This is what SHOULD have happened. Had I been King, this is what WOULD have happened.
I knelt in a line with my friends and family, in the humid darkness of the summer night. I was grateful for the cushion of humus under knees, the earthen smell of the forest floor somehow comforting. Like my companions, I kept my back straight and head high, eyes front, arms down to sides and palms flat against my thighs. We dared not waver, we dared not look away, we barely exhaled.
There were twelve of us all up, eleven plus me. We had been hiking through the woods on our way to Copperhead Road for an Elysium show at The Empire Room when we had been cornered by this asshole and his loser followers. Now they had us lined up, in the glaring headlights of trucks and cars, as they held guns on us. They had surrounded us alright, rounded us up like sheep.
The leader was a tall, skinny ugly dude with dark hair and a trimmed beard. His name was Negan. And they called themselves the Saviours. But they were no saviours of anyone other than themselves. They were apocalyptic parasites who went around taking from others, murdering, abusing people, and making their neighbours into their slaves.
Negan was doing the big production, which means he was running his mouth, pulling up his skirts and flashing everyone his panties, showing off and relishing being the center of attention. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes as he displayed Lucielle, his baseball bat that was wrapped with barbed wire. The name is actually spelled Lucille but I am deliberately spelling it wrong to show disrespect. Blah blah blah. Man, that dude could talk a blue streak and never say a damn thing! It was so hard to not yawn at his promenading as he strutted around like a turkey cock, fanning his audience with his tail feathers.
This was all a production to pick one of us to kill. JUST PICK SOMEONE ALREADY, YOU IDIOT!! I’LL PICK SOMEONE FFS! PICK ME PICK ME, anything so I didn’t have to listen to anymore of his rhetoric! Getting your head bashed in by a baseball bat was not near the torture of listening to that windbag pontificate on and on and on, and bore us with his juvenile jokes like, “Pissin’ your pants yet?” WOW. Such eloquence, such intellect! I knew I was in deep doo-doo, going up against so formidable a linguistic champion. Yes, ‘doodoo,’ a word on his level.
Then he started doing this eeny meeny miny moe thing, pointing Lucielle from person to person, to assist him in the daunting task of picking a victim. Good gawd what grade were we in? When he FINALLY said, “IT” he was pointing the bat at me. “Anybody moves, anybody says anything, cut the boy’s other eye out and feed it to his father, and THEN we’ll get started.”
I gazed intently up at him, locking mesmerizing blue-gray eyes with his drab ones. For one moment, the world stood still. Hearts did not even beat. A wormhole of silence engulfed my senses. And then I leapt up into the air, giving him one powerful kick to the solar plexes… wait, solar plexus (I looked it up), immediately following this up with a second swift kick in the guts, knocking the wind out of him and doubling him over. Like lightening, I moved behind him, grabbing his neck in a head lock and giving it a twist, then fixing my thumb and finger around his windpipe with one hand while I twisted his arm behind his back a la Bruce Lee with the other. I backed up towards a Winnebago that was parked behind us, dragging him along, wild eyes casting around at the faces of shocked onlookers, my own people stunned, his people the same. Should they shoot? Should they just stand there like sacks of meat and wait to see what happens next?
“I’ll break his neck, I’ll rip his windpipe out,” I screamed as I backed up to the door of the mobile home. “You better just freeze!” Reaching around, I quickly opened the door and dragged my gagging, gasping prey into the vehicle, pulling him out of the line of sight.
I released his windpipe, then grabbed his right arm and twisted it hard until he cried out in agony, then I twisted it a whole lot harder, until I heard a satisfying snap. He dropped Lucielle and I kicked her aside, then slammed him down onto the sofa that ran along a side row of windows. I swooped up Lucielle and gave him a bash in the noggin just to guarantee he was incapacitated. Then I pulled out one of the guns my crew had stashed under one of the seats. I stepped to a window, cracking it and yelled out, poking my gun through it.
“Okay! I got your idiot features Negan in here! You want him back alive? Then you best PISS OFF! LEAVE NOW! MOVE OUT! You let my people go and get in your cars and trucks and GO HOME. Once my people are safe and you are GONE I will release this illiterate aggregate of human filth. THAT’S THE DEAL! Ball’s in my court, take it or leave it!”
I peered out, saw some hesitation, so I fired my gun into the air. “Next one’s going through his left leg. Then his right, then one for each arm… you sure you want to do this? Let my people go!! NOW!”
I watched in the dimly lit darkness of the moonless night as my people suddenly jumped up and ran for the Winnebago. I saw Negan’s ignorant bewildered disciples turn and run for their cars. Except for Simon, Negan’s second. He seemed undecided. He prolly wanted me to kill Negan so he could take over. Oh yes sure they all planned to be back. They would never stop. I knew this. So, once my people were safe inside the vehicle, pulling out their weapons and firing up that engine to get us out of here and to the show, I went ahead and shot Simon. In the head. Clean shot, done deal, threat removed.
And then I shot Negan and tossed his stinking carcass out onto the road as we sped away. So I would never again have to hear one of his self-absorbed nauseating speeches!
Without their leadership, those losers would fall apart. And Glenn was safe. So was Abraham. We were all quite happy with the outcome of that wretched encounter. And looking forward to the bubbly and hors d’oeuvres that Paul and Jilley would be offering guests at The Empire Room, listening to DJ Gunner’s fabulous tunes, and watching The Wiz buzzing around, making sure everything was ready stage one. We cruised down the road with much relief. Glenn looked over at me, smiled and said, “Welcome to the Weekend!”
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Dear
David Archuleta – Invincible
1. Why did you choose this song to create a dance to? What was your inspiration?
The words and the beat.
2. What were the particular challenges you dealt with when creating this dance?
Making the the animations on my jump work with the starting of the dance.
3. What does this dance mean to you? Is it a bit of fun, or is there a deeper meaning?
This song is a good message and out of my usual box a bit. It makes me happy to listen to and was fun to create.
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Devlin
with Ariel
Queen – La vie en rose
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Luna
with Carol and Joszef
Keith Urban Ft. Carrie Underwood ~ The Fighter
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Simi
with Hunter
Feels Like Heaven by Peter Cetera and Chaka Khan
1. Why did you choose this song to create a dance to? What was your inspiration?
For some reason I have been on a Chicago, Peter Cetera listening spree. I had actually never heard this song before and I found it on YouTube and I love Chaka Khan anyway so I thought Why not, kinda stretch my boundaries a little more and see what I can do.
2. What were the particular challenges you dealt with when creating this dance?
I have never choreo’d a duet dance before so I was kind of intrigued with doing one.
3. What does this dance mean to you? Is it a bit of fun, or is there a deeper meaning?
To me it is fun and a chance to dance with Hunter.
4. Is there anything you would like others to know about your dance?
I am still on a Peter Cetera kick, you might see more.
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Ray
with Lina, Stoke, Nara and Corri
Paradise – George Ezra
1. Why did you choose this song to create a dance to? What was your inspiration?
The song it self was my inspiration. I had a set built and and just could not find a song until i heard this one . The dance just flowed from there.
2. What were the particular challenges you dealt with when creating this dance?
There really were no challenges in this dance.
3. What does this dance mean to you? Is it a bit of fun, or is there a deeper meaning?
This dance was just a bit of fun. I saw the dance in my head and it turned out just like i thought. a bit of end of summer fun.
4. Is there anything you would like others to know about your dance?
It is just nice to be dancing again. I have not been able to do any choreography for about 4 months due to RL work. So I wanted something fun to come and dance to back on the Elysium Stage.
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Sarah
War (Epic Trailer Version)
1. Why did you choose this song to create a dance to? What was your inspiration?
WAR, the song itself is old but masterfully remastered into this epic, the routine more shows that war is bad, but in war there is that 1 fact……hope…..
2. What were the particular challenges you dealt with when creating this dance?
Animations were brutal on this one and I never quite got it 100% fluid but close enough to do as I have.
3. What does this dance mean to you? Is it a bit of fun, or is there a deeper meaning?
Dance has the meaning that wars don’t solve humanity’s issues….
4. Is there anything you would like others to know about your dance?
Just have fun with it an enjoy it as it came together
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Corri
Stevie Wonder – Superstition (C2C Remix)
1. Why did you choose this song to create a dance to?
The dance was originally created for Friday 13th.
What was your inspiration?
The song title itself was my inspiration, superstitions. What could be better for a Friday 13th.
2. What were the particular challenges you dealt with when creating this dance?
Finding all the little “superstitions” to deco the set with was I think the biggest challenge but so much fun.
3. What does this dance mean to you? Is it a bit of fun, or is there a deeper meaning?
This dance is just a bit of fun. Loved putting it together.
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Antonio
with Everyone
Talk Dirty To Me
Usher Lil Freak Feat. Nicki Minaj Lyrics Video
Jason Derulo – Swalla (feat. Nicki Minaj & Ty Dolla $ign)
Thank you to Vashti Adams for this picture!
1. Why did you choose this song to create a dance to? What was your inspiration?
I was bored at work, as per usual or stressed and started playing you tube, then my brain went to places…and made a sentence out of the names of the songs “talk dirty to me, lil freak (that was Hailies choice) and swalla.
2. What were the particular challenges you dealt with when creating this dance?
Wanted something different, with the set, not over the top but just enough.
3. What does this dance mean to you? Is it a bit of fun, or is there a deeper meaning?
Just fun and a peak inside my mind when Im trying to distract myself at work to stay somewhat sane..laughs who the hell am I kidding nothing sane there, but it might be a peek in my mind when Im distracting myself at work with thoughts of Hailie…..thank whom ever made ear phones.
4. Is there anything you would like others to know about your dance?
Just have fun and dance Welcome to the weekend lets get it started right.
Thank you to Vashti Adams for this picture!
Elysium Cabaret 