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ericsonclan · 4 years

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A Memorable Winter Solstice

Summary: The knights of Ericson along with the others begin their celebration of the Winter Solstice.

Word Count: 3861

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“Snowmen?” Clementine glanced at her fellow knights with confusion.

“Yeah, it’s easier to show than explain but it's really fun,” Brody moved to grab her shield. “Unfortunately this year we have to make them outside the walls.”

“Why’s that?” Clementine asked, having a vague memory of what she was told a few days ago when Marlon had made the announcement.

“It’s because the wall in the northern district is in need of some repair and Louis wanted to give them the rest of the day off. We’re just there until some guards can cover for us.”

“We don’t have to play in the snow today,” Violet mumbled, her eyes focused on her task of checking the sharpness of her blade. “It’s just that Louis wants to do it on the winter solstice.”

“Come on, it’s tradition.” Sophie’s voice appeared in the doorway, a huge grin on her lips. “Or have you already forgotten all the fun you had last year? Especially with Prisha.”

Violet’s face grew bright red at her best friend’s teasing. The blonde knight sheathed her blade and strolled forward. “Let’s go.”

“Alright, alright,” Sophie moved aside, giving a friendly smile to her friend.

Brody and Clementine soon followed and the four knights were walking towards the northern district. Their feet crunched under the freshly fallen snow as they strolled among the white-covered houses.

“So, the winter solstice,” Clementine spoke up, causing her friends to glance over her way. “What is it?”

“Well, it's basically the shortest day of the year where there are the longest hours of darkness in the year. Today’s the day we celebrate the changing of seasons.” Brody explained as she led the way. “There was also something to do with astronomy, right, Vi?”

“Yeah, it's the start of astronomical winter.” Violet’s focus wasn’t on the conversation much, her eyes too busy looking at the beautiful falling snow.

“But the most important thing is how we celebrate!” Sophie jumped into the conversation. “We make snowmen, drink apple cider,” The redhead knight counted the items on her fingers, “Oh! And all the food!” Sophie clutched her stomach with a dreamy smile. “The goose, nuts, berries and potatoes!”

“You can see that Soph is already more than excited about Omar’s special meal.” Brody had a playful smile on her face as she looked back at her friend. Clementine gave a small chuckle at that.

“Hey! This is only the second year that we get great food like since the world fell to the living dead,” Sophie shot back. Clementine was about to ask another question when Brody paused in her tracks.

“We’re here,” The auburn knight pointed at the gates where a guard stood and asked for their reasoning for leaving the kingdom.

“To protect the hole in the wall over there,” Violet pointed at the spot with a somewhat grumpy tone.

“Oh, right! Of course!” The guard scurried off to open the gate, soon revealing blood-stained snow where walker corpses lay. It seemed they weren’t the first to appear outside the walls. As they rounded the corner to get to their destination they were surprised to see they were actually last to arrive. Mitch was in the middle of a heated snowball fight with AJ and Willy who seemed more than willing to use every advantage they had on the blacksmith. AJ used his short height to attack Mitch’s legs while Willy jumped high in the air and dunked a pile of snow on his older brother. Mitch shook off the snow and began to chase the two younger boys who laughed with glee as they dodged his snowball attacks. The trio ran past Omar who was in the middle of making a snow angel beside Tenn who was working on one of his own. The pair talked casually here and there as they enjoyed their winter fun.

“Hey, careful!” Aasim warned as a stray snowball from Mitch nearly hit him.

“Shit, sorry!” Mitch called back before laughing as he caught up with his younger brother and started to attack him with snow. Aasim shook his head and returned to his conversation with Ruby about his favorite aspects of the winter celebration. By the walls were Marlon and Minnie who were watching for any living dead that may creep upon and ruin the rare fun that their friends were enjoying. Their hands hovered over their blades as they scanned the white-dusted area around them.

Minnie struggled to focus, however, because Renata stood beside her, flirting and stealing kisses here and there. Next to the pair of the knights were Prisha and Louis who seemed to be mapping out the best spots for some sort of activity when Louis paused and looked up as he heard the four knights making their way over. His eyes instantly brightened when he saw Clementine and he made his way over immediately, followed closely behind by Prisha.

“You guys are finally here!” he exclaimed happily. “And just in time.”

“In time for what?” Clementine looked intrigued by all the events that were happening around her. A small smile was on her lips as she watched AJ having fun with the others.

“For the newly annual snowman building contest!” Louis smiled brightly.

“Yes!” Sophie pumped her fist. “We’re not too late!”

“Better watch out though, I’m known as quite the snowman building master.” Louis pulled proudly on the sides of his winter outfit. Violet gave a short snort.

“By whom?”

“I’ll have you know that I won the competition last year.” Louis replied with a confident grin.

“Barely,” Violet crossed her arms. “Prisha and I almost won.”

But you didn’t,” Louis had a smug smile on his face.

“So how does this work?” Clementine’s question stopped the two friends from continuing to banter. They looked over her way.

“The rules are simple: We split up into teams of two and each team builds a snowman. Omar will judge,” Louis motioned over to the young cook who gave a short nod and smile. “And winners will get an extra serving of Omar’s dessert.”

“Oh yes!” Sophie’s eyes danced with excitement. “Just watch me and-”

“But this year,” The young king interrupted the knight. “We’ll make it interesting.”

“You mean it’s not already interesting having it outside the wall?” Prisha countered, her eyes occasionally looking out onto the snow-covered land surrounding the castle.

“No, because we’re all equipped with weapons,” Louis patted his royal sword at his hip. “And if we’re lucky we won’t even need to use them. Anyway, to make it interesting we will pair up randomly.”

“Alright,” Violet gave a shrug.

“Sounds fun,” Brody added with a smile when she caught sight of Mitch who locked eyes with her and ran over to join her.

“Hey, Brody,” Mitch smiled at his lover before capturing her lips in a quick, gentle kiss. The couple seemed lost in it for a moment when all of a sudden the blacksmith’s younger brother continued to attack him with snow. “Willy, AJ cut it out for a minute will ya!” Mitch bellowed.

The two younger boys stopped for a moment, looking sad, but that quickly passed as they started up a new game of their own.

It took a few minutes for the king to get his friends to stop their various winter activities and listen to his announcement. “Alrighty, so we’re gonna do a snowman building contest while Omar, Ruby, Willy, Tenn and AJ stay close to the wall and have their own special winter celebration.” Louis began.

“What kind of winter fun?” Willy looked over at Omar and Ruby with a curious expression.

“We’re gonna build our own snow castle,” Ruby gave a warm smile that grew when she saw that the younger kids seemed excited by it.

“Can we build snow knights around them?” AJ asked, the excitement clear in his eyes.

“Sure,” Omar nodded. “As long as we stay by the wall.” Everyone knew that they couldn’t have excluded the younger kids from the winter solstice celebration but with this year including having to guard a part of the wall they were especially nervous. So they would take every necessary precaution so that they could still have fun with Willy, Tenn and AJ who seemed happy to be hanging out with their siblings and loved ones.

“Can Clem join us?” AJ spoke up once more.

“Sure, I can for a bit.” Clementine offered a smile.

“Okay, Clem will just join a team later on. Now that that’s cleared up, it’s time to pair off!”

It was a rather simple pairing system and soon all of the participants were paired off. There were five teams in total: Marlon and Louis, Violet and Sophie, Prisha and Renata, Minnie and Mitch and lastly Brody and Aasim. Some of the pairs immediately hit it off while others didn’t. Marlon and Louis worked well together, giving each other encouragement as they worked to roll the first large snowball.

“Better watch out, Soph.” Marlon huffed as he worked to place the second snowball on the base of the snowman. “Looks like me and Lou are taking it this year.”

“Ha!” Sophie flashed a confident smile. “Don’t count me and Vi out just yet.”

Violet nodded in agreement as she worked to push the base of her snowman into place with Sophie.

“It does seem like it will be close, but don’t forget who won last year.” Louis worked to start on the next part of the snowman with Marlon.

“Yeah, whatever,” Violet replied, picking up sticks for the arms of the snowman.

“Well, either way I think we’re doing better than most,” Marlon nodded over to Prisha and Renata who seemed to be doing more arguing than teamwork.

“No, don’t you see that this part should be smaller than the base?” Prisha sighed in annoyance.

“There’s nothing wrong with a curvy snowman,” Renata placed her hands on her hips as she stood beside their snow man that had a much larger middle section than the base.

“I’m not-” Prisha pinched the bridge of her nose. “My point is that a snowman has certain basic steps to it that will make it look correct and remain physically stable.”

“Are you saying Sir Snowington is ugly?” Renata gave a playful smile, her hands busily starting on the final section of the snowman.

“No, I… never mind.” Prisha decided it was best not to argue and rather continue the work on the snowman. Her eyes wandered over to Violet for a moment, completely captured by her beauty. The alchemist was so caught up in it she failed to notice as she held up a pile of snow and dropped it on the court jester.

“Gaaah!” Renata exclaimed as she writhed on the ground.

“Oh, my apologies!” Prisha looked down in shock at her mistake.

“Is this punishment for liking curvy snowmen?” Renata shook her legs, hoping to get the snow off of them.

“What? No! I would never do something like this for a simple reason like that.” Prisha added defensively.

“It’s okay - we can still win.” The court jester gave a bright smile. “We just gotta make sure ours is better than the others!”

“I don’t know how we’ll do that, but maybe we’ll not place last.” Prisha glanced over at Minnie and Mitch’s snowman that looked like it had just gotten out of a fight. What in the world had those two been doing with their time?

“I gotta say our snowman is looking pretty badass!” Mitch grunted as he threw another huge pile of snow to his side of the snowman. Minnie took a couple seconds to respond, giving only a simple nod. She was rather distracted by Renata who was in the middle of debating with Prisha whether or not to add the jester hat on the snowman. Snowflakes were scattered around in the court jester’s hair that made the redheaded knight’s heart flutter.

“Minnie, you better watch that side. It looks like shit,” Mitch’s voice snapped the knight back into reality.

“Oh fuck,” Minnie caught part of the face that was in the process of falling onto the ground. With some effort she was able to push it back into place but it made the snowman look like it had one puffy cheek. Minnie was expecting her partner to say something but then she caught Mitch too entranced by Brody. The auburn knight was in the middle of placing some pebbles in place on the three sections of her snowman. The young blacksmith was so caught up that he ended up putting one of the sticks right where the eye should.

“Mitch, you missed.” Minnie’s statement made Mitch look back at the snowman and let out an annoyed groan.

“Shit,” Mitch grumbled before a smile appeared on his lips. “Maybe we can make it work. Make our snowman stick out.”

Minnie studied their snowman carefully, seeing all the odd lumps and mistakes. The knight glanced over at her twin who was having the time of her life as she ran around gathering up a few sticks and such to place on her snowman. Sophie was more excited about the prize of dessert than she was. Minnie gave a shrug. “Works for me.” With that the pair started on their own snowman once more.

“Just a little to the right,” Brody instructed, causing Aasim to shift his feet as he moved the top section of the snowman an inch over. “Perfect.”

Aasim let out a shaky breath and stood back to look at his and Brody’s craftsmanship. “I have to say it is looking quite nice.” He looked over and shared a smile with the auburn knight.

“It’s lovely,” Brody strolled forward along with Aasim who readjusted the bow on his own back, handing over the sticks for her to place. They just needed to add a few more finishing touches and their snowman would be complete.

“I must say, it has been really nice working with you,” Aasim spoke up as he placed one of the eyes. His statement made a warm smile appear on Brody’s lips.

“It has been nice. Seems we’re doing better than some of the others too,” Brody nodded over to Mitch and Minnie who were struggling to sell their odd snowman. Beside them were Prisha and Renata and a snowman with half of its face melted for some odd reason. Bits and pieces of the argument between the alchemist and court fool carried over the wind.

“Why would… acid… face.” Prisha’s annoyance was clear in her voice.

“It’s fine...hat.. fix everything.” Renata gave a reassuring smile that didn’t ease the alchemist’s annoyance.

Aasim gave a chuckle when he heard the words of the argument. “True.” He looked over towards Ruby and Omar, a kind smile appearing on his lips. “Looks like they’re having fun.”

Brody looked over and saw Tenn working hard on decorating the snow castle as Willy ran this way and that to get stuff for the snow knight. Omar and AJ were in the middle of working on one of the walls while Ruby used the snow gathered by Willy to finish up the snow knight’s base. Both Omar and Ruby kept a close eye out for any danger. But both of them seemed happy with their time with the younger kids. The pair had gentle smiles on their faces as they moved around to help the young trio.

“I’m glad,” Brody turned back to place a stick in place for one of the arms. “Looks like we’re almost done.”

Aasim gave a short nod in response and the pair started their work up once more.

After about twenty minutes had passed the teams were nearly done, when all of the sudden Omar’s deep voice spoke up. “Watch out. Walkers incoming.” The young cook’s statement made all the knights immediately stop what they were doing and unsheathe their weapons. Ruby moved to guide the three younger boys behind the shelter of their snow castle while the others dealt with the living dead.

Ten walkers were making their way forward, a small cluster that would be manageable with everyone here. Prisha undid the clip on her satchel and brought out a bottle that held a liquid with a magenta tint. Mitch held his blacksmith hammer in his hand and prepared to strike. As the first two walkers strolled toward them, Sophie and Minnie ran forward. The twins worked in unison. Sophie made quick work of the one on the left, her blade slicing through its head and spraying one of the snowmen with brain matter. Minnie gritted her teeth as she impaled her sword though her walker’s skull, making the walker go limp before she tossed it aside.

An unearthly groan made her eyes shoot over to realize that one of the living dead had gotten too close for her comfort. Minnie stepped back in preparation when a knife flew through the air and hit the fragile skull of the undead with a wet thunk. Any semblance of life faded from the walker as it fell to the floor. Looking back Minnie saw that it was Renata who had thrown the knife.

Violet and Brody moved forward and worked together, taking out another pair of walkers. Brody smashed its face in with a shield then ended its misery with the sharp edge of her heel. Violet’s sword sliced through the walker’s legs that were desperately trying to reach her, causing it to fall to the ground. With a sharp downward motion the blonde knight took down the threat. An arrow moved through the air with a faint yet sharp sound, hitting its target true as another walker fell. Aasim notched another arrow and looked for his next target. Prisha strode forward and threw her bottle in the air, hitting one of the furthest walkers that was struggling to catch up with its brethren. The bottle collided with the walker’s skull and caused its flesh to slowly melt before the liquid seeped into its brain and ended its life.

They had already dealt with more than half of the cluster of the living dead but it was never safe until all were vanquished. Louis and Marlon moved forward together. Marlon sliced off the walker’s hands that tried to reach for his best friend. The hands fell to the ground with a squelching sound and with the opportunity now open Louis swung his sword and sliced through the walker’s skull. He took a deep breath and glanced over to see that Clementine and Omar were working together to take out another member of the living dead. Clementine dodged its attack and quickly knocked out its knee before Omar dug his dagger into the skull of the walker with a little too much force and caused it to collide and become stuck in the snowknight.

That was nine down; they only needed to deal with one more. Mitch ran forward to claim the final walker and with a heavy hit from his blacksmith hammer the walker fell down onto the snow, staining it red. It still struggled to get back up until Mitch kneeled down and sunk his dagger into its skull. He pulled out his dagger and with a flick of his wrist cleaned off the blood from the last of the cluster of walkers. Everyone gathered around to make sure that they hadn’t received any bites or injuries when Louis spoke up.

“That sure was something,” He looked around, his smile fading for a moment when he noticed that the fight had ruined the snowmen. All of them were stained red with blood while some had the misfortune of guts and brain matter splattered on to them. An intestine was wrapped around one’s neck, closely resembling a scarf around Minnie and Mitch’s oddly shaped snowman. “Looks like the walkers sure did a number on our work.” His words made the others glance around at the mess.

“Well, I can still pick the best one,” Omar offered. “Once I do we can all go back to the castle for some apple cider.” That made many in the group chatter with excitement. With everyone in agreement, Omar walked around studying the snowmen intently even though they were covered by the blood, guts and smell of the dead. After many minutes of careful consideration, the judge finally came to his consensus.

“The winners of this year's winter solstice snowman challenge is…” Omar paused for dramatic effect, mainly to enjoy the impatience expressed by the others. It was largely Sophie, Mitch, Renata, Louis and Aasim who seemed hyper invested, although the advisor tried his best to hide it. “Aasim and Brody’s snowman.”

“Yes!” Aasim exclaimed and high fived Brody who seemed just as happy about the victory. Sophie and Renata let out sad groans at the same time while Louis and Mitch seemed busy trying to convince Omar that their snowmen were the best.

“I’ve made my choice. Besides, the guards are here.” Omar gestured over to the set of guards that had moved in front of the unfinished wall, ready to guard it with their lives. “So let’s go inside.” Omar strolled forward, leading the way back to the gate. Willy, AJ and Tenn were following him close behind, all three of them excited for apple cider. The rest soon joined the walk back. Sophie ran forward and walked beside Omar.

“So, ever gonna share your secret to the apple cider?” The redheaded knight asked with excitement.

“Nope.” Omar stated simply, a small smile appearing on his lips when he saw the pout on Sophie’s lips. “But I’ll keep making it each year.”

“Yes!” Sophie practically jumped with happiness. “Man, you’re the best, Omar!”

Omar smiled at the compliment then looked back at the street ahead of him.

“I can’t wait for the feast tonight!” Willy bounced excitedly as he walked forward.

“Well, the goose should be done in an hour or two.” Omar replied, causing a groan to leave AJ’s lips as well as Sophie’s.

“You can’t rush perfection,” Omar gave one final smile before he continued down the street as the rest of his friends talked.

Louis ran forward to catch up with Clem and flashed a big grin. “So, did you like your first winter solstice? I know it was a bit more extreme than last year, but...” Louis scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

“Yeah, I’m enjoying it so far. It looks like AJ is too,” Clementine’s smile grew as she watched AJ talking animatedly with Willy and Tenn.

“Just wait for the feast. That’s sure to put an even bigger smile on the little dude’s face.” Louis smiled over at Clementine.

“I’m sure.” Clementine’s words made Louis’ grin grow. He looked away from her for a moment and watched as his friends made their way back to the castle. All of them were happy even after the battle they had been forced to participate in. The young king felt his heart grow warm at the sight. It really was a good winter solstice celebration so far and things were sure to only go uphill from here.

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cosmosogler · 7 years

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hi i had a bad night

at some point i realized i was awake. not sure if i’d slept before that or not. but then i started coughing uncontrollably and then i threw up. i looked at the clock since i was up anyway. it was 3 am.

i went back to sleep. i had the kind of nightmare where you are trying so hard to wake up and you just can’t and then you are screaming irl and your cat is startled.

they were gonna get me.

then i didn’t want to get up until 7:55 and then i showered and i was very angry. then i started crying a little bit. i was thinking about a message mom sent me yesterday. she said dad was bummed because he didn’t have anyone to eat thai food with.

someone has to be angry about this. no one else is going to be angry about it except me.

no one was angry about craig either. i had to do it myself.

i was really slow about making myself lunch and eating breakfast because i didn’t really want to eat. i remembered today is spaghetti day so i didn’t worry about making a full lunch and just packed some snacks for later in case i got hungry in the afternoon and needed to stay on campus for whatever reason. (i should have stayed longer.)

i biked to campus and took notes during class. i used my new pen, which i bought on saturday, which has four colors! i think it helped me a lot toward keeping the lecture organized in my head. but i also very quickly noticed even more just how erratic the quantum professor is. but classical went very well as far as note taking went. i made sure to summarize the class in the space above the date as well.

after that we went and got spaghetti. we found out harrison is 19. gotta go fast, i guess. after they went back to the department i went over to the counseling center to start group therapy at long last.

i found myself reacting a lot but about 2/3 of the way through the meeting i stopped talking. i was also the only one that the facilitator didn’t ask about how the meeting went. maybe because i was sitting just outside her field of view and i was fidgeting but being quiet. i like everyone well enough. not sure what prompted me to, kind of, get stuck between my thoughts and my mouth. i guess i felt like my comments/questions would have changed the topic of conversation too much and maybe talking about religion was a good idea.

i did bring up that religion comes with a lot of bad memories for me and if i don’t joke about it i start remembering...

well, i start remembering even if i do joke about it. no one’s gonna be upset for me.

i know i don’t have to hold on to anger. i guess that makes it more... meaningful that i do? not sure how to word that. if no one is angry at dad then that means what he did was ok. and it wasn’t. and he never, ever apologized. and if he wants to hold on to the macho act so bad then he can do it over there, by himself, without me.

anyway after that was e&m but i was so burnt out that i just drew snoopy instead of taking notes. it’s going to hurt my grades. there was an in-class activity and i had the right answer right away but then i let my neighbor talk me out of it and i got points off because i changed my answer to the wrong one. we have another test next week. it’s the only thing contributing to our grades. the professor doesn’t take homework.

suzanne wanted to talk to the grader for classical tomorrow because a lot of us are getting points marked off for things we did do. like i wrote down an equation weird and he wrote “don’t do this, do this instead” all over it in huge letters when in the very next line i had done the thing he wanted me to do. but he didn’t see that because he was busy writing his correction over my work. suzanne said it happened to her too.

i also got points off for saying that the first derivative was 0 but not also saying that the second derivative was also 0 before starting to do actual math. but if the first one is 0 it follows naturally that the second one is 0 because the second one is calculated off the first... my head is spinning.

anyway after that i spent an hour reading an article, and then i did a classical problem all by myself! suzanne gave some input, as in, she told me i didn’t have to do one of the things i was doing and showed me that i could look up the details of the coordinate system i needed online. but i knew how to start the problem right away! i am hoping that’s a good sign. we are going to finish the assignment tomorrow so we can spend the weekend studying and stuff instead of trying to get the homework done for monday when the test is on tuesday. the three hour long test. on tuesday night.

then the e&m test on friday afternoon.

i biked home before the sun went down!!! i made myself dinner and cleaned up the apartment a bit and brushed snoopy and gave her some cookies. and i actually got her to bat at one of her toys once!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i am so proud of her.

while i was cleaning out her main litter box i stopped by the balcony. the hallway is outdoors so there’s just some balcony/bridge areas that look out over town. i watched the sun set for a little bit. more than 5 minutes but less than 10. it was... interesting.

i recognized intellectually that the sunset was colorful and beautiful, and i really liked how the clouds looked next to the orange-peach sky and the way the hotel down the road was lit up under them. but emotionally i didn’t really... feel anything, i guess. like normally a peaceful moment like that would just be really nice and i would feel something inside. but tonight i was just tired. i did bop along to my music since no one was around but... i dunno it didn’t move me when i knew from memory that it should. i don’t feel anything any more.

it keeps me up at night actually. it bothers me when i am riding my bike and thinking. it bothers me in the shower. it bothers me while i’m eating.

i try to think of the people i love, and the animals that i love, and i don’t feel anything. i can’t remember what that feels like. to care so much. to “feel for” them. maybe it would be upsetting once the impact settled in if one of them was feeling bad. but thinking about it, thinking about my new classmates, “how would i feel if keegan broke his leg??” i don’t have an answer. “nothing” is all i can think of. i don’t feel anything.

i guess i feel... bad? sometimes? usually when my professor is being passive aggressive or when i’m hungry.

did i talk about my talk with the professor yesterday... i think a little bit. i talked about how he kept talkin about how bad i did. i wanted to be angry. i wanted to cut him off and tell him that i was actually doing almost everything he accused me of not doing. but i just felt exhausted. i didn’t even feel exhausted. i felt sleepy. i wanted to put my head down on the table and take a nap while he babbled nonstop at me.

i felt like that during the prelim except it was so overpowering that i did actually fall asleep. i passed out. i can’t say “i took a nap” because, like, that technically happened, but it wasn’t normal. i didn’t actually need a nap. but my brain was very insistent that i needed to spend a large chunk of my twelve-hour test asleep.

but those are my two emotions right now. “nothing” or “bad.” at least when i’m screwing around with my classmates at krishna or whatever i’m not thinking about how i feel. i still feel nothing but it’s not on my mind so i feel a little more comfortable trying to smile instead of automatically laughing every time i mention how bad i feel.

“i can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not” is kind of a weird comment to make. the answer is “both.”

at group i really wanted to ask if anyone else ever got called “cute” or “sweet” and how they dealt with knowing that their peers don’t take them as seriously as everyone else. it was at the forefront of my mind for the last third of the meeting. i didn’t bring it up... i’m having my classical midterm before our next meeting. this was just an introductory session so i couldn’t have worked on test anxiety anyway, but... i guess i feel like i should have talked about myself. at the same time i feel like i talked too much.

instead of grading or doing any more work or anything useful (well, i took care of some tax stuff with mom’s help) i spent some time catching up on all the stuff i’ve bookmarked over the last two weeks. i don’t have a lot of energy this week. i think all my classmates are also dragging their feet just judging from how much time suzanne spends hunched over her desk, taylor spends watching anime, luis spends playing goat simulator, harrison spends riding luis’ skateboard back and forth across the office room, keegan makes himself scarce, rebika just seems kind of lost.

there’s another grad student that joins us for krishna spaghetti on wednesdays. his name is soham. he’s got a great sense of humor, i’ve loved basically every comment he’s made. he spends a lot of time in his office at the end of the hallway though so i don’t see him a lot.

umm i think that’s it. still feeling kind of rattled about the nightmare. i didn’t describe it because i’m not sure how to. it needs so much context that i’d be here for another hour. it was the kind where i was using every trick in the book to try to get away, everything i’ve learned i can do in dreams over the years, but the monster knew all of them too and just didn’t care what i did. i could walk through a wall and it would still be right there behind me. i could fly away and it would catch me with a fishhook or just come up there and get me itself. i could hide and it would track my scent. i could hole myself up in a bunker and it would unlock the front door and just walk right in. i knew better than to call for help but i was so desperate that i was just screaming and i carried that with me for a moment as i finally woke myself up.

at least this time it wasn’t craig. it was “ambiguous best friend for this dream.” it’s... easier to deal with, in a way, long term.

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miamibeerscene · 7 years

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Denver Bars and Breweries Go Into Overdrive for Great American Beer Festival

Euclid Hall’s upstairs space on a crowded night. (Credit: Adam Larkey)

October 1, 2017

Twenty years ago, Falling Rock Tap House owner Chris Black says there was nothing happening during the annual Great American Beer Festival®, outside of the festival itself.

“That’s one of the reasons I opened the Tap House,” Black says. “Tons of people came to town every year and no one was capitalizing on that.”

For his first Great American Beer Festival (GABF), he says, “I just put on decent beer.” Now the Tap House has 31 events over six days and does a month’s worth of business during that time.

(TRAVEL: Beer Lover’s Guide to the Denver Airport)

Black’s ecstatic that other Denver breweries, beer bars and restaurants are joining the party, offering an increasing number of special beer events. Owners and event organizers aim to impress the thousands of beer lovers who descend on Denver during GABF week, and it takes a ton of careful planning. Here’s how they pull it off.

7 Rules Denver Bars and Breweries Live by During Great American Beer Festival Week

1. Prepare in advance – WAY in advance

Black says most brewery showcase spots at his bar are locked in by the end of June, to the consternation of those who think a call in August or September is going to result in anything fruitful.

“We do six months of preparing for GABF every year, and then six months of catching up from GABF,” jokes Nick Nunns, owner of TRVE Brewing. TRVE also runs a small distribution portfolio, so Nunns is expanding the number of breweries and events they’re organizing on behalf of those brands.

2. Offer a wide range of events for every level and palate

Deschutes ‘Woody’ beer trailer parks in front of Euclid Hall. (Credit: Euclid Hall)

Jesse Claeys, public relations coordinator at New Belgium Brewing in Fort Collins, Colorado, says that the brewery does about 10 to 11 events in Denver, from sour beer tastings to more low-key offerings at local watering hole Star Bar’s “Kenny Lagers” event. “We try to have something for everyone,” he says.

Jason Forgy at Freshcraft beer bar and restaurant says that anyone interacting with the public needs to be able to work with all levels of beer drinkers, from beginners to experts. “We all need to try to have patience with newbs,” he says. “We need everyone to be included in this beer world.”

(READ: Craft Beer Bars That Changed Their City’s Beer Scene)

Euclid Hall Bar and Kitchen serves special beers around themes, like Locals’ Night, where they’ll tap kegs from Denver-area breweries that aren’t usually distributed. They also plan their well-known Sour Night.

Sometimes breweries prefer to stick with their personal vibe, such as TRVE, which is a heavy metal brewery, according to Nunns, so a lot of their events outside the brewery involve concerts and heavy metal music.

3. Make sure the lines move fast

“I hate seeing people standing in line at my place,” Chris Black of Falling Rock Tap House says. Since the number of people crowding the Tap House is unlikely to decrease (very much the opposite), Black’s implemented several GABF protocols over the past 10 years to get everyone moving. The thing that’s helped the most, he says, is numbering all the taps and having the kegs and the menus organized accordingly. That way, the staff doesn’t need to memorize the names of the beers they’re pouring, since they literally change every hour.

4. Have a game plan with a great staff

In order to get everything in order to keep lines moving and customers happy (or at least not too frustrated), a flexible, passionate, energetic, smart team is key. So is a well-communicated plan of attack and an understanding of how to operate if something goes wrong (which of course it will).

“It’s important to make sure communication between everyone is happening in all aspects of the process,” Great Divide’s Matt Sandy says. The brewery’s two tap rooms have more tours, longer hours and more staff during GABF. “We’ve got someone who all they do is check IDs, along with a dedicated glass runner, someone on hand to sell swag, and more people behind the bar,” he tells us.

Great Divide Brewing pays extra close attention to its brewing schedule before GABF week. (Credit: Great Divide)

(READ: Great American Beer Festival Do’s and Don’ts)

Jules Bouchard at Euclid Hall says that the service staff takes a weekly mandatory beer class throughout September in preparation.

Chris Black may get all the public attention directed at Falling Rock, but he’s quick to point out that he couldn’t do it without his assistant Beth Walter, who’s completely involved in the process. Her job covers everything from setting up distributor meetings in the spring to all the menu creation/formatting/distribution prep work, to staying on top of social media.

Although he mostly uses his existing staff, he has one person dedicated to changing the kegs, and a friend of his comes by every year just to bus glasses on Friday and Saturday nights.

5. Organize down to the smallest detail

Jason Forgy at Freshcraft says organization is the key. (Credit: Freshcraft)

With all the extra staffing and all hands on deck, organization is key. Freshcraft’s Jason Forgy swears by Excel or other spreadsheets to keep everyone and everything organized, such as keg size, keg location, keg origin, schedule of tapping, and keg pricing.

“It becomes our lifeline over the course of the week to keep us on track when we’re just exhausted,” Forgy says.

Another organizational tip he’s discovered is ordering the kegs strategically in the cooler so they’re lined up exactly as they’re supposed to be tapped. “Saves us looking around everywhere to find that one keg.”

Falling Rock’s numbering the taps, as mentioned earlier, along with accurate and up-to-date printed menus is a huge thing to keep organized. Since new ones need to be distributed every half hour (the inside changes beers at the top of the hour, and the outside bar changes on every half hour), every single beer needs to in place, with the correct corresponding number that the customer can use to order, which is found on every menu. That takes a hell of a lot of organization. Chris Black says they try to do as much as possible ahead of time, but things can go off track easily, and a well-organized system can help quickly spot an error.

(LEARN: Beer 101 Online Course)

6. Ensure the beers are at their best

TRVE’s Nick Nunns says they set aside special kegs all year to save for GABF week. “We want to make sure we bring out our coolest and best beers,” Nunns says. “Of course we want to show off.”

Matt Sandy at Great Divide says they are particularly mindful of their brewing schedule leading up to GABF week to make sure their beer supply is as plentiful and fresh as possible.

“We want to make sure we bring out our coolest and best beers.” Nick Nunns, TRVE Brewing

7. Build relationships with brewers all year long

You might ask, “Why do these breweries and businesses push themselves so hard every year?” I mean, honestly, at this point, people are gonna come in and spend money regardless, right? But the service industry is different from a cost-benefit analysis point of view. Not only do outlets want to provide a fun, cool experience for their guests, but they want to support all the breweries they’ve been working with, whether it be one year or 10 years.

TRVE’s license to distribute means they can help their friends in the industry put on events and spread the gospel of their brand to new, wider audiences. That’s why they’ve gone from representing two breweries last year for GABF to eight breweries this year.

Both Freshcraft and Euclid Hall also feel that supporting brewers during GABF is the least they can do for breweries that have supported their businesses through the years.

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“People who take care of me year round get to showcase their beer at the largest beer festival in the country,” Jason Forgy says.

Jules Bouchard agrees. “Promoting beer and breweries during GABF are the outcomes of the relationships that Euclid Hall has built over the years.”

Established breweries like New Belgium and Great Divide are happy to take the opportunity to reach out to beer lovers who may have overlooked them in favor of the newer breweries. “We want to let people know that Great Divide is still doing some good stuff,” Matt Sandy says.

Breweries want to reach out to other breweries, too. Jesse Claeys notes that GABF is huge for New Belgium due to the connectivity on the industry side, with the opportunity to continue building relationships every year.

(READ: 7 Offbeat Places to Drink Craft Beer)

Get Your GABF Game Face On

These Denver businesses have the standard advice for attendees, like stay hydrated and find a source of info for all the events happening on any given day at any given hour (ProTip: Download the My GABF app). However, Nick Nunns at TRVE suggests the radical idea of not making a plan and just letting circumstance take you where you need to be. “Don’t make a list,” he says. “Just follow fate.”

Great Divide’s Matt Sandy says, “You can try to make a plan, but you probably won’t stick to it.”

It’s OK though – Denver’s breweries, beer bars and restaurants have been planning for months to show you a good time, so lean in and let it happen.

And most importantly, according to Freshcraft’s Jason Forgy: “Have fun, because beer is supposed to be fun, right?”

Nora McGunnigle

Nora McGunnigle is a freelance beer and food writer living in New Orleans, focusing and the unique food and beer culture of Louisiana and the Gulf region. Her work can be found in Beer Advocate, All About Beer, and Louisiana Kitchen and Culture and is a regular contributor to Southern Brew News, Alcohol Professor, Eater NOLA, and the New Orleans alt-weekly, The Gambit. Keep up with her work at NOLAbeerblog.com. Read more by this author

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