The Vanilla Club

The Vanilla Club is an oft-debated social destination on FurryMUCK. A converted manor house on the east side of southern Furry Avenue, it can be reached either with the global teleport destination of 'tport vanilla' or by walking a short distance south along Furry Avenue from the West Corner of The Park. It is, in fact, almost adjacent to FurryMUCK's main bank, and is just one room south from the entrance to there. The club was created on Friday, January 16th, 2004 and opened to the public ten days later on Monday, January 26th. It operates to this current day.

The primary focus of the ongoing debate and controversy surrounding the club is its policies on gender. The rules of the club require guests to be either male or female before entry is permitted...hermaphrodites, shemales, and other genders are not allowed inside. A section of the club's history, accessed via the command 'look herm' while in the club's entry foyer, attempts to explain some of this policy, and also mentions a specific challenge to the club's legitimacy, apparently overruled by the Wizards. This is the first known time such a gender-exclusive public establishment has been opened and operated on FurryMUCK, which normally operates as an open and non-exclusive community with the exception of private, moderated, and agelocked areas. As a result, much debate, controversy, and opinions surround the club, and readers of this article as well as potential visitors to FurryMUCK and the Vanilla Club should attempt to separate opinions from facts regarding its status, as the issue is often and easily muddied by highly vocal participants on both (all) sides of the issue.

The club's original creator, D'anna, currently owns and operates the establishment, though she credits help with both its conception and construction to a myriad of other individuals, all of whom she mentions on a continuously-updated credits plaque in the main lounge. That plaque is only one of many other plaques and various looktraps that can be viewed throughout the club, the entire place being heavy with detail and various bits of code. For example, there is a series of plaques about roleplaying and powergaming.

The layout of the club is two-storied, with the ground floor being primarily for the guests and the second floor being taken up with D'anna's private residence and a few other rooms. The exit to and from the second floor is concealed and not readily accessible, but all of the ground-floor rooms can be entered freely unless a guest has them locked from the inside.

These additional ground-floor rooms include four elemental-themed rooms designed for sexual activity as well as an exhibition room with its accompanying voyeur room. Code in place within the exhibition and voyeur rooms permits occupants of the voyeur room to look at the descriptions and watch the activities of occupants within the exhibition room without being seen themselves. D'anna's office also occupies the ground floor, sharing a hallway with the elemental and voyeur/exhibition rooms.