Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner.

This required the most artistic muscle of any pumpkin I’ve ever carved, because it was all freehand, instead of a pattern, with such intricate lacy work on such a small scale that four butterflies in I realized I was in this for the long haul. Now, it's so delicious and lovely that I just spent an hour gazing at it adoringly. I can hardly believe this came out of me. I want to lick it.

So now this is officially my favorite pumpkin I've ever carved in my whole damn life, and tomorrow I happily give it away. Why spend six hours on something that will be rotted mush in two weeks? My dear, if you have to ask, you'll never really get it.