#needed when i was younger and like gahhhh sorry this is kind of emotional i just like had a dream that made me :/// and it made me think

[that-was-anticlimactic]

one of the main reasons why sk8 is such a good show (in my opinion) is the characterization of reki.

the fact that reki doesn’t somehow magically get better and surpass everyone, the fact that reki improves but not enough to be the best, the fact that reki gets jealous but not in this complete character-changing way is so important.

i think that’s one of the reasons that i like reki so much.

in media nowadays, the underdog character always becomes amazing, they always win in the end. they have a story similar to reki’s, but it turns out they always just needed a little bit more practice or a different teacher or more self-confidence to become better. there isn’t necessarily anything wrong with that, but it puts this immense pressure on everyone to want to be the best. it makes everyone think that if they can’t win, if they aren’t the best, if they don’t magically improve and become a prodigy, then they’re bad at whatever it is.

but that isn’t the case with reki.

reki tries and he tries and he tries so hard but no matter what he does, everyone else is better and that’s more realistic in a way. he doesn’t magically improve or magically realize that if he does some specific thing then he’ll be better than everyone else, he just isn’t and he becomes okay with that.

as much as everyone wanted reki to win his second beef against ad*m, i’m glad that he didn’t. i would like for him to beat ad*m because ad*m is terrible, but he didn’t because ad*m is genuinely just that good of a skater.

what makes reki losing so important is that even when he loses, he’s proud of himself. he’s happy and he’s okay with second place. what makes it even more important? not one single person in his little found family went “you were so close!” or “you almost had him!” or said anything about him losing because that wasn’t what was important.

here was this seventeen year old kid who they all realized they cared deeply for not because of his ability to skate, but because of his heart. he just basically got tortured while skating, but he finished the race. it didn’t matter to any of them that he lost, they were proud of him because he finished and he was happy. they all knew something was wrong--maybe at this point they know why or maybe reki tells them later--so seeing reki smile and laugh after one of the most purposefully violent beefs ever was more important.

reki is a symbol for being okay with being okay. reki is a symbol for those who aren’t naturally gifted and those who don’t become so much better even after loads of practice.

reki is loved by his friends and he is considered worthy not because his skating ability defined his worth, but because he loves it. that’s something that most of the found family needed to learn, and they learned it from reki.

skating is supposed to be fun--any activity you do is supposed to be fun. it’s really hard to remember that sometimes especially when you’re surrounded by such talented people--especially when you feel left out of left behind because everyone else is becoming better and you simply aren’t no matter how much you try.

reki is a reminder that you don’t have to be the best at what you do. reki teaches us that you don’t have to be really good at an activity to be amazing and that your worth is not defined by your talent.

people don’t often shows these sides of talent and activities. it’s always the underdog becomes amazing or you have to win or you’re a failure or you can become the best by practicing a lot and the thing is? that simply isn’t true. practice helps, sure. reki did improve when he practiced, but not by a whole heck of a lot. he isn’t on cherry’s level or joe’s level or miya’s or shadow’s or langa’s, and that’s okay.

you can still be important and you can still be a main character and you can still do something that brings you joy even if you aren’t amazing at it.

there are many great things about sk8 and many great things about kyan reki, but this has got to be one of my favorite things about them.

#i have a Lot of feelings #i just took a three hour nap because i got. not as much sleep as i should have last night and i felt SO guilty sleeping because i have #homework and i want to write and sometimes i look on tumblr and see everyone posting fics and art and i'm simply. not. #because i have too much homework sometimes or i need to choose sleep over writing (which doesn't happen to often oops) and i feel that fear #of falling behind and i feel like my worth is based on how much i write / how much i post and i know deep down that isn't true because all #that matters is that i enjoy writing and that i have fun and not having as much time doesn't mean i'm automatically worse than all of you #and that's one reason why reki is so special to me because he was that reminder that i needed--especially after my super busy summer when #i truly didn't have time. not to get like sappy in the tags but i've never been the gifted one. no matter what i did i was never great at it #you know? i tried so much when. i was younger and kept getting frustrated because i simply was Not as good as everyone else or not as good #as my sister and my friends. one example specifically is in marching band. i did it fo four years and i was always one of the weaker links. #i wasn't the best at marching and i wasn't the best player--in fact i always struggled to play harder stuff because reading music doesn't #come naturally to me and learning to play an instrument was really hard and everyone in my section was amazing and there was this stigma #about being in concert band and how being in concert band meant you were bad even though it just meant there wasn't enough room in the #higher bands but the band director made me feel less than because i was in concert band and because i wasn't as good as everyone else. it #sucked and sometimes no matter how much i practiced i just couldn't do it and i hated myself for it and i hated myself for not being good #enough at writing to get published in spectrum junior year and i hated myself for not being as smart as my friends and doing worse than them #on everything no matter how hard i tried and i hated myself for not having something i was really good at or better at than my friends #and i still haven't completely gotten over that but wow does reki get me emotionally. wow is reki important to me. he was the character i #needed when i was younger and like gahhhh sorry this is kind of emotional i just like had a dream that made me :/// and it made me think #about this so yeah just this is why reki and sokka are so important to me and this is why i love that reki didn't win a beef #reki is just SUCH an important character in media and he’s written SO WELL #i cannot express how genuinely elated i am to have a lead character who isn’t the best and stays that way and the lesson of the show about #happiness AHHHH IT GETS TO ME IT’S SO GOOD WJSBEKNDND #kyan reki #sk8 #corey rambles:)