Cory + Dakotah: the couple that plays together stays together

“We are bringing to life a character how our imagination sees them. A character we resonate with along with so many others too... We do our best to make sure we aren't diminishing how someone else sees them, because at the end of the day this is a form of art.”

~ Cory

“At the end of the day we all have our own interpretations. It is beautiful, creative and we are taking words on a piece of paper and all doing our best to bring these characters to life. To represent them and honor what they mean to so many people. It is truly amazing. ”

~ Dakotah

QUESTION & ANSWER

Welcome! Rachel M. here to bring you the inside scoop of a fairy tale couple that not only cosplay together but dream together.

I am going to preface this interview with ..WOW! what a ride.

We had just finished a two-day event and decided to hold this interview at 1:35 am. We were all tired, and riding on the end of an event high. Some of our conversation was coherent and sometimes we were just in a plane state of laughter and delirium.

Now if you are familiar with bookish events and balls, you know that by the end of them, your emotional battery is drained and you are ready to rip off the heels, wigs, wings, lashes and gowns.... We went on for another 1.5 hours with a lot of laughter, great conversation, and some amazing stories of the lives as professional cast members and cosplayers ...

So without further a-do I present...Cory + Dakotah

RACHEL M:

Wow, Hi! So now that we are all delirious, let’s talk cosplay. How long have you been into cosplay and who were you cosplaying tonight?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

C: Dakotah was into it slightly before I was, in about 2016 we came out as Spiderman and MJ, then we did Beast Boy and Maven. We started out more on the Marvel side. Superhero Cosplays is really where we began. We dabbled in the anime side of things because we love anime. We really only broke into the BookTok side of things really this last year.

D: I started BookTok years ago, back during the Twilight time. I was obsessive over it. I went through 3 different Twilight Books because I read it so much and they broke and fell apart. I was truly obsessed. My first cosplay was actually Alice. I did her a couple years ago and I am trying to bring her back and I want to redo her because I want Cory to do Jasper. So bad. So so bad.

“I went through 3 different Twilight books because I read it so much that they broke and fell apart..I was truly obsessed!”

~ Dakotah

C: I have no problem doing Jasper now, I gotta get the whole eye thing down ya know, that intense stare.

D: Tonight though, I am cosplaying as Violet Sorrengail from Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros

C: Tonight I am cosplaying as Violets Dragon, Tairn from Fourth Wing. The best dragon if I do say so myself. winks

RACHEL M:

So today was a solid 12 hour day. With that in mind, how long does it take you to get ready for your characters and events?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

D: oh gosh (giggles) well I would say at least 3 hours? and sometimes even more. I want to have enough time to do makeup, wigs, tattoo, gown... adjustments, ya know the small details that matter as a cosplayer and then I also need to make sure I have time to help Cory.

(Cory without falter with an appreciative grin raises his shoulder and hands in a, well it's true, motion)

C: Honestly....for me it's pretty easy compared to Dakotah. Normally a hurry up and get ready... (Dakotah steps in “He just wings it”) Cory agreeing points to his wings) ... Makeup is minimal for me, depending the character there is some scaring, maybe tattoos, and wings.... I'd say an hour at tops.

“I think one of the biggest lessons we have learned is not to take the criticism harshly. Everyone will have their own idea of a character and how they look in their mind. We do our best to make sure we aren't diminishing how someone else sees them, because at the end of the day, this is a form of art”

~ Cory & Dakotah

RACHEL M:

Would you say you wear a wig at every event and how many wigs do you own?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

D: Omgosh yes! I can absolutely style a wig ... I cannot style my own hair.

C: Ya know I just kinda put some hair product in and roll... it’s pretty easy for me. I wore a wig earlier, but for the most part it is really easy for me to just use my own hair.

R: I will note as the interviewer, Cory has fabulous hair

D: giggles and side eyes Cory who equally giggles ummm as for wigs... I would say probably 30 wigs? I just moved some from my wig bin too. I probably should get rid of some of them but I have like this odd relationship with them and I just can't bring myself to do it. I am a hoarder.

C: Not all of them are active...so there's that.

RACHEL M:

Do you have names for all of your wigs besides the main ones you cosplay for if they are a universal wig for multiple characters? Like in Shitt’s Creek, Moira has a name for each of her wigs.

CORY + DAKOTAH:

D: Haha not yet, but I definitely should!

C: I know people who have named their wig head, even put eyelashes and faces on their wig head, but I have never heard of naming the wig. I mean it definitely brings it more to life.

D: I definitely look at a wig and say for example tonight “that’s Violets Wig”

C: Well....You have like 8 Violet wigs we all laugh, because 1 is never enough right?

D: laughs well...that’s because Violets complicated!

As the interviewer I will note, we all laughed and agreed on this, thus 8 wigs most certainly makes sense.

RACHEL M:

At what age did you begin cosplaying?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

D: I began cosplaying from books since I was like 10. I was very young, until I was 16.

C: So like 20 years for her, where for me I really started just this last year and have dove head first into some of these series. It has been a wild ride and the community is so cool to be a part of.

RACHEL M:

Which that leads me into understanding more about what you do outside of Cosplay which is Disney Cast Members correct? How long have you been with Disney?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

D: oh gosh, I have been there for almost 10 years and Cory was there before me.

C: Yea, I was there since 2015 and I just recently left actually to pursue my fulltime project within my fitness and cosplay training program that I am creating. Sadly, even in all of that time we never got to work together.

AUDIBLE GASP.....What!?!

C: haha yea, not once. Even when we went over to Japan and we were there for 2.5 years.

D: It doesn’t help that I am always casted as a child. Like age 6-12. He isn’t exactly child size like me.

At this point, we had truly only answered ONE of the pre-written list of questions, but I feel that is the true nature of this bookish community. You get off on tangents when you talk about books, the love (and hatred) of characters, cosplay and the path that led you to what you are reading, right?

RACHEL M:

Two-part question here. Do you have a favorite character that you resonate with most and what is on your present TBR?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

C: I had been with Disney for over 10 years and I really resonate with Flynn, from that Rhysand just naturally followed. That just made sense for me. Men in the BookTok community are really fun to read about...ya know...I uh...take a lot of notes winks maybe Dakotah will like that if you know what I mean. Ya know, making a list...one being... GET A HEADBOARD!”

R: NO NO! you get the brackets to brace the headboard! I got you girl.

D: YES!

C: ....Get a Second Headboard ... Noted LAUGHTER ERUPTS

D: I honestly resonate with Violet, and not because I am cosplaying her tonight, but because she is so broken. She isn’t broken in a bad way, like her body just goes through so many ailments in which I relate to and live through every day. Especially tonight, when I was challenging my twin on the dance floor and let me tell you....she was getting down!

C: As for my TBR, I am presently listening to Assassins Blade and physically reading Atlas Paradox which is really interesting, because I am not a physical reader. I can’t tell you how many times I questioned how to say Rhysands name. like rye bread or reeses cups ya know? so listening I can focus more I feel and get it right for my cosplay.

D: It was my sisters first event, she got to see my world for the first time. Dancing with her though, I felt like Granny Violet on the dance floor! In all honesty though, with Violet and her physical condition...she experiences what is typically diagnosed as EDS. Her and I have the same condition...It was really empowering for me as a cosplayer and so many others to be able to resonate with her as a character in my every day life. She has such an impact with so many people who also have similar feelings and go through similar ailments. Violets character has brought a lot of joy for people to have a character to relate to.

“I have suffered from dislocated elbows, knees, arms, throughout my lifetime and then to read about a character and see just how strong willed of a woman she is, being able to bring someone like her to life is something that I was able to do in a way that means so much to me. “

~ Dakotah

RACHEL M:

Are you in a weird paradigm between your Disney life and Cosplay life?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

D: Yes, I have to remind myself, kids aren't here. It's 21 and above. I find myself finding the switch.

C: I also feel it is a balance of how that person approaches you too. If someone comes up to me and begins speaking to me as though I am the character then I stay in character but if 5 minutes later someone comes up and speaks to me as Cory the guy they saw on BookTok I can actually talk to them as my normal self and it was something we were never able to do working at Disney. We had to stay in character at all times.

D: With our Disney background, we are trained to be in character at all times and we avoid the questions that could make us not answer in character. Where now we get to be ourselves and just act normal around people that genuinely love this space as much as we do. It was definitely something we had to get used to.

C: At the end of the day it has benefited us to do more of a deep dive character study, in a way that we can look at their attributes and associate the character with 5 key words and personify them and bring them to life. Having the kind of training we have gone through, has been really helpful for us to be successful in this unique niche.

D: Making sure we actually represent the character authentically is really important to us and the Bookish community.

Rachel to  Allison: You deal with this often too with your artwork and people having their opinion on what a character looks like, I can imagine it is very similar to how you both portray and cosplay a character.

A+C+D: Yes exactly, they are words on the paper and this is how we are interpreting them. We are bringing to life a character how our imagination sees them. It isn't to be offensive, but we want to make sure that everyone has a place to be that character; and to represent that character in their mind in person and making sure we aren't diminishing how someone else sees them. Because, at the end of the day this is a form of art.

RACHEL M:

Is there a character you want to cosplay that you haven’t yet?

“Making sure we actually represent the character authentically is really important to us and the Bookish community.”

- Dakotah

CORY + DAKOTAH:

D: Ohhhhhhhhh yes! I want to play Danielle from Ever After played by Drew Barrymore.

C: confused look This is the first I have heard of this

D: Well you would make a great prince.

R: It’s like a retelling of Cinderella, such an iconic character I feel. You both would do such justice to these characters.

D: So after Alice and Jasper we must do these next two characters and that gown, WOW it is so dreamy and so whimsical.

C: Alright alright, I’ll work on Jasper. BUT! Rowan is most definitely on my list. I have already shaved the side of my head and the Runes on the side of his face would be epic.

D: I would love to do Elide and Lorcan.

R: I mean with your size Dakotah, and your height Cory, you two fit the characters of Lorcan and Elide so well.

D: But I mean Rachel ........ What did Lorcan do!?!?

R: WHAT DID LORCAN DO!

C: I mean if we cosplay them...maybe we can find out babe winks

RACHEL M:

What would you say you are the most proud of in 2024?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

D: This year has been stressful, but honestly I think these books gave us something to finally collaborate with each other.

C: I have always prayed about something that I can share with my person. Something that will get her excited and that we can enjoy together. Something I can light a spark with her and it was a weird back handed way for me to be able to be a part of something in her world.

D: Especially with us being away from one another so often it was a great way for us to find that middle ground. He would hear me talking about it a lot and he would agree, and listen and then one day he joined in and it has been so fun to do this with him. I have been reading my whole life and my grandfather would take me to the book store and he told me as long as I was reading, he would pay for it. Now, that was when I was a teenager, he definitely wouldn't now. But, now that Cory is able to do these things with me it has been really fun to do these events together. I am sure he thought I was crazy at first.

C: I mean it was pretty crazy until I understood it, I just thought it was smut, but then I realized reading it did me a lot of good, not to mention some of these stories are intense!

“All of us just geek out together over books and characters that we all love reading about and some that we reallyresonate with. It’s been a blessing being able to bring them to life.”

~ Cory

RACHEL M:

So now that we are are nearing the end of this interview, I feel like there is a question that is most important to this entire interview. What does the bookish community mean to you?

CORY + DAKOTAH:

C: I find it to be a very interesting place. It is a hub for a lot of social and antisocial people to come together and make memories together. Seeing a group of people come together that you may not see together outside of events like these, is just one of the coolest most wholesome things to watch take place. I think one of my favorite conversations I was brought into was "Triceratops and Bottoms" and let me tell you... it was the best conversation. It is a fun and safe space. WE have worked with several cosplayers that have come from all over and ended up here in the Bookish community and we don't have people judging each other.

D: As Cosplayers we are in the unique position to have these passionate conversations with various groups of people. We get to have adult conversations with people that are genuinely wanting to talk theories, story structure, character development and more mature content. We don’t have to worry about overstepping, because children aren’t present like we are so used to having to be conscious of while working for Disney. We get to be ourselves and enjoy every minute of being a character we genuinely love. It is truly amazing.