[ action | OPEN ] we realize happy endings are not for everyone, they're not for us

[black_black_heart]

Who: Tannusen and/or whoever!
Where: Genessia City - Velvet Lust (Please read that link if you're gonna tag in!)
What: A general Velvet Lust catch-all post. Back-tagging in the future, and back-dating now or later are both fine.
Warnings: Will add as/if needed.

🌟 OTAs, and closed threads between people who aren't Tannusen are also welcome! (Please note it in your subject line, so I don't barge in!)
Fighting, sexual harassment, or trash-talking of the LGBT nature of the patrons are all things not ICly allowed in here. Characters (or NPCs!) who step out of line will be removed from the premises.

A. [OPEN - anyone who is ICly an adult, kids simply aren't allowed inside]

It was night-time, and Velvet Lust was open for business. Tannusen could be found either at the bar downstairs, sitting on one of the stools instead of helping pour drinks, or upstairs at that bar trading commentary with the snarky bartender on duty. Either way, he was drinking tea.

B. [OPEN - anyone ICly under-age, or who just wants to]

Day or night, if anyone lingered for long enough just outside of the bar, it was going to eventually draw someone's attention.

C. [LOCKED - Velvet Lust staffers]

Before the bar opened for the night, Tannusen could be found on either floor of the establishment. Stocking things, fixing something, or... even lounging around as a tiger. Staff were always allowed to come and go for several hours before opening time.

Comments

[tevinteraltus]

Heavy business, that file was meant for, and Dorian knew it. It was one of the reasons he was decided to keep the conversation light. He didn't expect Tannusen to read, or even begin to peruse, the report here, in the bar.

"Ah, yes. Well, I simply mean...this place seems to cater to a...certain clientele." He cast his gaze around the bar once more. "In my homeland, such things are...not spoken of in polite society, let alone given their own place to exist."

[black_black_heart]

"Well, it's a gay bar," Tannusen sighed, and picked up the file to hand to the bartender. "Put that in the office, will you?"

Best he's not just staring at it, isn't it?

"I mean, we let straight people in here too, of course, but it's supposed to be a safe space for the LGBT community. So if some straight cis idiot talks trash about it, we throw them out."

[tevinteraltus]

If there's one thing Dorian finds irritating more than anything else in conversation, it's not following one due to lack of understanding. It feels to him as though Tannusen has spoken some fragmented other language, though he knows it to be terms he simply has no knowledge of in context. He knows what the word 'gay' means, but Tannusen is using it here in a strange way.

"Assume, for a moment, I have no knowledge of the meaning of these terms, if you would."

[black_black_heart]

"Oh," Tannusen blinked at Dorian from over his spectacles. But... no, he wasn't being an ass about it. Not on purpose, anyway. "Sorry, I get so used to everyone coming from different versions of the same damn world."

Of course some places won't have these same terms. Why would they?

"Right, so, there's lesbian -- women who only like women, romantically or sexually. There's gay... I know it has a few meanings, but in this context, it would mean if you only liked men. Bisexual means liking both, although there's also pansexual which means liking... anyone, no matter what the bits under their clothes are versus what they look like."

Which slides right into...

"And there's transgender, which isn't a sexuality at all, but it's... to put it simply, being born male and feeling like you're female, or the opposite. Can be with or without trying to look like what you feel like. And asexual... is complicated, but at the extreme end of the scale it means you're not interested in sex with anyone. And aromantic, same thing but with romance. Ah, and straight means men who are only into women and women who are only into men."

What else was he missing?

"Ah, cis. Cis-gendered means... not being transgendered, basically. There's a little more nuance to the whole thing, but that's the basic idea. LGBT is, of course, lesbian gay bisexual transgender. Just an umbrella term for everyone who isn't straight and cis."

It was a lot, but Tannusen was confident the guy who'd given him a report on Heaven and places like it that was as thick as a proper book, could handle it.

[tevinteraltus]

Normally one to speak often, Dorian listens attentively as Tannusen explains the different terms he'd used. By the end of it all, his mind was reeling, connecting explanation to others he knew, friends he'd never expected to make, and more than a few people he knew, himself...himself included.

He's quiet for a while longer, after Tannusen finishes talking, and as his mind continues to flit over all the implications of Tannusen's lessons, a slow smile begins to spread across his lips.

"And all this is...accepted, here, without judgement, free of expectations...?"

[black_black_heart]

"That would be the point of it, yes," Tannusen smiled faintly, and took a sip of his tea. That had been a lot words, okay? Okay.

"Back on Earth, the original Velvet Lust was just the same. More, if anything, since it was one of the few places assorted different supernatural types could interact safely. Ghosts, mages, vampires, werewolves, and so on."

And Faeries, though mostly only the two owners, himself and Isaac, had ever bothered to 'mingle' with the non-Fae.

"There's two security staff, as well as myself, and in a pinch my event manager, if someone tried to kick up a fuss." Like they could keep Deadpool out of a fight if he was given the opportunity to clean someone's clock... on the clock!

[tevinteraltus]

He filed the mentions of different 'supernatural' types away for later inquest. Ghosts, in his experience, were confused spirits, werewolves were cursed, and he wasn't sure what a 'vampire' was in context. Still, asking now would be muddying the waters unnecessarily.

He turns his head to regard Tannusen, a smile touching his lips. "It's all rather like a dream, really." He takes a breath, looking down at his hands and realizing he'd much prefer a glass of something strong be there for him to sip. "While such preferences aren't unacceptable in my world, there are still certain expectations to be fulfilled. Denying them simply to avoid living a lie your entire life...isn't well-received."

[black_black_heart]

"It's that way in a lot of places where I'm from, too," Tannusen inclined his head, slightly. It was true, too. Being... 'different' came with plenty of problems back on Earth. A crime punishable by death, in some regions of the world.

And even among Faeries, he'd found a shocking amount of prejudices that really shouldn't have existed among his kind. The influence of banality, he assumed. The poison of the Autumn World.

"It makes spaces like this one all the more important."

[tevinteraltus]

"I wonder if I've simply not been looking in the proper corners of Thedas." He chuckles and looks over to Tannusen. "It's a fine thing you've done, building this one here. I'm sure your patrons are grateful."

[black_black_heart]

"Yes, well, the people outside these doors don't see much use in it. The privilege of never having to worry about such things, I suppose."

[tevinteraltus]

He glances back toward the entrance, a slight smile spreading across his lips.

"I suppose that's the reason for the sentries?"

[black_black_heart]

"Security is here in part for them, yes. And it's the reason gay bars like Velvet have a tradition of being named in such a way that it just... puts certain people off at a distance. They hear Velvet Lust; they see the neon sign outside, and they cringe and think it's all shirtless men grinding on each other and sweaty glitter and glow-sticks."

Tannusen took a sip of his tea, amused.

"...That's upstairs, of course."

Look, nothing produced Glamour quite as effectively, and with so little effort on his part, as a party. Besides, where else was anyone going to find this sort of party? At a straight club? Puh-lease. Both floors of the establishment had their purposes, their points. And both had regulars who just didn't much bother with the other floor, whichever one it was.

"Security is here in case some beligerent assholes make it in past the name and the neon and try to start shit. Or if someone gets way too forward with their flirting with an uninterested partner. Someone starts yelling, throwing a fit, or generally just seems like they're trying to flee from someone... and security steps in."

And for the truly unfortunate, especially repeat offenders, sometimes the tiger himself stepped in.

...Sometimes, just sometimes, repeat trouble-makers mysteriously never showed their faces again.

A hell of a thing, wasn't it?

"We've had one fight break out in the nearly seven months we've been open, and it lasted about three seconds. A pretty good record for any establishment, of any flavor, I think."

[tevinteraltus]

"Specifically sweaty glitter. There's something slightly off-putting about that." But there's a smirk on his lips that belies his amusement.

He nods, duly impressed. "Certainly impressive. I know of at least one tavern back home that hosts a bar fight nightly."

He casts his gaze around the establishment again, taking it in as though for the first time, and smiling appreciatively.

"I believe I could get comfortable, here, at least on occasion."