for glory

la gloire à mes genoux

[lgcyuxi]

plot call (sort of)

it's been over a year since my last intro post of sorts for this menace so in case we haven't met yet, hi, i'm coco (she/her), the mun behind miss liu yuxi, aka crystallis' cleo (and also the sweetheart that is kyoka over at lgckyoka). i'm also available @.jungyians on twitter and @.toxicyuris on discord if you prefer plotting outside of the mess that are tumblr ims; i tend to miss notifs a lot so if you think i've been ignoring you, please don't hesitate to poke me to get the ball rolling again <3

plot-wise not a lot has changed for yuxi, connection-wise a lot has changed — i'd love to plot more relationships with her, but you can see some types of dynamics she'd have here, with more information about her below the cut

the three defining aspects of yuxi as a person: her self-efficacy, need for control, and rigid moral code

her high degree of self-efficacy drives her forward to perform above and beyond expectations, but her mindset that she’s fully capable of everything, and that failures are a reflection of her as an individual is also her greatest mental block

her need for control fuels her competitive drive; it’s why she always has so many contingency plans and a severe nature to all her pursuits — however, it also leads her to be overly obsessive, self-critical, and prone to setting overly ambitious goals

yuxi's also that meme of the homie with the inconveniently strong adherence to her own inconvenient set of morality, wherein she values honesty and transparency above all: to be dishonest, in her point of view, is a form of disrespect to others and shows a lack of trust that they can handle information that concerns them (which ties in her value about control of one’s self)

it’s not that yuxi’s incapable of picking up on social cues as much as her abrasiveness may suggest but that she’d rather stick by her own morals and respect others as much as she can in her own terms, even to her detriment

in that sense she's a very principle-based person

doesn’t care for the entertainment industry at all, but wants to prove that she simply can make it: to her, it's a career but not a passion

if anything, it's her lack of goals and directions that make her restlessness and competitiveness that much worse

despite it all, she's a deeply idealistic realist and will give it her all to achieve her goals, willing to sacrifice relationships and even herself type of all or nothing

i don't want to draw this comparison, but if she think pulling elon musk post-twitter acquisition sleep deprivation can give herself a 5% boost in chances, yuxi will absolutely without hesitation follow

in short, she's a dazzling presence for sure with all that unadulterated ambition, but with all her intensity she's just as difficult to be around

it's very easy to like the idea of her but very hard to actually like her

she's always wanting more

the yuxi family lore goes deep (tldr trust fund kid with actual clauses to the fund) and even if it's not so apparent, it does explain a lot her competitiveness and need for control, as well as her distaste for people games

rn she's made a clean cut from it all, and is going all in on her career and everything else: a cornered beast will still fight

if you are interested in getting smt started, just drop a like and I’ll hop on over to dms; for random starters just drop a comment down below

[lgcyuxi]

plot call (real)

updates from my plots page, some *gestures vaguely* guidance on types of dynamics I want for yuxi, if anything catches your eye feel free to like this post and I'll drop you a message everything can be adjusted

info dealer: anyone is it exchanging gossip or is it providing updates to better their chances at surviving in lgc? the line in between often gets blurred, and your muse and yuxi are experts in navigating through that

of red: anyone yuxi doesn’t have a glowing image of herself — as a matter of fact, neither does your muse. for whatever reason, they just don’t click with each other. yuxi isn’t shy to bring attention to it. 

starstruck: anyone for as much as she wasn’t meant to be a celebrity, yuxi has charisma in spades. they’ve only talked once, very briefly, but to your muse it was a lifechanging experience, yuxi’s just perplexed at their behaviour towards her now.

spring drive: anyone she’s a lot, but one thing yuxi can’t be accused of is dullness. maybe they see eye to eye, maybe they don’t, but there is a begrudging respect between her and your muse and a curiosity in just how their brains tick. 

callout: anyone yuxi’s awfully apathetic to anyone outside her circle. she’s not outright cruel, but she can be a bitch, and your muse isn’t one intimated of confronting her with that truth

prove me wrong: anyone yuxi’s relationship with the lgc lifestyle isn’t exactly healthy. your muse expresses their concerns to yuxi. it does not go over well

glukupikron: female, preferably around 99liner [more] insane woman x insane woman doomed yuri slowburn with a lot of stoic yearning; while both are in the understanding that they could go somewhere if they take the first step, but are in unspoken agreement not to do so for whatever reason, right person wrong time except they’re forever stuck in the wrong time, to be further plotted

[lgcyura]

yura wordlessly nods in response to the thanks, and lightly pushes the drink closer to the other for easier reach. she had already been drinking some from her own mug since she woke up that morning, and had made it a habit of carrying it anywhere she went lately; she was serious about maintaining her condition, and looked out for crystallis' too, just in case.

"it makes you wonder why they chose a song in such a high range, considering they should know how our voices sound and what we could comfortably pull off." yura's partly rambling, partly musing out loud the thoughts that have crossed her mind recently, wondering if there were others who felt similarly or had their own worries or concerns to voice-- their mental was just as important as their physical health after all.

"i like the song though... but i don't know if it needed to be this high," she concludes, a bit wryly. at this point, yura knew she didn't have to be careful with her words or mince them around the others' so she felt a bit more comfortable being honest; none of them would expose each other or leak things to staff or outside people. "will you be okay for recording?"

[lgcyuxi]

Yuxi nodded in silent agreement, having already voiced her displeasure to the A&R team to no avail. "It's alright." She was ambivalent on the song itself, but she was at heart a pragmatist and it was hardly realistic to expect the group to be consistently hitting the notes throughout the promotional period without some sort of compromise: their vocal health, live singing, length of promotions.

"I will be," she replied, more out of manifestation — and while Yuxi was many things, a manifester she was not — than affirmation. She took a swig. "It's either that or they pitch correct me and I lip sync for the following months before our next comeback which," she paused, "would hardly be ideal."

[lgcyuxi]

𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: Tunic (Song for Karen) - Sonic Youth 1:11 ━━●────────────── 6:22 ㅤ ㅤ ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ

The song choice came easy to Yuxi: what better choice for her entrance than the iconic Sonic Youth needle drop in Irma Vep itself? The accompanying scene is even more iconic, the haphazard turbulence as Maggie, in all her anxiety from her lack of agency and commodification on the film set, enters character as Irma Vep in an attempt to regain her autonomy through a heist. Post-punk, and American at that too, it was terribly modern at the time, terribly messy. On a more subconscious level, the context of the song as a tribute to Karen Carpenter also appealed to Yuxi, what with her general anxiety about the loss of identity through the public-facing nature of the job.

[lgcyura]

i am.

↝ crystallis mission / closed started for @lgcyuxi !! ↝ comeback preparations.

ever since yura spoke to hyejoo about their upcoming comeback and the worries surrounding it, yura has made an effort to be extra observant and attentive to the group, although she tries to not let it show. that's always been her style (when not leading dance practice or learning choreo, that is) since debuting in crystallis anyways: to watch from afar and take care of things quietly in the background, hopefully with no one noticing until after the fact.

so naturally, when she notices yuxi going over her parts in 'i am', yura wonders if maybe she and hyejoo aren't the only ones who have some concerns about their new song and the feasibility of pulling it off outside of the recording studio. lip syncing might be the norm now but you never knew when you'd have to sing live and as someone who took pride in their performance, yura would hate not being able to perform live when the time came.

it's with these thoughts in mind that she approaches yuxi, a canister and travel mug in hand, and places them softly on the ground next to the other, smiling all the while. "do you want some honey lemon tea?" she asks first before plopping herself onto the floor. "i've been drinking so much of it lately because this song is so much higher than what i'm used to, and it really does help," yura adds on before laughing a little. "can't have us getting sore throats or using our vocal chords poorly, right?"

[lgcyuxi]

It would funny if it weren't nearly so frustrating — that just as Crystallis' musical evolution was finally moving towards concepts (and vocal ranges) that suited her better, they would immediately revert back, or overcorrect rather, to even higher ranges where essentially all the lines were belted. This despaired Yuxi as she a) already had low enough a voice as is, and b) was decidedly not a belter, or loud in general. The only thing the writers for I Am could've added to make her even more uniquely unequipped for her next title track to promote was if they introduced runs throughout the song.

Recording day was nearing, and Yuxi still struggled to sing all her parts perfectly on command. At that point, they were going to be pitch correcting her anyways, so she felt at ease in incessantly practicing her lines. So focused she was, that she failed to notice Yura until the latter spoke up. "Thank you," she accepted the drink. Raising an unimpressed brow, she added, "Tell me about it. Pitching it all down would have been much more reasonable, what with the promotional cycle and stages."

[lgcsori]

lgcyuxi

Yuxi was all too familiar with the ins and outs of the local prosecution network, of which she had a thorough briefing on following the investigations and findings of a few years prior. After all, it was thanks to them that the vacuum opened up for her transfer and it was also thanks to them that she had constant correspondence with the in house legal team. Seeing as she had no connection whatsoever to the local team though, all that surveillance felt unnecessary and, in Yuxi's opinion, discriminatory, an opinion that comms had to warn her to remain silent on. Thin-lipped smile, she lied smoothly back, "Good. I'm glad that we are of the same opinion that there is nothing amiss then." Her life outside her job... ha, that was hardly her priority, not when she had a promotion to still angle for. She had no room for mistakes here and now. "The usual." She eyed Sori. "Likewise for you, I'd wager.

sori wasn’t good at small talk, never had been, probably never would be. she preferred her conversations having a purpose, like at work, where every word shared was shared for a reason. her brother is a great talker, and she’s sure he’s somewhere here and has already talked to more people today than sori has done throughout the whole week. sori despises small talk, and she’s not sure if it’s easier or harder to have small talk with yuxi consideration their… connections? how they know each other.

sori shrugs, life was the usual, it always was, she worked and then got home to her brother having cooked for her, and then… time just passes by. “did you get dragged up on the rooftop too? or did you come willingly” she swifts her weight between her feet. “how do you know her? our mutual friend?” she tilts her head to the side, a sudden curiosity coming over her.

[lgcyuxi]

"By yours truly," Yuxi said with a wry smile, head pointed to their mutual friend who had already wandered off to god knows where. In any other circumstance she would've gladly stayed home, but after one too many plans cancelled in the past few months, Yuxi owed her one.

Yuxi could've asked the same for Sori, she couldn't imagine anyone less unpleasant she's come to contact with at work. She's worked with assholes, morons, frauds and probably too many people who in any other industry would've been long fired for abusive practices, but the other woman's constant meddling grated her on a personal level.

"Sports," she answered, "we had tennis sessions together when I first moved, but also play padel when we have the time now. And you?"

[lgcyuxi]

I don't like flowers

I don’t like flowers – they remind of The funerals and weddings, festive balls, And fancy dining tables above all… . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Only the timeless roses – charming, light, Which brought me joy since childhood, somehow Remained my sole inheritance till now, Like sounds of Mozart, like the dark of night. Anna Akhmatova

Growing up, Mid Autumn Festival had always been odd for Yuxi. It was a major holiday for families to gather but she was in boarding school in a country that did not celebrate it. Some years her father would be in between projects and have the time to gather her immediate family members to join the festivities hosted by the main clan, most years she spent it alone or with the few other girls who also celebrated. Uni was better, but not significantly so, not when she had course work to focus on to consistently plan and join dinners with the other students. Besides, it was always a bit awkward, her educational upraising creating somewhat of a gap between her and the others.

After relocating to Korea though, the excuses ran out and she was, much to her chagrin, expected to be present. And just as she had gotten used to it, she removed herself from that tradition. This year being her first in, what was now five years, where she was truly alone. Of course there was the company dinner, which was decent, but she viewed it on the same level as all other company-sponsored events: purely professional, to take care of her alcohol intake lest she make a fool of herself, and to make an effort to be among the last to leave. The latter was a difficult endeavour, but Yuxi managed. And though she may have come back to a silent dorm and had no intention of vacating it for the short break, she had her plans set in place: self study and practice, working out, sorting her paperwork, catching up on research, looking up and researching on getting back into some old hobbies. Nothing terribly exciting, but she could do with more calm in her life. Her neck was stiff enough as it was.

[lgcxmimi]

truthfully, its not like she could blame the either of them. emi was sure that most people wouldn't have noticed. to others, they seemed just professional-- it was a radio show after all, and they were idols. at the end of the day they had a job to do, and while they were in the same group -- emi was not. emi was a guest. call it her being hyper vigilant of other people's emotions, or perhaps just a nosey bitch. regardless it didn't matter. she had sensed the cold and tense energy. now, she just wanted to know the reason.

besides, in a way-- she considered them both friends. even if they weren't both exactly the closet to her... they were her friends. at least, she hoped she could call them that.

the answer made her raise her brow though, and she crossed her arms over her chest, tilting her head some. "Hmm." she offers, nodding a bit. "you don't have to apologize. i just wanted to make sure. you guys are usually... colder but it was like alaska in there. hopefully you guys have resolved it now, right?"

[lgcyuxi]

She shook her head no. Letting her personal matters bleed into her professional ones, much less involve third parties, was inexcusable and she reiterated as much, saying, “Regardless, it was neither the time nor the place for such behaviour and for that I apologise.”

Vaguely, Yuxi wondered if the discord was that apparent. Fans always seemed to find information about her that she herself didn’t even know, granted the bulk of it falsehoods. If she weren’t so busy fighting the fire in front of her she would’ve asked for Emi’s thoughts on that topic.

She herself wasn't entirely sure where she stood with Ichika, both being too proud to yield for the sake of preserving a relationship that was of grudging respect and/or kinship in the first place — that is, impersonal. "I don't know if a detente can be found if neither of us were wrong in the first place," she sighed, "incompatible assumptions and all." Their argumentation may have followed, but with the source of their dissent being fundamentally at odds with each other, Yuxi didn't see how it could resolve itself.

[lgcsori]

lgcyuxi

Don't get her wrong, Yuxi loved her job. She loved being paid to research her what she loved, she loved being able to make money moves based on her analysis, she loved being entrusted to have millions of dollars to make said money moves and to see her bets beat the market in real time. But to say it had no occupational downsides would be laughable — the constant stress at her portfolio performance despite her theoretically decent WLB was manageable, but the regulatory aspect remained her biggest headache. And another headache she could feel coming, seeing that all too familiar face again, and in her off time too, the audacity. A silent prayer to her sanity, and she plastered on her client face, reserved for the placating of those impatient institutionals. "BAU," she replied, perhaps a bit too sharply but she had her confidentiality agreements to maintain; she really had no intention of being yelled at from compliance and comms. "No worse than usual, as you're well aware of."

sori had a talent of always seeing the worst in people, assuming the worst in people. perhaps sori struggled a bit with keeping work and non-work life apart, continuing analyzing anyone she met outside of work. she figured, if she always assumed the worst she could never be unpleasantly surprised. 

her tendency to see the worst in everyone and everything made her hard to befriend though, besides her brother, she didn’t have particularly many friends. she assumed the worst in friends too, that they were tricking her, or using her. sori wasn’t the biggest fan of her job, but it was well paying, and she was good at it.

“as i’m aware of? i don’t know everything” lie, basically, sori knew how it was going in yuxi’s company, she was currently keeping quite an eye on that company, which meant, keeping an eye on yuxi too. “and life outside of your job, how is that going?” sori isn’t too sure how much she cares, but she’s nosy.

[lgcyuxi]

Yuxi was all too familiar with the ins and outs of the local prosecution network, of which she had a thorough briefing on following the investigations and findings of a few years prior. After all, it was thanks to them that the vacuum opened up for her transfer and it was also thanks to them that she had constant correspondence with the in house legal team.

Seeing as she had no connection whatsoever to the local team though, all that surveillance felt unnecessary and, in Yuxi's opinion, discriminatory, an opinion that comms had to warn her to remain silent on.

Thin-lipped smile, she lied smoothly back, "Good. I'm glad that we are of the same opinion that there is nothing amiss then." Her life outside her job... ha, that was hardly her priority, not when she had a promotion to still angle for. She had no room for mistakes here and now. "The usual." She eyed Sori. "Likewise for you, I'd wager."

[rosewearsclothes]

ever since I was a little girl I’ve been a bitch

[lgcsori]

forced conversation

sori had never been good at making friends, she had a tendency to always see the worst in people. besides her brother, she didn’t really talk with people outside of work. her brother happily talked with neighbours while sori tried her best to avoid eye contact with anyone. sori prefers being inside of her apartment, continuing work even when work is done, it’s the only thing she finds interesting. and ending up at the rooftop wasn’t her idea, but one of the few friends she had forced her up here.

sori is standing awkwardly and silently, simply observing what’s going on, and thinking about when it’s a appropriate to sneak away. she looks down at her drink of soda when said friend who forced her up here suddenly shows up in front of her. ‘i have someone you should meet, i think you’ll get along well’, those are her only words before grabbing sori’s hand and dragging her away.

and how lucky. it’s yuxi she’s been dragged over to. she coldly stares at the other, their mutual friend vanishing for some reason. sori is familiar with yuxi, and she has her assumptions about the other, even though they haven’t talked much, sori isn’t a fan of the other. “how is it going with work?”.

GO! @lgcyuxi

[lgcyuxi]

Don't get her wrong, Yuxi loved her job. She loved being paid to research her what she loved, she loved being able to make money moves based on her analysis, she loved being entrusted to have millions of dollars to make said money moves and to see her bets beat the market in real time. But to say it had no occupational downsides would be laughable — the constant stress at her portfolio performance despite her theoretically decent WLB was manageable, but the regulatory aspect remained her biggest headache.

And another headache she could feel coming, seeing that all too familiar face again, and in her off time too, the audacity. A silent prayer to her sanity, and she plastered on her client face, reserved for the placating of those impatient institutionals.

"BAU," she replied, perhaps a bit too sharply but she had her confidentiality agreements to maintain; she really had no intention of being yelled at from compliance and comms. "No worse than usual, as you're well aware of."

[lgcxmimi]

cold war with @lgcyuxi

the radio had happened ions ago, and it was fun to appear as a guest rather than a host. however, emi couldn't shake the feeling that she had missed something rather... well-- interesting happening. of course, she wasn't naive enough to think that everyone always got along all the time, but still, the frosty politeness and stiff smiles was enough for it to occasionally cross her mind-- as well as make her wonder why exactly that was.

she also knew it wasn't necessarily something she could ask indirectly about either. emi was the kind of girl to go straight to the source, so when she managed to find yuxi by her lonesome, the girl decided to use it to her advantage to figure out what the hell was going on.

she tugs down at her shirt, plucks candy from her favorite jar to 'share', adjusts her new ceramic earrings(they're mushrooms, how cute!) and decided to truly get the tea. she walks up with a smile, offering the bit of candy.

"... hi. so i'm curious. what's up with you and ichika, hm?"

[lgcyuxi]

Emi’s approach confused Yuxi — she couldn’t recall the last time they ever socialised out of their own volition — but her opening question answered all she had to ask. That. There was something to be said about her recent irascibility.

Her difficulty on a personal level was a non-negotiable trait, the inconvenience of which she was willing to take on; as someone who prided on her professionalism, any difficulty on a professional level was not to be tolerated. That she and Ichika both agreed on. It was, after all, the source of their rift and while she disagreed with the premises leading to latter’s final deduction, she, in the very least agreed with the initial premise and respected that view.

That their personal disagreement was aired out on the job like that, so much so that outsiders didn’t attribute that day’s acerbity to her usual laconism but to that conflict instead, that she was properly upset about. Still, it was a matter between the two of them and concerned no outsiders, though as the buffer between the two, she supposed Emi was owed some context.

“We had a personal disagreement, that is all,” was her terse reply, “I apologise that you had to bear witness to it the other day.”

[lgcxmimi]

was it just her, or was it really really cold in the room? emi couldn't say for sure-- she hadn't debuted yet, and while she was typically nosey to almost a fault, she can't she's heard of any particular drama that's been going on. or really, maybe she's just been too busy with lgc summer japan and her boyfriend to really be privy to all of the ins and outs of people. or maybe she was just getting older-- but that seemed much less likely.

she hums though, the topic of food gaining her attention and she's briefly pulled back from her thoughts of the intricacies at the current moment. "oh yeah? what's your favorite thing from there? food tells so much about a culture, which i find incredible. i met an american once that was from there-- food is apparently amazing." she says with a knowing nod, making a mental note to add it to her list. seemed like her list got longer and longer these days, but she wasn't complaining.

she perks up again, raising a brow. "ah i didn't know that. i especially want to visit hawaii. it's always so pretty there and seems so... refreshing." she admits with a nods before she's tilting her head in a bit more curiosity. "have you went to thailand before?" she wonders.

[lgcyuxi]

"New Orleans or the states in general?" she asked for clarification. "For just New Orleans I'm partial to jambalaya, for the states in general I'm undecided, we can loop back to that later if I have anything in mind later. And you?" It was true, the regional specialties differed so much it was impossible to choose something on the spot. Call it a British or a Jiangnan affectation, but Yuxi didn't care for strong flavour profiles either.

Frowning a bit, "No, actually, I haven't." Though in hindsight it did make sense, as being based in Europe made it less an accessible summering spot than the Marbellas or the Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrats or the Sylts around the continent. Even Mustique was closer, geographically speaking of course. "Thailand I have visited though, my first birthday in the group was spent performing in Bangkok so I have rather fond memories of the country."

[lgcyuxi]

apateu plotcall (pls like if you'd like for me to message for plotting)

tldr yuxi in this timeline actually managed to finish her degree then promptly not continue with it and fully embrace her inner capitalist to make her fuck you money while she still can as a vice president in portfolio management (specialty being real estate obv but more generally liquid real assets), and literally just moved to korea because she heard from reputable sources rumours that her company will be pushing for the korean market so she forced her way in early in hopes of leveraging that growing business into a better position down the line. she's not working crazy hours per se, but it's the sort of job where she can never not be stressed watching the news so she's pretty curt, moreso than outside the au, and is more often in the office or at some sort of work-related function than not.

[lgcyuxi]

Technically, on paper, she should be back in her dorms by this hour. Technically, on paper, her continued presence in the practice rooms made her accomplice in the company breaking several labour laws. Alas, Yuxi was many things but amenable she was not; such was her solipsism.

She had her Stakhanovitian, Thatcherian, Mark Tuckerian — call it as one would like — tendencies (though, on second thought, Stakhanovitian was perhaps most apt given her death wish), that much was true, though that was hardly the reason for her recent bout of insomnia. No, the truth was much more mundane: stress. Reckless and restless, the less she did, the more she stressed. How embarrassing.

"Breaking News:" imaginary headlines read, "Popular Idol Creator of Own Doom Loop" for even in her own hypotheticals she was never relegated to "local woman", no, that was far too pedestrian. She had an image to maintain.

Considering her state of mind then, it was a wonder that Yuxi found herself missing her trainee days, practicing alone to the crack of dawn and more. But at least she had a goal then, a sense of purpose that she now lacked. So she debuted. So she couldn't do anything, only wait for company scraps while she wasted away. It drove her mad. So mad, in fact, that she was now wearing a hoodie, an article of clothing one could not catch her wearing even in the worst of times at uni.

She was well settled in her nest of self-pity and/or insanity (for Yuxi, weren't the two the same?) by the time Mae's voice broke the silence. "I do not concern myself on others' perception," she dismissed.

It was almost cute how the other stumbled over her words. But two could play this game and Yuxi, in a demonstration of the extent to her boredom, followed Mae's movements in languid disinterest with her eyes, no feedback other than for the latter to continue the one-sided conversation.

[coscornelia-deactivated20260319]

mae knows she should leave. that's the smart thing, the normal thing, the thing a sane person would do when they're standing in front of someone who's basically looking at them like a bug under a microscope. but mae has never been normal, not really, and she's definitely not sane not when it comes to <3 yuxi <3. the silence stretches, ugly, sharp, and mae feels it press against her lungs, her ribs, her skull. she hates silence. she was raised in applause, camera shutters, a thousand tiny affirmations that she was good, so pretty, perfect. silence feels like punishment. so she fills it, words spilling out of her too fast, too flimsy mouth, like glue over a cracked vase.

"oh my god, you're like… scary, you know that, right?" she tilts her head, tries for playful, but it lands more desperate, too breathless. "like, i get why everyone thinks you're so cool, all mysterious and, like, ice queen vibes, but it's honestly kinda rude? i'm over here embarrassing myself and you're just—" she waves a hand at yuxi, at her devastating casualness, at the hoodie that somehow looks like couture just by being draped over her collarbone. "—sitting there acting like you invented suffering. iconic, but rude. zoe does it better."

ok so now mae god, mae hates it, feels her knees go a little weak, all buttery under that scrutiny and whatever the hell she just said. she's used to boys who worship her, who scramble to prove they're worth her attention. yuxi, meanwhile, looks at her like she's entertainment. like mae is nothing but a very pretty clown juggling in the middle of her private circus.

"ugh, you're killing me," mae groans, half-dramatic, half-raw, flopping against the mirrored wall with a sigh. "do you ever get tired of being so-so…" she trails off, searching for a word and coming up empty, finally blurting, "so you? because it's exhausting for the rest of us, i swear." her arms uncross, only so she can gesture wildly, nervously, because if she doesn't move, she'll combust. "like, look at me. i'm literally unraveling. i'm, like, one bad joke away from combusting right here in front of you. and you're just sitting there, hoodie on, like some tragic goddess in a teen drama. do you practice this?"

she laughs then, too loud, too bright, the sound bouncing around the practice room like it doesn't belong to her. mae is a mess, glossy lips, smudged eyeliner, crooked smile, and yuxi is weaponized boredom. and still mae doesn't leave. because even if she's being dissected, even if she's humiliating herself, there's something about the way <3 yuxi <3 looks at her, like she's both nothing and maybe, maybe, something, that mae can't walk away from. she wants to win. she wants to crack her open. she wants yuxi to stop being so goddamn untouchable, if only for a second.

so she grins, all teeth, a little feral now. "fine. don't talk. bye."

[lgcyuxi]

Most people took volume to be an indication of power — blustery types who shouted at their phones, at their assistants, at their team at the drop of a hat — but Yuxi was raised in the principle that it was rather silence that was power. She grew up witnessing the quiet power her mother commanded in all rooms she was present in, the petering conversations of her father’s approach, the crushing rebuke of a deafening silence. It was easy to yell over the din of others, it was less easy to be heard while silent. Being able to quiet others: that was true power.

Deliberateness and quiet, that she revelled in. She set the pace, she set the tone; all was under her control. “So I’ve been told,” she drawled, for she never progressed faster than that leisurely speed unless given sufficient reason to do so, “on both counts: the ‘scary’ and the ‘rude’.” Too much, perhaps, for the latter but it was of no consequence. She preferred it that way — it filtered out the trivial and kept communication straightforward. Unrepentant, she raised a brow as if awaiting for a challenge to her response, the unspoken question of “And what about it?”

“Oh dear, don’t die on me,” concern working its way into her voice, “what shall I do with another corpse in my shoebox?” Still maintaining unbroken eye contact, more out of habit than an intimidation tactic or playing coy (which were, again, nearly all the same to her), she let a glimpse past her walls peak through. “There’s an element of exhaustion to the performance of one’s own caricature, yes; but there is no exhaustion associated with me being myself, no.” Was there a pretentiousness to her? Yes, of course. But was there an artifice to that pretentiousness? No, she was simply a snob by nature.

With a voice barely above a silence cutting through the air, “I’m plenty loquacious tonight.”

[lgcyura]

yura was beginning to think she was not a very creative person-- or rather, that she didn't have many creative interests outside of dancing and more recently, choreography. it was like her sole creative outlet was dance and even then, it wasn't often that she got to explore creating in that sense, since a lot of the time she, as an idol, was given choreographies made by someone else to learn and replicate so they can call it their 'own' rather than being allowed to create something herself, or even add her own ideas.

all that to say: pottery was not on her list of things she ever wanted to try. honestly, part of her wonders if she can even make something... decent, let alone usable, but seo yura never gave up - especially not before trying. even though this was all just for content to use in their next photobook, yura would be damned if she failed here or made something terrible.

"i'm not sure i'd say it's fun yet," yura replies, always honest with @lgcsomin, but still having sense to keep her words quiet and only audible to her members lest someone overhears and gets the wrong idea; whether she had fun or not depends on if this clay would cooperate with her or not, and if she'd get frustrated as a result. "but it is cool that we can make something we could also get practical use out of." she hopes she can, anyways, depending on how this works out for her.

"i haven't decided yet!" she was admittedly kind of winging it, and would go with whatever shape her mound ended up looking closer to. yura didn't really have a need for either cup or bowl so she didn't really have a preference. "i kind of want to make a mini tray for our table though to hold like, random things and stuff since we have enough dishware at the dorms, i think..." with how many of them there were, their collection grew quickly, unsurprisingly.

"i guess more people find a use for cups because we always drink something everyday, but we might not always eat something needing a bowl?" she ponders in response to yuxi's comment, now wondering the same since the other did have a point.

[lgcsomin]

she's glad that she's here with her members, considering that she probably never would've tried to do this on her own. it wasn't seven something she had considered when she had been planning her show all those months ago and she had needed to come up with ideas of things she wanted to try. now that she thinks about it, she probably should've thought about this because she's having fun.

she wonders when they'll be able to get their finished pieces, and hopes that hers will turn out good. honestly, it's a great souvenir and memory from this photobook trip.

"like a trinket dish?" somin echoes, excited with the idea. their dorm really does have a lot of stuff, considering they had all brought their mismatched things into it when they had debuted and maybe they should get new stuff ... or make new stuff. she had been thinking about making a snack bowl, but also part of her wanted to make a cup.

decision making is so hard. she glances between the two older girls curiously, and wonders if there would be a preference between the three of them.

"i think it's because they're somewhat easy to personalize and also easy to find in multiple designs," she adds, though this only spurs her on to maybe want to make her own mug. "maybe i'll make a mug though ... so it's truly custom made!"

[lgcyuxi]

“There’s that too,” Yuxi conceded to the trinket dish point. “I was thinking of a bowl as it’s an object used on a near-daily basis that no one gifts, other than as a set.” Seeing as to how they would sooner be crucified if the company had so much a whiff at dating news form them, anniversaries as a form of dinnerware set acquisition was out of the question for the near future — perfectly acceptable equilibrium for Yuxi.

But speaking of dinnerware, “A shallow bowl/deep plate hybrid may be more versatile.” That it would be easier to make she kept quiet on, instead adding, “Come to think of it, they also stack better.”

Turning her attention back to @lgcyura “What do you think?”

[coscornelia-deactivated20260319]

she's a little too much and i like it —

written liu yuxi (@lgcyuxi) ♡

mae's never nervous, not really, not in the obvious way. she grew up camera-ready and baby pink, taught how to smile through bruises and bootcamp choreography. she knows how to flirt, how to play it coy with boys who eat it up like candy, dumb, silly little things who fall for doe eyes and double entendres. boys are easy. boys are fun. boys don't make her feel anything, not really.

but girls? yuxi? she's a different story entirely.

mae hovers in the doorway of the practice room like she's forgotten why she came, half-tucked blouse and glossy lips, eyeliner slightly smudged on purpose. it's late, the kind of late where everyone else has gone home or to bed or wherever idols pretend to disappear to. but yuxi's still here, backlit by fluorescent lights, earbuds in, hoodie off the shoulder, skin glowing in a way that feels almost radioactive. mae watches her stretch, catlike, impossible, like she owns the night. like she knows. mae's heart thuds traitorously, she hates that. hates how her mouth dries and how she's suddenly more aware of her own limbs than ever before in her life, like she's been stitched together all wrong. she clears her throat. "hey pretty lady," she says, casually, except it's not casual and totally wrong (pretty lady???!), not when her voice comes out thinner than she'd like. "you always stay this late or are you just trying to make everyone else look bad?" a pause. she chews her lip. eyes flicker toward yuxi's bare shoulder, quickly away. "…i mean, it's working. you look, uh. totally insane. in a good way." she laughs, tries to recover with a crooked smile. "sorry. that was a lot. i've been running on vending machine coffee and, like, zero dignity."

she walks in finally, slow steps, arms crossed too tight. if it were a boy she liked, she'd already be in his lap (just ask dom!), teasing him about his playlist. but with yuxi, she wants to impress her. be seen. maybe even understood. maybe even wanted. god. she's so freaking screwed.

[lgcyuxi]

Technically, on paper, she should be back in her dorms by this hour. Technically, on paper, her continued presence in the practice rooms made her accomplice in the company breaking several labour laws. Alas, Yuxi was many things but amenable she was not; such was her solipsism.

She had her Stakhanovitian, Thatcherian, Mark Tuckerian — call it as one would like — tendencies (though, on second thought, Stakhanovitian was perhaps most apt given her death wish), that much was true, though that was hardly the reason for her recent bout of insomnia. No, the truth was much more mundane: stress. Reckless and restless, the less she did, the more she stressed. How embarrassing.

"Breaking News:" imaginary headlines read, "Popular Idol Creator of Own Doom Loop" for even in her own hypotheticals she was never relegated to "local woman", no, that was far too pedestrian. She had an image to maintain.

Considering her state of mind then, it was a wonder that Yuxi found herself missing her trainee days, practicing alone to the crack of dawn and more. But at least she had a goal then, a sense of purpose that she now lacked. So she debuted. So she couldn't do anything, only wait for company scraps while she wasted away. It drove her mad. So mad, in fact, that she was now wearing a hoodie, an article of clothing one could not catch her wearing even in the worst of times at uni.

She was well settled in her nest of self-pity and/or insanity (for Yuxi, weren't the two the same?) by the time Mae's voice broke the silence. "I do not concern myself on others' perception," she dismissed.

It was almost cute how the other stumbled over her words. But two could play this game and Yuxi, in a demonstration of the extent to her boredom, followed Mae's movements in languid disinterest with her eyes, no feedback other than for the latter to continue the one-sided conversation.

[lgcsomin]

/ clay vibes

crimson passage for @lgcyura + @lgcyuxi

never in her wildest dreams did she think that they would be having a pottery class for their photoshoot. though, a few other things that they had done already were also high on her list for things that she didn't think she would get to do, though it's all also very fun and exciting for her to try these new things.

especially since that was the whole premise of her youtube show a while ago on the crystallis channel. either way, pottery had never been something that she had wanted to try, but she thinks it's pretty fun now that she's attempted it.

the whole vibe of the photoshoots had been extremely fun for her too, considering it was a little bit outside of her usual image. and getting to experience all these things with the other members too.

turning to yura and yuxi with her hands covered in clay, somin can't help but grin from her position behind the wheel. "this is really fun," she says, the teacher still showing them what to do. despite this being work, and them needing to look good in photographs for the whole autumn vibe, she had been given the go ahead to get the tiniest bit of clay on her cheek.

it fit her aesthetic anyway.

"are you guys trying to make a cup or a bowl?"

[lgcyuxi]

She appreciated ceramics and had the upmost respect for those involved in the manufacturing of it — artists, artisans, material scientists — but never had interest to be the one involved in the process. At interesting wall tiles she might stop and knock on them to get a sense of the material before moving on, at personal collections she's been long familiarised on the chemistry behind glazing by her grandparents, at getting her hands dirty herself... no.

All things considered, the experience wasn't terrible, but Yuxi wouldn't be seeking the activity out on her own either. Her virtues were sparse, and patience was far from making the cut. "It's different," was the most complimentary response she had. She didn't mind working, her own hands still bore callouses from sanding and soldering work; rather, it was the dirtiness that she had reservations about. Cleaning her nails was not a task she was excited about.

"Bowl," she said, voice clipped. "More use to me than a cup." Of which, for someone who had no habit of preparing her on drinks outside of tea (that she, of course, had proper sets for), had a remarkable collection of. Thinking of the growing collection of mugs back at their dorms, she scowled. "Why they remain such a popular gift I haven't the foggiest."