#Logistics Features

[astrolavas]

my art style is too simple for this but just know that when i draw post-ttt hunter, in my mind he has central pink-brown heterochromia. like this, kinda:

[the-obnoxious-sibling]

@bitch-be-nimble well, not at the time. (the whole motivation behind this notfic with buggy in disguise was to see if i could write a post-roguetown encounter without making shanks lie when he tells whitebeard he hasn’t seen buggy since roguetown.) but it’s funny you should ask!

this got stupid long. okay, you know what? i’m just gonna post this first chunk of the story, it ends on a fun note and i won’t feel like i need to rush the rest if i’ve shared this much with y’all.

a little over a decade later, as the red force prepared to leave marineford:

it was buggy’s fault. undeniably. if he could’ve just kept his stupid mouth shut—but of course he couldn’t! not after the way shanks just treated him, pulling on his strings like a goddamn puppet master, like he still knew buggy after all these years. not when buggy knew for a fact that shanks wouldn’t recognize him without his nose acting as a big red flag.

(of course he hadn’t forgotten about that day. he never spoke of it, but it was on his mental tally of ways shanks had screwed him over. spooked him into eating the chop-chop fruit, constantly stole his thunder, beat him at cards (by cheating! by cheating at cards better than buggy!), ruined his plans for the future, kissed him one time in a back alley in east blue—and without even asking first!)

and this was the first time he’d been near shanks since that day, so of course it was on his mind. shanks hadn’t changed much since then, except that oh wait, he’d lost a fucking arm somehow! and nobody seemed to be able to agree on how.

buggy couldn’t bear to ask for the story.

he had to know.

he could not ask.

“looking at you, i can’t tell which of the rumors is true,” buggy said. (not asked!) shanks was sitting on a barrel, watching other members of his crew do real work, so buggy figured it was safe to bother him. he glanced up at buggy. “did you go after whitebeard and get punished for it like that crocodile guy, or did you try and see if your armament haki was stronger than a sea king’s teeth?”

shanks huffed out a little laugh. “are those the only rumors these days?”

“the only ones i considered remotely plausible.���

“well, the second one’s not far off,” shanks said.

buggy stared. that couldn’t be the whole story. not for him.

shanks sighed. “look, buggy, i’m sorry, but i don’t have time for this right now. unless you know my ship better than me, and can figure out where we’re going to place a twenty-two foot long corpse—” he cut himself off with a shake of his head. “any other day, i would love to sit down with you and catch up. just not today.”

right. buggy flushed. shanks was an emperor. even though he was the youngest and weakest of them, that still required a certain something. leadership. responsibility. just because he still looked like the shanks buggy knew, slacking off, doing as he liked, didn’t actually make him so.

“buggy,” shanks snapped.

“does he have to be lying down?” buggy blurted out. shanks blinked up at him, surprised to hear him try to be helpful. “i mean, i know how normal bodies work, death stiffness wears off eventually, but this is whitebeard. if anyone could stay standing the whole of his death, it’s that guy.”

shanks frowned. “i did consider that, briefly. but if we’re wrong, having to clear that much space in the time it takes him to fall over…”

buggy cringed. “right, that’d be way worse.” he thought about alternatives. this boat of shanks’ was nice, but it did not have that kind of room to spare, not if he was taking shipless pirates aboard (which, of course he was; this was shanks). “what about one of the whitebeard fleet ships? are any of them stable enough to carry him? they’re his crews, i bet they’d be honored to be his last ride.”

shanks nodded. “there are a few still seaworthy.” running his hand through his hair, he muttered, “but like hell i’m getting involved with the intracrew politics there. i’ll ask marco, he’ll know which one to pick to step on the fewest toes.” getting to his feet, shanks visibly swayed for a moment.

“whoa, are you—?”

“i’m—fine,” shanks said, pinching at his brow. he glanced at buggy, who had foolishly reached out to, what, steady him? offer an arm to lean on?? he didn’t know what he’d been thinking. shanks sighed. “it’s not as fun as we’d thought it’d be when we were kids, is it? being the ones in charge.”

“oh, i don’t know,” buggy said, thinking back to that moment, fresh out of impel down, when anything seemed possible with all those guys at his back, cheering him on. “it has its moments.”

shanks considered him for a moment. he smiled. “i guess it does. thanks for the suggestions, buggy. go find a spot to lie down, would you? you look like you could use some beauty sleep.”

and buggy knew he shouldn’t say it. even in the moment he knew it was stupid. but he could never leave well enough alone when shanks took a cheap shot at him, and that day had been on his mind. so he said, “gee, and here i thought i was gorgeous.” and because he really couldn’t help himself, it seemed, when shanks gave him a blank look, he fluttered his eyelashes and added, “with stunning eyes.”

shanks stared.

in the time it took for buggy to blink, he was shoved into the closest wall. he’d tear shanks a new one for halfheartedly trying to give him a concussion, but the hand that’d pressed him shoulder-first into the wall was drifting up, up his neck, cupping his cheek, and buggy found himself as lost for words this time as last.

shanks leaned in. just as he got too close for propriety, he sucked in a breath. he whispered, “that was you?”

buggy gave him a look that said obviously. that said how else would i know about it? that said why? does it matter?

did it matter? he stared up at shanks, and, far from the first time, had no idea what he was thinking.

shanks took a step back and laughed, rubbing his hand over his mouth. “oh god,” he said under his breath, “i really don’t have time for this right now.” eyes shutting, he sighed, and to buggy it looked like he’d aged ten years in an instant. someone out of sight called for their ‘boss,’ and the exhaustion, the previous, unreadable emotion, it all fell away. here was red-haired shanks the emperor, for the first time since he’d cowed the marines into allowing the whitebeard pirates their dead. he stalked off, calling out, “get some sleep, buggy,” over one shoulder, cool as anything.

buggy, feeling distinctly uncool and like he’d never sleep again, scurried away in search of a private corner he could panic in. he found a deck a level or two up that was deserted for the moment—crew quarters, maybe?—and huddled by the railing. had anyone seen that? stupid, stupid—

“did you see that?” someone a deck below said excitedly to their companions. “captain buggy got that emperor mad enough to shove him into a wall, and then without a word forced him to retreat! he’s truly amazing!”

buggy buried his face in his hands and groaned. so stupid.

“hey, quick question,” said someone at buggy’s elbow some time later. “are you trying to get us all killed?” it was mr. 3—er, galdino, or whatever his name was, looking very fearful and annoyed and sweaty. or maybe that was the wax? buggy didn’t know much about him, or how his powers worked.

“how’s that?”

“word among the men,” this was how galdino had been referring to the prisoners who’d followed the two of them out of impel down lately, ‘the men,’ like they were buggy’s soldiers or something, “is that red-haired shanks kabedon'd you, and you turned him down. you realize he’s our only possible ride out of here at this point, right? why antagonize him like that?”

buggy’s face screwed up. like he needed to be reminded of the distance between him and shanks. but also: “the hell’s that word mean?”

“kabedon? it’s when someone shoves you into a wall to intimidate and flirt with you.”

“flirt with—” buggy sputtered, face hot. oh shit, was that really what they were saying? “god no, no way! shanks would never—”

“i’m just reporting what i’ve heard,” galdino said, shoving his glasses up his nose. “oh, no one’s made the flirtatious connection but me, but they all say the two of you got up close and personal, and red-hair’s been red-faced ever since. i just put two and two together.”

“it wasn’t like that,” said buggy, who couldn’t have told galdino what it was like, since he still had no idea himself.

“no?” galdino joined buggy at the railing. they had a good view of the main deck from up here, including a cluster of men having a serious-looking discussion. since the group included shanks and marco the phoenix, it was probably about whitebeard and ace, and where they were taking them and how to do it. shanks looked tired, but it wasn’t obvious like it had been when it was just the two of them. there was something on his face that buggy recognized from the day the news about roger’s arrest broke. a quiet, sad kind of tired.

feeling eyes on him, shanks glanced up. their eyes met for a moment, maybe two. then shanks turned away, face slightly, undeniably redder, rubbing his hand over his mouth.

galdino leaned in close to buggy’s ear. “you sure about that, buggy?”

blushing bright enough to rival his nose, buggy stomped off, steaming, muttering curses against smart-mouthed wax men under his breath.

but no, he wasn’t sure at all.

[whetstonefires]

Thinking endlessly about how the classical Athenians were like, so, on the one hand, many administrative tasks on which our civic apparatus relies require expertise.

But on the other hand, if we appoint leaders to necessary positions on the basis that they're the ones who are best suited to that work due to knowing all about it, that's putting real power in their hands, for an extended period instead of a safe little increment, which sets up our nice democracy of Every Free Adult Native Male Who Can Afford Armor to collapse very quickly into a narrow oligarchy.

But the fact remains that administration actually is skilled labor, especially on the tens-of-thousands-of-people scale they were dealing with, and also involves situations where it's impractical to run every step of a process through a committee. Not that they really wanted to acknowledge this but they were stuck with it a bit. If nothing else, people have day jobs, they can't always be voting.

But fulltime governators for whom this is their day job have too much power.

And the way they solved this was, most of the institutional memory and expertise and even exercise of force in the name of civic order was invested in slaves.

Mint workers? Executive accountancy clerks? Cops? All state property.

Very Important Job of distinguishing counterfeit coinage: public slave. Fifty lashes if he shirked or fucked up or cheated. Considerable authority in the context of the job. Could live quite a comfortable life. Absolutely no chance of his using this role as a springboard for building a political base and usurping authority, because he didn't have legal status.

This freed the actual executive positions up to be filled by people given one-year terms by lottery who had the authority to make (routine) calls but no personal power associated with the office; they didn't have to know shit to do the job and this kept them interchangeable.

Except generals, apparently. The Athenians were like, okay generals really do have to know what the fuck they're doing or we'll all die, but we can't make military service the defining feature of citizenship, and then put ourselves under the command of a non-citizen.

(Not even because like they couldn't entrust a slave with so much power, although being under threat of a lashing if people don't like your decisions probably isn't great for making strong strategic and tactical calls; it's the cognitive dissonance.)

So they had ten elected generalships, with less term limitation, and it was in fact a good avenue by which to build a political career.

But like, what the fuck huh?

[justanotherdrfan]

Missed opportunity by Ferrari not to get Charles on the ivory keys for the Ferrari Fall/Winter 24-25 fashion show!

[8cfc00]

small detail but. i like how in s2 ep16 when lark pretends to be sparrow, anthony still consistently does slightly different voices for each of them. lark's voice is a little deeper and sparrow's is a little more chipper, and its noticeable from the beginning of the episode that lark (pretending to be sparrow) had a more gruff voice than sparrow (name tagged lark)

[devotion-between-the-wheat]

btw the anime I've been talking about getting into was j.jk.

[jcmarchi]

US Developing New Version of Scary Abrams Main Battle Tank - Technology Org

New Post has been published on https://thedigitalinsider.com/us-developing-new-version-of-scary-abrams-main-battle-tank-technology-org/

US Developing New Version of Scary Abrams Main Battle Tank - Technology Org

The M1 Abrams has been in service since 1980. It is still one of the most capable main battle tanks in the world, but even the most common versions the M1A1 and M1A2 are starting to show signs of their design ageing. So, this tank needs to be upgraded, but how?

M1A1 Abrams – one of the most common versions of the American main battle tank. Image credit: Cpl. Paul S. Martinez via Wikimedia (Public Domain)

While the standard M1 Abrams has been in service since 1980, the most common versions are slightly younger. The M1A1 was produced from 1985 to 1992, and the M1A2 – from 1992. In general, the Abrams platform has proven its advantages in battles and so far surpasses the technology of potential enemies. However, it is clear that the Abrams must be developed further, but there are limitations to this.

It’s hard to believe, but the first Abrams weighed 55.7 tonnes. They were equipped with a 105 mm rifled gun and had slightly weaker armour. The M1A1 initially retained this weight, but the M1A1SA grew to 61.3 tonnes and the M1A2 – to 62 tonnes. And that weight gain continued little by little.

The M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams weighs about 67 tonnes. One can look at the tank’s mobility, maintained maximum speed and other dynamic characteristics, but one cannot ignore the fact that, being so heavy, the Abrams is a huge weight on the specialists of military logistics. The US wants to be able to operate globally, but moving such heavy tanks quickly is very difficult.

The General Dynamics M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams tank. Image credit: GDLS

What is the path of modernization then? Well, upgraded tanks usually get heavier. Additional armour is attached to them because anti-tank weapons, including drones, are being developed faster than tanks. In the past, kilograms were saved by keeping relatively thinner armour on top, but now you can’t even do that – anti-tank drones are cheap and everywhere.

On 2023 September 6 The US Army announced that it had cancelled the planned M1A2 SEPv4 variant and would instead focus resources on the new M1E3 Abrams. The new model will have a modular architecture and will be lighter but with even better protection.

“The Abrams Tank can no longer grow its capabilities without adding weight, and we need to reduce its logistical footprint,” said Maj. Gen. Glenn Dean, Program Executive Officer for Ground Combat Systems. He said that the war in Ukraine showed that crews need to be protected better, but not with added armour.

The M1E3 Abrams is likely to rely heavily on active protection, which is lighter than conventional armour. The US Army promises that the Abrams will remain the most capable main battle tank in the world. The M1E3 version is planned to start service around 2030 and it will continue working well into the next decade.

Written by Povilas M.

Sources: Army.mil, Wikipedia

[ganonfan1995]

Maybe I'll eat my hat, but I keep seeing people fear monger/hype(???) themselves over a rumour of an Illumination animated Zelda film...But like Nintendo has been pretty protective over the Zelda IP since BOTW. Unless it's a film that directly ties into BOTW/TOTK, I can't really see Nintendo approving on any sort of Zelda spin-off pitch, even if the Mario movie does really well.

Mario is a bit more ubiquitous when it comes to appeal and broad recognition. Not that LoZ as a whole is unpopular -- I think BOTW really re-established the franchise and reintroduced it into public consciousness. But when placed up against Mario, LoZ doesn't really hold a candle in terms of marketability.

[magentagalaxies]

chatted with bruce on zoom today!! apparently in addition to announcing the buddy cole doc at his rivoli show he also promoted it in a sirius xm interview he did about the new sketch show he's executive producing (the dessert)!! which is so freaking cool like he's using his platform for a bigger show he's working on to promote a doc i'm directing??? omg???

[seeminglyseph]

Funny ways to have people explain why gods aren’t allowed to meddle in mortal affairs anymore:

Look. Kin-Slaying is a big taboo, possibly the biggest taboo for everyone everywhere. And we can’t do a war when Zeus has fucked everyone’s child bearing folks and therefore everyone is technically kin, and technically Zeus’ kin. And now everyone’s become a really complicated kind of off limits due to not fitting Olympian exception rules and therefore just being like “well I am very dissatisfied with this situation.”

[un-pearable]

you’re complaining about the timeline contradicting itself every time you look away, i’m taking classes on prehistory, human evolution, and early archaeology all in one semester and am haunted by the implications of ninjago (and it’s multiverse)’s worldbuilding, we are not the same

[somelazyassartist]

Chrisantium meeting his baby sisters,,, he's only about 100 or so here so he's got plenty of time to adjust to not being an only child anymore lol

[oflgtfol]

this is something i noticed back in bobf but it kinda irks me how they cast so many of the non imperial bad guys as aliens like is that weird to anyone else too

[aldieb]

weirdly i am recently experiencing like ~gender confusion for the first time since i was 14. what if i was just an actual dude. the greatest minds of our time are scratching their heads at this one

[netincomesource]

Auctane Networth and Revenue

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[cleocatrablossy]

Maned Wolf SL Scar propaganda