#Zain al-shahir bin Zakariya
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Eavesdrop!
"... weirdest fucking human last night."
"Yeah?"
"So I'm just working, right, but I'm a bit hungry and haven't hunted yet so I go down the street, right, and there's this group of people coming out of this karaoke club. This one human's fiddling with her bag and lets the others go ahead so I'm like, okay, great, I have lunch now. But you know, it's always risky to approach the ones that present as female because -- "
"Yeah, I know, if you breathe on the other side of the road they'll know about it. I usually go for men for the same reason, they think they're safe. In most places anyway, ever tried hunting in the East End in the '60s? Even the men were super jumpy because they were always shanking each other."
"Dude, weren't you Embraced in 1974?"
"Yeah, but my sire told me stories. I was one of those jumpy humans. You could barely set foot outside your door after dark without getting mugged. I wore a turban back then though, so I didn't get bothered much, only by the idiots who didn't know what a kirpan was."
"Anyway. So she sees me approaching, right, and she's on her guard and I'm like, don't worry dude, I'm just a hungry vampire."
"Sullivan. The fuck?"
"It's this thing Evie started doing to fuck with the kine, just to see what they say. She only ever does it around me so I can sigh loudly and Dominate them into forgetting about it afterwards but uh, I also started doing it sometimes just for the lols."
"For the what?"
"Evie says that too, it means for one's own amusement. Can't you actually use a smartphone? How do you not know what that means? You've never been on social media?"
"Weren't you lecturing me about 'spiritual self harm' last week?"
"Shut the fuck up. So anyway, she plays along. A lot of them do. Asks to see my fangs. I show her. Asks me what fucking clan I am."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah, she's played fucking Bloodlines. Matthew Dawkins has a lot to answer for, no wonder he's on that fucking Red List."
"Isn't that the alter ego of -- "
"Yeah, that guy. No wonder nobody's been able to bump him off yet. You try telling a Methuselah he can't just fucking violate the Masquerade like that by making a literal fucking game out of it."
"He didn't make it, he just -- "
"No, no, he did, Matthew Dawkins is just his latest cover."
"Oh! Right, I forgot. Feels like it only came out and made the Camarilla shit themselves like... six months ago."
"Bram Stoker, eat your fucking heart out. Anyway the human's pretty excited about how good my 'Lasombra cosplay' is because I'm all in black and the shadows are spooky and shit so I'm like, thinking, right. I'm behind my monthly quota and you know what Amicia's like when I don't hit it."
"So is this, like, the monthly-monthly quota or the monthly quota where she sneakily tries to bump it up, you call her out on her shit, and she brings it back down and doesn't give a fuck you didn't actually hit it so long as you hit the normal one?"
"Oh, it's the former."
"Oh, so you must be in a lot of trouble, then."
"Yeah, so like, I'm still hungry but I've got this human eating out of the palm of my hand and I still need some blood bags. She's not as jumpy now that she knows I'm a cosplaying weirdo instead of a sexual predator weirdo, but I still gotta lure her into the van."
"Yeah, I noticed the graffiti -- "
"Yeah, that wasn't Evie this time, I woke up and it was there. So anyway I decide fuck it, may as well go the whole nine yards, so I'm like 'hey can I steal your blood.'"
"How'd she take that?"
"She corrected me and said it's not stealing if I have her consent. So I'm like, okay, so do I have your consent to steal your blood? And she's like. No. that's not -- actually never mind, how are you going to take it? And I'm like well I have this whole set up in this van here. And she's like the one with 'free candy' written on the side? and I'm like. yeah. the one with 'free candy' written on the side. the kids these days think they're so funny."
"How many times has Evie -- "
"Eighteen, but nine of them were actually hallucinations because she was too lazy to get some more spraypaint so I don't think it counts. But like I said it wasn't Evie this time. So anyway, that graffiti ended up saving my ass here because I'm sure she'd have run screaming if it was a normal creepy van but because someone 'lampshaded the creepiness,' as she said, she hung around instead. I showed her my setup. She was like 'cool, sure, go ahead.'"
"She wasn't worried you'd chloroform her after?"
"Pretty sure she was going along with this for the lols. She seemed to think I was harmless. Or at least, she gave off the impression she did. To be honest it might've been a fawn response, but yeah, I had her in the van hooked up and giving blood. She tried to tell me off for not sanitising her arm but I just Dominated her into thinking I'd done it so no harm done. So yeah, got the blood, Dominated her into forgetting it and sent her on her way. Wish they were all as cooperative as that! I'd be way fucking less traumatised."
A snort. "Did you at least give her a cookie? The humans do that."
"She asked if I had any. I said no, I only have chewable iron tablets."
"You give the humans iron tablets when you're done?"
"No, but Jane has a stock for when I'm out in rural bumfuck nowhere and need to feed off her exclusively for a while. Anyway. Now there's a weirdass human who's got a bottle of chewable iron tablets in her bag and she has no idea how it got there. I think Evie would be proud."
"So you do give out free candy, huh?"
"Nah, she paid for it in blood."
"Yeah, that's... yeah that's true. Damn, and I thought I was being so witty."
"Har har har. Fucking smartarse Ravnos."
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Moar on Zain:
So Zain's parents had two different religions -- his father was Muslim and his mother was Sikh. He was very close to both parents so was never comfortable "picking a side". In some circles he's known as Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya, but in others he's known as Zain Singh. When he married he married a Sikh woman so he was more widely known as Singh, but still used al-Shahir bin Zakariya at times. He always felt like a bad Sikh because he couldn't really commit fully to it and felt torn between two worlds.
It got worse after his Embrace, he felt like just by existing he was an abomination, so he cuts his beard every night when he wakes up because he already exists as a vampire, so what's one more sin? (Sullivan refers to it as "spiritual self harm." He ignores him and does it anyway.)
But every now and then when his travels take him through a major city. When he's in a major city he tends to get back to his Sikh roots and keeps his beard and puts his turban back on.
He once ran into Sullivan in NYC like this. Sullivan didn't recognise him because of the beard so Zain basically switched to an Indian accent and fucked with him all night. "You do not recognise me?? your oldest friend?? how could you???" Sullivan was This Close to throwing him through a window with shadow tentacles.
"Who are you?"
"I am Mister Singh, you idiot! How can you not remember me???"
"I have no idea who you are!"
"After everything I did for you! I'm going to tell everyone that Sullivan Blackmoore is ungrateful! He betrays his friends! He pretends not to know them!"
"but what did you DO???"
"EVERYTHING, YOU BASTARD! after all I sacrificed for your little blood business you couldn't even put a good word in to Amicia for me! I went up to Seattle and she was like 'who the hell are you' and I was BETRAYED."
This happens several times before Zain ends up inviting him back to his temporary haven for whatever reason and just goes "hey do you want some blood or something?" in his normal voice and Sullivan almost yeets him out the fucking wnidow.
#he's very proud bc he didn't need to use a drop of Chimerstry there#Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya#Sullivan Blackmoore#VTM#Ravnos
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Eavesdrop!!!
"Is it normal for a seventeen-year-old to behave that way?"
"Hmm?"
"I mean, she's all playful and a prankster. More like a little kid. When I was Embraced my oldest was seventeen and she was all trying to be an adult and I had to keep her from humping the leg of the butcher's son. I don't think I've had to spray Evie with a bottle of cold water once."
"I mean, you have to remember that part of growing up means not being afraid of being childlike any more."
"Yeah, but... oh. Oh, right. Shit, I forgot."
"Yeah, she's been seventeen for like twenty years, she's long past that phase. If she was ever in it. She's never been into boys. Or girls. Or anyone else. I mean, she'll always have the brain of a seventeen-year-old, so she'll always be a bit impulsive, but her brain wasn't that far from maturity and experience has done the rest, pretty much."
"God, I feel old."
"You're not even a hundred yet!"
"I'm olllddd!"
Snickering.
"Anyway," that voice goes on, "she terrified me when I first met you two. She'd act all carefree and hoppity skip and 'Sullivan is the best!' and you'd be standing there, glowering and terrifying with all the creepy shadows. I thought she was completely unhinged. Then you started warming up to me and thawing out a bit and I was like, oh, she's unhinged in a wholesome and adorable way, not a scary way. She was a lot less scary when the person she adored wasn't scary."
"That's not what unhinged means, unhinged can't be wholesome, but you're getting better at using 21st century slang so I don't want to be discouraging."
"I refuse to grow old. I will keep dabbing with the kids and I will stay yeet at heart, damn it!"
A dramatic tone: "It'll happen to you!" Then: "Christ, I'm cringing at that, that was terrible."
"I swear I did that on purpose."
"Bullshit."
"Shut up. Anyway, I miss her when you don't bring her around."
"I mean, I can always give her your number so you can keep in touch."
"Yeah, no, that's creepy."
"She likes knowing another Ravnos. She won't be creeped out, she's come to trust you over the years. Anyway, you did say your daughter was her age... I think she'd understand."
"It's fine. I'll chat to her next time I see her."
"That girl just fucking collects parental figures, it's hilarious."
"Who's she with now?"
"Beckett."
"Ah, so she's having the time of her life right now, then." Laughter. "I won't intrude. Tell her I said hi next time you see her, then."
"Will do!"
"... My daughter's granddaughter is getting married soon, you know."
"You're so fucking old."
"Shut up."
"Just vibe and yeet, that'll keep it away."
"I hate you so much."
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I dunno how well versed Zain is with meme culture, but consider this: Evie opens the door of the temporary haven she's staying in and finds a walrus there. It vanishes when she goes to fetch whichever adult is babysitting her.
She becomes the girl who cried walrus.
I want this to happen when she’s with the Vykosoviches so Nastasya can delight in watching someone finally one up the Beckettling.
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honestly I think Elisa and Zain would make a good queerplatonic relationship. Sometimes I smoosh my OCs together to see what would happen and I did it with Elisa and Zain before I remembered Zain is gay as a rainbow so it'd have to be queerplatonic.
but it still worked???
like Zain was raised both Muslim and Sikh, with the expectation he'd eventually pick one. which he didn't. because both religions make him feel connected to his parents, whom he adores, so asking him to choose between the two is like asking him to choose between his parents. so he already goes through life being like "yeah I'm bad at being a Sikh" and also "I'm bad at being a Muslim" so adding "I'm bad at being a gay man" to the list didn't phase him at all. (And yeah, he definitely walks around feeling like a "bad" person for not conforming.) In a modern human AU he doesn't give a fuck and would just have a boyfriend on the side if he ever hit it off with another dude. Maybe someone who travels a lot. Like Sullivan, who often makes business trips on behalf of his sister, who's too bitchy to be any good at cultivating business relationships herself.
And Elisa's already on the asexual spectrum (Lettow is literally the ONLY person she's ever been sexually attracted to) so having a partner she's not sexually attracted to would totally be in her wheelhouse.
Maybe it might turn sexual after a while but it'd be a "blowing off steam with someone I trust" sort of thing, not due to any sexual or romantic attraction. I think they'd come to love each other dearly, but in a queerplatonic way. and Sullivan is happy because he can keep travelling without having to deal with the pressure of being the only SO of the person he's seeing.
But they're very Yin Yang. Elisa can get very anxious and autistic sometimes, which can grate on Lettow's nerves from time to time (Lettow actually feels pretty disconnected from Elisa if she doesn't make enough eye contact), but Zain is so laid back it wouldn't faze him at all and I think his mere presence would be enough to calm her down a bit. Elisa herself can get quite fired up at times, which is good for Zain because he's more passive. And in VTM she's very much a vampire who puts survival above morals, which would help Zain accept his vampiric nature and not leave him so conflicted, like he is with Sullivan who is an outright monster to humans.
In a human AU they'd work well as a pair. In VTM they're both too skittish to ever develop any kind of relationship and do anything more than sniff each other under the door lmao. I have the feeling that Zain has actually actively pissed Elisa off at some point and she may or may not be trying to fuck him up lol
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writing a Zain fic
#Sullivan really does look the terrifying Sabbat archetype from his pov lmao#Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya#VTM
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Okay but your Ravnos is probably the first Evie's met since her Embrace so you realise she's gonna see him and immediately yell 'SAME CLAN' and get excited as shit XD
Trust me it's mutual lmao, Ravnos has been on his own since the Week of Nightmares which was extremely traumatising because would I be me if I didn't traumatise my OCs so he's going to be all "SAME CLAN!!!" right back at her lmao
#VTM#VTM OCs#I NEED A NAME FOR HIM#Ravnos#honestly I think he's going to ADORE Evie#he's like yes you do you you little chaos gremlin#honestly I think the only way he and Sullivan ARE ever going to get together is due to bonding over the chaos goblin lmao#ETA: got a name for him!#his full name is a lot longer bc Arabian names incorporate father and grandfather names into them#Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya
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I really didn't mean to make an actual Cinnamon Roll vampire but it just sort of happened. Instead of being like my usual crew of apathetic or even outright malicious douchebags Zain is -- not entirely the kind of person to go out of his way to do good, he's a scammer after all -- gentle and very sweet-natured. He exudes confidence and mystery but once you get past that layer you see his softer side.
#Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya#VTM#Ravnos#wondering if I should nick Assad Zaman as a faceclaim for him as I've been DYING to use that man's face for an OC
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The first time Evie tries to mess with Zain with Chimerstry and he figures it out, he immediately makes her hallucinate someone playing an air horn from right behind her.
I don't know how effective it is, but I am pretty sure that everyone Evie ever meets afterwards is going to hate him for giving her that particular idea.
#Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya#VTM#Evie Byrne#Nastasya in particular is going to want to turn him into furniture
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🥊🎹❤️ for Zain!!
I swear you chose the hardest possible Qs for this one lmao
🥊 -What do they love to do? What do they hate to do?
It's a guilty pleasure, but he definitely loves using Chimerstry and Presence to get one over people. It makes him feel powerful. And very guilty for enjoying it.
He doesn't like drinking blood. He feels a lot of guilt for like, not doing humanity a favour and throwing himself into the sun.
Honestly he's pretty convinced he's a total bastard for existing and some of it creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.
🎹 - Do they have any hobbies?
I'd honestly have to get back to you on that one. He works, and he enjoys his work. He travels around helping the Nosferatu spy on people, so he sees lots of stuff in his travels and gets to chat to a lot of different people. He enjoys all that.
But there's nothing really he enjoys doing by himself that involves anything creative or anything. I guess he likes to read? He likes libraries. Shame most of them aren't open in decent hours.
❤️ - What is one of your OC’s best memories?
Probably being a kid and banding up with other evacuees in the countryside to roam and cause havoc. Not really "best" because of the background fear and othering, but Zain's always had depression and trauma in the background of his life so I'm really struggling to come up with anything that doesn't have some kind of negative footnote on it.
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When Zain first meets Amicia, Sullivan is absolutely certain that Amicia is going to chew him up and spit him back out, but after dealing with the Wall of Sullivan Zain is completely unphased.
He also appreciates that Amicia is very upfront about trades and not staying in any sort of debt, nor doing anything for free. Thus means none of that "I do something and pretend I'm being nice when in reality I'm going to twist your arm about it later" bullshit.
So when Zain walks away from that first meeting being like "huh, she's a very honest and honourable Cainite! I like her!" Sullivan is like.
like.
"what."
#shadowfam#Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya#amicia de lacroix#Sullivan Blackmoore#he legit enjoys being around her because she's blunt and upfront#so he doesn't have to worry about playing games or winning her over#all he has to do is literally what she says
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Okay but I think if Zain and Sullivan got together it would be purely because Evie keeps introducing them under the bathroom door like a couple of cats, because the more I watch them interact in my head, the more intimidated they are by each other.
friendly reminder these are grown-ass men.
#mostly it's Sullivan scaring the shit out of Zain#and Zain occasionally calling him out on it#and Sullivan hiding under a rock instead of discussing it like an adult afterwards#Zain: ''why are you always so fucking mad at me''#Sullivan: ''I would sooner die than admit this is just how I respond ot hot people#so instead I'll just pretend he never said anything''#Zain: ''ugh he doesn't think I'm even worth responding to''#Evie: ''you fucking idiots''#Also Evie: ''he likes you. I know he shows it weirdly but he genuinely likes you''#Zain: ''sounds fake but ok''#Sullivan Blackmoore#Sullivan was 32 when he died and Zain 41#they are not dumbass teenagers they are GROWN ASS MEN#Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya
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I'm doing research on interfaith marriages for Ravnos's parents (Sikh and Muslim, got together in the '30s) and found this line:
"America is just coming out of a period where it had its first black president and it might be about to vote in its first woman president."
and suddenly I feel very, very tired.
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What if the body double is the short one? Says Zain
Nastasya says she used to just decline the work but Sascha’s set her up with a… where is it… blob monster. She opens a cupboard. There’s a meat crime inside. Basically spare materials go onto the blob monster and get reused later.
#first draft warning#SO VERY rough but this cracked me up so#snips#Dusty writes#(this is what my first drafts look like)#Zain al-shahir bin Zakariya#Anastasia Normanovna Vykosovich
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Hallooo~! I was just curious about how some of your vampires feed? Not like Predator Type or anything, but the actual act of feeding itself. Are they quick bite-and-drain types or a little more aggressive? It’s a bit weird, but I like to throw in those little details to mine, spice them up y’know?
Oooh, this is intriguing to think about!
Most of my vamps, I'd say, are quick bite-and-drains. They're young, they have to hunt, they aren't sadists.
Exceptions I can think of:
Elisa Mulgrew: She's not a sadist, she's just hardcore "do what it takes to survive" so if she botches a hunt and a human starts exhibiting signs of distress, she's more likely to just commit to it and do it anyway, whereas my other vamps might lose their nerve. She's also so fucking bad at keeping her prey alive, guys, like you have NO IDEA. Every time I play through VTMNR her humanity plummets to 1 and stays there because she keeps just fucking killing her prey by accident. Definitely caused Lettow a headache when she was a fledgling bc he had to basically follow her around cleaning up her messes without letting her know he was there lmao.
Anastasia Normanovna Vykosovich: She's spoiled. She doesn't actually hunt that often because Grigori is well established and they have enough ghouls to eat from. She does hunt from time to time with Norman when they're playing Gangrel, though, in which case yeah, she's a bite-and-drain. She doesn't like distressing humans and has been scolded more than once for masquerade violations for letting upset humans go.
Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya: One of my higher humanity vamps, even moreso than Rose. Zain will flat out abandon a hunting attempt if a human just gets nervous. Luckily he's really hot so it's pretty easy for him to go to a night club and just go full siren. Likes to gorge Fridays and Saturdays, obviously it's harder for him to eat during the week so he's a bit more sparing those days, or goes for blood bags (at least until Sullivan tells him enough about how the blood trade works to turn him off them).
Sullivan Blackmoore: Just fucking helps himself to the goods lmao, at least as long as Amicia doesn't yell at him for it. In which case he does it when she's not looking and cooks the books. He does hunt from time to time though and is less fazed at upset humans because of the childehood Millicent gave him.
#VTM#my OCs#Elisa Mulgrew#Anastasia Normanovna Vykosovich#Zain al-Shahir bin Zakariya#Sullivan Blackmoore
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Writing this fic makes me sad bc Zain doesn’t like the Vykosoviches because who doesn’t like the Vykosoviches.
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