Welcome again to our Cosplay Interview Series. This week I’m going to share with you another inspiring cosplayer from Maine Portland, USA. A Magik Marvel Comics Cosplayer who is super talented, not just a cosplayer but as well as an artist, model, and PR specialist.

Who does not know about this superheroine Magik from Marvel Comics and the Mutants? The X-Men and the Marvel Universe? This would be the first time to have someone who cosplays legend character from year 70’s. She’s also cosplaying other characters like General Syndulla of Star Wars, Ayano Aishi of Yandere Simulator and many more.

We are so lucky to discover her cosplay life/passion/works, It’s an honor to have this skilled person to be featured on the blog. Thank you again, Ms. Aesthel for letting us discover your passion.

Let’s buckle up and dive into Ms. Aesthel Universe!

Magik Marvel Comics

Magik photo by Amie E

Hello! My name is Aesthel! I am a cosplayer and alternative model from Maine in the United States. I have cosplayed since 2010 and working as an independent model since 2014. I go to a lot of conventions every year as both an attendee and as an artist in the vendor’s room.

Every year I staff at my favorite local convention PortCon Maine. I am also the right-hand man over at Cosplay Realm Magazine. I am the PR Specialist for the magazine and my job includes reaching out to cosplayers and brands to work with as well as helping to design advertisements and pages in the magazine. I got into anime around 2006 and pretty soon after found out about cosplay and conventions. I wanted to be part of the community for so long, but had no idea where to start. My first cosplay I ever wore was Gaara from Naruto and I bought it online since I didn’t know how to make my own costumes yet!

First Convention and Experiences

Magik photo by Amie E

The first convention I ever attended was when my dad brought me to Anime Boston in 2009. I cosplayed as Edward Elric from Fullmetal Alchemist and it was an amazing experience.I was so nervous and scared that I didn’t talk to anyone, and the huge venue could be really overwhelming, but that didn’t stop me.

If anything it made me want to get even more into the cosplay community and attend more conventions in my area. I remember going to so many panels at that first convention and being so amazed at the more intricate cosplays that I saw over the weekend, and after that, I couldn’t wait to go to more!

My favorite convention that I attend is PortCon Maine. I went to my first ever PortCon in 2010 and by 2013 I was volunteering as staff at the convention. I’ve been part of the staff ever since then and I look forward to it every year.

Even though it isn’t the biggest convention I attend out of the year, it is the most important one to me. I have met so many great people through this convention specifically and some of those people have come to be some of my closest and most important friends in life!

Costume/Gear/Props/Armor

Magik photo by Venomnight

The first cosplay that I ever did any sewing from scratch on was my cosplay of James Kidd from Assassin’s Creed Black Flag. I only made the jacket myself and bought the pants and shirt underneath, however, the jacket was the first time I had ever used a pattern or sewn anything by myself!

Even though I think I’ve gotten a lot better since then, I am still very proud of it because it was my first one. The first cosplay I have done that I made everything 100% on my own was just last year in 2016 when I made my cosplay of Hera Syndulla from Star Wars Rebels!

I am very proud of this costume since it is the first one that I have made every part of the costume by myself, including my Lekku headpiece. I also 3D printed my blaster for this cosplay and hand painted it to match the characters.

One of my all-time favorite props that I have made for a cosplay is my Soul Sword for my Magik cosplay from X-men. I built the sword myself and made a really cool flame effect using sparkly reflective fabric, sparkly spray, and led lights attached throughout the sword!

Unforgettable Experience

Hera Syndulla photo by Shawn Wilson Photography

I can’t think of any worst cosplay experiences, but I definitely had my worst convention experience just recently. Over the weekend of October 13th through 15th this year I supposed to be helping out at The Shoggoth Assembly table at the convention Rock and Shock. Earlier in that week I wasn’t really feeling great, but I was so excited about the convention that I decided to go anyways.

That was probably the worst mistake I could have made and I definitely should have stayed home that weekend. I ended up getting so sick over the weekend that I spent the entire time I supposed to be having fun at the convention hiding in my hotel room and getting sick all weekend instead!

That’s probably an important lesson in general, if you are sick don’t go to a convention. You could just get other people sick and you wouldn’t be able to have a good time.

Definition of Cosplayer

Ayano Aishi photo by Flash Cord Photography

Cosplay is extremely important to me! it has led me to meet the most important people in my life and led me to so many amazing opportunities. It helps me express myself and my individuality but also is a way for me to celebrate the characters and fandoms that I love and that means so much to me.

Cosplay is a part of my daily life and I love to see everyone else’s work as well. Seeing other people cosplay is so inspiring to me and makes me feel excited to work on my own costumes even more!

Admiration

Maika by Cosplay Realm Magazine

There are so many cosplayers that I admire! My best friend Em (Venomnight) is a cosplayer and a cosplay photographer and she means so much to me! She is one of my closest friends and she inspires me every day. I also really admire the cosplayers The Alchemic Fox, No Talent Cosplay, and Kinpatsu Cosplay.

I met Fox briefly at Anime Boston this year and she seemed like such a really cool and sweet person! I’ve been watching her YouTube channel for a while and she seems so relatable, humble, and I’d love to get to know her more.

No Talent Cosplay (Gianna) is an absolutely amazing person and I love every conversation I’ve had with her. She has given me so much fitness and cosplay advice that I would never be able to thank her enough for. Her cosplays are always so amazing and spot on and I love seeing her updates on Facebook and Instagram!

I’ve never talked to Kinpatsu Cosplay before, but I’ve followed her work for a very long time. I am always admiring her craftsmanship and the amount of intricate detail she is able to put into her work! She cosplays some of my favorite characters and I love seeing her armor builds.

Achievements

I think my greatest achievement as a cosplayer was getting the chance to work on Cosplay Realm Magazine! Cosplay Realm Magazine founded in March 2017 and I joined the team in May of 2017! Working on Cosplay Realm brings me so much joy every month! I love searching for cosplayers to feature in the magazine be they big or small, we want to feature everyone!

We also are really big about crediting everyone involved including photographers, makeup artists, assistants, or anyone else that helped out! It brings me so much happiness to see people who’s excited to be featured by us and there are so many hidden gem cosplayers out there that deserve to have more attention brought to all the work they put into their costumes!

It’s also exciting to see how much the magazine has grown every month since it started and I can’t wait to see where it brings us in the future!
Cosplay also directly led to my career as an independent alternative model! The first photo shoots I had ever done were all cosplay shoots.

I did so many cosplay photo shoots that I ended up building up a bit of a portfolio and getting a lot of practice being in front of a camera. Eventually, I started doing photo shoots out of cosplay and now today I do modeling work full-time! Almost everything I have now somehow started with cosplay in some way. Everything about cosplaying and the community is so incredibly important to me!

Piece of Advice

Elvira photo by Venomnight

The best advice I can think of for someone who wants to start cosplaying is don’t be afraid to try! Don’t be scared if you think your first cosplay isn’t as good as you want it to be. Just like anything, cosplay is something where practice makes perfect!

As long as you stick with it and keep practicing and keep creating you can do anything! I’d also say make sure you are having fun! Cosplay isn’t just like a popularity contest or something, the whole point of cosplaying is to have fun and make friends! As long as you are happy and having a good time then you are doing cosplay right!

Open Message

Hatsune by Shotbyetc

You can always find me at PortCon Maine every year! I also usually attend Anime Boston, Bangor Comic and Toy Convention, NecronomiCon Providence, and Rock and Shock. 

Don’t forget to follow me on my social media accounts, Facebook, Instagram: Aesthel or Aesthelselfies, and Twitter.