The Romantic Secretary
a study in: the effects of the golden child vs. the scapegoat, being the scapegoat, born second, never good enough, always wanting something more, always yearning, never feeling deserving, never feeling loved, just wanting love, willfully ignorant, ignoring the warning signs, secretly creative, voracious reader, the dreamer, finding the beauty in the monster, making the choice to be kind, being the saddest girl in the world.

TRIGGER WARNINGS:

parental abuse, golden child vs. scapegoat, sibling bullying, relationship abuse, intentionally ignoring red flags in relationships ( both romantic and friendship ), toxic relationships ( both romantic and friendship ), depression, untreated mental illness, more soon.

Character Specific Rules:

1. Shipping: Jean is always open to shipping. She's a pretty easy character to ship with, especially considering she falls in love / gets crushes pretty easily. This also means that she tends to fall into toxic patterns and relationships pretty easily as well. However, please don't assume that just because she has a crush on your character that the ship is automatically a go. Talk to me first before sending anything shipping related in.

2. Patrick Bateman: It's canonical that Jean has a pretty serious crush / believes herself to be in love with Patrick Bateman. As we only see her from Patrick's very limited and biased point of view, that's all we see Jean as. I've tried my best to give Jean so much more character and life than what we see her as in the book, film, and musical adaptation. Don't come at me saying that I'm "writing Jean wrong" for making her more than the one dimensional thing that Bateman views her as. I will block you.

3. Mains & Exclusives: I'm happy to be mains with anyone that I click with and write with fairly often. Exclusives, on the other hand, are a different story. I am very selective with who I bring on as an exclusive. Anyone that you see counted as an exclusive is someone that I've written with and spoken with OOC extensively. We've interwined our characters' stories and headcanons, even if it's not necessarily something that you see on the dash all the time. Exclusives are very special and aren't an every body thing.

4. The Jean x Patrick Ship: The romantic relationship between Patrick and Jean will be present on this blog in one form or another, depending on the verse. I also have an exclusive Patrick ( americanedpsycho ). However, this does not mean that we are romanticizing their relationship or ignoring the toxicity and issues. Due to Patrick's misogyny and Jean's own issues, this is an incredibly toxic ship and will be written as such. While Jean may romanticize their relationship through her own view and stubbornness, please note that I ( the writer ) am not doing so and neither is Patrick's writer. If you have any questions or issues, that you'd like to discuss about this ship, please do so off of anon so it can be done privately.

5. On Other Patricks: A huge part of the reason that I started writing Jean is because of americanedpsycho / Lauren. As such, my Jean is completely exclusive to her version of Patrick. This does not mean that I hate any other versions of Patrick or anything like that. We've simply put a lot of work into plots and headcanons involving their relationship and interactions and I don't feel comfortable interacting with other Patricks due to this.

Relationships

Genevieve "Gigi" Durand: Gigi was raised in a very comfortable middle class home, but always wanted more from life. It was something that she knew and strived for from a very younge age, much to her mother's displeasure. She recognized early on that the best way to achieve the lifestyle that she wanted was to marry rich, so that's what she set out to do. Her original choice decided not to choose her, going for a highly educated socialite instead, so she settled for her second choice instead. Her plan was to have one pretty baby, regardless of gender and that was that. Needless to say, she was pleased when Addie was born and not so much when Jean was born. She was the one who often spearheaded the neglect and abuse that Jean suffered throughout the years and is still the first one to get in a nice verbal jab or bring her youngest daughter down when the occasion arises.
Joseph "Joe" Durand: Joe was the second born son and was often treated very similarly to his own second born daughter. Notably unwanted, neglected, looked over in favor of his far more handsome and talented older brother. Even his wife favored his older brother and only chose him because William wanted someone else instead. You'd think that would make him sympathetic towards Jean, but it doesn't. He's just as cold and distant towards her as his own parents were, figuring that if she were more remarkable then perhaps he and Gigi would care more. It's something that's even told her the one time that she tried to confront him. He's also friends with her ex-boyfriend and abuser, Michael Greene. He's one of her loudest shamers when it comes to that relationship, telling her that it's her own fault for getting involved with an older man and a professor to boot.
Adeline "Addie" Durand: Growing up, Addie was the golden child. The perfect little girl who could do no wrong, even when her grades were in the toilet and her friends all hated her. According to Gigi, it was everyone else's fault instead of Addie's. For most of her life, Addie even believed it. She spent years throughout school bullying and isolating Jean, often at the encouragement of their mother. It wasn't until both sisters were in college that she began to realize that Gigi had been wrong. She reached out to Jean and the two of them began to ( very cautiously on Jean's end ) talking about things. Nowadays, the two of them are fairly close. They're not best friends and there's still a bit of pain between them, but they're definitely on their way to become best friends. Addie's the only person in her family to be on Jean's side during the aftermath of her relationship with Michael.
Michael Greene: Michael was the one college professor that all of his students dreamed about. He was kind, charming, and incredibly handsome and knew how to flirt with his students in a way that kept them on the hook but also made them understand boundaries. He and Jean met in a bar in the summer of her sophmore year and began chatting on a whim and he appeared to really take to her. Despite her initial worries, he swept her off of her feet and she fell head over heels in love. She blinded herself to the mental and emotional torment that he put her through, constantly pushing herself to change her appearance and things that she liked to be his perfect girlfriend. He broke her again and again and again. The day after her college graduation, she walked into their apartment and discovered him in bed with another woman. He then broke up with her on the spot and she soon learned that he'd been cheating on her with multiple women. He then infiltrated her life by becoming good friends with her dad and when she freaked out, he informed her family about their relationship, but framed it to make it her fault. The one good thing that's come out of the aftermath of their horrible relationship was that it was the catalyst that Jean needed to move to New York City like she always wanted.
Patrick Bateman: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. integer nec odio. praesent libero. sed cursus ante dapibus diam. sed nisi. nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. duis sagittis ipsum. praesent mauris. fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. mauris massa. vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla.
Sean Bateman: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. integer nec odio. praesent libero. sed cursus ante dapibus diam. sed nisi. nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. duis sagittis ipsum. praesent mauris. fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. mauris massa. vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla.
Trent Snow: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. integer nec odio. praesent libero. sed cursus ante dapibus diam. sed nisi. nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. duis sagittis ipsum. praesent mauris. fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. mauris massa. vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla.
V: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. integer nec odio. praesent libero. sed cursus ante dapibus diam. sed nisi. nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. duis sagittis ipsum. praesent mauris. fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. mauris massa. vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla.
Character Name: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. integer nec odio. praesent libero. sed cursus ante dapibus diam. sed nisi. nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. duis sagittis ipsum. praesent mauris. fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. mauris massa. vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla.
Character Name: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. integer nec odio. praesent libero. sed cursus ante dapibus diam. sed nisi. nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. duis sagittis ipsum. praesent mauris. fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. mauris massa. vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla.
Character Name: Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. integer nec odio. praesent libero. sed cursus ante dapibus diam. sed nisi. nulla quis sem at nibh elementum imperdiet. duis sagittis ipsum. praesent mauris. fusce nec tellus sed augue semper porta. mauris massa. vestibulum lacinia arcu eget nulla.

Biography

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Verses

everybody wants to rule the world - canon

( book based with musical and slight film elements ) It's the late 1980s in fabulous New York City at the end of the decade. Jean is in her early 20s and working for the notable Pierce & Pierce in the financial district. She has dreams bigger than just being a simple secretary, but finds it hard to walk away due to the feelings that she finds she's developing for her boss, Patrick Bateman. ( follows book canon with influences from the film and musical )

of freedom & pleasure - post canon

This verse takes place after the events of American Psycho. Jean and Patrick are steadily dating and things are going pretty good for them. At Patrick's urging, she's also finally fully cut off her toxic and abusive family, much to their dismay. ( more coming as it develops )

it's my own design - modern

The events of American Psycho, but placed in a modern setting. Jean works for Patrick Bateman as his secretary / personal assistant and is damn good at her job. She has a crush / is in love with him, but does her best to hide her feelings so that they don't interfere with her job. She has gone no contact with her abusive family and is actively in therapy. Despite her feelings for Patrick, she's also trying to date, but it often ends in disaster. She's debating going back to school, although between her current loans and the state of the world, she wonders if it's worth it at this point.

someone else's game - saw

Jean, like so many others, has been enraptured and utterly terrified by the stories of the Jigsaw Killer that have dominated the headlines. She feels horrible for the suffering that the victims had to endure, even if some people are claiming that they deserved it. A part of her hopes that she never crosses this killer's path or winds up in one of his traps. Although she hasn't mentioned it to those closest to her, her new greatest fear is that she's somehow messed up so badly somewhere in her life that she'll wake up in one of these traps. Unbeknownst to Jean, Patrick and her newest friend Amanda are closely intertwined in these crimes. ( more to come )