About StephODell
StephODell ( actually said and spelt as "Steph O'Dell") began life as an OC created by a Canadian artist in 6th grade, back when she was first into Pokémon. At the time, Steph O'Dell was a Gym Leader, marked by reddish-brown hair, and a mole that graced her left cheek near her lip. As the artists interests changed, so did Steph. She became more fleshed out; her hair colour became much lighter, turning from reddish-brown to wine red, and her eyes became green instead of hazel. The mole never changed, but her body form became more developed, and her personality changed rapidly, going from rather air-headed to more serious and with a sense of biting sarcasm. Eventually, the avatar that was Steph O'Dell ceased to be simply an Original Character, and became the artists avatar, changing permanently into a form that looked almost identical to the artist. The artist even took the name as their pen name, and thus Steph passed into legend.
Steph O'Dell's latest incarnation, as drawn by Atomic Fireball, artist of the incredible awesome webcomic, Kagerou
Steph O'Dell (the artist, who wishes not to use her real name), was born in Williams Lake, British Columbia, Canada, on September 26, 1986. From a young age, she showed an interest in art, and enjoyed reading comic books and watching cartoons, but found a huge love in books. Spending most of her childhood reading, Steph showed intelligence and imagination that put her apart from the rest of her peers. This caused them to dislike her, and for her to be the target of constant bullying. As a result, her self-asteem was painfully low, and she retreated into the library more and more to escape the others. For much of her early childhood, she had few friends.
Moving to a new home, but still in the same town, at the age of 8, Steph began at a new school with fresh hope. It was the year she was told she would need glasses, and it would make her even more self-concious than she already was. However, she tried to make new friends at her mother's urging, and eventually, with lots of councelling, began to come out of her shell. At the age of 9, she would recieve an Akita/Shepard puppy, and Mousha (Russian for "Pretty Girl") became someone she could talk to without fear of what she might say in return. It started into a habit of talking to herself, and reciting ideas out loud, a habit she has never broken to this day.
In Grade 7, Steph took a drastic step towards her future: after coming to the realization that the school lacked any kind of drama club, a teacher recomended that she start one. She did, and it became successful enough to put on almost 5 plays throughout the school year, and have her recognized at the year-end awards cerimony for her outstanding work. At this point, she realized her thesbian blood, and in high school, threw herself into theatre.
After being type-cast as the crazy character in several plays, Steph came to accept it, and allowed herself to florish in it. After being diagnosed with Bipolar disorder in grade 9, she worked hard to try to become a better person, and prevent herself from falling into the trap of depression. Dabbling in theatre, she also worked very hard in the field of art, pursuing her true love of drawing. She applied to the Art Institute of Vancouver/Burnaby in 2005, and was accepted, but was only able to last one term on her own money, as the government turned down her student loan application. She is currently saving to attempt a second time around, and finally achieve her dream job as a traditional animator.
Steph jokes that Matthew has taken over her life. "It's too easy to cosplay him!" she says, laughing. "I don't even need to try anymore!"
On the side, Steph has done a lot of amature voicework, as well as webcomics. XAZ, a webcomic about many of the characters in the Rockman/Megaman universe, only lasted for about three years, but was highly popular, and gained her a small following. After being approached by Psyguy, leader of the notorious Fireball20xl.com, she joined the website for a while, drawing a comic called Updates!, in which Psy wrote the scripts, and Steph drew the strips. It was hugely popular, but after a while, the ideas ran out, the site had an overhaul in the meantime, and the comic was lost. Steph is still an honorary member of the crew, but now is too busy with side projects to post any comics.
At the moment, Steph would just like to have her computer back. She misses Mousha (who passed November of 2008), and her Aunt (who passed April of 2009), but knows that karma has a meaning for everything. Getting heavily into cosplay, steph thanks it as a way to bring out her thesbian roots, while still enjoying her love of anime and manga. "It's like becoming that person," she says with a smirk. "It lets you escape yourself for a while, and be someone else. There's no other thrill like it."
On the IamMatthewian Project, Steph had drawn the end segment for the 2010 Canada Day episode, written episode 3 of the "Made in Canada"segments (the one about Nanaimo Bars), and is the understudy for Russia and Kumajirou as of June 2010. She enjoys her fellow IAM'ers, and thanks MoexSho for introducing her to the project. "I've made so many good friends here," she explains. "The people here are passionate, and love what they do. I'm constantly blown away by everyone's skill, and I'm thankful just to be able to be in the same chatroom as everyone else. It's a blessing."
Random Facts About StephODell
- Steph O'Dell is her oldest OC, clocking in at 13 years since her creation in 1997.
- Steph got her ears pierced at 16, the same year she first wore her hair short. She did not cut her hair again until she was 23.
- Steph started Kindergarden at 4, but since her birthday was in the same month, she would always catch up with everyone else. The school would not have allowed her entry, however, due to a tecnecality, stating that because her birthday fell several days after the cutoff for the year, she would have hair to wait another year. Her mother, however, would have none of that, and forced them to test Steph. She passed with flying colours, and the school was ready to start her in Grade 1. Again, her mother intervened, stating it would only make life harder and more awkward for her. Her mother's advice proved to be correct, as later in life her intellegance proved to make her an outcast. Such is the life of the lonely ones.
- Steph's favorite colour is red, but likes black more. But since black is a shade, and not a colour, she always says red instead.
- Almost all of Steph's cosplays are male.
- Steph is afraid of arachnids, heights, and bees.
- She also hates peas other than fresh, all forms of lima beans, and smoked oysters.
- Her favorite form of chocolate is white
- Roses are her favorite flower; she prefers them in white
- She sleeps with two stuffed animals all the time: Byakku, a tiger plushie that had been a gift from her mother the year she went to art school, and Mousha, a dog plushie that looks a lot like her deceased friend/pet.
- Steph's favorite medium of art is graphite and paper.
- Some of her favorite bands include: Linkin Park, Rush, Auf Der Maur, and Tragically Hip
- Sorry boys, she's taken.