- Reikiya: 霊希矢, “bright soul arrow”
Rokugin: 鹿銀, “silver deer”
Nicknames:
- Reiki—the name he’s called most often, and generally his preferred name.
Rei—most common nickname, and he would prefer that you don’t just assume that you’ve been invited to use it, but he has also learned that most people—at least in America—don’t care much what he prefers on this count and are going to call him “Rei” regardless of whether or not he’s given them those privileges.
Kiya—a nickname that his family started using for him because so many people in the States assumed that they had “Rei” privileges, so Reiki needed another name to serve as his intimate form of address.
Miss Satori Kurobara Disobedience—his stage name/drag queen persona. You can catch Miss Satori hosting, performing, and producing shows at various venues around Destiny City, including her regular drag brunches (Saturday shows at Marcel’s Bar and Grille, Sunday shows at The Green Carnation Café; seating starts at 10:30AM and the show starts at 11AM), and Over the Rainbow, her twice-monthly showcase for the BIPOC drag and burlesque artists and performers in Destiny City (every first and third Saturday, 8PM, at Miss Satori’s home-bar, an intimate little queer space called Scandals).
Ki-chan, Kiki(-chan)—intimate nicknames from his siblings and cousins. Close friends and members of his drag family can also use them, but otherwise, please don’t. He won’t get too annoyed if you mess up with this, as long as you don’t repeatedly ignore his wishes about it, but overall, he’d prefer you wait to receive “Kiki” privileges before calling him that or “Ki-chan.”
Kivya, Reishka, Kivasha, Reivasha, Kivenka, Reiyashka, Kivova, Reivushka, Kivoshulya, Reivyik, Kivyashka, Kivyik, Kivinyushka, Reivishka, Kivitsya, Reiva, Kivyula, Reinasha, Kivyuko…… etc.—Russian diminutive names gifted to Reiki by Miss Cherry Poppins, one of his drag mothers. These are special and intimate names that Reiki has very particular rules about using. Short version: until he tells you otherwise, you should assume that you are not invited to use any of these names, unless you really want to upset him. Unlike his begrudging acceptance of people using “Rei” without permission, hearing people he didn’t give “Kivya” privileges use that name will upset him and without a very pressing reason not to, he will come right to your busted face to let you know about it.
Also, this list is non-comprehensive, as Cherry and other members of their drag haus regularly come up with new names in the same theme by tossing Reiki’s name in a blender with various Russian diminutive suffixes. Not all the names end up sounding good or sticking, but you should also assume that, without explicit permission, you’re not allowed to give Reiki a new name using this same formula.
Gender / Pronouns: Cis man, any pronouns except “it.” Usually goes with he/him, but is very comfortable with she/her or they/them. Has some days where she/her is actually preferred, and the correct pronouns for Miss Satori are always she/her. If using a personal pronoun in Japanese, prefers atashi (あたし).
Age: 25, nearly 26.
Birthday: February 29th, 1996.
Sign: Pisces.
Gemstone: Amethyst.
Blood Type: B+
Fav. Food: Strawberries, chicken nuggets (especially if shaped like dinosaurs, spaceships, or some other cute thing), his godfather’s macaroni and cheese, his grandfather’s shiitake udon, and orange Starbursts.
Hated Food: Blueberries, limes, avocado (unless worked into a sushi roll), mayonnaise, the vegan cheese replacement that one of his ex-boyfriends tried to sell him on no matter how many times Reiki asked him to stop, and Taco Bell (which he will refer to as “Taco Hell” unless there’s some immediate, pressing reason not to, e.g., being around polite company who would consider that inappropriate).
School / Occupation: By daylight, he’s working on his Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Master’s degree at Destiny City University, serving as a teaching assistant (to his grandmother, because no other TAs meet her standards), and on the track to progress right into the PhD program, once he’s submitted and defended his Master’s thesis. By moonlight, you can find him working at drag shows—mostly at Scandals, but he gets around other venues in Destiny City as well.
Hobbies:
We’re All Born Naked And The Rest Is…… (Drag): A deceptively simple word for the thing that takes up as much of Reiki’s waking hours and conscious brainspace as his coursework and his actual job. Some things may be more or less obviously connected to his drag, but almost anything can end up feeding back into his art at some point. Taking a pole-dancing class at the gym is just as likely to inspire a number as arguing with someone about the sociopolitical dimensions of bodice ripper novels.
More than anything else he enjoys doing, drag is Reiki’s Thing because it combines so many disparate things that he enjoys—including but not limited to: music; dance and choreography; makeup and painting his face; putting outfits together to help actualize his fantasy; humor and irreverence; transforming pain into something beautiful; and sociopolitical commentary. There’s no way for him to get bored because drag as an art form, as well as Reiki’s relationship to drag, are always changing and evolving. Anything he wants to make happen, he can find a way to bring to life on stage at Scandals, or on the floor at a drag brunch, or at the library for Drag Queen Storytime Hour with the local kids.
Stitch ‘n’ b***h (Textile Arts): In addition to knowing how to stitch your button back on or put a hem on his cute little performance outfit, Reiki has skill with: knitting; crocheting; embroidery (including cross-stitch); and patchwork (including appliqué designs). Some of his craft projects just grow out of wanting to turn the scraps from making different drag costumes into something more than a pile of garbage. Most end up being gifts for people he cares about, though. Scarves, blankets, ragdolls, plush animals (with either crocheted or patchwork bodies; a good way to know he likes you is if he makes you a plushie), decorative cross-stitches with deliberately ridiculous messages, personal embroidery—Reiki will try anything once. He also runs two different, proper Stitch ‘n’ b***h groups, one on Destiny City University’s campus for students and faculty, and one at a local LGBTQ+ community center.
I Wanna Be Where *My* People Are (Queer Community-Building): Reiki has been exceptionally fortunate in his life, when it comes to all things LGBTQ+. While his maternal family in Kyoto leaves a lot to be desired, most of his family has been perfectly loving and supportive of him being gay, femme, gender-nonconforming, a drag queen, etc. Not everyone has been so lucky, though. So many other LGBTQ+ people have had an even worse run of things, which is why it’s so important to Reiki that he give back as much as he can. Primarily, he does this out of a local LGBTQ+ community center in Destiny City, where he helps facilitate some of the activity or support groups (Stitch ‘n’ b***h, a creative writing group, and an eating disorder support group), and participates in several others.
What’cha Gonna Do With All This Body (Working Out): Reiki would argue with this activity being included on a list of his hobbies because as far as he’s concerned, it’s not a hobby so much as an essential piece of his self-care regimen. Either way, regardless of what he calls it, he’s up in the gym often enough to be on a first-name basis with multiple staff members at both the Destiny City University gym and the gym he has a personal membership to. He goes jogging every morning, makes time to work out in the gym for at least half-an-hour daily (whether that means taking a class or hitting the machines on his own), and just generally stays on top of his physical fitness.
Without Obsession, Life Is Nothing (Hobbies, Obsessions, Fixations, etc.): The thing with Reiki is, he constantly finds ways to occupy himself and is rarely ever completely idle, but when put on the spot, he has a difficult time actually telling you what he enjoys doing with himself. Ask him about his hobbies and like as not, he’ll give you a stunningly unhelpful answer, such as:
- “Being a messy b***h and having terrible taste in men”;
“Uh, I don’t know, reading, I guess? Do you want to hear my analysis on how Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, and the filmography of John Waters influenced this trashy, smutty bodice-ripper take on Dorian Gray that I found at the used book store”;
“Plotting the destruction of human civilization, same as every self-respecting homosexual, but I guess I could use a break for lunch”;
“Y’know, if you came to the biweekly Gay Agenda Meetings, you wouldn’t have to ask that question”;
“Debating whether I should go out and get a sugar daddy, or if I am not that kind of girl”;
“I dunno, go ask your boyfriend if you’re so interested in my free time’”;
and “Being violently, emotionally stonewalled by cats when I show them NOTHING but LOVE.”
(If you ever hear the last one, you should make sure he didn’t get bitten or clawed up or anything, because he’s probably fresh off one of his many failed attempts to befriend a cat. There are some rare, precious cats who can tolerate or even like him……but for the most part, cats react to Reiki with suspicion, contempt, and occasional outright hostility.)
Even several things he objectively spends a lot of time doing don’t occur to him to list as a hobby. Drag, for example, isn’t a hobby; it’s his calling, his lifeline, his art.
The big reason that Reiki has such a hard time telling you what he enjoys doing is that he bounces, sometimes very quickly, between hobbies, between fixations, between Obsessions Of The Moment, etc. Sometimes, the moment lasts for several months. Other times, old obsessions return and pull him back in. Ultimately, though, the whole, messy business with Reiki and hobbies is an endless attempt at finding something that might address the deep, pervasive sense of Something Missing from his life.
He doesn’t know what that Something actually is, but he’ll probably recognize it when he finds it.…… Probably.…… He thinks.…… Look, as long as his temporary fixations distract him from the gnawing emptiness of this inexplicable, unidentified, painfully absent Something, Reiki is perfectly content to keep running headlong into new things just to see what happens.
VIRTUES:
Someday, I’ll Wish Upon A Star And Wake Up Where The Clouds Are Far Behind Me… / Kiss Me Goodbye, I’m Defying Gravity (Dreams Big): Ever since he was a kid and dreamt of being a boy-princess, Reiki hasn’t been satisfied with thinking small. He wants all his projects to be the best versions of themselves that he can make happen, no matter if anybody says that his idea sounds “crazy” or “ludicrous” or “like a one-way ticket to the emergency room.” Rules and limitations set on him only make actualizing his ideas more fun—whether because the challenge proves enjoyable or because he gets the satisfaction of proving naysayers wrong.
The Best Way That I’ve Found To Be The Best You’ve Ever Seen / With Y’all Vicious ********, It *DO* Take Nerve (Determined): When Reiki cares about what he’s doing, he goes in full-throttle and won’t stop until he’s either accomplished what he set out to do or been forced to stop. It’s not enough for him to make a good time on his 10k run, write a perfectly sufficient paper, or give an adequately satisfactory performance; he must aim to constantly top himself and outdo his old bests. Even if he doesn’t hit the high, self-imposed bar, he needs to know he tried. Not trying, to Reiki, is the worst thing he could do.
Never Forget What You Are, For Surely The World Will Not / I *Said* What I Said! (Earnest): While Reiki is capable of playing interpersonal politics and diplomacy, he doesn’t enjoy it. He prefers to avoid pointless cruelty, but aside from that and some of the most basic rules of social context, he lives by what he calls the “Horton Hatches An Egg philosophy”: “I meant what I said and I said what I meant.”
Sarcasm and snark could be seen as exceptions to the rule, but Reiki would counter that his snark is often an earnest expression of his exhaustion in the face of tedious, stupid things. Human lives are brief, fragile, and ephemeral—why would he want to waste the time he has on pretending to be someone that he’s not? Thanks, but no thanks. He’s already squandered enough of his life on that.
Every Saint Has A Past And Every Sinner Has A Future / If You Caused This Disaster, I’ll Point You Home (Compassionate): About the only reason to hold back that Reiki considers valid, is “Will I hurt someone else by saying or doing what I have in mind.” This is what support groups have “I” statements for, after all. No matter how snarky he can be or how little he censors himself in an argument, Reiki cares about people, their pain, their problems, etc. At the heart of it all, he wants to be the sort of person who would’ve helped his younger self, when he was going through his own rough patches. Listening to people vent, offering solace or advice, giving them leeway and patience when they need it, putting on a drag show that makes them smile—Reiki wants to do whatever he can to help make people’s bad times more bearable.
FLAWS:
Never Stop, Wanna Taste Every Drop / He Was Right, You Will Never Be Satisfied (Insatiable): Something in Reiki’s life is missing. He doesn’t know what it is, he doesn’t know where to look for it, he’s not even sure he’d recognize it if it did a naked fan-dance right in front of him. But there is something missing—or that’s how he feels, anyway. So much of his hobby-bouncing, his aversion to taking breaks, and his full-throttle approach to what he cares about all goes back to Reiki looking to fill the void in his life where something he hasn’t found yet should be, or to at least distract himself from that feeling for a while.
The worst part of it all is: if Reiki found that certain something, even if he recognized it as filling a void in his life, he’d sooner or later discover a new absence, a new thing that he’s lacking, a new something that his life needs, etc. Being content in himself and what he has isn’t an entirely foreign concept to him, but it is something he only tolerates because he has to in order to see anything get done.
Maybe This Time, I’ll Be Lucky. Maybe This Time, He’ll Stay / My Little French Vanilla Fantasy (Willful Self-Delusion): When Reiki decides what he wants to be true, he commits to it and feels his fantasy so hard that it becomes his personal reality. Any attempts at pulling him out of that little cloud will be met with attrition tactics. Actual reality may contradict him and his beliefs—his fiancé might violate his boundaries or disrespect him when Reiki has chosen to believe that everything is fine in their relationship; he may feel insecure, or lacking, or empty when he’s decided that he must be bold and confident, possessed of a great deal of nerve, and perfectly secure; his attempts to push past his own limitations may get derailed by exhaustion—but Reiki will continue until either reality conforms to what he wants it to be or he hits a breaking point. Someone is going to break here, and Reiki doesn’t intend to be the one (even though he is more often than not).
Sorry Not Sorry ‘Bout What I Said / “Heinous b***h” Is The Term Used Most Often (Tempestuous): Emotional volatility, with Reiki, goes hand-in-hand with his preference for feeling his fantasies over dealing with reality, his perpetual dissatisfaction, and his hunger for that indescribable, missing something in his life. On some level, he’s aware that several of his fantasies don’t line up with reality, and he doesn’t appreciate being reminded of these discrepancies. When faced with the different ways that reality disagrees with the version of it that he wants, Reiki tumbles down a hill of anger and frustration, lashing out at whatever—or whomever—is making him deal with these things.
Sometimes, smaller incidents build up over time, leading him to lash out with passive-aggression or snark and shade that twists the verbal knife a bit too hard. Other times, larger incidents send him from zero to 1,000 and he does something drastic like storming out on his fiancé with no intention of calling their apartment “home” again. Either way, he fights like a hell-cat to avoid dealing with actual reality when he’d rather deal with his fantasy.
I’m A Racing Car Passing By Like Lady Godiva! / And I’ve Been Putting Out Fire……With Gasoline! (Impulsive): Reiki’s family has been trying to teach him the value of patience since he was younger, and in fairness, some of those lessons have stuck. He understands the value of biding his time, letting things grow and develop on their own time, and waiting to see how things shape up……but he still hates being patient on a deep, visceral level.
Waiting patiently makes his chest feel tight. Following a specific plan without deviation, likewise, makes his nerves itch. All of it makes him feel trapped, restless, and irritable—so, he’d argue that it’s a public service for him to follow the whims that flare up like “What if I took a different route to walk to campus today” or “What if I switched the mid-show number that I’m doing tomorrow night?” Sure, things might end up somewhat messy in the immediate fallout, and Reiki will freely admit that not all of his impulses are good ones, but him yielding to temptation is a good sight better than him deliberately starting an argument.
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Eyes: Gray. Monolidded, and while not small, they aren’t naturally very big, either. However, even out of his queen drag, Reiki never leaves the house without applying some of the tricks he knows with eyeliner, shadow, foundation, and mascara to make them look bigger.
Hair: Black with cool undertones. Long, thick, straight, and a pain in the a** to fit under a wig—but if the choice is “do some extra work while getting ready” or “cut off his waist-length ponytail,” then Reiki will choose the extra work and you can pry his ponytail from his cold, dead hands.
Face: Heart-shaped overall, with a jawline and cheekbones that could cut diamonds. The thing Reiki hates most about his face is his nose, which is longer and bigger than he’d like, and while he’s found ways of contouring it that he doesn’t hate, he has yet to find a nose contour that he truly likes, or that makes him feel any better about his nose itself. (Has he considered rhinoplasty? Yes, but he refuses to go for a nose-job because giving up the pursuit of his perfect nose contour would mean admitting defeat, which would mean losing, and that’s unacceptable to him, thank you very much.)
Skin Tone: Light-medium, mixed golden and peachy tones. Leans more toward a tawny color when he’s been getting a lot of sun, but ends up a more neutral tan when he hasn’t.
- Base — #D9B58C
Shadows — #C79C76
Highlights — #EFDBBD
Foundation Colors: Buff Beige + Sand Beige (L’Oreal True Match Super Blendable); Pro Filt’r #210 and Eaze Drop #7 (Fenty Beauty; “light to medium skin with warm neutral undertones”); 23Y [“light-medium skin with yellow undertones”] + 24N [“light-medium skin with neutral undertones”] (Sephora Best Skin Ever Liquid Foundation)
Body Type: Tall (6’4”), broad-shouldered, muscular and fit with a narrow waist and long legs. In drag, the vibe he usually tries to go for is “statuesque” and padding out a more hourglass figure.
Clothes: Most of the time, Reiki has to dress with at least some degree of professionalism, as defined by the standards of academia. Button-up shirts and sensible but non-casual-looking shoes are staples. His button-ups are either muted (i.e., black or white) or so wild that it really strains the limits of what he can get away with (i.e., pastels, neons, other bright and possibly visually offensive colors, pastel or neon plaid/tartan patterns, etc.). If pressed or possessed with a desire to do so, he’ll wear pants to campus, but often, he prefers skirts.
In his opinion, any objections are nullified by the fact that he’s wearing a perfectly modest skirt, rather than the slutty little numbers he prefers when he’s in drag, so unless you want him to come teach his section of Intro to LGBTQ History? He cordially invites you to shush.
