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i guess i loved you too much sanguine , the epic of orange

“ what █████ — aka the morning siblings now morning brew — want us to all understand is this talent shit comes to easy to them. one kids got enough awards to fill a stadium, another is one award away from egot status, the other just hiked up the stocks for dasani of all brands and inyoung's name alone seems to be worth a billion bucks. so 'course they're gonna dabble in music too. 'course they're gonna link up with modern marie and of course they're gonna get those brothers in on it too. it's so obvious that's the entire point of the epic. here's what the morning can do.

don't get me wrong. it's a great album. it's fantastic! this is the stuff morning's made of — nostalgia, heartbreak, the dramatics of first love just like all the movies that made them a staple in every south korean household from jeju to sokcho. and that's my problem. morning brew modern marie whoever - went after those guys intentionally. they picked the two that have more ? around them than solid ideas and definite is trues. instead of given 'em substance we got morning 2.0, another attempt at mock orange. eggtart. if they're so good at what they do, real good, then they should have told us what we have to know about the unknowable. fill in the gaps. give us something.

instead me, the guys at the office, the girl who just won backstage passes to a sold out saint show, someone's mom who really likes that one jc song cause ooo jc's such a sweet boy ain't he, a tangerine fan who's reminiscing on the good ole times, you reading this all tuned in to the epic and wondered the same exact thing: where the fuck are jc and saint? ” — via pitchfork ( 9.2 / 10 )

˖⠀⠀⠀⠀xxx⠀⠀⠀⠀overview⠀⠀⠀⠀✧✦⠀⠀⠀⠀the epic of orange is the first full album of kpop duo, decadent, marking their official debut. the album was divided into three odysseys: bitter autumn, blood winter, and sweet spring with six tracks released every corresponding season. by the end of 2020, the epic of range would consist of eighteen tracks, three titles, and a handful of promotions carried out by the newly made moden marie trainee team, a la mode.

since the epic's promotional schedule overlapped with previous commitments, jc and saint were completely absent from debut promotions. a last minute decision, their names were blotted from the album credits, the teasers, posters found around major cities promoting the epic, and the eventual music video that starred █████ and was directed by █████ who critics were already calling "one of the greats". in place of the brothers, a la mode attended stage shows, performance, and variety shows reminiscent of modern marie's first trainee team, eggtart.

much of the epic of orange was modeled after mock orange, their otome game tangerine, as well as the epic that inspired much of the orange symbolism for the group—there are no more oranges in the world. additionally, each odyssey was nearly paired with a generation of eggtart. little easter eggs from the game could find in the music video and the rollout for the album.

according to morning brew, the staff team responsible for decadent, they were "tasked with wrapping up mock orange" resulting in the creation of the album. eis admitted they actually had a different debut in mind but mock orange was "a loose end that had to be dealt with" so they dealt with. while the epic does neatly wrap up the era of mock orange and its trainee team, eggtart, it doesn't really answer any of the questions that arose from that era. where did all the members go? why did mock orange never officially debut? what question wasn't asked? why were jc and saint kept at such a distant from the album's creative process? this decision, especially, upset the general body of listeners who were no doubt tuned in to decadent with the hope of learning more about the mysterious siblings.

modern marie had established a sort of reputation as a company that used the real lives of its artists — the outside world if you will — to build and shape their world of music and entertainment. yet, there was nothing that could be traced to jc and saint. in a way they, the listeners, felt betrayed but also intrigued. how strange not even the modernist could break open the enigma that were the last of the romantics.

outside of that, reviews for the epic were overwhelming positive. the morning siblings had proven, once again, they were a well stacked arsenal of creativity. boasting credits from the industry's biggest names and pushed further into the limelight by close friends, morning brew had gone above and beyond for their formal introduction as decadent's creative team.

every new release, morning brew's rhoszi and rabbit hosted a live where they talked in depth about the album process, the writers they worked with, and the sound which was shaped by █████ the composer that, according to classic diehards, "is shaking things up".

rabbit innie made it harder

rhoszi that old man is very obnoxious but ...... i do prefer innie over um j. no offense. its just if he were here we'd never have gotten this out. we scrapped like what fifty songs? so many people sent in demos. it was crazy how many people were itching to get their share of decadent but eis was like who tf are these guys? and told them to stop emailing *laughs*

rabbit some of 'em were real corny too

rhoszi yeah... it didn''t fit well with everything going on. inyoung was like i want bigger concepts and bigger ideas so they weren't getting approved anyways. i liked that we had a base to build on with mock orange. mock orange did that with eggtart and tangerine back in the day

rhoszi i mostly had arthuriana in mind and the odyssey um yeah mostly knights and greek heroes and greens and winter and then maybe some foxes like the one in little prince or reynard

rhoszi i made a pinterest for everything with eis! oh, you wanna see it? um if i share it you have to promise not to laugh at my board names

rabbit i was thinking 'bout empty spaces, missing and forgotten and lost things, holes in the ground and holes in a body. bruises that can't be explained. heartache.

rabbit i used to watch eis play tangerine a lot when i was a kid and i remember thinking these guys are so sad and this girl is so alone. in a way, the epic becomes a formal goodbye to the characters of that old story or a way of reshaping them for their next role. they don't really stop being alone or sad. they just keep going. i wanted a main character that was disconnected and different across each odyssey. while the narrator, the performers in this case jc and saint and a la mode, just watches. hovers in the periphery. everything is decaying, has decayed and always will. but the character of the epic doesn't know that or does know that and doesn't care. they have to imagine there’s something more – something in the future. a new story.

rabbit also what i imagined when we were told 'bout decadent as a whole

rhoszi .....oh.....

rhoszi well...

rhoszi that's exactly what i said

rhoszi i was a little worried for them

rhoszi it’s a lot of pressure they’re under

rabbit the kids did a good job

rhoszi kids? mideumi is your age!

rabbit no

rhoszi yeah!

rhoszi they're so .. new i was just thinking how we all kinda looked like that at some point before we got used to it all

rabbit cause they're just kids

rabbit please be nice to the babies let em have their fun

rhoszi we should have 'em come say hello at some point. you guys'll like em. are they allowed to even share their names yet?

rabbit you said mideumi's

rhoszi oh!

rhoszi oops ... sorry mideumi

rabbit it reminds me of eggtart

rabbit having a trainee team that performs all the songs

rhoszi oh, that’s right! you were eggtart's rabbit for some time weren’t you ?

rabbit no it was just a gift

rabbit the name i mean

˖⠀⠀⠀⠀xxx⠀⠀⠀⠀tracklist⠀⠀⠀⠀✧✦⠀⠀⠀⠀youtube » spotify

bitter autumn. seville stay night memory pulp hwaa pale 112219 blood winter. dear you hann sanguine empty note jack frost melting 122119 sweet spring. periwinkle her bottled moon 808 hamlin sincerely 032020

a ballad heavy release playing up the theatrics of the epic genre, the album boasts credits from morning brew, of course, █████ █████ █████ and even a la mode under the name moral review. all tracks would chart relatively high with seville and sanguine debuting number one and consistently fighting one another for fan favorite of the epic. by the end of 2020, the epic would boast a plethora of records including the longest charting album. decadent's spotify would shoot up to third in the world.

the orange tracks ──── seville sanguine hamlin ──── were the title tracks for each odyssey and the determining tracks in how the sound of each odyssey would go. morning brew had planned every song to be named after an orange but quickly scrapped the idea due to how tacky it sounded. songs they felt would do well commercially were named after oranges and the other songs were determined by the writing - production team who were given an amplitude of freedom in the creative process.

morning brew shy away from the idea of a overarching lore, instead relying on concepts to finish up the epic. however, fans from the eggtart era beg to differ. to them, the epic does have a story that'll be told by decadent for years to come. whatever that may be is lost in the suffocating theme of love—a distraction from what the epic, and maybe even decadent, are really about.

their theory is based on how different sweet spring is from the gloomy, sad tunes presented in its preceding seasons. sweet spring is upbeat, bright, blooming until the final track, sincerely. the "tick tock rewind the clock" is enough for theorists to assume the clock is rewinding. the characters of tangerine, the boys of eggtart and mock orange are still sleeping, forced to continue the same story over and over.

others think the epic really is just a nice way to wrap up the strangeness of the orange era so modern marie can funnel its money elsewhere.

˖⠀⠀⠀⠀xxx⠀⠀⠀⠀promotions⠀⠀⠀⠀✧✦⠀⠀⠀⠀the epic of orange released just as jc saint kicked off their family ties world tour. the overlapping schedules would make it near impossible for them to attend stages or variety shows. as a result, promotions for the album fell on the shoulders of a la mode which, in turn, helped promote the trainees.

mideumi quickly became a fan favorite after being mentioned several times during rhoszi and rabbit's lives. fan accounts were already opening for him and his ending fairies were going viral over social media.

many found it odd that not once throughout the family ties tour did jc or saint acknowledge the album, decadent, morning brew, or even modern marie.

for the performances, a la mode was kept barefaced and dark haired, playing up a fresh youthfulness that counteracted the moodiness of the epic. their clothes were oversized, mismatched with loose ties, dark pants, baggy pants, white unbuttoned tops, blazers and jackets and vests—all mimicking the uniform that have become part of jc and saint's brand. certain outfits were intentional direct copies, just styled in such a way that it was a casual take on the more gothic aesthetic of the brothers. it became a joke the trainees were just playing in jc and saint's closet especially after one of the trainees revealed jc had gifted him a jacket ──── this first real instance of jc and saint acknowledging the epic.

the goal of their outfits was to emphasize how out of place the trainees were, taken on such an ambitious debut rollout in the shadow of the highly successful brothers. there had been talk they just couldn't do it and, sure, vocally they weren't quite there but their charisma did more than enough to win over skeptics. especially when modishtv, their youtube channel, released preparation vlogs showcasing the many ways they'd been helpful in the comeback such as helping decide the backdrop for many of their stages.

the family ties tour would have its final show in seoul, the same night as mama. by then everyone just assumed jc and saint had zero interest in their own group—well morning brew's group. maybe the whole thing was just a far too elaborate scheme to promote the trainees. a la mode was already set to perform at the awards and it was speculated they'd formally announce their debut that night. after all, the public had spent late 2019 and all of 2020 with the trainees. they'd warmed up to them and it'd be weird for modern marie to just shove all twelve of 'em back to whatever basement they called home.

but not everyone counted jc and saint out! others believed they would show up! they'd perform one hell of a set, take home the awards they'd been nominated for, making it a night to remember.

the hours dwindled up, performance after performance wowed the audience, then it was decadent's turn and — and —

nothing. they didn't show. a la mode didn't announce a formal debut. the trainees carried on like normal. of course this performance was spectacular! it was mama after all—that's where everyone shows off and a la mode did show off. but it didn't matter that the set was jaw or that they'd thrown together such a unique arrangement. everyone really hoped jc and saint would show. that's how these things always work. they disappear for however along, but they always come back. like come on! the tour had been timed so close to the award ceremony. no way, that was coincidence!

decadent would receive album of the year, song of the year, and artist of the year — awards that were collected by a la mode. the trainees thanked the public extensively for trusting them with the promotions for decadent, carefully skirting around any reference to jc and saint, to their absence. despite how badly people wanted to shit on a la mode, they just couldn't. the boys were too sweet for any hate and they'd worked hard despite how almost everyone wanted it to be those brothers so bad. plus, they did deserve some credit for the success of the epic of orange.

post award season, a la mode would be praised extensively for the epic promotions and their mama stage. morning brew got praised too, of course. but all the praise was always followed by but "where were jc and saint?" or "it would have been nice to see them" or "what was the point then?" jc and saint were willing record all the songs but not perform them? not even acknowledge them?

it was yet another strange occurrence to be born from orange era. all the questions, the prodding at the underbelly of the epic's promo cycle, the almost demands at a response, the desire to see the brothers outside of the medium they were so unreachable in — to see them someplace a little closer to where the rest of the world lived or even halfway — was met, as it always is, with the silence of jc and saint.

#Oh my actual freak bruh i mightve just burst into tears #where the fuck ARE jc and saint that guy is jinjja asking the real questions #them jst not being there is kinda funny though i did giggle Sory....#also OTOME GAME HELLO i downloaded i played all routes i pretended i was a girl #i would send in a demo and they would point and laugh at it idegaf #that rabbit para ouhhh im gonna be sick i love the way u wrote thatttt 😭😭#‘everything is decaying has decayed and always will. but the character of the epic doesn’t know that or does know that and doesn’t care.’#LIKE THATS SO YUMMMY Well actually maybe rotten🤓☝[GUNSHOTS]#THE TRACKLISTTTT SO GOOD WE CHEERED!!!!! the styling toooo im grinning and clapping u dont even know #also the trainees singing Omg so even jc saints voices were gatekept.. but not rly bc their voices were on the album so.. But ykwim right..#I SHOULDVE BEEN GIFTED THAT DAMN JACKET #not even showing up for MAMA im crying YOU WANNA BE OFF THE GRID SOOOOO BAD #The Epic Of Orange more like the weird cousin jc + saint dont talk to at family reunions #ts was so good i have a tear in my eye THANK YOU FOR THE MEALLLLLL OOMF YOU ARE THE GOAT! bottled moon on repeat and i mean that

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