As you may have seen from any number of breathless Facebook and Twitter posts in the last 24 hours, last night was the annual Dead Girl Derby draft party, and while full rosters and photos aren’t available just yet, KC Derby Digest has noticed a bit of a shake-up within the ranks.

Relax, it’s not a bad thing. If anything at all, it will only make 2012 even more interesting.

Most noteworthy in this faux-journalist’s opinion is the defection of Poison Evie (top scorer in the league) to the Deadly Sirens and Dir-T Diana (2011 Royal Pains team captain) to the Shotgun Sheilas. Both of these DGD superstars leave a Royal Pains team that went 1-6 in 2011, and if we’re being honest, even a superfan like KC Carr might wonder where this leaves Their Highnesses for the upcoming season.

Well, there’s good news. The Royal Pains have proudly announced nine very promising new recruits for the 2012 season, not the least of whom is Mel Breakdown, referee-turned-track-scrapper who, as of 10:30 last night, was already painting her nails purple. New recruits will be announced by their derby names once they (the names) are approved and everything is in place, but suffice it to say that things look very, very good for 2012.

Yes, that good.

Also of note: High D. Flys has transplanted from the Deadly Sirens to the Shotgun Sheilas along with Pixie Smash, whose history is so varied I remember seeing her in stripes as well as the black and yellow of KCRW.

Ever-curious about a shake-up like this one, I contacted Dixie Danger, head of PR for the Dead Girls’ league, who had this to say:

“We are all a family. Just because someone goes to another color does not mean they no longer like that team — hell, a good portion of the girls have tattoos to show their love of their team — [but] some people want change. Each team plays differently, skates differently, and works differently. I think the move is to try something new and the opportunity to skate with those you once skated against. I think it will be an entirely new experience to skate against someone you once skated with. There are advantages of knowing their skill and how they work, but it will be interesting to see how they skate with a different group of women.”

— Dixie Danger of Dead Girl Derby