in the fest but haven't gotten around to signing up yet, now's the perfect time to check it out. there are already plenty of amazing prompts to take a look at if you want some inspiration, but we'd love to see even MORE prompts if you have some ideas of your own!

reminder — you don't need to claim a prompt to participate in the fest. and if you want to leave some prompts but aren't sure if you'll be able to write for a the fest, that's also perfectly fine! the trade deadline shook things up and i'm sure everyone's got some ideas about the stars fic they'd like to see in the world right about now. drop a prompt about it! write a fic about it!! come hang out!!!

ao3 collection  —  HERE!

faq  —  HERE!

rules  —  HERE!

Schedule 

Prompts & Sign-Ups Close: March 21, 2025

Fics due: June 18, 2025

Fics go live: June 20, 2025

Authors revealed: June 23, 2025

[notacowfest]

Welcome to Not a Cow 2025 — the third year of this Dallas Stars fic fest!

A lot has changed since last season, but the sheer amount of love the boys have for each other has not! If at any point you have been moved to inspiration by that love, now is your time to shine. Did the Finland trip or Four Nations break leave you picturing the fic of your dreams? Did a plot pop into your head after seeing some of the fun socials content we've gotten this season? Are you simply always compelled by Victory Green? This is the space to share that with the rest of us!

We'd absolutely love to see love for everything from the team's biggest ships to the ones you'll have to originate the tags for. Let's have some fun with it! Go wild!

ao3 collection  —  HERE!

faq  —  HERE!

rules  —  HERE!

Schedule 

Prompts & Sign-Ups Open: February 21, 2025

Prompts & Sign-Ups Close: March 21, 2025

Fics due: June 18, 2025

Fics go live: June 20, 2025

Authors revealed: June 23, 2025

[notacowfest]

Not a Cow 2025: Rules 

Fics must be complete and at least 500 words, with no maximum word count. If you choose to write something chaptered or as part of an existing series, it must be able to work as a standalone while authors are unrevealed.

At least one of the main characters must be a member of the 2024-2025 Dallas Stars organization. All pairings/threesomes/moresomes/etc. that meet that criteria are welcome, including gen team fic, fic including original characters, fic including players from other teams or leagues, & pure crossover fic.

You don’t have to claim a prompt in order to participate if you don’t need the inspiration to get started. So long as your fic centers on members of the Stars organization, we’d love to see it!

Do not submit any AI-generated writing as either a prompt or a fill for the fest. If your fill includes artwork or a visual component, that also cannot be AI-generated.

Prompts or fills that feature players who have been credibly accused or convicted of sexual assault or domestic abuse will not be allowed. This includes the team's current backup goaltender.

Please make appropriate use of the archive warnings (or make use of the “Choose Not To Warn” option) & be sure to adhere to standard tagging conventions. If you feel certain tags will spoil the contents of your fic and might trigger someone, put clear additional content warnings in the notes of your fic.

Have fun! And please feel free to contact us on tumblr with any additional questions. If you would like, you could also send an email to notacowfest@gmail.com.

[notacowfest]

Not a Cow 2025: FAQ 

What is the schedule?

Prompts & Sign-Ups Open: February 21, 2025

Prompts & Sign-Ups Close: March 21, 2025

Fics due: June 18, 2025

Fics go live: June 20, 2025

Authors revealed: June 23, 2025

Is this an exchange fest?

No, this is a prompt challenge! You don’t have to write based on anyone else’s requests and will not be receiving a fic based on your own requests. AO3 has a useful tutorial for participating in prompt challenges that you can take a look at for further information. 

How do I participate?

This fest is run through AO3, so you will need an AO3 account to participate and sign up to the Not a Cow 2025 collection by leaving a prompt! 

Do I have to claim a prompt?

Nope! Prompts are fun; it can be helpful to see the sorts of fic others would be interested in reading, but they’re just meant for inspiration. If you already have a fic you want to write that fits the parameters of the fest, go ahead and write it! Any and all Stars fic is welcome here.

Why do I have to leave at least one prompt to sign up?

Prompts are fun! No one's obliged to fill a prompt to participate in the fest, but prompts are a great way of offering up inspiration to people — especially anyone thinking about writing fic for the team for the first time. If you have a pairing you’d love to read or a trope you think would be fun to see, now’s your chance to suggest it!

Can I submit a prompt without filling one myself?

Yes! Absolutely! You can submit prompts without even the intention of writing something for the fest — this fest is for the Stars fic community and that includes readers as well, so if you want to suggest the sort of fic you’d like to read, go for it!

Can I claim multiple prompts? Can I claim a prompt for Pairing X to write Pairing Y?

You are more than welcome to claim multiple prompts! If you have a fic in mind that could reasonably be seen as a fill for two prompts, only claim one one them. And be sure to only claim pairing-specific prompts if you intend to fill them with that pairing.

I have more questions!

Please send them to us here on tumblr! 

[notacowfest]

and with that, authors are live!!

thank you so much to everyone who participated in the fest this year — whether it was by submitting prompts or writing fic or cheering people along in either endeavor. there was a lot going on in stars fandom during this last stretch of the fest, between the playoffs and all the moves made so far in the offseason, so getting to share in this with everyone was amazing!!

the collection is staying open for new submissions, so if you would still like to participate via fic, you absolutely can. i'm going to be periodically checking the collection but if you want to shoot me a message here on tumblr telling me when you've just submitted a new fic, please feel free to do so!! for right now, the plan is to leave the collection open until next year when there's a new prompting period for NAC 2025, so there's plenty of time to check over all of our unclaimed prompts & see if any spark your inspiration.

speaking of prompting, prompting will not be opening back up. the collection is simply staying open for new fic submissions. if you do have a new prompt you want to put out in the ether, however ...... might i suggest checking out .......... the waiver wire?