#beckett's jyhad diary aka beckett's little black book

[ryttu3k]

Fortunately for us timelines are only real if we believe in them! ヽ(✿ﾟ▽ﾟ)ノ

By which I mean that when I was determining how the timeline went, I decided it was 'beckett rescues okulos' -> 'gets kapaneus as a traveling companion' -> 'goes to LA for bloodlines with kapaneus' -> 'caine does his fun Don't Worry About It Aura to beckett at the prospect of an ancient driving a car' -> 'lets beckett get enrichment playing with the sarcophagus until caine gives him the good old Extreme Dread Aura about it so beckett won't open it himself' -> 'beckett warns the fledgling and then goes back to the hotel room he's sharing with kapaneus' -> 'they have more fun adventures during the rest of their year of traveling together'

i tend to ignore the 'canonical' mechanics of blood bonds, mostly because these are vampires and i tend to think that any set of lovers would get way more than three drinks of each other's blood within the timeframe for that, but also i just had the mental image of beckett getting a hit of kapaneus' blood, suddenly feeling a deep fondness for the concept of caine, and being like (⌐■_■) ( •_•)>⌐■-■ (⊙ˍ⊙) 'hey why do i suddenly feel really fond of this guy i don't even believe exists?'

(also because with my headcanons for beckett's various romances, he'd be blood-bonded to So Many other people just based on estimated amounts of Kisses Accepted and Administered. there's a theoretical beckett-centric viniculum where everyone he's bonded with is automatically at a 2 with each other, despite having no bonds of their own, just off the bond-concentration contact high)

caine spending a year watching beckett put himself in Situations and coming to the conclusion that this little guy really Deserves to be capable of even more nonsense and should have even More money to put where his mouth is and then permanently empowering him accordingly -> sascha and beckett [handshake. jpg] unwittingly much stronger than their alleged generation can account for

(although of course now that i've thought about it, an au of beckett ending up blood-bound to caine is an extreme mood. the direction is either very dark or very crack, though: on the one hand beckett probably has about a century worth of questions alone, on the other he unwittingly sipped so much of Caine's Own Blood he's discovering new novelty damnations all the time)

[continuation of this post]

You know what I can work with that timeline. We know Okulos is free as of BJD, and that appears to start just after Bloodlines, so it really does check out!

'hey why do i suddenly feel really fond of this guy i don't even believe exists?'

"So Beckett, what made you redact your long-standing theory about the Book of Nod as an allegorical account of vampires emerging throughout history as humanity develops from hunter-gatherers to agriculture?"

"Really good dick."

(also because with my headcanons for beckett's various romances, he'd be blood-bonded to So Many other people just based on estimated amounts of Kisses Accepted and Administered. there's a theoretical beckett-centric viniculum where everyone he's bonded with is automatically at a 2 with each other, despite having no bonds of their own, just off the bond-concentration contact high)

Oh my god he's the centre of his very own Greater Seattle Polycule. This one spans the entire planet and several millennia. They meet someone new and Sascha's just like. "This is Ilias, my boyfriend. And this is Beckett, everyone's boyfriend." Ilias and Fatima immediately become fond of each other upon meeting despite never having laid eyes on each other just via Ilias -> Sascha -> Beckett <- Lucita <- Fatima. Goddamn spectacular.

Also Lucita helped attack Dracula's castle once, imagine them meeting post-Price of Hospitality and just staring daggers at each other and Dracula's like, "...so how's my Bride?" and Lucita's just, "Excuse me I had dibs first" and Beckett's in the background wearing just his sunglasses with the diary posed strategically like, "Hey now, there's more than enough of me to go around ;D" and everyone in the vicinity up to and including Caine is just like. Yes. We know.

[secretsofthemasquerade]

what you should get in the September Sale

Drive thru is having a Sale until September 21st!

Vampire: the Masquerade titles

Vampire the Masquerade 20th Anniversary edition

Despite all the shit I gave White Wolf (CCP version) for the bad art choices, V20 is a must have. It contains almost everything you’ll need to understand what VTM is, especially if you only know about it from VTMB. Very much a great compendium :)

V20 Dread Names, Red List

Just because I’m on the cover. This is a compilation of overpowered antagonists and enemies of the Camarilla, a list of over the top NPCs, but they’re interesting enough, and the Art is Good :)

V20 Lore of the Clans

Overall this replaces the Clanbooks, it’s quite short but it’s more than an interesting read to see the new takes on the clan. Unlike V20 which takes content from Revised, this is mostly new content. Lore of the bloodlines feels a little unnecessary to me but that’s just my opinion and you may very much enjoy it ;)

V20 Hunters Hunted 2

This is a good book to play hunters that are not Hunters (aka with so many fancy powers and just people who know the supernatural exists and are willing to -do something about it-)

Vampire the Dark Ages 20th Anniversary edition

Honestly I was very skeptical about Dark Ages, but VDA20 was written with thoughtfulness in mind and I’m honestly quite pleased with the results, even if I am just not drawn to that kind of setting. I’m not a fan of the saturated colors by Mark Kelly for the full page art but it’s overall much more beautiful than V20 is. for 6 bucks it’s worth a grab :D

Undead Blood Magic Bundle

This bundle contains Blood Magic secrets of thaumaturgy, Blood Treachery, House of Tremere and V20 Rites of blood. Lots of rites, rituals and fun stuff. Rites of Blood is actually the one of best value, but might as well grab the bundle imo (I’ll let you do the math tho).  I think each book individually is less expensive than the bundle! But I won’t link them all (too much work), just click on the bundle link and you’ll be able to click on each title individually.

Beckett’s Jyhad Diary

I made a post a long time ago saying why I wouldn’t back it and why this book did not interest me as it’s basically a big fic about Beckett meeting a bunch of other NPCs and witnessing a bunch of canon events, but I do understand its interest and it is valuable Lore and fluff content for those of you who enjoy it. So I’m putting it here because it is a good book, it’s just not for me. This serves as a bridge between old Canon and the canon of V5, for what it’s worth :)

Clanbooks 1st Edition

The PDF quality is bad because it’s old-school-scans (and some pages aren’t really straight), but if you want to feel where I came from, this bundle links back to each clanbook. I think each clanbook individually is less expensive than the bundle! But I won’t link them all (too much work), just click on the bundle link and you’ll be able to click on each clanbook individually ;)

Elysium the Elder Wars

Oldie but Goodie. I have a very fond liking of this book which explains well what Elder games can be ;)

State of Grace

A book about all kinds of faiths and how to reconcile them (or not) with vampirism. Serves as a great starting point for your own research. I wouldn’t take it on its own, however.

MET VTM

You might also want to grab anything from the LARP books (the corebook being obviously first), they’re a great read and the mechanics are honestly interesting, even if you don’t LARP. I still frown at some of the art choices because lots of the costumes look like bad halloween costumes and not something vampires would actually wear but those are very personal tastes.

And now some Vault titles!

Obviously I can’t do this without plugging my own titles ;)

My Guide to Playable Characters (which the reviews say is good to help players get into playing RPGs overall, with specifics for VtM), my Guide to Siring and my One Shot scenario (which gives that 1st edition horror premise, it seems?) are all on sale.

But more importantly, you might want to check.. Dark New England, a sourcebook about New England, which is a MASSIVE labor of love and with incredible content in relation to Native American clans. Authors also put together a lineage book about the native kindred bloodlines, to complete it. It’s Descendants of the Three sisters.

The Gargoyle bloodline-book seem to be worth checking out!

You should also check Sei-ey’s Vampire Drawings, a beautiful artbook which is just amazing (you may know his work from Deviantart)

Some other interesting artpacks (portraits) by Luis Miguez, in pure black and white old school style can be found here, here, and here. Carlos Garcia also did one right here.

You might also want to grab these two color portraits right here.

@andrealeora Did two amazing packs of art, one of scenes and one about portraits, that you should check out. Check her blog to see some previews of the contents ;)

And finally, because I’m French, here’s Mont Saint Michel by night, for Dark Ages.

If you’re curious about other Vault Products, I highly recommend reading It’s More than Just Gaming reviews to see an honest breakdown of some of the titles ;)

All of the links are affiliate links and if you purchase anything after clicking, I’ll make a small commission, which will allow me to buy more art for my upcoming titles and host further giveaways!

[ryttu3k]

Children can be so funny sometimes. I’d been talking about Beckett and his soirée with Dracula with a friend and my little cousin heard ‘Talks to Animals, Romanced a Count, and Animal Shapeshifting’ and immediately decided he was a Princess. I didn’t have the heart to say no

You know what, your little cousin is super valid.

[ryttu3k]

Okay, I have changed my tag for the Eldest. It is now 'foxy grandpa fungus cave'.

Still need tags for Fatima, Saulot, Smiling Jack, Isaac, Aila, Raúl, Julia, and Qadir, and for Beckett/Anatole. Full list of all characters, ships, and concepts below, any suggestions for the characters (and Beckett/Anatole) above much appreciated!

Concepts

Camarilla-related: hardestadt has no rights

Very important Cainite history: the great meat yeet

Characters

Beckett: feral nerd

Sascha: mx meat crimes

Ilias: tzinnamon roll

Anatole: holy cinnamon roll

Lucita: black rose of aragon

Jan: childe of the camarilla

Theo: dbreath at sunburst dot co dot ck

The Dracon: the dragon of constantinople

The Eldest: foxy grandpa fungus cave

LaCroix: sparklingwater

Nines: street prince

Damsel: damsel of distress

Skelter: helter skelter

Mercurio: the man on the couch

Knox: golden eyed ghoul

Ash: society for the protection of ash rivers

Mitnick: m1tn1ck

Gary: gorgeous gary golden

Lettow: feral prince

Julian: baron of 2100

Dove: angry pigeon

Ships

Beckett/Sascha: caymanshipping

Ilias/Sascha: heartflowershipping

Beckett/Sascha/Ilias: ivoryringshipping

Beckett/Anatole/Lucita: nodsquadshipping

Nines/LaCroix: closershipping

Isaac/Gary: silverscreens

Strauss/Andrei: redcoatshipping

Mithras/Roger: london love story

Jan/Theo: pragueshipping

Beckett/everyone: beckett's jyhad diary aka beckett's little black book

[ryttu3k]

[ryttu3k]

I just had a Realisation.

So I really enjoy pointing out the importance of the Beckett’s Jyhad Diary chapter The Price of Hospitality, aka That One Where Beckett Becomes A Bride Of Dracula.

It’s not just oh haha funny thing Beckett hooked up with Dracula, it’s actually of plot importance to the entire book, because Beckett unintentionally fulfilling the prophecy written in the Shaal Fragment is also what confirms the Cyclical Gehenna theory, since it’s from the same prophecy.

So yeah, this chapter is of pivotal importance for the entirety of Beckett’s Jyhad Diary.

Except BJD isn’t just a standalone book. BJD is meant to be, essentially, the series bible that ties together all of the no-Gehenna metaplot. It follows up on some threads from Revised that weren’t retconned with Gehenna, ties them with V20, and leads into V5, which does, indeed, appear to be using the idea of Gehenna as cyclical, and thus shapes the entire metaplot for Vampire the Masquerade.

The entirety of Vampire the Masquerade’s metaplot is confirmed by Beckett banging Dracula.

Scholars: "Goodness, if only there was some way to confirm the Shaal Fragment, it would rewrite the fabric of our society!"

Beckett, a Bride of Dracula:

What a goddamn legend.

[ryttu3k]

Transcript under read more.

First image is a screencap of a Tumblr thread consisting of three comments.

thoodleoo: “I hate when people in movies/TV are reading ancient languages and they translate everything really smoothly and poetically, as if when people who study ancient languages aren’t consulting three different commentaries and sobbing profusely when we read.”

quousque: “Okay so it says like... come you all into the deepest cavern, or maybe that’s fireplace, depends on the usage, and having come may you give your... treasures? Skin? Pants? I don’t know, something... to the... about-to-be-adored guy, that one who... okay, he either causes earthquakes or sleeps a lot, I think this might be an idiom...”

thoodleoo: “Okay, sorry that took so long and I hate to disappoint but I’m still not entirely sure what it means, like, it could be something about a religious ceremony or it could be a dick joke. Leaning towards dick joke, might be both. Knowing the ancients, probably both. This could very well be an ancient dick temple and we should probably leave.”

Second image is a screencap of a Discord chat, with the quoted comment, “I see Beckett saying that last one.”

ryttu3k: “Bold of you to assume Beckett would want to leave an Ancient Dick Temple.”

iravaid: “He’s here for a good time and a long time.”

ryttu3k: “ “...and we should probably leave. By which I mean you should probably leave outta my way fledgling I’m boutta get it.” ”

[ryttu3k]

If you wrote Eternal Hearts, what would you have written about?

VtM only everyone is dating. The reason Hardestadt is Like That is because Jan is dating Theo and he’s not pleased, because, come on, a Brujah? Really now. Sascha is currently getting the trauma cuddled out of them by Ilias and has chilled out significantly. Lucita and Fatima are taking selfies on their dates before Lucita posts them pointedly on Fangbook and tags Moncada in them. Anatole is in about half of them too. Beckett is dating everyone. E v e r y o n e.

Everyone is happy except Hardestadt.

[ryttu3k]

Beckett!

How I feel about this character

10/10 would follow around like a puppy requesting cool stories of his Shenanigans. His alignment is Chaotic Nerd. Sarcasm game is on point. Probably a cryptid within Kindred society. Only very narrowly my second-favourite VtM character (Sascha overtook him). *thumbs up*

All the people I ship romantically with this character

I refuse to choose between Sascha and the Nod Squad so I'm just going with a big polycule. Look, his dynamic with Sascha is impeccable and also he and Anatole and Lucita are soulmates. (Probably slightly leaning more towards Anatole? Like Beckett-Anatole and Anatole-Lucita are both stronger than Beckett and Lucita on their own, with Anatole just... balancing them.)

The other answer, of course, is 'everyone'. There is a reason I have the tag '#beckett's jyhad diary aka beckett's little black book'!

My non-romantic OTP for this character

If he's not romantically involved with Anatole and Lucita, then them. Like no matter what shape their actual relationship is, they're soulmates in one sense or another.

My unpopular opinion about this character

Legitimately don't find him attractive and am very confused by the thirst. Don't know if it's a not-being-attracted-to-masc-people thing or not, but. He's kinda weird-looking lbr. I think it's the sheer charisma that grabs people XD

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Did he ever reconcile with Aristotle following the whole Shroud of Kaymakli thing? :(

[ryttu3k]

Okay, who wants to help me work out tags XD;;

Currently looking for character tags for: Lucita, Fatima, Jan, Nines, Smiling Jack, Isaac, Aila, Raúl, Julia, and Qadir. For ships, I still need ones for Beckett/Sascha/Ilias, Beckett/Anatole/Lucita (I currently have them as 'n*d squ*d', but apparently that's very popular in... Certain Circles and I keep getting recs for hero*n blogs?!), probably Beckett/Anatole on its own, and Nines/LaCroix.

Ones I'm already using below the cut, to give an idea on what I'm looking for!

Any help appreciated!

General VtM

Cuthbert Beckett: feral nerd

Sascha Vykos: mx meat crimes

Ilias cel Frumos: tzinnamon roll

Anatole: holy cinnamon roll

Theo Bell: dbreath at sunburst dot co dot ck

Bloodlines

Sebastian LaCroix: sparklingwater

Damsel: damsel of distress

Skelter: helter skelter

Mercurio: the man on the couch

Knox Harrington: golden eyed ghoul

Ash Rivers: society for the protection of ash rivers

Mitnick: m1tn1ck

Gary Golden: gorgeous gary golden

Night Road

Lettow Kaminsky: feral prince

Julian Sim: baron of 2100

Dove: angry pigeon

Ships

Beckett/Sascha: caymanshipping

Ilias/Sascha: heartflowershipping

Beckett/everyone: beckett's jyhad diary aka beckett's little black book

Jan/Theo: pragueshipping

Isaac/Gary: silverscreens

Julian/Courier/Lettow: tucson disaster trio