Notes

Jackson Overland was born to an English father named Jack and an Irish mother named Aisling (pronounced ashling). They moved to colonial America in the mid 1680s to escape persecution (because the British hated the Irish, and the intermarriage was abhorred). They had multiple children: Three girls, then two boys, then Jack, then a pair of fraternal twins, then a girl (the reason Jack was allowed to go till the age of 18 without marrying was because he had a bunch of older siblings who were already married).

So thanks to his Irish mother, Jack grew up with some Irish traditions, including celebrating Samhain. In fact, he died on Samhain while saving his sister, when an early snow led them to believe the frozen pond by their home was more stable than it actually was. Jack drowned, but because the veils between spirit world and mortal world were thin that day, he went into shock from fright first when he saw demons and spirits as he was drowning.

Years later, he was raised by Manny on a full moon on Samhain. He kept his dark brown hair but his eyes lightened to amber (that glowed orange sometimes) and his skin got a lil darker. He didn’t have his memories, but learned quickly that people couldn’t see him and getting walked through hurts. He had some connection to Samhain, though, and that first night, as he was getting used to his powers, he ended up scaring a lot of people which amused him.

Over the next century or so, he gathered a few believers, learned how to use his powers, and helped cultivate a tiny Samhain culture. Then in the mid 1800s, an influx of Irish immigrants caused the culture to grow and gave him a huge boost in believers. He needs people to believe in him as a person to be seen fully, but those who believe in and celebrate Samhain saw a vague shadowy figure (eventually with a pumpkin head).

This personality became Jack the Pumpkin King and is the scarier, more eldritch version of jack that represents the dark, witchcraft-y, religious beginnings of hallowe’en. Jack O’Lantern is his normal side, which represents the commercialized, candy-loving, mischievous side of Halloween.
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humans do a lot of the work for halloween, so jack doesn't have all that uch input on his holiday actualy, but he's also one of the main spirits of autumn, too.

his holiday duties include:
- making sure the pumpkins, apples, and squash for halloween are growing
- ensuring fire safety at bonfires
- keeping people safe when they trick or treat or go to halloween parties

his seasonal duties include:
- changing the leaves and helping dead leaves fall
- controlling the breeze/wind
- getting animals ready to hibernate/migrate
- getting the plants ready to sleep/die

other things he does:
- playing pranks and making general mischief
- maintaining order when it comes to all the ghosts, undead spirits, demons roaming around
- controlling pitch to some degree (he's been noticing pitch drawing away from the holiday, which caused the commercialization of halloween, but he never knew why that was (spoiler alert it was because he was working on his plan to overthrow the guardians))