#Golden Shellback

[churchofsatannews]

Infernal Legion Podcast #043

On this episode of the Infernal Legion podcast, we are joined by one of our newest #WickedWarriors, Citizen Kimberly Campos! Kim recounts her 14-year career in the U.S. Navy, battling Somali pirates, becoming a Golden Shellback, breaking away from herd conformity, and discovering Satanism in the digital age—after being fooled by pretenders to the throne. Stream Episode #043. Download Episode #043.

[frimleyblogger]

Straddling Two Centuries At Once

On the his 1895 voyage across the Pacific on the SS Warimoo Mark Twain crossed the equator, but for mariners the Holy Grail was to cross the Equator at the 180th meridian, a feat that entitles a sailor in the US Navy to become a Golden Shellback. An even rarer honour is the Emerald Shellback or Royal Diamond Shellback, bestowed on American and Commonwealth sailors respectively who have crossed…

[van-goghs-smoking-skull]

I'm afraid of how many Navy uniforms would be on display in this mermaid's home, assuming they're anywhere near both the equator and the international date line.

Concept: a mermaid who collects human artifacts, but, like, exclusively objects that humans have dramatically cast into the sea in moments of high emotion, catharsis, or personal revelation. Each item is carefully mounted above a little index card that outlines the circumstances of its hurling in terse, clinical prose.

[iwanthermidnightz]

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle.Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me. It was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24. I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally. And I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making red had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my bars. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on red? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see, in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming, the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting, or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth. And my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn't sensationalize or sexualize that, right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called 1989. And we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it, in high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn't know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure. And a sense of freedom I hadn't tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to… don't say it don't say it. I'm sorry, I have to say it. Shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in "blank space" and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in "Welcome to New York". You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989. Reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long. This moment is a reflection of the woods we've wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of 1989.

It’s been waiting for you.

[the-forgotten-lily]

Why do I have a feeling that this was meant for the fans, all the people who supported her during that time, herself AND for Harry?!

The text:-

Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s version) full prologue on the album booklet:

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in london, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle. Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does.

But I had a secret. For me. It was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24. I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally. And I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making red had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my bars. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on red? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see-in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming -the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting, or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the victorian era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth. And my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn't sensationalize or sexualize that-right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in new york and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had max martin and shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. had a new friend named jack antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called 1989. And we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it, in high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn't know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naiveté, a hunger for adventure. And a sense of freedom I hadn't tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naivete, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will.

I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to...don't say it don't say it. I'm sorry, I have to say it. Shake it off.

I'll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in "blank space" and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in "welcome to new york". You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989. Reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly.

Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long. This moment is a reflection of the woods we've wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of 1989.

It's been waiting for you.

[itmightrain]

1989 tv Typed Prologue

When I was 24 I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle. Scissors emerged and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me, it was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24, I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally ... and I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making “Red” had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my ears. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on “Red”? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see — in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut shaming — the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends. The trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy crazy psychopath. The media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian Era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn’t sensationalize or sexualize that — right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called "1989," and we would reference big 80's synths and write sky high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith and I ran right toward it. In high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn’t know then, and looking back I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by right kind of naïveté, a hunger for adventure, and a sense of freedom I hadn’t tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naïveté, hunger for adventure and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course everyone had something to say. But they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried to ... don’t say it ... don’t say it ... I’m sorry, I have to say it ... shake it off.

I’ll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zig zag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in “Blank Space” and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in “Welcome to New York.” You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical hot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.

This moment is a reflection of the woods we’ve wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of “1989.”

It’s been waiting for you.

[genuinehues]

Prologue - 1989 Taylor's Version

"When I was 24, I sat in a backstage dressing room in London, buzzing with anticipation. My backup singers and bandmates gathered around me in a scattered circle, scissors emerged, and I watched in the mirror as my locks of long curly hair fell in piles on the floor. There I was in my plaid button-down shirt, grinning sheepishly as my tour mates and friends cheered on my haircut. This simple thing that everyone does. But I had a secret. For me, it was more than a change of hairstyle. When I was 24, I decided to completely reinvent myself.

How does a person reinvent herself, you ask? In any way I could think of. Musically, geographically, aesthetically, behaviorally, motivationally. And I did so joyfully. The curiosity I had felt the first murmurs of while making Red had amplified into a pulsing heartbeat of restlessness in my ears. The risks I took when I toyed with pop sounds and sensibilities on Red? I wanted to push it further. The sense of freedom I felt when traveling to big bustling cities? I wanted to live in one. The voices that had begun to shame me in new ways for dating like a normal young woman? I wanted to silence them.

You see, in the years preceding this, I had become the target of slut-shaming—the intensity and relentlessness of which would be criticized and called out if it happened today. The jokes about my amount of boyfriends, the trivialization of my songwriting as if it were a predatory act of a boy-crazy psychopath, the media co-signing of this narrative. I had to make it stop because it was starting to really hurt.

It became clear to me that for me, there was no such thing as casual dating, or even having a male friend who you platonically hang out with. If I was seen with him, it was assumed I was sleeping with him. And so, I swore off hanging out with guys, dating, flirting, or anything that could be weaponized against me by a culture that claimed to believe in liberating women but consistently treated me with the harsh moral codes of the Victorian era.

Being a consummate optimist, I assumed I could fix this if I simply changed my behavior. I swore off dating and decided to focus only on myself, my music, my growth, and my female friendships. If I only hung out with my female friends, people couldn't sensationalize or sexualize that, right? I would learn later on that people could and people would.

But none of that mattered then because I had a plan and I had a demeanor as trusting as a basket of golden retriever puppies. I had the keys to my own apartment in New York, and I had new melodies bursting from my imagination. I had Max Martin and Shellback who were happy to help me explore this new sonic landscape I was enamored with. I had a new friend named Jack Antonoff who had made some cool tracks in his apartment. I had the idea that the album would be called 1989, and we would reference big '80s synths and write sky-high choruses. I had sublime, inexplicable faith, and I ran right toward it, in high heels and a crop top.

There was so much that I didn't know then, and looking back, I see what a good thing that was. This time of my life was marked by the right kind of naiveté, a hunger for adventure, and a sense of freedom I hadn't tasted before. It turns out that the cocktail of naiveté, hunger for adventure, and freedom can lead to some nasty hangovers, metaphorically speaking. Of course, everyone had something to say, but they always will. I learned lessons, paid prices, and tried not to say it, don't say it... I'm sorry. I have to say it. Shake it off.

I'll always be so incredibly grateful for how you loved and embraced this album. You, who followed my zigzag creative choices and cheered on my risks and experiments. You, who heard the wink and humor in "Blank Space" and maybe even empathized with the pain behind the satire. You, who saw the seeds of allyship and advocating for equality in "Welcome to New York." You, who knew that maybe a girl who surrounds herself with female friends in adulthood is making up for a lack of them in childhood (not starting a tyrannical bot girl cult). You, who saw that I reinvent myself for a million reasons, and that one of them is to try my very best to entertain you. You, who have had the grace to allow me the freedom to change.

I was born in 1989, reinvented for the first time in 2014, and a part of me was reclaimed in 2023 with the re-release of this album I love so dearly. Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine the magic you would sprinkle on my life for so long.

This moment is a reflection of the woods we've wandered through and all this love between us still glowing in the darkest dark.

I present to you, with gratitude and wild wonder, my version of 1989.

It's been waiting for you."

— Taylor

[kd0ish]

Did they get Golden Shellback certificates??

The SS Warrimoo, a passenger steamship traveling from Vancouver to Australia, was silently knifing its way across the mid-Pacific waters. The navigator had just finished calculating a star fix and handed the results to Captain John DS. Phillips.

The Warrimoo's coordinates were LAT 0º 31' N, LONG 179 30' W. The date was December 31, 1899. "Know what this means?" First Mate Payton announced, "We're only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line."

Captain Phillips was prankish enough to seize the opportunity to do the nautical feat of a lifetime. He summoned his navigators to the bridge to double-check the ship's position. He altered his course slightly to focus directly on his target. He then altered the engine's speed.

The calm weather and clear night worked to his advantage. At midnight, the SS Warrimoo rested on the Equator, exactly where it had crossed the International Date Line. The ramifications of this odd arrangement were numerous.

The ship's bow was in the Southern Hemisphere, in the middle of summer. The stern was in the Northern Hemisphere, in the midst of winter. The date on the aft portion of the ship was December 31, 1899. The date on the forward half of the ship was January 1, 1900. The ship experienced multiple days, months, years, seasons, and centuries simultaneously.

[abetterscarletletter]

So I don’t know how to feel about the fact that there’s no Max Martin or Shellback on this album because on the one hand it’s dangerous to get too stuck in the same sound and I’m happy Taylor isn’t afraid to try something new... But also... Like... Don’t even try to pretend like that trio hasn’t produced some of the best pop songs of this century.

[ltwilliammowett]

Pollywog and Shellback

Pollywog: A sailor who has not yet crossed the equator. For at least 400 years, the ritual of a pollywog crossing the equator has been celebrated with a visit from "King Neptune" and his court, all played by high-ranking crew members. They decide whether the newcomer is fit to become a "shellback". The tradition includes a day-long feast to promote camaraderie among the crew.

Crossing the line, by George Cruikshank, 1825 (x)

Shellback: The name "Shellback" is actually quite simple: a sailor on official duty "crosses the line" of the equator. He is then called the son of Neptune. In the past, this was also the name for an old Sailor blessed with experience. Today there is the custom of awarding seashells, so a golden shell stands for having crossed the International Date Line. Sailors who cross the prime meridian are inducted into the Order of the Emerald Shell, and those who cross the equator in Lake Victoria are given the epithet Ebony Shell. Finally, submariners who cross the equator on a "secret" longitude receive a top-secret shellback.

[snowonthebeachmp3]

October 2016

Oct 1st - Taylor takes pictures with fans in Nashville. (x)

Oct 4th - Demi Lovato criticises Taylor in their Glamour magazine cover interview. (x)

To be honest, and this will probably get me in trouble, I don’t see anybody in any sort of squad that has a normal body. It’s kind of this false image of what people should look like. And what they should be like, and it’s not real…. It’s not realistic. And I think that having a song and a video about tearing Katy Perry down, that’s not women’s empowerment.

Demi defends themself on Twitter after the interview is published, saying they're 'not apologizing for saying what everyone wants to say.' (x)

Taylor's partnership with AT&T is announced, including her Super Saturday Night pre-Super Bowl performance which will take place on Feb 4th 2017 in Houston. (x)

Joe is in London attending the IWC Schaffhausen Dinner in Honour of the BFI. (x)

Oct 5th - Taylor FaceTimes with Cara and Dakota Johnson, who are both in LA, for Dakota's birthday. (x)

Oct 9th - Paul Sidoti (Taylor's guitarist) posts a photo of guitars in a rehearsal studio with the caption, 'Back in the saddle again.. #formula1' (x)

Oct 11th - Cara is seen leaving Cornelia Street. (x)

Taylor, Cara, Dakota and Suki Waterhouse meet at the Waverly Inn in the West Village at around 11pm. (x)

Oct 12th - Taylor attends a private Kings of Leon concert at Le Poisson Rouge in New York, along with Lorde, Lily Aldridge, Lily Donaldson, Cara, Suki, Martha, Dakota, Zoë Kravitz and Naomi Campbell. (x) They then go to the Bowery Hotel for the afterparty. (x)

The group is then papped leaving the Bowery Hotel and arriving at the Lovers of Today bar. Joe arrives at Lovers of Today with Lily D, Martha, and Martha's boyfriend Jason McDonald, while Taylor, Dakota, Cara and Zoë arrive moments later. (x) Given that Joe has a connection to the lead singer Caleb Followill (via his Billy Lynn costar Garrett), and arrived at the bar with others who were definitely at the concert and afterparty, it seems almost certain that he was at those events too. No media picks up on his presence at the time.

Oct 13th - Taylor goes out for dinner with Dakota and Cara in New York. (x) She then attends an Eliot Sumner concert at the Bowery Ballroom (not to be confused with the Bowery Hotel), along with Karlie, Suki, Lily D, Dakota, Cara, Zoë and Serena Williams. (x)

Taylor is wearing a temporary golden tattoo on her neck.

Oct 14th - Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk premieres at the New York Film Festival. (x) Joe walks the red carpet and does some promo. (x)

Eliotte, Kamilah and Melanie, three of Taylor's backup singers, are hanging out and probably rehearsing for the upcoming concert at F1. (x)

Oct 15th - Joe does some more promo with the rest of the Billy Lynn cast in New York. (x)

Taylor is in LA for a few days between the 13th and 16th recording Delicate (her golden neck tattoo is visible). (x)

Oct 16th - Lily D and Suki post videos of Olivia to their social media from Cornelia Street. (x) (x)

Oct 17th - Cara is seen leaving Cornelia Street. (x)

Oct 18th - Taylor is in rehearsals in Nashville for her upcoming F1 concert. Her golden neck tattoo is gone. (x) (x)

Oct 20th - Little Big Town releases Better Man as the lead single from their eighth studio album. (x) (The song was written by Taylor but this fact is not publicised upon the song's initial release.)

Oct 21st - Taylor posts an Instagram story from her bed. She has a cold and Meredith is making a racket and keeping her awake ahead of her concert in Texas the next day. (x)

Oct 22nd - Taylor files a counter-suit against radio DJ David Mueller, who is suing her because he lost his job after groping her at a 2013 meet and greet. By counter-suing him for assault and battery, she hopes to 'serve as an example to other women who may resist publicly reliving similar outrageous and humiliating acts.' (x)

Taylor performs her only concert of 2016 at the US F1 Grand Prix in Austin, Texas (saving the US Grand Prix from going bust in the process). She plays TIWYCF on piano, her first time performing the song live. (x) She has a cold and has to pause the show to blow her nose. (x) (While promoting Billy Lynn in Taiwan a few weeks later, Joe also has a cold.)

Oct 23rd - Taylor goes to Drake's 30th birthday party at Delilah restaurant in LA. Karlie, Zoë, Jari Haile, Kennedy Rayé, Halston Sage and the Haim sisters are there, as well as John Mayer and Katy Perry. (x) Taylor and Halston both have stick-on gold star tattoos on their chests. (x)

Oct 24th - Taylor commemorates the tenth anniversary of her first album with an Instagram post. (x)

Given that Taylor does not leave LA until the 28th but is not papped anywhere, it is possible that she uses her time there to work on I Did Something Bad at Conway Studios with Max and Shellback. (x) The Making Of clips for the song show that it was recorded sometime after Taylor's haircut on the 24th Sep. (Don't Blame Me was not recorded until some point after December 13th, as she wears the J necklace in the Making Of clips and we know that was a 27th birthday present. (x)) However, it isn't possible to precisely date these clips.

Oct 25th - Katy Perry attends Kanye's concert in LA and posts a video on her Instagram story dancing along to the Famous lyric about Taylor. (x)

Oct 27th - There are rumours that Taylor and Drake are dating, following her appearance at his birthday party, but these are shut down, presumably by Tree. (x) (x)

Oct 28th - Calvin drops the music video for My Way. Some think it contains several references to Taylor. (x)

Karlie wishes Drake a belated happy birthday by posting an Instagram picture of herself and Taylor at his party. (x)

In the evening Taylor's plane goes from LA to NYC, and then from NYC to London. However, she stays completely under the radar and is not spotted anywhere in London. (x) At the time some people theorise that this means she's seeing Tom again, but in hindsight she almost certainly went to see Joe.

Oct 31st - Taylor's plane returns to the US from London. (x)

Taylor has a small Halloween party at her Cornelia Street townhouse. Guests include Gigi, Martha, Lily D, Camila, Kennedy Rayé and Emmie Gundler. Taylor dresses up as Deadpool and wears Ryan Reynolds' actual costume from the movie. (x)

Camila talks about the party a year later on Jimmy Fallon and mentions that at one point 'two attractive guys' arrived, prompting Camila to run to the bathroom and change out of her grandma costume. (x) (x) Apparently one of the guys was dressed as Spiderman. (x) If so that was probably Joe, since that's his favourite superhero. (x) Also probably a couples' costume, since Deadpool and Spiderman have a bromance going on in the comics. However, I couldn't find any original interviews where Camila mentions a Spiderman being at the party (I know she mentioned the party in some radio interviews which have since disappeared from the internet so maybe it was one of them).

Anyways, it's very likely that the guys attending what was otherwise a girl's night/Kennedy Rayé's birthday were Joe and a friend, especially since the next day Taylor's private jet made a seemingly random round trip to London and back. Presumably this trip was to drop Joe (and possibly his friend) back in London, in time for Joe to fly from the UK to Taiwan and China for Billy Lynn promo. (x) (x)

Intro // February // March // April // May // June // July // August // September // October // November

[the-outer-topic]

Running the Easting Down - John Groves

“Running the Easting down” is an old shellback’s term for a wild ride in the Southern Ocean. In the golden age of sail the great clipper ships ran before the fierce westerly winds between 40° and 60° south latitude. Clippers left the Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Horn to port as they sailed round the bottom of the world for thousands of miles, week after week, dodging icebergs, enduring freezing gales and coping with every kind of equipment failure, injuries and even death. These square-rigged ships were built to take the punishment inflicted by mountainous seas and screaming storms. In fact, the big fore- and aft-rigged schooners, so common more than 100 years ago on both coasts of the U.S., were never very successful in that kind of tempestuous sailing.

[acoolchickouthere13]

March 11, 2015-same shirt as from Sept. 3, 2014

🖤DWOHT🖤 -(swift, Martin, shellback, Oscar Holter) - “golden”(state of grace), “gravity”(treacherous). 25 was how old Dianna was when they met. “Blue”(EHC) “invisible locket”>>”your necklace hanging around my neck”(out of the woods), “talking”(I Know Places), “avalanche” happens in OOTW music video. I find it interesting that the song goes back and forth: in the verses, each line is either a description of the beginning of the relationship to the affects of Kissgate.

March 15 Karlie is not on social media, which usually means she’s with Taylor

March 2015 karlie faces potential buyout and loss of apt.

Hiddleswift meet

[oldsalt1169]

WOW!   While I'm Not A Sailor...   I have spent enough time Aboard Ship that you wouldn't even be able to see my scars!   Shellback (USS Nassau)...   Golden Shellback (USS Essex)...

[montymcallister]

x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x, x

Tattoos have been tradition in the Navy for a very long time, and are fairly commonplace throughout the military if you know where to look. When he first enlisted, Monty didn’t really seem like a tattoos kind of guy; he was quiet, kept mostly to himself on his own time, and still hid in the hoodies and dull t-shirts of his high school wardrobe. As he began to find himself and grow into the man he’s become today, the idea of getting tattoos---of doing something entirely for himself, that he could keep with him, as a part of him, always---became more and more appealing. Thirteen years and ten tattoos later, Monty’s settled in his skin in a way he’d never been growing up. A lot of it is personal growth, but the tattoos have certainly eased the way.

His very first tattoo sparked the beginning of a habit (at least to some extent) of adhering to age-old Navy tattoo traditions. A sea turtle tattoo (often referred to as a shellback or a shellback turtle tattoo, in this instance) is gotten by some following a line-crossing ceremony initiating sailors into King Neptune’s Court. In short: the turtle is often gotten to commemorate their first crossing of the Equator (and some light hazing).

A small collection of brightly patterned shirts and a surefire best friend into his time in service later, Monty and Monica had decided to get tattoos together; not matching, per se, but from an artist with a unique style that could easily be seen across his body of work. Monica suggested “a guy in a Hawaiian shirt,” Monty told the artist “take that and run with it” and by the time they left, Monty had a brand new dancing skeleton in a Hawaiian shirt.

Traditionally, a golden dragon tattoo signifies having crossed the International Date Line. Monty hadn’t had any serious plans to get this one, even as time off saw him joining friends on a trip to a local tattoo parlor. It wasn’t until he saw the design---initially in red ink---that the urge really struck and wouldn’t let go. He didn’t get it that day, but he did go back.

While posted in San Diego, Monty and Monica took a trip up to Los Angeles County to Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve to see the poppy blooms. Not long after, they made the decision to go together to get matching poppy tattoos.

The FUCK LUCK rabbit and the NAILED IT shark are, most notably, tattoos Monty will attribute in storytelling to far too much alcohol and very convincing friends. He flipped through the books and picked them out (or at least lingered on the pages long enough that too-perceptive friends knew to egg him on), but they aren’t necessarily things he’d have gotten without the extra push. Still, he’s quite fond of both, the rabbit especially.

In the same vein, but with significantly less input from Monty, is the HERE FOR A LONG TIME, NOT A GOOD TIME t-rex skull. With laughter and grins, he’ll recount the story of how while on their trip to Australian, he, Monica and Gabriel spent their last night in the country going out for drinks and then picking out tattoos for each other. They got back to their hotel late, stumbled out of bed with just enough time to haphazardly pack and get out in time to make check-out, and then nearly missed their flight. The tattoo is good memories, more than anything else; the design isn’t really what’s important.

The fouled anchor is the emblem of the rate of Chief Petty Officer, and it’s not uncommon to see CPOs get a tattoo of the fouled anchor following their promotion. The floral touch was part of the artist’s style, and it was ultimately their design that sold the idea for him.

In naval tradition, the swallow can signify either a distance traveled (one swallow for every 5,000 nautical miles) or act as a sort of good luck charm in finding your way home. Monty will give a different answer depending on who’s asking about it. In casual conversation, Monty tends to go for “it was for my first five thousand; I just never kept up with it after that” as his answer. In truth, he got it after his most recent Thanksgiving with the Rodriguezes. He wasn’t sure when it had really started feeling like home, but after several years spending holidays with them, he knew it did. After the realization, the swallow finally felt right, and then it was just a matter of finding the right design for him.

Somewhere along the line over the course of their friendship, Monty and Monica got around to having the supernatural talk. He’d suspected her werecreature nature long before it came up, given some of her habits, but it wasn’t like the confirmation would change the fact that she was his best friend, so he let it lie. It’s become a regular topic of casual conversation for them over the years, and at some point (partially because he wanted something to keep his best friend close, and partially because it was going to be a truly hilarious inside joke) he decided to get a coyote tattoo. It’s been worth all of the “is this a wolf?” comments over the years to see Monica’s delight and exasperation every time she sees it.

[georgebucket]

Was in the US Navy onboard the USS Tarawa (LHA-1) from 2002-2006. Some unusual things I experienced were the Shellback ceremonies. Basically a sailor who has never crossed the equator is considered a "slimy wog" and those who have crossed the equator were considered "Shellbacks". It's a huge thing that usually takes all afternoon where people dress up as King Neptune and his court and induct the new guys/girls into the fraternity. Its all light hearted and goofy now but back in the day it crossed into hazing territory. I got to do it twice because I became a golden shellback when we crossed the international dateline.