Jack-o'-Lantern - Gator Days
posted by u/FieldExplores · 2026-10-26 18:16 UTC
## Top comments
1. u/FieldExplores · 2026-10-26 18:16 UTC
Hey! We're around the halfway point for the Gamefound Campaign for Wholesome Adventure. There's a few stretch goals unlocked and a few more to go. Thank you so much to everyone who has checked it out!
https://gamefound.com/en/projects/jason-anarchy/wholesome-adventure?refcode=6lKcaOaYFk69ONv3F_-hnQ
Jack-o'-Lantern - Gator Days
Characters
Gustopher - Alligator - An easily excitable boy who loves making friends. August's son.
Liam - Capybara - A quiet and introspective boy. He enjoys writing and learning about things. Ember's older brother.
Ember - Capybara - A LITTLE GIRL WHO LOVES SNACKS AND YELLS EVERYTHING! LIAM'S LITTLE SISTER!
Walter - Pumpkin - Walter is thinking, "WHAT IS THIS? WHERE AM I? WHY CAN'T I FEEL MY BODY?"
Transcript
Panel 1
Setting - Liam's living room.
It's getting close to Halloween and Ember carrying a pumpkin while Liam and Gustopher observe.
Liam: Jack-o'-lanterns are horrifying.
Gustopher: Really? Why do you think that?
Panel 2
EMBER HAS A KNIFE! This is deeply concerning. She's preparing to carve into the pumpkin while her big brother explains his fear of gourds with faces.
Liam: We take a living organism and cut into it for our own amusement.
Panel 3
Ember has gotten the top off the pumpkin and is now getting the insides out. She likes to imagine it being squishy pumpkin brain. Delicious brain.
Liam: Then we carve a face. We imprint our idea of life onto the desecrated remains. A crude effigy.
Gustopher isn't sure what effigy means and he kind of has an idea of what desecrated means.
Panel 4
Ember has carved a face into the pumpkin and Liam and Gustopher get a closer look at her masterpiece. It's a precious moment that will be somewhat less precious when their parents discover the kitchen knife is missing.
Liam: In the end, we watch the false image of life rot into nothing.
Ember: HIS NAME IS WALTER!
Gustopher: Scary.
Walter is also scared.
2. u/Made_Bail · 2026-10-26 18:21 UTC
Walter is also scared.
I don't blame him. Ember is kinda terrifying on chill days. Look at her here!
3. u/shellbullet17 · 2026-10-26 18:19 UTC
Walter is also scared.
Honestly? Fair. He was just stabbed multiple times
4. u/PhantasyAngel · 2026-10-26 18:37 UTC
Thankfully cannot feel anything......
5. u/Entire-Many3959 · 2026-10-26 20:14 UTC
“ It's a precious moment that will be somewhat less precious when their parents discover the kitchen knife is missing.”
So they also don’t know she’s putting the pumpkin guts on the carpet yet is what I’m he’s
6. u/HorrFrek · 2026-10-26 18:47 UTC
I love reading these transcripts. Also, poor Walter.
7. u/BloodyQuitry · 2026-10-26 18:24 UTC
What did Walter felt while he was carved carved out ??
8. u/XkF21WNJ · 2026-10-26 23:31 UTC
The description is unclear at what point Walter gained self awareness. My theory is that either the naming or the carving of the face is what triggered it.
If not I may need to think about ways to appease pumpkinkind.
9. u/FriendlyAntonio · 2026-10-27 00:00 UTC
Oh. So Pumpkins and possibly other.. wait, what's a pumpkin? A fruit or a vegetable? Whichever one it is, this transcript details that Walter is ALIVE in some capacity and has the ability to think. Though I suppose not being able to feel is uh.. somewhat good in this scenario.
While I could go on about how absolutely horrifying this is for poor Walter, I'm more astonished and scared that other.. still don't know if Walter is a fruit or veggie.. foods could be ALIVE in that capacity.
10. u/Venusto002 · 2026-10-26 18:26 UTC
Actually the vine and root system are the living organism, the pumpkin itself is more analogous to a pregnancy or the uterus supporting a developing offspring.
11. u/FieldExplores · 2026-10-26 18:34 UTC
I ended up in a small debate over this while writing this comic and my main conclusion is everything is extremely difficult to categorize and my head hurts.
12. u/dragn99 · 2026-10-26 18:36 UTC
Liam does not have a botanist's understanding of pumpkin biologiy, and that's okay. He is a child, and he's doing his best.
Ember could've called him on it, but she was otherwise occupied.
13. u/de-blastore · 2026-10-26 21:43 UTC
If Ember knew enough about metal music, she would describe Liam's description as the most metal thing she's ever heard. She clearly approves.
14. u/Venusto002 · 2026-10-26 18:40 UTC
Such is life.
15. u/EvergreenDwarf · 2026-10-26 21:35 UTC
As a sci fi and fantasy nerd I think reaching that Star Trek/Baldur’s Gate level of cooperation requires unhooking the concept of 1:1 metaphor from our empathy.
The flesh does not matter to some organisms. Perpetuating individual existence is secondary if even a goal at all for plants, partially because their own anatomy to survive via things like severed branch cloning or dying as part of reproduction.
The seed matters. Not every seed, but lineage.
Maybe complex and talking plants would have strong opinions on grafting or hybridization, maybe not. But the fruit, the pinecone, the flower are a delivery system for their purpose.
16. u/Llewellian · 2026-10-26 18:37 UTC
17. u/Cool_Set4681 · 2026-10-26 18:21 UTC
Oh, Ember seems to be skilled with a knife. That's a good thing... right?
18. u/Giaflora · 2026-10-27 01:17 UTC
At least we know she’s been taught proper knife etiquette. Probably.
19. u/saltydaniel32 · 2026-10-26 18:23 UTC
Deep thoughts from Liam. And who gave Ember a knife? That seems like a bad idea
20. u/Driftlack · 2026-10-26 18:40 UTC
Real question is, who is going to take it from her?