#soothingboy

[chinesehyung]

Thoughts 182b: 新朋友 (New Friends)

So, in my last post, I talked about old friends and how things have changed.

This summer has definitely been interesting so far. It’s been a while since I’ve hosted friends that I met through tumblr. 

The last time this happened was last year in 2016 when Flo/@hyungsempai/@codehyse came to visit LA from Germany and Benny/ @bennybbabba flew in from Arizona and we all hung out together for 1 - 2 weeks. (P.S. I miss you all!!!! Flo, say hi to Steven for me and tell him that I miss him, too! :) )

But the last major time that I hosted a TON of people was back in 2014, when Benny came with Kota / @cyber-ghoul and like...I don’t remember...what was it...4 other people?...and there were 6 people staying in my living room, who had driven all the way from Arizona and were staying over for KCON in LA that year. And oh, lord...that was the year when I accidentally left one of my sex toys in the bathroom and one of them walked in on it... -_- smh...lol...

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Well, this year, a few more tumblr friends stayed over because of Anime Expo. After soooooooooooooo many years of being tumblr friends, I got to finally meet V / @sinsalhaeja, and Eddie / @eidde and 3 of their friends when they stayed over at my place a few weeks ago.

And at the last minute, Eric / @soothingboy also asked if he could stay over during that same time period, but since I already had 5 people (and their luggage!) in my living room, I had run out of space, so I asked one of my neighbors if he could host Eric, and he was [definitely] more than happy to do so...haha...

It’s funny, because when Benny & Kota and all their friends came back in 2014, it was sorta still my generation, even though there were definitely a few years between me and them. 

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And when Flo and Benny and Steven came last year, it was a lot closer in terms of age because Flo and Benny are closer in age and me and Steven are actually SUPER close in age.

And then this year, I definitely felt the age gap. Because V and Eddie are both still in their undergrad years, so I definitely felt older..hahaha. But it was still good to be around all these people, and it was good to hang out with Eric for another few days after most of them left and going for ramen runs or kbbq runs...(hahaha...considering how many times that Eric had kbbq during his 1 week stay here in LA...I’m surprised that he hasn’t gotten sick of it...haha... ;) )

But I’m SUPER happy that I got to connect Eddie with Hyunjae, because I realized that they both live in LA and they’re both gay and they’re both Asian, so hey...why not introduce two really sweet gaysians to each other, since they live in the same city and can hang out, you know? 

And recently, Connor / [his tumblr used to be @plastictrousers ] / @abcdefg12321sss (d0000d...Connor...your tumblr name is SUCH a pain to type out... -_- lololll ;) ) hit me up and asked about eventually coming down to LA and staying at my place, which I’m totally cool with, too. :D

But yeah, this is definitely another topic to blog about, but hosting people again has definitely made me happier. I mean, when V & Eddie & Eric came over, I just gave them a copy of my keys and let them do their thing and have their own schedule and I simply went to work and did my grading at home and we only hung out a few times here and there, but it was really nice to get to hang out with people that you’ve been talking to online for a while, but get to finally meet in person. :D

P.S. Sorry that we didn’t get a chance to meet up you, Ricky / @weaboolicious / @rikkun! But yeah, sorry that LA is nowhere as small as Santa Cruz and that driving from one part to LA can mean a pain in the butt... :( Hahah...I still can’t believe how you’re in Santa Cruz and I often go home back to San Jose and we still haven’t been able to cross paths yet...haha... ;)

[astrobank]

@soothingboy hi i was like really feeling your selfie so i drew this real quick i hope you like it

[chirpysoy]

That fur jacket was killer.

@soothingboy

[shocasky]

nice @soothingboy

[aaartypants]

soothingboy - I always hesitate to draw strangers, because I spend the entire time feeling like a gross stalker wierdo in the trash can outside their house, but soothingboy is pretty amazing. Beautiful, obviously, and a talented makeup artist, but also someone who has really worked to cultivate themselves through many challenges. Their confidence and articulation is enchanting. But the moment I knew I had to draw them? When they threatened to nut in a hater’s eye. Life inspiration. 

[b1b1b00]

Work in progress