#vaxlinc

Okay so, I have entirely too much to say about Vax 😳 You don't have to read nor include any or all of this! I'm not great at summarizing, so it is what it is! I'll start with the shippy stuff! I don't know what you're planning, so I'll just give the full low-down anyways, brace yourself, I'm sorry, anon 😭 Vax's pet names for Lincoln (not used until near the end of the game, and generally only used in private): - My dawn - My purpose - My path - My salvation Romance Basics: PDA: dislikes being openly affectionate, and just in general being open about his positive emotions at all, checks coast is clear beforehand. Grumpy if caught or teased – not embarrassed of Lincoln, just doesn’t like getting caught expressing feelings. May warm up to a few public kisses as the romance progresses. Words of Affection – won’t say I love you, not directly. Expresses it via actions and more round-about phrases. A mess at flirting near the start, would nestle his flirts in between put upon coughing fits, then splutter something completely different and mildly insulting when asked what he just said, lol. Not a singer, but might gruffly sing a few slightly romantic goth song lyrics in between cuddles.

Physical Affection – favourites include kneeling down to brush his lips over Lincoln’s knuckles and kissing the inside of Lincoln’s wrist, has danced with Linc to records Vax inherited (mostly goth records.) Will die before he lets people see him being romantic though, so doesn’t happen in public. Also likes cuddling, but will pretend he doesn't.

Realisation – had feelings for Lincoln before the finale, but only occurred to him he loved Lincoln during a pivotal decision near the finale, which.. I don't know if you've played it lives within, so that's all I'll say!

Ways Vax says "I love you": Casually: - down-played comments, e.g: you’re… tolerable, I don’t hate you, you’ll do.. for now (frowning, but there’s a sparkle of affection in his gaze if you know where to look) - comments that mean the opposite, e.g I hate you (said with a petulant scowl, but his face is spasming with an oncoming smile.)

Deeper into the relationship: - simply just trailing his finger over his heart, then tapping and holding it there, or holding his hand there - “I am yours” - “My footsteps echo yours” - “I would live for you” – means more than “I would die for you”, he’s reckless, would die for anyone – but to live for someone?  That’s putting in the effort.

Miscellaneous Shippy Headcanons: 1) Lincoln has a sketchbook full of candid sketches of V, Vax delves in sometimes to pen grumpy, but-loving-in-his-own-way type comments in the margins, Lincoln writes back. 2) V and Linc have matching preserved-rowan tree sprig necklaces where the sprig rests just above their hearts, gifted by Linc. Both have different gems knotted alternately into the full length of the cord. V's has: Polished fossil wood chunks (shiny brown) Gargoyle-head shaped opal pieces (white holographic. gargoyles to ward off evil.) Linc's has: Pink tourmaline chunks Butterfly-shaped blue topaz pieces. The gems were picked especially to represent each other 🥺

3) V's necklace is scented with Lincoln's cologne, if he gets really anxious he can turn around, hold the necklace up to his lips and kiss it 3 times and inhale the scent to calm him down 😭 he doesn't like people seeing him doing this though, so he will be as secretive about it as he can. Onto the non shippy facts! Main Hobbies: - DMing for Dungeons and Dragons - a very animated dungeon master, in contrast to his usual grumpy self. - Moth and butterfly study and care - big lepidopterology nerd, inherited from his mom, keeps her butterfly and moth ID book with all her notes in a secret place on him at all times. - Creepy Toy Making - makes horror-themed dolls, animals and people, thoughts and prayers for whoever stays in Lincoln and his eventual apartment's guestroom, cuz it's just filled to the brim with those terrifying toys😭 Other Hands-On Hobbies: - LARPing - diorama creating - fictional map-making - stop-motion animation creation - cosplay

Vax, is, as ever, wounded.

Lincoln's hands are, as ever, on him.

Holding him. Protecting him. Supporting him.

Tending delicately to his wound.

Just a scrape – a weeping gash, spilling scarlet down the skin of Vax's cheek.

Not the work of a Power Creature this time – but the work of a misplaced foot. Vax's foot, to be precise. And one exceptionally ill-placed tree.

Not that he'd ever admit it – that he tripped on his own two feet onto a razor-sharp twig.

No.

Let the world think it was another battle wound.

Vax's vision is blurred without his glasses, but staring upwards at Lincoln, he doesn't need glasses to recall all the minute details of the man he'd spent countless hours admiring, grunting out affirmatives and feigning his best I'm-definitely-listening-and-certainly-not-checking-you-out face whenever Lincoln's teachings on the Power spanned particularly long, all his warnings and wisdom fading away as Vax got lost in the labyrinth of his eyes.

The Power remembered the shape of him.

Remembered the little stray hair that always seemed to weasel its way out of Lincoln's braid, that he'd huff in indignation at, try in vain to swat away, every time it fell into his bronze and stubbled face.

The Power remembered the sound of him.

Remembered his rough and hearty chuckle. The way his voice mellowed as he spoke to Vax, voice softening like sugar-drops into sweet and milky tea.

The Power remembered the scent of him.

Remembered the heady scent of his cologne. Remembered how, when Lincoln asked Vax to remember something to ground himself – to calm himself – it was the echo of that scent that wrapped around Vax, anchoring his thoughts to reality.

The Power remembered the feel of him.

Remembered the scratch of his stubble, or the silkiness of his hair. Remembered the magnetic feel of his hand in Vax's, hands finding each other like a moth seeks a flame.

The Power remembers a lot of things.

The softness of a kiss. The sweetness of a glance.

...The burn of cleaning alcohol down a bloodied cheek.

Vax grimaces at the sensation, but makes no sound, the act of concealing his pain something that was long instilled into him, drilled into every fibre of his being.

In his line of work, it was an integral skill – one cry or hiss of pain could mean the difference between living and breathing, or clutching your bloody innards on a dusty highway, your cries a flare-light shot out into the night, summoning forth a swarm of monsters, all flooding your way.

Vax traced a hand over the claw-marks that twisted down his torso – the wounds were old, but the lesson remained fresh.

It was a lesson he had learned the hard way – and it was a lesson he would carry with him, forevermore.

In his mind... In his spirit... In every mark on his body, every score on his chest, and every etching of teal pigment in his Power-touched eye.

This time, when the instinct to hiss in pain comes, he doesn't quell it.

Lincoln immediately sits up, hands reaching for his.

"Vax? Are you okay?"

His anxious eyes examine Vax's – spotting for a sign, an instinct seemingly instilled in him, too.

Worried. He was worried. Vax hadn't had anyone worry for him in a very long time – everyone except for Amalia, that was.

There was no-one else left to worry about Vax. He'd killed them all in his own foolishness, one cry of pain on a lonely stretch of road alerting all monsters to his whereabouts, and triangulating all the rotten beasts and creatures around his family, his family, who he could have saved, if only he had kept his pain to himself.

But Lincoln makes him want to be vulnerable.

And being vulnerable – that was dangerous. Fatal, even.

In the absence of anything else to do, he lets out a sob.

Quiet, and fleeting, but still very much audible.

There is no sorrow to this sound. No gut-twisting agony...

Not to Vax.

It's a cry of shock, more than anything else. Surprise. Surprise that, despite everything, someone wanted to stand by his side.

His broken and bloodied side. His perfectly imperfect side.

Surprise that someone wanted to choose him. Again and again and again. No matter the toll. No matter the cost.

Lincoln needs no notice, no words or invitation. Vax's eyes are invitation enough, something brewing inside of there, a battle and its cry all in one.

Hold me– please– his eyes say, and Lincoln obeys.

In that tender moment, Lincoln looks like someone worth changing for. He looks like someone who would never ask that of Vax – to change. He looks like someone that would accept him, however broken, however bruised, however bloody.

And most importantly – he looks like a risk worth taking.

A risk that plants a gentle kiss on Vax’s forehead, cradles his face in a soft hold, and asks in a sweet voice:

"Better?"

Tags

These are the tags I normally use on my own creations.

Writing: #my writing Edits: #my edits Memes: #my memes Below are the tags I use for my own favourite it lives within main character, mr pink-hair up there, Vax Vũ-Verdant, and all content related to him, including those made by me, and those not made by me. Vax in general: #OC: Vax Vax with Lincoln: #Vaxlinc

Writing

A note on trigger warnings: all my writing lists any potential content warnings at the top of the work, with the work itself under a "read more" button.

1. Lincoln x MC angst fic - Heal what has been hurt (change the fate's design), part 1, part 2 2. Abel x MC ficlet - click 3. Excerpt of an unfinished Abel x MC angst - click 4. Abel x MC (ish) - a sinister Judas Kiss piece - click 5. Abel x MC joke fic - click 6. Pictures of You - ILW Main Cast Angst - click 7. In Progress Lincoln x MC Angst - part 1 8. Excerpt of a soft Lincoln x MC WIP - click 9. Little ILW MC Angst Piece - click 10. Lincoln x MC Wound-Tending Piece - click 11. Tyril x MC Piece - Wish Upon a Star - click

Edits

Another note on trigger warnings: warnings for edits are shown by caution emojis and what the warning is for, after the link. e.g ⚠️EXAMPLE ⚠️

Fake CGS and Book Covers:

1. Bashful Abel in a suit - click 2. Horror Abel - click ⚠️GUNS ⚠️ 3. Horror Abel looming behind ILW MC - click ⚠️BODY HORROR ⚠️ 4. Suited Up Abel Leaning - click 5. ILW MC (Feens!) striding menacingly through an alley - click 6. Eiko x MOTY MC cover edit - click 7. Abel x ILW MC (Hilkka) reading by a tree - click 8. Blades MC (Raine) flying on a drake - click 9. Blades MC (Maiele), Tyril, and Imtura in battle - click 10. Martin Vanderweil x LOA MC edit - click 11. Gabe x Cas ready for battle - click 12. Blades MC (Daenarya) cover replacement - click ⚠️FLASHING IMAGES ⚠️ 13. Thomas Hunt x MC - AVSP cover edit - click 14. Creator AU Immortal Desires MC (Ripley) Edit - click

Sprite Edits (Part 1!):

1. Abel in Rowan's glasses - click 2. Sleeveless Abel with long hair - click 3. Long-hair Abel in a flower crown - click 4. ILW MC in Abel's sweater - click 5. Pirate Abel #1 - click 6. Pirate Abel #2 - click 7. Pirate Abel #3 - click 8. Horror Abel - click ⚠️BODY HORROR ⚠️ 9. Grandpa Abel - click 10. Crying Abel - click ⚠️DEATH AND ILW SPOILERS ⚠️ 11. Bearded Abel and beardless Lincoln - click 12. Merman Abel - click 13. Abel x ILW MC heist suits - click 14. Amalia dressed as her younger self - click 15. Lincoln dressed as his younger self - click 16. Beckett (TE) as a wood nymph - click 17. Lincoln as an elf - click 18. Tom as a mage - click 19. Jean Jacket Lincoln with his hair down - click 20. Nik Ryder if he was in ATV - click 21. ILW MC (Vax) lookbook - click ⚠️ILW SPOILERS ⚠️ 22. ILW MC (Vax) expressions - click 23. ILW MC (Vax) in the ILW ballroom dress - click 24. ILW MC (Vax) in an immortal desires dress - click ⚠️ILW SPOILERS ⚠️ 25. ILW MC (Rowan) as a snow queen - click 26. TE MC (Anitha) as a mermaid - click 27. Blades MC as a shadow court member - click 28. Desire and Decorum MC as a fairy - click 29. ILW MC (Vax) pride edits - click

Sprite Edits (Part 2!)

30. Lincoln x MC (Vax) edits - click ⚠️ILW SPOILERS ⚠️ 31. ILW MC's Goth Mom - click 32. LOA MC x Martin Vanderweil edits - click 33. ILW OC Expression Sheet - click 34. ILW OC Full Body Sprite - click 35. ILW MC (Nishiki) Robes Outfit - click ⚠️ILW SPOILERS ⚠️ 36. ILW MC (Nishiki) Casual Outfit - click 37. ILW MC (Vax) lit up with Power - click ⚠️ILW SPOILERS ⚠️ 38. ILW MC (Vax) Before and After GIFs - click ⚠️FLASHING IMAGES, ILW SPOILERS ⚠️ 39. ILW MC's Aunt and Mom - click 40. ILW MC (Vax) Leather Outfit - click 41. ID Trio Edits (Gabe, Cas, MC) - click

Misc. Edits:

1. Rheya (BB) fragment piece, with the cracks removed - click ⚠️BLOOD AND BLOODBOUND B2 SPOILERS⚠️ 2. Abel Valentines Cards - click 3. Abel Moodboard - click 4. Gaius (BB) fragment piece, with the cracks removed - click ⚠️BLOOD, DEAD PEOPLE, AND BLOODBOUND B1 SPOILERS⚠️

Art

1. LOA MC x Martin Vanderweil portraits - click 2. ID MC portrait - click

Memes