Arana and Spider-Man 2099 by Alex Segura review

    ARANA AND SPIDER-MAN 2099: DARK TOMORROW is something that has been on my TBR list for some time because I am a huge fan of Spider-Girl (which is not her codename but everyone calls her even in-universe). I am also a big fan of Miguel O’Hara even before he was made famous with SPIDER-MAN: BEYOND THE SPIDER-VERSE. So having two of my favorite slightly-obscure Spider-People do a collaboration together was something that I was all in on. I also decided to get the audiobook because I feel like comic book books are best consumed in audible form. Why? Because that’s how I feel about my own superhero books.

    The premise is that teenage Puerto Rican New Yorker, Anya Corazon, is living her normal life when she is invested with the power of the Spider Society by Miguel Legar. Trying to be a spider-heroine, Anya ends up finding herself way over her head very quickly. Anya manages to fight villains like Stegron (AKA a stegasaurous man who is like the Lizard but without the pathos) but is totally overwhelmed when she meets Nineties Clone Saga villain Judas Traveller. Judas is portrayed as something other than a joke and sends her flying through time into the far future of 2099. From there, Anya has to try to find her way back to the past as well as deal with Miguel O’Hara’s depression.

    This book seems like it was made for me because I was actually a Spider-Man fan from the time I was four years old until the Clone Saga briefly broke up my relationship with Peter Parker like a deal with Mephisto. There’s a huge amount of in-jokes, references, Easter Eggs, and usage of characters that have largely been forgotten by the comics. I already mentioned Stegron and Judas Traveller but there’s also the Sisterhood of the Wasp, Demogoblin, and even the Cult of the Scrier. These things are mostly throwaway characters and explained well-enough in the book but it’s still a treat if you recognize any of them.

    There’s also a bit of humor from the fact that the book “redeems” Judas Traveller. Judas was a character that was wildly overpowered and poorly written during most of the Clone Saga to the point he was considered an embarrassment by Marvel. He was retconned from being an all-powerful Doctor Strange-esque sorcerer to being a mutant illusionist. The book uses the latter origin but portrays him as the genius and archvillain he was initially done as. He can also time travel, try to resurrect vampire gods, and ham it up with the best of them. Spider-Man has plenty of villains to spare and his D-listers can shine against poor Arana.

    If I had any problems with the book, it is the fact that it goes a bit overboard with the references (and that’s me saying this). Judas Traveler is welcome and so is Demogoblin. Maybe even the surprise inclusion of a certain multiversal vampire. However, by the time Ghost-Spider (AKA Spider-Gwen) shows up, it’s gotten a bit too much. There’s some of these guest characters that could have been cut for brevity. The book also ends in a deus ex machina that I could have done without.

    In conclusion, I really enjoyed this book and I think the audiobook version is even better. Anya Corozon is a great character and Arana deserves more attention from the media. People already know Miguel O’Hara from the Spider-Verse movies but they know him as a semi-antagonistic character versus the kind of hero he was in the 2099 comics. Victoria Vilarreal does a fantastic job, especially with Anya.

Available here

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man season one review

    I am going to die a Spider-Man fan. I wasn't quite born one but when I was an adolescent, I saved every Spider-Man comic I bought, polybagged them, and then put a bit of tape on the back before placing them on the walls of my room. I wish I had pictures from that time. I also had Spider-Man sheets, underoos, and a tremendous love of Peter Parker and his wife Mary Jane. They were married when I became a fan and the only thing to put me off for a decade of his adventures was the insane idea someone would want to break them up. I may like Felicia Hardy slightly more than Mary Jane but that doesn't make me any less likely to watch a cartoon for adolescents when I'm 45.

    My first impressions were cautiously optimistic. They took Peter Parker back to high school, which is a shame because I'm really sick of them doing that. I know they're trying to appeal to a younger audience but "my" Spider-Man was the animated one where he was in college. I was kind of hoping they would do what they did with the X-men and continue the classic cartoon. Still, I loved The Spectacular Spider-Man and was willing to give it a shot. Plus, it had Nico Minoru! I love Nico.

    As indicated by the mention of Runaways' Nico Minoru, this is not your typical classic Spider-Man cast with several unexpected characters, starting with her as Peter's best friend. There's no Flash Thompson, Liz Allen, Betty Brant, or Ned Leeds (MCU). Instead, there's Lonnie Lincoln (the future Tombstone), Pearl Pangan (very reminiscent of Liz from Homecoming), and a very uniquely designed Harry Osborn. I'm interested in seeing how this dynamic shakes out. Nico acts very much like MJ from the Holland movies and wouldn't be surprised if Peter is missing out on his best friend liking him "that" way. I also really enjoyed the use of Harry even if I wasn't 100% sold on his design. This version of very much the kind of "rich idiot" that he was never depicted as being in previous shows.

    The show is very reminiscent of the Holland movie versions with Midtown High being a school for geniuses, the Avengers already being a thing, and Aunt May being a younger Italian woman versus a dotting grandmother type. Except the show immediately subverts a lot of this by demolishing Midtown high and then putting him in a "normal" high school, making Norman Osborn his mentor instead of Tony Stark (Oscorp not existing in the MCU), and keeping him out of Avengers business. We also get some other unusual twists like Uncle Ben being dead before Peter is bitten by his spider, Doctor Strange battling a Venom-like symbiote, and lots of unexpected characters like Finesse as well as Amadeus Cho.

    Some fans may dislike the changes made to the canon. Norman and Harry are now African American, Doctor Connors is now a black woman, and Lonnie Lincoln hasn't yet developed his powers (or suffers albinism). A few things that are canonical may also bother others like the fact that Nico is bisexual (though confirmed only in a couple of quickly missed lines). That doesn't bother me even if I'm currently shipping the hell out of Nico and Pete. Nothing starts in the first season but hope springs eternal.

    The series follows roughly three major plotlines with Peter gradually learning that Norman Osborn isn’t a great role model (no kidding), Lonnie Lincoln being led down the wrong path by his desire to do something meaningful (and finding camaraderie with a street gang), and Doctor Otto Octavius filling the Tinkerer’s role in the comics of providing all the equipment for supervillains that Spider-Man must now learn to punch. Which is a substitute for the Vulture substituting for the Tinkerer in the MCU. The Scorpion plays a big role in the comics with Camilla Black (AKA the other Scorpion) serving as his chief henchwoman despite being a hero in the comics.

    The theme of the series seems to be the issue of who Spider-Man is. Is he the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man of the title who keeps to the ground of New York and fights local bad guys or is he the big epic guy from the movies who joins the Avengers with a billionaire patron? It's annoying because the movies make it clear the former is what Peter is meant to be but the show acts like this is in question. Also, it seems to imply that Peter can't do both, which I feel is silly since he's saved the world multiple times on his own.

    Still, I really like how fresh this feels compared to so many other Spider-Man adaptations. I may not like him returning to high school but everything else is great. The Scorpion has never been more terrifying. I also am a huge Tombstone fan and hope this improves the villain's profile (though he's not quite a villain yet). So, I'm definitely recommending it.

    Overall, the art style is unique and immediately attention-getting. It seems designed to be evocative of the Steve Dikto art style and panels in a comic even as it is clearly CGI. The color usage is also designed to feel like newsprint with Nico Minoru, for example, having very deep blues in her hair. It takes some getting used to but I was okay with it after just a few minutes. We have a homemade Spider-suit for Peter in the first couple of episodes, then a Future Foundation inspired look, and the classic costume showing up in the end.

8/10

Captain America: Brave New World review

    CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD is the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie. A lot of people wondered if this would be the movie to restore it after a series of less than impressive entries. Others believed it would be another dud that would show that the series was finished after AVENGERS: ENDGAME. The answer is neither. Captain America: Brave New World is fine, above average even. It's no Thor: Dark World or Avengers: Ultron but I'd say it's probably the third best Captain America film, fourth if you count Falcon and the Winter Soldier. It's good but my highest praise is that it's a B+ movie. It's a fun superhero time that involves a lot of shooting, punching, and flying but not much to say about anything.

    The premise is that Captain America (Anthony Mackie) has been working with the US military, which causes some trouble with his mentor, Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly). The United States has recently elected Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross (Harrison Ford) to the Presidency and a lot of superheroes are less than pleased given his role in the Sokovia Accords. Interesting, Thaddeus' bad reputation as a General Ripper-type applies to even other nations. Thaddeus insists that he is a better man than he used to be, though, and wants to secure a legacy as a peacetime president rather than a wartime hero.

    What follows is a basic caper story with Sidewinder (Gincarlo Esposito) and the Serpent Society stealing a bunch of adamantium from Celestial Island. If you don't know what Celestial Island is, it's that thing created at the ending of the Eternals. Apparently, it's made of the substance that fans of Wolverine love and is even better than vibranium. Comic Nerd Rant: Which is ridiculous because vibranium has other properties than just being hard. In celebration of Captain America recovering it, President Ross invites him and his guests to the White House. There, he's almost assassinated and Isaiah Bradley is blamed.

    I won't get much more into the story because there's actually quite a few "mysteries" that were completely spoiled by the trailers for the film. I can understand why Disney did it: they wanted to get buts in seats. However, there's two big reveals in this film that are meant to make MCU fans go, "oooo!" These big reveals are something most MCU fans are going to go into the film already knowing. I'm not going to go into them but one of the biggest flaws of this film is that Bruce Banner has emotional ties to a lot of characters and plots from this story and the movie would have been improved tremendously if the Hulk had been a co-star.

    Anthony Mackie's Captain America is fantastic and the movie "gets" who Captain America is meant to be. He's meant to be a figure who uses his words with his fists (as well as his awesome power armor). Some people may object to the whole issue of a legacy hero but actors age, unlike comic book heroes, and the plot of trying to live up a legacy is interesting. It's just a shame that Steve Rogers never shows up to mention that he was just a kid from Brooklyn. It was everyone else who made him into a legend. We get the next best thing, though.

    Harrison Ford does a fantastic job with the character and brings a humanity to him. Thaddeus Ross has generally just been a one-dimensional but believable character. This Ross has done a huge amount of shady stuff and evil science projects but believes being President will allow him to redeem himself. There's much about whether redemption is possible and the movie also indicates that it's impossible unless you take responsibility for your actions. It's a good message that, sadly, runs into the larger political concerns.

    Basically, this movie has the mother of all bad timing for people to want to see it because of real-life politics. It's not the case of Red vs. Blue (which is actually part of the problem). It's the fact that politics are pissing off everyone in America right now. This is a movie about unity, reconciliation. and a story that doesn't really reflect anything but fictional world stories. Not taking a stand on anything and saying we're all the same may be admirable some times but just about everyone these days is saying pick a lane. Example: one of the main characters is an adaptation of Israeli special forces mutant, Sabra, who isn't a mutant or special forces here. She's also noticeably so short that in a movie with giant red monsters, I don't buy her able to take down grown men.

    In conclusion, this is a good movie. It's a fun movie. It's not a blow you away movie. However, this is a movie that I got out of my seat to go see in theaters rather than wait for it to show up on Disney+. I'm as stressed by the world as anyone else and this was a fun insight into a planet much much better off than our current one.

8/10

Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom review

    Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain is a not-so-old entry into the video game library of Konami games, coming out in 2015. Which is still ten years ago and worthy of giving a retrospective toward. It is mostly famous for being the supposed end of the Metal Gear franchise, the source of Konami’s break with Hideo Kojima, and several questionable decisions related to the franchise’s end like the replacing of David Hayter with Kiefer Sutherland as well as overly sexualized depiction of its female companion, Quiet.

    The game takes place in the early 1980s with the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan and the Angola-Zaire conflict. It was preceded by the ultra-short game, Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, which is included in Metal Gear Solid V: The Definitive Experience. For the sake of this review, I’m going to count that as part of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain since the games really should have been one continuous story except for corporate shenanigans.

    The premise for The Phantom Pain is the complete destruction of everything that Naked Snake AKA Big Boss achieved in Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker. The mercenary army that Snake assembled is slaughtered, Mother Base headquarters is destroyed, his child soldier companion Chico is killed, and beautiful (but traitorous) friend Paz is used to blow up the helicopter that Snake is riding on. Naked Snake is left in a nine-year coma and wakes up with a piece of shrapnel stuck in his head among other permanent injuries. He doesn’t get long to recover, though, because the hospital he’s staying in is attacked by the black ops forces of XOF (Fox spelled backward).

    What follows is a lengthy story of the rechristened “Venom Snake” seeking his former companions to rebuild his mercenary company, re-christened Diamond Dogs, to get revenge on the rogue intelligence agency of Cipher (theoretically XOF’s bosses). They must disable and kidnap soldiers from Soviet and mercenary forces before convincing them to join their cause. They must also carry out numerous missions to build up their resources that take them up against the real-life atrocities of this time period. They also must deal with XOF’s access to genetically enhanced zombie-like super soldiers, Metal Gear bipedal tanks, and a weapon they claim will surpass nuclear weapons (though they have plenty of those too).

    What makes The Phantom Pain interesting to grimdark fans is that it is a much more serious take on the sometimes-goofy Metal Gear universe than previous entries. Multiple characters from the previous games are killed, often in horrific ways, while others are left maimed or a shadow of their former selves. Master Miller, who was Snake’s goofy supporter, is now a broken man with missing limbs that wants nothing more than to kill as many Cipher supporters as possible. The subject of child soldiers, imperialism, and pandemic response all come up in this story. There’s some goofy moments like in previous Metal Gear Solid entries but, for the most part, The Phantom Pain plays it all very straight.

    The first half of the game is extremely well done with the slow build-up to face Skull Face and his super-weapon well-done from beginning to end. The story is a bit minimalist, and we lack the usual collection of mini bosses but the Man on Fire, Floating Boy, and Quiet are all memorable characters. Skull Face seems, in part, inspired by Freddy Kruger and is a memorable antagonist despite his short time on-screen. The gameplay is also fantastic and makes every mission worth repeating until you get that coveted “S-Ranking.” If they’d ended the game after its final mission, “Sahelanthropus”, I would have given it a 10 out of 10.

    Unfortunately, the second half of the game sucks and feels like it was where Konami cut off Kojima’s funding. Most of the second half consists of NG+ style missions with extra requirements while only a handful meaningfully advance the story. There are some good moments like the revelations regarding Huey Emmerich and the end to Quiet’s story but, infamously, Eli’s (Liquid Snake’s) story is just left unfinished with his final mission never completed. It’s a massive let down after so much build-up. Another flaw is the fact that the game’s story is primarily in cassette recordings that require a lot of sitting around and listening to.

    The game is gorgeous and there’s an endless amount of fun to be had sneaking up behind people, tranquilizing them, and then sending them up through balloons to be brainwashed into your followers. The game is hard but not overly so with Snake able to absorb more punishment than any human being other than the Master Chief but not so much that three people shooting him won’t put him down. I love D-Dog, D-Horse, and Quiet with each bringing something new when you bring them along missions. I also think the game has a fantastic soundtrack with “She Blinded Me With Science”, “Maneater”, “The Final Countdown”, and other classic tunes.

    However, I would be remiss if I didn’t bring up the fact that the game’s biggest twist is a controversial one. Without getting into it, a lot of fans felt that it renders most of the game’s character development for its lead pointless. For me, I didn’t mind it but The Phantom Pain is also a story about how legends are lies. Given that misinformation and propaganda are running themes in the franchise, I give it a pass, but others are still furious about it a decade later.

    Do I recommend the game? Yes. But once you complete the main campaign, I suggest doing the remaining story missions and nothing else. The Phantom Pain is a game that clearly exceeded its ambitions.

     9/10

 Available here

Creature Commandos review

    I love the Suicide Squad. I mean in general versus the movies specifically. The concept of a bunch of D-List characters and antiheroes mixed with villains being put on a mission to fight something worse than themselves is just catnip to me. I also loved the Thunderbolts, which was Marvel's more optimistic take on it. The first Suicide Squad movie was a bit of a trainwreck but I felt it had good bones. I had issues with the second one (perhaps because I'm one of the world's few Savant fans) but it was overall a major improvement. Creature Commandos and Peacemaker are even bigger improvements on the concept.

    Creature Commandos by James Gunn is the first new property of the new DC Cinematic Universe after the dissolution of the previous one for a variety of reasons. What does this have to do with grimdark? Well, James Gunn is a man who can do both silly as well as incredibly dark if you’re familiar with his previous work. The Suicide Squad was a story of antiheroes, black comedy, moral ambiguity, and an utterly corrupt US government among its gleefully madcap use of DC continuity. DC used to be famous for its moral paragons and colorful worlds, but it has been the darker of the two comic companies for decades now. So, yes, I’m going to say Creature Commandos is something worth watching for grimdark fans. It is the “fun” sort of grimdark where tragedy is hilarious. 

    The premise for this HBO Max exclusive cartoon is simple: after the events of Peacemaker, Amanda Waller has been banned as using superpowered criminals as cannon fodder for government black ops and wet work. Undeterred by ethics or the spirit of the law, she decides that instead of using criminals, she will use “nonhumans” that do not technically have rights according to US law. These include the Bride (Indira Varma), Doctor Phosphorus (Alan Tudyk), the Weasel (John Gunn), GI Robot (John Gunn again), and fish-woman Nina Mazursky (Zoe Chao). They will be led by Rick Flagg Senior (Frank Grillo), who is basically there to substitute for his dead son.

    This is basically the latest installment of the Suicide Squad collection along with the original Suicide Squad, The Suicide Squad, Peacemaker, Suicide Squad: Assault on Arkham, Suicide Squad Isekai, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Frankly, it is a huge push for a niche corner of the DC universe. The world seems front loaded with morally ambiguous antiheroes forced to work for the government versus, well, Superman and even Batman projects by comparison. Let alone other heroes like Green Lantern, Flash, or Wonder Woman. Still, I have to say that this is probably the best of the Suicide Squad adaptations despite being a cast from an entirely different comic.

    Creature Commandos functions a bit like Lost of all things. Each episode gets into the backstory of one of the commandos and how they got to be in the position they did. All of them are compelling with most of the “monsters” having reasons for what they did before society drove them to the brink. The most compelling of them was Doctor Phosphorous’ story despite the fact he has the most “traditional” villain origin of them all. I also felt GI Robot and Weasel’s stories were ones that reflected how society is generally scummy and incapable of accommodating anyone different. I don’t exaggerate when I say that the tales are easily the darkest and most messed up thing I’ve seen outside of The Penguin in years.

    The actual story is needlessly complicated with the Creature Commandos being sent to an Eastern block monarchy called Pokolistan to stop Wonder Woman villain Circe from overthrowing its government with an army of online incels. No, seriously. To be honest, the “metaplot” that binds all the personal stories together doesn’t hang together in the slightest and ends as abruptly as it began. Still, I loved Princess Ilana (Maria Bakalova) and wish we’d gotten more of her. We also get glimpses of Batman and other elements of how the “new” DCU functions, which seem a lot denser and wackier than is typical for cinematic superhero universes.

    James Gunn clearly had complete freedom for Creature Commandos and his fingerprints are all over the work from beginning to end. Everything from its over-the-top action, wacky humor, personal tragedies, extensive jukebox soundtrack, and oddball misfits trying to save the day. This is not for kids and there’s a couple of sex scenes (mostly off screen but clear as to what’s happened). The violence is also incredibly graphic as can be done when you’re animating something. Creature Commandos feels a bit like Heavy Metal from the Eighties crossed with Guardians of the Galaxy. I recommend it for people who love more obscure portions of the DCU and what the Suicide Squad should be like.

8/10

Book Sale - The first six volumes of The Supervillainy Saga are 99c

BOOK SALE: The first six volumes of THE SUPERVILLAINY SAGA are available from Bookbub and Amazon for 99c. The hilarious adventures of Gary Karkofsky AKA Merciless: The Supervillain without MercyTM are available for less than the price of anything.

“Why save the world when you can rule it?”

Gary Karkofsky always wanted to be a supervillain. He gets his chance when a mysterious package is left on his front doorstep with the magical cloak of the Nightwalker, recently deceased protector of Falconcrest City. This allows him to become MERCILESS: THE SUPERVILLAIN WITHOUT MERCY.

However, Gary soon finds that he’s not quite evil enough to be the city’s Big Bad. Assembling a crew consisting of his ex-girlfriend, his wife, a once terrifying supervillain), Gary sets off on a series of mad and exciting adventures. Gary will fight extremist superheroes from the Nineties, hordes of zombies, evil cults, a time-traveling President from the future, and himself.

The Supervillainy Saga, Books 1-6 contains The Rules of Supervillainy, The Games of Supervillainy, The Secrets of Supervillainy, The Science of Supervillainy, The Tournament of Supervillainy, and The Future of Supervillainy. It is the tale of humanity’s best hero and worse villain, or is the other way around! Read and find out!

Available from February 8th to February 30th

Amazon

Vampire: The Masquerade: Los Angeles by Night 5th Edition

V5 Chronicle Tips

1. The Social Satire of Vampire: The Masquerade

2.  An analysis of Anarchs in Vampire: The Masquerade

3. Ten Tips to Running the Anarchs in V5 

4. Ten Tips to Running the Second Inquisition in V5 

5. Ten Tips to Running the Sabbat in V5 

6. Ten Chronicles for Sabbat PCs in V5 

7. Ten Tips to Running the Camarilla in V5 

8. Ten Tips to Running the Thin-Bloods in V5 

9. Ten Tips to Running the Tremere in V5  

10. Ten Real Life-Inspired Chronicles for V5
11. V5 NPC Update: Sullivan Dane
12. 101 Mundane Details for V:TM Games 
13. 101 Street Crime and Personal Horror Scenarios
14. The Judas Compact or "How the Sabbat got their groove stolen"
15. How much should Vampire PCs and NPCs know?
16. Ten Tips to using Touchstones in V5

17. Why metaplot matters in the World of Darkness

    I wrote a novel for submission to 5th Edition as a pitch for reviving the book spin offs of VAMPIRE: THE MASQUERADE last year called KNIGHT OF FREEDOM that was one of two I completed. The project was rejected but the other one would have starred Lucita. Knight of Freedom had the premise that Theo Bell has been hiding in the Anarch Free States for the past decade or so since his assassination of Hardelstadt and kept expecting the hammer to fall down. The joke was that Theo Bell was living a comparative life of luxury being passed around between the Barons and the Camarilla had no real interest in assassinating him for reasons that were revealed in the novel. But also because Theo Bell worked much better as an unliving Non-Red List symbol of Anarch perfidy than someone they wanted to martyr.

    Among the things I established in the book was the following:

Kindred of Note

1. Baron Louis Fortier: The ruler of Bel-Air and one of the most powerful Barons around as well as the richest, he's also someone all of the Anarchs are generally embarrassed about. Mostly because he's a Ventrue French potentate who rule exactly like a Prince except perhaps an unusually generous one. Louis is notably someone who is aware of the fact that as ruler of a huge chunk of LA, he's more powerful than most Princes in America and has the mind that if he allied with the Camarilla, they'd swiftly replace him with someone else. Ergo, he's quite happy to be like Napoleon and claim he's all for the Revolution while wielding immense power. All of his wives have left him but he continually ends up finding new young Kindred mistresses since he has a most- Un-Elder obsession with Sex.

2. The MacNeils: This is not actually a Barony but a Clan of Brujah descended from the Beckoned or dead Jeremy. They constantly feud for power and routinely end up staking each other but never kill one another. The current leader is his youngest progeny who helped steal the Stone of Scone in 1950. Annie MacDougal is a pain in the ass for all Anarchs because she insists anyone not like Jeremy is failing to be Anarch enough. Many think he bloodbound her before he went away because no Kindred could be that stupidly loyal.

3. The Undisputed Baron of the Valley, Victor Temple: Yet another Ventrue who has weasaled his way to the top, he's a lot more accepted by Baron Fortier but only because he's younger and hipper with a reputation roughly akin to Suge Knight's. His affable demeanor conceals as much violence and ruthlessness as any other Ventrue ruler, though. He is also somewhat careless with the Masquerade and this is likely to get him killed well before his other stunts. He recently has begun feuding with longtime ally Nelli-G.

4. Hesha Ruhadze: The Ministry archaeologist and Theopidian joining with the breakaway sect was something few expected but he's taken over the Church of Set and become heavily involved in counter-culture Satanism as a trick to lure in vessels as well as attack traditional religion. He lives in Pasadena and generally leaves most of the regular Anarch business to lesser childer as he focuses on Clan business. Generally, Hesha's opinion of the Anarchs can be summarized as, "same blood, different vessels." He is a cynical old snake who thinks there is no difference between the Camarilla and Anarchs than the former smell better but he's dealt with plenty of peasant revolutions and rabble rousers before. It'll all come together eventually around an elite he's already a member of.

5. Nelli G: The beautiful Toreador descendant of the Griffith family, Nelli G is a habitual traitor to the Kindred race and has allied with the Second Inquisition to eliminate her enemies in Hollywood. She's also surrendered Griffith Park to the Garou, causing a small war with the local Gangrel (led by Ramona). Her humanity has gone down rapidly since the murder of her sire and doesn't seem to be stopping as the power has gotten to her. She is the Lady of Hollywood and its strip, controlling kindred who want fame, money, drugs, and blood. Her second in command is Vivi and she is already plotting against her, which Nelli approves of as it keeps her sharp.

6. Nines Rodriguez: Nines is pissed and is unlikely to stop being so any time soon. He's been essentially given a role to help protect the Masquerade in the city by all of the Barons allowing him free passage as well as to that of his gang. It's a role that Nines notes is suspiciously similar to that of a Sheriff even though he considers himself a Cleaner. He also feels like some people want him to have even more power that would make him, you guessed it, a Baron of Barons. One, of course, with lots of powerful Barons as a Council behind him. Nines is disgusted and is wondering if they should put Theo in charge just as a F-U to the system. He HATES Hesha.

7. Theresa/Jeanette: The very much disputed Baron of Santa Monica and several other territories, Theresa and Jeanette are direly opposed to one another but between them control everything but the Pier. They are surprisingly accepting of Thin Bloods and other immigrants. She's also one of the most ruthless in destroying them or playing them off against her "sister." Theresa is notable in that she also controls a large chunk of Las Vegas from the Asylum franchise there and is debating giving up one territory for the other. Basically, Sin City is ripe for picking and the Hecata have made her an offer to be their figurehead.

8. Smiling Jack and Jenna Cross: Smiling Jack was, unsurprisingly, Beckoned given his age and obsession with Noddism. What's weird is he claims he's back from the Middle East and with greater insight than ever. His adopted childe, Jenna Cross, has also become head of one of the largest Duskborn groups in America with over forty members. While based in Santa Monica, they are spread all through California and on the web. It is here they are working on using Thin Blooded Alchemy to try to win a place in the Anarchs equal to a Clan.

9. Wei: : An invasion of the Tzimisce from China briefly disrupted the life of many Asian American Kindred in California. Wei was embraced by one of them and helped lead a revolt after their leader was assassinated by the LA Ripper. Wei is now in control of Chinatown and generally has the view that they're Americans and weird clan abilities shouldn't mean much. Still, he's as power hungry and ruthless as any other Kindred leader. Ironically, Wei has a big secret he's keeping from his former Anarchs that will destroy him. The irony is that it's not a typical Kindred secret: it's that he was a former undercover LA detective.

10. Ramona:​ Ramona is weirded out by the fact that as an anti-social Gangrel who never was close to her clan, she's become a celebrity for her part in the defection to the Anarchs. Ironically, her aloofness means that people take her "fuck off and figure it out for yourself" attitude as wisdom. Reluctantly, she's become a den mother for other Gangrel in the city and many Dustborn and Caitiff. She has also claimed Griffith Park for her territory and the expected massacre by the Garou Nelli G counted on didn't happen. They apparently are having their own issues and the caern there is temporarily abandoned. Ramona rarely spends time there anyway and mostly uses her "dominion" there as a title to scare people away.

11. The Los Angeles Ripper: A mysterious Kindred embraced during the short-lived reign of Prince La Croix. Not much is known about them, even their clan, though many believe them to be a Malkavian who uses Obfuscate to impersonate other Clans or even genders. The Los Angeles Ripper is believed to have been a very Low Generation Cainite who also had unusual strength for a Neonate and destroyed several Elders despite being only a few weeks old. He/she is considered something of an unofficial Scourge, working against troublemakers. Ironically, they're well-liked among the Dustborn and believed to be involved somehow with Jenna Cross. They are also partial to redheads.

12. Vannevar Thomas:  The third Prince of LA, he's actually close to being the Prince of Glendale. Ironically, that's actually better than most princes and since recovering his sanity after being tortured by Theresa/Jeanette, he's become somewhat tolerated among the Anarchs. Vannevar is aware that he was sent to LA to die and is now plotting his own long-term strategy: to regain San Fransisco. While few Anarchs would willingly ally with Cammie scum, he's very persuasive and very rich. As such, he's gradually built up a cadre of allies. Ironically, his brief insanity also seems to have knocked the Beckoning from his system and he notes he has outlived a lot of his former enemies. He is accompanied by his consort, Susan, who is as typical a Toreador as exists.