I did a little doodle of the slashers painting eggs, and that got me thinking about how they'd feel about holidays in general. Here is the doodle, and the headcanons are below the cut for those interested.
(I may eventually color this, but I may not. It was pretty rushed, so meh.)
—
Leather
Holidays weren’t great for most of his childhood, but he does have a few early memories from when his dad was still around. There were a few years that he got to celebrate his parents’ holidays (Posadas instead of Americanized Christmas and observed a day of mourning instead of celebrating American Thanksgiving), but that stopped when his stepfather came into the picture. From that point on, holidays were a rigid performance where his brothers were treated better than him, and he had to act grateful anyway.
After becoming a slasher, holidays didn’t really matter anymore. He would acknowledge a holiday when it happened if it was one he used to celebrate, but he wouldn’t do much for it. All work and no play for him.
Once the slashers are free from Nevermoor and Leather actually has time to process what he wants to do with the rest of his life, he decides he wants to learn more about the culture that he never got to fully embrace. He feels embarrassed about it at first because it’s sentimental, but the others are surprisingly supportive, mostly because it means Leather will do a lot more cooking for them during holidays.
Ghost
Before his mom’s diagnosis, holidays were great. His parents didn’t have much extra money to spare on big gifts or trips, but they always made time to be present with him on the big holidays. They mostly celebrated American holidays, but they also celebrated the lunar new year. Until the diagnosis, of course, when his father decided to bail on the family. Holidays got harder after that because Ghost and his mom both had to start working more to make up for the lost income, especially after his mom stopped being able to work. Ghost was a resentful teen because of everything going on, so quality time both on and off holidays pretty much stopped.
While Ghost was a slasher, holidays didn’t matter to him at all. The only thing he wanted to celebrate was his sixth kill.
Once everyone is free, he’s still not big on holidays. They hold a lot of bad memories and regret for him. He’ll go along with the bare minimum for others, but don’t expect a whole lot of cheer. Except for one important holiday, of course, Halloween. Man is preparing a costume more than a month in advance, he is decorating wherever you guys live as much as he is able and allowed to, and he has a multi-day horror movie marathon planned out with breaks for his amazing commentary. He gets so excited that the others just let him have it, even if he is very obnoxious about it.
Mike
Mike never celebrated holidays as a child. Instead, he was the thing being celebrated. During events that didn’t relate to Darkness, he was paraded around like a show dog for what a “successful project” he was. During the more ritualistic holidays, he was either locked away or used as a pseudo idol. Creepy uncomfortable stuff, even for Mike. After being sent to the asylum, he was made to participate in the minimal parties they threw for major holidays. He usually hated them. They wouldn’t even let him use scissors for crafts, so there was really no point.
Same as Ghost and Leather, holidays were even less important once he was fully a slasher. The only party he wants to attend is a funeral, and he’d like to make it a bundle deal.
Surprisingly, he’s the first to insist on celebrating holidays more properly once everyone is free. Forced family fun is apparently very appealing to him. Any activity that involves art, like carving pumpkins or decorating cookies, he is the king of. What he can’t stand is if any of the others want to throw a full party with people outside of the group. He can barely tolerate them, so they better not invite any strangers unless they want the walls to be redecorated with red.
Jay
Jay grew up celebrating pagan/heathen holidays. Carol was a proud witch, and she let Jay participate in the more tame festivities. Feasts, lunar celebrations, etc. were all pretty common. (I’m leaning that she was a Hellenist since those are the most common witches that I know of, but maybe germanic paganism/heathenry is more fitting?)
Jay is the only one who tried to keep celebrating his holidays after becoming a slasher. He couldn’t do much in the void, but he could sing! This is part of the reason the others now hate his singing. If that’s all you had to hear for decades in a dark void, you’d probably hate it even if he was a decent singer.
His enthusiasm is just as strong once everyone is out. He wants to introduce everyone to his holidays, and he wants to learn all about theirs. They end up with an interesting culture smoothie of holidays as the years go by.
Max
This is my oc, but I thought it would be fun to include them.
Max grew up celebrating secular holidays until they encountered their second major special interest: Norse mythology. They started celebrating Norse pagan holidays, though not for any spiritual reasons. They just thought it was neat!
Celebrating holidays got harder after their mom passed and they moved in with a friend (I’ll lore dump all that at some point). They still tried to celebrate the big ones like Yule and Midsummer, but no one else celebrated with them, so it was more of an acknowledgement and a few changes to the usual food.
After meeting Lily, July 4th became Max’s favorite holiday. Not because they are oh so patriotic, but because it was Lily’s birthday, and they would go down to the beach to watch the fireworks together.
Post-Nevermoor, Max wants to go back to celebrating their holidays. Jay is stoked about that since they have a lot of overlap. They are also excited to help Leather learn about his culture and to celebrate those holidays with him, but they beg and plead for sad, watered down versions of a lot of dishes because they can’t handle spice. They usually get a small portion with no spice to share with Jay while the others eat the standard version.
Fellas, I have been in the kitchen. Lots of yap, so much that I split it into three parts because it was getting so long, and it's still basically three mega posts. Once the yap starts, I simply cannot stfu. The last part will come out later because I'm still working on art for it.
Yap after cut for those interested in lore.
General Story Stuff
Ghost
His new legal identity is Joseph Ray Lumen, which is the same as his original name. He considered changing his surname to Văn (headcanon surname, not canon) like Max did with their mother's maiden name, but he decided to keep Lumen since that was his mom's surname when she died. He keeps going by Ghost even though he gets weird looks and nosy questions for it. He loves the attention and makes up a new bullshit story every time someone asks. He lets the polycule call him Joey, but the slashers usually still call him Ghost out of habit.
He adjusts to the modern world the easiest. He still makes outdated references, but people assume he's just a hipster. He complains about new tech being too complicated or just worse than the old stuff, but he dedicates significant time and energy to learn it. He has a “screenager” phase for a while, and Leather gets so fed up that he takes Ghost's phone and puts it on a high shelf.
He has three decades of film to catch up on, and he is dedicated to the cause. He demands a minimum of one movie night per week, and in October there's at least a week of multiple movies a night for Halloween. Leather is the one who holds the remote because Ghost kept pausing movies to comment on scenes and almost got strangled by Mike.
He works at an escape room venue on the boardwalk during tourist season. He doesn't work during the off season and instead helps around the house with Jay.
Leather
His new legal identity is Sawyer Hewitt Montero. He keeps his name mostly the same, but adds his mother's maiden surname as a double last name. He keeps “Hewitt” because it was his family surname that his brothers had, and he still cares for them even though he understands it was an abusive environment.
He has the hardest time adjusting to the modern world. Not only is he the oldest, he lived in a very rural area, so he was technologically behind even in his own time. The highest tech he had growing up was a propane powered refrigerator. He eventually gets used to the simpler things like the microwave, but he opts to get an old flip phone instead of a cell phone, and he only gets one at all so that the others can call him when he's out.
The townhouse doesn't have much space to garden, but Leather works with what he has. He has a flower garden in the small yard out front, and Max helped Leather set up a raised bed garden behind the house. He grows vegetables, herbs, and fruits in the raised beds.
He works as a veterinary technician. Fun fact, you don't need a license to be one in the state of New Jersey. Whether that's a good or bad idea, I don't know, but Leather would be putting in the work to learn and do things right, even with the tech barrier. He loves helping animals and making a difference, but dealing with terrible owners and animals that can't be saved makes him come home frustrated or depressed sometimes. The others are always there to cheer him up and take his mind off things in their own ways.
Jay
His new legal identity is Jason Shahey. He doesn't remember what his old surname was, but he heard Carol's surname a lot growing up, and it's become a part of his identity.
He adjusts to the modern world decently well since he’s pretty adaptable, but he can be too eager about it. He has run into traffic and trespassed on multiple occasions because he's used to going wherever he wants in the forest. He eventually learns the new rules, but he thinks a lot of them are dumb.
He finally has the time and resources to be creative in the kitchen, and he makes the most of it. He comes up with new recipes every week and is the main cook of the house just for the love of the game.
He works at a local summer camp during the summer. For the rest of the year, he is the ultimate house husband. A five person household has a lot of laundry and cooking to do.
Mike
His new legal identity is Michael Savage. He originally wanted to take Max's surname, but Jay complained that was unfair. He decided to keep the name his parents used to erase him from the family. He's proud that he's not a Dunlap anymore.
He's more averse to the modern world like Leather is, but it's not about the tech difference. It's more about being out in public instead of in a facility like he's used to. His structure is gone in exchange for his freedom, and that change bothers him for a while. He loves that he can track the location of everyone else with his phone, and he is constantly calling if anyone goes somewhere they didn't explicitly say they were going to. Ghost and Leather get annoyed by his surveillance, but Max and Jay don't mind.
He gets very into crafts. He used to knit and crochet in the mental hospital, and it was one of the few things he actually enjoyed back then. He picks those back up and discovers more artsy hands-on things to do like sculpting and origami. His favorite creations decorate the entire house, and he breaks the ones he doesn't like so that he can reuse their materials.
He tried to work as a personal trainer at the gym for a while, but he kept losing clients for being “too intense” or “too intimidating”. He was unemployed for a while and quite salty about it until Max saw him cutting his own hair in the mirror and remarked on how good he was at it. He spends about a year getting his license in cosmetology and then becomes a hair stylist at the local salon. Most of his clients are older women since they live in a common retiree area, and they love talking to the quiet young man with such long silky hair. He never interrupts them (because he isn't listening). He takes summers off to help around the house since Ghost and Jay work more during the summer.
Max
They keep their original identity. They never got caught for Rebecca's murder, and Jaxon will help keep it that way, so there's no need for them to change their name.
They don't need to adjust to a new world since they didn't have a time gap, but the adjustment from life with Rebecca to life with the slashers is significant for them. They revert back to old habits not long after things settle down, and the slashers get pretty concerned at the sudden change in behavior. They eventually figure out a new normal, but it's an uncomfortable process for everyone.
They are so so happy to be back by the ocean. They are dragging the slashers to the beach every day, even when it's cold or raining. Even if they don't get to swim, they love just staring out at the water.
After everything settles down, they get a job environmentally managing public beaches. It's mostly paperwork and regulations, but they enjoy the occasional field outing when they can, and they get a lot of time off.
—
Nicknames
I had to make a whole section for it because I like it so much.
Ghost
He has nicknames for everyone. His list doesn't include all of them, just the most common ones, as he is prone to making shit up in the moment. Most of them are antagonistic, especially toward Mike and Leather, but he's sweeter to Jay and Max.
Leather: hick, redneck, palooka
Jay: lamb-chop, gingerbread man, cookie
Mike: knife-boy, rapunzel, princess
Max: little devil, baby, twist (referencing twist killer for the trope)
All: N/A - everyone has their own
Leather
He doesn't usually use nicknames unless he's annoyed or “excited” (down bad). Max is an exception since calling them pig/piglet is a habit at this point. You may notice a pattern in his nickname choices.
Ghost: fox
Jay: lamb
Mike: wolf
Max: pig, piglet
All: doll, sugar (the Southern in him)
Jay
He actually rarely uses nicknames or pet names. When he does, it's usually something nonsensical that he just made up. His list includes the highlights of those.
Ghost: cute skunk
Leather: caramel corn man
Mike: pretty terminator
Max: wiggly fishy
All: N/A - these abominations only occur in nature
Mike
Not only does he not use nicknames, he doesn't tend to use names at all. If he wants someone's attention, he will just grab them. He just calls everyone “his”. The exception is for Jay and Max when Mike is feeling frisky.
Jay: puppy (bedroom shenanigans)
Max: kitty (bedroom shenanigans)
All: Mine
Max
They almost exclusively use pet names once the relationship is more established. The only exception is with Ghost, but that's because calling him “Joey” already feels intimate.
Ghost: Joey, baby, pumpkin
Leather: babe, sweet pea
Jay: sweetie/sweetie pie, sweetness, sweetheart, etc.
Mike: darling, dearest, my love, my heart
All: dear, honey/hon, love
—
Sleep
I should have included this in my sleepy doodle post, but I wrote it after.
Ghost
He is the only one of the slashers to sleep past noon, and he is proud of that. As a self identifying creature of the dark, he wakes up late and stays up late.
He enjoys being both little spoon and big spoon if it's not too hot, but only if the bed is big enough for him to move around. He'll tolerate the occasional group sleep pile, but his back usually hurts after. The things he does for love.
He sleeps in pajama pants most of the time, but is also the most prone to falling asleep in whatever he was wearing that day.
He needs noise to sleep. He grew up in a city, so constant sound is what he's used to.
Leather
He always wakes up at sunrise, no matter how late he stays up. The farmer clock in his head just can't be turned off. He's a big coffee drinker because of this, and also usually the first to bed.
He likes having someone to hold at night, but since he goes to bed earlier, he usually falls asleep by himself and then wakes up with someone appearing snuggled up to his chest. He's usually big spoon just because of his size, but sometimes Mike or Ghost will spoon him.
He sleeps in just his boxers, even during winter.
He takes daily naps, partially to make up for his tendency to wake up so early, and partially out of habit. If he's napping in a communal room, his partners may take it as an invitation to join by sleeping on top of him. Comfy boyfriend bed.
Jay
Like Leather, he's an early riser, but he usually stays up later. He just needs less sleep.
He refuses to sleep alone, and he is happy to be big spoon or little spoon, but spoons must be had.
He sleeps in his underwear most of the time, but will wear pajamas during the winter.
He is a restless sleeper, so whatever position he and his bedmate/s fall asleep in is probably not the one they wake up in.
Mike
Mike is usually awake before everyone else because he hasn't gone to sleep yet, but he stays in bed until whoever he's clinging to gets up.
He also refuses to sleep alone, so either Max, Jay, or both of them must be with him. On rare occasion, he may sneak into Leather's room.
He usually sleeps either completely naked or in boxers, but he will sometimes wear pajamas in the winter.
Despite the allegations, he does actually sleep now that he's mortal, just not a lot. He has pretty severe insomnia and may sleep only a few hours some nights, or sometimes not at all. He also drinks a lot of coffee like Leather, but he adds so much sugar. It's not even coffee anymore after what he does to it. Even Jay thinks it's too sweet.
Max
They are naturally a night owl like Ghost is, but they make themself get up before noon to keep a sleep schedule for work.
Like Jay, they are happy to be big spoon or little spoon, but they usually end up as little spoon since they're the smallest of the group.
They always sleep in pajamas unless they pass out somewhere else, which doesn't happen as often as it used to.
They used to have insomnia, but it turns out they're just so anxious that they can't sleep alone. As soon as they got their shiny new bedwarmers (some may call them boyfriends), their sleep issues mostly went away. They still have the occasional bout of insomnia, but Mike keeps them company on sleepless nights.
—
Sleeping Arrangements
Max is the center of the polycule, so there was initially fighting over who got to share a bed with them. The beds and rooms in the townhouse are too small to comfortably fit all five of them at once, so they agreed on a rotational system. Each dating pair within the slasher polycule (Leather+Ghost and Jay+Mike) gets three days a week, and one day a week is a group sleepover in the living room during movie night.
Other than that, the slashers all have their own rooms. Ghost and Leather prefer to have at least one or two nights a week to sleep by themselves, but Mike and Jay prefer to stay together every night. Mike's room has turned into more of a home gym with a twin bed pushed against the wall since he rarely sleeps in it.
