Growing up in a strict Black Christian household, Alia was not allowed to do many things. The first time she had watched Sailor Moon was when she had sneak watched it at her cousin’s house. To her dismay, she got caught. Magic and the mystical were seen as secular, so even though she greatly enjoyed the dress-up and costumes of Halloween, her first experience engaging in the holiday was not until her first year of college.
Alia's nerd story began when she and her dad would watch the Justice League and Batman together. The Sunday paper would arrive, and Alia would excitedly turn to the comics section reading Spiderman. When her younger brother was in high school, he became obsessed with Star Wars and so did she. “I’m a nerd. I can’t just blame it all on him” Alia laughed in her Yoriuchi t-shirt and cat ear headphones.
“I’m going to wear that dress one day,” Alia spoke about when she first watched Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. “It took me a year because I had no idea what I was doing. I never made anything like that.” The popular live-action Cinderella film stars Brandy as Cinderella and Whitney Houston as the Fairy Godmother. When she wore the gown outside, there was a shared nostalgia with others.
“Can I take a picture with you?” a young girl asked. It was Alia’s dream cosplay of a memory so dear. It is her favorite cosplay to this day.
Studying fashion merchandising in college, Alia learned how to sew. Alia has sewn multiple outfits as a cosplayer. Behind-the-scenes, Alia plays every role of an entire production team. From the concept, you have to style, do the makeup, do the hair, take the photos, edit the photos, make a caption, and plan posts while tracking the analytics. What people don’t see is the chaotic energy, the needle stabs, the bruised knees, and the hot glue gun scars. “I want to do this next, but I got $5 left in my budget. Cosplay is an expensive hobby, but I also got to pay the rent.” Alia explained the difficulties of being a cosplayer. Sometimes fans pitch in by sending items on her Amazon wish list “I wanted this latex head piece that is usually over $100 that I found for about $45 on Amazon. I received it on Sunday with a note ‘I want to see what you’ll do with it.’ I was so happy.” Alia truly appreciates her fans and all her supporters.
When it came to cosplaying as a hobby, Alia’s friends and family were extremely supportive. She even attended her first con, WonderCon, with her dad and brother. And although her friends aren’t super nerds, they always know when to hype her up. Alia is blessed to also have a nerd husband who attends cons, enjoys comics, and watches Wandavision with her when it premiered. He stands as her biggest supporter. Sometimes he helps by taking pictures. Other times he dresses up with her as well.
Within the Black cosplay community, it is overall positive. Black cosplayers are always hyping each other and fighting the racists together. “Sailor Moon doesn’t have brown skin!” trolls had commented on Alia’s post.
Alia noted, “Some outwardly call you a racial slur. Some argue accuracy. At the end of the day, we’re just nerds dressing up as cartoon characters.” Along with the anti-black comments, Alia has received body shaming comments for not being as thin as some of the characters.
One time she dressed as Luffy, and a troll commented, “It looks like you ate Luffy.” Most of the time, Alia says that she has fun trolling back, and the trolls’ comments help boost the post. This is important for algorithms especially since Instagram has changed their algorithm in ways that make it difficult for creatives. Other times, she may have to turn off the comments or shy away from the hurtfulness because, after all, she is still a person.
Who is Alia outside of the cosplay and dress-up? Alia is a stereotypical Gemini with a 9-5 job working at an online costume retailer. It’s a family owned business that sells pre-made Halloween costumes. At her job, she can stay up-to-date on nerd things, share updates with their customers, and even attend conventions as press. In her free time, she plays Animal Crossing on her Nintendo Switch. “It’s soothing for my anxiety. Kind of just vibing with animals on an island,” Alia said. Other hobbies include watching movies. Every year, she takes the time to rewatch Disney’s Atlantis. Once her mom lowered the strictness, as a family, they watched Harry Potter. And since she was not allowed to read Harry Potter as a kid, Alia found joy reading the Series of Unfortunate Events. During the turbulence of this time, Alia has had a growing interest in videography and historical fashion, but she still struggles to find a balance between time for herself, work, and content creation.
“Don’t get caught up or try to churn out new costumes all the time,” Alia advised. Within the cosplay community, it has become super competitive and dramatic. She wants us to remember the origins of cosplay, nerds dressing up as cartoon characters. Cosplay is meant to be fun, and nowadays, that message seems like it is lost. There is still more work that needs to be done in the cosplay community. “I still want more diversity.” Usually, the same recycled popular cosplayers are being shared. The cosplay community is massive. “Share more dark skin, trans, plus size, disabled…” Alia urged. #28daysofBlackcosplay allows for more visibility of Black cosplayers, but when February ends, so does the sharing. Diversity needs to be pushed all of the time, so representation can be included in conventions, panels, and cosplay competitions.
“Just do it! It can seem really scary. Have fun! Find a character. Buy it, sew it, commission it, put your own spin on it. At the end of the day, you’re connecting with others that love the character. Forget the haters!”
You can find Alia @magicalblackgirlalia Visit https://magicalblackgirl.wixsite.com