taizhangs-blog

[taizhangs-blog]

➰ ( GODFREY GAO, CISMALE, HE/HIM ) *✧.:°░｡ —- is that TAI ZHANG ?! you know them, right? they are the 29/810 year old VAMPIRE !! they’re known for being PATIENT & OBSERVANT - but i’d be careful if i were you because they’re also VENGEFUL & CRUEL. 

hello!! i’m casie and i’m super excited to join you guys. i’ll include some information about this tall drink of water below and making my way through intro posts and characters throughout the day but if you’re interested in plotting with tai feel free to like this or message me and we can chat! this is kind of long so if you’re looking for relevant information and don’t feel like reading backstory you can skip to the second part at the bottom!

alright so tai was born in china in the early 1200s (tai came to assume 1207 from studying historical documents and major events but there’s no real way for him to know for sure). his name wasn’t actually zhang tai back then; he was born under a different name but it’s one that he decided to leave behind centuries ago. nobody knows what it actually is.

he was stupidly tall compared to the rest of humanity at the time which basically determined his path in life. the song dynasty was ruling at the time and tai started training to be in the warrior class at a young age.

he was always an oddity; always something to be stared at. he didn’t have many friends because of his appearance except one, the original owner of his current name. the two of them were insanely close and his friend’s death when they were both about 16 absolutely destroyed him.

he became one of the emperor’s best fighters and rose up the social and economic ladder because of it. he married an older widow he came to fall in love with, Lanfen, and they started a family. he loved his kids dearly, but none moreso than his oldest daughter. Meiying was the light of his life and he has yet to feel that amount of adoration since. 

the events that led to him becoming a vampire are kind of blurry in tai’s memory. he was out on duty trying to deal with a problem in tax collection and a pale woman of arabic descent was causing a ruckus. he didn’t take her side in the argument and went home with a bite mark on his shoulder and the taste of blood in his mouth. 

typical process after that; he started having cravings and visions and it freaked his family out. it freaked him out. so he went to seek out the merchant again. this time the argument ended in him being stabbed and left to die in the tiny shop. 

the woman, nikita as he came to learn eventually, buried him and waited for him to rise. needless to say, he was terrified and confused and disgusted (so on and so forth). but he realized quickly he couldn’t stay in normal society a.) due to the sun restriction and b.) due to his lack of restraint and understanding. he ended up killing his oldest son because he was on the verge of collapse and fled, leaving his horrified family behind. meiying’s expression has been burned into his memory. this is about the time he changed his name.

he traveled with nikita despite his intense hatred of her. they wandered all over the known world, from china to england. he turned away at the evil things she did for decades before eventually he just became jaded. her clan seemed as displeased with her as he did and everybody was grateful when she was overthrown. 

he became the diplomat of the group early on. he was observant, patient, and quick at learning. he’s dealt with shadowhunters and downworlders for centuries and while he doesn’t have a particular hatred of any one group, he doesn’t trust any of them (which is why he didn’t volunteer himself. a move, he realized, was right). 

he moved to america in the early 1800s and made his way West along with everybody else. he’s been in california semi-permanently since. 

other important things:

he’s generally pleasant to talk to and be around, but if someone wrongs him or his people in any way he’s quick to act with breathtaking brutality. he’s wiped towns off the map.

knows a lot of languages and is very respectful of other cultures. he’s faced a shit ton of racism in the past and is happy to see the world finally starting to progress (albeit slowly). 

super suspicious of high-level mortals, particularly shadowhunters. he’s been burned in the past but is willing to let bygones be bygones with new generations.

less likely to speak, more likely to listen. 

his name is tai zhang instead of zhang tai because of western norms. especially in the past it had confused Westerners and he finally just gave in and flipped it around. 

he’s been around the block a few times, has seen quite a lot, and carries a lot of wisdom with him. he’s still eager to learn, though.

tai is pretty compassionate on a day to day basis. if someone needs help, he has no qualms about offering a hand. he doesn’t feel like letting his image be marred by terror in the eyes of others does him any good. his actions speak for him and people can take that how they want.

he had to steal his grave dirt from nikita but he has it hidden. only a select number of people know where to find it.

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Godfrey Gao for Elle Men

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