After we... well—I slept for a few hours in Llewellyn's bed before Llewellyn woke me up with a kiss, placing Penguin on my stomach for good measure.
Penguin chirped happily and nuzzled me, while Llewellyn looked at us, amused, Lumos wagging his tail and trying to climb his leg.
"What time is it?" I asked.
"7:30 PM," Llewellyn said. "I'm making dinner. Feel free to take a shower, if you like."
The smell wafting in was amazing.
…Wait.
"Did you make pizza from scratch?!" I asked, blinking up at him from where I was still sprawled on the bed.
"You seemed particularly taken with my pizza oven, so I thought you'd like to sample its results."
Well, yes.
"Alright," I said. "I'll take a quick shower and join you. Don't extinguish the fire before I see it in action."
Llewellyn snorted but agreed.
***
I took a quick shower, letting the hot water wake me up properly.
When I emerged, Llewellyn had set the table with plates and was pulling the first pizza from the oven with a wooden peel. It was one of those pizza ovens with a rounded dome that looked almost like a compact fireplace when it was in use. Inside, flames danced merrily.
The smell was incredible—tomato sauce, fresh basil, melted cheese…
"That looks amazing," I said, sliding into a chair.
Penguin chittered from where he'd claimed a spot on the counter, watching the proceedings. Lumos sat at Llewellyn's feet, tail wagging hopefully.
Llewellyn cut the pizza into slices and placed the plate on the table.
"Margherita to start. Two other variations coming up."
I took a bite and groaned. It was incredibly good.
"Penguin lit up the fire," Llewellyn said when I said that out loud, but he looked pleased.
I praised Penguin, who chirped happily.
By the time we finished, it was past ten.
"I should head home soon," I said reluctantly, checking the time. "Need to set up before my shift starts."
Llewellyn nodded.
"I forgot," he said, taking out his phone. "Tiernan sent the building layouts. You should've received them too."
Oh, right. I'd forgotten about those.
I took out my phone and there was Tiernan's text. I opened the attached files.
The Hyunshore Hotel's floor plans were annotated with entry points, camera positions, and emergency exits. The auction would be in the underground ballroom—basically a kill box if things went wrong.
Who even thinks of building an underground ballroom in a high-end hotel?! That just sounded wrong.
I wondered about it. If I brought the blueprints in my Core Partition with me, could I learn them by heart by placing them on the nightstand? That would be very helpful. Maybe I could divide my nap into two halves and learn more than one book? Was that possible? I hadn't thought about it before.
Anyway.
"Looks like we're really doing this, then," I said, with a sigh. "I'll make sure to memorize them."
Penguin chirped, as if to say he was going to do that too.
"Good," Llewellyn said.
...I stepped closer and kissed him.
Llewellyn's hand ended up on my waist as he kissed back, taking control, which… uh… made it very difficult to want to leave.
"See you tomorrow," I said stepping back, feeling warm everywhere.
Llewellyn pulled me into another kiss.
"..."
I teleported away before I could change my mind.
It only occurred to me later that we didn't really have any reason to meet tomorrow.
…Damn it. Well, I was going to think of something.
***
Once in my flat, I made coffee and booted up my laptop. Then, I sat down next to Penguin on the couch and clocked in.
Looked like I had the first shift with the new sets of pages Niamh had talked about. I sighed.
I sipped my coffee and opened the first comment thread, bracing myself.
[pinkdeal]: what's so important about this festival anyway?
[moonlesscat]: it's because of the Llewellyn exposition this year. they're doing a whole retrospective apparently
[pinkdeal]: oh great, more hero worship
[teacupsmasher]: it's not just about Llewellyn??? it's the anniversary of when the old Inishmore became Innishae, when King Eoghan and Yun Seojun changed the entire landscape of the country
[pixandgo]: changed it by forcing korean culture on a celtic island you mean
[burntoastdaily]: here we go again with this shit
[academicrage]: Actually if you READ any history, you would know that King Eoghan invited Yun Seojun and asked for his help. There was NO coercion involved.
[pixandgo]: sure, "invited" after holding him there. sounds like stockholm syndrome to me
[peaches]: you literally don't know what stockholm syndrome means do you. or know any history
[crownofbees]: king eoghan appropriated korean culture for his vanity project. there I said it
[burntoastdaily]: how do you appropriate something that was freely shared??? yun seojun CHOSE to stay and freely shared his knowledge!
[crownofbees]: because he had no other choice? hello? shipwrecked on some random island and get targeted by the king! what was he supposed to do?!
[hexagonpotato]: swim back to korea apparently 💀
[academicrage]: Yun Seojun wrote hundreds of letters about how much he loved Innishae and considered it his true home but go off I guess
[deadpixelator]: don't know what you're all going on about, but isn't Innishae that place with US spelling but UK terminology
[frogcontent]: that's Canada
[deadpixelator]: no Canada's the reverse, UK spelling US terminology
[hexagonpotato]: ur both wrong it's neither
[sticknightmare]: ew. what a take. UK and US don't own the English language
[deadpixelator]: I'm just saying it's weird
[sticknightmare]: almost like it's its own country with its own standards. wild concept
[crownofbees]: exactly my point. it's all artificial. king eoghan just wanted to play dress-up with another culture
[hotgod]: you know Innishae still has its own old celtic traditions, right? they didn't disappear. the country doesn't even have Korean as a second language! it's just more common
[ribbonprince]: none of this matters anyway. the real question is why they're glorifying llewellyn NOW
[champagneonpasta]: because he's literally from innishae??? where else would they do an exposition???
[ribbonprince]: convenient timing with all the knot criticism lately. just saying
[RightSideofHistory]: Of course they're using cultural celebration to deflect from accountability. Classic propaganda move. And before anyone says "it's tradition"—tradition has always been used to silence dissent.
-
Oh for fuck's sake, she was here too.
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[unhingedclense]: girl it's a FESTIVAL. people want to eat street food and watch parades. not everything is about your crusade
[RightSideofHistory]: That's exactly the problem. Bread and circuses while people die.
[pixandgo]: she's not wrong though. they're using Llewellyn to legitimize this cultural appropriation fest
[poolmayeur]: WHAT appropriation??? King Eoghan and Yun Seojun just created something new together. are you going to be mad at Finland too?
[yolo-ay-hee-hoo]: tf does Finland have to do with anything
[academicrage]: Finland went from Russian rule to building a full literary and design identity (Sibelius, the Kalevala, Alvar Aalto, the whole "Finnish modernism" vibe) in under 80 years
[peaches]: told you they don't know any history
[yolo-ay-hee-hoo]: but they didn't appropriate anything!!! that was the whole point!!! are we going to get mad at debussy next??
[flamethrower]: yes??? Debussy definitely appropriated Javanese gamelan music??? everyone knows that
[christmassock]: influence in the arts is a thing, or r u going to ignore that
[sentientmushroom]: exactly. appropriation ≠ appreciation. Innishae was clearly the latter
[chairwoman]: you're just trying to justify Yun Seojun's cultural colonialism
[amazingbrace]: wait wait, I thought y'all were saying King Eoghan appropriated Korean culture? now you're saying Yun Seojun is the one in the wrong because of cultural colonization?
[yolo-ay-hee-hoo]: u must be new here
[chairwoman]: I said what I said. that was cultural colonialism. Seojun imposed confucian hierarchy on free celtic people
[burntoastdaily]: the celts already had hierarchies. have you heard of kings??? stop pretending they were anarchist forest sprites. and what new hierarchies would seojun even have brought 🤦♀️
[RightSideofHistory]: The pattern is identical across centuries. Power invites "collaboration", calls it mutual, then rewrites the story until the victims thank them for it. This festival is just another layer of that revision.
[yolo-ay-hee-hoo]: stop writing essays under memes challenge (impossible)
-
…All this and the festival hadn't even started yet! I could feel a headache coming on.
-
[ribbonprince]: I mean look where we are. a country that can't decide if it's european or asian
[teacupsmasher]: it can be whatever it wants. that's literally the point
[deadpixelator]: explains why their english is so fucked up lmao
[linguisticnightmare]: your english is fucked up. Innishae has Innishaean English
[moonlesscat]: is Llewellyn even going to show up to his own exposition
[hexagonpotato]: doubt it. when has he ever shown up for anything
[ribbonprince]: because he knows it's all fake. even he won't endorse this propaganda
[ferry]: or maybe he just doesn't like crowds??? revolutionary concept. not everything is a conspiracy
[RightSideofHistory]: If he had integrity, he'd reject this completely. Using his image to celebrate cultural erasure while people suffer from Knots is unconscionable.
[zoomless]: watch his boyfriend defend him again. where's mr. "i'm not a good person" when you need him
-
Ah, shit.
-
[crownofbees]: probably too busy appropriating water magic or whatever
[moonlesscat]: how do you appropriate magic that's literally yours. you people are exhausting
[ribbonprince]: I'm more interested in why they're pushing this llewellyn narrative so hard right now
[RightSideofHistory]: Because they need a distraction. The System is failing, Knots are escalating, and they're throwing us a party hoping we'll forget.
[madhotter]: or it's just the regular 4-year celebration that's been happening since before you were born
[moonlesscat]: anyway is anyone actually going to the festival or are we just arguing online
[hexagonpotato]: going to the food stalls at least. the kimchi boxty is legendary
[crownofbees]: kimchi boxty. my point exactly. cultural frankenstein food
[teacupsmasher]: it's DELICIOUS is what it is
[ribbonprince]: staged photo op incoming
[burntoastdaily]: they literally hide from cameras what are you on
[RightSideofHistory]: Which is exactly why if they DO show up, you'll know it's orchestrated. Everything about them is calculated to avoid real accountability.
-
I rubbed my temples.
The conversation was already spiraling into three different arguments, and this was just one thread. The queue had hundreds more.
-
[pixelrift]: irish-korean fusion is an abomination btw. pick a lane
[linguisticnightmare]: cultures mixing is literally how every culture ever developed
[crownofbees]: not by force
[academicrage]: FOR THE LAST TIME IT WASN'T FORCED
[pixelrift]: sure jan
[bookletdork]: this llewellyn exposition is going to be chaos isn't it
[hexagonpotato]: 100% guaranteed drama
[ribbonprince]: good. maybe people will finally wake up
[RightSideofHistory]: The question is whether RYO HAEWELL will have the courage to show his face after mocking survivors. Or will they hide behind cultural celebration while we demand answers?
-
Did she always capitalize my full name like that now?
-
[feralkettle]: we get it you hate them both
[RightSideofHistory]: I don't hate anyone. I'm demanding justice. There's a difference.
[deadpixelator]: sounds like hate to me
[crownofbees]: hate would be if she was wrong. she's not
[rustrelay]: wild how "justice" always seems to look exactly like harassment
[RightSideofHistory]: Calling out harm is not harassment. People only feel "attacked" when they benefit from the system. Accountability feels monstrous to those who have never faced it.
[greaselight]: girl you are liveblogging your mental breakdown
[RightSideofHistory]: This is exactly how it happens. Minimize it. Joke about it. Treat outrage as embarrassing so no one has to feel responsible for anything.
-
She really was the perfect example of bad-faith Internet logic.
-
[crownofbees]: yeah. this. people are acting like this is just vibes discourse when it's about real harm
[ivoryaxiom]: honestly thank you for saying it. this thread has been gross. turning everything into a meme is how nothing ever changes
[RightSideofHistory]: Calling out harm always looks dramatic to people who have the luxury of ignoring it.
[staticparallax]: or it looks dramatic because you keep turning every disagreement into a morality test somehow you always pass by performing outrage on demand
[greaselight]: u're allowed to care without auditioning for sainthood
[RightSideofHistory]: Mockery is the last refuge of those with nothing meaningful to say.
[rustrelay]: lmao okay professor discourse
[paperweight]: every sentence sounds like it came with a podium
[RightSideofHistory]: I am watching a room full of cowards congratulate each other for feeling nothing. If that stings, good. It means you recognize yourself.
[rustrelay]: wow. mask slipped a bit there
[crownofbees]: no it didn't. she's still right. people are dying
[signalcrack]: this thread is about a festival poster. yet here she is, achieving nothing except for making herself appear self-righteous
[greaselight]: knots killing people 🤝 discourse killing my will to live
-
I somehow got to the end of the thread. Phew.
Unfortunately the next one was worse—a detailed "analysis" of how Llewellyn's appearance was proof that Yun Seojun had bred "superior beauty" into Innishae's population, which obviously had everyone up in arms.
…This was going to be a very long shift.