Pollywogs, Shellbacks, and Mermaids(?) .. OH MY!

You don't HAVE be in the Navy to understand this caption, but it does help! Learn more inside!

I wanted to make something for Audrey B.K. from Alternative Life Pinups (see link in sidebar!) ever since she'd been discharged from the Navy, but hadn't had my finger on her pulse in awhile and didn't want to give her something half-assed. Not sure there have been too many TG captions done with the "Neptune's Realm Line Crossing" as a point of transformation. When I saw this picture, the rim-shot moment came to me and I was pretty sure that it would work and that people would get it. More importantly, it would be a fun caption to read as well as write.

For those that don't know what that is, there is a Navy 'event' which used to be more of a hazing ritual, that was done when a ship crossed the equator. It went by many names, but usually was referred to under some sort of Neptune theme. If you hadn't been across the equator, you were considered a Pollywog, or Wog .. and once you went through the ritual, you became a Shellback.

There were all sorts of things that could happen .. like I said, in the past it was literally a hazing ritual .. and sometimes people would have the hoses turned on them and blasted off the deck, or others made to 'walk the plank'. It all depended on the depravity of the leaders in charge of the vessel. Sometimes it was blowing off steam, other times, lots of inappropriate behavior was performed under the guise of crew bonding. Supposedly the worst aspects of this ritual were toned down in the 90's.

If you want more information, you can Wikipedia it, just like anything else nowadays!

So, why not make that the source of a TG transformation? Seems like a fertile enough story to tweak into something interesting and not often thought about, other than once you read it, you go "DAMN! Why shouldn't I have come up with something like that!"

I love the fact that 'she' still is quite regimented in her speech patterns at first. I'm guessing that perhaps there was a reason WHY they turned the hose him! Thought that would be a good way to get out some exposition without doing it the same old way. Then the shipwrecked guy is incredulous, as you would think someone out in the hot sun day after day might be. It's a good contrast between the two characters. Once again, I love the idea of THAT mermaid talking like a sailor is such a hoot! Then I tied in the Birth of Venus shell imagery to wrap things up nicely.

Of course, it goes without saying that no matter how good my words were, the picture brings the awesomeness in waves! Not only did it bring out the story from my head, but just made everything come together perfectly .. so even if you didn't quite understand the whole navy ritual, you are going to still enjoy this caption.

Hope everyone enjoys this caption as much as I did in creating it. I'm glad to know that I have never disappointed Audrey when making captions for her, and I want to keep that streak alive and well! Any comments are welcome on the caption, or if you would like to talk about your transition from Wog to Shellback, we've got that section down there to type in any responses!

C'mon! You didn't think I would do a write up for this caption and NOT post this song? It's an utter classic and I can't think of a better Navy song. Yvan Eht NioJ is good, but not Village People good!