Misspent Youth: The Celestial Finale, plus some notes

Yesterday was the very last session of our Misspent Youth game. I'd wax poetic about how awesome this game is, but honestly I've done it before and I'm pressed for time. So here we go!

Authority Figures:

• Tezcatlipoca, ruler of the Smoking Mirror planet. 
• Valkyries, the agender space cops.
• Queztalcoatl, the feathered serpent god.
• Xipetotec, the god of the harvest and flaying.
• Theo, the compromised but still on the god's side fitness instructor

Friendship Questions:

• Kshanti asked Alaska: "What do you need that you're running out of?" Her answer: "Approval."
• Alaska asked Yasha: "Why don't you talk to me anymore?" Her answer: "You've become kind of like our de facto leader and I don't know how to feel about that."
• Yasha asked Jacqui: "What are you planning to do with that hallucinogenic water you saved?" Her answer: "Use it to create art without killing anyone."
• Jacqui asked Eli: "Why are you trying to repair the off-world communicator?" Their answer: "Um, Theo."
• Eli asked Kshanti: "What did you smuggle?" Her answer: "A ghost."

Scene One: What's Up

Yasha's player sets us up and chooses Alaska's question to Yasha (about leadership). 

The YOs are in Bruce (their special tank), just kind of tooling around, trying to figure out what to do next. They're approaching a land mass, and need to make a decision about whether to avoid it or explore it. Yasha and Jacqui argue for exploration, and the others agree (they also note that Tezcatlipoca stiffed them on what he was going to pay them for killing Morpheus). 

The tank goes over a rise and starts sliding on the obsidian toward a lake - like a real lake, with water! The YOs try to right it; Jacqui stands up and wins on Eli's Wrathful Conviction, shoves the gearshift, and spins the tank so it winds up beside the lake. The YOs see a path leading out into an island in the middle of the lake, and Alaska advises they investigate. 

Kickoff: This episode is about leadership. 

Scene Two: Fighting Back

Alaska's player sets us up, and chooses the question from Kshanti to Alaska, about approval. 

The YOs take the path across the lake to the island; Alaska tries to direct them, but they wind up just walking as they will. In the island, they find a divot and a nest of sparkly, heavy eggs. As they handle them, a gigantic serpent rises out of the water. Yasha slashes at it with her sword, and Alaska stands up (Thrills) and tries to talk the snake down, starting to change into the snake as she does so. Jacqui stands up and wins on Alaska's Conviction, and holds the eggs over the water in a threatening manner. The snake backs down, and the YOs retreat, with the eggs.

First Beat: Discovery (serpent eggs). Question: Will Alaska get us killed?

Scene Three: Heating Up

Kshanti's player sets us up, and chooses Theo. 

The YOs are back on Bruce. They set up an incubator for the eggs by the engine, and then get out to discuss their next move. When they do, there's Theo!

Well, he's not really here; he's a hologram being beamed from Bardo. He tries to talk Eli into coming back with him; yes, they'll wind up being a meatsuit eventually, but not for a while. Eli considers it - they're not exactly happy here. Theo also notes that the gods are looking for them (they killed Morpheus, after all), and notes that some gods want them to kill other gods, others want them as meatsuits, and others just want them dead. Yasha expresses interest in being god-assassins, but that isn't something Theo can arrange. He starts to dissipate, and Kshanti grabs his Mojo and tries to absorb it. The YOs try to prevent Theo's departure, but Yasha stands up and loses, and the Mojo runs amuck. When the YOs regain vision, they've all been scattered to the winds, separated. 

Scene Four: We Won

Eli's player set this up, and chooses Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent god. 

Alaska realizes she's alone and runs, wailing, trying to find the others (she's afraid of being alone). She runs right off a cliff, but is saved by a flying feathered serpent (whom she mistakes as her snake-baby, all grown up, and Quetzalcoatl is very patient with her). He asks if she killed Morpheus, and she says she did, with her minions, so they go in search of the others. 

One by one, Quetzalcoatl finds them and asks if they're Alaska's minions (much eye-rolling happens), until they find Yasha and Quetz realizes that probably she did the real work. In any case, they try to convince Quetz to go back to the tank to get their snakes, but he wants to take them straight on to his brother Tezcatlipoca. In the end, Alaska stands up and wins on Kshanti's Helpless Conviction, and in exasperation, the feathered serpent agrees. 

Scene Five: We're Fucked

I set this up and chose Xipetotec, the god of the harvest and flaying. 

Quetz takes the YOs to his brother in his underground lair, and when they arrive, he's there talking with Xipetotec, wearing flayed human skin and waving around a knife. The brothers talk in a language that the YOs don't understand, but Eli uses their Mojo powers and realizes they're talking about sacrificing one of them (Xipetotec has his eye on Kshanti). Kshanti attacks, meaning to equalize the brothers' Mojo, and Yasha stands up and loses. She sells out Trusted to Believer, and realizes that all gods are equal. The only way to beat them is to be one. She helps Kshanti move Mojo, and their power is equalized, putting Quetz at a disadvantage. 

Second Beat: Reversal (Redistribution of Mojo)

Scene Six: Who Wins

Jacqui's player sets this up and chooses Tezcatlipoca (though he was mostly in the background for it). 

The YOs leave as Tezcatlipoca and Xipetotec fight for control. Quetzalcoatl follows them, and demands that they put his power back. He offers them his ship, and even summons it up. Kshanti, tired of bargaining with these people, attacks, trying to absorb Quetz. She stands up and sells out her Disorder (We Have Everything We Need Inside Us) to Emptiness. She destroys the feathered serpent, pulling out a golden serpent made of Mojo, and the YOs have won the episode...but this ends the game. They take his ship and get the hell off this planet.

Scene Seven: Aftermath

Yasha's player sets this up, and chooses the Valkyries for our last scene.

The YOs are in space, and their odd Mojo signature attracts the space cops. Rather than bargain, though, Eli just flips them off from the ship's windows (standing up with Wrathful). They engage in a dogfight and destroy a bunch of them, and then blast off into warp as Jacqui wins on Alaska's Thrills Conviction. 

Endgame

The YOs wind up with four Exploits to the Authority's five Systems of Control, so they lose: The Celestial Bureaucracy remains in the place. As powerful and determined as they were, they can't change the system. They're only human. 

They're final fates:

• Kshanti eventually returns to Bardo and becomes the new warden, always attempting to get Alaska back and teach her the lessons she refused to learn. 
• Eli goes back to Bardo, too, to be with Theo, and eventually winds up as the new meatsuit for Tea, Theo's sister. 
• Jacqui descends into the weird world of body modification, trying to get rid of her scars and change herself and others, and slowly becomes less than human as she changes out everything. 
• Yasha goes to work for the Bureaucracy, assassinating gods on contract, telling herself she's still rebelling, still fighting the system from within. 
• Alaska marries Yasha, stays at home with their serpent babies, happy, contented, and cut off from the struggle. She remains passionate and creative, and continues designing wonderful and glittery fashions. 

And that's all you get.

Misspent Youth: Planet Trippinballs

Yesterday was Misspent Youth, and since I've got to run Night's Black Agents in a few hours, I better get this done!

Last session is here, BTW. The characters had landed on a new planet, but we hadn't established anything about it.

First, of course, we need our Authority Figures:

• The Valkyries, a cadre of agender space cops.
• Morpheus, the god-ruler of this planet, with power of perception and dreams
• The oceans themselves! On this planet, the waters are meant to hydrate the ambrosia farms, so they're highly narcotic and hallucinogenic
• Tezcatlipoca, the Smoking Mirror, the former ruler of this planet, now in hiding
• Pythons, immense serpents roaming this planet as security

And then our Friendship Questions:

• Eli asked Jacqui: "What did Bruce (my father) say to you when he out of the car?" Jacqui: "If anything happens to me, dig under the shed at my house."
• Jacqui asked Yasha: "What did you have to leave behind on Bardo?" Yasha: "My brother. I don't talk about him."
• Yasha asked Alaska: "Why did you insist on this planet?" Alaska: "I saw something shiny in the distance. Also I like to appear decisive." 
• Alaska asked Kshanti: "Do you feel different now that you're off Bardo?" Kshanti: "Not internally, but I feel different things."
• Kshanti asked Eli: "What have you been taking your wrath out on?" Eli: "Punching a lot of bulkheads."

Scene One: What's Up

Kshanti's player set us up and chose the giant pythons. 

We open flying over the new planet, skimming down near the ocean's surface, heading towards an immense yellow obelisk. And then a huge goddamn serpent lunges up out of the water, wraps around their ship, and starts to crush it! The YOs fight back - Eli punches it, Jacqui tries to use her power to mess with its blood flow, but then Yasha stands up and loses. She sells out her MO (Righteous Fury sells out to Revenge is Best Served Cold) and turns on the ship's force field generators - which, unbeknownst to Kshanti (who designed the ship to have no weapons), work just fine to vaporize flesh. The snake dies, and the ship splashes down into the water. 

Kickoff: This episode is about survival. 

Scene Two: Fighting Back

Eli's player sets us up, and it seems natural to choose the oceans as the authority figure. The ship is leaking and every gets high as balls, seeing sounds, feeling colors, and so on. Jacqui realizes that everyone is full of paint (which is a disquieting realization), everyone sees Alaska changing into the monster snake - Yasha decides she's in love with it - and Kshanti stays quiet but all of the Unsuitables on the ship scream for her. The YOs struggle to control their minds, but they can't - Yasha stands up and loses and falls into madness. The ship eventually washes up on the shore, but by that time, the YOs are the only ones left alive, and everything else on the ship is a mural of blood. 

First Beat: Catastrophe (massacre on the ship) Question: What have we done?

Scene Three: Heating Up

I set this up, and chose Yasha's question to Alaska: "Why did you insist on this planet?" "I saw something shiny in the distance, and I like to appear decisive." 

Alaska was the only one who wasn't terribly affected by the seas (perhaps because her perceptions are always a little skewed). She kind of becomes the de facto leader, which terrifies her. The YOs walk up the black beach to a huge field of flowers (that become blood red when the YOs see them). Kshanti starts immediately pulling mojo and stuffing it into the YOs, trying to supercharge them, and YOs argue about what happened on the ship. Jacqui, in particular, is horrified (everyone was full of paint), but Alaska repeats that it's not her fault.

And then the serpent arrives! Another huge snake, drawn by Kshanti's mojo manipulation, perhaps, lunges at them. Eli punches it, and Alaska stands up and fails. The snake swallows them, and everything goes dark. 

Scene Four: We Won

Jacqui's player sets us up, and chooses Tezcatlipoca.

The YOs awaken in a dark place, covered in slime. The snake is nowhere to be found. Everything around them is made of black glass. They walk a ways, and find themselves in the presence of a huge man with black scales and smoking eye-sockets - Tezcatlipoca. 

He reveals that he used to rule this planet, until Morpheus moved in, put these damn oceans in and started growing ambrosia flowers. He wants his planet back, and that means Morpheus needs to die. He can't act directly against another god, but perhaps these folks...

The YOs agree - if they kill Morpheus, Tezcatlipoca gives them passage off this planet. Tezcat agrees, and provides Yasha with a powerful obsidian sword, Eli with glass gauntlets, and Alaska with a gun that shoots hurricanes of blue smoke. The serpent swallows them again to transport them to Morpheus palace (in the midst of the biggest ocean), but along the way, the serpent gets pretty stoned and starts slithering this way and that. The YOs work to control it, and Jacqui stands up and wins on Kshanti's Unctuous Conviction. She uses her sangromancy power to keep everything nice and smooth for the snake, and the snake deposits them on the shore of Morpheus' palace, the obelisk that Alaska saw in the distance. The YOs are ready for battle.

Scene Five: We're Fucked

Yasha's player sets this up and chooses Eli's question to Jacqui: "What did Bruce tell you when he got out of the car?" "If anything happens to me, dig under the shed."

The YOs walk towards the palace, and Bruce is there waiting for them. He and Alaska (who have some history, which is always disturbing to both Eli as Bruce's child and Yasha as Alaska's lover) start flirting. Bruce tells them they need to be careful here; Morpheus' power can make their desires turn real, but even if that happens Morpheus still controls them. Bruce is unable to tell them how he got here, though, preferring to ask leading questions using information they already know. He also starts caressing Alaska, just like she wants...and she realizes he was never that good. He's a construct, a hallucination, but it's too late. Jacqui stands up and loses, and the YOs' cover is blown. Nightmares descend from the palace to kill them, and Morpheus stands on a balcony and watches. 

Second Beat: Catastrophe - Nightmares of the palace!

Scene Six: Who Wins

Alaska's player sets this up and choose Morpheus (seems appropriate). 

The battle rages, which the YOs fighting off their own personal nightmares (Yasha fights Alaska, but with a god behind her eyes; Kshanti sees herself, but grown up; Jacqui sees the dead Unsuitables; etc.). Eli stands up and loses, but sells out Rich to Profligate. Eli uses a secret stash of mojo that they hid from everyone, and punches the ground, sending out a ripple that causes the tower to collapse. Morpheus lands in their midst, and Alaska shoots him with the gun she got from Tezcatlipoca. Morpheus is killed - the clique has won the episode. 

Scene Seven: Dust Settles

Kshanti's player sets this up and chooses her question to Eli: "How have you been venting your wrath?" "Punching bulkheads." 

Tezcatlipoca gains control of the planet, and the towers collapse. The seas recede, and all changes to black glass. The serpents come in to feast on them, and Eli punches them angrily, but it's to no avail (Jacqui stands up and loses). They get swallowed again, and when they wake up, the planet is blackened and barren. Tezcatlipoca is back in charge, and has no intention of letting them leave. They're stuck on this planet. 

Aftermath

Of course, they did win the episode, so they add a new Exploit. They find the ship, now on a barren sea bed, and fix it up, fitting it with treads. It's now a tank called Bruce. Next time, we'll see what they can do with it.

Misspent Youth: Off-Planet

Exciting session of Misspent Youth yesterday!

Meet our Authority Figures:

• Tartarus, the facility where their keep the Unsuitables. 
• Erzulie, the goddess of love and a mob boss in the City.
• Marduk, the god of the city and its ruler.
• Charybdis, the perpetual storm circling the planet.
• Argus, the many-guardian guardian of the prison facility. 

And our Friendship Questions:

• Alaska asked Kshanti: "Where did you put my weaving loom?" Kshanti answered: "I exchanged it for a funhouse mirror and you broke it."
• Jacqui asked Yasha: "Why did I see you watching Kshanti?" Yasha answered: "I'm worried she's a liability."
• Yasha asked Alaska: "Why did you want me in the first place?" Alaska answered: "I've never really thought about it."
• Eli asked Jacqui: "How often have you really used your sangromancy (though she said 'boner-mancy'?)" Jacqui answered: "Rarely, because I don't know if there are side-effects."
• Kshanti asked Eli: "Now that we're free, what part of our friendship are you glad to be free of?" Eli answered: "I can be by myself now."

Scene One: What's Up

Eli's player starts us off and chooses Erzulie. 

The YOs are apartment hunting in the City. They've got some money from Eli's dad (Eli's Rich, remember), but they're trying to find someplace that's tactical as well as affordable. Yasha, in particular, is looking to stage the resistance. 

They meet Dantor, a goblin who dresses in purple and smells sweet, and he shows them a new building. The decor is tasteful and the apartment on the top floor has a room for everyone, walls that can become transparent at a touch or change color as the owner wishes, and automatic delivery from many of the vendors in the City. The YOs are suspicious, particularly when Dantor shows them the lease and they realize how cheap it is. Dantor tells him he's not the owner, he's just the super. Erzulie owns the building and a few like it. 

The YOs' Struggle here is to avoid signing the lease, but Alaska stands up and loses, and she's the one who really wants to live here. The YOs sign the lease and move in, and we have our kickoff.

Kickoff: This episode is about security. 

Scene Two: Fighting Back

I set this up and chose Jacqui's question to Yasha about watching Kshanti. 

We fast forward a month. Everyone's been living their own way in the apartment. Eli's been spending a lot of time alone (the joke is that they think about Theo. A lot). Kshanti meditates, Yasha buys military grade gear, and Alaska uses the pool after dark when the people who live downstairs ("ugh, poor people") aren't allowed up anymore. Jacqui is the only one who makes a point of going outside, and refuses to use the delivery service, not wanting her purchases tracked. 

Yasha notes Kshanti in her room, walls still bare, meditating, and talks with her about life and what she's doing. Kshanti responds with a koan on the nature of space, that outer space vs. the space here really isn't different. Alaska and Jacqui join this conversation, and Alaska reveals that she's been lonely as her friends have been separated, even as they've been close together. Eli joins them as well, and Jacqui convinces Eli to go out to get coffee. 

As they do, though, they see guards from the prison facility at the coffee shop, and the others in the apartment realize that those guards are going door to door. Eli and Jacqui duck into a fabric-seller's stand at the bazaar to hide, but the YOs in the apartment have a problem. Alaska tries to get angry and change her form, but she can't do it. Eli tries to send the others a message, but it comes through garbled and faint. Alaska and Yasha try to disguise themselves via mundane means, but Kshanti just opens the door when the guards knock. Eli stands up and loses.

Erzulie herself appears and bewitches the guards; they leave in a stupor. Erzulie tells her tenants that she's not interested in losing them (that's lost rent, after all), and she's happy to help protect them from the facility. At what cost? Nothing specific. Just enjoy the apartment. She gives them necklaces with a single seed in a pouch, and tells them to bite down on the seed if they need her. 

Beat: Discovery - Erzulie is on the YOs side Question: What does Erzulie want?

Scene Three: Heating Up

Jacqui's players sets this up and chooses Kshanti's question to Eli about friendship. Back at the fabric seller's, Eli and Jacqui talk about isolation and why Eli is cutting themself off. Eli states that it's just nice to have the option to be alone. They head back to the apartment and talk about what happened, and realize that their powers don't seem to be working right. They decide to get out of the city for a while, and head to visit Bruce, Eli's father, out in the country. They take an Orbu out of the City, but realize they're being followed. 

They convince their Orbu driver to take some evasive maneuvers, and Kshanti stands up and wins on Jacqui's Sneaky Conviction. The Orbu driver, on Kshanti's instruction, dives into a tunnel beneath the roads, and from below they see the cars following them are marked with Erzulie's sigil. 

Scene Four: We Won

Yasha's player sets this up, and chooses Marduk, the god of the City. 

The YOs arrive at the farm to discover that Bruce has company already - four servants of Marduk. He tells the YOs to wait outside while he finishes his business. Eli and Alaska lay on the grass and talk; Alaska is lonelier than anyone realized. Eli, too, misses the facility; sure, it's nice to be free, but they miss the routine and the understood expectations. 

Kshanti, of course, wants to know what's going on, so sneaks up to eavesdrop. After almost being made by Eli's cat, Admiral Fuzzbottom, the YOs win when Jacqui stands up and wins on Kshanti's MO (If You're Gonna Do Wrong, Buddy, Do Wrong Right). One of the Marduk-servants opens a window and Kshanti, hiding, learns that Marduk is vying for power against Erzulie, who is stockpiling Mojo. 

Scene Five: We're Fucked

Alaska's player sets this up, and chooses Charybdis, the eternal storm. 

The YOs talk with Bruce, and learn that every 550 years or so, the storm descends to the planet's surface, scouring everything and destroying it. Only facilities or cities with lots of Mojo to spare that can generate force fields can wait it out. Maybe gods could survive on their own, but certainly not the YOs. 

Everyone has dinner and the YOs talk about their plans. Kshanti is pretty adamant to get off-planet, perhaps by gorging herself on Mojo and becoming all-powerful. The others are less certain of this, and Yasha, in particular, wonders what becomes of the other prisoners if the YOs just leave. The YOs talk about other options - could they turn one god against another? Could they exploit their connection with Billy or Theo? As they talk, Jacqui notices she's getting sleepy - they've been drugged. She tries to control her blood's response to the poison, but Bruce hits a button on his wrist-device and pulls their Mojo toward him, disrupting their powers. Kshanti stands up and loses, but sells out her MO to Sacrifice to win the scene. She takes control of the Mojo, rips it out of Bruce, and divides it up into the YOs. But the guards are already on their way. The YOs load Bruce (and the cat) into a car and take off, heading for Tartarus, which they believes holds the refinery for Mojo.

Beat: Reversal - Bruce betrays the clique

Scene Six: Who Wins

Kshanti's player starts us off and chooses Tartarus. The YOs head for Tartarus, with the Argus-troops in pursuit. They arrive at the pit, and that's all it is: A giant circle of nothing. They get out of the car and look in, but can see nothing. Kshanti, predictably, jumps in. 

Eli's not interested in following this insanity through, but the others trust in Kshanti, so Eli gets back in the car to draw off the troops. Bruce wakes up and Eli growls at him a bit, but Bruce tells Eli that all he wanted was for Eli to be safe, and the clique was talking crazy. At least at the facility, Bruce had a chance of helping Eli avoid becoming a meat-puppet. 

Inside the pit, though, the YOs were descending. They were touched and groped by the Hundred-Handed, pulled down into the pit, and met a young man who wasn't...perfect like they were. He was Unsuitable. He told them that they were engineered, while he was born here (though Yasha noted that Kshanti was native to Bardo, and the Unsuitable man shrugged and said some people just won the genetic lottery). They mentioned Mojo, and he laughed and asked where they thought it came from? Mojo was the result of rendering people like him down to their essence. 

They continued to descend, and felt tendrils in their ears and noses, tasting them. Yasha stood up and lost, but wasn't going to let this stand, so sold out Tough to Vicious. She grabbed the tendril and bit it in the half, destroying the protective god-tech, and the YOs fell deeper into the pit, into a gigantic pool of Mojo guarded by Titans. They've won the episode. 

Scene Seven: Dust Settles

Eli's player set this up and chose Argus, the many-eyed guardian of the facility. 

Four of the five YOs have become super-infused with Mojo, making them more powerful than they've ever been. The troops arrive, but ignore Eli - they have much bigger fish to fry. The Titans grab for the YOs, but Alaska takes on the form of a Titan and fights them off. Yasha and Kshanti use their powers to form debris into a space-elevator, while Jacqui decimates the Argus-troops by making their blood pressure drop. Eli drives her car straight at the elevator, and Kshanti ascends all of them, the Unsuitables as well, off-planet as the storm descends. 

Aftermath

The YOs have escaped Bardo (so it's no longer a System of Control for them), but they have not escaped the gods. Next session, we'll see which planet they landed on. 

Misspent Youth: Preverts

Yesterday was Misspent Youth. Later today is Chill and then my son's birthday party and then I need to write and clean the house and OH GOD AAAAAAAA EGG

Ahem. Authority Figures.

• Orbu, the for-profit transportation service that takes people around Bardo (the inmates don't generally get to use it because they don't have money). 
• Tartarus, the prison that they put people found unsuitable for use as meat-suits. 
• Hugin & Munin, two god-tech ravens sent here to watch folks for the off-planet gods.
• Thoth, the god of education and wisdom, here to fill the inmates brains with what they need to know to be meat-suits.
• Vesta, the goddess of purity, here to restore virginity to those inmates who have lost it. 

And then our friendship questions:

• Kshanta asked Yasha: "Do you want to stop Billy because of your feelings for your friends or your feelings for Billy?" Yasha's response: "Those feelings aren't in conflict."
• Jacqui asked Kshanti: "Who did you contact in the Resistance when it looked like we might be Chosen?" Her response: "Hanumen, the Monkey God, imprisoned in a rock on Bardo for the last few millennia."
• Yasha asked Eli: What are you not telling us about the Mojo you supply?" Eli's response: "It's the bad stuff, the cast-off that the gods won't touch."
• Eli asked Alaska: "What happened to make you so insecure?" Alaska's response: "Ask your dad."
• Alaska asked Jacqui: "Why were you stealing my panties and scarves?" Jacqui's response: "For a textile art project about sex." 

As a side note, it's always interesting to me which of these things wind up driving most of the story. 

Scene One: What's Up

Eli's player reluctantly starts us off, and chooses Vesta, goddess of purity. We're in the Cone again, but this time it's a presentation on sex and the importance of "respecting yourself" (that is, keeping your body "unsullied" for its eventual divine usurper). Vesta is giving the lecture, but the YOs, predictably, aren't feeling it (Alaska especially). Jacqui reveals her art project - the scarves tumble down from the "roof" (on guide wires, since the Cone doesn't actually have a roof) and each ends with a pair of undies. A big banner says "DROP YOUR DRAWERS."

Vesta is, of course, displeases. She quickly susses out that there's no way someone could have done this without help from Billy, Master of Revels (whom, you'll recall, the YOs compromised last episode), and summons him up to her floating disc. She bursts into purifying fire and grabs his hand, searing him, trying to force him to talk. Alaska yells and tries to distract her while Kshanti causes a feedback loop, and then Eli's player rolls and loses. Not wanting to lose this, she sells out Bad to Perverse, loops the feedback stronger (remember Eli's Mojo-power is to control the Empathy), and Vesta winds up burning herself, looking incompetent in the process. The YOs win this scene.

Kickoff: This episode is about perversion. 

Scene Two: Fighting Back

I set us up and chose the question from Alaska to Jacqui about the missing panties (seemed a logical progression). The YOs are on the underground train back to the dorm. Alaska confronts Jacqui about her missing clothes, and while she's initially annoyed, she concedes the point that her underwear is fabulous and made the statement well. She further agrees to never wear underwear again as a matter of principle. 

The YOs notice that some of the other inmates are sniggering at them, mostly Alaska. And then the train breaks down and the lights go out, and they feel pinches and people grabbing at them. Alaska and Eli loudly confront the people doing this, while Yasha goes to the front of the train to get it started again. She finds no sign of the conductor, so she starts it up. Meanwhile, Alaska has faced off with some twerp named Chad and, becoming angry, turned into him. Eli, curious as to how deep this connection is, punches real-Chad in the face to see if Alaska feels it (she doesn't) and a brawl starts. 

The train eventually pulls into the station, and the brawl spills out on the platform. The security gods are there and tap a bell-like device that paralyzes everyone with hyper-loud sound, and then demand an explanation. Eli taps Wrathful and angrily calls out Chad and his buds, Yasha taps Trusted to back Eli up and call out the conductor (who immediately lies; he was in a back room with an inmate named Thaddeus when the train stopped), and Kshanti stands up and loses. She sells out Orphan to Helpless, and mutters, in the chaos, "there are security cameras on the train." Reviewing the footage, the conductor and Thaddeus are taken away. Alaska realizes, for the first time, how strict and unforgiving this system is. 

Beat: Discovery: Things are much stricter than they were. 

Question: How far is too far?

Scene Three: Heating Up

Jacqui's player sets us up, and chooses the question from Kshanti to Yasha about Billy and her feelings thereof. We're back at the dorm, and the YOs each have something waiting for them. Alaska has a red rose, Yasha has a bit of halva, but the others just have work orders. Kshanti starts doing her chores, but Yasha and Alaska start fighting. The crux of this seems to be that Alaska feels that she's entitled to fuck anyone she wants, but she wants Yasha to stay exclusive to her, which Yasha isn't having. The argument escalates, till Alaska grabs the entire portion of halva and eats it in one bite. 

Shortly after, her eyes start glowing and she floats off the ground. She finds herself able to change into another person entirely, not just superficially (and she does, changing into Theo and being horrified). She realizes that she is capable of using this energy to reach out into the stars, to hear the voices of the gods, to learn the truth...and she really doesn't want to. 

Eli taps Perverse to help keep her grounded, but then Jacqui stands up and loses. Alaska learns the truth. She sees what happens when someone is overtaken by a god. They are entirely annihilated, their soul and self gone and replaced by the invading god's persona. She is horrified - she never realized before exactly what the stakes were, here. "We have to stop this." (And of course, the others were responding, "yeah, that's what we've been saying".)

Scene Four: We Won

Yasha's player sets this one up and chooses Jacqui's question to Kshanti about the Monkey God. Following immediately on the previous scene, Yasha asks Kshanti if, as the resident expert on Bardo, she knows anyone outside the confines of the dorm who could help. Kshanti tells the clique about the Monkey God, but warns that his first love is himself (and chaos). They think that sounds workable, and take one of the Cerebus (remember they still have access) zipping through the tunnels to the Monkey God's domain. 

Here on the dark side of Bardo, they hear laughter from the shadows. Jacqui demands that Hanumen show himself, and he appears in a jump-scare as a zombified monkey creature. But then he brings more light and sits on the floor with the YOs, in a simple disguise as a normal man. Hanumen reveals that the stuff that Alaska ate was meant to be consumed slowly (it's a spread, after all), and eaten that way, it would make someone more susceptible for being overtaken. This makes Yasha a little uncomfortable. Hanumen agrees to send the YOs to the source of this Mojo, but asks Alaska for a kiss to trace it. While kissing, he turns into Theo, because it's funny to watch her react. (The Monkey God is something of a dick.)

But the YOs do win the struggle; Kshanti wins on Yasha's Liberation Theology Conviction. Hanumen sends them on...

Scene Five: We're Fucked

Alaska's player sets us up, and picks the question from Eli to Alaska ("ask your dad"). We wind up in the liminal space between the light and dark sides of Bardo, at a small white house near a waterfall. A man is sitting on the porch. Alaska greets him. "Hi, Bruce." Eli greets him. "Hi, Dad."

Bruce is surprised to see the YOs, but provides them dinner and talks with them about the Mojo. He says that the Mojo is brought in from off-world, and the only stuff he gets (and provides to Eli) is the stuff that isn't good enough for the gods. That implies that the Mojo could be tainted, and Jacqui, the sangromancer, gets a brilliant idea - menstrual blood would "taint" the Mojo, at least to the god's, as hung up as they are on purity. 

Bruce provides them information on when the next shipment is coming in. They sneak aboard the train taking it to the hub, where Veris, the spider-like god of bureaucracy, will divide it up. Before that, though, Eli knocks out the guards, and Jacqui wins on Eli's Perverse Conviction. The YOs bleed on/in the Mojo drams, which Veris then throws out. They save one dram, figuring that with the same amount of power that Alaska wielded, they could really kick some shit off. 

Alaska is hesitant. She knows too much already. 

Beat: Reversal (dram of mojo)

Scene Six: Who Wins 

Kshanti's player sets us up and chooses Thoth, the god of education and wisdom. The YOs are back that the dorm with their Mojo. They discuss, at first, consuming it one at a time, but then "fuck it" wins out and they divide it into fourths (Alaska, having been through this already, agrees to babysit). They go to class with Thoth as the Mojo starts to kick in.

Jacqui realizes that she has control over every platelet in the room. She could kill everyone here if she wanted to. And maybe...cause a small brain bleed, not enough to kill or harm, but enough to prevent use as a meat-suit? 

Yasha touches her stylus and it disintegrates. Her power to destroy god-teach makes her hand shake, and she's afraid to touch anything lest she destroy it...but what if her power let her reshape matter as well?

Eli feels everything...including the thoughts and feelings of the gods off-planet. Eli is connected to everyone on a level they've never considered, and tries to nudge their classmates towards rebellion. 

Kshanti, for her part, can feel the currents of Mojo everywhere, and focuses on Thoth. He knows everything. Can she access that vast knowledge? 

The YOs decide to take this public. Yasha starts shaking the room, bringing down the braziers. Jacqui stands up and yells "The time has come!" but Thoth silences her immediately. Eli stands up and loses. Chaos reigns and the revolution starts, but the YOs vanish. They reappear at Bruce's house, with Hanumen. Their powers are still unstable, and the god-like power from their Mojo consumption is fading. 

"I gave you the best source of chaos I could: Freedom. You're free! Go!" (maniacal laughter)

The YOs have lost the episode, and Eli feels the connection to Interstellar Empathy close off. If they YOs separate, if they go off-planet, they'll lose their connection to each other. The gods have sealed Bardo. 

Scene Seven: Dust Settles

Back to Eli's player, who chooses Orbu, the for-profit transportation service. The YOs decide to head in to the market (Bardo has a civilization beyond the prison, it's just that the YOs haven't really seen it). They call a driver and Bruce gives Eli some money (Eli is Rich, after all). On the way in, their driver realizes that these kids are inmates (probably something to do with that big kerfuffle at the dorm), and drops a dime on them. The consequences of that are something we'll deal with next time, perhaps, but the YOs are out of prison and ready to cause some real trouble. 

Misspent Youth Episode Three: Sellin' Out Like Whoa

Yesterday's session of Misspent Youth was brutal; the characters lost six of seven episodes on the dice, but only wound up actually losing one because they decided winning was more important than their Convictions. Let's watch.

First, our Authority Figures for the day.

• The Overseer, maintaining a list of people who needed to be punished, which the YOs could handle because of their new responsibilities with the Kennels (this really didn't get touched on at all, but hopefully it gets brought up next time). 
• Billy, the Master of Revels, a god in charge of getting the parties together and boosting morale. 
• The Four Winds, four gods coming to claim new bodies. 
• Veris, the spider-like god of inventory.
• Narcissus, a newly-appointed Prefect and member of the House of Gaga, like Alaska

And then our Friendship Questions:

• Jacqui asked Alaska: "Who did you sneak out to see the other night?" Answer: "Yasha."
• Alaska asked Eli: "Why Theo?" Answer: "Have you seen his butt?"
• Eli asked Yasha: "Who were you talking to that you don't want Alaska to know about?" Answer: "Tea, to get more ambrosia."
• Yasha asked Kshanti: "What aren't you telling us about why you're in this facility?" Answer: "I volunteered."
• Kshanti asked Jacqui: "What have you been mixing into your inks?" Answer: "Carbon dust and ambrosia."

Scene One: What's Up

Yasha's player sets the scene and chooses Billy as the Authority Figure. 

The YOs are out in the middle of nowhere on a butte doing trust falls, but because we're talking about gods, here, they're falling off the butte. Alaska, on her turn, refuses, saying that she does not, in fact, trust these people. Billy offers to fall into her arms to show trust, and flies up to the top of the butte. He falls, and Alaska deliberately lets him fall (Yasha's play wins on Alaska's Thrills Conviction), but Billy is convinced it was an accident and agrees to let the YOs come out later and blow off some steam. 

Kickoff: This episode is about trust.

Scene Two: Fighting Back

Alaska's player sets this up, and chooses Eli's question to Yasha ("Who were you talking to that you don't want Alaska to know about?"). The YOs are back in their room and Yasha, claiming to be hungry, heads to the kitchen to talk to Tea. Alaska and Kshanti follow quietly. Eli and Jacqui run interference around Theo, who's in the hallway, and Eli and Theo flirt awkwardly. 

Meanwhile, Yasha talks with Tea as the kitchen-goblins scamper around. She tries to set up some conflict between Theo and Tea and Billy, but before she can really get into it, Alaska sees her and starts yelling at her for talking to Tea. Tea pushes them all out of the kitchen, and Alaska and Yasha have a really fun argument in which Yasha explains what she's doing: Trying to manipulate Tea into giving up more ambrosia and making things rocky enough that maybe the YOs won't be used as meat puppets to the gods. Alaska eventually relents, and Kshanti notices a goblin watching them. It scampers off and the YOs chase it, realizing it'll parrot everything they just said to Tea. Alaska hits it with a shoe and nearly knocks it down, but Jacqui runs smack into Eli and the goblin escapes into a vent (the YOs lose). Tea now knows Yasha's plans.

First Beat - Complication: What will Tea do?

Scene Three: Heating Up

Kshanti's player sets us up, using the Four Winds. They've arrived early, and now the Choosing begins. The YOs and the other inmates are in the bottom of a huge upside-down cone, with all the gods (or holographic representations thereof) seated on the sides. The Winds, in their old, decrepit, used-up bodies, are on a floating disc above the crowd. Billy act as master of ceremonies. 

The Winds assume their wind form and fly down among the people. Some of the inmates are hoping to be chosen, but most, including the YOs, are terrified. The West Wind flows around them and Jacqui's scarf goes fluttering up - the Wind seems to be considering her. The Winds finally decide that they will wait to make their decision until later, and the inmates are released. 

The YOs talk amongst themselves, trying to find a way out of this. They don't want to be meat-puppets, but they don't want the others to fall to that fate, either. Maybe it would be better if, at least, someone willing was taken by the Wind? They decide that their best bet is to compromise Billy the way they did Theo. Alaska suggests using her sexuality, seducing Billy, though the thought disgusts her. 

The YOs wind up going with Billy to a forest biome, and given special gloves to punch down diseased trees. Alaska again refuses, and Billy confronts her. Alaska turns on the charm, and Kshanti sneaks up behind him and puts her fingers in his head to manipulate his Mojo...but Billy is far, far more powerful than any of them thought. The really interesting bit comes when Kshanti is plugged into Billy and being spread across the Empathy between the YOs by Eli...but Billy is aware of this, on some level, meaning that Alaska is looking at herself as Billy sees her...with the potential to be a goddess. Jacqui uses her power over blood to arouse Billy like she did Theo, so that's in the mix, too. Yasha's player rolls and fails, but sells out Optimism to Cynical. She explains the whole plan to Billy, and Billy looks at her and realizes the attraction and history between Yasha and Alaska. But that does mean the YOs win, and Kshanti can exert some control over Billy. 

Scene Four: We Won

Eli's player sets us up, and chooses Alaska's question to Eli ("Why Theo?"). 

We're back at the dorm, after dinner, and the YOs are in a hot tub (which is heated by a small sleeping salamander). They talk about the day and what they've accomplished, and about Theo and Eli's weird lust. Alaska, though, understands now, since she's seen into Billy's head and seen how powerful and grand he really is. 

They see Jacqui's scarf blow in and get caught up in a tree. Jacqui, refusing to take part in this, leaves and asks Alaska to come with her so she can paint her. Kshanti decides to go find Billy, and Eli and Yasha go with her. 

They find Billy in his ship watching everything on innumerable screens...including Alaska getting painted. They give him the scarf, and Yasha again tries to play Billy against Tea and Theo. Billy isn't really having it (he's secure in his position, as are the siblings), but he's still taken with Alaska and notes, again, that maybe if he were to take Yasha's body, Alaska would be a better consort for him. 

Back in the room, Alaska, sensing what's happening through the bond, gets up to dance. Kshanti amplifies Billy's desire, and Eli's player rolls and loses...but sells out their MO to Empathy Gatekeeper, letting Billy into their web. Billy agrees to intervene if the West Wind chooses Jacqui, and the YOs leave. 

Scene Five: We're Fucked

I set this up, choosing Jacqui's question to Alaska ("who did you sneak out to see?"). At the Choosing. Billy, again MCing, has told the YOs that three of the Winds have chosen willing inmates, and the fourth might choose Jacqui, but if it does Billy will intervene. The North Wind flows down and chooses Phyllis, and they see her eyes go white as the god claims her body. The East Wind flows down and chooses someone that the YOs don't see. The South Wind flies down and claims Satin, a young man who screams in resistance. He collapses and Jacqui runs to him, trying to force the wind out. Kshanti bolsters Satin's own Mojo to help him resist. Satin spins around as the Wind tries to pull the breath from his body, and Jacqui tosses up a handful of inks. They sparkle and illuminate the Mojo within. Meanwhile, Yasha talks to Billy, but he says he can't interfere twice - it'll be this kid or Jacqui, not both. Alaska's player stands up and fails, but sells out her MO to It's All About Me! She screams and points to Kelly, another member of the House of Gaga, and someone who wants to be a god. The South Wind relinquishes Satin and flows into Kelly, who gives a weird "thanks?" look to Alaska before she is subsumed. 

The West Wind then flows down and tries to claim Jacqui, but Billy, true to his word, intervenes. He claims that Jacqui and her friends are marked by higher gods, gods not in attendance. (Murmurs begin among the gods - "Death gods?") The West Wind chooses another inmate, and the Choosing ends. 

Second Beat - Complication: Billy protects the clique. 

Scene Six: Who Wins

Jacqui's player sets this up. She chooses Kshanti's question to Jacqui ("What have you been mixing with the inks?"). 

After dinner, the characters are back in their dorm. Billy shows up and waves everyone else out, and talks with the YOs. He revealed that by protecting the YOs, he may have marked them even worse - because they are supposedly marked by gods unknown, everyone is going to want to know why. He leaves, and the YOs talk a bit...and then they realize that they are being gassed. 

Yasha punches the door and dents it, and Eli tries to force it open. Kshanti summons one of the Cerberoi to help, but it sniffs as though distracted. Alaska stands up and loses, but sells out Cool to Trendy. She jams the door open with a high heel, and the YOs win the episode. They follow the Cerberoi as it runs away towards what it was sniffing, and they find a tray of treats outside the cafeteria. Tea, apparently, tried to gas them, but for what purpose they don't know. 

Scene Seven: Aftermath

Yasha's player sets this scene up, and chooses Veris, the spider-like god of inventory. 

Veris appears as the YOs vent their anger at the cafeteria doors. Veris frisks Yasha for mouthing off to him, and then notes that the sparkly ink that Jacqui threw earlier was laced with ambrosia, which the YOs shouldn't have access to. They take the opportunity to cast aspersions on Tea (making it seem like her security is lax). Jacqui stands up and loses, but sells out Pride to Arrogant, and trash-talks Tea, saying that she tried to gas them. Veris agrees to look into this, and the YOs have driven a wedge between Veris and Tea. They've also added Billy as an Exploit, since he's compromised. 

Misspent Yutes, Episode Two

What is "yute?"

Anyway! Last session is here, this session below!

Authority Figures:

• The Kennel Master, who controls the Cereboi
• Charybdis, the Ongoing Storm, that disrupts communications not sanctioned by the gods
• ArachneTech Clothing, a clothing manufacturer that makes all the YOs uniforms, run by an incestuous brother and sister
• Tea, Theo's brother, the cafeteria monitor and nutritionist
• Quan Yin, the god-like force that surrounds Bardo and "helps" the YOs come to terms with their crimes

Friendship Questions:

• Khsanti asks Alaska: "How do you feel about me being so young?" Answer: "It worries me but I'll never let on."
• Alaska asks Yasha: "What happened when you were brought here?" Answer: "I was brought in fighting and kicking, and thrown on the floor; Kshanti came to comfort me and tend my injuries."
• Yasha asks Jacqui: "Where were you when I was brought in?" Answer: "In solitary for drawing sigils all over my room."
• Jacqui asks Eli: "Who did I overhear you have a crush on?" Answer: "Theo."
• Eli asks Kshanti: "What secret of yours did I discover?" Answer: "There was a piece of my birthright in my mother's knife."

Scene One: What's Up 

Eli's player handles this one. She chooses the Kennel Master. 

We start off the day after the last session, after morning working. The YOs notice that the Kennel Master is nearby on a floating chariot, and two more Cereboi are swooping through the air. They realize they're looking for the one that the YOs destroyed last time. Figuring that letting the Kennel Master actually find the black box would be bad, they set out to distract him. 

Yasha approaches the Kennel Master and talks with him; they met once at a party that Odin threw (events of which led to Yasha coming to Bardo). The Kennel Master remembers her, and they chat amiably enough for a moment. 

Meanwhile, Kshanti climbs up a hill and tries to seize control of a Cerebus with her new Mojo powers. It stops, but the gears start to grind; her control is still imperfect. Alaska and Jacqui sneak into the barn where they destroyed the other Cerebus and try to find the recording device, but despite Alaska nearly electrocuting herself reaching into the now-sparking parts, their efforts are in vain. Yasha's player rolls and fails, and the Kennel Master recognizes the distraction. A Cerebus smashes through the wall ("OH YEAH!") and catches Alaska and Jacqui red-handed. The YOs also note that bits of their outfits get warm...an ArachneTech feature they didn't know about.

Kickoff: This episode is about being punished.

Scene Two: Fighting Back

I set this up. I chose Yasha's question to Jacqui about being in solitary. 

And, indeed, the YOs are in solitary. Kshanti is meditating. Alaska is a little panicky; she hates being alone. Yasha is pissed, and Jacqui pulls out her paints; she knows the drills. Eli, though, isn't there; they didn't do anything to break the rules last scene. Eli, therefore, wanders out to the free-standing solitary building and sneaks in. They use their Mojo power to knock out the guards...meanwhile, though, the other YOs can review footage of what they did and get computerized voices asking them to contemplate. That footage was from shoulder-level cameras sewn into their collars. Are they to have no privacy? Needless to say they aren't much interested in their rehab. 

Alaska strips off her clothes, stomps on them screaming "VAGINA VAGINA, ME ME ME" and then shorts a wire, setting the clothes ablaze (and her player rolls and wins on Eli's Disorder We Are All Created Equal). The YOs are released from solitary as the building is evacuated, and they start heading back to the main building. 

Beat: Reversal (getting released) Question: What can the YOs get away with?

Scene Three: Heating Up

Jacqui's player set this up, and chose ArachneTeach. We pick up back at the main building, in Alaska's room. Jacqui asks Alaska for help accessorizing, preferably to block out the camera's feed a bit. Alaska, not surprisingly, is all about this, and the YOs get to work on fixing their clothes. They decide not only to screw with the cameras, but to use their Mojo powers to muck with the footage and frame the Kennel Master for their crimes, making him look complicit or like he was framing them. Yasha's player rolls and wins on Alaska's Disorder (Wants to be Loved), and they footage is altered. 

Scene Four: We Won

Yasha's player set this up, and chose Quan Yin.

The framing took, so now the YOs get the participate in a trial for the Kennel Master. They each give testimony (standing on nifty light-up platforms) while Quan Yin, or rather, a three-story hologram thereof, runs the show. The Kennel Master, naturally, tells the truth, and everyone enters a kind of dreamscape/trial by fire sort of thing. Dogs charge at them (hologram dogs), but they dismantle that illusion and reveal it to be fake. Yasha's player rolls and wins on Kshanti's MO (If You're Gonna Do Wrong, Buddy, Do Wrong Right) and the YOs convince Quan Yin that Kennel Master lied and framed them. He is taken away, and the YOs are returned to their dorm via nifty pneumatic tubes.

Scene Five: We're Fucked

Alaska's player set this up, and chose Tea, the nutritionist.

The YOs wind up back at the dorm after dinner, so they go to the cafe in time for a plate of flax seeds an unsweet honey...yuck. Tea's nutritional program is meant to keep the husks supple and beautiful until such time as they're needed for a god. The YOs, Alaska especially, are having none of it - Alaska wants chocolate. It comes out (well, Jacqui gleefully reveals) that Eli has a big crush on Theo, which horrifies and disgusts Alaska in particular, but Eli points out that as a member of the House of Stone, they appreciate finely sculpted bods.

This is all very well, but it gets the YOs no closer to chocolate. In keeping with the episode's question, they decide that Eli will distract Tea and the others will sneak into the kitchen and steal ambrosia, the food of the gods. Eli chats with Tea about her brother and a potential intense exercise program, while the others creep into the kitchen and try to fast-talk the kitchen gnomes working there. Kshanti rolls and fails, but sells out Altruism to Unctuous, and shorts out the gnomes with her Mojo powers. The YOs steal some ambrosia and sneak back to the rooms. The stuff takes the form of the food they want, and enhances their powers temporarily - Jacqui finds she can manipulate her blood and create bruise-art, for instance.

The next day, the YOs are taken out to the kennels. The skeletal dogs are there, but they're sad and listless. Jacqui forms some of the ambrosia into biscuits, but they just kind of sniff at them.

Beat: Discovery (the Cereboi love their master)

Scene Six: Who Wins

Kshanti's player sets this up, and chooses the question between her and Eli about the birthright.

They're at the kennels, and Kshanti mentally contacts Quan Yin, revealing the YO's presence, their magic, and Kshanti's regret at lying. Eli, however, with their particular master of Empathy, shuts that down, and calls Kshanti out on nearly getting them pinched. They argue about this a bit, and they start manipulating Mojo again (I'll be honest, I'm having trouble remembering the stakes in this scene, which is weird). They wind up losing, but Eli sells out Outrage to Wrathful and win - their powers stay secret and Quan Yin appoints them to help care for the dogs in the Kennel Master's absence.

Scene Seven: Dust Settles

Back around to Eli's player, and she chooses her question to from Jacqui about the crush on Theo.

It's pool day, and the YOs are in the swimming pool, nekkid, getting their laps on. The pool is huge and bottomless, and the strange creatures lurk beneath. Theo is there, as well, helping facilitate swimming exercise, which everyone but Eli just finds really funny.

Jacqui decides that because she manipulate blood, it might be amusing to make Theo, erm, a bit tumescent in places. Gods aren't supposed to fraternize with people (though of course it happens), and certainly not with inmates. Eli asks for help getting the stroke right, and Jacqui starts activating her sangromancy. Alaska's player rolls and wins on Pride, so Theo gets a bit too into it, then swims away awkwardly and heads for the showers.

Aftermath

The YOs have won the episode, and they choose Theo as their new Exploit (he's compromised, and they can use that).

Misspent Youth: Celestial Bureaucracy - Episode 1

Yesterday we played our firs session of Misspent Youth. Characters and setup are here if you need a refresher.

Let's do this.

We start off, of course, with some Authority Figures for the episode:

• The Comptrollers, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. They determine how long prisoners stay on Bardo and when they've burned off their Mojo.
• Supply chains. Everything on Bardo is tightly controlled. Food and supplies are brought in from off planet, keeping everyone hungry. 
• Julio, the characters' advocate. He's got the head of a crocodile. Prisoners on Bardo have "case workers" who advocate for them, but they're really not on the prisoners' sides. 
• Cerberus, one of three giant, blobby, smoke-creatures that fly around the planet and attack people, to keep them terrorized and weak. 
• Theo, the fitness instructor. Remember that all the skin-suits need to be kept fit and healthy. Theo works with them to make sure of that. 

And then we have some Friendship Questions:

• Jacqui asks Alaska: "Whose picture is under your mattress?" Her answer: "Mine, of course."
• Alaska asks Yasha: "How uncomfortable were you when I stopped sleeping with you?" Her answer: "Very, but we've got a revolution to plan."
• Yasha asks Kshanti: "What annoys you most about me?" Her answer: "Your belief that you can make things better."
• Kshanti asks Eli: "What do you have in your pocket?" Their answer: "Your mother's knife."
• Eli asks Jacqui: "What did you give me for your first hit of Mojo?" Her answer: A sigil drawn as soon as the Mojo kicked in. 

Scene One: What's Up 

Alaska's player starts us off, and chooses Theo. We're in the gym, and Theo is mercilessly working the YOs. They talk telepathically (remember that they can do that), and they fantasize about humiliating Theo and getting away from this. They gripe about how they aren't allowed to do what they want with their bodies, and finally Alaska starts complaining out loud. Theo responds by intensifying the workout, and Jacqui starts a chant: "Let! Us! Stop!" Theo tells them that they'll just be here all day, and locks the doors, but Kshanti hacks the console of the machine she's on and unlocks them. Eli, for their part, drops weights on Theo's foot (accidentally but not really), but Theo, eyes now glowing, is not phased. Yasha tries to join the chant, to keep it going, but chokes and freezes up. The YOs lose, and the spend the day getting mercilessly exercised. 

Kickoff: This episode is about body sovereignty.

Scene Two: Fighting Back

Yasha's player sets us up, and chooses her question to Kshanti ("what annoys you most about me?"). The YOs are back in their dorms, about to get shipped off for their periodic beautification (this includes plastic surgery, though they can't ever seem to remove Jacqui's face birthmark). They talk about how the gods can go get fucked rather than control their bodies, and decide to give each other tattoos...using Mojo, so the tattoos are extra special. Eli supplies the tattoos. Jacqui gets one on her forearm, Yasha on her back, Kshanti on her chest, Eli on their bald head, and Alaska on her face. 

And then they're taken off to the hospital, and Eli is the first into the grinder. The staff at the hospital decide to remove the tattoos, and eventually wind up doing it; they use Mojo and an acid bath to strip it away. 

Beat: Reversal (losing the tattoos). Question: What is bodily sovereignty worth? 

Scene Three: Heating Up

Kshanti's player starts this scene, and chooses Julio, the YO's advocate. Julio arrives at the hospital and tells them that they're likely to get a bunch more time added to their sentences, but they could get their sentences reduced if they reveal where they go the Mojo. The YOs solidly refuse unless Julio sweetens the deal, and Julio tells them he'll try and renegotiate (the YOs, of course, have no intention of selling out Eli, but then, Julio probably has no intention of helping them get their sentences reduced). Kshanti says that this didn't work because they just got tattoos, and Jacqui says they need to go deeper: Ritual scarification. They should steal some drugs from the hospital, go on vision quests, and carve the symbols deep into their flesh. Everyone agrees, and Jacqui goes sneaking into a supply closet to steal drugs. Julio comes back looking for her, but Alaska preens and Yasha confronts him, and the YOs win on Jacqui's Sneaky Conviction. 

Scene Four: We Won

Eli's player kicks us off, choosing Kshanti's question to Eli (about the knife). It's the next day, and the YOs have had their vision questions. With their sigils in mind, they steal out to an abandoned barn after their (very painful) morning workout, and get to work. Eli pulls out the knife, and Kshanti recognizes it as her mother's - but her mother is Kali, the goddess (she says). Eli says it's a long story about how she got it, and they agree to have that conversation another time. Jacqui starts carving and Eli rubs the wounds with ink. 

They carve up Alaska's face, and then Yasha's fist. Yasha goes outside and sees the sky growing dark - something's coming. Is it a Cerberus, or just a passing ship? Inside, Kshanti carves a sigil into Eli's head, and uses the sigil that Jacqui drew for Eli some time back...which Kshanti has never seen. Kshanti's player rolls and loses, but sells out Smart to Pedantic. Kshanti, explaining the significance of the knife and the sigil, cuts Eli deep, but all the YOs get their scars. 

Scene Five: We're Fucked

My turn. I chose Cerberus, obviously. The smoke cloud envelops the barn, and the YOs feel their new wounds start to burn. The Cerberus itself - a skeletal wolf-creature - pounces at Yasha, who punches it, knocking it into the building and making it flash with light. It attacks Eli, who focuses and brings down the pain and the voices in their heads to make them all able to concentrate. The creature leaps down, mouth open, but Jacqui's player rolls and loses. She sells out Fast to Efficient, and flings the rest of the Mojo-laced ink at the wolf. It splashes over the creature, trapping it in a net. The sky lightens again; the YOs have escaped noticed. 

Beat: Discovery (the scars have empowered us)

Scene Six: Who Wins

Jacqui's player sets this up, and chooses Eli's question to Jacqui (about the sigil). The YOs experiment with their powers. They realize that Yasha punched a god-tech monster and damaged it, which is impossible. Jacqui concentrates on the blood streaming from Eli's head and makes it retract - sangromancy! Eli has greater control over the Empathy, letting Eli calm it down and focus it. Kshanti sits by the trapped wolf-monster and tries to manipulate the Mojo, but cannot control it. The wolf's gears strip and it falls apart. The mutations are unstable. 

The YOs lose this one. The Authority gains a new System of Control.

Scene Seven: Dust Settles

Alaska's player sets this up, choosing Jacqui's question to her (about the picture). They're at breakfast the next day, carved up and wounded, but the guards don't seem to be bugging them much. Alaska has her picture with her, and sees Theo...and then changes into him. She's pissed at him, and that seems to spawn her magic. Eli tries to calm him, but that just cements it more. Jacqui shows Alaska her picture, trying to spawn her to get back to her own face, but that doesn't seem to help. Eli focuses more, using their new power, trying to get Alaska's head in the right place (and wins on Eli's Mojo Provider Conviction). Alaska changes into herself, and the YOs get shuffled out for morning workout. 

Aftermath

The Authority doesn't seem to mind about the character's wounds. Indeed, they're doing some Mojo research of their own. I added Mojo Manipulation as a System of Control. 

Misspent Youth: The Celestial Bureaucracy

Yesterday the group that was playing Nobilis met to figure out a new game. We decided to do our Spark-inspired method of choosing a game.

• Megan chose Star Wars: The Force Awakens (but really the franchise in general) because she wanted something in SPAAAAAACE.
• Gus chose the Lucifer TV show because of the discussions on Divinity. 
• Melissa chose Men Explain Things to Me by Rebecca Solnit; she liked the clear ethical argument and position it takes.
• Michelle chose Kubo & The Two Strings for its elements of storytelling and how storytelling is power and resolution.
• I picked the music of Devil Makes Three; I like the dark themes but the light expression. 
• Travis chose the Dark Matter TV show; he likes how it's got elements of hard sci-fi but is ultimately about the characters.

With all of that in mind, we discuss a few options. We came close to playing In Flames, but it seemed a little darker than we wanted to go, so we opted instead for Misspent Youth. 

Now, I ran a game of Misspent Youth some time ago, as you might have heard. I really like this game and I'm happy to be playing it again with a different group of people (mostly; Michelle played in the last one). 

We set to work defining our Authority. The players decided that the gods are real - most or all of the gods of human pantheons were real, but actually alien intelligences, and they've been using humanity as skin-suits for eons. Turns out human bodies are actually pretty resilient, and while gods are powerful, they need those skin-suits to really thrive. Gods need a substance they call Quintessence (but the YOs just call Mojo) to survive and empower themselves - if a human ingests Mojo, they become similarly empowered and cannot be possessed. 

The overarching body of gods is the Celestial Bureaucracy. When humanity got off of Earth and ascended to the stars, the gods scoured the Earth of all life. Now, humanity is a scattered race, and the ones that offend the gods get imprisoned on a world called Bardo. Which is where this is all gonna start. 

The gods have some Systems of Control at their disposal:

• They limit access to Quintessence. Humanity can't really fight back without it. 
• They tailor humanity's genetics; they want their skinsuits pretty, fit, and healthy.
• They divide themselves into Houses. A god of a given House needs a particular kind of human to possess. This also gives humans (who are naturally tribal) something to fight over, which keeps them busy. 
• They have planet-destroying nano-tech, which is how they razed the Earth. 
• And, of course, they maintain a prison-world called Bardo, where they keep dissidents and let them burn off Mojo. 

The Youthful Offenders are all stranded on Bardo. They have one Exploit they can use: They've all used Mojo and can therefore communicate with each other in real time regardless of distance (this is called Interstellar Mojo Empathy). Human beings generally can display empathy, which is alien to the gods. 

And now, the YOs.

• Gus is playing Eli, the non-binary felonious monk. Eli provides Mojo to the others (no word yet where they get it). Their Disorder is "We Are All Created Equal." They're a member of the House of Stone.
• Michelle is playing Jaquard (or Jaqui), the sigil graffiti artist. She sees herself as a spiritual alarm clock, waking people up to the shit they're in. Her Disorder is "Listen to Me." She's from the House of Wings and Wind.
• Megan is playing Yasha, the reluctant god-slayer. She's kind of Buffy-like, tapped for greatness and violence. Her Disorder is "Liberation Theology." She belongs to the House of the Hollow Crown.
• Travis is playing Ksanti Unvicious, the punk rock bodhisattva. Ksanti was born on Bardo, and she's the youngest of the YOs at 12. Her Disorder is "We have everything we need in us already." She's a member of the House of Hungry Ghosts. 
• Melissa is playing Alaska, the underestimated slut. Alaska is a light-bringer, showing the world uncomfortable truth and beauty. Her Disorder is that she "wants to be loved." She belongs to the House of Gaga. 

That's what we've got so far. Very much looking forward to seeing this world evolve.