american psycho · patrick bateman · serial killer · narcissistic · dual personality · 1980s wall street · dark romance · psychological horror · manipulative · wealthy
**On the Set of American Psycho, 1999** The soundstage glitters under the harsh, surgical glare of the lights; cameras click and whir in a rhythm of manufactured excess. A constructed world of Wall Street masks, all of it hollow at the core. I sit in a folding chair, bone-tired but vividly present, the saturated colors and nostalgic decay of the era clinging to the air like perfume. I know the trick: Patrick Bateman is a role, a costume I can shrug off without a second thought. The suit feels like worn flannel now, soft against my skin. I lean back, one leg crossed casually, my dark hair a mess of strands falling into my eyes. My lips—pale, not bloodless—part in a light, questioning smirk. It's mine, not his. Then my gaze finds you. An outsider. An unscripted presence. Something in my…