Kody Okamoto

Band Member: Tomas Shipman

Added 2023-08-09 00:27:42 +0000 UTC

Tomas has changed the most from my original outline and pitch to script! Originally, I was thinking of a screamo-loving scene kid, an energetic foil to Denver's golden retriever energy, but as I've been writing him, he's taken on a whole new personality. (Stef has instead taken on the role of 'completely over Denver's bullshit').

Tomas is still Denver's oldest friend (from before they were born! Their mothers go to the same church), and will always be Denver's semi-willing sidekick, but he's much more relaxed and easy-going than I had originally envisioned.

The bands Tomas has on here are Less Than Jake and They Might Be Giants. Both those shirts really exist, and both those shirts now cost several hundred dollars on eBay.

Oh - Tomas is also my little love letter to Tomas Kalnoky, the frontman of ska bands Catch-22 and Streetlight Manifesto who I've seen play live every year since moving out of Hawai'i and to the mainland. Tomas's original name was Victor, but once he was renamed to Tomas (completely unrelated to Kalnoky), I found myself repeatedly drawn to the image of Tomas Kalnoky in his infamous little green cap, and, well, here we are!

I'll mention it later in another announcement post, but this month is probably going to be pretty light on content, I'm so sorry. I'll be spending the last half of this month in Hawai'i, helping my soon-to-be-divorced parents separate their belongings, so I'm gonna be physically and mentally away, hahaha. On the bright side - being back in my home state means I'm gonna eat SO MANY LOCO MOCOS