Cheekier Mogstock Respects Nightlife Culture

The fifth annual Mogstock is over. Quiet calm has come back to the Lavender Beds. But this year was different from most. While many, such as this reporter, were drawn to the venues like Dueling Otters or Shroudrose Teahouse, after the restaurants closed and the last encore rang out each night, there were other things the summer fair had to offer. In itself, afterparties aren't new, they're engrained in Mogstock culture, but these afterparties had a little extra something. A little spice, a little wink, a little skin.

On Earthsday evening, scantily-clad participants engaged in Mogstock Match-Up, with some truly steamy answers to the questions in the matchmaking game show. Lightsday saw a cabaret performance of a high-concept narrative suited to my personal Alexandrian sensibilities that left blood unsure where to rush - up or down. These bits of spice and cheek were an intentional move as part of Mogstock's rededication to nightlife.

"Nightlife is part of Eorzea, no?" event organizer Braely Fiala told the Courier before the events. "So we're doing a disservice by pretending like we're too pure for that nonsense, when we're not. We can have some cheeky fun and they can be sponsors, too."

And that new cheekiness was appreciated by both new, 'cheekier' venues like Risque and Afterglow, but Mogstock's longtime friends at the Bandee Pakshee as well. Pakshee, which has supported Mogstock directly for three of its five years and has become synonymous with Maggie's Manor during the festivities appreciated it was well. Pakshee, a venue operated in Ishgard and Ul'dah, is based on the Hannish custom of tawaifs - cultural experts, artists, courtesans, and advisors all rolled into one. 

"Given the history that some festivals have with nightlife and after-hours businesses like ours, it's a refreshing change to actually be welcomed and acknowledged by the crew with Mogstock," said Bandee Pakshee manager Zana Ahkabila. "Being able to bring some Pakshee spice and our beautiful songbirds to Mogstock and be embraced and welcomed is an awesome feeling, one we wish we could get elsewhere, too."

There is a trend that waxes and wanes of puritanical attitudes toward nightlife entertainers. It's something all three adult services venues have had to contend with. Even when a venue is perfectly able to keep a separation between their day and night operations. At Mogstock, none of the adult venues engaged in any untoward activities, such was the understanding they had operating at a public music festival. Pakshee in particular is well-known for its all-audiences events. 

But getting to let their hair down a little? That was a relief for venues that often get turned away on sight for daring to be part of a lawful, valuable, and vital part of what nightlife provides not just Eorzea, but all of Etheirys. It's a relief for venues treated like just because part of their identity is unsuitable for the young, they are unable to function in public spheres altogether.