Becoming the mask

[depletes]

THE FALSE PRETENSES MEME
a shipping meme


It's only a natural response to want to be shown love and affection, no matter how hard your exterior is. If not in those words - if you truly are that cold - perhaps what you seek is adoration or worship. Regardless of how you slice it, there's something invigorating to the ego in being the object of someone's ardor. And that's what you are now, to put it mildly; the way they look at you, you'd think you hung the moon and stars. In fact, their love for you has lead to a relationship with them. Congratulations! It's all going so well.

Except that it's all based on a lie.

You're not the person they think you are...maybe even literally. They could think you're someone else completely, as such, or it could be more abstract. They don't know what you've really done, do they? The crimes you've committed, the blood on your hands - what if blood they cherished? It's doubtful if they knew what you truly were, they'd look at you with such tenderness. That's not something you can deal with. You've grown used to them and don't want to let them go. Not now.

You love them. They've wormed their way into your heart, and you just can't lose them. You just...can't. Despite what your intentions were at the beginning (you were being purposefully cruel, you were playing along, you didn't want to hurt them, you wanted to give them what they wanted), you've bought into your own hype. Whatever you have to do to keep this ruse up, you'll do.

But, of course, what's done in the dark will be brought to the light. Soon, those eyes that look towards you will be filled with pain and doubt; you can't keep your little secret forever, and it will only gut your lover in the end.

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• Be sure to include which side you want to play (the "deceiver" or the "deceived"), if applicable. The more info you share, the more taggable you are.
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Comments

Henry | Fire Emblem: Awakening | OTA

[carryon_crow]

[Deceiver: although normally cheerfully honest about their love of violence, Henry is also hungry for affection and could lie about themself to be what the other wants them to be.]

Rey | SW:TFA | OTA

[thesefirststeps]

[ooc: Probably deceived. Always open for discussion.]

Nina Sergeevna Krilova | The Americans

[utselet]

((Nina is a spy who stays alive by doing exactly this, so she is very likely to be the deceiver!))

[magician_king]

It's nothing, right? Just a student-teacher fling; everyone has them, they're hot, that's why it's a thing. Then a way to pass the time, then a matter of habit-

Only, by the end of the year, Quentin rolls over in bed, puts his arm around her, and asks in a way that he probably thinks is casual;

"So, would you ever consider going to a world other than your own home when you graduate?"

As if it's right around the corner.

[utselet]

It's not, but she has her answer ready anyway, and it even has the convenient benefit of being true.

"Consider," she echoes as she stirs out of a comfortable doze. She shifts to face him, bringing a hand up to rest on his arm, stroking lightly over his skin. She shakes her head.

"I'm never going back there," she tells him plainly. No need to consider that much at all. "I haven't decided where instead yet, but it won't be there. Why?"

[magician_king]

"I was picturing you as a noblewoman."

He admits, kissing the nape of her neck.

"A Fillorian lady. In velvet and- what's that gauzy stuff?"

Not his area, obviously.

[utselet]

She sighs and arches her head to the side so he can get at her neck, her eyes closing briefly.

"Chiffon?" She lets out a soft chuckle. "Across the top, maybe? Above a corset?" she teases. "We could probably get these things here, if you want to see something like that."

[magician_king]

"I want to see you in the dress."

He admits.

"But more than that, I want to see you in the authority. A real titled lady, with like- a duchy to mind, maybe?"

[utselet]

She shifts onto her side and loops an arm languidly around him, looking curiously up into his eyes. "I don't know if I can imagine," she admits.

In real life, he'll have long since learned that she rarely wears much if anything to bed -- right now, it's a commandeered old t-shirt of his -- and she's bemused by the contrast in his mind. Going from this to a stiff velvet dress; going from his student, lover, whatever he usually thinks of her as to someone with so much authority. She's not even used to having much power over herself, much less a... duchy. So what brought this on?

lmk if this works!

[yedinyy]

With things quiet on the part of Philip's contacts, and Sophie's training going so well, Gabriel told the both of them the Centre had something bigger going on, best done by the two of them. She's surprised about that-- a mission, together-- and even moreso when he tells them where they're going.

Chicago. The place Elizabeth Jennings supposedly grew up, that she's visited all of twice in her life so far. There were always other priorities, somehow, but when Sophie starts beaming at her in the car ride to the airport she actually starts looking forward to it as well.

The mission is this: another Directorate S agent was forced to go lay low for a while, but there are contacts in city that are getting nervous. Very nervous, which makes the Centre nervous, and they'd asked a gentler touch.

Elizabeth winks at Sophie when they mention that. Gentle touch- right.

The journey is pleasant, with Elizabeth slipping her notes, playing little games scribbled on the back of the in-flight magazine, trailing fingers over her knee. She seems a little lighter right now, more playful, and even she's aware of it. She's different with Sophie.

They get settled in a hotel, review the notes, and then decide to go out for lunch at the place 'round the corner. It seems like a place the locals visit and gossip in, which is two birds with one stone.

It's an ordinary place. Just like any-- until a Mountie walks inside, and the guy with the spiky hair with him bumps into a fat guy walking out and one man keeps apologizing for the other's short temper.

[utselet]

It's all exciting for Sophie. She's only been to DC so far, other than a trip through New York to solidify her own backstory, and it's a big mission, the first she's been on that feels really important. The fact that she gets to go with Elizabeth... she'd call it a bonus, icing on the cake, but it's much more than that. It means so much more, even if she's mostly there to make sure Sophie does this right.

She's a trained spy, and her poker face now is phenomenal, but she still can't curb the butterflies that flit around in her stomach the whole way there. It's hard to keep herself from snuggling up to her right on the plane, or pouncing her in the hotel room. They're working, and she knows she can't, but her eyes dance with all the extra energy she's carrying with her.

Maybe that's why she hears what the gangly, spiky-haired one says while everyone else's attention is drawn to the Mountie's bright red jacket, while her own bounces around like a ping pong ball. It stops dead and focuses like a laser when she hears a familiar name. She nudges Elizabeth's foot under the table and shoots a pointed glance at the man.

[yedinyy]

She's already heard, of course. She has the disadvantage of sitting with her back to the door and has to follow the proceedings in the mirror in the far back. She can make out their faces, their clothing, but can't follow the entire conversation.

But the name stands out. She bends down to take a drink from her straw, raises her eyebrows.

"Look," the gangly one is saying to the tall, handsome Mountie, "I know you have your sympathies and all, you know, that suit ain't that red just 'cause mooses like lookin' at that color."

That can't be a good sign, Elziabeth's eyebrows say to Sophie.

[utselet]

"Ray, don't be absurd," the Mountie snipes back. "I am not a Communist." He pauses. "But, you know, if you just talk to the man--"

His partner cuts him off with an abrupt, indignant sound. Sophie looks back to Elizabeth, the blood draining from her face. She starts subtly adjusting the silverware in front of her, her compulsive-control tendencies kicking in in the face of her suddenly overwhelming nerves.

They're supposed to have a code for this, she swears, but she'll be damned if she can remember it right now. "I--" She licks her lips. "You know, I thought I was hungry, but I'm not so sure. Maybe I should cancel my order?"

[yedinyy]

"We can get it to go," she says, firmly, licking her lips, throwing back the last of her coffee. The men are stepping forward in line, bickering, until the smaller one cuts the Mountie off to place his order at the till.

To go. Great, she thinks: they can follow them easily. She remembers how quickly the coffee was made before, and she throws a few bills on the table before wiping her mouth and walking out, knowing Sophie will follow.

"It's a coincidence," she says, firmly, once the door closes behind them.

Prof. James Moriarty | Sherlock/ACD EU | OTA

[greatestschemer]

[Because this meme was made for James' shenanigans.]

Grace Burgess | Peaky Blinders | M/F

[tobringyoumylove]

[ Deceiver. Deceiver. Holy SHIT, deceiver. Playing from S1 because I'm still waiting to find out if my theory about subsequent events is correct. ]

[bleak_midwinter]

[Hello ♥ Would you be interested in doing something with the two of them? I've usually played from S1 too!]

[tobringyoumylove]

[ Yes let's. I'm heading to work, so do you mind starting? ]

[bleak_midwinter]

[I don't mind at all! Only I was wondering if you had anything specific in mind-- an AU where the Kimber fight happens later, giving them more time? Playing out a scene that 'didn't make it on screen'? Another AU entirely?]

[tobringyoumylove]

[ Whatever works best for you will work for me! ]

lmk if this works!

[bleak_midwinter]

There is a world in which the coin lands the other way.

Tommy Shelby does not think he's a particularly superstitious man, and he had thought he'd made his mind up. To the others, he'd whispered to Polly, and her hand had felt like a cold, empty comfort after the emptiness Grace had left in his life.

He writes her a letter and tells her he'll flip a coin, just like he did when he was younger; just like he did before the war, when superstitions were a part of his daily life, before he needed rationality to keep him going.

But the coin lands the other way. And after he's posted the letter, after he's taken a look around his offices, he gets in his car and drives to London. He isn't wearing his finest suit, on account of the bandages still covering the wound dug by Billy Kimber's bullet. He hasn't brought anything. He hasn't brought any speech, nor any questions for her that he needs answers to.

But the coin landed the other way. And so Grace's hotel gets a call that she has a visitor.

Raven | Teen Titans | OTA

[azarathsprotected]

Bucky Barnes - mcu - open

[readytocomply]

[Civil War compliant. Canon and cross-canon welcome.]

Kristoph Gavin | Ace Attorney

[defaming]

[Most likely the deceiver. Open to mutual deception.

Characters 20+ only, please.]

Bill Cipher | Gravity Falls | OTA

[mabill_pipher]

(deceiver)