#Get a grip Spectacle smh

[spectatingspectacle]

I found an old-ish drawing I made of Leshy as Beetlejuice w/ a pet sandworm and upon this rediscovery I made it my phone's wallpaper

I remember the dumb name I gave the sandworm too, it's Sandy Candy

[bruh-haikyuu]

REQUEST: Can I request Bokuto with a soft & short manager s/o and she always helps the team cheer bokuto up when hi is in emo mode and like a lot of fluff🥺👉👈

A/N: Tumblr is being a whore with their Keep Reading button, putting it on the ask and shit smh. So I apologize for the repost.

alate. | bokuto kōtarō

word count: 1776

warnings: none

(adj.) having wings; lifted up in flight

Official match protocols only allowed one manager on the court for each team. Fukurodani Academy’s Boys’ Volleyball team always had their lenient but reliable third year managers to get the job done. Third-years Yukie and Kaori had been your final salvation against the inevitable fate of having to care for the raucous boys alone. But today with some lucky fortune of theirs, they’d somehow coerced you into taking their place.

“...Will I experience any internal combustions by the end of the match?”

The three of you stood in a personal circle at the entrance to the gym. The three managers of Fukurodani, with your two seniors looming over you like two scheming birds of prey. They didn’t even have to ask why you were so worried; despite being a second-year, this was your first time to stand on the court with the team instead of panicking on your own on the sidelines. This time, you were in the game, up-close-and-personal.

“You’ll do fine~” Yukie grinned, raising her right hand in a lazy ‘OK’ gesture. “Besides, you’re a total expert when it comes to giving Bokuto a good knock in the head.”

If Bokuto’s vanity was a chronic disease, he’d need more than just a “good knock in the head” to be cured. But Yukie wasn’t wrong. Your praises, in comparison to the others’, had a quicker, more powerful effect on the ace. Though you weren’t sure if that skill of yours was more of a blessing than a curse...

“W-well, I’ll do my best,” you muttered, fiddling with the hem of your track jacket. Your seniors exchanged a look before smiling softly at you.

“Oh, and one more thing!” Kaori piped up as you lugged the bag full of empty bottles over your shoulder. “Can you act a bit bashful when you’re complimenting the captain?

“Why’s that, Kaori-san?”

“Bokuto thinks you look cute when you’re embarrassed.”

══════ ⋆★⋆ ══════

‘Cute’? What did that even mean? Did Bokuto always think people were ‘cute’ whenever they flash a single praise at him? Not that you remembered... What’s with that, you grumbled, angrily trying to get the concept into your skull.

Your eyes darted back to the court where—much to your distress—the other team just had to be painfully good at blocks. Now, you just hoped that the boys wouldn’t get too disgruntled.

The score was 12-15, with Torasaka Metropolitan High in the lead. Though Fukurodani had obtained their twelfth point with a lucky read on Torasaka’s setter dump, things were obstinately bleak for your team.

“I want to try it!” you heard Bokuto exclaim excitedly. From afar, you could already spot a few sullen scowls begin to form on his teammates’ faces. “Hey, ‘Kaashi, do you want to try that block with me?”

The setter sent you a pained expression enough for guilt to comically swallow you whole. Returning his attention to the ace who’s practically bouncing on his heels, Akaashi sighed. “Bokuto-san, let’s focus on our normal blocks first.”

A child! you thought incredulously as you watched the captain stick out his tongue at him. Though Bokuto was particularly a sight to behold when he’s in top form, just how confident could he be, trying something so risky in a middle of a tight match? Or was he just a complete and utter numbskull? You thought he was rather amazing for the juxtaposition... in a Bokuto fashion, of course.

As Washio prepared to serve, you watched the ace literally vibrate with eagerness of having such an “interesting enemy”. Whenever Bokuto got extremely fired up, it was your inevitable fate that you just couldn’t look away. The way his jersey hugged his hulking frame as he flexed his muscles in preparation to follow the path of the ball, it was nearly bewitching. If he had been like this his entire life, you were sure your heart wouldn’t take being with Bokuto for a mere second.

“It’s up!” Torasaka’s libero signaled, cleanly receiving Washio’s serve (much to the player’s frustration).

In your memory, Torasaka High wasn’t a much known threat until just recently. “Their new first years block like a fort,” you remembered what Coach Yamiji had said in the bus that morning. Despite far from being as crafty as Nohebi or as versatile as Nekoma, Tokyo teams were a force to be reckoned with.

What a terrifying sport, you thought to yourself for what seemed to be the fifth time this month.

“Left! Left!”

On the other side of the court, Sarukui, Bokuto and Akaashi scrambled to follow the ball’s trajectory. Though you were only a rookie in this entire volleyball thing, you were quick to notice that Bokuto’s footsteps were a bit smaller and slower than the first two...

Wait, is he planning to delay the timing of his block now?!

It was definitely a quick from the other side. It was evident, even to you. And when the two jumped to block the ball with their ace lagging behind, the ball had already streaked over him at a dangerous angle. Point Torasaka.

Landing on the pads of his feet, Akaashi’s expression shifted between “candidly annoyed” and “visibly concerned” as he watched the captain raise his head for his team to see.

“You’re kidding me...” Sarukui groaned under his breath. Behind him, the others followed promptly with their own reactions of disbelief.

His infamous salt-and-pepper hair deflating alongside his shoulders, Bokuto whined, loud enough for you to hear from the benches. “The hell... I thought I had that block mastered. Why’d they have to make it look so easy?”

Time-out! Akaashi turned to you and the coach a with pleading stare, hard enough for your supervising teacher to shoot upwards and signal the referee for their second break of the match.

Groaning, you stuffed your face in your hands, hoping that your senior managers in the audience were praying for your good health.

“What were you thinking?!” Coach Yamiji hissed, giving the sulking ace a well-deserved smack to the side of his head. Bokuto didn’t even flinch. “You could’ve—”

“Coach. Let me.”

Snapping his head in your direction, the old man grew pale when he heeded the dark aura that spewed from your body. Even the others, though they were only watching the entire event go down, was hyper-aware of the invisible, nightmarish fog that came with your frustration.

You’d always seemed so sweet and indulgent, never angry. Never. And yet Bokuto had finally gotten you to drop the tether that held your patience together.

Walking to Bokuto, you sent him a scowl so cold, he forgot how to blink. The rest of the team, the coach, your teacher and even Yukie and Kaori in the stands shivered from the sudden gust of frosty air that oozed from you. Some of the audience surprisingly turned their heads to watch the spectacle of the tiny Fukurodani manager who seemed like she was about to trample on their ace.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.

“Bokuto, you—!”

You froze. No. If you scolded him now, that only make matters worse. Bokuto didn’t fare well when he was scolded by Kaori or Yukie either. Besides, you were his manager, not his mother. But what else were you going to do?

Bokuto thinks you look cute when you’re embarrassed.

Swallowing a nagging lump in your throat, you recalled the words of your seniors. Embarrassed? How do you do embarrassed? Was that even a thing you could pull off manually? Taking in a deep breath, you tightened your fist before loosening them in front of your body. Something was better than nothing.

“B-Bokuto-senpai...?”

“Senpai?!” the others snapped towards you, jaws on the floor. Even Bokuto was stunned.

Eyeing his interested gaze, you continued, fidgeting bashfully, “Bokuto-senpai’s such a slob... If you just listened to the others... you’d be a lot cooler...”

Komi tugged at the back of Konoha’s jersey, whispering in the blonde one’s ear, “She’s pulling out the ‘Cute Tsundere’ card!”

Stupefied, the wing spiker muttered, “Bokuto’s actually taking the bait... Scary. L/N-san’s scary.”

And take the bait he did. You didn’t even realize how red you were with the way he was looking at you—and the shade was fully unintentional, much to your chagrin. But Bokuto’s sullen mood was far gone, replaced with the brighter interest of infatuation.

“A lot cooler...?” Bokuto savored your words in his tongue, before whipping out both his hands to grab at your shoulders. “Y-You think I’m cool?!”

You didn’t even have to pretend to be shy anymore. The close contact of his skin, the scent of his sweat mingled with the musky aroma of his cologne and the pinkish tint on his cheeks. It was too much, and you soon wondered if Bokuto had always seemed this charming to you.

“Y-you airhead! Of course I do,” you mumbled, lowering your sight to the floor. “You’re already really good at volleyball, but you do things like forcing yourself to do a block you can’t do just because you want attention and... and now everyone has to bear that burden.”

“Please go on a date with me.”

You flinched in his grasps. This was escalating much faster than you’d hoped it would. Unable to register what he had said, you asked him to repeat himself.

“The cute Y/N-chan thinks I’m cool. That’s like a dream come true, right? So if I become cool again, won’t you go on a date with me?”

How unbelievable. One second he almost reminded you of the small boy that lived below your apartment, and the next he was like some sort of phantom thief, ready to whisk you away from the confines of your castle and steal your heart. You smiled earnestly; Bokuto Koutarou really was a man of many wonders.

Slipping yourself away from his grip, you raised an index finger between his eyes. “If you win... I’ll consider it.”

Like a phoenix rising from its ashes, the ace lit up once more. Revived, renewed, and heart set on taking you out. While dragging Akaashi back onto the court, Bokuto made it a point that he was looking at you all the way. You giggled. What an interesting person.

From the stands, your gaze traced the motto of Fukurodani’s Volleyball Club. Pour all your soul into each ball. Bokuto played with passion, with his emotions and whenever the time was right, with his logic too. For a while, volleyball seemed like the last thing you’d want to spend your life doing. But seeing the ace’s blushing grin to you when they’d scored the final match point... it might not be as bad as you thought it’d be.

[theseaeaglelives]

ROUND 1

THE SEA EAGLE

MAKING RUGBY LEAGUE GREAT AGAIN!!!

Manly Sea Eagles                             6

Defeated by. 

Wests Tigers                                     20

The Sea Eagle took the opportunity to watch this fixture from the confines of the North Sydney Leagues Club. With the Stench of the Bear continuing to emanate from these less than hallowed walls, there was little confidence to be had in what was about to transpire.

Following on from the litany of off-field indiscretions that have plagued the game during the past off-season, the first half of this fixture did little to restore any confidence or credibility in rugby league. Both teams struggled to come to grips with the wet and slippery conditions and a procession of errors ensued. It was an average spectacle put on by two equally average and likely bottom feeder outfits.

Despite having very little in terms of field position and possession, somehow Manly led 2-0 at the break. It’s fair to say Manly were somewhat unlucky not to score a try when a bizarre instance of refereeing interference denied Curtis Sironen a try. Surely the onus must be on referees to stay well clear of the playing area and teams like Manly need all the help they can get.

Manly carried their average form into the second half, with scant regard for possession, simple errors and very little to offer, particularly in terms of attack. Unfortunately for Manly, the Wests Tigers left their poor form in the sheds and they ran roughshod in the second half. Dominating field position, with 60% possession and led by ageing veterans Robbie Farrah and Benji Marshall ran in 3 tries and put Manly to the sword. The fact that Manly could not come to grips with Farrah and Marshall is a real concern as its fair to say that both these players are well past their primes and what lies ahead when they have to face up to teams with genuine talent in their playing rosters.

This loss continues Manly’s tradition of poor starts to a season, now having lost 14 of their last 19 opening round games. It doesn’t get any easier next week where they will host the reigning premiers, the Roosters at Lottoland.

Peter Beattie sends a shout out to long dead Balmain Tigers legend Laurie Nicholls

The juggernaut of embarrassment that is Peter Beattie has made some big gaffes since he took over as NRL Commissioner but this one tops the lot. Who can forget shortly after being named NRL commissioner he was unable to identify that the Sharks were the club that played out of Cronulla during a TV interview with Phil Gould.   Following this he then confused the Barcelona football jersey with that of the Newcastle Knights in an interview on the Today Show with Karl Stefanovic.   But the prolific Twitter user has now made another stumble by bringing the Tigers greatest fan, Laurie Nicholls, back from the dead.

During yesterdays game, a spoof Twitter account known as “Laurie Nicholls is God” responded to a tweet from Peter Beattie who was at the game.   The spoof account wrote “Isn’t she just a beauty Pete” when Beattie posted a photo of the Leichhardt crowd to his 12,000 followers.   But it was Beattie’s response to the fake Laurie’s account that took the cake. “Good to see you are well Laurie. Good win for Wests Tigers today. All the best.”   Somehow Beattie was unaware that Nicholls died some time ago.   Peter Beattie is the gift that keeps giving and we eagerly await his next faux pas.   Which brings us to his efforts earlier in the week  

Beattie: We won't look like 'village idiot' over stand-down law

Sun Herald  March 9, 2019 — 4.49pm

 Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter Beattie defended the length of time it has taken for the new ''no-fault'' stand-down ruling to be rubber-stamped, declaring: "It's better to get it right and cop some flak now than look like a village idiot later on.''

Beattie apparently (according to the Sun Herald) told the Sun-Herald,  NRL commissioners had received the draft for the new ruling late on Friday (8 March 2019) and would meet to approve it on Monday (11 March 2019) before the NRL quickly implemented it.   This is despite the fact that the NRL had already told St George player Jack De Belin and Manly player Dylan Walker they had been stood down (to name a few) before the rules were actually in place.   It came as no surprise therefore that  St George Illawarra forward Jack de Belin scored a victory in the Federal Court on Thursday 7 March 2019 when  Federal Court judge Steven Rares said on 7 March 2019 ''there's no entitlement to stand him down'' and ''there's nothing in place at the moment''. With the NRL rules introduced around 11 or 12 March 2019, De Belin is  presently not playing rugby league and apparently back in Court against the NRL in April 2017 .   One could be forgiven after all of this, for thinking the current membership requirements for a spot on the NRL Commission or a senior role at the NRL, may well be holding a PHD from a typical Australian university where you can now be degree qualified by actually being dumb, and based solely on a thesis paper “why it’s cool to be an idiot” or “the many things you should do now rather than look like a village idiot later on”. One of those things clearly, must be the policy of standing players down based on a press announcement, whilst attempting to put the rules in place to justify that, after the event.

Like the Billy Idol balls up at the 2002 GF (and many others), only in rugby league would this be considered “normal”.   Now let’s consider this news piece from 2014, regarding Russell Packer, who played for the Tigers in this Rd 1 2019 fixture against Manly:

  Russell Packer of the Newcastle Knights sentenced to two years' jail

By Stephen Ryan- SMH

January 6, 2014 — 12.20pm

Newcastle Knight rugby league player Russell Packer has been jailed for two years for assault, dismaying the Kiwi enforcer ….

Packer looked to his supporters, which included his partner and a number of Knights officials, in distress before he was led away in handcuffs from a Downing Centre Local Court on Monday.

Earlier Packer, 24, pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm after he bashed a man during a booze-fuelled night last year, with the court hearing he had stomped on his victim's face as the man lay motionless in Martin Place in Sydney's CBD.

No need to go any further into this incident. Given Mr Packer is now able to play NRL it seems the NRL position on off field atrocities is this:

1. if you are charged with a crime, that may carry a certain lengthy gaol penalty, and you plead not guilty, you may or will be banned, despite the fact you are legally entitled to the presumption of innocence;

2. if you are in gaol, then clearly you are banned from paying rugby league, given an inherent inability to do so;.

3. If you have been sent to gaol for 2 years, for “assault occasioning actual bodily harm” after bashing a man “during a booze-fuelled night” and having “stomped on [the victim's] face as [ the victim] lay motionless in Martin Place in Sydney's CBD”, then once released from gaol you are free to play NRL.

Naturally, this sound perfectly reasonable. The pathway is plead not guilty, banned by NRL, go to gaol, banned by the NRL, released from gaol, free to play NRL. One might argue the order of bannings should be the reverse, but that is just speculation. The Sea Eagle is sure everyone would agree with that. Like the Billy Idol balls up at the 2002 GF (and many others), only in rugby league would this be considered “normal”.

We could go into why Mathew Lodge is allowed to play for the Broncos given his well-documented efforts in the USA, but time simply does not allow this.

  Off-season Atrocities – Final Comment

Since the last edition of the report The Sea Eagle has been left to ponder why these atrocities in the main seem confined to the NRL. Sure, other codes have the odd scandal and are not immune to player behavioural issues but none seem to be as affected and scandal prone as the under-seige NRL. This prompts the question as to why is this still such a regular occurrence in professional rugby league?

As far as the Sea Eagle is concerned and as unpalatable and politically incorrect as it may seem, a possible explanation for the extent of atrocities (as compared to other professional football codes) lies with the socio-economic and cultural backgrounds of the majority of participants at the professional level.

The Sea Eagle has previously identified the emergence of the largely Polynesian playing base at NRL level as a concern in terms of who will actually be plying the game, particularly the instances where the size and athleticism of these players especially at junior levels has led to a dwindling participation from the non-Polynesian population. It’s fair to say that country rugby league is dying on the vine as Tonga and Samoa are now replacing the likes of Maitland and Cessnock as the traditional heart-land and nurseries of rugby league.

Whether Polynesian players or other cultural playing groups are over represented in off field atrocity stakes remains largely speculative guesswork at present.

An urgent statistical analysis needs to be performed to see just how many of the recent atrocities, particularly those in terms of violence have been committed (or alleged to have been committed) by players of Anglo Saxon, Aboriginal, Polynesian, or other backgrounds, with a detailed analysis of educational levels attained and time spent in the non NRL playing workforce (ie holding doe a so called real job), and to then see why if at all, any particular player cultural group appears to be statistically over represented.

Then, analysis is needed as to where, NRL players as a whole, are statistically over represented in certain off field atrocity categories, namely aggravated sexual assault, assault occasion actual bodily or grievous bodily harm, DUI, domestic violence and the like.

Or as Tooves once said, there needs to be an investigation. That vital data needs to be collated, reviewed and sent to the NRL integrity unit for comment, and further review, and then sent to the press, media commentators and gender advisers for their take on it all. But without these core facts/data, and comment, we would all be merely speculating if we pointed the finger at one player group as opposed to any other as regards to anything. At best, all we can do about any incident in particular, is shrug our shoulders and say “but it’s rugby league”. Which is far from acceptable.

The Sea Eagle would also like to single out NRL adviser Professor Catharine Lumby for special mention. According to Ms. Lumby’s website she has worked in a role advising the NRL on cultural change and education programs for players since 2004. Whilst not questioning Ms Lumbly’s credentials, objectives and motivation, clearly on any objective analysis, the influence and impact of Ms Lumby’s work, as evidenced in recent years (and particularly this off-season) have failed miserably. One possible conclusion is the players have stopped listening to Ms Lumby if they ever listened and understood in the first place. The question must be asked, is she now ready to hear the words of the great man �� you’re FIRED.

This will be the last mention by the Sea Eagle in terms of the atrocities and scandals that have plagued the NRL in the off-season, now preferring to turn his hand to reporting on the game at hand and the inevitable litany of atrocities and scandals that will no doubt follow now that season 2019 has commenced.

Let us not forget Round 9 of the NRL Telstra Premiership - 9-12 May 2019 will see every rugby league match at one stadium- for the first time ever, simply called “Magic Round Brisbane” which is coming to Suncorp Stadium. The promotional take on this is “That's Magic!”. All the Sea Eagle can say is if 16 NRL teams -circa 320 NRL players, descend on Brisbane in one magic weekend in May, what could possibly go wrong?

THE SEA EAGLE