raymond sun is a recent college graduate, and much like that of the art major stereotype, he's broke and hungry. keeping himself afloat in new york city proves to be a difficult task but he's never imagined leaving and going anywhere else; this is where he was born and raised, this is what he knew. art was an escape for him, and it was an art gallery in which he meets his future wife - odette (then nora) kim, another recent art graduate who had a bit more luck in getting recognition for her work (and getting paid for it, as well). she doesn't think very highly of raymond at first, mostly due to his appearance and an unhealthy streak of narcissism, but she has a change of heart when he unknowingly compliments her artwork at the showing and decides to have a chat with him. they get married a year later, and then have their first child (sol) another year after that.

the sun family moves to denver when sol is four. while cozy in their small, new york apartment, they need more room for the child they have on the way. denver isn't their utmost first choice, admittedly, but like that of their moves to come it has to do with a job offer that raymond can't refuse. this is when he more officially becomes an art teacher, a role he absolutely loves and one which grants his family a more steady and expected flow of income. odette doesn't pick up a full time career, however, sticking to more of a freelance path. she remains a freelance artist after both echo and blue are born.

blue is barely one when the family relocates once again to conifer, less than an hour outside of denver and nothing the sun family was used to. blue grows up and finds himself fulfilling the role of the weird kid, the odd one out. he wasn't necessarily bullied every day, but he definitely didn't feel like he fit in. the majority of conifer's population were rich, which the sun family was not, and sometimes it didn't take much for young blue to feel detached from his classmates. middle school wasn't much different, either, though as he grew up he grew even closer to his brother and sister. they, too, were often at odds with the other kids at their school and thus found comfort at home - except sol, who was always more outgoing and carefree and making friends left and right. unfortunately, and unexpectedly, sol gets into a car accident while visiting denver with his friends when he's sixteen.

it takes a long time for raymond and odette to even touch sol's room; but once they did, changing it to a home art studio, the sun family slowly begins to move on. echo and blue rely on each other for emotional support more often than not, but it helps when their parents aren't so against even mentioning sol's name at dinner anymore. with echo preparing to apply to college and blue near the end of middle school, they were all entering new chapters of their lives and time was moving forward whether or not they were ready.

the move to los angeles was expected, and arguably, needed. despite it appearing as nothing more than another career move for raymond, it acted as the last step needed for the sun family to finally move on completely. echo was headed off to pratt for college, a move inspired by their mother as it was her alma mater, and blue was entering the ninth grade, nervous but determined to make the most of it. los angeles proved to be a much better fit than denver or conifer, a safehaven for the artistic and the unorthodox. blue didn't feel like the weird kid anymore, in thanks to how easier it was to make friends due to art clubs and being able to start anew in a sense.

art school was one of a variety of options that blue seriously considered as he went into his 11th and 12th grade years, smoothing out his art portfolios and keeping his grades and GPA as nice as he could get them - in truth, blue wasn't even sure if he wanted to go to university. it often felt like the option was just expected of him more than anything else. the realization that college was his key to doing whatever he wanted in life was more than enough for him to do his research and apply to schools that could make his (then) dreams happen. RISD was one of such schools, being one of his top choices, and when he got accepted and given a nice scholarship offer, he knew where he was headed.

thanks to a program hosted by RISD and brown university, blue graduated with a degree in illustration and a degree in biology, in what was going to be his launchpad into a masters program for medical or scientific illustration. he knew his chances were slim, given how few positions for these programs exist, but he had high hopes. so high, in fact, that he crashed hard by the time he finished his undergradute studies and realized he wasn't so sure about another two years of college. it wasn't like he didn't have some sort of back up plan, thankfully, since he had been living off of commissions for his artwork and the merchandise he made with said artwork. thanks to social media, his work got really popular and thus acts as his main source of income. it's very chaotic at times, and it makes his biology degree feel like a boring piece of paper and waste of money. however, he's happily back in los angeles and doesn't regret his decision to come back for good. the weather is nice out here, anyways.