Jack Pumpkinhead of Oz

My name's Jack, Jack Pumpkinhead! I live in the land of Oz with my mom, Princess Ozma of Oz. She created me to give old Witch Mombi a scare, but Mombi ended up testing her Powder of Life on me. Well, it worked! And here I am! [Indie RP blog for Jack Pumpkinhead from many Oz canons. Default canon is Return to Oz supplemented by Baum's original Oz series. Everyone welcome, crossovers, OCs, and Oz canon alike. Please read Guidelines & About Jack pages! PLEASE NOTE: This is a side blog, I cannot follow you back or answer privately from this blog. My main RP blog that I follow people from is thepinksailorroleplay!] Magic!Anon: None

[seedsforbrains-blog]

A Visit to Princess Ozma [seedsforbrains & theozianprincess]

[madamedelaage-deactivated202403]

"Yes, apparently in Kansas there are even competitions to see who can carve the best face. Isn’t that fascinating? I wonder if I would win such a contest if we had one here." Ozma could be quite competitive, though she always kept herself composed when she did win.

"Speaking of Jinjur, she befriended a leopard in the forest the other day, and wants to bring it to the City to become acquainted with the Lion and the Hungry Tiger," Ozma told him. "She’s always doing one thing or another."

She led Jack to a bench on the far side of the courtyard and took a seat.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

"You would, of course," Jack said immediately. "But what a funny idea...to hold competitions for faces. I'd bet I could be a judge! And wear the best one. I think I'd be the best judge, don't you, Mother? If I have to wear them, I ought to be, I think. But I guess the MOST important thing is how nice and fresh the seeds are," he admitted with a sigh. It wasn't as though he looked all that appealing even with the most carefully carved face.

He carefully sat besides his creator and handed her the pumpkin that was to serve as his next head. "A leopard? I guess it will be nice for the Cowardly Lion to meet another of his subjects," he remarked. "I hope it gets along with Billina, though. She can be so...ah..." he made a vague hand gesture. "...she's a character. Then again, if anyone can make someone get along, it's Princess Dorothy and Jinjur. It's sort of funny, when you think about how different they are!"

[seedsforbrains-blog]

A Visit to Princess Ozma [seedsforbrains & theozianprincess]

[madamedelaage-deactivated202403]

"Perhaps I’ll send him a letter first, so that way we will both know that one of us is trying to get in contact with the other," Ozma said, nodding her head as she spoke. 

"Thank you. I suppose it is just a natural skill, and I like to consider myself an artistic person. This is a form of art, you know, Dorothy told me that." Dorothy had explained a great many things to her and now in the Emerald City they often practiced many Kansas traditions. It was quite intriguing to Ozma. "No dear," she responded as she heard his question. "We’re born with ears, and they come in all sizes. Some people have very large ears, and others have small ones."

[seedsforbrains-blog]

"Making faces is a form of art?" Jack repeated in a quizzical tone. "Well, you've made enough faces for me, you MUST be an artistic person by now. Especially since you made the first face I had, even though you laughed at it. And General Jinjur too, since she always helps the Scarecrow when he needs his faces painted back on. Is oiling joints an art form? If it is, Princess Dorothy must have a natural skill for art too, since Nick always asks her to help oil his joints." He wasn't exactly clear on what constituted as art, but if refreshing one body part was a sort of art, it stood to reason that another must be, at least in his mush-addled mind. As they reached the sunny courtyard he sighed a bit. He'd be glad to get his new head on. The sun made him so nervous right now.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

*pokes fingers in your eye holes*

"H-h-hey! Wh-why did you do that?!" Ugh, everything went all strange and shadowy for a moment there…

[seedsforbrains-blog]

A Visit to Princess Ozma [seedsforbrains & theozianprincess]

[madamedelaage-deactivated202403]

"Dearest Nick," Ozma said with a smile. "I haven’t seen him in such a long time, I’d certainly love to visit with him." 

She looked up at Jack and then to the new head, nodding a bit. “Oh I think it will look just fine, I’ll try to do it the same way.” It gave her great pride to carve the new heads for Jack, she absolutely loved the joy it brought him, and all the compliments they both received. 

[seedsforbrains-blog]

"He'd like that too! He said he was going to send a note with me, but was worried I'd lose or forget it somewhere, which makes good sense. But he'll be sending you an invitation shortly! Princess Dorothy as well," he explained, apparently entirely unaware that he had actually remembered what it was assumed that he would forget.

He nodded, satisfied with that answer. He was never quite sure, but Ozma did know best, she could see his head from angles he couldn't, after all. "You're the best judge, everyone says so," he admitted. It was true, he never missed a chance to explain how he came by such excellent new faces, and the situation was impressive to most he told. "Don't forget to carve ears," he added, concerned again. "I don't want to be like the Sawhorse, unable to hear half the time. That's one advantage of having ears carved on: no danger of them falling off." He cast an intrigued look at Ozma. "Does that happen with meat people?" he asked curiously.

[thestuffedkingofoz]

@seedsforbrains II A invitation from a friend

[thestuffedkingofoz]

"A scientist nonsense but I have been taking up tinkering with machines." He then leaned back away from the window and knelt on a wall and then sighed, "Yes they seem small." 

He then perked his head up when he asked for a closer look, “Oh of course you can have a closer look. Silly me must have slip my mind.” He replied knocking the side of his head lightly in a forgetful fashion.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

"Come with me, will you?" Jack turned his ever present smile on his friend and intertwined a twiggy arm with with one of the Scarecrow's stuffed ones. He started to walk with him from the throne room, explaining, "While we take a look, you can explain to me how you've been raising them. I want to know every detail -- how much water they're getting and when, and who else takes care of them, if anyone -- things like that. You'll have to tell me how the color compares to a healthy pumpkin's, though. I don't know if Ozma told you, but I'm colorblind."

[chilly-freckles-archive-blog]

Anna in the Land of Oz || seedsforbrains & chilly-freckles ||

[chilly-freckles-archive-blog]

Anna tilted her head curiously as Jack spoke about queens. He was at least somewhat right, she’d give him that. At least more right than she had been when she had first tried to figure out the difference between queens and princesses. “Well, usually they are. Sometimes they’re still young, but there’s no one else to rule. And they can’t still be a princess, because their little sister is a princess, and it would be too confusing to figure out which one was the true ruler if someone just says ‘the princess says’.” Of course, Anna actually knew the more intricate differences between the two, but she chose to explain it to Jack just like how it had been explained to her when she was young.

His observation about snow earned an approving nod from her. “Oh, yeah. I’ve slipped on snow way too many times to count… I can’t imagine how hard it’d be to stay standing without any flesh.” She agreed sympathetically. Most non-flesh things were even more slippery than flesh unless they were made right, and Jack certainly didn’t look like he was designed to be in the snow. “Though I do suppose that the cold would keep your head fresh for longer. That’s the one good thing about ice, other than ice skating; it keeps all sorts of vegetables fresh.” She mused softly.

She could recall the servants bringing in large slabs of ice to line the kitchen basement with in the summer, so that they could keep the large amounts of food they needed to run the castle from spoiling. Pumpkins had been a bit of a rarity, and had usually been made into pies as soon as they entered the kitchen, but they would probably react to the cold just like any other squash, so her logic seemed flawless to her. Satisfied with her thoughts, she turned her full attention back to Jack.

However, she now somewhat regretted asking about the woodsman. His story seemed quite sad, despite its happy outcome. Most of it sounded like the fairy stories she had been raised on, but she was forced to believe that it was true. After all, she was speaking to a tall, pumpkin-headed man in a country divided by colors. She very well might have been washed into a fairy story, for all the strange things that were happening. This revelation didn’t make the poor woodsman’s tale any happier for the young princess, unfortunately.

"Oh… what a sad story." Her hand instinctively clasped itself by her heart, as if it were protecting the sensitive organ. "B-but I’m glad that he’s happy now! Though the poor girl he was in love with was probably very sad. Do you suppose she’s managed to be happy as well?" She asked anxiously.

Despite all of the strange things that she ached to ask about, Anna couldn’t help but be more concerned about a potentially broken hearted girl. She knew the feeling of being broken hearted, and she wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

That seemed quite reasonable to Jack, so he nodded. "Oh, you have a good system! We do have two princesses here, but I suppose we find it just as easy to add their names at the end. So it would be, 'Princess Dorothy says', or 'Princess Ozma says'," he mused.

He looked at her in surprise. "It would? It does?" he said, wondering voice not quite matching the jolly expression. "Oh...that explains why I prefer the cooler weather. It always seemed like my heads lasted longer during cool stretches. Although I don't think it would do me much good to have a cooler head if it was also one smashed on the ground from slipping." He shrugged.

It gave the pumpkinhead great pleasure to hopefully relieve Anna's worries, grinning as he added, "Oh, she's happy as can be, last I knew. Don't worry about her. It's a bit of a complicated story, but Nick did offer to marry her even if he couldn't love her, to make sure she was well taken care of. But she refused and married someone else who reminded her a bit of him instead. If she were to need someone to take care of her again, I have every confidence that Nick would have no issues with helping her! His heart is still the kindest of them, even if not exactly loving."

[seedsforbrains-blog]

[I'm going to try to get around to posting today, but I'm sorry in advance if I can't. Most of my posting the last few days has been done at work, and I don't believe that's an option today. As for evenings, the last couple, I've had obnoxious migraines. I'm hoping last night I saw the last of that, but I can't exactly know that in advance, can I?

Anyway, yeah. Bear with me. Here's hoping.]

[thestuffedkingofoz]

@seedsforbrains II A invitation from a friend

[thestuffedkingofoz]

"That she did." The Scarecrow answered nodding his head, "Now back to business. " 

He rubbed his hands together thoughtfully and walked to a window sill and leaned in, “You see that.” He said calling the pumpkinhead over to him,” I’ve made this small field next to my castle just so the people can try to figure out what is wrong with the crop. So I guess we can examine what went wrong. I call this little patch though my controlled experiment.”

He then rubbed his chin thoughtfully down at the small field, “I wonder if it could be the soil. We better go down there and find out.” 

[seedsforbrains-blog]

Jack got up and walked over to the window his friend was gesturing out of. Carefully he leaned down to see what was being spoken of. "I see," he said, staring earnestly down at the small pumpkin patch. "That is a really good idea, you know. You should be a scientist, but I guess the Wogglebug might not like that." He paused. "You're right, though. The pumpkins look alright enough, they're just a bit...on the small side. Very, very small side..." And that was just for the vines that were actually producing pumpkins...

Pulling back inside the window, he seemed to have the same idea the Scarecrow did. "I'd like to see the field for myself, up close, if that's alright," he said.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

A Visit to Princess Ozma [seedsforbrains & theozianprincess]

[madamedelaage-deactivated202403]

"Dorothy went out this morning to do something or other with Scarecrow and they’re still not back," Ozma told him, sighing a bit. "I wish she was back too, i’m sure she wouldn’t want to miss your visit either. Perhaps she’ll be back in a bit."

"And of course I’ll try to keep them all in. I understand completely." She linked arms with him and started to walk towards the courtyard. "We’ll just have to keep on the far side, so we don’t disturb Glinda if she’s having tea with someone, she’s very fond of the courtyard as well."

[seedsforbrains-blog]

"Oh, probably playing quoits," said Jack, who knew his friend all too well. "I would have liked to say hello to the Scarecrow too," he admitted. "Oh! Nick Chopper sends his love, I stopped in to see him before I came to see you."

Jack stayed near Ozma as they walked, arms linked. It was easy to walk this way, given how much taller he was than the ruler. "Oh, is she?" he said idly. It must be nice for her not to worry about a pumpkin head to spoil in the sun, he thought. But maybe he was just being grouchy. "I liked the way you carved this head a lot, can you do something like that again, Mother? Unless it wouldn't look as good with this head..." He raised the new head to re-examine it fretfully.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

Lust

Lust: a headcanon about your character’s romantic and/or sexual life

[Obviously, Jack can’t be sexual, and he seems like the type that’s got better things to worry about than that even if he could. Similar with romance: I’d categorize it as a non-issue to him. I wouldn’t say he’s incapable of romance, exactly. Maybe close to incapable of finding someone to interest him, though. What would match a pumpkinkhead, anyway?

I also think for all of that, he can see romantic attraction between other people pretty readily, though.]

[seedsforbrains-blog]

Envy!

[Quick fingers, there, anon.]

Envy: a headcanon about your character’s secret desires and jealousies

[I think Jack is too busy-minded to dwell on jealousies/desires too long, but would really like a more sturdy body. I think it’s likely that when tinkering with carpentry he’s considered ways to strengthen different parts of his body but was never sure how to go about it safely and be sure it would work. I doubt he’s ever totally reconciled with the spoilability of his heads, either. Who would?

Surprisingly, I don’t think he minds being a bit on the dim side intellectually, and enjoys the way his friends shine in comparison to him.]

[seedsforbrains-blog]

7 Deadly Sin Headcanons

Lust: a headcanon about your character's romantic and/or sexual life

Greed: a headcanon about something your character hordes or collects

Sloth: a headcanon about something your character hates to do or simply hates in general

Pride: a headcanon about something your character is a bit cocky about

Gluttony: a headcanon about food or obsessions

Wrath: a headcanon about your character and their anger management

Envy: a headcanon about your character's secret desires and jealousies

[seedsforbrains-blog]

A Visit to Princess Ozma [seedsforbrains & theozianprincess]

[seedsforbrains-blog]

Jack would have smiled more widely had it been possible, but he couldn’t, so he didn’t. But he really was glad to see his dear creator again, even if he wasn’t feeling his best. “Alright! Take your time,” he told her sincerely. It was easy to see things could be boring and overwhelming for Ozma at times, even in the idyllic land of Oz, and if she could take a moment to breathe even if it was just while changing her clothes it would be good for her.

While he waited for her to return he held onto his head and wandered the throne room. He didn’t dare touch anything for the time being, even he knew better than to risk breaking something while his head was going to mush. But the atmosphere seemed rather lifeless, compared to how it should be, it felt to him. Nobody particularly engaging to talk to, just the occasional officer or dignitary passing by in the hall. Even the Gump hadn’t greeted him. It was just as well. It was hard to hold a conversation when he was due for a new head.

Still, he was starting to become glad he’d come by when he did. Maybe he could bring Ozma some cheer or distract her from her duties a bit, somehow.

[madamedelaage-deactivated202403]

"Alright, I’ll be back in a minute." She hurried upstairs to her set of rooms, putting on a simpler dress with an apron, something that had probably belonged to Dorothy at some point, and was not at all suitable for a Princess to be wearing. Glinda would have a fit if she found out, Ozma knew that, so she was very glad that there weren’t many people nearby today to see all of this.

She made her way back to the throne room and over to Jack, smiling at him as she lightly touched his arm. “Well, I’m ready now, I wonder where we should sit so I don’t make a mess, dearest Jellia already has so much to worry about, I don’t want her having to clean up after us.”

[seedsforbrains-blog]

Feeling her hand on his arm, Jack turned back to the Princess. "Hello again!" he said warmly, glancing around one last time. "Princess Dorothy isn't here today?" he asked with a touch of disappointment. He always liked to say hello to Dorothy when he could, being as fond of her as all of the other people in Oz.

"I don't want you to make too much of a mess either," he added worriedly. "I'd like to keep as many seeds as I can in this head, you know. I feel dreadfully stupid and it's really tiresome. And it took me so long to pick this head out. None of the others I found were quite right...the closest I could come to one that seemed like a 'Jack' was a 'John'." Ozma knew all this, of course, but Jack was particularly anxious about the state of his heads. Having gotten that out of his system, he settled down again and said, "Perhaps the courtyard?" He didn't dare suggest the kitchen, that place gave him the creeps. Besides, the weather outside was lovely, maybe Ozma would enjoy some fresh air too.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

A Visit to Princess Ozma [seedsforbrains & theozianprincess]

[madamedelaage-deactivated202403]

It seemed like she was always busy these days with ambassadors and dignitaries, laws and legislatures. All very important things, but all very lonely things as well. Not even Dorothy wanted to stay around when such things were taking place, so Ozma was often surrounded only by advisers and the like, though she tried not to mind too much.

A bright smile spread over the face of the normally composed ruler as she saw her pumpkin-headed son. “Jack!” she exclaimed, eagerly making her way over to him and almost tripping on the skirt of her dress as she did so, glad that no one else was around to witness that.

Ozma placed a kiss to Jack’s head an nodded eagerly. “Of course I will, I’ll always make time for you. Just let me find something more suitable to wear, I don’t want to get this nice gown dirty.”

[seedsforbrains-blog]

Jack would have smiled more widely had it been possible, but he couldn't, so he didn't. But he really was glad to see his dear creator again, even if he wasn't feeling his best. "Alright! Take your time," he told her sincerely. It was easy to see things could be boring and overwhelming for Ozma at times, even in the idyllic land of Oz, and if she could take a moment to breathe even if it was just while changing her clothes it would be good for her.

While he waited for her to return he held onto his head and wandered the throne room. He didn't dare touch anything for the time being, even he knew better than to risk breaking something while his head was going to mush. But the atmosphere seemed rather lifeless, compared to how it should be, it felt to him. Nobody particularly engaging to talk to, just the occasional officer or dignitary passing by in the hall. Even the Gump hadn't greeted him. It was just as well. It was hard to hold a conversation when he was due for a new head.

Still, he was starting to become glad he'd come by when he did. Maybe he could bring Ozma some cheer or distract her from her duties a bit, somehow.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

adventuresinozrpg said: But if your head was a potato, you’d have so many eyes!

"Well, if I really wanted more eyes, I'd bet the Wizard could give me some. After hearts, brains, and courage, eyes would probably be easy. I don't know if I want the sort of eyes that grow out of my face anyway. Then I'd have to cut my eyes out to grow more heads."  

[thestuffedkingofoz]

@seedsforbrains II A invitation from a friend

[thestuffedkingofoz]

"Oh don’t be daft. I may be nimble but I still can be kinda clumsy if I am not carefully." The Scarecrow laughed happily.

Then he straighten himself up and led Jack to a seat, gesturing him to sit down. 

"Any how I need you because I know a pumpkin farmer as yourself would help me in this dilemma." He said gravely. "You see the people of the emerald city has been trying to grow some pumpkins for a while but there crop seems to come up short. There just doesn’t seem to be enough. So I was wondering if you can help them with what they are doing wrong." 

He then walks up to him and pokes his pumpkin head, “I mean you do a have a good head on your shoulder.” The Scarecrow said choking back a laugh. He didn’t mean to sound rude but he couldn’t resist the pun.

[seedsforbrains-blog]

"It is pretty nice this time, isn’t it?" Jack said happily, apparently missing the ruler’s joke altogether as he re-straightened his precious head. "Mother did really well carving it. As usual. That IS an emergency, though." While his face remained the same, his tone changed to a more concerned one and one of his wooden hands moved in a motion as though thoughtfully rubbing his cheek.

"Well, I’ll help however I can, of course! I guess if anyone knows how a pumpkin grows, it’d be someone who’s a pumpkin themself, right?" He decided against asking what exactly the citizens of the Emerald City wanted pumpkins FOR. He’d found in the past that it was never typically an answer he really wanted to hear. Not that the pumpkins people grew were alive in the same way he was, but…still. It made him a bit queasy.

"Will you take me to one of the farms to have a look?"

[seedsforbrains-blog]

Jack what if your head was replaced with a potato?

"Then I’d be Jack Potatohead, I guess. I don’t think I like that…I know I’m not all that good looking but a tiny head would be even worse. And I bet potatoes spoil faster too…"