I am an SFW writer on this account, and will not be doing anything more than slight suggestiveness.
You can request x reader for nearly every fandom (will not be doing x reader for fandoms where the main cast are either animals/non-sapient or children), but I can't promise I'll answer if I know nothing about the character, or that if I do, that it will be the best characterization.
ill protect oyu from the wizard if he comes for you ok....... ok
ok! i'll make sure to pump out some headcanons while he's not here...
I think that a lot of the ZM cast would enjoy listening to your heartbeat.
Not having one of their own, it's natural for them to be curious about it, and for some it could even be comforting to just lean against your chest and just listen.
▻ 一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一一▸♡
Heartbeat
Characters included in this: Zardy, Pumpkin Jack, Brute, Cablecrow, Drought
Zardy
Sometimes, Zardy really just needs a rest, or maybe he's feeling extra protective over you, or is worried about you due to intruders, and so he'll come to you and lay his head on your chest, eyes closed as he just listens, enjoying the proof that you're alive and safe.
The first time your heart raced as he layed upon you, he was deeply concerned, perhaps your heart was malfunctioning? Were you in danger? Luckily you managed to calm him down and.. somewhat explain why his closeness could cause your heart to race (he doesn't seem to mind it anymore, in fact you'd say sometimes he's some kind of secretly smug.)
Pumpkin Jack
Pumpkin Jack, being the ever clingy but also won't admit he's clingy bastard he is, will be a fight to get him to not only lay on top of you but to stay still during it too (he generally prefers you laying on his lap.)
But if you do get him to straddle you, you'll find that he's very quickly subdued and almost in a sleep-like state after just a few moments of listening to your beating heart, his body becoming entirely relaxed. (Don't let him hear your racing heart though, he'll most certainly tease you about it.)
Brute
Brute can't hear your heartbeat well. Between the layers of fabric, it's far too muffled even if Brute wanted to lay his head on you, which is very rare. Brute seems to prefer instead being chest to chest, feeling the vibrations of your heartbeat that way, his large arms holding you close to him, like he was trying to shadow you from the world around you two.
He seems to prefer it when your heart races or beats harder, as it's easier to feel, and takes joy in attempting to spook or rile you up to make your heart beat faster.
Drought
Drought is confident your heart beats for him and him only, in a way that's endearing to you but obnoxious to everyone else that interacts with him. He enjoys both listening to it and feeling it, although a lot of the time insists he doesn't need to do either because "he's here so your heart should be working fine", or something.
You think you gave the poor guy a panic attack the first time he actually felt your heart race, as he demanded you explain why it's doing that right that moment. As you explained, you think he was almost flustered in a way, as he quickly decided that he actually doesn't mind your heart beating that way either.
Cablecrow
Cablecrow takes great joy in hoisting you up unexpectedly and giving you an impromptu hug or cuddle, and is given extra mirth if he actually momentarily scares you (It's become a sort of game between you two, you trying to expect him and him trying to catch you off guard.)
Once he's caught you, you will sometimes feel a hand on your chest, splayed out across where your heart is felt best as Cablecrow simply feels the beating proof that you're here. These moments are often quiet, or sentimental, and you'll feel a scarecrow-like kiss at the top of your head before he lets you down. Despite his jumpscaring game, Cablecrow usually attempts to calm your racing heart, maybe just to see if he can.
do you do hcs outside of romantic relationships? :0 for example, zardy & adopted child user.
It would likely depend on the relationship and character! Writing parental figure + child dynamics isn't something I'm unfamiliar with, but some things are just harder to imagine, or I'm so attracted to the character to a point where I don't feel comfortable writing a familial dynamic with them with a reader character.
So in simple terms, send a request and you'll know the answer depending on whether I respond or not! <3
As much as he doesn't admit it, Drought loves it when you compliment him. He'll say he's great, that Zardy just can't see his potential, but there's just something about someone confirming that verbally that makes him swoon. He'll pull you close using his scythe all smooth-like, saying things like “You understand me so well, rabbit.” or "You're only right to agree.” or even “Do you say anything that's not right, little rabbit?” One thing he will not do is directly ask you to "sing his praises" more, as he'd feel a form of embarrassment from this and he refuses to let his ego get hurt. (brush that ego of his a bit more, come on, do it.)
Adding onto this, Drought enjoys redirecting you using his scythe, pushing the blade against your back or side not enough to hurt or cause damage, but still enough to make you uncomfortable enough with the lurking danger of the sharp blade to make you go the way he wants you to go.
Easily frustrated, unlike Zardy or Pumpkin Jack who get competitively possessive, Drought will act all huffy and irritated if you don't show him enough attention or show the others attention in front of him. (This is partially because he feels underappreciated by the rest of the crew already, and would hate you doing the same to him. Not that he'd ever admit that.)
^^ Will kill one of Pumpkin Jack's vines if the other has you wrapped up or you're peppering that pumpkin with attention, both to get your attention and to give an (albeit empty) warning towards the scarecrow. At some point in time, you've had to break up the tension between them to prevent a fight like you're breaking apart two cats having a stare off.
Not always the most physical, but enjoys petting your hair like one would a pet (the nickname rabbit isn't for no reason, after all) absentmindedly, either when he's working on something or is bored and just needs to do something with his hands.
Hear me out... What if... Pumpkin jack has a s/o who is having trouble sleeping? How would he handle the situation?
I've got something for ya!
Can't Sleep
Pumpkin Jack x reader
The sky is black and endless, and filled with little stars like one splattered white dots across a black painting. The moon shines above it all, casting a luminous light across the hundreds of cornstalks splayed out before you, blowing in the gentle midnight breeze. It's a beautiful sight, one you'd never see in the city, and yet you sigh.
You're leaning across the wooden railing of your little shack built within the confines of the maze, a hard project only made possible by your newfound friends and partners. Exhaustion tugs deep through your muscles and into your soul, and yet sleep cannot find and claim you. It feels like a taunting jeer, occasionally grazing the edge of your eyelids as they shut closed, yet always being just out of reach.
You feel a tug on your shirt, and while you'd normally ignore his antics, you don't want him to end up ripping this shirt to get your attention as he'd done with your other clothes before, because you're just too tired to deal with that right now.
So you turn to face him, giving him a levelled stare that you hope is convincing enough to practically scream "I'm being totally normal at this hour of the night and not struggling in any way at all."
“What is it, Jack?” You say, your breath frosting in the cold air and yet you barely shiver.
He doesn't like that look on your face. There's dark circles under your eyes where he doesn't think they're supposed to be, and your brows are furrowed like you're in pain and you just look so miserable. He can deal with your anger, had been the cause of many of your frustrations, could always wipe your tears on the days you miss home and say something that'll make you laugh and forget about it all. But this? He doesn't think he can fix this. He doesn't know much about humans, he'd never cared enough to learn. But this isn't right, and now he's left grasping at straws to figure out what he's supposed to do now.
He's so busy stewing in his own thoughts he doesn't even realize you're expecting an answer.
Er. He's just staring at you, his expression locked in that irritatingly bright smile, except it looks flat in a way you can't explain. His unusual silence unnerves you, but you suppose even overenergetic scarecrows need to appreciate the silence of the night every once in a while.
But when you start to turn back, he almost startles and grabs your wrist in a panic, because he can fix this, he can, just needs you to give him something to work with—but then you flinch in surprise and he feels those rakes that work as his fingers dig into something soft and he tears his arm away like he was the one hurt, and not you.
You grip your wrist tightly and try to pretend it doesn't hurt, because Jack is acting weird and the last thing you want to do is upset him. The pain is sharp and persistent, though, and you feel your fingers on the scratch tremble as something warm starts to ooze onto your cold skin. You really, really hope his claws can't cause tetanus.
“What do you need, Jack?” You ask, voice sharp and you pointedly don't look at him, because you're tired and he's definitely not helping.
“What do you need?” He parrots the question back, leaning his head close to yours, and you fix your eyes upon him to level him with a frustrated glare, but something about his expression makes you stop. If you didn't know any better, you'd almost say his eyes look.. dimmer than usual.
'What do you need?'
And you hadn't expected that question.
Your go-to response would be sleep, it's the one thing you haven't had in so long, but you'd tried sleep and it just wouldn't come to you. So maybe—maybe you do need help, even if you can't admit it to yourself. But would he understand that? Pumpkin Jack, the obnoxiously endearing scarecrow that you swear can be compared to a stray cat? Yet he seems to placative right now. Quiet. There's a tension in the air that you're not sure how to tread in.
“I need sleep,” You start, “But I can't. I've tried, I just can't.” He's silent as you speak, simply observing you and cocking his head ever so slightly as you avert his gaze again. "There are... ways others can help me, though. Humans are fickle like that."
Has never needed sleep, but enjoys pretending he does, to just close his eyes and let the world pass around him. He finds it silly that humans need to do it just because, that they can't function properly without it. But this is you, and you need his help, and he wants to fix that stupid expression on your face that feels wrong in every way.
Even without looking at him, you can tell he's interested, and you hear the familiar metallic clang of his claws tapping together, an odd habit he's developed when his attention is fully captivated on something.
“Maybe if you,” You're fidgetting, voice nervous as you twinge your hands and fingers together, almost afraid of looking him in his glowing eyes as a feeling of shame burns in the back of your neck. “-held me?” You lilt your voice, stupidly hopeful.
Hold you? He can do that. You sound so sure, and isn't this all he's ever wanted? For you to trust him enough for this? He avoids looking at the wrist you're still weakly holding, because it doesn't matter now.
He's greedy, he'll take whatever you'll give him, and this? This is a great one.
Hm. You don't like that look on his face right now, that growing grin and those upturned eyes, and you wrinkle your nose at him. “Don't get any bright ideas, loverboy, you're only a last-ditch attempt.”
“Me? Ideas? I'd never,” And this he can work with, banter coming like second nature. Loves likes that goodnatured smile on your face like you're both trying not to laugh and huff frustratedly at the same time, even if he'll never admit it.
And you almost want to take your word back, but you're already warm inside the shack, and he's here. For you. (You hope, anyways.)
The cot creaks beneath your joined weights, and you exhale slowly as you lower your head to rest beneath his, simply attempting to relax as his arms wrap around you, slow and careful like he's almost hesitant, or maybe scared. But then you feel those rakes for hands reach up and start to card through your hair, and all goes quiet for a moment.
Pretends he doesn't feel something as your warm breath hits the vines sprouted from his neck, and instead focuses on that soft feeling of your hair, a feeling he frankly doesn't think he experiences often enough. Perhaps he could convince you to do more of this, some time? And you're so quiet, maybe this is like your shut-up button. Not that he minds the sound of your voice, either.
“This is nice.” You whisper, voice small and faint as you feel sleep darken your vision. You pretend to not notice the small vine slowly growing from between your floorboards and snaking around your ankle almost possessively, or perhaps comfortingly.
“Fall asleep, pumpkin.” He rasps, pressing his mouth against the top of your head in a pseudo-kiss.
And you do. You fall asleep to the feeling of razor-sharp and yet exceptionally gentle claws brushing through your hair, just short of nicking your scalp, yet comforting all the same. You fall asleep in his arms, overtaken by a feeling of peaceful existence and the feeling of safety, drowsiness consuming your body as you finally just close your eyes and let your dreams take you.
Zardy had always shown indifference towards the lives of humans, viewing them as nothing more than annoying trespassers to get rid of. The addition of you to his maze, however, sparked something in him. He begun to have a growing, secret affinity towards human culture, what they like, what they do (how they show they care about each other). He suddenly longed to see what was out beyond the gate.
So when he realized you were occasionally, or even often sitting down and dragging a pencil around a piece of paper, he grew curious. He observed from a distance for a while, not wanting to make his interest known yet and just letting you do your human thing, but as days passed he couldn't deny there was something positively captivating about you as you drew, something luring him closer until one day he was close enough to point at a doodle and say “I enjoy that one.”
It was a simple sketch, something you'd just done as practice based on your surroundings. A cornstalk. It's not like Zardy has ever gotten the opportunity to be interested in art previously, to care about shading and rendering and how abstract a piece can be before someone will say “I could draw that.”—So it almost comes to no surprise to you that the one sketch he'd like on that page was one of a plant. And you've never been one to turn down a compliment, so you begun to draw more. Practicing how to shade petals, drawing after various flowers you could find, all of which seemed to please the scarecrow.
One day you'd tried to draw him, and while he'd almost seemed flattered at the sight (something you took great pride in, as he's typically the one to flatter you), he pointed at a buttercup sketch on the other page and told you outright “You should draw more of this, you do it very well.” before nuzzling your hair and moving on to tend to his maze.
When he's not being a workaholic, he'll let you sit in his lap and draw, watching appraisingly if you're drawing any form of flora, but otherwise doing his own thing or napping, taking comfort in your closeness and shared time together.
+1 drabble!
Your pencil slides easily across the page, the sound soothing you during these quieter hours of the night. You purse your lips and squint your eyes at the sketch, brows furrowing. Something feels off.. But what? You click your tongue in disapproval, it's both a curse and a blessing to be your own greatest critic.
You're not oblivious to the feeling of being watched. From the first night you'd come into the maze and well after you'd practically moved in, you were always being watched. You were only slowly getting used to it as days passed, and so it came as to no surprise to you when the scarecrow with stitches for a mouth stalks out of the cornstalks, leaning over you to glance down at your sketchbook.
You offer him an amused glance, and hold it up higher. “See something you like?” There's the weight of his chin on the top of your head, and he huffs despite not needing to breathe, disturbing your hair in the process.
“That,” He raises a gloved hand and points at the unfinished cornstalk drawing you'd been working on. Dirt smears on your page from his dirty glove, but you don't have the heart to tell him off for it. “-is a beautiful cornstalk.” He finishes, his tone appraising.
And you feel all giddy inside for a moment, the compliment giving a quick dopamine rush, before you catch yourself and just simply smile at him. You slightly push his finger away, wiping off some of the dirt on the page. “I don't know.. I feel like it's missing something. Maybe I need to shade it more, somewhere? What do you think?”
He's silent for a couple of moments, like he's considering your words and attempting to puzzle out the right answer. The scarecrow nuzzles the top of your head, muttering "I enjoy that one.” into your hair, before he stalks off again, his hoe scraping the ground behind him.
Ah, well. You suppose you can't fault him for not being an art critic.
how do you feel about ships/canon x canon hcs? Would you be interested in doing them, or are you more interested in reader x canon hcs? :3
Currently I'm thinking of simply doing x reader stuff, but that might change in the future! When it comes to Zardy's Maze/Cave specifically, I'm not familiar enough with the characters to have a proper standing on how I think they'd interact with each other in a romantic way, but eventually that's gonna change and I have written canon x canon stuff for other fandoms before.
Pumpkin Jack would be just a little possessive over you. Just little things, keeping you close when around others, sending a look to even Zardy when you're not around, "accidentally" nicking you somewhere the others would be able to see it, something that keeps his fears (fears? What fears? He doesn't have any of those!) at bay, things you don't mind or don't even notice.
It's when he and Zardy are both interested in you it comes into play. He's not just possessive, he can get downright competitive. It's all in good fun (you hope), and no hard feelings come of it (you can always kiss it better at the end of the day), but boy is it obvious to even you, as much as the scarecrows think they're hiding it.
Zardy gives you a flower? Enjoy your new bouquet!
Pumpkin Jack nuzzles against you before leaving, earning him one of your flustered giggles? Yeah, you're not gonna be alone for the rest of the day until the other manages to get the same, if not better, reaction out of you.
Sometimes they don't even bother hiding it or one-upping each other separately, preferring to just beckon you close to them so they can enjoy your warmth as you lay across both of them, Jack fiddling with your hair (very carefully, so he does not nick, so you don't move) as Zardy talks to you about his maze while generally just holding you, caressing your skin in an almost exploratory manner. (They don't mention it much, but there is something so interesting about the softness of human skin, unwounded and not shredded like how intruders to the maze usually end up. It's different this way. You have an almost constant warmth in your body, and you are alive, and you are all the parts they like about you because they love you, even if they don't always say it. (But when they do, it becomes a counter, and you almost never stop hearing it until the day is over and whoever said it the most celebrates while the other slunks in disappointment. (You pepper them both with kisses to appease them, only being able to think about how stupid they are and how much you love them, because they're the kind of stupid only love can get you.)))
EEK! have mercy, i offer up pumpkin jack x reader characterizations
HCs
Pumpkin Jack x human!reader
Pumpkin Jack isn't necessarily worried about hurting you with his claws, he fully knows what they're capable of, and what he's used them for before, and he probably shouldn't care for a human like you that much anyways.
Yet, sometimes he wonders (and oh, how he hates it when he wonders) if you'd let him run them through your hair anyways, like fingers threading and not scythe-sharp tools used to shred, kill. If you'd let him hold you (his heart churns at the thought of this one, and he hopes it's in disgust), if you'd try to hold his hand anyway, even if it cut and nicked, small ruby droplets running down your palm and fingers. If he could grasp any part of your body, your waist your chin, your shoulder, and you'd like it, because you like him.
Blergh, this human must be infecting him with all of these sickly sweet feelings. Disgusting.
I think that pumpkin jack loves physical touch, but he'd deny himself of that. He's like, a stray cat in that way.
At first he'd be all mocking jeers and flat jokes, and would actively avoid being touched by whoever he's interested in (he tells himself it's because he just doesn't like it. (he just doesn't want anyone to get hurt))
But if you genuinely try to show him you care and you get closer, he'd never let you get far from him again
You're going out for a walk? Enjoy your new shadow that (totally very subtly) attempts to hold hands
Enjoying a nice rest? You've got a new blanket, his body draped across yours like it's nobody's business
Talking with somebody else? You pretend you don't notice the sly creeping of cold metal settling above your hip, and the weight of his face (pumpkin?) settling on your shoulder with a bored expression, like he doesn't know exactly what he's doing.
wanted to draw some spooky characters i enjoy while they're blushing, because i enjoy them that much :3
characters in order is Pumpkin Jack (Zardy's Maze), Groundskeeper (Doors) and Zardy (Zardy's Maze), i might draw some more of these guys in the future👀
