The Scene
No matter how far away I stay from the convention scene, or how long my hiatus from cosplaying is, each and every time I step into the Gaylord National Resort during a winter weekend outside of DC, I find myself in giddy awe. Every which way within this GIANT convention venue of huge windows of natural light, glistening floors, and a gorgeous indoor forest of ponds, charming cottages, and the infamous Gazebo stuns all passersby.
I was beyond thrilled and blessed to be able to experience Katsucon 2020 in all of its magnificent glory. As per usual, cosplayers flocked to this popular East Coast convention with their BEST. Ballroom gowns swirled and twirled about the main photoshoot areas; impressive armor builds bustled through the busy intersections, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba cosplays were cute to see: clearly the most popular anime to cosplay from this season. (Inosuke cosplayers are THE GREATEST.) Honestly, I just could not believe how happy being a part of this convention made this Mo.
LOOT.
I spent the majority of my time in the gazebo areas or wandering the Artist Alley. Just look at the wonderful art I picked up. That Inosuke is so precious, if a tiny bit macabre.
Another big part of my Katsucon 2020 experience was cosplay watching. As mentioned before, I saw the most beautiful costumes flitting just about everywhere. One thing I couldn’t help but notice were cosplayers in bright, extravagant, feathered garments all throughout the weekend. I wasn’t sure what it was connected with. Post-con, I saw the Disney Carnival group blow-up on social media, rightfully so! The group pictures and videos were so fun and cheery, and the individual shots were GORGEOUS. I wanted to learn more, so I reached out to the creator of the group and they graciously allowed me to interview them. Please enjoy!
The Interview
- Please tell us a bit about yourself! When/how did you get into cosplay? What is your favorite nerd activity?
Hello, I’m Tammy and I go by Nekostrophic (they/them/she/hers) in the cosplay world. I am a Michigan-based cosplayer and I have been cosplaying for about three years now. I’ve always been into arts, crafts, and fashion. I really enjoy cosplaying because I get to combine all my passions and interests like crafting, modeling, makeup, sewing, and photography. My favorite nerd activity is watching anime. I’ve been into anime ever since I was child.
- How did this group come about? Why is it important to you?
The Disney Carnival Group was created for Katsucon 2020. Three months before Katsucon 2020 I started brainstorming ideas for a group cosplay, as I’ve always wanted to be a part of one. I kept seeing artwork of Disney characters in different concepts like “Sailor Moon crossover with Disney” for example. I wanted to do something similar to that concept, crossing two concepts that hadn’t been seen or cosplayed much before. The idea of Carnival came up to me when I was on Instagram as I follow a few Carnival designer accounts. Many of the cosplayers in the group have West Indian heritage so they were really excited to be in the group. One of my IG followers linked me to a Brazilian Artist on Instagram (@Isaqueareas) who had already created art designs of Disney Characters in Carnival Costumes and I used his art as inspiration for my own Princess Jasmine Carnival Costume. Everyone was free to design their Carnival costumes however they pleased as long as they looked similar to the Disney character.
- What were some challenges in getting this group together?
Even though the group was very large, putting it together was very simple. I brought it up on social media, a few of my cosplay friends responded about being interested and they added their friends, then their friends added their friends until almost every Disney character was taken. Getting everyone in the group to be on the same page was a great challenge. We made a group chat on Instagram, the chat was to keep everything organized so that everyone could be on the same page about the meet up time and location at the convention. We even helped each with designs for everyone’s costumes and hyped each other up to ensure that everyone was happy and excited with their own costumes getting closer to the con. At the convention our photographer didn’t show so we had to find a new one on the spot and that was a big challenge as well as trying to gather all the girls together to get a group photo. We had to take individual photos of each cosplayer and put the photos in a collage so that everyone could be seen.
- Do you have any future project(s) that involve collaborating with other cosplayers and artists?
I definitely want to do more crossover concept group cosplays in the future as I really love doing crossover cosplays myself. I haven’t quite figured out any ideas or seen any art that has sparked my interest at the moment, but I’m sure with the help of my friends we can always come up with ideas ourselves or look for many great ideas by others to be inspired by.
Photographer
SimplyFrankPro
Instagrams of the Cosplayers
- @thouartanuli – Mérida
- @melodiouspowah – Ariel
- @ygcosplay – Moana
- @jollieejohsai – Princess Kida
- @love_paperdoll – Snow White
- @Nekostrophic – Jasmine
- @chibith0t – Esmerelda
- @mizukiunderland – Mulan
- @TeekMystique.Cosplay – Cinderella
- @Costay.moo – Rapunzel
- @city.alien – Sleeping Beauty
- @vantablackcosplay – Shuri
- @octokioo – Elsa
- @konekoassassin – Alice
- @sailorleonecosplay – Megara
- @avie.bby – Tiana
- @Yuki Crissy – Tinkerbell
- @artemis.zip – Pocahontas
- @j.j.thejetp – Belle
Another year, another Katsucon. This convention has never let me down. The amount fun, creativity, and jaw-dropping art that is found here always keep me coming back. I look forward to next year. Until then, nerds. Stay healthy and keep crafting those masterpieces!
Want to get Black Nerd Problems updates sent directly to you? Sign up here.
Follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Show Comments