vaxxymachina

[vaxxymachina]

a small Vax character study plus some headcanons

a study of my Vax'ildan design, showcasing his eyes glowing in the dark because he's half elf

wanted to give him hair beads, but drawing his hair hurts me enough as it is, so just pretend he has them instead, okay? 😭

this 5'3" trans masc assassin may look all cute and cuddly, but remember, he used to be Clasp - and he will kill you

[ also, how he looks before the shadow map is added - ]

also yes, we are trans Vax'ildan truthers in this household, sue me

[vaxxymachina]

updated 31/10/24 @ 2:45pm

MASTERPOST

Vox Machina:

Stilben

Height Headcanons

Scanlan:

Warm Beginnings

Pike:

A New Light

Taryon:

Golden Child

Grog:

Born In Bloodshed

Vex'ahlia:

Cold Beginnings

Vax'ildan:

A Red Surprise

Vax's Many Parents

art of Vax and Keyleth's height difference

art of Vax's choker and some of his scars

Keyleth:

Spring's Child

art of Vax and Keyleth's height difference

Percival:

The Second Son

NPCS:

A Sorcerer's Awakening

[vaxxymachina]

Vox Machina height headcanons! 📊 📏

from shortest to tallest -

Pike Trickfoot = 3'2" or 96.5cm

Scanlan Shorthalt = 3'4" or 104.1cm

Vax'ildan & Vex'ahlia = 5'3" or 160cm

Pike w/ the Titan Stone Knuckles = 5'4" or 162.6cm

Taryon Darrington = 6'0" or 182.9cm

Fire & Water Elemental Keyleth = 6'1" or 185.4cm

Percival de Rolo = 6'2" or 188cm

Keyleth of The Air Ashari = 6'4" or 193cm

Earth Elemental Keyleth = 6'8" or 205.7cm

Air Elemental Keyleth = 7'0" or 213.4cm

Grog Strongjaw = 8'2" or 248.9cm

Grog w/ the Titan Stone Knuckles = 10'4" or 315cm

bonus heights -

Trinket = 3'2" or 96.5cm

DOTY v.1 = 6'3" or 190.5cm

DOTY v.2 = 6'6" or 198.12cm

[vaxxymachina]

updated 12/10/2024 4:02pm

MASTERPOST

Vox Machina:

Stilben

Scanlan:

Warm Beginnings

Pike:

A New Light

Taryon:

Golden Child

Grog:

Born In Bloodshed

Vex'ahlia:

Cold Beginnings

Vax'ildan:

A Red Surprise

Vax's Many Parents

art of Vax and Keyleth's height difference

art of Vax's choker and some of his scars

Keyleth:

Spring's Child

art of Vax and Keyleth's height difference

Percival:

The Second Son

NPCS:

A Sorcerer's Awakening

[vaxxymachina]

More art of how I picture Vax in my fanon, with some details about his design under the cut.

Drew the pretty boy again.

Detail close ups under the cut!

Plus, a little bonus~

------

Starting with a reminder of Vax's first meeting with the Briarwoods - the skin will never go back to normal, fang scars & thinned, death-touched skin marring Vax's neck for life.

As well as a small reminder of the scary deal Vax made to save Vex in the sunken tomb.

And Vax's choker, which glows with a purplish pink light whenever he uses his voice.

(I headcanon Vax as trans, and made up a choker that magically alters his voice to sound however he wants it to sound in real time for him.)

Bonus: A more silly, suggestive version. Purely for the memes.

Someone's had some lovin!

[vaxxymachina]

Art of my fanon versions of Vax'ildan and Keyleth!

(though this art is vaxleth art specifically, I don't actually ship them in my core fanon)

Something new is blossoming.

Featuring a disabled 5'3" Vax and his 6'4" girlfriend, Keyleth.

(I headcanon Vax as a double below the knee amputee!)

[vaxxymachina]

Okay so this is more of a silly post than anything, but is still true to my fanon in the end.

Basically... Vax, but he keeps accidentally getting adopted.

Vax's many parents:

Elaina Heatherwood (human) -

Vax's biological mother

-

Syldor Vessar (elf) -

Vax's biological father

was abusive to Vax (and Vex) though, so Vax doesn't actually consider Syldor as his real father

-

Devanna Illean (elf) -

Syldor's ex-wife

Vax's stepmother

loves Vax as her own child

Vax loves her as another mother alongside Elaina

-

Scanlan Shortfoot (gnome) -

Vax's best friend and surrogate father

is married to Pike

-

Pike Shortfoot (gnome) -

Vax's best friend and surrogate mother

is married to Scanlan

-

Mr & Mrs Gilmore (humans) -

Vax dates their son, Shaun

they adore Vax a lot

they have threatened to fist fight Syldor if the man ever hurts Vax or Vex again

-

Vilya & Korrin (half-elves) -

Vax dates their daughter, Keyleth

they adore Vax a lot

they have barred Syldor from ever visiting Zephrah so it's always a safe place for Vax and Vex to visit

Vilya has promised to kill Syldor if the twins ever ask her to do so for them

-

Purvan Suul (demigod) -

Vax’s soul father

he accidentally created Vax while healing Vex's soul after Elaina was almost killed by necromantic cultists while she was still pregnant with Vex

Vax sees Purvan as his real father

-

The Matron of Ravens (god) -

Purvan’s partner

Vax's stepmother

Vax becomes her champion eventually

loves Vax as her own child

-

The Wildmother (god) -

Vax was raised to worship her as a kid

she sees and dearly loves all life on Exandria as her children

she empathises with Vax

she loves how Vax loves and explores nature

-

The Archeart (god) -

Vax was forced to worship him as a teenager

they look a lot alike

he empathises with Vax

he sees himself in Vax's love for magic and art

-

The Everlight (god) -

Vax worships her secretly

considers her champion, Pike, as her daughter

Vax is her champion's friend and surrogate son

she empathises with Vax

-

The Dawnfather (god) -

sees his champion, Vex, as his daughter

Vax is his champion's brother

he empathises with Vax

-

The Knowing Mistress (god) -

considers her champion, Scanlan, as her son

Vax is her champion's friend and surrogate son

she empathises with Vax

(now I need to commission art of Vax surrounded by his loving parents while Vilya and the Gilmores glare at Syldor who stands off to the side sulking)

///

[vaxxymachina]

Warm Beginnings

In a long forgotten village in the warm sandy desert of eastern Marquet, back in 742PD, a young desert gnome and her forest gnome husband found themselves giving birth to a small and sickly son.

With the help of neighbours and their local temple to The Dawnfather, they nursed their son back to health and did all they could to care for him.

Scanlan Shorthalt was loved by all who met him, his large smile infectious from a young age.

However, it wasn't all smiles and joy at home - for Vicou, Scanlan's dad and a struggling bard, was starting to feel suffocated and had turned to drink in order to hang on.

Meanwhile Juniper, Scanlan's mother and a beloved teacher at the local primary school, found herself being the primary income of the small family.

Scanlan didn't know why his father was so distant towards him or his mother, even trying to learn how to play the flute to impress Vicou and gain his attention, but to no avail.

By his eighth birthday, Scanlan had come to learn that he and his father would never be close.

The relationship between his parents had all but evaporated, his father missing most nights and his mother gone all day as she went on two work two jobs to support her growing child.

He still had happy moments, mostly with his friends or on his mother's rare days off, but things changed when one day his father left and never came back - leaving no letter and taking every last penny.

Scanlan remembers watching his mother sob, clutching a framed painting of her and Vicou on their wedding day.

Things got difficult, Juniper taking on a third job and leaving Scanlan in the hands of his neighbours every day.

Scanlan felt terrible for his poor mother, she was always on her feet doing something and it was draining the life out her.

So, at age 12, Scanlan started teaching himself how to play the flute again and after months of practicing away, he started busking on the street after school to earn money.

His neighbours took pity and tipped him whenever they saw him, Scanlan getting better over time and earning more than he could ever imagine.

When Juniper learned he was busking to save up money and help her, it broke her heart but made her so very proud.

She didn't say anything at first, but started putting by a little bit of coin every month to start saving up for proper music lessons to help her son out.

Then, by her next birthday, she finds herself surprised when Scanlan comes to her with a jar full of silvers and coppers he has earned while busking.

Overall, it's not a lot of money in general but for a young boy busking on the street its very impressive - so impressive, that Juniper takes him to buy a new instrument all of his own.

Scanlan trades his father's flute for a lyre and, to his mother's awe and surprise, he takes to it like a moth would to a flame.

The little bard finds a new joy in playing the lyre and resumes busking, finding it drawing in even bigger crowds and even more tips, his mother letting him save up for his lessons doing this so she can focus on the bills and groceries.

By the time he's 15, Scanlan is so good with a lyre that the local tavern hires him as their main entertainer for a good fee and free dinner every night.

His mother is so proud of him, all of his neighbours too, and it just encourages him more.

Then one day, near Scanlan's 18th birthday, a scout for the best music school in Tal'dorei stops by the tavern for the night and hears Scanlan play.

So moved by the young bard, he offers him a placement in The Royal Bard's College in Emon City and Scanlan runs home to tell his mum about it.

Using his savings to secure transport, Scanlan would leave home to go to this college with the scout's recommendation letter - his proud mother tearfully waving him goodbye.

He'd study there for 5 years, working hard to pass his exams and gain his professional bard certification while learning about how it is that bards can manipulate the arcanic threads of the world, before finally graduating at age 23.

Excited to show his mother his certificate, Scanlan would immediately book transport home and returned to his village to surprise everyone.

A party was thrown when he arrived, his mother boasting about her son with glee.

But the night would end in tragedy... For by sundown, a small tribe of goblins known to hunt the roads would arrive.

A night of joy and celebration would be stained with horror and bloodshed, black smoke filling the sky as those goblins raided the village purely for some entertainment...

Scanlan had run hand in hand with his mother, lyre in hand, but soon they'd be cornered by several raiders in an alleyway with nowhere for them to hide.

Scanlan would never be able to recall what happened then and there, all he knows is that one minute he is crying as he stood in between his mother and those goblins before blacking out and waking up in a tent not far from the burning village.

Clerics had hovered over him, a gentle pain lingering in his gut as smoke clung to his lungs.

He had died in the village, a sliver of white dancing through dark auburn hair, and these clerics had brought him back.

Though he was one of the few they had managed to save, he couldn't see Juniper anywhere.

He demanded to see her, but the clerics had to gently break the news to him that they only found him lying in that alley.

Scanlan never saw his mother again, most of the village killed by those goblins and their home burned away for good.

Scanlan would be numbly led into a wagon with the few other survivors, watching as the fire raged on into the night.

They were taken to Shandal for medical treatment and refuge, but Scanlan couldn't dare to stay with those clerics who had brought him back without his mother - so he left, slipping away before dawn on the back of a hay cart heading to the capital city when nobody was looking, and he disappeared.

He would blend into the noise of Ank'Harel with little to note happening, the bard mindlessly busking for food and drink as he slept on the street for a time he couldn't possibly track.

He doesn't remember how old he was when Dr. Dranzel found him rotting away on a street corner playing the lyre with bloodied fingers and visible ribs, but his liglfe would change for the better on that day.

The half-orc had brought the broken gnome to the inn he was staying at and introduced Scanlan to his minstrel band, Dr. Dranzel's Spectacular Travelling Troupe, and bought the gnome room and board.

Scanlan had been confused and uneasy at first, but then Dranzel earnestly praised his ability with the lyre and asked if he would joun their troupe.

There was a promise of fame, fortune, food and drink...

Scanlan couldn't care for fame or fortune, but he was starving and drink numbed his pain...

So he took Dranzel up on his offer and, in a week, found himself travelling with the group by boat to Issylra.

There, he would learn their second job - pickpocketing.

For the next 23 years, Scanlan would put on weight and work at his skill with many different instruments, including his voice, as the troupe travelled around the world to bring music into more lives and to spread their troupe's name.

He didn't have the nimbleness of his comrades to swipe the coinpurses of their audiences, but he could charm all who watched them into not noticing the halfling violinist reaching into their pocket as they went past them towards the bar.

Yet, Scanlan never truly felt like he belonged with the troupe.

He enjoyed the traveling and the booze and the music...

He loved the attention and the sex and the flirting...

But the stealing rubbed him wrong, and he hated how his troupe belittled everyone who fell for their tricks and charms.

Then he met a woman, a fellow gnome so pretty and sweet.

They were in Westruun, a rural village in The Dividing Plains of Tal'dorei, and Scanlan had slipped outside for some air.

She had been walking home when two nasty men cornered her to harass her for sex.

Scanlan, a flash of goblins and fire in his mind, didn't even realise he was moving until he was lifting his lyre over his head and whacking one of the men right in the back as he yelled.

The men spooked and ran, the woman breaking down crying as Scanlan stumbled aside.

He had never done anything like that before, startled by his actions, but upon seeing this poor gnome crying he would force himself to calm down and focus on consoling the woman.

Her name was Sybil Harpfoot, the young gnome a florist who had been visiting her sister Mayble before heading home.

Scanlan would take her home and ask if she wanted him to tell the guards what happened, but instead Sybil just asked him to stay with her for the night and how could he say no?

He slept on her couch that night and was treated to a warm breakfast of pancakes covered in syrup and coffee.

She thanked him for saving her, and he told her he was just glad that she wasn't hurt that night.

When he rejoined his troupe that day and they said they'd be leaving for Whitestone, Scanlan decided to stay behind in Westrunn - he liked Sybil and wanted to make sure she would be okay after what happened.

There were arguments, and it felt like Scanlan would have no choice, but Dranzel would give in and accept Scanlan's formal request to leave the troupe.

He'd watch them pack up into their wagons and drive away with no regret at his decision.

For the next few months, he would work gigs at the tavern for room and board, all while he befriended the lovely Sybil.

They grew close, maybe too close, and before he knew it he was taking her to his room one night after a gig and more than a few drinks - when he awoke the next morning, he'd find himself panicked and feeling guilty, so he packed his things and fled without a word of goodbye or apology to Sybil.

He caught the first cart out of town and left Westrunn behind, letting himself be taken to wherever the cart was going.

Little did he know, Sybil would end up pregnant from their night of drunken passion.

From that day forward, Scanlan would move from place to place as he busked and played gigs to pay for room and food, never staying anywhere longer than a week and never ever returning back to Westrunn.

Drinking, getting high, having one night stands and playing gigs everywhere he went, he became a bit more jaded and a little more self centred.

Until one day, he runs into a goliath, a mage and two holy folk in a spot of bother with a mayor of some livestock town in The Mornset Countryside.

Seeing an opportunity for some excitement and coin, he decides to offer his help as a bard to the 4 - little did he know just how much his life would change after that day.

/////

[ Masterpost ]

[vaxxymachina]

MASTERPOST

Vox Machina:

Stilben

Height Headcanons

Scanlan:

Warm Beginnings

Pike:

A New Light

Taryon:

Golden Child

Grog:

Born In Bloodshed

Vex'ahlia:

Cold Beginnings

Vax'ildan:

A Red Surprise

Vax's Many Parents

art of Vax and Keyleth's height difference

art of Vax's choker and some of his scars

Vax character study

Keyleth:

Spring's Child

art of Vax and Keyleth's height difference

Percival:

The Second Son

NPCS:

A Sorcerer's Awakening

[vaxxymachina]

VOX MACHINA

The gunslinger, the druid.

The rogue, the ranger.

The barbarian, the artificer.

The cleric, the bard.

The snake, the bear.

/////

Hello everyone, Vaxxy here!

This is my new sideblog where I shall be exploring my fanon world for Vox Machina and where I shall now share my fanart and headcannons.

You probably know me already from my main tumblr blog, @ravenquingvax, or maybe my briarvax darkship focused sideblog, @vaxxy-after-dark.

I use they/them pronouns and go by Vax, Danny or Raven.

I hope you'll enjoy my fanon and, if you have any, feel free to ask me questions about it!

/////

The Masterpost