My partner and I are going to an Evanescence themed drag night (drag me back to life) and I was wondering.... Would tempt ever have an emo/goth night?
hell yeah have so much fun!! that sounds amazing!!
tempt would ABSOLUTELY do an emo/goth night. let's talk about it 😈
all the warm amber lighting gets swapped for deep violet and cold white
cumulus runs a themed cocktail menu, of course. there's a "you're so last summer" (blackberry, mezcal, bitters) and a "bela lugosi" (black vodka, elderflower, genuinely unsettling) and one she just called "my chemical" that is exactly as chaotic as it sounds
fog machine fog machine fog machine
swiss at the door in all black looking exactly like he always does, which means he fits in perfectly and is vaguely threatening about it
rain -- black mesh crop top, tiny leather shorts, thigh-high boots with a block heel instead of the usual stilettos. he has swapped all his jewelry for steel and has on a black leather o-ring choker. red eyeliner. he has done absolutely nothing else different and its genuinely unfair
phantom -- they have been waiting for this night their ENTIRE career. full corpse paint but make it couture. ripped fishnet tights, a structured black corset, platform boots that make them almost six feet tall. big dramatic sleeves that flare when they spin
cirrus -- floor-length black silk with a slit alllllll the way up. her air magic makes it move like it's haunted. she's wearing one dark red jewel at her throat that matches her lipstick and nothing else and it's the most gothic thing anyone has ever seen. aurora tells her she looks like a vampire and cirrus says thank you
aurora -- she tried SO hard and the result is that she got the winged liner exactly right and is also wearing small silver star earrings and a black dress that is slightly too cute, despite barely covering her ass. everyone tells her she looks amazing because she does. she vibrates with excitement the entire night
mountain -- is wearing black. that's it. that's the look. it's enough
swiss -- sharp black turtleneck. one gold chain. looks like a bouncer at the most exclusive club in hell. mountain cannot focus
mist -- was not informed this was a themed night and showed up looking exactly like she does every day. she is very pleased
phantom opens with knife party -- "boss mode." full theatrical commitment. there is a moment in the middle where they stop moving entirely for a difficult hold and the crowd goes silent and then the drop hits and it is genuinely unhinged. phantom considers this a success
cirrus -- siouxsie and the banshees, "spellbound." her air magic lifts the silk around her she looks genuinely supernatural. the fog machine was made for this moment
aurora -- evanescence, "bring me to life," because she thinks it goes hard and she is correct. she's pulling tricks that require committing so completely that there is no halfway, only through. she is going to feel this tomorrow, the pole bruises map her whole left side, a constellation of earned evidence she'll find in the mirror after her shower and feel something fierce about. worth it
rain -- depeche mode, "stripped." the lights go almost entirely out except for one cold white spot and rain does the whole set like he's the only person in the room. it's deeply uncomfortable to watch in the best possible way. there's a moment he pauses, hand barely gracing the pole, and he just... waits. the audience understands instinctively that this IS the performance -- the stillness is the point. that's what the song is underneath everything: come on and show me. rain holds it so long the room starts to feel it personally. he finishes the set like no one in the building has a single claim on his attention
dew content because you know i have to:
Dew shows up in black on black -- which is, he would like it noted, what he always wears. What he does not always wear, however, are the brushed silver bat collar pins. He’s worn them exactly once, for a Halloween party, and hasn’t touched them since.
Phantom spots them within four seconds of arriving and makes a sound like they've been given an early birthday present.
"I was going to say," Phantom says, hand to chest, "that you look amazing. That's all. Very on theme."
The other problem -- the separate, unrelated, entirely not his fault problem -- is the fog machine.
Tempt already runs a little warm. Dew runs warmer. The fog machine is positioned directly stage left and doing its job beautifully for everyone in the building except the fire ghoul standing in its radius, around whom the dry ice clears in a neat three foot circle like the atmosphere itself is giving him a wide berth.
Bell relocates him twice. Dew acquires his own small personal clearing both times.
By the third relocation Bell simply finds him a position near the back bar where the fog is thin anyway and leaves him there without comment. Dew stands with his drink and his bat collar pins and his own personal weather system and watches the room behave correctly around everyone except him.
Then Rain walks out for his set.
The fog radius expands by approximately two feet.
Bell, standing six feet to his left, makes a note on his tablet.
Dew does not need to ask what the note says.
