Maxine is such an effective combo of Gerald*ine* and Ro*x*annes names like woah how perfect. I always enjoy your character naming. Also as a combination of the two of them I like the idea of not only Maxine's design and costuming getting bolder, but her visuals shifting to be more like Glams.
This is such a side tangent, but I did a quick sketch of what Maxine would look next to Roxanne and I want to talk a little about some of the choices I made even if I haven't posted any drawings yet. First off I wanted their face shapes to be the exact same, but the difference comes in how I render/shade their features. In universe/on stage this can definitely be shown through doing their makeup slightly differently.
Maxine would put more emphasis on her cheekbones and lifting her features up, sharpening all her edges. She wouldn't do this at the beginning, styling herself similarly to Roxanne, but as time goes on this would develop, and even overlap with how Glam does her makeup. (I also just need to make a whole post breaking down the little differences between Glam and Geraldine but that's another post for another day)
In my mind, Maxine has a slightly looser curl pattern but still goes for volume. She's much more likely to straighten her hair for styling while Roxanne wouldn't. Also their skin would have slightly different undertones, Roxanne leaning more red and Maxine into more olive undertones.
Their silhouettes would be very similar, the only noticeable difference being the hair pattern being a bit different, but because it makes the same overall shape their designs are clear echoes of each other. They look like they could be sisters, and if they did their hair makeup and styling exactly the same, they could easily convince you they're twins. The difference is in how they choose to carry themselves and how they're dressed + in my case as I'm drawing them shape language and color cues differentiate them a bit.
On the note of Roxanne waking up from nightmares where Marnie and Jolene are dead, she's definitely woken up and checked both their pulses in the middle of the night. Realistically she knows they're not dead, and if anyone's pulse needs to be checked it's hers (i haven't landed on a specific condition for Roxanne yet, but the doctors told her her lifespan has taken a hit because of it, and they're shocked her heart was able to start beating again).
I also think Marnie would have instances of doing this because she's always had a level of medical anxiety.
Jolene sleeps like a rock even when she's having bad dreams.
Still sometimes hears those bone crunching noises and Marnie’s distorted voice under someone else’s control, and just jumps straight to the worse. Jolene's last memory of Marnie's voice is her in the car right before the wreck. Roxanne's last memory of Marnie's voice is Helene's twisted cackle. Roxanne tries not to let that taint Marnie's legacy in her mind, but it still makes her sick to think about.
And it’s not like she can all anyone else (Robbie) for help. I also have a specific image of a time where Marnie needs to call Robbie for some emergency and when she picks up the phone she realizes she can't say anything on the other end of the line. Robbie would probably clock this and they'd manage some sort of tapped out "yes or no" form of communication but they realize they need a better solution.
And Marnie just getting more annoyed she can’t talk and be helpful herself, trying to draw her attention to Roxanne. There's a lot of frustration all around in this au, and Marnie feels it acutely, constantly. She has many private moments where she grieves her voice, and it hurts to know it's not something she can use to help them anymore, at least until she has a better form of communication.
“Oh, Mar.” Placing her hands over Marnie’s, she offers a sympathetic squeeze.
Marnie only frowns deeper. Roxanne tilts her head in confusion, speaking again. “I’m sorry I woke the both of you up. You should be getting your rest and my silly nightmares messed that up for you.”
Feeling the hands drop from her face and down to her shoulders, Roxanne finds Marnie to be in even more distress. She mouths something that she can’t make out in the dark.
I couldn't really convey this fully because Marnie couldn't, but part of why she keeps getting more upset is because Roxanne keeps down playing her own issues, whilst making space to have concern for Marnie and hers. Roxanne feels bad for her and her own frustration at not being able to speak/help, whilst Marnie is only upset with herself in this moment because she feels like she can't help Roxanne. She can't really say that though and just has to make more and more worried faces.
Part of ASL is the expression work and the emotiveness, and Marnie's default face is "I'm just a little bit terrified all the time" (that's sort of my fault I only ever draw her freaking out. Sorry marnie I will do a whole spread of you smiling as a gift), but over the course of her healing she learns that expressions are just as much of a communicative tool as her words can be. It's something she knew objectively, but being more expressive in her features is a choice she begins to make that slowly morphs into habit and reflex. Again it's interesting how this shifts her closer into Roxanne territory.
Also Jolene ends up partially on top of Roxanne at some point in the night. Maybe it triggers something, maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it depends on the situation. Roxanne can handle either of them laying across her/spooning, she just can't do being straddled, at least for the first few years. Half the time it's because it reminds her of Geraldine and she's overcome with grief, the other half of the time it's because she remembers Maxine.
In that level of intimacy, while still very commanding and attractive, Glam never really made an appearance. It was Geraldine at her most down to earth. Ugh Roxine makes me sick. Something about Roxanne being the only person she kept from Glam, the only thing that Geraldine could have that Glam couldn't.
Roxanne's relationship to physical touch is altered in a way the other's aren't after the crash. Jolene is fine with either of them touching her scars or injuries. She was unconscious for most of her injuries, and she already had a few before the crash itself and thus they don't trigger her in the same way. (
Jolene does have trauma/baggage due to her injuries but that's a separate topic. Long story short she's the only one who's ability to play their instrument was significantly altered after the crash, and as the person who would exert herself the most physically and do more physical labor in the group, having that taken away from her is difficult. Also something something gender something something the experience of being a disabled butch something something masculine and androgynous womanhood something something I'll make another post if you want to see that.)
Marnie has lots of minor scratches, and the laceration and subsequent scar being highly visible is something that makes her uncomfortable as it draws attention, but as it heals she has less discomfort with them touching it. I also think there are a few instances of them checking to see if she can get any sort of vibration/vocal control out of her throat and feeling for it, and there's just nothing. (Again, I do want to do a bit more research on what their conditions would actually be classified as. Tbf there are some magic shenanagins afoot because Roxanne's heart should *not* be working at all.)
On the surface Roxanne is the same, still clingy as ever and always having a hand on them. The difference is she's just a little more walled off when it comes to certain parts of herself. She can't handle either of them straddling her because it reminds her two much of her sleep paralysis, and she can't handle either of them touching the scar on her chest.
Maxine was careful and precise with her incision, so much so that it reminded her of the way Geraldine used to touch her. At least once Jolene or Marnie traced their hand over it delicately and unintentionally triggered her memory.
In my head Jolene is more likely to absent mindedly or intentionally touch Roxanne without thinking of the implications, but Marnie would be helping a lot at the beginning with caring for the both of them. It takes her the shortest time to heal and thus she's often fixing bandages and helping with any sort of medication. She'd try and apply an ointment or scar cream and Roxanne just cant take it and tells Marnie it's not personal she just has to do it herself. Jolene is bed ridden for a good portion of everything as well, thus not really being the one to make a lot of first contact. (speaking of which if they live in a two story house/apartment that's also a major issue. Also how tf are they paying for everything but that gets into whatever jobs they think they have/had now post curse.)
Roxanne freaking out obviously freaks Marnie out, and it's especially hard because Roxanne is usually there to assuage her anxiety but now she's down for the count and Jolene isn't within easy access, and she cant shout for help anyways. Afterwards Roxanne is sure to make it clear that Marnie didn't do anything wrong.
All of their injuries are just a little bit odd, and it makes it just that much harder to cope/find closure. They don't really know what happened and they're all suffering from memory loss. Roxanne being hit the hardest and also having sudden trauma around intimacy is particularly distressful because it doesn't make sense. A car crash isn't where you get these sorts of triggers from.
(The only thing that's more confusing than that is the fact that Jolene's bite marks have a distinctly human shape to them as identified by the doctors, but there are more teeth than usual and the placement of the upper and lower jaw that would be required to make such markings is wider than a human skull can stretch.)
It's sort of ironic that Holloway makes the deal and gives up what she cherishes most, and the injuries that each of the starlets receive are very hyperspecfic prices to pay anyways. It's like they participated in the deal against their will and paid the price anyways.
I'd argue Roxanne lost what she cherished most, at least part of that, and it's Geraldine, and now she has a hurtle in developing any other relationships as well. Marnie lost her voice and Jolene lost her strength.
I can see them having jobs similar to what they would in their Holloway variants. Roxanne could be an afterschool music tutor or even a school councilor (sort of an homage to Holloway at the end of KT), Marnie would be in research/academia, maybe she's published (essays or poetry most likely). Jolene I can still see being in a band but more as a side gig. She would have to work some weirdly specific job because an office job, a minimum wage 9 to 5 or anything else normal would not suit her fancy. Maybe in this universe she went to trade school.
(I do think it's a bit funny to think that the curse actually gave them certification/education they didn't actually go through. Tbf Marnie did go to college and that is on the timeline but it's unclear if the others did too. I feel like Geraldine would have wanted to start her career immediately and thus skipped over any college plans, but like that's a whole other post too probably)
Jolene should get to play match maker as a treat. She is sooooo fucking bored and she needs something to entertain herself.
Torn between the angst of Roxanne convincing herself she's a third wheel while the other two pine over her and the fun but also angsty dynamic of Marnanne realizing they've been in love for longer than they can remember and kept denying themselves for god knows why.
Marlene trying to figure out how to confess to Roxanne, but they keep second guessing each other and vetoing the other's ideas. Marnie and Jolene have completely different flirting styles, and by that I mean Jolene is always so flirtatious the line between bit and reality is blurred so Roxanne doesn't pick it up, and Marnie will just stare into your soul mournfully and you'll have to figure out if she's yearning or on the edge of tears, and when you ask her about it she'll panic and make up some sort of excuse like you have a leaf in your hair. This is partially why Geraldine got to Roxanne first because she actually just did the damn thing and kissed her instead of being overly nervous or unserious.
Roxanne can usually read them but she's in such a cloud of despair and self-doubt that she doesn't let herself entertain the thought so it takes a while to break through.
In the Rolene and Marlene but not Marnnane situation, it's lots of Jolene orchestrating them doing shit for her to get them to interact again. They're both able to be up and about before Jolene so it means they'll end up doing things together that Jolene can't really be there for unfortunately. If one of them isn't with her though, and they always try to have at least one person with her as company, they'll usually call over someone like Robbie, Erica or Patrick. (Susan is freaking the fuck out in this au and she would go to help Jolene but she has to help Clifford but she immediately sends Patrick out to go check on her and visits whenever she can but that's a different thought. Susan could have her own post. The memory loss is especially scary to her. I'm considering giving one or all of them aphasia like symptoms.)
Back to Marnanne, just by the nature of them needing to care for each other and Marnie's inability to speak they just grow closer physically and emotionally. Geraldine isn't there anymore, and they can't really afford to have any physical barriers with everything going on, save for certain kinds of touch that Roxanne absolutely can't handle.
You talked about a tap system, and it made me think maybe they could learn morse code before they get fully into signing. Not all of the short hand and phrases maybe, but rather than needing to count as many taps, she can spell out short words or phrases. It's actually fairly easy to memorize/learn when you figure out which letters are inversions or mirrors of each other and you can learn them in groups.
Y (-.--) and N (-.) for yes and no, R (.-.) for Roxanne and J (.---) for Jolene. Robbie can be RB but given the others are single letters he could be H (....). Then they could have acronyms for longer but more common things she needs to communicate. SOS is universally recognizable which helps, and I can see Marnie thinking of tapping it out on the phone with Robbie when she calls Im and can't speak. I can see how it could be a bit hard to keep track of at the start but they get used to it. You know they're going to bed and Marnie taps out "I love you to them"
And so on. Just anything she might not always be able to communicate through writing or mime, especially in a panic attack. Oh speaking of panic attacks, there's a new struggle in that Roxanne and Jolene can't really hear her anymore.
Marnie is probably already good at making herself quiet, but now it's less of a choice, and it's a lot harder for Roxanne and Jolene to notice her breaking down from another room. It's difficult to discern how much is Marnie not asking for help and how much is her being unable to at times.
I sort of talked a bit more about Marnie and her issues with speaking throughout this but I definitely think there's more to develop on that. She's already multilingual, and from what I've gathered she probably learned English and French in tandem growing up. The experience of learning a new language is particularly frustrating because she feels held back by her own vocabulary/lack of understanding. ASL has a rich culture and history that she's eager to learn, but stepping into and not immediately being able to say what she wants, how she wants is hard. Marnie does a lot more journaling in this timeline.
Also I keep taking for granted modern resources because there are so many ways one can learn sign language in the era of the modern internet, but I'm not so sure about the 80s. It would be great if they could learn form someone who is deaf/mute but we don't know what kind of access they have to that, and also paying for a tutor isn't an expense they can afford when all three of them are in no condition to return to work.
Speaking of them not returning to work, oh my god all three of them being disabled and not working is 100% a nightmare financially, and the American medical system is not doing them any fucking favors. The fact they're all "single" women doesn't help either (saying they're in a poly sapphic relationship would not fucking help at all). Marnie already had a chronic illness before so she's familiar with this whole shit show, and they're three women who are certainly *not* having their pain taken seriously. They've just started taking in Patrick and Robbie to all of their doctors visits because people will actually listen to them and it's fucking infuriating.
The thing Jolene hates most about all of this is not hearing Marnie’s laugh again. Everything else she doesn’t care about or can live with but her girlfriend’s laugh? Okay, now it’s personal. And Roxanne has had to listen to so many rants and sobbing over the fact, all while uncomfortably thinking back to that night and watching Helene yank out those vocal cords like kids at tug of war to then put in her own throat. To bastardise the laugh Jolene loves so much. Yup.
As for an AU name, I’ve been calling it the Starlet Scarred AU in my head over the last few hours. So possibly that or something on the same theme? I've considered that and also maybe something like "an eye for an eye," sort of in reference to the deal holloway makes + joan's whole eye collecting business. I've also just considered something like the Survival AU simply because they survive the crash. Still thinking on it.
Also the last thing I'll leave you with are two little paragraphs I wrote. The first was me trying to think of how Marie or Roxanne would describe their memory loss. I think it's not eloquent enough for Marnie, but I think she'd lean into the metaphor. As the one with the most memory loss, I think Roxanne would resonate with it most. The second is just Marnnane fluff.
It’s like building a puzzle without the box, and you have no idea what the picture is supposed to be, but you do know everything *has* to fit together. As you keep building, you start to wonder if pieces are missing, or if you just don’t have the strength to figure it out. You can’t prove it because you don’t have the box. You don’t even know how many pieces there are supposed to be. It’s infuriating and you start to wonder if it’s not even worth it to put it all together.
When Roxanne mutters “I love you” between breaths and kisses, Marnie feels an acute pain realizing she cannot say it back. She settles with pulling her closer and gripping her tighter. Feeling Roxanne’s lips curve into a smile at the next kiss assures her that her intentions are known.
Explicite "I love you's" are very important to Marnnane as seen in the Hiatus AU and boy do I think about the implications of that in this one. Lots of conversations about the merit of alternate communication styles happen.
I yapped a lot more than I was expecting lol
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