#gangster rm

[vertigoartgore]

Scalped Omnibus Vol.1 HC cover by R. M. Guéra (released in November 2024).

[ateez-himari]

[241113] GANGSTER OFF-DUTY

[NEW MESSAGES FROMM HIMARI]

[AM 1:09] Ice on my teeth on my, white teeth ✨ Atiny, are you ready for the comeback ? It's one of my favorite concepts

[AM 1:09] I like the pink hair too! 🩰My hair was already bleached grey for the concept photos so I figures that I might as well try another color

[AM 1:10] Omg yeah! My outfit was so cool...I felt like an actual crime boss when I put it on for the first time. I mean a lace bustier and Versace suit jacket ? Come on

[AM 1:10] I actually made the lariat necklace myself because I thought it would go well with the deep v-neckline, the rings were mostly gifts from Donatella

[AM 1:11] Ahh you guys noticed ? It's true, for the first time since our debut I'm the main producer on all tracks and I'm so glad our team trusted me so much

[AM 1:12] I know, I cried too when Sannie oppa sang 'Enough' on Leemujin Service (I went with him to the recording)

[AM 1:12] It's a very personal track because the lyrics are speaking to the version of myself that was in pain, so it's practically raw, kind of like my lines in 'Mist'

[AM 1:12] When I was recording the demo for the members, the 'God Damn' wasn't written into the song, it just came out naturally because of how I felt and I kept it in

[AM 1:13] I watched Arcane too, Yunho oppa and I binged it last night! I can't believe they let me make the song 'Paint The Town Blue' for them...

[AM 1:13] Yeah, singing in English was challenging but I think it turned out well! You can't really hear my accent that much since I practiced for a long time

[AM 1:13] You're right there's a lot of side projects that Tiny didn't know about ㅎㅎ But they'll stop for a bit, since I work in the music industry it's not always good for my hearing to be around noise constantly, so most of what's going to come out has been recorded before my hiatus

[AM 1:14] My instagram caption...? 🤔It's just a random sentence I don't know why you guys are looking into it so much

[AM 1:14] Ohhh! I didn't know that was part of G-Dragon sunbaenim's hidden tracklist now I get why everyone's been so suspicious of me lately

[AM 1:14] It would be nice to work with him...Too Bad I'm on external work break 🐉

[AM 1:15] Right now ? I was just reading a book that RM oppa sent me before I decided to talk to Tiny, then I'm making dinner for our dorm

[AM 1:16] I was originally supposed to room with Jongho oppa and Wooyoung oppa, but then they realized no one in the third dorm could cook so they moved me there

[AM 1:17] ㅎㅎI just saw someone say that they made Viktor attractive in the new season, you're right...the emo phase hit him well

[AM 1:17] Of course my boyfriend is way more attractive, there's no comparison 🤧But a girl can have her fictional crushes you know...

[AM 1:18] I'm so happy someone noticed! They put small grills on my canines because they look like little fangs, so it made them even cooler

[AM 1:18] Nuh uh I didn't steal the lip chain accessory from the MV set, I just borrowed it to take some pictures afterwards

[AM 1:18] I wasn't trying to tease you guys with it 🥺Just make a spoiler that no one would think twice about until the video came out I'M SORRYYYY

[AM 1:19] I sooo wasn't naked in that instagram post...I just wasn't wearing pants, there's a difference. But the members never wear shirts anyway!

[AM 1:19] Did my brother tell you guys to reprimand me about this ? Well for the record tell him to stop showing his tits off on my feed 🤧

[AM 1:20] Well...no I'm not wearing any pants right now...but it's my sleeping outfit! My underwear is really cute though it has a little ribbon! I got them yesterday with Mingi...Seonghwa oppa wanted to come until I told him what I was shopping for

[AM 1:20] Of course I'm not drunk! The boys talk about their underwear all the time so I'm gonna talk about mine 😤

[AM 1:20] One second, I'll show you guys where he is...I just got out of the shower a few minutes ago and found him like this, I'll have to wake him up to eat soon

[AM 1:20] Oh, this is Kyo. He's a stray I brought home not too long ago and he usually sleeps in my bed, even when Mingi's here

[AM 1:21] I didn't do much today, I just went to see a few industry friends, got some painting and sketching done...even with dance practice it's one of the most peaceful days I've had in a while

[AM 1:21] You're right, not working feels great ㅎㅎ Anyway, I need to get started on dinner now Tiny, I'll talk to you guys very soon!

[AM 1:21] I'll do my best during our promotion schedules so be ready ♡ Love you so much, kisses!

Translated from Korean by Google

[kithtaehyung]

— ryen’s tumblr wrapped 2024 

i didn’t even know these were a thing but i did notice that tumblr wasn’t doing those wrapped posts, so thank you to @yoonia and @jjungkookislife for tagging me so i could join! fashionably late but i’m slidin’ through the door :D 

before we get to the stats, i just wanted to give a huge thank you to everyone that’s been here with me in 2024. many things happened, both on and off this blog, so to know who’s a real one and either stuck with me or trusted me makes me happy and at peace. there’s a lot i haven’t said, but just know that i love you all and am grateful for the kindness and support. all the messages, reblogs, comments, tags, etc. kept my spirit alive, and i hope anything i’ve shared has given you some modicum of love, hope, home. let’s get to it!

— kithtaehyung 2024 wrapped 

total posts — art posts: 55 | gfx posts: 13 | fic posts: 8 total word counts — posted: 69,200 | written: 100,000+ total asks — answered: 1,442 | inbox: also a number😅 milestones — 3 years with 3tan | 2_,___ followers | crossing 7,000 3tan asks (ho ly shit lma oo ?? ?)

FIRST FIC OF 2024: broken, pt. 2 (3tan) (myg) ; 240209 ; 1,728 notes  

the current, most recent part of the main 3tan storyline. this one broke me, put me back together, then broke me again. the mental strain of writing both broken pt. 1 and broken pt. 2 was one of the main reasons why i had to take this long of a break. but we’ll be back to the main storyline in 2025! 

series notes: idr but it's a number!!!!

MOST POPULAR FIC OF 2024: minted: part one (myg) ; 240805 | 2,835 notes

was absolutely nervous to post this one because it’s incredibly different from the rest of “the ryenverse” as y’all call it, but the reception? holy crap! y’all are amazing and have been incredibly kind and supportive. i’m so glad we can all scream about gangster mint-haired yoongi together now.

series notes: 5,163 total | part two: 1,321 | part three: 1,007

LAST FIC OF 2024: holiday (3tan) (myg) ; 241227 ; 536 notes 

the yearning for these two was hurting us so badly that i spewed out a whole 8.1k in a week lmfao. hope it was able to lift some end of year/holiday spirits. 

2024 IN SONGS: HUH?! - agust d ft. j-hope | HISS - megan thee stallion | LOST! - rm | heart on the window - jin ft. wendy | NISSAN ALTIMA - doechii | overnight - connor price ft. tommy royale | tv off - kendrick lamar | sticky - tyler, the creator ft. glorilla, sexyy redd, lil wayne | too much - kid laroi, jung kook, central cee | woke up - xg

2024 IN FIC RECS: (it's a goal to read more in 2025 omg.. these are all the ones from friends i'll plug for now, and all the fics sent to the artist drop channel in our server!) éffleurer (ksj) - @sugaurora not yet (myg) & substance (knj) - @newmittens obsidian (myg) - @sailoryooons cyberslut (myg) - @kimnjss party on you (jhs) - @here2bbtstrash in motion (jjk) - @yoonia lover to lean on (pjm) - @sketchguk no strings (pjm) & the holi-date (kth) - @kpopfanfictrash moonlit throne (myg) - @hobidreams miracle of the season (jjk) - @cybrsan midnight (jjk) - @leahsfavefics crystallized (ksj, myg) - @floralseokjin server artist drops: friendcation (myg) - @kingofbodyrolls i will come to you (ksj) - @/kingofbodyrolls whalien52 (pjm) - @/kingofbodyrolls end of the world (myg) - @/kingofbodyrolls i'm not sure?! (pjm, kth, jjk) - @melancholy-of-nadia infatuation (myg) - @/melancholy-of-nadia love you lately (myg, knj, pjm) - @/melancholy-of-nadia too high (myg, jhs) - @ysljoon whirlwind (myg) - @/ysljoon midnight snacks (kth) - @xiumya the moon goddess's chosen (myg) - @army93bangya gods of the dark (myg) - @/sailoryooons need you to be sure (kth) - @yoongimain route 613 (knj, myg, vmin) - @daegudrama elemental (jjk) - @/kpopfanfictrash txt - a night out at the club - @jettithink risky business (jhs) - @jaysdimples what the moon saw (myg) - @violetsiren90

2025 PROJECTS: 

ot7 releases: release at least one fic or drabble for every member!

open source fic rec form: a form for both writers and readers to submit their fics or recs so we can all have a centralized list. 

3tan physical copies: get these babies out in the world! i know y’all have been wanting them so i’ll try.

3tan finale: finish out the main 3tan storyline. this is gonna destroy me in every way possible, but i think i can do it. we’ll make it through. 

what a damn year! dunno how we managed to do all of this in 2024 but i'm grateful y'all are still here or ventured through the blog at some point. thank you all again!

this was so late so I’m assuming i’m the last to do it, but if you see this and wanna consider yourself tagged then be my guest!

[ohara-n-brown]

I don't know how to tell you this but stop using k-rap as your excuse to say 'I listen to rap!!'

ESPECIALLY if you don't even SPEAK FLUENT KOREAN.

Black people have already talked for years about how K-industries have siffoned and appropriated Black culture for years without ever recognizing the black community.

That's why GDragon be walking around with cornrow braids. Cornrows are a type of braid specifically traced to AFRICA. Brought to the Americas by slaves.

That's why 'Rap Monster' - which is what RM stands for - used to walk around with a fucking afro.

K-rap has literally stolen the American style of rap, and removed all culture of it to turn it into a boastful addition to kpop songs. They've done it to RnB too.

At the very least some of them have actually lived in America at some point - like Jessi and Bobby - but that is definitely NOT the case for most of them.

And even if you do listen to K-rap - if you don't speak Korean then it doesn't mean SHIT!! You're literally just listening to a hot guy talking fast in a language you don't even speak - literally not even engaging in the lyrics which is what rap is about.

You're just boiling it down to an aesthetic and slurping it up because you don't even need to understand what you're listening to.

You'll salavate over k-rappers wearing our clothes and appropriating our music while also ignoring how racist and colorist the k-industry can be.

You like it when guys on Show Me The Money get all gangster and boastful then get scared when ACTUAL black men do it.

You don't find black men who do it attractive but will go nuts for Zico.

You get upset cause black male rappers 'objectify women too much' but you LOVE Mommae by Jay Park.

You'll go crazy for pale, model thin idol girls to rap but call women like Megan thee Stallion too vulgar - is it the black skin or the body-ody-ody?

Tell me why you'll listen to fucking LISA rap and hype her up - But you can't name three black women rappers that actually still release music.

K-rap is not your cover in this. Stop that shit. If you think listening to Han from Stray Kids is in any way comparable to actual American rap developed by black rappers I'm begging you to turn on Megan thee Stallion cause 99% of American rappers would smoke these k-rappers who literally live in dorms surrounded by security and stylists 24/7.

K-rappers can barely say 'fuck' or 'bitch' on a track without their agency demanding they apologize 😭😭 fuck outta here.

Y'all need some Flo Milli. Ski Mask The Slump God, Schoolboy Q, Cardi B, RUN THE JEWELS. PLEASE I'M BEGGING

[comicweek]

Ángel Manuel Soto on Cultural Specificity in Blue Beetle

Rafael Motamayor : There is a cultural specificity to the film that we haven't really seen before in superhero movies, and the Reyes family members aren't just Pan-Latino, but specifically Mexican. Why was this important for the film?

 Ángel Manuel Soto: I think we've been psychologically and pathologically inculcated a fallacy by the hegemony that our specificity is not universal, that the white and gringo are universal. The truth of the matter is that we're all universal if we embrace our true selves. We Latinos watch Korean movies, Japanese movies, European movies, and we connect with their specificity because Latinos were never given that change because we were told you couldn't, and I never agreed with that feeling, that thought. It is an institutionalized philosophy, and Hollywood has perpetrated it.

So for me, I wanted to start from the premise that the universality of our cultures exists in our specificity. And if we are honest and free to be authentically us, and we don't have to be like someone else, it can still reach a general audience even if they don't look like us. To me, it was important for writer Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer as a Mexican, for me as a Puerto Rican, and to the actors as Mexicans, to be themselves, to allow this to be a movie where we take ourselves seriously, but also enjoy ourselves and express ourselves freely. To me, it was important to not have to reinvent the wheel at the first try, but to instead use nostalgia to make a throwback to the movies we liked as kids and insert ourselves in those scenes as the heroes of the movie, embracing authenticity. After, we can reinvent the wheel.

The only thing that could have prevented this was the studio, and from the beginning, I told them if they were going to tell me how big the explosions were going to be, they could not tell me how Latino my movie was going to be.

RM: One thing I love was the references to cultural touchstones like "El Chapulín Colorado" and "María la del Barrio." Could you talk about those references and introducing these things to a wider audience?

AS: Just as we consume other countries' popular cultures, we can't leave other people ignorant to the things that connect us as Latinos, because though our countries have their own idiosyncrasies, truths, and specific cultural identities, there are also more things that unite us within a Latin American collective. For me, it was very important not only to pay homage and honor that first Latin American hero we all collectively grew up with, but highlight that a Mexican in Querétaro like Gareth, and a Puerto Rican like me, being so far away, still can say that our first exposure to a superhero was El Chapulín, because he was in every Latin American's home.

So we thought, why not embrace the characters or elements that are specific, which also have a Pan-Latino appeal? And through that, we can celebrate the intersectionality of our cultures. It doesn't have to be Mexican for me to say it is also mine, it is also yours. Same with Puerto Rico: Reggaetón is no longer ours. It belongs to the world, even if it came from there. Same with "Maria la del Barrio," and novelas. The references in the movie are both a celebration to the things that unite us collectively as Latino, and also references we are canonizing in this fictional world.

RM: Speaking of Carapax, his story is fascinating in that it brings in the real history of the School of the Americas. Can you talk about the decision to bring in that part of the story?

AS:

To me, it was important to explore that in Hollywood, Latinos are always introduced in the middle of the paragraph. We enter a scene and we're gangsters and narcos, we are violent and dishonest people, and no one questions why that is. And when a movie or a show explains why, it just says that we are like that because that's our nature. So, we've never been given the chance to explore the history of blood behind the violent behaviors in Latin America. And, come on, you don't have to be a rocket scientist or an erudite to do a simple Google search and learn about Yankee interventionism, and why that interventionism started in 1954 to protect the American [United] Fruit Company in Guatemala.

It was important for me to be able to show this villain who is not just Latino, but indigenous, and show why he is the way he is to a certain point. Because even though he is responsible for much of his actions, the reason why he is a villain is because his trauma was weaponized. And when you see it, you understand he is a victim of the endless perpetuating of violence in Latin America by the CIA through the School of the Americas, but no one talks about that. No one talks about the start of neoliberalism in the School of the Americas in 1973 with the murder of Allende and the placement of Pinochet.

It was important that the film reflected that reality that is not taught at school. It is why Susan [Sarandon's character] represents the Military Industrial Complex, and the rampant imperialism that exists in Latin America. She is a person that has been perpetrating trauma, and then using that trauma like the School of the Americas, which trained the locals so they'd invade their own people. There is nothing more nefarious than that, so it was important to me to have that exist in this movie, if only for a minute. Using fantasy to raise curiosity could help us be better informed and more emphatic.

When I joined the project, I wanted the movie to be somewhat anchored in realism, in real traumas that Latin America has experienced historically. But I wanted it to be recent, not to just go all the way back to Columbus, though we do tumble a statue of Columbus in the movie. We talk about the more recent and relevant history, the one that is not talked about, but should be remembered so it is not repeated.

And the name is a bit ridiculous, and some people may not realize this is actual history, so we intercut Carapax's flashbacks with archival footage of the School of the Americas to make it clear this is real. RM: The character is also indigenous, and you bring Carapax's native language into the movie, too. AS: Yes, we had him unlock his memory, and his language. It is an allegory for how colonized or imperialist education works overtime to erase our history and make us forget where we come from, because it makes it easier to control. We wanted to make this situation where, at the end of the day, his memory is freed and he can look back to the source of the trauma, and understand everything that happened to him. His being able to talk in his native tongue is the most explicit way to show that he could return to his origin and empower himself by that origin, to close that chapter and sacrifice his own master for the greater good.

[azlovesem]

Look at em all doubled over and beat ip. I guess they thought more people liked rm Katie. But evwryone sees now we dont:. Ehats those homies disdn my girl….i murderred more. Its slways more ti font exaggerate katy. Fuck more. Dvwrdsy for years. Gangster number 1!!!!

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 6.17 (after 1930)

1930 – U.S. President Herbert Hoover signs the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act into law. 1932 – Bonus Army: Around a thousand World War I veterans amass at the United States Capitol as the U.S. Senate considers a bill that would give them certain benefits. 1933 – Union Station massacre: In Kansas City, Missouri, four FBI agents and captured fugitive Frank Nash are gunned down by gangsters attempting to free Nash. 1939 – Last public guillotining in France: Eugen Weidmann, a convicted murderer, is executed in Versailles outside the Saint-Pierre prison. 1940 – World War II: RMS Lancastria is attacked and sunk by the Luftwaffe near Saint-Nazaire, France. At least 3,000 are killed in Britain's worst maritime disaster. 1940 – World War II: The British Army's 11th Hussars assault and take Fort Capuzzo in Libya, Africa from Italian forces. 1940 – The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania fall under the occupation of the Soviet Union. 1944 – Iceland declares independence from Denmark and becomes a republic. 1948 – United Airlines Flight 624, a Douglas DC-6, crashes near Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board. 1952 – Guatemala passes Decree 900, ordering the redistribution of uncultivated land. 1953 – Cold War: East Germany Workers Uprising: In East Germany, the Soviet Union orders a division of troops into East Berlin to quell a rebellion. 1958 – The Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing, in the process of being built to connect Vancouver and North Vancouver (Canada), collapses into the Burrard Inlet killing 18 ironworkers and injuring others. 1960 – The Nez Perce tribe is awarded $4 million for 7 million acres (28,000 km2) of land undervalued at four cents/acre in the 1863 treaty. 1963 – The United States Supreme Court rules 8–1 in Abington School District v. Schempp against requiring the reciting of Bible verses and the Lord's Prayer in public schools. 1963 – A day after South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm announced the Joint Communiqué to end the Buddhist crisis, a riot involving around 2,000 people breaks out. One person is killed. 1967 – Nuclear weapons testing: China announces a successful test of its first thermonuclear weapon. 1971 – U.S. President Richard Nixon in a televised press conference called drug abuse "America's public enemy number one", starting the War on drugs. 1972 – Watergate scandal: Five White House operatives are arrested for burgling the offices of the Democratic National Committee during an attempt by members of the administration of President Richard M. Nixon to illegally wiretap the political opposition as part of a broader campaign to subvert the democratic process. 1985 – Space Shuttle program: STS-51-G mission: Space Shuttle Discovery launches carrying Sultan bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the first Arab and first Muslim in space, as a payload specialist. 1987 – With the death of the last individual of the species, the dusky seaside sparrow becomes extinct. 1989 – Interflug Flight 102 crashes during a rejected takeoff from Berlin Schönefeld Airport, killing 21 people. 1991 – Apartheid: The South African Parliament repeals the Population Registration Act which required racial classification of all South Africans at birth. 1992 – A "joint understanding" agreement on arms reduction is signed by U.S. President George Bush and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (this would be later codified in START II). 1994 – Following a televised low-speed highway chase, O. J. Simpson is arrested for the murders of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman. 2015 – Nine people are killed in a mass shooting at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. 2017 – A series of wildfires in central Portugal kill at least 64 people and injure 204 others. 2021 – Juneteenth National Independence Day, was signed into law by President Joe Biden, to become the first federal holiday established since Martin Luther King Jr. Day in 1983.

[ijustkindalikebooks]

I've been thinking about this for some time.

Now is the winter of our discontent, we wait for the jinaissance, or Hobitober as I like to call it until Army are supervised again. Now are the days where we make threads of 'BTS as..' I don't know, toothbrushes, I've seen that thread or make really good personality quizzes that make you feel way too seen (not to mention if you pick books, you always get Namjoon).

and I will write a post recommending books on the solo albums/Singles of every member, I shall begin, I hope you take some inspiration from this post and let me know if you think they are good choices.

(Edited because I learnt about something in one of the recommendations and regretted picking it).

The Astronaut (Single) - Jin - Starting from the beginning, where we see Jin release his debut solo record, The Astronaut is about loving someone so much you see only them and the video is a visual masterpiece, where Jin is an alien trapped on Earth, finds he can go home and then realises he already is home. Books I'd recommend for this one is maybe is The Wayfarer series by Becky Chambers or The Humans by Matt Haig.

Jack In The Box - J-Hope - this is album about ambition, it's about choosing between burning brighter or burning out, something that must feel pertinent considering the future, something also covered on this album. I feel like a book such as Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop by Hwang Bo-Reum. A book about a group of people who assemble in a bookshop, they connect together and talk about the lives, dreams and figure out the person they are - I feel like if any album is about trying to figure all these things out, then it's this one.

Indigo - RM - I made a whole damn post about this album, it's so good, like so good. RM's Indigo has connections to art, to love, to heartbreak and loneliness - it is a honest record. Art books I'd recommend are 'Women In The Picture' and 'How To Be A Renaissance Woman' if you want to understand art better, love, well, the possibilities are endless, but for me, I'd recommend Pachinko. A book about relationships, disconnection, loss and hope, I feel Indigo embodies this book. (Watch Decision to Leave too, if you can, it's alot, check content warnings).

Face - Jimin - Written by Jimin, Face is an album that is about losing it, and the recovery of that, it's about losing someone and spiralling and unwinding yourself, Like Crazy and Face/Off are so good on this record, highly recommend. This Song Will Save Your Life by Laila Sales does come to mind, but others I think would be good for a record like this would be, 'I Want To Die But I Want To Eat Tteokkbokki' I feel like this book is an incredible memoir about someone going through therapy and also sharing their thoughts and inner mind, I took alot from this and you if you can connect to this album's themes, maybe you could too.

D-Day by Agust D (Suga) - I wrote a mini essay about the power of Amygdala from this album the other day with a limit of 500 words, and it was by far one of my hardest things to do, to limit me at 500 words. An album about trauma and how to recover from it, D-Day is part gangster movie, part therapy. Books such as Manjeet Mann's Run, Rebel told in verse is about moving from trauma and escaping through a talent to a better life and a better version of yourself, or you could pick something like 'The Courage To Be Disliked' a book Suga has been seen reading and is about learning from your past and being unshackled from it for a better future, either one I think is a good representation of D-Day.

Layover - V - a more chilled out, bluesy, soul record, Layover is the space between two different flights, which I suppose damn, he was at the time, between being in a group to moving into the military, he was in the space between, man this album is smarter than I am. A romantic album at heart, Layover makes me think in moments of The Unhoneymooners by Cristina Lauren for that summery, romance, holiday energy it gives me with Slow Dancing but in other times, Layover reminds me of Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney. A book about relationships, connection, love and random travel, maybe this is perfect book to personify Layover really.

Golden by Jungkook - A collection of incredible pop bangers, I will never be sick of Standing Next To You. Sometims emotive (Hate You should not break my heart like it does) to the spicier songs like Seven, Golden is an album of moments collected on to record. A short story collection like Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro. Moving between Italy and Hollywood, Nocturnes links love, music and the passing of time and I feel with Golden, Jungkook shows us himself as the adult he is now, the member in BTS we have seen grow up the most from his school days at debut to now.

Obviously, these are just suggestions, but I'd love to hear what you think. What books remind you of certain albums I'm so curious! Also if I did another post like this, what should I do (and yes, oh my god I would do an Eras one!).

Vee xo.

[xtruss]

The Codebreaker | Article

How Codebreaker Elizebeth Friedman Fought Nazi Spies! For 50 years, Her Contributions To WWII Intelligence Were A Secret. No Longer.

— December 29, 2020 | Kirstin Butler | From The Collection: Women in American History

Art by Carla Scemama. Source photo: The George C. Marshall Foundation

She tracked her targets’ coded messages for more than two years, painstakingly translating gibberish into actionable intelligence. Then, without warning, the messages ceased.

When covert transmissions go dark, it means the worst thing possible for a codebreaker. Her targets have discovered they're under surveillance. They've stopped transmitting and have gone underground, and from there they can regroup and resume sending signals with stronger and more impenetrable codes.

This dreaded turn of events came in March 1942. Master cryptanalyst Elizebeth Friedman had been intercepting and deciphering codes of Nazi spies in South America since early 1940. Friedman listened in as the spies told their masters in Berlin about the movement of Allied ships carrying troops and supplies to the front. She transformed strings of garbled letters from Nazi transmissions into plain text:

Queen Mary departed on March 8 1800 local time.

The Queen Mary on the 12th at 1500 MEZ was reported near the coast at Ceara in the direction of Belem through Piratiny.

The entire arsenal of democracy was at stake, with millions of tons of Allied supplies already sunk to the bottom of the Atlantic by German U-boat interceptions. By knowing what Allied ships the Nazis were tracking, however, Friedman could alert American and British military leaders to alter their course and get out of harm’s way. More than once, as in the case of the route of the troopship RMS Queen Mary and its 8,398 American servicemen, her work saved thousands of lives.

Now the only sound on the radio line was silence.

The person Friedman had to thank for that foreboding calm was FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Hungry for acclaim, Hoover used the information gathered by Elizebeth’s team of Coast Guard codebreakers to send his G-Men to South America to arrest the Nazi information sources. Failing to understand that the raids would tip the hand of American intelligence, Hoover left the cryptanalysts to deal with the aftermath. Now all of their previous progress was undone. The Nazi communications were secret again with new and more convoluted strings of ciphers and potentially fatal consequences.

Elizebeth Friedman was 49 years old. It had been 25 years since she first taught herself, with no formal training and an academic background in poetry, how to break codes. She was one of the best in the world. Friedman stopped rum running gangsters and foiled international drug trafficking operations.

The Coast Guard first approached her in 1925 for help battling the rum runners violating Prohibition laws. She created the branch’s codebreaking unit, trained all of her colleagues and over the next decade built up a top-notch cryptanalytic team. After Pearl Harbor in December 1941, however, her unit was taken over by the Navy and she was essentially demoted, replaced as the unit’s leader by a younger and less-skilled male lieutenant. (The U.S. military didn’t allow civilians to head up intelligence operations, and, in any case, women would only be allowed to serve fully in the military after 1948.)

Now she faced the greatest challenge of her career. Even after Hoover’s gambit set her efforts back by months, Friedman’s response was what it had always been: She simply redoubled her efforts and got back to work.

Elizebeth Friedman, 1940. Credit: The George C. Marshall Foundation

As she had feared, following the FBI roundup, the sizeable Nazi contingent still at large in South America resurfaced with far more complicated ciphers. Already by April 1942, new clandestine radio stations were cropping up all over the continent and broadcasting messages using a devilishly complex encryption device called the Enigma machine. Across the Atlantic, British computer scientist Alan Turing was breaking the most elaborate Enigma codes with room-sized electromechanical machines that were some of the earliest forerunners to computers. Elizebeth was trying to decipher almost equally complex Enigma messages, but using only pen and paper.

Once she was decoding the secret spy communications again, she discovered that nothing less than the balance of power in the western hemisphere was at stake. The Reich’s most successful South American agent, a high-ranking member of Hitler’s elite SS forces, named Johannes Sigfried Becker, was working behind the scenes to drum up fascist sympathy across the region. Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay—all had vulnerable governments that could potentially be turned fascist.

Friedman helped ensure that such a sinister future never came to pass. She had become, through her work, a one-woman pattern recognition engine. And now, over several months, she led a critical effort to suss signal from noise once again.

Elizebeth S. Friedman (left) and staffers at the International Telegraph Conference in Brussels. Credit: The George C. Marshall Foundation

By December 1942, Friedman’s Coast Guard team cracked every single one of the Nazi’s new codes. They were back to eavesdropping on German spies who were none the wiser they were being listened to. By the end of the war, her team broke three separate Enigma machines and contributed 4,000 decoded messages to the fight against Nazi domination, but it would be more than half a century before the larger public knew what she had accomplished.

Years later, Friedman wrote about her last day as a government cryptanalyst in her unpublished memoir, Footnote to History, titled with an eye to how the official record often treats female protagonists. “I signed the pledge that was exacted of all departing from the sacred precincts of secrecy,” she said, “the pledge never to reveal at least without authority from on high, or even to refer to, any of the projects with which I had dealt during WWII.”

In the meantime, J. Edgar Hoover again had his own designs on those projects.

As 1944 came to a close, the FBI began a publicity campaign to cast itself as the main actor in routing out Nazi influence in the western hemisphere. With Hollywood director Frank Capra, Hoover produced The Battle of the United States, a propaganda film that depicted the FBI as the sole player in the fight against the Nazi threat in South America. Neither the film nor any of the articles which Hoover commissioned at the time mentioned Friedman’s cryptanalysis unit.

The FBI also re-catalogued the Coast Guard reports from Friedman’s unit under the bureau’s filing system. Only when all of the original intelligence reports were declassified after the turn of the twenty-first century were the authors' identities and Friedman's true role in the war effort revealed.

By her account, she left behind the life of a secret agent with as little fanfare as she had entered it. “I was…back in the world-at-large once more,” she wrote. “It was the end of a Period, an Era. I knew that, as surely as I stood on two feet, I should never…return to that particular form of endeavor again.”

She was right; the dawn of the Information Age made analog solvers obsolete. But the proof was in the trove of papers furnishing evidence of her work decades after her 1980 death. With their release, Friedman was fully brought into light: visible warrior, footnote to history no longer.

[satanssuggarbae666]

[namjoonchronicles]

BTS X Jaden Smith “Watch Me”

If BTS were the local troublemaker, with an aloof attitude and good-gawd that face.

[bangtan-screenshots]

when your mom says that the gangster phase is just a phase

[bts-soccer-moms]

that other time kookie tried to prove his street cred to the rapline:

i‘m a true gangster i watch movies that are rated r.

[moonchild-cupcake]

Am I the only one who thinks that the male vocals in the song A Gangster's wife is very much similar to RM of BTS even though ik its not him??

And now I want to read a mafia fic about him

[followthesoundofmyflute]

Chapters: 25/? Fandom: 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS Relationships: Kim Namjoon | RM/Kim Seokjin | Jin, Jeon Jungkook/Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Taehyung | V/Park Jimin, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope/Min Yoongi | Suga, Jeon Jungkook/Jung Hoseok/Kim Namjoon/Kim Seokjin/Kim Taehyung/Min Yoongi/Park Jimin, Jeon Jungkook/Kim Seokjin | Jin Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Gangsters, Kim Namjoon Mafia boss, No one is what it seems, War, Past Violence, Protective Bangtan Boys, Angel Kim Seokjin | Jin Summary: The world can be cruel, Seokjin knew that. Ripped from his home, his parents were murdered as he was dragged into an uncertain future. In his short life Seokjin had seen much, good and evil could walk side by side. You just needed to choose a wrong option to fall into the abyss as well.

You know that fic I mentioned in my first post explaining what a shit show my blog’ll be? Yeah that’s this one. Main ship here is the bond between Jin, Jungkook and Namjoon, their backstories and their war. 

Quick heads up though that I’m 95% sure that English isn’t the author’s first language. There are some words that are synonyms of what they should be, mixed up pronouns and an odd substitute for quotation marks. However I assure you, with a little mental editing, and perseverance, the story is quite good. Hits my kink right on the dot.

Pros:

Seokjin-centric fic!

Mob Boss!Namjoon is whipped *coughemotionallydependentcough* for Jin

Same with Jungkook honestly

Yandere behavior from Namjoon’s second personality “RM“

Jin is really the only thing stopping RM from completely taking over Namjoon

Soft intellectual hubby Namjoon vs. I will eviscerate you if you even breathe in Jin’s direction RM

Big Husband Energy

Needy Second in Command!Jungkook who was raised by and pretty much imprinted on Jin

Poor baby’s used to being the only child and having all of Eomma’s attention

Jin’s scent is the only thing that can calm him down

Like, Jungkook has a serious fixation with Jin’s neck

He hadn’t smelled him for like 30 hours and nearly had a panic attack

Namjoon is so possessive of Jin that he literally locks him up in the basement for weeks so he’ll be safe

The Namjin in this story is 50% domestic af and 50% psychotic gang war. 

The golden rule of Bangtan; Never hurt the Angel. 

Did I mention that Jin is called Bangtan’s Angel

A sweet and funny bit is that the running theme that Jin only eats at exact times so the rest of the gang is very stubborn about it too. Mama Jin and his ducklings ladies and gentlemen

Never look Jin in the eye, or he will have your soul forever. 

And he knows it

J-Hope is an assassin and that’s 110% my cup of tea

Story is long, multi-chaptered and updated recently

Ana21 does a really great job writing subtly neuroatypical!Taehyung. I’ve noticed this in their other fic Seven bodies, One soul as well

Cons:

Like I said, reading it requires some mental acrobatics but is 100% worth the effort

Yoonseok is pretty prominent, which isn’t my cup of tea, but that’s just personal preference

Unfinished

Hat’s off to Ana21 whose written some other good BTS things on Ao3 (Jin centric). Seriously, I love it <3

[hamsterclaw]

Freak on a bike

He doesn't know what the hell he's doing, this big dumb guy.

Inspired by RM in the mv for Sexy Nukim. Happy birthday week RM! I’m sorry.

Pairing: RM x F! reader

Genre: Smut

Rating: 18+

Word count: 2k

Warnings: Explicit sex, a fuckton of swearing, referenced drug use, objectification and dumbification of our fave sexy genius

Tagging: @sahmfanficbts @reliablemittenmain @vyduan

A bike bell rings and you look up to see where it’s coming from.

A bike stops a few feet away from you. On it, a guy in a black suit. 

You eye him curiously. He’s not bad looking, pretty sharp compared to the other guys you do business with. 

His thighs sandwich the bike frame, both feet on the ground. 

He reaches into the wire basket and holds out a package to you.

You look around.

What is this guy, some kind of fucking amateur?

‘You a narc?’ you ask, not moving from the railing you’re leaning against.

‘What?’ he asks, voice deeper than you were expecting.

‘Said what the fuck is that?’ you ask. 

You glance around again, half-thinking you’re being set up because there’s no fucking way the Kangs, drug overlords of Asan, sent this dumb goon to drop a package to you.

Have they been snorting their own low quality shit?

‘My first day,’ he says, like that’s gonna help redeem his big dumb self.

‘I’m supposed to be ok with you and your fucking training wheels?’ You shoot a glance at his chest, straining against his white shirt. ‘And your fucking training bra?’

He puts a hand over his chest. Big, like the rest of him.

‘I’m not wearing a bra,’ he says, hurt.

‘I’m not taking you shopping for one, baby girl,’’ you retort. You wave a hand. ‘Here, gimme that shit.’

You slip him the packet you’re meant to give him in return and put his package in your bag. 

‘Go back to wherever the fuck you came from,’ you say, dismissive. ‘Next time don’t ring that damn bell. You trying to call attention to us?’

You watch him cycle away. You’re not expecting to see him again, dumb goon will probably get himself killed before too long.

***

You’re on your phone, deciding what the fuck you want for dinner tonight when you hear the bike approach.

It stops inches from your foot.

You look up, and up a little more, because this guy is unfeasibly big. 

‘Still alive, huh,’ you say, somewhat impressed. 

It’s been two weeks since you saw him last, this big dumb guy. He’s wearing the same black suit he was wearing him last time, only this time he’s got rings on his fingers.

You give him points for style, he looks good for someone who’s a short step away from getting done by the po po. 

‘Hey,’ he says, voice warm, like you’re friends or some shit.

He leans forward a little, loses his balance a bit, and the bike slips forward. You get your foot out the way just in time.

Man’s a clumsy bitch. 

‘Got something for me big guy?’ you ask, raising an eyebrow, doing that face that makes these dumb gangster boys want to slap you and fuck you, in that order.

‘My name’s RM,’ he says. 

‘Good for you, baby,’ you say, dry as fuck. 

He passes you his package and takes your packet in return, slipping it into the inside pocket of his jacket.

‘What’s your name?’ he asks.

‘Don’t worry your big dumb head about my name,’ you say. 

He grins at you. 

Jesus, this big dumb baby has dimples, cute. Like an actual baby. 

You want to poke your finger into one. 

‘Go home, big guy.’

He shoots you another look as he pedals away, big legs working the pedals, trousers straining against his thick thighs. 

This fucking guy. 

***

The next drop, he doesn’t ring his damn bell or try to run over your foot. 

‘Why you always dressed like you going to prom?’ you mutter, passing him your packet.

He dimples at you. ‘Wanna be my date?’

‘I don’t date chum,’ you say, scathing.

His dimples deepen. 

‘Why do you keep staring at my thighs if you don’t wanna ride them?’ he asks.

You stop and look up at him. 

‘Stop towering over me, you goon,’ you say. ‘How’m I supposed to talk to a fucking skyscraper?’

‘I’m just saying there’s room,’ he says, smirk on his face. ‘If you want a ride.’

You don’t say yes, but you can’t bring yourself to say no, either.

‘Hey,’ you call after him. ‘Take the underpass. Cops were all over the main road earlier, a stabbing or some shit.’

He nods, thighs flexing as he accelerates. He rings his bell once, and then he’s off, swallowed by the dark.

***

You’re picking out sweets at the store, trying to decide on a lollipop flavour (colour?) when he walks up to you. 

‘I like cherry,’ he says. 

‘Didn’t ask,’ you reply, snide. You look up. 

Damn, this guy. 

He’s got his suit jacket slung over his shoulder, white shirt unbuttoned so far you can almost see his tits.

‘Don’t put your tits in my face, poke my eye out,’ you complain.

He acts like it wasn’t him who didn’t do his own buttons up.

He pays for your sweets, buys himself pop. 

‘Let me taste,’ he says, pointing his chin at your lollipop. 

You look at him and lick around your lollipop. 

He watches, avid, like he’s imagining you doing the same to his cock.

You pass it to him. 

His tongue flicks out and now you’re the one letting your imagination run away with you.

His arms and chest stretch that shirt out so nice.

He tilts your chin up, rolls the lollipop over your lower lip, coating it in sweet.

You blink up at him, open mouthed.

He has to lean down a lot to kiss you but he acts like it’s no big deal.

You guess he’s always been a big man.

His hand cups the back of your head, tilting your face so he can kiss you deep, taste the cherry flavour even though it’s almost gone.

You swallow, and he hums.

Then he’s pulling away, slipping the lollipop through the ‘o’ of your lips.

You blink, and then he’s no longer touching you.

‘See you next week, pretty girl.’

***

You’re thinking of the big dumb goon who kisses like he’s got the dick game to back it up. 

Like he can take his time with you, slow.

RM, he’d said his name was. 

Speak of the devil. 

He rolls up next to you on his bike, and you exchange packages so seamlessly it’s like you practiced it.

‘Hey,’ you say, holding out your hand. ‘Got this for you.’

He’s looking at your tits when he should be looking at your hand clasped in front of them, the dumbass.

He tilts his head. ‘Yeah?’ 

You reach out and clip the Hello Kitty light you picked up to his wire basket.

‘There. You can see where you’re going now.’

He looks at it for a moment, then he smiles. You can see the dimple flash in his cheek.

‘Cute. Like your ass,’ he says. He reaches into his pocket. 

‘I got something for you too.’

You think he’s gonna say his dick, he seems like that kind of guy. 

He pulls out a lollipop, unwraps it with his teeth, hands it to you.

‘Suck it for me,’ he says.

You pop it in your mouth, a sweet cherry burst on your tongue.

‘You want me to suck it for you?’ you ask, teasing.

‘Yeah.’ 

He shifts a little on his bike. You stare at the bulge of his cock as you suck.

‘Damn.’

He leans close, lips about to touch yours, when you hear a ‘hey!’

You pull him close, pull his big body over yours. His arms wrap around you, his hips cage you against the railing.

You lick your tongue into his mouth because you can, and then you turn to the cop who’s shouted.

‘Yeah?’ you say, like you’re bored when actually, you’re fucking thrilled because your big goon feels like he’s got a big dick to back himself. 

He’s not even fully hard and he feels like he could break you.

What a fucking way to go, impaled on your big goon’s monster cock.

‘Let’s go, baby,’ he says.

He pats the back of his bike saddle, and you realise there’s space for you behind him.

You hop on, and he puts those thick thighs to good use, pumping the pedals like pistons, carrying the both of you away on his dumb bike.

***

He looks pretty fucking good under you as you wriggle your ass in his lap.

You’ve got your hand in his thick fucking hair, tugging his head back.

His hard on’s trapped in his pants, you’re riding the ridge of it and he’s so hard and thick your clit’s in heaven.

You’re right there with her, your big dumb sexy goon’s gonna make you cream just with the promise of how big he is.

You gasp, bite down on his lip, and he says, shit, fuck, you gonna cum, already?

You’re most of the way there. His mouth on your tit makes the pleasure explode. He sucks like he wants to milk you dry. 

Who knew this guy was so clever with his tongue?

You aren’t ashamed to say you need more.

‘Show me your dick,’ you pant.

He unzips, yanks all that shit down, and you could cry.

He’s so big he could split you in half, cock standing straight up, pre-cum sticky on his head.

You want to suck him like those cherry lollipops he buys you but you can’t fit all of him in.

You want him to stretch you everywhere.

You almost cream again when he slaps his dick on your cheek.

You’re pathetic, whiny, needy for his cock.

‘Come on,’ he grunts. ‘Let me stretch you, s’not gonna fit otherwise.’

He works two fingers into you, and you ride his hand like it’s fucking Magic Mountain.

He says, ‘fuck,’ and he grabs your ass, tight.

He works another finger into you, fingering you hard, fast.

He flattens you on his stupid ass futon and still you spread your legs because you’re gonna take this man or die trying.

Death by dick.

He’s spurting pre-cum now, groaning as he rolls the condom on.

How’d he find one big enough?

He dribbles spit onto your pussy, even though you’re plenty wet, you can hear yourself.

He pushes the head of his cock against your cunt.

He’s so big it stings. You’re trying to take him, breathing out slow.

He’s holding still, you can’t tell if there’s more stretch to come or not. 

‘You in, baby?’ you ask.

‘Just the tip,’ he says, he sounds strained.

You lift your hips, trying to take more of him.

‘Fuck.’

He pushes in a bit more, a bit more, a bit more and then he’s all the way in, so deep you can feel his dick on the back of your throat it feels like.

There’s so much pressure, your pussy feels so fucking full of his cock.

He nudges in a little more.

‘There you go, take it, baby,’ he groans. ‘Fucking take it.’

Your clit’s throbbing, your cunt putting out more juices to ease the slide. 

He flicks your nipples, tugging, cupping handfuls of your tits, acting like they were made for his entertainment.

He pulls back and thrusts again. 

‘S’good,’ you slur, but really you have no idea what the fuck you’re saying.

All you know is he’s fucking you just right and this big beautiful dimpled goon’s gonna make you squirt all over him.

He probably makes girls squirt all the time, packing what he’s packing.

You’re breathless as he pistons into you, you can hear yourself gasping. 

‘There,’ he grunts. ‘Make me wet, pretty girl.’

He grabs your tit, squeezing as he speeds up.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

You scream as you gush all over him, you’re too fucking loud but your man doesn’t give a shit.

‘Yeah, fuck,’ he groans, deep. 

He pulls out, rips off the condom, stroking himself fast, hard.

Your mouth is open from your orgasm, he takes it as an invitation to cum, spurting his spunk all over your tongue, your bottom lip.

His aim is shit.

Cum drips over your tits, you don’t hate it, especially when he puts his big hand in it and spreads it over your tits.

He falls asleep on you.

You’d kinda known you’d like the weight of him.

***

You wake up to him wiping a damp cloth over your tits.

‘Made a mess,’ he says, tongue in his cheek, the big dumb baby.

‘Do it again,’ you say. 

‘Yeah,’ he says. ‘Now?’

He’s hard again, you can feel him like a third leg against your cunt.

‘Yeah, now.’

‘Wait,’ he says. ‘What’s your name?’

‘Make me breakfast in the morning and I’ll tell you.’

‘Yeah, ok,’ he promises. ‘You like eggs?’

©hamsterclaw 2022